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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
 Posted - 04 Jul 2006 : 23:17:38
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I want to mention something I just realized.
PoF mentions that Duke Eltan and Scar got killed, then brought back.
I don't remember all the details of the first BG novel, as it's been so long since I read it. However, in the BG CRPG, it was Duke Entar Silvershield (an NPC the player never actually meets) who gets killed, and Scar. Duke Eltan didn't get killed at all in that game.
If someone remembers what happened in the novel, I'd appreciate some details. :) Yes, I know "the games aren't canon", blah blah blah, but take my factoid for what it's worth, here. |
"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) |
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Chyron
Learned Scribe
Hong Kong
279 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2006 : 02:42:51
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In the novel of BG,
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
Scar is killed and Grand Duke Eltan tries to have him ressurected, but the attempt fails. (pg 176)
Grand Duke Eltan later dies after falling ill under the care of a healer. (pg 223)
A Duke Angelo is mentioned as leading the force to assist Abdel in defeating the follwers of Sarevok. |
Just My Thoughts
Chyron :)
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2006 : 02:57:25
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Thanks for your comments, even though they've only reminded me of some reasons why I thought that novel was so stupid.
In the game, I recall Duke Eltan falling ill and being under the care of a phony healer (who is of course dispatched by the PC). As for Angelo, in the game he was a Flaming Fist soldier who was actually helping Sarevok--not a duke at all.
I didn't just dislike that novel because it didn't follow the events of the game, though--I also didn't find it to be all that well-written. |
"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 05 Jul 2006 03:00:38 |
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ericlboyd
Forgotten Realms Designer
USA
2066 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2006 : 03:04:08
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quote:
Originally posted by Chyron
In the novel of BG,
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
Scar is killed and Grand Duke Eltan tries to have him ressurected, but the attempt fails. (pg 176)
Grand Duke Eltan later dies after falling ill under the care of a healer. (pg 223)
A Duke Angelo is mentioned as leading the force to assist Abdel in defeating the follwers of Sarevok.
I went back and reread Baldur's Gate (the novel) while writing Power of Faerun to make sure I kept consistent. I had both Scar and Eltan resurrected after the events of the novels to account for 3e sources that had them both alive (probably by mistake, but easily rectified as done in PoF).
FWIW, I've always done game design that keeps consistent with the novels and ignores the computer games. Even the novels I don't particularly like.
--Eric |
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http://www.ericlboyd.com/dnd/ |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 05 Jul 2006 : 03:08:27
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quote:
Originally posted by ericlboyd
FWIW, I've always done game design that keeps consistent with the novels and ignores the computer games.
I didn't expect anything else.  I'm not making condemnations, just observations. In any case, I have my opinions on things, and I'm not shy about expressing them. |
"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) |
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Trace_Coburn
Learned Scribe
New Zealand
137 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jul 2006 : 15:43:28
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Observation for the "Huh. Well, that's cool..." file: in searching the archived "Ed Greenwood's Q&A" files for data in Westgate, I kept coming across this or that answer-post which seemed oddly familiar... then I opened PoF for another detail, and realised why.
A goodly bit of the lore which is found between the covers of Power of Faerūn seems to have appeared in those Q&A threads - virtually word for word, in some cases. Nomenclature for the coinage of various nations? Check. Format of heraldry, and enforcement of same? Yeppers. The vocabulary on p.66? You bet'cha (though the list in print is rather shorter than the one we got in bytes).
Not sure if it'd been spotted/mentioned before, but possibly one of interest to my fellow scribes. I know I got a charge out of it.  And 'repeated' or not, having it in one place, in print, is no bad thing (especially during power-cuts).
EDIT:
@ The Sage - I just combed through the entire thread looking for those posts. Most of them were in the last couple of months, too, yet they didn't stick in my mind for some reason.  Maybe it's because I thought PoF would be one tome I'd never actually buy because it was/would be loaded with esoterica I'd never once reference/use. That (erroneous) initial perception notwithstanding, every single time I re-open the thing to verify a detail/subtlety (which is often), I'm once again blown away by the way its lore is so skillfully blended with RP (semi-IC?) guidelines that shade towards outright crunch only when truly needful.
Funny: an FR book I bought mainly on impulse has become one of my favourite reads/prime references.   I wonder what that bodes for my visit to my FLGS next week, as a copy of Mysteries of the Moonsea should have reached them by now? |
D&D collection: Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual I, Complete Arcane, Arms & Equipment Guide.
FR sourcebook collection: Dragons of Faerūn, Faiths & Pantheons, FRCS, Lords of Darkness, Monsters of Faerūn, Player's Guide to Faerūn, Power of Faerūn, Races of Faerūn, Silver Marches.
I just got back into this, okay? Give me time (or better yet money) - I'll catch up soon enough.  |
Edited by - Trace_Coburn on 07 Jul 2006 16:45:46 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jul 2006 : 15:49:18
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Yes, a couple of us noted that previously in this scroll.
