D&D 5E Everyone happy the starter set will be based in the Realms?

[respenstarym]

Show of hands: How many DMs out there cut their teeth DMIng without ever having played?




Now, in the old days I could understand believing that a "new" DM might be "stuck" using the "inherent" setting. But these days? The genre is drowning in different settings.

*raises hand*

I started DMing the Christmas after 3.0 came out, when I was in middle school. But I had read some Forgotten Realms books and played Baldur's Gate, so I was already predisposed towards the Realms.

 

[Sadras]

I'm fine with FR, but would have been fine with Greyhawk, Mystara, or other inclusive genericly Western European fantasy setting too.

I personally did not mind, but I believe you are right. Insightful comment.

 

[Bluenose]

Really? You never played any RPGs at all before you began DMing?

Well you are the second person I've ever known of you started DMing without ever having played. By the of chance, did you start in '74 too?

Nope. 1976, when a copy of OD&D turned up in a shop that sold games locally. Picked it up, read through, thought is seemed neat and got some friends to play it. Some thought it a bit silly, some liked it more than others, one is still part of my gaming group. A couple of years later I was playing Runequest and Traveller, and I've always been a multi-system gamer since, but I started as a (probably very bad) GM because no-one else knew any more than me.

 

[caudor]

I'm happy with it because I enjoy FR lore. However, I think other campaign settings will have their time in the sun (pun Dark Sun, eh). I can't wait to see if Ravenloft and Spelljammer make a return as well.

 

[Trickster Spirit]

Yes, well I rather expect the old guard DMs to largely be made up of your kind (the "learned to roleplay and DM at the same time").


My point however still stands. These days newbs are far less likely to be inducted into roleplaying by a other newbs. Specially with so many CRPGs being most kids 'gateway drugs'.

:raises hand:

You've had a whole bunch of people raise their hands at this point, so this is less about me pointing out that plenty of groups have been started by DMs who've never played before, and more to point out that that still happens - I'm 25 and started DMing two years ago, and have never played in another DMs game.

The reason I think that's actually important is because I think it explains a lot of what Wizards is attempting with the new edition that has caused a lot of perplexedness here on the forums. WotC is actively trying to cultivate groups like this with this edition. The biggest barrier to play has never been the price of the core books but the difficulty of finding a group (and DM). A lot of people have said this but WotC's big new push is to focus on D&D the brand rather than D&D the tabletop game, but a key strategy towards that goal is to grow the number of people who've been exposed to D&D by playing in at least a game or two, so that when the movie or the cartoon or the computer game or the breakfast cereal comes out their inclined to by it. Their accomplishing this by creating a boxed starter set that you can find on the shelf with the boardgames at your local Walmart / Target / toy store, containing a not-overly-fiddly version of the game that means newcomers don't have to find an existing DM to get into the game. They want people fighting monsters, making jokes about Charisma and swinging +1 swords in as little time as possible, and they want them doing it in the Realms so that when the movie comes out and Drizzt kicks orc / drow / beholder butt they'll already be familiar with the setting.

And for people who already play the game and don't like the Realms, that's no skin off of our back - they've said repeatedly the core books are setting neutral, and there's nothing preventing us from changing place and NPC names the way DMs always have.

 

[delericho]

It wouldn't have been my preference, but it's not a big deal.

 

[Lalato]

The question in the thread title is just phrased poorly and is just itching for a fight. Of course not everyone is happy about it. Now ask an interesting question like... Since it's based in FR, what will you do to change it to fit your campaign?

 

[Nebulous]

I like the FR, i started with the little gray box so it's very nostalgic to me. But like others said, whether it's Greyhawk or the Realms or some other similar fantasy world, i don't care. It all gets changed by DMs anyway to suit their campaign.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I think it's definitely smart to go with the FR for the starter setting, given they're supporting the FR with info in the PHB and DMG, that it's the default for other adventures, and will probably the first setting book. Gives new DMs something to go on, and I hope to god 5E inspires some new DMs!

 

[CM]

Fine with me. The Realms are a kitchen sink setting so you can do and find just about anything there.

And I find the complaints about its high-level NPCs akin to complaining about it being hard to find a job in Chicago because there's a lot of movie stars in California.