D&D General Forgotten Realms cover to "Guide to the Dalelands" revealed, book delayed

The cover to Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood's first sourcebook in the Realmsbound series has been revealed.

Guide to the Dalelands is the first of four books, and is a regional sourcebook for both DMs and players. It will be released on the Dungeon Master's Guild. The book has been delayed from Q1 2026 to Q2 2026. They are hoping to release it in June.

The other books in the series are:

• Guide to the Dalelands: A regional sourcebook for both DMs and players.
• Inn Sites of the Dalelands: Geared towards social encounters, it covers not just inns but also NPCs, mini-games, and social occasions such as festivals and tournaments.
• Delves of the Dalelands: a collection of dangerous locations to serve as fodder for adventurers.
• Adventures in the Dalelands: An anthology of adventures for levels 1 to 12.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

And it could just be an easy fix in Photoshop before final production.

That's still wrong. When she raises the bow to vertical her hand holding the arrow will be upside down.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Now that you've pointed it out, it does appear there are a lot of artifacts that could indicate AI,

I didn't want to suggest that, since humans are capable of getting stuff wrong all by themselves, but yes, the image is full of impossibilities. As a not-very-good human artist aware of their own limitations, I would never have attempted such a complex illustration in the first place.

 

[aiouh]

I just hope it is not a reprint of all the stuff in the 2e Guide books. I recall that the Pocket Kingdoms was a lot of reprint stuff just packaged up for DMsGuild.

That would be really disappointing because the 5.0/5.5 era FR books are in an entirely different point in the FR metaplot

 

[GravyFingerz]

I’m not sure how this could be made interesting as this, the sword coast, and Cormyr have been covered in a lot of detail in the past, but I imagine if it’s being written about now there will likely be some twists?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I’m not sure how this could be made interesting as this, the sword coast, and Cormyr have been covered in a lot of detail in the past, but I imagine if it’s being written about now there will likely be some twists?

I doubt the setting will be twisted. It's more a case of "for those of you who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you like." It's a DMG product so it doesn't need mass market appeal, it can afford to be niche.

 

[Aaomas]

why won't you give it a chance?

 

[Aaomas]

I’m not concerned about the bow.

I am curious if there will be a current clack section. Hooks for sandbox play are my jam.

You are going to be very happy then.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

I’m a fan of Ed as a person, but the Dalelands are the most generically boring part of the Forgotten Realms.

I say this literally; what is the appeal of the Dalelands? It seems to be the blandest part of the otherwise really interesting forgotten realms, yet I go to other D&D forums and people are like "FINALLY a RETURN to the DALELANDS! I've been waiting since highschool for this!" and I just like... don't see it?

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I say this literally; what is the appeal of the Dalelands? It seems to be the blandest part of the otherwise really interesting forgotten realms, yet I go to other D&D forums and people are like "FINALLY a RETURN to the DALELANDS! I've been waiting since highschool for this!" and I just like... don't see it?

Some people like vanilla?

 

[GreyLord]

I say this literally; what is the appeal of the Dalelands? It seems to be the blandest part of the otherwise really interesting forgotten realms, yet I go to other D&D forums and people are like "FINALLY a RETURN to the DALELANDS! I've been waiting since highschool for this!" and I just like... don't see it?

I really like the Dale Lands. They are on the edge of great ruins, have some of the greatest characters of Greenwood's realms within them, have smaller areas to cover - each with their own set of rulers, situations, politics - and you have the differences between them that can cause opposition and alliances.

In addition, it's still an area with scattered settlements amid a wild frontier filled with adventure and danger. Because of that, in some ways it is sometimes easier to put in encounters and plots than in more "civilized" areas of the Realms.

Dale Lands are probably my favored area of the Forgotten Realms due to that.