Sometimes, in the Realms, it's just a little easier to tell the bad guys from the good guys than it is in "Real Life." It gives you more satisfying targets to hurl your characters at.

With that said, the new Realms allows us to have villains who win, villains who aren't comically incompetent (well, not all of them, anyway), villains who have soft and kind and gentle sides -- and must still be spitted on your blade and hurled off battlements before their deadly plans get one step closer to dooming the Realms.

It lets us have small villains, too: the greedy and mean, not just the megalomaniacal. Small challenges for the smaller heroes.

Yes, smaller heroes, the way we all (should) start out. Low-level or mighty, however, the new edition of D&D allows us to have more interesting, rounded, varied-in-powers characters. Players can no longer assume this wizard can’t fight with a blade, and that priest can't use an edged weapon, and so on.

Roleplaying has to get better, because no player dares assume anything, anymore. Heroes and villains both have to think, and plan, and go for some long-range goals as well as "right-now" ones. Again, better for roleplaying. I always had more fun unraveling mysteries and dark plots than I did belting across the room with sword out, straight into the cloud of ravening dragon breath...

Shudder. Not a good memory, that.

Watching the fierce, grim satisfaction on the faces of my players as the Knights of Myth Drannor unmasked a Zhent spy after five years (of real time) of watching and prying and winnowing out suspects and playing little tricks in hopes the agent would reveal him- (or as it turned out, her-) self...now that IS a good memory.

As their fists came down on the table, and the tea, beer, and pop sloshed and jumped, I knew they'd never forget that moment either.

And they never have.

Bring on the new Realms!

(Realmswatch Home Page)