D&D 5E Ed Greenwood to write 5E's Forgotten Realms

Walking Dad · Aug 20, 2012

At least Maztica was enhanced for me by the "invaders" being a known FR culture. The others can exist independently, but sooner or later a eastern setting needs western barbarians and Faerun provides them in mass

RobertSullivan said:
...
I am... mostly indifferent.

Seconding this.

Tranquilis · Aug 21, 2012

Jeff Carlsen said:
One of the chats they did mentioned that they wanted to support playing in whatever era you like, so I wouldn't be surprised to see something like this.

That's an idea. I never could embrace the Realms whole cloth. There were "big picture" things that just didn't jive with me (mostly political). With that said, I grew to appreciate it - especially the 2nd edition stuff. Great fluff in all those pages of material! The Volo Guides are still at the top of my bathroom reading list...

What I never liked was the contrived "new edition = great catastrophe" motif. Second edition/Time of Troubles, fourth edition/Spellplague, etc. Blech. "Contrivation" run amuck, to coin a phrase! I don't mind the powers that be advancing the time/storyline, but earth-shattering events? Nah... It's not necessary, lucky game designer-guy!!

Grimmjow · Aug 23, 2012

if you dont mind me asking, what was Ed Greenwoods original FR? What did it look like compared to the spell plague FR?

GX.Sigma · Aug 23, 2012

Grimmjow said:
if you dont mind me asking, what was Ed Greenwoods original FR? What did it look like compared to the spell plague FR?

We'll all find out when "Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms" comes out in a few weeks.

Grimmjow · Aug 24, 2012

GX.Sigma said:
We'll all find out when "Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms" comes out in a few weeks.

how much will that tell us about the DDN FR?

prosfilaes · Aug 24, 2012

Zaukrie said:
I guess I've never understood "canon" at all. Use the parts you want, throw out the rest.

Who's the ruler of Molthune? If I'm playing canon Golarion, I can grab the book and answer that question. If I've replaced it with a kobold empire, I can't; and that's a lot of the advantage of running a preexisting campaign setting out the window. If I want to run a 16th level adventure, I can grab the Moonscar and run it; if I've changed Golarion's moons out for Dragonlance's, I can't. There's big advantages for running a campaign setting pretty much as it is.

Rocinante · Sep 2, 2012

prosfilaes said:
Who's the ruler of Molthune? If I'm playing canon Golarion, I can grab the book and answer that question. If I've replaced it with a kobold empire, I can't; and that's a lot of the advantage of running a preexisting campaign setting out the window. If I want to run a 16th level adventure, I can grab the Moonscar and run it; if I've changed Golarion's moons out for Dragonlance's, I can't. There's big advantages for running a campaign setting pretty much as it is.

Never even heard of Molthune, but I get your gist. And I agree, it's really nice to be able to refer to a book really quick for some bit of esoterica.

On the other hand, it's nice to make it up on the fly. That way takes effort, though. If you make it up instead of look it up, you need to write it down or you're likely to forget your on-the-fly ruling and screw it up later. And you can't rely on your players to have the same bad memory you have. Or I never could, at least.

But hey, a three-ring binder and a pack of paper isn't that expensive. Just jot down notes then once the game is over for the evening, formalize it in a database on your computer for later perusal. I've been gaming for so many years that I've come to greatly appreciate the ability to plug info into a handy-dandy computer file, something I couldn't do in my youth. It was the early 90's before I had a computer to use, and even then I didn't realize how useful it could be for this sort of thing until years later. I was in the habit of using a three ring binder and it took awhile to adapt.

I'm rambling, aren't I? I'll shut up now.

airwalkrr · Sep 2, 2012

I hope this means that we can go back to calling festhalls brothels again, as he originally intended.

Sammael · Sep 2, 2012

After more than a decade of running Realms-based campaigns, I am quite comfortable with the setting. I don't know every nook and cranny, but at the very least I know which resource to peruse for inspiration. And that's exactly what I want from the Next FRCS: inspiration. I want lore, history, ploot hooks. I want NPCs with interesting backstories, quirks, and personalities.

I don't want stats for gods (who are, IMC, beyond stats) or major NPCs (if I ever need them, I can easily make them up myself and they'll fit my vision better). I don't want generic innkeepers and clones of west European villages. I don't want Realms-shattering events. I don't want the inclusion of materials from other settings (Dragonborn, Warforged, etc) to be force-fed to me; optional sidebars - sure, why not; shattering the world to accomodate the latest race or eliminate a class - NO. JUST NO.

FTR, if Elminster is bothering you, just don't use him. If you're allowing him to overshadow the PCs (at any level), you're doing it wrong.