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<blockquote data-quote="Ilbranteloth" data-source="post: 7146741" data-attributes="member: 6778044"><p>Interesting collection of (mis)perceptions, most of which I would disagree with...</p><p></p><p>The super NPCs come in two flavors. In the original Gray Box, the NPCs were designed to be a higher level than any of the PCs intentionally. Not to be super powered, but because villains needed to be a challenge, and the good guys too high to be challenged. This was sort of SOP for D&D, and the approach goes back to the beginning such as where spells of higher than 7th level were originally for NPCs, not PCs. There were a lot of NPC classes for similar reasons, and they were almost always more powerful than PC classes.</p><p></p><p>The novel (and later incorporated into the supplements) super NPCs arose (I think) due to the popularity of Drizzt. Elminster was required (by contract) to appear in every book by Greenwood. So he'd have him show up for 10 minutes to save the heroes for a moment. I think that the novels is what caused the rise of the super NPC, but they really didn't need to have any part in the campaigns themselves.</p><p></p><p>The factions to me is one of the strongest points, and what makes the Realms different from other settings. Like the criminal organizations like the Mafia (and it's various regional differences), Yakuza, and such, they provide all sorts of underlying plot possibilities which were dramatically different from the dungeon crawl approach of the time, or the epic story approach of Dragonlance.</p><p></p><p>Excessive focus on a single peninsula? Do you mean the Sword Coast of 5e? Most Realms fans seem to be complaining about that too, but that's a new development. Nearly all of Faerun has been covered in depth, with a few specific regions (Sword Coast, Waterdeep, the North (and the far North due to Drizzt), Cormyr, the Moonsea and the Dalelands all receiving extensive coverage. You have lots of options with those alone, and all with their own feel and environment.</p><p></p><p>Everybody picks a god? That's a D&D thing, not a Realms thing. The Realms is more about a true polytheism, other than Clerics, and possibly some of the other (formerly) divine classes like paladins.</p><p></p><p>The gods walking the earth was a design decision to usher in the changes for 2e, which unfortunately became a more permanent part of the Realms (although still a small one, usually). The fact that they could manifest <em>is</em> a Realms thing, and altered the way religion works in relation to other settings.</p><p></p><p>Thinly fluffed revision of the real world/simplistic analogues of real world cultures, however, is an example of the poor stewardship of TSR. Greenwood's Realms was specifically <em>not</em> a refluffed real world (unlike Gygax's Greyhawk, whose own campaign used a map of earth with his own names). The Horde, Old Empires, Maztica, Al Qadim, etc. were all dumped into the Realms, most of which would have been other projects altogether. While they are officially part of the Realms, many Realms fans would consider them otherwise. Again this is the result of business decisions rather than setting design. And other than Old Empires, are usually given less than a footnote. The 4e changes have largely been disowned as well. Most of the core Realms bears little resemblance to locales or history of earth.</p><p></p><p>Wow, the wall is something that really amuses me. Apparently it really, really bothers a group of people. Whatever. I think it's a cool concept, but the reality is, I consider all of the extraplanar stuff about the gods to be a separate entity. To me, the what the churches and religions believe is different and separate from what is really happening in the planes. So to me the wall may be myth, another sort of hell, that sort of thing. But to hate an entire setting because of a fictional wall I find quite amusing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ilbranteloth, post: 7146741, member: 6778044"] Interesting collection of (mis)perceptions, most of which I would disagree with... The super NPCs come in two flavors. In the original Gray Box, the NPCs were designed to be a higher level than any of the PCs intentionally. Not to be super powered, but because villains needed to be a challenge, and the good guys too high to be challenged. This was sort of SOP for D&D, and the approach goes back to the beginning such as where spells of higher than 7th level were originally for NPCs, not PCs. There were a lot of NPC classes for similar reasons, and they were almost always more powerful than PC classes. The novel (and later incorporated into the supplements) super NPCs arose (I think) due to the popularity of Drizzt. Elminster was required (by contract) to appear in every book by Greenwood. So he'd have him show up for 10 minutes to save the heroes for a moment. I think that the novels is what caused the rise of the super NPC, but they really didn't need to have any part in the campaigns themselves. The factions to me is one of the strongest points, and what makes the Realms different from other settings. Like the criminal organizations like the Mafia (and it's various regional differences), Yakuza, and such, they provide all sorts of underlying plot possibilities which were dramatically different from the dungeon crawl approach of the time, or the epic story approach of Dragonlance. Excessive focus on a single peninsula? Do you mean the Sword Coast of 5e? Most Realms fans seem to be complaining about that too, but that's a new development. Nearly all of Faerun has been covered in depth, with a few specific regions (Sword Coast, Waterdeep, the North (and the far North due to Drizzt), Cormyr, the Moonsea and the Dalelands all receiving extensive coverage. You have lots of options with those alone, and all with their own feel and environment. Everybody picks a god? That's a D&D thing, not a Realms thing. The Realms is more about a true polytheism, other than Clerics, and possibly some of the other (formerly) divine classes like paladins. The gods walking the earth was a design decision to usher in the changes for 2e, which unfortunately became a more permanent part of the Realms (although still a small one, usually). The fact that they could manifest [I]is[/I] a Realms thing, and altered the way religion works in relation to other settings. Thinly fluffed revision of the real world/simplistic analogues of real world cultures, however, is an example of the poor stewardship of TSR. Greenwood's Realms was specifically [I]not[/I] a refluffed real world (unlike Gygax's Greyhawk, whose own campaign used a map of earth with his own names). The Horde, Old Empires, Maztica, Al Qadim, etc. were all dumped into the Realms, most of which would have been other projects altogether. While they are officially part of the Realms, many Realms fans would consider them otherwise. Again this is the result of business decisions rather than setting design. And other than Old Empires, are usually given less than a footnote. The 4e changes have largely been disowned as well. Most of the core Realms bears little resemblance to locales or history of earth. Wow, the wall is something that really amuses me. Apparently it really, really bothers a group of people. Whatever. I think it's a cool concept, but the reality is, I consider all of the extraplanar stuff about the gods to be a separate entity. To me, the what the churches and religions believe is different and separate from what is really happening in the planes. So to me the wall may be myth, another sort of hell, that sort of thing. But to hate an entire setting because of a fictional wall I find quite amusing. [/QUOTE]
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