Mystra, the weave and magic as we know it now

[DracoSuave]

I couldn't answer ya, based on me not reading Forgotten Realms books.

I don't think they've novelized the spellplague time yet, but someone else would know more than me.


And for the record, the FRPG and the FRCG are the primary canon.

 

[Uber Dungeon]

Umm, it seems that. "Most scholars believe that the Spellplague was
the direct result of the murder of the goddess Mystra
at the hands of Cyric, which Shar engineered."

This brings something odd; I was under the impression that if someone killed a god/goddess that they would take up there domain and preserve balance.

Also a thought on spell plague. In the fearun guide it says;
"Spell plague Effects on Magic Items and Spells"
Most items that permanently store magic, such as
weapons, armor, cloaks, and boots, survived the
Spellplague and continue to function normally. Even
though their creation used the Weave, permanent
access to magic was built into such items when they
were created. However, some items created prior
to the Spellplague temporarily stored “charges” of
magic, such as wands and staffs. Such items either
no longer work or don’t function the same way they
used to.
Many creatures that had been able to cast spells
and channel magic through the Weave found themselves
powerless in the Spellplague’s wake. Some
never regained their abilities. Others attuned themselves
to the new magical environment, aided by a
diversity of talents, a process that took days for some
and years for others. Still others took shortcuts to
arcane power by swearing pacts to enigmatic beings.

Anyways, thats really interesting that the magic items survived. kinda makes me want to introduce a 3.5 relic, might be interesting.

 

[jbear]

Cyric has been imprisoned by the other gods for the murder committed. This is the theme of my campaign.

As there is not much info on Cyric out there, I use Vecna for all my inspiration for what Cyric is like. And indeed, he aspires to take Mystras place.

His loyal servant and alchemist extroadinaire, Strahd Von Zarovich, has freed him recently right beneath the gods noses but the process has left himself damaged, with a shard of Mystra lodged in his brain. He has sent Cyric to another virtual prison in the Shadowfell and has lost all memory of his personality and mission, heavily influenced by the shard of the fallen goddess. If the PCs remove it (lets hope), he will remember exactly who, why and what he is.

Meanwhile Cyrics other minions search for the other shards of Mystra scattered throughout the scarplagued lands. Eventually he will begin piecing her together into himself (her eye in his own empty socket etc) until he looks like a living shattered mirror, and ascends to her former position of power as lord over all magic.

Only the evil god, Zehir is aware of what moves in the darkness and has allied with the pCs against Cyric. However any help they lend Cyric, Zehir will surely twist to benefit his own dark, personal ambitions. The Pcs have already incarnated him with one of the shards of Mystra and made a pact to serve him in return for personal power.

Lots of people hate the new realms, but I've found the shattered realms a very cool place to build an epic story.

 

[Inyssius]

Yeah, just thinking, I wonder the reason that magic can still be used. Perhaps it's some forum of channeling the resonance of the fallen weave?

Yeah, basically there was a whole lot of energy tied up in maintaining the Weave, making sure the entire Great Wheel didn't suddenly moosh together in one big cataclysmic worldquake, et cetera. When Mystra died, everything pretty much unraveled at once in what they called the Spellplague. The Weave, the Shadow Weave, a lot of planar boundaries, a lot of long-running magical effects, several tracts of land in the Material Plane... anyway, after the chaos settled down to a less apocalyptic level, it turned out there was an awful lot of magic floating around. So spellcasters have had to learn an entirely new method of channeling the stuff (one that didn't cause spells to burst into literal flame inside of their brains, or accidentally summon a maelstrom of Spellplague-stuff when cast), and they don't have the sheer range of complex spells the Weave lent them, but they can utilize all the sheer magical forces that are now basically unconstrained.

One thing that intrigued me in the campaign guide is the aside that some spellcasters who remember the Good Old Days, or who have read accounts of them, are trying to restore and spin a new Weave from the fragments and tatters of the old. Which means that in another century or two, there might well be competing Weaves trying to spread across Faerûn and the universe around it, each backed by its own guild of mages.

 

[Hawkeye]

I think the Haunted Lands trilogy is the only work that shows the Spellplague as it happens. The Grand History of the Realms talks about the event in a historical context. It's the final entry in the book.

Hawkeye

 

[Uber Dungeon]

Yeah, basically there was a whole lot of energy tied up in maintaining the Weave, making sure the entire Great Wheel didn't suddenly moosh together in one big cataclysmic worldquake, et cetera. When Mystra died, everything pretty much unraveled at once in what they called the Spellplague. The Weave, the Shadow Weave, a lot of planar boundaries, a lot of long-running magical effects, several tracts of land in the Material Plane... anyway, after the chaos settled down to a less apocalyptic level, it turned out there was an awful lot of magic floating around. So spellcasters have had to learn an entirely new method of channeling the stuff (one that didn't cause spells to burst into literal flame inside of their brains, or accidentally summon a maelstrom of Spellplague-stuff when cast), and they don't have the sheer range of complex spells the Weave lent them, but they can utilize all the sheer magical forces that are now basically unconstrained.

