So I haven't played in about 15 years.... I bought all the 5e books.... I have a 15 yr old daughter, 13 and 11 yr old sons... And you are giving me the damn itch to introduce these lvl 1 rookies to the chaotic world of D&D.... Good show!
I have fond childhood memories of D&D gaming with my parents, and mixed ones. It may easily turn into family therapy thru goblin raids. This is an anxious encouragement, ig.
Thanks dude... I always thought FR was too daunting to deal with because of the sheer amount of established canon. These are nice digestible chunks of information. 💯 👌
My solution to such an overabundance of information dannalbob is to just concentrate on the in-depth information of a given locale well enough to run an unfamiliar group in that area alone, and begin reading up on surrounding areas as the party begins to strike out into those. In other words, you can really run great FR adventures without really having the whole worldview down yet, just as long as you have the rich flavor of the locales you’re likely to use well in hand. You can always research additional Canon as you proceed.
@@kingtoruk I'm making exacly this. First I'm concentrating in Battledale and Shadowdale because of 2 4E adventure I pretend to combine -- Season 14 - Search for the Diamond Staff firts and Season 9 - Web of the Spider Queen, second -- after that I'll expand to the hole dale. Them Sembia, Cormyr and Moonsea.
Here's the thing about the Ruler's Blade, it is a part of a set, the Warblade, and Artblade are also included. They will not let anyone who isn't a good aligned elf with the desire to make the Elves prosper wield them. If you aren't worthy of wielding the Ruler's Blade, you are incinerated. The Warblade animates and tries to cut you to pieces. And the Artblade just magically obliterates you. (Also really cool weapons made in Myth Drannor are the Baneblades of Demron.)
Oh dude, Elminster: Making of a mage, Elminster in Myth Drannor, Elminster: Temptation of a mage, Elminster In Hell, Elminster Must Die. As for Khelben Blackstaff Arunsun, I don't have any recommendations
Btw, I'm pretty sure "Dale Reckoning" is used b/c Ed Greenwood's home campaign generally centers around Shadowdale (and Cormyr and sometimes Waterdeep) so it was natural that DR was the one most referenced in his game and notes.
Seconded! (I don't know if these have been done already; I just now found this channel). Undermountain was my first big campaign setting that I started back in the 90s, and a couple years ago returned to to update to 3rd ed. Biggest city + biggest dungeon = endless adventure possibilities, especially with so many teleport gates available.
@@Nathreim1 The way he pronounces it sounds waaaaaay smoother than having to make a cut between dran and or imo. That sounds like it was written "Myth Dran Or" other than just "Dranor". It is as if you were splitting the word "manor" into man and or.
Its worth noting that a group of radical mages, particularly one of the noble houses tried to add humans and dwarves to the list of creatures the mythal would kill. Elminster would thwart this and it was then that Elminster would first meet Symrustar. She would later become a fellow Chosen of Mystra. One of the more interesting characters in Forgotten Realms that never really get fleshed out as much as she deserves. Her store is really tragic.
Can i Just say, that these videos are giving me LIFE!! I freaking love the lore and honestly just have been a little too lazy to dig into the books and aggregate it like this, so thank you very very much!! You have a new subscriber and fan :D
These are pretty cool. Forgotten realms is super complicated, it's nice to have something simple and accessible to understand the backstory. I DM in the Forgotten Realms universe, but honestly, I don't have much interest in reading the novels and whatnot, I just use it because it's established and Mines of Phandelver are based on it. I'm doing some political based storylines around Neverwinter and the surrounding area. Do a Neverwinter one if you haven't already. (If you already have I'll just search that out and watch it) Good stuff!
Ooh thanks this one was handy. My group is playing in Cormyr with involvements in the surrounding regions. Funny enough I had independently developed a plot around a dimensional prison. This fits perfectly.
I know this was years ago and you've probably gotten to them by now, but I can recommend the first two Elminster novels, ...Making of a Mage and ...In Myth Drannor. Ed Greenwood's narrative isn't as easy to read as Elaine Cunningham's, but the content is good and you get a good understanding of where he came from, his relationship with Mystra, and also what Myth Drannor was like back in the day.
Damn! I'm so glad I found this channel, I started researching but it's all so confusing and all over the place, you do such an amazing job explaining the lore, Jorphdan😊
I ran Pool of Radiance: Attack on Myth Drannor. Great adventure. Ties into Cult of the dragon/sammaster and therefore the rage of dragons and everything. I'm currently trying to railroad my players into a fight with sarya dlardrageth. Gonna use the stats in Lords of darkness. A part 2 would be much appreciated
I love your videos because I've read these books all before, but don't want to read them again. So it's nice remembering all of these events through your videos
Cool video! Just wanted to point out that the Mythal spell also blocks portals/gates as well as Pools of Radiance (evil pools of magic that corrupt everything around them and turn living things into undead etc). In the 3E pregen adventure Assault on Myth Drannor, a cult named Cult of the Dragon (how original lol) teamed up w/ a red dragon named Pelendralaar and persuaded him to become a dracolich (read: dragon lich). They proceeded to awaken the Pool of Radiance beneath Castle Cormanthor and systematically begun taking over chunks of Faerun by causign the Pool to spawn offshoots in other places. As an aside, the videogame Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (which is based on the 2E adventure that you mentioned in your video) is set during that conflict and focuses on a team of adventurers who ultimately battle the Cult to save all of Faerun.
