| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Azar |
Posted - 28 Feb 2026 : 23:36:46
Afternoon, everyone.
To those of you with an interest in (or even extensive history with) Vaasa, Damara, Impiltur and/or Narfell, I ask this question: what makes those lands interesting? What - precisely - is the draw? Also, if you were to compare the Bloodstone Lands to the Savage Frontier (i.e., the western expanse stretching from Daggerford to the Spine of the World), how would you say the former differs from the latter? |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Azar |
Posted - 07 Apr 2026 : 17:23:58
Apparently, the first part of Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone (i.e., the battlefield, the mine and the elven village) is set in Damara. Hm. At least the region received some attention post-FR9. |
| Azar |
Posted - 24 Mar 2026 : 05:42:10
Gareth Dragonsbane gets my "thumbs up" seal of approval; that chap bears a proper fantasy appellation. Anyhow, I picked up a copy of FR9, if for no other reason than it helps to complete my Forgotten Realms map collection. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 24 Mar 2026 : 02:14:57
I think I've got pdfs of the modules... One of these days, I need to go through them for names. I generally don't say much about the names in FR9 because I don't know what names came from the modules and what names were created for FR9. |
| Azar |
Posted - 20 Mar 2026 : 20:12:14
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Azar
Quite a few NPC names are very "Salvatore"; were I to run an adventure in The Bloodstone Lands, I might have to engage in a bit of aggressive editing.
What, you've got an issue with Bahooha Shortsleeves or The Thunkers of the Thunkers? 
When it comes to that region, "Christine" or "Kane" is as weird as I am willing to get. |
| paintphob |
Posted - 14 Mar 2026 : 00:36:26
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
I think RA Salvatore getting his Forgotten Realms start with the area has a lot to do with it.
I don't know that I'd go that far... It's far from a frequently referenced sourcebook and it had no connection to his other stuff until long after -- 20 years or more -- the sourcebook was out of print.
Since I have not seen it mentioned, there is a funny bit on the back of FR9 - The Bloodstone Lands
"Setting for the Icewind Dales trilogy of novels (The Crysyal Shard, Streams of Silver, and the upcoming Halfling's Gem), and the H-series of adventure modules..."
This is obviously in error, since the Icewind Dales were firmly placed in the North by the first novel, and a few months later detailed by FR5. I assume that whoever wrote that blurb just assumed that since Bob wrote a book set in one place, that it had to be linked to this other place he was writing about. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 13 Mar 2026 : 22:02:11
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Azar
Quite a few NPC names are very "Salvatore"; were I to run an adventure in The Bloodstone Lands, I might have to engage in a bit of aggressive editing.
What, you've got an issue with Bahooha Shortsleeves or The Thunkers of the Thunkers?
And what's wrong with Bistro Batenrooj? [:-)] |
| ZeshinX |
Posted - 13 Mar 2026 : 12:32:36
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
What, you've got an issue with Bahooha Shortsleeves or The Thunkers of the Thunkers?
I've always been partial to Brickbat Clobberfiddle and Whistlepiss the Wet.  |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 13 Mar 2026 : 02:35:33
quote:
Originally posted by Azar
Quite a few NPC names are very "Salvatore"; were I to run an adventure in The Bloodstone Lands, I might have to engage in a bit of aggressive editing.
What, you've got an issue with Bahooha Shortsleeves or The Thunkers of the Thunkers? |
| Azar |
Posted - 11 Mar 2026 : 23:38:34
quote:
Originally posted by Thauramarth
First thing: The Bloodstone Lands have name recognition. It is / was the setting of the H1-H4 Bloodstone Series. H1 -H3 predated the published Forgotten Realms, which involved high-level play and wargaming, and (spoiler alert) segued into the PCs fighting and killing Orcus, and messing with the Wand of Orcus. Orcus is one of the game's iconic opponents. That kind of name recognition draws interest. H4 was published with the Forgotten Realms logo. I think that people who liked the idea of the high-level play really liked the idea. Are the modules great? I love them for the ideas: PCs kill one of the iconic baddies of the game, and end up kings of their own realm, like Conan, and more othe fantasy heroes than you can shake the Hand of Vecna at.
Second: Vaasa and Damara are sort of self-contained. You can have entire campaigns where you do nothing but fight the demon / assassin / goblin / giant armies of Vaasa, or fight the Damaran civil war. IT's a convenient setting if you just want your campaign for playing war- or politics-oriented campaigns. You can integrate as much, or as little of the wider Realms lore into it as you want.
Third: Narfell and (especially) Impiltur: One name: George Krashos. Krash (alone, or with Eric L. Boyd) has written the best non-official Realms lore ever produced. This is kind of the opposite of the previous point, which is that that kind of writing really integrates the Bloodstone Lands into the Realms.
So, the Bloodstone Lands have name recognition, play to established fantasy tropes, and can be used with as much or as little background lore you want.
IT also helps that the Bloodstone Lands only rarely featured in Realms novels, and when they did, the novels did not really move this part of the setting by much, so your games were normally not influenced by events in the non-game FR products.
