The Realms WILL Be Updated!

WotC's Chris Perkins and Mike Mearls both mentioned the possibility of Forgotten Realms updates on Twitter today. A chap called Montgomery Headstrom tweeted at both of them - to Perkins he said "I don't understand why you guys did the Sundering if you weren't going to update the Realms. Can you clarify that for me?" and the Mearls he said "if WOTC isn't interested in updating the realms would corporate allow kickstarter drive to let Ed Greenwood do it?" Both replied to his his comments, confirming that they do, in fact, intend to update the Realms. Thanks to Adrian for the scoop.

Montgomery: if WOTC isn't interested in updating the realms would corporate allow kickstarter drive to let Ed Greenwood do it?
Mike Mearls: who sez we aren't interested in updating it?

Montgomery: I don't understand why you guys did the Sundering if you weren't going to update the Realms. Can you clarify that for me?
Chris Perkins: The Sundering allowed us to bring back things that the setting had lost over the years. We ARE updating the Realms.

 

[Jeff Albertson]

Matters not, to me, as I have never acknowledged The Time of Troubles or Spellplague. I find it best to keep a campaign setting's integrity, no busybody writer, edition changing crapola.

The whole release a setting, like Planescape, and then ruin it (Faction War, Prism Pentad, Age of Mortals, Grand Conjunction, etc, etc) seems an anathema to me.

 

[Staffan]

2) For the people who are completely new. $18 will get you the 4th edition campaign guide on Amazon. $16 will get you the 3rd edition campaign guide on Drive Thru RPG. For a grand total of $34, you'll have far more material from two excellent campaign guides than you'd get in a single new guide (which would probably cost you more than $34)

I would recommend getting the 2nd edition Forgotten Realms box over the 3rd edition book for a 5th edition game. A large part of the 3e book is dedicated to mechanical implementations of various things in the Realms (e.g. "Amn has a mercantile culture so they can take the Silver Tongue feat giving them some skill bonuses") as well as NPC stat blocks. That kind of thing is almost entirely absent in the 2e box. Also, 2e has more focus on the Heartlands regions (Dalelands, Cormyr, Sembia, Moonsea, the Vast, Dragon Coast, Western Heartlands, Waterdeep) and less on more peripheral ones - this is a good thing if that's where you want to run your campaign, but maybe less good if it isn't.

 

[Xavian Starsider]

I would recommend getting the 2nd edition Forgotten Realms box over the 3rd edition book for a 5th edition game. A large part of the 3e book is dedicated to mechanical implementations of various things in the Realms (e.g. "Amn has a mercantile culture so they can take the Silver Tongue feat giving them some skill bonuses") as well as NPC stat blocks. That kind of thing is almost entirely absent in the 2e box. Also, 2e has more focus on the Heartlands regions (Dalelands, Cormyr, Sembia, Moonsea, the Vast, Dragon Coast, Western Heartlands, Waterdeep) and less on more peripheral ones - this is a good thing if that's where you want to run your campaign, but maybe less good if it isn't.

Also a fine recommendation. I only listed the other two because I don't have or know as much about the 2nd edition campaign setting. Thank you for helping me illustrate my point. We have three well written and comprehensive campaign guides for the Forgotten Realms to choose from (plus online resources like the Library of Candlekeep). So why do people say we "need" a new campaign setting? I'm still waiting for someone to explain what information they require from a 5th edition campaign guide that isn't already available.

 

[Shasarak]

Typically vague though; they've made no commitments here whatsoever. "We ARE updating the Realms," is such a broad statement that it would technically remain true even if the only FR plans are for Sword Coast Legends (a CRPG) and few more adventures. Anything set post-Sundering could technically be considered an "update" to some area of the Realms.

/rant

Yep, you can not cancel the FR campaign setting when you do not announce the FR campaign setting.

 

[Irennan]

Also a fine recommendation. I only listed the other two because I don't have or know as much about the 2nd edition campaign setting. Thank you for helping me illustrate my point. We have three well written and comprehensive campaign guides for the Forgotten Realms to choose from (plus online resources like the Library of Candlekeep). So why do people say we "need" a new campaign setting? I'm still waiting for someone to explain what information they require from a 5th edition campaign guide that isn't already available.

Updated info on the post-Sundering Realms. Currently the only source of those is Ed Greenwood himself, assuming that those are not NDAs. Granted such an update wouldn't necessarily require a FRCS, but I -and a lot of other FR fans- would really appreciate a ''current state of the Realms'' kind of source/article/whatever.

