Have you been disillusioned by the Forgotten Realms?

[Kanegrundar]

I used to dislike the Realms back in earlier editions, but I think the new FRCS is excellent. It's still too heavy with uber NPC's, but the books feel like the emphasis is off the NPC's and put onto the PC's where the spotlight belongs.

Kane

 

[Lord Rasputin]

I liked the original boxed set. By 1991, I couldn't take the world any more.

My issues are:

• Everything but the kitchen sink goes into this world. (Actually, I think there is a kitchen sink somewhere in Sembia ...) I appreciate the attention to detail, but rather than have a distinctive character like Krynn does or Eberron tries to have (it suffers from the same problem -- "everything in core D&D is in Eberron" is a really horrid idea, and the world would have been strengthened had WotC not done that). Right now, it tries to be a simulation of medieval Europe and a bazillion other cultures, when it would have been more interesting to either focus on one or two such cultures or styles of adventuring.
• Oh, yeah, styles of adventuring. Elmunchkin irritates me to no end. He knows all and is super powerful, not because he's actually interesting or cool or something, but because he's the pet of Ed Greenwood. The old party played by his original players (Storm Silverhand and others) are boring as well -- they're characters in a roleplaying game, useful for slaying monsters. That's all fine and dandy, but they're not compelling enough as characters to use other than to kill monsters. It claims to be all roleplaying intrigue, but when it shows off its examples of roleplaying, we get a bunch of "kill the monsters and steal their stuff" characters. Nothing wrong with those types of characters, but I would never want to interact with them. Eberron's Indiana Jones-meets-D&D style was fresh, by contrast. Dragonlance's romantic fantasy was compelling. My long delayed point is that there is nothing style-wise that is in Krynn that wasn't already in Oerth, which is the more accessable setting due to having less "stuff" in it.
• My goodness, that fight between the gods between 1e and 2e is the most contrived thing ever. I actually felt sorry for Ed Greenwood for once when I picked up the 2e FR book and read this stuff. FWIW, the gods are pretty bland as well, and also an unfocused mishmash. For all slamming the Greyhawk pantheon gets in some circles, these guys are no better. (As a side note, I'm still astonished that the Greyhawk deity detailing in Complete Divine is so unpopular ... that was the best part of the book, a bunch of roleplaying information presented in a suitably crunchy way.)
• OTOH, the individual crunch and detail books themselves are often quite good, often far better than the generic WotC D&D books of the same function. While I just whined about the FR's lack of focus, at least it adds some little detail to things like spell names and regional characteristics. I like Oerth better as a world because it doesn't try to be all things to all folks, but it would be nice if WotC were to actually let its generic books use Greyhawk as a focus. Having a famous wizard name a series of spells adds character -- we can't imagine those hand spells without Bigby's name attached to them, regardless of what's in the SRD. It gives us a grouping we might not otherwise make so strongly.
• On that note, regional feats rule. The monk/paladin multiclass rules are a interesting but overly complex fix to an unpopular rule in the PHB. Shadow weave magic is grafted on, as was wild magic.

 

[sparxmith]

I love the Realms.

I love the realms. Magi-tech, i.e. Eberron is not my style;Greyhawk is less than stellar; and I've never played Dragonlance.

I think that the NPC issue, which has come up several times, is entirely decided by the DM. The very first chapter of the FRCS plainly states not to allow the "uber-powerful NPC's" to overshadow the players.

Furthermore, the "kitchen sink" complaint doesn't hold water. (Pun intended). Geographically, compare Medieval Earth, say around 1300 AD to the Realms. Within 3000 miles of any point in the Eastern Hemisphere, you'd find drastically different cultures. And this is with only one race, no concrete Deity influence, or planar influence. Introducing several different races, a host of deities who interact with the world, and planar introduction of culture creates a world with a vast array of diversity. I think that a world with those elements and a lack of diversity would be unbelievable.

 

[RichGreen]

Hi,

I loved the Grey Box and the early supplements, became disenchanted in the middle part of 2e when there were far too many products coming out and they all had huge white borders, and have returned to the Realms in 3.x. The FRCS is what did it for me, and I'm now running an FR game again for the first time since 1996. I recenty realised I missed out on some good products such as Faiths & Avatars, Lands of Intrigue etc and have picked some of these up via ebay. Oh, and I haven't read an FR novel for years -- I think that helps!

Cheers


Richard

 

[Ron]

I second Lord Rasputing comments, except those regarding the crunch, as I did not took the trouble to read Forgotten Realms's books since the transition to 2nd edition AD&D.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Nope. I devour all FR gaming books and the occasional novels. Can't get enough!

 

[Thanee]

I like the vastness of information and the great books WotC has published for FR (they are among the best ones they have done). IMHO the Forgotten Realms are still the benchmark for all the D&D settings out there.

And you don't have to use everything... there need not be gods and godlike NPCs walking amongst the PCs. Turn the focus away from the big guys and everything is fine.

Bye
Thanee

 

[DragonLancer]

Forgotten Realms lost it for me about ten years ago. It was too big and growing all the time. Too much attention to details. I just didn't find it fun anymore.

 

[William Ronald]

I used to dislike the Realms back in earlier editions, but I think the new FRCS is excellent. It's still too heavy with uber NPC's, but the books feel like the emphasis is off the NPC's and put onto the PC's where the spotlight belongs.

Kane

I am in a somewhat similar position, as it seemed that FR dominated 2nd Edition -- even impacting the rules. (Divine avatars being an example.) Plus, many of the 2nd edition books seemed to require the use of other books. So, I thought that and the emphasis on NPCs was a problem.

I think one of the problems with Elminster and many of the other FR NPCs is that little of their personality or history comes out in their descriptions in the FRCS. Perhaps the reasons we don't hear so much grumbling about Mordenkainen, Tenser, Bigby, Rary, and Robilar from the World of Greyhawk is that their adventures were detailed in part in Dragon Magazine and in the various Greyhawk products. (For example, Lord Robilar and Rary unwittingly freed the evil demigod Iuz, who was fought by Rary, Lord Robilar, and Tenser the Archmage as I recall.) Now , the focus of the Realms is on the player characters -- who can be the movers and shakers of the world.

I think that the regional feats, the trade maps in the FRCS, and some other additions have helped flesh out the Realms. As for the deity issue, I do agree that the Realms pantheons are a bit of a mish-mash. However, in our own world there was often a great deal of diversity in the gods worshipped. Ultimately, I think that it is up to the DM and the players to make a campaign setting their own. If you want to make changes, go ahead. Elminster can die or be turned into a much lower-powered sage. (I remember Darkness saying he did this with the Realms.) Also, it may be a good idea for powerful PCs to ultimately take over the tasks now assigned to the NPCs. It may be a party of PCs that proves to be the ultimate undoing of several of the greatest villains of the Forgotten Reamls.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

The Realms grew on me in 3E, to the point that I now run a campaign there. But it's more in the style of the Grey Box. I don't use the majority of the "traditional" Realms NPCs; I ignore the novels and the "Let's blow up the Realms crisis of the week", Tilverton still exists, etc. I try for more of a Greyhawk flavor, but with more history and setting support.

It's much easier if you ignore the novels and Ed Greenwood et al's characters, and simply make it your own world, as you would with any other campaign setting.