Swashbuckling in Faerun [Archive] - Wizards Community

Swashbuckling in Faerun [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Nanosecond
09-28-03, 07:03 PM Here I go again with another crazy idea! How about setting Toril a couple of hundred years into the future and making it more Renaissance or Baroque rather than Medieval? Then you incorporate Swashbuckling Adventures into the Realms. All the core classes would still be there, but you'd have more choices for your characters.

Things would change a bit, but the major organizations would still be around. The Purple Dragons would be Musketeers instead of Knights. The Church of Bane would have Inquisitors (woe to the followers of Cyric). The Moonshaes could become a naval power renowned for its daring sea dogs.

Then again, why bother playing in the future? Many Harpers can already be considered swashbucklers, and Sembia's nobles already engage in political intrigue and cutthroat business practices. And there are lots of pirates at any given time.
Klyden
09-28-03, 07:23 PM Swashbuckling already exists in Faerūn...just no guns or cannons!
JellyFishBrains
09-29-03, 03:35 PM thier are guns and cannons in Faerūn
Gond taught his followers smokepowder during the time of troubles
Masakado
09-29-03, 04:40 PM Sembia is more Renaissance in flavor than most of Faerun.

There are tons of parallels between Sembia & the Renaissance / Merchant Prince era of Italy.

Watedeep is probably somewhat Cosmopolitan / Renaissance in flavor as well.
Faraer
09-29-03, 07:18 PM Indeed, the Realms has always been a swashbuckling world, though that's not to the fore in the current sourcebooks; as Ed puts it in the revised Spellfire introduction, 'Humor and Three Musketeers-style swashbuckling, not just fate-of-the-world-hanging-on-the-heroes high fantasy quests.'
Klyden
09-29-03, 09:00 PM I stand corrected...
Elladen
09-29-03, 09:29 PM I dont know if any of you have been playing the swashbuckaler system its fun and a great world.... but its a bit broken compaired to standard Dand D
Nanosecond
09-30-03, 02:30 AM I recently got Swashbuckling Adventures, but I haven't played it yet. Looks like fun, but I'll have to modify it a bit. I like to mix martial arts with swashbuckling, so I bought the Cathay sourcebook. Of course, OA has some martial arts syles there too.
Masakado
09-30-03, 07:26 AM Originally posted by Klyden
I stand corrected...

The Marco Volo trio of modules is written as a Three Musketeers-style ribald classic.

Good stuff, & available for free download here at the WoTC website, IIRC.
Klyden
09-30-03, 01:38 PM Thanks...I'll look into it...
loki87
09-30-03, 01:53 PM I tend to think of the Realms as more "Medieval" in the wilderness and border lands like the Silver Marches, and more "Renaissance" in big cities like Waterdeep and those of Sembia.

Mostly this is just a case of style and not necessarily a great technology divide, but it helps me to keep swashbucklers and paladins in the same world without too many questions of era.
lithian lightfoot
10-02-03, 09:11 PM There is some great swashbuckling information in Dragon Magazine, I beleive it is issue #306. They have a lot of nifty rules for incorperating this style of play into your campaign.
Chronic Alcoholic
10-03-03, 08:30 AM I also think Amn & Tethyr are a renaissance era countries.
loki87
10-03-03, 03:41 PM I agree about Amn (sort of a 15th Century Spain), but Tethyr is a bit more complicated. In some sourcebooks and novels, Tethyr appears to be very Renaissance in style, but in other sourcebooks all you see is Medieval armored knights. I tend to think it's the latter since the fall of the royal family.
primemover003
10-03-03, 05:51 PM Tethyr and Amn both have a strong Knightly tradition. The Sea of Fallen Stars is the best place for Swashbuckling flavored adventures. The pirate isles, Sembia, even Raven's Bluff comes off as more shwashbucklerish (as in City of Ravens). Dragon #306 is great for a D&D campaign with swashbuckling. AEG's Swashbuckling Adventures is Horrendously broken. Just look at the Unarmored Defernse Feats and you'll see why it's insane. But then again it's a world with almost NO magic. But if used in core D&D it's recoculously overpowered!
kiwidoc
10-03-03, 11:31 PM The bottom line is that you can't make a direct comparison between eras from Earth's history and Fearun. Trying to do so will tie you in knots.

