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Never
Acolyte
USA
24 Posts |
 Posted - 18 Jul 2005 : 08:57:58
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| I think my introduction to the Realms was Buldar's Gate. It's possible that I picked up a copy of Dungeon or Dragon with Realm specific info beforehand. However, it didn't occur to me that BG was set in a different world than Van Richen's(?) Guide to Fiends, Planescape: Torment, or the Arabic setting until the Guide to the stumbled upon a discussion an online discussion on which setting was better. |
I'm so, so very guilty for no reason or rhyme;
Infinite victims, infinitesimal time. |
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Xysma
Master of Realmslore
USA
1089 Posts |
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Fletcher
Learned Scribe
USA
299 Posts |
Posted - 18 Jul 2005 : 19:09:31
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
I am endlessly happy and honoured to be someone who can say I first encountered the Realms by playing in Ed's campaign. I've posted the details elsewhere here at Candlekeep, but let me just add this:
My fondest memory of a "mundane's" reaction was my swinger aunt's face when she strolled into the den where we were playing, and discovered her niece (aged twenty) lying on the gaming table wearing only my wristwatch, a smile, and various dollops of chip dip (I'd offered to serve as the bowl).
And she thought SHE'D been wild in her youth. 
    
The above smilies represent the mental process I just went through.
I suddenly feel like I have lived a very boring life. I have never used anyone as a bowl or plate or cup or even a utensil!
Sadly my first experience was only with the old grey box set. My infinite thanks, oh Hooded One, for expanding my horizons that much futher. Maybe I'll be luckier in the future... |
Run faster! The Kobolds are catching up! |
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Sir Vengeance
Acolyte
42 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jul 2005 : 00:34:35
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| I got hooked to FR when a band of my friends who called themselves: The Shadow Alliance, dragged me to join in their FR campaign, initially I was confused with the rules and methods but after a while enjoyed playing the campaign. I later borrowed a few FR novels from them and that was when I was fully drawn into the FR world. |
Vengeance is justified on righteous grounds, for righteous vengeance cannot be denied by anybody. |
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Alisttair
Great Reader
Canada
3054 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jul 2005 : 04:20:04
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| I was introduced through the "Eye of the Beholder" game on the SNES. From that I drooled over the ads in the back cover of the reprinted AD&D 2E sourcebooks (getting a glazed look at the picture of Volo's Guide to Waterdeep due to familiarity of sorts because of the game, and finally this item will make it's way to my collection within a few shipping days WOOHOO), and then from there it was on to The Legacy by Salvatore. It was the first novel I had ever read from start to finish for enjoyment and not school. These days my g/f is jealous of my FR novels lol |
Karsite Arcanar (Most Holy Servant of Karsus)
Anauria - Survivor State of Netheril as penned by me:
http://www.dmsguild.com/m/product/172023 |
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RAKKIR
Seeker
61 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jul 2005 : 18:14:27
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Hello,
Something very similiar to the Hooded Ones recolecctions happened in a campaign I was in. Except it started with body-paint on one of the girls...then two of the girls..then two of the girls sans garments....and ended up...well, going about as far as things can go if you know what I mean. And yes, I -do- mean like that.
-THANKFULLY- I was not there for it to happen. I say "thankfully" because I'm married and so I would have left anyways if I'd been there for that. Plus, to be frank, while I was always friendly with the girls there I didn't really care for some of them...and the idea of partaking in such a "revelry" makes me wince. I don't drink...and from what I understand there might have been some liqour involved in this episode. Personally, knowing some of the people involved, I suspect there might have been a particular herb or two floating around the game-table as well though nobody ever mentioned that. So, since they know those are not my things I guess they waited for a night I wasn't around and cut loose.
I'll be honest...while the idea of all that happening may sound appealing to some people while everything is nice and safe in the fantasy world of their head...if it had happened to -ME- in real life...like I had walked in and seen it happening...I probably would have shrieked manically as something in my mind snapped, and then ran screaming off into the night.
And, after the fact, it did end up creating problems for the group. People (whom I presume had been wasted at the time) sobered up and were freaked out. Then there were some issues with with some of the people who were couples getting upset about what happened because...even though they had -both- been there, they hadn't been with each other. Another problem was that our DM is a very morally conservative fellow (as am I) and he would not have approved. He had gone up to bed early and let everyone stay to "divide up treasure and make plans" and then this happened. When he found out (literally to the effect of walking into the room the next morning and seeing people laying there) he was very upset that it had happened in his house and felt he had been taken advantage of. Overall, it was a bad scene in general and only two of the people who were there for that night still are in the group. I'm thankfull that I missed out on that.
