| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 20 Aug 2009 : 13:51:14
This is on the Wizards site.
quote:
We’ve heard what’s happening in the world of Eberron, but what of Forgotten Realms? Bill Slavicsek led this seminar, along with R&D’s James Wyatt, Bruce Cordell, Chris Tulach—and Ed Greenwood!
The fantastic world of Toril is supported by printed products, novels, organized play, and D&D Insider articles. In fact, the following articles can be expected to appear in the days ahead:
Monument of the Ancients: An Forgotten Realms adventure set in the Moonshaes.
Eye of Justice: Describing a shady sect of Torm.
Hero Battle: Ever wanted to match yourself against Drizzt Do'urden? First in a new series of articles!
Eye on the Realms: A new monthly column by Ed Greenwood, exploring the world.
Explore Airspur, part 3: Final installment looking at the genasi city of Airspur.
Living Forgotten Realms
What is the LFR? A regionalized Living Campaign, where players create characters from specific regions supported with a number of adventures, as well as other regions supported by core adventures (such as threats by the Abolethic Sovereignty). LFR also includes My Realms adventures, offering opportunity to write your own LFR adventures customized for your group at home. Adventuring Company events allow characters to band together (as a common dwarven clan, for example, or a merchant company) to participate in special events. A mini-campaigns set in Returned Abeir, “Embers of Dawn” also launches this Gen Con, to run 6 months and conclude at D&D Experience—a great way to get a new player (or to try a new character) involved in the LFR. Look for more information (such as plans for further mini-campaigns including Undermountain) at D&D Insider’s RPGA Report.
Writing for LFR? Read the Writer’s Guidelines Submissions, and be sure to send in your submission.
2009 Novels
Downshadow
By Eric Scott de Bie
April 2009
City of the Dead
By Rosemary Jones
June 2009
The Crystal Mountain
By Thomas M. Reid
July 2009
Conclusion to the Empyrean Odyssey trilogy.
The Wilds: The Edge of Chaos
By Jak Koke
August 2009
City of Torment
By Bruce Cordell
September 2009
The Ghost King
By R.A. Salvatore
October 2009
Conclusion to the Transitions series.
Fall of Highwatch
By Mark Sehestedt
November 2009
First book in the Chosen of Nendawen series. Linked to the LFR adventure "The Icy Queen’s Crossing", a prelude to the Weekend in the Realms exclusive adventure.
The Wilds: Wrath of the Blue Lady
By Mel Odom
December 2009
2010 Novels
Realms of the Dead
January 2010
Anthology of Haunted Lands stories, including authors Bruce Cordell, Erin Evans, Richard Lee Beyers, and R.A. Salvatore!
Every creature on Faerun has its dark mirror in the undead—from the ghosts of ancient warriors to the rune-scribed skeletons of dragons. And in a world with as rich and bloody a history as the Forgotten Realms, they are legion—outshining the living in variety and number. Here are a dozen of the most terrifying tales of the haunted Realms.
Ed Greenwood Presents: The God Catcher
By Erin Evans
February 2010
Rival families wield secrets, gold, and poisoned knives in their struggles for dominance in unforgiving Sembia.
Avenger
By Rich Baker
March 2010
Book 3 in the Blades of the Moonsea series.
Geran Hulmaster made a choice: rescue Miyra or protect Hulburg, the town his family rules. He returned with Miyra only to be sent into exile with his family by Rhovann—a longtime rival determined to ruin him. He would do anything to take Hulburg back—and to extract due justice.
The Captive Flame
By Richard Lee Beyers
April 2010
Book 1 in the Brotherhood of the Griffon series.
In 2010, also look for new books by Paul Kemp, Ed Greenwood (Elminster Must Die), and R.A. Salvatore!
Discussion
Q: Will more books explain what happened during the Spellplague?
A: Yes, in small pieces in future books, but not to chronicle every day of the Spellplague years. Some loose ends will be tied up, some may not, for certain characters. Part of the goal of 4th Edition was to put the awe, and the mystery, back into the game; the 100 years of the Spellplague helped re-instill this in part by negating the weight of history that new players felt they had to know about the Realms.
Q: Is there a recommended reading list for readers entering the Realms?
A: That is an excellent idea, and has been heard. (For a timeline of the Realms, there is currently The Grand History of the Realms, by Brian James.)
Q: Where can I find out about the death of Mystra?
A: Look for this information in Thomas Reid’s Empyrean Odyssey series.
Q: Will we ever see LFR campaigns go to the Underdark?
A: Possibly. There is a D&D Underdark book coming out in January. LFR may take advantage of this material in the future.
