|
In the original "Red Box" D&D, an animal's species depends on their hit dice, meaning that a cat that gains enough levels can eventually become a tiger (but must go through wolf, horse, and panther first in that order). In order to discourage talk that this was "a stupid mechanic" it was made canon as being the influence of the demi-god of beasts, Llerg. In Reign, all grapes are considered toxic because of a mistranslated poem. While they are actually toxic for unrelated reasons, wine is considered exempt due to a legal loophole. According to the adventure module Mall of Moradin, all elves are technically a type of insect, and half-elves are formed when their eggs are implanted within a human host, due to humans getting a natural bonus of +1 against insects. This explains why Queen Amlaruil Moonflower is often stated to be "ten times the size of any other elf-maiden" and once described by Ed Greenwood as "glistening with fecund beauty and brimming with uncountable ovum". In the GURPS: Planet of the Apes timeline of alternate history, there is an ape equivalent of the Beatles who perform many familiar sounding songs, such as "Banana Submarine" and "Eleanor Pygmy Marmoset". In the book The Dry Cleaners of Baldur's Gate, the eighth instalment of the Riddlworm Cycle series, it is revealed that Elminster is his own father thanks to the time-warping energies of the Conundrum Crystal. Please post more lore that you find interesting, informative, or just plain entertaining! 
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 18:41
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 18:42 |
|
|
According to Codpieces of the Realms masterwork codpieces can be enchanted with standard weapon bonuses as well as the Returning, Flaming, and Intelligence enchantments. Giant Space Hamster dung is concentrated fuel suitable for dwarven forges or high pressure steam engines. Gnomes refuse to use it because it just ruins their whole aesthetic.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 18:46
|
|
|
According to Elves of Athas, the blood of elves is both a mild hallucinogen and a potent aphrodisiac if ingested. This is, the book explains, why elves are so good at running. Per various Realms sources, Elminster is in fact a genetic parent of 47% of the population of Faerun. Hypnobeard fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Oct 19, 2017 |
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 18:50
|
|
|
In Fragged Empire, it turns out the reason the Mechanoids went kill crazy wasn't because of the lovely programming job by the Archons, but the fact that when you upload a human into a killbot and send it to war, centuries of "The monster inevitably turns on his creator" media consumption basically led them to conclude en masse that it was time to "Go full Saberhagen on their asses"
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 18:57
|
|
|
In Shadow of the Demon Lord's setting Rul (there's a dumb thing over the u in that word but i'm a goddamn american and you will never make me use that dumb thing over the u even if i did know how to make it appear) the goblins are the smartest, normalest and most handsome people in the world and everyone thinks they are very cool + smart
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 19:04
|
|
|
Here's a fun fact: squirrels do not exist within the Forgotten Realms! At numerous occasions, Ed Greenwood has stated that he "[does not] believe such an animal exists" and has refuted any offered evidence with no given explanation as to why. At the 1996 DragonCon, when someone brought a tame squirrel to a panel at which Greenwood was present, Greenwood grew visibly angry and ending up flipping over the table, frightening R.A. Salvatore and many members of the audience. There has been a ban on animals at DragonCon ever since, excluding service animals.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 19:05
|
|
|
In the 1993 Forgotten Realms Campaign Boxed set, Shadowdale and the surrounding area was described as fantasy LARP, where visitors from all over the realms would come and pretend to be adventurers. Fixing this error necessitated a second printing of the set, which was released in 1996.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 19:08
|
|
|
Far West has actually already been released. The True Far West is the friends we made dunking on GMS along the way.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 19:12
|
|
|
Sting was actually brought in as a major thematic consultant on Invisible Sun. Monte Cook stated that certain elements had to be changed at the last moment to avoid infringing on Dune (1973).
