While there are several series in the Gold Box umbrella, only the Pool of Radiance series of games had fiction written and connected to them. Those that were left out of tie-in fiction were Unlimited Adventures by MicroMagic, the two Savage Frontiers games and 1991’s Neverwinter Nights from Stormfront Studios/Beyond Software. This latter developer with release a couple more Forgotten Realms games later, though not under the Gold Box banner, and one would get some fiction—but that is for another time.
There are four games in the Pool of Radiance sequence. All were developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. Maybe the fiction/game deal was with them and not the other developers, whatever the reason, they’re the ones with fictions. And that’s not short stories, they’re full blown novels.
Pool of Radiance (1988) has a direct novel analog in the novel Pool of Radiance by James M. Ward and Jane Cooper Hong(1989). This novel is the beginning of a trilogy, more in that below.
Curse of the Azure Bonds (1989) has the novel Azure Bonds by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb. Surprisingly, this novel is not connected with the Pool of Radiance book. It does follow the same charcters as the game and even gets sequels in The Wyvern’s Spur (1990), Song of the Saurials (1991), and Masquerades (1995). These are some of my favorite D&D novels. This series also has some short stories and comic books related to it.
Secret of the Silver Blades (1990) sadly has no tie-in fiction!
Pools of Darkness (1991) does however. This novel of the same name (1992), by James M. Ward and Anne K. Brown, is a sequel to the Pool of Radiance novel mentioned above . This series goes one further as there is a third book with no accompanying game, Pool of Twilight (1993).
Looking at these books we can see that there are two paths for literature connected to the Gold Box games. Read what you will!
Eye of the Beholder released in 1991. Developed by Westwood Associates and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. for MS-DOS. It was later released on other systems and also spawned two sequels. The first, The Legacy of Darkmoon released in 1991 and developed and published by the same companies as the first. The third game, Assault on Myth Drannor, released in 1993 and was developed in-house by SSI.
All three take place in the Forgotten Realms, the focus of this blog. The first two are set in Waterdeep but the third is far to the east in the ruins of Myth Drannor. While all three were popular enough in their day, they received relatively little fiction compared to some other games (like Baldur’s Gate). In fact, there is only one story for the games, and it’s for the third. “Moonrise Over Myth Drannor” by Ed Greenwood has been reviewed on this site before. It can be read only in the game’s guide. I’m not sure if it can be found online, I cannot find it. Beyond purchasing a copy of the game with the manual, or maybe just the manual, maybe finding someone willing to share from their copy is an option?
I have played very little MUDs, unless you consider graphical ones like RuneScape. About the time I first played EverQuest, late 2012 or so, I played a MUD set in Middle-earth, Two Towers Mud, or T2T. When I was browsing a post at The Ancient Gaming Noob, a blog I've followed for years, I saw a reference to a game new to me, TorilMUD. Toril was immediately recognizable to me as the name of the planet the Forgotten Realms is set on, Faerun being a continent upon it.
I looked it up, found a very convoluted Wikipedia page, and learned it was still running in some form and that Brad McQuaid had played it before creating EverQuest.
I quickly set up an account, made a shield dwarf named Hemvar (this race was marked with an * meaning it is easier for new players), and chose paladin as my class. I rolled stats and then began in Scardale. There are several classes, more than present D&D offers, and Barbarian is a race.
Finding out time it said it was the month of Annaxes, which is not in the Calendar of Harptos. The "Breath of Frost" subtitle indicates it is winter though. The year is 1236, DR is not indicated. The first named NPC was Khelvos Dermenn, implying this is likely around 1370 DR. Obviously the lore is not strict to the setting, this game not being an official product and it is also considerably aged, it is older than I am.
I reccomend this Newbie Guide and this map of the starter zone. This will teach you about combat, glancing (like consider in EQ), skills, travel, quests, etc. and help with having an idea of where you are outside of just the places you can go from each area. Of course, there is a forum on the official website for more answers and to ask questions. The game also still gets updates by a figure named Shevarash.
Overall, it is low commitment if you can figure the genre out or are already familiar with it. Join up, play around. If you really want to get committed, join a raid! I will definitely log back on, as this is coming out over a year after I initially played!
This is a post I have avoided for some time. Neverwinter, an MMORPG based around 4e Neverwinter in the Forgotten Realms, released in 2013. In early 2015 it went into beta on the Xbox One and released later that same year on the console. While I’ve played a tiny amount on the PC, the Xbox One beta is where I began my journey.
I was immediately gripped by a couple things. At the time I had enjoyed other video games set in the Forgotten Realms, particularly the Dark Alliance games, but I had never played Dungeons & Dragons nor read any novel set in the Realms. What really gripped me was the action in the gameplay. I’ve played many MMORPGs throughout the years, from RuneScape to World of Warcraft to EverQuest and things more far afield. I had never played one that had a limited number of attacks, that made combat fast but engaging rather than tab based. It was new and exciting! Not to mention the first time I had spent many hours on a MMO for a console, though I had tried Phantasy Star, DCUO, etc.
Besides being mechanically fun, I really became engrossed in the story. Going in the different districts of the Jewel of the North, going without to Icespire Peak, the Underdark, Helm’s Hold, and so forth. It was all a grand adventure. It was alive. By time I read my first novel in the Forgotten Realms it was a story connected to Neverwinter, and the ones afterwards were too! These wereBrimstone Angels, Cold Steel and Secrets, and I even tried Gauntlgrym (before realizing that is a bad place to start with Drizzt).
