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Forgotten Realms Lore Questions

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  • AedanAedan Member, Translator (NDA) Posts: 8,550
    Moradin wrote: »
    It is interesting to observe though, that Dynaheir does not wear a mask, likely because gnolls stripped it from her, but to my knowledge she never refers to the mask or makes any remark on wanting a new one. Strange woman.

    Most likely because BG characters are not fleshed out. Good for me, since I a working on a mod that explores Minsc and Dynaheir's dajemma.
    Dynaheir will get a mask soon. *Hand rubbing* :p

    Thanks a lot for the reply and for the links!
    Moradin
  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    Or they wanted to make an "exotic" character and didn't think too much about the area they chose the character to come from.
    Moradin
  • MoradinMoradin Member Posts: 372
    @LadyRhian you make for a pretty good argument, but I think @Aedan 's is more convincing. After all, Edwin and Minsc, Viconia and Xzar are all as exotic as Dynaheir is, but they are fleshed out far better than she. All the male characters I named for example have personal items that either cannot be removed (Edwin and Minsc) or they can, but are practically worthless in the hands of anyone else.
    This is perhaps something Beamdog could address in the next patch. A simple mask that acts like a helm for Dynaheir, with some minor enchantment on it. Perhaps +2 to Intelligence or one extra spell per level... Quite frankly, other than RP-wise, I've never found any convincing reason to bring Lady Dyna along after rescuing her. She's a good mage, but in my opinion she's just not as good as most of the others.
  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    @Moradin Or just add a face mask to her portrait....
    VallmyrmashedtatersMoradin
  • SpaceInvaderSpaceInvader Member Posts: 2,125
    > @LadyRhian said:
    > @Moradin Or just add a face mask to her portrait....

    Considering that there are zero helms/circlets/stones for mages in BG1...
  • VallmyrVallmyr Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,456
    This isn't really an FR question but wanted to ask anyway. I noticed in looking through the Krynn series Gold Box Game Manuals that Rangers can cast Druid and wizard spells. Is that Krynn specific or at one time were Rangers able to cast Mage spells?
  • AstroBryGuyAstroBryGuy Member Posts: 3,437
    Vallmyr said:
    This isn't really an FR question but wanted to ask anyway. I noticed in looking through the Krynn series Gold Box Game Manuals that Rangers can cast Druid and wizard spells. Is that Krynn specific or at one time were Rangers able to cast Mage spells?
    In first edition AD&D, Rangers cast magic uses spells.
    Vallmyr
  • ChidojuanChidojuan Member Posts: 211
    Love this thread.  Can anyone elaborate on the Astronomy of the Forgotten Realms?  Specifically of Abeir-Toril and the Greyhawk campaign setting.  I recently had one of those mind bending moments where I realized that the campaign settings were different worlds, but I couldn't really find specifics on the two settings relationship to one another.  Are they in the same solar system?  Or different planes of the Multiverse altogether?  I'd love to hear peoples thoughts.
    JuliusBorisov
  • illathidillathid Member Posts: 320
    Chidojuan said:
    Love this thread.  Can anyone elaborate on the Astronomy of the Forgotten Realms?  Specifically of Abeir-Toril and the Greyhawk campaign setting.  I recently had one of those mind bending moments where I realized that the campaign settings were different worlds, but I couldn't really find specifics on the two settings relationship to one another.  Are they in the same solar system?  Or different planes of the Multiverse altogether?  I'd love to hear peoples thoughts.
    So Aber-Toril, Krynn, Oerth, Athas, and pretty much every other campaign world, has their own solar system suspended in a crystal sphere. These crystal spheres are surrounded by phlogiston and require a spelljammer craft or magic of similar caliber to travel between them. Also, they all exist on the prime material plane and share the same planar cosmology, so for instance the abyss and the nine hells are the same planes for each setting. You can also find characters from many different campaign settings in Sigil as it has portals to everywhere.

    I'm a bit rusty on this so apologies if I've made any mistakes. 
    GrumMoradinJuliusBorisov
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    What is the travel time between Candlekeep and Athkatla?
  • MoonheartMoonheart Member Posts: 520

    There is no exact measure, I think

    It depends of who you travel with (a halfling doesn't truly have the pace of an half-orc), if you use mounts, if you follow a caraven (which is ofthen a good ide)... and it does not truly matter in Pen and Paper games, where the DM decide to ellipse the travel as he wish to.

    If you want to get an approximative idea, you should look for a map on google to have the distance between the two, then look at the movement speed of your race in the DnD rules, and add rest time...

