| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Baptor |
Posted - 16 Apr 2015 : 06:53:43
So its becoming really clear that WotC has no intention of producing an actual FRCS book this time around, and even if they one day maybe intend to think about, I've stopped caring.
That said, I'm in a bit of a pickle, and I'm hoping you guys can help me out.
My group and I primarily played 3e Realms, and heavens I wish I'd stopped there. But we went on to play some stuff in 4e Realms before shelving it, then we picked it back up in the playtest hoping for a 5e Realms. Well that ain't coming.
So we are now stuck with picking a place to start our Realms (I'm the DM) and moving on. We've kicked around a few ideas I'd like to share and get your input.
1. Reset to 1370s.
Pros - We have a great book full of rich lore and info to use.
Cons - We invalidate all adventures we did during the Spellplague and the Sundering.
2. Reset to 1470s.
Pros - We still have a book, and a really dangerous setting to be heroes in.
Cons - 4e is weird. We'd invalidate all adventures during the Sundering.
3. Move on to 1500s.
Pros - We don't invalidate previous adventures.
Cons - No book as a base.
4. Move on to 1500s, but the Spellplague never happened.
Pros - We can use the 3e Book, and pretend nothing much changed for a hundred years.
Cons - This makes no sense. We'd invalidate our post 1370s games.
What do you guys think? Personally i think #4 is out for sure, but the others all have merit. I really want to be able to use a book though. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Diffan |
Posted - 17 Apr 2015 : 23:02:45
id say move on, so #3. It also gives you the greatest of freedoms to change or alter anything going forward. Since the release schedule is slow, you can take anything they produce and alter it to suit your needs. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 17 Apr 2015 : 22:17:23
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
This is why I went with an 'alternate reality' approach - I can cherry-pick whatever I like from any edition/era. 
There's a lot of merit to this approach. If I was running a Realms campaign, it would essentially be an alternate reality Realms -- mostly the same, but following a somewhat altered path forward, after a certain point. |
| Delwa |
Posted - 17 Apr 2015 : 21:16:58
quote:
Originally posted by SaMoCon
Is it out of the question to use the "hand-wavium" of the Realms' magical nature to plop the PCs into the era you all desire? There are so many unexplained mystical events and rare phenomena that it is not unheard of for people to disappear from or appear into existence. The reason could even be a plot hook in and of itself - off the top of my head, a lingering power of a dead god activates to transport this group of "champions" to the point in time that could change the fate of that deity and the greater world. It is a unique, cosmic event that does not invalidate anything for the PCs but gives them the keys to change things for others.
I like this approach. I personally plan on having adventures using the 5e ruleset in the age of Netheril, in 3E, etc. I just come up with an adventure/campaign idea and plop it in the appropriate ere and area.
Of course, most of my players like to roll up new PC's for every adventure or campaign I run, so there's no hiccup there. Even if they wanted to play the same PC, it could be fun. It'd be like Dr. Who, whipping in and out of time and space, just maybe without a TARDIS.  |
| Markustay |
Posted - 17 Apr 2015 : 19:58:57
This is why I went with an 'alternate reality' approach - I can cherry-pick whatever I like from any edition/era. |
| SaMoCon |
Posted - 17 Apr 2015 : 18:45:34
Is it out of the question to use the "hand-wavium" of the Realms' magical nature to plop the PCs into the era you all desire? There are so many unexplained mystical events and rare phenomena that it is not unheard of for people to disappear from or appear into existence. The reason could even be a plot hook in and of itself - off the top of my head, a lingering power of a dead god activates to transport this group of "champions" to the point in time that could change the fate of that deity and the greater world. It is a unique, cosmic event that does not invalidate anything for the PCs but gives them the keys to change things for others. |
| Jeremy Grenemyer |
Posted - 17 Apr 2015 : 07:39:21
Option number three is the best choice.
You get to continue the legacy of your previous adventures, and you have a free hand to take the Realms in whatever direction you want.
I am betting you have a ton of adventures or other gaming material you have never used, so you can throw that into the Realms and not worry about several new releases coming along to mess it all up.
Alternatively you can use the new hardback Realms adventures as they are published and be on a track to play through at least 2018. |
| Baptor |
Posted - 17 Apr 2015 : 01:04:50
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I'm remaining on record as saying that I think there will be a 5E FRCS. Just because we've not been given info about it doesn't mean it's not something they're planning or actively working on.
First, thanks for the feedback on my question.
Second, we have heard about it. First, Mearls said there were no plans for a 5e Realms in the foreseeable future. Considering they've said they know what they are doing through 2018, that is not good. Then they did a bit of backsliding and said they would be making Realms stuff if not necessarily a FRCS. Then most recently we've got this doosey from Chris Perkins:
"One of our creative challenges is to package [setting] material - reintroduce facts and important details about our worlds - in a way that we know that DMs and players are going to use, that's going to excite them, that's actually going to surprise them. We may get that content out, but I'm not going to guarantee it's going to be a book. I'm not going to guarantee that it's going to be anything that you've seen before. But it will be something."
From this, and other bits I've gleaned, I think they plan to introduce setting material through the published adventures. They've said outright they think the Setting tomes are not good sellers, are rarely used by DMs, and gather much dust (their words not mine). They've also said they feel like DM's don't need or want to know every detail of a setting, just what's needed to run the adventure.
For me, I am 90% convinced there will be no actual FRCS book. There will be adventures and maybe online articles releasing bits of realmslore, not unlike Ed's old columns in the early days. But they've made it all but clear that they think a Setting book is a waste of time.
