D&D 5E Campaign Settings 5e- Why I want to Forget the Realms

[Irennan]

Tanis was typical, Drizzt was meant to be a one-of-a-kind.

If you mean that Drizzt is one-of-a-kind because of his characteristic traits, then yes. However he was not meant to be one of a kind as a non-evil drow. The realmsian drow are not the same as standard drow: when creating the Realms, Ed Greenwood envisioned this race having variety in ideas and cultures, he created non-standard drow for the setting, like Eilistraee and Vhaeraun, as integral parts of the world.

Also, to be honest, having an intelligent race willingly live a really ugly life, be all the same, with no one ever wanting anything different over millennia of history, except one super-dude (or a handful of them), sounds weird and far-fetched (and doesn't really reflect the origin of the race in the Realms).

 

[Remathilis]

I don't like the gods or the Wall of the Faithless set up. I'm a bit tired of the generic Medieval, human-dominated Europe-clone setting of the Sword Coast (and every FR game I've seen has been there). The outdated and oversexualized model of antagonists is annoying - orc and drow societies are just flat out unrealistic to the point it falls apart with the least bit of scrutiny. I don't like gnomes having gunpowder.

Seems like less a shot a the Realms as much as it is common D&D tropes. I mean, you can say the exact same thing about Greyhawk and be 95% accurate. Unique settings (I love Eberron, Planescape, and Ravenloft, so I tend towards slightly-higher-than-medieval advancement) have their place, but I can't hate the Realms for embracing the tropes rather than tweaking them; SOMEONE has the be the center for everyone else to deviate from!

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Irennan]

Um, do you have a source for this? Greenwood, AFAIK, has conceded that the drow of FR are essentially the drow created by Gygax (and acknowledged them as one of Gygax's infuential contributions). The underdark, the evil alignment, everythin about the drow of FR are built upon the core dark elves that came before.

Sure, there are a very few exceptions to the society. But that makes them the exceptions. Again, to my knowledge, it's not like there's a sun lovin', hippy kingdom of the drow that's just lovin' the good in the FR. I appreciate correction if I am incorrect.

As to your larger point (from what I gather), that it is reductionist to view races (whether drow, or duregar, or orcs, or what have you) as a monolithic "other," um, okay. Good point! But that's neither here nor there. One could homebrew a version of FR where there are multiple, more realistic versions (in your opinion) of these, with good drow, good duregar, and friendly orcs milling about human society, but again, AFAIK, this isn't reflected in most of the material.

There's not a kingdom of loving drow in the Realms, but there's a culture of them: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Eilistraee

Actually, there was a kingdom of such drow, before the elves destroyed it in the ancient history of those two races.

Yes, I have a source: https://disqus.com/home/discussion/...mail&utm_content=read_more#comment-1534073727

As for other cultures, yes they are reflected in published material. Followers of Eilistraee are an example for the drow, orcs have the ondonti (followers of Eldath, a goddess of peace) and examples of orcs and other races managing to coexist together (like orcs living in Thesk).

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Irennan]

Yes, I understand the fan service. But let me re-state- there is not a kingdom of them. There is some retconning, for people that love Drizzt and want to justify their "good" drow. But even with the retconning, the race, as a whole, is evil. As I wrote, there are a "very few exceptions to the society." These exceptions- even with your source- will be distrusted and not welcome.

Well that was not really a retcon, since 1)drow culture hadn't be explored fully 2)Eilistraee was already part of the Realms as Ed created them, he just made her official later. Besides, Eilistraee and her followers have really nothing to do with Drizzt and are different kind of characters, with very defined and different goals (yes, I get that the popularity of Drizzt led TSR to ask for a good drow goddess, but the result is not Drizzt-related).

They aren't welcomed or trusted, yes, but in some cases they have managed to forge their place in the world and are accepted (in the Cormanthor region, near Elventree, for example. They even have an ambassador in Evermeet).

Miyeritar (the previously existing kingdom, mainly devoted to Eilistraee's teachings) is part of a huge piece of FR history, the Crown Wars. It's not something minor, really.

 

[Mephista]

Seems like less a shot a the Realms as much as it is common D&D tropes. I mean, you can say the exact same thing about Greyhawk and be 95% accurate. Unique settings (I love Eberron, Planescape, and Ravenloft, so I tend towards slightly-higher-than-medieval advancement) have their place, but I can't hate the Realms for embracing the tropes rather than tweaking them; SOMEONE has the be the center for everyone else to deviate from!

I never said I liked Greyhawk's medieval setting either - still tired of it. And, in the case of the antagonists, "unrealistic enemies that make no sense" is not a trope. That's just lazy writing. Giving gunpowder to gnomes is not a trope- that's a different decision separate from a lot of things; Greyhawk's gnomes didn't have it. My dislike of the Wall of the Faithless is not a common D&D trope, nor the gods themselves - I don't dislike Greyhawk's pantheon like I do FR's.

So, your 95% comment actually... isn't. The only part that holds up is being tired of medieval europe.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Dimitrios]

In answer to your first question:
1) As others have noted, FR has consistently been TSR/WoTC's most popular and profitable setting for a long time.
2) WoTC has made it clear that their vision moving forward is of D&D as a multimedia property. With the novels and computer games, FR already has a very successful multimedia presence.
3) FR is even more of a kitchen sink than Greyhawk or Mystara. If they're planning to make biannual adventure paths the centerpiece of the D&D brand, they can cover pretty much any theme you can think of without ever leaving FR. Pseudo ancient Egypt with pyramids, deserts and god-kings? It's in there. Pirates of the pseudo Spanish main? It's in there. & etc.

The sheer amount of information combined with the regular major updates does work against making the setting your own. Particularly if your players care about that sort of thing. I've never understood the concern with what is or isn't "canon", personally.

 

[I'm A Banana]

It "weirdly embarassing sexual stuff" a valid reason to dislike the Realms?

I mean, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a randy septuagenarian or twenty, good goddesses have a tendency to be naked, evil ones have a tendency to be kinky, Dizz't's origin story is just....no....

Not that I have a hate-on for the realms, I just haven't heard this particular bugaboo mentioned, and it's the one that I always have to facepalm over.

The uber NPC's are just raw Mary Sue, which I get as an attractive thing to a certain segments of the book-buying audience in the same way that urban supernatural romance is an attractive thing to certain segments of the same audience. It doesn't hit me much because as far as I'm concerned, these NPC's simply don't exist until/unless they appear in my actual game. The focus is on the PC's, and maybe there's other stuff going on and if you want Elminster to handle the adventure for you, go ask him to handle it, and we'll make an adventure out of you trying to get a Deus Ex Machina.

I'm not a real fan of the Realms, but it's not annoying enough for me to get a good head of steam hating on. It's Generic Wish Fulfillment World, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that, it's just not very interesting to me.