Aside from the fact you're going to concuss yourself every time you try to leave/enter a room.
Racial stereotypes aside, I think I'd be okay in a human city: I'm a history major, and interested in machinery. as a result, I know how to make a fair amount of early industrial revolution machines (water wheels, weaving machines) and a bit about carpentry and smiting (I could pass myself off as a journeyman smith, get a job in a smithy.) If all else fails, I'm well versed in realms lore and have a good signing voice; Bards may not have it great, but they're definitely doing better that beggars. And who knows? I might get lucky and find a spellbook laying around somewhere. Give me a pointy hat and 2000 years and I'll kick Elminster's AND Edwins arses!
Aside from the fact you're going to concuss yourself every time you try to leave/enter a room.
Racial stereotypes aside, I think I'd be okay in a human city: I'm a history major, and interested in machinery. as a result, I know how to make a fair amount of early industrial revolution machines (water wheels, weaving machines) and a bit about carpentry and smiting (I could pass myself off as a journeyman smith, get a job in a smithy.) If all else fails, I'm well versed in realms lore and have a good signing voice; Bards may not have it great, but they're definitely doing better that beggars. And who knows? I might get lucky and find a spellbook laying around somewhere. Give me a pointy hat and 2000 years and I'll kick Elminster's AND Edwins arses!
But in those 2000 years, Elminster will still be getting stronger too. Assuming he's not a god in the next edition or something like that.
Aside from the fact you're going to concuss yourself every time you try to leave/enter a room.
Racial stereotypes aside, I think I'd be okay in a human city: I'm a history major, and interested in machinery. as a result, I know how to make a fair amount of early industrial revolution machines (water wheels, weaving machines) and a bit about carpentry and smiting (I could pass myself off as a journeyman smith, get a job in a smithy.) If all else fails, I'm well versed in realms lore and have a good signing voice; Bards may not have it great, but they're definitely doing better that beggars. And who knows? I might get lucky and find a spellbook laying around somewhere. Give me a pointy hat and 2000 years and I'll kick Elminster's AND Edwins arses!
But in those 2000 years, Elminster will still be getting stronger too. Assuming he's not a god in the next edition or something like that.
Ah, but I have something he doesn't: Copies of the core rulebooks! I know his stats! You magnificent bastard, I READ YOUR "FORGOTTEN REALS ADVENTURE SETTING" ENTRY!
All hail @Grum and his superior intellect! Dwarves really seem like the best option here. Werehamsters sound great, but I'm not cool enough to hang with them lol.
Would I like to see the surface and be out in the sunshine? You bet, I like my vitamin D! But I could be a trader or something and still get out into the fresh air.
(3) Elven Lands...if you aren't an elf then you are stuck with the most pretentious and stuck up people you could ever imagine. Only when they say they are better than you, you know it to be true. And by the time you turn old and gray that unpleasant tree hugger just needs a haircut. Yeah...no thanks.
Sun elves are stuck up, but moon elves and wood elves are not. Star elves are outright xenophobic, IIRC. If you end up with elves, you'll want to be around moon elves because they're pretty chill.
Ah, but I have something he doesn't: Copies of the core rulebooks! I know his stats! You magnificent bastard, I READ YOUR "FORGOTTEN REALS ADVENTURE SETTING" ENTRY!
How old is that stat book though? We're in Fifth now, and I'm not entirely sure he's had a stat block released for his "current" self.
@JumboWheat01 there's 2e-5ethrough 4e-5e conversion books, so you could make any of the three Elminsters depending on what books you have access to!
@Grum@BelleSorciere yeah the more I think about it, the more I realize I did say it was a poll about where'd you want to land not necessarily the only place you go, and as a starting location most majority Dwarven, Gnomish, Halfling and Elven communities seem to have lessened forms of - if not abolished - poverty in certain places, that's a big plus even if you didn't want to remain there since you can breathe easy adjusting to the world and getting equipped without quite so much shankfear before you head to places with increased shank potential.
Ah, but I have something he doesn't: Copies of the core rulebooks! I know his stats! You magnificent bastard, I READ YOUR "FORGOTTEN REALS ADVENTURE SETTING" ENTRY!
How old is that stat book though? We're in Fifth now, and I'm not entirely sure he's had a stat block released for his "current" self.
Aside from the fact you're going to concuss yourself every time you try to leave/enter a room.