    JuliusBorisovmashedtaters
  • MoradinMoradin Member Posts: 372
     @mashedtaters, relevant: 
    https://88e54b460ed7328ee3144570a63a7fc8b79babc3.googledrive.com/host/0By_eTj_S2V5WbExocmI5elNCbXc/faerun.html
    One of the most detailed map of Faerun I've ever seen. Top right, you can select layers.
    Eadwyn_G8keepermashedtatersGozeta
  • SethDavisSethDavis Member Posts: 1,812
    edited March 2016
    illathid said:
    So Aber-Toril, Krynn, Oerth, Athas, and pretty much every other campaign world, has their own solar system suspended in a crystal sphere. These crystal spheres are surrounded by phlogiston and require a spelljammer craft or magic of similar caliber to travel between them. Also, they all exist on the prime material plane and share the same planar cosmology, so for instance the abyss and the nine hells are the same planes for each setting. You can also find characters from many different campaign settings in Sigil as it has portals to everywhere.
    With the possible exception of Krynn in the books, where planets (but not moons :/) and stars (but not those tied to the constellations of gods) seem to follow real rules in that there are scads of stars in a nearly infinite space, and the planes may not be the same in that the abyss is always described as a lifeless wasteland.

    The official campaign lore may follow those rules though.

    Post edited by SethDavis on
    JuliusBorisovmashedtaters
  • illathidillathid Member Posts: 320
    SethDavis said:
    illathid said:
    So Aber-Toril, Krynn, Oerth, Athas, and pretty much every other campaign world, has their own solar system suspended in a crystal sphere. These crystal spheres are surrounded by phlogiston and require a spelljammer craft or magic of similar caliber to travel between them. Also, they all exist on the prime material plane and share the same planar cosmology, so for instance the abyss and the nine hells are the same planes for each setting. You can also find characters from many different campaign settings in Sigil as it has portals to everywhere.
    With the possible exception of Krynn in the books, where planets and stars (but not moons :/) seem to follow real rules in that there are scads of stars in a nearly infinite space, and the planes may not be the same in that the abyss is always described as a lifeless wasteland.

    The official campaign lore may follow those rules though.
    Yeah, although if I'm remembering right Krynn could be explained by having a large amount of wildspace in its crystal sphere. Spelljammer was weird.
    SethDavismashedtaters
  • LadyRhianLadyRhian Member Posts: 14,694
    There was also "The Forgotten Realms Atlas", which not only lays out how the Realms are put together (including the Al-Quadim, Maztica and Kara-Tur/Oriental Adventures settings), but shows various journeys made in various books/Stories already published in the Realms universe.
    mashedtaters
  • Eadwyn_G8keeperEadwyn_G8keeper Member Posts: 541
    edited March 2016
    What is the travel time between Candlekeep and Athkatla?

    Nashkel is fairly close to a midway point between Candlekeep and Athkatla. Probably need to allow some extra time for travelling through the Cloud Peaks for good RP unless travelling with caravan, etc. Adding @8hrs should do it . At least on a map I refer to.

    On the excellent map @Moradin shared above Nashkel seems rather closer to Athkatla than Candlekeep. My map shows the Lion's Way road to be rather longer which seems to me to be a bit more accurate given that in the game there is an entire map [the ambush site] between Candlekeep start and the Coast Road intersection.

    mashedtatersSouave_Said
  • Eadwyn_G8keeperEadwyn_G8keeper Member Posts: 541
    http://www.candlekeep.com/library/articles/sse/so_saith_ed.htm

    A good link from the Candlekeep Forum. "So Sayeth Ed; the Collected Replies of Ed Greenwood"

    JuliusBorisovmashedtatersSouave_Said
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    Crystal spheres? That's the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic view of the solar system. It's how the ancients understood what they saw in the night sky, and it was a real, historical thing pre-Copernicus.

    The Earth was seen as the center of the universe, with the sun, moon, and stars revolving around the earth in clear, crystal spheres within spheres. It was so mathematically supported, it actually did a pretty good job predicting the movements of the stars and planets. The one thing that it couldn't explain was retrograde motion in the planets, and that fatal flaw was what made Copernicus question the model.

    Copernicus put the sun in the center of his model, with a rotating earth revolving around the sun, and voila, apparent retrograde motion of the planets now made sense. The Catholic Church didn't care much for the idea.
    VallmyrillathidEadwyn_G8keeper
  • illathidillathid Member Posts: 320
    Crystal spheres? That's the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic view of the solar system. It's how the ancients understood what they saw in the night sky, and it was a real, historical thing pre-Copernicus.

    The Earth was seen as the center of the universe, with the sun, moon, and stars revolving around the earth in clear, crystal spheres within spheres. It was so mathematically supported, it actually did a pretty good job predicting the movements of the stars and planets. The one thing that it couldn't explain was retrograde motion in the planets, and that fatal flaw was what made Copernicus question the model.

    Copernicus put the sun in the center of his model, with a rotating earth revolving around the sun, and voila, apparent retrograde motion of the planets now made sense. The Catholic Church didn't care much for the idea.

