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Ozreth
Learned Scribe
249 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Feb 2026 : 03:41:21
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Coming off of the BG live action thread - Does the handling of the Realms in the last 15, 20, 30 etc, years (subjective to all of us) and the fact that it is now an essentially Disney-fied IP first, game world second turn you off from wanting to run it, work on it and expand it. Does your Realms still feel like your Realms? Does it excite you?
I have had an off and on relationship with the setting, mostly off for the last 10+ years, but have recently attempted to return at the behest of my players. Unfortunately, I am online enough to always be running into the new products from the game books to the novels to the newly announced HBO show and it has reminded me of why I finally left the setting the first time, but it is far worse now.
The 1e Realms and a good amount of the 3e releases are what I enjoy, and I am wondering if I am misplaced in my lessening enjoyment of this era and the setting in general.
What has been your experience and relationship in this regard?
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3256 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2026 : 12:07:33
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| I may not have liked some decisions through the years (Looking at you, Bruce), but I've never not loved the Realms. Passion projects like by Pathfinder conversion keep me going and I still love the lore that comes out (especially from Ed's patreon)! |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
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Trumm
Acolyte
24 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2026 : 12:28:48
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In a nutshell: I loved the 2E Realms, was fine with the 3E Realms and lost interest in their in world developments when 4E and the time jump happened.
Baldurs Gate 3, the D&D movie and the Waterdeep Dragon Heist module have been my only contact with the current Realms and while I enjoyed them more than I expected,
they somewhat lacked the classical FR flair I prefer. I had a similar experience with the Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse-Box and while the Realms have
retained at least some of their atmosphere, I still find it very hard to reconcile the new Planescape setting with my perception of the old 2E publications.
But the older I get, the more relaxed I tend to see those things. I don't expect things to be exactly the way I would prefer them to be, enjoy them as much as I can
and try to not take it all too seriously.
I don't need the setting to be an evolving campaign world supported by official products. I can run and play it my way, in the era I prefer, include newer snippets and parts
I care for and ignore everything else.
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HighOne
Learned Scribe
253 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2026 : 15:17:04
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One of the joys of playing in a living, shared setting is that we're all enjoying the same thing together. But FR is no longer living (the product line is basically dead) and it's no longer shared either; we're all playing different versions of the Realms, the latest of which (5E) is so different from the others that it might as well be its own setting. So yes, it's harder to enjoy FR these days.
I don't know what the solution is. Cultural fragmentation is happening everywhere, not just gaming, so it's not necessarily Wizards' fault that these things are happening. (How do you hold a community together when literally everything is pulling apart?) But I'd kind of like a do-over of the past 30 years of history, where we acknowledge our screw-ups and try to do better. |
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore
USA
1269 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2026 : 18:05:35
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| My desire to create is almost entirely based on the fact that the people who are actually good at it, don’t produce in the quantities they used to. Yeah I can still love it, even the bumps and bruises and weirdness, but there’s just not enough. I’ve been eating a couple decades now for the cohesion and proliferation to start up again. I still believe it can happen, I know I’m naive. |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2550 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2026 : 23:54:11
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Oh, yeah, another "let's hate" thread. How original... Extra points if people come to trash 4e.
Leaving snarky, tired self aside. I may not be happy with certain decisions, but I don't think you can turn off your love for something (if you really loved it). I love the Realms, even if it changes. Specially when it changes, actually, because it feels like an actual, living world. |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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Azar
Master of Realmslore
1482 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 03:07:24
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| The Realms circa 1987 (or before, if you kept up with E.G.'s work from the inception of his brainchild) to 1999/2000 will always be great. No matter what Wizards of the Coast does - from the apologizing to the endless bizarre alterations/revisions - they cannot undo what has long been done. |
Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.
Earth names in the Realms are more common than you may think. |
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bloodtide_the_red
Learned Scribe
USA
315 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 03:15:24
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I did not care right from the start.
2E D&D in genral, and even more so the Realms have always printed "here is the game suggestion we mead, but go ahead and make it your own".
Most of all, Ed Greenwood has said this at least thousands of times. Quote: "Take the Realms and make them your own".
Also, Ed has said many time that he does not follow the published Realms in his Home Game(s).
So, I have always done the same. I like the Realms setting and have my own version that does not exactly line up with the published one. I do look over the books and cheery pick things I like to use....and ignore the rest.
I utterly ignore 4/5E. It's just noise. My Thay will forever and always be the cool evil land of 1-3E, not whatever mess it is in 5E. I had Bane get rid of Cyric as soon as he came back. And Myurkyl took over Kelvmor, but keeps Kel around as a pet.
It seems that WotC is not interested in making anything for me to buy....and that is fine. I have a ton of stuff, so I'm good... |
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Ozreth
Learned Scribe
249 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 03:28:06
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quote:
Originally posted by bloodtide_the_red
I did not care right from the start.
