Misplaced Pages

#849150

49-506: The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is a role-playing game sourcebook first published by TSR in 1987 for the first edition of the fantasy role-playing game Advanced Dungeons & Dragons that describes the campaign setting of the Forgotten Realms . It contains information on characters, locations and history. Various revised and updated editions have been produced over the years. The 1987 Forgotten Realms Campaign Set

98-543: A 154-page sourcebook that was a revision and upgrade to the 1st edition Campaign Set for the newly published 2nd edition rules. TSR published a full new version of the boxed set for AD&D 2nd edition in 1993, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Revised . It was later republished in 1996. Contents included: The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting was published in June 2001. Wizards of

147-462: A GM describes the game world and its inhabitants. The other players describe the intended actions of their characters, and the GM describes the outcomes. Some outcomes are determined by the game system, and some are chosen by the GM. This is the format in which role-playing games were first popularized. In contrast, many indie role-playing games experiment with different structures of play, such as sharing

196-521: A GM role through a visual interface called a GM toolkit , albeit with abilities limited by the available technology. Another standard concept in RPGs is the player character, a character in the fictional world of the game whose actions the player controls. Typically each player controls a separate player character, sometimes more, each of whom acts as a protagonist in the story. In contrast to player characters, non-player characters (NPCs) are controlled by

245-411: A form of interactive and collaborative storytelling . Events, characters, and narrative structure give a sense of a narrative experience, and the game need not have a strongly-defined storyline. Interactivity is the crucial difference between role-playing games and traditional fiction. Whereas a viewer of a television show is a passive observer, a player in a role-playing game makes choices that affect

294-556: A loosely defined genre of computer and console games with origins in role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons , on which they base much of their terminology, settings, and game mechanics. This translation changes the experience of the game, providing a visual representation of the world but emphasizing statistical character development over collaborative, interactive storytelling. Online text-based role-playing games involve many players using some type of text-based interface and an Internet connection to play an RPG. Games played in

343-533: A monster. The "Books of the Forgotten Realms" section is a treatment of several magical tomes that suggests a variety of adventures, with a description of the appearance, history, and contents of each book. The Cyclopedia of the Realms contains background information on and detailed maps for the locations featured in the maps of the Forgotten Realms that come with the set. It begins with an explanation of

392-536: A number of maps, and a fold-out map of the continent of Faerûn. There were also many sidebar topics and tables. Game statistics were provided for popular Forgotten Realms characters such as Drizzt Do'Urden , Artemis Entreri , Elminster , Khelben Blackstaff , Fzoul Chembryl and Manshoon . Wizards of the Coast released another revised edition of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide for

441-411: A real-time way include MUDs , MUSHes , and other varieties of MU* . Games played in a turn-based fashion include play-by-mail games and play-by-post games . Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) combine the large-scale social interaction and persistent world of MUDs with graphic interfaces. Most MMORPGs do not actively promote in-character role-playing, however, players can use

490-745: A role-playing game will generate specific characters and an ongoing plot. A consistent system of rules and a more or less realistic campaign setting in games aids suspension of disbelief . The level of realism in games ranges from just enough internal consistency to set up a believable story or credible challenge up to full-blown simulations of real-world processes. Tabletop role-playing games may also be used in therapy settings to help individuals develop behavioral, social, and even language skills. Beneficiaries commonly include young people with neurodevelopmental conditions, such as Autism spectrum disorders, attention-deficit hyperactive disorder ( ADHD ), and dyslexia . Role-playing games are played in

539-480: A wide variety of campaigns." The reviewer from Pyramid noted that the third edition book covers "a vast land with knights, barbarians, horse archers, and just about any other type of fantasy archetype you can name". Scott Taylor for Black Gate in 2014 listed Forgotten Realms Boxed Set by Keith Parkinson as #6 in The Top 10 TSR Cover Paintings of All Time. In his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in

SECTION 10

#1732772341850

588-486: A wide variety of formats, ranging from discussing character interaction in tabletop form, physically acting out characters in LARP to playing characters virtually in digital media. There is also a great variety of systems of rules and game settings . Games that emphasize plot and character interaction over game mechanics and combat sometimes prefer the name storytelling game . These types of games tend to reduce or eliminate

637-465: Is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting . Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines . There are several forms of role-playing games. The original form, sometimes called

