| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Old Man Harpell |
Posted - 05 Sep 2011 : 00:42:11
In the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, it is hardly a secret that a lot of what made the Realms...well...the Realms...is gone, or altered beyond recognition. Barring a Star Trek-style reboot, which would happen, if at all, with Fifth Edition D&D (however many years down the road that happens to be), the 'Points of Light' has left Dungeon Masters the task of opening their janitorial closets and cleaning up the blood, and then wheeling the patient into intensive care for some major surgery.
So, starting from where the FRCG leaves you (and implicitly stating that this is not to be a 4th Edition bash-fest), we can establish a few things right off the bat.
*The Old Empires are gone. Chessenta is still there, yes, but apart from that, the landscape is altered so that very little of anything Mulhorandi remains (and the Imaskari intend to keep it that way), and Unther is gone...completely, utterly, totally gone. Not coming back, the land belongs to others, sandblasted out of reality, gone.
*Halruaa - very similar to Unther, although it is 'still Halruaa' - if you can call a howling, undead-filled wasteland 'still' anything - and the Halruaans themselves...toast.
*Maztica - gone, of course. While Returned Abeir is awesome, it's location leaves people like me with questions.
So, let's say (along with any other hallucinations and fantasies one might have) that Wizbro puts out a supplement to the FRCS - let's call it the Forgotten Realms World Guide and Adventure Atlas.
What would you put into it? I am not talking like tightly-focused material like the Neverwinter Campaign Setting (where we would see such things as Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate, and so on. No, I mean world-scope information and adventure ideas. The assumption must also be made that nothing will be 'brought back' (as it in truth will not) - no Unther, no Maztica, and so forth. What would you, as an editor of said tome, insure what *koff* 'tweaks' were put into print?
*To start out...A map of all of Toril. A complete map of the globe, showing us where absolutely everything is. Returned Abeir is where Maztica used to be? Dandy. What about Anchorome, and the isles holding Eskember, Sarambril, Helbrester, and Hael? Are they - or at least parts of them - still there? Latitude and longitude for everything, please.
*General information, a la the FRCG, about Kara-Tur and Zakhara, and how they have fared, from the Spellplague and over the last century. Any other areas (like Osse) would (again, among your other fantasies) be covered in other supplements.
That's a bare minimum for the 'World Guide' part. For the 'Adventure Atlas', in addition to anything covering Zakhara and Kara-Tur, one might include:
*The reclamation of Dambrath. Alarmed by the loss of several drow cities (not to mention the fact that there are a lot fewer drow), drow houses from across Toril sponsor bands of Crintri in an effort to recreate Dambrath the way it was, supplanting the old worhippers of Loviatar with 'proper' worship of the Spider Queen in the half-drow's surface temples. Naturally, this also includes problems that arise when certain drow and Crintri attempt to also resurrect Lolth's two rather annoying offspring.
*The yuan-ti are back, and slowly...very slowly...starting to dig Hlondeth out of its ruined state, away from the eyes of a world distracted by Thayans and Netherese.
*The Zhentarim have found a way to defend against certain Shadovar weapons, and have placed these items (which of course, once placed, cannot be moved) in the Citadel of the Raven as they begin to rebuild it, sending heavily-armed expeditions to Zhentil Keep to strip it of anything useful and, if they cannot reclaim it, turn it into a parking lot.
*The faithful of Gond are back in Lantan...just a small seaside village for now, but planning on restoring the ruined isle to its former glory.
I could keep going...and going...but the idea here is, what would YOU do to 'repair the Realms'? What actions would YOU take, as an editor of that mythical book I suggested, going forward from where we were dropped in 1479 DR? What adventures would you make possible to fix the things you don't like, and I must quantify, have the possibility of any number of mortals repairing? |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Razz |
Posted - 24 Dec 2011 : 15:16:03
Skimming through this, yeah, there's too much change. If a book was proposed, honestly, it'd HAVE to be TWO books.
Pre- and Post-4E, pretty much. Or Pre- and Post-Spellplague, however you want to call it.
I doubt you can cover Toril properly without doing that and avoiding a serious mess of confusion. The mistake was tearing apart the Realms like that to begin with (and then having the added twist of the knife by not touching Eberron at all).