I've read almost all of the Elminster books, and most of them are a good rea. Elminster in Hell, Making of a Mage, and Elminster Enraged, and The Herald all hit on the more important plot points. Elminster's Daughter and Myth Drannor where a bit harder to read, but i would still recommend all the books.
I'm usually the blabbermouth in the comments but I don't really know what to say other than, good stuff, keep it up and I'm enjoying them very much. I haven't played D&D since the 80's but I just started DMing for my circle of friends who expressed an interest in playing. I didn't know there was so much lore.
Yeah the Lore doesn't seem to end. It's been fun wrapping my head around it to make these videos. I'm glad your playing D&D again, thanks for watching!
Great new addition to your FR lore. I really enjoy your banter as you go over the information, keeps it light and fun.You should try to get into the country of Thay in the future. Lots of intrigue, anti-hero characters, and Necromancy! Keep up the good work
I have all of your Forgotten Realms lore videos on 1 playlist, & I've probably finished the list at least 6 times. As a 22-year-veteran of D & D (not to mention an inveterate lore junkie), I positively love these videos. If you were to do a video on the history of each & every region in Faerûn, I would eat it up.
Awesome! The day it hits the worldwide web via YouTubousBoobous, it's going on my permanent playlist, & I'm watching the crap out of it/them. Thanks for replying (and promptly, to boot), it's super considerate.
I've been running Lost Tales of Myth Drannor, this helps so much. Explains why the modules feel so classic / Tolkien. Basically has a mix of Arthur and LoTR but if the good guys lost.
As far as Elminster novels go, I would recommend Elminster in Hell (basically a framing device around "clips" from previous novels & short stories ... still not GOOD, but it'll give you a taste of what you've missed up to that point). Elminster's Daughter is the only Elminster novel I really liked, but he's not in it much. My favorite Elminster novel is the Return of the Archwizards trilogy - he's only in it a little, but I love how Denning portrays him there.
Ha. My "A History of Elminster" script: "El was a kid who hated wizards. Then he became the most powerful wizard ever. IRONY. Then he became Mystra's lover but didn't seem to mind much when she died (the first or second time). Then he became an ash ghost or some damn thing? Also he was a woman for a while, and had sex with a lot of elves, so that's kind of cool." My "History of Drizzt": "Oh, ffs, who cares. I guess he was a dark elf whose dad was awesome, but instead we focus on this creepy creeper who fights well."
Elminster In Hell is a poor recommendation until you've read more of the Realms, notably the Cormyr trilogy and various books in The Harpers series if memory serves. It's a good read but you'll be lost if you go in too early. That said, I'd highly recommend the first Elminster trilogy: Elminster: The Making of a Mage Elminster in Myth Drannor (very relevant to this video) The Temptation of Elminster Greenwood can be tough to read for some (myself included) but these were genuinely enjoyable, especially if you're after Elminster lore.
Elminster is a MUST read! He's basically the Gandalf of FR. He plays a major role in the Times of Troubles, and lots of other major events. Blackstaff is scattered through several different Harper books, but has his own single one that's ok.
This story with the red dragon prophecy instantly made me remember Jordan Keyes' (no "ph") jingle about Stuart Little: "The book says he was born to human parents, Their second baby just two inches tall, With all the features and characteristics of a mouse, But it never says that he's a mouse at all"
Man. I really enjoyed this video. I've just discovered the channel, subscribed, and I already know that I'll spend a lot of time over here. Greetings from Brazil.
Are you perhaps going to make a second video on the rest of the history of Myth Drannor, all the way up until Thultanthar (the Shade) crashed into it? As always great work man, love your content!
Sweet!! The history of Cormanthyr and Myth Drannor is probably my favorite part about the FR. Full of awesome stories!! Again, love and appreciate your work broman 🙏👎
My experience with the Elminster novels is ..meh. Ed Greenwood is a better storyteller than a writer. Admittedly, I only read Making of a Mage, so they may improve. Making of the Mage does detail his history though. If you want a detailed look at his rise from kid to supermage that is a good source, I suppose. It is a bit dry. On a less useful lore level, you might enjoy reading the DC comics Dungeons and Dragons comics runs. They did a D&D comic and a Forgotten Realms comic and they do run through the time of troubles. They were republished by IDW in collections.
+Jeremiah McCoy thanks I've read a few of those comics and really enjoyed them. Also that's what I'm scared of reading Ed Greenwood's novels. But perhaps I'll give it a try.
