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Message: <blockquote data-quote="an_idol_mind" data-source="post: 4849606" data-attributes="member: 43749">The couple of times I ran a Realms game, Elminster came off almost as a comedic figure. Unless a given adventure was really a world-threatening situation, he seemed largely out of touch with the events of the world. He used his magic frivolously, focusing more on flashy effects than deadly magic. He also got knocked out by a lucky punch from one of the characters (2nd edition rules, where the unarmed strike tables had a %chance of KO - I didn't have anything beyond the boxed set, so I didn't find out until later how many contingencies would have fired off in that situation). Even in the ultimate god-killing conclusion of my setting, Elminster didn't really factor in that much. He had his own plan for solving the adventure, but the PCs were convinced that the crazy old wizard was doomed to failure. Ultimately, although Elminster had vast power at his disposal, he was perceived as too senile or out of touch to solve the game's problems. While he was more capable than he seemed, the perception of the players that he was a crazy old man was all I needed to make sure they never relied on him to solve their problems.</blockquote>