I saw mention of Warforged. Honestly, the best route for them would be Lantan experimentation or ancient Raumathari constructs created for the war against Narfell and hidden away, waiting for the right moment to unleash on Narfell.
In my campaign, that's how I have it. Ancient texts and notes from Raumathar detailing Warforged experimentation. Then they had a huge secret vault of them, ready to release, but the war ended. Eventually, the Lantanese got a hold of the process and began the creation. And keeping it a vast secret, obviously. It's a way to introduce Warforged crafted from the empires of the past and awakening to the modern day, along with the slow creation of new ones. Then think of the warlords and kingdoms interested in using such constructs as weapons of war, etc., etc. you get the idea.
Dragonborn already existed in the Realms thanks to "Dragons of Faerun", but that was 3E's Dragonborn of Bahamut...which not only did I like better than the current Dragonborn, but they suddenly got omitted from the Realms when 4E Dragonborn arrived. Talk about sloppiness. |
| Snotlord |
Posted - 19 Dec 2011 : 10:16:11
quote:
Originally posted by Brimstone
I chose to have faith that Ed, Erik, The James Brothers, Elaine, Paul and others will slowly whip the Realms back into shape.
I said about two and a half years ago, maybe three. In Ed, Brian/Matt, Erik, Elaine and Paul I trust. WotC needs to let Ed head up the Realms with a select group of Authors/Designers and go to work fleshing out the 4E Realms.
I agree. The realms will change, empires with come and go - I believe that is the nature of the setting (more so than other settings). The problem with 4e realms is that the designers used a sledgehammer rather than a chinsel.
IMO the setting does not need repairing, it needs more details, better explanations, better integreation of new concepts, and a more appealing presentation. Brian James' article way back on the Grand History after the Spellplague (in an early electronic Dragon) restored some of the setting for me, he showed me that proper care can save this trainwreck.
So with that starting point...
* The Weave is still there. It just feels different, so many think its dead.
* We need more lore on the exiled thayvans.
* We need more lore on the lost lands, what happened to Maztica ect when it was slapped into Abeir.
* The maps of the new continent has been inaccurate. (the map looks like a crouasant, draw a new one)
* The write-up on Baldur's Gate was ghastly, some of the names felt wrong, and the whole place begged for more details.
* Restore the flavor of the elves, and probably other races. Fit the mechanics into the setting, not the other way around. Or drop mechanics, and leave that to the GM.
* Focus on the missing gods. They was not gone mind you, just not mentioned.
* Soften the destruction of Halruua, Thay and probably other regions.
|
| froglegg |
Posted - 19 Dec 2011 : 01:35:23
quote:
Originally posted by Tyranthraxus
I'd like to see the Saurials make a comeback.
+100! Me too.
John |
| Charles Phipps |
Posted - 18 Dec 2011 : 21:30:59
I've been working on this myself. Here's some general thoughts and adventure hooks that I came up with for my 4E games.
+ Remove Asmodeus' divinity I think will go a long way to restoring the balance between good and evil. Oddly, I think Bane would be happy to assist in this because the dude is stealing his thunder. Asmodeus being knocked down would possibly restore Azuth and potentially free Tyr too.
+ Restoring Mystra is an iffier thing as I think she's been put through the ringer - I think making her an Intermediate Power if the PCs undo whatever spell or artifact Shar has been using to keep her from resurrecting would be good.
+ It might be cool to reveal Amaunator isn't actually Lathander but holding him prisoner or something similar. The PCs might get to choose which kind of god they really want.
+ Helm could be restored by finding a new host for his essence - someone super devoted. I suspect Tyr would be all over this if he's rescued, ditto Torm. |
| Nilus Reynard |
Posted - 05 Oct 2011 : 11:38:46
quote:
I'd also like to know what happened to Finder.
I agree with this.
I would like to know if he is a dead power, in hiding, or still alive "somewhere". I saw alot of potential in Finder Wyvernspur as a deity, even if only a demi-power. It would be a shame to scrap the whole idea. |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 02 Oct 2011 : 05:24:24
I think bringing back Maztica could be quite simple. The world just thought it was gone, meanwhile it was simply shoved aside by returned abeir. It just happens to be a tad bit west now.