I don't know about the shadow weave though, isn't that controlled by a different goddess?

Yeah, I've bin kinda reading into it, i guess the weave was more or less mystra's way of controlling the weave and limiting 10-12th level spells and making it so for instance certain spells could only get so powerful like flaming hands can only do 5D4max. (or is it burning hands...hmm)

Anyways, so now that the weave does not exist, i find that there is and isn't an issue. magic is now free and unhindered and that is why spells like magic missile can be cast at will.
But here's where story/history and former editions don't make scenes. in 2e there was an eleventh spell called i think future weapon for instance where you could summon a Desert eagle .50mm and start capping Orc's. (laughs hard in side)
So yeah, with the exception that the weave is gone and anyone who actually knew the spell (like Elminster) would only need to adapt a bit to use it. As well as spell books in excess of 700+ years could give rise to evil unseen in a millenium.

 

[Hawkeye]

Cyric has been imprisoned by the other gods for the murder committed. This is the theme of my campaign.

As there is not much info on Cyric out there, I use Vecna for all my inspiration for what Cyric is like. And indeed, he aspires to take Mystras place.

His loyal servant and alchemist extroadinaire, Strahd Von Zarovich, has freed him recently right beneath the gods noses but the process has left himself damaged, with a shard of Mystra lodged in his brain. He has sent Cyric to another virtual prison in the Shadowfell and has lost all memory of his personality and mission, heavily influenced by the shard of the fallen goddess. If the PCs remove it (lets hope), he will remember exactly who, why and what he is.

Meanwhile Cyrics other minions search for the other shards of Mystra scattered throughout the scarplagued lands. Eventually he will begin piecing her together into himself (her eye in his own empty socket etc) until he looks like a living shattered mirror, and ascends to her former position of power as lord over all magic.

Only the evil god, Zehir is aware of what moves in the darkness and has allied with the pCs against Cyric. However any help they lend Cyric, Zehir will surely twist to benefit his own dark, personal ambitions. The Pcs have already incarnated him with one of the shards of Mystra and made a pact to serve him in return for personal power.

Lots of people hate the new realms, but I've found the shattered realms a very cool place to build an epic story.

I've got something similar in mind, with the PCs trying to piece the Weave back together with the potential for one of them to become the new god of magic in the realms.

Hawkeye

 

[Mirtek]

The first goddess of Magic was Mystril, killed by a 12th level spell named Karsus' Avatar.

The spell didn'T kill a deity, it merely allowed the caster to temporarily merge with the deity and wield her power while the spell lasted. At the end the caster would be expelled and die in the process, while the deity would be none the worse for the wear.

However since Karsus was unable to attend to the continuous needs of the weave, Mystryl performed suice to end the spell prematurely instead of just waiting out it's duration, as every the damage to the weave grew with every second.

and forming the Anauroch as the weather controlling spell that pushed back the glacier went wild.

The desert was formed by the life draining spells of the phaerimm.

Ao (the overgod) saw the problem and appointed (created) the original Mystra so that she could prevent the whole planet from being destroyed by wild magic.

The first came to be from Mystryl's suicide as she did in a way that ensured her immediate rebirth.

She in turn was killed by Helm during the Time of Trouble. After the tablet of Fate were returned to Ao, Midnight became Mystra basically because she was wearing Mystra's necklace.

That's correct.

So Karsus is the 2nd god of magic. Often forgotten or barely remembered, he lives on as an indestructible status somewhere up north in a place called Karsus' folly.

The stone he was transformed into has since then be claimed by Shar.

As there is not much info on Cyric out there,

Actually Cyric is one of the deities with the most info avaible. Only a very few others were detailed in so many novels and supplements as him

 

[Votan]

One thing that intrigued me in the campaign guide is the aside that some spellcasters who remember the Good Old Days, or who have read accounts of them, are trying to restore and spin a new Weave from the fragments and tatters of the old. Which means that in another century or two, there might well be competing Weaves trying to spread across Faerûn and the universe around it, each backed by its own guild of mages.

Isn't the Shadow weave supposed to still be around and backed by Shar?

 

[Hawkeye]

Isn't the Shadow weave supposed to still be around and backed by Shar?

Sort of and no. The Shadow Weave is around as part of the Shadowfell, but Shar isn't responsible for it. Page 51 of the FRCG details it. (Or at least that's how I read the change in the Shadow Weave in regards to the Shadowfell.)

Hawkeye