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

[aramis erak]

Yeah, I mean in real life you'd never find a society where sports in which fist-fights regularly break out are considered family entertainment but a woman discreetly nursing a child is deemed disgusting and offensive. That'd be some kind of bizarro fantasy world.

Yeah, called Reality in the US...
Hockey, Boxing, and Soccer, and yet, having to pass laws to protect nursing mothers from harassment and expulsion from businesses.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

In Greenwood's own words-

Exactly. Elminster is not a stand in for Greenwood, and never has been.

I'm kind of busting on the concept, but... well....

It's OK.

The Secretariat does a good job of putting in one place information that's been disseminated in obscure print and online sources over the years, such as the fact that Old El is not the first Realms character, and that the decision to feature El in one novel after another was TSR's (and later WotC's), never Greenwood's.

I hear that the Secretariat is migrating. Hopefully it comes back up soon. Some good stuff there.

 

[Dausuul]

So why? Okay, I know why I hated Elminster (stand in for Greenwood) and Drizzt (that's just a terrible, terrible character). But what about the campaign world? Should I go back and give it a second chance? I'm genuinely curious- I honestly don't remember why I disliked it so intensely, which is odd, and it looks like there will be a lot of material coming down the pipeline. Thoughts?

I can't speak for you, but I can tell you why I dislike the Realms: It feels like a bunch of Tolkien-lite fantasy tropes thrown together without rhyme or reason. There's no unifying theme like there is in Dark Sun or Ravenloft, and there's no overarching history like there is in Greyhawk or Dragonlance. The setting has nothing to tie it together. It's just a great big junk heap.

In some ways that makes it ideal for D&D's default setting, because you can put anything you want there. You don't have to worry about conflicting with the overall concept of the setting, because there is no concept. But as a setting, it's... bleh.

 

[Dkase]

I have been running my first 5e campaign after an absence from D&D, and, for the most part, is has been enjoyable. I've adjusted the materials (so far, we are about to complete Phandelver) so that it is set in Greyhawk- boxed set, circa 1983 (more open ended).

Anyway, on the one hand, I appreciate that the core books of 5e have nods to the various campaign settings within them. On the other hand... Forgotten Realms ("FR") is the default? I was hoping that I could get a little input from the knowledgeable people here.

1. Why was FR chosen as the default? I understand that 5e had a lot of feedback, so is this the most popular campaign setting in general?

2. This is more of a question, perhaps, to enlighten me- why do I hate FR so much? I love different campaign settings. Spelljammer and Planescape to connect them, home-brew, Greyhawk, Eberron, Krynn, Al-Qadim/Kara-Tur (yes, I know that they may be considered "part" of FR, but they are standalone), and so on. But ever since FR came out, I disliked everything about it. I hated Elminster. I hated the mythos and the world. I hated, hated, hated Drizzt.

So why? Okay, I know why I hated Elminster (stand in for Greenwood) and Drizzt (that's just a terrible, terrible character). But what about the campaign world? Should I go back and give it a second chance? I'm genuinely curious- I honestly don't remember why I disliked it so intensely, which is odd, and it looks like there will be a lot of material coming down the pipeline. Thoughts?

The first question has been answered pretty well by others. Money is the reason why they are going with Forgotten realms. They own the property, it's popular, and it has tons of novels to acclimate new blood into the game. I myself, got into D&D mainly from the Forgotten Realms books of the 90's.

Second question, it's probably because of all these strong opinions people bring to the table when ever someone brings up the Forgotten Realms. No matter the size of the local gaming community, you're always going to have one person the LOVES the realms, and another person that HATES the realms, and when they both start talking at the same table it's going to make you wonder if you should start playing another system entirely.

As for the NPCs... Drizzt is the guy you feel you can relate to when you are in your teens (outcast iconoclast in a society that hates you), feel like mocking when you are in your twenties (oh my god, those journal entries), then invokes a sense of age when you look at a new novel cover with him on it when you are 30 (is that what he looks like now? Wow I'm getting old... dang kids...)

Edit: My preferred setting: Birthright! Bring back Cerilia!

 

[Uchawi]

I can't speak for you, but I can tell you why I dislike the Realms: It feels like a bunch of Tolkien-lite fantasy tropes thrown together without rhyme or reason. There's no unifying theme like there is in Dark Sun or Ravenloft, and there's no overarching history like there is in Greyhawk or Dragonlance. The setting has nothing to tie it together. It's just a great big junk heap.

Minus the Tolkien reference you identified how I feel about the realms, and that is why I passed it over. It is a collage of concepts or a bag of holding where you just keep on adding stuff. Add high magic and anything goes.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[DEFCON 1]

I always found it ironic that when Rage Against the Machine performed a large concert, you could have 20,000 people chanting in unison, "[Eff] you, I won't do what do what you tell me."

"You're all inviduals."

" YES! WE'RE ALL INDIVIDUALS!"

"You're all different!"

"YES! WE'RE ALL DIFFERENT!"

"I'm not."

- Monty Python's Life of Brian

 

[cmad1977]

I hate the realms because I have an emptiness inside me and in order to feel a little better I need to project my anger and bitterness on them.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Osgood]

I've given it some thought, and I hate the Realms because it seems to actively (if unintentionally) resists individual groups taking ownership of the world.

The timeline continues to advance, ignoring influence of individual gamers. Characters in novels get to make big sweeping changes, but not your character. Naturally no setting could account for every change a PC group affects--killing major villains, ruling their own domains, etc.--but since the Realms has a story that continues to advance, the latest canon source always has a risk of invalidating the group's effort (or at least giving the DM more work to alter things).

Eberron does it right. The sourcebooks always assume its 998 YK, the novels are specifically noted as not cannon. Whatever happens in your campaign won't be invalidated by the next book.