180 replies to this topic

[Tempest]

It does look interesting, but I'm also very unhappy about it-sparing the Sword Coast and Cormyr while destroying everywhere else smacks of simplification and dumbing down. Now giving every class some dgree of magical power, when the distinguishing points of some classes was that they lacked supernatural abilities and compensated through feats and brute force... decimating spellcasters while leaving magical items completely intact... no difference in making magical items despite the Spellplague and the overall shift in the way magic works...

[Bluenose]

Another article:

Spellplague: The Wailing Years
by Brian James

Excerpt from the journal of Arleenaya Kithmaer, First Magistrati of the House of the High One Ascendant, Year of Blue Fire (1385 DR)

"Reaching out northwest from beyond the horizon's rim, I beheld a sight which was at once horrifying as it was beautiful; a stormlike catastrophe rolling across the sky, which seemed to be ablaze with blue fire. Frozen in stupefying awe, I witnessed the cerulean thunderhead crash into the mighty Lhairghal, throwing pillars of azure fire skyward to snatch at Selûne's calming light. Selûne, my gods! The surface of the moon, long presented to us mortals as a barren landscape of craters and lifeless valleys, now revealed to me majestic mountains and sprawling seas; itself alight with similar cobalt radiance. A nearby exclamation from the Magehound returned my attention earthward to witness a shimmering wall of sapphire flame racing down Mhair Pass. Five breaths longer and the storm would crash into the battlement upon which I stood with a handful of loomwardens. I recall hastily whispered prayers to Azuth, a moment of unqualified stillness, and then nothing."

As dusk fell over the Shining South on the final day of Uktar in the Year of Blue Fire (1385 DR), a menacing storm began forming over the Mhair Jungles west of Halruaa. Beyond its massive size, the storm was particularly notable for the ribbons of blue flame that seemed to writhe and flow among its formations. In the mountains near Lhair in western Halruaa, dumbfounded priests watched in absolute silence, unable to comprehend the terrible events unfolding on the horizon. What the clerics of Azuth could not possibly fathom was that three score or more similar storms sprang up all across Toril; born instantly upon the assassination of Mystra in her heavenly dominion. Arleenaya Kithmaer and four nearby priests were teleported to safety by a quick-thinking magehound. The nation of Halruaa, however, would suffer horribly that ill-fated night. The three great mountain ranges that oft protected the nation from external invasion actually made it difficult for many Halruaans to escape the uncontrolled wild magic unleashed across the countryside. Halruaa today is best known as a magical wasteland; it is also the birthplace of the roving mercenary bands known as the Five Companies.

The cerulean storm and its aftereffects would become known in later days as the Spellplague. Despite its name, the Spellplague was no mere magical affliction. For nearly ten years the plague raged on and on in ever-widening spirals, irrevocably altering whole regions while leaving others completely unscathed. Whole countries vanished in earthquakes, fires, and windstorms, inexplicably replaced with peoples and lands from a world beyond our own. Even the starry constellations in the Sea of Night seemingly rearranged themselves in the heavens above. Scholars in later years would name this decade of chaos and upheaval the Wailing Years, or simply the Plague Years. For more details on the Spellplague and the secondary catastrophes that followed in its wake, check out the Countdown to the Realms preview article Magic in the Forgotten Realms.

The Wailing Years
In game terms, the Spellplague represents the definitive event for transitioning the setting from one rules system to the next, and the loss of the Weave will have a profound effect on arcane spellcasters in your campaign. Though a small percentage of mages are driven to madness at the outset of the Spellplague, it's recommended you spare your players from this ignoble fate. Instead, wizards and other arcane spellcasters find that their magic has gone wild or departed altogether. In effect, all of Abeir-Toril is blanketed by a massive zone of wild magic. Refer to the 3rd Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (page 55) for Table 2?1 of Wild Magic Effects. As the Weave unravels throughout the month of Nightal in the Year of Blue Fire, these wild magic zones are quickly replaced with dead magic zones until one day arcane magic ceases to function altogether.

DMs may wish to take advantage of the Wailing Years to run a low magic/melee-centric campaign using rules or concepts from sourcebooks such as Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords or Iron Heroes. Otherwise it may be wise to simply move your campaign forward to the Year of Silent Death (1395 DR) or beyond, where direct effects of the Spellplague have largely subsided and most spellcasters have once again gained mastery of their magic. See the section below on the Vilhon Reach for a description of a functioning time portal you may wish to use for this purpose.

