D&D 5E 5E Forgotten Realms: what will it look like?

[Shemeska]

You're one person compared to the legions of post-Spellplague fans.

I'm not so sure there are legions of them, given how utterly desolate the online FR forums are now both on the WotC boards and Candlekeep, compared to at any point during the 3e FR period. If that's a trend that affected sales as well, I suspect that's going to drive 5e FR design if they're smart. Otherwise I think they risk long-term damage to the IP.

That and there are some talented folks whose work I'd like to be more fully able to enjoy without the cognitive dissonance that the Spellplague and its changes tends to induce for me.

 

[GSHamster]

I think the problem with rebooting is not so much the RPG fans, but the novel fans. I think that the vast majority of RPG fans could get behind an edition that rolled everything back, including both the Spellplague and the Time of Troubles.

But I just don't see how that can square with the novels. Would new novels start from the beginning too? Or would they continue on in an alternate universe?

I think the best bet is a walkback/healing from the excesses of the Spellplague, so the Realms return to something closer to its pre-4E form, but maybe with the Shades still running around, etc.

 

[avin]

And you're still not accepting the fact that I said from the beginning that I wouldn't mind a section on post-Spellplague FR, as long as it were easily removable from the books.

Like some folks did on Time of Troubles?

I guess Spellplague will be in, Faerûn healing and timeline moving up. Like [MENTION=20187]GSHamster[/MENTION] said, they won't ignore novels.

 

[Herschel]

I'm not so sure there are legions of them, given how utterly desolate the online FR forums are now both on the WotC boards and Candlekeep, compared to at any point during the 3e FR period. If that's a trend that affected sales as well, I suspect that's going to drive 5e FR design if they're smart. Otherwise I think they risk long-term damage to the IP.

That and there are some talented folks whose work I'd like to be more fully able to enjoy without the cognitive dissonance that the Spellplague and its changes tends to induce for me.

Then why are so many happy playing LFR, reading novels and such without complaining one iota and actually on the general boards who like it? Your anecdotal "evidence" is ludicrous but then you spend a lot of time bashing 4E every chance you get.

That's not to say there aren't a lot of pre-spellplague fans and heck, there's a lot of people who got turned off by the Time of Troubles. It's sub-edition wars within edition wars. There's fans of all versions. Alienating them is what they're trying to avoid which is why the timeline approach is the most likely way they'll go (along with another change post-spellplague too).

 

[TarionzCousin]

Just for [MENTION=2072]Aeolius[/MENTION], they're going to put all of the current known world under water.



And Elminster will replace Ao as the Overgod--it will be Ed Greenwood giving a big finger to all of the Elminster-haters.

 

[Herschel]

LoL, though it wouldn't surprise me to see a new God ascend to be the center of "The Weave". I'd expect there's another at least fairly major development to move the timeline forward.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Reboot to the Grey Box. Campaign settings should expand outward, not forward.

 

[drothgery]

The amazon.com reviews of 4E FR suggest otherwise, and given that 4E FR saw only three or so setting books for it, it seems extremely unlikely that 4E FR fans are "legion".

I'm not an FR fan at all, but I would note that the Realms are the only 4e setting that has recieved any support in print beyond the initial three books, in Neverwinter last year and Menzobarren this year.

 

[JeffB]

Given the outcry (as well as the love, for some) that occurred over the 4E Forgotten Realms cataclysm - spellplague, Abeir, god-killing, nation-nuking, etc... what do you think the 5E Forgotten Realms will look like?

Will they ditch / remove the 4E Realms in some way? (reset to an earlier edition state? have a Star Trek-style timeline reboot?)

Will they simply tone down the cataclysmic changes of 4E Realms, or keep all the 4E changes?

Will they have yet another BOOM! with a world-shattering event?

What do you think? Hope for? Are you happy with the way it is?

Do you care? Or is it way too late?

I don't really care anymore to be honest (see last paragraph)

I'm not sure what they will do- since WOTC seems to be trying hard to unite fans of various D&D incarnations, we could see the 4E Realms timeline go the way of the do-do. I personally liked the "re-set" of FR for 4E , if not all the specific changes. I also liked how the 4E FRCS was geared towards adventure sites, plot seeds, and stuff your group's PCs can get involved in, without going absolutely overboard ala 2E/3E did with material on the actions of NPCs/Gods of the Realms, and borderline useless background history.

All that said, the only way I'd buy the next edition FR book/s is if they reset to before the ToT, because as a line of D&D gaming products that OGB, and FR1-6 have yet to be outdone, AFAIC. In fact I personally get by just dandy with the OGB, Waterdeep & the North, and The Savage Frontier when I'm running the Realms.

 

[Sylrae]

Count me in the "not interested in PoL FR" camp.

I'll buy 5e FR material, if it supports the 1340-1380 DR era, or if it supports the ancient eras in the 2e books like "Cormanthor, Empire of Elves", using the terminology and facts from the appropriate time period.

So no Eladrin pre-spellplague, There are several elven, dwarven, halfling, etc subraces in the periods that previously included them, etc.

Essentially: Canon but with reverse retcon (anything that was ever retconned is ignored, at least in the time periods where that retcon did not exist when originally published.) This includes redefining a creature, from changing an iconic ability to changing a creature category.

I won't likely buy 4e books that have alot of post spellplague material. I wont pay 45$ for a 300 page book if I can only use 200 of it - or if I'm going to have to tolerate 100 pages of what I have no interest in.

So give me continued support in the 3e era, and the 2e eras, and I'll buy your setting books.

Put alot of post-spellplague stuff in the same book as the pre spellplague stuff and you're actively trying to repel me.

Ideally:
- Post-Spellplague
- Pre-Spellplague
- Pre-TimeofTroubles
- Arcane Age

Keep them separate, and support all the periods, and I will buy all of them but the post-spellplague stuff.

Put them in the same book, and I'll be flipping through the book to see how much of the book was "wasted" and how much of the potentially good material was tainted by 4e retcons before I decide if it's worth putting money on.