Where the Forgotten Realms lost me...
- Thread starter MerricB
- Start date
To me it lost its luster when they killed off Bhaal and Bane tbh, problem with the Realms is that none of the editions have all the Iconic Elements in place. That said, 3rd probably did the best in terms of trying to reconcile the 1st and 2nd ed versions into one version, especially if you incorperated some of the background from Black Isles stuff.
If I was to run it again, I would esentially be running the original version, but cherry picking stuff from later that a Like. (Examples: Church of Cyric, Earthmotes, Land of the Dragonborn.)
If I was to run it again, I would esentially be running the original version, but cherry picking stuff from later that a Like. (Examples: Church of Cyric, Earthmotes, Land of the Dragonborn.)
Ranger REG
Explorer
That and no Time of Trouble version 2 for the 2e-to-3e transition.
Silverblade The Ench
First Post
*nod!!*
as some of the folk on YouTube note, Westwood did fantastic cutscenes in thier games, just imagine what they could do now!
If only Electronic Arts hadn't destroyed them, like so many other fantastic game creators (like Bullfrog), loathe that corporate "Borg"'s destruction of so many greats, sigh.
And like this issue here...evoking a seting is what's vital.
I don't get a single damned thing from 4th ed book that tells me what the hell 4th ed Forgotten Realms IS!! It's just a shmorgezboard...nothing grabs you, nothing says "This is what it's all about or how it feels!"
Jadrax,
agreed whole heartedly!
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I started soon to make the Realms my own. Partially because back then I had not as much official material as I have these days (and because the areas I was interested in didn't get that much details), but also because some things just didn't fit my views.
The novels I was first reading and sometimes using too - as adventure ideas - but the more RSEs they brought, the less I liked them. I also didn't like some "holes" left even by the best authors - Cunningham's rather obvious ignoring of the ability to raise dead in her novels, for example - which showed they didn't really know the game. Together it made me stop reading the novels.
A lot of the events that changed from 2E to 3E I disagreed with. A number of the plotlines though became central to my adventures and campaigns. So, I started to pick and choose even more, combining older material with newer material, replacing official fluff with self-made or other home brew material.
Over time, I had my own FR; populated with my own countries, and my own NPCs, and my own campaign's history, shaped by players.
FR lost me when they expected me to jump 100 years forward and discard all my own realms.
The novels I was first reading and sometimes using too - as adventure ideas - but the more RSEs they brought, the less I liked them. I also didn't like some "holes" left even by the best authors - Cunningham's rather obvious ignoring of the ability to raise dead in her novels, for example - which showed they didn't really know the game. Together it made me stop reading the novels.
A lot of the events that changed from 2E to 3E I disagreed with. A number of the plotlines though became central to my adventures and campaigns. So, I started to pick and choose even more, combining older material with newer material, replacing official fluff with self-made or other home brew material.
Over time, I had my own FR; populated with my own countries, and my own NPCs, and my own campaign's history, shaped by players.
FR lost me when they expected me to jump 100 years forward and discard all my own realms.
Surely as you have "made the Realms yours" (something I recommend doing if you are using any campaign setting) then no new version would actually be acceptable. Any new version is going to contradict what you have done within your game and no one would expect you to retroactively change things to fit with the new version.
Of course none of that prevents you from stealing interesting elements and incorporating them into your game, something I suspect most people running an official campaign setting do already.
Is there anyone out there who uses FR exactly as presented in every supplement, splat book and novel?
I seriously doubt it.
Up to now, I found a number of stuff in FR I liked and wanted to add. What I hear from FR4 so far doesn't have much I'd want to add, just a few things I think "oh, that would make some plot, if I changed a lot of it". And for that one didn't have to nuke a setting.
From the reviews I have read so far it seems that the FRCG is pretty much heavily filled with plot ideas and adventure hooks.
Personally I will take that any day over a book which is mostly just lore which is unlikely to ever be used.
Varianor Abroad
Explorer
Me too, since all of that material together would contradict itself internally on a regular basis.
dm4hire
Explorer
Which is one thing that disappoints me about it. They give just a couple of plot hooks for each section but for the most part nothing really new or detailed. The plot hooks tend to just start to get interesting but then they cut it off. They should have give at least one good plot hook fully detailed so the DM who doesn't have time to work things out fully could have something to work with. Give us NPCs involved, sample encounter for a given region, a map of the ruins, or any other detail to add more depth to it.
The threat section is nice, but I hate to say it, boring! Everything in it is rehashed from every previous edition. Where's the brand spanking new threat for a whole new era of FR? Throughout the evolution of FR the primary villains haven't changed other than one faction became more predominate than another. First edition was a mix with no coherent threat, then Bane was the force to be reckoned with followed by Cyric, but both still centered around Zhentil Keep for the most part. Dragon Cult saw a rise through the editions as well. Red Wizards also seemed to always be prominent. Nethril's return has kind of meets the need but they came in at the end of third edition so not really new other than now we have source material. The point is with a new edition they could have introduced a whole new faction or overall threat to the Realms for the PCs to face but they stuck with all the old stuff or at least derivatives. Part of making it new for the old players one would think would include a new major force. Perhaps Abeir would have brought some major threat with it poised to strike at the heart of Toril and conquer all of Faerun.
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