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 19:31
|
|
|
The overarching story of the Rumbletump Trilogy (The Curse of Wizard Rumbletump, Return to the City of Gargoyles, and The Hideous Death of Elminster) came about when Ed Greenwood described Drizzt Do'Urden as "a leopard-man paladin from the jungle deserts [sic] of Manana Banana" and would not allow any changes to his words. Greenwood has flatly refused to read any Forgotten Realms content written by other authors since the publication of 1988's The Breakfast Club (unrelated to the movie of the same name) where Elminster was not described as "the coolest cat in all the land", a phrase which Greenwood had insisted be in every piece of Forgotten Realms material. Unable to persuade Greenwood to not write the famed dark elf as being a leopard-man, TSR's book department turned to author R.A. Salvatore to work the situation into the established canon. Drizzt's transformation and subsequent quest to restore himself ended with a climatic scene where Elminster died from drinking "poisoned beer that you couldn't even tell was poisoned because it tasted so bad" and was then mauled by a pack of wild animals "until he didn't have a butt". Elminster's return in Book 1 of 100 in the You Can Kiss My rear end Salvatore Saga signalled a new age of Forgotten Realms content from the two writers, including such fan favourites as Squirrels Are Real Animals and I'm In Charge of the Realms and I Say Drizzt Smells Like Farts.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 21:13
|
|
|
The Zentraedi of Robotech were susceptible to the musical styling of one Lynn Minmei. During the writing of the RPG, Kevin Siembieda clarified that they were only vulnerable to a specific fusion of mathcore and Bachata.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 21:17
|
|
|
Ed Greenwood insisted on writing all the material for the German edition of Forgotten Realms content himself, stating that he'd "sooner piss in God's eye" than trust any translator to "capture the majesty of the Realms". Not fluent in the language, Greenwood managed it with an English-to-Spanish dictionary and what critics have described as "a creative use of umlauts".
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2017 21:36
|
|
|
There is canonically a portal to Ed Greenwood's house from the Forgotten Realms. Elminster uses it to steal his beer.
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2017 03:18
|
|
|
Ed Greenwood claims to have proof that Elminster, and by extension the Realms, are really real. Said proof consists of a handwritten note and a dozen crushed beer cans. The note is incomprehensible.
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2017 03:21
|
|
|
In the adventure module Tomb of the Tombless, it is explained that the entire Forgotten Realms used to be the world of Athas, until it was turned into a featureless wasteland. This is why Athas is not accessible via spelljamming, because it is set in a time period many centuries before the "present day" of Dungeons & Dragons.
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2017 03:57
|
|
|
The 1980s satanic panic stuff was all pure bullshit, but it did piss one TSR intern off to the point where they managed to hide an actual holy-poo poo-it-works-in-real-life magic spell in an AD&D 2nd ed book. Even though it was fixed quickly, the amount of trouble it ended up causing is unbelievable. Ever feel like the world started going to poo poo around the late 90s? I'm not gonna tell you where it is, and I know that even when you exlude anything that's not a first printing, "2nd ed AD&D" is a shitload of books, but it's really not hard to find it unless you're looking in the spell lists. E: Wait, poo poo, the Elminster stuff threw me off. I should have posted... uh... Tanis used to get drunk, fart in his hand, and hadouken it at Kitiara. That's why she broke up with him. Elector_Nerdlingen fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Oct 20, 2017 |
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2017 04:15
|
|
|
When Varg Vikernes was writing Myfarog intended to introduce a villanous race with the Arnimeans, a vile breed of mountain dwelling ape-men who existed only to be killed in droves, but rescinded that upon hearing of Martin Shkreli's contributions to white nationalism. The original draft of Strike included the rules for "3-D play", to be played in all the sides of a cube shaped map with miniatures, but was abandoned after the fact that roll20's software can't load it without crashing the browser and possibly frying the user's GPU.
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2017 04:27
|
|
|
Exalted is somehow supposed to be the World of Darkness 5000 years in the past. I am not making this up.
