D&D General Greyhawk to Faerun and Beyond: A Multiversal D&D Lore Book Is Coming This Fall

This coming October, a 360+ page hardcover which delves into Dungeons & Dragons' various worlds and settings will be released. The book isn't from WotC--it's from Ten Speed Press--but it's by Adam Lee, who wrote for Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus and Waterdeep: Dragon Heist. The book comes full of 50-years of artwork, and is narrated by the famous wizard Mordenkainen. Additionally, the book contains some original fiction.

Dungeons & Dragons Worlds & Realms: Adventures from Greyhawk to Faerûn and Beyond is available for pre-order already.

The book covers Greyhawk, Mystara, Dragonlance, Faerun, Eberron, the Feywild and Shadowfell, Spelljammer, the Nine Hells, the Abyss, Sigil, and the Far Realm. It's a book of lore and story, not a rulebook, giving an overall of D&D's entire multiverse and its many worlds.

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Celebrate fifty years of the spellbinding settings and planes of Dungeons & Dragons with this beautifully illustrated exploration of the multiverse.

Worlds & Realms is an illustrated, story-driven retrospective celebrating the immersive worldbuilding of D&D since the iconic game’s inception in 1974. Legendary mage Mordenkainen takes adventurers on a fantastical journey through the multiverse, delving into memorable and fascinating lore and locations across all five editions of the game.

With Mordenkainen’s guidance, readers will revisit worlds that have come to define D&D over the decades, from the familiar realms of the Material Plane to lands beyond the Astral Sea. Mordenkainen’s philosophical musings provide a mage’s-eye view of the worlds’ unique features, creatures, and characters, captivating readers’ imaginations as they learn more about the history and mysteries of the multiverse. Additionally, readers will join adventuring parties with inhabitants of each realm through exclusive short stories by award-winning contributors Jaleigh Johnson, Jody Houser and Eric Campbell, Jasmine Bhullar, and Geoffrey Golden.

Full of exciting and enchanting artwork showing fifty years of gameplay evolution from vintage D&D through the present, with original cover and chapter-opener illustrations, Worlds & Realms is a spellbinding tour of the strange and wonderful worlds of the multiverse, appealing to both new and long-standing fans alike.

Polygon has some previews of the book.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Opening the IP to anyone on Beyond feels unlikely because of the obvious pitfalls of some of the cultures.

Eh, there are plenty of objectionable elements of Forgotten Realms cultures. People don't lean into those elements when creating DMs Guild content for those.

I think it's more realistic that Mystara just isn't on WotC's radar nowadays, because they already have the Forgotten Realms at home.

 

[MNblockhead]

I like your post. Just commenting on this point.

In 5e, flavor and crunch are equally "rules as written", and are often baked into each other.

An official description of an official setting counts as rules as written, even when it lacks a mechanical description.

For example, even to mention that in the Greyhawk setting, the "Faerie" Grey Elves are an Eladrin culture, and that there are Fey Crossings across the continent of Flannaess, has consequential game implications.

Nah, they are different.

Lore As Written (LAW) is far more important to adhere to. "I'm the DM and in this game, we are going to play within the LAW!"

Okay, dumb joke. Just got online after work. I need some time to warm up.

More seriously, I generally think of lore and rules as separate, especially in D&D. I'll happily ignore most of the "fluff" and make my own or use a setting from a third party.

But of course that is silly. Even if I don't use a WOTC-published setting or any WotC monsters, if I'm sticking with the published PC species and classes, I'm adhering to the LAW that those species and class exist in the world. If we play with D&D with spells we are adhering to the LAW that magic exists in the world. And so on. If you really try to pull out all just the crunch with no lore attached, you just have a generic d20 system that is no longer D&D.

 

[MNblockhead]

A combat game needs villains to combat.

Thank goodness they give lots of settings like Eberron, FG, Greyhawk, Spelljammer, etc. for my players to issue out of the nine hells to wreak havoc upon!

 

[Yaarel]

Nah, they are different.

Lore As Written (LAW) is far more important to adhere to. "I'm the DM and in this game, we are going to play within the LAW!"

Okay, dumb joke. Just got online after work. I need some time to warm up.

More seriously, I generally think of lore and rules as separate, especially in D&D. I'll happily ignore most of the "fluff" and make my own or use a setting from a third party.

But of course that is silly. Even if I don't use a WOTC-published setting or any WotC monsters, if I'm sticking with the published PC species and classes, I'm adhering to the LAW that those species and class exist in the world. If we play with D&D with spells we are adhering to the LAW that magic exists in the world. And so on. If you really try to pull out all just the crunch with no lore attached, you just have a generic d20 system that is no longer D&D.

I think the "LAW" (Lore-As-Written) is an awesome acronym.

4e was designed to discretely reflavor.

5e is different. It is impossible to ignore flavor, especially for a DM style that adjudicates narratively, with a goal of narrative immersion.

For example, if a player thematically reflavors a spell, I require the player to rewrite the spell. The new flavor becomes the new Rules-As-Written, for future narrative adjudication.

Flavor matters and official flavor needs to be both interesting and versatile enough for a player to make it ones own.

 

[Maxperson]

Lore As Written (LAW) is far more important to adhere to. "I'm the DM and in this game, we are going to play within the LAW!"

"I am the LAW!" ~ DM Dredd

 

[Quartz]

It doesn't look like this gets anywhere near the level of detail a full campaign setting would offer, or even what the DMG's take on Oerth is likely to be, but this seems like it'd be a neat edition-proof product for DMs who just want a high level view on WotC's take on each of these worlds, as well as for people who are big fans of the official D&D meta-setting.

Seems like a taster set but at quite a high price. I'd pay good money for a comprehensive Greyhawk setting & lorebook. One that includes absolutely everything from the past 50 years. All the stuff from Dragon, Dungeon, the modules, everything.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Seems like a taster set but at quite a high price. I'd pay good money for a comprehensive Greyhawk setting & lorebook. One that includes absolutely everything from the past 50 years. All the stuff from Dragon, Dungeon, the modules, everything.

I would be surprised if it happens during this edition, but there's definitely an audience out there for it.

 

[jayoungr]

Seems weird to have a single book just skimming the surface of multiple settings.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Seems weird to have a single book just skimming the surface of multiple settings.

Since when does WotC do anything other than skim the surface of lore? I know this book isn't technical from WotC, but the writers and editors clearly graduated from WotC University if it's anything like what people and their marketing are saying.

 

[Parmandur]

Seems weird to have a single book just skimming the surface of multiple settings.

I mean, that's a large page count per Setting. And this is a coffee table art book, not a game product.