Thank you for stealing away a morsel from my considerable stockpile of ignorance  .
quote:
Originally posted by Thauramarth
The Savage Frontier is a different, in that it can be more sandbox-y. In the Savage Frontier, there are numerous factions (orcs, Uthgardt, Waterdeep, Silverymoon, Harpers, Zhentarim, you name it), none of which dominates the setting (the presence of two-three Chosen of Mystra notwithstanding). It's a setting more attuned to dungeon-delving as opposed to the Bloodstone you vs. Zhengyi in massive open battles. You can ignore the conflicts between all of the power groups in the Savage Frontier; it's hard to ignore the main conflict in the Bloodstone Lands, because the conflict is so central to the setting.
Ah. I regarded it as a semi-exchangeable cold and unforgiving territory (albeit one walled-off by mountain ranges). There isn't anything wrong with that sub-setting, yes, but it is nice to know there is a key difference between the two regional possibilities.
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
I think RA Salvatore getting his Forgotten Realms start with the area has a lot to do with it.
Quite a few NPC names are very "Salvatore"; were I to run an adventure in The Bloodstone Lands, I might have to engage in a bit of aggressive editing. |
| Seravin |
Posted - 11 Mar 2026 : 09:55:39
quote:
Originally posted by Ayrik
quote:
I think RA Salvatore getting his Forgotten Realms start with the area has a lot to do with it.
I think he got his start a couple years before that when he created the Icewind Dale area.
Bob created the Bloodstone Lands sourcebook in 1988 published 1989 - he had written the Crystal Shard the novel published 1988 but AFAIK no Bob-reated D&D source material for Icewind Dale was available "a couple of years" before 1989. |
| Seethyr |
Posted - 10 Mar 2026 : 22:21:27
I’m assuming after 35 years I can spoil it? If not look away for H4…
Seriously, you get to steal Orcus’ wand battling through a city of liches on the Abyss and then Bahamut is like “yeah I’m going to drop you off right next to Tiamat, kill her and drop the Wand in her blood. Sound good?”
They don’t make adventures like that anymore. lol. I loved that whole serious and the supplement that went with it. |
| Ayrik |
Posted - 10 Mar 2026 : 04:54:45
quote:
I think RA Salvatore getting his Forgotten Realms start with the area has a lot to do with it.
I think he got his start a couple years before that when he created the Icewind Dale area. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 08 Mar 2026 : 20:34:05
quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
I think RA Salvatore getting his Forgotten Realms start with the area has a lot to do with it.
I don't know that I'd go that far... It's far from a frequently referenced sourcebook and it had no connection to his other stuff until long after -- 20 years or more -- the sourcebook was out of print. |
| Seravin |
Posted - 08 Mar 2026 : 18:03:33
I think RA Salvatore getting his Forgotten Realms start with the area has a lot to do with it.
|
| Thauramarth |
Posted - 01 Mar 2026 : 09:53:10
First thing: The Bloodstone Lands have name recognition. It is / was the setting of the H1-H4 Bloodstone Series. H1 -H3 predated the published Forgotten Realms, which involved high-level play and wargaming, and (spoiler alert) segued into the PCs fighting and killing Orcus, and messing with the Wand of Orcus. Orcus is one of the game's iconic opponents. That kind of name recognition draws interest. H4 was published with the Forgotten Realms logo. I think that people who liked the idea of the high-level play really liked the idea. Are the modules great? I love them for the ideas: PCs kill one of the iconic baddies of the game, and end up kings of their own realm, like Conan, and more othe fantasy heroes than you can shake the Hand of Vecna at.
Second: Vaasa and Damara are sort of self-contained. You can have entire campaigns where you do nothing but fight the demon / assassin / goblin / giant armies of Vaasa, or fight the Damaran civil war. IT's a convenient setting if you just want your campaign for playing war- or politics-oriented campaigns. You can integrate as much, or as little of the wider Realms lore into it as you want.
Third: Narfell and (especially) Impiltur: One name: George Krashos. Krash (alone, or with Eric L. Boyd) has written the best non-official Realms lore ever produced. This is kind of the opposite of the previous point, which is that that kind of writing really integrates the Bloodstone Lands into the Realms.
So, the Bloodstone Lands have name recognition, play to established fantasy tropes, and can be used with as much or as little background lore you want.
IT also helps that the Bloodstone Lands only rarely featured in Realms novels, and when they did, the novels did not really move this part of the setting by much, so your games were normally not influenced by events in the non-game FR products.
The Savage Frontier is a different, in that it can be more sandbox-y. In the Savage Frontier, there are numerous factions (orcs, Uthgardt, Waterdeep, Silverymoon, Harpers, Zhentarim, you name it), none of which dominates the setting (the presence of two-three Chosen of Mystra notwithstanding). It's a setting more attuned to dungeon-delving as opposed to the Bloodstone you vs. Zhengyi in massive open battles. You can ignore the conflicts between all of the power groups in the Savage Frontier; it's hard to ignore the main conflict in the Bloodstone Lands, because the conflict is so central to the setting. |
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