If they don't do some kind of reset of the Realms, specifically undoing the 4e butcher-job on the realms, it'll be a terrible mistake.

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Quote from: RPGPundit;575857If they don't do some kind of reset of the Realms, specifically undoing the 4e butcher-job on the realms, it'll be a terrible mistake.

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If they are pulling from the two recent novels by Salvatore (used as prequels for the Neverwinter game coming out), then Port Llast is gone.  Wiped out.  Along with a few other areas that I imagine will be completely redone.

And so the saga of Shit Novel-induced Metaplot continues...

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Quote from: RPGPundit;576512And so the saga of Shit Novel-induced Metaplot continues...

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At the Keynote they promised that this would be the last time.

Not sure what that's worth but there it is.

Quote from: Piestrio;576613At the Keynote they promised that this would be the last time.

Not sure what that's worth but there it is.

Quote from: Piestrio;576613At the Keynote they promised that this would be the last time.

Not sure what that's worth but there it is.

If I printed it out and used it as toilet paper, that'd be the value right there.

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Here's the take on the Sundering from Paul S. Kemp, one of the authors contributing to the six book series that will follow the event.

So, the six books of The Sundering are as follows:

The Companions, by R.A. Salvatore

The Godborn, by Paul S. Kemp

The Adversary, by Erin M. Evans

The Reaver, by Richard Lee Byers

The Sentinel, by Troy Denning

The Herald, by Ed Greenwood.

Quote from: Paul S. KempMy Thoughts About the Sundering and the Realms

What follows is entirely my own opinion/interpretation.

So, the events in the Forgotten Realms that precipitated the switch to the fourth edition of Dungeons and Dragons created a lot of controversy.  The Spellplague changed the Realms in profound ways, as the worlds of Abeir and Toril "intermixed."  New continents and realms appeared, and old ones disappeared.  Magic was changed.  Many gods seemed to die or disappear.  New races of beings appeared. The timeline for game products and novels was advanced 100 years.  And the upshot of all of this was that the Realms post-Spellplague was a very different place from the Realms pre-Spellplague.

Now, lots of people liked the new Realms and still do.  Lots of people didn't and still don't. What's indisputable is that the post-Spellplague Realms was a very different place, with a very different feel, from pre-Spellplague Realms.

So, what did I think about this? I think I would have loved the post-Spellplague Realms if it wasn't supposed to be the Realms, but was instead some new world invented from scratch.  The cataclysm of the Spellplague and its aftermath (spell-scarred and plague-changed creatures and lands), lots of faiths whose gods had just 'died,' created a rich setting with lots of storytelling opportunities. Frankly, I think the designers and novelists did great work in the post-Spellplague Realms.  But, in the end, this wasn't a new setting.  It was the Realms, the Realms 100 years later, and therein lay the problem.

To me, the post-Spellplague Realms felt unmoored from the setting material that had sold me on the Realms in the first place, way back in the time of the grey box. I have a hard time articulating why.  The Realms isn't post-apocalyptic or relentlessly dark.  For me it's about a layered setting rich in history and detail, fat with mysteries unplumbed, shrouded in a sense of wonder that invites you to come on in and adventure.  It is, in the end, optimistic. Somehow the post-Spellplague Realms never spoke to me that way.

Consider this, from the DM's Sourcebook of the Realms, in the original Forgotten Realms grey box, in a section called, "Recent News and Rumors in the Realms:"

Barroch's Hold has been found. The fabled citadel of the first great bandit lord of the Inner Sea lies south and east of the cities of the Moonsea, in the Glacier of the White Worm. The adventurers who found it encountered a number of strange creatures and were scattered or slain. Two survivors reached Orm to tell the tale: Feenoch the Five-Fingered, a rogue of some infamy, and Yostur Ulhmond, a young fighter from the villages of the Snow People in Thar, blond-haired and strong as an ox. The two evaded queries about treasure, but there is talk in Hillsfar that they have been trying to gather together a large adventuring band with sledges.

That's magic for me, just magic, and there are dozens just like it in the same section.  That single paragraph communicates the idea of the Realms as a living, breathing, high fantasy world of interconnected people and events where the wondrous sometimes occurs right alongside the mundane.  I love that kind of feel. That's the feel of the Realms for me.