    Yeah, the main difference between the Aristotelian crystal spheres and the Spelljammer crystal spheres is that in Spelljammer they're not nested like matryoshka dolls, but rather discrete barriers around each solar system.
    BelgarathMTH
  • mashedtatersmashedtaters Member Posts: 2,266
    Raising this thread because I didn't want to start a new one for a similar topic.

    I started playing KOTOR recently and was intrigued by the wookie's lifedebt concept.

    Does anyone know of a similar lifedebt concept used in the realms? (A lifedebt is when a person swears service of some sort to another that they perceive as their savior, usually someone who saved their life.) Are their cultures in the realms where this is familiar?
    Grum
  • namarienamarie Member Posts: 52
    Great thread! I've got a question that puzzled me for ages (I guess I just never bothered looking it up since I've never played a table-top game in FR settings so it never came up at my table).

    How is the cosmology of Forgotten Realms different from the classical Great Wheel cosmology in Greyhawk and Planescape? I vaguely remember something about a World Tree cosmology; however, what I'm most curious with is the history of the two and how they were developed in FR. For example, was World Tree always the canonical cosmology used in FR? Or was it the result of a restructuring caused by major inter-planar magical events (read: edition changes) - specifically, how did the publishing of 2E, 3E/3.5E, 4E, and 5E change the cosmology(/ies?) of FR?
  • AstroBryGuyAstroBryGuy Member Posts: 3,437
    Faerunian cosmology is based on the Great Wheel. When Ed Greenwood developed the deities for the Realms, he picked gods from the 1st edition Dieities and Demigods book (often renaming them) and picked one god for each Outer Plane.

    Ed wrote an article in Dragon #54 about it.

    http://annarchive.com/files/Drmg054.pdf
  • WarChiefZekeWarChiefZeke Member Posts: 2,651
    What was the Orc Pantheon up to during the Time of Troubles?
  • MoradinMoradin Member Posts: 372
    Lore about the Orc Pantheon (and other non-human pantheons) during the Time of Troubles is very fuzzy at best. Since Ao cast down all pantheons, including non-humans, one can reasonably assume that Gruumsh and his family were cast down as well. I did not find any mention as to what they did during that time. Possibly, they were waging war against other deities in far-away lands. To make things more confusing, in 4ed Talos the Destroyer was suggested to be an aspect of Gruumsh (https://scribd.com/doc/102635679/Dragon-378 page 36). This suggests that Gruumsh and Talos were the same being also before and during the ToT. Further, it opens the possibility that during that period, Gruumsh participated to the events under his Talos aspect. Nonetheless, this is somewhat disproved by the fact that in 5ed, Gruumsh and Talos are once again two separate deities.
    Buttercheese
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    And that's why I ignore the existence of anything post second edition.
    WarChiefZeke
  • WarChiefZekeWarChiefZeke Member Posts: 2,651
    Yeah, I can't find out anything about what they were up to either from official sources. i'm tempted to email some WoTC guys :P Considering that the Orc Pantheon slaughtered a good number of gods in a war thousands of years prior, i'm amazed they weren't more active.

    i've been working on an NPC who has ties to some of the orc gods so i thought it would be an interesting bit of lore worth mentioning...if there was lore on it.
  • GrumGrum Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,100
    So what happened with the Dwarven pantheon during the ToT?
  • WarChiefZekeWarChiefZeke Member Posts: 2,651
    Most of them almost certainly were deep underground and would see no reason to come out or do anything but protect their people, imo.

    Thard Harr, my favorite dwarven god, was almost certainly in the Chultan wilderness ripping dinosaurs apart bare handed.
    Moradin
  • MoradinMoradin Member Posts: 372
    @Grum the only member of the dwarven pantheon to be specifically mentioned during ToT is Clangeddin. I quote: "Clangeddin, in the form of three dwarves melded into a giant earth elemental, battled Labelas Enoreth, who had possessed the body of his cleric Vartan Hai Sylvar for use as his avatar, over a misunderstanding upon the isle of Ruathym. The battle resulted in the destruction of Clangeddin's avatar." (forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=18766 , Asharak). As for the others, I agree with @WarChiefZeke. I like to think that Moradin appeared in Adbar under the guise of a dwarf smith from Felbarr or Mithral Hall, crafting exquisite sets of armor and weapons to be used for future wars.
    WarChiefZekeGrum
  • GrumGrum Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,100
    Clangeddin Lost? Obviously due to an underhanded blow from the elf.

    But thanks for that info. Glad it didn't result in his death. Though I must say Baldur's Gate would have been very different if rather than Bhaalspawn we played Clangeddinspawn.

    Just imagine the fortuber teller at Trademeet:
    "I see...I see ale in your future."
    "Anything else?"
    "A long beard that you cannot shave off." (Regardless of Charname gender)
    "Anything I don't know already?!"
    "That'll be 5 gold."
    ThacoBellMoradinEnialusMeliamne
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