I know it was a positive hoot! for me when I first noticed it  . |
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 |
Edited by - The Sage on 07 Jul 2006 15:50:34 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 07 Jul 2006 : 17:00:04
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quote:
Originally posted by Trace_Coburn
Maybe it's because I thought PoF would be one tome I'd never actually buy because it was/would be loaded with esoterica I'd never once reference/use.
If you happened to note my (very) earlier hesitation with regarding to purchasing this tome, you'll have seen I felt much the same, though I feared a tome chock-full of epic rules and such.
I love the esoterica however. That, and the more mundane Realms details that received treatment.
I'm so glad I was wrong about this book.
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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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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jul 2006 : 03:58:24
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In retrospect, I think what might have killed my enthusiasum was the limited number of pages.
And, I have to be honest--I was hoping for some detail about how to become an all-powerful wizard-queen. |
"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) |
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Kajehase
Great Reader
Sweden
2104 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jul 2006 : 09:50:27
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| Marry Szass Tam? |
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 |
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GothicDan
Master of Realmslore
USA
1103 Posts |
Posted - 09 Jul 2006 : 22:42:31
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| .... Marry LARLOCH. Rule over a whole city of undead. ;) |
Planescape Fanatic
"Fiends and Undead are the peanut butter and jelly of evil." - Me
"That attitude should be stomped on, whenever and wherever it's encountered, because it makes people holding such views bad citizens, not just bad roleplayers (considering D&D was structured as a 'forced cooperation' game, and although successive editions are pointing it more and more towards a me-first, min-max game, the drift away from 'we all need each other to succeed' will at some point make it 'no longer' D&D)." - ED GREENWOOD |
Edited by - GothicDan on 09 Jul 2006 22:42:54 |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2006 : 01:28:17
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| It can't be done via marriage, it has to be done independantly. It's about being a woman who gets things done herself. |
"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) |
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GothicDan
Master of Realmslore
USA
1103 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2006 : 02:21:22
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| Be a housewife with a wand of magic missiles? ;) |
Planescape Fanatic
"Fiends and Undead are the peanut butter and jelly of evil." - Me
"That attitude should be stomped on, whenever and wherever it's encountered, because it makes people holding such views bad citizens, not just bad roleplayers (considering D&D was structured as a 'forced cooperation' game, and although successive editions are pointing it more and more towards a me-first, min-max game, the drift away from 'we all need each other to succeed' will at some point make it 'no longer' D&D)." - ED GREENWOOD |
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Foxhelm
Senior Scribe
Canada
592 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2006 : 02:37:08
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Just think of the Simbul as a mother and epic spellcaster, defeating Red Wizards while taking care of baby. Forcing them to sing lullabies for their lives, nursing will shooting with a staff.
Just some thoughts from a twisted mind. |
Ed Greenwood! The Solution... and Cause of all the Realms Problems! |
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Sanishiver
Senior Scribe
USA
476 Posts |
Posted - 31 Aug 2006 : 02:52:34
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I'm pleased to say this book came in very useful at just the right moment.
This last Monday I shot home from work to do a quick re-read of my .pdf copy of Ruins of Myth Drannor before heading out to game later that night. As play was due to resume with my players moving through the Polyandrium near Myth Drannor on their way to the Tomb of Orbakh, I needed to bone up on the city and its dangers.
Very quickly I realized that, were I to follow RoMDs suggestion of using other adventuring parties as foes in the environs surrounding Myth Drannor, Id need a group of stated out NPCs of suitable levels to challenge the Epic group of characters my players run. Of course I had zero time for such a time consuming task.
What to do?
A little light went off in my head and I started leafing through PoF...and wala! --instant NPC adventuring party in the form of the Company of the Cloak (PoF, page 123-127).
Once the PCs found and entered the tomb and engaged the creatures inside in battle, I had Mhair Gulzrabban spy them out with Prying Eyes and target stragglers with Cloudkill and other spells.
The PCs never fully engaged Mhair and his group, choosing instead to move deeper into Orbakhs tomb. Yet the effect I wanted (to begin the typical up-tempo Myth Drannor adventure where PCs start to get hit from multiple angles by multiple foes) was achieved.
So thanks to Eric or Ed or whomever thought to include the Company of the Cloak. Very useful make things easy on the DM crunch, that.
J. Grenemyer |
09/20/2008: Tiger Army at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz. You wouldnt believe how many females rode it out in the pit. Santa Cruz women are all of them beautiful. Now I know to add tough to that description.
6/27/2008: WALL-E is about the best damn movie Pixar has ever made. It had my heart racing and had me rooting for the good guy.
9/9/2006: Dave Mathews Band was off the hook at the Shoreline Amphitheater.
Never, ever read the game books too literally, or make such assumptions that what is omitted cannot be. Bad DM form, that.
And no matter how compelling a picture string theory paints, if it does not accurately describe our universe, it will be no more relevant than an elaborate game of Dungeons and Dragons. --paragraph 1, chapter 9, The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene |
Edited by - Sanishiver on 31 Aug 2006 02:58:55 |
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Power of Faerūn
