I'm running a 4E game set in the Moon Sea region using the fluff from Mysteries of the Moon Sea.
Its working well so far. Though the whole Eladrin = Moon Elf/Sun Elf thing personally annoys me. What suddenly all Moon Elves can teleport? Luckily our Eladrin player is a wizard so its not too big a deal. Though we do have an Eladrin Ranger joining the group so I guess I will get used to teleporting Moon Elves.
I think using 4e rules in the old timeline works pretty well.
Should be okay but it's gonna require some effort; I'm gonna subscribe to this thread to see what others are doing ;). I'll pitch in once have a chance to play around with a few solid ideas. Been working a lot but I'm hoping to start a game within the next two weeks.
If the Fey Step power of the Sun/Moon/Star*/whatever Elves is too wierd, you could try reflavouring it to whatever is appropriate to the subrace and class. Consider the Eladrin quickly dashing across the ground, nimbly avoiding attacks from foes, scrambling up a cliff-face, and so on. This breaks down when a Fighter pops through a wall though. :embarrass
* Actually, it looks better on the extraplanar Star Elves than any other. Cross out references to the Feywild in various powers, replace with Sildeyuir, and it could be quite cool.
One point that I thought was interesting was that with all the previous edition fluff, and let's face it there's a LOT of history and fluff there, does anyone plan on keeping the timeline where it was, but still use the 4e rules?
I wouldn't say I'm planning to do that, but it's true that several posters have expressed interest in doing that. I do like the 4E rules, but I think I'd prefer to use them in a different setting.
but it's true that several posters...
Like me!
...have expressed interest in doing that.
Yep. Probably run such a game once they get that Game Table up and running, assuming it happens, so that I can run a game for my old group. Either that or use Battlegrounds.
-Rules and settings are interconnected, but separate entities.
Puhleeze do not start that argument again.
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So, as to the OP's topic.....hrm....I run a 3.5 game that's currenty set in the Year of Lightening Storms (1374 DR). I also run 4E game set in the Year of the Ageless One (1479 DR).
For me it's a reversal of what the OP is asking about, because I'm trying to bring a lot of the magical lore in my FR library from prior rules editions forward into my 4E game.
I too am interested to see if/how others use the 4E rules in the Realms of the 1300s. I think it would be a fun diversion to send my 3.5 players into the Feywild and start adopting some of the 4.0 rules into my 3.5 game.
Puhleeze do not start that argument again.
-Which others have nearly universally agreed. Like I've said to you, just because you believe it so doesn't actually make it so. And, in this case, to be blunt, you're not correct.
-Which others have nearly universally agreed. Like I've said to you, just because you believe it so doesn't actually make it so.
You've just fallen into the category you describe as, “Hiding Behind Opinions”.
And, in this case, to be blunt, you're not correct.
Likewise, “People Have To Get The Last Word In”.
If you have anything else to say to me or about me in this matter, please do me and everyone else on the RtR Forum a favor by stating it in a PM.
I, for one, am far more interested in the OP's topic than I am in your opinions about me or about the greater game of D&D. Will you please allow the rest of us to get back to the OP's topic? :headexplo
) rules and settings are interconnected but separate concepts.Teleporting elves in a pre-Spellplague or even pre-ToT campaign aren't any weirder than they are in a 4E game, and if it becomes an issue in either, you can always tweak the rules or work the fluff around them; describing the teleport move as simply quicker-than-eye movement works in most cases to tone it down a notch while keeping the rule itself intact. Similarly fire-and-forget spellcasting of old works exactly the same way ruleswise in FR without the Weave as it did with it, regardless of introducing Spellplague to give an in-game reason for the change of magic system.
When I discussed 4E Realms with msatran, he (who pretty much doesn't like it at all) said, in essence: You've got multiple high-level characters and groups who've been kicking around the Realms for something like 20 (RL) years, why wouldn't they do anything to stop any of this?
I took that idea and ran with it. The end result gives these characters some interesting endings. None of them become superpowerful NPCs sitting around bugging the PCs (although a few of them become Exarchs), though any contributions they made I justify simply by saying that the Greyhawk setting and the FR setting are filled with former PCs of the creators with key roles; why not your campaign?
I think that particular situation makes a good way to get players who aren't enthusiastic about the change to try it out. Have their characters in your 3.5E game *do* something in the 100 years that pass, give them meaningful endings that make them important historical figures. The 4E hundred-year jump is an opportunity to do that sorta thing, I think, and the value of that as a tool (and a player reward) can't be denied!
Still, supposing that one could work around it (reflavouring, themed building new spells and classes down the line), one could fill out the eight brands of Red Wizard with Wizards (divided by Orb, Staff, and Wand), and Warlocks (Infernal and Star).
The toughest ones to justify, I think, are conjuration/summoning (well, specifically summoning) and alteration (specifically, polymorph/shapechange) with the current spell selections. Div is pretty much covered by rituals; the others are all pretty well represented too (Necro doesn't summon undead or bind 'em (altho there are binding-esque rituals), but it does have a bunch of other stuff that does necro damage.
There's a problem in adapting new rules to old fluff when the fluff was built specifically around the old rules. The main one I can think of is the Red Wizards Of Thay, with their Zulkirs of the eight magical schools of old -Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy and Transmutation. These schools don't exist in 4e. While one could still build around theme, many of the classic spells have been removed (ie Summoning, Binding, Necromancy, Shapeshifting).
Still, supposing that one could work around it (reflavouring, themed building new spells and classes down the line), one could fill out the eight brands of Red Wizard with Wizards (divided by Orb, Staff, and Wand), and Warlocks (Infernal and Star).
This is exactly the kind of thing I'm struggling with right now. How do I keep the flavor of something like the Red Wizards intact when the mechanics just aren't there? (at least currently). The Illusionist article in Dragon was something I enjoyed. Also, as gamersgambit notes, it's gonna be hard trying to justify certain types of magic (summoning, for instance), since 4e has a whole new *take* those kinds of spells (powers).
For right now, I'm just gonna re-fluff things like the Red Wizards; quickest way to get the game off the ground and start having some fun.
We actually ran a Forgotten Realms game using Fantasy Hero. Unfortunately, that years ago and I've lost my notes ;). I remember it was a short campaign, ran mostly for kicks. It was fun seeing the Realms through the lens of another system, so that's why I'm excited about giving the Classic setting a go under 4e.
Still keeping my eye on this thread for any ideas; interested in seeing where others go with things.
May game will eventually have Red Wizard adversaries in it (at the moment they are the hidden enemy) But I don't foresee a problem in creating stats for them as Npcs.
Just my two eurocents. ;)
EDIT: I will make my own adaptation of FR to the way 4e magic works, etc.