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

Whizbang Dustyboots · Saturday at 6:43 AM

Paul Farquhar said:
Grimdark is not the only alternative to vanilla. Calimshan in the new book is really great, and not at all grim or dark.

When someone wants a twist to a pastoral setting, nine times out of 10, what they're asking for is edgy.

Paul Farquhar · Saturday at 6:50 AM

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
When someone wants a twist to a pastoral setting, nine times out of 10, what they're asking for is edgy.

Sure, I wouldn’t go edgy, I would just go somewhere that wasn’t pastoral.

The Dalelands is fine being the Dalelands, but I wouldn’t set an adventure there, so I wouldn’t buy a book about it.

(I wouldn’t want to live there either.)

...m... · Saturday at 1:02 PM

Parmandur said:
The whole Setting came because grade school Greenwood was writing Lankhmar fan fiction, Waterdeep is the more core area.

...wait: is that why the maps for each city look so similar?..

Parmandur · Saturday at 1:50 PM

...m... said:
...wait: is that why the maps for each city look so similar?..
View attachment 433636 View attachment 433637

Yeah.

Whizbang Dustyboots · Saturday at 5:53 PM

...m... said:
...wait: is that why the maps for each city look so similar?..
View attachment 433636 View attachment 433637

...m... · Saturday at 6:58 PM

...still kicking myself for not grabbing goodman's lankhmar blowout this fall...

Okland · Sunday at 3:45 PM

GreyLord said:
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.

There’s something special about that "frontier" vibe that larger kingdoms usually lack. You nailed it with the point about the smaller scale, having local rulers and unique politics for each Dale makes the world feel so much more lived-in and manageable. I've always found it way more rewarding to navigate those local alliances than to deal with the massive bureaucracy of a place like Waterdeep. Plus, having those wild stretches right outside your door is a DM's dream for throwing together a quick, high-stakes encounter. It really is the perfect sweet spot between cozy settlements and total, untamed chaos.

Starmaster · Monday at 11:07 PM

Okland said:
There’s something special about that "frontier" vibe that larger kingdoms usually lack. You nailed it with the point about the smaller scale, having local rulers and unique politics for each Dale makes the world feel so much more lived-in and manageable. I've always found it way more rewarding to navigate those local alliances than to deal with the massive bureaucracy of a place like Waterdeep. Plus, having those wild stretches right outside your door is a DM's dream for throwing together a quick, high-stakes encounter. It really is the perfect sweet spot between cozy settlements and total, untamed chaos.

Seems like it might be a good place to squeeze in the Keep on the Borderlands and the Caves of Chaos for starting out a new campaign. Of course, there are a lot of good places in the Realms where they would fit in nicely.

Whizbang Dustyboots · Monday at 11:20 PM

Starmaster said:
Seems like it might be a good place to squeeze in the Keep on the Borderlands and the Caves of Chaos for starting out a new campaign.

I believe the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar traditionally fills that role in the Dalelands.

Starmaster · 2026-04-07T06:41:03+0100

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
I believe the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar traditionally fills that role in the Dalelands.

Yes, the 2e modules "FRQ1: Haunted Halls of Eveningstar" and "FRQ3: Doom of Daggerdale" would also be good choices to start a Dalelands campaign. Both can handle 1st-level characters. Eveningstar is in Cormyr, but it's close to the Dalelands and the location is easily moved if desired.