D&D General Forgotten Realms cover to "Guide to the Dalelands" revealed, book delayed

The cover to Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood's first sourcebook in the Realmsbound series has been revealed.

Guide to the Dalelands is the first of four books, and is a regional sourcebook for both DMs and players. It will be released on the Dungeon Master's Guild. The book has been delayed from Q1 2026 to Q2 2026. They are hoping to release it in June.

The other books in the series 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.

 

[Parmandur]

Some people like vanilla?

Vanilla is not bland, it is just the extremely popular default. The Dalelands is definitely "Standard issue D&D" as it gets...but people like standard issue D&D High Fantasy.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Vanilla is not bland, it is just the extremely popular default. The Dalelands is definitely "Standard issue D&D" as it gets...but people like standard issue D&D High Fantasy.

I thought the Sword Coast was "Standard D&D Fantasy" which is why I have a hard time understanding what the Dalelands offers that it doesn't.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I thought the Sword Coast was "Standard D&D Fantasy" which is why I have a hard time understanding what the Dalelands offers that it doesn't.

Dalelands is more old school and Tolkien-esque. We have the Shire parked next to a megadungeon. Sword Coast is more new-fangled 90s urban D&D.

 

[GravyFingerz]

I doubt the setting will be twisted. It's more a case of "for those of you who like this sort of thing, this is the sort of thing you like." It's a DMG product so it doesn't need mass market appeal, it can afford to be niche.

That makes sense to me. He’s gotta make his bread and butter, and finding old copies of books about the dalelands are less convenient to get ahold of than buying a pdf online.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

Dalelands is more old school and Tolkien-esque. We have the Shire parked next to a megadungeon. Sword Coast is more new-fangled 90s urban D&D.

Ok so the impression I'm getting is Dalelands is Vanilla and Sword Coast is French Vanilla.

 

[Parmandur]

I thought the Sword Coast was "Standard D&D Fantasy" which is why I have a hard time understanding what the Dalelands offers that it doesn't.

The Sword Coast and the Dalelands are part of the same region, the Heartlands.

More specifically, Shadowdale and Waterdeep are the locations of Greenwood's multi-decade home games, so that is where the deepest detail is actually found.

 

[Parmandur]

Dalelands is more old school and Tolkien-esque. We have the Shire parked next to a megadungeon. Sword Coast is more new-fangled 90s urban D&D.

The whole Setting came because grade school Greenwood was writing Lankhmar fan fiction, Waterdeep is the more core area.

 

[jdrakeh]

Ok so the impression I'm getting is Dalelands is Vanilla and Sword Coast is French Vanilla.

You're not wrong. And a lot of FR that the past few editions have focused on is painfully vanilla. I hate, hate, hate it. Chult was a welcome departure from the norm.

 

[Starmaster]

Vanilla is not bland, it is just the extremely popular default. The Dalelands is definitely "Standard issue D&D" as it gets...but people like standard issue D&D High Fantasy.

I certainly like variety, but in my heart of hearts, I'm deeply old school and Tolkienesque settings will always be my fallback and my favorite.