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RyanL
Acolyte
1 Posts |
 Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 03:37:20
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I am running my very first full fledged campaign as a DM and it will be in D&D 4E Forgotten Realms. However, I have NO prior knowledge of realmslore and I am starting to feel overwhelmed!
So here's the scoop: I am basing it off of 4E FRCG and FRPG using Essentials rules. I also have the all the Living Forgotten Realms adventures and Scepter Tower of Spellgard. My plan is to run the intro adventure in Loudwater from FRCG then moving to Barrow of the Ogre King, Icy Spire, then Scepter Tower of Spellgard. I figure this will take the players to level 5 or so, then letting them travel around Toril for a bit using the Living adventures. I also want to use Underdark but the 4e version doesn't link itself to the FRCG.
Any news on the Neverwinter 4e book for next year? How would you link Underdark 4E to FRCG?
My main concern is that I don't know enough lore. I'm jumping in headfirst. How important is it for me to know previous lore when running a 4E campaign? Recommended reading?
I know it's a lot of questions so thanks in advance for the responses!
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idilippy
Senior Scribe
USA
417 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 04:20:47
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I think that one of 4e's missions was to make knowing prior lore unnecessary both by the Spellplague and by jumping ahead enough that most of it is invalidated anyways. While that may not necessarily be a good outcome to some of us that does make your job as DM just jumping in much easier.
I would say that the plan you have laid out could work fine with just the information in the FRCG, FRPG, and whatever information you find in the adventures themselves. While I would encourage you to read up on past lore eventually, through Forgotten Realms novels, 2e and 3e sourcebooks, and the word's of the authors themselves on this site, at the moment you don't really need any of that prior lore to run the current Forgotten Realms and, honestly, a lot of places are so dramatically different in the 4e Realms that it may be confusing to read up on the Realms as they were while running a game in the Realms as they are.
For the Underdark question I have no real answer, as I don't know the specifics of 4e's Underdark book, but even if the book isn't linked to the Realms I'm sure you can use information in that book to run an adventure in the Realms's Underdark without much, if any, modification.
All that said, welcome to the site from a fairly recently joined member but long time Realms fan, and good luck on your campaign! |
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mensch
Seeker
80 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 09:39:17
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Don't worry about all the lore. It could be a problem if any of your players are FR lore buffs, but even if that's the case you have the freedom to ignore and rewrite any of the lore that's already present. If something doesn't fit in your timeline, just discard or alter it.
If, on the other hand, you like to make everything fit and accumulate as much lore as possible I would certainly use any edition resources that are available. You could combine the concepts of the 3.5 edition Underdark sourcebook with the updated rules of the 4e version, for example. As idilippy says, 4e conveniently jumped forward in time and the Spellplague dramatically altered the Forgotten Realms. So any information on the locale of Waterdeep or Neverwinter from 2e or 3e is likely outdated in 4e. The same goes for NPCs, a few are still alive in 4e. I think handling lore is a bit harder in 3e than in 4e, because 2e lore still applies in the 3e and 3.5e realms.
You might want to take a look at "The Grand History of the Realms", the last 3.5e sourcebook which is a timeline spanning thousands of years. It's great reference material and part of it can be found online as well (http://dnd.eizzn.com/), you won't have the nice maps and lore bits though. "Lost Empires of Faerūn" is nice as well, as it deals with long forgotten places. If you ignore the 3.5e plot hooks it might be a nice 4e reference as well. |
Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what Ive tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate to know that for destruction ice is also great and would suffice. Robert Frost (1874 - 1963) |
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Marquant Volker
Learned Scribe
Greece
273 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 22:15:34
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So you turned to the Dark side...of the screen! Know that there is no turning back now...
*ahem* Congrats!
"The realms" is a very detailed setting, with a lot of npc, towns, politics and lore about everything, from ancient Dwarven kingdoms, to parfums used by nobility in Waterdeep. However you DONT have to know all those stuff!! They only add flavour
Enjoy the game, have fun, feel free to create your NPCs, villages, advantures, whatever - your the guy behind the screen - its your world. Introduce what lore you know to your players, intruduce what lore you created as well, and mix them
Considering lore, you found the right site...so Welcome to Candlekeep!!!
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Edited by - Marquant Volker on 21 Oct 2010 22:16:42 |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2010 : 22:55:41
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You only need to know enough to run your adventure.
The rest is just optional, and is subject to any changes you wish to enforce upon it. 'Canon' only actually relates to the novel Realms, and has very little bearing on the settings we as individuals play in.
Just have fun, and make it up as you go along, Don't worry about adding stuff to the world - there is plenty of room for anything, and your own ideas will never be invalidated. If you create a town or NPC or anything else, then it exists right alongside any of the official material you decide to use later on.
That's why my Realms has the Village of Homlett and the Valley of the Mage (both from Greyhawk), because that's what I knew and that's what I used, and we all had fun. The Realms are tough - don't worry, you won't break 'em.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Halidan
Senior Scribe
USA
470 Posts |
Posted - 22 Oct 2010 : 23:20:39
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Mensch and Markustay have the right idea. Don't worry about the huge amount of history the Realms have accumulated over the years. Just keep it simple, run a good adventure, and throw the odd tidbit of Realmslore as you feel comfortable. Anything more is probably overkill.
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"Over the Mountains
Of the Moon
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied,
"If you seek for Eldorado!"
Edgar Allen Poe - 1849 |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
8066 Posts |
Posted - 22 Oct 2010 : 23:46:17
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| Try to keep on top of anything your players are reading, though. Don't let 'em walk all over you by asserting canonical "facts" you aren't familiar with. |
[/Ayrik] |
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My first campaign, lore, and other tomfoolery
