I would like to see a setting where things like Dragonborn and Warlocks are deeply incorporated in the setting, and not tacked on afterward. I also think that WOTC should have moved away from the older settings entirely, maybe covering them the way they did the Planescape settings in a UA.
I think Alias mentions in Curse of the Azure Bonds that experienced swordsmen adventuring in Cormyr know how to tie a peace bond so that it's easy to undo but can pass inspection.
But you would never know that if you don’t buy/ use any of the adventure or setting books. We only use the core books, so to me their is no default setting.
That's part of the problem. The core rulebooks are littered with things like this one from
The Darkness of the Drow
Were it not for one renowned exception, the race of drow
would be universally reviled. To most, they are a race of
demon-worshiping marauders dwelling in the subterranean
depths of the Underdark, emerging only on the blackest
nights to pillage and slaughter the surface dwellers they
despise. Their society is depraved and preoccupied with the
favor of Lolth, their spider-goddess, who sanctions murder
and the extermination of entire families as noble houses
vie for position.
Yet one drow, at least, broke the mold. In the world of the
Forgotten Realms, Drizzt Do'Urden, ranger of the North, has
proven his quality as a good-hearted defender of the weak
and innocent. Rejecting his heritage and adrift in a world that
looks upon him with terror and loathing, Drizzt is a model
for those few drow who follow in his footsteps, trying to find
a life apart from the evil society of their Underdark homes.
Drow grow up believing that surface-dwelling races are
inferior, worthless except as slaves. Drow who develop a
conscience or find it necessary to cooperate with members of
other races find it hard to overcome that prejudice, especially
when they are so often on the receiving end of hatred.
and are juxtaposed with things like the dmg gods of your world section that namedrops fr and others in sections where they are similar to FR only to switch to real world examples and vague generalities when moving into structures not present in FR but present in settings like eberron/darksun in very notable forms. This particular example is so extreme that xge18 actually includes a a sidebar extending the DMG gods of your world pantheon philosophy or force subsections.
If your goal is to run a game with an fr or fr-like setting then it appears very generic yes. If the GM's goal is to run a game with a setting that goes in different directions the gm is in for quite the task fighting the boatloads of FR lore in so many player facing areas while left with an empty void of things they could point at outside the setting book. Eberron & darksun elves/halflings are quite different from FR & Greyhawk elves/halflings in ways that should be on the ground levels of low hanging fruit but players arrive already certain that what is written in the phb & the associated lore is gospel for those two.
FR is not just "default" it's fan service levels of "default"
That's part of the problem. The core rulebooks are littered with things like this one from
The Darkness of the Drow
Were it not for one renowned exception, the race of drow
would be universally reviled. To most, they are a race of
demon-worshiping marauders dwelling in the subterranean
depths of the Underdark, emerging only on the blackest
nights to pillage and slaughter the surface dwellers they
despise. Their society is depraved and preoccupied with the
favor of Lolth, their spider-goddess, who sanctions murder
and the extermination of entire families as noble houses
vie for position.
Yet one drow, at least, broke the mold. In the world of the
Forgotten Realms, Drizzt Do'Urden, ranger of the North, has
proven his quality as a good-hearted defender of the weak
and innocent. Rejecting his heritage and adrift in a world that
looks upon him with terror and loathing, Drizzt is a model
for those few drow who follow in his footsteps, trying to find
a life apart from the evil society of their Underdark homes.
Drow grow up believing that surface-dwelling races are
inferior, worthless except as slaves. Drow who develop a
conscience or find it necessary to cooperate with members of
other races find it hard to overcome that prejudice, especially
when they are so often on the receiving end of hatred.
and are juxtaposed with things like the dmg gods of your world section that namedrops fr and others in sections where they are similar to FR only to switch to real world examples and vague generalities when moving into structures not present in FR but present in settings like eberron/darksun in very notable forms. This particular example is so extreme that xge18 actually includes a a sidebar extending the DMG gods of your world pantheon philosophy or force subsections.
If your goal is to run a game with an fr or fr-like setting then it appears very generic yes. If the GM's goal is to run a game with a setting that goes in different directions the gm is in for quite the task fighting the boatloads of FR lore in so many player facing areas while left with an empty void of things they could point at outside the setting book. Eberron & darksun elves/halflings are quite different from FR & Greyhawk elves/halflings but players arrive already certain that what is written in the phb & the associated lore is gospel for those two.
FR is not just "default" it's fan service levels of "default"
This is what I came here to say. I don't think that the Forgotten Realms is the default setting. I believe that WotC views the "D&D Multiverse" as the setting, which is honestly a more brand-positive way to approach their IP. It's similar to the 4e "everything is core" approach, albeit with their settings: i.e., "it's all the default setting because it's all part of the D&D Multiverse."
I think the Forgotten Realms work well as a default vanilla fantasy setting, so there's no reason to reinvent the wheel. Going with something like Dark Suns would be tricky as it is a very specific kind of fantasy that would not work for a lot of DMs. Settings like that have to feel optional.
One thing I would like to see in every adventure book is more space given to how to incorporate each adventure into the different official settings, so instead of a few words we actually get a reasonable entry on how and where this adventure would work in Eberron, Exandria, etc.
