D&D Exclusive – New Novel ‘The Fallbacks: Bound for Ruin’ Sets the Stage for a New Party
We have an exclusive excerpt from the upcoming new D&D novel, The Fallbacks: Bound for Ruin. Meet the Fallbacks.
Next week, a new D&D novel hits, setting up an adventuring party that feels a lot more like the ones you’d find around your table. And it’s worth mentioning because the evolution of an adventuring party has come a long way in the last few years. You could almost trace it to the rise of streaming. And there’s probably a lot of pop culture tie-ins as well. But it’s interesting how adventuring parties have changed from the days when you had the Companions of the Lance, or even Drizzt and his friends, to something that feels a little more like the Guardians of the Galaxy.
The party in the D&D Movie, Honor Among Thieves, reflects this transition.
In a new novel debuting Tuesday from NYT Bestselling author Jaleigh Johnson, we meet an adventuring party that feels a lot more modern. The party is a little scrappy, a little chaotic, a little bit of a total disaster that comes together, and who feels like the kinds of characters you might just play.
We were lucky enough to be sent an excerpt from the new novel, which introduces the eponymous adventuring party, The Fallbacks, complete with a “weird little guy” as an adopted pet, in this case, a friendly otyugh named Uggie:
The Fallbacks’ leader, Tessalynde, is an ambitious young rogue who dreams of leading Faerûn’s foremost adventuring party. Her crew: Anson, a fighter too stubborn to stay down even when the odds are stacked against him. Cazrin, a self-taught wizard determined to test her theoretical mettle against the real world. Baldric, a cleric who refuses to tie himself to a single deity when he can trade favors with them all. Lark, a bard with as many secrets as songs. And Uggie, a monstrous pet otyugh who loves giving hugs and eating trash.
In the book, the five adventurers will set out on a simple job: retrieve a spellbook from a lost temple, but then it all goes awry. The adventurer’s client is killed, and the Fallbacks are set up to take the blame (and none of the reward), leaving them, ahem, Bound for Ruin.
The Fallbacks: Bound for Ruin – Exclusive First Look
Interested in learning more? Here’s an excerpt from when Tessalynde and her friends have just fled the scene of the crime, realizing that they’re the ones everyone will blame.
Even if they’d wanted to, there was no time for anyone to argue. The voices and footsteps were getting closer. Anson’s group took off down the alley away from the Watch while Tess pulled Cazrin across the street to a nearby garden gate. The lock was as basic as they came. It took Tess all of ten seconds to pick it, and the pair slipped inside, with Uggie thumping along behind them.
“We’ll cut through here and go over the back wall,” Tess whispered as they moved carefully in the dark, Cazrin keeping close behind her. The smell of roses and lilac was a heavy perfume in the air. “That should get us far enough away from where they’re searching.”
Advertisement“That sounds smart, but—” Behind her, Cazrin stumbled and gave a muffled yelp.
“Are you all right?” Tess stopped and turned to the wizard. “I forgot you can’t see in the dark the way I can. You can hold onto me if you need to.”
“It’s not that, although it is a little hard to see with just the moonlight and the garden lanterns,” Cazrin said. She had her satchel open, and Tess was surprised to see she held the Ruinous Child by the spine between her thumb and forefinger. “It’s the book. It keeps setting things on fire.”
“It—what?” Tess stepped closer to get a better look. Sure enough, the inside of Cazrin’s satchel was blackened, and Tess could feel the heat radiating off the book. “What is going on with that thing?”
“I don’t know,” Cazrin said, sounding concerned but also slightly giddy. “It’s a fascinating puzzle. I can’t wait to study it more. Do you know, I felt the book growing warmer and warmer the farther we got from Sefeerian’s house?” She gasped. “You don’t suppose it misses Sefeerian, do you? I was nursing a theory that the book might have some form of sentience, and I think I might have been right. Maybe it didn’t want to be separated from its owner, or—”
AdvertisementTess raised a hand to cut her off as voices echoed over the stone garden wall. Taking Cazrin’s arm, Tess pulled her deeper into the garden, ducking beneath the low-hanging branches of a cluster of apple trees. Uggie squeezed in beside them, chewing on strips of tree bark until Tess pulled her away and shushed her.
“We’ll wait here a minute until they pass,” Tess whispered, silently hoping the Watch didn’t come into the garden. She glanced down at the Ruinous Child, which Cazrin was still holding between her fingertips. “Is it burning you? Do you want me to hold it for a while?”
