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

Shemeska · Jun 7, 2012

Greenwood having creative control for the 5e Realms has me listening, for the first time in years where FR is concerned. But if they want to get me back after my interest in it cratered after seeing 4e turn it into something barely resembling FR, they'll probably need to let Ed and some others (Boyd? Schend? Either of them too please?) have complete editorial control to redact or reboot in part or in whole.

But this is promising news. We shall see.

Olgar Shiverstone · Jun 7, 2012

Fenes said:
I like FR for the rich setting, and the details it added, and the history. I don't really use all the high-level NPCs.

Yeah, this is what I do. I run FR like Greyhawk.

I'd prefer to reset back to the Grey Box, but failing that would accept a "here's several historical eras to play in" set of choices.

The most important thing WotC can do is have the game setting and novels get a divorce. Let the novel story line progress off in whatever direction its Realms-shattering events want; the game setting should stay static so individual DMs can decide how they want it to progress.

Janaxstrus · Jun 7, 2012

Olgar Shiverstone said:
Yeah, this is what I do. I run FR like Greyhawk.

I'd prefer to reset back to the Grey Box, but failing that would accept a "here's several historical eras to play in" set of choices.

The most important thing WotC can do is have the game setting and novels get a divorce. Let the novel story line progress off in whatever direction its Realms-shattering events want; the game setting should stay static so individual DMs can decide how they want it to progress.

The "realms shattering events" were all driven by the game, not the novel authors. R.A. Salvatore is on record as being very opposed to the Spellplague in particular.

Obryn · Jun 7, 2012

The only incarnation of the Realms I absolutely love is the classic 1e grey box. Maybe a few of the 1e/2e FR series for zooming in on some areas, but not all of them, and arguably you're better off without some... The setting is lean, concise, and actually leaves vast stretches of the wilderness completely open to the DM to do what they will. And the areas that are described are mostly thumbnail sketches for the DM to use as inspiration when building their own Realms. The promise of the unknown and adventure was everywhere - a lot like the 1e Greyhawk boxed set, but a little more fleshed-out.

2e's and especially 3e's releases wrecked the Realms for me with canon bloat. Too many novels, too many supplements, and just altogether too much going on. Those blank spaces got filled in. Those thumbnail sketches turned into 8 megapixel photos. The sense of wonder and mystery was harmed.

I didn't care much for the 4e setting until the Neverwinter book came out last year. That's actually a remarkably well-done setting that finally gives you some hint of what this spellplague business would be like, and finally show what's potentially cool about it. With that said, it's no Grey Box, but it's a workable setting with some good stuff going for it.

-O

IanB · Jun 7, 2012

Janaxstrus said:
The "realms shattering events" were all driven by the game, not the novel authors. R.A. Salvatore is on record as being very opposed to the Spellplague in particular.

Eh, that may be true of the top level of events, but the game materials are rife with changes caused by novels as well. Compare and contrast to Eberron novels, which do not change the game canon at all. I find this preferable from a DMing standpoint, in part because I don't have to read crappy tie-in novels to understand why a change was made from one product to another.

Now it may be that people want the novels to 'count' and that the draw for a lot/most Realms fans is interacting with those NPCs, I couldn't tell you, I just know that's not my own preference.

Zaukrie · Jun 7, 2012

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

IanB · Jun 7, 2012

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

Sure, but that does involve some amount of work. If I want to run a premade setting, and I sit down with Golarion or Eberron (at least currently) I can be sure that any supplement I grab from any edition that setting exists in will be compatible with any other supplement I grab from that setting (not rules-wise, but fluff-wise). With FR you have to pay a lot closer attention to things like 'what era does this book cover' and 'are the maps going to match in these 2 books' and that sort of thing.

If I'm going to be spending time on that, I'd rather spend it on my never-will-be-ready-to-actually-use homebrew setting.

SeRiAlExPeRiMeNtS · Jun 7, 2012

You can disagree but to me the only thing that would save the realms is a total reboot, pick up what is good, ignore what isn't.

Rogue Agent · Jun 7, 2012

delericho said:
This text has absolutely no place in the RPG setting book - it totally trivialises anything that the PCs might accomplish in the setting.

I have little patience with 1st level characters who think they're the Kings of the World. You want to deal with the kinds of problems that Elminster is dealing with? Work for it. You want to be as important as Han Solo? Earn it.

Players who whine because there are demi-gods in the world when their PCs don't get to start as demi-gods are spoiled children. It takes the concept of "player entitlement" and cranks it up 99 on a scale of 1-10.

"Oh no! My viking PC is totally trivialized by the existence of Thor!"

Incenjucar · Jun 7, 2012

Rogue Agent said:
I have little patience with 1st level characters who think they're the Kings of the World. You want to deal with the kinds of problems that Elminster is dealing with? Work for it. You want to be as important as Han Solo? Earn it.

Players who whine because there are demi-gods in the world when their PCs don't get to start as demi-gods are spoiled children. It takes the concept of "player entitlement" and cranks it up 99 on a scale of 1-10.

"Oh no! My viking PC is totally trivialized by the existence of Thor!"

You literally cannot catch up to Elminster without vast amounts of DM fiat.

May as well try to catch up to Ao.