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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ruleslawyer" data-source="post: 1647421" data-attributes="member: 1757">SK really doesn't seem strongly linked to core FR material at all. While the serpent-folk do crop up in lots of FR allusions, they're not really an "iconic" part of the setting like, for example, the major secret societies (Harpers, Cult of the Dragon, Zhentarim, Knights of the Shield, Red Wizards, Shades (3e), etc.), the Seven Sisters, the powers that be in Cormyr and Waterdeep, the Weave, or the "important" FR gods (the Dead Three, Mystra, Azuth, Lathander, Shar, or Selune). In fact, SK appears to introduce a hitherto-unexplored set of regions in the Realms (Mhair, Hlondeth, the Serpent Hills, Tashalar), all of which are easily transportable to another campaign (cough*Hyboria*cough) and a relatively unknown religion (the Cult of Set/Sseth). The one thing I'm wincing about a bit is the sarrukh. The major things that have bothered me about the evolution of the Realms (which I fell in love with even before the release of the first boxed set in 1987) have been (1) the release of "crunch"-laden material that codifies stuff that never should have been kitted out in rules in the first place, and that in many cases has nothing to do with the setting itself; (2) the transformation of the Realms from Ed's well-articulated creation into a sprawling mess of novels and supplements that lack a common flavor and are loaded with campaign-shattering events; and (3) the introduction into the setting of stuff that's supposed to be background material and adventure hooks as a real and living force with hard rules. The last includes both the Shades (which completely demystify Netheril by bringing into the here-and-now, in addition to introducing yet more astronomically-high-level NPCs) and the sarrukh, who should rightly be a thing of the past and whose legacy should be a wealth of hooks for adventurers. Moreover, it appears that the sarrukh are actually Sseth-worshipping snake-cult uber-badguys, which strikes me as being at odds with the idea of them as an ancient creator race with unknowable motivations.All IMHO.</blockquote>

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