Greenwood's Forgotten Realms

Ron · Jan 9, 2008

There are a few sites giving little bits of Gygax's Greyhawk campaign and how it differs from the published version. Is any information out there about how Greenwood's Forgotten Realms actually was? It seems that TSR added pieces from other authors to fill the spaces, such as Niles' Moonshae, but I am curious about how Greenwood actually envisioned it.

TerraDave · Jan 9, 2008

Look at the interview in Kobold Quarterly #3 if you haven't. It is a good starting point.

http://wolfgangbaur.com/kobold_quarterly/

Ron · Jan 10, 2008

TerraDave said:
Look at the interview in Kobold Quarterly #3 if you haven't. It is a good starting point.

http://wolfgangbaur.com/kobold_quarterly/

Thanks for the tip. However, it is a paid site, is there anything available free of charge?

freyar · Jan 10, 2008

Go to Candlekeep, follow the links to Alaundo's library, then bard's rumor, then So Saith Ed. That's a compilation of Greenwood's responses to all sorts of FR questions, including a number of things about his home campaign. It's about 7 years worth of responses, though, so it's a lot to wade through to find what you want.

Neil Bishop · Jan 10, 2008

I would echo that suggestion to go to candlekeep.com. Ed is asked, and answers, a lot of questions. Basically, his game never had the Time of Troubles so that is one major change from the published Realms. Also, he still uses 2nd edition.

The novels Swords of Eveningstar and Sword of (something or other) that he wrote are largely based on events in his campaigns.

Mystaros · Jan 10, 2008

I spoke with Ed several years back at PentaCon in Fort Wayne. This is one thing that I asked him straight up. Two items stuck in my memory.

First of all, the Moonshae Islands are very different in his own campaign. They are more like Earthsea, with lots and lots of little islands, and there is no Celtic/Norse pseudo-Arthurian story going on there. Lots of different little cultures, though he didn't go into any detail.

Second, the Great Glacier is much further south; in fact, it is a mirror of Anauroch. Thus, for example, the Glacier of the White Worm is not a remnant, but actually part of where the Great Glacier is. Apparently TSR thought the glacier went too far south, so they redesigned the layout. The Ride used to be much bigger, too.

Oh, and IIRC, the "Real World Cultures" of the Realms weren't really there in his campaign, those were later additions.

That's all I recall, really...

Contrarian · Jan 11, 2008

Neil Bishop said:
Also, he still uses 2nd edition.

I can confirm that. The last game of 2E I ever played was with Ed Greenwood... at a convention in November 2006. I don't even think he plans which scenario he's going to run -- he just shows up with a binder full of 2E scenarios, and picks one when he gets to the table.

Before he showed up, we players were comparing our PHBs to see who had the most beat-up book.

Ron · Jan 12, 2008

Neil Bishop said:
I would echo that suggestion to go to candlekeep.com. Ed is asked, and answers, a lot of questions. Basically, his game never had the Time of Troubles so that is one major change from the published Realms. Also, he still uses 2nd edition.

The novels Swords of Eveningstar and Sword of (something or other) that he wrote are largely based on events in his campaigns.

Thanks for the tip, I found some information there. Time of Troubles was pretty lame, the reason why I think the grey box was the best FR setting ever published. Also, I am not surprised he still uses 2nd edition, there are quite a lot of people that prefer older editions -- I prefer B/X.

Regarding the novels, I will pass. I read his Spellfire, which I believe was the worst novel I ever read to the end.

Thanks to all that responded my original message.

ruleslawyer · Jan 12, 2008

IMO, D&D is the best thing that could have happened to Ed Greenwood; his fiction writing style... er, leaves something to be desired in my book.

As to "Ed's FR": The main elements are the skip-over of RSEs (including the Time of Troubles and the return of Shade) and the elimination of the real-world analogy nations (with the exception of Calimshan, which is supposed to have something of a Moorish feel, and one or two other lands I'm not remembering off the top of my head). It's almost exactly how I run my own campaign (except without nearly as many high-level NPCs).

Geoffrey · Jan 12, 2008

Mystaros said:
I spoke with Ed several years back at PentaCon in Fort Wayne. This is one thing that I asked him straight up. Two items stuck in my memory.

First of all, the Moonshae Islands are very different in his own campaign. They are more like Earthsea, with lots and lots of little islands, and there is no Celtic/Norse pseudo-Arthurian story going on there. Lots of different little cultures, though he didn't go into any detail.

Second, the Great Glacier is much further south; in fact, it is a mirror of Anauroch. Thus, for example, the Glacier of the White Worm is not a remnant, but actually part of where the Great Glacier is. Apparently TSR thought the glacier went too far south, so they redesigned the layout. The Ride used to be much bigger, too.

Oh, and IIRC, the "Real World Cultures" of the Realms weren't really there in his campaign, those were later additions.

That's all I recall, really...

I'd really like to see a pure Ed Greenwood Forgotten Realms boxed set.