[D&D Forgotten Realms] Favorite spot in the Realms?

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 12:33 pm

I like Cormyr, and I also like Sembia, the racist plutocratic society that's so clearly the USA as seen by several WOTC writers. I think it'd rock if there were netbooks that showed the darker side of Faerun.

What's your favorite place on Abeir-Toril, canonical or not?

Cash · Post by **Cash** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:33 pm

Lurien (I've gotta give a shout out to my peeps...the halflings

)

Mulhorand because it's a land of opposites. Old world technology and magic, a LG society the approves of slavery, a land that invaded Unther "for its own protection..."

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 7:08 pm

Lurien is a great time. I also like Waterdeep.

Reika · Post by **Reika** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 10:58 pm

I'd say Waterdeep, Cormyr and the Dales. Not in any particular order though.

BloodHound · Post by **BloodHound** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 3:30 am

i prefer wandering the Sword Coast and Spine of the World Mtns. It just seems to be where all the action is.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 5:01 am

Cash wrote:Lurien (I've gotta give a shout out to my peeps...the halflings )

Mulhorand because it's a land of opposites. Old world technology and magic, a LG society the approves of slavery, a land that invaded Unther "for its own protection..."

I also like that Mulhorandi's pantheon is terrified of merging with the greater Faerunian pantheon, as they've already sort of lost two of their deities to it. S' a nice tense atmosphere for clerical intrigue, when your gods are hitting the 'convert!!' button hard. Mulhorandi always makes me think of a Black & White MMORPG.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 5:02 am

Serious Paul wrote:Lurien is a great time. I also like Waterdeep.

Why Waterdeep?

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 5:02 am

Reika wrote:I'd say Waterdeep, Cormyr and the Dales. Not in any particular order though.

I know what *I* like about Cormyr. What do you like?

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 5:03 am

BloodHound wrote:i prefer wandering the Sword Coast and Spine of the World Mtns. It just seems to be where all the action is.

I've never had a campaign that went up to the Spine. Hm. Maybe I should change that.

Eliahad · Post by **Eliahad** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 5:44 am

Athkatla and Amn. One) I'm a sucker for the Baldur's Gate series, and Two) It's the city of coin. Where /aren't/ you going to find a boatload of intrigue

Oh, and I rescued Waukeen once.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:43 am

Eliahad wrote: Oh, and I rescued Waukeen once.

You dog, you.

Okay, spill.

Serious Paul · Post by **Serious Paul** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:46 am

Waterdeep has a character to it, a sort of shady one at times, but with a code. I like that. Read my posts as Torin Proud in Artistic Liscense.

Reika · Post by **Reika** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:01 am

I'm not sure why I like Cormyr so much (many of my FR chars come from there). I think part of it is that it has somewhat a "real-world" Camelot feel, they're also fairly open minded, there is no state sanctioned religion, though there are preferred deities worshipped by the populace and the royal family.

Besides, how many other countries have a king who'll go out and kick the ass of an ancient red dragon that's terrorizing is nation? Granted, he did die from his wounds, but he got the dragon first (though according to the novels, it wasn't really a dragon, still fucking evil and super powerful though).

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:02 am

Serious Paul wrote:Waterdeep has a character to it, a sort of shady one at times, but with a code. I like that. Read my posts as Torin Proud in Artistic Liscense.

*lazy salute* after I take a nap, so I shall.

BloodHound · Post by **BloodHound** » Thu Apr 21, 2005 5:07 pm

I like the Spine of the World Mtns because our DM had us looking for ancient Dwarven ruins and the such, and I usually play a coin hungry rouge or a restless adventuerer type, so it was a lot of fun, and cold, very cold.
Another DM of mine turned the time tables forward a little so we could have steam power, airships, and black powder weapons. We had a group of Gnome Pirates assaulting the airways. It was the most fun i've had out of a D&D game.

Moonwolf · Post by **Moonwolf** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 12:12 am

The silver marches for me. Just a good part of the world, lots to do, at most power levels really.

Cash · Post by **Cash** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 1:24 am

BloodHound wrote:I like the Spine of the World Mtns because our DM had us looking for ancient Dwarven ruins and the such, and I usually play a coin hungry rouge or a restless adventuerer type, so it was a lot of fun, and cold, very cold.
Another DM of mine turned the time tables forward a little so we could have steam power, airships, and black powder weapons. We had a group of Gnome Pirates assaulting the airways. It was the most fun i've had out of a D&D game.

The gnomes and humans of Lantan already have all of that.