I also think that bringing back the rich plurality of deities would be nice. |
| Eilserus |
Posted - 30 Sep 2011 : 23:56:37
The 4th Edition Neverwinter Campaign Guide was a really good product and I don't play 4E rules. If they keep churning out lore heavy books like that I think they will work out the issues. What we need is another Volo series or super rich lore guidebooks like back in the day. I'd really love to see a kick butt sourcebook on Tethyamar or the Earthfast dwarves, like Dwarves Deep revisited. Wouldn't mind a reboot of the Menzoberranzan boxed set or a different large dark elf city. Myth Drannor would probably be really popular to do something with since it's a reborn kingdom. Oh man I could go on and on, but those are my favorites so far. |
| Rhewtani |
Posted - 30 Sep 2011 : 20:01:01
You, know a way to take some of the changes into account and still return things to their proper order would be a quasi-reboot of Mulhorand.
Let's say that is was transposed into Abeir. Why not have the Mulhorandi gods or heroes work towards returning to Toril? Maybe they suffer horribly in Abeir, but managed to make a refugee-esque return to Toril and begin rebuilding their empire ... creating more of an "early egypt" feel to the new empire. |
| Old Man Harpell |
Posted - 30 Sep 2011 : 17:02:23
quote:
Originally posted by Thrasymachus
quote:
Originally posted by Laeknir
With respect to the OP, there's just way, way too much to fix in 4E. Plus, I don't want to passively support the new version by buying anything 4E-related. I'd get the rulebooks, as I don't have a problem with the new rules edition, but since I don't play anything but the Realms in D&D there's not much point.
So I'm sticking with an earlier edition. I'd only really be motivated to do 4E D&D if they did, as you said, a Star Trek type reboot which erased the present timeline and re-set it to an earlier period. Since that won't happen, at least for the foreseeable future, I'm content with my older books.
+1 Exactly.
Furthermore, I might even go so far to start buying the 4E stuff if turned out that 4E was an elaborate and diverse adventure to get back to the 3.5. Because to answer Old Man Harpell’s question, I would change the 4E Realms to the exact state of the Realms that we were left off at 3.5.
Fair enough. But I did say 'going forward from where we were dropped in 1479 DR'.
While I appreciate (and very much sympathize with) your position, I am trying to look at it from a perspective of what we could all realistically hope for and/or expect. Wizbro will not backpedal on what they've done - hence, the scroll's title. We take the hand we've been dealt, and we work to make changes - within the system, as it were - to the world we want it to eventually become. Or in your case (and mine), return to being. The two really aren't so different, even if what we have to work with is.
Some things cannot be changed, obviously. Most of Mulhorand and all of Unther are gone (gotta shoehorn them dragonborn in somehow, even as awful an explanation as it was). So is Maztica. But what we should be able to reasonably expect from Wizbro is a whole heck of a lot more information than we have now. Kara-Tur and the Moonshaes will have material released, as I understand it, which is a good start.
A comprehensive world map and atlas would be a very much appreciated fixture as well, I think. I think it was Jakk who suggested that since Greyhawk is no longer supported, they should transport the Free City and parts of the Flanaess onto Osse - I don't know which scroll, exactly, but I thought it was an awesome idea. In short, Wizbro needs to get off its duff and start providing the essential (and up to this point, lacking) information that will allow us to do just that, at a level beyond where a DM has to spend oodles of time just making a basic framework, when, like the Neverwinter Campaign Setting allows, lets him/her get down to brass tacks and start the task of actually running a session for his players. |
| Thrasymachus |
Posted - 29 Sep 2011 : 04:41:04
quote:
Originally posted by Laeknir
With respect to the OP, there's just way, way too much to fix in 4E. Plus, I don't want to passively support the new version by buying anything 4E-related. I'd get the rulebooks, as I don't have a problem with the new rules edition, but since I don't play anything but the Realms in D&D there's not much point.
