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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1425 Posts |
 Posted - 06 Oct 2007 : 09:55:08
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Well, we've discussed the situation at great length and my adventuring troupe of players has decided that we're going to role with the 100 year Great Skip. This will kill some old favorites amongst the player characters while retiring others and leave a rare few amongst them alive.
It's premature to start deciding when and where my player characters will be located with only the barest of outlines as to what my Realms have been up to all this time but it's important to strike while the iron is hot.
I was curious if I could get some feedback from the folks here to help.
* The middle aged Half-Elf Bard we've determined was allowed to journey to Evermeet and enter the forrests to die. I think this is a pretty mythic honor for a person whom would never normally be allowed amongst them.
But our player characters participated in the TOT and helped kill The Dark Triad (for a time), so that's not too much of a problem, I think.
* Our female human fighter we've determined just retired and naturally died of old age. The player has expressed interest in playing her great grand-daughter, which I think is appropriate for the storyline.
* We've got another half-elf amongst the party but he was only in his forties, so I was debating whether or not he'd be alive or not. It occurred to me that we might do well to have him be sort of a crotchety old geezer surrounded by an extended family of grandkids.
Which brings us to the player characters that are probably still alive a century later as well as active.
* The Elven Wizard I'm thinking might just have gone off to spend the past century just doing the "elf" thing and reading, researching, etc rather than anything important. That seems a little boring but she was a very bookish type.
* One of our player characters was the Chosen of Hoar (I renamed him Haar for the sake of my sanity during games). His abilities were pretty mild compared to the Chosen of Mystra but one was that he explicitly gained an extra year on his lifespan for every person he killed.
That seems like functional immortality given the man was a wandering "Kane" from Kung Fu style figure, always seeking to right wrongs and kill bad men near and far.
10 questions that pop up
1. How do I describe the events of the past century, that seem pretty damn cataclysmic, to the characters who lived through it?
2. Should Hoar/Haar still be alive or should I have my Monk player character role with the idea his god is dead?
3. Do people even remember our player characters accomplishments a century later? Especially, since Bane is back.
4. Should I make Non-Evil Humanoids as a staple of the setting something magical or just a recognition of what was always true?
5. One of our player characters was Alusair's official consort (as opposed to the legion of unofficial). Should she have ever had children and if so, do they have a role in Cormyr?
6. Should I take this opportunity to lower the setting's overall power level? Most of the truly high level wizards now dead and maybe some folk like Elminster and company still powerful but weaker? (20th level or so?)
7. How bad should I portray the Realms? Drizzt's description was pretty bleak.
8. Irregardless of how canon portrays it, Fzoul was always a big enemy of the player characters. I was thinking it might be cool to give the man his own kingdom. Would that be too out there? What about Mashoon?
9. I replaced Velsharoon with Mykrul (who became Intermediate God of Necromancy, Evil Magic, and Undead when he destroyed Orcus). Where's he now, you think?
10. Any suggestions of "Realms fixes" you'd throw in?
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My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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Zanan
Senior Scribe
Germany
942 Posts |
Posted - 06 Oct 2007 : 10:35:24
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| Unless I am mistaken, the Realms will be brought forward to 1385, not 1485 DR. Spellplague in 1385 will be the advent of 4E. |
Cave quid dicis, quando et cui!
Gæð a wyrd swa hio scel!
In memory of Alura Durshavin.
Visit my "Homepage" to find A Guide to the Drow NPCs of Faerûn, Drow and non-Drow PrC and much more. |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1425 Posts |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1425 Posts |
Posted - 06 Oct 2007 : 14:19:57
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State of the Realms
The Spell Plague drove most of the wizards insane that it didn't kill as they ravaged across the countryside, destroying everything in their path, and slaying with conquering hordes all that they could.
Those wizards who survived unscathed paid a much worse toll for their sanity as they were forced to cut themselves from their magic as The Weave was undone. Millions of years of magical learning that dated back to the ancient Serpentfolk Empire was suddenly useless.
The Kingdom of Thay fell in an orgy of violence with the slaves revolting with blades and steel. The Kingdom of Haruula burned with its ancient and vast libraries looted less than the rich estates.
Worse, the people could not turn to the gods for all but the strongest gods were destroyed in the conflagration. The flags of Bane, Shar, Talos, and Cyric reigned supreme amongst evil deities with those spirits beneath them being forced to bend their knee or die.
The icy bite of mortality touched the souls of The Seven Sisters and the Old Sage. Larael, Selune, and Khelban were lost forever. In the North, the standard of Zhentil Keep became no more a mockery but a powerful nation with dominion over the Moonsea and Northern Dales.
