D&D General Greyhawk to Faerun and Beyond: A Multiversal D&D Lore Book Is Coming This Fall

This coming October, a 360+ page hardcover which delves into Dungeons & Dragons' various worlds and settings will be released. The book isn't from WotC--it's from Ten Speed Press--but it's by Adam Lee, who wrote for Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus and Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. The book comes full of 50-years of artwork, and is narrated by the famous wizard Mordenkainen. Additionally, the book contains some original fiction.

Dungeons & Dragons Worlds & Realms: Adventures from Greyhawk to Faerûn and Beyond is available for pre-order already.

The book covers Greyhawk, Mystara, Dragonlance, Faerun, Eberron, the Feywild and Shadowfell, Spelljammer, the Nine Hells, the Abyss, Sigil, and the Far Realm. It's a book of lore and story, not a rulebook, giving an overall of D&D's entire multiverse and its many worlds.

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Celebrate fifty years of the spellbinding settings and planes of Dungeons & Dragons with this beautifully illustrated exploration of the multiverse.

Worlds & Realms is an illustrated, story-driven retrospective celebrating the immersive worldbuilding of D&D since the iconic game’s inception in 1974. Legendary mage Mordenkainen takes adventurers on a fantastical journey through the multiverse, delving into memorable and fascinating lore and locations across all five editions of the game.

With Mordenkainen’s guidance, readers will revisit worlds that have come to define D&D over the decades, from the familiar realms of the Material Plane to lands beyond the Astral Sea. Mordenkainen’s philosophical musings provide a mage’s-eye view of the worlds’ unique features, creatures, and characters, captivating readers’ imaginations as they learn more about the history and mysteries of the multiverse. Additionally, readers will join adventuring parties with inhabitants of each realm through exclusive short stories by award-winning contributors Jaleigh Johnson, Jody Houser and Eric Campbell, Jasmine Bhullar, and Geoffrey Golden.

Full of exciting and enchanting artwork showing fifty years of gameplay evolution from vintage D&D through the present, with original cover and chapter-opener illustrations, Worlds & Realms is a spellbinding tour of the strange and wonderful worlds of the multiverse, appealing to both new and long-standing fans alike.

Polygon has some previews of the book.

 

[jerryrice4949]

The description you quoted shows that it's not edition-neutral, what with Spelljammer's Astral Sea that only exists in that form in 5e, and less than a year ago at that.

Edition neutral means no game mechanics etc from this edition it doesn’t mean no recent lore or cosmology.

 

[JEB]

It doesn't look like this gets anywhere near the level of detail a full campaign setting would offer, or even what the DMG's take on Oerth is likely to be, but this seems like it'd be a neat edition-proof product for DMs who just want a high level view on WotC's take on each of these worlds, as well as for people who are big fans of the official D&D meta-setting.

Eh, not so much edition-proof - it will specifically be the 5e take on these settings for sure. (And even more specifically the 2024 5e take on the settings; don't expect reflections of the 2014 core rulebooks' notes on each setting, for example.)

 

[Parmandur]

Eh, not so much edition-proof - it will specifically be the 5e take on these settings for sure. (And even more specifically the 2024 5e take on the settings; don't expect reflections of the 2014 core rulebooks' notes on each setting, for example.)

Well, it won't come up, because there is no ruled content. That's what edition neutral means, not having rules content.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

The article shows the ToC.

Its broken up into 3 sub books.

1. Material Plane Settings: Mystara, Greyhawk, Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Eberron. Darksun and Birthright get snubbed.

2. Book 2 is Elemental and Parrell (echo Planes) with parts dedicated to the Shadowfell (including Ravenloft), Feywild (probably including Domains of Delight), Radiant Citadel is unknown.

3. Planesjammer, mix of Spelljammer and Planescape with focused sections on Hell, the Abyss, and Sigil, and a section shared between the rest of the Outerplanes and the Far Realms.

This is spread waaaaayyyyy to think. Outside of maps and the short stories I think this will be a little use. Disappointing.

Feels just right to me. I’m excited. My only disappointment is that it is not all new art.

 

[JEB]

Well, it won't come up, because there is no ruled content. That's what edition neutral means, not having rules content.

As they made a point of telling us, every edition has its own lore. The lore in this book will be for the current version of the current edition; it's definitely not going to be edition neutral. Fans of pre-5e lore should suppress any hopes for more than that.

 

[Parmandur]

As they made a point of telling us, every edition has its own lore. The lore in this book will be for the current version of the current edition; it's definitely not going to be edition neutral. Fans of pre-5e lore should suppress any hopes for more than that.

So? It is still rules neutral.

 

[JEB]

So? It is still rules neutral.

I never said it wasn't "rules neutral".

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Eh, not so much edition-proof - it will specifically be the 5e take on these settings for sure.

Almost everything is the current take on things. I'm speaking about the stats never needing to be updated.

Also, at the level of detail we're likely to get, I doubt that anyone but the most pedantic are going to be able to point at the Faerun section and go "ah HA, one could never use this book in 10 years!"

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Feels just right to me. I’m excited. My only disappointment is that it is not all new art.

I don't recognize that Greyhawk two-pager or the gibbering mouther, but I missed all of one edition.

And I can't ever get mad at seeing that Erol Otus wizard again.

 

[JEB]

Also, at the level of detail we're likely to get, I doubt that anyone but the most pedantic are going to be able to point at the Faerun section and go "ah HA, one could never use this book in 10 years!"

I don't doubt that's a design goal!