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Penknight
Senior Scribe

USA
538 Posts

Posted - 22 Nov 2007 :  23:19:54  Show Profile Send Penknight a Private Message
Hello all, and a Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.


A quick question about planetouched in the Realms... are there any good aligned deities (or neutral) that have a problem with their celestial servants having intimate relations with mortals? If so, what are the feelings of that religion towards half-celestials and aasimar? Are there any Orders within that faith that deals with planetouched offspring, and what is done with them? Thank you!

Telethian Phoenix
Pathfinder Reference Document
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Asgetrion
Master of Realmslore

Finland
1564 Posts

Posted - 23 Nov 2007 :  01:14:15  Show Profile  Visit Asgetrion's Homepage Send Asgetrion a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by Kuje

Quick question Ed or THO:

Does Berdusk have sewers? :) And if so, how detailed are they or if not, where does waste get dumped? Into the river?



I seem to recall that Berdusk has a sewer system that dumps all the waste into the river -- I may be wrong, though.

"What am I doing today? Ask me tomorrow - I can be sure of giving you the right answer then."
-- Askarran of Selgaunt, Master Sage, speaking to a curious merchant, Year of the Helm
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 23 Nov 2007 :  17:45:06  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hello, all. A Realmslore reply to Kuje and Asgetrion:
I checked with Ed, and he said Berdusk has river-flushed sewers: upstream river-water is diverted for "greywater" uses (washing), drinking water comes from deep wells (some "above" the city and gravity-piped down into it), and dwarven-crafted and maintained pumps within the city siphon water from the flowing river into the sewers, to "wash" material dumped into the sewers (vertical chutes from buildings and alleyway hatches, the latter at low points so rain runoff drains through them rather than flooding streets and cellars) through the sewer system (tunnels about 12 feet tall by 20 wide, usually only a few feet deep in water/sludge), and back into the river.
Ed added that this is fairly typical of river-sited cities throughout the Realms.

love to all,
THO
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Kuje
Great Reader

USA
7915 Posts

Posted - 23 Nov 2007 :  21:17:01  Show Profile Send Kuje a Private Message
My thanks Ed, needed that for my game since a player decided he wanted to know about the sewers. So, thanks!

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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Foxhelm
Senior Scribe

Canada
592 Posts

Posted - 23 Nov 2007 :  23:08:34  Show Profile Send Foxhelm a Private Message
Sorry for the passing of your father. Still as a writer you may be able to do something with that grief to make something creative. Perhaps add a piece of him into your novel or campaign? Write a serious of stories about you and your father? Or even just writing a touching speech about him for a memorial.

Just some of my thoughts, I hope it hasn't upset you.

Now a question....

With Assassin's Creed (a video game) coming out with major plot lines involving genetic memories, do genetic memories exist in the realms? Could a character in the present develop some skill due to a link with one or more ancestors in the past?

Curious,

Foxhelm.

Ed Greenwood! The Solution... and Cause of all the Realms Problems!
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader

USA
5402 Posts

Posted - 24 Nov 2007 :  02:14:49  Show Profile  Visit KnightErrantJR's Homepage Send KnightErrantJR a Private Message
Some comments on the campaign setting of the Paizo folks in their Pathfinder line made me wonder something. I know I already asked about the whole "cross pollination" of the original Realms and worlds like Newhon, but now I'm wondering, other than those things that were already "imported" into D&D in general (i.e. aboleths, mind flayers, and the like), were there any H.P. Lovecraft Mythos style creatures or elements not part of the D&D rules to make an appearance in Toril in Ed's original Realms?
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 24 Nov 2007 :  04:10:13  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hi again, all. Ed's latest lore replies follow:


Foxhelm, right you are. Dad's been creeping in to some of my characters for years (to see if he spotted it when reading the books [and not only Realms tomes]). He'll be stepping far more vividly into a few of them in the future.
As for genetic or inherited or race memories: NDA, I'm afraid. Which should tell you something, right there. :}
KnightErrant, in the original, "home" Realms nightgaunts did flit through some of the gates from Kadath into the Realms - - and two players, playing other characters than the Crazed Venturers or the Knights, did step from the Realms into the Dreamlands (as portrayed in Lovecraft's classic novel THE DREAM-QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH). However, none of the New England-based end of the Cthulhu Mythos has appeared in the Realms to my knowledge, other than a certain player having his character swear by Nyarlahotep once, as a non-Mythos monster was eating one of his legs off. :}

