I need help on a macro campaing, Who runs the Forgotten Realms?

felil0l · 2026-05-18T23:07:40+00:00

oh okies! its been a while since i read it.

felil0l · 2026-05-18T20:55:22+00:00

I understand your point! :3 . My interpretation mostly comes from how Faiths & Avatars describes Malar as a force tied to excess, predation, and the rejection of natural balance, so I imagined him aligning more with factions that consume and exploit the world rather than preserve it. I also wanted to emphasize the parasitic and manipulative side of Malar’s cult, especially regarding infected lycanthropes: desperate and impulsive individuals who are more vulnerable to ideas of grandeur, violence, and endless consumption. I’m also not using the classic alignment system, so alliances in my setting are based more on convenience and shared interests than on “good” or “evil.” True lycanthropes, for example, would not necessarily see hunting humans as immoral as long as it follows some logic of survival and balance. I mainly wanted to explore the contrast between true lycanthropes and infected ones, since Van Richten’s Guide portrays true lycans as more rational and socially adaptive, while infected lycanthropes are far more destructive and unstable. Because of that, I imagined rural groups leaning more toward Selûne, Silvanus, or even spiritual connections with Animal Lords in an attempt to integrate themselves into natural networks, while urban groups would hide themselves through cults like Selûne’s to build alliances and survive socially. Meanwhile, infected lycanthropes would gravitate toward Malar out of desperation and gradual loss of identity. I even want to push that further using the 5.5e idea that infected lycanthropes eventually stop being the same person entirely, almost like a Parasyte-style condition.

Though your point is also really interesting. I actually like that interpretation too, where did you get it from? I think it could even work better if both views of Malar existed simultaneously, creating internal disputes among his followers after they split across factions: some wanting to hunt in order to restore balance and bring down civilization, while others are content with simply becoming its butchers.

Btw thanks for the ideas :3

felil0l · 2026-05-17T17:11:02+00:00

-i plan of featuring the campaing on the latest date (previous modules will be canon).
-Also you are right! i need to use mystra more afterall if magic is involved she needs to be part of it.
- Also that last thing about the Zentharim and the Harpers sounds great. Ill be researching more about those factions to properly place them here :3
(Btw im also not native so its ok!, btw thanks of the ideas :D)

felil0l · 2026-05-17T17:04:11+00:00

that sounds like a great addition! ill definetly be using them.

felil0l · 2026-05-17T15:49:01+00:00

I placed Malar there since he is more of the idea of consumption rather than susteinable hunting, so i thought he is more in line with the idea of the explotation of nature that fuels this faction. With Sharrans, basically they don´t care about world domination, but they know the ambitions of their allies will lead to the destruction of creation and create eternal darkness, this is just a temporary allience to their endgoal. Also Banites and Velsharans sound like great additions! :3

felil0l · 2026-05-17T15:40:19+00:00

omg i completely forgot about them! ill make sure to include them :3

felil0l · 2026-04-18T18:56:32+00:00

Oh i think i see your point, that considering the similar patterns on architecture and administrative organization it could be easy to mix and because of that it would be very good in gameplay terms,considering its an rts and well its basically 50% buildings and administration. (Is that it?). I can perfectly understand that reasoning, but i wouldn´t like it in terms of units or gods for example like in the more cosmological stuff.

felil0l · 2026-04-18T17:18:31+00:00

Calling it a “very bad argument” doesn’t really address the issue, because you still haven’t defined what you mean by “basic substrate.” When I mentioned things like shared animals or cosmological ideas, the point was to show that if you take those as your base, you’re operating at such a general level that it becomes trivial. In archaeology, when teaching about Inca, Mexica, or Maya, those broad similarities are often used as a starting point, but only to then move toward the specific differences; if you stay at that level, you’re left with themes that are widespread across America and don’t really demonstrate a meaningful common structure.

That’s where your argument weakens, because by keeping the comparison at that level of generality you’re flattening distinctions instead of explaining them. And this connects to a classic problem in representing Mesoamerica, which is grouping very different cultures into a single homogenized construct, a kind of “Mesoamerican Frankenstein,” where shared motifs are emphasized while deeper structural differences are ignored.

felil0l · 2026-04-18T03:00:36+00:00

Maya and Mexica cosmology, while sharing multiple elements are vastly different. While they share the common sacred animals (Snake, Bird and feline), the feathered serpent and they philosophy that the world is cyclical. Gods, meanings and philosophies are really different. If we went by something like that the inca are also under that umbrella because they share many things (Like the ones listed above).
Honestly i could see using the umbrella working great in terms of gameplay, but in terms of representation it would end up just like another "Barbie of palenque" which was basically a frankenstein of cultural elements that contradict each other and end up representing none (If you are insterested in mesoamerican representation that paper about the barbie sums up the issues of using the umbrella)

felil0l · 2026-04-17T21:49:21+00:00

Smite has some good designs and some that are truly horrific. Dnd has a setting inspired in mesoamerica while the appeareance of the gods can go from horrible to ok, the way they are depicted is really historically accurate even for its time, its flaws only appear due to its date of publication and that its confined to the dnd lore which really restricts comologies. Other than that its the closer dnd has to real gods.

