Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

I'm busy working away at adding NPCs of the Realms and spells specific to the Realms. :D I've got to get back to work on the monsters, but I have a lot more that I just need to upload. ;)

I've got access to some mapping resources. What maps do we want to include? I was thinking regional maps would probably be best, which leads me to ask which regions to include? What should the scope be? I was thinking of maps that are about as detailed/large as the ones that Ziroc has done...

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

I found another old thing I worked on before... an attempt to "merge" various resources out there on the Sword Coast and Cormyr areas. (Obviously not finished - ignore the far right side :D ) Might help with locations for stuff, I guess...

http://www.geocities.com/echaecha/adnd/SuperMapEdit.gif

Typical places where Realms folk adventure would seem to include the Sword Coast, the Dales, Cormyr, and maybe around Zhentil Keep? But Icewind Dale, Halruaa, Anauroch, and other places are very nice as well :D

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

I just updated the spells page. :D I've got a lot more to do. It's kinda boring and monotonous... :( (the cutting and pasting and adding of html), but it is fun to read as I'm doing it. :D:D:D

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Looking good ;) But was do the abbreviations DRW, Sp, D, etc. mean? Oops, I think I may have guessed a few - D = Drow of the Underdark, M = Menzoberranzan, Sp = Spellbound...

Actually, one thing you might want to consider is that sometimes, a later supplement replaces an earlier supplement; for example, a lot of the priestly spells (granted by drow deities, for example) were reprinted in later sources (like Demihuman Deities), and often editted in the process... It can get messy :D

Yes, working on it can be monotonous, but it is the thrill we get when these things are done that drives us on! :D (Art is very similar...)

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

D'oh! I meant to mention this in the above post - the abbreviations and the books they go with are on the main/index page. :)
My plan is to use the most recent version of spells, unless they seem really different, and then I'll list both. (I am thinking difference in the description area...)

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Doh! I see them now :)

I think that a lot of the spells in Dreams of the Red Wizards reappeared in Pages From the Mages; but there is a lot of reprinting here and there. A few spells even had their names changed... And some spells either entered generic AD&D from the FR or vice versa... (i.e. Strength of Stone, a 1st level priest spell, in FR is restricted to certain priesthoods only)

Nice long list so far :D One thing about the Realms, is that there are LOTS of extra spells and such - a lot of them somewhat unbalancing (in terms of game balance), but...

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

OK, here are some maps (well one map several different ways) in the style of the AD&D big maps included with FR boxed sets.

The map with the names is the default, the others take me a while longer, as my source has the names, which I get to edit out. ;) I am working on a third one that does not have names, and has city and town icons instead of map dots. (just added)

Click on the the thumbnails to see full-sized.

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

is that autorealm, campaign cartographer, or freehand drawn?

-ST

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

It's kinda CC2 (campaign cartographer) with a lot of editing in PSP for the two without writing.

The map is actually form the Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas but viewed in CC2 b/c I thought I could edit it there (remove the text).

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Looking good! :)

Nice place to start a campaign...

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

I was kinda thinging the same thing. :D I think the NPCs in this area would be good ones to start with when we get to that point.

We can also start stockpiling story ideas, tidbits and hooks we think of, just in case someone wants to do an adventure. ;)

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Actually, I am currently running an online AD&D campaign in that area right now! In Eveningstar to be precise... Good place to start low-level PCs off (and get them a few levels higher before they start to do REAL things...)

NPCs in the Forgotten Realms tend to be quite high-level, though, which is one thing that is bad (in my opinion). I mean, who would need a motly band of 1st-level PCs to save a town when the town's mayor/lord is a 16th level fighter/mage or paladin or whatever?

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

The NPCs could be used in more like a cameo role...The PCs pass a traveler on the road and stop to chat for a bit, only to find out that it's the famous ___ who offers them a story or sage bit of advie or nothing other than a 'Good day' before being on her way again. :D:D:D
They could also be used to get the player into the story...
The mayor tells the PCs that they're not needed to save the town, because so-and-so is. Outside of the mayor's office, they are greeted by an emissary/lackey of so-and-so who sets up a meeting with the NPC. The NPC tells the party that she is too busy and subcontracts it out to them. :D:D:D

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Weeeell... Wandering NPCs are okay (Drizzt), and wizards who don't want to be bothered (Elminster) are workable, too... The difficult NPCs for me are the ones living/working in town as the local priest/lord/etc... I always have to make excuses as to why the high-level NPC in question can't go and destroy the lowly undead (or whatever) themselves :D

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Perhaps it is these same NPCs that are commissioning the PCs to rid the town of the undead...in the real world, the leaders always have someone do it for them even if they are qualified - the generals are not going door-to-door in Baghdad.
Or, there is always the vacation/lord's conference excuse. :) The famous NPC has stepped away for a time, thinking it safer to act, the baddies descend upon the area... :D:D:D

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Or you could have the old "we cannot spare the manpower at this time, but you will take a representative of our local government (NPC adventurer) with you who is gonna be a pain in the butt the whole time..."