I actually enjoyed reading making of a mage very much. There is this szene where they are trying to steal a giant diamond statue that was gifted to the bride on her wedding day. They try so on the wedding night while the couple is trying to "consume their marriage". I found it to be one of the most hillarious scenes I ever imagined in my head while reading a book.
youve come a long way since this video!! you said you were shooting for 1000 subs at the time of this vid, but right now on 07/03/2019 you have 51k + ! good channel, glad its grown so much
I really enjoy all of Ed Greenwoods novels. The whole Elminster series is very good IMHO. The Shadow of the Avatar series takes place during the Time of Troubles and is an excellent story.
you should do a video about "cool big bads and how they could be run" or something like that, id love to know what dnd baddies you think are the coolest
It's not a huge deal but its El-minster not Elemen(t)ster. And start with Elminster: The Making of a Mage. Its fantastic. Elminster's series is great especially at the beginning.
Hey Jorphdan (I read it as Jordan - but maybe I'm just weird - Can you explain that in your next video?) I've been on a jag of your videos over the last few days. Myth Drannor was a setting I recall from my AD&D days & I saved it up... I didn't even watch it until I hit it in the playlist. I feel proud of myself for that effort but my recollection of someone else's imagination pales in comparison to your effort. Which again is a pale comparison to the shoulders of giants our imaginations rest on. Thank you.
I don't know if this was brought up in another comment before here, but I'd like to share it anyway: Myth Drannor was used as the main location for the 3rd game of the Eye of the beholder series. It's in the name (obvious statement), but that's irrelevant; it does seem to have some relevance to the FR lore somewhere. Anyway, I'm trying to find a place in my campaign where my player party is tasked with escorting a band of drow who follow Eilestraee to a new home after my campaign's BBEG is slain; the best place in my mind is Myth Drannor. Being the ruins of an elven city, it seems appropriate considering drow ARE technically elves; the only problem I see is lacking caves for temples/shrines to the good drow goddess. What do you think?
My bestie shared this with me last night. A couple years ago I finally decided to play an elf (after nearly a decade of playing D&D), and I wanted to know what D&D (2e) meant by "elf." So I embarked on a crazy mission to find every bit of information about elves I could, interpreting lore and speculating about their philosophy. I eventually found Cormanthyr Empire of the Elves. Other than bits of supplement books pertaining to elven gods, that book is really the only Forgotten Realms thing I've read. I love the idea of mythals. Do you know if elven High Magic survived beyond 2e?
I remembered Elminster was one of the wizards who helped erect the Mythal of Myth Dranor. Also you did not speak of the final destruction of Myth Dranor when the city of Shade fell on top of it
Really like these videos, most lore videos I find about forgotten realms are too "rp" for me, I like this more casual approach to telling the stories of the forgotten realms, keep up the good work! Would also love if you could make more videos about the countries and cities of Faerun :) Struggling with finding good info about Amn and the city Athkatla for a campaign I'm making.
I found some fun adventures in Myth Drannor. My party is currently doing a Wildemount campaign. But I'm thinking of doing a mix of Myth Drannor and Lost City Of Mezro and have it all situated in the Savalirwood (instead of Cormanthyr) and use Molaesmyr as the base. So I would keep the name Savalirwood and Molaesmyr (how the Elves call it) and Myth Drannor (how other races call the city) and since it is now in ruins and is tainting the forest, much of Mezro could be used as well. Would that work?
I seem to remember something about an attempt to rebuild Myth Drannor, and then someone crashed a city into it, or something? They had really bad luck.
Are your videos for Blackstaff and Elminster coming out? The more research I do, the more I find out about these guys. They are super important in Forgotten Realms
I'm a bit hesitant on videos about characters from the novels, as I haven't read most of them and these are beloved characters. Still perhaps I'll do a brief history once I get more novels under my belt.
If you are going to dig into Elmister, just go ahead and read all of his books. There are....4? I think that set out the course of his early life. Elminster: The making of a mage. Elminster in Myth Dranor. The Temptation of Elminster. And Elminster in Hell.
So here is the Good Reads list for the Elminster Series (you probably know this already). www.goodreads.com/series/40773-forgotten-realms-elminster As far as the legend of Elminster himself I would recommend reading the first 4 as they are the most pertinent to the history of Faerun (and are the best in my opinion). Elminster: The Making of a Mage, Elminster in Myth Drannor, The Temptation of Elminster, and Elminster in Hell. These books all take place before the Spellplague that pretty much destroyed Elminster's mind. The later books have some good information but not a lot as Elminster is more of a background character in them. I don't know what it is about the time after the Spellplague but I just don't really enjoy Forgotten Realms books anymore. Maybe I got old.
Got to say, listening to these makes you realize how well developed the faerun mod for ck2 is. Cause for a while I thought they forgot the years due to slow mentality due to the year names going and it going to DR as I played that area. But now it makes sense.
Elminster was a major player in the creation of Myth Drannor as well as present and helped in the creation of the mythal that protected it. As detailed in the book Elminster in Myth Drannor.
Idk if you still read these comments, but I'd recommend putting updating the title of this video to include something about the calendar information you include. Had no idea where Dalereckoning originated and didn't expect to find it in this video, lol. Great video, regardless! Love your FR lore series.
Approach the Elminster books as if they were being told by a player at your table. It puts a lot of what is happening into a better context. These books aren't Tolkien, but they're fun nonetheless.
