What next for FR?

[occam]

Unfortunately, the guys that want the rules accurately done for them and the guys that don't mind winging their own rules are at complete odds as to what they find useful and interesting in an RPG product. So you have misconceptions like "it only take an 8-year old 3 minutes to create a CR 16 templated demon!" butting up against "don't give me plots and villains, I can do those myself, it's the WORK I want done for me."

Insight bonus: +10.

 

[Arnwyn]

Ooo; an Islands of Adventure regional book! (Sossal being an "island" in the icelocked sense, I guess... eh, that's kinda a stretch, I guess.)

That's what I was kind of thinking... indeed a stretch - but I'd live!

Well, Nimbral has been covered recently, in a sense, in Ed's Realmslore column; maybe a similar treatment for Lantan? That would be more than adequate, IMHO, especially if detailed info on demographics, etc. were added by a bold fellow designer (since I know Ed doesn't really use much of the 3e engine to do this stuff). Sossal should really go into a Cold Lands book.

Agreed. I did deeply appreciate that Realmslore column on Nimbral, and while I'd much rather have something more comprehensive (think Shining South, with maps, settlement, and geography details), I'm sure glad we got a lot more details on Nimbral than we've ever had before.

I wouldn't complain if Lantan and/or Sossal were done the same way, just to get something.

A 'Cold Lands' book would indeed be ideal, with Damara, Vaasa, Narfell, and Sossal (and maybe the Great Glacier as well). I have all the old details on those places, but I'd buy that just to get the info on Sossal (as I did with Unapproachable East, which I really liked due to finally seeing The Great Dale and Thesk).

I know it sucks to be waiting for books and then not have them be what you want, I've suffered through it just as much as anyone. I'm not deriding your taste in books, I just have my own taste, and I also have an obligation to write what my employer asks me to write.

Fair enough! But note that I did say I appreciated MotM. Because I already have the previously published lore, MotM makes a very nice complement. (I hold only pity for the poor saps who don't have the old information, even though it is readily and cheaply available.)

 

[Brakkart]

Dragons! I want to know all about the Dragons of Faerun. And if someone could slip in some Old Empires lore in the process, that would be way cool. ;-)

--Eric

Hmmm considering you're one of the authors for the upcoming Dragons of Faerun book, I'm guessing that this is a not so subtle hint about which region gets some coverage in it? If so, I'm thinking that the section on the Church of Tiamat has a fair bit of Old Empires (primarily Unther) lore cos of what their 5 headed goddess did to that nations godking.

Looking forward to this book a lot more now. The Alabaster Staff is one of my favourite recent novels both because the heroine is superb, the villain's dialog (High Untheric is too cool) and the setting. I just hope the book has official 3.5 stats for Sammaster!

 

[Nightfall]

Dragons of Faerun does look cool Eric. But honestly I'd love to see a more detailed Cold Lands book. ESPECIALLY if it can give me some Orcus loving.

 

[Darrin Drader]

I hate to say it, but E-tools isn't the most accurate tool on the market. No offense if anyone from Codemonkey is reading this, but I've used it after the fixes, and it still produces inaccurate stat blocks. Even beyond that, E-tools doesn't utilize the new WotC stat block, so it's output requires a lot of work. And beyond that even, any time a designer turns in stats, they have to show their work. With E-tools, I would spend just as much time deconstructing the stats and reformatting them as I would if I were to create the characte from scratch. For a high level character, with stats justifying and formatting, it can take an hour or more for a fairly straightforward one.

There is one tool out there that makes an accurate PC with just a few mouse clicks, but even then, it still lacks any race that isn't in the SRD, and the stats still require some deconstruction.

 

[ruleslawyer]

So, a random thought (it would have been current, but there was the dumb board interruption...)

Not that I'd know, but I assume that writing a quality adventure is much harder than writing quality setting material. The preferance for the abstract rather than the directly applicable is interesting. Perhaps gamers prefer thinking about possibilities, and that it disturbs them when those possibilities are distilled down into a singularity because there's less to daydream about.

I dunno. There are plenty of adventures that I like; I use converted 1e/2e mods all the time, and Dungeon seems to come up with at least one or two modules an issue that interest me. My complaint with the adventures in MotM is that I found those adventures not "particularly inspiring, as I said.

Also, perhaps it's merely "dayream[ing]," but I find that quality setting material is (a) not nearly so easy to write; and (b) gives me more bang for the buck in terms of "quality adventures" than most published adventures do. I don't have a hard time coming up with my own plots, and all too often don't want to be restricted on the basis of a specific plot crafted by someone else; however, background detail is something that I do think involves a huge amount of thought and which I really wouldn't want to spend the necessary time on.

One of the reasons I like the Forgotten Realms is that Ed's setting writing is just flat-out better than mine. I find that stat blocks are either a mere function of labor and tedium (which I can do in my downtime) or that I can thieve appropriate ones from other sources. I also find that adventure hooks are more useful to me than planned-out adventures; that's why I liked the rumors section in the 1e FR boxed set so much.

It's really interesting to me, too, what people want. Of course, it's impossible to generalize because there are a lot of people that want adventures more than lore, and vice versa...unfortunately there's no formula to satisfy everyone.

True. This is one of the reasons why I don't really grok the absolutist viewpoint that many ENWorlders seem to have about "fluff" vs. "crunch," or sourcebooks vs. adventures, etc. I expect a well-done product, regardless of emphasis, but I don't expect that everyone will cater to my tastes.

Personally, I like writing lore better than adventures. I mean, I enjoy adventure creation, since it gives me as a designer some narrative possibilities that other game design doesn't (and shouldn't), but it's easier and more fun to craft lore and exposition. Making proper stat blocks isn't really so easy as some people are claiming, especially at higher levels (thank goodness I didn't have the higher-level areas in MotM ), it's time consuming and very meticulous work...not super fun. So, as a consumer and DM, I tend to prefer the opposite of what I like to write...I want my stat blocks and treasure and the rest of the tedium done for me! That informs what I as a professional want to put into the things I create; of course, the outline I'm given by my WotC masters also informs it quite a bit.

It's interesting that you find crafting lore and exposition to be easier than writing adventures. I find that running adventures is something that can happen on the fly with the right tools. I agree with you about stat blocks, but I have to say that I can always improvise or borrow them from somewhere else. I know that you don't have that luxury as a designer, for which I am sorry!

 

[Aaron L]

The Elven Empires (updated with newly populated Cormanthor, Evermeet, decimated Evereska, etc.)

Banshee

Me too

 

[Nightfall]

Well an update elven empire might be nice...but I really want more Cold Lands!

 

[rounser]

My complaint with the adventures in MotM is that I found those adventures not "particularly inspiring, as I said.

I have a theory that "adventures don't sell" might be revised to "small, out-of-context adventures don't sell".

If MotM had been a 1-20 level campaign, set as a romp through the Moonsea, I suspect that maybe it would have been a must-buy for many of those complaining about it.

 

[dagger]

I have a theory that "adventures don't sell" might be revised to "small, out-of-context adventures don't sell".

If MotM had been a 1-20 level campaign, set as a romp through the Moonsea, I suspect that maybe it would have been a must-buy for many of those complaining about it.

I was disapointed with it, but that is really my fault. I did not look into it very much like I do most products that come out,. I just assumed it was something it was not, and in this case I assumed it was a regional source book.