D&D General How to reboot the Forgotten Realms (+)

[HaroldTheHobbit]

It's punishment by the gods. If you don't worship them or believe in them they weld you to a wall in the afterlife.

If I was a realms god, no wifi and an eternal Cheetos ban would be punishment enough for the non-believers.

 

[Yora]

So just to double check: Calimshan/Calimport would be out in this version? (I think it was described in Empire of the Sands, wasn't it?)

Amn, Tethyr, and Calimshan are the one region where I am a bit on the fence. They are certainly more developed than the rest of southern Faerun and there is material on them from very early on.
But I personally feel that Amn and Tethyr don't really have anything interesting going for them, and a random Arabian country in a setting that is otherwise North/Central/Eastern Europe seems out of place.
I think thematic focus is always good for a setting, and trying to make it a setting for everyone that covers everything imaginable is what made the world bloat like it did in the first place.

I can see Calimshan having its fans, but I would leave it out being its own thing. (Which I believe Zakara was supposed to be.)

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I usually go with a less detailed, darker theme for my FR:

• Gods arent a fact, the many pantheon and faiths are beliefs of the living race, not cosmic truth. X years ago, a bunch of high level NPC decided to wage war amongst themselves, calling themselves avatars of the Gods. Real divine avatar or epic level characters butting heads? Who knows!
• After a cataclysmic battle between some avatars, the Weave of magic unraveled, creating the Spellplague: spellcasters went mad or died, magic became way more dangerous, any spellcaster had a chance to contract the blue-fire death AND spread it to another spellcaster.
• No country disappeared, but I keep the idea of huge chasms giving access to the Underdark and floatting motes of land bringing drow cities to the light. The veil between the twin worlds was ripped, making it somewhat easier to end up in Abeir while traveling between Matzica and Faerun.
• Other continents are inspired by other cultures, but I try to make them other than a real-world nation with the name filled-off.

 

[schneeland]

I can see Calimshan having its fans, but I would leave it out being its own thing. (Which I believe Zakara was supposed to be.)

Makes sense.

So I think, in general I agree with the direction you outlined. IMO a good reboot (of more or less anything media- or game-related) revisits the cornerstones of a property and re-organizes them in an accessible way, potentially also adding a new perspective on the existing material. So w.r.t. the Forgotten Realms it would definitely make sense to focus on the early material, the Central and Northern European aspects and the humanocentric nature of AD&D 1e (as well as the overall at least somewhat lower level of magic).
Potentially, selective developments from later editions could be "backported" to the setting, but I would also set it pre-Time of Toubles.

I feel product-wise, the goal should be to have an overview of the setting with the major locations, factions and people in a single setting book of about 300 pages (i.e. similar to 3rd edition FRCS) or a box set of similar dimensions (I do love box sets, so personally, I would prefer that). And then it needs a set of good adventures to reinforce the theme of the campaign setting (unfortunately, nothing really stands out here from existing material, but I also didn't play many pre-made adventures at that time, so I might miss something).

 

[Yora]

I think the original release format of one primary source with general setting information and additional regional books that go into detail about the locations in different areas was a pretty good one. You can get the main campaign set and the sourcebook for whatever region you want to play in, with the other ones being optional.

I would do them like this:
Savage Frontier (North of Daggerford)
Western Heartlands (South of Daggerford, East of Cormyr)
(Eastern) Heartlands (Cormyr, Dragon Coast, Sembia, Dalelands)
Central North (Moonsea, The Vast, Vaasa, Damara, Impiltur)
Unapproachable East (Narfel, Great Dale, Thesk, Aglarond, Rashemen, Thay)
[Southern Sword Coast (Amn, Tethyr, Calimshan)]

Moonsea is difficult to place. It seems more connected to the Dalelands, but the Eastern Heartlands are already very packed.

 

[SAVeira]

The Wall of the Faithless goes. This is not open to negotiation.

I kind of like the Wall of the Faithless. A good reason as why if you do not have patron deity, no resurrection.

 

[James Gasik]

I kind of like the Wall of the Faithless. A good reason as why if you do not have patron deity, no resurrection.

I think it's more about telling someone that their character has to worship a God (even a made-up one). It also makes me wonder what happens with people who falsely worshiped Cyric (who co-opted some faiths, like Leira) or Ao-cultists when they died.

 

[aco175]

I would like to see interesting locations and stories that I can use to make adventures into. Keep some of the NPCs and most of the gods. I do not use them much in daily life of PCs under level 15 anyways. None of my groups have met Drizzt or Elminster in 30 years. My players do not care about that. I have managed 5 campaigns over the 5e times that never wandered from the greater Phandalin region. I just need cool locations and how they tie into the lore from the old dwarf/elf days that I can run with.

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

I kind of like the Wall of the Faithless. A good reason as why if you do not have patron deity, no resurrection.

That has to go too. This is not open to negotiation.

 

[SAVeira]

That has to go too. This is not open to negotiation.

Well, that is a rule I have adapted to ever single campaign I have run. No patron deity, no resurrection. Yet to have a player object to that rule. Most have commented on how they like that it adds flavour to the campaign and a reason for their PCs to follow a deity or deities.