bcokatz6 years ago#1

HBOSS6 years ago#2

bcokatz (Topic Creator)6 years ago#3

Last year I had the pleasure and privilege to work with James Ohlen and Arcanum Worlds on this piece.

It began as the 20 year anniversary of the original Baldur's Gate video game, which I played many, many times.

It was cool to work with the man who helped bring that to life way back then.

I wanted this version of the city to be inspiring, as well as accurate, in so far as it was possible for me.

I didn't have access to anyone at WOTC to let me know where certain things were located.

So I spent a LOT of time researching things. And then we changed the location of one anyways.

That was due to an encounter map you'll see later.

I hope this version will stand the test of time and be around for another 20 years.

It ended up becoming a campaign setting book over on the DMsGuild - www.dmsguild.com/product/26939…

Definitely go pick up a copy. Works like that help more maps get made.  

I'll be dropping a few more maps over the next few weeks, plus some closeups over on

twitter - twitter.com/jstevensonart

and tumblr - jstevensonart.tumblr.com/

maybe even instagram - www.instagram.com/jstevensonar…

I hope you enjoy this look at the great city of Baldur's Gate.

I tried to make sure there were loads of locations for adventure and intrigue.

Thanks for watching, and stay tuned...  cheers, J

NOTE - I've updated the map with location labels.
I added a highlight line around the location that is being labeled.
I'll add an unlabeled version in scraps and connect it here.

Baldur's Gate - city map [Unlabeled]

Other bits...

         

Image details

Terraria Description

Pixel style of the wonderful world, "Terraria" mobile version of the game picture and touches the PC version and the same, using a very sophisticated 2D pixel images. Joined a lot of modern picture technology, such as soft lighting changes and so on. The most beautiful part of the game or different bPhonephere has a different color, every time you walk into a different bPhonephere, you will feel the obvious changes in the picture: some are sunny, some dark overcast forest.

The same is true for music in games, with different sounds in different environments, but most of the time you should hear about that title screen and the popular theme song background music everywhere. No matter when the game rhythm is very easy and pleasant electronic tone, which is the game's biggest feature, the overall level of many games to be much better than many, each capital can give people a deep impression.

Ultra-high degree of freedom. The purpose of this is very simple, you can wander around aimlessly, build a broken house, living a relaxed life. You can also move toward the challenge BOSS, collecting resources, kill small BOSS, attract NPCs, build their own castle and village, embark on a brave adventure. In addition to acquisition and synthesis, the other characteristic of the game is of course the high plasticity, without any main lines, completely free-world development. To the left is the snow and ice, walking to the right is the vast desert, down is dark hell, up the sky island, the entire world can destroy and build, go to hell have to cut through the ground, to go to the island to put up heaven Tower ... The game world is also divided into day and night, in the end how to make the game by the players themselves decided to create their own.

You can get resources from a variety of places to build your own castle, synthesize your own tools, equipment, furniture and other necessities. Every inch of the game the land can be destroyed, as long as you have free time, you dig the entire map into a pit no one tube you. Of course, with the deepening of the game, the resources needed to find a more dangerous place. This is a great degree of freedom, but the main line is also very clear and outstanding game.

The core fun of "Terraria" is naturally acquisition and composition. In the world of "Terraria", almost everything you see can be shattered, and shards fall out as a material. As long as the material and conditions are sufficient, anytime, anywhere can be synthesized. And do not think this is a medieval fantasy story, as the game progresses, laser swords, circuits, bombs and other high-tech can also be used. As for how to synthesize, this is the core fun of the game, and constantly discover and create new things, everyone to explore it!

In fact, the only drawback of mobile version I think it is not nothing that shrink the content, but bad operation. Although the game was very thoughtful optimization, but still can not solve how to put items or elements in the desired location, as well as a full range of multi-angle good move, this also set the jump button on, this can be said to be The biggest failure on the operation.

However, this can still by virtue of its degree of freedom and extremely rich content, as well as a good grasp of the rhythm of the game, become a very fun rare works of excellence.

In addition to operating outside of the gaming experience and PC version is not much different. Even if the content is shrinking, but the game still provides a rich enough enough time to kill the huge content. There is no doubt that this is a work that should not be missed. If the conditional player can consider with a handle ... This touch screen operation really uncomfortable. - APKAward.com

Happy New Year! 2021 is finally over but if you're a gamer, don't start checking the achievements you've unlocked this year just yet. Not until you've checked out all the games coming to PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch or smartphone in 2022. There are a lot of titles to look forward to, some (Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Dying Light 2 Stay Human, and Forspoken) promising fantastic open-world action, while others (Dead Space, and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time) will give us a fresh look at classic titles.

Of course, many of us are still enjoying some of our favourite titles from last year, such as Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. But with the new year comes the promise of even more exciting games. This year, gamers can expect to see Rainbow Six Extraction, Ghostwire: Tokyo, Elden Ring, Stray, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Hogwarts Legacy, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice Capital one visa signature login, Gran Turismo 7, Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl, Forspoken, Redfall, Saints Row, Starfield, and God of War Ragnarök.

Gadgets 360's Favourite Games of 2021

It's worth noting that a lot of games on this list do not have specific release dates but are scheduled to arrive later this year. Games like God of War Ragnarök and Horizon Forbidden West have already seen delays due to the pandemic, and some of the other titles on this list could also see delays, thanks to the uptick in cases due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in various countries. However, if you're looking for a list of games you can expect to see this year, rochester regional health lab locations are the games we're most excited to play on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X in 2022.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora might be one of the most exciting games announced in 2021, and the upcoming open-world action-adventure title is developed by Massive Entertainment. The game is based on the popular Avatar film series by James Cameron and promises breath-taking visuals. It will be a cross-platform release and is headed to PlayStation 5, PC, Xbox Series S/X, Amazon Luna, and Google Stadia later this year.

Babylon's Fall

Release date: March 3, 2022

Hack-and-slash fans can look forward to the release of Babylon's Fall by PlatinumGames, an upcoming cooperative action role-playing game (RPG). Gamers will play as a Sentinel, scaling a tower called the Ziggurat and powering up along the way, alone or with three friends. Babylon's Fall is headed to PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Baldur's Gate III

Baldur's Gate is already a popular franchise and the upcoming Baldur's Gate III is based on the iconic Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and features turn-based combat. Larian Studios already released this title in early access on PC, macOS, and on Google Stadia in 2020, but the full release is headed to these platforms this year. Baldur's Gate features both single-player and multiplayer modes and is expected to arrive later this year.

