Points of Light and the Forgotten Realms

[2WS-Steve]

I'd enjoy seeing this new take on the Realms and be far more likely to run a game set in it if they switched to a more wild/frontier motif. I think it'd also do a nicer job justifying the players' role than the sort of default "Elminster and all the other 30th level characters are too busy" justification, which always felt like a backhanded compliment of sorts -- what you players are doing is too insignificant to warrant the big guys' attention.

 

[Mouseferatu]

I've changed it to a link with a spoiler warning.

Thanks.

 

[an_idol_mind]

Meh...while I'm no huge fan of the Realms myself, I think it would be a bad move for WotC to start tailoring the setting to those who don't like it. The setting has been around as a D&D campaign for almost 20 years now, and has been one of the most consistently popular settings out there. To shake up the world drastically in order to appeal to a group of fans that will probably still game in another setting seems counterproductive to me, as it will likely tick off a lot of existing Realms fans.

Although Realms-shaking events seem to be the norm for Faerûn, I'd hope for all the existing fans out there that the land goes into 4th edition mostly intact. If the fans of Driz'zt, Elminster, et al wanted their world torn apart and reassembled into a bleak, post-apocalyptic setting, they'd probably be playing Midnight or something similar.

 

[davethegame]

I like the idea that a new edition brings changes to the storyline (so that your old books now serve as useful guides to a different era, instead of just being outdated) and that immortal/long lived characters are shown being long lived and having changed. And of course you're free to ignore changes in your own game blah blah blah.

But I would find it unfortunate if the change is to make FR line up with the Points of Light default setting. I like PoL, but it seems like setting books should specifically have a different flavor to them that sets them apart in tone from the core setting to give different options.

 

[IanB]

Doesn't the points-of-light thing already apply in large part? I mean, I look at my old 1E Savage Frontier supplement, and that's pretty much what I see.

 

[jasin]

I'll admit that I'm totally digging the

Spoiler

Empire of Netheril

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

For those of us who haven't read any of the relevant books, what development is that, in brief?

 

[Irda Ranger]

I was wrong

I'm not sure what the spoiler rules are, so I made the entire post "dark."

I have to admit, I am very surprised by this. My reading of the "points of light in darkness" default setting was that it was already an accurate description of huge swaths of the Forgotten Realms. The North, the Moonsea region, the Swords Coast, the Dalelands, etc. are very sparsely populated, and even the Cormyrian country-side (not to mention Amn's ogre invasation, or Tethyr's collapse) are only loosely claimed by the local "authorities." I figured a simple change in tone, emphasizing the long and perilous rodes between Waterdeep and Silverymoon would be enough to bring FR "within the range" of the acceptable 4e feel.

Man, I hate these world-changing events that totally break the continuity of the settings. Dark Sun Revised, Dragons of Summer Flame, the Time of Troubles .... nothing good ever comes of this stuff.

I think this is a major mistake on WotC's part ... but I was wrong once, so it's possible I'll be wrong again.

You know what this really means though, don't you? Now the 3e FRCS is totally "wrong", and no mixing of 3e and 4e materials. It's just too different.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Meh...while I'm no huge fan of the Realms myself, I think it would be a bad move for WotC to start tailoring the setting to those who don't like it. The setting has been around as a D&D campaign for almost 20 years now, and has been one of the most consistently popular settings out there. To shake up the world drastically in order to appeal to a group of fans that will probably still game in another setting seems counterproductive to me, as it will likely tick off a lot of existing Realms fans.

Thing is... Do we actually know any of this for fact?

Let's be honest. The people at WotC aren't stupid, and they have access to info that we don't. That includes sales figures.

Maybe Realms material hasn't been doing as well as it used to. (I have no idea if this is the case or not; just speculating.) Maybe they feel that the potential rewards of a massive shakeup outweigh the risks. Who knows?

 

[JVisgaitis]

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

Your not the only one. The Realms is so ridiculous and deep, it would make a lot of sense to do a reboot of sorts to draw new people in. I've always kinda followed the Realms, but its crazy difficult keeping up with the reams of history. Call me VERY interested if this turns out to be the case.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

This sounds fantastic. I'm very much looking forward to see how this plays out. It may be enough to spark my enthusiasm all over again for FR like it was from the first boxed set.

Hey KnightErrantJR: Where did you find Rich Baker's comment about the 4e FRCS? Also, where are you getting the info about the prologue and the epilogue?