So I was working on developing my own version of the Forgotten Realms - one with more nuclear devastation and less divine non-player characters - when I discovered that I may not be the the right person to run my friends through a Realms campaign. You see several of my players love the Realms; as in they can recite dialogue from Realms novels and know more about the lore of the setting than they do about their own religions.
I'm thinking that perhaps the nuclear radiation and cobalt bombs raining down on the planet from space isn't the best route for these people to enjoy the setting. Instead I think I'll just have Elminster hanging from a tree when they come to visit him in Waterdeep. Oooooh, or maybe I'll just have a Realms vs. Greyhawk war with Greyhawk firing first, second, third, fourth, and maybe fifth.
Yeah, that might be fun. Who's with me?
Why not just drop Death Frost Doom (with added abdead horrors, and demons) and have that creep Elminister send the PCs in to recover something (recovering it of course starts the undead torrent) that he wants to use in his ascension to godlike lichdom. No need for atomic bombs (personally I like prismatic shell munitions for magic rich worlds), just the Lich God of Waterdeep.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Elminster going evil. I would like to see that. But with no redemption for him at the end. None.
DeleteFirst, Elminster don't "live" in Waterdeep, but in the Dale (even if in reality it could be anywhere); second, you are doing everything to make you unpleasant to my eyes!!! :p
ReplyDeleteFirst thing I say when running a published setting is that this is *my* version and I reserve the right to change or be ignorant of any canon.
ReplyDeleteHappily, the one guy I’ve played with who had strong feelings for a setting was 100% OK with that.
The Realms was/is? a great setting. My Olde Grey Box from back in '87 tells me so. It had a Saberhagen feel to it that gave one the impression that a PC could die at any moment. At least that's what I like to think I remember...nuke that place up and throw in some goblins that spread hemorrhagic fever when their heads explode at zero HP. Save vs. Nuke Blood or DIE!!
ReplyDeleteIt also occurs to me that with the various changes TSR/Wizards has wrought upon the Realms over the years, how could a player complain of a DM doing the same? ^_^
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