[4e] Help me understand Spell Plague

**Burley** · 2009-06-12, 10:30 AM (ISO 8601)

So, one of my players is making a new character to replace one that I royally murdered. He asked if he could use the Spell Scarred Multi-Class, and I gladly agreed. It's flavorful, and not really breakable, far as I know. (Though, he is a bard, so, he can break multi-classing other ways. I dunno...)

Anyways, his reason for joining the party, which exists currently in the Thunderspire Labrynth module, is that he seeks the aid of the Mages of Saruun to help him understand the plague. I have read the bits about it in the FRPG, but I'm still a bit lacking.

Could somebody explain it to me, well enough that I could RP an interaction with him to explain the illness that has disfigured a good portion of his body? Thanks in advance.

**Archpaladin Zousha** · 2009-06-12, 10:40 AM (ISO 8601)

As far as I know, the Spellplague was a magical catastrophe triggered by Cyric's murder of Mystra in the Forgotten Realms setting. It was an in-character means of explaining why magic had switched from the Vancian system of 3.5 to the power system of 4e. The Spellplague wasn't so much one single event though, as it triggered a lot of freaky stuff going on. In one location, it manifested as a blue fire that scoured the land. The magic-rich nation of Halruua was devastated by a similar disaster, its people now airship-dwelling nomads. Those Netherese who'd fled to the Plane of Shadow returned and their flying cities now dominate the Anauroch desert, which is starting to come back to life again. Many people or creatures were changed by the Spellplague, mutating into bizzare creatures and going completely bat-guano. Many mages either died or went insane as well. The cities of Neverwinter and Luskan, both of them containing a great deal of magic, were destroyed in a fiery conflagration as the underlying magics in both cities suddenly stopped and exploded.

In short, the Spellplague was a chain of devastating crises that still affects Faerun more than a century later. People with spellscars are one of the less dangerous manifestations of its power, but most people fear and loathe the spellscarred, believing them to be just as insane as many magic users were during the Spellplague itself, or that the raw power inside the character that the spellscar represents will go nova, so to speak, unleashing dangerous power beyond the character's ability to control. Elminster himself gained a spellscar, and because of it he has decided to never use magic ever again, worrying that the spellscar will flare up and he'll go insane.

At least that's my best understanding of the matter.

**Burley** · 2009-06-12, 11:12 AM (ISO 8601)

Wow... That's pretty good. I should be able to work with that.
Also, he hasn't picked a side effect, really. He's not playing this week, so he has time, but I'd like to extend his option passed the three given. Any ideas for balanced side effects?

**hamishspence** · 2009-06-12, 12:14 PM (ISO 8601)

the return of the Netherese happened some time before the Spellplague, in the Return of the Archwizards trilogy.

**Archpaladin Zousha** · 2009-06-12, 12:46 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by hamishspence

the return of the Netherese happened some time before the Spellplague, in the Return of the Archwizards trilogy.

Whoops! So did they use the Shadow Weave then, which would protect them from the effects of the Spellplague (which was essentially a tangible manifestation of the Weave collapsing)?

**hamishspence** · 2009-06-12, 12:49 PM (ISO 8601)

According to the Campaign Setting, both Weaves collapsed.

It didn't seem to have inconvenienced the Shadovar that much.

**Archpaladin Zousha** · 2009-06-12, 12:52 PM (ISO 8601)

I see. I'm still miffed that the Spellplague sent Neverwinter, my all-time favorite city in all of Faerun, the way of Hiroshima.

**Renegade Paladin** · 2009-06-12, 12:56 PM (ISO 8601)

I'm a tad more than miffed about the whole mess to begin with, so my Faerun campaigns will advance along a diverging timeline from here on out.

**hamishspence** · 2009-06-12, 12:56 PM (ISO 8601)

its still on the map north of waterdeep- where does it say Neverwinter was destroyed?

**RTGoodman** · 2009-06-12, 12:58 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Archpaladin Zousha

I see. I'm still miffed that the Spellplague sent Neverwinter, my all-time favorite city in all of Faerun, the way of Hiroshima.

Well, it pretty much screwed with MOST of the major cities, though, didn't it? I don't play FR, but I think I remember reading in the Grand History of the Realms that Waterdeep, another MAJOR city, was basically devastated by an actual plague that killed most of the population.

**hamishspence** · 2009-06-12, 01:06 PM (ISO 8601)

Waterdeep has been through devastation numerous times- was it an online Grand History article? the book is very sparse on the Spellplague events.- doesn't mention waterdeep in the spellplague.

Maybe it was an earlier plague.

I've read the online Countdown To The Realms article and all it mentioned on Waterdeep was the statues coming to life and causing trouble.

**LCR** · 2009-06-12, 01:08 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Archpaladin Zousha

I see. I'm still miffed that the Spellplague sent Neverwinter, my all-time favorite city in all of Faerun, the way of Hiroshima.

Seriously, what a stupid idea. It's (thanks to Neverwinter Nights, I guess) one of the well known cities in the Realms and in the Campaign guide it's hardly mentioned at all.

**RTGoodman** · 2009-06-12, 01:10 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by hamishspence

Waterdeep has been through devastation numerous times- was it an online Grand History article? the book is very sparse on the Spellplague events.- doesn't mention waterdeep in the spellplague.

Maybe it was an earlier plague.

It wasn't part of the Spellplague, I don't think, but rather just a natural "everyone gets sick and dies" sort of plague. I'm pretty sure it was in the actual Grand History of the Realms book WotC put out, but it was a while ago when I saw it and it was just while I was flipping through the book in B&N.* It might have been either before or after the Spellplague.

*And that was mostly to find out if the rumors of Helm's death were true or not.

**hamishspence** · 2009-06-12, 01:19 PM (ISO 8601)

I found one in 1150 Year of The Scourge: Which is over 200 years before the "present day" in 3.5.

Its referenced in Waterdeep: City of Splendors

**shadzar** · 2009-06-12, 07:52 PM (ISO 8601)

Mystra is killed. All hell breaks lose as magic goes wild and warps the fabric of reality bringing back even parts of the lost planet Abeir which merges and replaces some parts of Toril.

As this wave of corrupted magic passes through the land peoples are wracked with traumas that even show outwardly on their bodies.

Kind of like passing the Grey Gem over Krynn....people got funked up!

So that is about it. Magic Gone Wild. (new co-ed edition coming this spring

)

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