29 replies to this topic

[BobTokyo]

Thought about this question looking at a few posts today. You're making a mod: How close to official Forgotten Realms Lore do you try to be?

Double check everything in at least two official books before adding something to the game?

Stay as close as most TSR novels?

Throw in a Big Metal Unit and Bondari if you think it will get a laugh?

Change bits here and there to make the story move and just not wory about it?

How close to the official FR setting do you want a mod to be?

[dragon_lord]

Change bits here and there to make the story move and just not wory about it?

Big tick from me. Frankly I doesnt matter whether its accurate to lore or not, as long as its fun to play - thats what matters. Why bother making something if it isnt any fun to play or doesnt have any thing to say?

[Erephine]

At least as close as the BG series was.

[Oni]

At least as close as the BG series was.

I agree, but adding the occasional comedy element (ie the Big Metal Unit) and easter eggs is alright too.

[fallen_demon]

Realm lore accuracies nice, but if a good plot dosn't follow it its not going to stop me from enjoying it.

One word... (if I spell it right!)

Suldanessellar.

Try and find that in any canon source that isn't one of the BG novels

but where does it say that suldanessellar dosn't exist, i don't see how thats defying lore.

[hlidskialf]

Oh hell, here come the rules-lawyers. :help:

[Chevar]

Forgotten Realms went against AD&D in general, but they sold enough books that AD&D adapted..

Did you know that Mindflayers crashlanded in a spaceship? They had technological devices onboard that you had to figgure out how to use based on GammaWorld tables?

I used to have the module they first appeared in.

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Personally I say to heck with forgotten realms Lore. Just remake the whole blasted game with new maps. Make a whole new world with new history, new plotlines, new characters... Cut out the FR Cheeze once and for all!

[NiGHTMARE]

Actually, the BG saga is quite full of lore flaws.

Yes, but ToB even more so than the others .

One word... (if I spell it right!)

Suldanessellar.

Try and find that in any canon source that isn't one of the BG novels.

How about two? Pages 67 of Lands of Intrigue book 1, and page 126 of Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II.

EDIT: I'm pretty sure it's mentioned in the 3rd Edition FR Campaign Setting as well, but I could be wrong.

Edited by NiGHTMARE, 31 July 2004 - 01:55 AM.

[NiGHTMARE]

Personally I say to heck with forgotten realms Lore. Just remake the whole blasted game with new maps. Make a whole new world with new history, new plotlines, new characters... Cut out the FR Cheeze once and for all!

And if it's a good enough mod, maybe people will make add-ons for it which completely ignore the history, plotlines and characters that took you a great deal of time and effort to create!

[Zandilar]

Heya,

Actually, the BG saga is quite full of lore flaws.

Yes, but ToB even more so than the others .

Heh. You think ToB is bad, try some of the NWN series.

One word... (if I spell it right!)

Suldanessellar.

Try and find that in any canon source that isn't one of the BG novels.

How about two? Pages 67 of Lands of Intrigue book 1, and page 126 of Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II.

EDIT: I'm pretty sure it's mentioned in the 3rd Edition FR Campaign Setting as well, but I could be wrong.

1) Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II... what can I say? The book was written around the game, which definitely isn't canon... Not to mention that Volo himself is an unreliable narrator.

2) Lands of Intrigue... Hmmm... I'll have to check that out... (Yeah, I've been known to be wrong. I didn't check my sources properly... *sigh* I completely forgot about LoI.)

3) FRCS has no reference to Suldanessellar - if it's that important an elvish settlement, it would be mentioned along side Evereska and Evermeet (or at least in the Lands of Intrigue section of the book, but it's not). No mention of Suldanessellar in Races of Faerun. Player's Guide to Faerun doesn't have a reference either, but that's not surprising. I could go through the rest of my 3rd Ed books, but somehow I don't think I'll find any references.

[Chevar]

Personally I say to heck with forgotten realms Lore. Just remake the whole blasted game with new maps. Make a whole new world with new history, new plotlines, new characters... Cut out the FR Cheeze once and for all!

And if it's a good enough mod, maybe people will make add-ons for it which completely ignore the history, plotlines and characters that took you a great deal of time and effort to create!

Hey, I write. It's what I do. I advocate making you're own world because it's better than screwing up someone elses.

[V. Lokai]

I say as close as BGI and BGII. It had some of the well-known major ideas of FR, but it didn't come to the point it was all nit-picking. In fact, in some of the FR information available contradicts itself from book to book. And in more than just spelling. So I say to use it loosely, but don't be a slave to it.

Edited by V. Lokai, 31 July 2004 - 11:18 PM.

[NiGHTMARE]

I could go through the rest of my 3rd Ed books, but somehow I don't think I'll find any references.

I was told by one of the FR writers that Suldanessellar does appear in a 3rd Edition book.

[Echon]

About as close as Baldur's Gate is, which means I use some of the official lore and add stuff that is of my own making. Besides, a lot of the official lore is undefined. E.g., Durlag's Tower is only briefly described and it is hinted at that some fell creature has taken up residence there. The rest is up to the DM, in this case BioWare.

If you have read books on the Forgotten Realms you will encounter pieces of lore that BioWare used in the games but often in altered form. A few days ago I read about a city (the name of which I cannot remember and cannot be bothered to look up) that had a temple called the House of the Morning, dedicated to Lathander, of course.

-Echon

Edited by Echon, 01 August 2004 - 10:11 AM.

[Mr Ennigma]

I take the lore into consideration and try to make ideas fit into the history. However, if a few rules need to be bent then so be it. So long as it isn't too far fetched, it's good.

[Feanor]

I think it should be as close as possible because we would need something to refer to.

[Ellderon]

TOB sucked big time. A high-level char slaughterfest that looked more like Diablo2 than the good o'l BG... I was very dissapointed with it..

AS far as lore goes - that depends on what you do and how you do it.
I have nothing against someone going completely against the FR lore, if that mod is done properly and with style...

[Chevar]

It would be as close as a normal PnP campaign for me, that's what the games basically are and so should the mods be also. Most people who play the games don't know alot about the Realms Lore, so going overboard with it will be lost on them. (I say this because of own experience)

The problem with picking somone elses world to base a game/book etc on is that you're immediately limiting your audience. FR caught on, Greyhawk was a flop.. in the end I'd rather just play in a consistant world than worry about some book someone else read.

[hlidskialf]

Greyhawk a flop? It ran what... 10 years before FR took off?
Greyhawk was gritty, with cool politics and a lack of magic under every rock.
*Insanely defends his favorite campaign setting.*

[NiGHTMARE]

Not to mention Greyhawk is the "default" 3rd Edition world (the general 3E D&D handbooks refer to Greyhawk deities, etc), and consequently there are probably far more campaigns set in it than the Forgotten Realms.