2E D&D in genral, and even more so the Realms have always printed "here is the game suggestion we mead, but go ahead and make it your own".
Most of all, Ed Greenwood has said this at least thousands of times. Quote: "Take the Realms and make them your own".
Also, Ed has said many time that he does not follow the published Realms in his Home Game(s).
So, I have always done the same. I like the Realms setting and have my own version that does not exactly line up with the published one. I do look over the books and cheery pick things I like to use....and ignore the rest.
I utterly ignore 4/5E. It's just noise. My Thay will forever and always be the cool evil land of 1-3E, not whatever mess it is in 5E. I had Bane get rid of Cyric as soon as he came back. And Myurkyl took over Kelvmor, but keeps Kel around as a pet.
It seems that WotC is not interested in making anything for me to buy....and that is fine. I have a ton of stuff, so I'm good...
This could perhaps be a thread of its own, but how much have your locations and geography been altered, if at all?
It seems that few have made the 1e Realms into "their own" as much as people have done with Greyhawk, but I imagine somebody out there has gone off and altered the setting to hardly resemble what it began as. This is almost by neccesity with Greyhawk though. |
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questing gm
Master of Realmslore
Malaysia
1902 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2026 : 15:17:24
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I've felt the 5e era of the Realms made me love it less than 4e ever did (which I didn't hate as most people make it sound).
But then again, everyone can make their own choice on which version of the Realms they want to love (more). |
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Seravin
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1306 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 08:31:02
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I stopped loving the Realms with the time skip and disaster that was 4th edition, but my heart belongs to the 1st Edition and Time of Troubles era (Year of the Prince is my fave). The content in 2E is staggering and really spoiled us as FR fanatics.
I have hanging in my home office 3 FR maps and an original Clyde Caldwell painting from the Finder's Stone trilogy and still post/lurk here regularly - so I'm probably a bit crazy about the Realms - and I haven't bought any source material since 3rd edition ended. Take that for what it's worth.
That's not being a luddite - that's me saying this is just added to the large heap of IPs that have been ruined by executives in charge of once beloved (by me) franchises in the last 20 years. |
Edited by - Seravin on 15 Feb 2026 08:31:41 |
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PattPlays
Senior Scribe
485 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 14:18:49
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Read some Snowblood pdfs. You'll fall right back in love.
On the noted point of planescape, I have been adapting ad&d content and the entirety of Tales From The Infinite Staircase, The Inner Planes, etc in my games. It is your moral duty to flat out ignore stuff like the "astral sea" and "the shadowfel" and "the feywild". Space is space, the astral is the astral, Demiplanes are demiplanes not material echoes, and Faerie is an outer planar realm orbiting Ysgard Arborea and The Beastlands.
5e can be great and it can be great on Toril and in Realmspace as well. People just have to remember that 5e stands for Fifth Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and that all ad&d content is very easily converted. been doing that for years.
You wouldn't believe how many monster statblocks have been wrong since 3rd edition. Only red slaad regenerate, for example.
Un-disnifey it. Who'se gonna stop you? |
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Edited by - PattPlays on 15 Feb 2026 14:28:43 |
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Azar
Master of Realmslore
1482 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 14:54:07
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quote:
Originally posted by Seravin
That's not being a luddite
When it comes to taste, never adopt an apologetic stance. |
Stand with anybody that stands right. Stand with him while he is right and part with him when he goes wrong.
Earth names in the Realms are more common than you may think. |
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Seethyr
Master of Realmslore
USA
1269 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 17:55:56
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Seeing this from a mathematical standpoint. I know “love” doesn’t work that way, but let’s explore.
1st edition…you love it
2nd edition…you love it.
More gets added that you don’t love. Just stop - pretend it doesn’t exist or at the very worst steal stuff you like.
How can that possibly negate “love” if it’s only been additive? I totally otoh understand frustration that not enough to love more comes out. |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4500 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 18:12:00
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quote:
Originally posted by Ozreth
What has been your experience and relationship in this regard?
Honestly? Pretty damn awesome. I've been adventuring in the Realms for over 20 years when we started our weekly games about 2004-2005 era. I was familiar with the Realms previously to that via novels and video games, but not D&D (as I dont like TSR-style game mechanics). Still I've had amazing campaigns in the 1372-ish times with 3.5, Awesome campaigns in 1479-ish times via 4e, and currently having a great time in our. Current 1490's time via 5e.
The state or vibe of the current setting isnt all that much different than what I've experienced in the last 25 years or so and its been pretty open for unique or alternative style characters than the Tolkien trope SOOOO heavily abused pre-WotC. The thing is, you have to actually have some conviction in your campaign world, and I feel a LOT of people just lack this. Paladins of different alignment, Drow and Tieflings as PCs, non-elf bladesingers, whether to allow multi-classing or not are campaign concepts that the core game allows and if those things make you mad then change them. Put your foot down on "Disney-fying" the Realms at YOUR table. Its not hard. |
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Edited by - Diffan on 15 Feb 2026 18:13:30 |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
12240 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2026 : 22:02:16
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So, in short, I've loved the setting since I was introduced to it. It had a draw for me that Greyhawk, Dragonlance, and every setting afterward was missing. That doesn't disappear. However, my memory of the setting is slowly fading just due to time and lack of immersion in it. More and more I see Ed's responses and go "where is that city again? Who is that name again?". I'm still going through the recently released books, but so far nothing has hit me as horrible, and honestly the setting has become less of a game campaign for me and more of a story medium.
