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Kalamar and FR

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Mr_Pleasington:
I've enjoyed the review, St. Ehlers...as the owner of both I think you did a good job of hitting the high and low points.  

There's just two things I would add that really diffrentiate between the two settings:

1)Magic Level:  FR is an extremely high magic setting: it's everywhere.  To me this is always been a major drawback because magic items tend to lose their uniqueness when they're so commonplace.  It's also hard to find a town that doesn't have some sort of high level wizard.  Kalamar is pretty magic-neutral.  You'll only find a little bit of magic background in the books so it can be a low magic setting, however nothing precludes you from turning it into a high magic setting.  Trying to play low magic in the Realms is nigh impossible as the high magic level is so ingrained in the history, myth, and background of the setting.  For example, you can't have the Red Wizards as villains AND have magic items be rare.

2) Scope:  FR is epic.  There are high level NPCs running around everywhere.  Adventureres are commonplace and the children of gods roam the lands.  In a world of heroes, its hard to see why the PCs are needed sometimes.  A good DM can fix this, but if you have players who are FR fanatics they're going to insist that its run canonically (as some players I've had do), which makes it really hard to tone down all the high power.   Kalamar is again pretty netural.  The highest level NPC you'll see running around is most likely well under 10th level.  Most of the NPCs in the book are 8th level or lower.  

I find Kalamar to be an easier setting to play in because the book is mainly history and details for a setting which is inherently low magic, low scope.  However, it is very easy to increase either of these factors without ruining the flavor too much.  

FR is a wonderfully detailed setting, but it's play style is built in and hard to change because it  the foundation of the setting.  I think that's why FR players get the bad rap of being powergamers.  Strange, the 'ole Grey Box (FR 1st ed.) wasn't like this at all...it just kind of evolved into a really high powered game.

Just some thoughts.  I've played and ran both settings and both can be fun.  Just depends on your tastes.

Tage:
Now, I've never played in Kalamar, but I want to come to FR's defense anyway. Personally, I love having lots of magic and powerful characters everywhere. Magic items give you something to look forward to, and I don't think it makes any characters overpowered. There are magical bonuses that are appropriate for every level of character, so it's very well balanced.

And the super-powerful NPCs are only a problem if you stick around areas that are watched over by those NPCs. There are LOTS of places where no one's really watching over things, though.

Mr_Pleasington:
Oh, I don't think the magic items make PCs underpowered...nor overpowered, really.  That kind of balance relies on both a good DM and 3E's design principles.  It's not about balance though, it's taste.  When my players get a +1 sword I want them to treasure it and see it as something special. I like low/mid magic settings.  That's how I designed my own world.  

It's not terribly difficult to work around the high level NPCs, but you still do have to work around them which is a quality unique to FR because of its widespread popularity.  

I cut my roleplaying teeth on FR back in 2E and had a good time doing it.  The Realms will always have a place in my heart, but it just doesn't mesh with what I want in a campaign settings.  It's got some great qualities, but they're overshadowed by a foundation I find flawed (or at least not to my liking).  I'm by no means Anti-FR, it's just not for me anymore.  Obviously it does something right, given its popularity.

Oh...the one thing that FR did screw up, IMHO, is the Drow.  Gygax gave them such a cool concept in D&D, but after they became popular in FR novels, they were never the same.  :-/

Slant:
FR has become rather the prototype of fantasy gaming, and as such will always have a place in the history of RPGs, but to be honest I prefer "home-brewed" campaigns based on the mad inner workings of whomever the DM is at the time.  No matter how much you accomplish in FR or kalamar or any other campaign, you are still not truly playing your own game.  That's just my own opinion.  i WILL say that some of the home-brewed campaigns that I have either ran or played in have been far more imaginative than anything that I have ever seen put out by TSR or WotC.

But on the flip side, it's always fun to take your umpteenth-level character in FR and have him go "I waste Elminster with my crossbow bolt of fiery doom +30! Hoody-hoo!!!"

And Drow are undeniably cool.  I recently ran a Drown gunfighter in our Dragon Star campaign.  His name is Koji, but he was nick-named "Drow Yun Fat."

Spriggan:

--- Quote ---Drow Yun Fat
--- End quote ---
Bwahahahaa ;D

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