So I'm sticking with an earlier edition. I'd only really be motivated to do 4E D&D if they did, as you said, a Star Trek type reboot which erased the present timeline and re-set it to an earlier period. Since that won't happen, at least for the foreseeable future, I'm content with my older books.
+1 Exactly.
Furthermore, I might even go so far to start buying the 4E stuff if turned out that 4E was an elaborate and diverse adventure to get back to the 3.5. Because to answer Old Man Harpell’s question, I would change the 4E Realms to the exact state of the Realms that we were left off at 3.5. |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 14 Sep 2011 : 06:31:54
I chose to have faith that Ed, Erik, The James Brothers, Elaine, Paul and others will slowly whip the Realms back into shape.
I said about two and a half years ago, maybe three. In Ed, Brian/Matt, Erik, Elaine and Paul I trust. WotC needs to let Ed head up the Realms with a select group of Authors/Designers and go to work fleshing out the 4E Realms.
I support the Realms reguardless the edition. |
| Old Man Harpell |
Posted - 14 Sep 2011 : 06:12:33
quote:
Originally posted by Therise
quote:
Originally posted by Old Man Harpell
quote:
Originally posted by Brimstone
quote:
Originally posted by Rhewtani
It just occurs to me, if you don't like 4E, ignoring it is one route, but so is using NPCs and PCs to move it forward into what you loved about the Realms.
Pretty much what Ed's doing in his novels.
Ahhh, slipping in quality stories and stuff despite Wizbro?
Excellent...
Shhhh! If they found out... well, you know. More spellplague or something.
Oh, -CENSORED-...sorry, sorry... |
| Therise |
Posted - 14 Sep 2011 : 06:01:00
quote:
Originally posted by Old Man Harpell
quote:
Originally posted by Brimstone
quote:
Originally posted by Rhewtani
It just occurs to me, if you don't like 4E, ignoring it is one route, but so is using NPCs and PCs to move it forward into what you loved about the Realms.
Pretty much what Ed's doing in his novels.
Ahhh, slipping in quality stories and stuff despite Wizbro?
Excellent...
Shhhh! If they found out... well, you know. More spellplague or something.
|
| Old Man Harpell |
Posted - 14 Sep 2011 : 02:50:54
quote:
Originally posted by Brimstone
quote:
Originally posted by Rhewtani
It just occurs to me, if you don't like 4E, ignoring it is one route, but so is using NPCs and PCs to move it forward into what you loved about the Realms.
Pretty much what Ed's doing in his novels.
Ahhh, slipping in quality stories and stuff despite Wizbro?
Excellent... |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 14 Sep 2011 : 02:09:47
quote:
Originally posted by Rhewtani
It just occurs to me, if you don't like 4E, ignoring it is one route, but so is using NPCs and PCs to move it forward into what you loved about the Realms.
Pretty much what Ed's doing in his novels. |
| Rhewtani |
Posted - 14 Sep 2011 : 01:21:28
The beginning of this thread reminds me of playing in a campagin that I took part in for a few years. The game had been running for over a decade, from when the DM and players had limited books, and in some cases, limited maturity. As such, several discrepancies had come up.
Elminster, Vangerdahast, and Khelben were dead. The Zhents were very powerful. Waterdeep was a crater (excepting Blackstaff Tower). Cyric was a demi-god, not a full fledged god. The Harpers were more or less gone. Laeral was still under the influence of the crown of horns.
So, in small ways, I started using various characters to start "fixing" problem areas. I had a wizard in Daggerford who was gaining political power (yes, in Daggerford) and was working to bring Daggerford into a revived Athalantar. One day, that would fill the gap of Waterdeep. I also handled the crown of horns issue, which was a whole campaign that several PCs had sort of dropped a year before I started.
Meanwhile, my paladin of Tyr and Purple Dragon Knight travelled to Shadowdale during the Zhent takeover and was able, with Sylune's ghostly help, to recover a hidden clone of Vangerdahast from El's tower, reawaken it, and smuggle him back to Cormyr.