More and more, I find myself turning away from Faerun and moving into outlying areas that saw little to no development as well, so that its more about playing with design than actually playing. For me, like Seethyr said... since I don't see creation being done by others to read, I'm taking what little time I have to try my hand at it for fun. But family and job leave little to no time.
Also, the only novels I see happening any more are the Salvatore ones, and sadly I've always been behind on reading his works. I'm intrigued by what I've heard of him venturing into some snow drow homeland, etc... but I just see a pile of his books that I'd have to work through to get to that point, and I don't find the time to read anymore. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
37004 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2026 : 03:06:06
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quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X
Oh, yeah, another "let's hate" thread. How original... Extra points if people come to trash 4e.
Leaving snarky, tired self aside. I may not be happy with certain decisions, but I don't think you can turn off your love for something (if you really loved it). I love the Realms, even if it changes. Specially when it changes, actually, because it feels like an actual, living world.
The first negative comment in this thread was yours. Did you even read what anyone had said before launching yet another "wah, everyone hates 4E!" screed?  |
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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 16 Feb 2026 03:06:36 |
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Gary Dallison
Great Reader
United Kingdom
6454 Posts |
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Ozreth
Learned Scribe
249 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2026 : 14:31:27
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Zeromaru X
Oh, yeah, another "let's hate" thread. How original... Extra points if people come to trash 4e.
Leaving snarky, tired self aside. I may not be happy with certain decisions, but I don't think you can turn off your love for something (if you really loved it). I love the Realms, even if it changes. Specially when it changes, actually, because it feels like an actual, living world.
The first negative comment in this thread was yours. Did you even read what anyone had said before launching yet another "wah, everyone hates 4E!" screed?
Indeed. My OP was intended to be more cynical in thought and content than to produce a negative overall thread. In fact, my hope was to find positive answers. The fact is the setting as presented and as it is used and advertised by its owners is quite different from what it once was and, as Azar stated upthread, one should not be apologetic in their stance when it comes to taste. You should understand this as you seem to stand up quite loudly for the 4e Realms. Clearly, however, many more people here feel differently than you do.
Misery loves company they say, and I suppose I was just thinking out loud in a way and looking to see how others have navigated what the setting has become and kept up enthusiasm for it. The answers have all been constructive and useful. |
Edited by - Ozreth on 16 Feb 2026 14:32:11 |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4500 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2026 : 16:01:49
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quote:
Originally posted by Ozreth
The fact is the setting as presented and as it is used and advertised by its owners is quite different from what it once was....
Is it though? What we don't get now are specific supplements of a clearly designated and described piece of focused lore (see box sets like Moonshae by Douglas Niles or the Ruins of Myth Drannor from 2e AD&D) but you know why? They don't sell well to the overall general populace of D&D players because not everyone plays in the Forgotten Realms. What we got are these pre-made adventures, like Rime of the Frostmaiden which nicely detailed Icewind Dale and the Ten Towns or Storm Kings Thunder which detailed the Savage Frontier. Now, are they sandbox style adventures? No, they're more story/plot-driven campaigns with a semi-linear path. CAN they be more sandbox-y or can they be run that way? Absolutely!! You can take two 5e adventures: Legacy of the Crystal Shard and Rime of the Frostmaiden and turn it into a super-adventure OR play around in the Icewind Dale region of your own adventures and use the supplements to support that and ignore the plot altogether.
What I'm driving at is that while we don't get area-packaged Box Sets, the lore and setting info is still there in these adventures and can be used to enhance your campaigns, which I feel has always been something the Realms did well - regardless of Edition.
quote:
Originally posted by Ozreth
and, as Azar stated upthread, one should not be apologetic in their stance when it comes to taste. You should understand this as you seem to stand up quite loudly for the 4e Realms. Clearly, however, many more people here feel differently than you do.
As a fellow vocal proponent of the 4th Edition ruleset and some of the changes 4e made to the Realms, I will agree that there's no need to apologize for taste in regard to 4th Edition (or insert your fav. edition here). It achieved in game design and some Setting concepts that appealed to me WAAAY more than previous editions of the System or Realms ever did. I have never, nor will ever, like Realms-Mexico or Realms-Egypt for example. But that doesn't mean I'll ignore what I perceive to be either flat-out incorrect statements and/or hypocrisy, which has been the case on more than one occasion in reference to 4e. |
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Is it difficult for you to love the Realms in 2026
