Forgotten Realms
Encyclopedia
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting
for the Dungeons & Dragons
(D&D) fantasy
role-playing game
. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood
around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories. Several years later, Greenwood brought the setting to the D&D game as a series of magazine articles, and the first Realms game products were released in 1987. Role-playing game products have been produced for the setting ever since, as have various licensed products including sword and sorcery
novels, computer role-playing game adaptations (including the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game
to use graphics), and comic books. The Forgotten Realms is one of the most popular D&D settings, largely due to the success of novels by authors such as R. A. Salvatore and numerous computer role-playing games, including Pool of Radiance
(1988), Baldur's Gate
(1998), Icewind Dale
(2000) and Neverwinter Nights
(2002).
According to the setting's creators, Forgotten Realms is the name of an imaginary fantasy world
that exists somewhere beyond the real world. The setting is described as a world of strange lands, dangerous creatures, and mighty deities, where magic and seemingly supernatural phenomena are quite real. The premise is that, long ago, the Earth and the world of the Forgotten Realms were more closely connected. As time passed, the inhabitants of planet Earth have mostly forgotten about the existence of that other world—hence the term Forgotten Realms. On the original Forgotten Realms logo, which was used until 2000, small runic letters
read "Herein lie the lost lands", an allusion to the connection between the two worlds.
of Faerûn
, part of the fictional world of Abeir-Toril
, usually called simply Toril, an Earth
-like planet with many real-world influences. Unlike Earth, the lands of the Forgotten Realms are not all ruled by the human race: the planet Abeir-Toril
is shared by humans
, dwarves
, elves
, goblins
, orcs
, and other peoples and creatures. Technologically, the world of the Forgotten Realms is not nearly as advanced as that of Earth; in this respect, it resembles the pre-industrial Earth of the 13th or 14th century. However, the presence of magic provides an additional element of power to the societies. There are several nation states and many independent cities, with loose alliances being formed for defense or conquest. Trade is performed by ship or horse-drawn vehicle
, and manufacturing is based upon cottage industry.
, the western part of a continent that was roughly modeled after the Eurasian continent on Earth. Faerûn was first detailed in the original Forgotten Realms Campaign Set, published in 1987 by TSR
. The other continents include Kara-Tur
, Zakhara, Maztica, and other yet unspecified landmasses. Kara-Tur, roughly corresponding to ancient East Asia
, was later the focus of its own source book Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms
, published in 1988.
Various products detailing specific areas of Faerûn, such as the 2nd edition FR13 Anauroch
(1991), FR15 Gold and Glory (1992), FR16 The Shining South
(1993), and FRS1 The Dalelands
(1993), have been released, and through these much of the continent has been heavily detailed and documented, creating a highly developed setting.
In early editions of the setting, The Realms shared a unified cosmology
with various other campaign setting
s called the Great Wheel. In this way each of the Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings were linked together to form one interwoven world connected by various planes
of existence. With the release of the 2001 Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, the setting was given its own distinct and separate cosmological arrangement, with unique planes not explicitly connected to those of the other settings.
pantheons; a large number of supplements have documented many of them, some in more detail than others.
Much of the history of The Realms detailed in novels and source books concerns the actions of various deities and The Chosen (mortal representatives with a portion of their deities' power) such as Elminster, Fzoul Chembryl, Midnight (who later became the new embodiment of the goddess of magic, Mystra
), and the Seven Sisters
. Above all other deities is Ao, the Overlord. Ao does not sanction worshipers and distances himself from mortals. He is single-handedly responsible for the Time of Troubles
, or Godswar, as seen in The Avatar Trilogy.
the wizard, who has appeared in several series of novels created by Greenwood himself, and Drizzt Do'Urden
, the highly popular Drow, or dark elf, ranger created by R. A. Salvatore.
of parallel worlds; Earth is one such world, and the Realms another. In Greenwood's original conception, the fantastic legends of Earth derive from a fantasy world, the way to which has been lost. Greenwood discovered the Dungeons & Dragons
game in 1975, and became a serious role-playing enthusiast with the first AD&D game releases in 1978. The setting became the home of Greenwood's personal campaign
. Greenwood began a Realms campaign in the city of Waterdeep
, then started another group known as the Knights of Myth Drannor in Shadowdale. Greenwood felt that his players' thirst for detail made the Realms what it is: "They want it to seem real, and work on ‘honest jobs’ and personal activities, until the whole thing grows into far more than a casual campaign. Roleplaying always governs over rules, and the adventures seem to develop themselves." Greenwood has stated that his own version of the Forgotten Realms, as run in his personal campaign, is much darker than published versions.
Beginning with the periodical's 30th issue in 1979, Greenwood published a series of short articles that detailed the setting in The Dragon
magazine, the first of which was about a monster known as the curst. Greenwood wrote voluminous entries to Dragon magazine, using the Realms as a setting for his descriptions of magic items
, monsters, and spells. In 1986, the American game publishing company TSR
began looking for a new campaign setting
for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, and assigned Jeff Grubb
to find out more about the setting used by Greenwood as portrayed in his articles in Dragon. According to Greenwood, Grubb asked him "Do you just make this stuff up as you go, or do you really have a huge campaign world?"; Greenwood answered "yes" to both questions. TSR felt that the Forgotten Realms would be a more open-ended setting than the epic Dragonlance
setting, and chose the Realms as a ready-made campaign setting upon deciding to publish AD&D 2nd Edition. Greenwood agreed to work on the project, and began working to get the Forgotten Realms officially published. Greenwood sent TSR a few dozen cardboard boxes stuffed with pencil notes and maps, and sold all rights to the Realms for a token fee. Greenwood noted that TSR altered his original conception of the Realms being a place that we could travel to from our world, "Concerns over possible lawsuits (kids getting hurt while trying to 'find a gate') led TSR to de-emphasize this meaning".
