D&D 5E Is R.A. Salvatore's "Hero" the last Forgotten Realms book?

[EbbTide808]

It really said that? The conclusion of the Legend of Drizzt novels, not the Homecoming series? Well that's a bit decisive, isn't it?

Word for word, hence the quotation marks

 

[EbbTide808]

I only read FR books for the lore, so bringing in big-name authors wouldn't do anything for me. I would know more about the world they're writing in than they would.

Yeah, I'd just been binge listening to Salvatore's audiobooks because I wanted more context on Gauntlgrym and the War of the Silver Marches after reading through the gazetteer in Storm King's Thunder. This news struck me as a bit of a surprise.

However, learning of this now, I can definitely relate it back to the first two books of this last trilogy and see how it would be Drizz't's swan song.

 

[EbbTide808]

if it was, i dont think they would stop. Weird considering the new guy likes to write. Maybe RAS and greenwood caused some drama and wizards said enough. Wizards makes some weird business choices sometimes.

Sometimes in business, you decide to stop doing a profitable thing because you realize the time and capital required to generate that profit could be more profitable if you invested it somewhere else. It's called "opportunity cost". When you decide to take one opportunity, it may preclude you from taking other, better opportunities.

 

[I'm A Banana]

She says she is not writing any Forgotten Realms books anytime soon. She then goes on to say that all the authors' writing will translate to other settings easily, implying that it is ending.

That's an interesting bit. Maybe they're moving the authors onto a new setting in preparation for going all-out on a new setting in the not-exceptionally-distant future?

That's rampant speculation, and it wouldn't line up with Erin M. Evans being unhappy about the ending, so maybe not.

 

[flametitan]

That's an interesting bit. Maybe they're moving the authors onto a new setting in preparation for going all-out on a new setting in the not-exceptionally-distant future?

That's rampant speculation, and it wouldn't line up with Erin M. Evans being unhappy about the ending, so maybe not.

Evans's interview on the Round Table also seems to indicate that she'll have to work on a new world for her work, and how much harder it'll be than piggybacking on Forgotten Realms lore. If she were just working on a different D&D world, this might rise eyebrows a bit, as one thing 5e seems to be leaning on is that the rules in the PHB work regardless of setting.

That said, she did say that talking about the end of Forgotten Realms would be breaking NDA, so there might just be some aces hidden up wotc's sleeve.

 

[EbbTide808]

That's an interesting bit. Maybe they're moving the authors onto a new setting in preparation for going all-out on a new setting in the not-exceptionally-distant future?

That's rampant speculation, and it wouldn't line up with Erin M. Evans being unhappy about the ending, so maybe not.

I considered that, but there's no way they're abandoning the realms anytime soon. They've basically said that they might go visit other realms but would stay anchored in FR. Also, I'm pretty sure the movie is set in FR. All their 5E work is about building the brand identity of D&D through the feel of the realms. They might skip out to Ravenloft or such, but then they're back to their default setting.

Also, both the new monster book and the dungeonology book feature Volo prominently, who is a Realms celebrity.

 

[Jester David]

There was a a thread, but it went buh-bye in the site crash.

 

[EbbTide808]

There was a a thread, but it went buh-bye in the site crash.

Do you recall any keen insights?

 

[I'm A Banana]

I considered that, but there's no way they're abandoning the realms anytime soon. They've basically said that they might go visit other realms but would stay anchored in FR. Also, I'm pretty sure the movie is set in FR. All their 5E work is about building the brand identity of D&D through the feel of the realms. They might skip out to Ravenloft or such, but then they're back to their default setting.

Also, both the new monster book and the dungeonology book feature Volo prominently, who is a Realms celebrity.

There's plausible deniability there - NDA's are big time, and it's likely that whatever their plans are 2, 3 years down the road, they don't want to mention them today (heck, they won't even mention what we're getting in Spring until mid-Winter some time, I bet).

That's only to say that We Don't Quite Know What They're Doing. And rampant speculation thrives in those spaces where there's little ACTUAL information.

 

[Shasarak]

If it is true then it seems like pretty bad news. Most companies are desperate for IP they can market and WotC can not even manage their flag ship brand properly which is a real shame.