Points of Light and the Forgotten Realms

[Jared Rascher]

I know that there has been a lot of talk about weather the official campaign settings will have any of the flavor of the "points of light" default setting mentioned in many of the designers posts about 4th edition. While I have seen a lot of logical reasons for why this is only the "default" for 4th edition and individual campaign setting shouldn't be affected, we have also been told that R A Salvatore's The Orc King has some previews of the coming changes for the Realms, so for anyone that doesn't care about spoilers:

Spoiler

The prologue and epilogue of The Orc King are set 100 years into the future of the Realms. Drizzt mentions that the Spellplague has decimated the Sword Coast, but that Mithril Hall survived the worst of it, even though there was chaos and upheaval all around it.

It also mentions the Empire of Netheril.

It doesn't mention Silverymoon, Waterdeep, Baldur's Gate, the Lord's Alliance, the Silver Marches, or anything else "civilized" beyond Mithril Hall and the Empire of Netheril.

I get the distinct feeling that the "points of light" approach is definitely being applied to the Realms as well as being used for the default.

I know its not the direction I want to see the setting go. Others may disagree, or be thrilled, give it a shot for the first time or come back to it. I'll not say that mine in the superior decision, but at the same time, I thought it might be interesting to those contemplating a switch to 4th edition based on the setting to know ahead of time what might be in store.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Hmm...

You know, speaking for myself only... This might be what it takes to get me into FR. I'm familiar with the basics of the setting, but not many of the details. And I've never written for it because, among other things, the notion of trying to catch up on all this history is daunting, to say the least.

But a major shake-up to go along with a jump forward in time might be enough to draw me in.

Now, I'm not saying that's the best way to go. I know FR has a lot of fans as it stands now, and I don't begrudge them that. If FR doesn't change to suit my tastes, well, there are plenty of settings that do. I'm just saying that if it happened this way (and I'm still not convinced it will), it'd be a good thing for me.

 

[Jared Rascher]

I understand that the point of any business venture is to make money, and that even the people that I hang out with online and off aren't indicative of either D&D fans or FR fans as a whole, but it does bum me out and pretty much kills the setting for me. I'm not saying that they are evil or horrible for doing it, but it does seem a bit like gambling on a greater influx of new people while accounting for fewer leaving the setting, and I'm not sure that betting on getting people into the setting that never liked it is the best way to go, but it may work.

It also seems like the assurances that "Drizzt and Elminster are still there" are the concessions to trying to keep older fans, but to be honest, I'm less worried about those two than I am having Cormyr, Waterdeep, the Dalelands, and the like with their "feel" intact. That goes way beyond NPCs that very few people in my campaigns over the last 20 years have run into.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Whoah, whoah, you're talking like this is a confirmed, done deal.

To the best of my knowledge, while the jump ahead in time is confirmed, what changes (if any) it'll have on the setting are all just guesswork at this stage. Something not being mentioned in the source you quote isn't the same thing as saying for certain that it's gone. It might be, sure, but I don't think we can assume it is.

 

[Jared Rascher]

Whoah, whoah, you're talking like this is a confirmed, done deal.

To the best of my knowledge, while the jump ahead in time is confirmed, what changes (if any) it'll have on the setting are all just guesswork at this stage. Something not being mentioned in the source you quote isn't the same thing as saying for certain that it's gone. It might be, sure, but I don't think we can assume it is.

True, but there were a few other hints here and there, and I fully admit I may be bracing for the worst here (Spoilers):

Spoiler

Mithril Hall was specifically mentioned as surviving, but not the Silver Marches, which I think is probably telling. Beyond that Rich Baker mentioned that his next set of novels is going to be based in the Moonsea region, and then mentioned his protagonist being from a very small town in that particular region, which seems to fit the "Points of Light." strategy.

Also, there was the very carefully worded comment when people thought that since the Spellplague takes place 10 years in the future that the setting would be starting 4th edition there, and the comment was . . . "no one has said the FRCS is set in 1385," which seems to back up the large jump forward in time.

I wouldn't mind the jump forward with enough "touchstones" to build a bridge (Elaith being a Lord of Waterdeep, for example, or notes on the Obarskyrs that have sat on the throne for the interim.

I'll still be keeping an eye on things, but I'm just not that hopeful that things aren't heading in this direction.

 

[RigaMortus2]

Hmm...

You know, speaking for myself only... This might be what it takes to get me into FR. I'm familiar with the basics of the setting, but not many of the details.

I agree with you... Are you familiar with the Midnight setting? Would be interesting if something like that (not necessarily a dark army, just something catastrophic) happened in the FR setting, and then we can go from there. Think Jericho (the TV show) in the FR setting

 

[Shemeska]

I'll admit that I'm totally digging the

Spoiler

Empire of Netheril

development. We'll see where this wild little ride leads.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Morrus, why would you put this on the front page without some sort of spoiler block?! This is a major revelation from the new novels!

The fact that those of us in the thread are willing to be spoiled doesn't mean every visitor to ENWorld is.

 

[Jared Rascher]

I also just wanted to point out that I was trying to be fairly careful about mentioning what was said in the books and where I was connecting dots, which as Ari has pointed out may be completely off. I don't have any special knowledge, and pretty much everything that I mentioned can be put together with a few properly worded Google searches, so take my theories with a grain of salt.

 

[Morrus]

Morrus, why would you put this on the front page without some sort of spoiler block?! This is a major revelation from the new novels!

The fact that those of us in the thread are willing to be spoiled doesn't mean every visitor to ENWorld is.

Good thinking, Batman. I've changed it to a link with a spoiler warning.