Question for the Old Schoolers

[the Jester]

This. I really enjoyed running a 3E campaign using the FR Greybox (with a little 3E FRCS thrown in).

If that's the game I played a session of, I have to add- "Olgar ran the only FR game I've played in that I ever really enjoyed!"

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

If that's the game I played a session of, I have to add- "Olgar ran the only FR game I've played in that I ever really enjoyed!"

That would be it!

 

[Dragonhelm]

At least they didn't have to advance the setting 100 years and obliterate a good chunk of the world in that transition!

I remember when I heard about the changes. I asked Rich Baker whether he thought there would be any issues since the Dragonlance: Fifth Age line did the same thing and it split the fan base. He said no, as this was still D&D and didn't change to another system like DL did (SAGA).

To the original question...

I really didn't have a problem going from the grey to gold boxed set. When I got the FRCS, I really enjoyed it. I didn't game much in the Realms when 3e came about, and as most of my FR materials were from 2e, I wasn't as enthused about the 3e products. I did get a fair share, though.

I'm not as enthused about the 4e Realms. I would mine it for ideas, though.

 

[Treebore]

No. There were changes, sure, but nothing catastrophic, and nothing as stupid as what they did changing to 2E. 3E was very well done, and very well adapted to the 3E rules set.

I love the Realms, but I love "my" Realms. "Canon" does not exist in my Realms games. Except "my" Canon.

 

[Morrus]

I've never been a settings fan, and have never used a published setting. But I did think the 3E FR book was an excellent book, and one of the best examples of a setting book I've seen. They got it right with that one.

 

[pawsplay]

I'm so old school, I hate FR for ruining Greyhawk.

But 3e FR was a nice book, visually, organizationally, and in tone. It was also a major breakthrough in terms of class and feat design for 3e; although a few options turned out to be overpowered, in general, it was a step upward toward "play what you want" and giving arcane casters and fighters as many options as clerics got.

 

[jdrakeh]

Would you say something was lost in transition for Forgotten Realms from D&D 2nd Edition to 3rd Edition?

Yes: the Suck. 2e FR was a hideously bloated nightmare thing slavishly devoted to aping the (often) horrendous FR novels. It should have been put down long before it was. 3e FR took that bloated mess of a setting, carved off most of the fat, and made it magical again. That said, the 1e FR gray box is still my preferred version of FR.

 

[Jimlock]

My old schoolness goes back to 2nd e, which I guess, does not really make old school.

I don't recall the fuss about 2nd doing anything wrong with the FR setting.
(Perhaps I wasn't talking with some real old schoolers at the time).

3e FRCS was a nice package indeed. And while I prefer/preferred Dragonlance back at the time, I believe that FR managed to keep most of tis original charm, when compared to Dragonlance...

What is most annoying about FR, with ANY edition, is the adjudication on magic.

I don't really know if it's the setting's problem, or just the DMs' that I've witnessed using it...

Somehow, when I play in FR, magic is so abundant and wild that it really challenges the world's realism... I guess that's what they call a "high" fantasy setting...

IMHO, Greyhawk is much more balanced in that respect.

 

[ExploderWizard]

FR, at least as far as published products are concerned, is not old school.

 

[Glade Riven]

Hey, I only used the term "Old School" because it is more polite than callin' y'all a bunch a Grognards . And this isn't about 3e to 4e - I know all the issues there. Dragonlancing the Forgotten Realms was a little extreme.

See, I've been trying to track down just what it is that bugs me about the Forgotten Realms setting. Many of the reasons that I thought I had were actually inaccurate, since there are other settings with the same traits that I liked. I finally figured out what it was (well, other than some of the overly entheusiasic fans): Forgotten Realms is a setting that makes me feel like I need to go read the books in order to really figure out what it is about. I got the same feelings towards d20 Wheel of Time, and actually read the books several years after looking through the d20 book. Without reading the actual series, I didn't really know what the setting was about just from the d20 book (which many people see as a really good setting book).

It isn't necessarally a bad thing, as it plays up to the fanbase and increases initial sales, but it does make it tricky when growing the brand to folk who haven't read the books and feel a little intimidated by the massive Wall of Forgotten Realms at the used book store.

Granted, it doesn't help that it is a High Magic campaign that thinks it's High Fantasy.