, released in 1985 by TSR, is now considered to be a part of the Forgotten Realms, although it wasn't until module H3 The Bloodstone Wars
was released that Forgotten Realms became the official setting for the module series. The first official Forgotten Realms product was Douglas Niles
's Darkwalker on Moonshae
, the first book in The Moonshae Trilogy, which predates the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set by one month. The Campaign Set (often referred to as the "Grey Box") was later released in 1987 as a boxed set of two source books (Cyclopedia of the Realms and DM's Sourcebook of the Realms) and four large maps, designed by Greenwood in collaboration with author Jeff Grubb
. The Forgotten Realms became an instant hit. The compilation module Desert of Desolation was reworked to fit into the Forgotten Realms. The module N5: Under Illefarn
bears the Forgotten Realms logo on the cover, as do the two modules released in 1988, H4: The Throne of Bloodstone
and I14: Swords of the Iron Legion
.
The Crystal Shard was released in 1988, and was the first novel to feature the successful character Drizzt Do'Urden
, who has since appeared in more than seventeen subsequent novels, many of which have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list
. In 1988, the first in a line of Forgotten Realms computer role-playing games, Pool of Radiance
, was released by Strategic Simulations, Inc. The game was popular, winning the Origins Award
for "Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1988". In 1992, the game was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System
.
Several supplements to the original boxed set were released under the first edition rules, including FR1 Waterdeep and the North
and FR2 Moonshae
in 1987, and FR3 Empires of the Sands
, FR4 The Magister
, FR5 The Savage Frontier
, FR6 Dreams of the Red Wizards
, and REF5 Lords of Darkness in 1988. Also in 1988 came the City System
boxed set, containing several maps of the city of Waterdeep
. Ruins of Adventure
, a module based on the computer game Pool of Radiance
, was released in 1988.
The boxed set Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms was released in 1988, giving details of the lands of Kara-Tur
which had previously appeared in the 1986 book Oriental Adventures, and were now officially placed in the Forgotten Realms world. The same year, the module OA5: Mad Monkey vs. the Dragon Claw
was released for the Kara-Tur setting as a Forgotten Realms product.
In 1989, DC Comics
began publishing a series of Forgotten Realms comics
written by Jeff Grubb
. Each issue contained twenty-six pages, illustrated primarily by Rags Morales
and Dave Simons. Twenty-five issues were published in total, with the last being released in 1991. A fifty-six page annual
Forgotten Realms Comic Annual #1: Waterdhavian Nights, illustrated by various artists, was released in 1990.
, based on the computer role-playing game Curse of the Azure Bonds
, was released in 1989, as was the The Avatar Trilogy
series of novels, consisting of Shadowdale, Tantras, and Waterdeep that detailed the storyline which became known as the "Time of Troubles
". A series of module adaptations for these novels (Shadowdale
, Tantras
, and Waterdeep
) were released in the same year, along with the Hall of Heroes
accessory, detailing many of the major characters appearing in Forgotten Realms novels published up through that time. In early 1990, the hardcover Forgotten Realms Adventures
by Jeff Grubb
and Ed Greenwood
was released, which introduced the Realms setting to the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game and detailed how the Time of Troubles had changed the setting. The RPGA
used the Forgotten Realms city of Ravens Bluff
as the setting for their first living campaign
. Official RPGA support for this product line included the Living City modules
series. A number of sub-settings of the Forgotten Realms were briefly supported in the early 1990s. Three more modules were produced for the Kara-Tur
setting. The Horde: Barbarian Campaign Setting
, released in 1990, detailed The Hordelands, which also featured a series of three modules. The Maztica Campaign Set
, released in 1991, detailed the continent of Maztica.
The original gray boxed set received a revision in 1993 to update it to the second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules system, with the release of a new Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting boxed set, containing three books (A Grand Tour of the Realms, Running the Realms, and Shadowdale) and various "monster supplements", with a new graphic look. Additional material for the setting was released steadily throughout the 1990s. Forgotten Realms novels, such as the Legacy of the Drow
series, the first three books of The Elminster Series
, and numerous anthologies were also released throughout the 1990s, which lead to the setting being hailed as one of the most successful shared fantasy universes
of the 1990s. These novels in turn sparked interest in role-playing activity by new gamers.
Numerous Forgotten Realms video games were released Between 1990 and 2000. The Eye of the Beholder
PC game was released in 1990. This game was later followed by two sequels, the first in 1991, and the second in 1992. All three games were re-released for DOS on a single disk in 1995. Another 1991 release was Neverwinter Nights
on America Online
, the first graphical Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG
). In 1998, Baldur's Gate was released, the first in a line of popular computer role-playing games developed by BioWare
and "considered by most pundits as the hands-down best PC roleplaying game ever". The game was followed by a sequel, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
in 2000 as well as Icewind Dale, a separate game that utilized the same game engine
as Baldur's Gate. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor
was released in 2001. Several popular Forgotten Realms characters such as Drizzt Do'Urden
and Elminster made minor appearances in these games.
, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting was released as a hardcover, in 2001, updating the official material and advancing the timeline of the game world. In 2002, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting won the Origins Award
for Best Role-Playing Game Supplement of 2001.
Several additional rulebooks were released for the new edition, including Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn (2001), Magic of Faerûn
(2001), Lords of Darkness (2001), Faiths and Pantheons
(2002), Silver Marches (2002), Races of Faerûn
(2003), and Unapproachable East
(2003). Adventure modules included Into the Dragon's Lair (2000), Pool of Radiance: Attack on Myth Drannor (2001), and City of the Spider Queen
(2002).
In 2002, Bioware released Neverwinter Nights
, set in the northern reaches of Faerûn and operating on the revised 3.0 rules for D&D. It was followed by two expansion pack
s,Shadows of Undrentide
and Hordes of the Underdark
. A sequel
was produced by Obsidian Entertainment
in 2006, itself followed by the expansion sets Mask of the Betrayer
and Storm of Zehir
. The Forgotten Realms Deluxe Edition compilation was released in 2006, containing the Baldur's Gate series (excluding the Dark Alliance games), Icewind Dale series, and all Neverwinter Nights games before Neverwinter Nights 2.
