| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Bocklin
Learned Scribe
Germany
151 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Jan 2006 : 16:14:34
|
Hi all,
There is a friendly poster, over at Paizo's Boards, who has been asking FR-pros to help him make his first FR game a real, enjoyable, truely FR experience.
I posted something, but I don't really feel like a FR-pro (not yet  ). So maybe the most FR-fluent of the Candlekeepers could give him some tips?
That's there:
http://paizo.com/dungeon/messageboards/dnd/general/yourDefinitionOfForgottenRealms
Bocklin
|
|
|
KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2006 : 16:28:10
|
Ironically I came here right from answering that thread, without reading this first. I pointed out Steven's comment about everything in the Realms having a story, that its more important to tie events to Power Groups and not to powerful NPCs specifically, that learning a lot about the specific area you play in may be more important that learning everything in the world, that multiple power groups should have interest in the same thing if its fairly important, and that it takes some time and care to try to cultivate a Realmsian feel to things, and that if you don't have time or the obsessive compulsiveness to look at some of those details, you may not pick up what is unique about the Realms.
I just realized I forgot to point out some of those "everything has a story things" with my example of the PCs, when they got a +1 keen bastard sword and a +1 keen dwarven waraxe, that I told them that they were both prime examples of Myth Drannan craftsmanship, bearing the handiwork of elven and dwarven styles both. |
 |
|
|
Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2006 : 17:25:38
|
You could always use words of Ed... Though he offered them as a response to "What is the Realms?" question, I think they can still be useful here. Someone else will have to go post the quote on the WotC forums, since I'm banned from there.
quote:
The Realms is a vast, very detailed world with a long and still-vigorously-unfolding history, and many, many characters. The Realms IS those characters, and if a DM doesn’t present it as a vast, everchanging webwork of intrigues and clashing interests, where caravans move from A to B for good reasons, and rulers (unless mad) don’t operate in a vacuum of whims but grapple with issues (the competing interests of their subjects, not just attacks from rival realms) small and large every day, the DM isn’t really showing players the Realms.
Any style of gaming can be accommodated by the Realms, even the simplest dungeon-crawls or “exploring your own small village and the haunted keep on the hill,” so those who play in it need not memorize huge reams of facts or have its entire bewildering complexity dumped on their heads at any time - - but unlike all of the other available published settings, the Realms has a LOT of detail available for the DM who wants to know WHY two noble families have been feuding for centuries, or who around this crowded royal council table has family or business ties or personal loves and hatreds with who else around the table, or what will happen diplomatically, as one consequence leads to another, if the PCs murder this envoy and frame a local bailiff for the killing (or the bailiff frames the PCs). In the Realms, people live ‘real lives.’ They need food (and usually money), they need water, they have to defecate somewhere, they usually have to obey local laws or customs (or flee to live “outlaw”), and almost all of that has been covered somewhere, in Realms fiction or DRAGON articles or Realms gaming products.
The trade routes (and winds, currents, shortages, and exports that affect them) are outlined, and a lot of Faerûnian laws and customs, slang, and even fashions have been written about: if you love detailed lore, or have a need to plunder that detail for your own gaming world or for any other purpose, it’s there. This much detail isn’t what all gamers want or like, but unlike most other settings, the Realms offers you a choice, because the information is there; we’ve done the work.
|
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
|
|
|
Mystery_Man
Senior Scribe
USA
455 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2006 : 17:55:22
|
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Someone else will have to go post the quote on the WotC forums, since I'm banned from there.
You should go create a user called "The Shorn Rupert" on WoTC's boards and see if anyone recognizes you.  |
|
|
|
KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2006 : 17:57:31
|
| If you've never had your Rupert shorn, you really should try it . . . sorry, Dr. Evil moment . . . |
|
|
|
Kajehase
Great Reader
Sweden
2104 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2006 : 19:28:52
|
| However, since this thread is on the Paizo-boards, that's a pretty lame excuse, Oh Wooly One. |
There is a rumour going around that I have found god. I think is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is empirical evidence that they exist.
Terry Pratchett |
|
|
|
Bocklin
Learned Scribe
Germany
151 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2006 : 20:43:13
|
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Someone else will have to go post the quote on the WotC forums, since I'm banned from there.
Dear Wooly,
May I be so curious and ask what has prompted the Wizs to ban you?
Bocklin |
|
|
|
Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2006 : 21:16:43
|
quote:
Originally posted by Bocklin
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Someone else will have to go post the quote on the WotC forums, since I'm banned from there.
Dear Wooly,
May I be so curious and ask what has prompted the Wizs to ban you?
Bocklin
To save myself the effort of typing it all out again, I'll simply post a link to a previous discussion of it: the tale of my banning. You'll have to scroll down a bit... |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
|
|
|
Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2006 : 21:18:57
|
quote:
Originally posted by Kajehase
However, since this thread is on the Paizo-boards, that's a pretty lame excuse, Oh Wooly One.