686-409: Is the role of a gamemaster, a participant who has special duties to present the fictional setting, arbitrate the results of character actions, and maintain the narrative flow. In tabletop and live-action RPGs the GM performs these duties in person. In video RPGs, many of the functions of a GM are fulfilled by the game engine . However, some multi-player video RPGs also allow for a participant to take on

735-618: The 4th edition of D&D in August 2008, and also released the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide in September 2008. To usher in the new edition of Dungeons & Dragons , major campaign world events included the death of the goddess Mystra and her Weave, and the subsequent Spellplague, which caused calamitous events such as animation of giant statues, violent earthquakes, corruption of various beings into monsters, and

784-465: The retronyms tabletop role-playing game or pen and paper role-playing game are sometimes used, though neither a table nor pen and paper are strictly necessary. A LARP is played more like improvisational theatre . Participants act out their characters' actions instead of describing them, and the real environment is used to represent the imaginary setting of the game world. Players are often costumed as their characters and use appropriate props, and

833-405: The tabletop role-playing game (TRPG or TTRPG), is conducted through discussion, whereas in live action role-playing (LARP), players physically perform their characters' actions. Both forms feature collaborative storytelling . In both TTRPGs and LARPs, often an arranger called a game master (GM) decides on the game system and setting to be used, while acting as a facilitator or referee. Each of

882-401: The 1990 Adventures supplement handbook sold around 82,000 in its first year, and 116,000 sales before 1999; and the 1993 2nd edition box set sold around 36,000 copies in its first year, and 107,000 copies by 1999. These sales were worse than both Dragonlance Adventures and World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting that had been published earlier, perhaps a sign of increasing competition in

931-573: The Campaign Setting in the 1980s and 1990s were not large in raw numbers. This was partially due to how only a Dungeon Master might need to buy the setting for an entire playgroup, while all the players might own a Players' Handbook , and anyone could buy the popular Forgotten Realms novels with no need to even participate in AD&;D . The 1987 Campaign Set sold around 80,000 copies in its first year, and around 207,000 total sales before 1999;

980-608: The Coast acquired the TSR properties and moved Lockwood and his family to Washington state. Working for Wizards, he continued to work on the D&;D line and on Magic: The Gathering . Lockwood produced art for the Ravenloft , Forgotten Realms , and Dragonlance campaign settings, as well as cover art for novels based on the Forgotten Realms setting. His work is included in the book Masters of Dragonlance Art . Lockwood also became

1029-515: The Coast published an updated version for use with the 3rd edition of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. Due to difficulties with distribution and production costs of box sets, Wizards moved away from that style, and instead published a normal hardcover book for the 3rd edition update to the Realms. The book was written by Ed Greenwood , Sean K. Reynolds , Skip Williams and Rob Heinsoo , with additional contributions from members of

SECTION 20

#1732772341850

1078-540: The Ground , RPG historian Stu Horvath noted, "After the box is opened, the first thing that is apparent about Forgotten Realms is how massive the world is ... Large portions of the world are left for the GM to fill in with their own material, while the rest is detailed by Greenwood and company with an eye towards giving players and GMs a little bit of everything." Role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game , or abbreviated as RPG )

1127-620: The Realms describes how to set up and run a campaign in the Forgotten Realms. A pair of short scenarios is included, and information is provided on terrain and movement in the wilderness, important non-player character personalities, rumors, as well as important and magical books. Written from the perspective of Elminster the sage, the book introduces the campaign setting, explains how to use it, and offers adventure resources. Large areas were set aside to be developed for house campaigns, and no published materials were intended to be printed to exploit those areas, while one area detailed in this package

1176-416: The Realms' treatment of time, names, language, and currency, and its gods and religion. The remaining 75 pages of the book is an encyclopedic and alphabetic listing of important places, races, nations, cultures, character classes, and organizations of the Realms. Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb collaborated beginning in 1986 to turn Greenwood's Forgotten Realms campaign setting into a publishable product for

1225-901: The Vice President of ASFA (the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists), which sponsored the Chesley Awards for fantasy art at the World Science Fiction Convention . In 1999, he helped to redefine the look of the Dungeons and Dragons game for the Third Edition release. In 2002, after Hasbro bought Wizards of the Coast, Lockwood returned to freelancing. He and his wife and three children reside in Washington state. His first art book, Transitions: Art of Todd Lockwood , from

1274-468: The Wizard company's staff. Interior art was by Todd Lockwood , Sam Wood , Matt Wilson , Carlo Arellano and Stephanie Pui-Mun Law . The book is 320 pages in length and features color illustrations. Notable updates to the campaign setting included the widespread presence of Red Wizard enclaves in various cities, the presence of a mysterious group called the "Shades" in the southern Anauroch desert, and