It wasn’t my introduction to the Realms, but it was like puberty, pardon the analogy. It led to so much more. Reading, playing, writing this. I loved that the recent movie was set largely in Neverwinter!
It’s because of this love that I sadly feel obliged to share my disappointment. More than a year ago I tweeted this video from Josh Strife Hayes, it is too accurate:
2015-2019 were my golden days in the game. I got married and started having children and the game took a backseat. My first room was named Hemvar and we explored things together. In 2017 I made Farideh, recognize the name? This was the first character I got to end game with. I’ll admit, I was never a big fan of how the story was handled once level 60 was hit. Or 70 for that matter. It is also free to play and has too many microtransactions, though I never spent money on the game.
My disappointment started to blossom in 2022, when I returned to the game a little. The game had made some big changes. While it was built around 4e, a huge overhaul brought it more inline with 5e. Bard was introduced as a class, the other classes were renamed (scourge warlock became simply warlock, for example), the intro quest was revamped, and the max level became only 20. Exciting enough right?
Sure. But while most games keep adding content as they get older, this large overhaul saw much content shuttered. I realize this happens some in MMOs, I get it. But the leveling before endgame (the endgame I didn’t like much anyhow) became shorter. We lost several zones: Blackdagger Keep, Pirate’s Skyhold, Tower District, Blacklake District, and even more! I didn’t understand it or enjoy it. Some has been added back in in pieces or enhanced but only intermittently and for endgame. I don’t appreciate chopping up your game so you can make “development” easier by just using old material.
Helm's Hold
In January, almost ten years after the beta release on Xbox, I noticed I was close to getting an achievement for slaying dragons. So naturally I go to Neverdeath Graveyard, still in the game. Imagine my surprise when the green dragon, Charthraxis, wasn’t there. Just his bones. So I went to Icespire Peak, another zone still in the game. Was Merothrax (not to be confused with Cryovain) there? Just his corpse.
I feel like I’m walking in the corpse of something once great. It is depressing. The only thing I can experience of these things are my memories. I feel I must say amarast to it
But not all is bad. While frustrating, the game still is pretty and my girls enjoy playing it. I think I’ll play it as long as the servers are up, but I can easily say I’d be there more often, like an old home, if it felt like what I remember. And that’s not just the nostalgia speaking.
Charthraxis
That being said, I will keep on playing. It’s still fun in levels 1-20. I’m sad they cut it short, but I’ll enjoy the journey. I’ve always been a journey person in MMOs, it’s why I never really liked WoW (which is very endgame heavy even if you can max out in a day). Lord of the Rings Online, EverQuest, RuneScape: all have lovely journeys, where I can take my time and enjoy the beauty and the story, not so much the mechanics. Neverwinter is there too, just not as much as it used to be.
In my post two weeks ago I mentioned I was going to give some thoughts on the new Dungeons & Dragons video game: Dark Alliance. While I’ve yet to complete the game I have played several hours and have a level eight character. I would still like to play more.
Dark Alliance is a sort of reboot or spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, a spin-off of the Baldur’s Gate video game series. It’s an action RPG, meaning strong focus is on fast-paced “kill everything in sight” combat. It’s decent fun with friends, but a little on the challenging side when playing solo.
The game is nice to look at, even on my original Xbox One from 2013. Though I still find more appeal in the style of a game like Neverwinter (2013 MMO) more. For example Kelvin’s Cairn is huge. The home of Clan Battlehammer is large and epically extravagant, unlike its book counterpart. The game definitely has a multiplicity of bugs and glitches currently as well.
a tablet of Ostoria
Lore wise, it’s 1356 DR, just after The Crystal Shard. Obviously the books don’t acknowledge these events. The game gets its name from the loose alliance the leaders of many evil factions set against the Companions of the Hall. Regis is not a playable character, so be aware. There also is no caster to play as, since no one at this stage is in the books.
You face factions of ice giants, goblins, duergar, and undead under the leadership of a returned Akar Kessell (I’m not sure if this would mess with any lore of Legacy of the Crystal Shard adventure). We also have Icewind, the mate of Icingdeath, which they retconned to say she is the namesake behind the Dale. The tone is very much not serious, and if you’re a big fan of lore there honestly isn’t much here. There are tomes and tablets that are interesting to look at however, but most lore is rather basic. Many of these tablets are from ancient giant society, specifically from Ostoria Oddly they don’t use dethek, but the logographic runes for divination purposes shown in Storm King’s Thunder.
Unsurprisingly to anyone who reads this blog regularly, I’m not happy that they chose these characters. They stuck themselves over 100 years before the current D&D plot line, give us silly enemies, and make it known that they didn’t really have much of a Realms expert on hand that could have really made the game awesome for a lore junky like me. I think so lesser known characters, or even some new ones set during current events would have been better, but Drizzt makes up some sales when the game isn't outstanding.
Overall, as mindless fun, it works. If you want good lore, I’d bet on the upcoming Baldur’s Gate 3 for more goodies. If you happen to be a huge fan of the Legend of Drizzt, this could also be your thing. I will play a little more but I think after that I will likely put the game down and I don't know if I'll ever come back.