Included below is a timeline of key events that occurred during the Wailing Years, which may be useful to a transitional campaign set in the kingdom of Cormyr or the Vilhon Reach. Following the timeline is a brief update of these two regions, including sample adventure hooks.

Timeline
1385 DR (Year of Blue Fire)
The Spellplague: An unthinkable catastrophe ensues when Cyric, aided and abetted by Shar, murders Mystra in Dweomerheart. The plane itself disintegrates at once, destroying Savras and sending the gods Azuth and Velsharoon reeling into the endless Astral Sea. Without Mystra to govern the Weave, magic bursts its bonds all across Toril and the surrounding planes and runs wild. In Faerûn, this event is known as the Spellplague. Thousands of mages are driven insane or destroyed, and the very substance of the world becomes mutable beneath veils of azure fire that dance across the skies by night or by day.

Where once stood the realm of Sespech, the Golden Plains, and the Nagalands, the Spellplague reveals a surreal landscape breathtaking in its beauty, grandeur, and changeability. For the next century, active Spellplague cavorts on this territory called the Changing Lands, contorting terrain, natural law, and the flesh of any creature that dares enter.


Cormyr is struck hard, but not so violently as many other nations. Roughly one third of all Wizards of War are slain, driven mad, or simply have gone missing in the year following Mystra's death.
1386 DR (Year of the Halfling's Lament) A portion of Toril's sibling world Abeir violently exchanges places with large sections of Chondath and western Chessenta. Displaced genasi from the Abeiran land of Shyr quickly set about creating a kingdom of their own.

The former expanse of the Sea of Fallen Stars is altered when wide portions of the landscape collapse into the Underdark. When the sea level reaches its new equilibrium, the average drop in water level measured nearly 50 feet. The waters of the Vilhon Reach were similarly drained, uncovering several drowned ruins from ancient Jhaamdath.
1387 DR (Year of the Emerald Ermine)
The Emerald Enclave begins sending agents throughout the Vilhon Wilds to counter the effects of the Spellplague. As years became decades, their original mission is slowly perverted from one of respect for and guardianship of nature to a vain struggle against forces far beyond their control.

The Prismatic Mountains, a beautiful Abeiran mountain range seeming to be made entirely of dense multicolored glass, appears between the Desertmouth Mountains and the Thunderpeaks, closing off Shadow Gap and halting overland trade along the Northride between New Tilverton and Shadowdale.
1388 DR (Year of the Tanarukka)
Bullywugs tribes from the Farsea Marshes begin harrying Zhentarim forces operating throughout the Tunlands, diminishing Black Network activities in the region.

Some members of Cormyr's remaining War Wizards, having lost access to the Art, begin cross-training with the Purple Dragons in swordplay and martial defense. In years to come these swordmages will prove invaluable against neighboring aggression in the region.
1389 DR (Year of the Forgiven Foes)
A strangely angular black monolith is sometimes visible breaking above the waves along Cormyr's coast, never in the same place twice.

1390 DR (Year of the Walking Man)
Dowager Dragon Queen, Filfaeril Selazair Obarskyr, dies. Alusair attends the state funeral, argues briefly and privately with her nephew the king, and disappears altogether from Court. Rumors persist of her riding through the frontiers and borderlands, but no confirmed reports of her appearance exist following the burial of Filfaeril.

1391 DR (Year of the Wrathful Eye)
The dark druid Zalaznar Crinios leads a great host of fell beasts to sack the forest community of Gurnth. Nobanion calls his followers to his side at Machran Spire in an effort to counter the pending invasion.

1392 DR (Year of the Scroll)
The Dragon Coast city of Pros petitions the Crown to become a vassal-state of Cormyr in order to protect it from the ravages of the Spellplague. Azoun V reluctantly accepts. By year's end, Pros' sister-town of Ilipur joins the Forest Kingdom as well. Unfortunately the receding waters of the Sea of Fallen Stars have spelled ruin for these small trading towns.

1393 DR (Year of the Ring)
Sembian investors begin buying up land in the southern Dales. Concerned, Azoun V issues a formal objection to the Dale's Council in Archendale but the King's emissary is rebuffed.

Spellscarred beings and pilgrims hoping to obtain a spellscar begin journeying to the Changing Lands in large numbers. They are welcomed in Ormpetarr by the Order of Blue Fire.
1394 DR (Year of Deaths Unmourned)
Led by the increasingly mad human-turned-eladrin Shadowmoon Crystalembers, the Grand Cabal of the Emerald Enclave begins attempting -- often by violent means -- to stem the tide of spellscarred pilgrims that pass through Turmish.

