D&D 5E Why FR Is "Hated"

[MoonSong]

Well, I find it an incoherent mess. But I've disliked it for a long time, even before the 4e/5e changes. I just don't like the stuff on it, super NPCs running around, the factions, the excessive focus on a single peninsula, the "everybody picks a god", the gods walking the earth, how it is a thinly refluffed version of the real world, along with extremely simplistic analogues of real world cultures, and most of all the wall, that evil wall.

 

[BrockBallingdark]

I loathe Forgotten Realms, and I would hardline veto any proposal from a group to play in Forgotten Realms.

Same here, I hate the Forgotten Realms (if it needs to be tracked somewhere).

 

[Derren]

What's wrong with kitchen-sink settings? Especially when not everything exists in every location?

Because they only work when you cut out a very small part of it and ignore the rest. But when you look at the big picture it does not make sense at all when you for example have ancient Egypt next to Arthurian England next to Renaissance Italien states next to tribal primitives.
Such a constellation simply does not work with any kind of plausibility and it is really noticeable that the only reason for this to be that way is to offer everyone everything.

 

[Yunru]

Because they only work when you cut out a very small part of it and ignore the rest. But when you look at the big picture it does not make sense at all when you for example have ancient Egypt next to Arthurian England next to Renaissance Italien states next to tribal primitives.
Such a constellation simply does not work with any kind of plausibility and it is really noticeable that the only reason for this to be that way is to offer everyone everything.

Magic.
The more magic a culture has, the less need for technological development.
Need drives change, magic removes need.

 

[MoonSong]

Same here, I hate the Forgotten Realms (if it needs to be tracked somewhere).

Thirded

 

[Derren]

Magic.
The more magic a culture has, the less need for technological development.
Need drives change, magic removes need.

No it just replaces (some) technological advancements with magical ones.

 

[Jester David]

1) It's popular. And some people just love to hate the popular thing.

2) Bad DMs.

The latter is the big one: DMs misusing high level NPCs as DM PCs and characters from the novels as the same.

 

[Azzy]

I don't like the Realms. I never cared for the default pantheon, and I thought the setting itself was a bit clunky, but that was "whatever". No big deal. The whole Time of Troubles and the gods walking the earth, and "gotta change the setting because there's a new edition of the game" left a bad taste in my mouth. The whole continued meta-plot, the overshadowing NPCs, and "insert upheaval here because there's a new edition" is extremely off-putting to me. It was an okay, if lackluster setting to begin with, but it just went downhill from there.

 

[GlassJaw]

I don't mind FR, but I would never run a campaign that was true to the timeline or the major, well-known characters.

The best thing about FR is the sheer amount of content. There are a lot of great books and supplements. I also like the pantheon. Lots of variety and some interesting flavor.

But I've had the most luck with FR when taken in small doses or not worrying about the canon.

I've run campaigns in the Dalelands and I've looked into past books now that I'm running Phandelver.


Sent from my iPhone using EN World

 

[guachi]

Too much cruft. Which is basically what others have said. I just wanted to use the word cruft.

I had a real hard time debating whether to get Known World Gazetteers or Forgotten Realms Gazetteers​ when both debuted in 1987. I decided on Known World. Back then, though, FR was like a new comic book series that wasn't weighed down by hundreds of back issues.

Online, I so rarely see people talk about the Forgotten Realms as anything other than "the Forgotten Realms". I rarely see people mention specific nations, cultures, features they find interesting. The Realms are just a monolithic indistinct blob. I assume that's not the case but all I read about are meta plot and NPCs.

At least the sub settings in FR have a distinct flavor (I love Al-Qadim) but the main one is bland.

When people discuss my favorite setting, Known World, you'll see discussions of the overall tone (a bit gonzo, eg.) but you'll also see people discuss specific nations and cultures they like or don't like. The discuss it like there are real differences between Glantri and Karameikos.

Forgotten Realms is just so bland.