D&D 5E Campaign Settings 5e- Why I want to Forget the Realms

[TheCosmicKid]

it didn't need to be a problem. If way back in the day (ill go 2e just because it is where I came in) they made elminster a 9th level wizard with the chosen of mystra added on, maybe some exceptional stats, it would have been fine. He is A wizard, one you could be equal to or even greater then, but even he needs help...

same line of thought, make Drizt 5th or 6th level...

Personal DM preference, but that's certainly how I run my campaigns. Even the most badass mortal NPCs top out at 10th level or so. The PCs may hear legends of epic heroes, but they're dead or gone now.

 

[epithet]

I might find myself running a campaign in the Forgotten Realms at some point in the future, and if that's the case I think I know how I'll handle things. Remember Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's version of Hercules? Yeah, he was mighty, but all those legends were made up by Iolaus as PR and marketing.

Elminster would be a sage, and a good one. If you need information or divination, he would be one of the most capable to help you. All that archmage business, and being intimate with goddesses, etc.? Made up to enhance his brand so that he can overcharge princes and trade barons who come to him seeing sage advice. Total load of manure.

Drizzle ran away from Benzodiazepine, sure, but probably because he owed someone money he couldn't pay back or he'd conned the wrong bloodthirsty villain. The whole "prince of a noble house, Mom's been trying to kill me for heresy" thing was really just a way to make the females swoon. Is he a good swordsman? Sure. Does he have a magic kitty cat? Maybe. Is he a tortured rebel whose inherent nobility wars constantly with his savage upbringing, upon whose scrawny shoulders the fate of more than a handful of people rest? Oh, hell no. You want a guide through the underdark, he's not a bad choice (as long as you remember he's a prevaricating drama queen) but he's no epic hero of legend.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Put another way, the uber-NPC's were written as exceptional characters, but any PC ranger is a ranger in a world where Drizz'zt is already a ranger, any PC wizard is a wizard in a world where Elminster is already a wizard. And neither of those two yobbos is supposed to be what the story you're telling at your table is about, but they're also kind of impossible to avoid.

I think this is why I'm most likely, were any of my players to seek out these NPC's, to say frankly, "They don't exist."

Drizzt is not the best ranger in the world, Elminsiter is not even the greatest wizard in the world.

Added on they are really really easy to avoid. Drizzt is pretty famous in the north and thats it. He is not a world renowned name. Elminster is closer to that but people know very little about the guy or what he is up to.

Lets say your party is stopping a plot by Devils to take over Baldur's Gate. Neither Drizzt nor Elminster live even close to there and would have no idea of said plot. So they would not do anything about it.

The Realms is huge. News does not travel fast and people are doing their own things. Elminster is trying to fix magic and make sure stuff does not go wrong with it. Meanwhile Drizzt hangs out with the Dwarves in the Silver Marches. Traveling around to Iceland Dale or Neverwinter at most. Fighting Orcs and Frost Giants. Neither of these too are going to get in the way of a game in the realms wither they exist or not.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Really? FR without Elminister isn't FR anymore? How canon-nazi are your players?

well it wasn't really elminster that messed up my game, I just use him as and example... but ok here we go down the rabbit hole

Back in the early 2000's I had 2 FR books, one was a 2e volo' sguide, and the other was the 3.0 campaign book (it even had it's own epic rules in it.) I had mostly run my own campaign settings up till then, with a small dip in Darksun and ravon loft. I had players begging for a realms game, and others that liked the idea... I didn't know the hell I was in for.

I had played the realms once and read a novel back in the day, so I was the least knowlabble of the setting, but the campaign guide gave me the basics. We started at 4th level and played in and around calimsham (might be miss spelling that) for a bit then traveled up to waterdeep. In waterdeep we had a few hickups but things seemed fineish... then they found out about the major threat... the red wizards had a civil war going on... OMG...

SO after reading somewhere about how each school of magic had a regeant, I decided the invoker would be my main badguy, and that I would have an underling of a rival school help the PCs (At this point 6th or 7th level) they set off and by the time they go to (Someplace that name escapes me) and found that the Necromancer and the Invoker and the Abjur were working togather now and about to invaide random next door country.
Now the PCs with the help of the enchanter red wizard had to stop them and put back the checks and balances.... FULL STOP. One PC said "Wait we can warn the queen that the invasion is coming..." so I put a pissy seneschal in the way and tried to turn them away... but the two most knowladgble players insisted the queen would help. I told them they were on there own, and they asked why... so I gave a little. The queen was some woman named symbol and I thought she was a low level sorcerer, so I tried to play her as such, but I had a book put infront of me...

The queen of the people next to the red wizards was an epic level spell caster, and (of course) good aligned, and (bet you ould guee) a chosen of mystra...

It was a big straw, and the last one...

IF it was just 1 or 2 that would be one thing (and a bad thing at that) but it is an entire justice league Midnight... MY friend ross once named 17 'legendary' characters he had official stats for, and not one of them was the big red mary sue... it is a setting full of heroes, and that isn't what I want to play in or run...

