D&D 5E Thay Land of the Red Wizards Available From Realms Creator Ed Greenwood

Thay Land of the Red Wizards is a Forgotten Realms supplement by Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood, plus Alex Kammer and Alan Patrick. The 108-page books is available in PDF ($17.99) and hardcover ($39.99) over on the DMs Guild.

Known to the wider Forgotten Realms® as a sinister land of Red Wizards, slavers, and marching undead armies, Thay is the distant—or uncomfortably close—menace that “may become our doom if Szass Tam turns his attention in our direction.”

And Thay is that, but it is also so much more. A truly magical land (thanks to a secret that even the goddess Mystra helps to keep) of rich culture, a rising middle class, ambitious nobles and Red Wizards who fear Szass Tam more than they hate him, but may soon be forced to defy him, and wealth beyond the imaginings of even wealthy and proud realms elsewhere.

This tome is your guide to the Thay of right now, a valuable resource for Dungeon Masters and players alike. It sets forth the people and places of the Land of Red Wizards, what life is like, and seeds, hints, and secrets sufficient to spur adventures for years of enjoyment at your gaming table.

Thay Land Of The Red Wizards - Dungeon Masters Guild | Dungeon Masters Guild

Thay Land Of The Red Wizards - Known to the wider Forgotten Realms® as a sinister land of Red Wizards, slavers, and marching undead armies, Thay is th

www.dmsguild.com

 

[LordEntrails]

FYI, I just saw on FB that Mike Schley did the regional map. He said he will have the hi res images available on his site in a few months.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Wait—what??? The Spellplague happened in 1385 DR. Add 150 years to that and you get 1535 DR—fully 40 years in the future from any of the 5e WotC modules. Is this new Thay book actually set 150 years after the Spellplague, or are they majorly rounding up with that figure?

It very much seems that it's a misprint. The new Zulkir of Necromancy, Valindra Shadowmantle, appeared in Tomb of Annihilation and was rewarded for her efforts in Chult researching the Soulmonger by being raised to Zulkir. It's made clear in the text that all this happened in the very recent past (for example, she's not happy with some of the restrictions of her new role).

 

[Demetrios1453]

FYI, I just saw on FB that Mike Schley did the regional map. He said he will have the hi res images available on his site in a few months.

Yep, it's a very nice map - recognized Schley's work immediately.

 

[cavetroll]

Wait—what??? The Spellplague happened in 1385 DR. Add 150 years to that and you get 1535 DR—fully 40 years in the future from any of the 5e WotC modules. Is this new Thay book actually set 150 years after the Spellplague, or are they majorly rounding up with that figure?

I got a reply

 

[R_J_K75]

Did I miss something, is there no section that describes the general climate of Thay towards the beginning? I read up to the cuisines & recipes, browsed the rest and didn't see anything. After searching the pdf looks like the weather is detailed in the individual locations, which seemed like a lot of it is controlled by magic. From the cuisine section I was getting an African, Moroccan impression. Seems like an odd thing to omit considering some of the things that were included that early in the book.

 

[wellis]

Does the book detail daily life in Thay? One thing I always find interesting is how the average citizen lives in fantasy settings like Forgotten Realms.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Does the book detail daily life in Thay? One thing I always find interesting is how the average citizen lives in fantasy settings like Forgotten Realms.

Yes, though sort of. There's no one single section detailing daily life, but there are a lot of scattered sections talking about food, clothing, houses and furnishing, and so on. Enough to get a decent idea on how the regular citizens live (and in contrast to the upper classes and Red Wizards which is also described).

 

[Demetrios1453]

After reading through most of the book (other than the adventure at the end), one section stood out - there's a mini-pseudo-Volo's Guide part, where a local Thayan merchant details the various inns/restaurants/taverns/notable businesses in the major cities and towns (the text mentions that Volo himself was unable to do the research for this part, as apparently he would be instantly executed should he return to Thay). It doesn't have the rating system, nor does it go into in-depth detail, but it does have the chatty, informal feel of the old Volo's Guides (although our merchant guide is a bit snobbish, and apparently very devoted to Bane, as the only temples she points out are dedicated to him).

My only serious head-scratching moment are some of the population figures for the various "tharches" (provinces). They're either all a million or more, or under 100,000, with none at all between 100k and 1m. And while most of these make sense, there are several mid-sized tharches (Priador, Pyarados, and maybe Delhumide) that have populations that are just too low. For example, the tharch of Pyarados is given a population of only 84,000, but the text states that 64,000 live in just the city of Pyarados alone (and the map shows several other towns in the tharch, let alone the rural population). I'm thinking that some zeros were dropped in error, and these tharches are within the otherwise missing 100,000 - 1,000,000 population range.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Softcover version now available too.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Also this. Make sure you read all 10 of Ed's replies to his own tweet: