D&D 5E Abeir as the new Forgotten Realms?

[pukunui]

There's no mention of Zakhara either. Doesn't mean it disappeared.

There's a paragraph about Zakhara in the SCAG.

Spoiler

Far to the south of Faerûn, beyond Calimshan and even the jungles of Chult, are the Lands of Fate. Surrounded by waters thick with pirates and corsairs, Zakhara is a place less hospitable than most, but still braved by travelers who hope to profit from its exotic goods and
strange magics. Like Kara-Tur, Zakhara seems a world away to Faerûnians. It is thought of as a vast desert, sprinkled with glittering cities like scattered gems. Romantic tales abound of scimitar-wielding rogues riding flying carpets and of genies bound in service to humans.
Their mages, called sha'ir, practice their magic with the aid of genies and, it is said, might carry the lineage of these elemental beings in their blood.

 

[Hussar]

It's kinda funny.

The Sword Coast covers an area about the size of the continental US. At least about as far east as the Mississippi to the west coast. IOW, about the size of Europe. But, apparently, having an area that large just isn't enough of a playground.

I mean, you've got Calimsham to the south for any sort of Middle Eastern inspired adventures - honking big deserts as well. You've got Waterdeep and surroundings for pretty bog standard D&D. Icewind Dale in the north to deal with any sort of Cold/Norse/Slavic inspired stuff. Honking big forests and other wilderness spaces for exploration and hex crawl. Oh, and tons of islands and whatnot for any sort of naval campaign you need.

So, outside of some very specific regional inspired adventures - Far eastern inspired stuff and whatnot which frankly would be much better served as a completely separate setting - what exactly can't you do in the Sword Coast?

I guess I just don't get the constant complaints that there just isn't enough stuff for Forgotten Realms even if they only stick to the Sword Coast.

 

[Demetrios1453]

The right way for WotC to handle the Forgotten Realms was, and still is, to explicitly and completely throw out everything published about the Realms as part of the 4e mess, including there ever having been a such thing as a "Spellplague" or any such place as "Abeir".

Abier was part of Ed Greenwood's Realms, well before TSR bought it.

 

[Demetrios1453]

The Sundering completely undid all of the changes made by the Spellplague. In fact it even undid some of the changes made during the 3e era so that the maps now look more like they did in the 1e-2e era.

No, it didn't fully undo everything. Specifically, and apropos to the post you're responding to, part of Unther is still gone, and part of Tymanther has remained.

EDIT: Sorry, didn't see that you had said that yourself in a later post.

 

[Demetrios1453]

It's kinda funny.

The Sword Coast covers an area about the size of the continental US. At least about as far east as the Mississippi to the west coast. IOW, about the size of Europe. But, apparently, having an area that large just isn't enough of a playground.

I mean, you've got Calimsham to the south for any sort of Middle Eastern inspired adventures - honking big deserts as well. You've got Waterdeep and surroundings for pretty bog standard D&D. Icewind Dale in the north to deal with any sort of Cold/Norse/Slavic inspired stuff. Honking big forests and other wilderness spaces for exploration and hex crawl. Oh, and tons of islands and whatnot for any sort of naval campaign you need.

So, outside of some very specific regional inspired adventures - Far eastern inspired stuff and whatnot which frankly would be much better served as a completely separate setting - what exactly can't you do in the Sword Coast?

I guess I just don't get the constant complaints that there just isn't enough stuff for Forgotten Realms even if they only stick to the Sword Coast.

Calimshan isn't part of the Sword Coast, which officially ends at the northern border of Amn. Notably, nothing south of that was covered in SCAG, while basically everything north of it was.

And some people just like other areas than the Sword Coast. Most of my 2e/3e campaigns took place in the Dalelands/Cormyr/Moonsea area. In any case, yes, you can do lots of stuff thematically just within the Sword Coast, but that doesn't mean that is has to be the only area. Imagine if they brought back Greyhawk and only detailed the Nyr Dyv region, and neglected everything else. Greyhawk fans would have a fit, and wouldn't be fobbed off with "Well, you can run any type of campaign you would like there, so why should we bother with anything else?"

 

[James Gasik]

Actually I was misremembering. It's not a complete reversal. Here are the relevant passages from the SCAG:

Spoiler: Unther & Tymanther

Unther. Trapped in another world, the people of Unther had succumbed to domination by others. Then among them arose one who called himself Gilgeam, and he reminded them of their former greatness. Under the leadership of this reincarnated god, the people of Unther
rose up as an army to face their masters. On the eve of a great battle, the people of Unther were miraculously returned to their home, and Gilgeam wasted no time in leading them against the dragonborn occupying their ancestral lands. The Untherites have retaken much of
the land they formerly held, while seeking to wipe out the "godless lizards" they blame for their time of oppression in Abeir. Gilgeam wants nothing short of a complete return to Unther's former glory. This achievement will require utterly destroying Tymanther, of course, and eventual war with Mulhorand to reclaim lands lost centuries ago, but as every Untherite knows, the great God-King is patient, for he is eternal.

Tymanther. In decades past, the land of the dragonborn claimed as its territory part of what had been the vanished nation of Unther. Then Unther suddenly returned to Faerûn a few years ago and promptly went to war against Tymanther. The realm has since been reduced to small tracts mainly along the coast of the Alamber Sea and Ash Lake. The dragonborn that have withdrawn to those areas have lost none of their military tradition, and their ability to hold this smaller amount of territory makes it unlikely that Unther will push farther any time soon - particularly since the Untherite navy has been unable to overcome the great beast that guards the harbor of Djerad Kethendi and the nearby waters of the Alamber. Some of Tymanther's dragonborn have spread across Faerûn and gained reputations as competent, highly sought-after mercenaries.

True. But there is absolutely zero mention of Laerakond in any 5e FR product as well, so ... shrug

Huh. I guess I should sit down and read the SCAG more closely sometime, lol. I was always under the impression it's lore was anemic, but that does answer my question.

As to why we'd want the other lands of Faerun explored- simply put, if you're a long-time fan of the setting's lore, and you've had great games in other parts of the world, being told to settle for the Sword Coast when what you really want to do is adventure in Halruua or the Bloodstone lands is like saying "well, we only really need one Domain of Dread in Ravenloft, right?"

Oh. Wait.

 

[Hussar]

Calimshan isn't part of the Sword Coast, which officially ends at the northern border of Amn. Notably, nothing south of that was covered in SCAG, while basically everything north of it was.

And some people just like other areas than the Sword Coast. Most of my 2e/3e campaigns took place in the Dalelands/Cormyr/Moonsea area. In any case, yes, you can do lots of stuff thematically just within the Sword Coast, but that doesn't mean that is has to be the only area. Imagine if they brought back Greyhawk and only detailed the Nyr Dyv region, and neglected everything else. Greyhawk fans would have a fit, and wouldn't be fobbed off with "Well, you can run any type of campaign you would like there, so why should we bother with anything else?"

Apples and oranges though. Nyr Dyv is a tiny part of Greyhawk. Unless you count all the bordering lands then, sure, what's the problem? It covers pretty much everything that you need to run a Greyhawk style campaign. But, even then, we're talking an area about hte size of Cormyr only.

I dunno, Paizohawk basically covered the Amedio Jungle region for three full Adventure Paths. Seems like you don't need massive settings to have pretty good sources.