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2017 04:28
|
|
|
Along with the 13 now-classic vampire clans, including the Brujah and Nosferatu, original printings of Vampire: The Masquerade also included two additional clans. The Sith, from an aborted merchandising tie-in with LucasFilm, and the Blacula, whose special powers included the ability to transmute their afros into clouds of vicious bats. TSR ran a "Visit the Forgotten Realms for a Day!" contest back in 1992 which was swiftly cancelled when it turned out that the grand prize was to be visiting a brothel with Ed Greenwood while wearing a cloak. In GURPS: Dynasty, the given stats for major character Farnsworth "Dex" Dexter indicate he is a practising warlock, although the television show itself never confirmed one way or the other if he actually possessed arcane abilities. Fuego Fish fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Oct 20, 2017 |
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2017 04:57
|
|
|
In Greyhawk, per the City of Greyhawk box set, gaggles of feral feebleminded wizards are a constant threat in many city districts. Indiscriminate use of cantrips and manic giggling precede attacks by the roving be-robed gangs, and the city has a special task force set up that hires adventurers to "corral, confine, contuse, or otherwise round up the magical miscreants which so disrupt our peaceful urban milieu."
|
|
#
?
Oct 20, 2017 16:15
|
|
|
In Planescape, the tax collectors and the thieves guild are the exact same people, just wearing different cloaks. Acknowledging this fact is grounds for exile. Also in Planescape, the Dabuses are the inventors of the dab - it is part of their language. In a lesser-known Eberron module by Mike Mearls, "the First Warforged", it is revealed that all warforged are simply gnome wizards wearing very elaborate power armor, because "magic robots would be silly".
|
|
#
?
Oct 22, 2017 22:09
|
|
|
We all know Elminster shares a fondness for cheap beer with his creator, Ed Greenwood, but what is his favourite food? At numerous convention appearances, Greenwood has always insisted that Elminster eats nothing but "the finest married elf ****" but canny scholars of Realms lore have noted that various books have ascribed different delicacies as the famed wizard's preferred meal. These include live crabs (Forgotten Realms Companion vol. 31), lasagna (Elminster and Garfield: United Against Mondays), "handfuls of piss-soaked raw meat" (Squirrels Are Real Animals), and the McDonald's Happy Meal (The Complete Guide to Sponsorship in the Forgotten Realms).
|
|
#
?
Oct 24, 2017 16:56
|
|
|
the one bit of not often used lore that I genuinely love is from Pathfinder. Goblins can't read, not (just) because they're dumb psychopaths, but because the written word is evil and not to be trusted, to the point where they take special joy in eating/destroying books and scrolls and poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Oct 24, 2017 20:42
|
|
|
Before settling on "festhall" as the name for the innumerable whorehouses, brothels, and sex dungeons of the Forgotten Realms, various early TSR modules used different terms to avoid any direct references to adult content. These included "discotheque", "petting zoo", and most famously, "Chuck E. Cheese's" in Castle Atop An Even Larger Castle.
|
|
#
?
Oct 24, 2017 23:56
|
|
|
In the adventure module World's Tallest Castle for Eberron, the entire adventure can be skipped with a hot air balloon. There is however a sign outside the top of the castle calling you a poor sport if you do so.
|
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2017 00:01
|
|
|
In the 1st edition of the game Mage the Awakening, the signature character 'Morvran' canonically looks like a mix of Sean Connery and Aragorn. This game takes place in the modern day. i am not making this up this is genuinely two ways he is described
|
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2017 00:14
|
|
|
Thanks to a committee vote between all of the guilds, all fires burn at exactly the same temperature in Sigil.
|
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2017 01:42
|
|
|
Pathfinder was originally going to be based on the Powered by the Apocalypse engine, but D&D OGL came out first. However, early drafts of Pathfinder did give every class a sex move. The Justice League exists in the Unknown Armies universe. The original Tomb of Horrors was not originally intended to be a tournament module, but instead was a scheme on Gygax's part to create an adventure so terrible nobody would make him GM ever again because he was sick of it. (One of these is actually true)
|
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2017 04:08
|
|
|
Dragonlance creator Tracy Hickman always hated the idea of thieves as part of a 'good' adventuring party, as he felt heroes shouldn't ever tolerate criminals in their midst. When creating Dragonlance, he incorporated this idea by including the Kender, a race of thieves who everyone would hate just as much as he did.