It just occurs to me, if you don't like 4E, ignoring it is one route, but so is using NPCs and PCs to move it forward into what you loved about the Realms. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 13 Sep 2011 : 15:21:26
Actually, similar ideas have already been seen in Realms canon:quote:
Forgotten Realms Adventures [2E]
Worshippers of Gond and the curious (who pay a small admission fee) can see many wonders of artifice in the temple's Hall of Wonders. Currently on display [as of 1358DR] are a mechanical scribe (handset-type printing press), a steam dragon (crude steam engine), a pump of gond (bicyclelike man-powered pump for farm irrigation and filling bilges and reservoirs), a system of self-filling oil lamps (fed from a central oil tank), and other wonders. The temple sells specimens of all displayed devices at very stiff prices.
...
Visitors often remark on the harbor's sheer size and crowding, and the massive cranes, scoops, and cargo carts (which run along the docks on rails of steel!) that can make loading or unloading here [Baldur's Gate] a swift, if expensive, process. The dock equipment is run by the Harborhands Guild, but was devised and built by the priests of Gond, who receive a 1-copper fee for every usage of a cart of crane. (Elminster mutters darkly that divine inspiration in this case came from merely looking at a harbor or two on a certain other world. This may well be true.)
Also,quote:
FR0: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting [1E] - The physics of the Realms are slightly out of sync with the rest of the planes, so that gunpowder and many technological devices which operate on electronics do not function. Equivalent devices may be developed by player-characters. DM's judgement is advised as to what may be allowed into the world.
Forgotten Realms Adventures [2E] - Smoke powder, a magical powder similar to our gunpowder, functions in the Realms and has done so for hundreds of years, as evidenced by Kara-Turan rockets and small magical thundercrackers made for children. Firearm technology has not been extensively (or even adequately) researched and developed, however, save for a few crackpots and eccentric wizards ... [etc]
Smokepowder is of course a magical substance (detailed in the DMGs) created through alchemical processes. Much has subsequently been written about smokepowder in the Realms, both in canon and in Candlekeep's scrolls (where, from time to time, the idle scribes are briefly animated and enamoured with this topic).
DM's would do well to actually learn a few basic facts about steam engines before they employ the technology within their games. People most readily associate them with steam-powered locomotives, not realizing that such engines are actually close to the final evolution of the technology: steam engines had already been in use (hugely inefficient building-sized units which pumped water out of mineshafts, larger but not dissimilar to the "iron horse" pumpjacks in use today) for as much as 300 years, and steam locomotives themselves saw numerous fundamental refinements over their 150 years of use (comparable, perhaps, to the refinements between automotive engines over the last century). |
| Old Man Harpell |
Posted - 13 Sep 2011 : 11:35:37
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
... (and if I want to play steampunk, I'll con a friend who has a copy of the Airship Pirates RPG from Abney Park into running something) ...
It's been released already!?! By the Null-Sphere that is Shar... I must've missed it. [Says the Sage, who only just picked up a copy of AP's Aether Shanties album.]
quote:
... but even metallic 'tattoos' and (certain) tech-mimicking powers wouldn't necessarily transform Waterdeep into the Sword Coast version of Shadowrun Seattle. Although creating a magical alternative to the Internet does sound amusing.
Oh, this is too cool an idea to leave hanging.
I need to ruminate on this.
Do ruminate, and please share your ruminated conclusions.  I was thinking along something like the Paranet for The Dresden Files, initially, but that's hardly enough. I do wonder what a Realms equivalent of a cyberdeck jockey would look like - or use for such things, for that matter.
As for Airship Pirates, best place to go would be Abney Park's official website, it's for sale there - I think. The only reason a couple of my friends have it already is because Captain Robert brought a few copies with him to a local steampunk function at my friend's clockworks shop (about a half-hour south of Seattle). Other places may have the game by now, though. Not that the game's incarnations of Australia or New Zealand have Change Cage cities, anyways...the only places that don't, for some (unexplained) reason.
Edit: And as an afterthought - why wouldn't the Realms have things based in part and theory on Earth-tech? Elminster (and Mordenkainen, Raistlin and Dalamar) have all been to Earth, scarfed lasagna and Cheetos, and watched the boob tube. Picking up the basic principles, if not the actual technology, would be a snap for these wizards, and the Realms is likely the only 'cosm' of the the background worlds of these men to have a paradigm that would support such things. The Realms version would have to rely on what it can already utilize, but the Magitech book for the (rather dreadful, in my opinion) Amazing Engine game system shows how some of these ideas might be utilized. As I said - just an afterthought.
