D&D General Ed Greenwood's $5K Contract To Sell The Forgotten Realms

D&D historian Ben Riggs has a copy of Ed Greenwood's original Forgotten Realms contract and spends a few words covering it, calling it "The best $5,000 D&D Spent". The setting was sold to TSR for $4,000 in 1987, with another $1,000 for comsulting services.

Ed Greenwood, the creator of the Realms, said he never regretted the decision to sell the property to TSR, the first company to make D&D. The five grand he made was $4,000 for the Realms itself, and then $1,000 for services as a design consultant. (That’s $13,000 in 2022 dollars).

The Best $5000 D&D Spent: Buying the Forgotten Realms — Ben Riggs

How did D&D manage to snag its flagship setting for the price of a car?

www.writerbenriggs.com

 

[DorkForge]

Whilst I'm sure that Critical Role has brought some interest to the hobby, I know that I've heard multiple people say that got them or associates interested, I wouldn't hang my hat on that. After all, didn't they start playing pathfinder and then switch to 5E? That sounds more like following the trend, rather than setting it.

As for how people get into D&D I'm sure various actual plays, TV shows (Stranger Things) etc. have a part. For me, my girlfriend just said she wanted to try it, I was vaguely aware of its existence but never knew anyone that played it irl, just dusty memories of an animated show.
It's most likely a combination of new edition hype, the internet making it more accessible than ever, and then supplementary things like shows and streams helping to boost popularity. Attributing all of 5Es success to CR would be folly, as I'm sure it goes in both directions.

 

[billd91]

Whilst I'm sure that Critical Role has brought some interest to the hobby, I know that I've heard multiple people say that got them or associates interested, I wouldn't hang my hat on that. After all, didn't they start playing pathfinder and then switch to 5E? That sounds more like following the trend, rather than setting it.

Not so much following the trend as much as moving to the game that’s more stream-friendly. And 5e is definitely more stream-friendly.