With the release of the version 3.5 update to the rules, the Forgotten Realms product line continued to expand. Accessories released included Underdark
(2003), Player's Guide to Faerûn (2004), Serpent Kingdoms (2004), Shining South (2004), Lost Empires of Faerûn
(2005), Champions of Ruin
(2005), City of Splendors: Waterdeep (2005), Champions of Valor
(2005), Power of Faerûn (2006), Mysteries of the Moonsea (2006), Dragons of Faerûn (2006), and Grand History of the Realms (2007). Adventure modules released included Sons of Gruumsh (2005), The Twilight Tomb (2006), Expedition to Undermountain (2007), Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave (2007), Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land (2007), and Anauroch: The Empire of Shade (2007).
s. The Forgotten Realms Player's Guide was released the following month, and contains information for players to help create Forgotten Realms characters. An adventure, Scepter Tower of Spellgard, was also released in September 2008 and can be used in combination with the adventure in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide to start a Forgotten Realms campaign. In 2008, the Forgotten Realms also became the setting for the RPGA
's sole living campaign, Living Forgotten Realms, replacing Living Greyhawk
.
", and that it "may be the most widely played-in game setting in RPG history." Similarly, in literature, the novels written in the Forgotten Realms setting have formed one of "the industry's leading fantasy series". Over time these novels have gained "unprecedented popularity", which led, as Marc Oxoby noted in his book, The 1990s, to the novels having an "extraordinary shelf life", remaining in print for many years. This popular reception has also been reflected in public libraries. For example, Joyce Saricks states in The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction that the novels have been among the most requested books by fans of the fantasy genre.
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
for the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
(D&D) fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood
Ed Greenwood
Ed Greenwood is a Canadian writer and editor who created the Forgotten Realms. He invented the Forgotten Realms as a child, as a fantasy world in which to set the stories he imagined, and later used this world as a campaign setting for his own personal Dungeons & Dragons playing group...
around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories. Several years later, Greenwood brought the setting to the D&D game as a series of magazine articles, and the first Realms game products were released in 1987. Role-playing game products have been produced for the setting ever since, as have various licensed products including sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery
Sword and sorcery is a sub-genre of fantasy and historical fantasy, generally characterized by sword-wielding heroes engaged in exciting and violent conflicts. An element of romance is often present, as is an element of magic and the supernatural...
novels, computer role-playing game adaptations (including the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
to use graphics), and comic books. The Forgotten Realms is one of the most popular D&D settings, largely due to the success of novels by authors such as R. A. Salvatore and numerous computer role-playing games, including Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game for home computers. It is the first in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games...
(1988), Baldur's Gate
Baldur's Gate series
Baldur's Gate is a franchise of action role-playing games released under the Dungeons & Dragons Video Game Licenses. It is set in the fictional campaign setting of Forgotten Realms and takes place in its fictional continent of Faerûn. It takes place mostly in the Western Heartlands, but has also...
(1998), Icewind Dale
Icewind Dale
Icewind Dale is a computer role-playing game developed for Windows by Black Isle Studios and published by Interplay Entertainment. Released on June 30, 2000, it takes place in the Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and is based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition...
(2000) and Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights , produced by BioWare and published by Infogrames , is a third-person perspective computer role-playing game that is based on third edition Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms rules. It was originally to be published by Interplay Entertainment, but the publisher's financial...
(2002).
According to the setting's creators, Forgotten Realms is the name of an imaginary fantasy world
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
that exists somewhere beyond the real world. The setting is described as a world of strange lands, dangerous creatures, and mighty deities, where magic and seemingly supernatural phenomena are quite real. The premise is that, long ago, the Earth and the world of the Forgotten Realms were more closely connected. As time passed, the inhabitants of planet Earth have mostly forgotten about the existence of that other world—hence the term Forgotten Realms. On the original Forgotten Realms logo, which was used until 2000, small runic letters
Runic alphabet
The runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter...
read "Herein lie the lost lands", an allusion to the connection between the two worlds.
The world
The focus of the Forgotten Realms setting is the continentContinent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
of Faerûn
Faerûn
Faerûn is a fictional subcontinent, the primary setting of the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms. It is described at a relatively high level in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting from Wizards of the Coast, and various locales and aspects are described in more detail by separate...
, part of the fictional world of Abeir-Toril
Abeir-Toril
Abeir-Toril is the name of the fictional planet that makes up the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, as well as the Al-Qadim and Maztica campaign settings and the 1st edition version of the Oriental Adventures campaign setting.The name is archaic, meaning "cradle of life." It...
, usually called simply Toril, an Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
-like planet with many real-world influences. Unlike Earth, the lands of the Forgotten Realms are not all ruled by the human race: the planet Abeir-Toril
Abeir-Toril
Abeir-Toril is the name of the fictional planet that makes up the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, as well as the Al-Qadim and Maztica campaign settings and the 1st edition version of the Oriental Adventures campaign setting.The name is archaic, meaning "cradle of life." It...
is shared by humans
Human (Dungeons & Dragons)
Humans are a race available for player characters in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. Although short-lived by comparison, humans are the most populous of all Dungeons & Dragons races. They are renowned for their diversity and ambition, and although they lack specializations like...
, dwarves
Dwarf (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, dwarves are a humanoid race, one of the primary races available for play as player characters...
, elves
Elf (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, elves are a fictional humanoid race that is one of the primary races available for play as player characters. Elves are renowned for their grace and mastery of magic and weapons such as the sword and bow...
