The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is a role-playing game sourcebook first published in 1987, detailing the Forgotten Realms setting, containing information on characters, locations, and history as well as setting-specific rules for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The latest edition was published in 2008 by Wizards of the Coast for use with the 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons rules.
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The "DM's Sourcebook of the Realms" describes how to set up and run a campaign in the Forgotten Realms, and includes information on wilderness terrain and movement, important personalities, rumors, significant and magical books, and two miniscenarios.[1] This book, narrated by Elminster the sage, introduces the campaign setting, explains how to use it, and offers some adventure resources.[2] Large areas were specifically set aside to be developed for house campaigns, and no published materials were intended to be printed to exploit those areas, while one area detailed in this package was intended to have no subsequent publications use that area.[2] This package covers only the western half of a single continent, while the eastern half was reserved for future publication of Kara-Tur.[2] The book provides two complete dungeon-style adventures: "Halls of the Beast-Tamers", a dungeon with lots of unconventional problem-solving exercises, and "Lashan's Fall", a dungeon with a mystery and an unconventional role-playing opportunity to parley with a monster.[2] The "Books of the Forgotten Realms" section is a treatment of several magical tomes that suggests a variety of adventures, and described the appearance, history, and contents of each book.[2]
The "Cyclopedia of the Realms" provides background information and details maps of the locations on the accompanying maps of the Forgotten Realms.[1] This book begins with a treatment of time, names, language, and currency in the Realms, and its gods and religion.[2] The remaining 75 pages of the book is an encyclopedic, alphabetic listing of important places, races, nations, cultures, character classes, and organizations of the Realms.[2]
Also included in the set are four full-color, 34" x 22" maps, two of which are combined to form a large-scale (1" = 90 miles) map of the western half of the vast Realms continent, while the other two combined provide a more detailed (1" = 30 miles) map of the regions featured in this campaign pack.[2]
The Forgotten Realms Campaign Set was written by Ed Greenwood with Jeff Grubb and Karen Martin, with art by Keith Parkinson, Jeff Easley, Clyde Caldwell, and Tim Conrad.[1] Greenwood and Grubb did the design, while Grubb was responsible for the development, and Karen Martin did the editing.[2] It was published in 1987, as a boxed set which included two 96-page books (the "DM's Sourcebook of the Realms" and the "Cyclopedia of the Realms"), four large color maps, and two clear plastic hex-gridded overlays.[1]
Ken Rolston reviewed the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set for Dragon magazine #129 (January 1988).[2] Rolston felt that the Forgotten Realms setting achieves the dual design objectives for the official AD&D game campaign setting (namely, compatibility with existing AD&D game campaigns, and colorful characters, themes, and cultures) in that the setting is vast, and the Realms campaign "avoids epic themes and theological frames", "leaving room for the complex and contradictory jumble of pantheons and cultures encouraged by the AD&D game's developmental history", and that the Realms setting is a game setting as opposed to a narrative setting like Krynn and Middle-earth, "firmly rooted in the traditions of a decade of AD&D game campaigns and adventures, both published and "house"".[2] Rolston disliked the way the "DM's Sourcebook of the Realms" handled random enounters and the notes on dragons of the setting, and felt that the descriptions of NPCs are "not particularly useful or appealing", but felt that Elminster was an exception as "an effective informant and presentation mouthpiece".[2] He felt that the recent-news-and-rumors section was "excellent, offering perfect examples of AD&D game-scale fantasy scenario ideas in a charming and flavorful style".[2] He called the two dungeon adventures "first-class", describing "Halls of the Beast-Tamers" a "classic AD&D game dungeon with lots of weirdness and magical flourishes" which "provides a solid rationale for the ever-popular monster-motel adventure", although he felt that it may be too tough for novices, and he described "Lashan’s Fall" as "a nifty dungeon with a mystery" regarding the other party which came in first, and featuring "a loony monster that may not necessarily rip into the PCs at the first opportunity".[2] Rolston found in the "Cyclopedia of the Realms" book a "less-satisfying treatment of gods and religion" than books such as Deities & Demigods and Legends & Lore, as although "the major archetypes and game elements are covered, there's little detail, motivation, or game information provided for the deities".