D&D 5E (2014) How I think HoTDQ should of been handled.

[Sailor Moon]

The factions are built into the module to provide very specific rewards and benefits. If you ignore them because of the FR lore, you lose all of that stuff for players. It's integrated into the module. OTOH, if you want to keep the factions and benefits but de-couple it from FR, you have a lot of rewriting to do. This is not that hard to understand.

I had more here, but forget it. I'm done trying to explain things to people who can only hear their own voice.

Carry on!

Uhhhhh no.

All you have to do is change the name and make up your own little lore about it and off ya go.

How long have you been playing D&D? I could understand someone coming in for the first time and having difficulty coming up with their own lore but not someone who has been playing a while.

You can change rewards and anything else that's there. Seems to me the problem is you just don't want to have to do any of the work.

Why would you even want to play or run the module if everything about it is not to your liking because you apparently want to change everything?

Why not just run a homebrew game and make up your own stuff?

 

[Mirtek]

They could have revived Sammaster and have him resurrected inside the body of a Dracolich and resume his leadership of the Cult.

Again? Would that be the third or fourth time now? Now that would really have been rehasing old stories.

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

Which means her "long" imprisonment has lasted for not even a double digit number of years. Well, that might explains some problems with the plot of the adventure, since Tiamat made up the whole scheme on the fly with hardly any time thinking it through

 

[Remathilis]

Including the beta material, it's been Realms and more Realms.

Ah yes, the beta material...

How could I forget the classic Forgotten Realms adventures "Keep on the Borderlands" and "Isle of Dread"?

 

[Laeknir]

Ah yes, the beta material...

How could I forget the classic Forgotten Realms adventures "Keep on the Borderlands" and "Isle of Dread"?

What an extremely friendly and terribly selective response. Thanks SO much!

Once again I forgot that it's important to give detailed explanations when using any nouns on a forum talking about FR, so I'll elaborate. By "beta materials" what I meant was everything that was published and available during the beta, not specifically just the playtest packet. Although you conveniently left out "Mud Sorcerer's Tomb" and "Reclaiming Blingdenstone" which were also in the packet and certainly were based in the Realms.

Also available were:

Storm over Neverwinter
Search for the Diamond Staff
Murder in Baldur's Gate
Vault of the Dracolich
Legacy of the Crystal Shard
Dreams of the Red Wizards
Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle
Scourge of the Sword Coast
Dead in Thay

Probably missed one or two, can't say for sure (and I have no doubt someone will point that out). But those above were all set in the Realms.

Realms, Realms, and more Realms.

Would be nice to have something else, IMO.

 

[Hussar]

Then don't use the lore. I don't how much simpler it needs to get. Elminster and other epic NPC's are there if you put them there. WoTc ninjas don't just show up and write them in when you aren't looking.

All campaign settings have their high level NPCs and have for years.

That's not really true. Dragonlance topped out at 18th level (I'm not sure how 3e handled things, I didn't collect that) and we're talking only maybe half a dozen individuals that are that high. Eberron made a very concerted effort to ramp down the NPC levels and most were single digit level - was there anything Epic level in Eberron? Raven loft was always about low level NPC's - except for the very highest baddies which were effectively gods in the setting. Greyhawk also doen't have a whole lot of high level NPC's floating around - a few, but, not a whole lot - and most of them were very hands off.

FR, AFAIC, is somewhat unique in that you have high double digit level NPC's in virtually every kingdom. And typically several in every kingdom.

 

[Sailor Moon]

That's not really true. Dragonlance topped out at 18th level (I'm not sure how 3e handled things, I didn't collect that) and we're talking only maybe half a dozen individuals that are that high. Eberron made a very concerted effort to ramp down the NPC levels and most were single digit level - was there anything Epic level in Eberron? Raven loft was always about low level NPC's - except for the very highest baddies which were effectively gods in the setting. Greyhawk also doen't have a whole lot of high level NPC's floating around - a few, but, not a whole lot - and most of them were very hands off.

FR, AFAIC, is somewhat unique in that you have high double digit level NPC's in virtually every kingdom. And typically several in every kingdom.

Now you are just splitting hairs here.

Who cares if these NPCs exist in the printed works? You can actually just ignore them.

I see the same pattern coming from the same people who complained about 3rd edition and Pathfinder because of what someone could do, ignoring how the DM could ban certain things that were a problem.

Bottom line is you can remove them if you don't want them around.

 

[delericho]

Eberron made a very concerted effort to ramp down the NPC levels and most were single digit level - was there anything Epic level in Eberron?

Yes, or at least sort of. One of the guiding principles of Eberron was that everything that was in D&D had a home there, which would include Epic. In particular, the "Dragon island" of Argonessen was called out as the Epic playground.

But I don't recall if there were any Epic-level NPCs statted up. Certainly, it didn't have anyone on a par with Drizzt (not actually Epic BTW, at least in 3e) or Elminster.

 

[Hussar]

Now you are just splitting hairs here.

Who cares if these NPCs exist in the printed works? You can actually just ignore them.

I see the same pattern coming from the same people who complained about 3rd edition and Pathfinder because of what someone could do, ignoring how the DM could ban certain things that were a problem.

Bottom line is you can remove them if you don't want them around.

But, just above, GM4PG was taken to task for not including the high level NPC in his adventure. The player knew the canon of the setting better than he did, and it caused problems at the table.

Is it now your idea that the DM simple strips out anything he feels like? How much canon do I have to include in order to be considered playing in the Realms?

 

[Ahrimon]

Now you are just splitting hairs here.

Who cares if these NPCs exist in the printed works? You can actually just ignore them.

I see the same pattern coming from the same people who complained about 3rd edition and Pathfinder because of what someone could do, ignoring how the DM could ban certain things that were a problem.

Bottom line is you can remove them if you don't want them around.

That applies to everything though. So what does it matter if HotDQ, Tiamat, The ToEE, or the spellplague are part of the realms? DMs can just remove them. I wonder what the next RSE event will be that doesn't matter because as you say the "Bottom line is you can remove them if you don't want them around."

 

[Sailor Moon]

That applies to everything though. So what does it matter if HotDQ, Tiamat, The ToEE, or the spellplague are part of the realms? DMs can just remove them. I wonder what the next RSE event will be that doesn't matter because as you say the "Bottom line is you can remove them if you don't want them around."

I like to follow canon when I run and play so removing isn't an option for me.