Countdown to the Realms: Magic in the Forgotten Realms

[mach1.9pants]

I've always said it like, "a beer."

mmmm...beer, the cause of, and solution to, all my problems

 

[SoulsFury]

I might be looking forward to the new Realms... I'll definitely be taking a look at the new setting book.

 

[Cmarco]

I might be looking forward to the new Realms... I'll definitely be taking a look at the new setting book.

Glad to hear it. Well-met, SoulsFury!

 

[3catcircus]

Bleccchhh...

 

[The Ubbergeek]

Bleccchhh...

On what?

 

[Sol.Dragonheart]

Fascinating. I am very curious as to the full make up and implementation of Returned Abeir. It sounds like it has a great deal of potential, and it certainly piques my interest. Maztica is no loss for me, I never used it nor planned to in the future. Halruaa was also a rarely mentioned, never used segment of the Realms for my campaigns.

 

[kennew142]

I like the Realms and have, over the years ran multiple multi-year long campaigns there and I am 200% behind these changes. I am glad to see the world more tortured, devastated and ripe for heroes to save the innocent from the wicked.

Good stuff...good stuff.



Wyrmshadows

I can't agree enough. Every FR post makes me more excited about the changes. My brother in law will be running a 4e Waterdeep campaign shortly after the release of FR 4e.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Ignore Pocahontas and Hernán Cortés? Nah, it must be eliminated like it has never existed in the first place.

I'm a big proponent of continuity, and I tend to take Marvel Comics as a model to work with. Marvel never acts like something never happened. They acknowledge that prior events happened, both good and bad. Spider-Man comics recognize that the Clone Saga happened, even though it was considered one of the worst Spider-Man stories by some fans. Now, Marvel may not revisit this storyline ever again, but they won't pretend like it didn't happen.

I believe that we should look at Maztica in the same light. No, it wasn't the absolute best region in the Realms, but it did happen. To say it didn't happen would be insulting to the designers who spent the time and resources to create the product in the first place.

Again, you don't have to use it again. As Cam mentions above, sometimes you have to address these things and put the nail in the coffin. In WotC's case, they've done just that. They recognize that Maztica existed and they have set it up to where it won't show up again. While there will undoubtedly be those who are upset at this move, they still have the option to play Maztica in the pre-4e Realms.

Now, what WotC might do is say that certain elements of Maztica have bled through and that they show up in the form of undead, or something like that. Give new life to the old Maztican elements.

That being said, I question whether or not this was a good move. First, do we have to destroy an existing continent to introduce a new one? Might the new one have become a setting all of its own that could have offered new possibilities?

We should also consider that history is repeating itself. This has happened before in Dragonlance, and to disastrous effect. The game system changed, there was a time jump, and the world was terraformed. All of that is happening here as well. To the Realms' credit, at least the game system change isn't as drastic as going from AD&D to SAGA. 4e and 3e will be similar enough that it won't be all that bad. Still, the Fifth Age in Dragonlance caused a massive split in fandom, one that was only cured by 3rd edition and the War of Souls.

Now, maybe this will be the best move for the Realms. I suspect it will have some benefits, but I think the price will be a split fan base.

Tread carefully.

 

[Wyrmshadows]

I can't agree enough. Every FR post makes me more excited about the changes. My brother in law will be running a 4e Waterdeep campaign shortly after the release of FR 4e.

I know I'll buy 4e, don't know if I'll run it because I am quite fond of True20, but if I do I can see myself running a campaign on FR. My last campaign stopped with the PCs at 18-20th level due to time constraints but they were all endowed with supernatural longevity during the story and would like to see the PCs handle the post-apocalyptic Realms....oh yeah I can definately DM that.



Wyrmshadows

 

[Hunter In Darkness]

Don't overdo coffee, man. It's bad for your heart.


Also, the end product may be actually good, who know? Maybe they know their stuff, and so it's the problem....

yeah sorry for the filter thing kinda forgot. no disrepect to any one here really.and i dont drink cafine of any type good thing huh . and yeah i called it the forsaken realm$ with $ becase there just useing the name of the realms with out USEING the realms. this is not a 4e issue in itself . i dont care if its 4e 4.4 6e 9.925e its not the editions fault the FR team took it out back shot it and made a flesh golem of it. thats on then not 4e itself . its really just a bad day coupled with the fact that as a old school FR fan,player and dm i find it well wrong to dump all that history just to sell more books to folks who hate the realms anyhow.
so yeah i guess i came off a little hash