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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Malakye" data-source="post: 1029677" data-attributes="member: 982">Running a dark campaign in FR is extremely easy without much work at all.I ran a campaign in the Dales using the drow and it worked out quite well.  The key to any campaign in FR is using what you want.  I rarely mention, let alone include, any of the major NPC's in the realms.  The advantage I have is that few of my players have read the novels and even the ones that have don't expect to run into the major npc's.  I can see that having a player who is a self-acclaimed Realms history buff could be a problem but that is more of a problem with the player than with the setting.The first thing many ask when they hear about the drow in the Dales is, where is Elminster and why doesn't he just blast them all back into the dark caves from which they came.  My answer is..he is busy/gone/detained/possibly dead.  Elminster doesn't sit in his tower waiting for bad things to happen that he can fix.  He is also more of a sagely character in my campaign.  His days of running around righting wrongs are pretty much done.  He has made enough mistakes in his long life to know that he can't fix everything and he isn't always right.  The only thing the characters know of Elminster is that he is a mysterious mage who has been around forever and is reputed to be extremely powerful and eccentric.If you read through the FR book you will find that almost every area of the Realms has the bad guys kicking butt and taking names.  Everybody is struggling to deal with their own problems so they are not able to send much aid to their neighbors who are also in trouble.  Cormyr is pretty much wiped out, the Silver Marches is a new country dealing with orc hordes, the Shades and other nasties, Waterdeep is trying to help with the Shade issue and not getting very far, the Dales are dealing with the drow, etc.  My feeling is that spending a lot of time rewriting the Realms is time that could be better spent using the "story" that already exists.  Don't think of the Realms as a big module that has to be followed.  Think of the Realms as a big map with some plot ideas thrown in to get you started.  Well, I'm stepping down from my soapbox now.  This post ended up being longer than I wanted.  I hope it makes some sense.</blockquote>

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