Years of straining with their conflicted Sembian and Cormyrean identities, and struggling against the rule of Netheril, culminates in the annexation of the border city of Daerlun into the Forest Kingdom.
1395 DR (Year of Silent Death)
Sakkors, the Netherese floating enclave not seen since the days before the Spellplague, makes a reappearance over Daerlun in the dead of night. The following morning civil unrest breaks out throughout the city. Azoun V sends elite swordmages to restore order in the city.

Tone and Feel
The 4th Edition Realms are shifting away from a "Renaissance" feel to a more contemporary higher fantasy environment. If you can imagine playing D&D in a world that looks like the cover of a Yes album, you're getting close. Yeah, I needed to Google it, too.

For visuals, go visit http://wizards.com/l..._drfe_20080227a. High fantasy doesn't mean that the Realms are turning into a magical steampunk setting. Eberron already has elemental-powered airships and trains, and that is not the direction set for the Realms. Instead, the landscape itself shall be spectacular, indescribable, striking, and magical.

Of course each region will maintain its own distinctive flavor. We don't think that Waterdeep belongs on a floating earthmote or that the Dalelands needs all its farmland replaced with spiky stone towers, but we want some of that element of the incredible to be a part of almost every piece of the Realms your characters visit.

Vilhon Reach
The lands of the Vilhon Reach were affected greatly by the merging of Abeir with Toril. The waters of the Reach itself were partially drained during the Spellplague, revealing several drowned Cities of the Sword from ancient Jhaamdath. The once welcoming and cosmopolitan folk of Turmish have grown increasingly xenophobic throughout the Wailing Years. Akanûl, formerly the lands of Chondath, are now populated by genasi from the Abeiran land of Shyr, a region that will barely survive its first contact with the Abolethic Sovereignty some years later.

Since the Year of Blue Fire, civilization has been slow to return to the wilder Spellplague-morphed regions. The notorious Changing Lands lie close by, contorting terrain, natural law, and the flesh of any creature that dares enter. The Vilhon Reach is a great example of the new "Tone and Feel" of the setting in action, making it a great region to explore some of the more fantastic locales on Faerûn.

ANDRIO'S GATE: The Reach happens to contain one of Toril's few functioning time gates; a useful tool for bringing characters forward beyond the Wailing Years (1385 DR to 1395 DR) to a more stable time period for campaign play. The time gate is located within Mount Andrus, a volcanic peak within the Orsraun Mountains on Turmish's western frontier. There the time gate has survived millennia despite several volcanic eruptions, shielded from the monstrous heat and the effects of the Spellplague by powerful, and some would say divine, wards. Adrio's Gate is activated by speaking the name of a year as given in the Roll of Years then stepping through the gate's event horizon.
Turmish
Turmish suffered much less than Chondath, but the partial draining of the Sea of Fallen Stars did leave its busy port at Alaghôn high and dry. Today, this realm of increasingly competitive and desperate merchant costers is also a through-route for fanatics on spellscar pilgrimages to the Changing Lands. The once welcoming and cosmopolitan Turmishans have grown increasingly xenophobic, and they are guarded and suspicious of strangers, even though they remain dependent on outside trade.

North and west of Turmish beyond the Orsraun and Alaoreum Mountains stretches the forested realm of Gulthandor, ruled by a powerful and enigmatic druid in lion's form its followers name Nobanion. Gulthandor has no ties with the largely disbanded organization once known as the Emerald Enclave. Ilighôn, once the island home of the Enclave, became part of mainland Turmish when the seas retreated in 1386 DR.

YURGRIM'S DELVE: Alaghôn remains the capital of Turmish; the city's curious architecture is the result of the Chondathan humans building over existing structures left by a previous dwarven civilization. The dwarves also left an abandoned mine -- a maze of subterranean tunnels, vaults, and catacombs that have never been fully explored, or fully rid of monsters -- beneath the city streets. Few entrances to the Undercity remain, but adventurers continue to brave their dark reaches in search of plunder. A few ancient tomes make reference to a lich queen from Unther residing below the palace, yet most discount these accounts as wild tales of fiction.


