History of the development of the Forgotten Realms?

[Mercurius]

I'm looking for a history of the creation and development of the Forgotten Realms, not Realms history itself. Anyone know of an article or something that is readily available? Basically I'm curious about how it was created, then developed after it was acquired by TSR. I know the general gist of it - that Ed Greenwood created it as a kid and then started writing for Dragon as a teenager before joining TSR in 1987ish. But I'm looking for more of the inside scoop, as well as details about what is Greenwood and what is not. Thanks!

 

[Riley]

"Ed Greenwood Presents: Elminster's Forgotten Realms" is a good place to start:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0786960345?pc_redir=1411855409&robot_redir=1

 

[biotech66]

Know if that is going to PDF anytime soon?

 

[Riley]

Know if that is going to PDF anytime soon?

No, no idea.

 

[Mercurius]

"Ed Greenwood Presents: Elminster's Forgotten Realms" is a good place to start:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0786960345?pc_redir=1411855409&robot_redir=1

I have the book, although haven't looked at it recently - will take another look. As far as I can remember it includes some overview of the origin of the realms, but not as much an "inside scoop" on how Greenwood's creation morphed into a TSR property. It also didn't have any clear differentiation between what is "Ed's Realms" and what is TSR's/WotC's.

I remember liking the book, but wishing it was more of a complete campaign guide, but solely Ed's version of the Realms. I suppose the grey box sans Moonshaes is as close as we can get.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

I was really hoping it was going to be Ed's version of the OGB but that was not to be.

Anyway, there are a lot of interviews that Ed has given over the years describing how FR was developed. When my internet connection is not so crappy I will Google them for you.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I was drinking with Ernie Gygax a few years back, and he said that at first the northern parts of the Forgotten Realms had mead-halls instead of Inns. When asked about this at a convention shortly after TSR purchased the Forgotten Realm rights from Mr. Greenwood, Greenwood confirmed that he imagined these would function like a historical mead-hall might in terms of warriors partaking heavily in wenching and drunkenness. Supposedly when the head of TSR's editing at the time got wind of this he was shocked at the implications and inns replaced almost all of the mead-halls and TSR got heavily into promoting a more family friendly atmosphere in places of lodging. I don't know how true the tale is, but it made for a great story.

 

[Alzrius]

I was drinking with Ernie Gygax a few years back, and he said that at first the northern parts of the Forgotten Realms had mead-halls instead of Inns. When asked about this at a convention shortly after TSR purchased the Forgotten Realm rights from Mr. Greenwood, Greenwood confirmed that he imagined these would function like a historical mead-hall might in terms of warriors partaking heavily in wenching and drunkenness. Supposedly when the head of TSR's editing at the time got wind of this he was shocked at the implications and inns replaced almost all of the mead-halls and TSR got heavily into promoting a more family friendly atmosphere in places of lodging. I don't know how true the tale is, but it made for a great story.

This is shockingly similar to what happened recently with Paizo.

When they originally published their Kingmaker adventure path a few years back, brothels were listed as one of the types of buildings you could construct in your kingdom. When those rules were transplanted to their Ultimate Campaign book a couple of years later, the brothels were mysteriously turned into "dance halls."

 

[Mercurius]

I was drinking with Ernie Gygax a few years back, and he said that at first the northern parts of the Forgotten Realms had mead-halls instead of Inns. When asked about this at a convention shortly after TSR purchased the Forgotten Realm rights from Mr. Greenwood, Greenwood confirmed that he imagined these would function like a historical mead-hall might in terms of warriors partaking heavily in wenching and drunkenness. Supposedly when the head of TSR's editing at the time got wind of this he was shocked at the implications and inns replaced almost all of the mead-halls and TSR got heavily into promoting a more family friendly atmosphere in places of lodging. I don't know how true the tale is, but it made for a great story.

Good story. While I like the edgier mead-hall, I can understand why they wouldn't want to include that in a game played by a ton of 10-15 year olds.

This is shockingly similar to what happened recently with Paizo.

When they originally published their Kingmaker adventure path a few years back, brothels were listed as one of the types of buildings you could construct in your kingdom. When those rules were transplanted to their Ultimate Campaign book a couple of years later, the brothels were mysteriously turned into "dance halls."

LOL. Realmsian Discotheques?