D&D 5E Forgotten Realms: Rising from the Last Realms Shaking Event

[Paul Farquhar]

The easiest thing isn't always the right thing for the long-term health of the game.

I'm not convinced the Forgotten Realms is particularly important to the long-term health of D&D. D&D managed before FR was a thing, it can manage after. And then there can be a big 7th edition revival with lots of nostalgia.

I think "homebrew" is the core D&D setting, and that always needs to be the main focus for core rules, with the occasional foray into wide range of other settings.

 

[DEFCON 1]

WotC is not going to release a 5E book that updates the nation of Turmish until they have an adventure that takes place in Turmish. They don't care about the "up-to-date" canon of Turmish, and they've told us all this repeatedly so that we'd stop asking for up-to-date canon of Turmish.

As far as WotC is concerned... if you want to know what Turmish is about so you can run an adventure there, you have plenty of old Turmish material from the previous four editions which you can use for your adventure. They're not going to spend their limited precious hours inventing and writing up several hundreds years of Spellplagued and Sundered Turmish history to put into a giant Forgotten Realms encyclopedia... just for the six of you who think you have to have what Perkins, Crawford et. al. have decided what happened in Turmish, rather than just make up whatever you decide happened to it yourselves.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I'm not convinced the Forgotten Realms is particularly important to the long-term health of D&D. D&D managed before FR was a thing, it can manage after. And then there can be a big 7th edition revival with lots of nostalgia.

I think "homebrew" is the core D&D setting, and that always needs to be the main focus for core rules, with the occasional foray into wide range of other settings.

I don't think that the FR specifically is, though I do think it is silly to dismiss it entirely. But I think failing to support the setting new DMs are likely to use, when you have a lot of new DMs is perhaps not a great plan. We shall see.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I don't think that the FR specifically is, though I do think it is silly to dismiss it entirely. But I think failing to support the setting new DMs are likely to use, when you have a lot of new DMs is perhaps not a great plan. We shall see.

They are supporting it. They keep releasing book after book of adventures that take place in various parts of the Forgotten Realms, detailing what is happening in those sections.

Just because they choose not to release a gargantuan book that dictates two paragraphs for every other far-flung nation that virtually no one ever runs adventures in, doesn't mean they aren't supporting the setting.

They just aren't "updating" every single nook and cranny of the setting to the "Present Day" because it is unnecessary. Especially for new DMs who wouldn't even think about running any adventures in Turmish even if you paid them.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't think that the FR specifically is, though I do think it is silly to dismiss it entirely.

I wasn't suggesting it should be dismissed entirely...

But I think failing to support the setting new DMs are likely to use

Why? I'm my experience, and in the writing of the DMG, homebrew settings are more likely to be used by new DMs.

It's old-time DMs, with a combination of nostalgia and familiarity, who are most likely to fall back on the Forgotten Realms.

Without the benefit of much experience the FR has become much too bloated for new DMs. A smaller, simpler setting like Ravnica or Netir Vale, or something familiar like Middle Earth or Westeros, is more suited to new DMs if they don't want to create their own.

 

[Weiley31]

I think I'm good on that.: My version of the Forgotten Realms world landscape and countries IS ALREADY Toril, Faerune, Soburin(from Mist of Akuma), somehow Eberron, Greyhawk, Planescape 2E/Sigil, 4E Cosmic god lore/3E Great Wheel cosmology, and Book of Erotic Fantasy dealing with certain aspects of sex in the realms. All on the same planet.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Why? I'm my experience, and in the writing of the DMG, homebrew settings are more likely to be used by new DMs.

That's the precise opposite of my experience. Does the DMG specifically advocate that new DMs start their own settings? If not, what are you referring to?

My experience, having seen many groups over many years including two ones with people new to RPGs with 5E is that most new DMs quickly latch on to an existing setting, and that the writing your own entire setting thing tends to come later. The other thing I've seen is essentially "no real setting beyond what the adventure provides", which is common with new DMs running pre-gen adventure paths.

I strongly suspect that if we did a poll of people playing D&D we'd find a strong correlation between people having played 20+ years and people running full homebrew.

 

[ChaosOS]

As a primary-Eberron fan, it's really interesting to see this contrast - on one hand, FR is the default setting of 5e. On the other hand, it's only that in a very shallow way. Having the advancing metaplot makes things difficult because unlike Eberron you've got lots of older edition material that's only quasi-relevant. By contrast, in Eberron we don't need a new Secrets of Sarlona, because every book across every edition assumes the same 998YK date.

 

[ChaosOS]

That's the precise opposite of my experience. Does the DMG specifically advocate that new DMs start their own settings? If not, what are you referring to?

My experience, having seen many groups over many years including two ones with people new to RPGs with 5E is that most new DMs quickly latch on to an existing setting, and that the writing your own entire setting thing tends to come later. The other thing I've seen is essentially "no real setting beyond what the adventure provides", which is common with new DMs running pre-gen adventure paths.

I strongly suspect that if we did a poll of people playing D&D we'd find a strong correlation between people having played 20+ years and people running full homebrew.

2016 Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master Survey Results

On 28 October 2016 I released a survey for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Masters to help us all get a better understanding of how DMs prepare for and run their D&D games. This article analyze...

slyflourish.com

Sly flourish did a summary of setting survey results from back in 2016

Of 6,600 respondents on primary campaign worlds used, 55% answered personal setting, 38% answered Forgotten Realms, 5% answered another D&D campaign world, and 2% answered non-D&D campaign world.

55% homebrew settings. Sure, 2016, but the number can't have changed that much. Many of these homebrew settings probably match the themes and tone of the sword coast, but stuff like CR and MCDM have shown people how to make their own quasi-generic-european-medieval-fantasy settings. This survey data is also reflected in WotC's book priorities - Eberron is the first proper setting book, and that's because WGTE sold like hotcakes.