PRIDE OF THE FIREMANE: Zalaznar Crinios (CE dark tree druid 20), has turned away from the teachings of Eldath to embrace Malar, who "rewarded" the High Druid by transforming him into a Dark Tree (Shining South p62). Zalaznar is gathering a great host of fell beasts to sack the forest community of Gurnth (village; population ~300). Nobanion is calling all able-bodied adventurers to his side at Machran Spire in an effort to counter the pending invasion.
Nobanion

Lord Firemane, Lord of Gulthandor
Unaligned Exarch of Silvanus
Seen as a great protector and guardian across the Vilhon Wilds, Nobanion (No-BAN-yun) appears as a great male lion of at least twice normal size. His coat gleams with the radiance of the sun, and his mane is incredibly thick and luxurious. Sometimes the Lion God's mane ignites in a nimbus of amber and golden fire, the origin of his title "Lord Firemane." At will he can sprout the wings of a gigantic eagle.

Thought to be a favored champion of Silvanus, Nobanion now rules the forested realm of Gulthandor from the druidic stronghold of Cedarsproke. Beyond Gulthandor, Lord Firemane is also honored as the titular ruler of the wemic Tenpaw tribe of the Shining Plains. Clerics of Silvanus who honor the tenets of the King of Lions are known as Roaring Avengers.

Exarchs
The exarchs are often called demigods or heroes, and many are ascended mortal servants of greater gods, brought up from the world to serve as agents of their divine masters. Many, but not all, attract worshipers of their own, and they have some ability to grant spells, but are more often simply conduits from the mortal world to the attention of the higher gods. For example, the druids of Gulthandor pay homage to the Lion God, but in reality the character's divine spells are being granted by Nobanion's patron, Silvanus. Unlike true deities, exarchs are not bound to live in Astral Dominions with their patrons. Like Nobanion, many choose to live on the Material Plane, more directly engaged in the lives of their mortal followers.

Finally, exarchs in D&D campaigns are fully intended to be defeatable by any epic-level PC strong enough to attempt it. Of course, immortal beings are not just sitting around waiting for epic-level adventurers to take their life. And should the PCs even succeed in such an endeavor, they'll surely have earned the wrath of the exarch's patron deity.

Chondath
A portion of Toril's sibling world, Abeir violently exchanged places with large sections of Chondath and western Chessenta during the Spellplague. The shattered ruins of cities lie broken at the bottom of ravines or thrust high atop stone spires, a constant draw to adventurers seeking troves of lost gold. The land today is characterized by crazed stone spires, cavernous ravines, and cliffs like petrified waves. Freefloating earthmotes host miniature forests, grasslands, lakes, and ever-replenishing waterfalls that mist the land below in draperies of mist. The wild landscape is perfectly suited to the tempestuous population of genasi that now claim the land as their own. Akanûl is the name of this genasi-ruled realm, and the capital city of Airspur holds the bulk of the nation's population. The waters of the Vilhon Reach were partially drained during the Spellplague, revealing several ruined Cities of the Sword, lost since the last days of Jhaamdath. Travelers to the region are few and far between. The few who travel through this treacherous floodplain return with madness or not at all.

The Chondalwood is a confusion of ravines and floating junglemotes, some sailing free, others webbed to lower jungle regions by thick vines and vegetation. The Chondalwood's vigor is impressive -- it grew in the Spellplague's wake instead of being diminished or being erased by it; witness its colonizing junglemotes spreading like airborne seeds north, south, and east, and west. The halflings and centaurs that once roamed these woods are now gone; replaced with spellscarred satyrs and feral elves who declare blood feud on any outsider entering the jungle's heartwood.

LESSER OF TWO EVILS: During a violent spring thunderstorm, a strange angular black monolith is spotted in the shallow waters off the Nun Coast near Reth. The following morning, kuo-toa harpooners flying strange winged morkoth attack the port city. The invaders are repelled by High Lady Glorganna and a detachment of Banite guerrillas. It remains unclear what the Abolethic Sovereignty was seeking in the city -- half of which lies in shattered ruin at the bottom of the Bay of Silvanus.


MAGEDOOM: At the center of the Chondalwood is a ruin of ancient, toppled stone towers whose cellars are packed with gold coins. The elves of Wildhome steer well clear of it, citing terrible bodiless guardian creatures that ravage flesh, inspire madness, and target spellcasters in particular, igniting them like torches.
Changing Lands
Where once stood the realm of Sespech, the Golden Plains, and the Nagalands, now stands a surreal landscape breathtaking in its beauty, grandeur, and changeability. Active Spellplague still cavorts on this territory, contorting terrain, natural law, and the flesh of any creature that dares enter. Earthmotes aplenty break up the sky in a strange parity with the fractured terrain below. Swaths of moving earth change with mercurial speed, and great ravines empty directly into the Underdark. Artist renditions that capture true glimpses of the place's exquisite loveliness and horrific strangeness can command large sums back in civilized lands.