, goblins
Goblin (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, goblins are a very common and fairly weak race of evil humanoid monsters. Goblins and Kobolds are commonly non-human monsters that low-level player characters will face in combat. In D&D, goblins aren't smaller cousins of orcs, but are a part of...
, orcs
Orc (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, orcs are a primitive race of savage, bestial, barbaric humanoid.-Publication history:The orc was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the D&D game. The D&D orc is largely based upon the orcs appearing in the works of J.R.R...
, and other peoples and creatures. Technologically, the world of the Forgotten Realms is not nearly as advanced as that of Earth; in this respect, it resembles the pre-industrial Earth of the 13th or 14th century. However, the presence of magic provides an additional element of power to the societies. There are several nation states and many independent cities, with loose alliances being formed for defense or conquest. Trade is performed by ship or horse-drawn vehicle
Horse-drawn vehicle
A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load...
, and manufacturing is based upon cottage industry.
Geography
Abeir-Toril consists of several large continents, including FaerûnFaerûn
Faerûn is a fictional subcontinent, the primary setting of the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms. It is described at a relatively high level in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting from Wizards of the Coast, and various locales and aspects are described in more detail by separate...
, the western part of a continent that was roughly modeled after the Eurasian continent on Earth. Faerûn was first detailed in the original Forgotten Realms Campaign Set, published in 1987 by TSR
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
. The other continents include Kara-Tur
Kara-Tur
Kara-Tur is a fantasy world created by David Cook in the Oriental Adventures rulebook for the First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game in 1986. Kara-Tur's cultures and peoples are fantasy analogues of medieval China, Korea, Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, Tibet, and other regions of...
, Zakhara, Maztica, and other yet unspecified landmasses. Kara-Tur, roughly corresponding to ancient East Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, was later the focus of its own source book Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms
Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms
Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms is an accessory for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms details a Forgotten Realms campaign setting for use with Oriental Adventures, which describes the eastern land of Kara-Tur and its geography, population,...
, published in 1988.
Various products detailing specific areas of Faerûn, such as the 2nd edition FR13 Anauroch
Anauroch (accessory)
Anauroch is an accessory for the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The book, with product code TSR 9320, was published in 1991, and was written by Ed Greenwood, with cover art by Brom and interior art by...
(1991), FR15 Gold and Glory (1992), FR16 The Shining South
The Shining South
The Shining South is an accessory for the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The book, with product code TSR 9388, was published in 1993, and was written by Tom Prusa, with cover art by Jeff Butler.The...
(1993), and FRS1 The Dalelands
The Dalelands
The Dalelands is an accessory for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms released in 1993. It describes the Dalelands of Faerûn. The book was written by L. Richard Baker III...
(1993), have been released, and through these much of the continent has been heavily detailed and documented, creating a highly developed setting.
In early editions of the setting, The Realms shared a unified cosmology
Cosmology
Cosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
with various other campaign setting
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
s called the Great Wheel. In this way each of the Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings were linked together to form one interwoven world connected by various planes
Plane (Dungeons & Dragons)
The planes of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game constitutes the multiverse in which the game takes place.In the earliest versions of Dungeons & Dragons, the concept of the Inner, Ethereal, Prime Material, Astral and Outer Planes was introduced; at the time there were only four Inner Planes...
of existence. With the release of the 2001 Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, the setting was given its own distinct and separate cosmological arrangement, with unique planes not explicitly connected to those of the other settings.
Religion
Religion plays a large part in the Forgotten Realms, with deities and their followers being an integral part of the world. They do not have a passive role, but in fact interact directly in mortal affairs, answer prayers, and have their own personal agendas. All deities must have worshipers to survive, and all mortals must worship a patron deity to secure a good afterlife. A huge number of diverse deities exist within several polytheisticPolytheism
Polytheism is the belief of multiple deities also usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own mythologies and rituals....
pantheons; a large number of supplements have documented many of them, some in more detail than others.
Much of the history of The Realms detailed in novels and source books concerns the actions of various deities and The Chosen (mortal representatives with a portion of their deities' power) such as Elminster, Fzoul Chembryl, Midnight (who later became the new embodiment of the goddess of magic, Mystra
Mystra (goddess)
Mystra is a fictional goddess in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.She is the Mistress of Magic and Mother of Mysteries who guides the Weave of magic that envelops the world. She tends to the weave constantly, making possible all the...
), and the Seven Sisters
Seven Sisters (Forgotten Realms)
The Seven Sisters—fictional characters of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons Role Playing Game. The sisters are epic level characters of differing abilities, most of which involve some form of spellcasting and use of magic...
. Above all other deities is Ao, the Overlord. Ao does not sanction worshipers and distances himself from mortals. He is single-handedly responsible for the Time of Troubles
Time of Troubles (Forgotten Realms)
The Time of Troubles, also known as the Arrival, Godswar, and Avatar Crisis, is a fictional time period in the chronology of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game...
, or Godswar, as seen in The Avatar Trilogy.
Characters
The setting is the home of several iconic characters popularized by authors, including ElminsterElminster Aumar
Elminster Aumar is a fictional character in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Also known as the "Sage of Shadowdale", he is a powerful wizard featured in many novels by Forgotten Realms creator Ed Greenwood...
the wizard, who has appeared in several series of novels created by Greenwood himself, and Drizzt Do'Urden
Drizzt Do'Urden
Drizzt Do'Urden is a fictional character in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Drizzt was created by author R. A. Salvatore as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Salvatore created him on a whim when his publisher needed to...
, the highly popular Drow, or dark elf, ranger created by R. A. Salvatore.
