How Would You Have Handled the Forgotten Realms?

[Toryx]

The problem is that Hasbro/WoTC are a profit making enterprise (. . . as is EVERY successful gaming publisher).

The names Forgotten Realms and Ed Greenwood make money.

While it's true that they make money, I don't think that this should be a limitation. Honestly, if I were in charge at Wizards and I decided that some big changes either had to be made to FR or it had to be let go, I'd probably have gone with letting it go.

Now the first inherent capitalist response is: "Stop making Forgotten Realms stuff? Are you crazy? That's our best market! It's suicide!"

But I know how passionate the FR fans are about the Realms and a large part of the reason for that passion is the continuity the setting has maintained over the years. Sure, changes were made that people didn't approve of, but it's still being played and there's no question that the WotC people should have (if they truly didn't, which I doubt) anticipated the outcry.

But the argument that you can't let go of something because it makes money is not a good one. I'd say that we just need to find something else that makes money. Let the FR fans stay with what they got and be happy. And let's find something that'll satisfy those anti-FR folks, a setting that will capture those who aren't happy with the direction Eberron has gone in.

New ideas work too. Anyone who says that risk is stupid or going whole haul into a new idea ought to talk to Jeff Bezos, Pierre Omidyar, Tom Anderson, Ed Greenwood or Gary Gygax. They'd assure you otherwise.

No new setting would be a sure success. But there are lots of people out there who are looking for something new that isn't FR or Eberron. Surely there is something to be made there, and new successes to be found.

 

[Drammattex]

However, if that were declared to not be an option, for whatever reason, then I would use the Reset Button, and do "Ultimate Realms" or a BSG-esque reboot.

BSG!!!!!!!!!

...drool...

sorry.

 

[Drammattex]

Seriously, I'm one of the people in the target demographic now. I used to run & play the Realms in the late '80s and early '90s when they seemed very mysterious. Since then, I've come to loathe them for the sheer amount of power that is available around every corner (especially the NPCs). I thought I would never voluntarily play the Realms again... until now.

 

[Arnwyn]

Some aren't happy with what we've been hearing about WotC's treatment of FRCS. So, here's your chance to say what you would have done. This assumes you are incharge of FR fluff writing and the company higherups said, "Write a FRCS book. We want to make it easy for new players to jump in and has to work with the PoL base assumption of 4E. Oh incorporate Tieflings and Dragonborn."

Given those specific assumptions? I would do a complete and utter reset. No silly advancing timelines and trying to pound square pegs into round holes trying to pretend that a bunch of things fit, when they clearly don't.

A totally new vision and complete start-over. Made clear to the consumers.

 

[delericho]

Still, advancing the timeline isn't bad, but 100 years seems a bit much.

The problem is, if you kill off a whole bunch of gods (especially major gods) and don't advance the timeline, then you have to deal with the sizeable remnants of the churches of those gods. Give it 100 years, and you can argue that the god is largely forgotten, that most of his clergy have converted, the churches have been rededicated, and so on.

Although, here's a scenario...

It is likely that there are several powers with a vested interest in infiltrating other priesthoods. Mask (or whoever his successor was) is one, and various Demons/Devils may also have such an agenda. It's difficult, but careful use of Undetectable Alignment and similar spells, plus significant ranks in Bluff, and it can be done.

Now, immediately after Helm died, all of his clerics would have lost spellcasting abilities... except for the 'false' clerics. I can easily see a Devil-led inquisition rising in the church of Helm, declaring that the faithful have fallen away from the 'true faith', and so incurred the wrath of the deity.

Even better, given the shameful circumstances leading to the death of Helm, the priests of (whoever it was) might be slow to speak up.

There's got to be at least one adventure in there, if not a whole campaign.

 

[Brown Jenkin]

I went with other.

Rather than radically change the setting create a new one. The PoL design is fine for a setting but the Realms are the antithesis of PoL. People play the realms because they want high magic and continuity. Make the first campaign setting for 4E a brand new PoL setting that includes everything core. Then in a year release the 4E Realms. The new Realms would not include all core, but rather come out and state that tieflings are part demons, not part of a old empire, that Eladrin and dragonborn do not exist, there is no feywild, and any other changes to make the rules conform to the setting, not the setting to the rules. I would rather see the realms be retired than re-imagined.