Where's Volo??? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Where's Volo??? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
GoodOlWillickers
07-06-03, 12:07 PM I don't know how many people there are out there like me, but does anyone else think that Wizards should start writing the FR books in the style of the 2e ones where the major figures of the Realms supposedly wrote them? And most of all, I miss good ol' Volo. I noticed that he wasn't even mentioned in the 3e sourcebook. I think it also added to the spirit of the game.

Thoughts?

Peace
-Will
Faraer
07-06-03, 02:08 PM Ed:I’ve always made heavy use of ‘unreliable narrators’ such as Elminster and Volo precisely to give individual DMs at home and designers within TSR/WotC and outside at companies designing licensed Realms products ‘elbow room’ to make the changes they need to tell the tale at hand...in other words, we can’t entirely trust what El or Volo tells us, and may later learn that things were different, or exaggerated, or seen wrongly. Yet they were seen, and we all collectively pretended this place was real and not a contrived invention.Wizards deliberately abandoned this practice; I don't remember any comment as to why. It's visibly led to problems with people taking individual sources as gospel and objecting to others, overrigid reliance on sometimes erroneous published sources for campaigns, and, subjectively, recent game products seeming more like contrived products for a game and less like an opaque secondary world.

I guess I'd like to know what Volo's up to, but no more than dozens of other characters some of whom haven't been mentioned since the 1987 boxed set. But the unreliable narrators were a strong boon to the Realms.
Temporal Reflections
07-07-03, 07:02 AM The FRCS opens up with a letter from Elminster to the "adventurer"/player. I think this implies that the non-mechanical aspects of the work are tied into the subjective opinions and ulterior motives of El.

I believe other FRCS books with reasonably amounts of non-mechanical material have similar things in the beginning.

As far as I can see, the only change has been that WotC has made the ties to NPC presentation more obfuscated.
Athyton
07-07-03, 10:05 AM I also enjoyed the Volo series and would like to see more. I think that I read somewhere that Elminster has some plans for this wandering minstrel so we would have to wait and see if anything comes out or if the series is revived.
avian tiefling
07-07-03, 03:45 PM i know this is probably a more literal answer than you were asking for, but Volo is actually an NPC in Baldur's Gate II Throne of Bhaal. you can meet him in a tavern in Saradush and talk about what he's recorded into his histories about your party members.
Jaxian Redleaf
07-08-03, 04:40 AM you meet him in baldur's gate to in a tavern in nashkel...
Jack in the Green
07-08-03, 08:48 AM My Volo's Sword Coast guide was getting pretty beat up so I jumped on eBay a few weeks ago to see what I could find. There was a guy who from his email I assume was from BlackIsle ( I could be wrong) selling some fresh out of the box for 5 bucks a piece. I should have grabbed more than one. When it got to me it was in absolute MINT condition. I'm still using my beat up copy because I don't even want to crack the new one open. :) :king:
Dark Reaver
07-08-03, 02:39 PM You may already know this but you can download volo's Guide to the North coast free from Wizards.Com
GoodOlWillickers
07-08-03, 05:12 PM Yeah, I met him too. It was on the expansion when the city is under siege. I kinda wanted to fight him just to see if they had put in any of his weird spells, but then I remembered that he was only level 5 and everyone else was in the 20's, so I decided to pass on it...
GoodOlWillickers
07-08-03, 09:36 PM You see, I think it was that practice of having "unreliable" sources that made D&D a game that was just plain more fun when TSR was still alive and kicking. Wizards really makes things way too black and white and doesn't allow hardly any elbow room for anything. They also took way too much power away from the DM, by saying with some things "you can do this as long as you change your character in X way," instead "Ask your DM first and then change your character in X way." I would probably let the player do it even if they had to ask me, but I would just like to know what's coming instead this insance grab bag that is 3e. It would probably actually be more fun for the player since I would probably plan the session's happenings around the player.

Peace
-Will
http://www.angelfire.com/md2/willspalace
Jack in the Green
07-08-03, 09:47 PM They also took way too much power away from the DM, by saying with some things "you can do this as long as you change your character in X way," instead "Ask your DM first and then change your character in X way." I would probably let the player do it even if they had to ask me, but I would just like to know what's coming instead this insance grab bag that is 3e.

While that may or may not be the case in your opinion. That really has nothing to do with the history and references that made the Volo series.
GoodOlWillickers
07-08-03, 09:53 PM Hahaha, yeahhhhh I know. I'm just prone to pointless ranting.

Sorry.

