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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6385 Posts |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
 Posted - 06 May 2017 : 01:43:02
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I loved the Stormtalons, but then they broke my heart.
The way I look at it, this 'new thing' isn't the old thing, but we aren't getting the old thing back, ever, so we may as well try and enjoy the new thing. At least the terrain is back the way it should be (which is probably what first sold me on 5e). |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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KanzenAU
Senior Scribe
Australia
763 Posts |
Posted - 06 May 2017 : 02:18:48
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quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal
I absolutely love the 1300s realms and would quite happily spend 8 hours a day developing it (and have in my last job).
Conversely i absolutely hate the 1400s realms, it contains nothing of joy or value. You can tell the designers chucked it together to make a quick buck. Why would i want to invest any time developing it. In fact i cannot invest time in it because i hate it so much. Its like being forced to eat meat if you are a vegetarian and then only being able to get a job designing food dishes for meat eaters. It is just so distasteful anything i tried to make would show my hatred. Much better to stay with what i love.
You should absolutely stay with what you love - but we could still use whatever you write about the 1300s, even if a CK product was targeted at the 5e generation. Like the Compendiums of old, we could have a bunch of articles on a bunch of topics from different eras - there were plenty of historical pieces in the old Compendiums that had heaps of gems for whatever time you're playing in.
I still like the idea of a targeted "Era of Upheaval" series of Candlekeep stuff, as we could each focus on the era of time we care most about - from immediately before the ToT in 1356 right up to the end of the Era of Upheaval in 1489. |
Regional maps for Waterdeep, Triboar, Ardeep Forest, and Cormyr on DM's Guild, plus a campaign sized map for the North |
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore
Australia
6680 Posts |
Posted - 06 May 2017 : 02:57:28
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I don't think the DMs Guild can deliver anything that really benefits the Realms in terms of returning it to the forefront of D&D gaming consciousness (if it ever was at that forefront). I write in the Realms for me. As a hobby. I've used this place to showcase my work. I've used the DMs Guild too. The only difference there is in that regard is that I can track numbers-wise how many people are interested in my musings at the DMs Guild. My most popular articles are "Soargar's Legacy" and the "Impiltur Timeline" at 654 and 653 downloads respectively. Is that a good number? High? Low? Expected? Unexpected? Who knows. If I wrote 5E lore, would that be more popular? I highly doubt it. Be that as it may, I'll continue to write stuff when and how I can. And likely continue to put stuff up there. Someone, somewhere might find it useful. And at the end of the day, for me, that's the only thing that counts.
-- George Krashos |
"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus |
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KanzenAU
Senior Scribe
Australia
763 Posts |
Posted - 06 May 2017 : 04:23:20
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I agree that straight lore isn't too appealing to most folks, they want something they can use at the gaming table - adventures, monsters, new classes, etc. The product of my own that has sold the most by far is my map of the North (now an "Electrum Best Seller") - because a lot of people are playing there right now, it's immediately useful to them. I've earned more from that than I have from my Ardeep map/guide and my west-central Cormyr map combined, I think simply because more people find it useful.
So how could our lore be useful to people? I know for my own game, what I really want to know that hasn't been well covered in the SCAG or even the 4e FRCG is the immediate history of the Sword Coast. So that takes in the Sundering time period (hence the creation of this thread), but also the decades leading up to it. If Candlekeep could create lore for that, I'd be a very happy man. But the Spellplague divided the community, and that's not likely to change, so we have to work with that.
An "Era of Upheaval" project can still use people on both sides of the divide. Those of us that care about the modern Realms can write some recent history, and the grognards can write about the era they care about - all under one banner. If we wanted to, we could connect stories from the 1350s to stories from the 1480s through characters of the long-lived races, or maybe even just through related themes and a "history repeats itself" vibe. We can weave in maps and feats or whatever to make the lore even more usable and relevant - but I think even if the lore stood alone, understanding the world is more appealing to people than many realize. The people over at WotC certainly don't seem that invested in lore creation at all - leaving a gap I think people yearn to have filled, a gap we could fill!
Even if people aren't invested in spreading Realms-love via the DM's Guild, it could just be a satisfying undertaking in itself - we'd each be building stuff relevant to what we individually want. Releasing it under a collaborative banner would also bring in some funds to the site we spend so much time on. |
Regional maps for Waterdeep, Triboar, Ardeep Forest, and Cormyr on DM's Guild, plus a campaign sized map for the North |
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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
Posted - 06 May 2017 : 05:39:32
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quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal
Well even if im the only one left, i just cant find anything to love or relate to in the 1400s. Even if im the only one left ill do it to the end just because i love it.
You are absolutely not alone in condemning the 1400s and 4e FR changes. There's probably not many outside the ones who played D&D for the first time during the 1400s who like it.
I like a lot of the bits and pieces that were added in 2e and 3e, but with the "attitude" of 1e. In the old gray box, the Realms was mostly untamed, and TSR screwed that up, and then WOTC blew it up with Shade and the map warping, and then hit it with a bigger "better" TOT...
For myself and my games, I choose to take the stuff I like, redo or take a scalpel to the stuff I don't like... and imagine how it would have looked if Ed wrote all of it, sans interference from the bean counters. It's the happiest and most productive approach I've found since the TOT was published in 1989.
In this way, setting it in 1500 DR works for me, just as well as setting it in 1357. Ed left plenty of room for DM interpretation and expansion, and those who followed his lead (Eric & George, and probably a few others) as well as some who just set up shop and fleshed out what they loved (Bob Salvatore ftw) -- the examples they set are awesome and I find plenty to challenge myself in trying to see setting development through their eyes.
So thank you, George, since I know you're here. I can relate with feeling like a stranger in 5e, but I hope you don't let it get you down. I for one look forward to anything you want to share with us. |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6385 Posts |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36894 Posts |
Posted - 06 May 2017 : 13:54:09
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quote:
Originally posted by dazzlerdal
Well im going to continue writing stuff for the 1300s on a wordpress site im working on that should hopefully present a coherent and as complete version of my realms as i can make it (im fed up of messing with pdfs).
If people use anything then great but i fail to see how any of it will be useful for the 1400s as it will be mostly people and places and organisations and history. All of which will be wiped out by 1490.
Yup, the 1490s have no organizations or places, and no long-lived people that have been around for a while. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2501 Posts |
Posted - 07 May 2017 : 11:06:20
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I'm like dazzlerdal, but instead of 1300s, I'm a "grognard" of the pre-Second Sundering stuff, lol.
I do like useful gods, non-"Vancian"-and-actually-useful-magic, a truly fantasy setting, and dead or crippled novel NPCs, making player characters THE heroes of the story. |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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Thought Exercise: What's Your Sundering Story?