So saith Ed. Who is still cranium-deep in design and fictgion writing work for your future pleasure.
love to all,
THO
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader

USA
5402 Posts

Posted - 24 Nov 2007 :  04:26:42  Show Profile  Visit KnightErrantJR's Homepage Send KnightErrantJR a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

Hi again, all. Ed's latest lore replies follow:


Foxhelm, right you are. Dad's been creeping in to some of my characters for years (to see if he spotted it when reading the books [and not only Realms tomes]). He'll be stepping far more vividly into a few of them in the future.
As for genetic or inherited or race memories: NDA, I'm afraid. Which should tell you something, right there. :}
KnightErrant, in the original, "home" Realms nightgaunts did flit through some of the gates from Kadath into the Realms - - and two players, playing other characters than the Crazed Venturers or the Knights, did step from the Realms into the Dreamlands (as portrayed in Lovecraft's classic novel THE DREAM-QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH). However, none of the New England-based end of the Cthulhu Mythos has appeared in the Realms to my knowledge, other than a certain player having his character swear by Nyarlahotep once, as a non-Mythos monster was eating one of his legs off. :}

So saith Ed. Who is still cranium-deep in design and fictgion writing work for your future pleasure.
love to all,
THO





Much appreciated THO (and interestingly it sounds pretty much how the Mythos creatures are going to be used in the Pathfinder setting as well).
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BARDOBARBAROS
Senior Scribe

Greece
581 Posts

Posted - 24 Nov 2007 :  08:02:14  Show Profile  Visit BARDOBARBAROS's Homepage Send BARDOBARBAROS a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

Hello, all.
I bring some sad news: Ed's father died suddenly yesterday.



I haven't read the posts for a long time...

But here in Greece we have a proverb which says ..Better late than never..

SO please pass my condolences to the greatest leader of Faerun, ED GREENWOOD..

BARDOBARBAROS DOES NOT KILL.
HE DECAPITATES!!!


"The city changes, but the fools within it remain always the same" (Edwin Odesseiron- Baldur's gate 2)
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Kajehase
Great Reader

Sweden
2104 Posts

Posted - 24 Nov 2007 :  11:51:56  Show Profile Send Kajehase a Private Message
Greetings yet again to Ed and the Hooded One. No question today, I just wanted to let Ed know that The Annotated Elminster have sold at least one copy in Sweden - mine. Now to spend a week by the postbox while I wait for it.

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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Mkhaiwati
Learned Scribe

USA
252 Posts

Posted - 25 Nov 2007 :  05:09:45  Show Profile  Visit Mkhaiwati's Homepage Send Mkhaiwati a Private Message
okay, I have two slightly-off questions.

first, my wife wanted (and I obliged) for her birthday the dvd of Loreena McKennitt's Nights at the Alhambra. The scenes of the Alhambra got me thinking about myths and the Moorish architectural concept of using small aqueducts to represent the four rivers of Eden. In the discussion of architecture in the Realms, is there anything that a person can point to and say "This is Chondathan symbolism" or "this villa has Sunite influences" (besides the scenes along the wall)?

second, and I realize that this is stepping onto another author's toes, but Salvatore has a novel called The Pirate King. Please, tell me the ship isn't called the Tarantula? I don't see Drizzt as Frederick, the slave of duty. (Though I hear Bruenor does one heckuva version of "with catlike tread")

Thanks in advance.

"Behold the work of the old... let your heritage not be lost but bequeath it as a memory, treasure and blessing... Gather the lost and the hidden and preserve it for thy children."

"not nale. not-nale. thog help nail not-nale, not nale. and thog knot not-nale while nale nail not-nale. nale, not not-nale, now nail not-nale by leaving not-nale, not nale, in jail." OotS #367
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Laerrigan
Learned Scribe

USA
195 Posts

Posted - 25 Nov 2007 :  06:32:48  Show Profile  Visit Laerrigan's Homepage Send Laerrigan a Private Message
Sympathies to Ed...My husband lost his father just this year, as well. We still keep expecting to see him in his familiar places.

