WHEN DOES THE DREAMING DARK SERIES JUMP THE SHARK?

 

It can't, the DC is too high.

 

When they introduced Pierce's forge-cousin, the barbarian warforged scout "Scrappy."

 

That critical moment when we discover that the call is coming from inside the warforged!!!

 

When Lei gets someone to talk to inside her head too - she, Pierce and Daine just sit around talking to 'themselves' until they achieve inner peace.

 

When Lei, Daine, and Pierce are forced to travel to an untamed realm of savage horrors. A realm where every woman is a prostitute, where kalashtar are ruthlessly mocked and persecuted. That's right… Kazakhstan.

 

When the BBEG is revealed to be a fiery Bovine from Fernia.

 

All the main characters discover the dream of a Character Optimization Board user while wandering Dal Quor, and proceed to take unkillable loophole exploiting builds from then on, doing what no other party has done before: winning D&D.

 

Soylent Jode is made out of halfling! IT'S HALFLING!!!

 

The deus ex machina where The Trust Gninja Squad appears out of nowhere to save the day.

 

After they bring dark elves into it, of course. But I'm sure we don't have to worry about THAT happening.

 

All the Gloom product placements. I didn't mind when they were trapped on the train, or even when they were put into prison. But when Lei was delighted by ducklings while Daine was being pursued by poodles? That was just too much.

 

Um, there was this one time, at band camp...

 

When it ends with a big musical number ala Grease, Lei transforms herself into a leather wearing warrior chick and sings to Daine "You're the one that I want!  Oooh, oooh!"

 

Jode comes back as the first warforged with a dragonmark!

 

The whole adventure happened inside Daine's head while he lay on an experiment table in Whitehearth. 

 

After Lei loses her finger she starts running yelling "MY PRECIOUS!!!!"

 

Given that we already have Indigo, the warforged assassin, I'd say it's when we see Cap'n Pegleg, the warforged pirate.

 

Jode jumps out from behind a pillar and yells, "DON'T DRINK IT THAT'S JUST A SAMPLE FOR THE DOCTOR!" and the age turns in Dal Quor while the studio audience laughs.

 

When Pierce grows a goatee and starts his Warforged 5 Minute Combat Dating Service.

 

Lei and Daine have a drunken night of passion resulting in twins being born who can pilot an unknown Xen'drik vessel to some alien planet and open up the floodgates to an alien invasion... sounds like a great movie plot!

 

That chapter where they dragged in Galstaf: Sorcerer of Light, to guest star as Talin d'Cannith.  

 

The bit where Daine & co. walk into a room containing a single apparently unarmed goblin and not a single one of them realise the GM is about to throw a level 21 monk at them. Completely unrealistic!

 

When the Dreaming Dark sends a Fonzalaq Quori to strap on some Sulatar elemental bound water skis and jumps a Steel Kraken in Kraken Bay.

 

When they introduced that Renegade Mastermaker chick with the huge rack to boost readership.
 

When we realize the story was just Jode day dreaming.
 

When you finish reading it.

 

Lei really is a warforged! 

 

Sulatar Firesled races.

 

When more people than me and my tiny internet clique started to like it.

 

Page 42, of course.

 

Pierce is really Lei's brother rebuilt as a warforged. 

 

That damn Ricky Gervais chapter Wizards just couldn't stop talking about.

 

In answer to your question, I'd have to say the trilogy jumps the shark when it's finally revealed exactly what Lakashtai gets up to when she's bored... jumping into the dreams of hardened, battle-scarred war veterans and making them sexually fantasize about other men. Yes, it turns out that when she's not callously manipulating our heroes or plotting the downfall of nations Lakashtai's actually a raving slashfic fan girl.

 

And finally, from internationally celebrated author Edward Bolme…

 

… When the author has to resort to cheesy contests like this to boost sales. (Ed Bolme)