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Scott, high-res versions of the maps of Shadowdale itself would be particularly appreciated, so we can print them at less cramped sizes than they are in the book. Thanks for the help.

That's the influence of the novels, especially the Realms-Shattering Events beginning with the Avatar trilogy, and the books department's favouring of high-level characters; and also of TSR often treating the Realms as a dumping ground rather than a setting with integrity, and using some poorly...

If Eberron is expected to be published many years into the future, I think Wizards should bite the bullet and correct the scale error now, when it's a relatively young setting, rather than keep compounding it.

I get that impression too, and it's the circular self-fulfilling-prophecy aspect that galls me. Assuming that most players are infantile rules-manipulating egotists is (apart from being very insulting) not going to lead to a game that attracts a broader range of people. Of course this is no new...

It's funny people comparing Union to Sigil; I was never enthusiastic about Sigil because D&D already had an urban planar nexus in Odd Alley/Weird Way (as well as the World Serpent Inn). Not that there shouldn't be more than one version of the concept.

Certainly a major theme of the Forgotten Realms is the rise of tree-clearing, crop-growing, city-building humanity, which comes in conflict with the elves (as in the early history of both Cormyr and the Dales) and other human ways of relating to the land, as represented by followers of Silvanus...

In the Realms as she is wrote, the Black Hand of Bane is Bane's holy symbol; it isn't the name of the gauntlet worn by his avatar. Bane is a transcendent divinity, not a man-size superpowered humanoid with physical weapons -- he's only depicted that way in Faiths and Avatars because Wizards...

The question presupposes what fun is, while effectively asking 'What do you find fun?', or 'What do you enjoy'? Well, I like long-term fun, which often involves deferring quick fulfilment in favour of a larger sense of a real, believable world. Abstract vs detailed rules is surely a different...

Of course not, it would be unfair and incompetent. Again, you're generalizing based on assumptions of play style. As a player, I expect and trust that the GM will decide outcomes she thinks best for the campaign. I have no expectation that she'll be consistent with rules implementation...

There are lots of settings that I'd enjoy GMing or playing in, but my GMing enthusiasms are usually for a particular setting and campaign idea.

Of course. It's a matter of style that should be agreed between DM and players. Some groups like formal house rules, others are happy for the DM to improvise with the rules and make these kinds of spot decisions. Personally, neither the idea of caring as a player about exactly how my characters...

According to you, and according to the rules of competitive games, but not according to the philosophy of any version of D&D.

Gargauth, you've already got some great advice. Let me add a few things. Rather than Shadowdale, I'd start in another dale that would provide a comparable but different experience: Mistledale, Battledale or Deepingdale. Adventuring in the Dales combines four cornerstones: -- exploring ancient...

Rob Kuntz's Maure Castle adventures (#112, 124, 139) and Eric Boyd's Waterdeep adventures (#126, 127, 128) featuring the Dungeon of the Crypt.

This is the usual case with such arguments with the last three versions of the SWRPG, D&D, and most other competently designed and playtested games. Lucas Licensing, not Lucasfilm. It resembles certain fanatical enclaves of Wikipedia in that regard, which means that while its articles are pretty...

As used within computer gaming, 'CRPG' means a character-developing/stuff-acquiring game, with roleplaying incidental. But I certainly roleplayed, or at least role-assumed, when I played games like the Ultima series. Rather than play with definitions and identities ('are CRPGs roleplaying...

This is the only public data (as opposed to personal anecdotes) that I know of.

I recommend Gary Gygax's Living Fantasy as the definitive description of medieval/renaissance-type social structures in a D&D context.

The ambiguity may be why the word was chosen for Forgotten Realms Adventures. But its usage within Realmslore tends to imply (but not require) a sexual relationship. Ed Greenwood:

Dragon Magazine Archive at (I think) full price.