[UPDATED] The Archmage (aka Ed Greenwood) Returns to the Forgotten Realms

The Archmage? Is this some black metal band?

 

[Nylanfs]

interesting

 

[Kramodlog]

Interesting. I wonder if we'll see the rise of two competing (in the eyes of the fans) FR cannon with this. On one side the Greenwood material and on the other the WotC material.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Interesting. I wonder if we'll see the rise of two competing (in the eyes of the fans) FR cannon with this. On one side the Greenwood material and on the other the WotC material.

I would imagine that WotC probably doesn't care either way and would be more than fine with that. I'd suspect that it's really certain players who care much more about "timeline canon!" and who might get bent out of shape if Ed writes from a divergent POV. After all... 4E and 5E were both editions that WotC did their best to alleviate the symptoms of "too much history" (both by jumping forward 100 years, and then Sundering things back to the tone of the 2E era) in hopes of giving players an easier baseline to start their games from. I'd have to think they'd be thrilled if all players actually had the attitude of "I'll start my campaign from this X point in Realms history because that's what'll work best for me"... as opposed to constantly complaining that there's no up-to-date historical record of every section of the Realms "today" from whence they set their stories.

So if Ed creates a "new" Greenwood Realms timeline, WotC will probably say "thank you!!!"

 

[Lehrbuch]

I would imagine that WotC probably doesn't care either way and would be more than fine with that...

So if Ed creates a "new" Greenwood Realms timeline, WotC will probably say "thank you!!!"

Absolutely. WotC won't care about the possibility of divergent timelines. You're playing D&D either way.

 

[Xavian Starsider]

Interesting. I wonder if we'll see the rise of two competing (in the eyes of the fans) FR cannon with this. On one side the Greenwood material and on the other the WotC material.

I hope so. Competition in the cannon industry will bring down the price of gunpowder for Faerunian consumers.

But seriously. This isn't Star Wars. Neither Greenwood nor WOTC dictate FR canon. In the world of RPGs, novels, published settings, video games and even the upcoming movie are secondary and tertiary to the true canon: what happens in your game.

And that's how Wizards wants it.

 

[Kramodlog]

So if Ed creates a "new" Greenwood Realms timeline, WotC will probably say "thank you!!!"

Maybe. Maybe not. A lot of fans will put Ed's product above WotC's. We've seen with 4e that people won't buy FR stuff just because the FR logo is on it, so some fans could stop buying WotC's FR AP because they are clashing with Ed's take on the FR. They will get some revenues from DmG, but the bread and butter are the APs. Perkins said they want to sell 100,000+ copies per book. Ed could be a problem. Especially if he sells his PDFs 3 or 4 dollars a pop. 50% of that ain't much cash for WotC even if Ed sells maybe copies. Heck, maybe WotC will take less of the revenues since he is Ed Greenwood.

Its gonna be interesting to follow.

 

[Pauper]

There's already a 'separate' Greenwood Realms canon, published as 'Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms' in October of 2012.

With that said, having Greenwood publish Realms material on the DMs Guild is pretty much a no-brainer.

 

[Kramodlog]

Neither Greenwood nor WOTC dictate FR canon.

Go to Candlekeep forums and see what some fans think about that.

 

[Polyhedral_Columbia]

So we are free to publish novellas and novels set in the FR, via DM Guild? Sweet.

I forgot that the FR designers from years past could publish via DM Guild. Great!

Looking forward to roll out of the other D&D worlds -- then Bruce Heard's Mystara will, at long last, become available. Better do it before the oldtimers die!

 

[DEFCON 1]

Maybe. Maybe not. A lot of fans will put Ed's product above WotC's. We've seen with 4e that people won't buy FR stuff just because the FR logo is on it, so some fans could stop buying WotC's FR AP because they are clashing with Ed's take on the FR. They will get some revenues from DmG, but the bread and butter are the APs. Perkins said they want to sell 100,000+ copies per book. Ed could be a problem. Especially if he sells his PDFs 3 or 4 dollars a pop. 50% of that ain't much cash for WotC even if Ed sells maybe copies. Heck, maybe WotC will take less of the revenues since he is Ed Greenwood.

Its gonna be interesting to follow.

I would venture a guess that the number of people who are buying the adventure paths for the Forgotten Realms history only and don't care a lick about the adventure itself... is exceedingly small enough that WotC probably isn't worried about that loss of revenue if they switch over to just buying Ed's historical documents instead. The other 99% of purchasers of the APs are buying them because there's actual adventure material in it, and thus Ed's stuff wouldn't replace it.