D&D 5E Listened to latest "Lore you should know" and......

[Irennan]

I just want to say that I'm also glad that there's no more FR cannon by default in D&D

I don't know where people are getting that there's no more FR canon. There is. It's much more loose than before, as the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide is not as detailed as the previous FR products, but it's still there, and the lore of the setting is still the basis for WotC's work on their APs :/

 

[Parmandur]

And I am baffled by why anyone would feel insulted and saddened that the fanfiction he and his group spun and their table is not considered for the official canon timeline of events. I'd never dream of being sad that my fanfic for series X didn't become the official season finale or glad that the series ended so that none of my fanfics ever again get invalidated by future episodes. It's just a pity that I'll never get to see a new episode again.
Yes. And it still is even without an official canon version. Your game is no more empowered than before, still a drop in the ocean of countless other fan-fiction-versions going on.
That'S not quite true. We know that in canon ToT played out between some of Salvatores last books and that the dragons failed to summon Tiamat. We know that RoD is taking place after ToD. We're unfortunately hazy on details on PotA and SKT and since the novel line ended (and probably won't revive with the movie) have to wait for snippets from future releases to pieve it together
That's the issue here. Personally I don't care about my game. I am fully aware that any game I might play (and most of the time I don't even play) is me taking a certain point in time from canon, tell my little fan-fic spin-off which most of the time is not even finished and then mostly forget about it. I'd never think of becoming miffed that future supplements and novels assume a different outcome and chain of events than what we had at our table. Why would I ever care? I can't understand that mindset at all?

Whats getting me miffed is that after 18 years (heck, the majority of my live) there is no longer that new FR novel available (or being available soon) for me to read. That sucks.

Ah, I see; you are looking at the Realms as fiction setting; I see it as a game aid, and they seem to be doing a better job of setting it up for that role than in a long, long time.



The movie may or may not be good, or be a success; we will see. .

As to the APs, the guidelines in SKT suggest that the timeline is...loose at best.

 

[Parmandur]

It depends. Ed Greenwood thinks that it's unlikely that the novel line will be restarted, unless 1)the movie does really well 2)an eventual novelization of the movie also does well.

Time-Warner has a publishing house; dollars to donuts they bundled novel rights with the movie deal, hence WotC getting out of that business.

The future of Realms fiction is probably riding on the film and inevitable novel. Here's hoping?

 

[Jer]

Time-Warner has a publishing house; dollars to donuts they bundled novel rights with the movie deal, hence WotC getting out of that business.

I don't think that's true anymore. They sold off Time-Warner Books to Hachette years ago and they spun off their magazine publishing arm as Time Inc. as a separate company years ago as well. IIRC, the only publishing that they still do these days is via their DC Entertainment holdings (which still publish DC comics and Mad magazine).

I'd be surprised if Hasbro bundled the fiction rights with the movie deal or if Warner would want them (except as a cut of the royalties for movie tie-in publishing). OTOH - I could see Hasbro shopping the rights out to another publisher if that publisher wanted to pay for it rather than having Wizards do it in house.

The future of Realms fiction is probably riding on the film and inevitable novel. Here's hoping?

I think this is likely true. I'm honestly a bit worried that too much of the future of D&D might be riding on the film to be honest.

 

[hawkeyefan]

I don't know where people are getting that there's no more FR canon. There is. It's much more loose than before, as the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide is not as detailed as the previous FR products, but it's still there, and the lore of the setting is still the basis for WotC's work on their APs :/

They also (wisely, in my opinion) presented much of the "lore" in the SCAG as being from the perspective of characters living in the fictional world. So they've left themselves a lot of wiggle room should they decide later on that they have a better idea for a location or idea that has been previously commented on in the SCAG. The character could have been misinformed or going off of hearsay, or could be lying.

 

[Irennan]

They also (wisely, in my opinion) presented much of the "lore" in the SCAG as being from the perspective of characters living in the fictional world. So they've left themselves a lot of wiggle room should they decide later on that they have a better idea for a location or idea that has been previously commented on in the SCAG. The character could have been misinformed or going off of hearsay, or could be lying.

Yes, that's true--although it's only the section that details the Sword Coast that has been written from an in-universe viewpoint, while the sections about the Realms as a whole, the races, and the gods are more objective. But then, the information presented there isn't detailed and allows freedom.

