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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1572 Posts |
 Posted - 04 Apr 2025 : 10:51:36
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On the best methods to learn the secrets of lichdom
kageura necromancer wizard — 27/3/2025 6:38 AM
@Ed Greenwood out of curiosity do you know when you would get to that "how to learn lichdom and becoming a lich" video you mentioned back in december?
Ed Greenwood — 27/3/2025 8:42 AM
I'm afraid not. Ivan and I record in batches, then each vid goes into editing, and they come out when ready. That vid will be in the NEXT batch we record; we still have a lot from the last December 2024 batch.
kageura necromancer wizard — 28/3/2025 7:17 AM
thanks ed i appreciate it and look forward very much to learning the best methods for learning the secrets of undeath. by the way. in the "worlds&realms" book published by WOTC and written from the perspective of mordenkainen it claims shadowfell is the best place for learning lichdom. is that true or is mordenkainen biased since he never stays on one plane long?
Ed Greenwood — 31/3/2025 6:18 AM
It's true in one sense: in the Shadowfell, collectively, one who tours it tirelessly could learn the widest array of different processes for achieving lichdom. Like a huge department store, it has the best roster. However, to learn even a narrow range of that large roster would be expensive and dangerous, because the Shadowfell is NOT a good source of eager and willing teachers. So "best" in the sense of most could be gleaned by someone wealthy, powerful, fearless, and magically protected enough to pry out such lore. NOT "best" in terms of easiest and safest to learn, and with fewest hazards/difficulties. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1572 Posts |
Posted - 04 Apr 2025 : 11:01:38
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On the experience of casting Detect Magic and Identify
ChiefAffirmationOfficer — 30/3/2025 9:23 PM
What does a Realmsian caster experience when they cast detect magic and identify?
I'm hoping to bring some life to how I narrate what a caster experiences at my table when they cast the most common divination spells in the Forgotten Realms.
The typical "you know [insert dry fact here]" feels like a missed opportunity to make this aspect of the game and setting more interesting.
Ed Greenwood — 31/3/2025 6:24 AM
GREAT question! I'll answer you as soon as I can: I'm in the third day of ice storms here and my power is out a lot...and everything just went down/up/down/up and flickering again... |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1572 Posts |
Posted - 14 Apr 2025 : 06:39:42
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On an observation about the Zhentarim and the Knights of Myth Drannor
Joe Chang — 5/4/2025 10:04 AM
Dear @Ed Greenwood not a question but an observation: the Zhentarim was created by a group of childhood friends (Manshoon, Chess, Fzoul). Centuries later another group of young friends, the Knights of Myth Drannor became one of the Zhentarim's great foes. I don't know if that counts as irony, but there's a symmetry there.
Ed Greenwood — 6/4/2025 9:02 AM
Indeed. Almost as if I planned it that way. ;} |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1572 Posts |
Posted - 14 Apr 2025 : 06:46:08
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On seal skin being used as a book binding/book cover
Jeremy Grenemyer — 12/4/2025 12:10 AM
Good morning @Ed Greenwood from suddenly too hot California. #129397;
Last night I listened to a segment on the BBC World News Service about the discovery of 12th and 13th century manuscripts bound in seal skin.
The discovery was well inland in France, so the scientists saw this as proof of the reach of European coastal trade (which made me think about trade in the Realms).
I am curious to know if seal skin is something that has ever been used in the Realms as a book binding/book cover?
Did this material ever experience a surge in popularity or cause a fad among book collectors?
I figure all things are possible in Waterdeep, but I wonder if seal hide “travelled” to the inland Realms like it apparently did in real-world France.
Thank you, Ed, as always.
Ed Greenwood — 12/4/2025 2:12 AM
In our real world, the Norse (famed in modern lore as rapacious “Vikings” but far more than just raiders; they were THE farfaring merchant traders of their day) spread goods far from Scandanavian waters. And the major makers of books at the time, Christian monks, used sealskin in book binding (particularly in outer cases now referred to as chemises, that surround a bound book to protect it), because it sheds/resists water better than deerhide, boar hide and other land animal hides.
In the Realms, sealskin has “always” been used for cloaks, mantles, and other wet-weather protection in the Sword Coast North (even if you’re wearing a bear pelt cloak to keep warm, trudging through a freezing drizzle in it will make it heavier and heavier and less and less warm, unless you can cover it with something that sheds water, like sealskin), and in small packsacks (“rucksacks” to us) used to transport books and other items we want to keep dry, like spell scrolls, spices, and other powders. When I say always, I mean as far back as recorded history (even for dwarves and elves) goes. So it’s not something that’s experienced a fad, but an “always been there” material, as seals mate on rocky islets, many near mainland shores, and can be readily hunted at such times.
Travel in the Sword Coast North has (again, “always”) been dominated by navigable river routes because, frozen or not, they offer the fastest travel and easiest bulk goods transport, and goods go both ways through barter. Although relatively few folk live inland compared to the amounts of timber, hides, and ores coming out of the interior, those who do dwell or just work there need goods, and sealskin and other sea-origin material have reached interior locales on many occasions. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1572 Posts |
Posted - 14 Apr 2025 : 07:08:47
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On Lhaeo/King Haedrak's favorite dishes to make
Zonesylvania — 11/4/2025 7:16 PM
Good saer @Ed Greenwood , while Lhaeo/King Haedrak served as Elminster's cook and scribe, did he himself have any favorite dishes to make that you could tell us something about? thankee!
Ed Greenwood — 12/4/2025 2:19 AM
Lhaeo loved small fowl, spit-roasted but constantly dipped and basted with seasoned broths. His signature “side” was what we would call olive tapenade: a paste of chopped and crushed olives and capers, but rather than olive oil, he uses zzar and avocado oil as a binder. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1572 Posts |
Posted - 15 Apr 2025 : 01:58:40
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On the limitations of the second of Azuth's seven secrets
Zonesylvania — 13/4/2025 7:38 AM
dear saer @Ed Greenwood , concerning the second of Azuth's seven secrets; are there any specific limitations on the spells that can be converted into prayers (divine spells) such as modification of components, level, etc. or would it, Mystra/Azuth willing, be possible to convert an arcane spell exactly as it is into a prayer? thankee!
Ed Greenwood — 13/4/2025 9:06 AM
There are a lot of limitations on spell conversions, and NONE of the arcane spells known to most spellcasters in the Realms will convert exactly "as is" into a prayer. There are always at least minor differences. |
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Ed Greenwood from Greenwood's Grotto
