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Forgotten Realms Lore Questions

GrumGrum Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,100
This thread is for asking questions on D&D lore. To start off:

We all know that the Bhaalspawn are the children of Bhaal. Have any other gods or goddesses created mortal progeny before or since, and what were the results? Anyone know?
Post edited by Grum on
MetallomanJuliusBorisovMoradinlolienEadwyn_G8keeperButtercheese
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Comments

  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    Also Bane predicted that he would die and created a plan to use his half-demon son Iyachtu Xvim as a means of resurrection (and he succeeded in doing this).
    GrumJuliusBorisovMoradinThacoBell
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    No offense to @elminster intended... But I have no idea who Elminster is or why he is so important in the FR setting. Anyone care to enlighten me?
    MoradinGozeta
  • TressetTresset Member, Moderator Posts: 8,262
    I have one... Which is more valuable: Mithral or Adamantite? Which of these would make a more powerful golem? Are there any other unique properties I should know about these made up metals?

    @mashedtaters I know very little about his adventures or exploits, but I do know that Elminster (and Volo) was created by Ed Greenwood, who created the FR setting. This makes him kinda important.
    JuliusBorisovMoradin
  • ChiricoChirico Member Posts: 15
    edited February 2016
    I understood that adamantite was the ultimate, making +5 armor, with mithril/mithral (I've seen both spellings) a close second, making +4 armor. Also, I think adamantite is associated primarily with dwarves, or is best worked by dwarven smiths, and mithril is associated more with elves. That's all that comes to mind offhand. Hope this helps at least a little...
    TressetGrumJuliusBorisovAerakar
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315

    No offense to @elminster intended... But I have no idea who Elminster is or why he is so important in the FR setting. Anyone care to enlighten me?

    He's one of the most powerful mages in the FR setting and is a Chosen of Mystra (this basically means that Mystra, the goddess of magic, gives him special powers).
    MoradinJuliusBorisovGrummashedtaters
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    elminster said:

    No offense to @elminster intended... But I have no idea who Elminster is or why he is so important in the FR setting. Anyone care to enlighten me?

    He's one of the most powerful mages in the FR setting and is a Chosen of Mystra (this basically means that Mystra, the goddess of magic, gives him special powers).
    I'd like to add that Elminster is like a chess player on a board where evil powers are the opponent. While Red wizards and Zhentarim conspire to conquer and enslave, Elminster sends adventurers and gives them clues towards defeating such evils. I believe he is a force of Goodness who wishes the best for Faerun.
    JuliusBorisovMoradin
  • VallmyrVallmyr Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,456
    Random Lore Question: So in 3e/3.5e and 5e Bards gain access to a selection of Arcane spells. Some of these are Bard specific spells while others are just enchantment/illusion spells from the Wizard/Sorcerer list. They do, however get access to the cure x wounds line. If cure wounds can be cast as an arcane spell, therefore being powered by The Weave and such, couldn't a Wizard or Sorcerer learn to cast Cure x Wounds? This is of course throwing balance out the window and speaking from an in-universe standpoint.
    JuliusBorisov
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    @Vallmyr, I believe that all magic, including divine magic, is powered by the Weave. Certain spells, such as healing, were restricted to clerics by divine order of the gods, not because it was not theoretically possible for a wizard to cast a healing spell. Since Mystra controls the Weave, she would be able to enforce divine dictates about who can cast what spells and what they have to do to make them work.
    JuliusBorisovMoradinVallmyrmashedtaters
  • MoradinMoradin Member Posts: 372
    @BelgarathMTH , I like your way of thinking, but I respectfully disagree with you. Rather, I think Arcane and Divine magic are two different entities and do not usually overlap. I see the fact that bards can cast cure spells similar to their ability to bolster morale through their music: the bard's "cure" spell is more akin to an "encouragement" not to give up, to hold on and continue their quest. That's in line with the fact that, equal levels, Bard's "cure" spells will always be lower than a cleric's (a lev 5 cleric can cure serious wounds, where a lev 5 bard is still stuck to curing Moderate wounds).
    Plus, a recent study published by Trust of Morandin and colleagues, reported in Flamerule's issue of the Journal of Pure and Applied Alchemy, shows that the placebo effect is higher in patients cured by bards' spells than patients treated by clerics.
    BelgarathMTHJuliusBorisovmashedtatersMacHurto
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,211
    Is there a need to guess on such issues? It has always been my understanding that D&D is extensively documented in this regard.
  • SethDavisSethDavis Member Posts: 1,812
    That might be the problem. It sounds like the lore is changing and being retcon'd fairly often and I imagine not all authors keep as up to date as they should.
    BelgarathMTH
  • AstroBryGuyAstroBryGuy Member Posts: 3,437
    Vallmyr said:

