D&D 5E Forgotten Realms - How would you publish this setting this time?

[DaveMage]

I'd go back to before 4E's mess.

The spellplague and whatever else happened to spawn the 4e realms would be removed (by "The Sundering" if need be - a perfect way to right the stupidity - IMO, of course - that was the 4E realms).

I also agree with Olgar - novels should be separate and the game timeline should be locked. *Maybe* advance the timeline 1 year for every 5 years of real time. Make the 1E - 3E realms products relevant again.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Complete rewrite from day 1.

Go to the grey box set, use those maps, and basics. However also down play all the NPCs that are most well known. Make the setting all about the PCs. Then include 10-20 pages of 'possible plot hooks' each is about 1/2 page long with basics, then ends with "See Novel XYZ for one possible way it could go" or "See Xe moduel XYZ for inspiration".

I would make a new book every quarter that details a region or two in more detail.

I would list alternate options in all the books too. Red wizards as a cabal, or as business men, or as a necro lich society.

I would focus ALOT on "what if PCs are X, Y and Z" as well as side bars on how to use orgnizations, feats, and NPCs in homebrew settings...

Gee I want to be a spell fire...

Gee can we template out what a chosen of Vecna would look like?

 

[gyor]

I go with three products to start out with. A 5e Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting Guide, a 5e Forgotten Realms Player's Handbook, and lastly a Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas/history guide DVD or streamable download. And I'd offer the ability to subscribe and get updates to the Setting.

I just think there is an opportunity to mix really cool books and digital tools to build something out of this world.

 

[MerricB]

I don't think the 32-page model that Paizo uses will suit WotC.

I'm not sure the 32-page model suits Paizo! It survives because of their subscription model, but I don't think it'd survive long if it didn't have that. 32-pages is a tough sell - Wizards have tried it with several supplements in 4E, none of which did well.

 

[Stormonu]

I'd go back and start with the gray box. Back the timeline up to that point. A 64-page DM's book (with between 12-20 of those pages being monsters, rare spells, magic items, membership organizations and whatnot) and double poster map of FR. Throw in a 12 page Player's book - 2 pages of overview and 10 pages of mechanics specific to Faerun (for players).

I'd then do a 64 or 96 page book per region. Each region book would again have 2 - perhaps 4 pages that are a player summary, about the same number of pages of "open" player content and 10-12 pages of DM-based mechanics that can be added. The rest would be "deep" detail, at least a page of one to five sentance adventure hooks and a brief adventure to help establish the mood of the region.

In addition to the region books, I'd also do Timeline books. These books would contain material to set games in different time periods - from (jaunts to) Netheril, through the Time of Troubles and into the Spellplague. Once the main timeline books were done, I'd consider doing year-by-year books in a Living Campaign fashion, but NOT advance the timeline of the original campaign book.

In all of these, no stats for NPCs like Elminster, Manshoon, Drizzt and the like. Sure, mention them in the appropriate books ("What Drizzt is up to in the North"), but NO STATS, no making them the crux of adventures, regions or the like. If there was enough cry for it, perhaps a book like Heroe's Lorebook - but done as a Kickstarter so it would only get made if enough folks threw money at it in the first place.

And of course, adventures.

At two books a month, I bet that could still keep FR active for 10 or more years.

 

[Wiseblood]

I don't think I could do a realms book. I hate retconning. Too many apocalypse'es..ies...ees...is or whatnot. I had a love of the characters and places in the realms but it has been poisoned and corrupted by WotC. It bothers me that I even know some of the insipid trash that has been dribbling out of these writers over the last decade. They have soiled the whole thing for me.

If anyone is out there reading this message. Do not read the novels or game books if they are less than 10 years old. If you haven't read anything printed after 1999 ignorance is bliss.

 

[Blackwarder]

Don't have a lot of time so I'll leave my long post for later but just keep in mind that the sundering adventures give us a glimps to current WotC methods, publishe an adventure plus a 64 page setting guide, I'm fairly confident that this will be the way forward with all of the sundering modules so next module will have a setting booklet for Icewind Dale and so forth.

Warder

 

[MerricB]

Don't have a lot of time so I'll leave my long post for later but just keep in mind that the sundering adventures give us a glimps to current WotC methods, publishe an adventure plus a 64 page setting guide, I'm fairly confident that this will be the way forward with all of the sundering modules so next module will have a setting booklet for Icewind Dale and so forth.

Warder

That does seem likely for the near future. It's hard to tell if they'll continue in this manner, but I'm sure sales will have a great impact on it.

Personally, I'm greatly in favour of it, but I'm a big fan of adventures, and adventures with source material are a lot richer.

I don't know how many adventures are planned for the Sundering, though. Six novels - one per month. Each of the Encounters should be 12-13 weeks to play or 3 months. It might be we only get two, though four is also possible if it bridges the gap until the next GenCon and the release of 5e.

Cheers!

 

[JeffB]

anything printed after 1999 ignorance is bliss.

1989 as far as I am concerned.

 

[Jester David]

The basic design of the 4e book wasn't bad. The two-pages per nation format was sleek and simple. It had everything you needed to run a campaign.

This is not to say it was perfect.
There was some wasted space on generic content. And having half of each nation's weite-up devoted to adventure hooks was inefficient. And having to do double duty of explaining what a nation was like, how it changed during the Spellplague, and it's history made it hard to provide needed information.
And there were all the Mysteries. I know the book wanted to add some mystery back to the Realms, make it more a place of wonder and open to DM ideas. But it was too hard to tell what was a mystery being left open to DMs, what was an accidental omission or the result of editing, and what was a gap being left open for a future novel.
I'd also get rid of the generic starting area and adventure material. Every nation should be equally good as a starting location (almost). Adventure material is stuff that you only use once or twice and comes at the cost of information that might be more useful in every game or drive multiple sessions.

The campaign book should be 100% for DMs. You pay for a campaign setting because you need a campaign setting not because you need a new fighter build or new races. You buy a player accessory for crunch.
I think the Dark Sun book really suffered for this. We've never had a perfect DS guide as the first couple were done in 2e -when designing a good campaign product was a work in progress- and the 4e version is half crunch for a now dead edition. The warlock build was good but the battlemind and shaman builds were superfluous and generic, coming at the cost of world information.
Handle PC options with a second book. Paizo does this quite well, with small 32-page softcover books for players. Put out one of those with the crunch of the Realms.