Peace
-Will
http://www.angelfire.com/md2/willspalace

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
GoodOlWillickers 07-06-03, 12:07 PM	I don't know how many people there are out there like me, but does anyone else think that Wizards should start writing the FR books in the style of the 2e ones where the major figures of the Realms supposedly wrote them? And most of all, I miss good ol' Volo. I noticed that he wasn't even mentioned in the 3e sourcebook. I think it also added to the spirit of the game. Thoughts? Peace -Will
Faraer 07-06-03, 02:08 PM	Ed:I’ve always made heavy use of ‘unreliable narrators’ such as Elminster and Volo precisely to give individual DMs at home and designers within TSR/WotC and outside at companies designing licensed Realms products ‘elbow room’ to make the changes they need to tell the tale at hand...in other words, we can’t entirely trust what El or Volo tells us, and may later learn that things were different, or exaggerated, or seen wrongly. Yet they were seen, and we all collectively pretended this place was real and not a contrived invention.Wizards deliberately abandoned this practice; I don't remember any comment as to why. It's visibly led to problems with people taking individual sources as gospel and objecting to others, overrigid reliance on sometimes erroneous published sources for campaigns, and, subjectively, recent game products seeming more like contrived products for a game and less like an opaque secondary world. I guess I'd like to know what Volo's up to, but no more than dozens of other characters some of whom haven't been mentioned since the 1987 boxed set. But the unreliable narrators were a strong boon to the Realms.
Temporal Reflections 07-07-03, 07:02 AM	The FRCS opens up with a letter from Elminster to the "adventurer"/player. I think this implies that the non-mechanical aspects of the work are tied into the subjective opinions and ulterior motives of El. I believe other FRCS books with reasonably amounts of non-mechanical material have similar things in the beginning. As far as I can see, the only change has been that WotC has made the ties to NPC presentation more obfuscated.
Athyton 07-07-03, 10:05 AM	I also enjoyed the Volo series and would like to see more. I think that I read somewhere that Elminster has some plans for this wandering minstrel so we would have to wait and see if anything comes out or if the series is revived.
avian tiefling 07-07-03, 03:45 PM	i know this is probably a more literal answer than you were asking for, but Volo is actually an NPC in Baldur's Gate II Throne of Bhaal. you can meet him in a tavern in Saradush and talk about what he's recorded into his histories about your party members.
Jaxian Redleaf 07-08-03, 04:40 AM	you meet him in baldur's gate to in a tavern in nashkel...
Jack in the Green 07-08-03, 08:48 AM	My Volo's Sword Coast guide was getting pretty beat up so I jumped on eBay a few weeks ago to see what I could find. There was a guy who from his email I assume was from BlackIsle ( I could be wrong) selling some fresh out of the box for 5 bucks a piece. I should have grabbed more than one. When it got to me it was in absolute MINT condition. I'm still using my beat up copy because I don't even want to crack the new one open. :) :king:
Dark Reaver 07-08-03, 02:39 PM	You may already know this but you can download volo's Guide to the North coast free from Wizards.Com
GoodOlWillickers 07-08-03, 05:12 PM	Yeah, I met him too. It was on the expansion when the city is under siege. I kinda wanted to fight him just to see if they had put in any of his weird spells, but then I remembered that he was only level 5 and everyone else was in the 20's, so I decided to pass on it...
GoodOlWillickers 07-08-03, 09:36 PM	You see, I think it was that practice of having "unreliable" sources that made D&D a game that was just plain more fun when TSR was still alive and kicking. Wizards really makes things way too black and white and doesn't allow hardly any elbow room for anything. They also took way too much power away from the DM, by saying with some things "you can do this as long as you change your character in X way," instead "Ask your DM first and then change your character in X way." I would probably let the player do it even if they had to ask me, but I would just like to know what's coming instead this insance grab bag that is 3e. It would probably actually be more fun for the player since I would probably plan the session's happenings around the player. Peace -Will http://www.angelfire.com/md2/willspalace
Jack in the Green 07-08-03, 09:47 PM	They also took way too much power away from the DM, by saying with some things "you can do this as long as you change your character in X way," instead "Ask your DM first and then change your character in X way." I would probably let the player do it even if they had to ask me, but I would just like to know what's coming instead this insance grab bag that is 3e. While that may or may not be the case in your opinion. That really has nothing to do with the history and references that made the Volo series.
GoodOlWillickers 07-08-03, 09:53 PM	Hahaha, yeahhhhh I know. I'm just prone to pointless ranting. Sorry. Peace -Will http://www.angelfire.com/md2/willspalace