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Message: <blockquote data-quote="eyebeams" data-source="post: 3039610" data-attributes="member: 9225">Sure, but you have to understand that the current Realms is a sprawling, collaborative creation the Ed Greenwood isn't strictly in charge of any more.Ed's Realms novels go through the same editing, approval and continuity as everybody else's. One example Ed gave in the seminar was how a Commune spell would typically take the form of an indirect omen or a very minor supernatural manifestation (something pivotal to the quest ahead glowing, for instance).See the Knights of Myth Drannor. Shadowdale is pretty much a model adventuring location, complete with ruins with graduated degrees of difficulty.Not really. Elminster provides hints and plot hooks. Alustriel is an NPC noble who can provide aid (or not) depending on how the PCs behave. With few exceptions, the novels are not really meant to be models on how to adventure in the Realms. D&D's spinoff fiction has been an independent side of things with its own fanbase for quite some time and shouldn;t be mistaken for the gaming side of the Realms.Just as Ed developed these characters for specific reasons, you should develop your own characters for the same reasons -- or modify existing characters. The vast majority of Realms gaming is not designed for any interaction with the Chosen or megaplot elements. Those exist for the sake of fiction and, frankly, give the major NPCs concerns of their own. Remember that Elminster was originally 26th level magic user with a handful of unique spells who had retired to become a typical, AD&D1e sage. He's Elminster the *sage* -- he answers questions for a modest fee. His other hats are not really relevant in a gaming context unless you're playing a high level game. Compare him with Doust Sullwood, an 8th level former PC. That's the kind of play that the Realms was originally designed for and can still easily accomodate.In the fiction the big NPCs are pretty busy. If you ignore the fiction, they don't really have any need for their inflated abilities.That's not really the point, though. In a Realms game, you should be around their level by the time it's about saving the Realms. If it's about exploring ruins, smashing an evil cult or somesuch, that's work they can safely leave to PCs.Well yes. The Americans probably also could have nuked Dein Bien Phu in the 50s and helped France keep Vietnam (they considered it) too, but that escalates affairs a tad much. So it is in the Realms.</blockquote>

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