Early years
Ed Greenwood began writing stories about the Forgotten Realms as a child, starting around 1967; they were his "dream space for swords and sorcery stories". Greenwood came up with the Forgotten Realms name from the notion of a multiverseMultiverse
The multiverse is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes that together comprise all of reality.Multiverse may also refer to:-In fiction:* Multiverse , the fictional multiverse used by DC Comics...
of parallel worlds; Earth is one such world, and the Realms another. In Greenwood's original conception, the fantastic legends of Earth derive from a fantasy world, the way to which has been lost. Greenwood discovered the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
game in 1975, and became a serious role-playing enthusiast with the first AD&D game releases in 1978. The setting became the home of Greenwood's personal campaign
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
. Greenwood began a Realms campaign in the city of Waterdeep
Waterdeep (city)
Waterdeep is a fictional city-state that forms part of a popular Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game campaign setting called the Forgotten Realms. It is a port city that is located along the western coast of the Faerûn sub-continent...
, then started another group known as the Knights of Myth Drannor in Shadowdale. Greenwood felt that his players' thirst for detail made the Realms what it is: "They want it to seem real, and work on ‘honest jobs’ and personal activities, until the whole thing grows into far more than a casual campaign. Roleplaying always governs over rules, and the adventures seem to develop themselves." Greenwood has stated that his own version of the Forgotten Realms, as run in his personal campaign, is much darker than published versions.
Beginning with the periodical's 30th issue in 1979, Greenwood published a series of short articles that detailed the setting in The Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
magazine, the first of which was about a monster known as the curst. Greenwood wrote voluminous entries to Dragon magazine, using the Realms as a setting for his descriptions of magic items
Magic item (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a magic item is any object that has magical powers inherent in it. These may act on their own or be the tools of the character in whose hands they fall into. Magic items have been prevalent in the game in every edition and setting, from the...
, monsters, and spells. In 1986, the American game publishing company TSR
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
began looking for a new campaign setting
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, and assigned Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb is an author and game designer. He has worked on a number of computer and role-playing games and has written a number of successful novels, short stories and comics...
to find out more about the setting used by Greenwood as portrayed in his articles in Dragon. According to Greenwood, Grubb asked him "Do you just make this stuff up as you go, or do you really have a huge campaign world?"; Greenwood answered "yes" to both questions. TSR felt that the Forgotten Realms would be a more open-ended setting than the epic Dragonlance
Dragonlance
Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of popular fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job application...
setting, and chose the Realms as a ready-made campaign setting upon deciding to publish AD&D 2nd Edition. Greenwood agreed to work on the project, and began working to get the Forgotten Realms officially published. Greenwood sent TSR a few dozen cardboard boxes stuffed with pencil notes and maps, and sold all rights to the Realms for a token fee. Greenwood noted that TSR altered his original conception of the Realms being a place that we could travel to from our world, "Concerns over possible lawsuits (kids getting hurt while trying to 'find a gate') led TSR to de-emphasize this meaning".
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition
Although the Realms were yet to be an official campaign world, the module H1: Bloodstone PassBloodstone Pass
H1 Bloodstone Pass is an adventure module for the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was written by Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson and published by TSR, Inc., in 1985...
, released in 1985 by TSR, is now considered to be a part of the Forgotten Realms, although it wasn't until module H3 The Bloodstone Wars
The Bloodstone Wars
H3 - The Bloodstone Wars is an Official Game Adventure or "module" for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.-Plot summary:The Bloodstone Wars consists of a Battlesystem scenario depicting a battle to rid a city of a bandit horde....
was released that Forgotten Realms became the official setting for the module series. The first official Forgotten Realms product was Douglas Niles
Douglas Niles
Douglas Niles is a fantasy author and game designer. Niles was one of the creators of the Dragonlance world and the author of the first three Forgotten Realms novels, and the Top Secret S/I espionage role-playing game.-Early life:Niles was born in Brookfield, Wisconsin, a suburb of Milwaukee, and...
's Darkwalker on Moonshae
Darkwalker on Moonshae
Darkwalker on Moonshae is a fantasy novel by Douglas Niles, set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
, the first book in The Moonshae Trilogy, which predates the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set by one month. The Campaign Set (often referred to as the "Grey Box") was later released in 1987 as a boxed set of two source books (Cyclopedia of the Realms and DM's Sourcebook of the Realms) and four large maps, designed by Greenwood in collaboration with author Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb is an author and game designer. He has worked on a number of computer and role-playing games and has written a number of successful novels, short stories and comics...
. The Forgotten Realms became an instant hit. The compilation module Desert of Desolation was reworked to fit into the Forgotten Realms. The module N5: Under Illefarn
Under Illefarn
Under Illefarn is a Dungeons & Dragons module. It was the first module designed for use with the Forgotten Realms campaign setting and officially labeled as such.-Plot summary:...
bears the Forgotten Realms logo on the cover, as do the two modules released in 1988, H4: The Throne of Bloodstone
The Throne of Bloodstone
H4 - The Throne of Bloodstone is an Official Game Adventure or "module" for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.-Plot summary:In The Throne of Bloodstone, the player characters take a trip to the Abyss to steal the wand of the demon prince Orcus....
and I14: Swords of the Iron Legion
Swords of the Iron Legion
Swords of the Iron Legion is an adventure module published in 1988 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:...
.
The Crystal Shard was released in 1988, and was the first novel to feature the successful character Drizzt Do'Urden
Drizzt Do'Urden
Drizzt Do'Urden is a fictional character in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Drizzt was created by author R. A. Salvatore as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Salvatore created him on a whim when his publisher needed to...
, who has since appeared in more than seventeen subsequent novels, many of which have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list
New York Times Best Seller list
The New York Times Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. It is published weekly in The New York Times Book Review magazine, which is published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times and as a stand-alone publication...
. In 1988, the first in a line of Forgotten Realms computer role-playing games, Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game for home computers. It is the first in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games...
, was released by Strategic Simulations, Inc. The game was popular, winning the Origins Award
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for "Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1988". In 1992, the game was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
.
