A hundred years from now
Filed under Writing Journal on January 15, 2008
Tagged: 4E, Dungeons & Dragons, Forgotten Realms
If you haven’t heard yet, Rich Baker revealed that the fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons will advance the Forgotten Realms timeline to 1479. That’s more than 100 years from the current setting. (I’m basing this on the year listed in recently released FR novels.)
The Spellplague alluded to in the Grand History of the Realms is being used to bring the campaign setting inline with the mechanical changes to the rules. While some of the more “popular” regions remain relatively unscathed, the FR landscape certainly looks quite different.
I was shocked by the changes. But I’m certainly not as upset as some fans seem to be. I’ve yet to play in or run any sort of extended campaign set in the Realms; most of my exposure has been through video games and books.
I am curious about the impact of this jump on the fiction line. Except for anthologies, WotC is pretty strict about fiction being contemporary. Even the Drizzt novels were brought up to the present during 3E. 100 years is a lot of time, and a lot of fertile ground for storytelling. I know that new editions present opportunities to eliminate baggage that might hinder new players from picking up the game, and the changes made to FR were certainly motivated by this factor:
As I got deeper into my FR work, I realized that the changes by no means leave Realmsperts behind or throw them out. The history and lore are still there if you want them, because we worked very hard to have a “no retcon” situation. Everything has an explanation, even if that explanation isn’t spelled out in the books. On the other hand, the changes in the Realms meet our goal of providing a fresh opening for non-Realmsperts. – Chris Sims, FRCS designer on his Gleemax blog
The fiction line now has a similar opportunity. The recent stand-alone series (the four “Classes”, Dungeons, and Citadels) are examples of an editorial desire to draw in new readers without requiring previous knowledge of the setting. I imagine such popular characters as Drizzt, Elminster and Erevis Cale will have a continued presence, but the proverbial slate has otherwise been wiped clean.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Kameron, get in there and submit a book proposal. I really enjoyed your work on Maiden of Pain and would like to read from you in the Realms.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:30 am
er… make that ‘I would like to read *more* from you in the Realms’. Apparently I need to wake up.
January 17th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Thanks, Brian. I haven’t had a chance to pick up GHotR, yet, but it’s on my must-have list. I’ve had a couple ideas, one of which I sent in a few months back, but both are irrelevant with the upcoming advance in the timeline. I’ll probably wait until the 4E FRCS comes out and study up before I submit another proposal.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Add me to Brian’s list. Can’t wait for the next release of Kam F.
Please tell me we get to enjoy your presence again at Gen Con…
//H