Neat and fun article... adding to the world of the Red Wizards!

I know It Is going tò be set in one of the domains of Ravenloft (Darkon) instead of Faerun, but what are your impressions at the moment?

Is It going tò be a win like BG3 or a dud likes Dark Alliance?

Between the Siege of Neverwinter and the Honor Among Thieves movie, I get the feeling that the Red Wizards have a particular interest in that city. I would understand if they avoided doing that against Waterdeep, but why not go against other cities on the Sword Coast like Baldur's Gate or Luskan?

Oh my I cannot wait to play in Thay!

Time to check out the stats for Szass Tam!

Hi folks. I'm looking for some good Forgotten Realms lore video recommendations to feed my hyperfocus. In particular I want to avoid AI videos. Any recommendations?

Inspired by the recent announcement of Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, a third-person action/adventure game set in Ravenloft. A lot of people are complaining that the term D&D is a misnomer since apparently it involves nothing of the tabletop game (character creation, stats, roll dice). In fact it is not technically a D&D game, it is another type of game which happens to take place in Ravenloft, and for me it doesn't matter as long as the story is interesting and the gameplay engaging. I can't remember many other non D&D videogames in settings related to D&D, besides Dark Alliance.

Let's return to the Forgotten Realms. We could have other films after Honor Among Thieves, spanning new characters and genres, or even tv series. We could span from the slice of life comedy to the heroic adventure, we could see the humblest peasants living in Cormyr having to deal with price rises, a TV series centered on Drizzt petting his panther, or an epic film with deities battling.
We could have videogames akin to Warlock in that they are not rpgs but other genres that are simply set in the Realms: an hack&slash where you impersonate Drizzt, a stealth game where you are Imoen, a city builder in the Underdark, a fantasy grand strategy game where you lead armies in Faerun.

I think that the potential is there to spawn a massive inter-media franchise that could cather to many audiences, without the need to subordinate everything to D&D.

What are your current expectations?

There are many misconceptions about Orcs in the Forgotten Realms, especially concerning appearance. Are Forgotten Realms orcs grey or green? Did Warhammer create the green, tusked Orc? Did Warcraft make it the fantasy standard? Are Forgotten Realms Orcs supposed to look different from those in other settings?

Not really. Dungeons & Dragons has never had one rigid Orc design, and artists have interpreted them differently across editions. Forgotten Realms inherited a visual tradition established before the setting was formally published in the 80s.

Orcs themselves come from Tolkien's Middle-earth, with Tolkien drawing the name orc/orcen/orcneas from older folklore and Old English sources such as Beowulf. His descriptions left illustrators considerable freedom, and over time a recognizable "Orcish" appearance emerged.

So where did the familiar green, tusked, vaguely pig looking Orc come from? Long before Warhammer or Warcraft, Tim Kirk depicted green skinned Orcs in work published in the 1975 J.R.R. Tolkien Calendar. Greg and Tim Hildebrandt's Captured by the Orcs, published for the 1976 calendar, pushed them further toward greenish skin, large teeth and porcine faces.

D&D soon followed with increasingly pig-like Orcs, most famously in David C. Sutherland III's early AD&D artwork. The 1977 Monster Manual described Orcs as brown or brownish-green, with pinkish snouts, tusks and bristly hair. Its artwork made the pig-like influence unmistakable.

Forgotten Realms got this look directly from D&D, years before Warhammer or Warcraft became major influences. This became the traditional Mountain Orc of northern Faerûn. These old-school Realms Orcs are associated with the Spine of the World, Sword Mountains and the great hordes of the North. Their history on Toril reaches deep into antiquity, with northern Orcs said to have entered Faerûn through ancient portals before the rise of Netheril. By the time humans and dwarves established their northern kingdoms, Orcs were already there, periodically gathering into enormous groups.

Visually, Mountain Orcs preserve the classic D&D design of heavy, brutish humanoids with greenish skin, large tusks and distinctly porcine snouts, descended directly from the pig faced Orcs of early D&D artwork. Their coloration varies considerably between artists and editions, so claims that a Forgotten Realms Orc must be green, gray or brown miss the huge variation in artist's style. The more consistent traditional features are tusks, coarse features and a broad, almost boar-like face.

"Grey Orcs" are another matter. They are Orcs, but not simply another population of northern Mountain Orcs. Their ancestors came from another world through a magical portal opened in −1081 DR by Thayd, last apprentice of the ancient Imaskari artificers. Five years later, Orcs on the other side discovered the forgotten portal and poured into eastern Faerûn, attacking Mulhorand and Unther and beginning the devastating Orcgate Wars. After their defeat, survivors scattered across eastern Faerûn and became the Grey Orc populations of later ages. Their separate origin also gave designers reason to distinguish them visually. Grey Orcs are hairier than their northern cousins, with bristling manes, mottled gray skin and more lupine features. Their faces are specifically less pig-like than those of Mountain Orcs.

