Let's break the Realms!

[Maggan]

Elminster turns evil.

All forces of good unite to destroy him, and the evil forces rally to his banner. Lots and lots of high level NPCs are killed, both evil and good. Among the last to fall is Elminster, done in by Mystara herself.

A bit cliché, but it could be hell of a game!

/M

 

[Obryn]

Elminster turns evil.

All forces of good unite to destroy him, and the evil forces rally to his banner. Lots and lots of high level NPCs are killed, both evil and good. Among the last to fall is Elminster, done in by Mystara herself.

A bit cliché, but it could be hell of a game!

/M

You see, now this sort of thing is exactly what I was thinking!

Lots of potential for adventurers here, IMO.

-O

 

[JoeGKushner]

Elminster turns evil.

All forces of good unite to destroy him, and the evil forces rally to his banner. Lots and lots of high level NPCs are killed, both evil and good. Among the last to fall is Elminster, done in by Mystara herself.

A bit cliché, but it could be hell of a game!

/M

One I saw similiar to that was that Mystra was driven insane by being a mortal elevated to the ranks of Goddess of Magic and eventually becomes a kind of offish Elder One and her 'leaks' to the Chosen eventually drive all of them mad and each one sets out to mold the world in a manner more fitting for the new Goddess of Magic as opposed to the way things were before.

Azuth, unable to do anything to save his master, comitts cosmic suicide but even this effort fails as instead his dying form is consumed by the Lady of Mysteries and turned into something not quite human. Those wizards who formerly paid heed to him seem to undergo a sinister transformation and some whisper that they are no longer wizards, but foul warlocks.


In doing such, they surrendered more and more of their humanity until they were not human, merely fleshy shells in which pure arcane force resided. They also bypass the old limits of magic and are capable of shattering cities with a wave of their hand.

Old enemies gather in force and establish numerous anti-magic and wild magic zones in an attempt to limit their power.

Other entitites that tapped into Mystra do not suffer as greatly but all the deities grow more aloof as the mortals turn to matters of survival without the benefit of their gods.

 

[jdrakeh]

Elminster turns evil.

After reading the "Waaaaaah! You shouldn't be allowed to run the Realms unless you've bled for it!" thread over the past couple of days, I was thinking of something along these lines, too. Specifically, I was thinking of something along the lines of a "Kill Elminster!" campaign ala Mission Impossible (i.e., This is your mission if you choose to accept it!).

Of course, since Eminister technically can't be killed as statted out in various D&D products, that's where the first breaking probably needs to occur — rebuild him with powers that aren't unique cheese and give him abilities that are actually available to everybody, per the rules of the game (i.e., drop that BS Elminster's Evasion spell).

As far as alignment, he doesn't need to be evil — I imagine that The Sage Who Is Better Than Everybody has probably pissed off as many native Faerun denizens as he has RL gamers. Nobody likes a self-important braggart. Maybe some other powerful-ish NPCs just want to take that old fart down a peg (or two). Maybe they'll hire the PCs to do it for them, so their own reputation remains untarnished.

And maybe those other NPCs will step up to take old El's place as the savior of the Realms, bringing the PCs along for the ride.

 

[Nymrohd]

Well I keep the Spellplague in my version of the realms and make a few changes. The drow redemption arc catches Drizzt as well! Alustriel still dies during the Spellplague but becomes a mythal ghost tied to Silverymoon. Khelben's namesake nephew who he was impersonating returns to the Realms and takes over the Blackstaff. Evermeet gets shunted in the Feywild as in the 4E FRCG and Lady Moonflower becomes an archfey tying her realm even more tightly to her, gaining greater control over Evermeet politics. The Simbul lapses back into her chaotic self, and Elminster retires from meddling permanently. The Sea of Fallen Stars doesn't drain into the underdark! Instead the last shalarin passing has brought with it the followers of Dagon and the thirteenth Seros war begins during the spellplague and still ravages most of the underwater kingdoms. Halruaa does get blown up, but maintains a massive skyfleet shared between them, the pirates of Yaulazna, the Krinti and the lizardfolk of Rethild. The Tyr-Helm story arc never happens. Selune subsumes the church of Mystra and becomes a greater deity again. Amaunator stays dead (do not mess with my favorite deity!) Tons of other random changes as well but these are the bigger ones.

 

[Bumbles]

Why do something as trite as Elminster turns evil....do something original like, Mansoon turns Good!!!

Nobody's ever done that before*.

*Disclaimer: No wait, they have!

 

[Nymrohd]

You've never poisoned a villain with Wis impairing poisons and Will penalty magic and forced them to wear a Helm of Opposite Alignment? My players always loved that scheme. Though they did it to Semmemnon.

 

[Maggan]

Why do something as trite as Elminster turns evil....

Because it would upset canon lawyers.

And frankly, I don't know a lot about the realms, the only names I'm familiar with are Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate and Elminster. And only one of those can change alignment.

Want less trite suggestions? Go for it, then.

/M

 

[Nymrohd]

Shar (also known as Galactus) wins and the Realms are turned to lifeless ash (that is her actual purpose and portfolio).

 

[Bumbles]

Because it would upset canon lawyers.

I honestly don't think it would, but y'know, let's table that discussion. I just think it's boring because I've read enough "And this is X done EVIL!" to be well past satiation levels. There's only so many Owl-man's you can take.

And frankly, I don't know a lot about the realms, the only names I'm familiar with are Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate and Elminster. And only one of those can change alignment.

I could change the alignment of both, so much as cities could be considered to have alignments, by altering their character. Since they're both pretty similar (free cities, generally good, emphasis on trade), I'm not sure how you could change them both around, but you could make one into a totalitarian regime bent on world conquest. Oh wait, no, that's Zhentil Keep West. Or Luskan South depending on how you do it.

Want less trite suggestions? Go for it, then.

I did. You didn't reply on them. Doesn't anybody care that Manshoon has seen the light, and found new hope in the god of Good (whoever he is in the Realms at the time)? And now he hands out lollipops to the kiddies?

Should I come up with something else? What if we mixed Forgotten Realms with Dark Sun? Which mages would make good Sorcerer Kings? What if instead of Kara-tur on the other side of the continent, it was the Flaeness?