It sounds like, in the Hooded One's case everyone knew the boundaries and ended up laughing about it and things were okay. I come, unfortunately, from the FLIP side of that coin.
So yes, it really does happen...and the scary part is my DM actually does kinda look like Ed Greenwood too...except heavier. Which...in a way, makes me nervous. |
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Forge
Learned Scribe
USA
218 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jul 2005 : 19:19:43
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| I uh... confiscated Crystal Shard off another student's desk in Junior high back in '86... to this day I'm not sure why I did, but I did and I loved it... been reading them ever since. |
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Zimeros
Learned Scribe
Brazil
121 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jul 2005 : 19:29:57
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| Four years ago, I was in a shopping center, when I saw the books of FR and AD&D to sell and it was love in the first view. |
Edited by - Zimeros on 19 Jul 2005 19:31:58 |
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Chosen of Bane
Senior Scribe
USA
552 Posts |
Posted - 19 Jul 2005 : 23:59:03
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Gamed in 2nd Edition for a long time in middle school in high school (1990's). We had a couple of the older maps of Faerun and used them but it was really more of a homebrew world using the FR map.
Went to college in 98 and didn't play (or have anything to do with) D&D for the 4 years I was in college and the year after. Then in late 2003 my mother was moving so my brother was helping clean out her basement and he found my old 2nd edition PHB (my mother threw out the rest of my 2nd Edition books, I had SO MANY . Well, we got talking about D&D again so I went to a Barnes and Noble and checked out what they had and what do you know, there was a new edition and it was by the people to made "Magic the gathering".
My brother and I decided to try and pick it back up. And a student at the school I work for had recently let me borrow Icewind Dale Trilogy (by RAS) so I decided to go with the Realms for my campaign setting.
Since I have read about 90 of the novels and own every 3E realms sourcebook (plus a bunch of 2nd Edition stuff I got off ebay and at a gaming shops used books rack). I am happy to say I have evolved into a full-blown Realms Snob. I scoff at the Eberron band wagon and know nothing more about Greyhawk than Khelban spent some time there.
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Arlenion
Acolyte
36 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jul 2005 : 02:24:37
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I had a few Forgotten Realms novels on my bookshelf but didn't really get into it for a while. It's sort of funny what I thought the Realms were for a while; the books I had were in the "Lost Empires" series so naturally I thought that "Forgotten Realms" referred to these destroyed empires( and to this day I have not discovered where or what "Langdarma" is).
After a while I found some more Realms books and liked them. About a year ago I got the FRCS for third edition but, alas, have not managed to do much with it. |
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Faramicos
Senior Scribe
Denmark
468 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jul 2005 : 13:49:09
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| My first experience with the Forgotten Realms where made in the early years of my fantasy obsession. I had read all of the dragonlance books and needed something new do read. I looked in the library at my school and stumbled across the "Moonshae" series... After that i was hooked. Have been a sucker for amything realms related ever since... All hail the Forgotten Realms. |
"When dragons make war, worlds can only tremble in the shadow of angry wings" |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jul 2005 : 13:58:57
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quote:
Originally posted by Zimeros
Four years ago, I was in a shopping center, when I saw the books of FR and AD&D to sell and it was love in the first view.
Surely my eyes aren't deceiving me... it's Zimeros .
Welcome back to Candlekeep my friend  .
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Sir Luther Cromwell
Learned Scribe
Canada
158 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jul 2005 : 21:23:08
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I don't care what Diablo 2 fans say, Baldur's Gate was a sweet game! Sure, it's graphics weren't perfect, but it was finally a game that was a TRUE rpg (not the modern crappy definition) that was based off of the D&D d20 system. There's a saying I've been passing around.
How does one beat Diablo 2?
Place a drinking bird over the mouse, and it will eventually happen.
Whereas Baldur's Gate made way for a whole new beginning for the d20 system. |
"At what temperature does a Goblin boil?"
"Any Rakshasa should eat a healthy diet that is high in wood elf, and low in shield Dwarf. One must always watch those cholesterol levels."
"If a Svirfneblin falls in the underdark, does anybody care?" |
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jul 2005 : 22:37:23
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quote:
Originally posted by Sir Luther Cromwell
I don't care what Diablo 2 fans say, Baldur's Gate was a sweet game! Sure, it's graphics weren't perfect, but it was finally a game that was a TRUE rpg (not the modern crappy definition) that was based off of the D&D d20 system. There's a saying I've been passing around.
How does one beat Diablo 2?
Place a drinking bird over the mouse, and it will eventually happen.
Whereas Baldur's Gate made way for a whole new beginning for the d20 system.
