D&D 5E Ed Greenwood is Contributing to A Sourcebook About Thay

Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood, along with Alex Kammer and Alan Patrick, are writing a new sourcebook about the magrocracy of Thay, known for its Red Wizards. The book will be on the DMs Guild, although there's no release date yet.

They've shared some art -- a Thayan noble at the market with her two undead porters, by artist Hector Rodriguez Antunez.

"
Because I don't have enough to do, did you know that I am about to release a brand new sourcebook on Thay? Yep. I am writing it with my friends Ed Greenwood and Alan Patrick. It is shaping up to be a really great book. It will enable the reader to look past the veil and into what day to day life in Thay really looks like. It will have tons of lore and an adventure which I wrote. It will be a POD product on the DM's Guild. We are in layout now so I hope to announce a date in the next 30 days or so.

Oh, here is a sample of some of the awesome art. Check out this Thayan noble at the market with her two undead porters."

 

[Faolyn]

Is there any hint as to the release date? Or release month?

 

[R_J_K75]

Is there any hint as to the release date? Or release month?

According to Alex Kammer on January 25, 2022, ...“Coming to a DM’s Guild near you soon! Likely next week.”

 

[Stefano Rinaldelli]

Still unable to find it on DMSGUILD... news?

 

[R_J_K75]

Still unable to find it on DMSGUILD... news?

I've been checking too and haven't seen anything either.

 

[EthanSental]

Same here, checking every few days or when people post here to see if something snuck by me on the dmsguild.

 

[Faolyn]

One criticism I had with the Border Kingdoms book was that it made references in the text to areas that weren't on the map or detailed in the book. These areas were rather obscure too, not as well known as Waterdeep, Cormyr or Baldurs Gate. With this in mind I'd imagine that there will probably be a bit of cross referencing between this book and the recent Rashemen book. If present trends continue I wouldn't be surprised if there is an Aglarond book released soon.

Do you know if the Rashemen book is any good? I'm not hugely interested in the Realms, but both the Rashemen and Thay are the main thing in the Ravenloft domain of Hazlan, so I'd love some interesting info.

 

[R_J_K75]

Do you know if the Rashemen book is any good? I'm not hugely interested in the Realms, but both the Rashemen and Thay are the main thing in the Ravenloft domain of Hazlan, so I'd love some interesting info.

No clue, I didn't buy it. I may if I pick up the Thay book and or if an Aglarond book follows. I looked at the 5E Darkhold book sample (which has the entire book previewed on DMG) and the Rashemen book sample and it appears that the formats are different across the board including the Border Kingdoms book. So, it's hard to tell from the previews of the quality/content. I do remember from reading 2E Spellbound that the area from the 3 detailed that held the most interest for me was Thay. Only way to find out if it's any good is to buy it I guess. Regardless of what I think you're the only one that can decide if its good for your game.

 

[EthanSental]

I’m in the process of reading the Rashemen pdf now, just started but I’ll chime back in as I get further into it.

 

[see]

I'm pretty sure the landmass to the east of the Eastern Sea is Osse, basically Forgotten Realms not-Australia, from the days when TSR was filling up the Faerun map with places like Maztica, Zakhara, the Tuigan etc which are all pretty transparent analogs of real-world non-European cultures.

No, Osse was never mentioned in the TSR days. The two published mentions of "Osse" come from:

1) One of the characters in the 2004 novel Lady of Poison (Gunggari Ulmarra) claims to be from Osse, and has some similarities to an Aboriginal Australian.

2) A 2007 "Class Chronicles" article on the WotC webpage.

That latter said:

Osse is a mysterious continent far from Faerûn. Its population shares much in common with the aboriginal populations of real-world Australia and New Zealand.

Which, of course, is self-contradicting ignorant nonsense, since Aboriginal Australian cultures and Polynesian cultures (including the Maori of New Zealand) have very little in common.

 

[Greggy C]

Yep according to Ed’s contract whatever he writes is canon!

I was aware of that, but was that affected in some way, by the recent clarification around canon.