Company of Heroes 3

Sega's Company of Heroes will throw gamers into the chaos of World War II and is set in Italy and North Africa. You will play as the Allies, as you fight to take control of these regions, and your in-game decisions will affect the final outcome. The game will feature a much higher attention to detail not found in its predecessors, including improved graphics and Battlefield-style building damage. Company of Heroes 3 is developed by Relic Entertainment and is set to arrive later this year, only on PC.

CrossfireX

Release date: February 10, 2022

CrossfireX is Remedy Entertainment and Smilegate's third addition woodsville guaranty savings bank plymouth nh the Crossfire series on Microsoft's Xbox gaming console. The game will feature two modes — a free-to-play multiplayer mode, and a campaign mode. The game will feature two teams that can play in Classic mode, which features a plant-the-bomb/ defuse-the-bomb game style reminiscent of the popular Counter-Strike game series. The game also offers a Modern mode and a new Spectre mode. CrossfireX will only be available on Xbox Series S/X and Xbox One.

Dead Space (Remake)

Release date: Q4 2022

Back after nine years, Dead Space will bring the same storyline as the original game title with the same name that was first released in 2008. It's a remake of the original title and not a successor to 2013's Dead Space 3, but gamers can look forward to the same horror-survival gameplay and step back into the boots of engineer Isaac Clarke, who must escape a spaceship infested with Necromorphs, or the undead. The game is developed by Motive Studios and will feature a single-player mode. It will be available on PC, PlayStation 5 and on Xbox Series S/X.

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen

Release date: Q1 2022

Delayed this year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the latest addition to Destiny 2 will now arrive in February. The role-playing action game will see the addition of new content, such as new maps, weapons, missions, dungeons, and much more. Content will be released across 2022, and Bungie will bring the sixth expansion to the popular Destiny 2 game to PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X and Google Stadia, on February 22.

Diablo Immortal

Release date: Q1/Q2 2022

Announced four years ago, Diablo Immortal is an arcade-style action RPG for smartphones with a multiplayer mode. It will feature a familiar graphics style and will be free-to-play. The game will be launched on Android and iOS smartphones, and Blizzard and NetEase have not announced any plans to launch the game on PC or on consoles.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human

Release date: February 2, 2022

Techland's Dying Light 2 Stay Human is a cross-platform action RPG game set in an open world, 20 years after the events of the original Dying Light game. Releasing seven years after the first game in the series, Dying Light 2 will feature a new character called Aiden Caldwell. In order to survive the game's hordes of zombies, players will have to use parkour skills like jumping, climbing, and running across walls. Dying Light 2 Stay Human is set to arrive on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

Elden Ring

Release date: February 5, 2022

A third-person action RPG created by FromSoftware, Bandai Namco's Elden Ring features the realm of the Lands Between where players must fight and explore castles, fortresses and crypts in order to locate the Great Runes (to restore the Elden Ring) in order to become the Elden Lord. The game is scheduled to arrive on PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

Forspoken

Release date: May 24, 2022

Promising fantastic graphics including ray tracing, Luminous Productions' Forspoken features an action-packed, fast-paced gameplay. Forspoken is set in an open world, and features protagonist Frey Holland, who must survive the world of Athia using magic in order to survive and find her way back home to New York. The game's publisher Square Enix says Forspoken will be available on PC but will remain a console exclusive for two years on PlayStation 5.

Ghostwire: Tokyo

It's a battle with ghosts for players who baldurs gate city map up Ghostwire: Tokyo later this year, and the single-player action-adventure game will allow players to cast spells using hand gestures to beat ghosts and spirits (called Visitors) in the game. Donning the role of Akito, players will have to combat the Visitors using his powers as the city's residents begin to disappear. Ghostwire: Tokyo will be available on PC and PlayStation 5 later this year.

God of War (PC)

Release date: January 14, 2022

Sony announced back in October that its 2018 God of War title, a PlayStation 4 exclusive, will arrive for PCs in 2022. With Sony's Santa Monica Studio all set to release the popular game (over 19.5 million copies of the title were sold as of August 2021) gamers on PC will now be able to get in on the action, with 4K resolution and DLSS on Nvidia RTX. They must play as Kratos, travelling across realms and battling epic monsters and Norse Gods with his son Atreus.

God of War Ragnarök

Release date: August 2022

While God of War (2018) is finally arriving for gamers on PC, players on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 can get set to jump into the next instalment of the game, God of War Ragnarök — the finale of the two-chapter Norse era of the popular single-player action-adventure series. Sony's Santa Monica Studio has developed the upcoming title, which will feature Kratos and his son Atreus and show the duo travelling across all Nine Realms (including Asgard, Vanaheim, and Svartalfheim) while facing the ire of Thor and Freya after [spoiler alert for God of War (2018)] the loss of their sons in battle with Kratos. The game, which was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, will arrive on both PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.

Gotham Knights

The upcoming action role-playing game by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment is set to be released sometime in 2022. Gotham Knights is set in an open-world Gotham City and features four Bat Family heroes — Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin. Earlier this year, the developer showcased a trailer for the upcoming game at DC FanDome. Gotham Knights is set to release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

Grid Legends

Release date: February 25, 2022

Codemasters' latest racing title Grid Legends is the fifth instalment in the Grid franchise. The game is scheduled to release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X and is available for pre-order on the official website. The game was announced during the EA Play Live 2021 event in July. With over a 100 tracks and cars to choose from, players will even get a chance to create their own races and rules on Grid Legends.

Gran Turismo 7

Release date: March 2022

The simulation racing game series — Gran Turismo — which is exclusive to PlayStation consoles is soon receiving its latest iteration. Gran Turismo 7 — developed by Polyphony Digital and Sony Interactive Entertainment — is slated to release on PS4 and PS5 consoles. Apart from 90 tracks, Gran Tursimo 7 will feature a whopping collection of 420 vehicles.

