When it comes to fantasy, role-playing, and all around gaming for me personally - Dungeons and Dragons has always stole the show for me. I still fondly remember my earliest days playing AD&D online in chatrooms with friends and strangers alike; and then moving forward into digital MUDs and ultimately MMORPGs. Through all of that, I have always kept a close eye on what started it all, which was the day that I picked up R.A. Salvatore's book: Streams of Silver.

Immediately after reading that as a young kid (not yet a teenager), I sought out the Crystal Shard and Hafling's Gem novels to complete my exploration into the Icewind Dale trilogy. Now here I am, 30+ books later and still looking forward to more. Mind you, that's only the R.A. Salvatore books I've read - so all the Tolkien, Lewis, and other lesser-known authors probably adds up to close to 100 fiction novels.

So when I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a post by Bob about this latest news, I immediately dropped everything I was doing to share it with you all.

Rage of Demons

This Fall, Wizards of the Coast plans to unleash an onslaught of campaign content for its fans - blanketing each and every medium. Featuring one of the publisher's most iconic characters of all time: Drizzt Do'Urden will find his way into many different products digital, print, and otherwise. The theme Rage of Demons will be set mostly in the Underdark of Faerun - as dark and powerful beings infiltrate the horrid depths and turn the intriguing and dark underworld to pure chaos. Even the denizens of the deep that reside there are not safe.

Featured Products

Below is a list of just a few of the major products, but check out the official Wizards of the Coast announcement linked above when you're done if this isn't enough information for you.

R.A. Salvatore Novel: Archmage

Kicking everything off will be a new book by R.A. Salvatore to set the tone for the demonic invasion called Archmage - which is set to hit shelves in early September. This novel should rank up there among some of Bob's best work in the Legend of Drizzt chronology, as the stories tend to get the most intense and dramatic whenever the rogue Drow is dealing with his homeland.

Dungeons & Dragons Tabletop Campaigns

Players who enjoy more classic D&D will have their plate full with plenty of campaigns to choose from, include quests and adventures written by Salvatore himself. The campaigns and adventures will tie into the Tyranny of Dragons and Elemental Evil stories, and should offer players plenty of places to give their character's a starting point. Out of the Abyss is the feature adventure, set directly in the Underdark as the demon lords begin their rampage.

Neverwinter Online

For those who prefer immersing themselves in the graphical digital worlds of online gaming, Neverwinter has tentatively titled a 2015 expansion Neverwinter: Underdark, that should fall into line somewhere along this massive campaign. The update will include glimpses of Drizzt as a feature character that players will fight alongside. It is currently planned as a definite go on PC and appears to be getting the green light for XBox One at a later date in the future.

Brand Director Nathan Stewart of WotC has this to say about the company-wide campaign:

"Rage of Demons is a huge storyline involving all expressions of Dungeons & Dragons, and we’re excited to bring players this story in concert with all of our partners. I can’t wait to see everyone interact with one of the world’s most recognizable fantasy characters: Drizzt Do’Urden. Descending into the depths won’t exactly be easy for him, and D&D fans will get their mettle tested just like Drizzt when they come face-to-face with all the demon lords."

I'm excited to see what Wizards of the Coast does with all these campaigns, as the Underdark of Faerun has always been one of the most intriguing realms in high-fantasy I have ever experienced. I personally will be keeping an eye out for my favorite Salvatore character of all: Jarlaxle to show his face somewhere. By the name of the key novel's title I imagine we'll be seeing plenty of the Baenre family, so my hopes are high that the eccentric bald renegade makes his appearance at some point.

Which product do you plan on buying, playing, or experiencing in some way? Let me know in the comment section below, as I would love to hear which of these you think is most-worth looking forward too. Additionally if you want to check out some of our other coverage on D&D's now-Free-to-Play Neverwinter game, you can find articles, news, and other content on that here.


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Neverwinter Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 15, 2016

About The Author

Alex has been playing online games and RPGs for quite some time, starting all the way back with Daggerfall, EverQuest, and Ultima Online. He's staying current with the latest games, picking up various titles and playing during his weekly streams on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings with both MMOs and MOBAs being feature plays. Hit him up on Twitter if you have a stream request for Freeplay Friday! Two future games he's got a keen eye on are Daybreak's EverQuest Next and Illfonic's Revival.

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