Look What ED GREENWOOOD Is Doing! Forgotten Realms: The Unofficial, Non-Canon, Unlicensed, Utterly U

There's no news of an official Forgotten Realms book for D&D (at least not yet), but Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood is forging ahead with his own! Greenwood is writing Forgotten Realms: The Unofficial, Non-Canon, Unlicensed, Utterly Unapproved 50-Year History under the auspices of The Ed Greenwood Group and plans to release it at Gen Con in August this year, and once a week there will be updates on the web where he'll "peek behind the curtain and let you know something else about the untold history of the Realms, things you’ve never known".
Here's the full announcement:

"Welcome to the unofficial history of the Forgotten Realms.® Have you ever wondered why I, the guy who created the Realms in the first place, decided to share it with the wider world? Do you want to hear behind-the-scenes stories, some of those that can now be told, about why things are the way they are? Why, for instance, that from the beginning the Forgotten Realms® maps didn’t have hexes all over them, so the rivers didn’t run in little diagonal lines along the edges of hexes, but rather the maps looked like maps of real places, rather than game maps? Ever wondered about things like that?

Well, for the answers to those questions and many others, just keep visiting our site throughout the year because once a week we’ll peek behind the curtain and let you know something else about the untold history of the Realms, things you’ve never known. Things you may not even have thought to ask about, things that are deep dark secrets of the Realms.

See you every week, throughout the year!

The Ed Greenwood Group will launch its first projects in August at GenCon 2015 in Indianapolis—Forgotten Realms: The Unofficial, Non-Canon, Unlicensed, Utterly Unapproved 50-Year History by Ed Greenwood, curated by Brian Cortijo and All is Lust: Letters With a Hooded Lady by Ed Greenwood and The Hooded One.

Join us at RealmsSecretariat.com each week as Ed Greenwood continues the tale of how the Forgotten Realms went from a short story to becoming one of the world’s most beloved shared settings. All stories are totally unofficial—100% unapproved—not authorized, sanctioned, censored, or redacted in any way. Herewith we present the unvarnished Ed Greenwood and his take on the past fifty years."
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[video=youtube;XFdU3fUeBSI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XFdU3fUeBSI[/video]
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[Kramodlog]

I know you are just joking, but funnily enough I've never ran a game set in the Forgotten Realms and have only played in a couple of campaigns set there. The last campaign I ran was set in Greyhawk, as is the campaign I'm currently playing in. I like both Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms. I don't see it as a competition between the 2 settings, or their authors.

I never even considered a competition existed between them before I saw GM's posts. I find it rather amusing.

I've played/DMed in the Realms, Dark Sun, DragonLance, Ravenloft, Planescape, Spelljammer, Eberron, Golarion and some homebrewed settings. The only one I found problematic was DragonLance. It seems everyone, the DM included, couldn't liberate themselves from the events in the novels and the the characters. Same thing happened with the LotR RPG I've played. It was never the case for the Realms, even if a lot of peopel complained about it. It was just too rich to be bound by its novels and NPCs.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Why does it need to be published? Tolkien wrote his first Middle-Earth stories in the trenches during WWI. They were published after the Hobbit and the LotR, when the Silmarillion was published. Does it mean they exist only after they have been published? Thus making them older than the Hobbit and the LotR?

The same thing applies to Ed and the Realms. He wrote his first stories in 1965. His first article about the Realms was published in 1979 in Dragon mag. The Grey Box came out in 1987. Why would it mean the Realms didn't exist prior to 1987?

it means we don't count... now if you want to make an argument for 79 (or when ever first dragon article, for some reason I thought in the other thread it was 83 or 84, but I', no expert) that still isn't 50 years...

we count Tolkien from publication dates... always have... we can celebrate him just fine with 36 years of the realms or 2 years of the realms... the problem isn't celebrating the author it's inflateing the number of years...

I gurantee you if you ask 1,000 people at random if they count the day the story was written or the day the story was published, atleast 90% would say publish... so when you say something like 50 years... it is deceptive....