Several supplements to the original boxed set were released under the first edition rules, including FR1 Waterdeep and the North
Waterdeep and the North
Waterdeep and the North is an accessory for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms.-Contents:...
and FR2 Moonshae
Moonshae
Moonshae is an accessory for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms. It describes the Moonshae Isles of Faerûn.-Contents:...
in 1987, and FR3 Empires of the Sands
Empires of the Sands
Empires of the Sands is an accessory for the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
, FR4 The Magister
The Magister
The Magister is an accessory for the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the first edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
, FR5 The Savage Frontier
The Savage Frontier
Savage Frontier is an accessory for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms. It describes the Savage Frontier of Faerûn. The book was written by Paul Jaquays...
, FR6 Dreams of the Red Wizards
Dreams of the Red Wizards
Dreams of the Red Wizards is an accessory for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:Dreams of the Red Wizards describes a kingdom ruled by evil slaveholding magicians, wizards who are always involved in intrigue between each other.-Publication history:FR6 Dreams of the...
, and REF5 Lords of Darkness in 1988. Also in 1988 came the City System
City System
City System is an accessory for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:The City System set maps the city of Waterdeep in detail on 10 large color maps, with another map showing the city as a whole, and one more map that plots the interior of Castle Waterdeep...
boxed set, containing several maps of the city of Waterdeep
Waterdeep (city)
Waterdeep is a fictional city-state that forms part of a popular Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game campaign setting called the Forgotten Realms. It is a port city that is located along the western coast of the Faerûn sub-continent...
. Ruins of Adventure
Ruins of Adventure
Ruins of Adventure is a Dungeons & Dragons module that served as the basis for the popular "Gold Box" computer role-playing game Pool of Radiance, published in 1988 by Strategic Simulations, Inc. . According to the editors of Dragon magazine, Pool of Radiance was based on Ruins of Adventure, and...
, a module based on the computer game Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance
Pool of Radiance is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game for home computers. It is the first in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games...
, was released in 1988.
The boxed set Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms was released in 1988, giving details of the lands of Kara-Tur
Kara-Tur
Kara-Tur is a fantasy world created by David Cook in the Oriental Adventures rulebook for the First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game in 1986. Kara-Tur's cultures and peoples are fantasy analogues of medieval China, Korea, Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, Tibet, and other regions of...
which had previously appeared in the 1986 book Oriental Adventures, and were now officially placed in the Forgotten Realms world. The same year, the module OA5: Mad Monkey vs. the Dragon Claw
Mad Monkey vs. the Dragon Claw
Mad Monkey vs. the Dragon Claw is an adventure module published in 1988 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:Mad Monkey vs...
was released for the Kara-Tur setting as a Forgotten Realms product.
In 1989, DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
began publishing a series of Forgotten Realms comics
Forgotten Realms (comic)
Forgotten Realms is a fantasy based comic book set in Dungeons & Dragons Forgotten Realms campaign setting, written by Jeff Grubb and illustrated by Rags Morales and Dave Simons-Plot:The Hand of Vaprak #1 - #4Dragonreach #5 - #8Minder's Story #9...
written by Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb is an author and game designer. He has worked on a number of computer and role-playing games and has written a number of successful novels, short stories and comics...
. Each issue contained twenty-six pages, illustrated primarily by Rags Morales
Rags Morales
Ralph "Rags" Morales is an American comic book artist known for his work on DC Comics' Identity Crisis, Countdown to Infinite Crisis, Batman Confidential, and Hawkman, Turok Dinosaur Hunter for Valiant Comics and Magic the Gathering: Dakkon Blackblade #1 from Armada/Acclaim Comics.Morales is the...
and Dave Simons. Twenty-five issues were published in total, with the last being released in 1991. A fifty-six page annual
Annual publication
An annual publication, more often called simply an annual, is a book or a magazine, comic book or comic strip published yearly. For example, a weekly or monthly publication may produce an Annual featuring similar materials to the regular publication....
Forgotten Realms Comic Annual #1: Waterdhavian Nights, illustrated by various artists, was released in 1990.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition
An eponymous moduleCurse of the Azure Bonds (module)
Curse of the Azure Bonds is an adventure module published in 1989 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:...
, based on the computer role-playing game Curse of the Azure Bonds
Curse of the Azure Bonds
Curse of the Azure Bonds is a computer role-playing game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc in 1989. It is the second in a four-part series of Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons Gold Box adventure computer games, continuing the events after the first part, Pool of Radiance.An...
, was released in 1989, as was the The Avatar Trilogy
The Avatar Series
The Avatar Series, originally The Avatar Trilogy, is a series of fantasy novels in the Forgotten Realms setting, covering the event known as the Time of Troubles.The books were:...
series of novels, consisting of Shadowdale, Tantras, and Waterdeep that detailed the storyline which became known as the "Time of Troubles
Time of Troubles (Forgotten Realms)
The Time of Troubles, also known as the Arrival, Godswar, and Avatar Crisis, is a fictional time period in the chronology of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game...
". A series of module adaptations for these novels (Shadowdale
Shadowdale (module)
Shadowdale is an adventure module published in 1989 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:Shadowdale is a Forgotten Realms scenario, first of a trilogy, in which the player characters leave their hometown of Shadowdale and start a long trek to the city of...
, Tantras
Tantras (module)
Tantras is an adventure module published in 1989 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:Tantras is a Forgotten Realms scenario in which the player characters have been accused of the murder of Elminster the mage; they break out of prison, and have adventures as they make...
, and Waterdeep
Waterdeep (module)
Waterdeep is an adventure module published in 1989 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:Waterdeep is a Forgotten Realms scenario, the climax of the FRE series, and set in the city of Waterdeep, as the player characters are on their quest to restore the Tablets of Fate...
