D&D 5E No Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting in development?

[Lawngnome4hire]

For what it's worth, I think the best way to do a new FRCS is not to have a FRCS at all.

Instead, split the FRCS into the following (massive, 300+ page) books:

1. Atlas of Faerûn - detailing the geography (physical and political) of the continent, with maps showing different eras (Crown Wars, Netheril/Jhaamdath, Post-Netheril, Post-Spellplague, Post-Sundering) and 1- or 2-page articles on each significant country or realm that arose during each era, as well as 2-page articles on major cities (Forgotten Realms Adventures, the 1e to 2e transition book, uses this format - and I still use it to this day when I plan adventures in a certain city). No crunch whatsoever, make it edition-neutral.

2. Faiths of Faerûn - a volume combining the 2e faiths trilogy, detailing all gods (living and dead) and their churches throughout history. Bonus points if deities that have never appeared in print (at least not in detail) such as Murdane and Auppenser are shown. No crunch or very light crunch (e.g. new domains).

3. Heroes and Villains of Faerûn - this one is for the novel fans, 1/2- page to 1-page biographies of every major NPC ever to have appeared in the Realms, from all the different eras. Crunch in the form of statblocks.

4. Secret Societies of Faerûn - combining 2e Cloak & Dagger and the 3e books (Lords of Darkness, Champions of Ruin/Valor), this book provides info on every secret society ever to have been active in the Realms and their history. Crunch in the form of statblocks and magic items.

5. Magic of Faerûn - all the different magic types, changes to magic throughout the ages, famous guilds and bard colleges, spells, magic items, new schools of magic, warlock pacts, bloodlines, and so on. Fairly crunchy.

6. Swords of Faerûn - significant wars, warrior schools/martial traditions, mercenary companies, equipment, new fighting styles, other martial stuff. Fairly crunchy.

One release every 3 months or so, then continue with regional books, starting with regions that haven't had a regional book in forever such as, oh I dunno, CORMYR?

I really like this idea although I would prefer they go about it a little different. I'd prefer they do basically a "Forgotten Realms Compendium" in multiple volumes. All system agnostic with no crunch, just detailed setting info with accurate time lines etc. It would be really nice to have detailed historical info to be able to run a realms campaign during any time period, all with info that is system agnostic so it is still viable with any future editions of D&D that may come out.

• Volume 1: Geography of the Realms. Maps, descriptions etc at different points in history. I'd want them to cover the time before the creation of the Sea of Fallen Stars, before many of the forests started to recede, before the creation of the Aunoroch desert etc.
• Volume 2: Politics of the Realms. Details on the nations and empires going back all the way to when dragons and giants rules Toril. And especially a section on the empires of the yuan-ti and their creators(can't remember what they're called), and the couatl.
• Volume 3: Faiths of the Realms. Basically what you said, detailed info on all the various gods that have ever existed with time lines suggested domains etc.
• Volume 4: Organizations of the Realms. Secret societies, cults, trade groups, guilds, etc. Any organization that has had significant influence at one time or another.

Then in a separate book I'd want to see all the crunch. Player options, spells, magic items, class variants, whatever version of prestige classes they settle on etc.

And after that, I'd want them to do it again for all the other major settings.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Kind of makes me happy as I stopped caring about the realms sometime ago.

• What this MAY mean; new campaign setting? Forgotten Realms is old, the world has changed in that time and there is a lot of material out there for it, but the worst issue, too many entanglements with the license. You have to ask; who owns what rights for the setting anymore? This could impact things like online, computer games, books and such, best to limit access and any lawsuits to build a new setting that can be controlled in all venues. (I think Hasbro sold and gave up some of these rights years ago).
  [source 1]
  [source 2]
• Waiting to license the setting to some one else? It is possible, WotC could be looking for a 3rd party to publish setting material.
• They could be doing both.

 

[Chriscdoa]

I would of thought of the Paizo model would be adopted by WotC quickly. Forgotten Realms is their biggest setting. Period. Holy wow....

Funny enough, I have read online and heard at my FLCS that people are going to use 5E with the Pathfinder Campaign Setting...

thats what i'm planning.
it's as much a kitchen sink setting as FR but most of the seperate areas have been detailed in their own books, which is not the case for FR recently.

i'm not really than keen on an overview setting book. I have 2e FR adventrues and FR CS and the 4e CS book. another overview of the world with 2 pages per region won't tell me much. i'd rather have gazetters.

Think i's rather use the GAZ for Basic!! reprint please 8)

 

[gyor]

I can stop foaming at the mouth now, there will be a FRCG, its just that there still brain storming right now about how they're going to do it. See this is what happens when one gets ones news via twitter

 

[was]

It will come out in a year or so, once they have gotten out all the core rule books they have scheduled.