Racial stereotypes aside, I think I'd be okay in a human city: I'm a history major, and interested in machinery. as a result, I know how to make a fair amount of early industrial revolution machines (water wheels, weaving machines) and a bit about carpentry and smiting (I could pass myself off as a journeyman smith, get a job in a smithy.) If all else fails, I'm well versed in realms lore and have a good signing voice; Bards may not have it great, but they're definitely doing better that beggars. And who knows? I might get lucky and find a spellbook laying around somewhere. Give me a pointy hat and 2000 years and I'll kick Elminster's AND Edwins arses!
But in those 2000 years, Elminster will still be getting stronger too. Assuming he's not a god in the next edition or something like that.
Ah, but I have something he doesn't: Copies of the core rulebooks! I know his stats! You magnificent bastard, I READ YOUR "FORGOTTEN REALS ADVENTURE SETTING" ENTRY!
"Ha, Elminster! Pfft. Greenwood didn't min/max like I do. I posted on character optimization boards and have your stats memorized...this is gonna be quick...I've optimized learning new spells and leveling up specifically around defeating you."
I wonder what would happen if a charop board got transported to the Realms...
* Have you seen how much poverty there are in these cities? Beggars everywhere. - What are the chances that you, who come there with no money and probably without a marketable skill, won't end up as one of those beggars?
Honestly, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't live long at all if transported into a high fantasy setting, regardless of locale. I would prefer my final hours/days to be in the presence of similar creatures I could actually understand though. English-speaking humans, sure. Hanging around elvish-speaking elves or dwarven-speaking dwarves (where I constantly bang my head against the low ceiling to boot) would be a somewhat less pleasant experience I imagine.
* Have you seen how much poverty there are in these cities? Beggars everywhere. - What are the chances that you, who come there with no money and probably without a marketable skill, won't end up as one of those beggars?
Honestly, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't live long at all if transported into a high fantasy setting, regardless of locale. I would prefer my final hours/days to be in the presence of similar creatures I could actually understand though. English-speaking humans, sure. Hanging around elvish-speaking elves or dwarven-speaking dwarves (where I constantly bang my head against the low ceiling to boot) would be a somewhat less pleasant experience I imagine.
You assume humans speak English. Common doesn't necessarily mean our language...if anything all of us would be pretty much unable to communicate with anyone.
And if common is English then chances are near everyone will speak it. Haven't seen anyone in any game be unable to speak it...even the deep gnomes.
Also why do we assume that dwarf holds mean banging your head? It wasn't true in Dorn's Deep nor the Deepstone Clanhold. Probably because dwarves likely tend to expand on natural caves for their holds. Saves the work of digging the entire thing out by hand.
Also if they all were made for dwarven height...how do they keep falling to orcs and drow who are our height?
All very good points @Grum and I think it's especially worth pondering about Common and English. Ed Greenwood reports that Elminster visits him and they have grand old chats, but Elminster is easily capable of casting tongues on himself or Ed, so it's unclear to me whether they're the same even with the canon setting detail of their conversations.
You assume humans speak English. Common doesn't necessarily mean our language...if anything all of us would be pretty much unable to communicate with anyone.
And if common is English then chances are near everyone will speak it. Haven't seen anyone in any game be unable to speak it...even the deep gnomes.
Yes, I do assume that. Apart from one 2E D&D game with my brother which was, naturally, narrated in Norwegian and the unfortunate instance where I bought Tron des Bhaal in Germany thinking it would install and work just fine on top of english BGII (it does not, you get a half-German, half-English mess!), all my experience with the D&D universe would suggest the common tongue is English. And if it isn't well then my chances of survival and communication doesn't exactly rise. English seems more likely than norwegian and german.
I have no idea whether or not "everyone" speaks a common tongue in the Forgotten Realms. I assumed not though, as when encountering single-race societies in D&D CRPGs, it's often not been the case.
Also why do we assume that dwarf holds mean banging your head? It wasn't true in Dorn's Deep nor the Deepstone Clanhold. Probably because dwarves likely tend to expand on natural caves for their holds. Saves the work of digging the entire thing out by hand.
Also if they all were made for dwarven height...how do they keep falling to orcs and drow who are our height?
That was more an attempt to add some humour to my post than anything really.
I have no idea about the world in that timeframe (the last edition I played and knew about was 3.5), so I wont vote.
PS. That "Spellplague" thing was horrible, imho. Frankly, I dont know why WoTC must ravage the FR with one disaster or another when it releases a new D&D edition. The only time it didnt happen was in the transtion from 2nd to 3rd edition, and the transtion to the last, 5th, edition. The other disaster was the Time of Troubles (when the game changed from 1st to 2nd edition), but even that was nothing compared to the Spellplague. 4th edition was the worst that ever happened to the FRs (and to D&D, imho). That is one of the reasons I dont like 5th edition FRs. It is already spoiled by that damn 4th edition "Spellplague".