) were released in the same year, along with the Hall of Heroes
Hall of Heroes (Forgotten Realms)
Hall of Heroes is an accessory for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
accessory, detailing many of the major characters appearing in Forgotten Realms novels published up through that time. In early 1990, the hardcover Forgotten Realms Adventures
Forgotten Realms Adventures
Forgotten Realms Adventures is an accessory for the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
by Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb is an author and game designer. He has worked on a number of computer and role-playing games and has written a number of successful novels, short stories and comics...
and Ed Greenwood
Ed Greenwood
Ed Greenwood is a Canadian writer and editor who created the Forgotten Realms. He invented the Forgotten Realms as a child, as a fantasy world in which to set the stories he imagined, and later used this world as a campaign setting for his own personal Dungeons & Dragons playing group...
was released, which introduced the Realms setting to the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game and detailed how the Time of Troubles had changed the setting. The RPGA
RPGA
The RPGA , is part of the organized play arm of Wizards of the Coast that organizes and sanctions role-playing games worldwide, principally under the d20 system...
used the Forgotten Realms city of Ravens Bluff
Ravens Bluff
Raven's Bluff is a fictional location in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Publication history:...
as the setting for their first living campaign
Living campaigns
Living Campaigns are a gaming format within the table-top role-playing game community that provide the opportunity for play by an extended community within a shared universe...
. Official RPGA support for this product line included the Living City modules
Adventure (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, an adventure or module is a pre-packaged book or box set that helps the Dungeon Master manage the plot or story of a game...
series. A number of sub-settings of the Forgotten Realms were briefly supported in the early 1990s. Three more modules were produced for the Kara-Tur
Kara-Tur
Kara-Tur is a fantasy world created by David Cook in the Oriental Adventures rulebook for the First Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game in 1986. Kara-Tur's cultures and peoples are fantasy analogues of medieval China, Korea, Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, Tibet, and other regions of...
setting. The Horde: Barbarian Campaign Setting
The Horde (boxed set)
The Horde is an accessory for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:The Horde is an accessory for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting covering the central area of the Realms, the Endless Waste, and the nomads who live there, particularly the Mongollike Horde...
, released in 1990, detailed The Hordelands, which also featured a series of three modules. The Maztica Campaign Set
Maztica Campaign Set
Maztica Campaign Set is an accessory for the 2nd edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, published in 1991....
, released in 1991, detailed the continent of Maztica.
The original gray boxed set received a revision in 1993 to update it to the second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules system, with the release of a new Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting boxed set, containing three books (A Grand Tour of the Realms, Running the Realms, and Shadowdale) and various "monster supplements", with a new graphic look. Additional material for the setting was released steadily throughout the 1990s. Forgotten Realms novels, such as the Legacy of the Drow
Legacy of the Drow
The Legacy of the Drow is a New York Times best selling fantasy series. It is the third series by R. A. Salvatore following the adventures of the Forgotten Realms character Drizzt Do'Urden.This series is followed up by the Paths of Darkness series....
series, the first three books of The Elminster Series
The Elminster Series
The Elminster Series is a series of fantasy novels by author Ed Greenwood. The novels are set in the Forgotten Realms setting created by Greenwood for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. The series focuses on the titular character Elminster who was a key figure in several of...
, and numerous anthologies were also released throughout the 1990s, which lead to the setting being hailed as one of the most successful shared fantasy universes
Shared universe
A shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....
of the 1990s. These novels in turn sparked interest in role-playing activity by new gamers.
Numerous Forgotten Realms video games were released Between 1990 and 2000. The Eye of the Beholder
Eye of the Beholder (computer game)
Eye of the Beholder is a role-playing video game for computers and video game consoles developed by Westwood Studios. It was published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. in 1990 for the DOS operating system and later ported to the Amiga, the Sega CD, and the SNES...
PC game was released in 1990. This game was later followed by two sequels, the first in 1991, and the second in 1992. All three games were re-released for DOS on a single disk in 1995. Another 1991 release was Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights (AOL game)
Neverwinter Nights was the first multiplayer online role-playing game to display graphics, and ran from 1991 to 1997 on AOL.-Gameplay:Neverwinter Nights was developed to be played similarly to the Gold Box series of games...
on America Online
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
, the first graphical Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
). In 1998, Baldur's Gate was released, the first in a line of popular computer role-playing games developed by BioWare
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer founded in February 1995 by newly graduated medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, and Augustine Yip. BioWare is currently owned by American company Electronic Arts...
and "considered by most pundits as the hands-down best PC roleplaying game ever". The game was followed by a sequel, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
Baldur's Gate series
Baldur's Gate is a franchise of action role-playing games released under the Dungeons & Dragons Video Game Licenses. It is set in the fictional campaign setting of Forgotten Realms and takes place in its fictional continent of Faerûn. It takes place mostly in the Western Heartlands, but has also...
in 2000 as well as Icewind Dale, a separate game that utilized the same game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
as Baldur's Gate. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor
Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor
Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor is a Forgotten Realms Dungeons and Dragons role-playing video game released in 2001 by Ubisoft....
was released in 2001. Several popular Forgotten Realms characters such as Drizzt Do'Urden
Drizzt Do'Urden
Drizzt Do'Urden is a fictional character in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Drizzt was created by author R. A. Salvatore as a supporting character in the Icewind Dale Trilogy. Salvatore created him on a whim when his publisher needed to...
and Elminster made minor appearances in these games.
Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition
With the release of the 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons rules system in 2000 by Wizards of the CoastWizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting was released as a hardcover, in 2001, updating the official material and advancing the timeline of the game world. In 2002, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting won the Origins Award
Origins Award
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.The Origins Award is commonly...
for Best Role-Playing Game Supplement of 2001.
Several additional rulebooks were released for the new edition, including Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn (2001), Magic of Faerûn
Magic of Faerûn
Magic of Faerûn is an accessory for the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:...
(2001), Lords of Darkness (2001), Faiths and Pantheons
Faiths and Pantheons
Faiths and Pantheons is a campaign accessory for the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons, for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.-Contents:...
