4e in the works

[Kulyok]

Okay, I read "Grand History of The Realms" - this one is a summary(with full references), up to 1374. No Spellplague, though - just old stuff.

 

But Orc King(sample chapter, for now) - yeah. Spellplague, destroyed cities... man, these gods don't mess around when they're fighting for a girl(or just fighting), do they? Phew.

 

These forums have a lot of info:

http://forums.gleemax.com/forumdisplay.php?f=718

 

Candlekeep, too, but not as much:

http://forum.candlekeep.com

[INS-Hyacinth]

But if a hundred years passed by, all Drizzt's friends should be dead?

Wulfgar is most likely dead, IIRC. And in Orc King prologue, they did talk about Bruenor in past tense. Not sure about Cattie-Brie - Drizzt's carrying her bow, but somebody wrote that in the book she adopts studying magic under Alustriel, so technically she could make it with some longevity magic (I personally hope she won't; too much of a stretch).

 

I'm not certain about this but from the prologue chapter to Orc King one of Drizzt's "dear friends" dies in the ruins of Luskan, and I think that might be C-B. If nothing else the humans should have been carried off by age, and Bruenor was also aging iirc.

 

I was more concerned about Entreri(against my better judgement, I liked his trilogy), but somehow, something tells me this one is going to be all right, no matter what.

I'm pretty sure he's still OK, after all, with all his fans and having been transformed to shade...

 

And the certainty that no-one but Drizzt will ever be able to beat him in a fight

 

My biggest complaint with it, is how the 100 year timeshift is making a large part of the existing lore more or less useless.

Just don't make the jump. Nobody forces you to. Play the Realms as they are in 3 ed, or were in 2 ed. Or think of alternative history.

 

I'm not convinced the jump is going to be 100 years myself. Most of the Orc King book is in the immediate aftermath of the last, and a 10 or 15 year jump into the period of the Spellplague and it's aftermath seems more logical - but there's not a lot about the changes that seems particularly logical to me.

[Simbul]

Okay, I read "Grand History of The Realms" - this one is a summary(with full references), up to 1374. No Spellplague, though - just old stuff.

That's the original pdf you most likely read, the new Grand History is a sourcebook-type thingie, and contains much information about history of the Realms, not just timeline. It was published not so long ago, in the middle of September.

 

Candlekeep, actually, almost always has more info than WotC boards - it's just the matter of finding it (and reading it all). Still, generally, there is much less flood than at gleemax. Also, most FR designers prefer to post at CK.

[Sorrow]

The collapse of the Weave happens in 1385, when Cyric and Shar kill Mystra and Savras in Mystra's home plane.

YES !!! Victory, at last!

[Caedwyr]

My biggest complaint with it, is how the 100 year timeshift is making a large part of the existing lore more or less useless.

 

Just don't make the jump. Nobody forces you to. Play the Realms as they are in 3 ed, or were in 2 ed. Or think of alternative history.

 

No worries about my personal games, I still use a homebrew version of 2nd edition as I found that 3rd edition's focus on stats strongly encourages a powergaming mindset on many people as people tweak their character in exhausting detail. What I am concerned and apparantly where I differ from WOTC is that by attempting to make the game more accessible to those that are put off by the extensive detailed lore and background material of the existing Realms, much of what makes the Realms stand out for many will be lost and WOTC won't gain many new players to offset the current players who don't transition over to the 4th edition FRCS. I don't have any real concern over the 4th edition ruleset as it is really a separate issue that will stand or fall on its own merits.

 

So my concern is that the drastic changes as described above, won't bring in new players and will lose old players, leading to the FRCS being killed off similar to what happened with the Dragonlance setting.

 

Also, the high frequency of RSE reminds me a lot of the meteorological/cosmilogical reports that inhabitants of Krynn get. Along with their normal weather forcast of "partly cloudy skies with a high of 21 and a low of 7, and PoA (probability of apocalypse) of 50%." I don't want to see that happen to the FR as well.

[Simbul]

What I am concerned and apparantly where I differ from WOTC is that by attempting to make the game more accessible to those that are put off by the extensive detailed lore and background material of the existing Realms, much of what makes the Realms stand out for many will be lost and WOTC won't gain many new players to offset the current players who don't transition over to the 4th edition FRCS.

I agree with you on this.

[Guest Astral Sea]

Some of that stuff is just plain insane, though. Tyr and Tymora possibly getting married with Helm as a go-between? Tymora's pretty firmly tied up with Brandobaris, Helm's still ticked off at Lathander over the death of his lover (not sure about the name, but she was a LN lesser deity of logic and reason) during the Dawn Cataclysm, and Tyr's always a bit of a man apart.