SCAR PILGRIMAGE: Plaguechanged and pilgrims hoping to obtain a spellscar sometimes journey here because it's the most prominent plagueland in Faerûn, as well as a great hold of the Order of Blue Fire. The stability of the plagueland's border provides an environment where the clever, ambitious, or insane can experiment with the Spellplague and its effects. As with most who brave plaguelands, few pilgrims who enter the Changing Land are ever seen again, but those who do return sometimes claim newfound power.

Religion DC 30: The Order of Blue Fire appears as a benevolent service organization, but its public face is a front to a more sinister organization. It formed as a cult dedicated to the idea that the Spellplague was a holy cosmic event, the changing work of which should be encouraged to continue. The focal points of this belief system are inscrutable beings known as the Masters of Absolute Accord. The Masters can manipulate plaguelands and send visions to the spellscarred. Their guidance often leads to miraculous and terrible events that spread and nurture existing active pockets of Spellplague.
Motes
After the plague of change, some elements of the physical world have gained a supernatural independence from certain natural laws. The most striking of these (to those unfamiliar with them) are motes.

Motes are free-floating bits of landscape that defy gravity to hover in place over certain locales (usually, those locales most affected by the Spellplague). These motes are not usually more than a few hundred meters along any one dimension, but despite this relative small size, ecosystems cling to these motes, apparently sustained by the more natural landscape over or through which a particular mote floats.

Motes are often referred to according to the type of landscape each sports. Thus, there are junglemotes, fungusmotes, cavemotes, grassmotes, pinemotes, and so on. Larger motes may support animal life, including humanoids.

Cormyr
Unlike the lands of the Vilhon Reach, the nation of Cormyr suffered little geological upheaval during the Spellplague Years. Instead the upheaval in the Forest Kingdom was largely political. Famine, economic hardship, and unrest among the peerage would be difficult for any ruling monarch, yet these challenges perhaps weighed more heavily upon the shoulders of young King Azoun V. Claiming the Dragon Throne in the Year of Three Streams Blooded (1384 DR), Azoun had merely thirteen winters behind him at his coronation and only sixteen months on the throne before the Spellplague sent the world spinning into chaos. Thankfully, the king surrounded himself with men and women of wise counsel, including the Caladnei, Mage Royal of Cormyr. Under his rule, the Forest Kingdom quickly recovered from the anarchy of the Wailing Years, and the young king went on to become a just, wise, and long-lived ruler.

The Helmlands
Formed during the Time of Troubles, this desolate land of howling winds and jagged rock was the site of Mystra's destruction at the hands of Helm in the Year of Shadows (1358 DR). In the months following its creation, locals named the site the Pits of Mystra, for the land was nothing but bubbling tar pits as far as the eye could see. Priests dedicated to the new Goddess of Magic cleansed the land of the fetid pits in later years, but the tear in the fabric of the Weave remained. Today a forest of towering redwoods has returned; the original was lost when Mystra's dying energy blasted the land like a million Shou cannons. In the wake of the Spellplague, the Helmlands have grown, spreading along the northern wall of the Stormhorns, stretching as far west as the foothills above Eveningstar. Wild magic still pervades the entire region, but unlike the Changing Lands, visitors may enter the Helmslands without fear of becoming spellscarred.

TEMPLE ACHERON: Once the blasted ruin of Castle Kilgrave, the imposing stronghold was rebuilt by priests of Bane following his apparent resurrection in the Year of Wild Magic (1372 DR). As the Lord of Strife himself had done during the Time of Troubles, the strifelords reshaped the ruins into an echo of Bane's Temple of the Suffering in the Barrens of Doom and Despair. Thirty-foot-high walls constructed of a seamless other-worldly material of black laced with green connect the windowless towers on four corners, and on the west side a towering 60-foot obelisk encloses a drawbridge set against the wall. Purple Dragon Knights stationed at Castle Crag patrol the eastern perimeter of the Helmslands daily, keeping a vigilant eye for any threats coming from Temple Acheron.
Farsea Swamp
This slowly growing swamp consists of two formerly separate marshes, Farsea and Tun. The swamp has mile after mile of muddy terrain swept with golden-green tall grasses broken by channels of bronze water. Most citizens of Cormyr see the wetlands as dark, forbidding places, where evil festers and foul creatures lurk in murky water to devour the unwary. While this image is largely true of the deadly Vast Swamp in eastern Cormyr, it is an incomplete and misleading portrayal of the Farsea Swamp.

