FR Podcast is up

[Henry]

I know the Realms reasonably well, but I never heard of that town. Where is Loudwater set, or is it perhaps written to be placed where-ever the DM want to start their campaign?

C.I.D.

http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Loudwater

You really CAN Google anything, real or nonexistant.

 

[Prodigal_Sun]

Those Kuo-toa's look so... Anime AWESOME

 

[Guild Goodknife]

Sadly not much new stuff in this podcast, although the infos about the Red Wizards sounds nice.

 

[Khairn]

<shrug> 'meh

I listened to the podcast and felt their excitement about what they are creating. They genuinely are stoked about their version of the realms, and are trying to make this version as much fun as they can. Its also clear that they are focusing their work towards new players and GM's which for WotC is a mantra for 4E. They admit to owing a lot to the older fans and wanting to hook in those same fans while making things new, surprising and mysterious.

But there are still things about 4E FR that don't sit well with me.

Just as the design goals for Eberron (when it won the setting contest) were that the setting had to be able to include everything that was part of D&D, FR now has to include everything that is part of 4E. So since the game designers created a new version of the Dragonborn race, the FR setting team now had to justify a way to make it fit in FR.

They believe that the changes they've introduced flow naturally from FR history. But in a number of very important examples (the death of Mystra and the geographically challenged Spellplague to name but 2, the changes appear to me to be overly clunky and contrived.

And the comment that "If you are an old player, all that stuff on your shelf is still pertinent" made me chuckle. In the start of the podcast they talk about how everything is changed, brand new and mysterious ... then claim that the stuff on your shelf is pertinent.

WotC needed a setting for 4E, and FR was the logical choice as its the most well known. My preference would have been that WotC create a brand new setting that really highlighted 4E's system rather than changing the Realms. But on an intellectual level I can see what WotC is trying to do, and for the success of 4E, I think its the right direction to take.

As a long time fan & GM of the setting, I see that many elements of what attracted me to the setting, and what are core to my FR campaigns have been deleted. What WotC is attempting to sell, just doesn't "feel" like FR to me.

One fan's opinion.

 

[malcolm_n]

I cut my D&D teeth in 3E FR. I've been a fan ever since. The coolest thing about the setting for me has always been joining up with a group in any number of circumstances and traveling the continent in search of our goal. Most games we played spanned at least 4 regions in length, often cutting through others just to go there and explore.

This is still very much a part of the setting, not to mention my group would love to see what's happened to a lot of our "iconic" places and homelands after 100 years. All in all, I'm very much looking forward to the newer feel of the setting.

 

[Imban]

I know opinions on art vary greatly, but I have to say I really like the new kuo-toa art that's on that page.

They seem to be missing 2e Kuo-Toa, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you what the official illustration of them looked like. For my money (and based on my recollection) my favorite Kuo-Toa design is still the one used in Baldur's Gate II, but unless the 2e book version came close to that in quality, I'd be willing to say the 4e version is the best that's actually printed in a book.

 

[Mentat55]

They seem to be missing 2e Kuo-Toa, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you what the official illustration of them looked like. For my money (and based on my recollection) my favorite Kuo-Toa design is still the one used in Baldur's Gate II, but unless the 2e book version came close to that in quality, I'd be willing to say the 4e version is the best that's actually printed in a book.

I think this is the 2e kuo-toa, from one of the Monstrous Compendiums. The style, at least, is dead on.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

I think this is the 2e kuo-toa, from one of the Monstrous Compendiums. The style, at least, is dead on.

It's a late-2e kuo-toa from the Monstrous Manual.

Too fishy-looking for me.

The compendium's was B&W

 

[OgreBane99]

*Red Wizards are led by Zsass (sp? that lich guy). They're scarier and so is Thay. The enclave Red Wizards are unwelcome expatriates who can't return home.

So are they going to "explain" this change in the new Thay trilogy out? I just picked up the first book, Unclean, and so far it's pretty good. Is the trilogy (The Huanted Lands) supposed to be a lead in to the "new" FR for 4e, as far as the Red Wizards and Thay is concerned?

I think Salvatore is doing something similar with the new Drizzt trilogy that started last year. One of the chapters was a flash-forward scene 100 years in the future.

 

[Voss]

Rich made it a particular point that they weren't trying to shoe horn every setting into the PoL philosophy.

Given that they really only have 2 settings at this point... what is actually using the PoL concept?