Q: Is there another limited series of books coming, beyond The Wilds and Ed Greenwood Presents?
A: Yes, which will start in the later half of 2010: The Planetouched.
Q: When will Forgotten Realms books appear on the Kindle?
A: Many R.A. Salvatore books already exist for the Kindle, and we are working at bringing in further titles.
I am looking forward to this: Eye on the Realms: A new monthly column by Ed Greenwood, exploring the world.
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| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Chosen of Moradin |
Posted - 29 Aug 2009 : 23:41:33
The short story is awesome,as could be expected of a so talented author! 
In october, I will manage to catch my signed copy of Downshadow, to add to my crunching pile of Realms books (actually, I think that would be a good idea to provide a new bookshelf first) |
| Quale |
Posted - 29 Aug 2009 : 18:19:41
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
Also, more teaser:
Check out my Downshadow tie-in story (absolutely free, no principle-violations involved): "The Last Legend of Gedrin Shadowbane"
Cheers
Thanks, mostly enjoyed the story, like when he's seen the eye with the boy. |
| Erik Scott de Bie |
Posted - 28 Aug 2009 : 21:25:16
That's immensely flattering, Jakk! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. 
Let me know what you think of Downshadow when you get to it.
Cheers |
| Jakk |
Posted - 28 Aug 2009 : 03:19:01
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
Also, more teaser:
Check out my Downshadow tie-in story (absolutely free, no principle-violations involved): "The Last Legend of Gedrin Shadowbane"
 A magnificent short story! I must read Downshadow now... ETA Sept 1/2. Any doubts I may still have had about the stories now being told in the Realms are gone. Thank you, Erik, for showing me that the post-Spellplague Realms are still the Realms. I'm still not a fan of the changes that were made, but you have proven to me that those changes do not necessarily prevent the telling of good Realmsian stories. Thank you! |
| Erik Scott de Bie |
Posted - 27 Aug 2009 : 20:58:10
Also, more teaser:
Check out my Downshadow tie-in story (absolutely free, no principle-violations involved): "The Last Legend of Gedrin Shadowbane"
Cheers |
| Erik Scott de Bie |
Posted - 27 Aug 2009 : 16:28:31
I hope, if nothing else, Downshadow (and the Eye of Justice article, when it comes out) gives proof positive that I am *also* a serious Realms enthusiast, and I am as much about honoring the past in a big way as exploring the future.
Cheers |
| Quale |
Posted - 27 Aug 2009 : 15:04:26
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
quote:
Originally posted by Quale
And ''Eye of Justice: Describing a shady sect of Torm.'' I hope this is a heresy of some kind, always wanted much more of them in the Realms. Torm isn't an ideal choice, but it's fine.
Well, I'd refer you to Downshadow (where you could learn quite a bit about it), but as you said previously you didn't care much for the novels, I'll offer a little teaser besides.
Yes it is a heresy, and it's one that, when he read about it in the novel, made Brian R. James run excitedly around his hotel telling everybody he could find. I was quite proud of that.
Cheers
:) He's a real Realms enthusiast, I'm really glad he's writing FR articles, Auril's Realm, the sharns and the Moonshaes are by far my favourite post-Spellplague.
Thanks, it sparked a bit of interest, nice job, there aren't many novels that enrich Realmslore and create such new options, usually it's all by the sourcebook. |
| Jakk |
Posted - 27 Aug 2009 : 04:26:10
As much as I'd love to read "Eye of Justice", to do so would be to compromise my principles, unless WotC decides to offer another free preview of DDi while the article is current. Even more than the cataclysmic changes to Toril (which I can choose to ignore), my biggest peeve of all of the last two years is the fate of the printed Dragon and Dungeon magazines. I will not rant about that here; it's far enough removed that I can simply accept what was done as a colossal blunder and move on. My guess is that 5E, whenever it arrives and whatever it changes, will be PDF-only... 
I'm looking forward to reading both Erik and Paul; I received my copies of the Twilight War trilogy today, but I need to get the Erevis Cale trilogy first... its ETA is Sept 1, along with Erik's three Realms novels that I know about.
I never tire of making predictions whose truth I fear; if you always hope for the best and expect the worst, all of your surprises will be pleasant ones. I'm happy to say that I have had some surprises lately; thank you for the timeline updates, Brian! |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 27 Aug 2009 : 04:06:38
 Outstanding. Hurry up with the future Realmslore Brian. |
| Brian R. James |
Posted - 27 Aug 2009 : 00:39:44
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
[quote]Originally posted by Quale
Yes it is a heresy, and it's one that, when he read about it in the novel, made Brian R. James run excitedly around his hotel telling everybody he could find. I was quite proud of that.