As I can't think of any suitable seguay and I'm trying to keep this brief: I have two Realms questions. First, what *is* the land and weather like along the southern Dragon Coast, from Westgate to Proskur? Is it very different from the northern coast? Having grown up in Florida, I'm automatically picturing low-lying land, high humidity, warm summers, and mild winters, but latitude would possibly indicate other weather, and the name of the Overmoor Trail might indicate that Proskur, at least, is somewhat higher in elevation....I love being able to visualize specific places in the Realms, from geology to the smells in the air =)

Second (and I hope this doesn't sound too odd), what relative prices might be commonly charged by streetwalker prostitutes, and what might be charged by high-class courtesans/consorts who make a patron look good at a high society party (say, Westgate or Waterdeep) and then show their other...skills...later that night as part of the deal? On that note, would it be even moderately common for rich, bored individuals to LIKE the idea of a courtesan who's known to be a shapeshifter such as a changeling, and would that quality draw higher prices?

Great thanks for your willingness to answer so many, many questions from us all, and for the amazing creation that is the Realms :-)

"Your 'reality,' sir, is lies and balderdash, and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever." (Baron Munchausen)
"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was not made for this world." (C.S. Lewis, "Surprised by Joy")
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Wynna
Acolyte

3 Posts

Posted - 25 Nov 2007 :  06:57:41  Show Profile  Visit Wynna's Homepage Send Wynna a Private Message
Very sorry to hear about your loss, sir.

I am researching the Lady's College for an online campaign world, A Land Far Away. I have been able to find a wealth of resources on the web, but one question thus far eludes me. Is there a crest or symbol for either the Lady's College or for the Conclave as a whole? I would like to remain loyal to canon if at all possible by including such an identifying icon.

Thank you in advance for your time and any replies.

A Land Far Away: http:alandfaraway.org/index.php
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 27 Nov 2007 :  15:18:42  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hello again, scribes! Some time back, KnightErrantJr posted this query: "In Swords of Eveningstar, Tanalasta, when discussing what she would do if disaster befell her parents with Vangerdahast, said that she would summon the overpriests of Chauntea, Helm, Torm, and Tyr.
What I am wondering is where these overpriests might be found. I've looked through all of my Cormyr sources, and I can't find any major temples to these gods, but I am curious about this in part because I know these gods are fairly well known and worshiped in Cormyr.
I found a mention in Volo's Guide to Cormyr that Vangerdahast was reluctant to allow the Chaunteans to build a fortified abbey near Arabel to serve as a focal point for their faith, and the only references I can find to Helm are ruined temples and shrines.
So beyond where these faiths' overpriests might be found, are there any abbeys or temples out in the wilderness or off the beaten path in Cormyr of these gods?"
Ed replies:

Not out in the wilderness, no, and the Court of Cormyr has a long-standing objection to temples being built in or near Arabel, Marsember, or the Sembian border without their permission, to avoid Sembian interests using them as a way to infiltrate the realm by shifting monies, armaments, armed agents, and eventually trained warriors into said temples.
The overpriests in question (most of whom appear near the end of DEATH OF THE DRAGON) all have modest apartments (above street-level stores, in buildings the churches own, mostly "one street south" of the Promenade) in Suzail. These are for meetings and short visits (e.g. when appearing at court) in Suzail. All of them actually live and spend most of their time in temples built in the open countryside, just east of Suzail along the main trading road. By decree, these temples CANNOT be walled or fortified, though most have "high hedges" farm fencing around the temple-farms that surround them. The exception is the faith of Malar; their temple is to the northwest of Suzail, in wooded foothills where streams (and therefore critters, and therefore hunting) is plentiful - - and their "holy secret" is that they control a cave with a deepspawn in it, that disgorges large, broad-antlered stags that they can hunt at will, or even magically soothe and pen, for accumulation for their annual fall "Stag Feast" (that they invite nobles and movers-and-shakers to, to win support).


So saith Ed. Who is still far too frantically busy to return to regular lore replies, folks, but who is trying (and I, by rifling his desk for old notes, etc., will also try to partially answer scribes) to "be there" for Realmslore queries.
love to all,
THO
P.S. Good questions, Laerrigan. I've sent them off to Ed, along with all scribes' postings, and we'll just have to see how soon he replies.