In any event, while I love 5th edition rules, they've soured me on waiting for their canon setting stuff. I endured the Spellplague and bought it up. I will not fall for this again. |
| Ateth Istarlin |
Posted - 16 Apr 2015 : 18:17:44
Our new campaign is set in the 1370's, so I think I'll join the others in suggesting that. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 16 Apr 2015 : 17:33:52
I'm remaining on record as saying that I think there will be a 5E FRCS. Just because we've not been given info about it doesn't mean it's not something they're planning or actively working on.
Now, for the actual request...
I, too, will join the crowd in saying go for the 1370s. My personal preference is to reset to right after Cloak & Dagger, but before the Return of the Archwizards and the 3E FRCS. I, personally, would respin some of the 3E stuff, and totally negate other 3E stuff. And obviously, the Spellplague and later Sundering would not happen. But that's just me.
Doing anything before the Spellplague means you've got the largest amount of potential lore to use.
Alternatively, reset all the way back to the OGB, and redo whatever you want from that point.
And honestly, if you're building your own custom Realms, don't worry about invalidating what was done before by your guys. You could simply say it's a different Realms and go from there, changing what you need to.
Either way you go, you're either invalidating the past of a different set of characters, or you're invalidating canon from some era. Since something has to go, either way, I say don't worry about it -- just go with what works for your group.
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| Artemas Entreri |
Posted - 16 Apr 2015 : 15:32:12
1300s were fun, I'd go with that. |
| Delwa |
Posted - 16 Apr 2015 : 15:28:50
I'd advocate 3.5. Move to the 1500's, use the 3E book as your base, and tweak things as needed so you don't invalidate the Spellplague and Sundering adventures you had. |
| ZeshinX |
Posted - 16 Apr 2015 : 15:02:14
I'd advocate resetting to the 1370s (or to the OGB, pre-ToT if you have access to that material).
While my group didn't stick with the Realms for too long after 4e came along (jumped over to PF/Golarion), but we ignored 4e's changes and just kept going in the 1370s. We never really paid much attention to the goings on of the canon stuff of any era (it might get a mention here and there, but overall it was generally just background noise and stage dressings).
If you're looking for continuity of characters (whether the same or just seeing the impacts of past characters), yeah, resetting's a bummer, but no matter which way you go, there's gonna be a downside. |
| xaeyruudh |
Posted - 16 Apr 2015 : 14:44:05
It still feels strange to say this, because it's still very recently that I was crusading to rewind the timeline to 1357, but my vote would be to continue to 1500. Partly for the pros & cons you've listed, and partly for one two more pros.
Backing up to the 1370s or 1470s would work best if you start a new campaign... which the players may not be totally thrilled about if they're really into the characters they have right now. And if you're moving forward into 1500, then omitting the Spellplague would be weird... what would be the point of moving forward, without the event that was the whole reason for moving forward?
So, in my opinion, moving past both the Spellplague and the Sundering is the best course. The extra pros for this are:
1. This is where all the designers and former designers who are still trying to contribute to the canon Realms will be focusing their efforts. If they want to sell their work to WotC, they'll be writing for 1500. And some of that work is going to be awesome.
2. Much of the 1500 work will fit well with earlier time periods, and won't emphasize the unpleasantness of the Spellplague, so it will combine the high points of the earlier settings with whatever bonuses came from the Spellplague and Sundering.
And the lone con? The lack of an official setting book? You'll very likely be finding an increasing amount of material here on Candlekeep which can serve as a FRCS. Admittedly, it might be disorganized --Impiltur in George's thread, Cormyr in Jeremy's threads, and various other regions scattered around as dazzlerdal, myself, and others with too much time & passion on our hands hammer them into shape-- but the FRCS will happen *here* whether or not there's ever a book with the WotC logo on it.
Just my two cents. Good luck with whichever way you decide to go. |
| sylvain |
Posted - 16 Apr 2015 : 14:19:43
+1 on resetting to early 1300s
Problem with 1500s is that there is very little known, so you pretty much have to make up all the NPCs from scratch, I mean, you may as well create your own world if set in a time where there is next to no lore other then Tyranny of Dragons.
The lack of a 5E Campaign Setting or follow up to the Sundering has left many of us in limbo.
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| Gary Dallison |
Posted - 16 Apr 2015 : 08:34:11
Its always nice to start again. Reset the timeline to 1340 ish when stuff starts to get interesting, then you can have your pcs take part in every major event in Toril.
That way you have all sourcebooks from 1e, 2e, and 3e to plan your adventures and draw resources from (without having to adapt them to the future timelines and change the first names of every character).
You can use whatever rules you like, a fighter is still a fighter in any edition, but as far as lore and the richness of the setting, you have most of the detail pre 1370s so it makes sense to play during that era.
If you want to keep the same characters then do a bit of time travel and you can then explain that from the point they arrived in the past they created an alternate timeline that is ever so slightly different (or vastly different depending upon their actions) and then you can do what you want with it.
Who wouldnt want to play a campaign set during the Darkstalker Wars, the Reclamation of Tethyr, Halaster's Harvestide, the Dracorage, the Manshoon Wars. And you don't have to invalidate your 1370s game, you can even have the past selves continue doing things as they did before (although events are slightly altered by your players arrival) and so your players may now have to create alternate identities for themselves and perhaps aid their past selves in any notable failures. If you have ever read Terry Pratchett's Night Watch then imagine playing a campaign like that but it never ends because you never get to go back home (maybe its more like Quantum Leap). |
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