D&D 5E 5th edition Forgotten Realms: Why can't you just ignore the lore?

[Wolfskin]

Man, I'm so happy I never had a Realms-lawyer player at my table! They don't even know who the hell Elminster is

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

It's clearly obvious you don't know the Realms very well.

Don't be a jerk.

And before you say, "I wasn't being a jerk," realize that yes, you were being a jerk.

Not everybody perceives the Realms the same way. That the Internet focuses gripes and complaints into stereotypes that people oft take as truth doesn't help either.

But that doesn't mean you get to declare people wrong and then go about your business as though you were the anointed expert on the Realms, because you're not.

If you disagree with someone, show why you disagree. Otherwise leave off from posting.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Hey Gm4PG. Do you feel the irony between this thread and the last one where several people claimed that a DM is always right in changing canon and players should never bitch about it?

it infuriates me sometimes...

I've found it's easy enough to ignore canon - you just have to establish early on that that's the way you're going.

do you not see an issue here...

player: "I want to play in the realms, I've read over 100 novels and all the settings stuff.."
DM: "OK, but forget all that I;m making my own realms..."

I homebrew all the time. I can homebrew a 'feels like FR" setting, but I hate FR itself, the only times I like was pre time of troubles and post spell plague...

One of the conceits of much of the published Realms (particularly Ed Greenwood's work) is that it comes from an unreliable narrator. The Realms that we know is the the Realms as related to Ed Greenwood by Elminster (why is probably why Elminster is so awesome and gets laid, like, all the time). Heck, the Volo's guides all come with a foreword warning the reader that Volothamp is full of crap.

My suggestion would be to embrace that. Establish early on in the campaign that Elminster is, in fact, a Marco Polo-esque hack who big notes himself through stories and claims credit for other people's actions but is really a middling wizard who isn't even the first to use the name. The Seven Sisters are the offspring of of some fey lord who seduced their mother (who was later killed by their father in a jealous rage) -- the whole "children of Mystra" thing is just a legend that they didn't deny because it was useful. Essentially every thing the players might think they know about the realms could be a lie, the product of stories that may or may not be true.

and again, if they want to play in a homebrew, I can...



so again to go back to the "I understand the fandom thing"

I love DC comics, and I had been reading from earily 90's through 2000. There was a 2 year point where my pull list was a list of marvel title, 1 or 2 others, and everything in the main DCU... You don't want me in a DCU hero game if you don't know half as much as I do... it will be hard for me it will suck for you. The difference is DCU was not ment to be a game, it was ment to be a story. The realms as a book line is great (well for the fans) as a game it sucks... but it was ment to be a game world... but it isn't set up as one.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Don't be a jerk.

And before you say, "I wasn't being a jerk," realize that yes, you were being a jerk.

Not everybody perceives the Realms the same way. That the Internet focuses gripes and complaints into stereotypes that people oft take as truth doesn't help either.

But that doesn't mean you get to declare people wrong and then go about your business as though you were the anointed expert on the Realms, because you're not.

If you disagree with someone, show why you disagree. Otherwise leave off from posting.

the funny part is his statement makes him as bad if not worse then the players who gave me a hard time...

 

[Laeknir]

Don't be a jerk.

And before you say, "I wasn't being a jerk," realize that yes, you were being a jerk.

Not everybody perceives the Realms the same way. That the Internet focuses gripes and complaints into stereotypes that people oft take as truth doesn't help either.

But that doesn't mean you get to declare people wrong and then go about your business as though you were the anointed expert on the Realms, because you're not.

If you disagree with someone, show why you disagree. Otherwise leave off from posting.

Stop, just stop. I don't need a white knight defender, and it's incredibly annoying seeing someone try to act like a moderator when they're not.

I'm quite capable of defending myself when needed, or reporting people when they get out of hand.

Thing is, I may not post a lot but I've been around a very, very long time. I know who you are in various aliases on multiple sites, and you've been guilty of the exact same thing that you're finger-waggling Sailor Moon over. Frequently.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

You'll have to get over that feeling, then, because on this forum space it's perfectly acceptable to point out to someone when they're being a jerk. If that's not your cup of tea then this might not be the forum space for you.

For someone whose been around a longtime, you should well know that people can change. I am not here to defend you, but I am interested in seeing Realms discussions that don't devolve into people telling others they know nothing about the Realms, or people declaring all Realmslore enthusiasts are jerks at the gaming table.

That's not too much to ask for.

 

[Laeknir]

You'll have to get over that feeling, then, because on this forum space it's perfectly acceptable to point out to someone when they're being a jerk. If that's not your cup of tea then this might not be the forum space for you.

For someone whose been around a longtime, you should well know that people can change. I am not here to defend you, but I am interested in seeing Realms discussions that don't devolve into people telling others they know nothing about the Realms, or people declaring all Realmslore enthusiasts are jerks at the gaming table.

That's not too much to ask for.

OK, white knight. You're just as pompous and preachy as you've always been. Typical Realmsian, really. Let us know when that change actually happens, if ever.

 

[DongMaster]

Mmm.... Popcorn...

 

[Parmandur]

The 3E FRCS, for one, pretty much lays out the opposite play style to what many here are advocating: use what you like, change what you want, ignore what you don't like. People need to chill out.

 

[Mournblade94]

Ah, but you see - the moment you actually do that, a Realmslore master will pout and grumble and complain they're not having fun. Because you're not doing it right, or because truthfully they wanted to go sit in on one of Lady Alustriel's naked hot tub sessions in Silverymoon and now they can't.

If you're using Realms material, they want it to BE the published Realms - at least, as close to the published Realms as possible. They want to brush shoulders with Volo and Storm and go hang out with Laeral. They want you as DM to have studied Greenwood's architecture articles for when they go visit the South, and if you don't have the right kind of stonemasonry for your root cellar they'll be disappointed. If you don't have the right list of foods and wines for the inns they visit in Waterdeep, or god forbid you close the Moonstone Mask in Neverwinter and create your own inn, they'll be disappointed. If they can't go have sex with the goddess Selune who likes to hang out as a tavern wench, they'll be disappointed.

They love all the varieties of Realms cheese, and they want it served on a platter. With Greenwood's names for each cheese. And a story of how the merchant imported each one, from where, and what type of rothe milk was used to make it.

You need to find better players than. I have my own anecdotes about how even at conventions when I DM the FR this is NEVER A PROBLEM.

It is a problem for YOU. Not a problem with the setting.