Ilbranteloth
Explorer
Even in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide in the description of the Far Traveler background states:
"Almost all of the people and other folk that one might encounter along the Sword Coast or in the North have one thing in common: they live out their lives without ever traveling more than a few miles from where they were born."
My campaign is modeled on Ed Greenwood's publications first, then other Realms materials second. In 2012, the same time the 5th edition was announced, WotC also released Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms. For a lot of the fans of the Realms this was a return to form. A book entirely of lore, with no game mechanics whatsoever, it's an overview of what life is like in the Forgotten Realms.
Yes, you could consider this a home campaign setting at this point, the published Realms having diverged more and more from the original source material, even as that source (Ed) and new material was/is readily available to them should they choose to take advantage of that. But through the Sundering and as shown in the 5th edition releases, the current Realms is moving back to the classic feel, much like D&D itself is in the new rules system.
One of the most common elements of Forgotten Realms releases for a long time was the Current Clack or rumors section that had short paragraphs, often by month of a given year or years, moving the story of the Realms forward. Most of the time, these were never expanded upon, leaving it to the DM to do so, or not. I always interpreted much of this as fiction, based on statements like this:
"Most news and rumors are spread across the Realms by caravans, and along coasts, by the crews of ships. In many a wayside settlement, whenever a caravan stops for the night, the populace turns out at local inns and taverns to hear the latest "clack" (what's being talked about). Travelers can often earn something to eat or a drink or two by relating enough entertaining lore. The freshest news is the most in demand-which, of course, leads to embroidering and outright tall tales, lies and half-truths and rumors building on each other into fanciful creations that bear little resemblance to their plainer and more demure beginnings."
"News" is very unreliable when it travels in this manner. And the more outrageous, the better. So telling a tall tale with a dragon-man would mostly likely be viewed as just that, a tall tale.
It also describes how the races interact:
"Humans numerically and culturally dominate the civilized surface Realms. Most humans hate and fear creatures they deem monsters, such as beholders, illithids, yuan-ti, drow, and goblinkin. "Goblinkin" refers to hobgoblins, orcs, goblins, and their lookalikes; most humans neither know nor care about actual species differences. In the words of the long-ago King Roreld of Athalantar, "If it looks like an orc, it's an orc." Many humans mistrust half-orcs and all elves, and a few mistrust all nonhumans, but in Faerun, most humans grew up dwelling or trading with elves, half-elves, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes, and so accept them as fellow citizens.
The folk of the Dales have typical backland human attitudes, hating and fearing half-orcs because they can't distinguish them from the ore mercenaries used so often by Zhentil Keep in Daggerdale. Some also mistake half-orcs for the beast-men (ogres) of Thar, having never seen real ogres (and lived to tell the tale), and will reach for the nearest weapon.
Almost all humans, elves, and dwarves in the Realms mistrust small, non-familial groups of orcs (four or fewer), and will be openly hostile to larger groups. As an old upcountry saying plainly states: "Orcs is trouble." (Or, in full: "Orcs is always trouble.")"
This is the feel that I expect in the Realms. The attitudes that if something looks like a monster, it's a monster. The Tolkienesque races are the 'normal' that other creatures are measured against when seeing for the first time. This is further supported by the discussion later about Special Bloodlines:
"From ancient days in the Realms until today, there have always been "special" families. These families, elf, human, or half-elf, have been bold enough to make secret pacts with other magic using races to gain magic of their own- as well as power, wealth, and influence. It's rumored that some of these families have interbred with their patron races, though, in the words of the long ago sage Alaundo, "Rumor can be a wild thing." Realmslore tells us that these patrons have included dragons, illithids, and beholders.
These pact-making families tend to keep themselves as hidden as possible, often taking other names and faces while they're out acting as the agents of those with whom they've made arrangements. Yet a few folk in the Realms know the names of some of these special clans: among the elves, some branches of Houses Starym and Elphaerendil; among humans, the Skeldragons and Talonmists; and among half-elves, the Alendrim, Saerendever, and Talyth families.
Much as nobles who plot treason against a ruler, these special families do much in secret, crave power, and betimes must do perilous or unlawful things. Their locations, reach, interests, capabilities, and deeds vary widely, and they and the patrons they serve-can be compelling and mysterious allies, manipulators, and foes."
I found it ironic that one of the first pieces of art is a typical 4th edition tiefling, although that race doesn't appear in the book as such at all. But this section describes what I would consider them to be.
For the most part, the 5th edition has brought the Realms back closer to this concept. Many of the classic Realms elements have returned. The dragonborn lands have been stripped back to a minimum, tieflings get a description that explains why they suddenly look so different, while at the same time returning the option for others to be subtle and largely undetectable as different than other humans.
Not everybody wants this, and you don't have to follow if you don't want to. In my case, I largely never left this Realms. If people want to be related to a dragon, and even have some special abilities as a result, I can work with that. I will probably go along with Tymanther remaining in the Realms. Don't really know how I'll handle whether there are any dragonborn as written as characters in my campaign, though. As far as I'm concerned, very few of them are to be found, and since I'm likely to base most of them off of their appearances in the 5th edition stories, most of them are working with the Cult of the Dragon. If so, it's not going to be an easy road to travel. I (and therefore the people of my Realms) see them as just too different.
