Countdown to the Realms: Magic in the Forgotten Realms

[Nymrohd]

I posted this on the Wizard forums about the Weave and the Spellplague:

The Weave touches all living beings giving them access to magic if they learn how to access it. (In fact it was retconned from actually being tied to the lifeforce of everything in Toril). Without Mystra's constant attention, the Weave frayed and collapsed.
Imagine a net under constant tension. Parts of the net are tangled and parts of it are missing, though they are a small part of the total construct. Without the constant application of counterforces in certain parts of the net, it starts to unravel.
Near the dead spots the starting wave is stronger with ropes fraying wildly but as distance from those spots is gained the unravelling calms down. The wave of this unravelling is uniform as per the shape of the dead spot.
Near wild magic spots the net will unravel wildly. It will create swirls and eddies, untangle in different speeds because of cross effects and possibly even allow for small islands of calm within the affected zone.
In areas where the net was strongly anchored it will stay stable until all forces around it are uniform, then the net will simply collapse uniformly.
All these effects would of course work against each other. Still the majority of the net will unravel in good order without much fuss.

It stands to reason then that all the places and creatures touched by the weave will be affected when those strands that tie them to it are cut. The more violently ropes that tie them fray, the greater and wilder the affected changed will be.

 

[Thaumaturge]

Glad to see they ramped up the inconsistencies. The spellplague affected magical things, mostly disintegrating them. Fine. But some things 'changed'. And some things, like Halruaa, blew the heck up. And other things, like mythals and the like, were so magical they were entirely fine. You know, because. No, no reason. Just because.

That is one perspective. One could also compare it to a room full of tightly bound balls of rubber bands, which are all cut at the same time. Some parts of the room may very well explode, while other parts will sit quietly. Other parts of the room may start out slowly, but will be affected by the exploding parts causing a cascading effect.

What you see as inconsistent, I see as consistent with the chaotic after-effects of a cataclysmic event.

Thaumaturge.

Edit: or Nymrohd's net explanation.

 

[Zaukrie]

Sounds interesting. Of course, I have a map that is like 10 feet by 20 feet, or however big it would be if you put all those cool 2E maps together.

 

[Bishmon]

I'm not a big fan of warlocks as a core class, but the following quote has made me nearly change my mind:

Many creatures that learned to cast spells and channel magic with Mystra’s Weave found themselves powerless in the Spellplague’s wake. Some never regained their power. Others worked to attune themselves to the new magical environment. Many required years to regain this facility, while others never regained the knack. Others took shortcuts to reaquire the power they’d lost, swearing questionable pacts to enigmatic beings in return for the ability to utilize arcane powers.

That's the best possible way I could imagine to introduce warlocks into a world. Very cool.

I also really like the sound of the spellscars. I hope they pull off some interesting mechanics for it.

All in all, this article had a positive effect on the chances of me playing in the Realms. It feels like it has more of a personality instead of the Generic High-Magic Setting I perceived it as before.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

Maztica is gone.

YES!


Sorry to the Maztica lovers, but it had to go.

 

[Elsenrail]

I was optimistic about 4E FR... but after reading the article I changed my mind. :/ Maztica gone? I can live withouit it, but Amn was a good place to have adventures... and the tales of Maztica fit well. But draining the Sea of Fallen Stars? Disaster.... Someone had to be really insane to consider it a good idea. Now I don't know if I will be buying 4E FR stuff (except for the campaign guide just to leaf through), because our campigns often took place on the Sea's shores (cities). The whole economy of inner lands now looses sense...

It seems they want to make plaguemagic something like Warhammer Chaos. Stealing the idea, it seems.

 

[PeterWeller]

But draining the Sea of Fallen Stars? Disaster.... Someone had to be really insane to consider it a good idea.

Broad portions of Faerûn’s surface collapsed into the Underdark, partially draining the Sea of Fallen Stars into the Glimmer Sea far below

Do people even read these articles?

 

[Xethreau]

I like this article. Lots of really cool things in it. Things I find notable:
- Primal power source confirmed
- All classes use magic
- Lots of Realms fluff, very nice
- Plaguechanged creatures and Spellscars (which are sort of similar to Dragon Marks from Eberron)

 

[Nymrohd]

I think Spellscars are more closely linked to spelltouched feats from Unearthed Arcana than Dragonmarks. Dragonmarks were mostly weak SLAs that people wasted a feat slot in either to enter a PrC or under the silent contract with the DM that the feat would allow them to play their connection to their house as a banefit.

 

[Mirtek]

YES!
Sorry to the Maztica lovers, but it had to go.

Why? What's wrong with just ignoring it? Why has it to be eliminated for anyone else too?