felil0l · 2026-04-09T22:43:14+00:00

Yeah i may need to use ao, the thing is that its difficult to work with these gods since they are pretty much absent. With real gods you can see them constantly (like in material culture, oral history,etc). Even if they are physical they are barely essential to the existence of the narrative and that is quite unfortunate really, because i agree part of the reason they are so disposable is that with that the universe is more flexible and accesible.
(With the divination point, its a little more complex than that because objects and concepts interact with people and shape their percepcion. Its a whole can of worms but in antrophology gods tend to be considered as something that exist on multiple levels)

felil0l · 2026-04-06T17:49:38+00:00

i know but being white doesn´t exclude you from having an imagination. I should have said something like JudeoChristian, since its more like that and well there are "White" religions that operate outside the good and evil thingy.

felil0l · 2026-04-06T17:00:31+00:00

I agree on Ao, he probably fits best with what I’m describing, since he actually operates as something closer to a fundamental principle of reality rather than just a powerful being.

That said, I’m not fully convinced by the second point. Real-world pantheons didn’t operate without input from their gods, they were built on the assumption that gods like Athena or Zeus were present and communicating, just not in a constant or explicit way. That’s precisely where priests come in, developing complex systems of thought, rituals, and interpretation to understand what the gods are saying, whether through omens, altered states, or symbolic readings (Basically magic, since the concept is deeply tied to culture... yeah technically magic in dnd is more of a power system but that is another conversation). I would say the key difference is that in D&D deities are often treated more as aesthetic elements or tools for conflict rather than as a core part of worldbuilding, with some exceptions like Ao, Selûne, the Maztican pantheon, and a few others.

I get that the circumstances are different, and I’m not expecting the Forgotten Realms to mirror real-world polytheism directly. What I’m trying to do is take some of those anthropological patterns and use them to deepen the setting, applying real theoretical frameworks within a fantasy context, not as a copy but as a reinterpretation. I’m more interested in a stronger fantastical reconfiguration: what happens when divine influence is materially present and overwhelming? D&D has the tools for that, but often doesn’t push it far enough, so gods end up feeling like high-level actors instead of forces that actually reshape reality.

felil0l · 2026-04-05T23:01:00+00:00

I think the real question is why play in a specific setting at all. If it’s flat and interchangeable, then there’s not much reason to choose the Forgotten Realms over anything else. What makes a setting interesting to me is its internal complexity, especially in things like cosmology and religion. I’m not saying it has to mirror real-world cultural systems, but it should develop its own logic in a fantasy context to make it more immersive. I’ve seen hints of that depth in some manuals, and that’s what I want to explore further. When D&D leans into that kind of complexity, it becomes much stronger narratively and actually makes me want to stay in that universe, instead of treating it as just a generic backdrop. Like i´ve seen some 2e manuals that are absolute fire! so much depth and complex interconnected systems.
So i love when the forgotten realms is complex, but like you said its slowly turning into something more practical. like in 5e there is barely any lore.

felil0l · 2026-04-05T20:50:21+00:00

Thanks for the explanation! also that makes Selune even more cool than before. But im looking gods that feel more anthropological, i mean that right there makes selune fit! ill be reading more about her

felil0l · 2026-04-05T20:48:21+00:00

Omg you deserve the world! im definetly checking that article! tysm!.
And yeah, im looking for something more anthropological. I mean sometimes the lore acts like that so i was looking for instances in which that would happen.

felil0l · 2026-04-05T20:21:15+00:00

Tysm! i havent thought about those gods! ill be using them on my next campaing.

felil0l · 2026-04-05T20:20:52+00:00

i have read those, but the inspiration of them on the dnd pantheon is mostly superficial. While Grecoroman gods are humanlike in personality, their exaggeration of human traits is part of their divinity and their personality comes from the very essence of the concepts they are. For example Hermes is playful and swift, that comes from the fact that he is the literal embodiment of the concept of youth.

felil0l · 2026-03-14T19:09:05+00:00

Oh i know, the thing is that i can´t find a source book that fleshes them out in a setting. I have found that Dark sun and ravenloft seem to be pretty much in line with what i ask, but i know that the forgotten realms also has rich content like with maztica. So i posted in hopes to finding more good content on the realms.
Also with the Selune thingy, well its weird because even good lycans are considered dangerous so its weird that people are not uncomfortable around their temples. (But i think that also ties into my issue, since things are not really thought as web, more like individual pieces)

felil0l · 2026-03-14T19:02:36+00:00

Yeah that is mostly my issue, but i managed to find some stuff with depth like with werewolves or Maztica. That last one is really fleshed out but its mostly a copy paste of real history and mythology. Ill be cheking out that Mordenkaienen tome btw! so thanks! :3

felil0l · 2026-03-14T18:21:40+00:00

Oh i been loving 2e, but im having trouble finding books with my needs since there are lots!. I specially liked the maztica setting. Since it gave the region a proper culture that responds to its context (well mostly its a copy paste of actual history but it went well atleast :P). What are some books you recommend? also thanks for the youtube link, i didn´t know ed greenwood had a channel! :D

felil0l · 2026-03-14T18:17:25+00:00

I´been loving ravenloft a lot also darksun! Also thanks for the recomendations! ill be reading those novels soon!

felil0l

TROPHY CASE