Erik's not kidding. I was pretty excited.  That passage in Downshadow references one of my favorite gods, and in doing so, opens up some intriguing possibilities for future Realmslore. I cannot wait to read "Eye of Justice". |
| Jakk |
Posted - 26 Aug 2009 : 19:56:59
Thanks for that teaser, Erik! Downshadow is definitely on my must-read list now... |
| Erik Scott de Bie |
Posted - 26 Aug 2009 : 19:09:56
quote:
Originally posted by Quale
And ''Eye of Justice: Describing a shady sect of Torm.'' I hope this is a heresy of some kind, always wanted much more of them in the Realms. Torm isn't an ideal choice, but it's fine.
Well, I'd refer you to Downshadow (where you could learn quite a bit about it), but as you said previously you didn't care much for the novels, I'll offer a little teaser besides.
Yes it is a heresy, and it's one that, when he read about it in the novel, made Brian R. James run excitedly around his hotel telling everybody he could find. I was quite proud of that.
Cheers |
| Quale |
Posted - 26 Aug 2009 : 18:11:55
Edit, now paying more attention.
Mark Sehestedt's novels were excellent, really looking forward to them. And the Crystal Mountain if it has planar stuff. Nice to see that Mel Odom's returned.
And ''Eye of Justice: Describing a shady sect of Torm.'' I hope this is a heresy of some kind, always wanted much more of them in the Realms. Torm isn't an ideal choice, but it's fine.
|
| Quale |
Posted - 26 Aug 2009 : 12:49:03
I like Airspur so far, and Ed's Eye on the Realms articles are interesting. Novels, don't care anymore about any of them. |
| Erik Scott de Bie |
Posted - 23 Aug 2009 : 20:30:48
They also talked briefly about a Spellplague-related anthology, which Bill said he thought was in the works . . . I don't know if it will come to pass, but it gives something to advocate for!
quote:
Originally posted by Christopher_Rowe
Also, the "Eye of Justice" article is by Erik Scott de Bie (with a collaborator I think, maybe Eytan Bernstein?) and draws on lore he developed for his recent short story and novel!
I will say that I mostly steam-rolled Eytan in writing the article, so much of the article is my own doing (you know where to sling blame!), but he gets major props for some important contributions and edits.
If possible, folks should send some good thoughts his way. He had to cancel his GenCon trip at the last minute this year for work and personal reasons. That man works entirely too much.
And yes, the "Eye of Justice" does indeed involve "The Last Legend of Gedrin Shadowbane" and my novel, Downshadow. More than that I won't say, except to pick up the novel or check out the short story for clues!
Cheers |
| Jorkens |
Posted - 23 Aug 2009 : 13:39:22
To bad. Well, at least it was published. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 22 Aug 2009 : 13:34:40
quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens
quote:
Originally posted by Jakk
quote:
Originally posted by Arivia
The Campaign Guide actually recommends the Grand History of the Realms. I think WotC's going for less of a mandatory standpoint, not totally obliterating the past.
Interesting that they're recommending it now... didn't the GHotR recently go officially out of print? 
Has it been said that it will not enter new printings?
It's been declared by WotC to be out of print. That's pretty much a statement that they're not going to run off more, at least in the forseeable future.
http://ww2.wizards.com/books/Wizards/default.aspx?doc=main_outofprint |
| arry |
Posted - 22 Aug 2009 : 11:00:57
Yet again in esteemed Wizards of the Coast, the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing  |
| Jorkens |
Posted - 22 Aug 2009 : 08:59:59
quote:
Originally posted by Jakk
quote:
Originally posted by Arivia
The Campaign Guide actually recommends the Grand History of the Realms. I think WotC's going for less of a mandatory standpoint, not totally obliterating the past.
Interesting that they're recommending it now... didn't the GHotR recently go officially out of print?
Has it been said that it will not enter new printings? |
| Jakk |
Posted - 22 Aug 2009 : 02:34:29
quote:
Originally posted by Arivia
The Campaign Guide actually recommends the Grand History of the Realms. I think WotC's going for less of a mandatory standpoint, not totally obliterating the past.
Interesting that they're recommending it now... didn't the GHotR recently go officially out of print? |
| The Hooded One |
Posted - 21 Aug 2009 : 16:00:45
Yes, THE GOD CATCHER is a "Eddie Presents Waterdeep" series novel, and IS set in Waterdeep.
Ed loved it, and Erin Evans, its author (and a Book Department editor for Wizards, handling Eberron novels), was his "shadow" for much of GenCon.