BloodHound · Post by **BloodHound** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 3:33 am

he made it so everyone else did too, that way we could pluder cruise air ships and the such. There were also railroads as I recall. The most fun was seeing my drunken monk jump over the side of the ship, plummet for a while, and then gracefully land (thanks to a ring of feather fall) in the midst of the guards.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 12:47 pm

Reika wrote:Besides, how many other countries have a king who'll go out and kick the ass of an ancient red dragon that's terrorizing is nation? Granted, he did die from his wounds, but he got the dragon first (though according to the novels, it wasn't really a dragon, still fucking evil and super powerful though).

I don't like D&D novels; I read the DragonLance stuff in a bookstore once and thought it was really stupid. I do, however, really really want to read Cormyr, because I too think Azoun IV was badass.

One of my favorite FR characters, a thief, came from Cormyr as well; her grandfather took Azoun IV up on his offer of conditional nobility, and the family still has a really small but well defended keep up in the Stonelands.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 12:48 pm

Moonwolf wrote:The silver marches for me. Just a good part of the world, lots to do, at most power levels really.

I like that Alustriel is trying to rebuild Myth Drannor; I think, unfortunately, it'll all end in tears.

Moonwolf · Post by **Moonwolf** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:07 pm

Mostly because of that prat Dwarf Harbromm. He's going to screw it all up at some point.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 4:18 pm

Moonwolf wrote:Mostly because of that prat Dwarf Harbromm. He's going to screw it all up at some point.

I completely agree. I think he should have a horrible accident with a magic item that puts him to sleep for 100 years.

FlakJacket · Post by **FlakJacket** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 7:56 pm

Serious Paul wrote:Lurien is a great time. I also like Waterdeep.

Waterdeep? Is that the one with the second city underneath it from what I vaguely remember?

Moonwolf · Post by **Moonwolf** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 8:45 pm

Yeah, Waterdeep has Undermountain (wacky dungeon of doom) under it. Undermountain has Skullport (fairly small city) on it's 3rd level.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 8:45 pm

FlakJacket wrote:
Serious Paul wrote:Lurien is a great time. I also like Waterdeep.
Waterdeep? Is that the one with the second city underneath it from what I vaguely remember?

Undermountain. Not so much a city as The Ultimate Dungeon. There's also the Promenade, which is under the city and is a temple dedicated to Eliastraee....oh, fuckit, yes, it's that one.

Reika · Post by **Reika** » Fri Apr 22, 2005 9:24 pm

Patience wrote: I don't like D&D novels; I read the DragonLance stuff in a bookstore once and thought it was really stupid. I do, however, really really want to read Cormyr, because I too think Azoun IV was badass.

Azoun was a serious badass, the only problem is Greenwood is a truly sucktastic writer. He horribly mangled what could have been a really good trilogy, if you lived closer I'd lend you my copies of the books. They aren't worth buying new.

FlakJacket · Post by **FlakJacket** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 7:43 pm

Patience wrote:Undermountain. Not so much a city as The Ultimate Dungeon. There's also the Promenade, which is under the city and is a temple dedicated to Eliastraee....oh, fuckit, yes, it's that one.

Did a quick search and the bit I was remembering was Skullport - the really shifty cousin of Waterdeep.

Anguirel · Post by **Anguirel** » Mon Apr 25, 2005 11:31 pm

I'd say people are probably partial to what they know. I ran a campaign through Amn, Tethyr and Calimshan that worked very well. Tethyr was still a complete anarchic non-country, so around Level 8 (in AD&D 2nd), after clearing a small rundown keep of undead out and acquiring the love of the local populace, instead of moving on they moved in and started building up their own kingdom in the middle of it.

So, I like that region, though I also like Thay for being a mageocracy with a Lich on the ruling council.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 7:14 am

Reika wrote:
Patience wrote: I don't like D&D novels; I read the DragonLance stuff in a bookstore once and thought it was really stupid. I do, however, really really want to read Cormyr, because I too think Azoun IV was badass.
Azoun was a serious badass, the only problem is Greenwood is a truly sucktastic writer. He horribly mangled what could have been a really good trilogy, if you lived closer I'd lend you my copies of the books. They aren't worth buying new.

So many RPG authors are like that - great with the ideas, horrible with the execution. According to Greenwood, he was edited into below-mediocrity. I take that with some salt.

Damn. Yeah, too bad I'm not closer.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 7:15 am

FlakJacket wrote:
Patience wrote:Undermountain. Not so much a city as The Ultimate Dungeon. There's also the Promenade, which is under the city and is a temple dedicated to Eliastraee....oh, fuckit, yes, it's that one.
Did a quick search and the bit I was remembering was Skullport - the really shifty cousin of Waterdeep.

Which is also directly underneath, IIRC?

