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Q&A for not so known lore

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  • alceryesalceryes Member Posts: 380

    Why is the Forgotten Realms called the "forgotten" realms?
    Are its citizens so drunk that they keep forgetting where they live?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgotten_Realms
    Second paragraph.

    After that hit the Abier-Toril link to start your journey. Please keep arms, legs, horns, and tails inside the vehicle at all times.
    mf2112KamigoroshibrusJuliusBorisov
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    Cahir said:

    Now I get it! Elminster is coming to Earth to visit @elminster. They established a secret meeting in Europe.

    Who told you about the secret meeting? We all know the second rule of secret meetings is to never say where they happen!

    (the first rule of course being that they are a potluck - so you should bring something unique)
    mf2112brusCahir
  • RodrianRodrian Member Posts: 426
    Is it an appropriate thread? Huh. .

    Why is the Corthala Blade (Valygar's family sword) a katana? Do they not come from Amn/Tethyr previously? Why not a scimitar instead? :expressionless:
    mf2112brussemiticgoddessFinnTheHuman
  • Lord_TansheronLord_Tansheron Member Posts: 4,211
    Rodrian said:

    Is it an appropriate thread? Huh. .

    Why is the Corthala Blade (Valygar's family sword) a katana? Do they not come from Amn/Tethyr previously? Why not a scimitar instead? :expressionless:

    Maybe someone a few generations earlier just happened to buy a katana, and then passed that down. They're rich. They can afford exotic stuff.
    semiticgoddessbrus
  • chimericchimeric Member Posts: 1,163
    edited September 2016
    I plan to make a mod that makes some new spells available to sorcerers, to be found in the world, but I don't like the form of scrolls. I could invent something completely new, but I would rather treat gently the setting. So, if you know, tell me, in what other material forms does magic exist in Toril, if any? There are many novels and supplements. Have you read about some kind of crystallized essence, or mineral, or maybe living spells, something of that sort?

    Also in the BG series we hear about Bhaal spreading his essence to mortal women, and so surviving. Bane might have done something similar, because he too came back. The same goes for Moander. Is this "spreading, then assembling" something originally invented just for the BG game, or is it reflected somehow in the Time of Troubles novels, or maybe found in the supplements? Has any demons etc. done something similar? I know there are always bits and pieces of gods and proxies strewn about a fantasy world, like Kazgaroth's parts in BG, a Hand of this or an Eye of that. But have you read about any material emanation, ectoplasm or such in the Forgotten Realms?
  • JumboWheat01JumboWheat01 Member Posts: 1,028
    All magic comes from the Weave, both Arcane and Divine magic. Arcane magic is either infused into the blood, like what a Sorcerer has, or comes from years of extreme studies. Sorcerers, no matter their stripes, wouldn't be able to learn magic from an item. They'd be able to use it, but never learn from it. Wizards can learn and eventually be able to copy it, as long as the magic in question was not Divine magic. This is just a concrete fact of the two main arcanists, and is about as indelible as a Wizard not being able to cast spells a Cleric can, like Cure Minor Wounds, for instance.

    As for the rest, I don't know. But the Realms have an amazingly kept up wiki that you can spend a few weeks going through. Make sure to pack food.
    Buttercheesemf2112
  • GodGod Member Posts: 1,150
    edited September 2016
    I'm not a FR guru but this comes to mind.
  • chimericchimeric Member Posts: 1,163
    I can't be sure, but this take on the sorcerer, that he can never learn, is not from FR materials, @JumboWheat01 . I don't want to rehash an argument about sorcerers and learning spells that I had elsewhere. You are entitled to your opinion. I, for my part, believe that any power in the blood, as you put it, has to be developed and explored, just like an artist's gifts. Only it's not going to happen by delving into books and studying laws and formulas, as with the wizard, but there will be learning in the world and from the world, from the magic in it. Making alliances with it, absorbing it,, changing yourself as a result...

    Hence the question: what are the more immediate and material forms of magic in Toril? @God has a suggestion, I'm going to follow that link...
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
    edited September 2016
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • JumboWheat01JumboWheat01 Member Posts: 1,028
    Fair enough. I always thought of a sorcerer who just DOES magic. They don't always know why, but they know they can do it, so they do it. Maybe that's why they feed off of Charisma instead of Intelligence. They believe they can cast arcane spells (force of will,) so they do it.