(2002), Silver Marches (2002), Races of Faerûn
Races of Faerûn
Races of Faerûn is an optional supplemental sourcebook for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the 3rd edition of Dungeons & Dragons.-Contents:...
(2003), and Unapproachable East
Unapproachable East (supplement)
Unapproachable East is a hardcover accessory for the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:Unapproachable East describes locations such as Aglarond, Rashemen, and Thay for the Forgotten Realms setting....
(2003). Adventure modules included Into the Dragon's Lair (2000), Pool of Radiance: Attack on Myth Drannor (2001), and City of the Spider Queen
City of the Spider Queen
City of the Spider Queen is an adventure module for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Plot summary:...
(2002).
In 2002, Bioware released Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights
Neverwinter Nights , produced by BioWare and published by Infogrames , is a third-person perspective computer role-playing game that is based on third edition Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms rules. It was originally to be published by Interplay Entertainment, but the publisher's financial...
, set in the northern reaches of Faerûn and operating on the revised 3.0 rules for D&D. It was followed by two expansion pack
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
s,Shadows of Undrentide
Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide
Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide is an expansion pack for Neverwinter Nights developed by Floodgate Entertainment and BioWare, and published by Infogrames Entertainment . It was released in June 2003...
and Hordes of the Underdark
Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark
Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark is an expansion pack for the role-playing video game Neverwinter Nights produced by BioWare and published by Infogrames Entertainment...
. A sequel
Neverwinter Nights 2
Neverwinter Nights 2 is a computer role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Atari. It is the sequel to BioWare's Neverwinter Nights, based on the Dungeons & Dragons pencil and paper fantasy role-playing game...
was produced by Obsidian Entertainment
Obsidian Entertainment
Obsidian Entertainment is an American video game developer founded in 2003 after the disestablishment of Interplay Productions' Black Isle Studios, for PC and console systems...
in 2006, itself followed by the expansion sets Mask of the Betrayer
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer is a computer role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Atari. It is an expansion pack for Neverwinter Nights 2. It was released in Autumn 2007 for the PC in North America, Europe, and Australia...
and Storm of Zehir
Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir
Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir is an expansion pack for the computer role-playing game Neverwinter Nights 2, developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Atari. It was released in late 2008 in North America, Europe, and Australia...
. The Forgotten Realms Deluxe Edition compilation was released in 2006, containing the Baldur's Gate series (excluding the Dark Alliance games), Icewind Dale series, and all Neverwinter Nights games before Neverwinter Nights 2.
With the release of the version 3.5 update to the rules, the Forgotten Realms product line continued to expand. Accessories released included Underdark
Underdark (supplement)
The Underdark sourcebook for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.-Contents:...
(2003), Player's Guide to Faerûn (2004), Serpent Kingdoms (2004), Shining South (2004), Lost Empires of Faerûn
Lost Empires of Faerûn (accessory)
Lost Empires of Faerûn is a campaign supplement for the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:...
(2005), Champions of Ruin
Champions of Ruin
Champions of Ruin is a hardcover accessory for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:Champions of Ruin is an expansion to detail the role of evil in the Forgotten Realms setting.-Publication history:...
(2005), City of Splendors: Waterdeep (2005), Champions of Valor
Champions of Valor
Champions of Valor is a hardcover accessory for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Contents:Champions of Valor is an expansion to detail the role of good in the Forgotten Realms setting.-Publication history:...
(2005), Power of Faerûn (2006), Mysteries of the Moonsea (2006), Dragons of Faerûn (2006), and Grand History of the Realms (2007). Adventure modules released included Sons of Gruumsh (2005), The Twilight Tomb (2006), Expedition to Undermountain (2007), Cormyr: The Tearing of the Weave (2007), Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land (2007), and Anauroch: The Empire of Shade (2007).
Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition
With the release of the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, the Forgotten Realms were updated again to the new rules system, featuring a very changed Realms and moving the fictional world's timeline 104 years into the future. The Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, released August 2008, is a 288-page book for Dungeon MasterDungeon Master
In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the Dungeon Master is the game organizer and participant in charge of creating the details and challenges of a given adventure, while maintaining a realistic continuity of events...
s. The Forgotten Realms Player's Guide was released the following month, and contains information for players to help create Forgotten Realms characters. An adventure, Scepter Tower of Spellgard, was also released in September 2008 and can be used in combination with the adventure in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide to start a Forgotten Realms campaign. In 2008, the Forgotten Realms also became the setting for the RPGA
RPGA
The RPGA , is part of the organized play arm of Wizards of the Coast that organizes and sanctions role-playing games worldwide, principally under the d20 system...
's sole living campaign, Living Forgotten Realms, replacing Living Greyhawk
Living Greyhawk
Living Greyhawk was a massively shared Dungeons and Dragons living campaign administered by RPGA that ran from 2000 to 2008. The campaign setting and storyline were based on Gary Gygax's World of Greyhawk setting, and used the Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition rules...
.
Reception
In his book The Fantasy Roleplaying Gamer's Bible, Sean Patrick Fannon describes the Forgotten Realms as being "the most ambitious fantasy game setting published since TekumelTékumel
Tékumel is a fantasy world created by Professor M. A. R. Barker over the course of several decades from around 1940. With time Barker also created the role-playing game Empire of the Petal Throne, set in the Tékumel fictional universe and first published in 1975 by TSR, Inc...
", and that it "may be the most widely played-in game setting in RPG history." Similarly, in literature, the novels written in the Forgotten Realms setting have formed one of "the industry's leading fantasy series". Over time these novels have gained "unprecedented popularity", which led, as Marc Oxoby noted in his book, The 1990s, to the novels having an "extraordinary shelf life", remaining in print for many years. This popular reception has also been reflected in public libraries. For example, Joyce Saricks states in The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction that the novels have been among the most requested books by fans of the fantasy genre.
See also
- List of Dungeons & Dragons video games
- List of Forgotten Realms novels
- Forgotten Realms (comics)