D&D 4E Forgotten Realms 4e Changes: Good/Bad?

[Shazman]

I agree with you. The setting has really been ripped apart, and the way they shoved dragonborn into the Realms was laughable. The funny thing is that even though Elminster and Drizzt were the poster children for high level NPC's that overshadowed the PC's and somehow made adventuring in the Realms impossible for some, they are still around. You hear that! Elminster and Drizzt plus a number of high powered evil NPC's are still in 4E Forgotten Realms! I guess that many people still can't play in 4E Forgotten Realms, because they might be overshadowed by Elminster and Drizzt.

 

[Hawkeye]

How are the newer novels depict spellcasting?

I've only read two/three novels that dealt with spellcasting in the Realms, since/during the Spellplague. The only one that actually mentioned that anything was truly different was one of the Haunted Land books by Byers. Through Ssazz Tam, we learn that magic has become a much more elemental and chaotic force that needs a different approach to casting than before the Spellplague. He was in the middle of a pitched battle when Mystra was murdered and the Spellplague started. That was in the second book of that trilogy, I believe. In the third, the spellcasters just seemed to cast spells pretty much at will like before.

Torqumada

 

[Derulbaskul]

I like the 4E version as well as all the earlier versions. I am currently using the 4E version, spellplague and all, and have sketched out another half-a-dozen or so campaign arcs that I expect I will run at some point in the future (and I've been running campaigns in FR since the grey box).

I use a lot of my old material for background but I really wish there was a good world map available. I love what Sean McDonald (Moonsea North) and Mike Schley (Vaasa, Cormyr, Sarifal/Moonshae Isles) have done by way of regional maps for DDi but we're still stuck with a pail of rancid afterbirth for a world map.

I do believe that the biggest reason for all the hate is the map. The map is an embarrassment and unworthy of a fan project let alone WotC. I am not indulging in hyperbole to say that it is possibly the worst world map published for a campaign world by an RPG publisher.

(Edit) The other major problem with the new version of the Realms is that there is nowhere to really discuss them. I have hopes for the forums at www.loremaster.org because other forums seem to attract too much noise as opposed to signal when the topic is FR4E. Even Candlekeep, which has always supported all editions of FR, attracts aggressive threadcrapping when FR4E is the topic.

 

[Uber Dungeon]

It's like they didn't give a flying dire rats back side how they got it to where it is now, they just knew where they want it to go. So AO took away the powers of all but 18 gods (WHY? huh, why would HE do that?) I'm shore they came up with some reason for that other then trying to make the game it simpler, but what did it matter anyways.
Mystra is dead and countless races are running around as common that would have been rare to see 300 years ago in 3.5 faerun.

all in all I'd say it's ok, though I think it's leaning into eberron type chaos.

 

[Obryn]

I guess that many people still can't play in 4E Forgotten Realms, because they might be overshadowed by Elminster and Drizzt.

Surely you understand the difference, right?

You're just aiming for sarcasm?

-O

 

[Zaran]

I'm hoping that since Wizards of the Coast has put out just about any class you can think of that they will turn back to their campaign worlds and invest more time in them and other GM aids for making their own campaigns.

 

[Shazman]

I may have been heavy on the sarcasm, but I don't really see how high level 3.5 NPCs are a problem, but they somehow aren't a problem in 4E. As I understand it, the arguement is "I can't DM the Forgotten Realms when there are high level NPC's around that can take care of all the problems and overshadow my players PCs." There may be less high level NPC's in 4E FR, but there are a number still around, so the "problem" still exists. Is it the mere existance of famous high level NPCs in the Realms that make it unplayable, or something else?

 

[Felon]

You hear that! Elminster and Drizzt plus a number of high powered evil NPC's are still in 4E Forgotten Realms! I guess that many people still can't play in 4E Forgotten Realms, because they might be overshadowed by Elminster and Drizzt.

In this thread, there was a whole commentary about how an epic character should eventually step aside and fade into the background. That's the difference between 3e and 4e. What they did with Elminster and the Seven Sisters was to either kill them off or demote them to mascot, mentor, or some other support role (with a healthy power reduction thrown in). Their world-shaping exploits now in the past, they are (hopefully) finally passing the torch down.

As for Drizz't, he was never epic-level and did not have access to the raw power of the aforementioned epics. No bamfing to any part of the world or casting wish. Just a guy with swords and a pet.

 

[renau1g]

Spoiler

and they killed off all his powerful friends right?

I stopped reading after the Orc King

 

[Mithreinmaethor]

Spoiler

and they killed off all his powerful friends right?

I stopped reading after the Orc King

All of his friends died of old age. It is 100 years after the Spellplague after all. Throw in the years leading up to the plague and there you have it.

And you should read the other books. They do start to tell a lot about how the politics of the world start to shape up.