Both still exist. Forgotten Realms contains two visibly different Orc traditions, each supported by its own in-world history. This distinction was formalized in Races of Faerûn in 2003, which was published during the releases of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. Jackson's Orcs were darker, hairier and far less porcine than traditional D&D Orcs, and had become one of fantasy's most recognizable images. That popularity may have influenced the presentation of Grey Orcs while helping distinguish them from traditional Mountain Orcs. It also offered a convenient way to reconcile decades of inconsistent Orc artwork by saying "perhaps they were never all supposed to represent the same population".

What about Warhammer and Warcraft? Warhammer Fantasy Battle appeared in 1983 and developed fantasy imagery that already existed, eventually making the green-skinned Orc one of its signature designs. Warcraft, especially World of Warcraft, made the muscular green Orc even more popular. Neither franchise created the concept. They stylized the imagery already present in Tolkien illustration and early D&D.

This brings us back to Forgotten Realms. An Orc is depicted as anything from green to gray, heavily tusked or nearly human, wolfish or distinctly pig-like and none of these necessarily contradicts the setting. Forgotten Realms contains multiple Orcish peoples, while its artwork reflects decades of changing interpretations.

The broad, pig-faced Mountain Orc is not an imitation of Warcraft and hasn't been replaced by Grey Orcs. It is one of D&D's oldest surviving Orc designs. The hairier, less porcine Grey Orc has its own history, arriving in eastern Faerûn through an Imaskari-created portal thousands of years later. Both belong in Forgotten Realms, and the distinction between them preserves something of the real history of Orcs in fantasy art.

Just finished second Knights of Myth Drannor book and I have to chuckle and mime clapping to Greenwood on just how much he was able to get past the editors. Towards the end we have:

1) Pennae running around topless and letting people feel her up all to get the drop on them. 2) Queen Filfaeral basically telling her husband, "Now don't forget to sleep with the envoy of Silverymoon..." 3) When the king and queen meet with the envoy of Silverymoon the envoy (Lady Summerwood I think) immediately kisses Queen Filfaeral as if they are lovers and it is kind of implied the king might be a very lucky man later that evening..., 4) Laspeera then shows up and she and the envoy start making out for no apparent reason other than they just met...

You have to admire the sheer fortitude and guts of the man to just go, "Here you go, edit this..." And you have to figure that what was published is a bit more reserve than the rough drafts? ;)

I know since Greenwood is the creator of the Forgotten Realms it wouldn't be fan fiction, but you have to wonder what he has written for his setting for his own home game and personal amusement... :)

Not all White Dragons are dumb.

Coming from my current BG3 run, I just thought about the fact that you can find books and written notes all over the place in the game. Even the skeletons in the crumbling ruins of forgotten cabins in the woods or destroyed villages clutch personal notes or have books next to them. And in cities like Baldur's Gate you have daily newspapers being printed and sold on the streets of the lower city.

Which indicates that the general population, not just the elites, is at least educated enough to be able to read/write. Furthermore, basically everyone - including a gang of little Tiefling kids - is able to trade which indicates some basic math knowledge.

So, the question coming from this is: Is there any form of formal education around the Sword Coast? (I could ask for all of the Forgotten Realms but let's keep it local for now)
Are there schools for the young ones? Or is everybody receiving some homeschooling by their parents?

Do we have any lore on this or should I just mark this as a DM decision?

A question I would like to know.

I'm not talking about pissing them off in a casual manner where they would dislike. But pissing them off so much that they would want you dead or to screw you over even though they shouldn't be dealing with mortal affairs.

How big or damaging does the action you have to do to piss the god and have you on their personal hit list?

Official lore examples would be pretty nice as well.

My son just cracked up the table. I mentioned Skullport, and one of the players - new to D&D - asked if he knew where it was. I said "under Waterdeep. It's like..." and when I paused to think of an answer, my son (born in NY) piped up, "It's like Newark."

Hi, I'm a DM wanting to create a game that takes place after baldur's gate 3, the adventure starts with them being requested by Ulder Ravengard, and a banquet/meeting to discuss fixing what happened after the events of bg3, such as destroyed buildings.

The problem I'm having, is I was going to use the council of four, but, I'm pretty sure all but Ravengard and who is now the emperor are dead, is there anything I'm missing that makes it so Ravengard isn't the only duke now? This isn't a big deal but I want it to be as close to what canonically happened as possible for world building stuff.

