I noticed Elminster took the identity of Elmara with little difficulty early in the Elminster series I’ve been reading. Does Elminster still take on this identity like elves blessed by Corellon? Very rarely, as Elmara was a priestess of the Mystra of the time, the Mystra who in various mortal forms became Elminster’s lover. Reviving her when he now serves later Mystras ‘feels wrong’ to El.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) May 16, 2020
A sketch of my friend Pat’s old character… Fenris! #dnd pic.twitter.com/TXQdQuvXnr
— Richard Whitters (@WhittersRichard) May 2, 2020
Quick Mermay sketch before bed #mermay pic.twitter.com/hwTrDxplgk
— Richard Whitters (@WhittersRichard) May 3, 2020
@TheEdVerse I wonder if you kight enlighten us on some aspects of how you envision cleric magics.
Never mind game mechanics … they can’t make up their minds … just TSR & WorC out the window, are clerical spells a standardised language of magic? To clarify 1/— 🌈Jaye🦄Em🌹Edgecliff🏳️🌈 (@jayeedgecliff) July 28, 2020
1)
From the beginning of the Realms (pre-D&D), I have always clung to the notion that priests cure by calling on divine power through prayer, and that each faith has its own unique prayers (though for the simplest magics, such as conjuring light or banishing dirt… 2)
…or stains, there might well be 'generic prayers' all deities or their servitors would listen to). As the priest, your fervour/passion and any creative wording (heartfelt) you employ would be heeded, but devout beings are reluctant to stray creatively from the…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 28, 2020
3)
…prayer wordings they’ve been taught for fear of the magic failing completely, or even incurring a ‘slap’ of divine displeasure.
So priests cleave to what they’re taught. The wording of a Cure Light Wounds of a priest of Ilmater differs from a priest of Tyr. 4)
And yes, regarding kittens and the like ;} I think every faith (and orders of paladins) would have their own differing details of rituals and customs. You CAN heal on the battlefield, but a priestess of Chauntea prefers to heal on a bed of wheat, corn, barley, etc.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 29, 2020
Greetings Archmage, can you please share some insight into what kinds of birthing positions are most commonly/standardly used by some of the major humanoid non-egg laying races (i.e. humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, etc)? #forgottenrealms 1)
Varying by time, place, family custom, and individual (size, existing injuries or disabilities, etc.) birthing positions include standing, squatting, kneeling or lying on one’s side, on beds of moss, shallow stream-water or…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 26, 2020
1)
Varying by time, place, family custom, and individual (size, existing injuries or disabilities, etc.) birthing positions include standing, squatting, kneeling or lying on one’s side, on beds of moss, shallow stream-water or… 2)
…pools of temple-blessed clean water, in favored-of-the-gods glades and caverns. In harsh weather and conditions (outdoors, on rocks, etc.) other individuals (dwarves, gnomes, and halflings especially) may form a naked, …#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 26, 2020
3)
…intertwined ‘bed’ for the mother to give birth on, and/or surround her to make a living wall to shield her against driving winds, sleet, rain, and so on.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 26, 2020
Please see this. Do you 3dPrint your own figures, or do you purchase them? Is there a place to buy custom figures? 15/32 years playing d&d and i never had figures. I usually get them at local game stores or online via Miniature Market or Troll & Toad!
— Matthew Mercer (@matthewmercer) August 13, 2020
I’m sorry…a Weavemaster?
I’m guessing that’s a DM side of lore, like the Chosen (which also has zip written that I’ve seen for 5e), that’s up to the DM to implement?— Dorian (@Dorian_Inman) August 24, 2020
2)
…being gathered in the Weave, ripples or disturbances in the Weave, sentiences nearby in the Weave, magic-dead areas, and can work magic, including counterspells and wards, by calling directly on the Weave without spellcasting. So a bound, gagged Weavemaster…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020
3)
…who lacks all material components can still hit you with a spell.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020
Oh! Thank you for that!
This really explains Elminster, The Simbul, and so many others. Indeed. Much of the stuff they do in the novels is due to their Weavemastery.
(And metagame: was forced on writers when editorial directives were applied to NOT depict spellcasting closely/clearly, in our writing.)#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020
May I ask why you were directed not to depict spellcasting closely/clearly in your writing, at that time? We were never told. My guess at the time (height of the Satanic panic) was that TSR didn't want lawsuits and bad publicity due to people burning or otherwise harming themselves trying to emulate any spellcasting we described. So, no incantations/described gestures.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) August 24, 2020
One of the things that frustrates me about Avernus is that it can’t be mapped.
This is a LAWFUL evil plane. It’s not CHAOTIC evil (like the Abyss). I can imagine that the Abyss can’t be mapped. But I’d think that Avernus could be. It’s a minor nitpick, but there you go! #dnd Combination of the scarring of its original idyllic form being destroyed and the ruins being repeatedly brutalized, and it now having been repurposed into a defense against Abyssal incursion.
It defies mapping because Asmodeus wants it that way.
— Dan Dillon (@Dan_Dillon_1) June 3, 2020
The character in question is a half-elven Harper alchemist (the PF2 class) by the name of Zylla, as a sidenote.
— Belial Lyka (@TimeBust) June 26, 2020
1)
A handful (five or six small families) of Marsh Drovers still inhabit the Farsea Marshes; others migrated into Cormyr for safety, many settling south of the Wyvernwater. They’re not powerful alchemists, but long ago… 2)
…mastered safe and beneficial medicinal and food uses of swamp plants (and some of this sort of lore will appear in AMARUNE’S ALMANAC: Swamps of the Realms, to be published on the DM’s Guild in the fullness of time).#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 26, 2020