The Realms are described as loosely "pseudo-medieval", which means they are most definitely not the same as medieval Europe. There is a much wider range of political systems, education, and technology for starters. Then you have magic and the very real influence of the gods. Add to this mix the effect of long lived races who have that much more time to learn, experiment, and invent and you can quite safely say that no city in the Realms is anywhere near the same as medieval London, Paris or Rome.

It isn't hard to find a range of interesting and different magical or technological toys and weapons in the realms. Yes there are guns ... but there are also wands that are even more powerful than guns :)

You certainly won’t find it hard to buckle your swash in Faerun. If you take a look at the type of shipping, you will find plenty of scope at being a pirate, in a rather rakish vessel. Take a look at the variety of governmental styles, at the different way of life offered by different areas, and you will find some downtrodden peasants in need of rescue. The roads offer plenty of opportunities to try your hand at highway-manning with your trusty pistol or wand.
Last but not least ... the original term swashbuckler was coined to describe Errol Flyn and his ilk playing Robin Hood and other medieval characters :smirk:
Faraer
10-04-03, 08:13 AM Everywhere in the Realms has technologies ranging from Dark Ages to 19th century; you can only get very vague and misleading approximations of technological level.

Amn is only like Spain in that it was given that role in the historical-fantasy Maztica books, and in that it's in the southwest of a continent.