With so many clerics rendered powerless and the Weave gone, disease and starvation ravaged the land. Flood, famine, and pestilence were things that tore at the populous. The humanoids of many tribes ate well on the flesh of man as the age of the monsters began. Their numbers hold dominion over the wild untamed roads that seperate the few lands left tamed.
Gone was the welcome that magicians received and clerics of new gods became distrusted. Witch burnings, a sight never seen before on Toril, came to pass. Better to slay those who tried to practice the Art than unleash the plague again. The Harpers, always distrusted, were almost universally outlawed with membership in even goodly kingdoms meaning death.
In the darkened wastes, Shar taught her own form of magic to the Netherese whom had survived the disaster with their minds twisted and debased but intact. Though their sorcery is a shadow of what it once was, they lord over the slaves and people from their diabolic ruins while mating with unspeakable serpentine things.
The Old Magic was gone but that did not mean that it could not be rediscovered. Some say it was the Old Sage who returned with it, his power but a candle compared to what it once was before. Delivering it to Lhao was a book of spells that drew on the ambient magic that existed all around. It was a wild and untamed thing that was difficult to master while largely inaccurate. But from the ashes began once more the ways of the arcane to emerge.
It is a troubled time with the Lady of Silverymoon living on the time she gains from Potions of Longevity while the Simbul broods on a throne with power to barely maintain her land let alone slay armies. The Old Sage still wanders the land, seeking yet further new types of magic. Wizards discovering their own way and he spreading the news from there.
Darkness has come to the Realms and all good folk need a blade, a prayer, and a bit of the new magic. There are almost no heroes in this land and it is up to you to make up the difference.
How's this look?
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My Blog: http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36968 Posts |
Posted - 06 Oct 2007 : 15:00:20
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| Honestly, I think it's too early to try to make the shift. We simply don't have enough information to know what all is coming. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2007 : 03:25:19
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Honestly, I think it's too early to try to make the shift. We simply don't have enough information to know what all is coming.
+1, I concur. A little pre planning is ok IMO, in a generic format though. |
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Charles Phipps
Master of Realmslore
1425 Posts |
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Asgetrion
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1564 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2007 : 14:14:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Zanan
Unless I am mistaken, the Realms will be brought forward to 1385, not 1485 DR. Spellplague in 1385 will be the advent of 4E.
There is no official answer yet -- except that it will *not* be 1385 (Rich Baker has said so). All the signs I've seen so far seem to indicate that FR will be brought to 1475 in 4E. |
"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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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36968 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2007 : 15:52:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion
quote:
Originally posted by Zanan
Unless I am mistaken, the Realms will be brought forward to 1385, not 1485 DR. Spellplague in 1385 will be the advent of 4E.
There is no official answer yet -- except that it will *not* be 1385 (Rich Baker has said so). All the signs I've seen so far seem to indicate that FR will be brought to 1475 in 4E.
I'd like to see a quote on that. My understanding was that the jump forward hadn't been nailed down at all, with nothing confirmed or denied. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2007 : 15:58:44
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| I believe that I also read on the WOTC site that due to the voice of the fans, they are taking a harder look at exactly what they will do or not do, in regards to realms events and the timeline |
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Asgetrion
Master of Realmslore
Finland
1564 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2007 : 22:46:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Asgetrion
quote:
Originally posted by Zanan
Unless I am mistaken, the Realms will be brought forward to 1385, not 1485 DR. Spellplague in 1385 will be the advent of 4E.
There is no official answer yet -- except that it will *not* be 1385 (Rich Baker has said so). All the signs I've seen so far seem to indicate that FR will be brought to 1475 in 4E.
I'd like to see a quote on that. My understanding was that the jump forward hadn't been nailed down at all, with nothing confirmed or denied.
I vividly recall Rich Baker stating that "it won't be 1385, however" or something like that. Most likely it was on "Ask the Forgotten Realms designers" -thread, but I'll try to find it ASAP. 
As for the "Hundred Years Leap"-theory, I suspect that it won't be possible (or sensible) to play an arcane spellcaster during the Spellplague. Since 'The Orc King' reveals that it lasts for a hundred years, it'd make sense that 4E FR will be set in 1485 -- or even later. Another reason might be all these comments from WoTC designers saying: "we want to offer newbie DMs a chance to start playing without purchasing all those previous edition accessories" (i.e. without the events, places and NPCs described in them). And yet, these new 'magical traditions' and arcane classes need time to evolve -- they won't just "spring up" out of the blue when the Spellplague has ended (even though the "seeds" are probably showed during it). |
"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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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 09 Oct 2007 : 02:09:06
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| Agreed, as I've said elsewhere I have the feeling the time leap will be 100 years or so. |
"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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Help me update the party for 4th edition *SPOILERS