GTA 5 + GTA Online

Release date: March 2022

Rockstar Games' extremely popular Grand Theft Auto Online and Grand Theft Auto V are being remastered for the next-gen consoles — PS5 and Xbox Series S/X. The action-adventure game is slated to release sometime in March 2022.

Hogwarts Legacy

Set in the 1800s, Hogwarts Legacy will follow the life of a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The release date of the game is unknown but it is said to release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X.

Homeworld 3

Release date: Q4 2022

Homeworld 3's tentative release date is expected to be in the fourth quarter of 2022. The real-time strategy game is the third title in the Homeworld franchise that debuted in 1999. It will solely be available on PC when it's released.

Horizon Forbidden West

Release date: February 18, 2022

Probably one of, if not the most, anticipated games of 2022, Horizon Forbidden West is set to release on PS4 and PS5. The game was earlier set to release in late 2021 but it got delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The upcoming game is a sequel to the critically acclaimed Horizon Zero Dawn.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel

The yet-untitled sequel to Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has an unspecified launch date for 2022. The popular action-adventure title's sequel will release exclusively on Nintendo Switch. Not much else is known about the game as of now.

Xbox Game Pass to Bring 31 Day One Titles to Xbox Consoles, PCs in 2022

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum

Release date: Q4 2022

Not much information has been released about the upcoming game apart from the fact that it will be available for PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. The stealth-based action-adventure game based on J.R.R. Tolkien's novel is said to follow the character of Gollum before the events of The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit.

Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope

A crossover between Mario and Raving Rabbids franchises, the new Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope baldurs gate city map a sequel to 2017's Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle. Ubisoft's upcoming game is set to release sometime in 2022 on Nintendo Switch.

Marvel's Midnight Suns

Release date: Q3/Q4 2022

Announced during Gamescom 2021, Firaxis games Marvel's Midnight Suns is slated to release in the second half of 2022. It will release on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. The developer recently shared a trailer that showed parts of the gameplay of the upcoming tactical RPG.

MultiVersus

The free-to-play crossover fighting game published by Warner Bros. features many characters from Warner's catalogue, from Batman to Bugs Bunny. With no specific date mentioned for its release, MultiVersus will be available to play on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. It is said to have its gameplay similar to Super Smash Bros.

Need for Speed

Need for Speed is one of the most popular racing game titles published by Electronic Arts. Neither the platforms it will be available on nor the launch date has been announced by the developers. The new NFS could be developed by Criterion, the studio behind Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010), Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2012), and Need for Speed Rivals (2013).

OlliOlliWorld

Release date: February 8, 2022

OlliOlliWorld will be available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. Developed by Roll7 and Private Division, the 2D-platfroming skateboarding game is the third entry in the OlliOlli franchise. The game takes place in Radlandia where players can interact with NPCs and take on side quests, apart from pulling impossible tricks of course.

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake

The classic Prince of Persia: Sands of Time makes a comeback with a remake which will feature new enemy character models and new cinematic sequences, along with enhanced voices, sounds, parkour animations, and soundtrack. It will still allow you to use the dagger to reverse, accelerate, freeze, and slow time itself while solving puzzles along the way. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake will be a debut release for Ubisoft India Studios. The game is headed to PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4.

Redfall

Redfall is an open-world co-op first-person shooter from Arkane, the team well-known for its previous releases — Prey and Dishonored. The game takes place in the island town of Redfall in Massachusetts which is under an attack by a coven of vampires who have cut off the island from the outside world. It features four characters, namely — Devinder Crousley, Layla Ellison, Remi De La Rosa, and Jacob Boyer. Redfall will be exclusively launched on Xbox Series S/X and PC. It will also be available on Game Pass on launch day.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl

Release Date: April 2022

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. comes back after more than a decade, following the last release which was Call of Pripyat. The new chapter is said to be based in Chernobyl wherein you face dangerous mutants and fight them for dear life. The game will be available in three editions — Standard Edition, Deluxe Edition, and Ultimate Edition with prices starting from Rs. 2,999 and going all the way up to Rs. 5,499. The game will be launched as a single-player and will later receive a free update for multiplayer. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl is available on PC and Xbox Series S/X, it will also be available on Game Pass.

Saints Row

Release Date: August 23, 2022

Saints Row is set in Santo Ileso, a vibrant fictional city in the heart of the American SouthWest. The four saints — Boss, Eli, Neenah, and Kevin run riots in the city in their bid to become “Self Made.” Pre-orders for the game are live and it is available on Xbox Series S/X, PC, and also PS4 and PS5. Players can buy the Standard Edition, Gold Edition, or the Platinum Edition.

Splatoon 3

Splatoon 3 was announced back in February 2021. However, there is still no precise date on when the game will be launched for Nintendo Switch devices. The game brings back 4v4 Turf Wars with new stages, new manoeuvres, and new weapons. It also introduces a new map Splatlands, a sun-soaked region with trendsetting inhabitants. Splatoon 3 can be played in TV Mode, Handheld Mode, and also Tabletop Mode.

Star Wars: Hunters

Star Wars: Hunters is set after the fall of the Galactic Empire. It has a new set of characters such as Imara Vex, Grozz, Sentinel, Slingshot, and others. The game will also include Bounty Hunters, Imperial Stormtroopers, and heroes of the Rebellion. Star Wars: Hunters will be free to play on Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android.

Starfield

Release Date: November what time does pickup close at walmart, 2022

Starfield is an RPG set in the stars and allows players to create any character that they want as they set foot to unravel humanity's biggest mystery. Starfield is exclusive on Xbox Series S/X and PC. It will also be available on Game Pass on launch day.

Stray

Stray is a third-person cat adventure game developed by BlueTwelve Studio. The game lets you see the world from the eyes of a cat who has fallen into a mysterious and forgotten place, lost and separated from its family. The player must survive through the hardships by using the cat's unique point of view and skills. Stray will be available for cat lovers on Steam, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is an action-adventure title that brings back Amanda Waller's Task Force once again. This includes Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark who aim to end the Justice League in the open-world city of Metropolis. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox Series S/X.

Release Date: January 2022

A Chimera parasite that has been causing chaos in New Mexico has apparently entered the United States. These mysterious creatures, known as Archæans, are causing havoc in containment zones spread across the country. It is the job of Rainbow Six operators who join the REACT (Rainbow Exogenous Analysis & Containment Team) to fight and study the new threat. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction will be available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox One, Google Stadia, Microsoft Windows, and Amazon Luna.