Er? Baldur's Gate was made for 2e's rules, not 3e's d20. |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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ode904
Learned Scribe
Finland
193 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jul 2005 : 08:09:18
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| My friend first showed me Baldur's Gate(1&2) then few months later he told there were books about this and he have read them. Couple of days went and I was an addict |
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iamunknown
Acolyte
USA
22 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jul 2005 : 08:29:49
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| my first taste of the realms (and D&D in general) was 5 years ago when my uncle gave me a copy of Baldurs Gate for my 16th birthday ^_^ |
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Crennen FaerieBane
Master of Realmslore
USA
1378 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jul 2005 : 20:06:08
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My first taste of the realms was in Pools of Radiance (the 1st one). I must have played that game like 50 times though just waiting for Curse of the Azure Bonds came out (which got me into actually reading Realms supplements). Ah... I miss CGA and EGA graphics sometime!!! :)
C-Fb |
Still rockin' the Fey'ri style. |
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khorne
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1073 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2005 : 15:57:58
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| Baldurs gate 2. Then I read Song of the Saurials and War in Tethyr. |
If I were a ranger, I would pick NDA for my favorite enemy |
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Sir Luther Cromwell
Learned Scribe
Canada
158 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2005 : 17:52:30
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quote:
Er? Baldur's Gate was made for 2e's rules, not 3e's d20.
BG was weird in that you had an option of seeing your rolls, and you could see that it used the d20 system, despite it being Ad&d. |
"At what temperature does a Goblin boil?"
"Any Rakshasa should eat a healthy diet that is high in wood elf, and low in shield Dwarf. One must always watch those cholesterol levels."
"If a Svirfneblin falls in the underdark, does anybody care?" |
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webmanus
Learned Scribe
Sweden
338 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2005 : 10:13:14
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| This is a very interesting post ... I bought the FRCS from 1996 ... around 94 - 96 ... |
Link to my homepage: http://user.tninet.se/~bsu242v/ |
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Mournblade
Master of Realmslore
USA
1287 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2005 : 21:53:12
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quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
Pool of Radience on the C64
Load"*",8,1. [Return]
I then borrowed a couple of modules from friend
Dragons of Flame (An old Dragon lance module)
One of the B series (The one set in the Pyrimid in the middle of the desert (B4?)
I then went out and bought the Grey Box set and the Ruins of Adventure module
The Spellfire and Pool of Radiance are the two oldest novels in my collection
I first was introduced to the realms by the Elminster Collumn in like Dragon 102 or something. I bought the Box set when it was published, and YES!!!!
What finally got me into the realms, was POOLS OF RADIANCE on the C64. ANd in fact my favourite game to date is Secret of the Silver Blades. Those were the funny days when the RED ANCIENT DRAGON had 88 hp, and died in a round:)
I am currently searching for an emulator so I can down load the old c64 games. I miss them, they were such fun. But I have to admit, the flow of the newer games is much better:) I love those too!
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A wizard is Never late Frodo Baggins. Nor is he Early. A wizard arrives precisely when he means to... |
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Damian Naïlo
Acolyte
Colombia
13 Posts |
Posted - 18 Aug 2005 : 22:10:46
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Well, it all started for me in 1994. I was visiting family in another city, and for some circumstances I don't quite remember, I met this cute girl (I was 9, and so was she, so no big ideas, gentlemen ). Anyway, I ended up spending more time with her than with my family. One afternoon at her place she showed me some of her and her older brother's magazines (no nasty stuff there, thankfully ). Among those I found an imported Dragon Magazine (EXTREMELY rare and EXTREMELY expensive, let me add), which we fell in love with.
Anyway, three years later, that same girl moved to where I live, and we met again. After the customary greetings and hugs and all that, she showed me her latest acquistion. She hadn't forgotten at all about the magazine we had read that day. In her hands, she held the infamous gray box! For a few months, we dreamt together of amazing stories, created dozens and dozens of characters (most of them are powerful NPCs in our campaign now) and wrote hundreds of pages of Realmslore (which will eventually make their way to Candlekeep, I swear). Finally, we found another person who was into the Realms, and was willing to DM. So, at the early age of 12, I created Damian Naïlo, she created Ilya Silverstar, and the rest is (Realms) history.
Gosh, it's been so long since I remembered this. I better stop before I get sentimental...... |
"Why won't you look at me!? It's always Alustriel this, Alustriel that......look at me, for Mystra's sake!"
-Ilya Silverstar, from my campaign |
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Patrakis
Learned Scribe
Canada
256 Posts |
Posted - 20 Aug 2005 : 03:57:12
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I was always very interested by ED's articles in Dragon magasine in the early 80s. Bazar of the bizarre and the ecologies probably were first among them. When i saw the gray box at my retail store with the name of Ed on it, i grabed it in a hurry. I've been hooked on the realms ever since. REad all novels up to about 4 or 5 years ago when the whole undertide thing happened. The trend was to write stories so toril shattering that i lost interest and havent read a FR novel ever since. The time of troubles probably started the downfall for me.
