Man - the FR setting already IS Points of Light

[Matrix Sorcica]

I just started reading the 3rd Ed. FRCS again (and what an amazing piece of work it is), but this time with 'Points of Light' glasses on.

Besides Elminsters intro, which actually is very PoL-ly, check out the very first lines in the book:

Welcome to the world of Faerun, a place of great heroes and stark
evil, encompassing lands of magic, mystery, and high peril.
Bold knights dare the crypts of dead monarchs, seeking glory and
treasure. Insolent rogues prowl the dank alleyways of ancient cities,
plotting their next exploit. Devout clerics wield mace and spell,
questing against the terrifying powers that threaten the land. Cunning
wizards plunder the ruins of fallen empires, delving fearlessly
into secrets too dark for the light of day. Dragons, giants, blackhearted
villains, demons, savage hordes, ant! unimaginable abominations
lurk in horrible dungeons, endless caverns, ruined cities, and
the vast wild places of the world, thirsting for the blood of heroes.
This is the land of Faerun, a continent of heart-stopping beauty
and ages-old evil. It is your land to shape, to guide, to defend, to conquer,
or to rule. It is a land trod by noble heroes and unredeemable
villains, a great and terrible company to which you and your fellows
now belong.
Welcome to the FORGOTTEN REALMS campaign setting.

That to me is very close to a dark Sword and Sorcewry world of ascending darkness.

If you grab you copies and read Elminster's intro and until the second columm on page 6 (The Forgotten Realms Campaign), see if you agree.

Yeah, I know about the über npcs. Leave them out for a moment.

 

[BadMojo]

The intro may have matched with the actual setting a long, long time ago but I don't think it does any more.

Until recent events, the bad guys were pretty inept. Cormyr was strong, the Silver Marches strong, the Dales relatively peaceful. On the other hand, Zhentil Keep is a mess with infighting, the Red Wizards are in deadlock with Rashemen and there aren't any organized, powerful Orc/Goblin/Whatever hordes.

 

[tresson]

Plus you have super powerful NPCs that can make problems go away with a snap of their fingers. Elminster(sp?) needs to die.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I think much of FR was points of light.

I don't think the uber-NPCs have anything to do with points of light. I like to bash them, but this isn't the thread for it.

 

[The Little Raven]

I don't think the uber-NPCs have anything to do with points of light.

Well, the power and reach of those NPCs turned many "points of light" into "pools of light," which is one problem I had with the setting.

 

[Irda Ranger]

Besides Elminsters intro, which actually is very PoL-ly, check out the very first lines in the book:

That to me is very close to a dark Sword and Sorcewry world of ascending darkness.

Yeah, it is. Too bad it's not an accurate description of the world actually described in the rest of the book.

 

[WarlockLord]

Nothing like the rest of the book. Incompetent bad guys and Elminister just make everything go away.

 

[Lancelot]

It's not so much about the ineptness of the bad guys and the many uber-NPCs to me. It's more about the size of cities... the widespread and potent goodly organizations like the Harpers... the general ease of creation and purchase of magic items...

Points of light, to me, is a theme where you're in a frontier town with a small militia. The rain is pouring down outside, and there are wolves (and werewolves) howling in the distance. There is no Waterdeep or Athkatla or Neverwinter within 100's of miles. There are few goodly organizations, and those few are scattered or elderly or disenfranchised. And there's no temple or "magic shoppe" where the PC can wander in and ask the owner "So, what's the GP limit for purchases in this town?"

Things are looking bleak, and people need heroes. And those heroes are the PCs.

 

[Lancelot]

As an addendum to my post above, I personally think much of Eberron (despite the lack of uber-NPCs) isn't very "points of light" either. As long as I can ride the lightning rail to the magical city of Sharn and hire a House Cannith artificer to build me a new custom magic sword, it doesn't feel much like I'm the last best hope of the free world either.

 

[Li Shenron]

I think that FR is not Points of Light but maybe Web of Light, where all the points are strongly connected with each other... Points of Light to me implies only a minimal chance of interaction, through long travels, slow messengers, etc. FR has too many cities at relatively short distance, and too common magic that can nullify distances and time delays. "Every magic item below a max gp price is on sale" cannot be in a Points of Light settings.