Actually they did do a disaster, the Sundering, to move 4th to 5th, and it reverses almost all of the Spellplague changes because they recognized that long-time FR fans absolutely loathed the fluff changes even more than long-time D&D fans of any previous edition loathed 4th ed mechanics. Personally I think 5th ed is the best ruleset D&D has come out with so far, it was a pre-3rd edition feel but + the lessons they learned in game design from 3.x about what to improve and - the lessons they learned in game design from 4th ed about what not to do and that = a really great new set of mechanics.
But mechanics aside, it's basically an advanced timeline that restores things largely to how it was in 3.5 (and actually rolls back a few of the 3.5 changes like Netheril, although remnants of it remain it's no longer the Empire it was in 3.5), so you might want to check out the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide and see if you like what you see, fluff-wise! I know I did, and I've had some time to check it out more thoroughly over the last couple days (which is part of what inspired this poll!) and I'm an FR fan from 2e days who hated the Spellplague and all that came with it, so while our tastes may still diverge despite those points of similarity, I recommend at least giving the 5e fluff a spin since I think the era immediately post-Sundering is maybe my favourite FR era aside from immediately post-Time of Troubles. Ed Greenwood and Co. did a bang up job on giving the Realms back a Realms feel after the Spellplague disaster without pulling a DC Comics Infinite Retcon handwave.
Thank you for the informative post. So, it seems they have "rolled back" all the horrible changes of 4th edition. Good to know. Perhaps I will take a look into 5th Edition FR.
The 5th edition ruleset also seems good. I always though that 2nd edition was the best flavour wise while 3.5 was the best as ruleset. If they have managed to "merge" both in 5th edition it must be a good, enjoyable edition (again, not as 4th edition)
@helmo1977 You're welcome! Personally if I could somehow share the core books and SCAG with people to show them how good they are, I would!
I like Posthuman Studios' model, they put out all their Eclipse Phase RPG books for free online as pdfs and you can buy them from DriveThruRPG or you can buy the hardbacks at your local gaming store (or order online) if you want to support them. I wish WotC had done that, so people could just share the pdfs like it was nuthin' and buy them if they wanted. But then again, unlike Posthuman Studious, WotC and Hasbro aren't run by a bunch of creative commons open source nut anti-capitalists and anarchists lmao
@Achterklad The first D&D game I ever played in, a 2e Planescape game in like 96 or 97, everyone was playing a Planar character except this one guy who was playing an arrogant Prime mage from Nimbral in FR, which was great because if he'd played one from like...the Icewind Dales or Cormyr or Thay or Calimshan or something, we'd all have known a bit about the place he's from out of character as FR fans, but he truly was some clueless prime berk from who-knows-where to all of us in and out of character, ranting on about how great Nimbral is and we're like "No one knows about your grand nation here, prime." and he'd be like "No one knows about it on my prime plane, either! And it's still the greatest nation of mages on Abeir-Toril! F^(# HALRUUA AND THAY!" which always got good laughs around the table (ooc laughs, in character of course we didn't know where those were either and made fun of him some more)
His character and mine became best friends, he joined the Believers of the Source since he'd come to Sigil on a journey to figure out how to become an overdeity and make his own prime material plane and I was a psionicist member of the Sign of One who wanted to shape reality with my mind, so we got along great.
I was looking for evermeet seeing as at this time it should be in the feywild? and couldn't find it, so i decided to check "other" and what do you know, instead of "other" there was the best answer ever.
In 4e, Evermeet was lost to the Feywild. in 5e it's as I said.
This is what SCAG says:
I overheard it said by the captain of the ship that Evermeet now somehow straddles all three planes: our world, the Feywild, and Arvandor. It touches them all, but exists fully in none of them. To find it, you must follow a pattern of stars until the stars change and then follow new stars. (I swear by Garl's nugget that's what he said!) Those who stray from the path are lost. How I wish I could have asked the captain where the lost ships-went! But I couldn't give myself away.
I was looking for evermeet seeing as at this time it should be in the feywild? and couldn't find it, so i decided to check "other" and what do you know, instead of "other" there was the best answer ever.
I crafted the answer especially for dew-drinking elves like yourself!
In 4e, Evermeet was lost to the Feywild. in 5e it's as I said.
This is what SCAG says:
I overheard it said by the captain of the ship that Evermeet now somehow straddles all three planes: our world, the Feywild, and Arvandor. It touches them all, but exists fully in none of them. To find it, you must follow a pattern of stars until the stars change and then follow new stars. (I swear by Garl's nugget that's what he said!) Those who stray from the path are lost. How I wish I could have asked the captain where the lost ships-went! But I couldn't give myself away.