“Actually, it’s getting cooler now,” Cazrin said. “I think I can put it away.” She opened her satchel and grimaced at the ruined interior. “This was my favorite,” she said sadly. Then, brightening, “But it doesn’t matter. I’ll just get a new one with a fireproof lining. That’s something I should have anyway, to protect against fire magic.”
“Well, at least you found a bright side,” Tess said. “You know, once we get out of the city, I think we should take the Ruinous Child to Candlekeep. They might be able to tell us more about it and how to open it. We’re going to need all the information we can get if we’re going to solve Sefeerian’s murder.”
Cazrin practically vibrated off the grass. “Candlekeep!” she squealed softly. “Oh, I’ve always wanted to go there. I’ve dreamt about it since I was a child, but my family…” She cleared her throat. “That is, it’s difficult to gain entry.”
“I know,” Tess said. They would have to present the Avowed, the keepers of the library, with a book that was new to Candlekeep’s collection in order to get inside. “We’ll figure something out.” She cocked her head, listening. “I don’t hear the Watch anymore. We should try to move while we have the chance.”
AdvertisementThey made their way out from beneath the apple trees to the ivy-covered back wall, which was about six feet tall, with plenty of handholds for Cazrin and Tess. Uggie was another story.
“Do you have some magic that can lift Uggie over the wall?” Tess asked hopefully.
“Oh, yes,” Cazrin said, waving a hand, as if she made otyughs fly on a regular basis. “I could get her all the way to that rooftop if you wanted.” She pointed to the townhouse bordering the garden.
Tess followed her gaze. “You know, that’s not a bad idea,” she said. “We don’t know how many streets they’re closing off, and the houses here are packed pretty close together. We could travel by rooftop until we get out of the area.”
She waited while Cazrin cast the spell. When she’d finished, Uggie gently floated up as if she were being lifted on a cloud, her tentacles waving and stumpy feet running on air. Uggie let out an excited little bleat, and Tess put a finger to her lips.
“Quiet, Uggie,” she whispered. “I know it’s fun, but we’re trying to be stealthy.”
“Yes, if someone were to lean out their window and see a floating otyugh, we might have trouble,” Cazrin said. “It’s not something you see every day.”
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It was a good point. Tess probably should have thought this plan through a bit more. “If we move quickly, I’m sure no one will notice,” she said, projecting as much confidence as she could.
Cazrin secured her staff to her back through a small harness, while Tess scrambled up the ivy-covered wall, Uggie floating along beside her. When she reached the top, Tess looked down to see Cazrin gaping at her in the darkness.
“How did you get up there so fast?” Cazrin demanded.
Tess grinned. “I do this a lot,” she said, reaching a hand down to help Cazrin as she climbed the wall. When they were standing side by side at the top, Tess steadied Cazrin while she adjusted her overskirt so it wouldn’t trip her.
Cazrin looked doubtfully up at the looming wall of the townhouse. There was a three-foot gap between it and the garden wall. “I think I can get across, but I’m not sure I’m up for that climb,” she said. “Maybe I can hold onto Uggie, and the spell can lift us both, although I know there’s a particular weight limit because I tested it once on a full rain barrel, and the results were less than promising, so it might not work.”
“It’s all right,” Tess said. “Once we cross the gap, I’ll have you get behind me and put your arms around my neck, and then I can get us both up to the roof. It’s not a problem.”
Cazrin looked relieved. “Well, as long as you’re sure I won’t be too heavy.”
Tess scrutinized the wizard. “I doubt you’re heavier than a sack of stones. We should be fine.”“Do you, er, have much experience climbing with sacks of stones?” Cazrin asked.
Advertisement“Of course. Come on.” Tess leaped from the garden wall to the closest window ledge of the townhouse, easily finding small handholds in the surrounding bricks. Fortunately, all the windows on this side of the building were covered by heavy curtains, and there were no lights on in the townhouse that she could see. Either the occupants had retired for the night or, if they were lucky, no one was home, so no one would accidentally open their window for some fresh air and instead get a front row seat to the floating Uggie show.
She stretched out a hand across the gap to Cazrin. “It’s all right,” she repeated calmly, when Cazrin hesitated. “It’s not as far as it looks. My hand’s right there – just take it.”
The Fallbacks: Bound for Ruin comes out on March 5th!
Excerpt reprinted from Dungeons & Dragons: The Fallbacks: Bound for Ruin by Jaleigh Johnson. © 2024 by Wizards of the Coast LLC. Published by Random House Worlds, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
