Yes, they are. I think Fantasy AGE is a really cool little game. Mind you, that is read only so far. But i like it. If you know how Dragon Age works, Fantasy AGE is a modified, more generic version of it.

3d6 + modifier + focus (if you have an appropriate one) vs TN is the base mechanic

As someone who likes bell-curve a lot, i can see Fantasy AGE as my DnD-ish game to go to now (although i think i will try out 5th Ed. DnD soon-ish).

Chronicles has no generic version as of now, right?! At least i have never read anything about it. ASoIaF is the only game that runs on it so far. And i like it as well...it has a roll and keep mechanic with d6s ... and i was always fan of R&K.

Anyway...back to topic...

I don't get all the hostility toward FR. Sure, it's not a very inspired setting...but then, it is also a quite old setting... . It's a bog standard fantasy setting but it never claimed to be anything else. The pro is that you can do almost everything with it and if you are bothered with the OP NPCs...well just ignore them...it's really not that hard. You as the GM are responsible for the empowerment of your players...so don't go blame some NPC entry in a book.

I for one am looking forward to this product (although i am a big fan of big world-setting books in general and prefer them to such a regional treatment...but i take what i get).

I know that a lot of people are disappointed they aren't getting setting books for Greyhawk or Planescape or Eberron or Dark Sun or Ravenloft or Spelljammer or Birthright or whatever, but the thing is that all of those settings are already available on pdf and conversions aren't really that hard, are they? Especially with the freebies in the Unearthed Arcana articles.

From my completely selfish point of view, I'm pretty happy that I don't feel I need any new "official" products to complete or enjoy the game.

And to the extent that I'm interested in "new" alternate settings, I'd probably be more interested in stuff from smaller publishers that wasn't very "mainline" anyway.

Also, that cover art is some pretty weak tea.

Quote from: remial;844445my problem with FR is that there really doesn't seem to be anything for the PCs to do.  
Why bother trying to save the world?  Greenwood's pet NPC will save the day when he hears about the problem.  
Try to carve out a section of the land to become the ruler?  Sorry, every square inch of the planet, both above ground and under it have been mapped out and belong to someone else (along with the moons).  and Gods help you if you try to take over someone else's throne, because they are either friends of the pet NPC mentioned above, or someone just as bad ass.

Strange.  
I've never had any problem completely ignoring Elminster, Drizzt, and the rest of the canon NPCs in my FR games.
I've never had any problems in ensuring that the PCs can become the 'stars', the main 'movers-and-shakers', of the region(s) within which they adventure.
The WotC secret police have yet to arrest me for such transgressions.

Quote from: CRKrueger;844625I think you could do far worse for the Sword Coast than the Freeport people.

I concur.  I'm looking forward to this book.

Quote from: Saplatt;844768I know that a lot of people are disappointed they aren't getting setting books for Greyhawk or Planescape or Eberron or Dark Sun or Ravenloft or Spelljammer or Birthright or whatever, but the thing is that all of those settings are already available on pdf and conversions aren't really that hard, are they? Especially with the freebies in the Unearthed Arcana articles.

Are there any UA articles on Planescape?

That's the one TSR setting I'd love to use in a future 5e D&D campaign. (Though I'd be happy using AD&D instead with the original material...)

Quote from: Akrasia;844806Strange.  
I've never had any problem completely ignoring Elminster, Drizzt, and the rest of the canon NPCs in my FR games.
I've never had any problems in ensuring that the PCs can become the 'stars', the main 'movers-and-shakers', of the region(s) within which they adventure.
The WotC secret police have yet to arrest me for such transgressions.

[ ] You probably have cool players.
[ ] You are not a shit DM

Failure to check those two boxes + [✔] FR = epic fail in all my experience.

I wonder if FR is a lightning rod for shit DMs and Raging emo Drizzt fanbois.

Quote from: Akrasia;844808Are there any UA articles on Planescape?

That's the one TSR setting I'd love to use in a future 5e D&D campaign. (Though I'd be happy using AD&D instead with the original material...)

Not yet, so far as I know.

Are there any special mechanics in Planescape that couldn't be done with 5E more or less as is?

Quote from: Akrasia;844806Strange.  
I've never had any problem completely ignoring Elminster, Drizzt, and the rest of the canon NPCs in my FR games.

Wish my players could.  But being people who tend to overthink everything, there's a lot of questions that I have to handwave, and think really hard not to make my player's contribution meaningless.

And it's not actually Drizzt that's the problem.  He's just a Mary Sue, annoyingly perfect yet angsty, but he's not really that big of a bug bear.  My personal dislike of him is literary based.

Elminster is the bigger problem because he's been an incredibly high level character (The Curse of The Azure Bonds adventure, which is where I first encountered him way back when, puts him at level 26, which is higher than any other playable character in any 2e adventure since) and he's Chaotic Good.  And for the record, that book also put Fzoul Chembryl at level 11, and I believe his 'boss' was 13?  Don't have the adventure anymore.  King Azoun of Cormyr on the other hand was a level 20 paladin, which was a nice touch.

