| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
 Posted - 09 Apr 2012 : 17:22:11
|
We all enjoy the Realms in one form or another. Many of us read the novels (rereading old books and buying new ones) and own a few sourcebooks (whether we play D&D or not). And we visit these or other forums dedicated to the Realms.
Outside of these activities, how frequently do you write your own custom Realms material, whether it be for gaming or fan fiction purposes, to share online or just for the fun of it?
Do you like to write anything in particular? NPC descriptions, stocking up dungeon locations and writing descriptions for them, or creating new magic items or spells? Do you write stories set in the Realms? Anywhere in particular?
Do you try to imitate certain designers or authors? Is your stuff mostly written in notebooks or on a computer? Do do you post it online?
Besides writing, do you draw? If yes, what do you draw? Do you create new maps, redraw borders, fill in maps with new locations or illustrate characters, NPCs and buildings? Do you use some form of computer aided design for your art?
Have you ever thought about writing or drawing something, but never got around to sitting down and actually working on it? If so, what’s holding you back?
|
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 09 Apr 2012 17:40:16
|
|
|
Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2012 : 17:23:25
|
As for me, I try to write something down once a day. I freely admit that I try to copy Ed Greenwood’s style and have no compunctions with borrowing ideas from anywhere if they help me get something written down.
I have notepads all over the place (including at work) with NPC ideas written down on them. Many ideas come up while I’m working on my D&D campaign, so I’ve got ideas mixed in with my campaign notes. My email has a folder for ideas and I’ve tucked away another folder at work when something comes to mind that I don’t want to forget.
My art technique most closely resembles that of a tree sloth on downers, so whenever I try to draw something not much more than a few lines appear after an hour of hard work (spent mostly thinking).
I have the most fun writing up NPC descriptions (with no game stats) because I feel like we don't have enough cool NPCs in the post-Spellplague Realms. EDIT: More importantly, I write NPCs because I have a lot of fun doint it.
I can't ever hope to use them all in my Realms campaign, but I like having them at the ready just in case they're needed. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
Edited by - Jeremy Grenemyer on 09 Apr 2012 17:31:39 |
 |
|
|
Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2012 : 17:44:48
|
I am terribly disorganized and have a horrible memory, so usually I write down ideas somewhere then forget them. Or I find the notes later and have no idea what I was talking about. Even as a DM I use few notes, I honestly cant remember anything but an outline, and then just let the game evolve. I even forget the name of my own Npc's if I have to many. See now why I am not a canon-person?
I think more or less everything I have done of organized Realms writing has been posted here (or in the Compendiums)at one time or another, as it is just to much work compared with the use I get out of it in-game. And even that comes in manic bursts of writing followed by months of nothing.
As for drawing. I am competent enough, so characters, items and places are sketched. It helps me remember them. But Maps! I hate maps and mapping with a vengeance. Every homebrew I have worked on has sooner or later stranded on the bloody things.
As for imitating writer. Well, I think Lin Carter and just do what seems like fun and entertaining to me. |
No Canon, more stories, more Realms. |
Edited by - Jorkens on 09 Apr 2012 17:50:40 |
|
|
|
Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2012 : 18:02:45
|
If I count posting here, nearly every single day.
A year ago, even without posting here, I could have made the same claim, but I haven't really written anything up outside of Candlekeep since the fire (nor drawn any maps, which I would also count as 'writing for the Realms').
The last time I created specifically for game-sessions was probably about seven years ago. |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
|
|
|
|
sfdragon
Great Reader
2285 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2012 : 19:18:56
|
I have two fan fiction... ones on line and the other isnt. well it is... might remove it though...
ummm it was sage that I'm supposed to talk with about posting them online here at candlekeep right?? |
why is being a wizard like being a drow? both are likely to find a dagger in the back from a rival or one looking to further his own goals, fame and power
My FR fan fiction
Magister's GAmbit
http://steelfiredragon.deviantart.com/gallery/33539234 |
|
|
|
Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2012 : 19:58:16
|
quote:
Originally posted by sfdragon
ummm it was sage that I'm supposed to talk with about posting them online here at candlekeep right??
That I don't know.
Though I too need to contact Sage. I want to see the new words and phrases that have been collected from Ed's Eye articles find their way into the Glossary of Phrases, Sayings & Words of the Realms. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
|
|
|
The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2012 : 01:41:50
|
I carry two notebooks with me wherever I go and whenever I can -- to work, out shopping, to another part of the house, etc. One is for my Zhoth'ilam work, and the other is purely set aside for Realms tidbits and ideas that I happen across during my daily routines.
That particular notebook is now in its twenty-fourth volume [since I began this active recording technique back in 1993], and is largely always comprised of ideas/full-write-ups for NPCs, locales, historical points, campaign hooks, roughly drawn maps and/or character sketches, Realms-musical tidbits [or, in the case of volume 20 {written about the time I was composing my Realms Music article for DRAGON submission} an entire notebook featuring all manner of curious musical lore for the setting], and other sundry items that will find their ways into my weaving for the Realmslore for campaigns at my table.
I consider each and every one of these volumes to be as equally valued as each and every official Realms product I have in my library. Taken together, they are a vast and elaborate compilation of everything I have done in my Realms, and form the one historical link that demonstrates how my Realms has been shaped over the last 19 years. |
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 |
|
|
|
Dalor Darden
Great Reader
USA
4211 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2012 : 02:07:51
|
I too almost an entire year off from writing Realms material for my games because I wasn't doing anyting at all with FR...just a small amount on my World of Aerk.
Now, I'm going to try and do more...now that my Mother and Father are back on their feet and have their own place and he is much more healthy after his surgeries.
