Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Myriador's Multiple Mistakes

As many of you may know, a company called Myriador published a series of D20 adaptions of several of the more popular Fighting Fantasy gamebooks for use with the Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition rules. These adaptions contradict the previously established lore numerous times. Under the guidance of 'FF Consultant' Dave Holt, the D20 adventures frequently ignore or change existing setting material in favour of making everything a bland and uninspired standard fantasy setting.

Here for your enjoyment (or not) are a list of some of these changes...

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
  • The D20 series incorrectly claims that Gilford (a new village created for the adventure) is the starting town for the heroes. Warlock Magazine has previously established that this village was Anvil. In the end I included Gilford as another possible starting point in my AFF adaption (along with Haven, which was introduced in the Salamonis Gazette).

The Caverns of the Snow Witch
  • The Gnome cook in the Crystal Caverns has been changed to a human.

Deathtrap Dungeon
  • The settlement of Fang has been transformed from a sleepy river port into a bustling walled metropolis with a standing army and navy. 
  • The army of Fang contains an elite unit of Elven archers, despite Elves on Titan being portrayed as an insular, secretive folk that seldom leave the borders of their homelands. 

The Shamutanti Hills
  • The village of Birritanti has been transformed into a much larger settlement than it was in the original Sorcery! series. According to the D20 adaption it now has huge guard-towers, a militia and a mayor. Steve Jackson has previously stated that the Sorcery! series was inspired by his travels through Nepal, but the D20 adaption has fully ignored this flavour, instead changing Birritanti into a standard medieval town.
  • Similarly, all through the D20 book the inhabitants of the hill villages have been given cliched fantasy names, again ignoring the Nepalese-inspired setting and flavour.

 Trial of Champions
  • The D20 book claims that Chadda Darkmane was the first hero to successfully navigate Deathtrap Dungeon, something that has been mentioned nowhere in previous books.
  • The Strider creature in the cave below the rope bridge has been changed into a human assassin whose name is Strider.
  • The Witch summons Stirges, a D&D monster that does not belong in the FF setting.
  • The Tusker is changed to a boar-headed Minotaur.
  • The Siren is changed to a Black Elf called Anistasial.

There are plenty more changes throughout the series, but this will give you a taste of the sacrifices (and plain bizarre choices) that Myriador made to conform the FF adventures to D&D standards. In the end I guess it was fortunate that they never ended up finishing the Sorcery! adaptions and butchering Crown of Kings.


2 comments:

  1. I have recently played 'Warlock....' for D&D 3.5. It's true it is very plain and savourless and I've forced to change several parts. The map is erroneus regarding dimensions (especially the size of some rooms). Maybe the only thing 'correct' is the final dragon: 50' long in the book is tooo much a challenge fot a character who have just defeated some goblins hours ago.
    PS I liked very much this blog of yours. A good initiative! Go on!

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  2. The d20 adaptions, especially the Sorcery! ones, were a travesty. Complete disrespect for existing FF sources and settings. The names in the Sorcery! editions are perhaps the worst, most uninspired pile on rubbish I've ever seen, completely at odds with SJ's wonderfully evocative names and settings. Rant over!

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