    Hmm... I could see that as a form of learning. If they believe they can do that spell, they'll simply do it. If they can't do it, well, they'll probably blow up the item out of anger. That spell was obviously not meant for them, and they'll darned if another sorcerer gets their hands on it. Or worse, a wizard. That would just be insulting.
  • chimericchimeric Member Posts: 1,163
    There are many ways to interpret a sorcerer, or a wizard for that matter, as many as there are imaginations. All those different classes and kits are different takes on the basic concept of the supernatural person, who is by definition opaque. So people build explanations around him: that magic is a high science that draws on conjunctions of the planets, the powers of plants and geometric figures, or it is witches' reward from evil angels for forsaking god... These two are the actual, historical takes on magic in Europe. And then there are also modern writers' personal imaginings, so we have channelers, alienists, alchemists, telepaths... This is all a grand soup brewing in the cultural cauldron. In every case, when implementing magic, one has to make a decision, choose or invent what it will be like. It is not a matter of finding the purest definition.

    The trick for me is to make my sorcerer convincing to others. But then, aren't I a magic man? :lol:
  • JumboWheat01JumboWheat01 Member Posts: 1,028
    Couldn't tell you. You could be a hamster, for all I know. Though as we all know, hamsters, no matter their size or origin, can be particularly awesome. You think it's Minsc that's so popular. Psh...
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    As far as I know , sorcerers learn new spells from other creatures who possess innate magic, such as dragons and faeries.
  • The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    I've merged your thread, @chimeric, with this one, as this thread is exactly for such questions.
    mf2112
  • chimericchimeric Member Posts: 1,163
    edited September 2016

    You asked for the lore of this game world; people responded by explaining how sorcerers work. They don't learn new spells from external sources, they grow and learn innately as they level up. Of course there are other interpretations; people here are simply giving you the particular interpretation that you asked about.

    You are not adding anything to the discussion... And I didn't get the information I asked for yet - in what physical forms, if any, magic exists in Toril (except one).

    P.S. Just as a side note about rules and magic: authors sometimes take departures from the rule set. For example, in the Moonshae trilogy by Douglas Niles Robin dual-classes from a druid to a cleric when her deity, Earthmother, dies, which shouldn't be possible. And not to a 1st-level cleric either. There are a lot of examples like this even in official D&D materials, not to mention broader fantasy, so people shouldn't expect everything to be regular and predictable. They will all the same, I'm resigned to it, but I had to put my foot in the door to honor the heroes. Crom!
  • JumboWheat01JumboWheat01 Member Posts: 1,028
    Never put your foot in a door. That hurts. A lot. Sometimes repeatedly.

    Since we're tied now to another thread, I have a fairly simple but somewhat troubling question for the Realms.

    Just how does one tell a Lightfoot and a Stoutheart halfling apart? All the other sub-races for... races are generally fairly obvious, especially when the Underdark variants are included. But Lightfoot and Stouthearts...
    Rodrian
  • KamigoroshiKamigoroshi Member Posts: 5,870
    Wasn't it that lightfoots are gaunt and stouthearts have beerbellies? Ghostwise probably smell like musk.
    Rodrian
  • GodGod Member Posts: 1,150

    Since we're tied now to another thread, I have a fairly simple but somewhat troubling question for the Realms.

    Just how does one tell a Lightfoot and a Stoutheart halfling apart? All the other sub-races for... races are generally fairly obvious, especially when the Underdark variants are included. But Lightfoot and Stouthearts...

    That's fairly easy, actually. One simply cuts off and weighs the foot of the halfling; if it's light, then it's a Lightfoot, otherwise it's not. Alternatively, one may rip the bugger's chest open and compare the calibre of their heart with a special chart peddled by the Zhentarim.
    Rodrianmf2112Girewan
  • JumboWheat01JumboWheat01 Member Posts: 1,028
    As always, God with the real answers.
    Rodrian
  • mf2112mf2112 Member, Moderator Posts: 1,919
    chimeric said:

    You asked for the lore of this game world; people responded by explaining how sorcerers work. They don't learn new spells from external sources, they grow and learn innately as they level up. Of course there are other interpretations; people here are simply giving you the particular interpretation that you asked about.

    You are not adding anything to the discussion... And I didn't get the information I asked for yet - in what physical forms, if any, magic exists in Toril (except one).

    P.S. Just as a side note about rules and magic: authors sometimes take departures from the rule set. For example, in the Moonshae trilogy by Douglas Niles Robin dual-classes from a druid to a cleric when her deity, Earthmother, dies, which shouldn't be possible. And not to a 1st-level cleric either. There are a lot of examples like this even in official D&D materials, not to mention broader fantasy, so people shouldn't expect everything to be regular and predictable. They will all the same, I'm resigned to it, but I had to put my foot in the door to honor the heroes. Crom!
    Just a side note about computers and programming. They expect everything to be regular and predictable. I wish you luck in trying to make a computer game work according to departures from the rules because that is where this game is played, not on a tabletop. :)

    P.S. subtledoctor has tried to be helpful to you repeatedly over the time I have watched since you started here. He has tried to share knowledge and experience gained over years of working on and successfully publishing several well-used mods for this game.

    Perhaps Google has the answers you seek since they don't seem to be here.
    JuliusBorisov
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