Ilbranteloth
"Almost all of the people and other folk that one might encounter along the Sword Coast or in the North have one thing in common: they live out their lives without ever traveling more than a few miles from where they were born."
My campaign is modeled on Ed Greenwood's publications first, then other Realms materials second. In 2012, the same time the 5th edition was announced, WotC also released Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms. For a lot of the fans of the Realms this was a return to form. A book entirely of lore, with no game mechanics whatsoever, it's an overview of what life is like in the Forgotten Realms.
Yes, you could consider this a home campaign setting at this point, the published Realms having diverged more and more from the original source material, even as that source (Ed) and new material was/is readily available to them should they choose to take advantage of that. But through the Sundering and as shown in the 5th edition releases, the current Realms is moving back to the classic feel, much like D&D itself is in the new rules system.
One of the most common elements of Forgotten Realms releases for a long time was the Current Clack or rumors section that had short paragraphs, often by month of a given year or years, moving the story of the Realms forward. Most of the time, these were never expanded upon, leaving it to the DM to do so, or not. I always interpreted much of this as fiction, based on statements like this:
"Most news and rumors are spread across the Realms by caravans, and along coasts, by the crews of ships. In many a wayside settlement, whenever a caravan stops for the night, the populace turns out at local inns and taverns to hear the latest "clack" (what's being talked about). Travelers can often earn something to eat or a drink or two by relating enough entertaining lore. The freshest news is the most in demand-which, of course, leads to embroidering and outright tall tales, lies and half-truths and rumors building on each other into fanciful creations that bear little resemblance to their plainer and more demure beginnings."
"News" is very unreliable when it travels in this manner. And the more outrageous, the better. So telling a tall tale with a dragon-man would mostly likely be viewed as just that, a tall tale.
It also describes how the races interact:
"Humans numerically and culturally dominate the civilized surface Realms. Most humans hate and fear creatures they deem monsters, such as beholders, illithids, yuan-ti, drow, and goblinkin. "Goblinkin" refers to hobgoblins, orcs, goblins, and their lookalikes; most humans neither know nor care about actual species differences. In the words of the long-ago King Roreld of Athalantar, "If it looks like an orc, it's an orc." Many humans mistrust half-orcs and all elves, and a few mistrust all nonhumans, but in Faerun, most humans grew up dwelling or trading with elves, half-elves, dwarves, halflings, and gnomes, and so accept them as fellow citizens.
The folk of the Dales have typical backland human attitudes, hating and fearing half-orcs because they can't distinguish them from the ore mercenaries used so often by Zhentil Keep in Daggerdale. Some also mistake half-orcs for the beast-men (ogres) of Thar, having never seen real ogres (and lived to tell the tale), and will reach for the nearest weapon.
Almost all humans, elves, and dwarves in the Realms mistrust small, non-familial groups of orcs (four or fewer), and will be openly hostile to larger groups. As an old upcountry saying plainly states: "Orcs is trouble." (Or, in full: "Orcs is always trouble.")"
This is the feel that I expect in the Realms. The attitudes that if something looks like a monster, it's a monster. The Tolkienesque races are the 'normal' that other creatures are measured against when seeing for the first time. This is further supported by the discussion later about Special Bloodlines:
"From ancient days in the Realms until today, there have always been "special" families. These families, elf, human, or half-elf, have been bold enough to make secret pacts with other magic using races to gain magic of their own- as well as power, wealth, and influence. It's rumored that some of these families have interbred with their patron races, though, in the words of the long ago sage Alaundo, "Rumor can be a wild thing." Realmslore tells us that these patrons have included dragons, illithids, and beholders.
These pact-making families tend to keep themselves as hidden as possible, often taking other names and faces while they're out acting as the agents of those with whom they've made arrangements. Yet a few folk in the Realms know the names of some of these special clans: among the elves, some branches of Houses Starym and Elphaerendil; among humans, the Skeldragons and Talonmists; and among half-elves, the Alendrim, Saerendever, and Talyth families.
Much as nobles who plot treason against a ruler, these special families do much in secret, crave power, and betimes must do perilous or unlawful things. Their locations, reach, interests, capabilities, and deeds vary widely, and they and the patrons they serve-can be compelling and mysterious allies, manipulators, and foes."
I found it ironic that one of the first pieces of art is a typical 4th edition tiefling, although that race doesn't appear in the book as such at all. But this section describes what I would consider them to be.
For the most part, the 5th edition has brought the Realms back closer to this concept. Many of the classic Realms elements have returned. The dragonborn lands have been stripped back to a minimum, tieflings get a description that explains why they suddenly look so different, while at the same time returning the option for others to be subtle and largely undetectable as different than other humans.
Not everybody wants this, and you don't have to follow if you don't want to. In my case, I largely never left this Realms. If people want to be related to a dragon, and even have some special abilities as a result, I can work with that. I will probably go along with Tymanther remaining in the Realms. Don't really know how I'll handle whether there are any dragonborn as written as characters in my campaign, though. As far as I'm concerned, very few of them are to be found, and since I'm likely to base most of them off of their appearances in the 5th edition stories, most of them are working with the Cult of the Dragon. If so, it's not going to be an easy road to travel. I (and therefore the people of my Realms) see them as just too different.
Ilbranteloth