    Random Lore Question: So in 3e/3.5e and 5e Bards gain access to a selection of Arcane spells. Some of these are Bard specific spells while others are just enchantment/illusion spells from the Wizard/Sorcerer list. They do, however get access to the cure x wounds line. If cure wounds can be cast as an arcane spell, therefore being powered by The Weave and such, couldn't a Wizard or Sorcerer learn to cast Cure x Wounds? This is of course throwing balance out the window and speaking from an in-universe standpoint.

    They had access to cure spells in 1e too. Bards in 1e were triple-classed Fighter->Thief->Druids. So, they had access to druidic spells, including cure spells. So, I guess odd Bards get cure spells? :wink:

    Game-lore wise, bardic magic is different that wizard magic. In 3e, all bard spells require a verbal component (i.e., playing, singing, reciting poetry), so the spells are different than those cast by a wizard (even if the effect is the same as a particular wizard spell). A wizard could learn bardic magic, but that would require learning a new way of casting spells (i.e. multi-classing as a bard).
    BelgarathMTHMoradin
  • GrumGrum Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,100
    So are bards really just a different kind of cleric? With their songs/poetry/dancing being prayers to Oghma, who in turn grants them spells?
    BelgarathMTH
  • ArunsunArunsun Member Posts: 1,592
    I got one for you guys.
    What do we know about Alorgoth besides what is depicted in Rasaad questline?
    He must be quite important since you cannot kill him at anytime, much like other canon character, yet I can't find anything on him besides this:
    http://www.realmshelps.net/npc/alorgoth.shtml
    The items in his possession and the fact that he has a totally devoted shadow dragon servant makes me feel like he is more than the average level 19 monk (from his creature file).
    Is he some favored of Shar or something?
    JuliusBorisovDJKajuru
  • AstroBryGuyAstroBryGuy Member Posts: 3,437
    edited March 2016
    Grum said:

    So are bards really just a different kind of cleric? With their songs/poetry/dancing being prayers to Oghma, who in turn grants them spells?

    Except for 1st edition AD&D (well, not sure about 4E... :tongue: ), Bards explicitly use arcane magic. In 2nd edition, it's basically dabbling in wizard spells. In 3rd edition, they have their own arcane tradition that is different that how wizards cast spells (hence always having to sing/play/recite poetry to cast spells and being able to cast in light armor without penalty).

    PS - The bard did appear for OD&D in TSR's "The Strategic Review" - a predecessor to Dragon magazine. It was the "jack-of-all-trades" combination of fighter-thief-magic user with lore and song abilities we are familiar with. The 2nd edition Bard appears to be based on this bard rather than Gygax's 1E AD&D triple-class fighter->thief->druid. (Although the OD&D bard does have some clear Celtic/Norse flair)

    http://annarchive.com/files/Strv201.pdf
    http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1513
    BelgarathMTHJuliusBorisovAerakar
  • AstroBryGuyAstroBryGuy Member Posts: 3,437
    edited March 2016
    Arunsun said:

    I got one for you guys.
    What do we know about Alorgoth besides what is depicted in Rasaad questline?
    He must be quite important since you cannot kill him at anytime, much like other canon character, yet I can't find anything on him besides this:
    http://www.realmshelps.net/npc/alorgoth.shtml
    The items in his possession and the fact that he has a totally devoted shadow dragon servant makes me feel like he is more than the average level 19 monk (from his creature file).
    Is he some favored of Shar or something?

    Yes. He is Shar's most trusted mortal servant.

    See page 250 of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting for 3rd Edition (NOT the Campaign *Guide*).
    JuliusBorisov
  • CahirCahir Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 2,819

    Arunsun said:

    I got one for you guys.
    What do we know about Alorgoth besides what is depicted in Rasaad questline?
    He must be quite important since you cannot kill him at anytime, much like other canon character, yet I can't find anything on him besides this:
    http://www.realmshelps.net/npc/alorgoth.shtml
    The items in his possession and the fact that he has a totally devoted shadow dragon servant makes me feel like he is more than the average level 19 monk (from his creature file).
    Is he some favored of Shar or something?

    Yes. He's Shar's most trusted mortal servant.