LEGACY OF THE BATRACHI: Amid the vast, fog-laced expanse of the Farsea Swamp rests the scattered ruins of a vanished civilization, not Netherese as many have speculated. Thick with poisonous insects and plague, few enough have glimpsed these ruins. Ornate buildings made of glass as strong as steel hint at a magical technology lost to the present day. Rumors have it that the bold can claim gold and strange secrets from the half-drowned basements, if they can but survive the swamp's pestilence and withstand the might of strange creatures set as guardians within the interior of the glassteel towers.
Hullack Forest
Dark and foreboding best describes the thick dense woods of the Hullack Forest. The Hullack is almost a primeval forest, with dark valleys and hidden vales that have gone unseen for decades. Ghostly creatures and odd monsters pepper the local folklore, and orcs and goblins are frequent visitors from the Thunder Peaks. In the years immediately preceding the Spellplague, large numbers of adventurers entered the forest seeking to clear it of monsters and explore its deeper regions. Thunderstone, a small town on the southern edge of Hullack Forest, was often used as a base of operations for such expeditions. These crown-sanctioned activities came to an abrupt end in the Year of the Wrathful Eye (1391 DR) when the Eldreth Veluuthra, a militant group of human-despising elves, claimed the forest as their own. A brief conflict with the elves ensued in the Year of Deaths Unmourned (1394 DR), but young King Azoun V later turned his full attention to more pressing threats from neighboring Netheril and Sembia.

REALM OF WAILING FOG: Sandwiched between the Hullack Forest and the Thunder Peaks, the Realm of Wailing Fog remains a land of desolate fens, ever-present mist, and eerie echoing calls. Even the Eldreth Veluuthra dare not explore the realm's long-ruined towers. Travelers to the region speak of a heavy feeling of "watchfulness" hanging over everything. Rumors persist that a coven of hags lives in the area, but these claims have never been substantiated.
About the Author

A software engineering manager by day and Forgotten Realms aficionado by night, Brian R. James authored the Grand History of the Realms and continues to serve up new Realmslore through D&D Insider and the Candlekeep Compendium. Brian also contributed to the forthcoming 4E Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide to be released later this year. In his spare time he enjoys exploring EverQuest II with his fae shadowknight Iakhovas and pretending he's a good drummer on Rock Band. Brian lives in Montana with his high school sweetheart Toni and their four children.

[Bluenose]

And with D&D Experience on in Washington, there's a document up "What you need to Know to play D&D 4e" based on the information given to the people trying it out at D&D XP.

Download it here:

Edited by Bluenose, 29 February 2008 - 01:50 AM.

[Lord Ernie]

For some of you that might like this sort of thing: there are images up of the D&DEXP Character sheets.

[Bluenose]

For some of you that might like this sort of thing: there are images up of the D&DEXP Character sheets.

One that I find particularly interesting is the cleric: Erais the Sunlord, a cleric of Amaunator. Making a comeback in 4E, apparently.

[Tempest]

*Prays this means Lathander is dead*

There's some odd stuff in those tips for newbies, though. Saving throws, for example-rather than being your defense against special and magical attacks, whenever you've been hit by an ongoing effect from any source, be it a rogue poisoning you or a mage immobilizing you or some such, it's simple. Roll a d20 each turn, if you get a 10 or higher, the effect's gone. Roll a 9 or lower, it stays. I, for one, do not like this change one bit. Your fortitude, reflex, and will saves are all just different types of armor classes now, apparently-the wording is unclear, but it sounds like any class can choose to attack against any one of the four defense values-armor, reflex, fortitude, and will. Again, not a change I'm happy about-smells like easy exploitation.

The thing of more clearly defined class roles also stinks of attempting to cater to the MMO audience-one of the great things about DnD was that there *was* no clearly defined class role. Sure, some classes were better suited for some roles than others, but with the right spells, a wizard could do quite well in melee, a rogue dual-wielding scourges with the improved disarm feat could neutralize weapon-wielding enemies with ease, a druid could wild shape into a meat shield, and a cleric could do just fine on the front lines, too.

Lastly, I dislike the sounds of the world as a whole-it sounds far too much like the world is going to be the adventurers' own personal playground. Lots of places to explore, things to kill, and even the most powerful entities in the world are killable by an appropriately powerful party. There's no Twisted Rune, no Szam Tass, nothing out there to remind the players that they're ultimately just a collection of random individuals in a very big, very dangerous world. Again I smell MMO breath.

