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quajack
Seeker
86 Posts |
 Posted - 12 Aug 2006 : 02:46:40
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I bought the FR Atlas by Karen Wynn Fonstad before I ever cracked the pages of a FR novel. I should mention that I have never "gamed" or played any variation of D&D be it computer or paper. I still love the atlas though. Even though it is 15 years old, I still refer to it on a weekly basis.
My question is, has WoTC ever considered releasing an updated version? I would love to see an edition that focused on more than just the first 10 or so novels. I also would like to ask if I am a "rare exception" as being one who reads every FR novel (and most Dragonlance), but has never played D&D.
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mavericace
Seeker
USA
84 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2006 : 03:58:04
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| I have read about 35 FR books and plan on reading the rest but have never played D&D. I also own the FR Campaign Setting just so I can get a bit more info on the Realms. Sometimes I think I would like to try to play D&D but as a 23 year old in a small town with no friends that play its not exactly easy to do. |
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Matt
Acolyte
USA
1 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2006 : 04:11:41
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I can't say that I've never played D&D, but I've not played all that many times, particularly when you consider how many novels and rpg books I own...
With me, it's not so much a case of not having friends who want to play, it's a matter of coordinating schedules. The stars just never seem to line up for any of us, despite the fact that we're all always talking about starting up a game. Currently, I'm the one theoretically running a game "soon."  |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36966 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2006 : 04:21:06
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| So far as I know, there's been no plans to update it. And it would be a very tall order, anyway. With the amount of novels and adventures that have been published since then, any update would be a bare minimum of 5 times the thickness of the original tome -- and likely far thicker than that. Another factor is that the author, Karen Wynn Fonstad, has since passed away. |
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 - 12 Aug 2006 : 06:07:51
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| I use the FR Atlas on a daily basis and probably will until I am done with the realms. I have read almost every novel and have played D&D for 20 + years, mostly in the realms |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2006 : 06:15:57
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The atlas is still one of my favorite products and has kept me from looking at a single map from the 3ed (with the exception of the trade-routs in FRC) more than once. One problem with updating it would be to pick which novels to detail; they would also have to use the new shrunken realms and therefore change the travel times of the old edition.
These factors, combined with the sad fact Wooly pointed out, that Karen Wynn Fonstad has passed away, I think that a new Atlas would be a very different product.
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quajack
Seeker
86 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2006 : 06:54:47
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I love my atlas, but more than half of it seems to be worthless. I'm pretty sure the only novel that (partially) takes place in Wa is Once Around the Realms. Wa may have been mentioned a time or two afterward, but my point remains the same. East of Thay may as well not exist. Heck, even Thay rarely gets used as a setting anymore. Who wouldn't love a trilogy based on the Warring States? Who wouldn't love to see Drizzt adventure in Shou Lung?
As far as the Atlas is concerned, only 75% of Faerun is being covered in the novels. More eastern settings! |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2006 : 06:59:13
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| Well it does give one some nice maps to use if one does not like the Horde and Kara-Tur. I have had great use for the maps of the east when it comes to the geographical layout, change names and you have some perfectly good maps of fantasy lands ready for use. |
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quajack
Seeker
86 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2006 : 07:07:42
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| I only read the books. No gaming for quajack. |
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Mazrim_Taim
Learned Scribe
341 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2006 : 07:10:59
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| The only thing that irked me about the Atlas was something that coudn't be helped, the binding. Often times it's hard to see the middle parts of large maps in it because of that. |
And if the PCs DO win their ways through all the liches to Larloch, “he” will almost certainly be just another lich (loaded with explosive spells) set up as a decoy, with dozens of hidden liches waiting to pounce on any surviving PCs who ‘celebrate’ after they take Larloch down. As the REAL Larloch watches (magical scrying) from afar. Myself, as DM, I’d be wondering: “Such a glorious game, so many opportunities laid out before your PCs to devote your time to, and THIS fixation is the best you can come up with? Are you SURE you’re adventurers?” -Ed Greenwood
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quajack
Seeker
86 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2006 : 07:15:59
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| True at Mazrim. |
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ode904
Learned Scribe
Finland
193 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2006 : 20:55:56
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| there were two or three updates to it I would remember. Some people have hinted that there could one day become a newer version, but I don't think it is coming very soon.. |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2006 : 21:21:25
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quote:
Originally posted by quajack
I love my atlas, but more than half of it seems to be worthless. I'm pretty sure the only novel that (partially) takes place in Wa is Once Around the Realms. Wa may have been mentioned a time or two afterward, but my point remains the same. East of Thay may as well not exist. Heck, even Thay rarely gets used as a setting anymore. Who wouldn't love a trilogy based on the Warring States? Who wouldn't love to see Drizzt adventure in Shou Lung?
As far as the Atlas is concerned, only 75% of Faerun is being covered in the novels. More eastern settings!
Honestly, I don't care that much about Kara-Tur (or Maztica, or Zakara...), so it's fine by me if the FR novels stay in Faerun. |
"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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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36966 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2006 : 21:37:58
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quote:
Originally posted by ode904
there were two or three updates to it I would remember.
Are you sure you're not referring to the electronic one, the Forgotten Realms Interactive Altas? That one did indeed have three updates, but I don't know of any such updates to the print one. |
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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Kalin Agrivar
Senior Scribe
Canada
956 Posts |
Posted - 14 Aug 2006 : 14:32:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
So far as I know, there's been no plans to update it. And it would be a very tall order, anyway. With the amount of novels and adventures that have been published since then, any update would be a bare minimum of 5 times the thickness of the original tome -- and likely far thicker than that. Another factor is that the author, Karen Wynn Fonstad, has since passed away.
She has passed on? thats sad 
her maps/drawings for atlas for the Realms and Dragonlance were beautiful...that atlas as made in a totally different time than now
and it's Kara-tur maps were almost better than the Kara-Tur trail map or the boxset maps...plus the atlas merged neatly with the Zakhara maps... |
Kalin Xorell El'Agrivar
- High Mage of the Arcane Assembly
- Lore Keeper of the Vault of Ancestors
- 3rd Son of the Lord of the Stand |
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FR Atlas (for reading purposes)
