Quintessentially Forgotten Realms

[delericho]

I'm starting a new campaign, and two of my players have specifically asked to play in the Forgotten Realms. While I'm not a huge fan of the Forgotten Realms, it does have a I don't really dislike it, and there's nothing in my campaign idea that won't work in that setting, so I'm inclined to go that way.

However...

I would like some advice on the elements that make the Forgotten Realms distinctive, the kind of images, themes and stories I can weave in to make this a Forgotten Realms game, rather than Eberron, Greyhawk, or any other setting. If there are any books (gamebooks or novels) that really capture the essense of the Realms, it would be good to hear about them, too. (Note, though, that while I'm happy to buy some new books for the campaign, I do have limited time to spend in preparation.)

In case you're interested, I'm looking at starting the campaign on the edges of a desert/waste region (as in Sandstorm), and focussing on the rough-and-tumble politics of a fairly dangerous frontier town. I'm also intending to keep the overarcing plot fairly light, as the players have requested a more character-driven game than the standard D&D game tends to be (otherwise, I would just run Age of Worms ).

Anyway, I look forward to reading your thoughts and recommendations. Thanks.

 

[Mystery Man]

What books do you have already?

Desert = Anauroch or Plains of Purple Dust.

 

[delericho]

What books do you have already?

Just the Campaign Setting hardback, Monsters of Faerun and Magic of Faerun.

Oh, and a bunch of novels, although nothing recent that doesn't feature drow. (Who won't be featuring heavily in the campaign.)

 

[tetsujin28]

Ridiculously high-level NPCs that sit around doing nothing?

But seriously, to me the coolest thing about the Realms is some of the gods. Whilst a good number of them are just swiped (Mielikki and Loviatar, Lolth, Corellan), the uniquely FR gods are really, really interesting (I'm especially fond of Tempus, Siamorphe, The Red Knight, and Helm). Also, alignment's kind of a weird, fuzzy thing in the Realms. Although it doesn't really go into it in detail in Faiths and Pantheons, it's not a normal D&D convention that you'd have two LN deities closely allied with a CN one against other CN ones, and enjoy each other's company. Alliances and political boundaries are a lot more important than a strict interpretation of D&D alignments. I've actually ditched them altogether, and use the Allegiances system from d20M.

 

[Connorsrpg]

I am not a huge fan of FR either, but I think 3E has done a better job than previous editions

I found the Player's Guide to Faerun to be very good for its concept of regions and other rules and the Races of Faerun (3.0) for its in depth look at the roles and role-playing ideas for each of the races.

As far as products to capture the essense...well I am the wrong person to ask there. High magic and powerful NPCs to do everything for you? Drow? Nah, just kidding, I am sure there are many themes you could run with in the Realms. Besides there are notes in the intro (to the CS I believe) about making the Realms 'Your Realms'. So do it your way...always a tough call when players know more about the setting. I guess choosing a less detailed area may be a fair call, though there are two obvious deserts (mentioned above).

Connors

 

[wingsandsword]

Hmm, things to make a Realms game distinctly realms.

1. Organizations. The Realms has a lot of famous organizations/cults/orders. The Red Wizards are the iconic Evil Wizards Cabal with long term plans to conquer the world, the Harpers are a great plot device for PC's to recieve mysterious help, the Cult of the Dragon makes a foe you could base an entire campaign off of thwarting their attempts to create Dracoliches. The Purple Dragon Knights could be brave defenders of the realm, or overzealous enforcers giving freewheeling adventurers a rough time, sometimes even at the same time. The Shadovar are a great reason to bring in Shadowdancers and darkness-themed opponents, as well as a source of any strange magic items or foes who are much like everybody else, but oddly alien.

2. Religions. The faiths of Faerun are another big part of the setting. A Morninglord of Lathander in their bright pastel yellow and orange robes giving prayers at dawn beneath a stained glass window, a Dweomerkeeper of Mystra in azure robes heavily trimmed in silver, wearing a mantle of silver chain netting, or a Watcher of Helm in gleaming full plate, complete with red and white plumes from the helmet go a long way towards making the Realms what they are.

