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talkitron
Acolyte
6 Posts |
 Posted - 09 Sep 2018 : 19:17:11
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I haven't purchased most fifth edition game products and haven't purchased any 5E-timeline novels. It is clear from the internet discussion of game products that non-Chosen, human characters such as Volo are still alive, despite the large time gap between 3E and 5E. Is there a canon explanation for why Volo and other human characters are still alive?
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2442 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2018 : 21:00:45
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| There is a semi-explanation in one of the earlier Onder magazines. IIRC, some authors used the Spellplague as an explanation. Other characters have less clear (there is no explanation for Mirt, for instance). |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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BadLuckBugbear
Seeker
USA
92 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2018 : 21:15:17
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quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X
There is a semi-explanation in one of the earlier Onder magazines. IIRC, some authors used the Spellplague as an explanation. Other characters have less clear (there is no explanation for Mirt, for instance).
I thought Mirt the Moneylender was soul-trapped in a magic axe and released a long time later.
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Ewan Cummins |
Edited by - BadLuckBugbear on 09 Sep 2018 21:15:44 |
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Irennan
Great Reader
Italy
3802 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2018 : 21:35:05
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| Volo was made a sort of chosen by Mystra, one of the many places where she hid a spark of her power before the Spellplague (she chose Volo because none of her enemies could have suspected him, and because he had shown himself able to survive through what many couldn't). Mirt was trapped in stasis in a bluefire item. |
Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things. |
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talkitron
Acolyte
6 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2018 : 22:11:14
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| Thanks all. Are Mirt and Volo the main non-Chosen humans to remain alive? |
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Irennan
Great Reader
Italy
3802 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2018 : 22:29:28
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| Durnan is alive too, because he has a few potions of longevity in his treasure. |
Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things. |
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The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 09 Sep 2018 : 23:57:17
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There are many, many many possibly explanations:
1st - this is a world where you can raise and resurrect the dead with a myriad of different magics.
2nd - numerous NPCs are long lived in some way (Chosen for example).
3rd - Ed made the bluefire items that brought his NPCs back and there was never a roster of who was all inside so fill em up.
4th - as mentioned above, some characters were whisked through time in some way by the spellplague.
5th - characters who are trapped somehow in magic would still be alive; the most basic possible examples of this entrapment are:
a) temporal stasis magic
b) petrification magic
c) long term sleep (like Phesult's sleep of the ages)
d) imprisonment magic
e) magic jar magics.
f) longevity magics (like elixirs of youth or, my personal favorite, rings of timelessness)
g) cloning magics (Manshoon anyone? :P)
All of these are basic explanations for how one would still be alive. A little creativity makes the possibilities nearly endless and this is a good thing. One of the reasons the Realms was, in my humble opinion, the best campaign world TSR had was the huge number of characters that all the novels and supplements gave DMs to work with. There were literally thousands of them. The time jump into 4th E ostensibly ruined that aspect of the realms so now you have to gimmick them back into fantasy life. |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3285 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2018 : 01:12:56
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| Yep, everything The Masked Mage said... |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Fineva
Seeker
Canada
79 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2018 : 03:51:00
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| Becoming a Sharn in service to the pentad of gods then dropping Sharn form when the Secret City is built. |
I" am Sathia of Orogoth |
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The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2018 : 06:32:30
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| Yeah, forgot the Sharn thing - was not a fan so maybe I blocked it out. |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7966 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2018 : 09:36:59
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The Realms has reincarnation ... not as strictly written in the spell descriptions ... but simply an explanation for a person/identity being "reborn" again at some later time, effectively identical to the "original" person, for reasons (great or small) beyond mortal understandings. Realmslore seems to do this a lot with popular/powerful elves.
The Realms also has time travel - accompanied by the usual baggage of time-editing and time-cheating and handwaved-paradoxes and parallel universes and all that.
And the Realms has always suffered the whims of deities and powers, gods and goddesses, angels and fiends, artifacts galore. Any of which can simply decree a person exists "just because". |
[/Ayrik] |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
11689 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2018 : 12:27:17
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| weave ghosts, spectral mages, turning oneself into a magic item (as in instilling one's intellect into the item) are some I've used as well. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3285 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2018 : 15:18:29
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| The Demiplane of Grodd is yet another example... |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Starshade
Learned Scribe
Norway
279 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2018 : 15:45:52
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| Using an vampiric dagger on a Shadovar. |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3736 Posts |
Posted - 10 Sep 2018 : 17:47:58
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| -One could probably claim Elven ancestry somewhere in their past. Or some other long-lived race. Not enough to be considered a Half-X, but enough to extend their lifespans. |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)
Elves of Faerūn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerūn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
Edited by - Lord Karsus on 10 Sep 2018 17:48:25 |
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The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 11 Sep 2018 : 01:38:41
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quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
weave ghosts, spectral mages, turning oneself into a magic item (as in instilling one's intellect into the item) are some I've used as well.