Which means that laws or codes of honour or even promises mean nothing to him, if any of those would cause harm to the world around him.  So questions like 'Why hasn't he taken care of the Zhentarim?  Thay?  The Arcane Brotherhood?' come up and then the entire thing cascades out of hand, and i have to scramble to not say something like "He has better things to do." which frankly belittles anything my players should be.  And I want them to the stars, to not have to deal with some crotchety mage who has banged every single apprentice he's had (and have all been female), not to mention that he has the various Goddesses of Magic also willing to jump into his bed, and he has them on Magical Speed Dial as well.

And given that the Dalelands are/were among the best described (simply because of both Greenwood and Salvatore), a lot of the time, players want to start there.

If you have players who can take out their brains and put them in the jars and play without ending up asking logic based questions, I honestly, and sincerely, envy you.  I never had.

Quote from: Akrasia;844806I've never had any problems in ensuring that the PCs can become the 'stars', the main 'movers-and-shakers', of the region(s) within which they adventure.

It doesn't help that Ed Greenwood himself stated that his self-insertion character puts back some of his magical items in old dungeons that his crew cleared out years ago, so that other adventurers, namely PC's have something to find in them.

Hence why I call the FR a theme park, and why I actually had hope for 4e's 100 year jump.  Most of the complaints about that in my area were what that did to the setting NPC's, and how it 'ruins' the setting.  Personally, I think it didn't jump ahead far enough if Elminster was still alive.

Quote from: Akrasia;844806The WotC secret police have yet to arrest me for such transgressions.

It's not WoTC that's the gamer police, it's other gamers.  And unfortunately, a lot of us, especially those who grew up in the 80's and 90's when being a geek was not a clique we joined, but where the other high school kids shoved us into because they didn't want us, peer pressure still works, sadly.

Why do you think people always want new books for their favourite 'edition'?  Because it's a 'Keeping up with Joneses' effect, to want to keep ahead of your 'neighbour', which still applies with gamers.

Either way, I want to see where GR goes with this, cuz I do like the Realms as a location, it's only TWO NPCs that drive me nuts, and one I can easily ignore (The Drizzle.)

Quote from: Saplatt;844818Not yet, so far as I know.

Are there any special mechanics in Planescape that couldn't be done with 5E more or less as is?

There are some races and creatures that need stats (I'm pretty sure they're not in the MM).  

And some mechanical role for Factions would be cool.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;844864If you have players who can take out their brains and put them in the jars and play without ending up asking logic based questions, I honestly, and sincerely, envy you.  I never had.

It's not a matter of having players who can 'take out their brains'.  

If the players are really familiar with the details of the setting, you just need to say: this is a variant of the FR, a parallel plane, where not everything is as described in the books.  Elminster, for instance, is quite different (or does not exist at all).

If you have a problem with playing in this variant of the FR, then you need not participate in this campaign.

I wouldn't want to game with any players too immature to handle that.

(And as for 'logic based questions', you do realize that you're playing a game with flying dragons and magic, right?)

Quote from: Christopher Brady;844864It doesn't help that Ed Greenwood himself stated that his self-insertion character puts back some of his magical items in old dungeons that his crew cleared out years ago, so that other adventurers, namely PC's have something to find in them.

Why the hell do you care so much about what Greenwood does in his campaign? :confused:

Quote from: Christopher Brady;844864It's not WoTC that's the gamer police, it's other gamers.

Find better gamers.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;844039Onto the main topic at hand, the Sword Coast is a rather large area, it covers between Waterdeep and Neverwinter to the north, and I forget where to the south, sadly.

Baldur's Gate, which amongst video gamers is probably the most recognisable place name in the Realms.

Quote from: Akrasia;844808Are there any UA articles on Planescape?

That's the one TSR setting I'd love to use in a future 5e D&D campaign. (Though I'd be happy using AD&D instead with the original material...)

The DMG has a pretty good rundown of the different planes and game mechanical consequences of being on them, and Sigil is mentioned, so they've already given some thought to the subject. I'm currently playing in a 5E Planescape campaign which is going swimmingly.

Quote from: Akrasia;844880(And as for 'logic based questions', you do realize that you're playing a game with flying dragons and magic, right?)

To paraphrase someone else (I think Wolfgang Baur, though I'm not sure), "logic based questions" does not mean "the setting functions the way it does in the real world." Rather, it's shorthand for "the setting has internal logic and self-consistency that it adheres to."

Quote from: Matt;843813Not sure why anyone gives a shit who produces the book/box/pamphlet/whatever. Isn't it the quality of the final product that matters?

Of course.  But it's outside the normal expectations - Forgotten Realms is one of the major D&D settings, and we're used to it being from the group that holds the IP.  TSR or Wizards.  It's going to get noticed.  Some people won't give a shit, some will.

I don't much care who makes it so long as the book is interesting.  I'm more of a Greyhawk fan, but I like the depth of material available for Forgotten Realms.