Damn you for being so awesome.
In previous blogs, I've often brought up the importance of maintaining realism in an RPG, and especially so in the World of Darkness RPG franchises. However, the temptation to stretch believability in the service of presenting an engaging and entertaining storyline is a powerful one, and the needs of realism have to be balanced - sometimes countered - by the fact that we're dealin' with frickin' vampires and werewolves and Level Ungodly-High Chaotic Good Drow Elf Rangers.
I am not stranger to the desire to play an awesome character before a believable character. One of my oldest, a lich named Khalos, has been wandering the multiverse at-will for over 2,500 years (Prime Material Standard Time), constructing massive, empty, echoing fortresses in the Plane of Negative Energy, mouthing off to heroes and gods and peasant girls alike, torn apart from within by a grief that is 2,520 years old, and is, for all intents and purposes in my fantasy, untouchable. To me, in my head, he tells a great and tragic tale. To others, however, he could be readily accused of "god-moding" and getting away with completely unrealistic acts and speeches.
In the World of Darkness RPG franchises, in every one I've read, the developers have said that story should come before mechanics and rules. Players should have fun with the game first and foremost, and only apply restrictions when they are absolutely needed. Let's apply this to the case of Drizzt Do'Urden, outcast drow of Menzoberranzan, ranger, swordsman, and member of one of the most kickass adventuring groups in fantasy history. There is just about nothing Drizzt Do'Urden and his scimitars cannot overcome, and he overcomes it all with both flair and deeply philosophical commentary that shows he's got it all: power, good looks, and a brain. There is nothng unheroic about Drizzt Do'Urden. If he were limited to story and didn't have to worry about those little things like rolling dice, he would overcome anything. His record of achivements so far include several dragons, an orc chieftain, an evil sentient magical crystal, and at least a moral victory over the entire drow city of Menzoberranzan.
One of the problems of having such a zomgawesome character is the fact that in order to keep things interesting, the forces arrayed against the hero have to become more and more ridiculously powerful. It's been said that a hero is great not on their own, but because of the enemy they are arrayed against. R. A. Salvatore kicked off the series by pitting Drizzt against the spirtual corruption and physical power of the matriarchal system of the drow in the Underdark., where he was completely disadvantaged. He succeeded over the course of three books in spite of being the absolute underdog (i.e., male). In the latest Drizzt book, he's going up against a HUGE dracolich (undead dragon), who has merged with seven liches (undead wizards) and an illithid (psionic uber-smart octopus-heads). Any one of these enemies would be more than a match for your "average" or even "above-average" hero. Even Drizzt Do'Urden has to go looking for help beyond his now-reduced circle of equally zomgawesome friends.
I haven't finished the book yet, but I can predict how it's going to end. Drizzt wins, but at the cost of one more of his dear friends, and he succeeds not merely through the power of his scimitars or the strength of his arm or the might of his intellect... but because he's the good guy. That's basically what it comes down to. Good always wins. This is such an ingrained part of human storytelling that even the most recent stories, who play off the traditionally "evil" figures (the Wicked Witch of the West, the Big Bad Wolf, etc) do so by making them seem misunderstood. In spite of the bad press they've been getting for years, they are in fact "good" people at heart. I have noticed that this is a growing trend among fantasy books and computer games. No matter what character flaws or social roles the protagonist is cast into, they are fighting the good fight. Even in the "darkest" or most open-ended RPGs, like Dragon Age: Origins or the first Neverwinter Nights, where you can play a Chaotic Evil maniac or the equivalent, you still go out and save the world. You can't side with the enemy, even if your character is a perfect complement to their goals and philosophy - cuz they're the enemy, see. Even if you are evil straight down to your black and withered heart, you still go out and save the world. And we love our characters for doing it.
Admittedly, saving the world is an attractive prospect, one that we can't justifiably refuse ourselves or our players. We can rationalize away the moral implications or seeming inconsistencies - "Oh, I'm evil, and being evil means that *I* get to destroy the world, not this pipsqueak upstart!" (But did you ever REALLY destroy the world after the immediate threat was dealt with? Did you?) We want our characters to be great, because on the one hand it's no fun to play a character that gets beaten up by your first Giant Rat stuck in a cellar, and on the other such a short tale isn't satisfying to us on a psychological level. "You had plans for me to defeat the Evil Overlord at the End of the World, but fate threw me a curveball and gave me the bubonic plague from an infectious ratbite?! WTF, man?!" This is where realism stops being fun, and just gets annoying. The same occurs with the seemingly inexhaustible stamina our characters have - we can run, sprint, and jump indefinitely, and cross an entire continent in a few quick sentences. We never get tired, but occasionally we run out of this stuff called "mana", and have to sit down for a little bit before we can toss off more earth-shattering fireballs. Drizzt Do'Urden never gets meaningfully tired - even if he is at the point of collapse, there is always that heroic spark that lets him get in that one last enemy-crippling swing, leading to almost instant victory. (In fact, he comments on this heroic quality in one of his philosophical tracts in the book I'm reading.)
It's just no fun to have to worry about muscle fatigue and short breath, or practical issues of hygeine and a good diet. While realism may be... well, more realistic, I'm sure I don't have to tell most of the people on this site that reality is frequently a drag. Speaking for myself, I don't have the power, good looks, and intellect of Drizzt Do'Urden. Somebody mentioned recently that "we read what we don't have". In my case, I like to read about great immortal beings of immense power, probably because I'm not immortal, have little in the way of power, and haven't done anything especally great yet. Being awesome is infinitely better than being not-awesome, and in spite of whatever actions, powers, or moral resolutions our heroes have, we can't help but love them for it. They can cause untold amounts of grief to NPCs, fellow players, and Dungeon Masters or Storytellers, but they are still awesome. So damn you, Drizzt Do'Urden, for being perfect, for being unstoppable, and for being awesome. But I love yah anyway, because you are perfect, unstoppable, and awesome.
4 Comments
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Inanna
361 days ago
How many books are there to that series? I thought there were only 2?
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361 days ago
There are at least nine-ish. The three of the original series - "Homeland", "Sojourn", and the third one - and then the Crystal Shard series, which was like six books in and of itself - and now there're a few more after that series which cover Drizzt's adventures in northern Faerun. This one I'm reading now is "The Ghost King".
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TylinV
360 days ago
If you count the upcoming Neverwinter III novel but not the ones featuring Jarlaxle and Entreri where Drizzt is only mentioned or has a cameo appearance, there are 21 or 22 books featuring Drizzt and the Companions of the Hall. You can see a complete list at Salvatore's site, www.rasalvatore.com or probably find a wiki if you prefer :)
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Willow Desidare
363 days ago
I agree with you so much. But remember what lord Petyr Baelish said, life isn't always like stories. Even if some things aren't as beautiful as we wish they should have been reality has a flavor mourned by those forever lost in the world of dreams.
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