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How do you reconcile lore across all the D&D editions?
mirimero
Member Posts: 0 Arc User
I'm to the point where I want to have my eladrin NPC say, "Well, you know five years ago, I was a thousand year old celestial who can change into an orb of opalescent light at will. But now I'm just a thousand year old fairy elf."
Sometimes, I feel like I'm in a Terry Pratchett novel. I know some people prefer 3.5e, while others prefer 4e or AD&D or what have you. But does it all just boil down to preference?
As a foundry author, how do you decide which lore to follow? And how do you keep from getting annoyed over the fact that somewhere out there, someone is writing D&D Next which will probably make everything you write uncanon?
As a player in the foundry, does it ever bother you when you find lore that's "outdated"?
Sometimes, I feel like I'm in a Terry Pratchett novel. I know some people prefer 3.5e, while others prefer 4e or AD&D or what have you. But does it all just boil down to preference?
As a foundry author, how do you decide which lore to follow? And how do you keep from getting annoyed over the fact that somewhere out there, someone is writing D&D Next which will probably make everything you write uncanon?
As a player in the foundry, does it ever bother you when you find lore that's "outdated"?
Post edited by mirimero on
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3.5e vs 4E is about mechanics; not lore. Same with 4E vs D&D Next.
Canon issues would be whether Valindra or Lord Neverember survive in the official campaigns.
But, that's always going to be an issue.
Who finds Gaultlegrym and how that impacts the surrounding areas will always differ for each group.
"Outdated" lore in the manner you describe isn't truly an issue in D&D campaigns.
It's not like the supposedly strict continuity of post-Crisis DC comics.
Example: Your Eladrin could be an outcast of the modern Eladrin in that he/she prefers the 'old ways'. You can make up any story to cover why they changed from Celestials to Fey beings, some great event that changed them forever type thing. That could be explained in another Foundry Quest. Its your story;)
So, for me, while I know a fair bit of the lore, I only know it from a certain pov with large chunks of data missing. Theres always going to be something I've missed. I'm just trying to get around it by making the time frame a little more flexible through, relatives, magic portals, scrying items, memorys.. etc so it wont matter so much.
What happens though is that when I first started to create for Forgotten Realms (which itself was a change from the original settings) I thought it was going to be largely static, that they detailed a bunch of places that I could rely on and set my characters from, etc. The thing is, 10 years pass here and quite a lot of time and changes have come to Faerun. Vast locations have changed their essential character so completely that everything that was written for, say, the Anauroch Desert is now history, not present.
Mirimero, what I'm doing is using the Forgotten Realms Wiki, which is - as a wiki - being updated more frequently than the now largely useless investment I made in hardcopy books. While I have no problem spending money on someone's good and hard work, I do have a problem when they turn around and make my sacrifice trivial and ask for more. I actually had to trash a couple Foundry quests/modules I'd planned out because the story no longer fits with "current" story.
For some people, perhaps for a great percentage of the people who create and game on Neverwinter, this is all moot. They're just creating a good adventure and they don't care if it doesn't actually fit the official storyline from WotC. For others, and it's my blessing and curse to be in this second group, we just like the feeling of having crafted the extra effort and connection into our creations.
The other thing you could do is start your quest with a little time-stamp explanation, if you feel you want to place your story within events or places that don't exist any more.
I have been a DM before for other games, (such as Agone,) and the way I play it is simple: I am taking a world and creating something new within it. Just as in a campaign I would create on paper, the characters and many places I'm creating don't exist in the lore of the rule book, they just have to function by the laws of the universe around them.
People who are able to remember every little detail of lore and rules have a very special talent for that type of thing. I wouldn't be too worried if you're not able to do it, because not everyone can. That's the great thing about having the internet.
Part One: A Simple Request (NW-DLBQKTP6O)
More quests coming soon!:D