|
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2017 06:49
|
|
|
While the bulk of the story of Final Fantasy 7 is widely known to have taken strong influence from the Beowulf Saga, it's much less well known that the use of Meteor as a potential world-destroying cataclysm was taken from Square's strong admiration for the Dragonlance Saga, referencing the mountain that fell on Istar. Dragonlance influences can be seen throughout the Final Fantasy series dating all the way back to the original, with the Sea Shrine and its mermaids also drawing inspiration from Istar and Bahamut being a fairly direct proxy to the role of Paladine, among others.
|
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2017 07:14
|
|
|
Pathfinder was set to be released on Japan as Paizo Presents: Pathfinder, but a translation error made that covers were print advertising it as Paizuri: Pathfinder, resulting in the books being sold out in the first day and Pathfinder being the most popular game in Japanese history.
|
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2017 15:27
|
|
|
Ed Greenwood revealed on recent D&D 5e webcast "Festhalls and Friends" that the reason he is staunchly against the inclusion of Warforged in the Forgotten Realms is because he fears that Keith Baker will then ally with Salvatore and reveal that Warforged are secretly magic suits piloted by horrific bush-tailed tree rat-things.
|
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2017 15:35
|
|
|
Shortly before he died, Dave Arneson apologized to the wargaming community, revealing in a candid interview that he "didn't mean to invent the roleplaying hobby" and only intended to add the imaginative aspects to one game in order to "shut up some pencil necked pipsqueak kid who kept asking what his motivation for attacking a small medieval village was." Arneson went on to elaborate "I wanted to show this dork what a goddamn dumbass he was being. I mean come on,"
|
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2017 15:47
|
|
|
TSR's Marvel Super Heroes had an adventure line called "Super Adventure Heroes Avengers Forever!" released in 1985 which was a massive failure that was one of the many reasons for the company's buyout by Lorraine Williams. Critics and fans alike said that the stories were "utterly preposterous", "encouraged players to act as horribly to other players as possible" and "lacked any consistent characterization". All the books were bought by Marvel and were buried deep inside a basement in their main building. The books were thought to be forgotten until Editor in Chief Joe Quesada found them while scavenging for scrumptious mice to eat in 2007, and are being used as a source of ideas for the mainline comics until today.
|
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2017 16:59
|
|
|
D&D has no yellow dragons because the color yellow does not exist in any D&D setting. Early editions advised DMs to dock players experience for every time they referred to the color in play; later editions were more lenient, and instead advised that any PC that talked about things being yellow be treated as insane by any NPC they encountered. The unexpected lethality of housecats in most editions of D&D is a reference to Gary Gygax's beloved pet cat, that killed more than a dozen people in the mid-70s.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2017 05:45
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2017 03:04
|
|
|
Mike Mearls is actually a golem crafted entirely of monkey's paws. Every time someone wishes something, anything, for D&D, he gets slightly smaller as one of the fingers curls inward.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2017 03:50
|
|
|
There was actually a plan for a Vampire: the Masquerade OVA in the 90s, but it was never actually finished. All that remains are a bunch of storyboards and one completed sequence.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2017 03:59
|
|
|
Contrary to popular belief, Shadowrun was never supposed to feature magic and technology together in the first place. Bob Charette was originally writing a William Gibson fanfic which accidentally got mixed with Jordan Weisman's notes for a weekly D&D game, and the two ended up submitting it as a lark when they couldn't come up with a better idea for the heist game they were supposed to be making.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2017 07:13
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 18:42 |
|
|
In Black Watch, they were friendlies all along.
|
|
#
?
Oct 29, 2017 04:17
|
|
