Only the Lonely: Why We Demand Official Product

[Bravesteel25]

Uh... no. WotC has said that FR is the default setting.

Really? Do you have a source for that? Not being snarky or malicious, just genuinely curious.

 

[Maxperson]

This is not true. The only default is "the D&D multiverse".

So the designers are liars?

 

[Zardnaar]

So the designers are liars?

No a Twitter post was put up and PHB doesn't specify.

 

[Maxperson]

No a Twitter post was put up and PHB doesn't specify.

So it's another Crawford retcon. This is from an interview with Mike Mearls in 2014.

"When I was working on third and fourth there was this dialogue of "Should we just embrace The Realms as the core setting?" And we were always very wary of a big backlash. Honestly people have complained, but I think when you look at how we handled the playtest, and they'll see as we roll out the core rulebooks and Tyranny of Dragons that The Realms elements are strong enough that if you like The Realms or if you don't have a setting they kind of fill in the blanks and really bring the adventure to life, but one of the strengths of The Realms is that it's so diverse that we're not really cancelling anything out but get access to things like the Cult of the Dragon. Using The Realms lets us have a very flavorful villain group with an ongoing story that we can use in the future. If you look at like Red Hand of Doom, one of the big 3rd Edition adventures that went over very well, now that adventure's published we can't really use that adventure again because it didn't have a home in D&D. It doesn't really fit into a larger world. Using The Realms let us have that. (Mike Mearls, Escapist Magazine)"

 

[Azzy]

So it's another Crawford retcon. This is from an interview with Mike Mearls in 2014.

"When I was working on third and fourth there was this dialogue of "Should we just embrace The Realms as the core setting?" And we were always very wary of a big backlash. Honestly people have complained, but I think when you look at how we handled the playtest, and they'll see as we roll out the core rulebooks and Tyranny of Dragons that The Realms elements are strong enough that if you like The Realms or if you don't have a setting they kind of fill in the blanks and really bring the adventure to life, but one of the strengths of The Realms is that it's so diverse that we're not really cancelling anything out but get access to things like the Cult of the Dragon. Using The Realms lets us have a very flavorful villain group with an ongoing story that we can use in the future. If you look at like Red Hand of Doom, one of the big 3rd Edition adventures that went over very well, now that adventure's published we can't really use that adventure again because it didn't have a home in D&D. It doesn't really fit into a larger world. Using The Realms let us have that. (Mike Mearls, Escapist Magazine)"

That looks like the path that they've chosen for the adventures, however the core rules are most assuredly not tied to any single setting and are instead inclusive of multiple settings with the Great Wheel cosmology tying them altogether.

 

[Maxperson]

That looks like the path that they've chosen for the adventures, however the core rules are most assuredly not tied to any single setting and are instead inclusive of multiple settings with the Great Wheel cosmology tying them altogether.

That interview was very close to the release date. It's not as if they could have changed the books in time for the release if what Mearls wrote wasn't what they went with. Crawford is notorious for retconning what they say, changing things after the fact. This is just another instance of it.

 

[Hussar]

So, your evidence is an interview in a non-gaming magazine interview? Where, again, he doesn't actually state that FR is the default, just that it starting off, the modules would be set in Forgotten Realms because it gives them lots to work with.

Huh.

0 for 2 in this thread on interpreting the English language so far @Maxperson. You want to go for three?

 

[Sadras]

This is not true. The only default is "the D&D multiverse".

Interesting. I would have definitely got the answer wrong on that purely based on the fact that most of the AP's are set in FR (I'm not on social media -fb, insta or twitter so I'm not exposed to all that unless someone provides a link here to an interesting feed/ruling).

But this makes sense with their vision of being inclusive. Well done them!

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Interesting. I've always considered the variety of detailed worlds and a diversity of themes to be D&D's greatest strength and it's terrible weakness, simultaneously. I could be playing D&D at several tables, but each one can be uniquely different even if it uses the same world or setting. The game is about creativity and building a unique experience every time.

Discussions like this, however, illustrate the flaw of not having a singular, unified setting everyone can accept. Too many options and flavors result in a division of the fanbase. This will always be the legacy for D&D as it drags the baggage of multiple worlds and universes trying to cram them all together.

A separate brand or line focused on a particular world or setting would be nice, but only for those interested in investing in that splintered line of products. We've seen how that can get out of hand in earlier editions. But I would hope that decades later, someone might have figured out an amicable solution by now.

Personal note. Like most foods on my plate, I prefer them not to touch. But every once in a while, I like to mix certain ones together.

 

[Maxperson]

So, your evidence is an interview in a non-gaming magazine interview? Where, again, he doesn't actually state that FR is the default, just that it starting off, the modules would be set in Forgotten Realms because it gives them lots to work with.

Huh.

0 for 2 in this thread on interpreting the English language so far @Maxperson. You want to go for three?

Don't understand what "Embrace the Realms as the core setting" means?