3. NPC's. Yes, a lot of people hate the Realms for its big stable of established and powerful NPC's, but they are a lot of the flavor of the setting. Even a very occasional appearance of a big name can go a long way towards really establishing the Realms feel. The NPC's aren't the stars (a big misconception people have about the Realms), but they make great cameo parts.

4. Realmslore. The Realms has a huge background, and throwing out refernces to major events helps keep the flavor established. An NPC who's brother died in the Tuigan Horde invasion, an obscure reference by an old sage to "Karsus's Folly", a local priest who was blessed directly by his god during the Avatar Crisis (a.k.a. The Time of Troubles). You don't need go overboard on it, but occasional references to these things go a long way.

5. Unlikely Enemies and Allies. Alignment doesn't mean everything in terms of who's your friend, and who is your enemy, politics crosses alignment boundaries. Good can hate good, and Evil can get along with others. The (LG) Purple Dragon Knights could just as easily be a little to overzealous in their defense of Cormyr's strict (but well meaning) laws, turning a typical good-aligned party into outlaws if they forget to get the right permits, the (LN) Church of Helm is far more hated by many in Faerun than even many evil faiths, and the (NG) Church of Mystra has a significant grudge against them (and since both faiths sponsor Paladins, you can easily have two paladins who could fight to the death over their deities). Many evil gods openly accept Neutral, or even Good worshippers (Shar and Beshaba especially), as people pray to them for protection and may even carry their unholy symbols while not being evil themselves. Evil clerics of some faiths walk openly (and are often at least tolerated as long as they obey the local laws). There is still good and evil, don't doubt that, but it's not as black and white as many think.

6. Realms-specific magic. There are a few specific things about magic in the Realms, which are generally covered in the FRCS but you should be aware of. First is Spellfire, there are rules for it int he FRCS, but it's almost best as a plot device (the ability to absorb magical energy and throw it as raw power, it's like having a super-powered version of a Sorcerer's innate magic). Mage Runes (every Sorcerer or Wizard can adopt a unique symbol as their signature) and Mystra ensures that no two mages choose the same symbol, and the Trifold Curse of Mystra (if anybody attempts to forge anothers Mage Rune for purposes of deception, they are struck by a powerful divine curse). Don't forget Mage Fairs (semi-secretive annual conventions of arcane spellcasters, where mages meet to deal in magic items and new spells, talk shop, fight normally-nonlethal duels, play magical games, and take on apprentices.) There are also Dead Magic and Wild Magic zones, rare places where the weave of magic that permeates the world has been damaged or destroyed by a great cataclysm. Lastly, there is the Shadow Weave, mages who have sold their souls to Shar, goddess of Darkness, to access a strange kind of shadow-tainted magic, it's weaker for evocation and transmutation but stronger for illusion and enchantment, and it is immune to Dispel/Antimagic effects unless they are from another Shadow Weave user.

For a desert/waste region and a dangerous frontier town near that wasteland, I'd suggest the Silver Marches region, a loose confederation of small towns in the northern reaches of Faerun (the terrain is fairly reminiscent of the Pacific Northwest) with a relatively small city of Silverymoon as the capitol, and use Anauroch as your desert wasteland (which borders the Silver Marches). The Silver Marches region book was one of the first 3e Realms books, and while it's 3.0 and probably OOP, it shouldn't be too hard to find. The Silver Marches are probably one of the most popular places to begin a campaign (along with the Dalelands).

As for other books, of current materials I'll say that the Players Guide to Faerun was pretty good, if you already have the FRCS, the PGtF is definitely the second thing to get (then Silver Marches if you're running there), that should be all you really need.

 

[Mystery Man]

Just the Campaign Setting hardback, Monsters of Faerun and Magic of Faerun.

Oh, and a bunch of novels, although nothing recent that doesn't feature drow. (Who won't be featuring heavily in the campaign.)

Love the setting, don't care much for the novels except for a select few that do NOT feature drow in them. IYKWIMAITYD

If you're looking for pure flavor that captures the setting for Realmslore material go HERE and download the Volo's Guides. They're free.

 

[Psion]

Here I thought this was going to be a thread about using the Quintessential [Class/Race] books in an FR game.