Why do the members of the Dark Seldarine never get aknowledged and mentioned in D&D material outside of Lolth?

ok, so, awhile ago i got super into baldur's gate 3, and created a tav based on headcanons i had for a character who already existed. i'm now playing him in an actual campaign so i gotta figure out his backstory.

the thing is, he was written to have sexist parents who are largely conservative (he is trans male). they're... also elves. i genuinely can't find anything about "traditional family values" in the realms other than the fact that my story just doesn't make sense.

do any of you guys know how to go about this? how to give reasoning towards his parents behavior, along with the existence of the homemaker archetype?

i'm relatively new to dungeons and dragons in general, so please cut me some slack if this is silly to even think about lol. thank you :)

three most typical examples:

Ioulaum,elder brain lich wizard31/archmage5/Neertherese arcanist 5

he can manifest psionic powers as a 20th psion, but his main advantage comes from his wizard abilities.

Daurgothoth,Great wyrm black dragon lich wizard 20/archmage 5

it's actually very weak; a level 20 party could easily take down this guy who's theoretically CR50.

Mauzzkyl Jaezred,great wyrm shadow dragong sorcereer13/assassin 5

well,at least he knows how to enhance his strengths. however, I still hard to imagine how a dragon could benefit from the Assassin class, even he's a Shadowdragon.

These guys have one thing in common: although they have very high class level, it doesn't significantly increase their advantage. you can actually beat them with a party whose level much lower than their CR.

Newly rescued from the local 2nd hand bookstore! These babies are coming to a loving home

First shown in appendix to "TSR 1121 - Spellbound" by Anthony Pryor (1995), Thayan Tax Station was recreated in Dungeon Alchemist by yours truly.

It's a small, but heavily guarded fortress, used for:

• Collection of taxes.
• Tariff/toll collection.
• Border control (one does not simply walk into Thay)
• Interior security.

For biome - Thay weather is shaped by magic (which cause serious problems in neighbouring regions, e.g. eastern Thesk...), but not every region is equal - I went with a backwater part, with less rain and worse overall habitability.

The map consists of:

• Main Keep:
  • Ground floor - mess hall, kitchen/pantry and staircase.
  • First floor - luxurious commandants office, bedroom and bathroom
  • Second floor - Treasury, dovecote and cipher station
  • Third floor - commandant's luxurious tent for less formal work and meetings.
• Barracks: two companies' rooms and armory
• Counting House:
  • Toll booth/chamber
  • Temporary treasury
  • Accountant quarters
• Stables
• Slave quarters.

While I've made a bit of changes to overall shape and size of the buildings and created the interiors from scratch - it's still an old-fashion map, using basic shapes in order to create a game-friendly space. Hope I did not ruin that ^^
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LINKS:

Due to map being a remake of TSR-published content, this map is available completely for free on my Patreon.

• Detailed description, lore and explanation of the changes made: https://www.patreon.com/posts/167749300
• 150DPI maps, VTT ready files and large picture gallery: https://www.patreon.com/posts/167757115

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Credits and attribution:

Created in Dungeon Alchemist, with additional assets.

Thanks to DA asset creators: SAC, DallasRT, SketchyCleric, smashbear76, DangerWeasel, swedish.cook and others.

Thanks to sketchfab creators: emptypen2477, CharlieCatling, michael50, KOREA HERITAGE SERVICE [KHS] and eb78

This map was created by hand, with assets placed carefully together. I don't use generative AI and I did my level best to avoid using AI-generated assets.

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Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. "Thayan Tax Station" is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards.

So basically I have gotten really into collecting older edition DnD books. Mainly from 2 and 3/3.5 (but I’m open to 1e and 4e as well). Cause I own basically all the 5e books that I have any desire to own at this point. So I guess my questions is simple. What things should I start collecting next? I’m open to whatever. I’ve been looking at old Undermountain books, I don’t really want spelljammer stuff/I already have digital copies of most of the stuff I want. I like planescape a lot. So give me some feedback. Amy questions are welcome!?

P.S Just added a random video of some of the books I own. Cause for some reason Reddit can’t seem to access most of my photos. But that’s another issue.

- Spellbound Box Set
- Menzoberanzen Box Set
- Kara-Tur Box Set
- Maztica Box Set
- Lost Empires of Faerun
- The Horde Box Set
- City of Splendors Box Set
- Deities and Demigods
- Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3.5
- Grand History of the Realms
- Power of Faerun
- Underdark 3.5
- Mysteries of the Moonsea
- The Great Modron March
- Frostburn
- Fiendish Codes 1 and 2