D&D 3E/3.5 Behind the Scenes of the making of the 3rd Ed Forgotten Realms from Sean K. Reynolds. Update part 2.

[TerraDave]

..However, I think it is far too crunchy – particularly regarding the NPC stats...

Well, it was 3e.

 

[cbwjm]

I did actually enjoy reading through the Forgotten Realms Adventures book for 2e and reading about all the changes, particularly about King Azoun no longer being a cavalier and how he seemed to be a little miffed about that. I'm glad they didn't do any big changes in the transition to 3e, however. You don't need a massive campaign world change to accommodate every edition change.

 

[darjr]

Updated the OP with part 2

Trivia & Anecdotes: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3E (Part 2)

(Trivia & Anecdotes is a series of blog posts about weird and sometimes funny behind-the-scenes facts about various books I worked on, in chronological order of when they were published. If you…

seankreynolds.wordpress.com

 

[BigZebra]

God I absolutely love this historical posts. Would love to read a big account about what happened during the 3e and 4e time period.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

When 3e came out, I'll admit to thinking "why do we need a sorcerer class." It's still not one I'd ever play, but at the time I just sort of didn't focus on them in the Realms. If a PC wanted to be a sorcerer, fine, but otherwise I didn't really feature them as NPCs.

I wonder if the retconning wasn't well received? I know the actual book as a huge success and I love it myself.

From Pt. 2:

"we eventually realized that people who wanted to play a drow PC wouldnt want to play a weakened drow, and putting weak-drow PC stats in the game just meant that eventually we would publish strong-drow PC stats and people would start using that for their PCs. We kicked around some other ideas for powerful-species PCs [6], but eventually we went with the idea of level adjustments"

Now level adjustment PC races were something I actively hated. If a player wanted to, that was their business, but I always advised against it. You'd get to be more powerful at first level, but would eventually fall behind.

Anyway, the 3e FR Campaign Guide was a landmark setting book. Positively crammed with information. I still reference it when coming up with adventures set in the Realms.

 

[darjr]

Anyway, the 3e FR Campaign Guide was a landmark setting book. Positively crammed with information. I still reference it when coming up with adventures set in the Realms.

I’m not a Realms fan, though I do like it. Still this book has sat on my night stand for a good long while.

 

[R_J_K75]

When 3e came out, I'll admit to thinking "why do we need a sorcerer class." It's still not one I'd ever play,

Same here, I can't stand them or Warlocks and would love to see them removed from the core PHB. Just my personal preference. I understand they wanted to expand the game and give players more options, but those classes always seemed more of unnecessary add-ons to me. I much have preferred the Warlord as a core class than either of those two.

 

[cbwjm]

I remember reading somewhere that the 3e sorcerer was meant to be an "easy wizard" for new players or for players that didn't want to pick spells every day. Just get a small spell list and head out.

 

[Grogg of the North]

I remember reading somewhere that the 3e sorcerer was meant to be an "easy wizard" for new players or for players that didn't want to pick spells every day. Just get a small spell list and head out.

When the sorcerer was introduced, Skip Williams, one of the designers, hated the idea of the class. And he purposefully tried to make it as unappealing as possible. Of course this is all hearsay, so take it as you will.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

It's a dense book, filled with lots of hooks and ideas. I could see it being fun and inspiring even if you're not planning on running an FR campaign.

I’m not a Realms fan, though I do like it. Still this book has sat on my night stand for a good long while.

If a players wants to play either, I'm fine with that as long as they get the rules right. Although, I actually want to give a warlock a shot one of these days, unlike the sorcerer.

Same here, I can't stand them or Warlocks and would love to see them removed from the core PHB. Just my personal preference. I understand they wanted to expand the game and give players more options, but those classes always seemed more of unnecessary add-ons to me. I much have preferred the Warlord as a core class than either of those two.