 

[Reynard]

I think I see part of the problem and it is easily solved: [MENTION=67338]GMforPowergamers[/MENTION] the book is *not* "50 Years of Forgotten Realm the D&D Setting" it is simply "50 Years of the Forgotten Realms." With this project, it appears Greenwood is tracing the whole life of the setting from his, the creator's, perspective. That must include its first inklings and origins, whether he was 6 or 66. If George R R Martin wrote a book detailing how he created Westeros, he would not start with the publication of Game of Thrones. He would start much earlier, perhaps even before it was a named, fully fleshed out place.

As a writer, you must know that the creation of a world starts long before the first sentence of a novel is written, even before the first note is jotted on a napkin even. And if the story is that of the setting, the only way to tell the whole story is to start at the beginning.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I think I see part of the problem and it is easily solved: [MENTION=67338]GMforPowergamers[/MENTION] the book is *not* "50 Years of Forgotten Realm the D&D Setting" it is simply "50 Years of the Forgotten Realms."

yes, I understand that he is carefully choosing his words to show himself and his works in the light he wants with out right fibbing...

With this project, it appears Greenwood is tracing the whole life of the setting from his, the creator's, perspective. That must include its first inklings and origins, whether he was 6 or 66.

yea, once again "Ed Greenwood Presents his 50 years of fantasy, an autobiography" not only wouldn't have me saying anything against it... I would probably buy it.

If George R R Martin wrote a book detailing how he created Westeros, he would not start with the publication of Game of Thrones. He would start much earlier, perhaps even before it was a named, fully fleshed out place.

Yes, lets assume (I really don't know) he was working on westeros in 1988... if he called the book "27 years working on westeros" I would support that... and make the joke "that was just to write the 5th book " if on the other hand he wrote "Happy 50th birthday the song of ice and fire" I would call a little BS...

As a writer, you must know that the creation of a world starts long before the first sentence of a novel is written,

totally and I also know that ed put a lot of work into his setting, and his stories... but when we compare books, and comics, and movies, and campaign settings (see dragon lance above) we compare publication dates....

and as a writer (who knows other even published ones) I also know that pointing to X day is very rare and almost impossible. You see idea's don't exsist in a vacuum. Fantasies I had in grade and highschool still pop into ideas for stories or settings or characters... I can't say "I created this part in this year" and honestly be more general than a few year spread, and neither is anyone else I know... so we use actual dates that are recorded... in my case I can tell you the date I finished each story pretty close, or very exact (the nanowirmo ones), I can also tell you the date of my first regection letter, for each story... but I wont count those after publishing as anything other then a little cool fact.

even before the first note is jotted on a napkin even. And if the story is that of the setting, the only way to tell the whole story is to start at the beginning.

yes, and telling stories is great... but posting a 50th birthday is a little disingenuous...

The story of "50 years of ed greenwood story telling" could easily say "The setting that one day grew into the one I sold TSR called the Forgotten Realms was something I worked on for years... let me tell you about the story I wrote/told around the age of 6" but instead he is pretending it hit a huge milestone 50 years... and it isn't...

Ed told stories as a kid, and some of those stories became the basis for the setting... and that's great. I'm sure they changed quite a few times over the years, and grew with the telling (Like any great story).I do think he is trying to self aggrandize because 50 is a much bigger milestone then 30....

 

[Shasarak]

EDIT: Wanted to add as an example the other major D&D setting, Dragonlance. It was published in 1984 as a novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight, they celebrated the 30th anniversary last year in 2014. Hickman and his wife came up with concept while on a road trip in 1982, that doesn't count no matter what was written down at the time, because it wasn't published. This whole 50th thing is just a ploy for attention.

So then that means in 2032 Tracey can write an unofficial book for the 50th anniversary of the creation of Dragonlance.

 

[Agamon]

This isn't about 50 years of a published setting. The book is the behind-the-scenes about how FR came about. If Ed started creating it 50 years ago, then the book is going to span 50 years of it's maturation to what it is now.

No one said it's "50 years old" or that there's any birthdays or milestones involved (no, really, go back and check), but that there's "50 years of history" behind it. That's it.

 

[Kramodlog]

it means we don't count...

What?

now if you want to make an argument for 79 (or when ever first dragon article, for some reason I thought in the other thread it was 83 or 84, but I', no expert) that still isn't 50 years...

It is 79. You might want to do some research before voicing opinions and getting all emotional about them... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Greenwood

we count Tolkien from publication dates... always have... we can celebrate him just fine

Are you nobility? Cause your use of the royal "We" isn't appropriate if you're not.

I gurantee you if you ask 1,000 people at random if they count the day the story was written or the day the story was published, atleast 90% would say publish... so when you say something like 50 years... it is deceptive....

Dude, your speculations about a poll that will never happen is worth less than zero in a debate.

 

[Reynard]

yes, I understand that he is carefully choosing his words to show himself and his works in the light he wants with out right fibbing...


yea, once again "Ed Greenwood Presents his 50 years of fantasy, an autobiography" not only wouldn't have me saying anything against it... I would probably buy it.


Yes, lets assume (I really don't know) he was working on westeros in 1988... if he called the book "27 years working on westeros" I would support that... and make the joke "that was just to write the 5th book " if on the other hand he wrote "Happy 50th birthday the song of ice and fire" I would call a little BS...


totally and I also know that ed put a lot of work into his setting, and his stories... but when we compare books, and comics, and movies, and campaign settings (see dragon lance above) we compare publication dates....

and as a writer (who knows other even published ones) I also know that pointing to X day is very rare and almost impossible. You see idea's don't exsist in a vacuum. Fantasies I had in grade and highschool still pop into ideas for stories or settings or characters... I can't say "I created this part in this year" and honestly be more general than a few year spread, and neither is anyone else I know... so we use actual dates that are recorded... in my case I can tell you the date I finished each story pretty close, or very exact (the nanowirmo ones), I can also tell you the date of my first regection letter, for each story... but I wont count those after publishing as anything other then a little cool fact.
yes, and telling stories is great... but posting a 50th birthday is a little disingenuous...

The story of "50 years of ed greenwood story telling" could easily say "The setting that one day grew into the one I sold TSR called the Forgotten Realms was something I worked on for years... let me tell you about the story I wrote/told around the age of 6" but instead he is pretending it hit a huge milestone 50 years... and it isn't...

Ed told stories as a kid, and some of those stories became the basis for the setting... and that's great. I'm sure they changed quite a few times over the years, and grew with the telling (Like any great story).I do think he is trying to self aggrandize because 50 is a much bigger milestone then 30....

Based on your responses, I literally have no idea why you are upset about this. You seem to recognize that the book is about Greenwood's journey as the creator of the Forgotten Realms, yet are apparently deeply personally offended by his marking the 50 year anniversary. All I can say is you are wrong -- you are wrong about Greenwood and you are absolutely wrong about Tolkien. And I don't mean "your opinion is bad" I mean you are factually in error in your assessment of how to mark the creation of a setting. Publication date is of no importance at all. It does not even impact copyright law; how could it be used as a basis for "creation?"

 

[GMforPowergamers]

It is 79. You might want to do some research before voicing opinions and getting all emotional about them... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Greenwood

I did plenty of research, I even showed my work in the last 2 threads....

Are you nobility? Cause your use of the royal "We" isn't appropriate if you're not.

we as in the plural, more then one... in this case I mean the majority of the free world... WE count from publication date...

Dude, your speculations about a poll that will never happen is worth less than zero in a debate.

it has everything to do with it and you know it... if even a large portion of the readers are going to be mis lead then it matters... most people would agree people count from publication date...


please prove me wrong show me other examples...

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Based on your responses, I literally have no idea why you are upset about this. You seem to recognize that the book is about Greenwood's journey as the creator of the Forgotten Realms, yet are apparently deeply personally offended by his marking the 50 year anniversary. All I can say is you are wrong -- you are wrong about Greenwood and you are absolutely wrong about Tolkien. And I don't mean "your opinion is bad" I mean you are factually in error in your assessment of how to mark the creation of a setting. Publication date is of no importance at all. It does not even impact copyright law; how could it be used as a basis for "creation?"

I am not wrong, I am very correct, and I will continue to proclaim so until I am shown other works we count from "First time I told a story" or at least "First time I wrote the story" we have others who showed publication dates (Dragonlance)...

so your turn guys, prove me wrong, it should be easy, find other authers that we count written not publication....