Forgotten Realms...build up/bash

[Ralif Redhammer]

All published settings get bashed. Just a fact of the matter.

I've enjoyed gaming in FR since 1e, but I've recently decided to take a break for a homebrew world.

What I like about FR:

Being able to take out a map, ask the PCs where they wish to go next, and build the next adventure from the rich information about that location.

I've never really concerned myself with the uber-NPCs of the Realms. And that is where much of the criticism lies. The way I've seen it, they are the pillars of the Realms. Strong, but mostly immobile. They have far greater concerns. And they're getting old (something mentioned in the 3e core setting book, I believe). The PCs are where the action is. They are the new stars.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

All Pray.

Our Greenwood which art in Ontario, hallowed be thy name.
Thy Realmscome.
Thy will be done in Faerun as it is in the novels.
Give us this tenday our daily Niles.
And forgive us our Salvatores, as we forgive them that Salvatore against us.
And lead us not into Denning.
But deliver us from Lorraine Williams.

Amen.

 

[werk]

I have been playing the forgotten realms since it was released. Darkwalker on Moonshae was one of the first fantasy novels I read and it made me get the box set and learn D&D. So I'm probably a little biased.

I like it, a lot. My favorite stuff is the locations, organizations, religions, and pretty much anything made specifically for the setting like monsters, classes, and spells.

I don't like celebrities and I don't like being told what to do, in real life and in game, so I really dislike that aspect of the FR. I quit reading the novels after the avatar series (I loathed it, even tho I hear it is some's favorite) and disregard most of the politics or metaplot (my new word) stuff.

When used as a resource to build a custom setting it is very helpful, if a bit large and complex to the uninitiated. When used to 'insert your character into our story' I lose interest.

 

[diaglo]

i own at least 1 copy of every novel and game product for FR. if you read the Story Hour in my sig it is based there.

BUT

diaglo "not a Forgettable Realms Fan" Ooi

 

[Numion]

It's a great setting if you accept the D&D paradigm that a few people can and do rise above the masses to become quite powerful, and that untold riches can be earned by risking your life in underground locales inhabited by monsters.

It's got great locations, a great variety of locations, a lot of different cultures. I don't know about consistency since my games center around adventuring instead. The setting is the backdrop for adventuring in my games - my players rarely try to avoid adventures by requesting that NPCs from some novel I've never even read came to their rescue.

Also it's got tons of cool opposition forces - Red Wizards, City of the Shade, etc ..

If you're looking for a realistic setting, FR isn't it. Neither is GH, though

 

[Desdichado]

I've not really played a setting other than forgotten realms in D&D, and so am of limited perspective, but forgotten realms seems to cover the whole "high magic prebuilt setting that allows for customization on the smaller scale" setting.

Yes, especially if your high magic prebuilt setting comes with some vague liberal social commentary, a nearly Utopian society (from a 21st century armchair adventurer's point of view) and all of the challenge and depth of your typical Saturday morning cartoon.

I'm not really a basher, and I certainly don't think it's a bad setting, but neither do I think it's a particularly good or compelling setting either. I borrow a few ideas from it, I'd play in it if someone I knew as a good GM were to run it, but I don't have any real interest in it. Kalamar better fills my needs as a "generic D&D" setting, and Eberron as "D&D with a small twist." I'd take either of those over FR in a heartbeat.

As for running, I don't know if I could really run anything but a homebrew when it came right down to it. Growing up as a little DM in the 80s, DMing and homebrewing were almost completely synonomous, and I've had a hard time letting go of that point of view.

 

[Kunimatyu]

It's a minor point, but one of the reasons I dislike FR that hasn't really been covered is actually the depth and predetermined nature of the regions. Every major region has its own sourcebook, and some of the popular regions have had more, just not all in this edition of D&D. When I run a game, I don't like having my world compeltely predetermined, and for that matter, so detailed that I feel like I'd have to read a stack of (mostly crap) novels just to really get everything.

Eberron, while far from perfect, has a less-defined world, with some areas (Xen'drick and the nature of the Mournland/fate of Cyre) intentionally left always open to the DM. We may see some ideas of what happened at some point, but there will never be an official justification that fits into every game.

Other people have touched on the Celebrity NPCs issue, so I won't go into it here, but there's a corollary to the 'celebrity' issue that I think Eberron handles better: the PCs as unique heroes. In FR, the PCs are overshadowed with incredibly powerful NPCs, which, strictly from a campaign perspective, can encourage the DM to use these NPCs to solve the important stuff and tell the PCs what to do. That's not really the best underlying structure for a campaign, and a common pit trap for newbie DMs in the Forgotten Realms.

Eberron, in contrast, says specifically in the campaign setting that the PCs are unique heroes that for one reason or another, are just better than normal people. Luck, skill, fame, something. Even if they just hang around Sharn, they'd attract patrons just because of that "special heroic something." While this idea isn't particularly realistic, it is a good way to structure a campaign, and a good way to keep inexperienced DMs from overshadowing the group with powerful NPCs.

 

[rogueattorney]

Back in 1987, when it first came out, I bought it and ran my 1e campaign in it until about 1991. I eventually got fed up with it because all the rpg products seemed to be tied into non-rpg products (novels, computer games, etc.) that didn't interest me. The impression I got was that the products didn't stand on their own. I got rid of those products about the same time I stopped DMing that campaign.

I've since re-acquired the 1e FR greybox, and it's not as bad as I remembered it. I think a number of my issues probably stemmed from subsequent materials.

Comparing it to the 1983 Greyhawk box (probably the most analogous product in terms of time-period, format, and content), it is definitely much more NPC focused, more geographically focused on a smaller region (the areas from the Sword Coast to the Moonsea), and has a less dark tone, with many of the recent 'big baddies' defeated. There's a reason that so many early FR campaigns focused on the Zhentarim - they were really the only looming threat presented in the original box. It has a bit more 'lived-in' feel than Greyhawk, like the difference between buying a furnished or unfurnished appartment. Greyhawk seems more tied to the ruleset than FR (not surprising considering the author of Greyhawk and since TSR had already announced the coming of 2e when FR was published).

Thus, if someone put a gun to my head and told me I could only run my 1e campaign in one or the other, I'd pick Greyhawk. Luckily no one's doing that. (I do notice that the Greyhawk campaign seems to show the East half of a continent and the FR campaign seems to be positioned on the West half of its continent... hmmmmm... possibilities)

Anyway, a little historical perspective as to why there might be some latent FR hatin' out there.

R.A.

 

[Mystery Man]

I like the Realms for the lore, books like the Volo's Guides that tell a story about a place like a tavern or stretch of land. I don't pay much attention to the uber NPC's other than to use them to throw in a random plot device. I like any setting that can do this keep it interesting. Planescape, Starwars, Midnight come readily to mind.

 

[Kanegrundar]

I used to really dislike FR. It was too bland for my tastes in 2E. Now I like it a lot better. I still don't play in the world, but I raid the books for ideas in my homebrew setting. I'm not exactly sure why I like it better now. Maybe it's the slick look. Maybe it's the fact that the 3E FR books have more crunch compared to the few 2E FR books. Like I said, I'm not sure, but I have gotten some great ideas from it.

Kane