D&D 5E What If the players lost every adventure path so far in the realms?

[Redthistle]

You could check out the 3.something Midnight campaign setting g for ideas. It's basically a "what if Sauron won?" sort of concept.

Played in that, and found it scary and fun.

 

[jgsugden]

Go read Oldman Logan.

 

[Henry]

Probably something like this:

https://goo.gl/images/Wmnupl

As for playing in that world, I would likely not find it fun at all. Call of Cthulhu is about as dark as I'm willing to go, that world would arguably be darker than that.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

Elminster and Drizzt would come and clean up the PCs failures.

Or it would be finally revealed that they are evil masterminds pulling the world's strings. All their "adventures" are really propaganda.

 

[Eltab]

What I'm wondering about is how each of those failures to stop the evil forces being unleashed would effect the game world!

Tiamat (finally) moves in to The Nation Formerly Known As Unther.
Bahamut becomes a really big deal in FR
The Elemental Cult of Fire feels a pull towards Calimshan.
The Elemental Cult of Water moves just offshore from Neverwinter.
The Elemental Cult of Earth gets itself into a long war with the Dwarves, led by Gauntlegrym (which becomes a lost city again). Orcs show up to clobber both and revenge Many-Arrows.
The Elemental Cult of Air just kind of blows away but reappears in a mostly-random manner, here and there.
Large parts of Faerun bear a distinct resemblance to Twilight 2000: The -insert region here- Front
Demon Lords set up power bases in Faerun but primarily want to fight over power in the Abyss.
Eltab decides to knock a few of the aforesaid demon lords while they aren't looking. He wants to re-establish the Empire of Narfell, under himself.
Red Wizards of Thay, under dire necessity, take the existing techniques for controlling Outsiders and establish a new School of Magic out of it.
The Gods of Mulhorand show up in physical form to protect the land and their people.

Faerun becomes a Points of Light setting in a manner that the Spellplague could not really accomplish. Except that, unlike Nerath, Evil is clearly on the march against any holdouts for Good.

 

[Eltab]

see Athas for an idea of Toril's future.

It might be easier to just set a campaign in Athas as the Sorcerer-Kings were fighting the wars that defiled the whole planet.

I have to believe that Ao would eventually take notice and intervene.

 

[ccs]

Elminster and Drizzt would come and clean up the PCs failures.

That would be really hard as I'm the DM & I'm not running those NPCs.

 

[GameOgre]

Elminster is now a vampire in Ravenloft and Drizzt is in the underdark driven insane and psychotic.

 

[BookBarbarian]

"What if the heroes lost" is a pretty great premise. The above mentioned Old Man Logan is a good example, Also Brandon Sanderson said it was a driving idea behind his popular Mistborn series.

What's unique about your scenario is that there were multiple competing apocalypses in quick succession. All those Threats, now having become powers would majorly disrupt the status quo. There would be a lot of chaos and less Centralized authority. Murderhobos would thrive.

 

[MechaTarrasque]

"What if the heroes lost" is a pretty great premise. The above mentioned Old Man Logan is a good example, Also Brandon Sanderson said it was a driving idea behind his popular Mistborn series.

What's unique about your scenario is that there were multiple competing apocalypses in quick succession. All those Threats, now having become powers would majorly disrupt the status quo. There would be a lot of chaos and less Centralized authority. Murderhobos would thrive.

According to the Great Book of DPR: Lo, in the days past the Sundering, all became enemies of all others. All that mattered was how much damage you did and how much you could take. And this was Paradise.