Pat |
Dancing is like standing still, but faster.
My site: http://www.patoumonde.com |
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nagitiveD
Acolyte
Canada
5 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2005 : 01:38:02
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| i first expeirienced the FR when tsr came out with the nethril empire box set for AD&D players .it was fantastic, cool new spells and a old but new realm to discover.then i had seen some of the novels in the local bookstore and i've been hooked since. |
Brendon Graycloak |
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ShadowJack
Senior Scribe
USA
350 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2005 : 13:01:12
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| I remember it so clearly... I was a senior in high school (1987), I had my first job and I had exhausted my public libraries collection of fantasy novels. I was desperate for new reading material, so I took one of my first paychecks and went to the bookstore. I think I purchased ten novels, several of them were the series Gary Gygax did for TSR, (Gord the Rogue). One of those books happened to be Darkwalker on Moonshae by Doug Niles. I was hooked. Not long after I was back in Waldenbooks and saw the same picture on the old gray box set. I bought it and was sucked through a one way portal... The artwork and depth of the world and its characters was fascinating to me, even more than the Dragonlance novels. Thus began a ten year long spending spree that was only interrupted for a while. I recently came back to the Realms and am wondering why I ever left... |
ShadowJack |
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Wenin
Senior Scribe
585 Posts |
Posted - 26 Sep 2005 : 23:23:01
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My group's DM purchased the box set, skimmed the book, and told us to head west young men.... for there are streets paved in gold in the cities of Faerun.
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Session Reports posted at RPG Geek.
Stem the Tide Takes place in Mistledale.
Dark Curtains - Takes place in the Savage North, starting in Nesmé. I wrapped my campaign into the Hoard of the Dragon Queen, but it takes place in 1372 DR. |
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Vangelor
Learned Scribe
USA
183 Posts |
Posted - 28 Sep 2005 : 04:14:15
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Well, I feel less bad now. Like many other respondents, I first played in the Realms in a computer game, in my case, Bioware's "Neverwinter Nights".
One hears these games slammed frequently for shoddy misuse of Realmslore, where instead, I found that the hints of a larger world that appeared in NWN encoraged me to seek more information.
As I came to involve myself in a "persistent world" set in the Realms and hosted online, I delved deeper, in order to stitch my character's background into the world as seamlessly as I could. That is, I began to buy books. So Wizards did get more business out of their licensing agreement, and the Realms got a number of new explorers - myself, and the players in the campaigns I run on the tabletop, as well. |
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Amraz one arm
Acolyte
Netherlands
42 Posts |
Posted - 29 Sep 2005 : 18:47:08
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| Well it was 15 years ago when my local gamegroup ran out of material from another "german" rpg. So we had nothing more to do and the company producing that game went down in the mysts of time. And than on a bright summers day, a friend and player came walking in with a big box with Dungeons and Dragons on it. It was a silly boardgame as I remember it. But it was enough for us to rush to our local comic/gameshop and by the first books. And the books have not stopped flowing to my libary since. |
"You smell human to me." |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 29 Sep 2005 : 19:58:37
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After playing the original Baldur's Gate, I fell in love with the Realms and was instantly hooked. The rest, they say, is history.
However, I kind of wish it was the last option that got me into the Realms: a portal. It is kind of true, though, since the only portal to the Realms I've found is the one in my imagination. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
Edited by - Rinonalyrna Fathomlin on 29 Sep 2005 19:59:02 |
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Malarick
Seeker
United Kingdom
86 Posts |
Posted - 10 Oct 2005 : 11:45:55
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For me it all started back in 1990.
I had been playing AD&D for a while then, but most of the adventures were set in Greyhawk. So I wondered about the other campaign settings.
While I was out at a local book store I noticed a novel called 'Pools of Radiance' which carried the Realms logo. So I picked it up, and read the novel cover to cover in a matter of a couple of days. I was hooked!
I didn't actually get around to playing in the Realms until sometime later.
My friends and I introduced Lord Rad to playing the game, and he had himself had a fascination about the novels for some time. After he had played for a while he started to collect all manner of Realms products whether they be novels or gaming accessories.
Soon after Lord Rad started to run his first Realms campaign.
I still have fond memories of those times, as the campaign was richly textured compared to some of the others we had played in the past.
We never finished that campaign, but all these years later we are hoping to revisit it and see it through to the end! |
Malarick
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How did you first encounter the Realms?