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 7:16 am

Anguirel wrote:I'd say people are probably partial to what they know. I ran a campaign through Amn, Tethyr and Calimshan that worked very well. Tethyr was still a complete anarchic non-country, so around Level 8 (in AD&D 2nd), after clearing a small rundown keep of undead out and acquiring the love of the local populace, instead of moving on they moved in and started building up their own kingdom in the middle of it.

So, I like that region, though I also like Thay for being a mageocracy with a Lich on the ruling council.

I thought it was wow-fully amazing when Tethyr killed its rulers; even the ones that fled the country were tracked down and killed horribly. I was taken aback, I have to say.

That sounds nicely unsettled and plotworthy.

Yeah, but aren't there something like two people who know for sure he's a lich?

Reika · Post by **Reika** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 11:03 am

Having read enough of Greenwood's schlock, I can definitely say he wasn't edited into mediocrity. He's a truly crapass writer.

And yeah, Undermountain is directly below Waterdeep, there's several ways down iirc, but the main one is through a tavern. One of the favored games of chance is whether or not an adventuring group will survive going in and how long.

Moonwolf · Post by **Moonwolf** » Tue Apr 26, 2005 7:33 pm

Patience wrote:
Yeah, but aren't there something like two people who know for sure he's a lich?

He doesn't try to hide it as far as the art goes, and he's been the Zulkir of Necromancy for ages, so it's fairly obvious to people, at least those near the top of the Thay heirachy.

ak404 · Post by **ak404** » Fri Aug 26, 2005 8:01 pm

Call me nuts, but I'm pretty big for Waterdeep. You can, if you choose, go both ways there: you can get your SR-esque urban RP above and your pure dungeon hacking down below.

I'm also a sucker for BG2 and Minsc, so I'd like to check out Rashamen sometime.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Fri Sep 16, 2005 11:20 am

ak404 wrote:Call me nuts, but I'm pretty big for Waterdeep. You can, if you choose, go both ways there: you can get your SR-esque urban RP above and your pure dungeon hacking down below.

I just got the new Waterdeep sourcebook. What I liked best about it was that it suggested the sheer MASS of people in the city/surrounds; it's a canonically detailed urban environment that you can modify to your heart's content, and I love that feeling.

Reika · Post by **Reika** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 2:57 pm

Patience wrote: I just got the new Waterdeep sourcebook. What I liked best about it was that it suggested the sheer MASS of people in the city/surrounds; it's a canonically detailed urban environment that you can modify to your heart's content, and I love that feeling.

That's always been one of the appeals of Waterdeep, it's a massive city that has so many different things going on that it's quite easy to set an entire campaign there.

Patience · Post by **Patience** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 4:27 pm

Reika wrote:
Patience wrote: I just got the new Waterdeep sourcebook. What I liked best about it was that it suggested the sheer MASS of people in the city/surrounds; it's a canonically detailed urban environment that you can modify to your heart's content, and I love that feeling.
That's always been one of the appeals of Waterdeep, it's a massive city that has so many different things going on that it's quite easy to set an entire campaign there.

You could definitely do a Shadowrun-type thing there. Have you read Eberron? I'm waiting for them to come out with a sourcebook only on Sharn, which could be cool. I don't know about Eberron in general, though. I don't like it as much as FR, and I can't figure out WHY.

Reika · Post by **Reika** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 5:06 pm

I haven't really read that much about Eberron mainly because I got tired of D&D, but having talked with a few friends it sounds like they're trying to make a new FR with little success.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 8:08 pm

The supposed premise for Eberron is interesting - an industrial revolution where magic is the new science. A familiar and popular theme in games like Arcanum and novels such as Pratchett's Discworld series and Turtledove's Darkness series. The catalyst for this industrial magic explosion was a massive, world-wide war, or the closest thing to it. Fair enough.

In practice, it doesn't work out like that, becuase the writers (most of them) seem stuck in the old D&D mentality that Science is Bad, and Magic Is Not Science. So you don't see guns or engines, you don't really see mass-manufactured magical items, and frankly you don't see a lot of industry or revolution. There's some clever ideas stuck in there, but they just don't see fruition.

Take dragonshards. What a great idea, a type of magical shard that empowers magical items, or at least certain types of magical items! Perfect material to explain mass-produced magical items, right? Wrong. Dragonshards are essentially window dressing - you need them to make some items, but they don't do anything, especially not in and of themselves. So instead of having an Artificer War (yeah, I'm harkening to Magic: the Gathering's Antiquities conflict), with rival nations combatting over scarce resources while their greatest sorcerer-engineers are at work building better stuff and refining theories...you get some dungeon crawls and Xen'drik, which is Australia with drow and ancient relics.

So it's disapointing. I mean, I'd have been happy with a simple Brust-style Dragaera setting, where magic is more commonplace, and even the kid in the street can manage a couple cantrips.