I’ve been thinking alot about the Forgotten Realms and why it matters.
Not that it’s good, not that it’s bad.
Not that the Forgotten Realms is the best campaign setting ever, or the top 5 reasons
you should be playing in the Forgotten Realms.
I wanted to make a video on why it matters.
What does the Forgotten Realms do for our hobby?
Why should you play in the Forgotten Realms?
Well there’s couple of things.
I thought long and hard about this and I think it matters because it’s so modular and it
allows us to have a shared group experience when it comes to D&D.
The Realms is easily taken apart and used for various campaigns, yet we all still adventure
in this shared fantasy world.
The Realms is like any piece of fiction, which can lead to people having a shared collaborative
experience.
Such as watching doctor who together with a friend, and talking about your favorite
parts.
The excitement you get when you discover someone else has read your favorite Dresden novel.
Chatting spoilers on the latest Marvel movie.
This excitement is a feeling numerous YouTube channels are dedicated to.
Oftentimes these channels are presented as reviews but really it’s a place for us humans
to revel in a shared experience.
It’s sort of like being in a club.
We enjoy geeking out together.
Running a channel on the forgotten realms you hear a lot of opinions about the realms.
I see comments all the time about how people love the forgotten realms, grew up reading
the books, or they’re just now getting into it and love the mythology.
I also see less encouraging comments, where people dislike the realms.
And Forgotten Realms has plenty to dislike.
Those that were heavily into the history of the forgotten realms hate the world changing
events that took place.
The spellplague for instance fractured many people within the D&D community.
There are those that don’t mind it , or they got started in D&D during 4th edition so that’s
all they knew.
But I hear about how upset people are that they utterly changed the face of Faerun and
rewrote mythology.
So with all the problems the Forgotten Realms has why should someone play in it?
Why should it matter to gamers?
At its core the Forgotten Realms is a generic medieval fantasy setting.
Yes there are other areas of the Forgotten Realms that offer a different experience from
medieval fantasy, but at its core, especially for 5th edition the Forgotten Realms is a
generic Tolkienesque fantasy setting.
The Realms was created by Ed Greenwood in 1967, it was the setting for his childhood
stories.
It was released as part of Dungeons in Dragons in a series of game products during 1987.
This was his baby and for good or bad he sold the rights to TSR so that it could become
the sole property of that company.
TSR now could do whatever they wanted with it.
By 1993 TSR had released a new “Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting” boxed set to flush
out how to play a game in the Realms.
At the time people were enjoying the Avatar Trilogy of novels and now fans of that series
could make their own rpg games in the world of Faerun.
With the success of the novels the Realms took off, and became the default setting for
Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition.
Because Wizards of the Coast exclusively owned the rights, video games were released along
with the novels.
If you played Dungeons and Dragons in the 90s, or were remotely familiar with it, you
were probably aware of the Forgotten Realms.
My first experience the Realms was with Neverwinter Nights video game, which was loaded with history, locations,
and characters.
I'm now Replaying Neverwinter Nights and after writing and researching 70 episodes of Forgotten Realms
Explained it's a different feeling.
I recognize the lore, places, and occasional characters.
There are lots of campaign settings.
Planescape, Dark Sun, Eberron etc.
There is a thinking despite different worlds we play in that the game is the same, at the
core it is Dungeons and Dragons.
So why can’t my Half-Elf Wizard from Faerun visit the world of Dark Sun?
I’d also argue that, especially currently, there is a feeling within the D&D community
that the Forgotten Realms is Dungeons and Dragons.
But also that Dark Sun is Dungeons and Dragons, and to some people Planescape is Dungeons and Dragons.
Spelljammer was created to capitalize on this and actually define rules to say that yes,
they are all connected.
Because underneath these campaign settings there are core rules that define D&D for us.
These core rules are almost a campaign setting in itself, so it can feel that all campaign
settings are part of a larger whole.
I think for many newcomers to the RPG Hobby, and to Dungeons & Dragons this core rule campaign
setting feeling is defined for them as the Forgotten Realms.
Other companies have their own campaign settings, Kobold Press has Midgard.
Other systems have complete worlds they’ve created.
Worlds not so different from our own like Vampire the Masquerade.
Even novels like the Dresden Files or the Lord of the Rings have received their own
RPG rules or settings for fans to play in.
People love these worlds and want to experience them.
And of course there are the countless homebrew worlds.
People creating their own pantheons, continents, races, and stories.
So with all these settings, with all these homebrew worlds, why play your game in the
forgotten realms?
To me a part of Dungeons and Dragons has become the Forgotten Realms.
To understand the realms is to understand Dungeons and Dragons.
Now except for you, and your uncle’s homebrew world, no other campaign setting has as much
detail as the Forgotten Realms.
Too much some would argue.
With so much of the Realms given specifics, and having been defined by numerous authors
over the score of 30 years, it creates continuity problems.
Which is a major point of unpopularity with the Forgotten Realms.
I spoke to some of my patrons and the Forgotten Realms Discord before making this video on
what they like or dislike about the Realms.
Some play in it because of their familiarity with the novels growing up.
Others because it was the default setting for 5th edition and they didn’t really look
elsewhere for another setting.
One super loves the pantheons of the Forgotten Realms, he plays on the sword coast because
of the deities.
A major point arose though that the Realms is modular.
You can take the lore, history, locations, and characters and mold it into whatever story
you want to tell.
I think that’s the heart of what makes the Forgotten Realms magical.
You are free to change any campaign setting you play in, but the Realms lends itself to
change.
It is detailed enough for veteran players, but simple enough for new players.
The Realms is an easy stepping stone for those just getting started, or a grab bag of possibilities
for those who want to craft their own worlds.
The Realms is there for you to become inspired to change an existing module or create your
own fantasy world.
If you run Storm King’s Thunder it’s your game.
You’ll probably call it your game, because you took it and made it yours.
If you create a homebrew world you might steal dragonborn and their history in the forgotten
realms, you might take the generic dwarves that come with the Realms and incorporate
them into your game.
In a way, when you play in or take from the Forgotten Realms you’re becoming part of
a shared experience with other Dungeons and Dragons fans.
Is it important as a person in today’s time period to have a base understanding of Greek
Mythology?
I’m going to sound like your English teacher for a moment.
Our culture is influenced by the past.
There are movies based on the greek gods.
There are references in commercials and cartoons.
Knowing where these characters come from allows us to get the jokes and understand the relationship
before we even read about them or see them on screen.
The Forgotten Realms effects D&D much in the same way.
It has become the base of a pyramid for Dungeons and Dragons.
I’m not saying everything was built from the Realms but the impact it has on RPG culture
is strong, especially for Fifth edition.
Knowing its history, its lore; knowing that thousands of gamers play in the Forgotten
Realms kind of makes us part of something larger.
Imagine if every game of D&D started with building a world from the ground up?
You create races without help, you create original continents, deities, characters,
and monsters.
The Forgotten Realms helps us all by having a modular world; where we plug in our own
stories, races, monsters, and deities.
I created this channel as a way to understand the Forgotten Realms for myself.
The best way to learn is to teach.
I wanted to wrap my head around this setting and hopefully create a place for others as
well.
Because of my research I’ve really grown to love the realms.
I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the biggest fan of every Forgotten Realms novel,
but I love the mythology.
I love fantasy worlds with a rich history, and albeit a little convoluted at times the
Forgotten Realms is that.
The Realms has grown so much because so many people play in it.
Each new story release for 5th edition adds to the Realms, giving us a common world with
a shared experience.
I think players make a campaign setting what it is.
The ones who play in that world and shape it is what makes the Realms magical.
So go play some games, and share your stories with others.
Thanks for watching.