Conclusion to the Living Forgotten Realms Campaign

[GrahamWills]

*** FINAL BATTLE INTERACTIVE SPOILERS ***

can anyone confirm this... did they really bring back the worst of the realms?

Confirmed. My 20th level drow bard started the final encounter by teleporting halfway across the map, dominated two of the three main enemies (a slaad and a mind flayer, I think) and then teleported another 12 squares to sit on Cyric's throne, where she ordered her new army of males and monsters around. After a short battle, Cyric arrived and started being significantly annoying, but eventually he was defeated.

Amusingly, my bard was using a starting power, Blunder, just to move Cyric into the path of my pet slayer male PC, and the damage was enough to take him out.

Shortly after, a priest of Amaunator turned up and offed Cyric. Actually it might have been Ammie himself as I think he transformed into Lathander as he did it (softer, warmer and with added glow effects). That eliminated the spellplague. Mystra came back and there was the giant sound of 5 years of story being shredded and dumped in the trash.

My drow promptly abandoned the realms and headed back down to the Underdark. Sighing.

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The funniest part of the BI was the reason that the adventurers decided to do the second part.
So, you are fighting all manner of wannabe baddies (Order of Blue Flame, Netheril, usual suspects) when a voice starts whispering in your head that you should go free Cyric from his prison because that would be a good thing to do. No hint as to who is sending these messages. So the BI group was asked would they go do this? Of course, they said "sure", because it could not *possibly* be a trick of the Prince of Lies to go whispering lies in you ear. It MUST be Mystra, who is dead.

I mean, there's an element of "must keep implausible plot afloat" that is necessary in any game, but when the BI judges specifically ask if you want to believe the whispers, it seemed so unlikely that anyone actually would agree! But ... we did.

I'd like to have known what happens if you do the obvious thing and say "hell no, we should stop Cyric escaping". If anyone knows, I'd be REALLY interested.

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We all knew though what was coming. Not a huge surprise. It would have been nice to have had maybe some ability to affect anything. I believe even the entire epic campaign's result was reversed so as to fit the required plot (the BI narration implied it strongly, but I haven't played the epic campaign, so cannot be sure). There was a definite "end" feeling as comments like "I'll spend it now as this is the last adventure I'm playing" and "I don't really care if we all die" were common.

* finis *

 

[bryce0lynch]

Confirmed. ... Shortly after, a priest of Amaunator turned up and offed Cyric. Actually it might have been Ammie himself as I think he transformed into Lathander as he did it (softer, warmer and with added glow effects).
...

We all knew though what was coming. Not a huge surprise. It would have been nice to have had maybe some ability to affect anything. I believe even the entire epic campaign's result was reversed so as to fit the required plot (the BI narration implied it strongly, but I haven't played the epic campaign, so cannot be sure). There was a definite "end" feeling as comments like "I'll spend it now as this is the last adventure I'm playing" and "I don't really care if we all die" were common.

I got the vibe that Amaunator was actually Lathander, but like I said, I don't follow any of this and was 1-shotting.

As for the ability to affect anything ... it's the BI ... in 4th edition ... in LFR ... you saw what choice implied ... an earth titan showing up to generate random damage.

 

[exile]

I am far from a Realms scholar, but I am pretty sure that Amaunator and Latahnder are basically one and the same. This particular god was known as Amaunator for most of the Realms pre-history; during most of the time that the campaign has been in print, he has been the warmer, fuzzier Lathander; then during 4E, he reverted to his somewhat harder, but still very good Amauanator persona; now, with the events of the Sundering, it sounds like he is back to being Lathander.

 

[Yora]

Reincarnations of gods often come with some considerable personalty changes. It's different from simple resurrection. I believe Lathander is the same devine essence as Amaunator, but with a significantly different approach to his role.

 

[Alzrius]

I am far from a Realms scholar, but I am pretty sure that Amaunator and Latahnder are basically one and the same. This particular god was known as Amaunator for most of the Realms pre-history; during most of the time that the campaign has been in print, he has been the warmer, fuzzier Lathander; then during 4E, he reverted to his somewhat harder, but still very good Amauanator persona; now, with the events of the Sundering, it sounds like he is back to being Lathander.

I'm not sure that I'd call myself a "Realms scholar" either, but the conflation of Amaunator and Lathandar is a relatively recent invention, out of game and (it's implied) in game.

Most of the 2E materials (e.g. Faiths & Avatars and Arcane Age: Empire of Netheril) treated the two as distinct entities, citing that Amaunator died shortly after the fall of Netheril, and that Lathander came to the Realms a short time thereafter.

The idea that the two were one and the same was first presented as a heresy among Lathander's church in 3.5E's Power of Faerun, and out-and-out noted that the leader of this heresy was hoping to make it a cause-and-effect situation - that is, he wanted people to believe that not only were Lathander and Amaunator the same deity, but that if enough people believed that Lathander was about to return to his Amaunator guise, then it'd happen. A short timeline was given detailing his efforts.

4E seemed to imply that his efforts were successful, as it made the one-and-the-same stance canon (in both senses of the word).

 

[keterys]

I believe even the entire epic campaign's result was reversed so as to fit the required plot (the BI narration implied it strongly, but I haven't played the epic campaign, so cannot be sure). There was a definite "end" feeling as comments like "I'll spend it now as this is the last adventure I'm playing" and "I don't really care if we all die" were common.

Epic has had its own path, decided ages ago (and constantly influenced by changes in the other games - oh god, the wrench it threw when Elturel exploded and almost every established major source of radiance in the campaign went and got offed). It _does_ come to a decisive end, with some minor modifications based on what's going on with WotC "in that it's mentioned that a further realms shattering cataclysm may be coming" so people can go from there to a Sundered realms or not and feel slightly better about continuity.

But, other than that, Epic has the savings and deaths of multiple deities, so is not canon except in the minds of the epic players. As it should be

Edit: As a note, Epic was always intended to be exactly 10 adventures, ending at Winter Fantasy. It was almost in my contract, as it were, cause I didn't want to be tied down for more than the 3.5 years it would take. Ie, it was ending regardless and entirely of its own motions, nothing to do with the Sundering or end of 4E.

 

[Mystic Lemur]

Sorry for the Necro, but didn't really feel this deserved a brand new thread.

I see the Winter Fantasy scenarios have gone up, as well as ALL of the Battle Interactives (Yay!). But Origins has come and gone and no word on when any of those will be available (Unless you count May/June 2014 as word).

Very much hope they are still planning to upload them.