The Realms WILL Be Updated!

WotC's Chris Perkins and Mike Mearls both mentioned the possibility of Forgotten Realms updates on Twitter today. A chap called Montgomery Headstrom tweeted at both of them - to Perkins he said "I don't understand why you guys did the Sundering if you weren't going to update the Realms. Can you clarify that for me?" and the Mearls he said "if WOTC isn't interested in updating the realms would corporate allow kickstarter drive to let Ed Greenwood do it?" Both replied to his his comments, confirming that they do, in fact, intend to update the Realms. Thanks to Adrian for the scoop.

Montgomery: if WOTC isn't interested in updating the realms would corporate allow kickstarter drive to let Ed Greenwood do it?
Mike Mearls: who sez we aren't interested in updating it?

Montgomery: I don't understand why you guys did the Sundering if you weren't going to update the Realms. Can you clarify that for me?
Chris Perkins: The Sundering allowed us to bring back things that the setting had lost over the years. We ARE updating the Realms.

 

[bmfrosty]

In before someone declares this to be an announcement and then gets angry because of a lack of details at Gen Con.

 

[Kramodlog]

The Realms have already been updated. Factually, they are right. The real question is will a campaign book about that update or that mentions the update will come out?

 

[Celtavian]

Cool. Realms had some of the best world supplement books ever.

 

[shadow]

Did the sundering change the map of the Realms back the way it was before everything changed in 4e? (i.e. substituting Maztica with that dragonborn continent? Flooding Luiren?)

 

[Kramodlog]

Did the sundering change the map of the Realms back the way it was before everything changed in 4e? (i.e. substituting Maztica with that dragonborn continent? Flooding Luiren?)

Probably, but without an campaign guide, gazetter or update of somekind, we do not know for sure what changed.

 

[ppaladin123]

The Realms have already been updated. Factually, they are right. The real question is will a campaign book about that update or that mentions the update will come out?

I just want a single document that explains a. what the sundering is/was, and b. what changes occurred in the pantheon, in the geography of the realms, in the ecology of the realms, etc. Right now there are bits and pieces scattered across novels and interviews and the core books.

The adventures all technically take place after the sundering but I guess they are vague on these details both because WotC haven't actually figured out exactly what they want to have changed yet and because it lets folks port the adventures to other time periods easily. And we are, of course, free to "make the realms our own." But it would sure be nice to know the official reasons why the gods are back, and the status of dragonborn if returned Abeir is gone and all that stuff that folks who care about cannon care about so we can incorporate it into our games.

 

[Jester David]

As I commented elsewhere, I think the catch is they have 4 people working on the books, and needed all-hands-on-deck for the core rules in 2014. There was no one to spare working on the Realms. And working on a big update of the campaign setting as vast and detailed as the Realms is a year-long process. So they're likely spending some extra time *really* looking at the Realms, its changes, and brainstorming their updates.

That said, taking some fan feedback would be cool. A survey on the Realms and such.

 

[lkj]

As I commented elsewhere, I think the catch is they have 4 people working on the books, and needed all-hands-on-deck for the core rules in 2014. There was no one to spare working on the Realms. And working on a big update of the campaign setting as vast and detailed as the Realms is a year-long process. So they're likely spending some extra time *really* looking at the Realms, its changes, and brainstorming their updates.

That said, taking some fan feedback would be cool. A survey on the Realms and such.

I seem to recall they basically implied this already near the time of launch. Was it Mearls or someone else who said they hadn't started working on it yet and were thinking about the best way to do it?

AD

 

[TerraDave]

Yes, this is no promise.

You have had multiple 5E "Realms books", you must now enjoy them.

 

[Jester David]

I seem to recall they basically implied this already near the time of launch. Was it Mearls or someone else who said they hadn't started working on it yet and were thinking about the best way to do it?

AD

I think that was Mearls.

The "best way" is tricky. Book? Wiki? App? Boxed set? Campaign manager program? One big hardcover or a set of small softcovers?