That was also the approach of TSR, if I'm not mistaken, as the 2e books used the unreliable narrator to present the lore (although it wasn't written in the form of a report by a traveler like some parts of the SCAG are).

 

[Parmandur]

I don't think that's true anymore. They sold off Time-Warner Books to Hachette years ago and they spun off their magazine publishing arm as Time Inc. as a separate company years ago as well. IIRC, the only publishing that they still do these days is via their DC Entertainment holdings (which still publish DC comics and Mad magazine).



I'd be surprised if Hasbro bundled the fiction rights with the movie deal or if Warner would want them (except as a cut of the royalties for movie tie-in publishing). OTOH - I could see Hasbro shopping the rights out to another publisher if that publisher wanted to pay for it rather than having Wizards do it in house.







I think this is likely true. I'm honestly a bit worried that too much of the future of D&D might be riding on the film to be honest.

Interesting, didn't know that about the publishing side of Time-Warner. Reckon they are working on a licensing partner for books, and that indeed somebody is probably already writing a novelization of the movie...

Yeah, they have a lot riding on that: potential rewards far outweigh the risks for them, though.

 

[Mirtek]

Ah, I see; you are looking at the Realms as fiction setting;

Indeed. I hardly play. Truly if it had been the other way around they'd announced that the game is discontinued but they're still releasing novels, it would hardly register to me at all.

The movie may or may not be good, or be a success; we will see. .

Call me pesimistic, I don't expect anything better than a glorified B-movie which will of course fail to meet their targets. At best we're getting something like Gods of Egypt or WarCraft or the [...] of the Titans movies (at leas the later franchise made it a to a second movie before being burried).

In fact something like the Titans movies is most likely, as they've hired the people responsible for it for the D&D movie.

As to the APs, the guidelines in SKT suggest that the timeline is...loose at best.

We had the last few novels since them and we know that ToT is happening in the background of the first few that that it has unsuccessfully (for the dragon) concluded prior to Gromph accidentally calling the demonlords to Faerun.

 

[Parmandur]

Indeed. I hardly play. Truly if it had been the other way around they'd announced that the game is discontinued but they're still releasing novels, it would hardly register to me at all.

Call me pesimistic, I don't expect anything better than a glorified B-movie which will of course fail to meet their targets. At best we're getting something like Gods of Egypt or WarCraft or the [...] of the Titans movies (at leas the later franchise made it a to a second movie before being burried).

In fact something like the Titans movies is most likely, as they've hired the people responsible for it for the D&D movie.

We had the last few novels since them and we know that ToT is happening in the background of the first few that that it has unsuccessfully (for the dragon) concluded prior to Gromph accidentally calling the demonlords to Faerun.

Limited experience with Realms fiction, my wife says the Dark Elf trilogy is fun.

I have a strange happy pessimistic approach: I expect the film will be about the same quality as the Realms fiction (I.e., glorified B-movie), and based on the crud that is successful (like the terrible Hobbit films, or Transformers), it has a decent shot at success on a commercial level, which is what will be good for the game.

 

[ProgBard]

Whats getting me miffed is that after 18 years (heck, the majority of my live) there is no longer that new FR novel available (or being available soon) for me to read. That sucks.

I absolutely get this. It does suck. And believe it or not, I actually share your feelings here - it's a shame to see this extension of the property end, for Realms fans to not have a way to continue to enjoy the setting in this medium when they step away from the table. It's always a sad thing when a line this long comes to an end, and of all the casualties of the new take on canon, this one's hands-down the most unfortunate.

(On a personal note: I only recently discovered Erin Evans, and the Farideh books are gems, and I'm sad myself that they're coming to a close so soon. That is How You Do It - not just good tie-in novels, but fine fantasy novels, full stop, and I hope she continues to have a long and productive career after this. I look forward to seeing what she does next.)

I suppose if I'd twigged to how much of this conversation was about the fiction, I'd have made a point to say this much earlier; I was interpreting the weight of this falling elsewhere, and that's a failure of my perception. So if you were under the impression that I was in any way saying, "HA! Well, I'm GLAD there won't be any more stupid Realms books! Die in a fire, emo drow ranger!" - I promise you I wasn't, and I apologize for anything I wrote that made that seem like my perspective here.