 

[Mephista]

I get the impression that the Dragonborns' lands have gone along with the rest of Abeir, but at least some Dragonborn remain on Toril.

No, I remember reading specifically that Tymanchebar is going to stay. The Realms aren't going backwards to erase everything that 4e (and, to an extent, 3e) did. They're still going forwards, and a number of 4e things do remain.

The design philosophy is to unify every edition, and that includes a number of changes of 4e. From what I understand, dragonborn are staying, we're going forwards with the Pact Infernal that turned tieflings into their current form (note that we've confirmed that Planescape-style tieflings are still being born in the Realms in addition to the 4e style, so we've got two kinds running around). As far as I can tell, Asmodeus isn't losing his divinity, though it sounds like he's going to lose influence.

This isn't an all-or-nothing affair. Yes, they're bringing back a lot of the things eliminated from the 2e era. That doesn't mean everything from the 3e and 4e era are completely wiped out, however. People are assuming that, because the Realms are returning a lot of the early edition stuff, it means the elimination of all the newer edition stuff. Just as we've got classes and mechanics that have bits of everything from 1e to 4e in them, so we'll have the same thing in the Realms.

 

[Harry Dresden]

I would recommend getting the 2nd edition Forgotten Realms box over the 3rd edition book for a 5th edition game. A large part of the 3e book is dedicated to mechanical implementations of various things in the Realms (e.g. "Amn has a mercantile culture so they can take the Silver Tongue feat giving them some skill bonuses") as well as NPC stat blocks. That kind of thing is almost entirely absent in the 2e box. Also, 2e has more focus on the Heartlands regions (Dalelands, Cormyr, Sembia, Moonsea, the Vast, Dragon Coast, Western Heartlands, Waterdeep) and less on more peripheral ones - this is a good thing if that's where you want to run your campaign, but maybe less good if it isn't.

The FRCG for 3rd edition is one of the best resources all in one book. Any mechanics can easily be ignored because they are situated all in one area. The old grey box is good but the campaign guide is top notch. The map is brilliant and the descriptions of the various areas are fantastic.

 

[DEFCON 1]

There's really no point in arguing about this. The Realms have been updated post-Sundering to a certain extent because some of those updates are appearing in their adventure books. However, Mike and company have said all along that they have no intention to announce the release of a new campaign guide, because they are waiting to see how their initial releases shake out and will then make a decision at a later point. They also know quite certainly a certain segment of the gaming populace really wants one-- although whether that number of people buying it would cover the cost to actually produce the thing is unknown to us.

But regardless of what some players want... each of their desires in not a majority because everyone wants something different. So WotC isn't going to take any person's suggestions/desires as gospel, and instead is going to act in what they feel as a company is the best way to do things. They know what some players want... but how/when that will be acted upon will be entirely on when Mike and company feel the time is right for them to do so.

 

[kingjosh3]

1) How many people in this thread do not own any Campaign Guide from any edition of the Forgotten Realms, and need one because they're completely new to D&D? I'm guessing not many. Not on EN World at least.

2) For the people who are completely new. $18 will get you the 4th edition campaign guide on Amazon. $16 will get you the 3rd edition campaign guide on Drive Thru RPG. For a grand total of $34, you'll have far more material from two excellent campaign guides than you'd get in a single new guide (which would probably cost you more than $34)

For what it's worth, I've never owned any of the older FR Campaign Guides. And, I'm not really interested in buying old guides from editions I don't play. We may never get a campaign guide from WotC, but it's NOT because there is no market for it. Some of us really, really want one, even if we could technically get by without one.

 

[Mercurius]

The skeptic in my thinks this could simply and only mean an Unearthed Arcana style article, and not the full-blown mega-book or box people are asking for. Honestly, at this point I have no idea - I wouldn't be surprised to see anything from only an article to that mega-book. What I would be surprised to see is a multi-book line ala 3E or 2E.

If I were WotC, I would definitely do that book - use it as an opportunity to up the ante on what a setting book can be, in the same way that they did with the FRCS for 3E. That said, I would give greater depth to specific regions within the realms - the Dalelands and Sword Coast in particular, as that is where the vast majority of FR campaigns are set, or at least start.

Then have a lead-up to the actual product in the form of monthly preview articles that help people get started before hand, or adapt their existing setting to the 5E Realms. Even a PDF that is a short guide to playing in the Realms in 5E.