[FR / 1e -> 2e, etc] Question for you sages out there

[Amrynn Moonshadow]

First of all, I never played "1e" D&D. [waits for my elders to finish spitting on me] I played 2e and up. I don't love it, but I'm pretty familiar with some of the things there. I don't read all of the books, but I've read a fair share. I read Shadowdale/Tantras/Waterdeep, and understand the ToT pretty well. Many people have posted their opinions on what little we know about the 4e FR, my question is for the sages out there:

is 100 years between campaign setting books too far? the ToT wrecked many campaigns, however the mechanics overhaul demanded it. When 2e went to 3e the realms lost a king, and a lost empire returned. Both times you could still play your campaign through those times.

This time? how many people have campaigns that take more than a century of in game time?

Mods -- if this should have been in a different section, please move it. I mean no offenses.

 

[ruleslawyer]

Well, I think the specific point is that moving the setting 100 years into the future means that there is no expectation that people will actually play out the changes.

One thing about 4e FR is that it seems like WotC wanted to dramatically alter a number of elements of the setting, but didn't want to retcon them in, *and* didn't want to create a realms-shattering event that people would actually feel the need to play out. By pushing the setting 100 years into the future, they've basically created an entirely new setting with the Forgotten Realms name.

Incidentally, I'm a long-time FR DM, and I do not believe that the ToT was necessary to "enable" the rules shift from 1e to 2e. Assassins could have as easily become members of other character classes as barbarians and cavaliers became fighters, and illusionists could have just turned into... well, illusionists (specialist wizards). Magic missile getting capped at 5 missiles doesn't seem to me to equate to Mystra becoming NG, Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul being bumped off in favor of the ever-incompetent Cyric and boring Kelemvor, and the Realms discovering that it had some sort of Overgod.

 

[Voadam]

is 100 years between campaign setting books too far? the ToT wrecked many campaigns, however the mechanics overhaul demanded it. When 2e went to 3e the realms lost a king, and a lost empire returned. Both times you could still play your campaign through those times.

This time? how many people have campaigns that take more than a century of in game time?

It is rare but not unknown.

I had a module in a dungeon that was essentially a demiplane prison. The party busted in and adventured around then came out to camp. What had been minutes inside turned out to be months outside. They were sure to come out to rest up each time they went in.

My brother liked the game so much he ran the adventure for one of his other groups. They camped inside the demiplane Fane a couple of times and made it through most of the module before coming back out. He had the world shift from a Ptolus campaign setting to Eberron with only one druid friend of theirs who had become ageless knowing about them from the old world era.

100 years is too far for most campaigns to continue. Elves can easily still be around and be vital but humans need significant magic to do so.

 

[RichGreen]

Hi,

Some kind of timeslip or teleport/plane shift error seems the best way to keep the same PCs in the 4e Realms. However, starting a new 4e campaign might be preferable.

Cheers


Richard

 

[GQuail]

Not an FR expert, but: on all 4th ed topics (not just Forgotten Realms) the message from Wizards has explicitly been that conversion is inferior to just starting over. The hundred year time advance seem specifically built around that: they're changing the game world in big and permenant ways, and the cleanest way to deal with that is to start afresh.

Playing through said events is a somewhat difficult affair to balance - I've heard horror stories of some of the metaplot-laden adventures governing previous incidents in the Realms, and in other games and campaign settings as well.

 

[DaveyJones]

from 1edADnD see if you can find UK1

 

[Amrynn Moonshadow]

thanks all for your replies. my group has a few elves in it, and at least one family of elves has a Home rule [regional] feat which changes the age table for them to the age table of gold elves from the cormanthyr game accessory (2e) . . . and as such, they could still be ADVENTURING 100 years from 1372 (or whatever) . . .

I want to like 4e, but I don't know if I like the changes they are making for the realms. Maybe I shouldn't adopt?

 

[ruleslawyer]

Well, with long-lived PCs, you certainly can run campaigns that feature 100-year time separations between episodes. I've never done this myself, although I have altered the campaign world and jumped the timeline forward with the same players, though not PCs. This was in a campaign I ran... oh, in about 1984. I radically changed my homebrew between campaigns (we had topped out campaign #1 at about 18th level, and were starting over with 6th-level PCs) and explained the changes as the result of an apocalyptic war. The players got a real kick out of exploring the "dungeon" that was the ruins of the chief "good" empire's capital city, and I threw in lots of "Easter eggs" and quests to keep them interested (including a quest to retrieve the imperial throne based on historical episodes involving the Mughal Peacock Throne).

As to whether to switch to the 4e FR: My advice would be to wait until the book comes out and take a look. In all likelihood, the 4e FRCG will be worth buying simply for some crunch-related info even if you're not actually going to use the campaign background presented therein.

I will not be switching to the 4e FR, but then I don't use the Time of Troubles, Tethyrian Reclamation, Return of Shade, Zhentarim upheaval, Harper schism, or any of these other events IMC, preferring to play out threads established in the 1e box set such as the wars over Dragonspear Castle and Luskan/Ruathym, the fall of Lashan, et cetera.

 

[Voadam]

I want to like 4e, but I don't know if I like the changes they are making for the realms. Maybe I shouldn't adopt?

Nothing wrong with using a well detailed different time period of a setting you like and are familiar with.