 

[rounser]

For an authentic Ed Greenwood Realms vibe (the realms has since been redefined in flavour by many others, and unfortunately it seems that these days most realms fans are more interested in a sort of soap opera of the gods than anything else)...I'd suggest you try and incorporate some of the following:

Weird magic. Number one with a bullet...the Realms are hopping with weird magic...if not in quantity, then in quality. Don't be afraid to put in things like a grove where the trees float on little magical islands, or a cavern complex which has boulders continually rolling through it of their own accord. Likewise, nifty little semi-magical critters like flying daggers, along with crawling claws, lock lurkers and darkenbeasts are all very Realmsian in flavour. Likewise, spellbooks made out of customised materials and containing unique spells, with their own history, are just about as Forgotten Realmsy as you can get (the setting was first published in an article full of these called Pages From The Mages).

Nazi-like mages called Zhentarim. Authors and designers don't really use them as much as perhaps Greenwood intended. They should be up to no good somewhere nearby, at least, so let the PCs hear rumours of a Zhentarim skymage scouting the landscape on wyvernback, or Zhentarim mages hiring locals to clear out an old tomb, and then everyone involved except the Black Network members mysteriously die in an accident...that sort of thing. They're both secretive and active, and have resources to call upon, so PCs should be a bit paranoid about them ideally, and itching to confront them.

Spying bards and rangers called Harpers. At least one person that the PCs would never suspect of being a harper should be one, as well as perhaps some obvious candidates (such as the local bard or ranger). Like the Zhentarim, they're secretive (but with less resources) and will attempt to pull puppet strings on the PCs until they prove themselves trustworthy enough to know more, maybe even seeming to be the enemy. Make sure that most of the time they're continually absent, or have bigger fish to fry, or don't trust the PCs, if they're called on for aid. You can dangle membership with the Harpers as a bit of a carrot in front of players, as most good characters tend to like the idea of joining...then, for added entertainment, make circumstances force the players into conflict with them - even the Harpers get it wrong sometimes, or the PCs themselves might be tricked.

Uberpowerful, crazy, benign archmage denizens of forgotten dungeons. A senile archmage lich that think the PCs are students from the dungeon that was once his school of magic....the "back door" entry dungeon to the tower of a powerful archmage...an archlich who presides over an underground army of liches...a megadungeon with a crazy housekeeper archmage who might appear, cackle insanely and gate the PCs randomly. Ed Greenwood really likes the concept of the forgotten, crazy archmage, be he or she undead or alive, good or evil. If you make your own (they're very FR), it's good to make them mostly harmless, and probably bonkers, but obviously extremely powerful. Decorate their lairs with forgotten lore with the odd secret, arcane glowglobes, flying daggers, and other weird arcane paraphernalia that might date back to Netheril.

NPC adventurers in the Realms are romantic, and so are the sunsets. They tend towards jovialness and cameraderie in the face of danger, but many will quite happily face certain death three times before breakfast so long as they're with their friends. They're big on things like harping and storytelling around the campfire, which is a great way to introduce them, and seem to be very fond of Tymora as a patron deity, given their fatalism. Don't be afraid to cameo famous NPCs (Volo is a goodie; he turns up everywhere and doesn't have a stigma attached to him like certain others); that's what they're there for!

Don't forget the commoners. Greenwood's focus on sleepy little communities like Eveningstar and Shadowdale goes a long way to show that besides all the high magic and drama, the concerns of the local farmers, tradespeople and merchants aren't lost, and the PCs may find themselves searching for a missing pig for a local just as easy as trying to pry open a long forgotten dungeon. If you can keep mundane characters and their concerns in the game in at least a minor way, it provides contrast to the heroics and out-there stuff.

Anyway, that's the vibe that the Realms means to me from looking through Ed Greenwood's work in Dungeon and Dragon magazine, as well as the odd module. The classic places to set an Ed-style Realms campaign are Eveningstar, Waterdeep and Shadowdale....I'd suggest the former and the latter, simply because they're much easier to run.

 

[kuje31]

You can also find hundreds of replies from Ed himself that I collected and am still collecting as files at this site:

http://home.rochester.rr.com/kuje/

Other answers by game designers and authors can be found:

http://www.candlekeep.com/library/articles/misc_lore.htm