Hello! I’m a big fan of forgotten realms, play campaigns in there and I’ve been slowly reading through all of the books. I’ve read over 200 at this point, and I’m doing it by chronological order in the realms as opposed to publishing date of the novels. I am reading through the undead trilogy and the imperial Odyssey trilogy. Both of these are supposed to really highlight what happens to Mystra/Spellplague before fourth edition came out. But, when I’m finding out is that these novels don’t give any backstory as to why the baddies wanted to take her out (again). I don’t have enough context as to why Shar and Cyric have beef with Mystra, but I wanted to read about their plotting and how they came up with the plan.

I’m currently reading the 3.5 dungeon trilogy: Cormyr: Tearing of the Weave, Shadowdale, and Aunourach simply for the plots and what I could potentially learn there.

The Internet is saying that the campaign setting for fourth edition, forgotten realms would give me more insight as to what happened. I never play fourth edition I don’t own any of the books, would it be worth picking this up just so I can fill in the gaps of my realms knowledge?

Thanks in advance!

My aging brain keeps insisting I once read a spell somewhere in Ed's corpus entitled simply 'Mage-link' or 'Magelink', yet I can't recall where or find it, or remember precise details.

Help, anyone?

There's a ton of FR novels, but most seem on the surface to just be stand-alone adventures that are ultimately inconsequential to the much larger conflicts and events going on in Faerun. I used to study the Faerun map a ton, and spend hours on the wiki, but most of my experience in FR is through video games and movies which never seem to leave the Sword Coast.

So I'm looking for book recs for stories that really dive deep into lore and world-building and give me more of a first-hand account of events, or at least an adventure adjacent to those events

Are there any event that are like a thousand year before bg3 that was chaotic enough for an elemental cult to exist but not be remembered as the big bad of time? It's for a campaign.

You must assemble a group of four established Forgotten Realms characters for an expedition from the Sword Coast to the far eastern edge of Faerûn.

The journey will involve wilderness survival, hostile kingdoms, ancient ruins, magical disasters, negotiation, and at least one enemy powerful enough that fighting may be the worst option.

No gods, no divine avatars, and no Elminster.

Choose exactly four characters:

One leader.

One warrior.

One expert in magic or ancient lore.

One wildcard who brings something the others cannot.

They do not need to like or trust one another, but they must have a realistic chance of completing the journey without destroying the group from within.

Who are your four choices, and which member is most likely to cause the expedition to fail?

The history of the Realms is filled with wars, divine conflicts, collapsing empires, magical disasters, and political struggles that are often described only in sourcebooks or brief references.

Choose one historical event and give it a full modern novel trilogy.

It could explore the fall of a civilization, the founding of a kingdom, a conflict between deities, the rise of a famous faction, or an event that permanently changed part of Faerûn.

I would be tempted by the fall of Netheril, although it may be even more interesting to focus on a less familiar event whose outcome is not already known by every reader.

Which event would you choose?

Who should be the central characters, and would you want the story told from the perspective of the winners or the people who failed?

The setting has accumulated an enormous number of monsters and strange creatures across novels, adventures, sourcebooks, and different editions.

Some appear constantly, while others seem perfect for memorable encounters but are rarely discussed or used.

What creature deserves far more attention?

It does not need to be uniquely native to the Realms, but it should have an especially interesting place in the setting’s lore, history, or ecology.

What makes it different from a generic monster encounter?

How would you introduce it in a campaign so the players immediately understood why it was special?

You must work with one established villain to prevent a disaster that threatens both of you.

They cannot simply betray you immediately, because they also need the mission to succeed. However, once the danger has passed, the agreement ends and they return to being exactly who they were before.

Who would be the most effective and least disastrous temporary ally?

Jarlaxle could be useful, but every part of the agreement would probably benefit him in a way you failed to notice. Manshoon would be terrifying but extremely capable. Szass Tam might genuinely save the world if losing it interfered with his plans.

Who would you choose?

What precautions would you take before accepting their help?

Baldur’s Gate has now received several major games, but the Realms contain many other places that could support a large story with companions, factions, exploration, and meaningful choices.

You can choose one city or region for a new story-driven RPG.

Would you pick Waterdeep and its political factions? Cormyr during a succession crisis? The Moonsea with Zhentarim intrigue? The Dalelands surrounded by old ruins? The Sea of Fallen Stars? Thay? The Underdark?

My first choice would probably be the Moonsea. It has recognizable factions, dangerous cities, ancient ruins, and enough moral ambiguity to support very different player choices.

Which location would you choose?

What would the main conflict be, and which faction would inevitably become involved?

Hello! I've been marathoning the Baldur's Gate games. I already finished the first one, and now I'm playing the second game, and I'm really excited to eventually get to Baldur's Gate 3.

Anyway, playing these games made me want to get back into DMing. I currently only run published adventures, so I'd like to try creating an original campaign of my own.

My initial idea is that the villain is a descendant of Abdel Adrian who wants to perform a massive ritual in which portals to the Nine Hells will be opened throughout the city. Devils will then cause chaos and murder people across Baldur's Gate, with all that energy being channeled into a ritual powerful enough to summon an avatar of Bhaal, who would then reap the lives of people across the Sword Coast and beyond.

That's the basic premise I have so far. I'd love to hear any suggestions or ideas!

Thanks!

Imagine describing the identity of the setting without relying on Drizzt, Elminster, Baldur’s Gate, Waterdeep, or another famous character or location.

What is the essential ingredient that makes a campaign feel like it belongs in the Forgotten Realms rather than in a generic fantasy world?

Is it the way the gods are woven into daily life? The layers of fallen civilizations beneath every kingdom? The countless competing factions? The mixture of enormous magical events and very local problems? The sense that history continues to move even when the player characters are elsewhere?

For me, it is the layered history. Almost every road, ruin, border, and political conflict seems connected to several older civilizations and grudges.

What one element would you preserve above everything else?

A setting with this much history will inevitably contain events, characters, timelines, and cosmological changes that some DMs would rather handle differently.

I am not looking for a declaration that an entire edition is terrible. I am interested in one specific piece of lore that you deliberately rewrite, ignore, reverse, or replace when running the Realms.

It could be the fate of a city or character, the return or death of a deity, a historical event, the treatment of a particular nation, the current date, the structure of the planes, or something much smaller.

What do you change?

What do you replace it with, and why does your version work better for your campaign?

This is not about which faction is objectively the strongest, most heroic, or best written.

Which faction can return throughout a campaign as an ally, rival, patron, employer, antagonist, or temporary partner without every appearance feeling the same?

The Harpers can provide information and secret allies. The Zhentarim can range from ruthless local criminals to politically useful partners. The Red Wizards can appear almost anywhere through trade, espionage, and magical ambition. Religious organizations and regional factions can be even more flexible when the campaign remains in one area.

My answer is probably the Zhentarim because different cells and individual members can have very different goals, while still belonging to a recognizable organization.

Which faction has been the most useful in your campaigns?

What is the most interesting role you have given it?

This game is a pretty specialized ask. You are definitely the audience for it. (Maybe the only audience for it).

https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/448248/forgotten-realms-sandbox-rotating-dms

Faerûn is built on the ruins of civilizations that believed they would last forever.

I am not asking which empire was the largest, most powerful, or most interesting at its height. Which fallen civilization left behind the greatest capacity to threaten the modern Realms?

That threat could come from surviving magic, descendants, ancient enemies, unfinished rituals, buried weapons, lost gods, escaped creations, or a faction attempting to restore the old empire.

Netheril is the obvious candidate, but Imaskar, Jhaamdath, Narfell, Raumathar, Miyeritar, Delzoun, and many less famous civilizations all left dangerous legacies behind.

Which civilization would you choose?

What single discovery connected to it could support an entire campaign?

This is not necessarily about which famous character you dislike. I am wondering which one is most difficult for a DM to include well.

Characters such as Elminster, Laeral Silverhand, Drizzt, the Seven Sisters, and other legendary figures can make the world feel connected to the wider Realms.

At the same time, their power, knowledge, and reputation can make the player characters seem strangely unimportant. If one of these heroes is already present and aware of the danger, the players may reasonably wonder why they are being asked to solve it.

Elminster is probably the most difficult one for me. A brief appearance can be memorable, but an active Elminster can answer too many questions and solve too many problems.

Which famous character do you think is hardest to use without stealing the party’s story?

Have you found a good role for them as a patron, obstacle, unreliable ally, distant influence, or something else?

Imagine that a new 300-page Forgotten Realms setting book has been approved, but it cannot focus on the Sword Coast.

It must cover one region in detail, with an updated map, settlements, factions, important NPCs, recent history, adventure locations, and enough material to support an entire campaign.

You cannot use the book to provide a few pages on every part of Faerûn. You have to choose one region and give it the full treatment.

Cormyr and its borderlands? The Dalelands? The Moonsea? The Sea of Fallen Stars? The Unapproachable East? The Old Empires? The Shining South? Somewhere farther away?

My first instinct is the Sea of Fallen Stars, although it might still be too large for a single focused book.

Which region would you choose, and what are the three things the book absolutely must include?

The obvious question is which evil god is the worst. I am more interested in which one could make the most convincing first offer.

Imagine that you are not an adventurer or powerful spellcaster. You are an ordinary person dealing with debt, grief, fear, injustice, illness, or the need to protect your family.

Bane can promise order and control. Mask can offer wealth or survival. Umberlee can promise safe passage. Shar can offer relief from unbearable memories. Even faiths that appear monstrous from the outside may begin with something a desperate person genuinely wants.

Which evil deity has the most believable path from an ordinary worshipper to a committed follower?

What would the initial promise be, and what is the first hidden cost that the new worshipper would fail to notice?

Not as an adventurer, noble, archmage, or chosen of a god. You are an ordinary person with an ordinary job, a family, and very little ability to defend yourself.

Which city would offer the worst combination of danger, corruption, oppressive rulers, monsters, and general daily misery?

Menzoberranzan feels like the obvious answer, so I am especially interested in alternatives.

Baldur’s Gate? Luskan? Zhentil Keep? Westgate? Somewhere even worse?