D&D 5E How I think HoTDQ should of been handled.

[Parmandur]

Rise of Tiamat explains that the entrapment is a result of the Sundering's New World Order restrictions.

 

[MortalPlague]

Warning: This post contains some spoilers for Rise of Tiamat

...You see, Ed Greenwood is supposed to be back in control of the Forgotten Realms and I know for a fact, that Ed wants less interactions with mortals and the actual gods. He wants to return it to characters interacting more with their servants, clerics, etc...

What we've got is the opposite. The first two modules are about fighting Tiamat, and possibly another god or godlike being. Apparently, someone at WoTc seems to think that fighting gods is the only cool when in fact, it's become such a snoozefest that it's not even funny

Sure, Tiamat is the ultimate villain, but have you read the actual adventure? If all goes well, you never fight Tiamat. Stopping the ritual and preventing her from arriving is the order of the day. If she does show up, it's game over.

My group is 16th level, currently in the second-to-last chapter of the adventure. They've faced down some senior cultists, some generals, a mummy lord, a lich... some of those were added as side-quests, but you get my point. They are facing servants. They are facing mortals (aside from the undead). There are no gods in sight on the battlefield. In the very final encounter of a campaign that takes you up into the high levels, you might end up obliterated by a god if things go hopelessly wrong.

So there's plenty of fighting servants and clerics. And a bare minimum of fighting gods.

 

[the Jester]

You can go and ask him at Candlekeep.

Hold on now- you made the claim that you "know for a fact" how he feels. It's not on anyone but you to back that up; the burden of proof is thoroughly on your shoulders.

Surely you can link a post he made expressing this point of view, for those who doubt you?

EDIT: "I know for a fact how Ed Greenwood feels" about something is an extraordinary claim; it requires extraordinary evidence to back it up, like him actually saying that.

 

[Sailor Moon]

Hold on now- you made the claim that you "know for a fact" how he feels. It's not on anyone but you to back that up; the burden of proof is thoroughly on your shoulders.

Surely you can link a post he made expressing this point of view, for those who doubt you?

EDIT: "I know for a fact how Ed Greenwood feels" about something is an extraordinary claim; it requires extraordinary evidence to back it up, like him actually saying that.

Don't have too. Head on over to Candlekeep and ask this poster: The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore.

She is actually in direct contact with Ed Greenwood and she can repeat what I have told you.

Actually, here is a link to the forum where you can post your question and it will be answered.

http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19841

Cheers.

 

[the Jester]

Don't have too. Head on over to Candlekeep and ask this poster: The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore.

She is actually in direct contact with Ed Greenwood and she can repeat what I have told you.

Actually, here is a link to the forum where you can post your question and it will be answered.

http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19841

Cheers.

No, that's not how it works- you made the claim, you back it up. It's absurd to expect anyone else to do the work to back up your claim.

And this Lady Herald- how do we know she's reliable? Why should we believe her?

 

[Hereticus]

Scrapped.

Tiamat was a minor deity who was barely known outside of the Old Empires in the Forgotten Realms. There are plenty of other creatures and stories they could have used that are a lot more interesting.

They claim to be bringing FR back to the way it was, well as close as possible, and one way they could have done it was bring the Cult of the Dragon back to more of it's origins. They could have revived Sammaster and have him resurrected inside the body of a Dracolich and resume his leadership of the Cult. It seems to me they just used the name of the cult and decided that since it's called Cult of the Dragon, it will then worship dragons. By moving away from the goal of turning all dragons into dracoliches, they have really cheapened the cult and it's origins.

I know who Tiamat is, who is Sammaster?

Most players have bought core books and campaign settings, but do not follow the goings on at Candlekeep with fervor.

Aside from the internet search I just did, I really did not know who Sammaster was, despite 30 years of D&D gaming, much of it in the realms.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I found this plot line cool. Combined with the fact that the Cult has fractions that loyal to the old way and ones that are loyal to Serevins new way of Tiamat worship just makes the group more interesting I think.

Tiamat is stated to be trapped in the Hells due to the sundering so not conflict there. We won't be fighting a god in the next adventure it's the elemental princes.

You are also way too impatient Sailor Moon. Nothing that has come out recently has cheapened the realms and it has been fairly well received. But you keep saying they are ruining stuff despite us not knowing what has happened yet. We need to wait a bit.

 

[Eirikrautha]

I found this plot line cool. Combined with the fact that the Cult has fractions that loyal to the old way and ones that are loyal to Serevins new way of Tiamat worship just makes the group more interesting I think.

Tiamat is stated to be trapped in the Hells due to the sundering so not conflict there. We won't be fighting a god in the next adventure it's the elemental princes.

You are also way too impatient Sailor Moon. Nothing that has come out recently has cheapened the realms and it has been fairly well received. But you keep saying they are ruining stuff despite us not knowing what has happened yet. We need to wait a bit.

One point, and I mean this with all sincerity. "Cheapening the Realms?!?!?" Seriously? Cheapening the freakin' Realms? At what point can currency have a negative value?

The "history" of the Realms reads like a 13 year-old's fanfic translated by a marketing firm. I mean, every author of middling talent was allowed to stretch the setting in order to monetize it as much as possible (I mean, didn't the Forgotten Realms novels bankrupt TSR?). And we're worried about it getting cheapened?

Perhaps my neckbeard isn't long enough here to understand, but in a setting where they rebooted a reboot recently, I'm not sure that continuity or plausibility can be said to be an important consideration.

Now, before the nerdpocalypse descends, I'm joking... partially. But I honestly don't understand how a modification of a fictional setting is that big of a deal. Then again, I use the published adventures and re-frame it into my own homebrew. But it does strike me as little like arguing about the placement of the bathrooms on the Enterprise or the number of angels that can dance on the head of a pin. Can we enjoy PLAYING the game, maybe...?

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I don't play in the realms (Prefer Greyhawk myself) and Sailor Moon was the one who stated that the adventures were cheapening it.

Also there was not Reboot. Pretty much a big event happened that a lot of people did not like it and the changes that it brought. (The 4e era spellplague.) The recent event the Sundering is stated to be bringing the realms back to more like they were prior however everything in 4e still happened. So there was no Reboot.

 

[Grazzt]

(I mean, didn't the Forgotten Realms novels bankrupt TSR?).

TSR bankrupted TSR.

http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?404-Ryan-Dancey-Acquiring-TSR#.VLKOqivF-So