FR Update at WotC-Year of the Ageless One

[EditorBFG]

The rationale for the Dragonborn turning up is as lazy and shoehorned as you'd expect. Still, any change so rules-driven rather than setting-driven is going to be difficult to explain elegantly.

Actually, if I recall correctly (haven't done much with my Realms books the last few years), there is precedent for Unther being overrun by a non-human race from another dimension. The Orcgate was there, I think. So there is a setting-driven logic to Unther being the place where a dimensional gate opened up.

 

[Hunter In Darkness]

that was the thay area that the orcgate wars happned IIRC

 

[WhatGravitas]

Huh... strange. Reading it, it doesn't feel like the Realms I've learned to know over the last years (mind you, I've only seen the 3E Realms, so Time of Troubles and 3E-retcon are more of an internet tale to me), still a lot of Realmsian feel was changed.

On the other hand, it sounds like a pretty interesting campaign setting (if I ignore the fact that this is the new FR). So I'm probably going to like it.

But miss the old realms a bit. Old FR and 4E FR are more like BSG and BSG re-imagined to me.

Cheers, LT.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

Hah! I like the new realms. The changes are big enough to buy the new FRCS. If i had owned the 2e one back then, i´d never bought the 3e setting book - far too few things changed
And i´ve already lots of ideas how cool the dragonborn can be in the setting: the shades and Comyr are trying to gain the trust of the planar newcomers, courting them with gifts and threats alike. Sounds like a diplomatic mission by the players could be in order, eh?

And regarding the way the wrote the Dragonborn into the setting: I love that they had the balls to do it the lazy way. You know, like a over-stressed DM would have done it: "Dragonborn? Uh, they, well, came... from another world. Yes! Thats it! Do you want to play one?"

Oooh, and the thing about Baldurs Gate as a sprawling refugee city: Can i smell a BG city book? Can i?

 

[Mortellan]

Looks like the FR fans on the WotC boards overwhelmingly hate these changes so far. I'm sure the 4e FRCS will still be a bestseller however.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

Second, the spellplague doesn't affect extremely magical areas. It stemmed directly from Mystra's destruction, but, somehow, where her influence is strongest (mythals and whatnot) isn't affected. That seems completely and utterly backwards.

I think the theory is that it's not magic ITSELF that went crazy, but the Weave, which is just the INTERFACE wizards use to access magic. So permanent enchantments remain in place, and permanent wards like Mythals help to push back the gusts of wild magic blowing all over the place. Meanwhile, all the wizards are going around batshit insane saying, "What do you MEAN I get new spells every encounter, and I can cast Magic Missile whenever I want? My whole world is gooooone!"

 

[delericho]

I'm not an FR player or DM. These changes make me no more likely to become one than I was previously.

Actually, that's not accurate. These changes make me less likely to pick up the FR than I was previously - if they're willing to advance the timeline by a hundred years and utterly change the world, what is to stop them doing that again, and trashing a world that I have become invested in? Better to just not become invested in the world in the first place, IMO.

(Note: I came into AD&D with 2nd Edition, so I'm not familiar with the Time of Troubles in any detail.)

I think I would have just gone with a full reboot of the setting. Still, it's their call.

 

[ferratus]

I think a reboot will probably be what's next for the Forgotten Realms. This seems to solve few of the complaints that people had with the setting. One complaint was that the Forgotten Realms had too much obscure backstory to get through. How does this solve things? Sure, you might know as much as the grognard about the new setting because so much has changed, but this just adds more ruins for extinct civilizations to figure out the backstory for.

The uber-NPC's that people didn't like (namely Drizzt and Elminster) are still around, plus given the massive changes that have happened in the 3e forgotten realms novels, the PC's still seem to have bit parts. If the novels can take away or change such foundational things as Myth Drannor, the PC's are always going to be second rate heroes.

So I would say that perhaps rebooting would solve these problems. I don't mean changing it back to the original box set (which would only please the very hardcore) but rewrite the setting so that it synthesizes the old and new and thus simplifies the backstory and makes it fresh.

For example, consider this alternate chronology for Myth Drannor. The Drow come out of the Underdark with plans of conquest. They recruit several tribes of savage humanoids of the region. The exiled Siluvanedan Houses who allied with the Dlardrageths join with their ranks, bringing their summoned demons. This army proves an effective engine of destruction, but disintegrates into warring factions over the spoils. The drow army is disbanded and forms small bands of survivors and raiders. The Zhents, looking to cash in on the ruined elven city, summon devils to fight the Demons. They break free because of the Mythal's enchantments, and you now have a Devil vs. Demon turf war.

There, I pretty much put things back to the way they were in the 3rd edition FRCS and removed a whole load of backstory. The story is essentially the same, but reduces overlap between Myth Drannor and the High Forest (which in turn could be an unfallen Illefarn as a point of light to contrast with Myth Drannor's darkness). Plus, I can set it 50-100 years in the past so that Myth Drannor is still fresh for the picking.

This I think would produce a fresher setting than destroying until it is new again, and a lot less forced.

 

[Wormwood]

The fandom rage is starting high on the WOTC forum.

I'm shocked, shocked to find fandom rage on the internet!

 

[TwoSix]

Looks like the FR fans on the WotC boards overwhelmingly hate these changes so far. I'm sure the 4e FRCS will still be a bestseller however.

It's hard to sustain your nerd rage without actually buying the offending object. And they say WotC doesn't know what it's doing.