Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Dr_Sly Sep 13, 2008 19:14:55	hello all, I am looking for a general intro to the Forgotten Realms (focusing on Faerun I guess), for my soon-to-be players who have never touched that fantasy world (most have never played D&D or RPGs in general). I find that the FR wiki and the WoTC websites are very scarce on actual general intro level material, it's just a bunch of details detached and scattered all over... I don't want them to read the FRCG, and I don't think forcing them to read the upcoming player's guide would do any good either (does it even contain lore anyways?). Anything cool in the format of a few pages? This strikes me as a most important documentation to convince or inform potential players on FR related campaigns! Thank you all. Dr Sly
#2 JudgeDookie Sep 13, 2008 19:18:49	General Intro? Stick with th 4e FRCG and go from there. You're only looking for trouble trying to dig up info beyond that. Want some history?--buy A Grand History of the Realms and you'll be fine. Use your head and play on.
#3 Therise Sep 13, 2008 19:31:56	I don't want them to read the FRCG, and I don't think forcing them to read the upcoming player's guide would do any good either (does it even contain lore anyways?). Hmm... if you're going 4th edition Realms, how about having them read THIS. It's pretty short. Or download the free mini-chapter on Cormyr? I guess it'd depend on where you're planning to start the campaign, somewhat.
#4 Dr_Sly Sep 13, 2008 19:46:19	Thanks, but I was thinking more at the level of, say, a very few pages on history, geography, deities, tech and culture, politics, etc. Not a catalogue, but a primer in a few hundred/thousand words on what makes the Forgotten Realms, well, the Forgotten Realms! This is obviously meant as a quick ref guide, or a mnemonic aid for players, some reference leaflet, ya know, something that screams "Cormyr is south of the Dalelands" when a player glances at it, or, instead of scratching their head trying to remember the name of the n-tuple gods/status/portfolio, would just glance and say, "ha! I meant I cannot think of a better circumstance to mention God xyz since we're talking about situation abc". Basically I want the players to not look like tourists trying to find the name of the capital of their own country, while not having to read the whole bloody book (and let's face it, Grand History of the Realms is cool, but waaaay too long/too much info for players!). Hell, I guess I'll either have to photocopy the first few pages of the intro in FRCG or write something myself. My reference point comes from this WoTC blogger's idea about campaign handouts and information management: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dudc/20080716 specifically an example product he made: http://www.wizards.com/files/156_Dungeoncraft_Handout.pdf Now, *that's* marketing and ingenuity! Come on, how come when you enter "Forgotten Realms" in google, you get mostly very obsolete or broken links of fan-made realmslore and no, I repeat, no 1 or 2 pages primer on "what is the FR"??? Even the wikipedia entries are pretty uninformative about the *content* of the game, it's about the history of writing it, it's different editions, people involved, but not *what it is*... :-(
#5 gabeth Sep 13, 2008 19:49:05	I would recommend having them read the 3rd Edition DM Guide, AGHotR, and maybe a third book and then appraise them of the changes from 3rd to 4th edition, if you want them to be fully aware of everything. I agree that you're asking for trouble though. I've pretty much ruined any chance of simple enjoyment should I join an actual FR campaign with a DM since I'm such a lore-a-holic. If you sat down and filled up a page or three with some lore, it would allow you to control precisely what your players knew or didn't know. EDIT: It appears you figured this out yourself, so ignore this post. ^^
#6 Dr_Sly Sep 13, 2008 19:56:08	Thanks all, but I'm still thinking I'll have to write down an intro... Would be simple than trying to throw books at them, and ask them to try to fill in the blanks with me, it would probably scare them away! I can't believe there's nothing like a 1-2 pages promo script like synopsis of a movie, book, video game, technology, etc. where you can get an overview of what you're getting... I shall write it, ha!
#7 Therise Sep 13, 2008 20:04:28	Even the wikipedia entries are pretty uninformative about the *content* of the game, it's about the history of writing it, it's different editions, people involved, but not *what it is*... Unfortunately, the FR Wiki has never been particularly great. Candlekeep is a good source, often. Very often, though, web searches for FR material are best when they're really area-specific (although much will be outdated as they've upgraded editions). What start area are you contemplating? Could you use Loudwater in the FRCG, which is meant to be a starter area?
#8 Iluvrien Sep 13, 2008 20:34:50	I think that the problem is that due to the variety of the Realms there isn't really a 1-2 page summary that could be written that starts to cover it. Either you go for gross generalities and end up effectively covering nothing ("Cormyr is a country... next to some other countries") or you start dialling up the detail, at which point you get an exponential increase in primer length. If FR remains the "world of 1000 stories" that it has been touted as then that very flexibility makes this task difficult doesn't it? I don't know. I have never had to make one of these, I am just exploring the idea. Maybe, as Therise says, it is best to be locale specific.
#9 naex Sep 13, 2008 21:01:31	I would say to choose a small area, like Loudwater, and focus on the lore of that area, then expand outward as the players start to explore more of the edges of your map. That way if you have questions, you can make them more specific, and get better help from these boards.
#10 Belorin Sep 15, 2008 2:57:47	I would say to choose a small area, like Loudwater, and focus on the lore of that area, then expand outward as the players start to explore more of the edges of your map. That way if you have questions, you can make them more specific, and get better help from these boards. This plan worked for me for 20 years, although my players began reading novels and sourcebooks on their own after a couple of years. Be sure to make known any changes you make to canon if they do start reading source material and let them know that their PCs do not know everything they do. Bel
#11 lord_karsus Sep 15, 2008 12:13:11	-The FRCS. Buy it, and there you go. Every region gets about 2-4 pages, detailing things like locations, brief history, geography, and things to that effect.
#12 Dr_Sly Sep 17, 2008 15:10:17	thank you all, I'll see what I can do with the "start local, go global" approach :-) cheers, Dr Sly