White Plume Mountain

Dungeons & Dragons: Greyhawk, Book 1

By: Paul Kidd

Narrated by: Bernard Setaro Clark

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

A remorseless ranger. A sentient hell hound pelt with a penchant for pyromania. An irksome pixie who sells intrigue and information.

Three companions who find themselves trapped in a city filled with warring priestly factions, devious machinations, and an angry fiend. To save the city, they must find three weapons of power, which lie in the most trap-laden, monster-infested place this side of Acererak's tomb: White Plume Mountain.

©1999 TSR, Inc., 2003 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Plays on classic D&D tropes well

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed most how it made fun of some of the classic 2E tropes. 10 foot poles. Analyzing each and every door. Spiking doors after they been opened. If any of these things seem familiar to you, you'll enjoy the books take IMO.

Justice Incarnate With Just a Hint of Flippant Fae

Where does White Plume Mountain rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best I have listened too. The character has that Greyhawk feel and is well placed in the original D&D setting. Very well written and very well read.This is a must for anyone that has played D&D when they were young.Chaotic good portrayed in a setting where law is what you say it is when you are out in the wild. Good folk judging bad folk and kicking their butts because they did wrong.

What other book might you compare White Plume Mountain to and why?

This book and it's series is right up there with March up Country read by Rudniki. Both are excellent character builds with stories that propel the main character and their groups into the story.

What does Bernard Setaro Clark bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The tempo is well done and the timing is right on. I read this book many years ago and this reading by Bernard did it justice.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, this book and the next in the series were what I was looking for. It would be excellent for a cross country trip in a car or a long flight across an ocean.

Any additional comments?

The characters work well against each other. Polk the teamster is a character everyone knows. No matter how well you do something he makes comments on how it could have been done better, Always there with advice until you ask him his experience and find out he has none. Good nature, well meaning but a know it all makes for a good chuckle from time to time. Throw in a clepto faerie to match wits with the main character who believes justice over all and you you have cocktail for good laughs, interesting situations and the mix to make good friendships.Read it and it's series and you won't regret it.

A trip down memory lane...with monsters.

This was the first module that I ever bought, and I did so right when it came out. TSR was just starting to put them out there and I still remember reading through this dungeon and thinking, "We are doing it all wrong. This is AMAZING!"

When I saw a book based on that adventure, I was almost scared to give it a go. I quit playing years ago and one of my fond memories from childhood were the campaigns using SI & S2 (but not in that order since S1 was for VERY high level parties), as well as the G and D series (How long did we wait for "Queen of the Demonweb Pits"?)

This story was fantastic. I was a little bummed at some of the stuff that did not get mentioned. Chasing a demon through the dungeon sort of ruined a few of the encounters. But I still felt like I was witnessing the game being played. It brought back my own recollections, and there were even a few moments where I slapped my forehead and thought, "Why didn't we think of that?"

As for the two main characters, they gave me enough to care about, but the "hirelings" seemed like cardboard cut outs of stereotypical bad guys (yeah...even a Paladin is a "bad" guy here) and I found that to be just a little lame. I get that the desire was for the Ranger and the Faerie to dominate the scene, but to make everybody else an antagonist got tiring. I will venture forth at least one more time. I am somewhat perplexed by the order of the books in this series as well as disappointed that the D Series mods get the treatment but the G series (my personal favorite) seems to have been left out.

Excellent LitRPG without the stats

I'm a fan of the Literature RPG genera that has made a recent surge in popularity. This book has a lot of the same feel without getting bogged down with statistics and calculations. Kidd did a good job with entertaining characters that grow throughout the books and a narrative that flows from one event to the next.

The adventures continue with Greyhawk Books 2 and 4, Descent Into the Depths of the Earth and Queen of the Demonweb Pits.

Great D&D

Any additional comments?

The main character is stoic and just right for a D&D ranger (or paladin). Think, Kwai Chang Caine (the old Kung Fu TV series) or an Eastwood old spaghetti western or stuff along those lines. While that isn’t normally what I think of for a D&D story it works well. His possessed hell hound pelt sidekick isn’t always under control. The mischievous fairy they pair up with works as a good combo.

There are something like 4 different environments or settings that the story takes place in, including a dungeon (which is what 1 of the Ds refers to in D&D afterall). The story has a good balance of action, settings, light character interplay and humor.

Except for the fairy’s voice being a bit too deep, I thought the narration was excellent with a variety of American and Australian accents.

Fast-paced, Adventuresome Fun

White Plume Mountain is a novelization of a classic Dungeons & Dragons adventure from the late 70's and early 80s. This book is full of action, with plenty of vile monsters and despicable humans to keep the story racing from point to point.

WPM manages to be well-written and well-crafted story, without ever taking itself too seriously. The characters aren't deep, but they are fun, and the reader knows exactly how to feel about them.

This is not an epic fantasy novel. If you're looking for 'The Lord of the Rings,' you won't find it here, but what you will find should be a lot of fun.

Great Book, but...

This was a very good book, but it is mislabeled as the first in the series... it is in fact the second in the series.

D&D at it's finest!

I loved this book! It had derring-do, fakery, swashbuckling goodness, and justice in the end!

Good clean dungeon crawling fun!

The story was a lot of fun. Cinders is the best character, but all in all very enjoyable. The writing was well done and the voice actor is awesome!

Good enough to pass the time

What made the experience of listening to White Plume Mountain the most enjoyable?

I listen to audio books in my car while sitting in traffic to/from work. I'm a captive audience so I'm less critical than some listeners. The best part of this book is the nostalgia surrounding the subject material - White Plume Mountain. The writer does a descent job building characters and portraying the subject material.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

I was satisfied with the ending. Overall I enjoyed it enough that I'm going to listen to the next book in the series by the same writer following the same characters.

Which character – as performed by Bernard Setaro Clark – was your favorite?

The characters have very standard personalities for their roles. That being said, the sentient hell hound pelt named Cinders is amusing and creative but that credit goes to the writer more than the narrator. The narrator did an excellent job with the core group of characters having different voices and personalities within those voices. I will look for additional audio books he has narrated specifically.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

This book was NOT something I wanted to listen too all in one sitting. The overall character and plot development was average and really the most compelling thing for me was my nostalgia associated with White Plume Mountain.

Any additional comments?

Overall, I'm glad I purchased the audio version. It provided me a joyful connection to role-playing games while held captive within the confines of my daily commute. I don't believe I would have finished reading the actual book.

Accents turned me off

Don't attempt an accent if you can't do it convincingly. Story was better than the person reading it.

An Amusing Tale

Story well written. Reading is full of weird accents, which are supposed to be British, but sound totally stupid. The story satirises D&D and the fantasy genre realy well, if you know what you're looking for.

very enjoyable

funny cavalier fun with great characters. cinders is great. the only criticism in the narrators voice for some of the characters,.,.. dreadful Scottish and Irish type accents make an appearance. especially for the pixie,.. dear god a dreadful voice\accent. otherwise great rip roaring adventure.

Good start to the series

I really enjoyed this book. Narrator does a great job with the various characters and tone of the book. Onwards to The Temple of Elemental Evil.

Makes D&D even more enjoyable

I only recently began delving into D&D, playing with a few friends, and finding that audible had a few stories in the genre was a welcomed sight. I found myself lost in thought a few times listening to this story, which is a testament to the writing, (but not so good for me as I like to walk about when I listen). I got the second volume as well, so I'm eager to listen to the next tale of these characters on a new adventure. Overall a good listen.

Terrible

Love playing D&D... Hated this story. Bless the reader, he tried, but his various accents are dreadful. I stopped listening, waste of a credit. You could play a drinking game: Drink every time the fairy's naked backside is referenced. You'd be on the floor in about ten minutes.

Great introduction

As a D&D player in the Forgotten Realms setting, I've always wanted to dip into the Greyhawk series, so bought this book as a first step, highly enjoyed the story, it's standard fantasy fare, but does some world building, can't wait to get into the next book.

Best narrator by far!

What made the experience of listening to White Plume Mountain the most enjoyable?

The narrator

What did you like best about this story?

The story and the way the narrator told it

Which character – as performed by Bernard Setaro Clark – was your favourite?

Escala

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

A bit of everything, mostly giggles

Any additional comments?

Fantastic!

Truly enjoyable adventure

Good voice-acting by the narrator, some memorable characters,.... The adventure-story is standard D&D fare but enjoyable nonetheless.