Here's more Realms swashbuckling:In the 'home' Realms campaign (the original one, pre-published Realms) the Knights thrice encountered the Lowlantern Lutes, an adventuring band of four foppish, Three Musketeer-repartee and hi jinx-style bards who wandered the Dalelands and the Sword Coast lands nigh Secomber and Daggerford (see HAND OF FIRE for some of the gates they used to go back and forth between the two places) getting into trouble and out-foxing the smugglers and thieves of Scornubel. The Lutes were all psionic 'wild talents' who possessed one power each: one could fly for short distances, one could dimension door, one could change his face (and often pretended to be a beautiful lady, so as to lure victims into the hands of the other three Lutes or to draw them away from their strongchests or inn rooms), and one could craft a body cavity that could tracelessly seal flat, flexible items such as maps, deeds, contracts, and no less than six stolen adventuring-band charters inside himself, to be brought out at will. The Lutes were last seen busily fleecing rich Sembians, and presumably are still at it.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Nanosecond 09-28-03, 07:03 PM	Here I go again with another crazy idea! How about setting Toril a couple of hundred years into the future and making it more Renaissance or Baroque rather than Medieval? Then you incorporate Swashbuckling Adventures into the Realms. All the core classes would still be there, but you'd have more choices for your characters. Things would change a bit, but the major organizations would still be around. The Purple Dragons would be Musketeers instead of Knights. The Church of Bane would have Inquisitors (woe to the followers of Cyric). The Moonshaes could become a naval power renowned for its daring sea dogs. Then again, why bother playing in the future? Many Harpers can already be considered swashbucklers, and Sembia's nobles already engage in political intrigue and cutthroat business practices. And there are lots of pirates at any given time.
Klyden 09-28-03, 07:23 PM	Swashbuckling already exists in Faerūn...just no guns or cannons!
JellyFishBrains 09-29-03, 03:35 PM	thier are guns and cannons in Faerūn Gond taught his followers smokepowder during the time of troubles
Masakado 09-29-03, 04:40 PM	Sembia is more Renaissance in flavor than most of Faerun. There are tons of parallels between Sembia & the Renaissance / Merchant Prince era of Italy. Watedeep is probably somewhat Cosmopolitan / Renaissance in flavor as well.
Faraer 09-29-03, 07:18 PM	Indeed, the Realms has always been a swashbuckling world, though that's not to the fore in the current sourcebooks; as Ed puts it in the revised Spellfire introduction, 'Humor and Three Musketeers-style swashbuckling, not just fate-of-the-world-hanging-on-the-heroes high fantasy quests.'
Klyden 09-29-03, 09:00 PM	I stand corrected...
Elladen 09-29-03, 09:29 PM	I dont know if any of you have been playing the swashbuckaler system its fun and a great world.... but its a bit broken compaired to standard Dand D
Nanosecond 09-30-03, 02:30 AM	I recently got Swashbuckling Adventures, but I haven't played it yet. Looks like fun, but I'll have to modify it a bit. I like to mix martial arts with swashbuckling, so I bought the Cathay sourcebook. Of course, OA has some martial arts syles there too.
Masakado 09-30-03, 07:26 AM	Originally posted by Klyden I stand corrected... The Marco Volo trio of modules is written as a Three Musketeers-style ribald classic. Good stuff, & available for free download here at the WoTC website, IIRC.
Klyden 09-30-03, 01:38 PM	Thanks...I'll look into it...
loki87 09-30-03, 01:53 PM	I tend to think of the Realms as more "Medieval" in the wilderness and border lands like the Silver Marches, and more "Renaissance" in big cities like Waterdeep and those of Sembia. Mostly this is just a case of style and not necessarily a great technology divide, but it helps me to keep swashbucklers and paladins in the same world without too many questions of era.
lithian lightfoot 10-02-03, 09:11 PM	There is some great swashbuckling information in Dragon Magazine, I beleive it is issue #306. They have a lot of nifty rules for incorperating this style of play into your campaign.
Chronic Alcoholic 10-03-03, 08:30 AM	I also think Amn & Tethyr are a renaissance era countries.
loki87 10-03-03, 03:41 PM	I agree about Amn (sort of a 15th Century Spain), but Tethyr is a bit more complicated. In some sourcebooks and novels, Tethyr appears to be very Renaissance in style, but in other sourcebooks all you see is Medieval armored knights. I tend to think it's the latter since the fall of the royal family.
primemover003 10-03-03, 05:51 PM	Tethyr and Amn both have a strong Knightly tradition. The Sea of Fallen Stars is the best place for Swashbuckling flavored adventures. The pirate isles, Sembia, even Raven's Bluff comes off as more shwashbucklerish (as in City of Ravens). Dragon #306 is great for a D&D campaign with swashbuckling. AEG's Swashbuckling Adventures is Horrendously broken. Just look at the Unarmored Defernse Feats and you'll see why it's insane. But then again it's a world with almost NO magic. But if used in core D&D it's recoculously overpowered!
kiwidoc 10-03-03, 11:31 PM	The bottom line is that you can't make a direct comparison between eras from Earth's history and Fearun. Trying to do so will tie you in knots. The Realms are described as loosely "pseudo-medieval", which means they are most definitely not the same as medieval Europe. There is a much wider range of political systems, education, and technology for starters. Then you have magic and the very real influence of the gods. Add to this mix the effect of long lived races who have that much more time to learn, experiment, and invent and you can quite safely say that no city in the Realms is anywhere near the same as medieval London, Paris or Rome. It isn't hard to find a range of interesting and different magical or technological toys and weapons in the realms. Yes there are guns ... but there are also wands that are even more powerful than guns :) You certainly won’t find it hard to buckle your swash in Faerun. If you take a look at the type of shipping, you will find plenty of scope at being a pirate, in a rather rakish vessel. Take a look at the variety of governmental styles, at the different way of life offered by different areas, and you will find some downtrodden peasants in need of rescue. The roads offer plenty of opportunities to try your hand at highway-manning with your trusty pistol or wand. Last but not least ... the original term swashbuckler was coined to describe Errol Flyn and his ilk playing Robin Hood and other medieval characters :smirk:
Faraer 10-04-03, 08:13 AM	Everywhere in the Realms has technologies ranging from Dark Ages to 19th century; you can only get very vague and misleading approximations of technological level. Amn is only like Spain in that it was given that role in the historical-fantasy Maztica books, and in that it's in the southwest of a continent. Here's more Realms swashbuckling:In the 'home' Realms campaign (the original one, pre-published Realms) the Knights thrice encountered the Lowlantern Lutes, an adventuring band of four foppish, Three Musketeer-repartee and hi jinx-style bards who wandered the Dalelands and the Sword Coast lands nigh Secomber and Daggerford (see HAND OF FIRE for some of the gates they used to go back and forth between the two places) getting into trouble and out-foxing the smugglers and thieves of Scornubel. The Lutes were all psionic 'wild talents' who possessed one power each: one could fly for short distances, one could dimension door, one could change his face (and often pretended to be a beautiful lady, so as to lure victims into the hands of the other three Lutes or to draw them away from their strongchests or inn rooms), and one could craft a body cavity that could tracelessly seal flat, flexible items such as maps, deeds, contracts, and no less than six stolen adventuring-band charters inside himself, to be brought out at will. The Lutes were last seen busily fleecing rich Sembians, and presumably are still at it.