Still wish there was a good write-up for weave ghosts
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moonbeast
Senior Scribe
USA
522 Posts |
Posted - 11 Sep 2018 : 03:00:23
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I'd just tell all my Players that all the "normal" NPCs of Faerun have been drinking their daily potions of Handwavium. So they get to live on forever and ever because
. "The God-Wizards of the Coast" willed it so.
You'd at least think that
. for the sake of verisimilitude
. that at least a few of these (non-mortal) NPCs would have died of old age, or at least would be super-old by the time of 5th Edition. I mean, think about it
. even the most LEGENDARY world-saving uber-heroes of Tolkien Fantasy had succumbed to old age and natural mortality (e.g. the great hero Bilbo Baggins is seen as a very old-aged Hobbit when he reprises in the LOTR). It was explained that his aging was greatly slowed during the years WHEN he possessed the One Ring. But when he voluntarily bequeathed the Ring to his nephew Frodo, the great hero Bilbo began to suffer the effects of natural aging (and mortality) once again.
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The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 11 Sep 2018 : 03:55:05
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| Bilbo never died... Neither did Frodo... just saying. |
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talkitron
Acolyte
6 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2018 : 19:29:42
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| Thanks for all the responses. |
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Delnyn
Senior Scribe
USA
888 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2018 : 00:29:07
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quote:
Originally posted by Irennan
Volo was made a sort of chosen by Mystra, one of the many places where she hid a spark of her power before the Spellplague (she chose Volo because none of her enemies could have suspected him, and because he had shown himself able to survive through what many couldn't). Mirt was trapped in stasis in a bluefire item.
What a laugh to see Elminster's face if that were the case and he found out. |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2442 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2018 : 02:14:49
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| The answer is in "Volos Waterdeep Enchiridion" (a in-universe update to Volos Guide to Waterdeep, that comes in the new adventure). Seems Volo was trapped within an Imprisonment spell before the Spellplague, and was released only recently. |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4426 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2018 : 15:54:04
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Minsc was petrified outside of Baldur's Gate until he was recently un-petrified in 1490's.
In our Avatar game - 4 of the people in our group (all humans) attempted to use a mirror portal found by Khelban Blackstaff to send us back to Earth. This was in 1385 as the Blue Fire swept across the face of Faerūn. We dove into the portal but it was struck by the Spellplague, halting the magical teleportation mid-transport. The mirror was long forgotten for over a century when it was found by a mage in Blackstaff tower. Curious as to the workings of this seemingly "inert" magical device, he took it back to his classroom for his students to study. One student accidentally activated the mirror and out we plopped - 94 years later into 1479 DR. We eventually found the rest of our party, one - a dwarf battlerager - had a booming restaurant business called the Busty Wench that prided itself on it's.....wings and live entertainment (yes, it's a Forgotten Realms version of Hooters - we were like 20 at the time of the campaign haha) while the other dwarf had a successful Smithy weapon and armor shoppe. The third was a half-elf assassin that created his own martial school for troubled kids in Baldur's Gate. |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1419 Posts |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2442 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2022 : 15:28:49
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| Given the backstory between those two, I'm glad Asper is dead. Their relationship was disturbing... |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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TheIriaeban
Master of Realmslore
USA
1289 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2022 : 16:37:43
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I have a human NPC that was disfigured because of magic. He eventually did something that attracted Moradin's attention. Moradin knew that he wanted to look normal again so as a reward for his efforts to aid dwarves, Moradin made him look like a normal human again. Of course, in the vein of "be careful what you wish for", Moradin went a step further and made him internally a dwarf because dwarves are perfection incarnate. So, he has all the dwarven racial benefits not based on height or education. That also means he now has a dwarven lifespan. His kids are also considered half-dwarves as well. That is why he is alive and kicking in the late 15th century.
Edit: fixed typo |
"Iriaebor is a fine city. So what if you can have violence between merchant groups break out at any moment. Not every city can offer dinner AND a show."
My FR writeups - http://www.mediafire.com/folder/um3liz6tqsf5n/Documents
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Edited by - TheIriaeban on 06 Apr 2022 16:38:35 |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1419 Posts |
Posted - 06 Apr 2022 : 21:40:17
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quote:
Given the backstory between those two, I'm glad Asper is dead. Their relationship was disturbing...
I love Asper the character and feel like knocking her off because of Ed setting her and up was a poor way of handling it. I admit, I did have Asper remain his daughter figure in my games and instead have a running gag that Mirt has like a dozen ex-wives including a Red Wizardess of Thay.
Mind you, someone did the math and Durnan apparently married a fourteen year old girl. I'm PRETTY sure that was a mistake. |
My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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Edited by - Charles Phipps on 06 Apr 2022 21:47:31 |
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Topic |
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Canon Explanation Why Human NPCs Still Alive?
