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<blockquote data-quote="Ilbranteloth" data-source="post: 7146721" data-attributes="member: 6778044"><p>So one of the objections I see about the Realms is that there is too much material. The reality is, much of that material is simply reprinted and reformatted. The <em>City of Splendors</em> box set didn't actually add much new lore about Waterdeep that wasn't in <em>Waterdeep and the North</em>. It added some nice maps, and an adventure book and such, but the majority of the lore was just reprinted. <em>Volo's Guide to Waterdeep</em> added a bunch of new lore. The 3e book <em>City of Splendors: Waterdeep</em> was the same. In terms of actual information about Waterdeep, most of it comes from <em>Waterdeep and the North</em> and Volo's Guide. So there isn't as much lore as you might think (although there's a lot more than many other settings).</p><p></p><p>Despite the amount that is published, a great amount remains free for the DM to flesh out an populate on their own. </p><p></p><p>In addition, since it is published, the players can have access to it, so that lore can add richness and depth to your world that can't be done in a homebrew campaign. I don't have the time to prepare that much material. </p><p></p><p>I disagree with the "it's not healthy to detail everything" approach. My campaigns are, for me as a DM, largely improvised. I don't write the story, the players do through their characters. And I don't know what they are going to do. But I need building blocks to improvise with. The Realms lore is exactly the type of stuff I work well with. My brain needs history and context. The Realms provide that (and my own preparations), but none of it is "live" until it's integrated into the campaign itself. So the actual implementation might be very different from what was planned, or what's in the books, but it has a relationship to it, and the players can connect to that outside of the campaign. My imagination is far more interesting with lots of seeds than a blank slate. And the world is much more consistent with the framework provided by the setting.</p><p></p><p>My time and imagination have limits. Instead of walking into just another tavern, there's a ready made tavern that's unique, which helps make it memorable as well. So when we're referencing back to something 6 months or a year from now, everybody knows what we're talking about. And instead of designing another tavern, I can focus on other aspects to design that are more productive to the campaign.</p><p></p><p>The players can also be connected to the world and the campaign between game sessions. This is a very powerful way to increase immersion in the game. </p><p></p><p>Its world-building does suffer. I've mentioned it before, start with the Gray Box, the 2e Volo's Guides, and <em>Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms</em> for the most consistent world view. The original supplements (<em>Waterdeep and the North</em>, etc.) are mostly solid as well, if you're interested in addressing a specific region. With so many supplements (many just dumped into the Realms) by so many authors, there is a lot of substandard material. One of my primary complaints with TSR/WotC is that they have been poor stewards of the setting.</p><p></p><p>I wouldn't consider it a generic fantasy setting, nor the other settings you've mentioned. Or I guess if that's your definition of a generic fantasy setting, what isn't a generic fantasy setting? The design of the world (at least the way Ed designed it) is pretty unique to other settings. What really makes the setting is the behind the scenes stuff - the secret societies, plots, schemes, and such. The politics of the setting as originally designed is local, with many levels. As opposed to something like Greyhawk that tends to focus on the politics between rulers and governments, with the background of impending or perpetual war. Of course, as a war buff and wargamer, this isn't unexpected.</p><p></p><p>So in the Realms you feel like you can be much more involved with the world and setting itself, rather than the setting being more of a backdrop like Greyhawk. Dragonlance, of course, is more of the epic approach, with the characters involved in epoch ending events, much like the ages of Middle-Earth.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ilbranteloth, post: 7146721, member: 6778044"] So one of the objections I see about the Realms is that there is too much material. The reality is, much of that material is simply reprinted and reformatted. The [I]City of Splendors[/I] box set didn't actually add much new lore about Waterdeep that wasn't in [I]Waterdeep and the North[/I]. It added some nice maps, and an adventure book and such, but the majority of the lore was just reprinted. [I]Volo's Guide to Waterdeep[/I] added a bunch of new lore. The 3e book [I]City of Splendors: Waterdeep[/I] was the same. In terms of actual information about Waterdeep, most of it comes from [I]Waterdeep and the North[/I] and Volo's Guide. So there isn't as much lore as you might think (although there's a lot more than many other settings). Despite the amount that is published, a great amount remains free for the DM to flesh out an populate on their own. In addition, since it is published, the players can have access to it, so that lore can add richness and depth to your world that can't be done in a homebrew campaign. I don't have the time to prepare that much material. I disagree with the "it's not healthy to detail everything" approach. My campaigns are, for me as a DM, largely improvised. I don't write the story, the players do through their characters. And I don't know what they are going to do. But I need building blocks to improvise with. The Realms lore is exactly the type of stuff I work well with. My brain needs history and context. The Realms provide that (and my own preparations), but none of it is "live" until it's integrated into the campaign itself. So the actual implementation might be very different from what was planned, or what's in the books, but it has a relationship to it, and the players can connect to that outside of the campaign. My imagination is far more interesting with lots of seeds than a blank slate. And the world is much more consistent with the framework provided by the setting. My time and imagination have limits. Instead of walking into just another tavern, there's a ready made tavern that's unique, which helps make it memorable as well. So when we're referencing back to something 6 months or a year from now, everybody knows what we're talking about. And instead of designing another tavern, I can focus on other aspects to design that are more productive to the campaign. The players can also be connected to the world and the campaign between game sessions. This is a very powerful way to increase immersion in the game. Its world-building does suffer. I've mentioned it before, start with the Gray Box, the 2e Volo's Guides, and [I]Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms[/I] for the most consistent world view. The original supplements ([I]Waterdeep and the North[/I], etc.) are mostly solid as well, if you're interested in addressing a specific region. With so many supplements (many just dumped into the Realms) by so many authors, there is a lot of substandard material. One of my primary complaints with TSR/WotC is that they have been poor stewards of the setting. I wouldn't consider it a generic fantasy setting, nor the other settings you've mentioned. Or I guess if that's your definition of a generic fantasy setting, what isn't a generic fantasy setting? The design of the world (at least the way Ed designed it) is pretty unique to other settings. What really makes the setting is the behind the scenes stuff - the secret societies, plots, schemes, and such. The politics of the setting as originally designed is local, with many levels. As opposed to something like Greyhawk that tends to focus on the politics between rulers and governments, with the background of impending or perpetual war. Of course, as a war buff and wargamer, this isn't unexpected. So in the Realms you feel like you can be much more involved with the world and setting itself, rather than the setting being more of a backdrop like Greyhawk. Dragonlance, of course, is more of the epic approach, with the characters involved in epoch ending events, much like the ages of Middle-Earth. [/QUOTE]
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