D&D 5E How will the Forgotten Realms be handled?

[Mouseferatu]

Everyone is going to bail on this thread if we can't stop Sune.

If that happens, I'll be very Sharry.

 

[Pentegarn]

To be fair, I would say Salvatore is one of, if not THE person that has made forgotten realms what it is today. At least novel wise, he has 44 by my count, while Greenwood only has ~30 not counting novellas. I understand the creation of the realms came from greenwood, but to say salvatore is a tumor on the series, that just.. eh... it's so damn extreme to say something like that. I just don't get how someone can hate something that much. But eh, i'm clearly not going to convince those who hate salvatore to like him, so I'll just stop here to circumvent diminishing returns on the conversation.

Yeah, that's the problem. To each their own, but I absolutely hate The Forgotten Realms as it is today. There's a reason I've already worn out two greybox AD&D versions of The Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and am currently planning on purchasing a third.

It's a shame that novels affect the campaign setting. If someone wants to write a book about the realms, so be it. But players shouldn't have changes to the realms forced on them every time an author, whose writing barely breaks amateur level, has a brainfart and manages to get it published. Let it be the decision of the DM and the players whether or not to make the novel's contents a part of his campaign world. Let the novel remain just that, a story, and set apart from the game rules and campaign setting. Developers could always print sidebars detailing events and changes on various subjects in new editions of the campaign setting for those interested in making those changes. At least players could purchase the new version and benefit from the updated rules, and still have a choice whether to include novel storylines.

I've read my share of realms novels, and though the writing is not all that impressive, I've enjoyed a few of them. One of the earliest I read was the Avatar trilogy. And though I thought is was okay, even if I'd thoroughly enjoyed the books, I didn't want Bane, Myrkul, and Bhaal killed off, along with some of the other gods. Not in my Forgotten Realms. That was Richard Awlinson's story, not mine in our campaign.

As for R. A. Salvatore, I read the Icewind Dale trilogy somewhere around 1992, and though I wasn't impressed with the writing, I thought the books were okay. However, I've never been one to jump the bandwagon, and after seeing so many hop the Drizzt wagon, I quickly grew to hate the character and any books dealing with the character. Quickly got sick of seeing the name pop up in supplements and adventure modules. The same is true for Elminster for that matter. I've no love for a character who was basically a ripoff of Gandalf and Fizban, being written into basically a god walking faerun, and seeing his notes and opinions on every subject riddled throughout supplements and adventure modules, just because he was Greenwood's character.

Yeah, I'll stick to my greybox version of the campaign setting. The realms at the beginning, untainted by all the novels, editions, and brainfarts that ruined them. I'm sure plenty of you will disagree with my opinions, and you're welcome to it. I know what works for me and the groups I DM to, and play with.

 

[Thaumaturge]

On the issue of RSEs: I'm Torm. Less so on the issue of puns.

Thaumaturge.

 

[Boarstorm]

That was Richard Awlinson's story, not mine in our campaign.

Just as an FYI, Richard Awlinson was not a (single) person. The last name is even a pun on the fact (all-in-one).

 

[DaveMage]

For me, the Realms post 3.5E simply do not exist. I stopped reading the novels around 2002, and grew bored of the RAS books. (I think it was the 8th or 9th book when I stopped reading them - although I enjoyed them up to that point.)

I *love* the Volo's guides from 2E, so any FR where they do not apply will forever be ignored.

 

[Xodis]

On the issue of RSEs: I'm Torm. Less so on the issue of puns.

Thaumaturge.

Careful, puns are the Bane of some peoples existence.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I think the puns have Gond too far...

*cough*

But also...

The same is true for Elminster for that matter. I've no love for a character who was basically a ripoff of Gandalf and Fizban, being written into basically a god walking faerun, and seeing his notes and opinions on every subject riddled throughout supplements and adventure modules, just because he was Greenwood's character.

I realize this is tangential to your overall point--which makes perfect sense, whether or not one feels the same way --but didn't Elminster predate Fizban by quite some time?

 

[Abstruse]

Homelands was the best of the Drizzt novels by a long stretch. The others are hit-or-miss, depending on how bored Salvatore seemed with the characters at that point in his life. I haven't read a lot of others, but I'd definitely point to Ari's list as talented authors.

As for complaining about novels altering the campaign setting? Those are almost always plot points demanded by TSR/WotC. "We need to kill off this character in your novel to set up this module later/due to this big event/whatever How do you want to do it?" So make sure you're pointing the finger of blame in the right direction.

If you don't like the books, you don't like them. If you don't want to use them or their plot developments in your game, you're free to ignore them. But many people like the tie-ins and the feeling of reading a novel that references a previous module or an event we played in and feeling a deeper connection to fiction. Characters in the book reference or are affected by events that happened in your game, it deepens your ties to that story and novel. It's a pretty cool feeling.

Note: I've rarely played in FR and my experiences above come from the Shadowrun novels, of which I am a huge fan. I assume FR fans feel the same way.

 

[Boarstorm]

I realize this is tangential to your overall point--which makes perfect sense, whether or not one feels the same way --but didn't Elminster predate Fizban by quite some time?

Fizban... Dragons of Autumn Twilight, 1984.

Elminster... the oldest actual appearance I can find is in Dragon Magazine (Pages from the Mages III), also in 1984.

Judging by the fact that that's the THIRD in the series, I'm guessing you are correct.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Abstruse makes a good point. The RSEs in the novels are almost always instigated at the request of the gaming side of things at the company. And even if a major change isn't, it still has to be approved by them.


None of the effects on the game world, for good or ill, are the "fault" of the novelists.