| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Sigma |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 07:02:19
Ok I am a writer, and I need information. I want to write a forgotten realms novel. But I dont know the first place to look for this information at all. I need info on the gods of Faerun. As much info as possible. I need to know what weapon they would wield in a fight, what type of armor and how it would look. I need alot. I also need information on the 9 Hells. Info such as the Demons that run each level, their weapons and places within those planes. I have a great idea for a story but I need this info. Please someone anyone give me links to info on this type. If I do this right this book will be on par with some of the work done by R.A. Salvatore. I'm not presuming myself his equal but I just have a gut feeling about this work. |
| 21 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| scererar |
Posted - 10 Dec 2005 : 04:19:37
I would first learn what D&D is about, the books are based upon and expanded upon the game. additionally the wizards web site has free downloads in PDF format the give some pretty good perspective on the realms and some of it's history and culture
anyways, my 2 cents worth |
| Kuje |
Posted - 10 Dec 2005 : 01:48:07
quote:
Originally posted by warlockco
Might want to contact Paizo about their guidelines for short story submissions. Many WotC writers get started in Dragon Magazine.
They no longer accept unsolicited short stories. I looked about a month ago. :) |
| warlockco |
Posted - 10 Dec 2005 : 01:29:37
Might want to contact Paizo about their guidelines for short story submissions. Many WotC writers get started in Dragon Magazine. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 10 Dec 2005 : 00:36:26
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Sigma, might I make a recommendation? Forget about writing a novel, at least for the moment. Start small. Write some short stories. Take more time to read about the setting -- sourcebooks, articles, and fiction. Get to know the Realms quite well (or at least the area you're writing about), and absorb the writing of other authors while you do it.
It can only help you. Writing a novel is an ambitious undertaking. And if you're not intimately familiar with your setting, it will show in your writing -- which will suffer for it.
Take your time. If it's going to be a good novel, it'll wait for you to be more properly prepared to write it.
Indeed.
And to add a little to what Wooly just said, I would also suggest that you read some of Ed's replies from here at Candlekeep -- and by extension, a number of the other FR designers and game designers who visit here -- as they have all at one time or another talked about their experiences with professional writing.
You can learn a great deal from their comments and it should help you to gain a more significant insight into such an undertaking.
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| Sigma |
Posted - 10 Dec 2005 : 00:29:31
Yeah. I was just at the website, I'm not sure if I'm up to that quality or not. I may just keep the idea but use my own world instead of Baator and the Forgotten Realms. Something new and all would probably be better, since I'd have the only idea of how things were supposed to be. Create my own demon realm and god realm and mortal realm. I have a fairly good mind at creation like that so maybe thats what I will do. I've already written some small stories and I've sent them out to some people I know and they say I have a talent here for it so thats why I want to try. |
| Rinonalyrna Fathomlin |
Posted - 10 Dec 2005 : 00:23:20
If your novel is just going to be a fan fiction novel that you never expect to have published, by all means write it. However, if you DO want to get published and write for WotC, you'll have to follow that link and start off small. If you are ever accepted as an FR author, you will probably have to write whatever novels WotC wants you to write. |
| Kajehase |
Posted - 10 Dec 2005 : 00:01:40
quote:
Originally posted by Sigma
I have some of the avatar series, 1,2,3 and 5 havent gotten 4 yet. And about that quote, so the wizards of the coast wouldnt accept it to be a forgotten realms novel, but the 9 hells is from dungeons and dragons so could I make it a book for that?
Follow the link Oh, and find someone with more insight into Wizards' decision-making to ask |
| Sigma |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 23:59:08
I have some of the avatar series, 1,2,3 and 5 havent gotten 4 yet. And about that quote, so the wizards of the coast wouldnt accept it to be a forgotten realms novel, but the 9 hells is from dungeons and dragons so could I make it a book for that? |
| Kaladorm |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 23:52:20
Ok, found a spell that might help you. This is copied from the SRD
Contact Other Plane
Divination
Level: Sor/Wiz 5
Components: V
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Concentration
You send your mind to another plane of existence (an Elemental Plane or some plane farther removed) in order to receive advice and information from powers there. (See the accompanying table for possible consequences and results of the attempt.) The powers reply in a language you understand, but they resent such contact and give only brief answers to your questions. (All questions are answered with “yes,” “no,” “maybe,” “never,” “irrelevant,” or some other one-word answer.)
You must concentrate on maintaining the spell (a standard action) in order to ask questions at the rate of one per round. A question is answered by the power during the same round. For every two caster levels, you may ask one question.
Contact with minds far removed from your home plane increases the probability that you will incur a decrease to Intelligence and Charisma, but the chance of the power knowing the answer, as well as the probability of the entity answering correctly, are likewise increased by moving to distant planes.
Once the Outer Planes are reached, the power of the deity contacted determines the effects. (Random results obtained from the table are subject to the personalities of individual deities.)
On rare occasions, this divination may be blocked by an act of certain deities or forces.
Plane Contacted Avoid Int/Cha Decrease True Answer Don’t Know Lie Random Answer
Elemental Plane DC 7/1 week 01–34 35–62 63–83 84–100
(appropriate) (DC 7/1 week) (01–68) (69–75) (76–98) (99–100)
Positive/Negative Energy Plane DC 8/1 week 01–39 40–65 66–86 87–100
Astral Plane DC 9/1 week 01–44 45–67 68–88 89–100
Outer Plane, demideity DC 10/2 weeks 01–49 50–70 71–91 92–100
Outer Plane, lesser deity DC 12/3 weeks 01–60 61–75 76–95 96–100
Outer Plane, intermediate deity DC 14/4 weeks 01–73 74–81 82–98 99–100
Outer Plane, greater deity DC 16/5 weeks 01–88 89–90 91–99 100
Avoid Int/Cha Decrease: You must succeed on an Intelligence check against this DC to avoid a decrease in Intelligence and Charisma. If the check fails, your Intelligence and Charisma scores each fall to 8 for the stated duration, and you become unable to cast arcane spells. If you lose Intelligence and Charisma, the effect strikes as soon as the first question is asked, and no answer is received. (The entries in parentheses are for questions that pertain to the appropriate Elemental Plane.)