-OMH |
| The Sage |
Posted - 13 Sep 2011 : 08:47:17
quote:
Originally posted by Old Man Harpell
I agree, but I would argue that there are already quite a bit of steampunk elements present. 'Miracles' crafted by Gondsmen? Check. Guns? Check? Airships? Check. Clockwork monsters? Check. I grant you that it isn't Victorian-era tech (and if I want to play steampunk, ...
A lesson in SageMath -- Nadul DaRoni's Workshop [see Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue {pg. 147}] plus "So Saith Ed" entry for July '04:-
" ... "steam engines (monstrous "rolling-beam" stationary types, akin to those found in Cornish tin mines and elsewhere AND tiny 'using a fire one builds in a bowl' sorts) are in common use all over Lantan, but remain "dangerous" curiosities elsewhere (although many Faerunians know about harnessing the hot gas from a fire collected through a hood-and-pipe apparatus). As several posters have mentioned, Gond rules such pursuits, and copious prayers to him will be a part of any steam-work. What the Realms DOESN'T yet have is reliable steam propulsion (locomotives, that is -- although miners'-sweatwork and donkey- or mule-drawn mining railways, with little 'tip' ore cars, ARE used here and there, and are known to all dwarves and gnomes). Distillation and other simple steam-related procedures are widely known if not widely understood."
... equals a type of steampunk for the Realms.
quote:
... (and if I want to play steampunk, I'll con a friend who has a copy of the Airship Pirates RPG from Abney Park into running something) ...
It's been released already!?! By the Null-Sphere that is Shar... I must've missed it. [Says the Sage, who only just picked up a copy of AP's Aether Shanties album.]
quote:
... but even metallic 'tattoos' and (certain) tech-mimicking powers wouldn't necessarily transform Waterdeep into the Sword Coast version of Shadowrun Seattle. Although creating a magical alternative to the Internet does sound amusing.
Oh, this is too cool an idea to leave hanging.
I need to ruminate on this.
|
| Old Man Harpell |
Posted - 13 Sep 2011 : 08:02:13
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
I personally prefer to keep my Realms more mystical/pagan and less steampunky.
I agree, but I would argue that there are already quite a bit of steampunk elements present. 'Miracles' crafted by Gondsmen? Check. Guns? Check? Airships? Check. Clockwork monsters? Check. I grant you that it isn't Victorian-era tech (and if I want to play steampunk, I'll con a friend who has a copy of the Airship Pirates RPG from Abney Park into running something), but even metallic 'tattoos' and (certain) tech-mimicking powers wouldn't necessarily transform Waterdeep into the Sword Coast version of Shadowrun Seattle. Although creating a magical alternative to the Internet does sound amusing.
- OMH |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 12 Sep 2011 : 05:56:39
Arcane cancers. You've inspired me. My players will revile your name forevermore, Sage, mwoohahaha (sorry). |
| The Sage |
Posted - 12 Sep 2011 : 05:36:17
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
I view Moander as being somewhat Borg-like, insofar as involuntary assimilation of victims goes. Although it's an organic (and thoroughly rotten) type of transformation rather than a technological one. There's nothing wrong with the (very interesting) idea of Borging through tech, ...
Interestingly, I've followed a somewhat similar course, by introducing the concept of ShadowTech [from Babylon 5] into my Realms.
Essentially, while artificial mechanical components can still be grafted to organic beings, I've introduced the "transition" phase from wholly organic to "tech-enhanced" as -- for lack of a more appropriate term -- a cancer. The grafted beings, thus, sprout "arcane-tailored" cancers which grow both around and through the artificial components and allow the hosts to decipher their own unique kind of magically-inclined interface with each piece of tech. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 12 Sep 2011 : 04:38:58
There was a 2E boxed set that involved a high-tech spacecraft crashing on a generic D&D world. Tale of the Comet, it was called. I don't really recall too many details, other than this interesting ghost of a cyborg -- all of the organic parts were gone, but the ghost was bound to the remaining bits of cyberware.