Edited by - The Hooded One on 27 Nov 2007 15:22:29
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader

USA
5402 Posts

Posted - 27 Nov 2007 :  16:23:09  Show Profile  Visit KnightErrantJR's Homepage Send KnightErrantJR a Private Message
Much appreciated THO, and pass my thanks along to Ed as well. Its got to kill those poor Helmites to not be able to fortify that temple . . .
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Blueblade
Senior Scribe

USA
804 Posts

Posted - 28 Nov 2007 :  04:13:52  Show Profile  Visit Blueblade's Homepage Send Blueblade a Private Message
Some linked questions for Ed, whenever he can return:

Does Vangerdahast know any of the identities of any Lords of Waterdeep? (Aside from Piergeiron, of course.)
Does Vangey know any Lords of Waterdeep as people (without knowing they're Lords)?
Has Vangey ever "officially" met any Lord of Waterdeep, Masked or Open?
Does Vangey suspect (or has he heard rumors that he takes an interest in) anyone of being a Lord of Waterdeep?
Thanks!
BB
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Jamallo Kreen
Master of Realmslore

USA
1537 Posts

Posted - 28 Nov 2007 :  19:55:42  Show Profile  Visit Jamallo Kreen's Homepage Send Jamallo Kreen a Private Message
Well met! Dear Lady Hooded One, I have a group of tightly related questions which you yourself may be able to answer (I hope!). Since Ed runs AD&D, I wonder if he allows the spell ultravision, and if so, what in the Realms looks different when fluoresced? I suppose that many minerals and flowers look different in ultravision and may be distinguished from one another by it, but are there any beasts or "monsters" which Ed has indicated look different when viewed in ultravision (e.g. do baatezu and tana'ari glow different colors)? Please answer, dear Lady. Your worshipful servant eagerly awaits tidings from you!


I have a mouth, but I am in a library and must not scream.


Feed the poor and stroke your ego, too: http://www.freerice.com/index.php.

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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 29 Nov 2007 :  03:08:23  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Hello again, all. Poor Ed is still buried beneath mountains of electronic verbiage, and writing hard, but I did get from him a partial reply for Wynna:

The "sigil" of the Lady's College (emblazoned on its doors, and used on banners, bookplates, bookmark ribbons, and stationery) is a circle of nine stars (the seven stars of Mystra, and two more representing a seeker after arcane knowledge and that seeker's teacher or answerer of the seeker's question).

So there you have it. Ed didn't mention the Conclave in his reply, so I'll charge right back in and have at him (he likes that ), and see what he says.
love to all,
THO
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Wynna
Acolyte

3 Posts

Posted - 29 Nov 2007 :  07:13:35  Show Profile  Visit Wynna's Homepage Send Wynna a Private Message
Thank you so very much for the speedy response. Ed didn't mention a background color for those stars, did he? And from the response, it sounds like it's a circle with all nine stars in a ring, not seven stars around two in the middle? No matter the answer, I'm thrilled to have the information already given.

Thank you.

A Land Far Away: http:alandfaraway.org/index.php
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 29 Nov 2007 :  15:39:18  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Whoops, sorry, Wynna!
I didn't highlight all of Ed's answer to you, when copying it into my post! Here are the missing sentences:

"The eight-pointed stars have longer vertical points than the rest of the 'burst,' and are customarily depicted in white on a deep purple background, which continues unbroken across the encircled ring of space. Etched and embossed representations of the sigil have no colour; they are never painted or tinted."

Whew. Sorry about that. I'm not trying to omit or censor Ed's Realmslore, honest!
love,
THO
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Wynna
Acolyte

3 Posts

Posted - 29 Nov 2007 :  17:58:01  Show Profile  Visit Wynna's Homepage Send Wynna a Private Message
That is just fantastic information. Thank you, and thank Ed.

A Land Far Away: http:alandfaraway.org/index.php
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore

1419 Posts

Posted - 29 Nov 2007 :  23:00:04  Show Profile  Visit Charles Phipps's Homepage Send Charles Phipps a Private Message
Could you describe the personality of Xvim, Ed?

I was interested in how he differed from Bane as both a God and a Mortal.

I was also curious what he'd start doing if he somehow survived his father's return.