I usually have a pocket sized notebook in my back pocket and a pen in my front pocket (one of the small half-sized pens) for everything. Then if I get an idea while I'm out and about I jot it down and then put it into a larger notebook at my desk before typing it up if I have time. My experience has taught me that things are safer in hardcopy than digital. 
|
The Old Grey Box and AD&D for me! |
|
|
|
MalariaMoon
Learned Scribe
324 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2012 : 02:32:47
|
| How frequently do I write Realms material? Well, continuously would probably be the answer! |
|
|
|
Dennis
Great Reader
9933 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2012 : 05:52:21
|
Very rarely. Though that doesn't mean I love the Realms less. There's just not that much time. |
Every beginning has an end. |
|
|
|
Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2012 : 06:20:34
|
quote:
Originally posted by Dennis
Very rarely. Though that doesn't mean I love the Realms less. There's just not that much time.
I feel you there. Have to grab moments whenever I can. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
|
|
|
smerwin29
Acolyte
USA
32 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2012 : 18:45:51
|
Almost every day since late 2008. Does that count? :-)
First it was working on the Living Forgotten Realms campaign, which was quite literally a full-time job. Then after that it was working on various Realms-based projects for WotC, both for publication or for internal projects. So much great lore, so many great stories, only so many years in one lifetime! |
|
|
|
idilippy
Senior Scribe
USA
417 Posts |
Posted - 10 Apr 2012 : 22:06:38
|
I scribble down notes and such for my games about every day or other day, some of that is lore that I am adding or interpreting differently for my games' Realms, so I guess that qualifies. I also try to come up with lore off the top of my head or in advance for any long-lived creature, item, or location my players in my Forgotten Realms Kingmaker games discover, tying it to existing lore in some cases or making it radically different in others. Some of the "lore" I create for certain things is also purposeful misdirection. Lies spread to have become common knowledge that are actually far removed from their true origins, which may or may not be their canon origins.
I love creating lore off the top of my head more than almost any other aspect of DMing. My favorite session as a DM to date was one where I rolled a random party of wood elves for my characters to encounter while the PCs(all 2nd level at the time) were exploring their lands. It was supposed to just be a light rp encounter, with the elves maybe pointing the PCs towards an adventure location and chatting a bit before going their own way, so I just grabbed a couple of names from a list and was going to have the elves be fairly generic. Fortunately for me, the players' all showed much more interest in them than I thought they would. This forced me to think up names, backgrounds, and a reason for them being there on the spot. They learned what the elves were doing in the area(hunting trolls), pledged their aid, and the session turned into a shared troll hunt followed by a long role play session in camp after the victory. The players traded stories and songs with the elves(also mostly made up on the spot by me, thankfully this was a chat game and the players weren't subjected to my singing any of this!), learned about them and their village(which I decided then had a bit of political conflict that the PCs could one day involve themselves in), and even had a couple of the elves show signs of romantic interest, though nothing came from this in the end. The players also investigated and then traded away a valuable resource that could resurrect a fallen comrade because they wished to return to life one of the elves who gave his life in battle to save one of the PCs, taking a critical hit from a troll instead of the 2nd level wizard or cleric(can't remember exactly). The elves are now personal allies with the players' new nation, and recently arrived with gifts for two of the characters on their wedding day. Eventually maybe the elven lands and players' kingdom might form a combined government, or maybe they will be at odds over resources or expansion. Either way, I have a half dozen NPCs that the players know and consider friends, all because of a randomly generated wood elf hunting band that the PCs decided to take an interest in.
I rarely try to imitate a particular author, though I find that sometimes I am unconsciously trying to ape those who I've most recently read. For example, after reading a bunch of Ed Greenwood's Border Kingdoms work I found some of my own descriptions had similarities to stuff I've read without intending that.
I do not draw anything, as I have zero talent for any form of sketching or painting, though I do play around with badly editing maps to accomodate the needs of my game with the geography of Faerun. |
|
|
|
Tyrant
Senior Scribe
USA
586 Posts |
Posted - 13 Apr 2012 : 22:24:48
|
Very rarely for me. I mainly read the novels and play the video games, though I do buy some of the sourcebooks. I have been making notes about how I would design an RPG and some of that has been with an eye on making it work for a setting like the Realms where things don't always fall into neat character classes and categories.
However, one of my hobbies is building with LEGO blocks (primarily with Castle type sets). And one of the websites I frequent has started a group of guilds for collective building and the one I intend has more of a monsterous bent, so the write up for my characters has them originating on Toril and being blasted to the other world by the Spellplague. So, for that, I have had to write up some background lore for the characters and who they interacted with in Toril before being blown out. I will have to write more for that down the road.
The timing on that worked out great because LEGO just started making figures for one of their series that are snake men. Some are humanoid and some have a serpentine lower half, so they are perfect (aside from coloring, though some green ones are coming later this year) for Yuan Ti. |
Peace is a lie, there is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me.
-The Sith Code
Teenage Sith zombies, Tulkh thought-how in the moons of Bogden had it all started? Every so often, the universe must just get bored and decide to really cut loose. -Star Wars: Red Harvest |
|
|
|
Galuf the Dwarf
Senior Scribe
USA
488 Posts |
Posted - 14 Apr 2012 : 04:04:29
|
I try to create homebrew stuff all the time. My biggest problem is to make sure my stuff if properly reviewed, critiqued, adjusted (if necessary) and used.  |
Galuf's Baldur's Gate NPC stats: forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8823
Galuf's 3.5 Ed. Cleric Domains: forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14036
Galuf's Homebrew 4th Edition Races: forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13787
Galuf's Homebrew Specialty Priest PrCs: forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=14353
Galuf's Forgotten Realms Heralds and Allies thread: forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8766 |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
How frequently do you write Realms material?
