What has the greatest chance of destroying the Forgotten Realms?

[I'm A Banana]

So...here's a question for everyone who either loves or hates Faerun.

I'm thinking of setting my next campaign there...only I don't want to use it as-written. I want to throw the PC's in *after* some force of evil has swept through and actually *won.*

Dizzit? Elminster? Most of the gods? Gone. Obliterated, reduced to dust, and generally killed in horrible ways due to this Great Evil. At least cut off from followers. Weave's still there, but probably in bad shape...and it's not a goddess of any sort anymore.

In fact, I want most of the littler evils also wiped out in the course of this.

So how do I do it? I'm asking because I'm not very experienced in Realms-Lore. I got the 3e CS, Magic and Monsters but nothing else (nor do I desire to buy anything else). What's the most likely plot to succeed? What's the biggest evil threatening *all* the realms?

I want to introduce my PC's to a realms where all the rules they know have been turned upside down. Blasted plains replace fertile fields and some great evil replaces Elminster. I want fiends cavorting in the halls of the Harpers and undead devouring what's left of Evermeet. The Simbul's skull dons an orc chief's head.

I want them to fear for the very safety, integrity, and lasting power of the places they value as homes. Imagine this as Ed Greenwood having an illigitimate child born of the Scarred Lands.

So, how should I do it? How can I appease those who've read the books and know the stories, yet have all the unbeatable heroes...beaten.

Any advice? I'm really excited for this, and I'd like to have my players *not* kill me when they find out what I'm doing to the setting. I want it to make sense in their heads, and they know a lot more about the Realms than I do.

I'll take anything.

 

[KingOfChaos]

Most powerful force of evil in the realms? That's simply enough The Drow are, in my opinion, the most powerful force of evil in the forgotten realms. Their sheer number of high level spellcasters and competent warriors makes them a deadly force to be feared. However, I would have it where Lolth was destroyed and that another drow god that is less annoying take over the drow race as their deity. Have them make alliances with other powerful evil organizations like the Cult of the Dragon and the Feyri...even the City of Shade who I think would be the most appropriate ally of the drow because of their alliance with the Cult of the Dragon and their affinity for darkness and Shadow Magic. Shar would be an excellent new deity for the drow to follow, as she already fits their alignment and has a reason to throw the realms into upheaval because of her hatred of Mystra and Selune.

 

[bloodymage]

Build an ark, QUICK!

IMHO, nuthin' can beat a god for layin' waste! Bane is reborn and he's come back with a vengence! The church slowly infiltrates the evil power groups of Faerûn and when Bane is strong enough all fall before his wrath and the depredations of his minions. Might be interesting to leave the Shades isolated and uninfiltrated. Puny evil wizards fighting against a once-bested deity over a dead land! Who you gonna call?

 

[RangerWickett]

Comet hits the planet, the sun explodes, Mystra puts on the Crown of Horns (or something else equivalent happens) and in a rage sends a backlash that kills anything that uses Weave-based magic, including anyone who has magic items. If you want to get rid of the Shadow Weave too, maybe the maddened Mystra then uses the last of her power to kill off her rival, before she loses all of her sentience. She won't have any mind left until there are enough spellcasters to begin patching her weave back together and make her whole again.

Think of a bad guy who might've done it. Maybe some bitter magus arranged a ritual to briefly drive Mystra mad, and since he was at ground zero, his ghost manages to survive as an anti-magic anti-life force. Maybe a Dwarf warrior who has shunned magic all his life convinced a lot of spellcasters to shout "Your weave sucks!" all at the same time, which drove her mad.

Anyway, if magic is in disarray, you might want to pick up Wild Spellcraft, a d20 book coming out in July, produced by ENWorld's own Natural 20 Press, and printed by Mystic Eye Games.

 

[Fade]

The greatest threat to the Realms is economics. It's the only way they will every be destroyed.

 

[RogueJK]

Since the gods of the Forgotten Realms are such a big part of the setting, you'll probably have to end up involving them in the events leading to the land's destruction. The gods have a huge influence on the world, and any major threat would be taken care of by them before it got too far out of hand. So you need to find some way to remove them from the picture, or for the bad guys to enlist the aid of some people who are at their same level of power...

Perhaps one of the Big Bads in the Realms, such as the Drow, the Shades, or the Red Wizards, teamed up with a group of the evil gods (something like the Gods of Fury, which is made up of Talos, Umberleee, Malar, and Auril). You could also use other deity-level creatures, such as powerful Arch-Devils or Demon Lords. The powerful creatures fight or distract the gods while the mortals take care of business on the surface. Or, maybe another pantheon of gods could have decided to make a move on the Realms. (To add a more Lovecraftian feel to it, you could introduce a group of recently-awakened, extremely powerful Elder Beings that want their planet back. Call of Cthulhu d20 might be of some help here. )

 

[I'm A Banana]

Sweet ideas. ^_^

The drow I'm wary of, mostly because they could be a bit *too* typical, but I could use it to make them scary again.

Mystra-madness and intruducing Great Old Ones is also a cool way, especially combined......(evil DM grin)

"I have gazed at an infinity of stars, and I have tasted the great expanse beyond the void! Ia! Ia!" KA-BOOM!

Okay, keep the ideas comin'! What kinda survivors might be had? What might be potent enough to give a big knee to the crotch of all the Big Good Guys in the Realms, probably simultaneously.

Keep it going!

 

[FireLance]

AO wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. The only survivors are the atheists.

 

[Derulbaskul]

Bring back Moander and have him/her/it transform Faerun into a great, big primordial soup!!!

 

[Thanee]

An evil-beyond-comprehension power called Has B'ro awoke from a few millenniums in torpor to challenge Ao for supreme domination over Faerûn and all that lies beyond.

Seriously, something really, really big (a major god would probably not be big enough) would be necessary to achieve this.

Or a Star Trek style alternate universe created by a sloppy worded wish...

Bye
Thanee