 

[Gargoyle]

The original tweet doesn't capture the full story - we're not working on an FRCS right now because we are putting the bandwidth available for such a project into thinking about how to do an FRCS.

If you think of how we created fifth edition, we probably put more time and effort into determining what it needed to be (playtest, etc.) than into actually writing the final product.

The DMG is also still in the works - we won't even consider engaging in our next big RPG project until that is out the door, everyone has taken a vacation, and we're ready to tackle another huge project.

Fantastic. I love this approach so much. Thanks for the reassurance.

I do believe that FR fans would be well served by a PDF for the Forgotten Realms to bridge the gap between the Core books and the eventual FRCS release, and to bring owners of 4e and earlier FR material up to date on the bigger happenings. It appears it will be a long time until FRCS, and by choosing the Forgotten Realms to be the "flagship" or "default" campaign setting in the Player's Handbook, you've whet our appetites for such a book. Many DM's want to run a FR campaign for the first time, and they don't have the old material, nor do they want to buy it; they want "current" information so that when the FRCS does come out they don't have to fast forward the timeline in their campaigns.

Think of it as the equivalent of the D&D Basic PDF but for the FRCS. The material would eventually be used in the full FRCS. The Basic pdf approach could also be applied to other campaign settings.

 

[SigmaOne]

Fantastic. I love this approach so much. Thanks for the reassurance.

I do believe that FR fans would be well served by a PDF for the Forgotten Realms to bridge the gap between the Core books and the eventual FRCS release, and to bring owners of 4e and earlier FR material up to date on the bigger happenings. It appears it will be a long time until FRCS, and by choosing the Forgotten Realms to be the "flagship" or "default" campaign setting in the Player's Handbook, you've whet our appetites for such a book. Many DM's want to run a FR campaign for the first time, and they don't have the old material, nor do they want to buy it; they want "current" information so that when the FRCS does come out they don't have to fast forward the timeline in their campaigns.

Think of it as the equivalent of the D&D Basic PDF but for the FRCS. The material would eventually be used in the full FRCS. The Basic pdf approach could also be applied to other campaign settings.

I think people can fill in many of the gaps using resources like the Forgotten Realms Wiki. They might do a "Basic FR" PDF, but as with the PHB, MM, and DMG, that won't happen until they actually have the vast majority of content for the book in place, and it's about ready to go to the printer.

 

[Gargoyle]

I think people can fill in many of the gaps using resources like the Forgotten Realms Wiki. They might do a "Basic FR" PDF, but as with the PHB, MM, and DMG, that won't happen until they actually have the vast majority of content for the book in place, and it's about ready to go to the printer.

Yes, I could also flip through the many FR books on my shelf. I don't want to because I'd like something more up to date and geared toward creating a campaign in 5e. I know that I don't need to have an updated map of the realms, an explanation of the Sundering, notes on the current pantheon, bullet points on the history of the time between my 4e FR books and the Tyranny of Dragons, background traits customized for Realm characters, or descriptions of the new factions. I just want all that, (and it doesn't have to be comprehensive, just enough to get me going) so that if I create a new 5e campaign I don't have to research all that myself. It doesn't seem like much to ask for, considering that 5e is the flagship product. Even in the Wiki, there seems to be a gap when it comes to info about the Sundering, because I don't believe the novels have detailed it all. Which is confusing because now Tyranny of Dragons is out. I'm no Realms guru though, maybe it's all there and I just can't find it or don't understand it all.

As far as when it happens, that comparison to the rules isn't valid. This is fluff, and there is no concern about playtesting or releasing rules that aren't going to be in the final book. They can release it as soon as they like without worry about releasing something that will be changed later.

I can tell you that I probably won't wait long for such a product though. Even though I applaud a methodical release schedule, my thinking right now is that I should do what I always do, ignore the Realms and create my own homebrew. I do like the Realms, and there is nothing wrong with running it in an earlier era, it's just not what I want to do.

Of course, we don't know what's in the DMG yet though, and it may be that this info will be in there. I'd prefer it would be separate, but this wouldn't surprise me much.

 

[Zaukrie]

It boggles the mind people take canon so seriously. It is a game.......I would love a series of books that advance the timeline, like a real, living world. I get others do not want that, but I do not get why people feel constrained by books.

 

[gyor]

The original tweet doesn't capture the full story - we're not working on an FRCS right now because we are putting the bandwidth available for such a project into thinking about how to do an FRCS.

If you think of how we created fifth edition, we probably put more time and effort into determining what it needed to be (playtest, etc.) than into actually writing the final product.

The DMG is also still in the works - we won't even consider engaging in our next big RPG project until that is out the door, everyone has taken a vacation, and we're ready to tackle another huge project.

Thanks Mike, sorry for getting upset, your a good guy. And I need to stop getting my news off twitter.