The Time of Troubles: COMPLETE Story of D&D's Deadliest Crisis (13 Gods Died)

Comments · 72

• LI

  @LightStreak567 · 5 months ago

  Fun fact: The D&D PC game Eye of the Beholder starts less than a month after Bhaal died, and the first Baldur's Gate game takes place 10 years later.

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• DC

  @DCdabest · 5 months ago (edited)

  When the two least popular employees steal the manager's iPad to give themselves the week off, and now everyone has to do overtime.

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• NI

  @NicholsonNeisler-fz3gi · 5 months ago (edited)

  The Time of Troubles novels (1989)—especially the Avatar Trilogy (Shadowdale, Tantras, Waterdeep)—were released in deliberate sync with the launch of Advanced Dungeons &amp; Dragons 2nd Edition, and they function as more than just tie-in fiction. They actively carry the burden of explaining a rules overhaul through narrative. In-world, the crisis begins when Ao casts the gods down to Toril, stripping them of their divinity after the Tablets of Fate are stolen. This results in the deaths, replacements, and transformations of major deities—Bane, Myrkul, and Bhaal all fall, while mortals like Cyric and Midnight ascend. These upheavals directly justify mechanical changes introduced in 2E—such as revised clerical magic systems, the removal or alteration of certain spells, and the concept of specialty priests tied more tightly to specific gods. Even the presence of wild magic zones and dead magic areas reflects the temporary breakdown of the Weave during this divine disruption, making the novels essentially a lore-driven patch note for the new edition.<br><br>From a broader perspective, this was one of the more ambitious—and slightly heavy-handed—examples of meta-storytelling in tabletop gaming. It was impressive: instead of quietly changing rules, TSR chose to mythologize the transition, giving players a sense that their world was alive and reactive to cosmic forces.

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• JK

  @jkl1110 · 5 months ago

  Another interesting point, mystra as midnight also medled with magic, even denying it to evil users. Before she fully assumed her role anyway and was still mortal G

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• RA

  @randalthor1327 · 5 months ago

  This just made me find the trilogy and going to read it after this.

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• AN

  @Andrewstonerock · 5 months ago

  Also, if you find a powerful enough Netherese artifact laying around you could potentially ascend.......

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• WY

  @wyvern723 · 5 months ago

  Loved this books when I read them in high school and college.

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• TO

  @tomtricity · 5 months ago

  Read these in high school... It was this trilogy, Dragonlance and the Warrior trilogy from Battletech... I reread those books until they literally fell apart.

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• FR

  @Fr.O.G. · 5 months ago

  my head canon: forseeing the time of troubles is why savras became azuth&apos;s staff. whether it was predestination or the only way he could survive what would come, it was intentional on his part

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• CH

  @christopheralbright9650 · 5 months ago

  Thank you for this exploration of the Times of Trubles! I knew of the story of Cyric, but not most of the rest.

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• TH

  @ThojifadMain · 5 months ago (edited)

  This is one of my favorite storylines. &nbsp;🙂 &nbsp;Thanks for doing this.

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• MA

  @magwaaf · 2 months ago

  A lot of stuff happens before myrkuul gets to waterdeep too &nbsp;that&apos;s so much later in the main story

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