[Deathsangel]

We get what you mean guest, and no worries that you are guest. No ellitism here

[Pandæmonium]

I'm so very pleased I don't play D&D anymore. Without the emotional investment of actually caring about the settings or d20 system I can just laugh at the nerdrage and go back to playing Unisystem.

[Deathsangel]

I actually enjoy getting into settings as I feel it gives an extra layer. Universal Roleplaying systems (like GURPS) always give me a feel of to generic stuff. Also the fact that one book cramps in so many stuff for all kind of ages and type of RP is in one way extremelly cool... and on the other hand makes it difficult to get a good overview.

[Lysan Lurraxol]

Apologies if this has been mentioned, but it looks as if they've blown Maztica up. What a pity.
Shame they didn't axe Mulhorand, Zakhara, the Hordelands and Kara Tur off as well.

[VIIIofSwords]

This news saddens me. All the more reason for me to stick to playing In Nomine and the old World of Darkness, I suppose.

[Lysan Lurraxol]

On one hand, I'm glad they've decided to finally get rid of some of the ridiculously Sueish, over-powered Chosen, and got rid of Matzica.

On the other hand, I hate the huge advance in timeline, the stupid spell plague, the fact they didn't bump off Drizzt or Elminster, and just generally f**ked with the setting.

[Bluenose]

From the Previews, a brief description of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide

August: Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide
"Learn ye well the lesson of the pebble that begets a landslide. Likewise a single betrayal unleashed the Spellplague, whose consequences yet dance and stagger across Toril, and beyond."
-- Elminster of Shadowdale
Year of the Ageless One (1479 DR)

The grime of centuries shrouds the hoary old book. Undeterred, you brush away the offending detritus. The smell of dust sharpens the air and hazes the light. A flip through the crackling pages reveals colorful sigils and ancient maps. Your breath catches with realization: You clutch a tome of unique oracular insight that details the length, breadth, and depths of Toril.


The first 4th Edition campaign setting releases later this summer, with a new look at the Forgotten Realms. If you've read the previews, you'll know by now that major changes have affected the Realms: starting with the Spellplague and the 100-year advancement of the timeline. Two books chart the Forgotten Realms: the Campaign Guide (August), and Player's Guide (September). The Campaign Guide contains the following, which are designed to provide DMs with information they can use to run adventures set in the Forgotten Realms:

Chapter 1: The Gray Vale. This chapter contains everything you need to start adventuring in the Realms right away. It provides a campaign starting point, complete with an opening encounter to draw together player characters. Here you'll find the town of Loudwater, detailing important personalities, plots, and rumors, and several dungeon and urban encounters.


Chapter 2: Adventure in the Realms. A toolkit containing useful information for DMs. This chapter offers advice on adjusting a campaign to the current timeline, more about the history of the world, and ways to add a bit of Realms flavor to your game.


Chapter 3: Magic and Fantastic Features. The changed landscape of Toril is described in this chapter. It also contains information about storied magic items and mighty rituals around which to build thrilling adventures.


Chapter 4: Cosmology. More information about the new planar arrangement and its effects on the world.


Chapter 5: Pantheon. This chapter details the new order among the gods and other powerful entities.


Chapter 6: Lands of the Realms. This chapter is more than just a travelogue of Toril. Each entry contains interesting locales and story elements to help you create your own distinct campaign.


Chapter 7: Threats. A new world faces new dangers -- and some old ones that yet threaten. Here are descriptions of dangerous organizations and bizarre new monsters.


That's a breakdown of the book's contents. For a look at the information presented within the Guide, here's a preview of the Realms Glossary:

Language is a living, changing thing. Using some of the following words during play is a great way to add color to roleplaying. This section is a crash course on how to use ?Realmspeak.? These words can help set the mood during encounters, but there?s no need to try all of them, or use any that seem to break the mood. Overuse of dialect or invented words is clumsy, but you can bring the Realms to life by sprinkling in isolated words and phrases from those below, or by inventing words whose context makes their meanings clear. Most of these terms are in Common. Those from other languages are so identified.