[2] He felt that the best entries in the encyclopedic section about places are several large- and medium-sized cities and towns, complete with maps and keys to the major establishments, and "a good treatment of Shadowdale, a village proposed as the setting for novice campaigners".[2] He felt that the strongest element of this encyclopedic section is the treatment of various organizations such as the adventuring, mercenary, and merchant companies, which can be used as "backdrops for intrigue and adventure, and provide background material for PC and NPC role-playing development. Skim through a couple of these entries; they’re quite good."[2] Rolston felt that the maps were "decent but unimpressive" artistically, and graphically they were "exceptionally clear and useful", saying "These ingenious devices are sure to please mappers and travel freaks".[2] As a campaign setting, Rolston felt that the physical space of the Realms is vast and varied, and the important guiding themes of any campaign (good vs. evil, megavillains, depraved gods, quests, loot, power) "are all available in profusion".[2] He concluded that the setting was "well-conceived as the official AD&D game campaign setting — vast enough to accommodate a multitude of house campaigns and variable playing styles, and true to the established traditions of a decade of AD&D game campaigning".[2]
The boxed set is a Gamer's Choice award-winner.[1] Lawrence Schick, in his 1991 book Heroic Worlds, describes the Forgotten Realms as a "fantasy world with a little bit of everything in it, the setting for most of TSR's AD&D scenarios from 1987 on. The world is designed to be flexible enough to act as a setting for a wide variety of campaigns."[1]
Published in 1993 then again in 1996; again in the popular boxed set format, this version upgraded the previous to the AD&D 2nd Edition game rules.
In 2001, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. published the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, a Forgotten Realms campaign source book for use with the 3rd Edition of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The book was written by Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, and Rob Heinsoo, with the contributions of members of the Wizard company's staff. The book is 320 pages in length; illustrated in color, and hardbound.
In 2002, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting won the Origins Award for Best Role-Playing Game Supplement of 2001.[3]
A number of changes were made since the previous books were published by the former TSR, Inc. The most important update was to incorporate the significant revisions to the game system with the 3rd edition update. Various regional feats, character attributes, prestige classes, spells, and NPC statistics all used the new rule set.
The work also made some notable updates to the campaign setting, including the widespread presence of Red Wizard enclaves in various cities, the presence of a mysterious group called the Shades in the southern Anauroch desert, and the increasing surface presence of Dark Elves in the Dalelands. The setting history was updated to reflect various major events, such as the changes to the Faerûn pantheon since the Time of Troubles, and the defeat of the Tuigan Horde.
The book was organized into nine chapters, covering in broad detail the campaign setting. The primary emphasis is on the continent of Faerûn, and the other continents are only briefly mentioned. The chapters are arranged as follows:
This work contained a number of quality maps, and a fold-out map of the continent of Faerûn. There were also many sidebar topics and tables.
Also, throughout the sourcebook, stats were given for many popular Forgotten Realms characters such as Drizzt Do'Urden, Artemis Entreri, Elminster, Khelben Blackstaff, Fzoul Chembryl and Manshoon. The stats were reflections of the characters at that time. Artemis Entreri's stats didn't list him as having Charon's Claw, because Servant of the Shard wasn't published yet.
The following books have been published by Wizards of the Coast as 3rd edition D&D supplements to this setting.
These works provide additional geographic details on the various regions, as well as new prestige classes, creatures, and magic.
With D&D's 4th Edition, Forgotten Realms continues to be a supported campaign setting, starting with a revised campaign setting in August 2008.
To usher in the new edition, major events occur in the world, the most notable of which include the death of the goddess Mystra and her Weave, and the subsequent Spellplague. The Spellplague is a phenomenon which occurs with the decomposition of the Weave, and either kills or drives spellcasters mad. In addition, the Spellplague affects the environment and the natural world, causing calamitous events, including giant statues coming to life and rampaging, violent earthquakes, the corruption of various beings into monsters, and the collapsing of some regions of the Underdark. It was also stated that popular characters like Elminster and Drizzt Do'Urden will be included.[4]