Countdown to the Realms: Magic in the Forgotten Realms

[Ahglock]

Okay, that would have been kick-ass.

I'd want Bigby to finally kick Blackstaffs butt once and for all. Circle of Eight so much cooler than the legion of mages in the realms. Maintainers of Status Quo so much more cool than defenders of good.

The Magic spellplague and all that crap got me to thinking about a end of 2e realms story that i loved which just couldn't work under 3e magic. I can't remember his name but the Mage who invented Stasis Clone.(Clone back in the day was a separate you made at the time you cast the spell, not a lump of flesh waiting for your spirit, stasis clone kind of was liek the current clone in that the clone didn't activate until your death, but it still was a separate you not a lump of flesh waiting for your soul)

Anyways some magic disaster went off and all of his stasis clones became active, and like standard clone they were all intent on murdering each other and were going insane. So all these archmages were diving into back up stores of magic items and traveling the realms intent on killing each other until there was only one.

Awesome story, great hooks impossible under 3e magic and clone system. To me a lot of the magic was lost in 3e the spells felt more regimented more mechanical and less magical. I wander if the magic will come back for me in 4e or will it more further away into the realm of boring mechaincal feel.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

You know, I've always said: "Wait until we know more about the changes in the Realms before we pass judgement", but now that we have this information, I am somewhat sceptical.

Mind you, I don't doubt that a world going through such drastic changes could be a fantastic place for adventures - and the setting book might have very high-quality writing. But this seems to change what (at least to my mind) the Forgotten Realms were all about.

You see, I've always seen the Realms as the "standard" and "plain vanilla" setting - a standard array of races and cultures (including all those Earth parallels), and a number of conventions that are now seen as cliches, but only because the Realms established most of them in the first place. All these changes at least seem to push the Realms into something else - something more post-apocalyptic (similar Scarred Lands?) and alien.

The end result might be pretty cool - but many people enjoyed the Realms precisely because it was "plain vanilla". It was the one setting where everyone knew the conventions, and now that doesn't seem to be granted any more.


Side note: Did you spot the "Magic in the Year of The Ageless One" subheader? This seems to imply that the "Year of The Ageless One" is the default starting year for the new campaign setting - but that year is 1479 DR, while the Spellplague was in 1385 DR. So does this mean we are going to skip a century?

That would give lots of time for society to settle down again after the changes - but that also means that a lot of familiar NPCs, organizations, and nations will be either gone or drastically altered.

 

[DandD]

but that also means that a lot of familiar NPCs, organizations, and nations will be either gone or drastically altered.

Well, that was the intent for starting the new time-line at such a later date, wasn't it?To get rid of NPCs, organizations and nations they think don't fit in with their vision.

 

[Sitara]

The secret of making magic items in a post-Weave world was relearned decades ago. Magic items are as plentiful as ever, as desperately sought by doughty adventurers, and as mysterious as they ever were.

Umm yeah ok...someone should tell WOTC that plentiful is NOT equal to mysterious.
I guess this just states that FRCS and maybe even 4e will still have yon disgusting magic item glut.

The more things change, the more they stay the same I guess.

 

[Spatula]

Side note: Did you spot the "Magic in the Year of The Ageless One" subheader? This seems to imply that the "Year of The Ageless One" is the default starting year for the new campaign setting - but that year is 1479 DR, while the Spellplague was in 1385 DR. So does this mean we are going to skip a century?

Yes. This has been known since the initial information on the spellplague was revealed, I think.

I was never a Realms fan, but I echo some of the earlier comments wondering why they felt the need to turn FR into 4e's "implied" setting. Isn't the point of buying a different campaign setting... getting a different setting? On the one hand I can see their point of view ("FR is our flagship setting, it has to hew to the core as much as possible"). But on the other hand, they've basically just created a brand new setting that happens to share some location names & NPCs with FR. And with some Eberron concepts thrown in, strangely enough (mournlands, dragonmarks). These sorts of radical changes tend to splinter fanbases.

And I fear for the 4e Eberron conversion.

 

[JLXC]

I am dissapointed. I've followed the FR since there has been one. I have the old books in storage still, and the newest one sits not too far from me. I have nearly every novel, adventure, and Dragon article. This is a huge slap in the face, no seriously. I am amazed they bother, or even Dare, to call this brand new creation the FR. It should have it's own name and the FR line dropped instead of this tavesty.

Entire areas just wiped? I enjoyed Maztica a little, coffee in the realsm heh, but I had a special place for Halruua. Just gone, poof. Forget it, too much to type.

Calling this new place the Forgotten Realms is silly. Just start a new line. This is not come knee jerk response. This is a response from someone who has played in and DM's the Realms in every incarnation to date. I imagine a few FR authors are like, "Hey screw you! Just gonna pretend I never wrote this? Nice!" Not to mention those who have worked on FR products, and of course, the creators themselves. Freakin nice WOTC.

 

[Walking Dad]

I'm a big proponent of continuity, and I tend to take Marvel Comics as a model to work with. Marvel never acts like something never happened. They acknowledge that prior events happened, both good and bad. Spider-Man comics recognize that the Clone Saga happened, even though it was considered one of the worst Spider-Man stories by some fans. Now, Marvel may not revisit this storyline ever again, but they won't pretend like it didn't happen.

No, but they retconned the marriage with Mary-Jane, the Death of Harry Osborne and the public knowledge of the identity of Spider-Man....

Bad example

 

[vagabundo]

I'm on-board with these changes. It wont suit campaign styles that have a more subtle storyline going on, but my players appreciate dramatic/loud events like this.

I like that they are focusing on the core of the realms (sword coast, dales, heartlands,...) and blowing up the odd places like Halruaaaaaa (urgh). Each of the places that have been destroyed I would never use anyway, I like they have replaced them with something I might use.

Going with the default rules set, as much as possible, for the realms makes sense. It is their most popular setting. I might wait to nearer Christmas to pick it up though. I'm going to run through the H modules in a POL setting first.

At the moment I'm trying to blow up my realms in preparation for 4e (using City of the spider queen,Cormry: tearing of the weave and shadowdale: scouring of the land.)

 

[The Little Raven]

I imagine a few FR authors are like, "Hey screw you! Just gonna pretend I never wrote this? Nice!" Not to mention those who have worked on FR products, and of course, the creators themselves. Freakin nice WOTC.

It happened over a hundred years before the setting's new starting year.

 

[FourthBear]

Anyways some magic disaster went off and all of his stasis clones became active, and like standard clone they were all intent on murdering each other and were going insane. So all these archmages were diving into back up stores of magic items and traveling the realms intent on killing each other until there was only one.

That was Lord Manshoon, the most powerful mage in the Zhentarim. And I do like that plot, I think it may have started at the tail end of 2e. I'm hoping that the rules for rituals allow for this sort of plot-device magic that encourages dramatic, interesting magic with more fantastic requirements. For example, perhaps Stasis Clone requires a wicked sacrifice to create a clone. This reinforces Manshoon's evil, keeps Stasis Clone out of goodly heroes' hands and presents the theme about shortcuts to power and evil deeds.