[FR] Do you use the Realms cosmology?

Shade

Monster Junkie

• Jul 21, 2005

• #1

This was inspired by discussion in another thread.

Does your Forgotten Realms campaign use the Forgotten Realms cosmology "as is", or do you use the Great Wheel or some combination of the two, or something else entirely?

I use the Great Wheel and some of the optional planes from the MOTP myself, with only the Fugue Plane from the FR cosmolgy thrown in.

 

Last edited: Jul 21, 2005

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Sammael

Adventurer

• Jul 21, 2005

• #2

I use a slightly modified version of the pre-3E Great Wheel. The Para- and Quasi- Elemental planes are still there, and Ethereal still connects to the Inner Planes, but the Plane of Shadow is a full-fledged plane.

In addition, the cosmology also includes the Far Realm and the Plane of Faerie (although the latter is actually a demiplane that wanders through the Ethereal and touches upon Prime worlds more frequently than other demiplanes).

 

Desdichado

Hero

• Jul 21, 2005

• #3

I'm not a FR DM, I'm a player in a Dark*Matter game and a DM of an Eberron game currently, but if I were, I'd use the 3e FR cosmology. I quite like it. And the Great Wheel I find kinda tiring; it's fine for Greyhawk, and it's integral to Planescape, but I see no reason to use it for any other setting.

 

Psion

Adventurer

• Jul 21, 2005

• #4

I don't run FR currently.

But in those moments where I was tempted to run one (back in 3.0 era. The book sure was nice...), it would have been the great Wheel. Shifting away from the great wheel was, AFAICT, an unneccesary shift.

But I'd kill of Elminster too, so take that for what it's worth.

 

wingsandsword

Legend

• Jul 21, 2005

• #5

The Great Wheel is the Forgotten Realms cosmology, forget this nonsense retconning from the 3e FRCS. The Fugue Plane is part of Kelemvor's realm. Cynosure is a demiplane, shadow is a major demiplane that touches a large number of inner planes and prime worlds, but still technially a demiplane. Virtually all the "Realms" planes are existing Wheel planes renamed, or are just layers/realms within those planes.

Yes, it's also the Greyhawk cosmology too, because Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Birthright, Ravenloft, Planescape, Spelljammer and Dark Sun are all part of the same multiverse (with Ravenloft very hard to get out of, and Athas very hard to get into or out of). As much as WotC tries to forget that was ever the case, it is.

IMC, the "Great Tree" Realms cosmology map exists, as a bit of "clueless prime berk" nonsense plastered up in the libraries and labs of wizards who have probably never been planar, or certainly never travelled around too far if they have, kind of like the horribly inaccurate world maps from the middle ages that had Jerusalem as the center of the world and everything else distorted around it.

 

Last edited: Jul 21, 2005

Shemeska

Adventurer

• Jul 21, 2005

• #6

wingsandsword said:

The Great Wheel is the Forgotten Realms cosmology, forget this nonsense retconning from the 3e FRCS.

Yes, it's also the Greyhawk cosmology too, because Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Birthright, Ravenloft, Planescape, Spelljammer and Dark Sun are all part of the same multiverse (with Ravenloft very hard to get out of, and Athas very hard to get into or out of). As much as WotC tries to forget that was ever the case, it is.

Click to expand...

Amen.

I use FR and it's a part of the Great Wheel cosmology. FWIW, I also add a wandering demi-plane of Faerie to account for the Seelie and Unseelie courts, and their intimate connection to the prime material worlds. I use the 3e Shadow plane as a full plane (not demiplane as in 2e), but I use the Ethereal plane as it was in 2e, as an actual transitive, before it was shafted in 3e.

I have the fugue but it's just a part of Kelemvor's domain on the Waste, and I have Cynosure, but it's effectively a demiplane rather than a plane unto itself. That said, I answered Great Wheel only since those planes existed in the Great Wheel prior to the 3e retcon to end all retcons

 

Desdichado

Hero

• Jul 21, 2005

• #7

wingsandsword said:

Yes, it's also the Greyhawk cosmology too, because Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Birthright, Ravenloft, Planescape, Spelljammer and Dark Sun are all part of the same multiverse (with Ravenloft very hard to get out of, and Athas very hard to get into or out of). As much as WotC tries to forget that was ever the case, it is.

Click to expand...

I don't think they "forgot" it; they realized that it was pretty inane and consciously changed it.

 

Ankh-Morpork Guard

First Post

• Jul 21, 2005

• #8

I haven't run FR in a while, but the last game I tried out the 'new' cosmology. Neutral on it, really. I'd probably use it again, but it doesn't matter to me all that much. If you're playing in a world as big as the Realms, the cosmology just doesn't feel as necessary.

 

Arnwyn

First Post

• Jul 21, 2005

• #9

wingsandsword said:

The Great Wheel is the Forgotten Realms cosmology, forget this nonsense retconning from the 3e FRCS.

Click to expand...

Yes, that.

I use the Great Wheel only, and ignore the 3e FRCS version.

 

F

Faraer

Explorer

• Jul 21, 2005

• #10

I treat both the original AD&D planar structure and the 3E Realms one as partial, fallible mortal maps of the infinite, unfathomable planes.