Results of a Successful Contact: d% is rolled for the result shown on the table:
True Answer: You get a true, one-word answer. Questions that cannot be answered in this way are answered randomly.
Don’t Know: The entity tells you that it doesn’t know.
Lie: The entity intentionally lies to you.
Random Answer: The entity tries to lie but doesn’t know the answer, so it makes one up.
I know you say you are short on cash but a great book series to read is the Avatars books. THe first 3 focus on the mortals (and their ascension) so might not be just what you need, but Crucible and Prince of Lies are frankly fantastic books which focus on life in the deity's world (sort of). Has a lot of useful information about how they work, what they do etc etc and a lot more info can be garnered if you look closely enough. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 23:51:09
Sigma, might I make a recommendation? Forget about writing a novel, at least for the moment. Start small. Write some short stories. Take more time to read about the setting -- sourcebooks, articles, and fiction. Get to know the Realms quite well (or at least the area you're writing about), and absorb the writing of other authors while you do it.
It can only help you. Writing a novel is an ambitious undertaking. And if you're not intimately familiar with your setting, it will show in your writing -- which will suffer for it.
Take your time. If it's going to be a good novel, it'll wait for you to be more properly prepared to write it.
|
| Kajehase |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 23:50:53
quote:
Originally posted by Sigma
I have some questions.
1) Normal Weapons cannot harm demons. They have to be magical right? (saw it when Drizzt fought with Errtu, just want to confirm it)
Most demons have some sort of damage reduction, yes. But if you're planning on setting things in hell you should worry more about devils |
| Kajehase |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 23:44:41
Another resource that might be worth checking out before starting to write a Forgotten Realms novel is the site on Wizards' book-department site with links to their writer-resources, located here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=books/main/resources.
Especially the following quote might be of interest.
quote:
Thank you for your interest in publishing with Wizards of the Coast, Inc. We do not accept unsolicited submissions for our shared-world fiction lines: Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Eberron, and Magic: The Gathering.
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| Sigma |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 23:22:55
oh yeah 1 more question. Is there a way to peer into the Hells to get an idea of what is ocurring? Like a sorceror/wizard/cleric/god wanted to know what was happening in Cania. Would they be able to use a spell to see in? Part of the writing will be affected by this. If there is a way I will need to block it off and if not well then its all good. |
| Sigma |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 23:19:21
I have some questions.
1) Normal Weapons cannot harm demons. They have to be magical right? (saw it when Drizzt fought with Errtu, just want to confirm it)
2) Ok I know there are the 9 layers with Avernus being to 1st. My question is to get lower you have to go through each Layer. Correct? As in traverse Avernus to get to level 2 then level 2 to get to level 3 and so on. Or is there a magical way to jump straight to a certain level. such as a spell that allowed one to step directly to the 9th layer. |
| Sigma |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 22:36:59
well to be honest I know some about the realms, I have a collection of the books that I work on adding to occasionally. I'm an avid reader of R.A. Salvatore and have just about every Drizzt book out. I love the forgotten realms and everything about them. I simply don't know much about the 9 hells yet. All in all I own 50 books so far (quite a bit at about $8 a pop) and I want more. I havent learned much on the 9 Hells and thats why I posted this. I had an idea for a book series that could be great and well I wanted to try it out. I know I'm still probably a novice when it comes to Forgotten Realm knowledge, but I have the will to learn. Thanks for the help with those links guys. |
| warlockco |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 20:24:09
Not to knock Sigma, but why do people constantly want to write novels/stories for a world they know nothing about?
And I'm not talking about just the Realms either.
As to places where you can get some information, you can try: Cormanthyr http://myth-drannor.net/DlabraddathNet/z-Cormanthyr/home%20page.htm its mainly an Elven site, but it is a Realms site, with links for various other races too.
Cormanthyr has links that has information on the Elven Gods. |
| Kuje |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 17:49:49
I got lucky on Hellbound. :) Gray sent it to me for free, muh hahaha.
As for PDF's, they aren't my thing. If I can get a physical copy, then I don't want it. |
| Crennen FaerieBane |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 14:39:46
Also, if you slog through all of these message boards (with the search function), you may accumulate quite a bit of info.
C-Fb
P.s. - PDFs will save the new collector! I ened up spending out my nose for my 2e Planescape Box Sets - especially Hellbound! Argh! |
| The Sage |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 13:25:16
You can purchase the three *main* FR 2e deity books -- Faiths & Avatars, Demihuman Deities, and Power & Pantheons -- in PDF for the low price of just $4-$5 US at either paizo.com or RPGNow.com respectively. A great number of scribes here, myself included, consider these books to be among the best resources for lore on the various powers at play in the Realms.
Alternatively, you might want to try this site:- (http://toril.info/). Just scroll down to the site map and click on the relevant sections for the deities.
Also, you can pick up the 2e PS Planes of Law boxed set (in PDF) which will provide you with an in-depth rendering of the Nine Hells. Prices remain the same as those I mentioned above.
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| Sigma |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 07:23:51
Heh well Im kind of broke at the moment, any websites that offer this info? |
| Dargoth |
Posted - 09 Dec 2005 : 07:10:48
Gods: Buy Faithes and Pantheons
Abyss/Hells: Buy Manual of the Planes and recent Dragon issues |