changelands: A generic term for a piece of terrain that clearly doesn't fit in with the surrounding terrain, likely due to the Spellplague.
earthmote: A floating chunk of landscape hanging in the sky.
earth node: A place where magical power is concentrated.
Faerie: another name for the Feywild.
forestmote: An earthmote covered with forest.
gulletfire: bad beer or wine.
hawksnarl: A man who?s always yelling or blustering, or is nastier or more aggressive than prudent or necessary (more strongly: ?a real hawksnarl?).
mythal: A permanent, site-based enchantment of powerful fey magic.
plagueland: A generic term describing anyplace where active Spellplague yet burns.
plaguechanged: The term for creatures touched by the first wave of Spellplague in the Year of Blue Fire; usually horrible monsters.
Plaguewrought Land, the: A specific location, the largest plagueland in Faerûn. prairiemote: An earthmote covered in tall grass.
Returned Abeir: The continent that was fused to Toril west of the Trackless Sea.
scorchkettle: A woman who delivers impressively blistering words to someone in public; see also ?hawksnarl.?
sellsword: A well-established or veteran mercenary, or one of impressive reputation.
Spellplague, the: The event in 1385 DR resulting from Mystra?s death that altered magic and the world forever.
spellscar: A brand of blue fire that grants an ability, usually beneficial, but with some negative aspect.
spellscarred: The term for a creature (usually humanoid) touched by later, less virulent strains of the Spellplague and possessing a spellscar.
throatslake: Anything drinkable that takes care of thirst and doesn?t cause illness in doing so, but isn?t particularly pleasant.
watermote: An earthmote that contains a large water feature.
Weave, the: A term for magic; once used to mean magic mediated by Mystra.

As I was leaving for work this morning, the postman called with a rather large package from Amazon UK with my 4th Edition Rules Boxed Set. I'll be doing some reading tonight.

[Azkyroth]

ANDRIO'S GATE: The Reach happens to contain one of Toril's few functioning time gates; a useful tool for bringing characters forward beyond the Wailing Years (1385 DR to 1395 DR) to a more stable time period for campaign play. The time gate is located within Mount Andrus, a volcanic peak within the Orsraun Mountains on Turmish's western frontier. There the time gate has survived millennia despite several volcanic eruptions, shielded from the monstrous heat and the effects of the Spellplague by powerful, and some would say divine, wards. Adrio's Gate is activated by speaking the name of a year as given in the Roll of Years then stepping through the gate's event horizon.

You don't say....

You know, this does suggest a fairly obvious and potentially fruitful way of setting up an alternate campaign setting for those who don't want to accept the 4E rules or realmslore changes. I had the idea, within the last few days, of a campaign themed around an effort to find a way to assassinate Cyric prior to his ascension to godhood, in the hopes that his portfolio would go to a less completely insane deity. This suggests it might be possible. Anyone else like that idea? O.o

[Bluenose]

ANDRIO'S GATE: The Reach happens to contain one of Toril's few functioning time gates; a useful tool for bringing characters forward beyond the Wailing Years (1385 DR to 1395 DR) to a more stable time period for campaign play. The time gate is located within Mount Andrus, a volcanic peak within the Orsraun Mountains on Turmish's western frontier. There the time gate has survived millennia despite several volcanic eruptions, shielded from the monstrous heat and the effects of the Spellplague by powerful, and some would say divine, wards. Adrio's Gate is activated by speaking the name of a year as given in the Roll of Years then stepping through the gate's event horizon.

You don't say....

You know, this does suggest a fairly obvious and potentially fruitful way of setting up an alternate campaign setting for those who don't want to accept the 4E rules or realmslore changes. I had the idea, within the last few days, of a campaign themed around an effort to find a way to assassinate Cyric prior to his ascension to godhood, in the hopes that his portfolio would go to a less completely insane deity. This suggests it might be possible. Anyone else like that idea? O.o

It does seem to have a lot of potential for abusing the past. Perhaps Doctor Who should drop by and fix things.

I did have a thought on the subject, along the lines that if someone tried to change things that had happened then the timeline would try to re-assert itself. Perhaps you assassinate Cyric, and someone else ends up taking his role. Someone who isn't insane but who's ruthlessly efficient and practical, and when you return "home" you find they've been much more successful than Cyric ever was. If your characters were the only ones who remember how it's supposed to be, then it would be up to you to make things better, which does of course allow for plenty of adventuring opportunities. And if neo-Cyric works out what happened then you are trying to go back in time and so is he, at least in avatar form. Prevent your original characters killing the original Cyric and prevent neo-Cyric doing it himself. That's a quick adventure synopsis, just needs some fleshing out.

[Satori]

POOR MYSTRA. She has to die every time they change edition.

[Bane]

Would love to see an rpg set in 4th edition using the Infinity engine or something there of, would be fantastic.

But to sum it up, Bane is still awesome, Torm is awesomer and Shar is a wench waiting to be spanked.