Total War: Warhammer III

Release Date: February 17, 2022

Total War: Warhammer III is the third edition of the ongoing series of games. Warhammer III adds a host of new game modes, locations, and fighting techniques. It features a captivating narrative which will take you to the mind-bending Realm of Chaos where the fate of the world will be revealed. The turn-based strategy game is said to launch on Steam and Epic Games with a price tag of Rs. 3,399. Total War: Warhammer III will also be available on PC Game Pass.

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection

Release Date: January 28

The PlayStation-exclusive Uncharted series is all set to make its way to PC in 2022. The Legacy of Thieves Collection will include Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Both the games have been remastered for the PS5. Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection will be available on PC and PlayStation 5.

UFL

UFL is a free-to-play football simulation game that aims to compete against the big guns in this category. The game is developed and published by a new Belarusian studio called Strikerz Inc. UFL recently signed Walmart money card balance espanol Lukaku as their brand ambassador alongside well-known names such as Oleksandr Zinchenko and Roberto Firmino. There is no word on the release date for this game, however, there will be a gameplay reveal on January 27. UFL will be released on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X with the official social media handles hinting at a PC launch later in the year.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong

Release Date: May 19, 2022

Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong lets you ask the age-old question once again, what if Vampires were real? It is a narrative role-playing game wherein Hazel Iversen, the Swan, is the new Prince of the Boston Camarilla. Humans shall not learn about the existence of the night creatures and every move should be made in the dark. The game allows you to play as three vampires who are over a hundred years old. Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong will be available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S/X, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox One.

What are the best games of 2021? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Dungeons & Dragons fictional campaign setting

Top: The Forgotten Realms logo (1987–1999) Bottom: Forgotten Realms logo (2000–present)
Designers	Ed Greenwood
Publication	1987–current
Genres	Fantasy
Languages	English
Media type	Game accessories, novels, role-playing video games, comic books

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.^[1] Several years later, Greenwood brought the setting to publication for 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 novels, role-playing video game adaptations (including the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game to use graphics), and comic books.

Forgotten Realms is a fantasy world setting, described as a world of strange lands, dangerous creatures, and mighty deities, where magic and supernatural phenomena are quite real. The premise is that, long ago, planet Earth and the world of the Forgotten Realms were more closely connected. As time passed, the inhabitants of Earth had mostly forgotten about the existence of that other world – hence the name Forgotten Realms. The edmonds & evans funeral home portage in Forgotten Realms logo, which was used until 2000, had small runic letters that read "Herein lie the lost lands" as an allusion to the connection between the two worlds.

Forgotten Realms is one of the most popular D&D settings,^[2][3] largely due to the success of novels by authors such as R. A. Salvatore and numerous role-playing video games, including Pool of Radiance (1988), Eye of the Beholder (1991), Icewind Dale (2000), and the Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate series.

Creative origins[edit]

Ed Greenwood began writing stories about the Forgotten Realms as a child, starting at the age of 8.^[4]: 72 He came up baldurs gate city map the name from the notion of a multiverse 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 that can no longer be accessed.^[5] Greenwood discovered the Dungeons & Dragons game in 1975, and became a serious role-playing enthusiast with jack lemmon and judy holliday first compass pa child clearance login Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) game releases in 1978.^[5] Greenwood brought his fantasy world to the new medium of role-playing games when a university student named September introduced him to AD&D.^[4]: 72 The setting became the home of Greenwood's personal campaign.^[6] Greenwood began a Realms campaign in the city of Waterdeep before britannica great books of the western world ebay a group known as the Knights of Myth Drannor in the Shadowdale region. 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."^[5] Greenwood has stated that his own version of the Forgotten Realms, as run in his personal campaign, is much darker than published versions.^[7]

Starting in 1979, Greenwood published a series of articles that detailed the setting in The Dragon (now Dragon) magazine, the first of which was about a monster known as the curst.^[4]: 72 Greenwood wrote voluminous entries to Dragon, and used the Realms as a setting for his descriptions of magic items, monsters, and spells.^[6] When Gary Gygax "lost control of TSR in 1985, the company saw an opportunity to move beyond Greyhawk and introduce a new default setting".^[8]: 87 In 1986, TSR began looking for a new campaign setting for AD&D,^[4]: 72 and assigned Jeff Grubb to find out more about the setting used by Greenwood as portrayed in his articles in Dragon.^[8]

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.^[5] TSR felt that the Forgotten Realms would be a more open-ended setting than its epic fantasy counterpart Dragonlance, and chose the Realms as a ready-made campaign setting upon deciding to publish AD&D 2nd edition.^[5] Greenwood agreed to work on the project and began working to get Forgotten Realms officially published.^[9] He sent TSR a few dozen cardboard boxes stuffed with pencil notes and maps, and sold all rights to the setting for a token fee.^[5] He noted that TSR altered his original conception of the Realms being a place that could be accessed from Earth, as "[c]oncerns over possible lawsuits (kids getting hurt while trying to 'find a gate') led TSR to de-emphasize this meaning."^[5]

Jon Peterson, author of Dungeons and Dragons Art and Arcana: A Visual History, said that Greenwood "was that rare obsessive DM who just seemed to have more ideas and energy to pour into his world than even the folks at TSR did. Naturally when TSR was shopping for new campaign worlds as part of their cross-media strategy, they had to get the Forgotten Realms. RA Salvatore took Greenwood's world and created characters and stories for it that made him a bestselling author and sustained TSR as a major fantasy book publisher."^[10]

Publication history[edit]

1985–1990[edit]

In 1985, the AD&DmoduleBloodstone Pass was released by TSR and is retroactively considered to be a part of the Forgotten Realms,^[11] although it was not until the module The Bloodstone Wars was released that it became the official setting for the module series.^[12]Douglas Niles had worked on a trilogy of Celtic-themed novels, which were modified to become the first Forgotten Realms books, beginning with Darkwalker on Moonshae (1987).^[4]: 73 It is the first book in The Moonshae Trilogy, which predates the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set by one month.^[13]

