The Sundering has launched...

[TarionzCousin]

I hope for a soft "reboot" to some edgreenwoodish realms from the old grey box era. And the hints are out there. AO is trying to "retcon" the age of upheal that began with the time of troubles by recreating the tablets of fate. So there might be a chance that the old deities will be back and the new ones, like cyric will be gone. I'd be okay with this.

I would be okay with Cyric being killed off in one of the Sundering novels. Let him go out the same way he got in.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

I think Cyric will be gone or, perhaps more accurately, the effects of his imprisonment will be increased so he no longer has any ability to grant spells or influence Toril. That would still leave him as a poor man's Tharizdun waiting to be released from his prison.

One of the reasons I think this will happen is that Elminster's Guide to the Forgotten Realms reduced its description of Cyric to about a paragraph unlike most of the other deities that it mentioned. I think if Cyric was going to play a larger role in the post- Sundering Realms he would have gotten a full write-up like Bane et al.

 

[Orius]

I would be okay with Cyric being killed off in one of the Sundering novels. Let him go out the same way he got in.

This. Get rid of the worst part of the Realms since the Avatar Crisis.

I think Cyric will be gone or, perhaps more accurately, the effects of his imprisonment will be increased so he no longer has any ability to grant spells or influence Toril. That would still leave him as a poor man's Tharizdun waiting to be released from his prison.

Ugh. Tharizdun is one of the coolest concepts in D&D. Cyric is one of the lamest concepts. The two should never ever meet.

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

I remember it quite differently.
The first game was bought because it was a RPG in a time where this genre was thought dead.

Not so sure about this - Fallout came out the same year, Might and Magic VI came out the same year, Diablo was new for 97, Ultima Online was new for 1997 - CRPG's were fairly popular at the time. No one knew who Bioware was - people bought it because it was D&D

WotC's Forgotten Realms should be Waterdeep and Shadowdale. Helm, Torm, and Mystra. Sure, Baldur's Gate and Bhaal should be present. But they should be secondary characters, not primary ones.

The city of BG was in the 1990 FR Adventures hardback - map, notes, etc. Bhaal was likewise not a new addition from the videogame. They're just as legit, and probably less worn, than Waterdeep and Shadowdale. There's no harm in letting the focus move around the map.

 

[gban007]

I think Cyric will be gone or, perhaps more accurately, the effects of his imprisonment will be increased so he no longer has any ability to grant spells or influence Toril. That would still leave him as a poor man's Tharizdun waiting to be released from his prison.

One of the reasons I think this will happen is that Elminster's Guide to the Forgotten Realms reduced its description of Cyric to about a paragraph unlike most of the other deities that it mentioned. I think if Cyric was going to play a larger role in the post- Sundering Realms he would have gotten a full write-up like Bane et al.

I can live with the idea of the imprisonment increasing. I am probably in the minority, but Cyric is one of my favorite Gods of the Realms, and my most memorable NPC I created as a DM was a sorcerer who worshipped Cyric, and one of my most memorable characters was a Cleric of Cyric

I think my liking of Cyric started from the Avatar trilogy, he was easily my favorite character from there, though I didn't like his degeneration into the mad god of prince of lies / trial of a mad god, I found him an interesting God for Chaotic Neutral characters.

I think in the end, despite his beginnings in the Avatar trilogy, the portfolios he gained from Bane, Bhaal and Myrkul he doesn't really fit anymore, but I think he would still be good as a God of strife to an extent, and as a God of the insane, as I don't think any other God fits that role.

I wouldn't like to see him disappear altogether, but I could always house rule him back in, with that NPC preserving him somehow

 

[Orius]

I don't see anything wrong with them using Baldur's Gate to promote the setting really. It's probably the best damn D&D licensed game series ever made, and WotC would be foolish not to market with it. Better Baldur's Gate than Drizzt I say (especially since you can kill Drizzt and take his stuff in the game).

Baldur's Gate had the best adventuring duo in all of Faerun: Minsc and Boo.

And this is a great piece of music to kick off a D&D campaign:

[video=youtube;ZP7vWiaxw7Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP7vWiaxw7Y[/video]

 

[Echohawk]

I don't see anything wrong with them using Baldur's Gate to promote the setting really. It's probably the best damn D&D licensed game series ever made, and WotC would be foolish not to market with it. Better Baldur's Gate than Drizzt I say (especially since you can kill Drizzt and take his stuff in the game).

On that topic, most of the commentary on the promotion of The Sundering has ignored the fact that Murder in Baldur's Gate is only the first adventure in the Sundering series. The second adventure is Legacy of the Crystal Shard and anyone not expecting Drizzt and friends to be somehow involved in the promotion of that one should probably steer clear of the Internet during November .

Personally, I think it makes a lot of sense for WotC to use all of the popular themes and characters to promote the Forgotten Realms, and to be inclusive of the whole history of the setting in computer games and novels, and not just the parts that have received the most attention in RPG products.

 

[Blackwarder]

Are there only two sundering adventures? Can anyone at gencon check with WotC folks?

Warder

 

[Feetz]

http://www.wizards.com/wpn/News/Article.aspx?x=2013_06_10_DDEBaldur

"The six novels and five D&D Encounters seasons spotlight the impact of the Sundering on different places and people of the Realms." (emphasis mine)

We know of "Murder in Baldur's Gate" and "Legacy of the Crystal Shard." The other 3 haven't been named yet.

Maybe someone can get more info during the Sunday morning Q&A at Gencon.

 

[dd.stevenson]

There was hype about Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition in end of 2012/start of 2013 and the D&D Website http://www.wizards.com/dnd/videogames.aspx has a link to it. WoTC cares so much about its IP that the game was removed from sales due to disagreement with publishing partners, as they announced. http://www.baldursgate.com/

Now here's a thought for conspiracy theorists to mull over: almost exactly 24 hours before GenCon 2013, Beamdog mysteriously announced that the publishing disagreements had been cleared up, BGee was back on sale everywhere, and in response to questions about the development of BGIIee they devs posted coy pictures of yoda saying "yes". The only official statement made so far by Beamdog is that further information will be forthcoming but they are not free to comment at this time.

What do you want to bet that Wizards had a hand in getting this game back up on the iPad right before THE SUNDERING launched?