D&D General Which was your favourite Forgotten Realms Cosmology?

[Paul Farquhar]

I'm in favour of any cosmology without the Feywild. Man has that been overused.

The Feywild is the original alternative plane of existence.

 

[Elphilm]

The World Tree model is the only time the Realms have had a unique cosmology that was specifically designed with the setting in mind. As barebones as the model is, I find it the most natural fit for the world of Toril.

Yes, as others have pointed out upthread, Greenwood originally used the Great Wheel when he adapted the world of his stories for D&D. However, I don't have the impression that Greenwood ever considered alignment a major part of his world. For example, the edition-neutral Elminster's Forgotten Realms (2012), which presents a vision of the Realms more close to his home games than other WotC or TSR material, spends precious little time on alignment. Even the writeups of the gods do not bother listing each deity's alignment. I doubt Greenwood resents the concept of alignment per se, but it just doesn't seem important enough for his setting to warrant the use of the symmetrical, alignment-based Outer Planes of the Great Wheel.

While the World Tree is underdeveloped in comparison with other D&D cosmologies, it also means that it's easy to take the model in any direction you like. Like the World Axis, the World Tree dispenses with a precisely defined number of planes in favor of a loose and flexible structure where you can place just about any alternate dimension you need within the model, or delete any concept you don't care for. The World Tree and the River of Blood, connecting the higher and lower planes respectively, are pretty useful and fairly evocative concepts to have. Finally, the World Tree avoids some of the conceptual rigidity of the World Axis, such as placing the Nine Hells in the higher realms of existence of the Astral Sea. Of course you can justify that in any way you like, but if literal Hell is not metaphysically "below" the mortal world, I don't even know what we're doing here anymore.

Those are my reasons for favoring the most disliked or just plain ignored cosmology for the Forgotten Realms. I guess I am a sucker for the underdog.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

I'm in favour of any cosmology without the Feywild. Man has that been overused.

That's a bit odd, considering the very idea of it didn't exist before 2008. I'm curious what ways you feel it's been overused, given how little time it's had and thus how much of it needed to be articulated in the first place.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

That's a bit odd, considering the very idea of it didn't exist before 2008. I'm curious what ways you feel it's been overused, given how little time it's had and thus how much of it needed to be articulated in the first place.

The idea has existed for hundreds of years. It was a late addition to D&D because Gygax hated any link between the fantasy genre and “fairy stories”.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

That's a bit odd, considering the very idea of it didn't exist before 2008. I'm curious what ways you feel it's been overused, given how little time it's had and thus how much of it needed to be articulated in the first place.

There’s also only been a single 5e book for the Feywild and Fey are one of the least common creature types.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

The idea has existed for hundreds of years. It was a late addition to D&D because Gygax hated any link between the fantasy genre and “fairy stories”.

"Fairyworld" has existed forever. The Feywild has existed since 4e.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

"Fairyworld" has existed forever. The Feywild has existed since 4e.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

 

[Demetrios1453]

That's a bit odd, considering the very idea of it didn't exist before 2008. I'm curious what ways you feel it's been overused, given how little time it's had and thus how much of it needed to be articulated in the first place.

Huh? The idea of the Feywild, if not the exact name, has been there since 1e. Back then and in the Planescape days, it was just a place that connected to the various CG planes and the Prime Material Plane at random.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Huh? The idea of the Feywild, if not the exact name, has been there since 1e. Back then and in the Planescape days, it was just a place that connected to the various CG planes and the Prime Material Plane at random.

Then you use the term radically different from me.

"I dislike any setting containing the Feywild, it's so overused" = specifically the Feywild, the place with that specific name, is overused
"I dislike any settings containing anything Fae, it's so overused" = anything involving fairies, fae nobles, or any other myths, folklore, legends, or tropes associated with Annwn, Elfame, Avalon, Tir na nOg, etc. is overused

It would be like saying "Hershey's" stands in for all possible chocolate or "Taco Bell" stands in for all possible Mexican/Tex-Mex foods. Yes, Hershey's is a common and popular chocolate, but you can dislike Hershey's and still like other forms of chocolate (hi, hello, I don't eat Hershey's chocolate bars, but I love many forms of chocolate truffles).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Then you use the term radically different from me

A great many D&D players are fans of mythology, folk tales and Eng Lit, and therefore see meaning in D&D concepts far beyond a handful of rules. The land of the fae takes many forms, from Spencer to Lewis Carrol and Zelazny to Rossetti, from Celtic to Norse mythology. But there are common threads that run all the way through to D&D.