1323-427: The black and white work I had done, particularly Cerberus . I went home inspired and determined to do more and better work. I got more magazine work and started building a portfolio of published work in the field I had always wanted to be a part of." Lockwood began illustrating cards for Chaosium and Phil Foglio 's XXXenophile card game, and soon his friend David Martin suggested him to an art director at TSR ,

1372-474: The collapse of some regions of the Underdark. An additional campaign setting book, covering the city of Neverwinter and its environs, was released in 2011, while an overview of the history, both fictional and real-world, of the Realms was published as Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms in 2012, written by Realms creator Ed Greenwood. Despite being a creative and critical success, sales of

1421-436: The definition of role-playing games. Although some amount of role-playing activity may be present in such games, it is not the primary focus. The term role-playing game is also sometimes used to describe other games involving roleplay simulation , such as exercises used in teaching, training, academic research, or therepeutic settings. Both authors and major publishers of tabletop role-playing games consider them to be

1470-514: The design and advertising world. Lockwood worked for a design agency for a year and a half, and won numerous awards in the Art Directors Club of New York's annual show. He then focused his career on illustration, doing freelance illustration for about fifteen years: " Coors was one of my biggest clients... I could paint beer cans in my sleep. At one point I had some covers I had done for Satellite Orbit magazine. For years after that I

1519-597: The gamemaster or game engine, or by people assisting the gamemaster. Non-player characters fill out the population of the fictional setting and can act as antagonists, bystanders, or allies of the player characters. [REDACTED] Media related to Role-playing games at Wikimedia Commons Todd Lockwood Todd Lockwood was born in Boulder, Colorado . Lockwood received his education at The Art Institute of Colorado , in Denver, Colorado , and went to work immediately in

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting - Misplaced Pages Continue

1568-525: The games' communication functions to role-play so long as other players cooperate. The majority of players in MMORPGs do not engage in role-playing in this sense. Computer-assisted gaming can be used to add elements of computer gaming to in-person tabletop role-playing, where computers are used for record-keeping and sometimes to resolve combat, while the participants generally make decisions concerning character interaction. One common feature of many RPGs

1617-675: The increasing "surface presence" of dark elves in the Dalelands. The setting history was updated to reflect various major events such as the changes to the pantheon of Faerûn since the Time of Troubles , and the defeat of the Tuigan Horde. The book was organized into nine chapters, which cover the campaign setting in broad detail. The primary emphasis is on the continent of Faerûn, and the other continents are only briefly mentioned. The chapters are arranged as follows: This work contained

1666-503: The late 1990s due to competition from online MMO RPGs, role-playing video games , and collectible card games. However, TTRPGs experienced a resurgence in popularity between the mid-2010s and early 2020s due to actual play web series and online play through videoconferencing during the COVID-19 lockdowns . The tabletop format is often referred to simply as a role-playing game . To distinguish this form of RPG from other formats,

1715-438: The number of players in a LARP is usually larger than in a tabletop role-playing game, and the players may be interacting in separate physical spaces, there is typically less of an emphasis on tightly maintaining a narrative or directly entertaining the players, and game sessions are often managed in a more distributed manner. Tabletop role-playing games have been translated into a variety of electronic formats. As early as 1974,

1764-845: The other players takes on the role of a single character in the fiction. Several varieties of RPG also exist in electronic media, such as multiplayer text-based Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs) and their graphics-based successors, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Role-playing games also include single-player role-playing video games in which players control a character, or team of characters, who undertake(s) quests. Role-playing video games may include player capabilities that advance over time using statistical mechanics. These electronic games sometimes share settings and rules with tabletop RPGs, but emphasize character advancement more than collaborative storytelling. Some RPG-related game forms, such as trading/collectible card games (CCGs) and wargames , may or may not be included under

1813-521: The public. Greenwood sent in packages filled with raw material, maps, and notes to Grubb. Grubb then organized and rewrote much of the material, and Karen Martin edited it. Their combined work created the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set that was published in 1987. It featured illustrations and artwork from Keith Parkinson , Jeff Easley , Clyde Caldwell , and Tim Conrad. In 1990, TSR published Forgotten Realms Adventures ,

