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Jakk
Great Reader
Canada
2165 Posts |
 Posted - 03 Oct 2008 : 05:09:40
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I think I understand what Nerfed is saying here, largely because I feel mostly the same way. We have introduced change in the Realms in our campaign over the years... just not the Realms-shattering "change for the sake of change" that has been so popular since the Time of Troubles introduced 2nd edition. The only good change is change that serves a purpose that is desired by a majority of those affected by it. I agree with Nerfed that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and that any good change that is made to something that is already good does not change the nature of the thing; better is still good.
Sage: If you're adding something new without first testing or checking to see if it will be good or bad, then yes, you will have to change other things. If you do your homework to begin with, making sure that the added thing will properly relate to the existing framework and in a good way, then no great changes (read: RSEs) are necessary. I suspect that what happened with 4e development is that the core rules team and the Eberron team got together and said, "Yeah! These changes will be great! Now... How do we shoehorn them into the Realms?" Yes, I'm probably being overly paranoid and bitter, but it just has that feel about it to me. Of course, the Realms team had every opportunity to put the dragonborn, tieflings, and genasi over in Anchorome and/or Katashaka, but they decided that it would be more fun to blow up Faerun instead. I would have loved FR 4e if they had put these new races and cultures in "new" (previously undeveloped) geographical areas on Toril, but by blowing up the world the way they did, they basically eliminated all possible relevance the 4e Realms could have to my current campaign and to my group. We would have been interested in crossing the Trackless Sea to explore new lands and civilizations, and in fact we still will be, but it won't be with the aid of anything published by Wizards of the Coast. I'll be adding most of what I just posted here to my response to another scroll; it's actually more relevant there. |
Playing in the Realms since the Old Grey Box (1987)... and *still* having fun with material published before 2008, despite the NDA'd lore.
If it's comparable in power with non-magical abilities, it's not magic. |
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BlackAce
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
358 Posts |
Posted - 06 Oct 2008 : 21:30:38
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Y'know this topic has stirred my creative juices again.
One of the things that's been kicking around in my head for years was a restructuring of the Faerunian gods. Not a paring down or a purge but I've always wanted the gods to be tied in less with generic portfolios and more into a cultural background within FR.
The idea that there's a Netherese pantheon, a Chondathan pantheon, an Illuskan pantheon, a Calishite(elemental) pantheon and a Mulan pantheon, plus several monotheisms... and that each has history and cultural baggage from those roots, appeals to me.
I'd have to throw away some lore to do it but one day I think I'll sit down and layout how I want deities to be fluffed in my Realms.
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Nerfed2Hell
Senior Scribe
USA
387 Posts |
Posted - 07 Oct 2008 : 18:36:33
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I've been collecting all kinds of lore about the gods of Faerun and inserting my own home brewed stuff amidst it to really make religion more front and center in my campaign without it being all about this god or that god. I love what you're talking about with the cultural stuff, but sadly found very little to aid me in the specifics. The original Faiths & Avatars books (2nd edition) are a great groundwork to start from, but there's just not enough regional information in circulation. At best, we get the location of a major temple or two, but I'd love to know which gods are more prevalent in what areas... and where worship of "local gods" exists, how it differs from the main pantheon stuff, and where some gods just aren't worshipped even though the pantheon as a whole may be be active in that area.
I'd also love to have more information about religious practices, beliefs, day-to-day activity, etc... especially in how they may vary from region to region and how temples in different regions get along with each other.
Currently, I've put my diety stuff on hold to flesh out the fiendish influence more. The devils have cults that can have clerics, but right now I'm on a roll working with demons. I didn't want to treat them the same as devils but with a chaotic alignment, so I did my homework (through various editions of D&D and 3rd party sources) to flesh out prominent figures in the Abyss and what kind of "sin" or power they're typically associated with... and have been creating vestige style game mechanics for them. Devilish cults are structured and have clerics like other religions... demonic cults are more freeform and cult leaders use the Binder class (Tome of Magic) to tap into demonic power directly. |
Some people are like a slinky... not good for much, but when you push them down the stairs, it makes you smile. |
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Gods that Should have died
