![]() ![]() ![]() When I do run other tabletop settings, it's usually either DarkSun or Ravenloft, two settings largely untouched in terms of lore changes via rule system updates.įorgotten Realms shares the same problem as Dragonlance their lore is too strongly tied to big, world-changing events that makes it very hard to write compelling, meaningful drama and adventures for. I cope by having my main D&D setting be a custom one that's totally unrelated to the Forgotten Realms. I prefer that over Forgotten Realm's tantrum throwing divine toddlers any day of the week. while having deities, those do not possess avatars to mess with mortels. The former setting having a complete absence of deities (divine magic coming from animism instead). ![]() Honestly, the only two campaign settings with interesting implementations of theology were Dark Sun and Eberron. And when they lost sales in 4e, they simply pushed the reboot button when the 5e rolled out. WotC did just make matters even worse in the process by straight up reinventing the wheel. The results were mixed at best and mind-boggling at worst. did was to create a misfitted pantheon amalgamation of as many real life mythologies as they possibly could. Whenever Greyhawk or the Forgotten Realms: all Gygax & Co. I'm hard pressed to find anything positive about it in both AD&D and D&D alike. Now I manage by via playing other, non-D&D IP's. I stopped having any expectations for D&D when WotC threw the whole Planescape and Spelljammer cosmology outside the window. Seriously: the things that happen to atheists (being used as bricks in a wall or devoured by the aforementioned Asmodeus) sometimes make the Forgotten Realms read, ironically, like an evangelical tract. For those who yearn for a direct continuation, though, how do you reconcile these diverging plot points?ĮDIT: Also, the more I read about the fate of atheists in the Forgotten Realms, despite the fact one would have to essentially ignore the obvious in such a world, the more uncomfortable I become with its treatment of the subject. It's supremely cynical to cash in on BioWare's work while thematically undermining it in every conceivable way.Īll of this is to say that I'm hoping Larian opts for a simple "Invasion of the Mind Flayer" module, leaving the Forgotten Realms' theology, and the spirit of Baldur's Gate, in the past. It happens.īut what do you do when the setting insists, no, the game's story is canon, and I'd like you to have a sequel that renders what came before absolutely meaningless. Star Wars: Dark Forces' Kyle Katarn), and if the Forgotten Realms had declared a twenty year old game to be non-canon, fine. I'm used to characters falling prey to rewrites and shifting license holders (R.I.P. What does this mean? Well, for all the difference Gorion's Ward made in Toril, he/she may have well just been assassinated by Shank. (Really? How do the dark goddess of the drow and an archdevil acquire the millions of Faerunian worshippers necessary to maintain that?)īut let's focus on what's relevant: the resurrection of Bhaal. Lloth and Asmodeus became greater deities. Lathander was actually a Netherese god in disguise for his entire existence. ![]() The Mulhorandi pantheon began as god-kings. Which is why it's disappointing that the Forgotten Realms' theology has gone downhill since, veering drunkenly and suffering from a narrative indecision that has sapped it of meaning or impact.īane, Myrkul, and Bhaal were slain, replaced by Cyric, only to have the the first and third revived, while Cyric was written off-ahem, "imprisoned" for a thousand years. It also, of course, memorably provided the backstory for Baldur's Gate. The Time of Troubles was a bold, inspired development, emerging naturally from the personalities of the gods, shaking up the pantheon by killing "The Dark Three," and introducing a few magical side effects, such as dead zones and wild magic. I raised this point in another topic, but I thought it deserved its own thread. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |