D&D 5E Kobold Press: Can They Take On The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting?

[Scrivener of Doom]

Lets not kid ourselves here.

Besides stat blocks for NPCs and monsters and the occasional special race/spell, the BULK of the material generally goes unchanged from edition to edition in settings. Usually its just re-writes for consistency or editorial, or continuity.

When I was putting together a series of blog posts to expand Lost Mine of Phandelver by expanding the notes on each location on the regional map, I went back through all the source books that covered those locations. I was amazed at how many of those locations really used the same descriptions across three or more editions!

 

[Matt James]

A comment by Matt James over on the Candlekeep.com forums has me curious whether or not a third party like Kobold Press could take on the Forgotten Realms and produce a proper campaign guide for 5E.

I am not all that familiar with Kobold, but I wager one or more of you are. In your opinion, could they take on the Realms and produce something worthy of the setting?

I would love to work for Wolfgang again, and get the whole FR freelance crew back together and working on it

The question that remains: Can a FR Campaign book generate enough interested (re: profit) for it to be sanctioned?

As for seeing similar content: that's going to happen. Continuity is important to many, many fans of the Forgotten Realms. Facts have to be researched and validated. That doesn't always happen, unfortunately. It's no different than the (sadly, now dead) Extended Universe in Star Wars. That said, putting a new twist on old facts is where the real creativity is generated. There are many ways to do this, one of which WotC and Ed have acknowledged: the Unreliable Narrator.

 

[Astrosicebear]

I would love to work for Wolfgang again, and get the whole FR freelance crew back together and working on it

The question that remains: Can a FR Campaign book generate enough interested (re: profit) for it to be sanctioned?

As for seeing similar content: that's going to happen. Continuity is important to many, many fans of the Forgotten Realms. Facts have to be researched and validated. That doesn't always happen, unfortunately. It's no different than the (sadly, now dead) Extended Universe in Star Wars. That said, putting a new twist on old facts is where the real creativity is generated. There are many ways to do this, one of which WotC and Ed have acknowledged: the Unreliable Narrator.

Matt,

I didnt mean to insinuate that a Setting Sourcebook wasnt 'work'. It most certainly is. More of what I meant was that that continuity is vital to keeping the setting familiar. And with recent attempts at the realms with things like the Sundering and Spellplague, we see that massive changes are maybe not the best approach.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Yes, of course they could.

All they need is access to Ed Greenwood. They have all the other skills already.

I don't know...maybe cutting Ed out would improve the setting. If ever there was a setting that needs a fresh look I think the realms is it. I can't imagine any setting after 20+ years NEEDs it's orginal writer back any more then it NEEDs any of it's writers back...

 

[DMZ2112]

I'm going to throw in with the folks who are implying, if not outright saying, that we are sure Kobold could do FR justice, but why bother? It's been done more than four times in 30 years. The D&D3.5 version is on dndclassics.com.

By all means let there be new FR material, but why pay for the same text again? Let's see some adventures and website articles set in places that haven't gotten attention yet (e.g., not the Sword Coast). As much as I love poster maps, I'd rather see Wizards invest in a Google Maps powered searchable online atlas.

There are ways to do this -- better ways -- that defy the traditional.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Ed Greenwood needs to work on it, or it's not likely to be very good.

I agree that Ed really should work on it. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it wouldn't be any good without him, but it justs isn't the Forgotten Realms without Ed in my opinion.

As for the OP, I think that Kobold Press could handle the job. Whether WotC are willing to farm the 5E FR setting guide out to a freelancer remains to be seen. Additional sourcebooks I could see them farming out, but I'm not sure about the setting guide.

 

[GlobeOfDankness]

as someone who loves FR and hates the sword coast, i couldn't agree more that most of the settings books have been massive retreads. what's really needed is an approach where they release a book that's part adventure path and part setting book. each one would cover a good range of levels as well as flesh out a manageable region of the FR continent.

i'd be climbing over people to buy these books if they released 1-2 a year. with dnd, certain products are anything but optional if only you'd give us the chance to buy them. the genius is that they don't even need to be Realms specific. they could easily embrace their multiverse concept by tying the books to their umbrella settings. we'd get things like FR1, EB1, DS1, etc.

 

[SirAntoine]

I agree that Ed really should work on it. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it wouldn't be any good without him, but it justs isn't the Forgotten Realms without Ed in my opinion.

As for the OP, I think that Kobold Press could handle the job. Whether WotC are willing to farm the 5E FR setting guide out to a freelancer remains to be seen. Additional sourcebooks I could see them farming out, but I'm not sure about the setting guide.

Ed Greenwood is the best. I would give him control at least.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

By all means let there be new FR material, but why pay for the same text again? Let's see some adventures and website articles set in places that haven't gotten attention yet (e.g., not the Sword Coast).

what's really needed is an approach where they release a book that's part adventure path and part setting book. each one would cover a good range of levels as well as flesh out a manageable region of the FR continent.

I tell you what: if WotC released a sourcebook/adventure path combination where one book covered the northern coast of the Lake of Steam and the second covered the Border Kingdoms, I'd be all over those books like white on rice. ...this from someone who's not purchased a 5E gaming product yet.

Likewise if WotC focused on Impiltur and hired George Krashos as part of the design team then you better believe I'd snatch that book up.


Quick note: I'm a big-time fan of Cormyr--I set my campaigns there and collect Realmslore for it--and there's little that can draw my attention away besides info on Waterdeep. However George has done a lot to get me thinking about Impiltur. His High History of Impiltur (pdf link) really ought to find its way into an official sourcebook.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

I don't know...maybe cutting Ed out would improve the setting. If ever there was a setting that needs a fresh look I think the realms is it. I can't imagine any setting after 20+ years NEEDs it's orginal writer back any more then it NEEDs any of it's writers back...

I think FR actually needs more Ed.

Ed's vision for FR is far more nuanced than the published version. It's also more coherent and less "kitchen sink". (I find this with Eberron as well where Keith Baker's vision is so much more compelling than a lot of those who have tried to give it a "fresh look".)

YMMV, of course.