| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Goodbarrel |
Posted - 21 Jun 2010 : 23:51:41
Greeting and well met folks!
Though I am not new to running in the realms, I am new to running them. My new group and I are about to start a new campaign with the main focus being on actual role play rather than just dungeon crawling and fighting encounters. So, my boys decided on characters and all decided they wanted to know each other from childhood, that sort of thing. I wanted them to start off in a relatively small atmosphere, them wanting to start as first levels. My old, and now retired DM, suggested Tethyr. I liked the idea due to the area's location and climate. Being bordered by Amn and Calimshan has decent merit for multiple adventures without leaving the area.
Now, here is where my players threw their first time DM for a loop. They wanted to know what accents they should use whilst roleplaying. Yeah, it surprised me too. So, that got me thinking; What real world area are the Realms areas based on?
My DM said that he has always thought of the Lands of Intrigue as Spanish. For instance, he said that Amn would be Spain under the rule of the Inquisition, Tethyr would be Spain under the rule of El Cid, and Calimshan as Spain under the rule of the Moors.
I'd like to get your opinions on that area, of course, but I'd also like to pose the same question to all of the Realms. Please chime in with your opinions or, if this has been covered already, please point me to the correct thread.
Yours,
Goodbarrel |
| 14 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| The Sage |
Posted - 25 Jun 2010 : 19:12:15
quote:
Originally posted by Quale
I know, but isn't this quote a bit off
''Any given cultural fact about medieval or Renaissance Europe probably does not apply to the Heartlands''
yet despite all that looking at the pictures and descriptions from the books most of it appears medieval or renaissance
I was specifically referring to the Ed-lore, which is largely the focus of this discussion. Your reference about Earth-based medieval and/or Renaissance imagery being used to illustrate Realmslore is entirely valid -- but they're often the product of other interpretations made by artists [some of which dont't really have all that much invested in the concept of the Realms and the elements that forged it]. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 25 Jun 2010 : 19:07:11
quote:
Originally posted by Sill Alias
Sorry for crushing the topic, but can I ask a question about world of Earth, where Mordenkainen, Elminster and some guy from Dragonlance meet together? Where in the World is that?
It's in Ed's home, here on Earth. |
| Ashe Ravenheart |
Posted - 25 Jun 2010 : 19:05:47
quote:
Originally posted by Sill Alias
Sorry for crushing the topic, but can I ask a question about world of Earth, where Mordenkainen, Elminster and some guy from Dragonlance meet together? Where in the World is that?
Ed's house.  |
| Sill Alias |
Posted - 25 Jun 2010 : 18:28:29
Sorry for crushing the topic, but can I ask a question about world of Earth, where Mordenkainen, Elminster and some guy from Dragonlance meet together? Where in the World is that? |
| Quale |
Posted - 25 Jun 2010 : 18:24:04
I know, but isn't this quote a bit off
''Any given cultural fact about medieval or Renaissance Europe probably does not apply to the Heartlands''
yet despite all that looking at the pictures and descriptions from the books most of it appears medieval or renaissance
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| The Hooded One |
Posted - 23 Jun 2010 : 18:53:29
Quale, you're using "based on" differently than Goodbarrel is. If his players want to know which real-world accents to try to mimic, according to Realmsian regions, they're thinking of direct analogues. You're saying "based on" because of races, classes, buildings, and other human culture elements.
So, if I have a RPG culture with pyramids, and bearded men hunting and fighting from chariots, and lots of slaves, I'm "basing it on" Ancient Egypt, right?
Nope.
Ur and Babylon, event more ancient, had all of those.
Elements (and contexts) can be tricky things...
love,
THO |
| Quale |
Posted - 23 Jun 2010 : 17:56:10
lol they are referred, isn't Ed from our world, don't the Lands of Intrigue have castles, knights, merchants, nobles, temples, humans and such, or these are some unique, alien concepts not originating in our world? |
| The Sage |
Posted - 23 Jun 2010 : 04:02:52
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Quale
All parts of the Realms are based on our world, the only place that isn't is the Far Realm.
Uh, not according to Ed himself...
Exactly.
Quale, refer to my and Blueblade's posts above. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 23 Jun 2010 : 02:59:59
quote:
Originally posted by Quale
All parts of the Realms are based on our world, the only place that isn't is the Far Realm.
Uh, not according to Ed himself... |
| Quale |
Posted - 22 Jun 2010 : 15:34:29
All parts of the Realms are based on our world, the only place that isn't is the Far Realm. |
| Goodbarrel |
Posted - 22 Jun 2010 : 15:05:37
Wow, thanks muchly for that heads up. I have this suspicion that I will be spending quite a few hours reading those collected posts. Imagine, if you will, this humble Hin sitting amongst a stack of scrolls taller than most folks he's ever met, a smile on his face and a good stout in his hand. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 22 Jun 2010 : 01:26:16
Indeed, Blueblade is correct. And a thorough search of these dusty old shelves will reveal past discussions on this topic.
...
The original, core part of the Realms is not analogous to our world, and our-world norms can't be assumed to apply. Some of the places, like Kara-Tur [which was a TSR add-on to Ed's Realms], are among those exceptions that are based on Earth, in their published forms, for various reasons... excepting the Shaar.
Any given cultural fact about medieval or Renaissance Europe probably does not apply to the Heartlands: Ed's Realms is created to deliberately discourage assuming and instead encourage players to engage actively with the setting and find out its unique details and nature. Also, the influences on the Heartlands are far more from fiction than from history, so that reading the half-dozen most Realmslike fantasy authors will give you a better [though still very inaccurate] picture of the Realms than understanding any amount of European history.
I'd recommend you read through Ed's April 13th '06 replies here at Candlekeep, for his thoughts on the sources of inspirations for some of the areas you've mentioned here. They are required reading for any particular Realms devotee who wishes to have access to accurate facts as they've been determined by Ed himself. These replies clearly prove just how invalid some of the more "nonsense" claims actually are.
And finally, consider this, from Ed's '06 replies:-
"...but it should always be remembered that the Realms is NOT an analogy or copy of Earth; what we may see as medieval in some ways, and Renaissance in others, when looking at Faerūn, is inevitably seeing things from our point of view: the Realms may develop in very different ways than the real world did." |
| Goodbarrel |
Posted - 22 Jun 2010 : 01:11:27
Thanks Blueblade! That is some really good info. My players definitely want to try it, so I'll go along with it. I'm sure it will be fun. These guys haven't even rolled stats yet and are already acting in character via email. Thanks again.
Cheers,
Goodbarrel |
| Blueblade |
Posted - 22 Jun 2010 : 00:08:04
Heh. This has been covered many, many times.
Ed Greenwood deliberately designed the Realms to have NO direct real-world analogues. However, TSR wanted the Realms to be home to all sorts of campaigns (pirates, subterranean, jungle, city intrigue, quasi-Oriental, quasi-Arabian Nights, ancient Egyptian, etc.) and later "modeled rteal-world history" with Maztica = the Conquest of the New World, so some fairly close real-world analogues crept in.
That DOESN'T mean your players have to try for fake "equivalent" accents . . . unless they want to. Which I'm guessing Ed would then say, "If your players want it, do it, or at least try it." (Because that's the very line he said to me, when my players wanted to all have guardian angels, in a long-ago Realms campaign.)
YMMV, of course.
BB |
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