Heck, Elminster even showed up in the deathgate cycle. Which is just in a different crystalsphere. I know there are some short stories of elminster, or with him and kelbin blackstaff and takling about mordenkanen or whatever
I'm playing Hoard of the Dragon Queen and we found dragon eggs. My Paladin of Bahamut doesn't like the idea of imprisoning and eventually killing them because 'born evil' isn't something my character believes in and turning them would be awesome, especially if he did the act in Bahamit's name.
Elminster played an integral part to laying the Mythal, invented by Mythlandar, an elf wizard in Myth Drannor after whom the new city was half named. The Drannor half coming from the name of a dwarf that an elf noble married.
honestly, i think there's enough hate out there; i like how your confusion and curiosity never turns to frustration or bitterness... i personally wouldn't enjoy another youtube channel dedicated to "fixing" an aspect of dnd... :\
Hey @jorphdan ... I found this when looking for info about digestable info on Myth Drannor. It was a good start, but I feel that the video cuts off just as its supposed to begin after 6 minutes, namely what Myth Drannor is today and what to expect from that region if visiting the place within the latest 100-200 years or so.
@@Jorphdan Great. I was going to do a quick summary of the region in an explanation to the plot in Eye of the Beholder III. It confuses the heck out of me what its supposed to be. It seems like its at the same time "a ruin overran by monsters" and a place in which you may frequently meet friendly faces. Someone said that people still have interest in resettling the place, and protect it from looters, due to its cultural and historical significance. I eventually understood why the dawnspire was so significant.
Really fun hearing him talk about being stoked for 700 subscribers when now he has 100 times that! A whole stadium's worth of people, pretty epic :)
i just got here at 130k
@@AnnoyedGuy-mo8he same
So I haven't played in about 15 years....
I bought all the 5e books....
I have a 15 yr old daughter, 13 and 11 yr old sons...
And you are giving me the damn itch to introduce these lvl 1 rookies to the chaotic world of D&D....
Good show!
I have fond childhood memories of D&D gaming with my parents, and mixed ones. It may easily turn into family therapy thru goblin raids. This is an anxious encouragement, ig.
@@MegaKhelditia This is how we keep it alive.. through generations.
Thanks dude... I always thought FR was too daunting to deal with because of the sheer amount of established canon. These are nice digestible chunks of information. 💯 👌
My solution to such an overabundance of information dannalbob is to just concentrate on the in-depth information of a given locale well enough to run an unfamiliar group in that area alone, and begin reading up on surrounding areas as the party begins to strike out into those. In other words, you can really run great FR adventures without really having the whole worldview down yet, just as long as you have the rich flavor of the locales you’re likely to use well in hand.
You can always research additional Canon as you proceed.
@@kingtoruk I'm making exacly this. First I'm concentrating in Battledale and Shadowdale because of 2 4E adventure I pretend to combine -- Season 14 - Search for the Diamond Staff firts and Season 9 - Web of the Spider Queen, second -- after that I'll expand to the hole dale. Them Sembia, Cormyr and Moonsea.
Here's the thing about the Ruler's Blade, it is a part of a set, the Warblade, and Artblade are also included. They will not let anyone who isn't a good aligned elf with the desire to make the Elves prosper wield them. If you aren't worthy of wielding the Ruler's Blade, you are incinerated. The Warblade animates and tries to cut you to pieces. And the Artblade just magically obliterates you.
(Also really cool weapons made in Myth Drannor are the Baneblades of Demron.)
Oh dude, Elminster: Making of a mage, Elminster in Myth Drannor, Elminster: Temptation of a mage, Elminster In Hell, Elminster Must Die. As for Khelben Blackstaff Arunsun, I don't have any recommendations
the elminster books have a good plot but greenwood's writing style is mind numbing and repetitive
Blackstaff by Steven E. Schend
"Sorry, I'll shut up now"
-proceeds to talk for another 8 minutes
I'm just joking. 😂
Love your videos man, learning a lot! 👍
Elminster plays a big role in Myth Dranor. Great books! I read all of RA Salvatore books and finally finished Elminster's books!
Btw, I'm pretty sure "Dale Reckoning" is used b/c Ed Greenwood's home campaign generally centers around Shadowdale (and Cormyr and sometimes Waterdeep) so it was natural that DR was the one most referenced in his game and notes.
Elimenster making of a mage is one of the best novel for forgotten realms.
Your channel and the quality of your content evolved so much since your first video. Congratulations!
Thanks man! I hope to keep improving it's been a fun journey!
Me totally rewatching this for the 1,000 time loving the myth joke at the beginning
While you're doing cities, I'd love a video on Waterdeep and Undermountain. That's where I'm running my campaign right now.
+Jordan Backman I'll add it to the list!
Seconded!
(I don't know if these have been done already; I just now found this channel).
Undermountain was my first big campaign setting that I started back in the 90s, and a couple years ago returned to to update to 3rd ed.
Biggest city + biggest dungeon = endless adventure possibilities, especially with so many teleport gates available.
Always read it as (Myth-dran-ore)
Me too. Sounds better to me.
Cause it is. His pronunciations are crap.
Glad to know I'm not the only one who pronounced it like that.