 

[MonsterEnvy]

yup...



and all you need to do is ask any heroes season 1 fans hated the other seasons...
90% of the cast: "Hey I have a problem, one I could use help with... well gotta go it alone"
90% of TV watchers: "USE YOUR DAMN CELL... CALL ANOTHER CHARACTER...LIKE THE FLIER OR TELEPORTER..."



it didn't need to be a problem. If way back in the day (ill go 2e just because it is where I came in) they made elminster a 9th level wizard with the chosen of mystra added on, maybe some exceptional stats, it would have been fine. He is A wizard, one you could be equal to or even greater then, but even he needs help...

same line of thought, make Drizt 5th or 6th level...


but instead we got epic 30th level archmage....

Cellphones don't exist in the realms. Nor would any characters know were they are or how to contact them. Even stuff like sending does not work if you don't know the person you cast the spell to. So unless you perch for and possibly travel 1000 of miles you are unlikely to be able to contact them.

Also some of you are seriously underestimating how huge Faerun is.

Drizzt is level 10 in 1e and level 16 in 2e and 3e. Not super impressive Elminster is a level 26 mage in 1e, 29 in 2e and the same in 3e. Elminster is super powerful. But the guy is weird and travels the world doing his own thing. Finding people in the realms tends to not be too easy.

Tiago the Drow for example has been hunting Drizzt for 10 years and has only encountered him twice. (Their chance 1st meeting were he decided to kill him and a battle atop the backs of dragons 9 years later.)

 

[MonsterEnvy]

well it wasn't really elminster that messed up my game, I just use him as and example... but ok here we go down the rabbit hole

Back in the early 2000's I had 2 FR books, one was a 2e volo' sguide, and the other was the 3.0 campaign book (it even had it's own epic rules in it.) I had mostly run my own campaign settings up till then, with a small dip in Darksun and ravon loft. I had players begging for a realms game, and others that liked the idea... I didn't know the hell I was in for.

I had played the realms once and read a novel back in the day, so I was the least knowlabble of the setting, but the campaign guide gave me the basics. We started at 4th level and played in and around calimsham (might be miss spelling that) for a bit then traveled up to waterdeep. In waterdeep we had a few hickups but things seemed fineish... then they found out about the major threat... the red wizards had a civil war going on... OMG...

SO after reading somewhere about how each school of magic had a regeant, I decided the invoker would be my main badguy, and that I would have an underling of a rival school help the PCs (At this point 6th or 7th level) they set off and by the time they go to (Someplace that name escapes me) and found that the Necromancer and the Invoker and the Abjur were working togather now and about to invaide random next door country.
Now the PCs with the help of the enchanter red wizard had to stop them and put back the checks and balances.... FULL STOP. One PC said "Wait we can warn the queen that the invasion is coming..." so I put a pissy seneschal in the way and tried to turn them away... but the two most knowladgble players insisted the queen would help. I told them they were on there own, and they asked why... so I gave a little. The queen was some woman named symbol and I thought she was a low level sorcerer, so I tried to play her as such, but I had a book put infront of me...

The queen of the people next to the red wizards was an epic level spell caster, and (of course) good aligned, and (bet you ould guee) a chosen of mystra...

It was a big straw, and the last one...

IF it was just 1 or 2 that would be one thing (and a bad thing at that) but it is an entire justice league Midnight... MY friend ross once named 17 'legendary' characters he had official stats for, and not one of them was the big red mary sue... it is a setting full of heroes, and that isn't what I want to play in or run...

The Simbul is not good. She is Chaotic Neutral. She is also sort of insane. And the main reason Thay avoided attacking. Her subjects are terrfied of her too.

Might as well tell you she is not Queen anymore.

 

[hawkeyefan]

People seem strangely incapable of changing whatever they want.

If the Realms aren't your cup of tea, I can get that. But they could be made to be your cup of tea...especially since you're the one making the tea.

I can understand player expectation can be an issue. But I think if you tell people up front that there may be changes to what they know of the Realms, then you should be fine.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Cellphones don't exist in the realms.

is this a joke? because the example was a TV show, one that takes place in a modern setting with cell phones, it was to show that EVEN in TV shows the issue comes up...

 

[GMforPowergamers]

People seem strangely incapable of changing whatever they want.

If the Realms aren't your cup of tea, I can get that. But they could be made to be your cup of tea...especially since you're the one making the tea.

I can understand player expectation can be an issue. But I think if you tell people up front that there may be changes to what they know of the Realms, then you should be fine.

I can go to TGI Fridays, order a cheeseburger, then take everything off it, bring it home re cook it, add my own topings and buns... or I could just make myself my own burger...

I don't run the realms, the last time I tried was the beginning of 3.5. I did play in 4e because everyone of the problems I had went by by in 4e...

in 5e I am not interested in it... I came to a thread about dislikeing FR I don't expect to be told how I can change it...

 

[hawkeyefan]

I can go to TGI Fridays, order a cheeseburger, then take everything off it, bring it home re cook it, add my own topings and buns... or I could just make myself my own burger...

I don't run the realms, the last time I tried was the beginning of 3.5. I did play in 4e because everyone of the problems I had went by by in 4e...

in 5e I am not interested in it... I came to a thread about dislikeing FR I don't expect to be told how I can change it...

Hey you can play in any setting you like. My point is just that anything that happens in your game is what you allow to happen.