My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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Gelcur
Senior Scribe

499 Posts

Posted - 30 Nov 2007 :  04:14:55  Show Profile  Visit Gelcur's Homepage Send Gelcur a Private Message
Greetings, I just completed the Spellfire trilogy and researched many of my questions already. I understand the books were highly edited and not Ed's intended storyline, sadly. Though I enjoyed all three books to no end.

I was wondering what would have been the purpose of the ring the Simbul gave to Shandril? I made a mental note when I read about it in Spellfire having peaked my interest and then looked for it intently as I read the other two books. I was just very curious as to what Ed had originally intended to do with it.

Thank you for conveying my message THO and thank you for your time Ed, best wishes to the both of you.

The party come to a town befallen by hysteria

Rogue: So what's in the general store?
DM: What are you looking for?
Rogue: Whatevers in the store.
DM: Like what?
Rogue: Everything.
DM: There is a lot of stuff.
Rogue: Is there a cart outside?
DM: (rolls) Yes.
Rogue: We'll take it all, we may need it for the greater good.
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 30 Nov 2007 :  05:04:03  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Aha! Gelcur, I can answer this one! (Having asked Ed that very same thing myself.)
The ring would call on The Simbul if Shandril ever activated it, and at the same time instantly make Shandril aware of its powers, which were to:
• Snatch The Simbul to Shandril's side, and/or:
• Englobe Shandril and one other being of her choice (probably Narm) and all the items they are wearing, carrying, or holding in a sphere of force. Or:
• Whisk Shandril and one other being of her choice (probably Narm) and all the items they are wearing, carrying, or holding into The Simbul's presence, if she's in the Realms. If not, it would deposit them in her throne room in Aglarond (where of course there would be one of her apprentices "on duty," ruling, in her absence; they would recognize the means by which the ring-user appeared, and would render any necessary aid).
Ed also said the ring had some other, minor powers (including glowing upon command, feather fall for wearer, could create an equivalent of Tenser's floating disc, and turned purple in the presence of poison [gas, liquid if immersed, food or contact poison if touched to it, or if wearer ingested it; Ed didn't specify them all]. The ring was made by a now-dead Magister, and augmented by unspecified Chosen, and later given to The Simbul's predecessor in Aglarond (whence it came to her).
In Ed's original MS, the ring did have a specified fate, but I cannot recall what it was.
love,
THO
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 30 Nov 2007 :  05:30:29  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One

• Whisk Shandril and one other being of her choice (probably Narm) and all the items they are wearing, carrying, or holding into The Simbul's presence, if she's in the Realms.


But what about the bit with spellfire and translocational magics not agreeing with each other?

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 30 Nov 2007 :  18:09:04  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Wooly, I can't get hold of Ed right now to get more exact wording, so I'm just going to paraphrase his lore answer to that very issue, as given to us some time ago.

Translocational spells (teleport, dimension door, et al) "work" by taking the transported beings, items, air in their lungs and immediately around them, etc from their starting place, and then "racing them along the Weave" to a new spot. Somewhat like racing along a spiderweb of interstate highways so blindingly fast the trip seems instantaneous. Sometimes unintended destinations are reached, but that's how the journey "happens." Beings who have spellfire (unless they are Chosen or others able to perceive the Weave and therefore "warp it and ride it," regardless) can't "ride along" the Weave; they instantly burn or fall through its strands (which aren't really strands at all, but flows of natural forces [convection currents, gravity, breezes, decomposition and combustion, etc. etc.]), and so remain where they are. Being seen as "immune" or "unaffected" by translocation magics.
This particular ring, and certain other items and even spells of the highest level (2nd edition: 10th level spells), accomplish such journeys in a different way: they drop the to-be-transported beings, etc. out of contact with the Weave, and then reconnect them with another strand, elsewhere in the world.
In other words, if we see Toril as a chessboard that's actually an open grid of wires rather than a solid surface, these second sort of magics don't enable travel across the game board that is Toril; rather, they lift the board up, leaving a playing piece (the to-be-transported) behind, and then move the board and set it down again so that the piece is now in a new square of the board.
Make any sense at all?
You see, when Ed discusses "metamagic" with us (Realms players, that is), he talks on a whole different level than the published game rules. You can see hints of that in the "toolbox" spells printed in VOLO'S GUIDE TO ALL THINGS MAGICAL. Problems have arisen many times over the years when other designers working in the Realms conceive of magic differently (and why shouldn't they? They are trying to remain consistent with, or augment and alter, only the published game material) than Ed does, and therefore shape magics differently.
Many of Ed's original spells are long, complicated rituals, which players can have their PCs improvise, like cooks in a kitchen substituting different ingredients or the cooking implements on hand - - but very little of those have made it into print.
And no, he does NOT have time right now to elaborate. That much I know very well. There are 3 novels, the 4e Realms, and some other stuff that's NDA'd on his plate, first.
love,
THO
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Faraer
Great Reader