From pp. 72-73
Yeah, in 4e it just wasn't on Abeir-Toril anymore and was fully in the Feywild, now it's basically phased partially into three planes at all times, which actually makes it feel even more like Valinor (which was Greenwood's inspiration for Evermeet) since now the living elves of Evermeet can hang out with the dead ones like the dead Tolkien elves re-embodied after a stay in the Hall of Mandos hung out with their living descendants on Valinor.
Comments
Racial stereotypes aside, I think I'd be okay in a human city: I'm a history major, and interested in machinery. as a result, I know how to make a fair amount of early industrial revolution machines (water wheels, weaving machines) and a bit about carpentry and smiting (I could pass myself off as a journeyman smith, get a job in a smithy.)
If all else fails, I'm well versed in realms lore and have a good signing voice; Bards may not have it great, but they're definitely doing better that beggars. And who knows? I might get lucky and find a spellbook laying around somewhere. Give me a pointy hat and 2000 years and I'll kick Elminster's AND Edwins arses!
Would I like to see the surface and be out in the sunshine? You bet, I like my vitamin D! But I could be a trader or something and still get out into the fresh air.
@Grum @BelleSorciere yeah the more I think about it, the more I realize I did say it was a poll about where'd you want to land not necessarily the only place you go, and as a starting location most majority Dwarven, Gnomish, Halfling and Elven communities seem to have lessened forms of - if not abolished - poverty in certain places, that's a big plus even if you didn't want to remain there since you can breathe easy adjusting to the world and getting equipped without quite so much shankfear before you head to places with increased shank potential.
I wonder what would happen if a charop board got transported to the Realms...
And if common is English then chances are near everyone will speak it. Haven't seen anyone in any game be unable to speak it...even the deep gnomes.
Also why do we assume that dwarf holds mean banging your head? It wasn't true in Dorn's Deep nor the Deepstone Clanhold. Probably because dwarves likely tend to expand on natural caves for their holds. Saves the work of digging the entire thing out by hand.
Also if they all were made for dwarven height...how do they keep falling to orcs and drow who are our height?
I have no idea whether or not "everyone" speaks a common tongue in the Forgotten Realms. I assumed not though, as when encountering single-race societies in D&D CRPGs, it's often not been the case. That was more an attempt to add some humour to my post than anything really.
The 5th edition ruleset also seems good. I always though that 2nd edition was the best flavour wise while 3.5 was the best as ruleset. If they have managed to "merge" both in 5th edition it must be a good, enjoyable edition (again, not as 4th edition)
I like Posthuman Studios' model, they put out all their Eclipse Phase RPG books for free online as pdfs and you can buy them from DriveThruRPG or you can buy the hardbacks at your local gaming store (or order online) if you want to support them. I wish WotC had done that, so people could just share the pdfs like it was nuthin' and buy them if they wanted. But then again, unlike Posthuman Studious, WotC and Hasbro aren't run by a bunch of creative commons open source nut anti-capitalists and anarchists lmao
@Achterklad The first D&D game I ever played in, a 2e Planescape game in like 96 or 97, everyone was playing a Planar character except this one guy who was playing an arrogant Prime mage from Nimbral in FR, which was great because if he'd played one from like...the Icewind Dales or Cormyr or Thay or Calimshan or something, we'd all have known a bit about the place he's from out of character as FR fans, but he truly was some clueless prime berk from who-knows-where to all of us in and out of character, ranting on about how great Nimbral is and we're like "No one knows about your grand nation here, prime." and he'd be like "No one knows about it on my prime plane, either! And it's still the greatest nation of mages on Abeir-Toril! F^(# HALRUUA AND THAY!" which always got good laughs around the table (ooc laughs, in character of course we didn't know where those were either and made fun of him some more)
His character and mine became best friends, he joined the Believers of the Source since he'd come to Sigil on a journey to figure out how to become an overdeity and make his own prime material plane and I was a psionicist member of the Sign of One who wanted to shape reality with my mind, so we got along great.
This is what SCAG says: From pp. 72-73
Yeah, in 4e it just wasn't on Abeir-Toril anymore and was fully in the Feywild, now it's basically phased partially into three planes at all times, which actually makes it feel even more like Valinor (which was Greenwood's inspiration for Evermeet) since now the living elves of Evermeet can hang out with the dead ones like the dead Tolkien elves re-embodied after a stay in the Hall of Mandos hung out with their living descendants on Valinor.