Post/Author/DateTime	Post
stranger_654 12-02-05, 09:55 PM	I have heard alot of talk about the novels based around Fearun while i have been on the boards and i was wondering, is there anything wrong with running the relams without the novels? i mean, if it detracts severly from the experience ill go buy the novels but i was just thinking that, so far most of my games are fun, and i am (Dm) Who has read the history, and in most cases organizations and religion.... Just wondering thats all....feel free to post insults and such :P -stranger,
Slime Lord 12-02-05, 10:04 PM	I have heard alot of talk about the novels based around Fearun while i have been on the boards and i was wondering, is there anything wrong with running the relams without the novels? i mean, if it detracts severly from the experience ill go buy the novels but i was just thinking that, so far most of my games are fun, and i am (Dm) Who has read the history, and in most cases organizations and religion.... Just wondering thats all....feel free to post insults and such :P -stranger, Novels give you more detail, more insight, more 'current' (or notso current) stuff that sourcebooks don't. They give you ideas and suggestions with out lableing them as ideas and suggestions for your stories and campaigns. Sure, you can use just the Sourceboosk. But then, it's rather bland...
BrianCritchley 12-02-05, 11:05 PM	novels aren't required by any strentch, however they are handy as they take the basic info as presented in the sourcebooks and truely bring it to life. it can be a great way to see how things actually work.
KenderBryant 12-03-05, 12:32 AM	They also give more life to chars, locations, and more. Far better than any sourcebook. I use them hand-in-hand. I say you can't have one without the other. The sourcebooks give hard facts, but the novels make the facts more realistic. Kind of like reading about a particular place, and actually going there. The book is okay, but there's nothing like going there in person.
WizO_Lyoness 12-04-05, 11:07 AM	As long as this never becomes a discussion of the novels themselves, you're good...
Mr.Moonrat 12-04-05, 11:56 AM	It is a matter of taste, truly. I have played in a wonderful campaign some ten years ago. That DM never cared about the novels. He made up himself what the big events in Faerun should be like. And he made it great. No inspiration from novels could have made that campaign more fun to play. So do not really feel you should read the novels for use in the campaign. If you do it can be more fun. But there is no gurantee to it.
Kessalin Talira 12-04-05, 12:26 PM	Well, from what I've noticed in my own campaign, you don't have to have the novels to enjoy a Realms game. I have three players in my group currently. Two of them have read the Drizz't series. One of those two has also read a little more Realms fiction, including the Elminster Series. The third, to my knowledge, has never read a Realms book. They all enjoy the campaign, as far as I'm aware. I will say that a DM for a Forgotten Realms game would probably see some benefit to reading some of the novels as well, but I still don't think it's required. The sourcebooks themselves have enough detail in them to provide any number of characters, momentous events, and monsters for a campaign that never sees any novel influence at all.
GothicDan 12-04-05, 02:37 PM	The think about the novels, however, is that often they conflict with information presented in sourcebooks, or at least the authors take a very different view on some of the stuff printed in the sourcebooks. Some key examples are the people of Rashemen (which Elaine says are purely Rus, but other sources say they are a merely of native Rashemi and Rus who fell through a malfunctioning portal), and the way many of the deities are depicted in novels (such as the ToT fiasco).
Auburn 12-04-05, 04:01 PM	Nothing wrong with it at all. Just make sure everyone knows you're going this before you start so there's no confusion.
Halidan 12-06-05, 04:24 PM	The think about the novels, however, is that often they conflict with information presented in sourcebooks, or at least the authors take a very different view on some of the stuff printed in the sourcebooks. Personally, I don't think that novels conflicting with the sourcebooks is much of a problem at all. But, that may be on account of how I view the whole topic of FR fiction. I've games in the Realms since the days of the old grey box, and I appreciate the vision of how the Realms look and feel that's been created by the authors of the various novels, shortstories, comic books, computer games, etc. It's made my games richer by far. Yet, a lot of the time, those novels and comics don't match up with my vision of how the Forgotten Realms work. in my campaigns. So, I've made it clear to all my players that all of the information contained in the published Realms fiction in nothing more than the stories and tales that circulate in and around the Realms. That's right - the Realms fiction of our Earth is also the fiction (not fact) of Toril as well. These Realms stories are neither news accounts nor encyclopidea entires. The stories may or may not be true - and even if they're true, the stories certainly aren't accurate. I like this particular viewpoint because it allows my players to read and enjoy Realms fiction like I do - but I'm not obligated to try and encorporate every idea from every novel into my campaign.