D&D 5E Ellywick Tumblestrum's Ballads of the Forgotten Realms (hypothetical FR Setting Book)

[Henadic Theologian]

Ellywick Tumblestrum's Ballads of the Forgotten Realms (hypothetical FR Setting Book). Okay so no surprise I think either 2022 or 2023's revisit setting book will be FR Setting Book 2.0, so I was wondering what would folks want to see in the book and/or expect in it.

Plus I think Ellywick Tumblestrum's Ballads of the Forgotten Realms is the coolest name for an FR book ever .

 

[Urriak Uruk]

First, don't cover the Sword Coast. Like at all. I've seen that material covered five different ways in 5E, I don't need to read about it anymore. I've got the SCAG, it's fine, look at something else.

Second, don't try to cover every single continent and region of the Forgotten Realms. There's too much, and the biggest setting book is 320 pages (Eberron). Even that book covers only one continent in detail, and gives a handful of pages for other continents.

So cover just Faerun. Don't give Zakhara or Kara-tur anything more than a page each (preferably, less). Non-Sword Coast Faerun has plenty of material for 300 pages, and I would prefer to go deep than wide. I would prefer to read mor about Amn, Calimshan, Thay, the Moonshaes etc. Even a book on just Faerun is probably too much coverage for 300 pages, but hopefully by ignoring the Sword Coast and anything beyond Faerun we can get some good details.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

First, don't cover the Sword Coast. Like at all. I've seen that material covered five different ways in 5E, I don't need to read about it anymore. I've got the SCAG, it's fine, look at something else.

Second, don't try to cover every single continent and region of the Forgotten Realms. There's too much, and the biggest setting book is 320 pages (Eberron). Even that book covers only one continent in detail, and gives a handful of pages for other continents.

So cover just Faerun. Don't give Zakhara or Kara-tur anything more than a page each (preferably, less). Non-Sword Coast Faerun has plenty of material for 300 pages, and I would prefer to go deep than wide. I would prefer to read mor about Amn, Calimshan, Thay, the Moonshaes etc. Even a book on just Faerun is probably too much coverage for 300 pages, but hopefully by ignoring the Sword Coast and anything beyond Faerun we can get some good details.

Actually the Monster Manual is the biggest D&D 5e book at 352 pages. Page count and price seem to have no connection in 5e with the SCAG costing exactly the same price as the MM or Eberron Rising From the Last War weird, so honestly I don't know what the max possible size is for a D&D 5e book. Not saying this book would hit it, I don't know.

Anyways it's most likely just on Faerun most likely with a very small section on cosmology and lands beyond Faerun like Eberron's book got. That alone is a very diverse place.

I see it having a very bare bones mention of the Swordcoast with a side bar directing folks to the SCAG, BG: DiA, and WD: DH.

This time lands to the South and East will be the focus (and maybe even in the Sea of Fallen Stars and its underwater civilizations).

I also think there will be a Lineages section updating the races from the PHB, SCAG, and EEPG to Lineages, with a couple new ones like Wemics, etc..., Lineages don't take up much room. I'm not sure if subclasses will be in.

Also remember the focus will be on updating and expanding the FR lore, not on exploring its entire history, there are older edition books for that, so that will make it easier to explore Faerun more fully.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Either focus on Faerun or go tight on the Dalelands.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Actually the Monster Manual is the biggest D&D 5e book at 352 pages. Page count and price seem to have no connection in 5e with the SCAG costing exactly the same price as the MM or Eberron Rising From the Last War weird, so honestly I don't know what the max possible size is for a D&D 5e book. Not saying this book would hit it, I don't know.

Anyways it's most likely just on Faerun most likely with a very small section on cosmology and lands beyond Faerun like Eberron's book got. That alone is a very diverse place.

I see it having a very bare bones mention of the Swordcoast with a side bar directing folks to the SCAG, BG: DiA, and WD: DH.

This time lands to the South and East will be the focus (and maybe even in the Sea of Fallen Stars and its underwater civilizations).

I also think there will be a Lineages section updating the races from the PHB, SCAG, and EEPG to Lineages, with a couple new ones like Wemics, etc..., Lineages don't take up much room. I'm not sure if subclasses will be in.

Also remember the focus will be on updating and expanding the FR lore, not on exploring its entire history, there are older edition books for that, so that will make it easier to explore Faerun more fully.

I specifically said biggest setting book in my comment.

I have near-zero interest in how "updated" or "expanded" the FR lore is. What I want is that lore collated and simplified, so when I flip to the section on Amn, I can understand how to actually run a game there. I don't want an encyclopedia, the FR wiki exists and does a great job. I want enough lore that I understand how the people of Amn behave and how they feel about certain things (foreigners, adventurers, monsters, etc). I want to know how society functions, and how the laws are created and enforced. And I want tools to apply that for a game. That means stuff like tables, adventure hooks, key npcs, that sort of stuff.

Give me a game book, not a history book.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I specifically said biggest setting book in my comment.

I have near-zero interest in how "updated" or "expanded" the FR lore is. What I want is that lore collated and simplified, so when I flip to the section on Amn, I can understand how to actually run a game there. I don't want an encyclopedia, the FR wiki exists and does a great job. I want enough lore that I understand how the people of Amn behave and how they feel about certain things (foreigners, adventurers, monsters, etc). I want to know how society functions, and how the laws are created and enforced. And I want tools to apply that for a game. That means stuff like tables, adventure hooks, key npcs, that sort of stuff.

Give me a game book, not a history book.

That basically what I meant by updated, the current information you need to run games in a place at the current year in FR, aka current events and what that place like now (cities, current events/plot hooks, laws, rules, etc...).

The expanded part is clearly WotC wants to add some new stuff to the setting like the new Drow cities.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Either focus on Faerun or go tight on the Dalelands.

Going tight into the Dalelands would just get the same complaints as the SCAG got, but focusing on Faerun is certain.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Who should do the Alt Cover?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Going tight into the Dalelands would just get the same complaints as the SCAG got, but focusing on Faerun is certain.

I think both approaches are valid. I think for newer DMs, who aren't sitting on a backlog of old FR books, a tight focus on an area is more useful at the table.

But if Eberron can get a big overview, Faerun can as well. (I would ignore the non-Western areas at the edge of the map, as all need between a modest and an overwhelming amount of work to be brought up to contemporary standards.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Who should do the Alt Cover?

I think the Candlekeep alternate cover is a great direction to take. Instead of being an old library book, Faerun should get a (fake) leatherbound travel journal, stained and road-worn.