The Forgotten Realms Campaign Set was later released in 1987^[8] as a boxed set of two source books (Cyclopedia of the Realms and DM's Sourcebook of the Realms) and four large color maps, designed by Greenwood in collaboration with Grubb.^[14]: 99 The set introduced the campaign setting and explained how to use it,^[14]: 99 and reserved space on the map for SSI's Gold Boxcomputer role-playing games set in the Forgotten Realms.^[15]

TSR began incorporating elements by other designers into the Forgotten Realms, including the Moonshae Isles by Douglas Niles, the "Desert of Desolation" by Tracy Hickman and Laura Hickman, and Kara-Tur by Zeb Cook.^[4]: 73 The setting also gave TSR a new way to market its Battlesystem rules, which it had supported with the Bloodstone adventure sequence that began with Bloodstone Pass. The last two books of this series, The Bloodstone Wars (1987) and The Throne of Bloodstone (1988), were explicitly placed in the Forgotten Realms.^[4]: 74 Some of the characters from Frank Mentzer's Egg of the Phoenix (1987) were incorporated into The Savage Frontier (1988).^[4]: 40

The compilation module Desert of Desolation was reworked to fit into the Forgotten Realms.^[16] The module Under Illefarn published in 1987 is set in the Forgotten Realms,^[14]: 108 as is the module released in 1988, Swords of the Iron Legion.^[14]: 103

R. A. Salvatore wrote his first Forgotten Realms novel in 1988, The Crystal Shard (1988), which was originally set in the Moonshae Islands before being moved to a new location and introduced the drow character Drizzt Do'Urden.^{[4]: 73 [17]} Drizzt has since appeared in more than seventeen subsequent novels, many of which have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list.^[18] In 1988, the first in a line of Forgotten Realms role-playing video games, Pool of Radiance, was released by Strategic Simulations, Inc.^[19] The game was popular and won the Origins Award for "Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1988".^[20]

Several supplements to the original boxed set were released under the first edition rules, beginning with Waterdeep and the North,^[4]: 73 which was followed by Moonshae in 1987, and Empires of the Sands, The Magister, The Savage Frontier, Dreams of the Red Wizards, and Lords of Darkness in 1988.^{[14]: 96–97} The City System boxed set was released in 1988, and it contained several maps of the city of Waterdeep.^[14]: 89Ruins of Adventure, a module based on the computer game Pool of Radiance, was also released in 1988.^[14]: 113

The boxed set Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms was released in 1988. It gives details of the lands of Kara-Tur, and was designed to be used with the 1986 book Oriental Adventures, which officially placed the book in the Forgotten Realms world.^[14]: 103

In 1989, DC Comics began publishing a series of Forgotten Realms comics written by Grubb.^[4]: 75 Each issue contains twenty-six pages, illustrated primarily by Rags Morales and Dave Simons. Twenty-five issues were published in total, how much is it to get a new debit card the last being released in 1991. A fifty-six page annualForgotten Realms Comic Annual #1: Waterdhavian Nights, illustrated by various artists, was released in 1990.

Curse of the Azure Bonds, a module based on the role-playing video game of the same name, was released in 1989.^[14]: 97

1990–2000[edit]

To transition the Forgotten Realms from first edition AD&D to the ruleset's second edition, a story of the gods being cast down was planned from the top-down by management and began in Hall of Heroes (1989) and spread into a three-adventure Avatar series (1989), a three-novel Avatar series (1989), and some stories in the comic book.^[4]: 84 TSR adjusted the timeline of the Forgotten Realms by advancing the calendar one year forward to 1358 DR, referring to the gap as the Time of Troubles.^[8]

In early 1990, the hardcover Forgotten Realms Adventures by Grubb and Greenwood was released, which introduced the setting to AD&D 2nd edition;^{[14]: 99–100} the book also detailed how the Time of Troubles had changed the setting.^[21]: 139The Ruins of Undermountain (1991) was one of the first published mega-dungeons.^[4]: 93 The Al-Qadim setting by Jeff Grubb was released in 1992, and the setting was placed in the southern Forgotten Realms.^[4]: 95 The RPGA used the Forgotten Realms city of Ravens Bluff as the setting for their first living campaign.^[4]: 93 Official RPGA support for this product line included the Living City module 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 boxed set, released in 1990, detailed the Hordelands, which featured a series of three modules. The Maztica Campaign Set, released in 1991, detailed the continent of Maztica.

The original gray boxed set was revised in 1993 to update it to AD&D 2nd edition, 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".^[22] 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 led to the setting being hailed as one of the most successful shared fantasy universes of the 1990s.^[23] By the first quarter of 1996, TSR had published sixty-four novels set in the Forgotten Realms out of the 242 novels set in AD&D worlds.^[24]: 20 These novels in turn sparked interest in role-playing by new gamers.^[25]

Numerous Forgotten Realms video games were released between 1990 and 2000. The Eye of the Beholder PC game was released in 1990,^[26] which was followed by two sequels: the first in 1991,^[27] and the second in 1992.^[28] All three games were re-released for DOS on a single disk in 1995.^[29] Another 1991 release was Neverwinter Nights on America Online, the first graphical Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG).^[30] In 1998, Baldur's Gate, the first in a line of popular role-playing video games^[31] developed by BioWare and "considered by most pundits as the hands-down best PC roleplaying game ever", was released.^[1] The game was followed by a sequel, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, in 2000 and 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.

2000–2008[edit]

When Wizards of the Www walmart one com took over publication of Dungeons & Dragons after purchasing TSR in 1997, they trimmed production down from six campaign settings to Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance, and completed AD&D 2nd edition production sometime between 1998 and 1999.^[32]: 146 They later hired Rob Heinsoo as a member of the D&D Worlds baldurs gate city map to focus on Forgotten Realms in the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons.^[32]: 162 An official material update and a timeline advance were introduced to the Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition in 2001 with the release of the hardcover book the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting,^[33] which won the Origins Award for Best Role-Playing Game Supplement of 2001 in 2002.^[34] The timeline was officially advanced from 1358 DR to 1372 DR.^[8] After the adventure City of the Spider Queen (2002) failed to meet its projected sales targets, Wizards of the Coast cut back farmers state bank mountain city tn production of new adventures.^[32]: 165

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 packs: Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark. A sequel using version 3.5 of the rules was produced by Obsidian Entertainment in 2006, and was 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, wachovia bank hours on saturday all Neverwinter Nights games before Neverwinter Nights 2.

