I was wondering how exactly I should get my players excited for a FR campaign. Only one of them is remotely familiar with the setting (but he would be a big fan if I proposed a FR campaign, so he's not my concern). The rest of them are completely in the dark.
Help me enjoy your beloved setting. I had the same problem running Ebberon in 3.5, and I never actually got around to it
2 things that should never be done in a players first trip in the realms:
1.Never begin the adventure by saying "As you descend the stairs you notice a thin layer of dust"
2. Don't make your first adventure like the first DM I played with. A party of 5 going to collect certain jewels that each of us had a particular talent for and they ended up summoning someone similar to Captain Planet.
I almost quit playing in disgust.lol
I was wondering how exactly I should get my players excited for a FR campaign. Only one of them is remotely familiar with the setting (but he would be a big fan if I proposed a FR campaign, so he's not my concern). The rest of them are completely in the dark.
As long as they are of the mindset that they are going to have a good time playing with you, I don't think you need to worry too much. As the others said, if you're excited about the setting, your enthusiasm will likely rub off on them.
Your enthusiasm has to rub off.
tell them you're not playing in Faerun, just using some ideas from it, keep em in the dark
I don't think players should be reading campaign settings
-I disagree. When players don't read campaign settings, they make up characters that can't exist, and problems begin (ie, character comes from a place that doesn't exist, is a race that doesn't exist, etc.).
Do they know anything about the Realms?
If not, it's perfect: Just start using the Realms material and run your games and tell them it is your own material.
Then after a few months, let the cat-out-of-the-bag, and tell them the truth - that they've been enjoying the Realms all along.
If they are familiar with the Reallms, and yet are NOT already excited by the prospect of playing there, then I would say there's not much you can do.
Player's decide what you are going to run. I've tried to 'force' my own preferences on players, and it did not work-out well at all.
-I disagree. When players don't read campaign settings, they make up characters that can't exist, and problems begin (ie, character comes from a place that doesn't exist, is a race that doesn't exist, etc.).
oh, ok, you're right
maybe he should ask players first what characters they want to play, then point them to the particular area of the book
when I started playing this and running games in FR I didn't read the main book for years, it's about mystery, **** canon
Just about ANYTHING can work in the Realms - you just gotta know where it's from. ;)
Just hint that a character is involved with a god, cause of the Spellplague, etc.
People love being associated with the big things.
oh, ok, you're right
maybe he should ask players first what characters they want to play, then point them to the particular area of the book
-Yeah, at the very least, I would want players familiar with what their characters' race is, some details about where their character is from, and things like this. I, personally, would prefer them to be as knowledgeable of the source material as I am (so many of the nitty-gritty specifics don't need to be explained in detail for things to make sense to the players), but apparently many people don't like that.
Your players shouldn't need or even be expected to read teh campaign setting book front to back. Let them read the Player's Guide, it's more than sufficient and had plenty of mechanics and other information.
Focus instead on just running your game, then mix in your knowledge of the setting as you go along.
Remember, running a game is about your players, not about the Forgotten Realms. So do things that are fun in game for your players, then introduce more of the Realms to them as your game moves along.
I've been playing and DMing in the Realms for twenty years. That's how I do it.
Yeah, but you're delusional Mr. Sunshine. :P ;)
Let them read your copies of the FR books. I was not a fan of EB until I actually read the info on it. My one player is reading a novel and now may want to run a game at one point! A little knowledge about the setting can inspire a need to play in that setting I have found.
-Don't give them any Drizzt books! Then they'll get either: (A) Disillusioned, or (B) The impression that good Drow run around everywhere.
If you post in here with all of you player's character concepts, we can then help you figure out where they could fit-in in the Realms.
Seconded--that could even be fun for us.
At least, that was the jist - it was mostly from a "what does your character know" point-of-view, which would mostly concern his home region, and is especially important for non-humans.
Too bad the project never went anywhere. It sounded cool - little tourist pamphlets about local sites and famous historic stuff would help quite a bit.
That sounds like something WotC should have on the DDi - and give us a new one each month.
Of course, they'd be 4e, so now that I think about it I could care less about something like that.
I'd love to see 3e ones like that, though. Damn shame most fans are more into complaining then community projects these days (myself included).
Yeah, but you're delusional Mr. Sunshine. :P ;)
Actually, he gave some pretty damn god advice there.
It doesn't matter what you run, or when you run for that matter - what matters is if your players are having a good time. ;)
@ Misc:
Yeah, but you're delusional Mr. Sunshine. :P ;)
:D (giggle)
That still isn't going to make it sunny here in the bay area. :P
When it got sunny for like 20 minutes today, that was because I summoned it.
Mr_M. = Aumanator's favoritest favorite. :PxLOTS
On topic: One way to get players hooked on the Realms is to integrate their character concepts with some facet of the setting.
Even if it's just as simple as, "I want a character who wields two blades and is cool" then roll with it!
I've got a veteran gamer in my group who runs just such a character for our Third Edition D&D game. He decided that his character would be a Bard/Fighter/Dervish who follows Ellistraee (I can never spell that right, so forgive me).
I as DM totally dug this because it presented an opportunity for me to make up some rules for Spellsongs on the fly. If you’ve ever read the novel Elfsong you know there’s plenty of coolness there that unfortunatey the 3.5 Realms sourcebooks never got around to putting stats to.
Opportunity found!
So I started announcing that his character could make Perform Checks/Bardic Music checks like a wizard might use Knowledge Arcana. If his character succeeded, she could emulate spell effects she'd just seen or cause Epic Spell-like effects to take place with a really high roll. She could also summon Fey Guardians and make pacts with them to travel Fey Crossroads and the like.
Then I threw in hints that the character was being watched by elves who taught at the bardic colleges in Silverymoon because of rumors she'd stolen the art of Spellsong from Myth Drannor and wielded a power no Drow should ever have.
One of my most favorite memories was a surprise visit by Queen Amlaruil (another mispelling, I'm sure) to witness her perform first hand in Waterdeep.
I don't make it a point to cause other men to blush, but I can say the raw shock and red face my friend displayed when I revealed who the mystery guest was at the end of his character’s performance was 100% real.
That’s a memory neither he nor I nor the other players will ever forget, because it put them all into the game for a very intense moment.
All this, and she can slice the crap out of just about anything. As a player running a character in the Realms, what more can you ask for than a character that is fun to play in combats and to roleplay and that oozes Realms-flavored coolness?
::::::::::
So yeah....find what your players like/want to do with their characters and wed it to flavorful aspects of the Realms that match.
I’m not saying this is the best way to do get players interested in the Realms, just that it’s far from the worst you could do. ;)