[UPDATED] The Archmage (aka Ed Greenwood) Returns to the Forgotten Realms

The Archmage? Is this some black metal band?

 

[Hussar]

This is going to add all sorts of interesting stuff. And, I hope E.G. picks out a nice green pasture away from the Sword Coast to play in. It'd be cool to see a part of the Realms that hasn't been extensively played in by multiple authors.

Interesting times.

 

[Queer Venger]

Ed Greenwood is the Bernie Sanders of the Realms, bringing it back to the people. Super excited at the news that the great sage will return to his first love, can't wait to see his contributions on DMs Guild. This whole DM's Guild phenomenon gets better and better.

Candlekeep is abuzz with excitement, maybe EG will pop in to offer some tidbits he's working on. For my part, Id love to see expanded setting material on Chessenta/Mulhorand and parts of the east.

 

[DMZ2112]

Huzzah! I look forward to these products. I love Ed's style and I love Mirt.

 

[TheSwartz]

This is a wonderful idea.

 

[TheSwartz]

Hopefully Keith Baker will do such things for Eberron as well. I would love to see 5E Eberron stuff from him on the Dungeon Master's Guild platform.

Not a bad idea either, Except that Eberron isn't part of the DM Guild (yet?...)...

 

[Curmudjinn]

I was a fan of the original Elminster novels, but I lost my love for them as the WotC machine had Ed churn them out over 3rd edition's run. I still thoroughly enjoy the character, even though he is far more fragile in my own campaigns, and is used more as a Gandalf the Grey or Dumbledore role of adviser. I prefer avoiding the use of their powerful magics, unless the scene actually calls for it.

But back to the OP. I really, really look forward to Ed writing Realms lore, more than anything. I bought nearly all of the 3e/3.5 Forgotten Realms sourcebooks primarily for the lore. I barely used any of the mechanics of those books. I would like to see those places revisited with the more practiced, less-forced hand of Mr. Greenwood.

 

[TBeholder]

I hope Ed takes on the Border Kingdoms and leaves Cormyr alone for now, because that's where I plan to leave my mark (he says with naked ambition).

We don't even know the era in which he will write it.
But Cormyr is more or less an eternal clusterfluffle with variations on the same themes.
Border Kingdoms is the opposite - a sink for any sort of mess that didn't quite fit anywhere else. Which is why there's not much point to write (setting-wise) specifically for Border Kingdoms, other than anchoring plot threads from elsewhere.
Also, he touched them in a series of Realmslore articles (where he made it clear that this hole is truly bottomless).

Absolutely. WotC won't care about the possibility of divergent timelines. You're playing D&D either way.

If they did abhor contradictions, FR4e wouldn't exist in the first place. It doesn't take a master investigator to see that it's not consistent even with itself. And before that, there would be a lot more of continuity editing in the settings.

Maybe. Maybe not. A lot of fans will put Ed's product above WotC's. We've seen with 4e that people won't buy FR stuff just because the FR logo is on it, so some fans could stop buying WotC's FR AP because they are clashing with Ed's take on the FR.

Perhaps. But do you really think that they were unable to figure out beforehand that selling a box of cardboard as a book may damage reputation of the series?
If Hasbro considered D&D - let alone FR - valuable, all they had to do is nothing. It would require less efforts to not run the whole thing into the ground (like they did with X-Com long ago) in the first place - simply allowing it roll on its own inertia.

 

[ploige]

Exciting! Hands untied compendiums, stories & guides (with actual content) from a most amazing creative man.

The good thing about all this is not only Ed creating cool stuff but maybe Eric Boyd, Sean Reynolds etc.

 

[lkj]

Perkins has endorsed Ed's efforts, and he even says that what Ed says is canon (though he suggests it's not worth getting hung up on what is and is not canon). I suspect WotC are perfectly content with what he's doing (though I realize that Perkins is stating his own opinion rather than speaking for the company).

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[Irennan]

Perkins has endorsed Ed's efforts, and he even says that what Ed says is canon (though he suggests it's not worth getting hung up on what is and is not canon). I suspect WotC are perfectly content with what he's doing (though I realize that Perkins is stating his own opinion rather than speaking for the company).

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Where did Perkins comment on this?