D&D 5E (2024) Ed Greenwood to Publish 4 New Forgotten Realms Sourcebooks in 2026

Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood announced on a public Patreon post that he would be writing four new Forgotten Realms guidebooks in 2026. There's also an official site for it over on MythMakers. All four books will all be published on the Dungeon Master's Guild.

Each sourcebook focuses on fleshing out the Dalelands region, with planned releases in quarterly installments. They 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.

 

[thatOneLinuxDM]

Very much of the opinion that there's a difference between a great writer and a great world-builder. I'd say it's rare to get both in one person, Sanderson maybe, Pratchett possibly. Being very good at a believable world doesn't mean everybody is going to enjoy the stories you write for it.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

He who controls the past, controls the present.

Bit of a difference between a casually dashed off forum post and something like Spellfire.

Spellfire is still one of my favourite Greenwood novels.

 

[Parmandur]

Very much of the opinion that there's a difference between a great writer and a great world-builder. I'd say it's rare to get both in one person, Sanderson maybe, Pratchett possibly. Being very good at a believable world doesn't mean everybody is going to enjoy the stories you write for it.

Completely different, yes. Gary Gygax was by all accounts a very dynamic DM, but the novels...less dynamic.

Spellfire is still one of my favourite Greenwood novels.

I love the Forgotten Realms as a worldbuilding exercise, but I'm sorry...that sentence is damning with faint praise.

Great DM, great spinner of world details. Probably a fantastic librarian. Novelist and Adventure writer? Not as much.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Very much of the opinion that there's a difference between a great writer and a great world-builder. I'd say it's rare to get both in one person, Sanderson maybe, Pratchett possibly. Being very good at a believable world doesn't mean everybody is going to enjoy the stories you write for it.

Yes, but Pratchett definitely not a world builder. He made characters and plots and the world was whatever they fitted into. Most of the “world” Discword stuff was written by other people.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yes, but Pratchett definitely not a world builder. He made characters and plots and the world was whatever they fitted into. Most of the “world” Discword stuff was written by other people.

Pratchett was a worldbuilder in the sense that many DMs are. He created what was necessary and left the rest as names and vaguely tossed off references.

I'm almost through my second reread of the entire series, and despite hearing about the village of Copperhead since almost the beginning of the series, I don't think anyone ever goes there, because it was never necessary for Pratchett to flesh things out.

So there are areas of intense detail -- we know a lot about some of the sketchier neighborhoods of Ankh-Morpork -- and almost nothing about the Hub, which is a whole region of the world.

 

[thatOneLinuxDM]

Yes, but Pratchett definitely not a world builder. He made characters and plots and the world was whatever they fitted into. Most of the “world” Discword stuff was written by other people.

I think we probably just mean different things, I'm more inclined to agree with @Whizbang Dustyboots here. World-building means creating a believable setting which feels like a living world, and I think the Cosmere, and Discworld, books do that very well, whilst also producing amazing stories. Pratchett managed to create (admittedly over a lot of books) a world which felt like you were just peeking into a small part of it, for a limited time, and when you weren't enjoying the story, it was carrying on at its own pace.

The Forgotten Realms is a believable world too, even if it has its issues.

 

[TheSword]

Andrzej Sapkowski is a great writer and world builder.

He created places, political structures, rules for magic, gods, temples, mythology, bestiary and a pretty extensive timeline. Sure it was expanded by the computer games but a huge amount is laid out in the novels.

 

[TheSword]

I actually will be starting my sandbox Dalelands campaign the same way Blood of Elves starts…

The PCs and five or six other travelers from different dales, classes, organizations and races swapping stories at a crossroads campsites. Sharing news of the dales from all directions. Possibly some of those characters will return throughout the campaign.