@@Nathreim1 agh, come on! There's so man mispronunciations ! Give a bro a break. and I called it like Jason said. chill bro!
@@Nathreim1 The way he pronounces it sounds waaaaaay smoother than having to make a cut between dran and or imo. That sounds like it was written "Myth Dran Or" other than just "Dranor". It is as if you were splitting the word "manor" into man and or.
Its worth noting that a group of radical mages, particularly one of the noble houses tried to add humans and dwarves to the list of creatures the mythal would kill. Elminster would thwart this and it was then that Elminster would first meet Symrustar. She would later become a fellow Chosen of Mystra. One of the more interesting characters in Forgotten Realms that never really get fleshed out as much as she deserves. Her store is really tragic.
hey man good job with the videos, you've really cleared things up for me lore wise. thanks for the info man.
Agreed! He rocks
Can i Just say, that these videos are giving me LIFE!! I freaking love the lore and honestly just have been a little too lazy to dig into the books and aggregate it like this, so thank you very very much!! You have a new subscriber and fan :D
+Travis Volosyn welcome! Glad to have you with us :D
Less than a year later, and you're almost up to 15k subscribers - well-earned (including a +1 from me).
I am a FR junkie, and I love these.
The Channel anniversary is February 1st! Thanks for subscribing :D welcome!
I'm considering incorporating some Myth Drannor into my next campaign, so I'm back refreshing on the lore.
Thanks again for such awesome videos!
And now 70k!!
Myth Drannor has been mentioned several times in the Ed Greenwood book I'm currently reading so this was a must click for me. Thanks!
These are pretty cool. Forgotten realms is super complicated, it's nice to have something simple and accessible to understand the backstory. I DM in the Forgotten Realms universe, but honestly, I don't have much interest in reading the novels and whatnot, I just use it because it's established and Mines of Phandelver are based on it.
I'm doing some political based storylines around Neverwinter and the surrounding area. Do a Neverwinter one if you haven't already. (If you already have I'll just search that out and watch it)
Good stuff!
The annotated Elminster! You should read that for a huge insight on Myth Drannor and many other stories based around Mytra’s chosen, Elminster Aumar.
The production value for the subs you had at the time is impressive. Grats on 100k subs
Much appreciated!
Elminster making of a mage is awesome, Elminster in Hell is amazing, if fact any by Ed Greenwood is a must
It’s time for some forgotten realms movies. The Drizzt saga would be a great starting point.
Ooh thanks this one was handy. My group is playing in Cormyr with involvements in the surrounding regions. Funny enough I had independently developed a plot around a dimensional prison. This fits perfectly.
Awesome video! Enjoy your Thursday! 💯🙏🙌
I know this was years ago and you've probably gotten to them by now, but I can recommend the first two Elminster novels, ...Making of a Mage and ...In Myth Drannor. Ed Greenwood's narrative isn't as easy to read as Elaine Cunningham's, but the content is good and you get a good understanding of where he came from, his relationship with Mystra, and also what Myth Drannor was like back in the day.
Damn! I'm so glad I found this channel, I started researching but it's all so confusing and all over the place, you do such an amazing job explaining the lore, Jorphdan😊
I ran Pool of Radiance: Attack on Myth Drannor. Great adventure. Ties into Cult of the dragon/sammaster and therefore the rage of dragons and everything. I'm currently trying to railroad my players into a fight with sarya dlardrageth. Gonna use the stats in Lords of darkness.
A part 2 would be much appreciated
I love your videos because I've read these books all before, but don't want to read them again. So it's nice remembering all of these events through your videos
Cool video! Just wanted to point out that the Mythal spell also blocks portals/gates as well as Pools of Radiance (evil pools of magic that corrupt everything around them and turn living things into undead etc).
In the 3E pregen adventure Assault on Myth Drannor, a cult named Cult of the Dragon (how original lol) teamed up w/ a red dragon named Pelendralaar and persuaded him to become a dracolich (read: dragon lich). They proceeded to awaken the Pool of Radiance beneath Castle Cormanthor and systematically begun taking over chunks of Faerun by causign the Pool to spawn offshoots in other places. As an aside, the videogame Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor (which is based on the 2E adventure that you mentioned in your video) is set during that conflict and focuses on a team of adventurers who ultimately battle the Cult to save all of Faerun.
I hope you're still doing these. I love them. Working my way through the collection and it is upping my DnD game like mad.
Awesome! Stoked they are helping!
I've read almost all of the Elminster books, and most of them are a good rea. Elminster in Hell, Making of a Mage, and Elminster Enraged, and The Herald all hit on the more important plot points. Elminster's Daughter and Myth Drannor where a bit harder to read, but i would still recommend all the books.
I'm usually the blabbermouth in the comments but I don't really know what to say other than, good stuff, keep it up and I'm enjoying them very much. I haven't played D&D since the 80's but I just started DMing for my circle of friends who expressed an interest in playing. I didn't know there was so much lore.
Yeah the Lore doesn't seem to end. It's been fun wrapping my head around it to make these videos. I'm glad your playing D&D again, thanks for watching!
And it's been nice watching your videos. Thanks for taking the time to make them.
