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

[Parmandur]

Interestingly enough there are only 134 pages in the 320 page book devoted in geography (regions) including Realms and a single page on other continents, 44 pages for Character options, not including spells, 27 pages on deities and the cosmology, 6 pages on History, 7 pages on running the realms, magic got 12 pages. Within the geography section the Dalelands got a staggering chunk of space compared to everything else.

There is there is alot of room to shift space around within the 320 pages. Character Options don't take up nearly as much space, compare the space Prestige Classes take up, each of which is a quarter to half a regular class in size, to the small space subclasses take up. Lineages don't take up much space either, even if their is alot of them, although a deeper dive into cultural lore will. I think even at 320 pages they could make the Geographic (regions) section much bigger thanks to space saved in other sections and partly by the simple fact that books like the adventures already released, the SCAG, etc..., already have done alot of the work.

If they go with MM size instead they can go even deeper on regions or add more stuff.

So, if we use Eberron as a theoretical model:

- Chapter 1: character options. Update traditional Races yo Tasha Lineages, New Subclasses, maybe Tealms specific Group Patrons.

- Chapter 2: Faerûn Gazateer, focused on areas outside the Sword Coast, similar to Rising from the Last Wars Chapter 2.

- Chapter 3: Dalelands deep dive Gazateer, similar to the Sharn Chapter, considering the amount of material generated for the Dalelands by Greenwood, and the area being well suited to D&D High Fantasy mercenary adventuring parties.

- Chapter 4: Adventure generation material: tables, maps, seeds, the whole nine yards. Includes a starting adventure module set in the Dalelands.

- Chapter 5: Magic items & treasure.

- Chapter 6: Bestiary

 

[Parmandur]

I hold any game running advice section is small, I'm not sure it needs much in that regard, like what you put in it, that isn't coveted by the DMG or another book?

Oh, man, Ravnica, Eberron, Theros, and Ravenloft all got huge mileage off of that sort of thing, particularly the tables that help expand on Chapter 5 of the DMG which make up a large part of all of those books. Definitely that would play a role in any new Setting book made by WotC, it's the point of the "genre vooster pack" model.

 

[Parmandur]

I hold any game running advice section is small, I'm not sure it needs much in that regard, like what you put in it, that isn't coveted by the DMG or another book?

For context, Chapter 4 of Rising from the Last War, Building Eberron Adventures, is 80 pages long a full 25% of the book and about the same length as the Character Creation Chapter 1. Chapter 2 & 3 combined, both Gazateer sections, are slightly short at 77 pages: 47 for Khorvaire as a whole, 30 for Sharn in particular. I would expect roughly similar ratios in an FR book.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Oh, man, Ravnica, Eberron, Theros, and Ravenloft all got huge mileage off of that sort of thing, particularly the tables that help expand on Chapter 5 of the DMG which make up a large part of all of those books. Definitely that would play a role in any new Setting book made by WotC, it's the point of the "genre vooster pack" model.

But in this case what would you put in it? Somekind of Supernatural Gifts like Theros? A piety system based around categories of deities instead of individual deities? Whatever you do will likely transform AL. Faction rules like Ravnica? Unlike the complexity of horror, I'm not sure what kind of advice it needs for Epic Fantasy. Maybe Epic Levels/Epic Destinies Ala 4e?

 

[Parmandur]

But in this case what would you put in it? Somekind of Supernatural Gifts like Theros? A piety system based around categories of deities instead of individual deities? Whatever you do will likely transform AL. Faction rules like Ravnica? Unlike the complexity of horror, I'm not sure what kind of advice it needs for Epic Fantasy. Maybe Epic Levels/Epic Destinies Ala 4e?

Heroic Fantasy, not Epic Fantasy (that would be more Dragonlance, per the DMG). Honestly, just doing a Tashification of the Races of Faerûn would make a meaty Character Creation chapter, and providing materials more particular to the Realms (tables to help develop Adventures with the Red Wizards or the Harpers) than those in the DMG.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

For context, Chapter 4 of Rising from the Last War, Building Eberron Adventures, is 80 pages long a full 25% of the book and about the same length as the Character Creation Chapter 1. Chapter 2 & 3 combined, both Gazateer sections, are slightly short at 77 pages: 47 for Khorvaire as a whole, 30 for Sharn in particular. I would expect roughly similar ratios in an FR book.

Oh heck no, the lore is the core of what makes FR special, and Faerun is way bigger and diverse, a Geography section 77 pages doesn't cut it. The book doesn't need a huge running FR section, it's the default setting and folks have been running it for years now. That would be as bad or worse then the SCAG and unneeded.

 

[Parmandur]

Oh heck no, the lore is the core of what makes FR special, and Faerun is way bigger and diverse, a Geography section 77 pages doesn't cut it. The book doesn't need a huge running FR section, it's the default setting and folks have been running it for years now. That would be as bad or worse then the SCAG and unneeded.

Speak for yourself, I love the sort of adventure generation expansion material that's included in Tavncia, Eberron, et al. An entirely lore centric book cannot compete with the Forgotten Realms Wikia, or the 3E FRCS already on my bedroom bookshelf. A modern Setting book, like Eberron, however, is a gold mine of game prep aids, which I value in a game book.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

Speak for itself, I love the sort of adventure generation expansion material that's included in Tavncia, Eberron, et al. An entirely lore centric book cannot compete with the Forgotten Realms Wikia, or the 3E FRCS already on my bedroom bookshelf. A modern Setting book, like Eberron, however, is a gold mine of game prep aids, which I value in a game book.

Very much agree with this. I don't really want a remake of the FRCS with better art, layout, and "Here's what happened in the past 10 years!"

A gaming book like Eberron (which doesn't advance the timeline at all) that is primarily focused on "Here is how to run different thematic games in these various regions within a 5E context," is far more valuable to me.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Speak for yourself, I love the sort of adventure generation expansion material that's included in Tavncia, Eberron, et al. An entirely lore centric book cannot compete with the Forgotten Realms Wikia, or the 3E FRCS already on my bedroom bookshelf. A modern Setting book, like Eberron, however, is a gold mine of game prep aids, which I value in a game book.

I think it should fall somewhere in the middle. Obviously, the FRCS did go into unnecessary detail, but remember that Faerûn is significantly larger than Khorvaire, with a larger number of sub-entities, which will mean more room for the geography section than Eberron's did to amount to equivalent coverage. And since Eberron had to sacrifice space for the entirety of the Arificer class and all the info on Dragonmarks, there's a good amount of the page count which can be shifted without difficulty...

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Speak for yourself, I love the sort of adventure generation expansion material that's included in Tavncia, Eberron, et al. An entirely lore centric book cannot compete with the Forgotten Realms Wikia, or the 3E FRCS already on my bedroom bookshelf. A modern Setting book, like Eberron, however, is a gold mine of game prep aids, which I value in a game book.

I'll take another look at that section.