IPs & D&D, WotC, NeverWinter, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms... etc

[lawow74]

When it comes to the D&D universe, how many crossovers exist changes based on edition. Once it was considered canon that both Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms existed together and travel between was possible. These days it's not explicitly stated one way or the other. Just as it was once considered that Earth was an alternate universe to Oerth and reachable by magic.

Generally speaking, you have your Prime Material Plane(Oerth, Faerun, Krynn, whatever)and the cosmology of other planes(Inner, Outer, Transitive)surrounding it. The setting for the Neverwinter MMO, as well as the Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games is Faerun, the Forgotten Realms, created by Ed Greenwood and home to fictional characters like Elminster and Drizzt Do'Urden.

Oerth is the home of the Greyhawk setting, where characters like Mordenkainen and Robilar are found. Krynn of course is home to the Dragonlance setting and its various characters like Raistlin Majere and Tasselhoff Burrfoot. Other worlds include Athas(home of the Dark Sun setting)and Mystara(aka the Known World, the basic D&D game setting). Other settings put the focus out on the planar cosmology(Planescape)or specific demiplanes(like Ravenloft, set upon the so-called Demiplane of Dread).

[Deleted]

Generally speaking, you have your Prime Material Plane(Oerth, Faerun, Krynn, whatever)

I have to stop you right there. Faerûn is a sub-continent, on the planet of Abeir-Toril, or just Toril. Krynn is also a planet. They're planets. Not some hokey pokey material plane somewhere. In fact, as far as I can remember, the prime material plane is the entire Universe.

If you want to educate people on things having to do with Forgotten Realms, at least have your facts straight.

[Sorshen]

Tho I love the Planescape setting, Pathfinder is doing a much better job with their rulebook(s) and the Golarion setting than Wizards of the Coast has done in about a decade.
Modules like Curse of the Crimson Throne, Carrion Crown, Rise of the Runelords kept me playing.

[lawow74]

I have to stop you right there. Faerûn is a sub-continent, on the planet of Abeir-Toril, or just Toril. Krynn is also a planet. They're planets. Not some hokey pokey material plane somewhere. In fact, as far as I can remember, the prime material plane is the entire Universe.

If you want to educate people on things having to do with Forgotten Realms, at least have your facts straight.

The Prime Material Plane is the 'real world' of the game setting, whether that's one world or multiples. The notion of the infinite Prime Material Plane was put forth with Spelljammer and the Lords of Madness sourcebook for 3e. It's of questionable canon currently, depending how you want to interpret the Far Realm in the planar cosmology. So, get your facts straight instead of being nit-picky about some terminology.

[slime]

It's like MTGs multi-verse.

[Marema]

I read the Dragonlance chronicles, legends and a couple of other series when I was a kid. I read the Forgotten Realms Icewind Dale series and I think the ones that came right after that, which escape me for the moment.

I was looking for some new fantasy/sci-fi books at B&N the other day and saw that there was a 25th anniversary Dragonlance compendium and it made me feel old I read those when I was 15! Ugh.

Anyhoo, the books are fun quick reads and I think I'll have to go by the used bookstore today and pick them up again.

The Legend of Huma book is still my favorate book in regards to the DL and FR series.

[Xenogeist]

Here is a map of the entire D&D setting (unless it has changed since I last played many years ago). Most of the stories take place on different worlds in the prime material plane.

[OrcsRLame]

Many D&D settings contradict that map. Faerun and Eberron for example, have their own planes of existence. Faerun has the Shadowfell, which is unique to it as far as I'm aware, and Eberron is all unique having none of the traditional D&D planes. That map could be canon, but if it is, it's very poorly thought out.

[lawow74]

That's the 2e Planescape map. The setting underwent numerous revisions for 3e, and 4e greatly simplified the cosmology before it was returned to the 'Great Wheel' in 5e by default. When using the Forgotten Realms as the Prime Material Plane, its planar model is supposed to be a World Tree, instead of the Wheel, with many differently-named areas thematically similar to the Inner and Outer Planes of the Great Wheel.

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Many D&D settings contradict that map. Faerun and Eberron for example, have their own planes of existence. Faerun has the Shadowfell, which is unique to it as far as I'm aware, and Eberron is all unique having none of the traditional D&D planes. That map could be canon, but if it is, it's very poorly thought out.

The Shadowfell is a 4e creation, a merging of the Plane of Shadow and the Negative Energy Plane in concept. The biggest deviation for Faerun in cosmology(besides the World Tree)is the Fugue Plain, a place explicitly for the souls of the dead to go before being passed on to the divine realm of their deity. If a soul worshipped no deity, their essence would merge into the Fugue Plain itself. Compare with the Great Wheel(default cosmology of Greyhawk), where souls of the dead become Petitioners, outsiders upon whatever plane best suits their alignment/behavior.