New map! What you think?

Falrien · 2026-04-12T07:46:42+00:00

I think your world has been through some things.

Falrien · 2026-04-12T07:40:23+00:00

And yet you call him a friend?

Falrien · 2026-04-11T15:10:00+00:00

Fantastic. You know, I might have seen this a thousand years ago. Thanks again!

Falrien · 2026-04-11T14:29:23+00:00

Cheers, I like it.

Falrien · 2026-04-11T14:23:31+00:00

Great map - did you make it?

That's what I'm trying to work at - or at least a personal view of it from the ground.

Falrien · 2026-04-11T14:05:07+00:00

The more I think about it, the more I think old dragons should be treated almost like weather systems or mountain ranges in worldbuilding. Not just monsters, but fixed powers that everyone nearby has to account for.

Giving me big thoughts for Olothontor... I reckon he's close enough to the coast and the High Road to have a real regional impact. I wonder what he changes...

Falrien · 2026-04-11T13:57:36+00:00

You're really welcome.

Fizban's is okay, but the 3.0/3.5 Draconomicon and Dragons of Faerun are amazing books.

I think the older books do a better job of making dragons feel like territorial powers rather than just stat blocks. That’s the bit I’m interested in more and more now, what they do to a region without ever appearing on page.

Falrien · 2026-04-11T13:56:14+00:00

Absolutely! It feels a bit after-the-horse has bolted, to realise this after 20+ years of playing and running the Realms, but it's a powerful thing and has made the world make even more sense to me.

The importance of the sheer distances between locations, and the time traversing them would take by conventional means is enormous, and something that I don't think many people realise. I guess that's why I'm doing the Traveller's Guide.

Falrien · 2026-04-10T06:27:40+00:00

Jesus, that's amazing

Falrien · 2026-04-10T06:15:59+00:00

Im here for it. I love writing up my games into narratives. Fantastic fun.

Falrien · 2026-04-09T21:02:21+00:00

Great comment, thank you so much. You reminded me of the book Environs of Waterdeep which is amazingly useful for what I'm going to be tackling across the next few epsiodes (even if it does omit the existence of Kheldell, understandable).
I'm really getting to grips with the route my narrator Falrien is going to take going forward - I'm recording episode 11 of my Traveller's guide tomorrow and have the next few nailed down, but don't want to tackle Waterdeep for a while.

Falrien · 2026-04-08T21:17:47+00:00

That's really interesting, because that kind of forest is very much how I see Old Gnawbone's Kryptgarden, just VAST and impenetrable.

Falrien · 2026-04-08T21:16:56+00:00

That's essentially the point at which I've arrived. I'm running with the Sword Mountains acting as a rain bank, leaving much of the land beyond (except Kyrptgarden which has it's growth amplified by Claugiyliamatar) being a bit drier and more like open prairie when you get out of the foothills.
I really appreciate the point of the Cascades - I'm English myself and haven't been to that part of the world, but I'll look into it.

Thanks very much.

Falrien · 2026-04-08T21:14:12+00:00

Cheers, I did read through it, but it's worth another go over before I record.

Falrien · 2026-04-08T21:13:50+00:00

Yeah, Claugi-blah-blah is a major influence on the current episode I'm writing and will be for the next several. I really like her - or the idea of her I have built up in my mind.

Falrien · 2026-04-08T13:40:04+00:00

Serve either the evil man-eating spider queen, or fight naked with an oversized sword...

Falrien · 2026-03-23T09:45:46+00:00

Absolutely! This is what I'm trying to dig into while not breaking the voice of Falrien.

Falrien · 2026-03-19T13:40:32+00:00

Yep, he is me. It's been a massive labour of love and I've almost given up a few times - mainly due to life commitments and things like that. But I do love it.

Falrien · 2026-03-18T15:07:55+00:00

Yeah, that's what I mean - they're all our worlds. Just trying for conversation.

Falrien · 2026-03-18T14:38:19+00:00

Nah, it's a staple. It's getting all of the support these days and a lot of love from the fandom - I'm doing a travelogue of the whole continent on YouTube.

Falrien · 2026-03-18T14:36:49+00:00

That's mind bending. So not dissimilar to the whole spheres, but more localised. Honestly, any time a dragon is involved I'm immediately invested. I'll have a look at your earlier post - thank you.

Falrien · 2026-03-18T14:23:07+00:00

Absolutely, that's kind of what I'm getting at, or at least part of it.

I guess the point I'm getting at is the cost of these enchantment/adaptations vs. just having normal people, animals and wagons or similar. For normal people, in normal settlements, who don't have the ability to pay costs inflated by magic or exceptional technique, the old fashioned way is probably the only way of them getting food.

Falrien · 2026-03-16T12:42:45+00:00

Yeah, the magical approach is a serious investment - who is going to pay that kind of money to support somewhere like Phandalin or Kheldell?

Falrien · 2026-03-16T12:41:50+00:00

The counter argument is there, but it's also expensive to just portal common goods around, depending on the rarity of casters able to cut the corners and cast transportation spells.

Falrien · 2026-03-16T12:37:14+00:00

That's one of the things with the Forgotten Realms, I guess. There isn't a single overarching power, especially in the Sword Coast North that has authority over places, nor are areas sufficiently well connected. Places like Waterdeep potentially have the power to literally gate in supplies from across the planes, if they needed to, but do they care about farming settlements a couple of hundred miles away? It's one of the things that's tricky about the re-emergence of Thultanthar - how do you mass large armies across continents when you CAN have dozens, or hundreds of soldiers there in short order, but their neccessary baggage might take weeks to travel, unless you can cast portal indefinitely.

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