Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 dickravitz Dec 23, 2008 5:02:30	Hail and well met! I used to be a huge fan of the Forgotten Realms and have recently started DMing a campaign with a few friends. Thus far, I am not a huge fan of what the Realms have undergone for 4th Edition...killing off lots of my favorite deities, burying great adventure locations and what not. While I know I could just ignore the parts that I don't like I want to make things easier on my players and keep as much to the 4th edition world as I can. I figured maybe the best way to do that might be to read the novelizations of the transitions. Can anyone tell me what novels cover the Spellplague, the death of Mystra, the rise of Netheril, the Abolethic Soveriegnty, and all those things that make Faerun barely recognizable? Thanks in advance for the help.
#2 lord_karsus Dec 23, 2008 7:04:26	-This thread belongs in the Forgotten Realms: General Discussion section. It'll be moved.
#3 lord_karsus Dec 23, 2008 7:05:06	-There are not going to be any novels taking place in the transitional period, as per the designers. -That said, the Haunted Lands trilogy and the Empryean Odyssey tangentially relate to the transitory period. Plague of Spells takes place during this period, but focuses on the story in the present, not of the past.
#4 faraer Dec 23, 2008 13:15:21	How does using a weakened setting that you aren't comfortable with, don't know about and by design won't have the things you want to know about it published make things easier on your players?
#5 lord_karsus Dec 23, 2008 15:31:09	How does using a weakened setting that you aren't comfortable with, don't know about and by design won't have the things you want to know about it published make things easier on your players? -They'll be "on the same page" as the DM, in terms of being able to read information from the two new books, as opposed to playing a "guessing game", in terms of the DM pickign and choosing what he/she wants.
#6 drizztsmanchild Dec 24, 2008 3:56:48	Reading Drizzt's novels will be the solution to all threads posted throughout all forums. DRIZZT DRIZZT DRIZZT. What more do you need to know?
#7 drizztsmanchild Dec 24, 2008 4:00:08	Sorry about that. I felt Drizzts spirit trying to take over. I fought him off. Won't happen again my fellow bloggers Lol. Merry Xmas
#8 faraer Dec 24, 2008 17:18:32	-They'll be "on the same page" as the DM, in terms of being able to read information from the two new books, as opposed to playing a "guessing game", in terms of the DM pickign and choosing what he/she wants. As a DM, I don't think there are any Realms sourcebooks I'd want in the hands of players, and I don't feel beholden to stay to the letter of any source (which would be against the intent of Realmslore). As a player, I'd also rather leave it to the DM to convey the world, and beyond that I don't know why I'd be guessing about anything. The alternatives all seem like contrived ways to make the DM's job harder, players more complacent and campaigns less interesting.
#9 lord_karsus Dec 26, 2008 11:34:21	As a DM, I don't think there are any Realms sourcebooks I'd want in the hands of players, and I don't feel beholden to stay to the letter of any source (which would be against the intent of Realmslore). As a player, I'd also rather leave it to the DM to convey the world, and beyond that I don't know why I'd be guessing about anything. The alternatives all seem like contrived ways to make the DM's job harder, players more complacent and campaigns less interesting. -And, I disagree. As a DM, I want my players to know about the setting. Otherwise, players try to come up with characters who are Jungle Dwarf Clerics of the Celestial Bureaucracy living in Calimshan taught the ways of the Ninja by the Paladins of Zhentil Keep. I don't want them to use their metagame knowledge to influence their characters actions, however. -Point is- and this is a fact- it is simply easier to present things directly out of the book than it is to alter/spin things that are in the book.
#10 tallric_kruush Dec 26, 2008 21:29:52	-Otherwise, players try to come up with characters who are Jungle Dwarf Clerics of the Celestial Bureaucracy living in Calimshan taught the ways of the Ninja by the Paladins of Zhentil Keep. You mean I couldn't play this character in your game?? :raincloud That was one of the funnier things I've read/heard this week.
#11 lord_karsus Dec 26, 2008 21:33:35	You mean I couldn't play this character in your game?? :raincloud -Nope. Sorry. That was one of the funnier things I've read/heard this week. -I usually use the Yeti Wu Jen trained by the Elven Ninjas of Calimshan as my example, but I decided to change it up a bit.
#12 drizztsmanchild Dec 27, 2008 4:53:59	And I thought that the half-elven angsty ranger with adamantium claws and regenerative healing factor named Worf(Star trek Klingon) was bad. Lol. I bow to you Lord Karsus. BTW the first time "Worf" played with us we ran into a Cadiableepos and he got killed and I got a new admantium broadsword and chainmail.lol
#13 Stigger Dec 27, 2008 12:34:56	Well, for a lot of that, the best place would probably the The Grand History of the Realms that came out a short while ago, if it can still be found, and the rest is presumably in the 4e books themselves, or possibly a DDI article... there really isn't that much out there that I'm aware of.
#14 18DELTA Dec 28, 2008 8:31:57	You mean I couldn't play this character in your game?? :raincloud That was one of the funnier things I've read/heard this week. -Just play a Pixie Warlock. :D 18DELTA (Chosen of Cyric) :P
#15 tallric_kruush Dec 28, 2008 14:53:05	-Just play a Pixie Warlock. :D 18DELTA (Chosen of Cyric) :P Can I still include "trained by the Paladins of the Holy Order of the Zhentarim" in my background? I'm pretty sure LK was on to something big with that.
#16 lord_karsus Dec 29, 2008 9:54:00	I'm pretty sure LK was on to something big with that. -I certainly hope not.