Great discussion about the calendars. It is interesting to see there are still different calendar options when setting the date on the iPhone.
"we're almost at 700 subscribers!" Little did he know....
Humble beginnings!
Great new addition to your FR lore. I really enjoy your banter as you go over the information, keeps it light and fun.You should try to get into the country of Thay in the future. Lots of intrigue, anti-hero characters, and Necromancy! Keep up the good work
+helljumper023 Thay is great and it's in the works 😀
I have all of your Forgotten Realms lore videos on 1 playlist, & I've probably finished the list at least 6 times. As a 22-year-veteran of D & D (not to mention an inveterate lore junkie), I positively love these videos. If you were to do a video on the history of each & every region in Faerûn, I would eat it up.
Thanks for watching, I'm happy you enjoy the content. A video on the regions of Faerun is on my list! Just a matter of time :)
Awesome! The day it hits the worldwide web via YouTubousBoobous, it's going on my permanent playlist, & I'm watching the crap out of it/them. Thanks for replying (and promptly, to boot), it's super considerate.
I've been running Lost Tales of Myth Drannor, this helps so much. Explains why the modules feel so classic / Tolkien. Basically has a mix of Arthur and LoTR but if the good guys lost.
As far as Elminster novels go, I would recommend Elminster in Hell (basically a framing device around "clips" from previous novels & short stories ... still not GOOD, but it'll give you a taste of what you've missed up to that point). Elminster's Daughter is the only Elminster novel I really liked, but he's not in it much. My favorite Elminster novel is the Return of the Archwizards trilogy - he's only in it a little, but I love how Denning portrays him there.
Ha. My "A History of Elminster" script: "El was a kid who hated wizards. Then he became the most powerful wizard ever. IRONY. Then he became Mystra's lover but didn't seem to mind much when she died (the first or second time). Then he became an ash ghost or some damn thing? Also he was a woman for a while, and had sex with a lot of elves, so that's kind of cool."
My "History of Drizzt": "Oh, ffs, who cares. I guess he was a dark elf whose dad was awesome, but instead we focus on this creepy creeper who fights well."
I've had a few recommendations for Elminster in Hell. Perhaps that's where I'll start.
Honestly almost every single "big" FR character just seems like a Gary Stu.
Hey kimosabe, start with Elminster: The Making of a Mage. Then Elminster in Hell.
Elminster In Hell is a poor recommendation until you've read more of the Realms, notably the Cormyr trilogy and various books in The Harpers series if memory serves.
It's a good read but you'll be lost if you go in too early.
That said, I'd highly recommend the first Elminster trilogy:
Elminster: The Making of a Mage
Elminster in Myth Drannor (very relevant to this video)
The Temptation of Elminster
Greenwood can be tough to read for some (myself included) but these were genuinely enjoyable, especially if you're after Elminster lore.
Well done the Jorphdan! You seem like a gentleman
who appreciates delicious Pho!
+Cdragon06 and how!
Elminster is a MUST read! He's basically the Gandalf of FR. He plays a major role in the Times of Troubles, and lots of other major events.
Blackstaff is scattered through several different Harper books, but has his own single one that's ok.
Congratulations on how much the channel has grown since this video.
Thanks! :D
This story with the red dragon prophecy instantly made me remember Jordan Keyes' (no "ph") jingle about Stuart Little:
"The book says he was born to human parents,
Their second baby just two inches tall,
With all the features and characteristics of a mouse,
But it never says that he's a mouse at all"
Man. I really enjoyed this video. I've just discovered the channel, subscribed, and I already know that I'll spend a lot of time over here. Greetings from Brazil.
Greetings! And Welcome to the channel :D
Are you perhaps going to make a second video on the rest of the history of Myth Drannor, all the way up until Thultanthar (the Shade) crashed into it? As always great work man, love your content!
+Eric Young I think I have to now :) great suggestion
Sweet!! The history of Cormanthyr and Myth Drannor is probably my favorite part about the FR. Full of awesome stories!! Again, love and appreciate your work broman 🙏👎
@@Jorphdan was this lore vlog made?
This video was made just over 2 years ago where you mention you passed 700 subscribers. Now- over 50,000! Well done dude!
Thanks :D
My experience with the Elminster novels is ..meh. Ed Greenwood is a better storyteller than a writer. Admittedly, I only read Making of a Mage, so they may improve. Making of the Mage does detail his history though. If you want a detailed look at his rise from kid to supermage that is a good source, I suppose. It is a bit dry.
On a less useful lore level, you might enjoy reading the DC comics Dungeons and Dragons comics runs. They did a D&D comic and a Forgotten Realms comic and they do run through the time of troubles. They were republished by IDW in collections.
+Jeremiah McCoy thanks I've read a few of those comics and really enjoyed them. Also that's what I'm scared of reading Ed Greenwood's novels. But perhaps I'll give it a try.
I actually enjoyed reading making of a mage very much. There is this szene where they are trying to steal a giant diamond statue that was gifted to the bride on her wedding day. They try so on the wedding night while the couple is trying to "consume their marriage". I found it to be one of the most hillarious scenes I ever imagined in my head while reading a book.