    See page 250 of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting for 3rd Edition (NOT the Campaign *Guide*).
    Also 3.5 ed. sourcebook Champions of Ruin states him as a leader of a Dark Moon sect.
    AstroBryGuyJuliusBorisov
  • OtherguyOtherguy Member Posts: 157
    edited March 2016
    I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I've actually read most of the books about Elminster. The books doesn't really give you a very satisfying explanation about his level of power though, a lot is up to the reader. I was made to understand that when the weave is whole and Mystra is alive, aka business as usual. Then Elminster doesn't really cast normal spells, he just bends the weave itself to do his bidding more often than not. He even admits that it was a long time ago he had to cast spells the normal way once in the books.

    He always has access to divine fire from Mystra, and that is a very very powerful spell that seems to go through most if not all spell protections. Also heals the caster.

    Sometimes Mystra grants him extra power, at least in the books, not a reliable source of power perhaps, but nonetheless.

    All in all I would put him slightly above the rest of the contenders for the title "most powerful archmage" in the FR setting. He might not act like it though. Most of the others have more often than not lots of powerful underlings that makes them even more dangerous. Larloch and Tanthul are both mentioned in the books more than a few times, read for yourself what happens. The Srinshee is way more ancient than Elminster and complicated, I'll leave it at that. Szass Tam is no slouch either, and the ruler of a powerful nation as well, also imho a contender. Elminster seems to have a knack for making people dislike him, thus more often than not he is alone or part of a small group. Might be due to a low charisma score because of the very statheavy dualclasses he has, he is a fighter/thief/cleric/wizard after all.
    Post edited by Otherguy on
    mashedtatersJuliusBorisovDJKajuru
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    edited March 2016
    Also, I did not see you guys mention that bards are artists. They're dancers, actors, poets, jugglers, illusionists.... and pretty much like artists, they have different motivations for doing what they do. Not all bards can heal, not all bards are sneaky and not all bards fight. Some may have religious tendencies , thus developing a taste for divine magic , others may be warlike and develop spells that enhance moral and combat skills, while others may be skilled in deception and use illusions and charms.

    If you think about the bard as if he were a strategist, then you're doing it the wrong way - a bard is much more likely to cast a fantastic color spray rather than blindness, for example.
    JuliusBorisovmashedtatersMoradinBelgarathMTH
  • ZansoZanso Member Posts: 136
    edited March 2016
    Should the title be "Forgotten Realms Lore Questions"? Not D&D Lore Questions? :smiley: It just sounded like all the questions are about Forgotten Realms and not D&D, since D&D lore differs a lot from Forgotten Realms.
    Post edited by Zanso on
  • MoradinMoradin Member Posts: 372
    @Zanso : I feel the title of the thread is accurate because with D&D 5th edition, the FR became the primary campaign setting, which means that very likely in the future any changes to either one will influence the other.
    As for the bard, I feel like some spells make little sense for a bard to have. As @DJKajuru pointed out, it is in the usually flamboyant nature of the bard itself to use certain spells rather than others. I really do not see bards as healers really, they should probably consider removing the "cure" spells from the bards' list altogether and add some "inspire toughness" or something like that to make up for those lost spells. I'm thinking rather than curing lost HPs, the bard's presence would actually inspire other PCs to clench their teeth and continue fighting through the pain (with no penalties at negative HPs, or something similar).
    DJKajurumashedtaters
  • GrumGrum Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,100
    Moradin said:

    @Zanso : I feel the title of the thread is accurate because with D&D 5th edition, the FR became the primary campaign setting, which means that very likely in the future any changes to either one will influence the other.
    As for the bard, I feel like some spells make little sense for a bard to have. As @DJKajuru pointed out, it is in the usually flamboyant nature of the bard itself to use certain spells rather than others. I really do not see bards as healers really, they should probably consider removing the "cure" spells from the bards' list altogether and add some "inspire toughness" or something like that to make up for those lost spells. I'm thinking rather than curing lost HPs, the bard's presence would actually inspire other PCs to clench their teeth and continue fighting through the pain (with no penalties at negative HPs, or something similar).

    This is the reason why I feel that every race should have bards. From dwarves whose job it is to chant out ancient grudges (and sometimes tales of how vengeance was attained) to orcs whose purpose in life is to watch the battlefields to report on especially ferocious combatants. Having bards be relegated to just humans and half elves was a crime.
    MoradinBelgarathMTHJuliusBorisovmashedtaters
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