D&D 5E How do you feel about the Forgotten Realms?

[DM Howard]

I've been curious lately as I often see people say they dislike the Forgotten Realms for one reason or another. I've set up this poll to see how far this dislike goes and perhaps engender some discussion in that vein.

I personally used to dislike the Forgotten Realms, but I've recently had a change of heart due to, of all things, the Neverwinter MMORPG. It has really helped me to see the Realms in a new light and I think it would have to be my favorite setting now.

 

[Paraxis]

I dislike it, not a fan. But I will play in the setting, mostly just don't like running that campaign world. Reasons are mostly it has to much going on but it is all cliche stuff, there are to many good organizations and powerful npc's that exist in the world for characters to stand out as The Big Damn Heroes of the world.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Frankly, I hate it. I understand that for some people the bland, featureless canvas is the ideal setting for a D&D campaign because they feel it gives them the pure, unfiltered D&D experience, but as a DM, what I am looking for in a campaign setting is inspiration: I want to be blown away by innovative ideas and striking images, I want to get material that sets up interesting challenges for the players, I want to read about areas, NPCs and organizations full of flavor and possibilities. The Realms offer me none of these things: there is absolutely nothing there that I couldn't have come up with myself, just a succession of cliches - humans live here, there are Orc raiders in those hills, Elf used to live in those woods, oh and evil wizards live next door.

I hate the Realms not because it's bad: I hate it because it's insipid and uninspired, which is the opposite of what I need.

 

[HobbitFan]

I had to vote Other. I used to love the Realms back in my middle and high school days, reading the novels and both running and playing in FR campaigns. I didn't play any FR in College but I came back to the Realms for 3. Once I returned though, I didn't get back into the novels again, although i am curious about the new crop of writers like Erin Evans.

The 4E Realms was a big mistake. Hated it.

I can't really say how I feel about the current Realms until WOTC actually tells the fans something post-Sundering.

 

[Gilladian]

I can see why a DM would choose to run in the realms; there's an area of it that will match most any campaign idea - but I'm tired of using other people's ideas to the exclusion of my own. So I don't bother with the Realms. My campaign world works for me!

 

[Jester David]

I like it, I just prefer other worlds.

 

[Hereticus]

I like it, but it's too developed and has too much established history.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I liked original grey box and 4e and nothing inbetween

I HATE THE GOD MODE MARY SUE NPCS or as i like to call them the Justice League Midnight (formerly the Justice Leauge Mystra but they killed the goddess of magic and replaced her with a good aligned mortal who never really made a diffrence)

 

[Umbran]

I am neutral. Not "take it or leave it", because I see no reason to take it. It is largely irrelevant to my gaming.

I hope they publish something good about it, because I am all for folks getting stuff they like.

 

[Lancelot]

For me, the Realms are a classic example of a home-brew setting. Like Greyhawk, or (takes a deep breath) Mystara. All three of these settings are clearly patch-work conglomerations of what the author(s) thought was cool... or easy. They're generic. That's part of their elegance. You can pick up nearly any published module and find a home for it. Desert of Desolation series? Anauroch... or the Bright Lands/Sea of Dust... or Ylaruam/Sind. Traditional elven forest kingdom under threat? Evermeet/Cormanthor... or Celene... or Alfheim. Mongol horseman invasion? Eastern Steppes... or Ethengar... or Tiger Nomads. Aztecs? Maztica... or Hepmonaland... or Hollow World. There's almost nothing that these settings can't accommodate.

Further, all three settings have clear Real World origins. Many regions are analogous to something from Earth, including cultures, ruling bodies, religious beliefs, local legends, etc. That makes it easy for DMs, and players, to fundamentally understand the setting. The same cannot be said for Eberron or Krynn or Athas. Those settings have a unique "voice" and theme.

Neither is better or worse, of course. However, this is my personal opinion: if I want a home-brew, then I'd rather just use my own. The main reason is because I can blow up my own world. I don't feel comfortable blowing up the Realms. Not that I want to blow up my own home-brew, of course. But if a PC reaches Epic levels over a 5-year campaign and seizes the Imperial Homebrew Throne, future campaigns can and will refer to that character as the current ruling Homebrew emperor. It's not going to be contradicted by novels, the 6e campaign setting guide, computer games, or whatever.

There's nothing intrinsically cool about the Realms (or Greyhawk, or Mystara) that couldn't be easily adopted into my own homebrew, because those worlds are already patchwork homebrews themselves. Again, Athas or Ravenloft or Eberron is quite different. It's hard to take the concepts of a defiled world, dragonkings, darklords, the mists, corruption or massively prevalent techno-magic without changing the fundamental underpinnings of a homebrew. If one nation has warforged and lightning rails and easily available magic and dragonmarks, then the impact on the rest of the world is huge.

...

So, where does that leave me regarding my opinion of the Realms? I like seeing Realms modules or resources, because they're so generic I can jam them into my own homebrew with very little work. They don't really have a unique artistic vision or voice (compared to some other settings). So, that's great for me. However, I'll never DM in the Realms, and I have no emotional connection to the setting beyond my love of some of the computer games that have been set there. I'd love to see a Baldur's Gate III, or a NWN III, or Icewind Dale III. But I'd be equally happy to see similar games set in any other homebrew D&D setting.

In summary: Yes please to more Realms material, because it's the easiest to translate for my own homebrew. But "meh" to the setting as a whole. Also, enough with both Driz'zt and Elminster. Please.