They dont really improve. They are so hard to read...
youve come a long way since this video!! you said you were shooting for 1000 subs at the time of this vid, but right now on 07/03/2019 you have 51k + ! good channel, glad its grown so much
Spellfire, then Azure Bonds. Good introduction to elminster and his shenanigans
A video on elminster and blackstaff? ☺
Yeah. Would be nice. Would be.
The video about Elminster would be 10 hours
When you were talking about those characters I was wondering if your going to do a Character Lore series?
+River Allan it's a possibility
Elminster making of a mage is a great story and a great into
Great videos!!! very easy to follow. thank you.
I really enjoy all of Ed Greenwoods novels. The whole Elminster series is very good IMHO. The Shadow of the Avatar series takes place during the Time of Troubles and is an excellent story.
you should do a video about "cool big bads and how they could be run" or something like that, id love to know what dnd baddies you think are the coolest
It's not a huge deal but its El-minster not Elemen(t)ster. And start with Elminster: The Making of a Mage. Its fantastic. Elminster's series is great especially at the beginning.
oh thanks, I'll work on my pronunciation in the future :)
You are doing a really great job of this.
+Ian Boyd thanks!
8:10 how does it work - do you get notificaitons for comments on older videos? Or do you just read them on the more modern ones?
best dude
loving your videos keep up the good work
Recommendations for Eliminster books... all of them! But the best books are before the spell plague. Eliminster in Hell is amazing!
Hey Jorphdan (I read it as Jordan - but maybe I'm just weird - Can you explain that in your next video?)
I've been on a jag of your videos over the last few days. Myth Drannor was a setting I recall from my AD&D days & I saved it up... I didn't even watch it until I hit it in the playlist.
I feel proud of myself for that effort but my recollection of someone else's imagination pales in comparison to your effort. Which again is a pale comparison to the shoulders of giants our imaginations rest on.
Thank you.
Mention in my next video that you're maybe just weird...? Well I'll see what I can do. ;)
Thanks for watching I'm glad you're enjoying the videos!
I really enjoyed “Elminster: The Making of a Mage”, but would I start here...? Maybe?
I don't know if this was brought up in another comment before here, but I'd like to share it anyway: Myth Drannor was used as the main location for the 3rd game of the Eye of the beholder series. It's in the name (obvious statement), but that's irrelevant; it does seem to have some relevance to the FR lore somewhere. Anyway, I'm trying to find a place in my campaign where my player party is tasked with escorting a band of drow who follow Eilestraee to a new home after my campaign's BBEG is slain; the best place in my mind is Myth Drannor. Being the ruins of an elven city, it seems appropriate considering drow ARE technically elves; the only problem I see is lacking caves for temples/shrines to the good drow goddess. What do you think?
My bestie shared this with me last night. A couple years ago I finally decided to play an elf (after nearly a decade of playing D&D), and I wanted to know what D&D (2e) meant by "elf." So I embarked on a crazy mission to find every bit of information about elves I could, interpreting lore and speculating about their philosophy. I eventually found Cormanthyr Empire of the Elves. Other than bits of supplement books pertaining to elven gods, that book is really the only Forgotten Realms thing I've read. I love the idea of mythals. Do you know if elven High Magic survived beyond 2e?
Only know Myth Dranor from the Pool of Radiance game - nice to know the lore!
You ever get around to reading the Elminster books? Just read em in order. They are great.
I have! I've read "The Making of Mage" and I hope to continue the series :)
@@Jorphdan Ed Greenwood dos a GREAT job weaving his tale. I could read about The Forgotten Realms from Greenwood and Salvatore ALL DAMN DAY!
I remembered Elminster was one of the wizards who helped erect the Mythal of Myth Dranor. Also you did not speak of the final destruction of Myth Dranor when the city of Shade fell on top of it
Really like these videos, most lore videos I find about forgotten realms are too "rp" for me, I like this more casual
approach to telling the stories of the forgotten realms, keep up the good work!
Would also love if you could make
more videos about the countries and cities of Faerun :) Struggling with finding good info
about Amn and the city Athkatla for a campaign I'm making.
+Arrelite thanks! As I run out of major events focusing on cities and Individuals is the next step. #soon
The Pool of Radiance would be a good follow up to this video.
I found some fun adventures in Myth Drannor. My party is currently doing a Wildemount campaign. But I'm thinking of doing a mix of Myth Drannor and Lost City Of Mezro and have it all situated in the Savalirwood (instead of Cormanthyr) and use Molaesmyr as the base.
So I would keep the name Savalirwood and Molaesmyr (how the Elves call it) and Myth Drannor (how other races call the city) and since it is now in ruins and is tainting the forest, much of Mezro could be used as well.
Would that work?
I seem to remember something about an attempt to rebuild Myth Drannor, and then someone crashed a city into it, or something? They had really bad luck.
Are your videos for Blackstaff and Elminster coming out? The more research I do, the more I find out about these guys. They are super important in Forgotten Realms
I'm a bit hesitant on videos about characters from the novels, as I haven't read most of them and these are beloved characters. Still perhaps I'll do a brief history once I get more novels under my belt.