 

Oh, and Mystra's dead. Again. I find it hard to believe Cyric could pull of something like that-directly challenging Mystra would result in most of the Planes tearing Cyric to pieces, due to both Mystra's wide-ranging alliances and Cyric's own enemies, like Bane.

 

The changes to the planes and turning elementals into some kind of demon or devil also officially kills Planescape, one of my favorite settings.

 

All in all, I feel like a lot of the complexity of the Realms is being lost. If they want simple, they can create a new setting. And by all that is holy, if Mystra is dead, there is no way in hell Elminster, Alustriel, or any of her Chosen/Seven Sisters would survive.

[Simbul]

If they want simple, they can create a new setting.

It won't have the Realms logo on it. And Realms logo makes some money, with such characters as Drizzt and such games as BG and NWN around.

 

And by all that is holy, if Mystra is dead, there is no way in hell Elminster, Alustriel, or any of her Chosen/Seven Sisters would survive.

Why not? She died during ToT. The Chosen (especially Elminster) have enough of divine essence in them to be able to live without a goddess around. Actually, it was one of the purposes of creating Chosen of Mystra - for them to become some type of safeguards to assure magic will be able to exist should something unforseen happen to Mystra.

The problem is, this time it isn't just the death of Mystra. It's the destruction of the Weave. I shudder to think of the consequences to the world. Mythals unveiling, dragons and maybe elves dying, magic going unstable... Waterdeep falling into Undermountain and so on Heh, I'd love to play in pnp campaign dedicated to preventing all this chaos from happening Would make for a truly epic story.

[Chev]

I love 4e!!!!!

 

Just think of all the people that have put their money into 3e and 3.5e books, now they need to buy all new books that covers the same things. Oh YES, now the Realms will be sooooo changed that the old campaigns are now unsupported and you will need to start new campaigns and buy new books!!!!! The Spellplague starts about 1384 DR.

 

This might doom WotC and D&D!!!!! Destroy what people love and they will turn their backs on you. Now that they are finalizing 4e, I wonder when they will start working on 5e? Maybe they should make another very bad movie! (Just think if they had made a good Drizzt or Gord the Rogue movie)

 

 

I Love 4e!!!!!!

[CoM_Solaufein]

WTF? They can't kill Mystra, she is the supreme goddess. Now I know I'll have nothing to do with their game settings or their novels. Loss sales for WotC.

[Simbriant]

But, people, you're not getting it. DRIZZT IS DEAD!

 

 

If this was true, it would be some of the best news I would ever hear. Drizzt is so ridiculously overpowered and anti-drow-like as you can get. And he's not even a century old yet! I'm waiting to hear of when he will kill his first god.

[vagrant_winds]

"I'd hate to be a nay-sayer" as the expression goes, but without commitment...

 

For all of D&D's popularity, I despise it. I loathe level systems in pencil and paper rpgs with a passion. I hate being tied down by class where the only way to tell a "12th level Cleric" from another "12th level Cleric" is the gear you wear because you are railroaded by specific character classes.

 

No thanks. Give me my exp and let me spend it on anything I want within my character concept.

 

So, I'll happily play Exalted, Scion, and Hero System mainly (or some World of Darkness or GURPS on the side).

 

Skill systems (White Wolf) and Point systems (Hero / GURPS) are both a much more satisfying alternative to me; where your only character limitations are self imposed and there's the option to specialize or generalize at the player's perogative.

[Simbul]

Actually, despite having played pnp D&D for some years, I agree with you that class-based system sucks. GURPS looks much less "stream-lined" and more flexible, although I've never delved into it deeply.

But all my friends play D&D, so there isn't any choice on this matter for me

 

And strictly speaking, you are not right about comparison between two clerics

the only way to tell a "12th level Cleric" from another "12th level Cleric" is the gear you wear

There are feats, and skills, and spells that differ. And of course, there is personality. Sad, but many D&D players (at least those around me) care much more about "optimization" than trying to create an interesting backstory or individuality. But I guess there are munchkins playing other systems as well

[Caedwyr]

I guess I'm just one of those weird people who chooses multi-class/proficiencies/feats/perks/whatever you call them based on the character's story and experiences and not on a min-maxer munchkin method. It often makes for some more challenging play, but I find it much more rewarding and produces a stronger attachment with the character.

[Chev]

I guess I'm just one of those weird people who chooses multi-class/proficiencies/feats/perks/whatever you call them based on the character's story and experiences and not on a min-maxer munchkin method. It often makes for some more challenging play, but I find it much more rewarding and produces a stronger attachment with the character.

 

 

WHAT??? Are a Role player, not a Roll player? This is bad for WotC, you won't need book after book of stats and stats updates with the latest updates of the stats & feats.