2008–2014[edit]

With the release of Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition in 2008, Wizards opted for a publishing plan featuring a series of six books per year – three core rulebooks and three setting books – beginning with the Forgotten Realms. The company started the cycle with the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (2008), the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide (2008), and Scepter Tower of Spellgard.^[32]: 190 These books updated the Forgotten Realms to the newest rules system which altered the setting drastically to make it fit into the 4th edition's "Points of Light" concept.^[32]: 190

The main lore change centered around an event called the Spellplague in 1385 DR.^[8] This cataclysm was unleashed when the goddess of magic Mystra was killed, "transforming whole nations and altering creatures. In addition, parts of Toril have fused with its long-lost twin world Abeir, whisking away some countries and adding new ones. The Underdark is more open to the surface. Thay has become a nightmare land of death and the Elves, sensing the newfound connection to the Feywild, have returned to Faerûn in force".^[35] The event moved the fictional world's timeline 94 years into the future to 1479 DR.^[8] The Spellplague acted as "a narrative justification for design changes."^[8]: 107

In 2008, the Forgotten Realms also became the setting for the RPGA's sole living campaign, Living Forgotten Realms, replacing Living Greyhawk.

In 2011, the Neverwinter Campaign Setting was released which launched the 4th edition's first major multimedia release. The Forgotten Realms city setting spawned four baldurs gate city map by R. A. Salvatore called the Neverwinter Saga, a comic book, and a board game called The Legend of Drizzt, as well as two video games – the Facebook game Heroes of Neverwinter (2011–2012) and a MMORPG called Neverwinter (2013).^[36] Laura Tommervik, from the Wizards of the Coast marketing team, explained the approach: "We use Neverwinter as the connective tissue across multiple product categories. The transmedia campaign is an opportunity for fans to experience the brand however they choose to".^[36]

In 2013, Wizards of the Coast announced a year-long event called the Sundering which acted as a multimedia project to transition the Forgotten Realms to the next edition of the game.^[37][38] This release included a weekly D&D Encounters in-store play event, a free-to-play mobile game Arena of War (2013), and a collaborative novel series: The Companions (2013) by R. A. Salvatore, The Godborn (2013) by Paul S. Kemp, The Adversary (2013) by Erin Evans, The Reaver (2014) by Richard Lee Byers, The Sentinel (2014) by Troy Denning, and The Herald (2014) by Ed Greenwood.^[37][39] Liz Schuh, Head of Publishing and Licensing for Dungeons & Dragons, said:^[40]

The Sundering is the last of a series of ground-shaking events. It really affects the whole world of the Forgotten Realms in a major way. You may remember when the Spell Plagues began, the two worlds of the Forgotten Realms, Abeir and Toril, crashed together. That created both geographic changes (the map of the Forgotten Realms and Faerûn actually changed due to that collision), and also changed the way magic works. It bb and t park the pantheon of the gods. The Sundering is all about those two worlds separating—coming apart—and the process of that separation is really the story that we're telling over the next year. At the end of this story arc, Abeir and Toril will be separate again, and many of the things that happened when they crashed together will go back to the way they were before. So magic will be much like it was before the Spell Plague. Markings that marked spell-plagued people and animals will fade and go away. It's really about moving the Forgotten Realms forward, but also about bringing it around to the most beloved and most fondly remembered Forgotten Realms.

The result of The Second Sundering, in game terms, was the transition from 4th edition rules to 5th edition rules baldurs gate city map Dungeons & Dragons, published in 2014.^[8][41]

2014–2020[edit]

When D&D 5th edition was published in 2014, Bank of america small business online login of the Coast announced that the Forgotten Realms would continue to serve as the official campaign setting for its upcoming published adventure materials.^[42][43][44] The village of Phandalin in the Forgotten Realms acted as the primary setting for the new 5th edition Starter Set (2014) which was published before the release of three new core rulebooks.^[45] Tyranny of Dragons was the first baldurs gate city map storyline for the new edition and included two adventure modules, Hoard of the Dragon Queen (2014) and The Rise of Tiamat (2014), and an update to the Neverwinter (2013) video game.^[8][46][47] The next two storylines, Elemental Evil which included Princes of the Apocalypse (2015) and Rage of Demons which included Out of the Abyss (2015), were also set in the Forgotten Realms.^[8][48][49]

The first campaign guide for the new edition, the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (2015), was released on November 3, 2015, and only covered a fraction of the Forgotten Realms.^[50][8] It describes the 2013 Sundering event, referred to as the Second Sundering in the book, and its consequences in game terms and lore.^[51] The video game Sword Coast Legends (2015) published by Digital Extremes was also released in the same month as the tabletop campaign guide.^[50][52]

5th edition details on "the rest of Faerûn had been untouched until the Tomb of Annihilation (2017), an adventure that leaves the northern Savage Coast for the southern jungles of Chult".^[8]: 101

Fictional setting[edit]

Main article: Faerûn

The focus of the Forgotten Realms setting is the continent of Faerûn, the western part of a continent that was roughly modeled after the Eurasian continent on Earth.^[24]: 6 The lands of the Forgotten Realms are not all ruled by the human race, with populations of www walmart one com humanoids races and creatures ubiquitous in fantasy fiction works such as dwarves, elves, goblins, orcs. Technologically, the world of the Forgotten Realms is not nearly as advanced as that of Earth; it resembles the pre-industrial Earth in 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.