And based on all my discussions with the folks involved in the Sundering, that's the vibe to which we're circling back.  The "Core Truth of the Realms" is a concept that I heard mentioned several times by those involved in the Sundering, and it's necessarily a subjective term.  But based on the discussions that I've heard and participated in, everyone is circling around the same guiding star — the roots of the Realms, its essence, its core. YMMV, of course, but for me that essence looks a lot like an adventuring company getting nearly wiped out in Barroch's Hold, with the survivors, led by Feenoch Five-Fingers, returning to Hillsfar to drum up some additional blades and have another go at whatever dark creatures nearly killed them the first time.

In any event, I think the Realms are moving quickly and assuredly in the right direction. People seem to be in the right seat on the bus (with Ed Greenwood driving, while regaling us with tales of yore). WotC has listened and is listening to readers and players who love the Realms. The upshot is that I'm pleased, excited, and honored to be part of it.

Sounds like at least one of the authors gets it, or at least has read enough to cut and paste from someone's blog.  

Metaplot gets a bad rap.  Metaplot is living, breathing world.  It's what would happen if the PCs don't get involved.  It looks at the world as if the PCs weren't the sole reason for its existence.  A.Good.Thing.

The problem is that some authors don't get that "The Realms" as they write it is the version that never survives contact with the DM, and the DM's altered version of that never survives contact with the PCs.  So they go FULL.ELMINSTER.  Full.Elminster, unfortunately, moves a lot of novels and setting supplements.

Quote from: CRKrueger;577607The problem is that some authors don't get that.

Well, authors are not deciding what changes are being made, WotC is deciding what changes will be made, and how much each author is allowed to effect the world with their story, though Ed was undoubtedly in on this one...  (a good thing IMHO)  WotC is being run by a corporation, and they are running it like a corporation.  The corporate idea is: to make money, we need new product, and that means change.  It's pretty much that simple.

Well, it gives me some hope.  Its cowardly that they don't just do a blank restart; but it sounds like what they're trying to do is a "reboot without a reboot". Let's hope it goes far enough.

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They're not about to walk away from a multi million dollar novel line for the sake of a game world reboot.  R.A. Salvatore has more than 20 NYT bestsellers, and is probably making WotC more money than their gaming books at this point.  They have shut down many of their other "worlds" for lack of revenue generation on associated products, but Realms is still making them money.

The Corporate Mind... not the best for the game, but the safest for their investments.  This way they get to keep RA's book line, and make changes in the game.

Seriously, The Realms has not really been fully explored by their products yet.  This is one thing I think Paizo is doing better with Pathfinder, they're exploring all of their world with their modules, supplements and novels...or plan to.  MHO...  But they are not run by a corporation, either.  They even ask fans what they would like to see next, and take their suggestions seriously...gotta like that.

Quote from: CAJackson;577614Well, authors are not deciding what changes are being made, WotC is deciding what changes will be made, and how much each author is allowed to effect the world with their story, though Ed was undoubtedly in on this one...  (a good thing IMHO)  WotC is being run by a corporation, and they are running it like a corporation.  The corporate idea is: to make money, we need new product, and that means change.  It's pretty much that simple.

I dont know if this has come up, by RA Salvatore mentioned in a recent GMS podcast interview that he and the other writers are able to give more input on the realms setting this time around. He did also say they pretty much have to work with whatever wotc decides but it sounds like there have been periods where they are more open to suggestions and ideas from him and the other writers.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;578284I dont know if this has come up, by RA Salvatore mentioned in a recent GMS podcast interview that he and the other writers are able to give more input on the realms setting this time around. He did also say they pretty much have to work with whatever wotc decides but it sounds like there have been periods where they are more open to suggestions and ideas from him and the other writers.

By "this time around" did you mean the 4e realms, or the upcoming 5e realms?

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Quote from: RPGPundit;578482By "this time around" did you mean the 4e realms, or the upcoming 5e realms?

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My impression, and maybe this interpretation was in part due to my own bias against 4E, is he was essentially saying that they had very little say during 4E (possibly during 3E as well as he spoke very generalky about previous versions of the realms) but have been given a lot of input on 5E. I believe it was one or two episodes back on the GMS podcast (maybe midway through the interview). It was pretty well done.