My bad. I was thinking it was the WotC ones... I'm only registered on a couple of forums, and I tend not to stray from them. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
|
|
|
Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2006 : 21:20:21
|
quote:
Originally posted by Mystery_Man
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Someone else will have to go post the quote on the WotC forums, since I'm banned from there.
You should go create a user called "The Shorn Rupert" on WoTC's boards and see if anyone recognizes you.
Nope. I decided that I will not participate in those forums in any way, shape, or form, until my banning is rescinded. Nothing else will suffice.
But hey, we have strayed a bit from the original topic... |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
|
|
|
Bocklin
Learned Scribe
Germany
151 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2006 : 22:01:40
|
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
To save myself the effort of typing it all out again, I'll simply post a link to a previous discussion of it: the tale of my banning. You'll have to scroll down a bit...
Interesting.
I saw that KEJr posted Ed's words for you over at Paizo. So no need to register. 
Although it means that you are missing on occasional posts by Eric L. Boyd (one can't get enough from Eric). He is posting every other day at Paizo, mostly helping out folks who are playing a FR version of the Age of Worms AP.
Bocklin |
|
|
|
KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 13 Jan 2006 : 22:06:43
|
Sorry, forgot to mention that I did that.
And Eric's conversion questions often shake loose some interesting Realmslore, since he is giving notes about Waterdeep, Daggerford, and other such places near and dear to our hearts. The down side is that Paizo's boards are so stripped down in their function that its a pain to navigate sometimes. |
|
|
|
Dhomal
Senior Scribe
USA
565 Posts |
Posted - 14 Jan 2006 : 02:35:35
|
Hello-
All of the above comments related to making a game truly FR-ish are great, and should help anyone out - as long as it does not scare them away!
As far as some people missing some posts from Eric Boyd over at Paizo (or otherwhere even) maybe we should have a place where we could at the least link-in relavent threads from other sources. Conversely - as they are Eric's own words - perhaps - with his permission - creating a duplicate here somewhere for handy access. Myself - I am registered over at Paizo and WOTC - but admit thatits been many weeks - likely months - since I traceled to either place. Working full-time - about an hour from home - makes for fewer web-stops for me on work days. Obviously - I have chosen a website of some great quality to make my main stop! :)
Dhomal |
I am collecting the D&D Minis. I would be more than willing to trade with people. You can send me a PM here with your email listed - and I can send you my minis list. Thanks!
Successfully traded with Xysma! |
|
|
|
KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2006 : 07:53:29
|
I'm using this thread as a means of taking a breath after reading the last couple of posts. While its perfectly valid to throw out whatever you want to, I really don't know why someone with so many negative comments feels compelled to jump into a "What is the Realms" thread and make the same old cliched critisms. Innkeepers a TPK? Other than Durnan, how many high level innkeepers are there in the Realms? Oh, and the old "too many epic level characters" muddle as well. Yes, I can see how nearly a hundred characters of 20+ level would be nearly impossible for a continent of several billion sentient beings to support.
(Yes, must exhale)
No, I didn't want to post this on that thread, because I really didn't want to get drawn into a pointless arguement about the Realms in a thread that was suppose to be about what the "feel" of the Realms is suppose to be, not if there are too many high level characters.
I think I feel better now . . . |
|
|
|
Mystery_Man
Senior Scribe
USA
455 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2006 : 15:30:29
|
quote:
Originally posted by KnightErrantJR
I'm using this thread as a means of taking a breath after reading the last couple of posts. While its perfectly valid to throw out whatever you want to, I really don't know why someone with so many negative comments feels compelled to jump into a "What is the Realms" thread and make the same old cliched critisms. Innkeepers a TPK? Other than Durnan, how many high level innkeepers are there in the Realms? Oh, and the old "too many epic level characters" muddle as well. Yes, I can see how nearly a hundred characters of 20+ level would be nearly impossible for a continent of several billion sentient beings to support.
(Yes, must exhale)
Kool-Aid drinkers every one of them. So very aggrevating to see posts like that, it's like the FR haters deliberatly post misinformation to turn off newcomers to the Realms. Very sad. It never seems to go away and it's everywhere. |
|
|
|
Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2006 : 20:41:25
|
Unfortunately, people reporting stuff they heard third-hand as facts is not rare on the internet. Someone who doesn't know 'who forgot the "Forgotten Realms"' claiming 'The power balance as written is implausibly stable' is like someone who hasn't heard of Europe claiming to understand world history.
Some people are reasonable, others believe what they want to despite any amount of citation disproving their canards. |
Edited by - Faraer on 15 Jan 2006 20:43:36 |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
Promoting the FR - help to a DM