1862-456: The publisher of the popular role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons . "I had sent TSR portfolios in the past, but now I had a real fantasy portfolio. The art director, Stephen Daniele , gave me a bunch of character portraits for one of the Spellfire decks, then some book covers for TSR. An opportunity to work for TSR full-time came along in 1996, and I jumped at it." In 1997, Wizards of

1911-460: The responsibility for creating setting details and NPCs among all players. The first commercially available RPG, Dungeons & Dragons ( D&D ), was inspired by fantasy literature and the wargaming hobby and was published in 1974. The popularity of D&D led to the birth of the tabletop role-playing game industry, which publishes games with many different themes, rules, and styles of play. The popularity of tabletop games decreased in

1960-410: The role-playing game market compared to the early 1980s when Dungeons & Dragons was by far the pre-eminent role-playing game. Lawrence Schick , in his 1991 book Heroic Worlds , describes the Forgotten Realms as a "fantasy world with a little bit of everything in it, the setting for most of TSR's AD&D scenarios from 1987 on. The world is designed to be flexible enough to act as a setting for

2009-517: The same year as the release of Dungeons & Dragons, unlicensed versions of it were developed on mainframe university systems under titles such as dnd and Dungeon . These early computer RPGs influenced all of electronic gaming, as well as spawning the role-playing video game genre. Some authors divide digital role-playing games into two intertwined groups: single-player games using RPG-style mechanics, and multiplayer games incorporating social interaction. Single-player role-playing video games form

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting - Misplaced Pages Continue

2058-408: The story. Such role-playing games extend an older tradition of storytelling games where a small party of friends collaborate to create a story. While simple forms of role-playing exist in traditional children's games of make believe , role-playing games add a level of sophistication and persistence to this basic idea with additions such as game facilitators and rules of interaction. Participants in

2107-420: The use of dice and other randomizing elements. Some games are played with characters created before the game by the GM, rather than those created by the players. This type of game is typically played at gaming conventions , or in standalone games that do not form part of a campaign. Tabletop (TTRPG) and pen-and-paper (PnP) RPGs are conducted through discussion in a small social gathering. In traditional TTRPGs,

2156-423: The venue may be decorated to resemble the fictional setting. Some live-action role-playing games use rock paper scissors or comparison of attributes to resolve conflicts symbolically, while other LARPs use physical combat with simulated arms such as airsoft guns or foam weapons . LARPs vary in size from a handful of players to several thousand, and in duration from a couple of hours to several days. Because

2205-401: Was Frank Frazetta . Later came Michael Whelan , though I had some ad-world influences, too, particularly after I started art school. But I really wanted to be Michael Whelan." Lockwood listed his other influences as David Wilcox, Peter Lloyd , Boris Vallejo , and Jeff Jones . Lockwood first did some covers for Asimov's Science Fiction magazine: "That was the beginning. I felt revived. I

2254-621: Was 'the satellite dish guy.' I came to really hate satellite dishes and beer cans. If I had ever had a painting with both a beer can and a satellite dish in it, my ad career would have been complete." Lockwood was an avid Dungeons & Dragons game player, and a fan of fantasy art. "I flipped when TSR started having really good art in their products... Jeff Easley 's stuff particularly interested me: so moody and fluid, so deft. Then Brom came along and really blew my doors off." Lockwood decided to try fantasy and science-fiction illustration: "My first artistic influence, like so many in this field,

2303-530: Was finally painting things that interested me!" In 1994, he attended Worldcon , Lockwood's first science fiction convention , in Winnipeg, Manitoba , taking some of his Asimov's covers and some other work to show to artists and art directors in hopes of making contacts with people in the science fiction and fantasy publishing world. "It was a revelation! ... I met other artists and saw so much amazing work. I met Michael Whelan, who responded very favorably to

2352-491: Was intended to have no subsequent publications use that area. The package covers only the western half of a single continent; the eastern half would later be covered in a separate sourcebook for Kara-Tur . Two complete dungeon-style adventures are provided: "Halls of the Beast-Tamers", a dungeon with many unconventional problem-solving exercises, and "Lashan's Fall", a dungeon with a mystery and an opportunity to parley with

2401-428: Was sold as a box set containing two 96-page books, four maps, and two clear plastic overlays marked with hex grids. The maps were four full-color, 34" x 22" maps, two of which combine to form a large-scale (1" = 90 miles) map of the western half of the vast Realms continent, while the other two provide a more detailed (1" = 30 miles) map of the regions featured in the campaign pack. The Dungeon Master's Sourcebook of

#849150