Geography[edit]

Main article: Abeir-Toril

The Forgotten Realms is part of the fictional world of Abeir-Toril (usually just called Toril^[21]: 91), an Earth-like planet with many real-world influences and consists of several large continents.^[53] It was first detailed in the original Forgotten Realms Campaign Set, published in 1987 by TSR.^[54] The other continents of Toril include Kara-Tur, Zakhara, Maztica,^[53] and other yet unspecified landmasses.^[33] 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.^{[14]: 103 [55]} There is also a vast subterranean world called the Underdark beneath the surface.^{[21]: 98, 138 [49]}

In early editions of the setting, The Realms shared a unified cosmology with various other campaign settings 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.^[33][56]

Forgotten Realms partial map

Religion[edit]

Religion plays a large part in the Forgotten Realms, with deities and their followers being an integral part of the world. Deities 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 polytheistic pantheons; a large number of supplements have documented many of them, some in more detail than others.^[57][58] Greenwood created a pantheon of gods for his home Dungeons & Dragons game, in his Forgotten Realms world, which were introduced in his article "Down-to-earth divinity" from Dragon #54 (October 1981).^[59]

When the Forgotten Realms was published as a setting in 1987, the pantheon added Waukeen, the goddess of trade, money, and wealth, who was created by one of Jeff Grubb's players, and added to the Forgotten Realms by Grubb. Tyche was replaced with Tymora, and the elemental lords from Melniboné were replaced by Akadi, Grumbar, Istishia, and Kossuth.^[60]

Much of pray for you country song 2019 lyrics history of the Forgotten 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^[21]: 140), and the Seven Sisters. Above all other deities is Ao, the Overlord, who 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.^[61]

Characters[edit]

The setting is home to several noteworthy recurring characters that have gained wider reception, including:

• The Companions of the Hall, a group of adventurers that were created by R. A. Salvatore^[62][63] and introduced in The Crystal Shard (1988).^[64][65][66] Each of these characters "fit into an RPG archetype".^[67] They include:
  • Drizzt Do'Urden, a drow, or dark elf, ranger who is the main character of 34 novels.^[64] Drizzt is noted for his commitment to friendship and peace, which is contrary to the stereotype of his people.^[68] Drizzt as a character is often used to represent issues of racial prejudice, particularly in The Dark Elf Trilogy.^[69][70] Drizzt is also troubled by the lifespan discrepancy between himself and his human romantic interest Catti-Brie.^[71]
  • Wulfgar, a massive human barbarian;^[72] in The Crystal Shard, Wulfgar's combat prowess is significant enough that along with Drizzt and his magic panther Guenhwyvar, they manage to "beat 25 giants by themselves".^[64] As a character, Wulfgar exemplifies "the strong, honest, hot-headed young warrior hero type common to adventure stories and similar to Howard's creation Conan".^[73]
  • Bruenor Battlehammer, a dwarven fighter who retakes Mithral Hall with the help of the other Companions.^[64][67][74] He was one of the first friends Drizzt made upon leaving the Underdark and both Catti-Brie and Wulfgar are his adopted children.^[75][67] Rob Bricken for io9 highlighted Bruenor as "a dwarf that hits pretty much every fantasy stereotype, including his desire to reclaim an ancestral home that his people were chased out of after they dug too far and awakened a monster".^[64]
  • Catti-brie, a human archer who would later develop abilities as a spellcaster;^[64][67][76] in The Crystal Shard, Drizzt referred to her as his soulmate.^[64] Catti-Brie is favored by Mielikki, a goddess associated with forests and nature spirits, and she bears the deity's mark. Bricken argued that her characterization in The Icewind Dale Trilogy is limited,^[64] while Aidan-Paul Canavan maintained that she becomes a "hero" only in later novels.^[77]
  • Regis, a halfling member of the Companions, who behaves in the stereotypical manner of J.R.R. Tolkien's hobbits. Bricken noted that Regis is a rogue who "set himself apart a bit by carrying a crystal pendant he can use to charm people", how to find your routing number bmo harris he is sometimes forced into dangerous situations and "ends up saving the day, Bilbo-style", such as in the final battle of The Crystal Shard.^[64]
• Elminster, a wizard also known as the Sage of Shadowdale;^[78] he is "a founding member of the Harpers and one of the oldest surviving and most powerful Chosen of Mystra".^[79] The Harpers are a semi-secret organization; Jonathan Palmer, for Arcane magazine, commented that they are "fighters for freedom and justice. Laudable".^[80] Bricken described Elminster as "the most powerful, important, and smartest wizard in the Forgotten Realms, and one of the setting's most important characters [.] more Merlin than Gandalf, which makes him less enigmatic and prone to tomfoolery than other major fantasy wizards, which I count as a good thing".^[81]
• Volothamp Geddarm, a human adventurer who is famed within the setting Faerûn for the number of guidebooks he writes about the various regions within the Realms. The character's name is often attributed in real-world D&D publications as the in-universe narrator of said works.^[82] Paul Pettengale from Arcane described him as "one of those characters that everyone's heard about, and one that just about every Dungeon Master must have been tempted to introduce to their campaign at some point or another".^[83]
• Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun, developed by Greenwood and game designer Steven Schend, is a character noted for his appearances in several novels set in the Forgotten Realms,^[21][84] as well as the 2004 video gameForgotten Realms: Demon Stone.^[85] A powerful wizard renowned for his namesake staff, in earlier editions he is the Archmage of Waterdeep, leading member of the Harpers, and one of Mystra's Chosen.^[21] Prior to his death, Khelben passes the Blackstaff to his apprentice Tsarra,^[84] who takes up residence at Blackstaff Tower in Waterdeep and inherits his memories and legacy. Writer Aubrey Sherman said he is an example for the importance of a wand or staff behind the conception of a wizard archetype and listed the character among D&D's notable wizards.^[86][84]
• Jarlaxle, also a character by Salvatore, was introduced in the 1990 novel Exile. He also appears in Promise of the Witch King, Road of the Patriarch and The Pirate King, as well as The Sellswords and the Paths of Darkness trilogies. Described by Christian Hoffer from Comicbook.com as a popular and intriguing supporting character,^[87] Jarlaxle is the charismatic and opportunistic drow leader of the mercenary band Bregan D'aerthe. Anglistics scholar Caroline de Launay characterized Jarlaxle as an independent character inclined to "subtle manoeuvres",^[88] while Hoffer explained that he is an amoral villain who has "plenty of contingencies and secret plots".^[87] When comparing the plot of The Dark Elf Trilogy to a game of chess, de Launay assigned Jarlaxle the role of the knight.^[88] Theo Kogod, for CBR, wrote "in many ways, Jarlaxle is a dark reflection of the heroic and honorable Drizzt. He used lies, manipulation and cunning to rise as high as a male Drow could within his culture, but in the end, he also left his home behind. [.] In Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, Jarlaxle is trying to leverage himself to become accepted as a legitimate member of the Lords' Alliance. He is one of four possible main villains in the campaign".^[89]
• Artemis Entreri, a human assassin described by Bricken as "cold-blooded" and Drizzt's "equal in fighting and opposite in morality", a mirror image of how Drizzt would have ended up if he had remained part of the universally evil drow society instead of forsaking it."^[90]
• Gromph Baenre is Archmage of the city of Menzoberranzan, the City of Spiders. Gromph is a rival in power to the other archmages of the Forgotten Realms, such as Elminster and Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun. In a review of the 1995 novel Daughter of the Drow, Gideon Kibblewhite for Arcane, called Gromph the "only interesting character" in the book, describing him as "the bitter and twisted archmage", and lamented that "he rarely makes an appearance after the opening".^[91]
• Liriel Baenre is the daughter of Gromph Baenre; she originally belonged to House Vandree before her talent for arcane spellcasting was discovered by Gromph.^[92] After being sent away to hone her magical talent rather than study as a priestess, Liriel uses a book given by her father to travel to the surface lands, where she encounters followers of the goddess Eilistraee, the Dark Maiden of benevolent drow, comes to possess the magical artifact known as the Windwalker, and eventually settle down on the surface world permanently. Liriel was created national weather service dodge city ks Elaine Cunningham for Daughter of the Drow, and is described by Trenton Webb of Arcane as "the oddest Drow" due to her lack of traits deemed as stereotypical of her people.^[93]
• Erevis Cale, first introduced in the short story "Another Name For Dawn" published in issue 277 of Dragon magazine, is a pivotal character in novels by Paul S. Kemp, including The Halls of Stormweather, Shadows Witness, the Erevis Cale Trilogy, and The Twilight War trilogy. Originally a normal human, he accepts the gift of the Fane of Shadows in Twilight Falling and becomes a shade; being imbued with the essence of matter integral to the Plane of Shadow brings about drastic changes to his appearance and physiology. Don D'Ammassa described Erevis Cale as "a man tormented by questions of right and wrong".^[94]
• Alustriel Silverhand is the ruler of the city of Silverymoon in "The North" of the setting. Writing in 2000, Envoyer (de) magazine reviewer Stylo counted her among the most prominent Forgotten Realms characters thanks to R.A. Salvatore's novels.^[95]