I do seem to recall some sort of assimilation in that one, as well. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 12 Sep 2011 : 01:52:15
I view Moander as being somewhat Borg-like, insofar as involuntary assimilation of victims goes. Although it's an organic (and thoroughly rotten) type of transformation rather than a technological one. There's nothing wrong with the (very interesting) idea of Borging through tech, but I personally prefer to keep my Realms more mystical/pagan and less steampunky. |
| Therise |
Posted - 12 Sep 2011 : 00:04:39
Heh, and the best part: you can blame the gnomes! I love it! |
| Old Man Harpell |
Posted - 11 Sep 2011 : 23:03:45
quote:
Originally posted by Varl
quote:
Ooh, like a variant of that really old "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" adventure for Greyhawk, what if something Borg-like crashed in Faerun and started transforming people. If you damage them in specific ways, they might disconnect from the hive mind, but still be Borgified. Instead of Plaguechanged, you'd have Techchanged.
I've thought about creating an adventure using the Borg as a vehicle for assimilation. I'd probably have it centered around some kind of hivemind Borg (perhaps like Alice Krige in First Contact) that the characters have to reach and destroy to end the threat.
I might not even use the Borg specifically; I might go with a type of creature that can uses similar double-needle injectors to inject assimilation viruses into a host to convert it to the creature's species to keep it more fantasy than tech.
Something created by a Lantanese inventor, who inadvertently became a 'carrier' of their own work when the Sellplague smashed the Realms - now the 'TechPlague' (for lack of a better term) can be passed along by the Borg Queen-analog, plus perhaps any designated minions (and although a player character can BE infected, I would probably not have them be among those that can spread the condition).
This could also lead to Therise's 'TechChanged' idea. You'd likely want to keep the player recognizably what they are (as to covered with Borg-like stuff everywhere), but imagine, instead of a spellchanged tattoo, a techchanged striation pattern in their skin (extremely noticeable in darker-skinned folks, like drow or the folks of Turmish), or hair changed to the color of copper wire.
You'd likely also get something nifty in return for those weird skin designs, much in the manner of a spellscar. And people would likely not know what to make of such a character. They aren't victims of the Sellplague, obviously, but that doesn't mean people aren't going to react in much the same manner. |
| Varl |
Posted - 11 Sep 2011 : 19:49:03
quote:
Ooh, like a variant of that really old "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" adventure for Greyhawk, what if something Borg-like crashed in Faerun and started transforming people. If you damage them in specific ways, they might disconnect from the hive mind, but still be Borgified. Instead of Plaguechanged, you'd have Techchanged.
I've thought about creating an adventure using the Borg as a vehicle for assimilation. I'd probably have it centered around some kind of hivemind Borg (perhaps like Alice Krige in First Contact) that the characters have to reach and destroy to end the threat.
I might not even use the Borg specifically; I might go with a type of creature that can uses similar double-needle injectors to inject assimilation viruses into a host to convert it to the creature's species to keep it more fantasy than tech. |
| Therise |
Posted - 11 Sep 2011 : 18:25:44
quote:
Originally posted by Old Man Harpell
quote:
Originally posted by Alystra Illianniis
Hmmm.... Data as a Warforged? Kewl!
Better still...Lore as a Warforged. Hmmm...or..."Surrender, elf - we will add your cultural and technological distinctiveness to our own." 
Ooh, like a variant of that really old "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" adventure for Greyhawk, what if something Borg-like crashed in Faerun and started transforming people. If you damage them in specific ways, they might disconnect from the hive mind, but still be Borgified. Instead of Plaguechanged, you'd have Techchanged. 
Muahahah!!!
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| Old Man Harpell |
Posted - 11 Sep 2011 : 17:51:43
quote:
Originally posted by Alystra Illianniis
Hmmm.... Data as a Warforged? Kewl!
Better still...Lore as a Warforged. Hmmm...or..."Surrender, elf - we will add your cultural and technological distinctiveness to our own." |
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 09 Sep 2011 : 01:43:08
Hmmm.... Data as a Warforged? Kewl! |
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