| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| BlackAce |
Posted - 20 Mar 2011 : 23:54:30
I've unexpectedly found myself in a bit of a conundrum. Up until the last couple of years, most of the players in my group were old faces and we've been playing on and off in the same campaign for around 8 years now (1356-1379 in game years). One of the fundemantal changes we all agreed on was that we didn't wish to see the return of the Archwizards/Shades/Netheril and we all agreed that we wouldn't make use of the Shadow Weave.
All well and good, but a couple of years ago, we were joined by a new player who'd DM'd in the Realms himself and had previously run his own campaigns. He'd set his heart on running a shadow mage PC in our campaign and made a pretty strong case for it. Lorewise, I accomodated him by saying the Shades were decendants of Netherese who were trapped on the Plane of Shadow and became servants of the Malaugrym and his PC was either working for them or a rebel.
This has worked up until now, as we've been largely Western Heartlands based. But in today's game the group has decided that, as they've finished poking about the Well of Dragons, a visit to the city of Shade is in order and this has bit me on the backside as originally I'd never actually envisaged the return of Shade.
In fact looking through my notes it's going to cause all sorts of problems, as some of the other player's charaters took part in the Phaerimm War, (I'd kept the breaching of the Sharn Wall but NOT used the Shades at all).
Technically, there is no City of Shade in our campaign. But I did allow Pete to write his character's backstory and him being a shadow mage in service to the Shadovar who are servants of the Malaurgrym is what he went with.
So here's the problem, do I ignore the massive change in continuity and simply switch back to a more canon realms? Or can anyone suggest a good fix without spoiling my player's fun? |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 22 Mar 2011 : 05:38:49
Make the Shade descendants of Ebonfar.
Have them start warring with the Hidden Kingdom of Najara. Thats if it exists in your world. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 22 Mar 2011 : 00:20:50
Why situate Shade in the middle of the Anauroch? Sure it's the Tanthul homeland, sure they might know of some hidden resources, sure the Shadovar succor their shadowy dreams ...
Yes, it's even arguable that they're comparatively "weak" and may not want to waste their strength fighting for a foothold when it can instead be directed into subtler machinations and a bit of terraforming.
I personally think Shade should've dropped right in the middle of the Dales or Longsaddle and been more direct about establishing their presence as a permanent player in Faerūn. Shade can be wherever you want to put it, and to be honest, the Anauroch has little to offer beyond lots of empty land, ruins, and an endless struggle for survival. |
| BlackAce |
Posted - 21 Mar 2011 : 23:06:51
This is all my fault really, I contradicted myself. When Pete joined the group I agreed to reincorporate Shade in some way but never figured on the players ever actually heading for the city. In fact, in my head, I had the Shadovar arrive via a gate at Tilverton and sieze the city, only to have it retaken by Cormyr, practically destroying the place in the process. I'm loving the crazy idea, or shade showing up right then, though, I might just borrow them!  |
| wintermute27 |
Posted - 21 Mar 2011 : 13:21:40
In my own game I have decided that the Shadovar threat as written didn't make too much sense to me. I made it so that the city of Shade settled to "earth" in the plane of Shadow after Karsus' Folly. So as a land-bound settlement they have to make much smaller excursions into the realms. I think that this approach to a "sneaky and sinister threat" works a lot better than to have them flying above a desert in a giant black city for all to see. Sneaky and subtle indeed... |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 21 Mar 2011 : 10:47:05
Should have said no from the beginning.
Have Shade be in the Shadowfell.
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| Ayrik |
Posted - 21 Mar 2011 : 10:34:07
How much more shocking if he starts some shadowy mumbojumbo while they're still mocking him and suddenly 735 million tons of Thultanthar shimmers and decloaks above them. When they later realize they're not even in the Realms anymore then the question of who's crazy comes full circle. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 21 Mar 2011 : 09:49:14
I don't see a problem.
If the DM says Shade doesn't exist, and it hasn't in all the years you have been playing, why is the one player able to railroad YOUR campaign with his own idea of how Faerūn should be?
You shouldn't break an on-going continuity for one player with his own ideas. If its in his back-story, then the character is obviously delusional and should seek immediate medical (clerical?) attention.
Think about it - if his back-story also included him 'eating gods for lunch', would you even consider incorporating it? Back-stories aren't canon unless the DM says they are, and you've already made it clear Shade does NOT exist.
And I was only half-joking about his being nuts.... you could always have your PCs follow him to where he remembers Shade to be, only to find it either missing completely, or a a thousands-of-years-old ruin. At that point, your players now must figure-out if their new buddy is crazy, or if he is from an alternate reality (which is entirely possible - marvel comics does it all the time). |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 21 Mar 2011 : 05:40:34
That's a bit trickier.
You could say that Shade does exist in your Realms, though they're more subtle than in canon and hide behind illusions/etc ... only a few people would even be aware Shade exists, and those likely silenced. This seems like a bit of a clumsy deus-ex to me, but at least it's simple to implement. Maybe Shade will even go away again when the PC leaves your table, who knows?
Or you could say that Shade somehow sits on the "border" between planes, not really in Faerūn but accessible to those who can use shadow (or planar) magics. This seems like the best compromise; your player isn't denied backstory/interest yet is presented with a plausible "in-game" explanation for why Shade hasn't had much (if any) impact on your Realms ... probably an easy idea to sell if shadowmages (and hardly anyone else) become special and cool enough to cross the barrier to Shade.
The arrival of Shade could still happen as announced in canon sources, just a bit tardy ... or said arrival could be imminent and depend of the success of shadovar agents in Faerūn. It doesn't require much of Shar, Shadow Weave, Shadowstorm, if you prefer otherwise; nor are the Shadovar required to paste Tilverton, assimilate Sembia, or terraform the Anauroch. |
| BlackAce |
Posted - 21 Mar 2011 : 02:39:10
quote:
There's no reason to exclude Shade; it may still be floating around somewhere in the Demiplane of Shadow. It might be that the Shadovar have any number of agents (such as Melegaunt Tanthul and perhaps even your PC or his teachers) in the Realms but are unable/unprepared/unwilling to return their city to Faerūn, at least for now.
That's the problem, I had excluded Shade. Though I worked out how to tie his shadow mage into a Shadovarless Realms easily enough, I haven't allowed for the city itself to appear. But Pete has already worked it's existence into his backstory and has used it to say "hey lets go to Shade!" So do I just roll with it and go back to canon or try and find a way to work the city's appearance in another original way? |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 21 Mar 2011 : 00:19:47
Shadowmages appeared in the (2E) D&D game rules not long after wild mages ... Shades (as a monster entry which provided character conversion rules) existed in 1E ... both of these things were present in the Realms long before the advent of Shade or any kind of story prominently involving/elevating Shar was even conceived. Shadowmagic might be a new magical frontier, or preserved through the ages by some secretive order, or rediscovered in some ancient tome, or bestowed upon a special few by Shar, or even be an accidental creation spawned from wild magic, ToT, or some other WSE (Weave Shaking/Shattering Event).
There's no reason to exclude Shade; it may still be floating around somewhere in the Demiplane of Shadow. It might be that the Shadovar have any number of agents (such as Melegaunt Tanthul and perhaps even your PC or his teachers) in the Realms but are unable/unprepared/unwilling to return their city to Faerūn, at least for now. |
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