D&D General Does anyone else starting to feel like FR: HoF & FR: AiF were starved of resources because of the Core Books

[Parmandur]

I think there's a degree of unevenness among the feats. A few seem kind of specialized in their benefits. And if any player in an adventuring group I'm in takes Mythal Touched, I'm either gonna slap them or stay more than 15 feet away from them at all times.

Why not both...?

Just color me skeptical about Feats being judged imbalanced after a week of release.

 

[Parmandur]

WotC don't pay its staff enough for them to read through the vast pile of largely terrible novels.

I agree 100%, and I don't think it was ever a good or sustainable idea to pursue. But I do understand that the people who enjoyed that doomed publishing endeavor are sad that it isn't happening any more.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Why not both...?

Just color me skeptical about Geats being judged imbalanced after a week of release.

Beowulf was overpowered.

 

[Parmandur]

Beowulf was overpowered.

I do think that modern gamers have maybe lost sight of the asymmetry that early hardcore wargamers unserstood.

 

[GarrettKP]

Well, while I agree with you and not the OP, for the sake of argument I will say I do see and understand where @Henadic Theologian is coming from: for those folks who enjoyed the 2E/3E era of breakneck novels and game products carefully curating a shared metaplot, these books are not a return to that form. It continues the sort of hazy quantum approach to "canon" that WotC has been using for some years now, and for the "consistent Canon is possible and even desireavle" crowd...that can be disappointing.

This is a bit overly nostalgic in the view of 2E/3E era products.

There has never been a consistent meta plot or even any form of accuracy regarding realms events across different mediums, outside of the series themselves.

The Elminster books aren’t reacting to the Drizzt books aren’t reacting to the Baldur’s Gate games and so on. Hell there’s barely any consistency within some of the series, with Baldur’s Gate being a perfect example.

The truth is, contradictions to the “lore” have existed since the realms became a published setting. And this is true for basically all published material. Even something like the MCU, which has one guy at the helm, still retcons and refreshes lore all the time in the name of telling compelling stories.

 

[Parmandur]

This is a bit overly nostalgic in the view of 2E/3E era products.

There has never been a consistent meta plot or even any form of accuracy regarding realms events across different mediums, outside of the series themselves.

The Elminster books aren’t reacting to the Drizzt books aren’t reacting to the Baldur’s Gate games and so on. Hell there’s barely any consistency within some of the series, with Baldur’s Gate being a perfect example.

The truth is, contradictions to the “lore” have existed since the realms became a published setting. And this is true for basically all published material. Even something like the MCU, which has one guy at the helm, still retcons and refreshes lore all the time in the name of telling compelling stories.

Oh, I agree 100%: I am inclined to ignore the existence of any novels or games, and any metaplot. Nor will my friends and family care if I smash 1350s Grey Box details with 1501 and 1489 material.

 

[mamba]

Why not both...?

it’s hard to slap someone while staying at least 15 feet away

 

[Parmandur]

it’s hard to slap someone while staying at least 15 feet away

Keep the character 15 feet away from the other, slap the player.

 

[Bae'zel]

Why not both...?

Just color me skeptical about Feats being judged imbalanced after a week of release.

It doesn't look "broken" just potentially annoying (like Wild magic).

 

[TheSword]

I’m alright with not everything being balanced or even optimal. Provided the majority is and particularly things linked to key popular organisations.

Sometimes folks want to embrace the randomness and see adverse effects as something they get to explore and enjoy rather something that stops them ‘winning’. I see this a lot with WFRP 4e crit effects and miscasts. It’s just a jumping off point in a story.