Reception[edit]

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 Tekumel",^[1] and that it "may be the most widely played-in game setting in RPG history."^[1] Similarly, in literature, the novels written in the Forgotten Realms setting have formed one of "the industry's leading fantasy series".^[96] Over time these novels have gained "unprecedented popularity",^[97] which led, as Marc Oxoby noted in his book, The 1990s, to the novels having an midfirst bank locations shelf life", remaining in print for many years.^[97] 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.^[98]

Brian Silliman, for SYFY Wire, described the Forgotten Realms as "a classic fantasy backdrop" and highlighted that "at one time in our history, our world and this one were connected, but over time this magical realm was, well, forgotten. It is an ideal place for any D&D adventure, inspiring limitless possibilities for any smirking dungeon master".^[99]

Philip J. Clements called the Forgotten Realms "highly popular", "an unusually well-developed D&D setting" and "more-or-less the flagship setting for D&D". He also noted that it has received the greatest number of supplements.^[100]

The 4th edition update to the Forgotten Realms brought massive lore changes which were "tied to a number of other design philosophies" and the Forgotten Realms "simultaneously had become a grittier setting, on the edge of collapse, while also becoming a more fantastic one, full of wonder and mystery".^[101] Jason Wilson, for VentureBeat, highlighted that unlike the Time of Troubles cataclysm, the 4th edition Spellplague cataclysm was "one players chase bank swift code michigan embraced in the same manner as the earlier disaster".^[102] Shannon Appelcline, author of Designers & Dragons, wrote:

[The 4th edition] Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide may be the most controversial D&D book ever produced by Wizards. That's entirely due to the large-scale destruction of the Realms. Similar updates have been tried by other companies — to reinvigorate settings, to make them more accessible to new players, or to make them more adventuresome. [.] It never seems to go well, because old fans feel left behind. With that said, some folks did love the changes, because the setting was now more playable, more accessible, more fantastic, and more PC centered. [.] Meanwhile, a series of adventures and novels called The Sundering (2013–2014) reversed many of the 4e changes to the Realms, but without rebooting the timeline. Instead, the Realms continues to evolve and advance, as it has since its earlier days.^[101]

Salvatore was also publicly unhappy with the 4th edition changes to the Forgotten Realms. He said:^[103]

[B]asically, we authors were handed a document and told how things were going to be. We were asked our opinions, but they mattered very little – the changes were being driven from a different direction. [.] To have characters that have built such a strong history, then have that upset on the orders of someone else was very disconcerting. I will admit that the abrupt changes forced me into an uncomfortable place, and from that place came some of the better things I've written, but I very much preferred the way it was done this time, with 5th Edition and the changes, where we, the authors, were told what was happening to the game and asked how we could make the world and the lore live and breathe it.

Aubrey Sitterson, for PC Magazine, included the Forgotten Realms in a 2015 roundup of the "11 Best Dungeons & Dragons Campaign Settings" and wrote "for most people, Forgotten Realms is synonymous with Dungeons & Dragons, and with good reason: it's the setting that played home to the massively popular Baldur's Gate video game, as well as R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt books. Currently, it's the only campaign setting actively supported by D&D makers Wizards of the Coast, which would be restrictive if Forgotten Realms wasn't such an incredibly diverse place, housing classic European middle ages tropes, as well as a heroic fantasy take on African, Middle Eastern, and other real-world cultures".^[104]

Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook.com, reported that Wizards of the Coast's 5th edition publishing strategy, which focuses on the Forgotten Realms and newer intellectual property for campaign settings, has created a rift in the fan base where some "feel that this push for new players has come at the cost of keeping the game's current players sated" by not updating campaign settings that "predate the Forgotten Realms". Hoffer highlighted that Wizards of the Coast has a much slower publication schedule than with previous editions with a focus on quality and profit and "the D&D teams knows that they have plenty of great campaign settings in their back pocket and are either actively developing more settings or have ideas for them further down the line".^[105]

See also[edit]

References[edit]