Ed said he can't be giving away secrets of what's in the novels, but he did give me these hints:
The following are either involved or implied, somewhere in the narrative:
A noble or two, a sewer or two, a fascinating game, secrets upon secrets, learning about the past of a dead parent, a hunter from afar on a trail, shouting, an unusual landlord, and some root beasties of the D&D game.
Heh. Ever-helpful. Makes the book sound like a very intriguing heap of everything, kitchen sink and all.
love,
THO |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 21 Aug 2009 : 14:36:05
Shouldn't this be set in Waterdeep?
quote:
Ed Greenwood Presents: The God Catcher
By Erin Evans
February 2010
Rival families wield secrets, gold, and poisoned knives in their struggles for dominance in unforgiving Sembia.
|
| Mr_Miscellany |
Posted - 21 Aug 2009 : 07:02:09
I'm looking forward to the Realms of the Dead anthology myself. I hope to get at least one story about the Eminence of Araunt. |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 20 Aug 2009 : 21:02:19
quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Neither can I, Brimstone!
Ed tells me it was two-thirds finished in rough draft before he left for GenCon, and he's having a BLAST writing it. Here are some speculations on my part about its contents that are based on reading between the lines of some Ed comments:
Elminster appears, and so does at least one of the Seven Sisters, probably more than one. Cormyr is involved in some way, probably as the setting for some of the book.
It's likely set in 1479 DR, though perhaps not wholly . . .
There are some nobles in the story but it's NOT primarily a story about rulers and nobles.
love,
THO
|
| The Hooded One |
Posted - 20 Aug 2009 : 20:52:05
Neither can I, Brimstone!
Ed tells me it was two-thirds finished in rough draft before he left for GenCon, and he's having a BLAST writing it. Here are some speculations on my part about its contents that are based on reading between the lines of some Ed comments:
Elminster appears, and so does at least one of the Seven Sisters, probably more than one. Cormyr is involved in some way, probably as the setting for some of the book.
It's likely set in 1479 DR, though perhaps not wholly . . .
There are some nobles in the story but it's NOT primarily a story about rulers and nobles.
love,
THO |
| Brimstone |
Posted - 20 Aug 2009 : 20:12:44
quote:
Originally posted by Christopher_Rowe
Cool!
One little error that carried over from a typo on the PowerPoint, looks like. "Monument of the Ancients," which is by Brian R. and Matt James, is set in the Moonsea, not the Moonshaes. And points north.
Also, the "Eye of Justice" article is by Erik Scott de Bie (with a collaborator I think, maybe Eytan Bernstein?) and draws on lore he developed for his recent short story and novel!
Cheers,
I thought it was the Moonsea.
After finishing Downshadow this morning at work(I love my job), I am looking forward to the Eye of Justice article.
For those who haven't read Downshadow yet, you are missing a real treat.
I can't wait for Elminster Must Die! |
| Arivia |
Posted - 20 Aug 2009 : 20:05:39
The Campaign Guide actually recommends the Grand History of the Realms. I think WotC's going for less of a mandatory standpoint, not totally obliterating the past. |
| Kiaransalyn |
Posted - 20 Aug 2009 : 18:44:52
quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens
Well, even if one doesn't need to know its OK to have a place to look it up if curious.
Oh, I've no problem with them pushing their product, after all they're a business, it just seems a bit daft to say we've done away with the history in one sentence only to recommend that new players read up on it in the next.
If you're new to the Realms start with the new Campaign Setting would be the obvious reply here. |
| Jorkens |
Posted - 20 Aug 2009 : 17:28:05
quote:
Originally posted by Kiaransalyn
The above seems contradictory to me. First, they say that the Spellplaque negates the history that new players need to know. Next they recommend the Grand History of the Realms. Surely a better book to recommend would be the new campaign setting.
Well, even if one doesn't need to know its OK to have a place to look it up if curious. |
| Kiaransalyn |
Posted - 20 Aug 2009 : 15:58:49
quote:
Q: Will more books explain what happened during the Spellplague?
A: Yes, in small pieces in future books, but not to chronicle every day of the Spellplague years. Some loose ends will be tied up, some may not, for certain characters. Part of the goal of 4th Edition was to put the awe, and the mystery, back into the game; the 100 years of the Spellplague helped re-instill this in part by negating the weight of history that new players felt they had to know about the Realms.
Q: Is there a recommended reading list for readers entering the Realms?
A: That is an excellent idea, and has been heard. (For a timeline of the Realms, there is currently The Grand History of the Realms...)
The above seems contradictory to me. First, they say that the Spellplaque negates the history that new players need to know. Next they recommend the Grand History of the Realms. Surely a better book to recommend would be the new campaign setting. |
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