license legalities of a novel?

[der_kluge]

If I wanted to write a novel, what are the license legalities involved? I suppose there's some prestige associated with publishing a "Forgotten Realms" novel, but I would imagine such a thing would have to be officially licensed, yea?

 

[Morrus]

but I would imagine such a thing would have to be officially licensed, yea?

Yes.

As opposed to unofficially licensed, which I suppose is otherwise known as "not licensed".

 

[der_kluge]

Yes.

As opposed to unofficially licensed, which I suppose is otherwise known as "not licensed".

Are there unofficial Forgotten Realms novels??

 

[der_kluge]

Obviously ChatGPT isn't the final arbiter of such things, but this echoes what my assumptions on the matter already were.

An official Forgotten Realms novel would require a license from Wizards of the Coast (WotC), as they own the intellectual property (IP). However, there are ways to write within the setting unofficially:

1. Unofficial Fan Fiction

• You can write and share Forgotten Realms stories as fan fiction for free (on platforms like Archive of Our Own, FanFiction.net, or Reddit).
• You cannot sell or profit from these stories without permission from WotC.

2. The DM’s Guild (Official but Limited Publishing)

• WotC allows some Forgotten Realms content to be published via the DM’s Guild.
• However, this is mostly for adventures, supplements, and RPG content, not full-length novels.
• Some short fiction has been published there, but WotC doesn't officially endorse novels through it.

3. Writing an Original Novel Inspired by Forgotten Realms

• If you want to publish a novel commercially, you'd need to strip out all direct references to Forgotten Realms lore (cities, gods, characters, history) and create a new, original setting.
• Many authors (like Ed Greenwood himself) have written books that feel like Forgotten Realms but are set in different worlds.

4. Officially Licensed Novels

• WotC used to license Forgotten Realms novels but stopped doing so after 2016 (except for works by R.A. Salvatore).
• In the past, authors needed to be invited to pitch novels—there was no open submission process.

 

[Morrus]

Are there unofficial Forgotten Realms novels??

I expect there's fanfic? You're asking the wrong person!

But yes, to reiterate: a novel would need to be licensed.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yeah, if you want to write a Forgotten Realms novel and WotC doesn't want to play ball, you're stuck with fanfic.

However, 50 Shades of Grey started off as Twilight fanfic. If you write a fanfic that readers get excited about, it's not impossible that you can rework it to be commercially publishable with the other person or company's IP removed or replaced.

Unless you've got some very, very specific stuff you're doing with the Forgotten Realms, converting your book to be your own setting wouldn't be hard. (And, of course, you can just start this way to begin with.)

 

[der_kluge]

Yeah, if you want to write a Forgotten Realms novel and WotC doesn't want to play ball, you're stuck with fanfic.

However, 50 Shades of Grey started off as Twilight fanfic. If you write a fanfic that readers get excited about, it's not impossible that you can rework it to be commercially publishable with the other person or company's IP removed or replaced.

Unless you've got some very, very specific stuff you're doing with the Forgotten Realms, converting your book to be your own setting wouldn't be hard. (And, of course, you can just start this way to begin with.)

Oh yea, it's not FR-specific at all. I was mainly just curious, really.

 

[Morrus]

Oh yea, it's not FR-specific at all. I was mainly just curious, really.

It's no different to publishing a Star Wars novel. You can't do that without permission. If you could, there would be millions of them!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's no different to publishing a Star Wars novel. You can't do that without permission. If you could, there would be millions of them!

We cannot allow the Star Wars franchise to be tarnished by terrible stories.

 

[Tonguez]

Forgotten Realms is fairly generic, so do you really need to tie your story to DnD IP? If you use your own names and histories then you're fine, you just wont have the FR tag on it for better marketing