If you are going to dig into Elmister, just go ahead and read all of his books. There are....4? I think that set out the course of his early life. Elminster: The making of a mage. Elminster in Myth Dranor. The Temptation of Elminster. And Elminster in Hell.
So here is the Good Reads list for the Elminster Series (you probably know this already).
www.goodreads.com/series/40773-forgotten-realms-elminster
As far as the legend of Elminster himself I would recommend reading the first 4 as they are the most pertinent to the history of Faerun (and are the best in my opinion). Elminster: The Making of a Mage, Elminster in Myth Drannor, The Temptation of Elminster, and Elminster in Hell.
These books all take place before the Spellplague that pretty much destroyed Elminster's mind. The later books have some good information but not a lot as Elminster is more of a background character in them. I don't know what it is about the time after the Spellplague but I just don't really enjoy Forgotten Realms books anymore. Maybe I got old.
+Roboman20000 thanks I'll give it a look! Great information!
Got to say, listening to these makes you realize how well developed the faerun mod for ck2 is. Cause for a while I thought they forgot the years due to slow mentality due to the year names going and it going to DR as I played that area. But now it makes sense.
Elminster was a major player in the creation of Myth Drannor as well as present and helped in the creation of the mythal that protected it. As detailed in the book Elminster in Myth Drannor.
Thanks for the extra info! I'm currently reading Elminster in Hell, but that book is also on my to read list.
Idk if you still read these comments, but I'd recommend putting updating the title of this video to include something about the calendar information you include. Had no idea where Dalereckoning originated and didn't expect to find it in this video, lol. Great video, regardless! Love your FR lore series.
I still read all the comments. :D This video has some more information on the calendars
th-cam.com/video/sJdHAlzpXDE/w-d-xo.html
@@Jorphdan I definitely missed that - sorry😅Thank you for the link!!
Approach the Elminster books as if they were being told by a player at your table. It puts a lot of what is happening into a better context. These books aren't Tolkien, but they're fun nonetheless.
Thanks! I've read Making of a Mage and I wasn't thrilled but I finished it. I'll take your advice as I move forward with Ed's novels :)
"almost a thousand..." HA, so good, thanks man!
The Sundering Books have a really good setting surrounding Myth Drannor
I feel like Karsus' Folley would be the calender year 0 of choice
Awesome Videos! Please keep up the good work!
+Alexandru Dragan thanks!
all the Elminster books are great and should be read!
Heck, Elminster even showed up in the deathgate cycle. Which is just in a different crystalsphere. I know there are some short stories of elminster, or with him and kelbin blackstaff and takling about mordenkanen or whatever
I'm playing Hoard of the Dragon Queen and we found dragon eggs. My Paladin of Bahamut doesn't like the idea of imprisoning and eventually killing them because 'born evil' isn't something my character believes in and turning them would be awesome, especially if he did the act in Bahamit's name.
Another great video, thank you!
Elminster played an integral part to laying the Mythal, invented by Mythlandar, an elf wizard in Myth Drannor after whom the new city was half named. The Drannor half coming from the name of a dwarf that an elf noble married.
Nice Channel. I like your knowledge and the pictures you use;D
Great videos mate! Read Elminsters books though, big player in the realms he needs his own video.
Slowly I'm getting through them :D
I started running games back on the early 80's with AD&D and I am pretty sure we used Dalerecking back then.
retro notice on the guts holding dragonslayer panel
Would love for you to do videos of the top 10 things you love about Faerun and the top 10 things you hate and how Dms could change them.
Not a bad idea!
Jorphdan your videos are great btw. I've been dming AD&D both first and second edition for 35 years now and I learn something new in every video.
honestly, i think there's enough hate out there; i like how your confusion and curiosity never turns to frustration or bitterness... i personally wouldn't enjoy another youtube channel dedicated to "fixing" an aspect of dnd... :\
Billy Tweedie Wait, there's channels dedicated to fixing it? What do they not like?
Hey @jorphdan ... I found this when looking for info about digestable info on Myth Drannor. It was a good start, but I feel that the video cuts off just as its supposed to begin after 6 minutes, namely what Myth Drannor is today and what to expect from that region if visiting the place within the latest 100-200 years or so.
One of my earlier videos, it probably needs an update for sure. I'll see what I can put together
@@Jorphdan Great. I was going to do a quick summary of the region in an explanation to the plot in Eye of the Beholder III. It confuses the heck out of me what its supposed to be. It seems like its at the same time "a ruin overran by monsters" and a place in which you may frequently meet friendly faces. Someone said that people still have interest in resettling the place, and protect it from looters, due to its cultural and historical significance. I eventually understood why the dawnspire was so significant.
I'm currently playing in a 2nd edition game and we're trying to reclaim Myth Drannor! We're having a blast!
awesome!
Elminster making of a mage.
Best to read it, just to see how ed greenwood thinks.
Great! That answered my question.
Jorphdan likes Berserk, D&D, and HP Lovecraft. Why does he not have a million subs?
i thought the floating city of shadows crashed into Myth Drannor in 1478DR. was hoping you'd cover that.
That stipulation for them to be freed lol
You should do a guide of everything in the swords coast