Forgotten Realms Just Like Lord of the Rings?

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

That's an interesting take. I recall there being some sidebar in the FR Campaign Setting hardcover, that explains why the "big guns" don't just take out the evil baddies once and for all. The reason given was most decidedly not the one you gave But yours works too!

*Grump* That's not the big problem with the Realms, however. It's the world-shattering events. Every time such an event occurs, Khelben should be solving it, rather than leaving it to players half his level.

 

[Dark Jezter]

The similarities between the two settings were more pronounced in earlier editions. Specifically, the elves were gradually leaving their lands and "going west" across the sea, while the dwarves were slowly disappearing into their mountain halls. These two elements seem to have been directly lifted from Lord of the Rings.

With 3e, though, those things no longer seem to apply. Now the elves are beginning to re-establish themselves in Faerun, and dwarven birth rates are soaring due to the Thunder Blessing. I guess the creators of 3e FR decided that they didn't need to keep stealing from Tolkien.

 

[Voadam]

I agree that the resemblance is superficial at best.

Gandalf is an angelic being who knows some magic. Elminster is a dirty old man who casts lots of spells.

Gandalf is an angelic servant of a higher power.

Doesn't Elminster have some relationship to Mystra the goddess of magic?

 

[StupidSmurf]

Gandalf is an angelic servant of a higher power.

Doesn't Elminster have some relationship to Mystra the goddess of magic?

Yes, I believe he's a Chosen of Mystra. The situation are similar, but not alike, IMO. If I recall correctly, Gandalf isn't even really human per se....Elminster is.

All I know for sure is, despite the fact that Elminster seems to be on the side of the angels, so to speak, if I were facing down a major nasty, I'd rather have Gandalf by my side, not Elminster.

 

[sniffles]

Hi-

Saw all three movies on DVD a few days ago and it got me thinking on how closely FR is so much like the Lord of the Rings. Elminster is Gandolf, Awrin is Storm Silverhand, Drizzit is Aragorn, and so on.

Of course I could be wrong, and if I am I'll be more then happy to stand corrected.


Scott

I had a tendency to think that way myself, and found it inhibited me in playing in the Forgotten Realms because I kept trying to make comparisons.

For instance, in LOTR the land is fairly sparsely populated. Look how few other people the characters meet in their journey. Boromir had to travel a long way to get to Rivendell, and he didn't get much opportunity to stop in towns or cities along the way. You wouldn't run into that much in FR. Faerun is pretty well populated, though of course it does have wilderness areas. Middle-Earth really only has one major city, Gondor. FR has numerous big cities.

FR has multiple populations of all the non-human races with their own cultures. The humans of M-E have several different cultures, but the elves and especially the dwarves and hobbits are culturally homogenous. Also, in FR, while elves are long-lived, they're not immortal and they do age. M-E elves are immune to aging and disease; they can only die by violence. Hobbits are, according to Professor Tolkien, a subset of humans, while FR halflings are a separate race (and apparently a genetically incompatible one, since we don't see any half-halflings in D&D ).

And then of course there are the significant differences in cosmology: FR has a huge pantheon of deities, many of them race-specific, while in M-E there is only one pantheon, and the Valar (mentioned only once in the movies) aren't even really gods; they're more like archangels. M-E actually has a monotheistic cosmology. Although I suppose you could make a comparison between FR's Ao and M-E's Eru...

I don't think the characters from FR are that similar either, for the reasons that others have already pointed out. Aragorn, for instance, isn't really exiled; he's a descendant of a disenfranchised royal line. I would actually consider Galadriel more similar to Storm Silverhand if you're doing that kind of comparison, but there's still not much similarity there. Galadriel is the oldest elf still living in Middle-Earth! It's too bad the movie didn't emphasize more how old Arwen is, either. If FR elves were as powerful as M-E elves, they'd all have a level adjustment of +2.

 

[Hairfoot]

FR hasn't been Middle Earth since they ripped out the hobbits and replaced them with gypsy rats.

 

[StupidSmurf]

FR hasn't been Middle Earth since they ripped out the hobbits and replaced them with gypsy rats.

True! And VERY well put!!!

 

[Aaron L]

On the other hand, some people are happy that they ripped out the halflings and replaced them with something interesting.

 

[The_Gunslinger658]

Hi-

Great stuff guys, I guess I stand corrected as far as some of the FR comparisons to LotR. But one thing I would like to do is give the D&D elves the same abilities as the LotR elves, how would I go about doing that? Is their template for such an endeavor?


Scott

 

[Ranger REG]

diaglo " who still thinks PJ is a hack" Ooi

Oh, and how is your LOTR film production is coming along?