-ST

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Except that most of the NPCs have a level equal to the whole party. :) I guess you can make a mid-level or high level design and that would help solve the problem... But I think that Uatu and I are both interested in (at least the first design) starting the PCs off anew or at second or third level (tops). It would be awesome to do a FR world hack/total conversion that is the framework for a series of adventures that could allow the player to take their PCs with them to each new one. :D

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

I'm doing a tabletop campaign based in Arabel right now, I don't use alot of the canon NPCs (mostly because I know a few of them). I use the excuse that the crime/monster/whatnot problems are getting so bad that they need adventurers to help. My first adventure was a major thieves' gang had a stranglehold on the town.
If you guys need story ideas, I'm your man...if you can excuse my weirdness. :)

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

That works, I guess :) (My own startpoint, Eveningstar, is supposed to be a pastoral paradise, so it doesn't work so well, there - they even have their own stationed guards and such!)

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

I've been out of town since last Tuesday afternoon. Afraid it was a touch of RL, and not the good kind.

But, I'm back to a place with internet access (pheww!) and hope to get back on this next week.

I've got finals coming up in about 2 weeks, so I might not be doing too much before March. I've also got to do some promised work for RuneSword as well...if I could only focus. ;)

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Hope things are looking up for you, manikus.

Good to see you back, though - finals in 2 weeks, eh? Guess I will have to start working on a huge dragon icon or something to "help" your studies there ;) (Just kidding - it's too cold to draw anything these days...)

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

:D:D:D

Too cold...I feel for ya. We were just in Spokane WA, and there was a lot of snow an ice. It was right around freezing the whole time we were there (for high temps) and very windy. Let's just say that I'm not a winter sports kind of guy. ;)

I would love o be distracted by a dragon. :) But, I also like being distracted by smaller things, like golems. :D

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Ha ha... More golems would be nice (one of these days)... ;)

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

I think I will have to run Autery's golem icons through the scale2x program to see what I can get. :)

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Ha ha...

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

It turns out that he only did one golem. :( Too bad, b/c I love his stuff. I was looking at the other icons of golems that had been done for FRUA, and not counting hans oriental-themed golems, there aren't any I like well enough to convert.

Here's that icon though...

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Nice! Is that a brick golem or something? I guess that is converted already (using scale2x)?

Is there a nice place to look at more of Autery's icons? :D

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

It is a brick golem and it is converted already. :D

They are available in a single zip already DCized at the Yahoo group (the file is called autery icons) or in their original format at his site:
http://hometown.aol.com/autery/
Note: not all of his icons are on his site, but the vast majority are there.

P.S. by 'DCized' I just mean put in the proper format and scaled times 2. I kept the palette at 256 so that one could easily resize to 50% and have the original icon. Perhaps I foresaw the coming of scale2x... :D:D:D

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Oh, I saw his site before - he has nice series of dwarves, halflings, NPCs, etc.... :) I never found the golem, though (still can't!).

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

I found the golem either in the FRUA section of the rosedragon archive, or at Corhub's site.
http://frua.rosedragon.org/index.htm
http://frua.corhub.com/

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Thanks.

Hmm - actually, looking at the golem, it kind of looks like a jello golem after a while... scale2x's fault? :D

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Mmmm, jello... ;)

Re: Forgotten Realms Collaboration
 

Manikus and other Interested Parties,

A collaboration would be great. I actually had to stop working on my project because the magic spells are incomplete and it seemed that some of the basic spells (like SLEEP, the most powerful low level spell in D&D) did not work as expected. I have the stories, but working with DC is somewhat slow and laborius, mostly because I find it is hard to follow complex chain statements due to the way they are formatted. However, the logic block seems like a great idea, I just need to learn how to use it.

I have adopted some dragonlance themes with the forgotten realms settings (even created a cold blooded reptilian race called the Morg, very formidiable opponents).

I can submit a summary of story ideas (backed up by actual detaled adventure mods) if you are interested.

JonnieR