Timelines

[schreier]

I've been trying to put together a master timeline crossing the major timelines and have run into the challenge of 3.5 to 4.0 to 5.0 in Forgotten realms.

I've referenced several major efforts:
https://nitessine.wordpress.com/2017/01/12/dd-and-timelines/
https://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopic.php?t=22942
http://www.spelljammer.org/essays/history/pw_timeline.html

Then there is this calculator which does a good job:
http://www.omnimulti.com/other/chrono.html

The calculator has a different approach to the earth timeline, linking the worlds to a more renaissance time on earth. I am not a fan of that approach, since Dragon and other sources linked the realms to earth in the 90's.

I am trying to come up with a justification to keep the 90's linkage of 3.5 with the 4.0 and 5.0 time jumps. Would it make sense to have the time of troubles create a time pocket or jump? Have like 100 years pass on faerun "instantly" when compared to other times? Maybe Faerun as a whole falls out of line with other realms during the jumps?

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Forgotten_Realms#3rd_edition

using this -
2000 AD to 1372 DR (3.0) then probably go through 2007, but then 2008 was the launch of 4th edition. This would link to 1486 DR (4.0), so there is like 100 year time jump. You could also link to dragonlance for the time jump there (maybe only earth falls away for that span? Krynn has a pretty far time advance after the chronicles books, so this could work well.

Eberron obviously throws a monkey wrench into any effort if you want to link them, since they have always been at one time (998 I believe), so I just linked 998 YK to the year of publication (2004). Eberron has a rich history, but is surprisingly lacking in events between 512 and 800 YK

Thoughts? Does it make sense?

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by schreier
Would it make sense to have the time of troubles create a time pocket or jump? Have like 100 years pass on faerun "instantly" when compared to other times? Maybe Faerun as a whole falls out of line with other realms during the jumps?

Are you doing this for a campaign, or just to maintain the structure you prefer in your chronology?

[schreier]

Are you doing this for a campaign, or just to maintain the structure you prefer in your chronology?

Somewhat both - I have a cross-world campaign, and through the 3.5 years it seemed consistent but the massive jumps in 4.0 for calendar with the second sundering threw it for a loop. I haven't dealt with it yet in game, but would like to so I am trying to see if others have come up with solutions or have ideas

[RNightstalker]

I remember watching an interview with R. A. Salvatore when they were talking about The Sundering and 4th edition. They purposely advanced the "current" game timeline 100+ years or so. I don't believe time progression in the setting was supposed to match real life.

[schreier]

That makes sense - I was just trying to explain the time jumps - here is what I wrote up briefly:

Massive time jumps in the Faerûn and Krynn can be accounted for by important events in history. The Spellplague (1385 DR) pulled Toril into a time bubble, and the next 97 years passed before it returned from the bubble with the Second Sundering in 1482. On Krynn, the Second Cataclysm caused a similar time bubble in 384 AC, returning to the time stream in 421 AC with the War of Souls.

Those two jumps basically bring "current" timelines into alignment with our timeline (assuming the prior linkages):

The timelines of Krynn (Dragonlance) and Faerûn (Forgotten Realms) can be linked by the Spelljammer series. Beyond the Moons states that it occurs five years after the War of the Lance, and Into the Void occurred in 1361 DR as stated in Dragon #196. The first Wizards Three article in Dragon #185 occurs after The Parched Sea (1360 DR) and before Vecna Lives (581 CY). That same article was presented as occurring in Ed Greenwood’s living room, which links it to 1992 AD on Earth. Vampire of the Mists links Ravenloft to Faerûn through the Vampire of the Mists book, when Jander Sunstar is pulled into Ravenloft (1098 DR to 452 BC).

[Thealtruistorc]

An ambitious project, certainly. There are a few more resources I would advise you check out.

The first is the Grand History of the Realms, a compilation book of all the released FR timelines which WotC dropped in 2007. It has everything from before 4th edition, ending with the Spellplague.

Dragon Magazine 362 continues this timeline for another century, detailing the events between 3.5 and 4e.

Beyond that, I can't help much. Sorry

[schreier]

Definitely appreciate the advice - those sources are incredibly useful no doubt, although they are single timeline so do not provide links between worlds. It is interesting reading all of the efforts people have put in trying to match dates between the different game universes (an impossible undertaking if you are trying to get it perfect, because they have not been linked, and "years" are not necessarily the same length for different worlds.