D&D 5E Ed Greenwood to write 5E's Forgotten Realms

GX.Sigma · Jun 7, 2012

A recent DDI article seems to indicate that (original FR author) Ed Greenwood will be authoring the 5th Edition (D&D Next) version of the Forgotten Realms. The paragraph in question reads: "Recently I've seen petitions and strong arguments that Wizards should let Ed design the Forgotten Realms for the next edition of the game. I couldn't agree more, and some of that work is already under way. The Forgotten Realms has changed a lot in the last 25 years, and although there are major themes and ideas and flavors that haven't changed at all, in some ways the Realms has veered away from Ed's original vision. He's always been on board the Realms ship, but he hasn't always been at the rudder (to use his own metaphor), and we are rectifying that even as we speak. Keep your eyes out for some big announcements along those lines in the coming months."

You can find the quote in the article Book Wyrms: Elminster on WotC's website.

Note: unfortunately, while promoting this to a news article, I screwed up and the comments up until that point are now shown in an incorrect order. My apologies. I'll be more careful next time! - Morrus.

jadrax · Jun 7, 2012

It makes a lot of sense.

Fenes · Jun 7, 2012

4E's changes killed the Realms. Ed should relaunch the timeline from some point prior to the end of 3E.

Incenjucar · Jun 7, 2012

Fenes said:
4E's changes killed the Realms. Ed should relaunch the timeline from some point prior to the end of 3E.

Why not back to before that Time of Troubles nonsense?

delericho · Jun 7, 2012

Getting Ed Greenwood on board to work on the Realms, and indeed as the primary voice in the Realms, is a good thing. That said, I do think they also need a strong editorial presence if only to rein in some of Ed's madder impulses.

... and especially where the likes of Elminster is concerned. While Elminster (and Drizzt) are iconic characters and sell a lot of novels, they're quite poisonous to the Realms as a game setting. Frankly, the RPG setting would be best served by killing them off. Given that they won't that, they need to be really careful when writing the book to place the PCs in centre stage.

In particular:

Elminster is the eccentric old Sage of Shadowdale, who sometimes provides information to adventurers who come looking for it, but more often is much too busy with more important matters.

<snip>

While ordinary adventurers (including player characters as well as the protagonists of many other novels) are saving villages from the Zhentarim or slaying drow in the Underdark, Elminster is ensuring that the likes of Larloch and Manshoon aren't wreaking such great havoc on the world that all those smaller heroics are rendered moot. Without adventurers, the village would be overrun by the Zhents; without Elminster, there'd be no village to save.

This text has absolutely no place in the RPG setting book - it totally trivialises anything that the PCs might accomplish in the setting.

(FWIW, both Dragonlance and Star Wars have exactly the same problem - the section of the timeline that most people are interested in is also the one dominated by a set of iconic heroes that loom extremely large over anything the PCs might do. It's a delicate balancing act for GMs and writers to keep the PCs at the centre of their story, while acknowledging Luke, Han, Tanis, Caramon, and the rest.)

dd.stevenson · Jun 7, 2012

Incenjucar said:
Why not back to before that Time of Troubles nonsense?

Because Baldur's Gate was awesome.

Fenes · Jun 7, 2012

Incenjucar said:
Why not back to before that Time of Troubles nonsense?

That's included in "prior to the end of 3E".

Incenjucar · Jun 7, 2012

delericho said:
Getting Ed Greenwood on board to work on the Realms, and indeed as the primary voice in the Realms, is a good thing. That said, I do think they also need a strong editorial presence if only to rein in some of Ed's madder impulses.

... and especially where the likes of Elminster is concerned. While Elminster (and Drizzt) are iconic characters and sell a lot of novels, they're quite poisonous to the Realms as a game setting. Frankly, the RPG setting would be best served by killing them off. Given that they won't that, they need to be really careful when writing the book to place the PCs in centre stage.

In particular:

This text has absolutely no place in the RPG setting book - it totally trivialises anything that the PCs might accomplish in the setting.

(FWIW, both Dragonlance and Star Wars have exactly the same problem - the section of the timeline that most people are interested in is also the one dominated by a set of iconic heroes that loom extremely large over anything the PCs might do. It's a delicate balancing act for GMs and writers to keep the PCs at the centre of their story, while acknowledging Luke, Han, Tanis, Caramon, and the rest.)