D&D 5E How can the first campaign at release be FR without a setting book?

[Li Shenron]

It possible that either the PH and/or DMG will have Basic FR material since that seems to be the default setting of 5e.

The question is... what is "basic FR material"?

Following 3e (poor) treatment of Greyhawk as default setting, it would be quite easy to include ~20 FR religions, which is a start, but FR is such a huge setting with all the groups and organizations and NPCs working with/against each other, that just mentioning a few of them isn't going to deliver the 'feel' of the setting.

You can include a huge map of Faerun in the DMG, but it would serve no purpose because it's so huge that it has little impact on the adventures at the PC's scale... at least you'd need to say something about the many regions of the world, each of which has its own traits and feel, and can be itself the setting for a whole campaign.

 

[fjw70]

The question is... what is "basic FR material"?

Following 3e (poor) treatment of Greyhawk as default setting, it would be quite easy to include ~20 FR religions, which is a start, but FR is such a huge setting with all the groups and organizations and NPCs working with/against each other, that just mentioning a few of them isn't going to deliver the 'feel' of the setting.

You can include a huge map of Faerun in the DMG, but it would serve no purpose because it's so huge that it has little impact on the adventures at the PC's scale... at least you'd need to say something about the many regions of the world, each of which has its own traits and feel, and can be itself the setting for a whole campaign.

Well the material could focus on a specific region of the Realms that is relevant to the initial storyline and then cover additional regions in later supplements.

How much should be covered? That is up to the fine folks set WotC.

 

[Iosue]

Well, WotC did put out a rules-neutral setting book on the Realms:
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/398880000

Any other necessary rules, monsters, NPCs, etc. would undoubtedly be included in the adventure.

 

[the Jester]

I, for one, really, really, really don't want a bunch of FR stuff in the core books. I can't really think of a bigger turnoff.

 

[mach1.9pants]

I quite like FR, but I wouldn't like to see any setting specific stuff in the Core books either. They should be setting neutral IMO. Gods are the tricky bit but Generic Death Deity (for example X in FR, Y in GH and Z in DL) in the core book is enough.

 

[Darth Palpy]

I wonder:
-If they choose to take the Adventures path, with relevant information for the setting disseminated in series of following adventures, will Campaign setting book completly be put away?
-Or they can intend to produce the corebooks immediatly followed by a Campaign setting book, in this case: FR.

Frankly, I'm a bit partial for the second solution, as I never run published adventures or campaigns.
My interest reside in the setting by itself, and rules adjoined to it. I would find very frustrating to buy adventures I don't care about only to have the crumbs of rules that interest me in it.
Faerun is vastly written upon campaign setting, with some major modifications thrown in from time to time. I don't see the difficulty for WOTC to have an updated campaign setting ready for launch, or just after launch.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I ran published Greyhawk adventures back in 1E without a setting book (I didn't get a WoG setting product until 3E came out!) so I don't see why the same can't be true with FR adventures. A good adventure should contain the material needed for the adventure with relevant setting info; a campaign setting book is useful for expanding your campaign beyond that but shouldn't be *required*.

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

Pathfinder launched its Adventure Paths before there was any Big Book of Golarion. I would expect that the adventures will contain some FR-specific material and that we will get a Big Book of Faerun by the 2015 Gen Con.

 

[DMZ2112]

It possible that either the PH and/or DMG will have Basic FR material since that seems to be the default setting of 5e. This could work in conjunction with the adventure setting material.

Everyone seems to be in hardcore denial mode about this, but it is what I expect. There wasn't a lot of Greyhawk material in the D&D3 PHB or DMG, and there wasn't a lot of Nentir Vale material in the D&D4 PHB or DMG, and I would expect the same amount of Forgotten Realms material in the D&D5 PHB and DMG, which is to say "not a lot, but still present."

at least you'd need to say something about the many regions of the world, each of which has its own traits and feel, and can be itself the setting for a whole campaign.

No, at least you need what D&D3 and D&D4 had. Gods, and maybe a high-level description of a starter location. Maybe. Sorry, Forgotten Realms fans (and non-fans), but Faerun is the new black.

 

[GX.Sigma]

In a game where clerics of different gods have different powers, you can't really get a true FR experience with just a few generic domains.