3308 Posts

Posted - 30 Nov 2007 :  20:15:30  Show Profile  Visit Faraer's Homepage Send Faraer a Private Message
We have a Plato's cave situation with Realms magic: lots of example manifestations, but only glimpses and inferences about the underlying structure. Was there ever serious talk of presenting the thing itself?
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Sanishiver
Senior Scribe

USA
476 Posts

Posted - 01 Dec 2007 :  06:05:02  Show Profile  Visit Sanishiver's Homepage Send Sanishiver a Private Message
This is the kind of thing I really like.

I’ve tried to do it a bit in my campaign (with our own versions of spellsongs that are a quantum leap from atypical 3E Bard-class abilities).

I hope 4E has a door that can open big enough to let more free-form stuff like this in for use in game play.

09/20/2008: Tiger Army at the Catalyst in Santa Cruz. You wouldn’t 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
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore

5056 Posts

Posted - 02 Dec 2007 :  03:57:02  Show Profile  Visit The Hooded One's Homepage Send The Hooded One a Private Message
Faraer, there was always a back-and-forth argument between these two conflicting needs/desires: 1. To explain EVERYTHING for the paying customers. Drawbacks: VERY long and complicated rules tomes (Book of Ebon Bindings, anyone?) that some gamers will find a turnoff for various reasons, AND stamps out the "awe and wonder" of having some mysteries (especially in Realms fiction).
and
2. That there sense of wonder, and keeping it paramount in a long (three-decade or more) "slow reveal" in novel after novel of Realms fiction, so that there were always new secrets (another layer of "secret lore," if you will) behind the secrets just revealed.

Personally, I'd not be surprised if part of the current reboot of the setting is a desire to open up "design elbow room" again by restoring that time of exploring the new, without lots of accumulated lore to remain consistent to.
I'm not advocating this line of thinking, mind you, just guessing that such a desire for freedom may have played a large part in deciding to relaunch the setting.
And yes, this of necessity endangers the "splendid store of accumulated history and lore" (to use Ed's words) that current fans of the Realms have come to value so much.

However, that's why there has been ongoing design debate about Realms magic at the highest levels. Of course, the easy way out of such arguments has always been the one chosen: just adhere to the current game edition's magic rules. Realms window dressing (prestige classes, feats, etc.) can be added, but the Way Things Work must match the core game rules. "Easy way" is not necessarily a value judgement on my part; others might say "most elegant way" or "most sensible way, given that this is a gaming company and this is a D&D product."

It's also not a debate that ever really ends. Like all of the classic saw-offs (guns vs. butter), it surfaces again and again, having been "settled" only for a given game edition or company administration or design team, or . . .
love,
THO

Edited by - The Hooded One on 02 Dec 2007 03:58:14
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A Publishing Lackey
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Posted - 02 Dec 2007 :  16:22:17  Show Profile  Visit A Publishing Lackey's Homepage Send A Publishing Lackey a Private Message
Now, that post, THO, has articulated more clearly one of the root tussles in both fantasy fiction series design and FRP worldbuilding than many articles I've read.
Were you at the Worldcon (World SF Convention) in Toronto a few years back, when Ed was on a panel with Guy Gavriel Kay, Nick Sagan, et al? This very thing was tossed around (Guy worked on editing The Silmarillion, but ultimately disagreed with Christopher Tolkien's decision to publish everything of his father's unfinished notes, citing J.R.R. Tolkien's wise judgement that "readers should be left wanting more," and Ed pointed out to the mainly sf reading (not gaming) audience that providing specifics in the form of game rules and stats is necessary for roleplaying, but is always done at a cost in lost "sense of wonder" and mystery.
In short, no right answers, but an essential dilemma that must be continually wrestled with. With the continued popularity of a setting (sales) dependent on the perceived success of each successive wrestling match.
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