D&D 4E FR 4E SPOILER - Grand Histoy of the Realms info

[ivocaliban]

Wuss! There are only 210 Forgotten Realms novels.

Masochist! I've read 11 Forgotten Realms novels and that was 10 too many.

 

[Uzzy]

Don't worry Mean Eyed Cat. I fully intend to purchase the Grand History. Been looking forward to it for a while. Thanks for bringing us the info, I just wish it was info I could be happy about.

It's a real shame WoTC felt like killing off the setting to start anew. Why they couldn't just make a new setting, rather then killing off one that's loved by many, many people I don't know. Sigh. If most of what was mentioned in here and the Orc King is used in the 4th Edition Realms, I'll be keeping to the 'old' Realms.

 

[catsclaw227]

The years the Realms have behind them have reached the point where that time is a blessing and a curse. They have a strong fan base (more than Greyhawk's by some reports), but they have a reputation. Ask your typical non-FR D&D fan about FR and they'll talk about god-like NPCs running around, huge amounts of history that has to be absorbed to understand the setting, and that to get the full understanding of the setting you need to read the novels.

What WotC needed to do was find a way to break with that in such a way that it's interesting enough to draw in new fans and those who avoided the setting before, but keep enough that most of the hardcore fans are intrigued and want to buy into the changes (at least enough to try them). I think this fits the bill in the sort of thing they needed to do.

Chris Pramas mentioned that he was afraid 4E would be a "3.75" edition. A few changes to the system that were just there to make the new edition necessary. He felt that would be a big mistake. When he found out at GenCon that 4E was going to be a major break he was in favor of that. He felt that was the proper way to do a new edition. Perhaps the same thing applies to FR. A half-hearted "same old, same old" plot to introduce FR to 4E would have not been the right way to go. They needed something that would shake things up, make things exciting, and make the new FR books something people would talk about.

Is this the exact right ground between the two? I can't pretend to know that. Only the future will tell. It's a tough line to walk, but the effect can't be judged until it's done.

I agree with all of this. I don't have any emotional investment in the Realms, even though I bought a lot of the books (RPG, not novels) for "completeness" and to mine ideas from. If they shake things up like this, they are inviting me into the setting with a low investment of canon and I think that's a GOOD thing. There was so much bloat that it kept me away, yet now the idea of gaming in the realms is attractive.

I am suprised no-one has mentioned the correlation with "points of light". With the Spellplague, 1000s of wizards dying, a shake-up of the gods, clerics losing their spells, etc., the lands will become more wild and dangerous again, nations and cities would topple and become ruin.

I like those settings that have crumbled cities, ancient sites of power. I can imagine a fantasy post-apocolyptic Realms. I don't know if all this plays out like that, but that sounds cool to me.

I guess the real-life FR loremasters will be saddened that their expertise has been diminished because the setting has been altered dramatically.

 

[catsclaw227]

Big cataclysms also make the "points of light" thing work with the Realms a lot better.

Dang beat me to it!

 

[Fobok]

Masochist! I've read 11 Forgotten Realms novels and that was 10 too many.

You do realize that some of us actually like the novels?

 

[MisterWhodat]

I am actually excited about all of this. If you are not interested in the "new" Realms then stick with 3.5, there is nothing that says you have to jump with WOTC. I llike the idea of shaking things up, and killing off some, but probably not nearly enough, of the gods.

Personally I would like to see the 100 year leap over the 10 year one. Clears up tons of space for a campaign.

Any way thats just my two cents

 

[Obergnom]

Don't worry Mean Eyed Cat. I fully intend to purchase the Grand History. Been looking forward to it for a while. Thanks for bringing us the info, I just wish it was info I could be happy about.

It's a real shame WoTC felt like killing off the setting to start anew. Why they couldn't just make a new setting, rather then killing off one that's loved by many, many people I don't know. Sigh. If most of what was mentioned in here and the Orc King is used in the 4th Edition Realms, I'll be keeping to the 'old' Realms.

Hmm, maybe it is either this or be gone? ie. become the "new" Greyhawk? But think about it, it is still the Realms, 10 years from "now"... that means, no real effect upon your running campaign. And actually, it might make the realms a better place to play in. Maybe, I don't know. I hope they use those 10 years to put most of the novels of years to come in, that would be really nice, to have a status quo that might last for 3 years or longer.
Actually, that might be part of the reasoning behind it... with the living campaign and all that stuff...

 

[delericho]

It seems like since the precedent has been set, FR must have a catastrophe to explain the rule changes. But honestly, I'd love for the timeline to be advanced 500-900 years, so as to allow a "starting over". Rebuild all that is great and lovable about the realms, axe what doesn't work, and not have to be handcuffed by previous events.

The thing is, though, why not create a whole new setting if you want to do that?

Making massive changes to an existing setting will inevitably infuriate some percentage of your existing fan base. The bigger the changes, the more people you lose. On the other hand, an entirely new player is as likely to buy into an all-new setting as one that has been going for 20 years (perhaps more likely, since they won't have 20 years of canon to catch up on).

So, if the goal is to essentially start over with a new setting, surely it's better to do just that?

(I don't believe that that is what WotC are doing here. The changes, although significant, will not be a complete rewrite of the setting. At a guess, I would say it will remain somewhere between 50% and 80% the same. But, that is purely a guess.)

 

[Michael Morris]

It's shark jumping time for FR. Rest In Pieces.

 

[Fobok]

(I don't believe that that is what WotC are doing here. The changes, although significant, will not be a complete rewrite of the setting. At a guess, I would say it will remain somewhere between 50% and 80% the same. But, that is purely a guess.)

Ah, good, I'm not the only one to believe that.