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

[Urriak Uruk]

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.

I really care little about the timeline. It's never mattered before; Durnan and Mirt still being alive and looking the same is handwaved away with "longevity potions." So I really don't care what has happened in the 20 year gap (or whatever length of time it is) since these regions have been covered.

What I do want is pitches on what makes each region/country unique, and what type of adventures are well-suited there. So for example, Cormyr is a place I'd like to know some lore about their society and why chivalrous nobility is important. Then, pitch me a few ideas for what adventures are great there.

The timeline of FR is a complete mess in 5E, and I don't care enough to see it fixed. What the exact year is clearly doesn't matter to the 5E designers, and it doesn't matter to me. Keep the fundamentals of these locations the same, and make this a toolbox to run games in. Please don't bore me with "In the last year, this prince bumped off the Queen and set off these reforms..."

For reference on the 5E timeline;

The Official Timeline for the Forgotten Realms and Its Adventures | Alphastream

Learn the timeline when Forgotten Realms adventures take place, how FR counts its years, and key moments in FR history.

alphastream.org

Out of the Abyss (1485 DR or later)
Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat (1489 DR)
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden (Winter, 1489 DR)
Storm King’s Thunder (1490 or 1491 DR)
Lost Mine of Phandelver (Starter Set) (1491 DR)
Princes of the Apocalypse (1491 DR)
Curse of Strahd (1491 DR)
Tomb of Annihilation (1490 or 1491 DR)
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage (1492 DR)
Dragons of Icespire Peak (Essentials Kit) (1492 DR)
Candlekeep Mysteries (1492 DR)
Descent Into Avernus (1494 DR)
Acquisitions Incorporated (1496 DR)

 

[Urriak Uruk]

First of all, no Ellywick Tumblestrum - I might not buy it just on that name alone.

I'd love for them to go back to "vintage Greenwood" - get him involved, try to double down on "Greenwoodian" flavor.

Secondly, unlike some, I'd like a bit more info on the non-Faerun continents. Not crazy detail, but a page or two on each to give the gist.

That said, I think they should strike Kara-Tur, Zakhara, and Maztica from the record.

Totally agree that the Ellywick name is terrible. Just do Elminster's Guide to Faerun and be done with it.

I honestly don't even know what is left of "Non-Faerunian continents" when you remove Kara-tur/Zakhara/Maztica.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

Instead of going all-in on Faerun or zoom a micro-setting like the Dales, I'd try to cover groups of regions, no going too deep on the region already covered in an adventure.

They already did the Sword Coast, so that's done.

They could then cover:

• The Shining South (with only a few pages on Chult, since its already covered in an adventure)
• Sea of Fallen Star and the East.
• The Old Empires

etc

 

[Disgruntled Hobbit]

Moving the focus from the Sword Coast to the Sea of Falling Stars would be an idea
No overlap with SCAG keeps that as useful

Plus the usual. Introductory adventure. Advice on adventuring in the Forgotten Realms. Stack of new monsters

 

[Disgruntled Hobbit]

Totally agree that the Ellywick name is terrible. Just do Elminster's Guide to Faerun and be done with it.

I honestly don't even know what is left of "Non-Faerunian continents" when you remove Kara-tur/Zakhara/Maztica.

ELMINSTER'S GUIDE TO THE DALES AND BEYOND would cover the Dales, Cormyr, Sembia, and the other places around the Sea of Fallen Stars

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Out of the Abyss (1485 DR or later)
Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat (1489 DR)
Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden (Winter, 1489 DR)
Storm King’s Thunder (1490 or 1491 DR)
Lost Mine of Phandelver (Starter Set) (1491 DR)
Princes of the Apocalypse (1491 DR)
Curse of Strahd (1491 DR)
Tomb of Annihilation (1490 or 1491 DR)
Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage (1492 DR)
Dragons of Icespire Peak (Essentials Kit) (1492 DR)
Candlekeep Mysteries (1492 DR)
Descent Into Avernus (1494 DR)
Acquisitions Incorporated (1496 DR)

It is so weird that they would publish things out of chronological order.

 

[DemoMonkey]

So it's not just a one-and-done? This whole Ellystick Trundlebum business is going to be a thing now?

sigh

Ok.

 

[Parmandur]

It is so weird that they would publish things out of chronological order.

They have decided to skip on there being a canonical story per se: all of the Adventure book events are possibilities that may or may not happen in any instance of the Forgotten Realms. The starting year is fairly irrelevant.

 

[Parmandur]

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.

yeah, A Faerun Setting book as a genre booster for Heroic Fantasy as updated for the 20's makes a fair bit of sense. I winder if we might see experiments of cross-Class Subclasses, similar to the Strixhaven UA, but with more standard Fantasy tropes?

 

[Mercurius]

Totally agree that the Ellywick name is terrible. Just do Elminster's Guide to Faerun and be done with it.

I honestly don't even know what is left of "Non-Faerunian continents" when you remove Kara-tur/Zakhara/Maztica.

I'd prefer Bubba Gump's Jaunt Around Faerun, to be honest.

Anyhow, check out this map, which is based on the one from the 3E FRCS:

So the continents would be:

Faerun/Kara-Tur/Zakhara/Ama Basin
Osse
Anchorome/Maztica
Katashaka

Presumably they are based on Eurasia/Africa, Australia, North and South America, respectively. I don't know if large islands like Aurune count as continents or not.

There's been literally nothing on Osse and Katashaka, as far as I know. I don't know if they are Greenwood's or added on later (I assume the latter).