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How do you feel about the Forgotten Realms?
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<blockquote data-quote="Lancelot" data-source="post: 6418053" data-attributes="member: 30022"><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>...</p><p></p><p>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.</p><p></p><p>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.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lancelot, post: 6418053, member: 30022"] 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. [/QUOTE]
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