Design Room: Elminster's Forgotten Realms

I was reading Elminsters-Forgotten-Realms, which is basically a retrospective source-book for the Wizard's Forgotten Realms game. Inside are some very cool designer's notes by Ed Greenwood, along with some of his original manuscript reproductions from his submissions and notes about the world. It is not a campaign guide, but more of a retrospective and overview of the world, along with background on culture, food, society, and various groups throughout the world.

As with any Wizard's hardcover, the production quality is very nice, and the book is full-color throughout, with occasional paintings of nobles, citizens, bad guys, and other sample residents of the world. Not many are named NPCs, which I will get to later. The book delves into a lot of different topics, such as holidays, clothes, religions, locations, and other background data. If you want a traditional review, I am sure there will be plenty of discussion on the Amazon link (above), and you can decide for yourself if this interests you.

What we will do today is do a design room discussion, which is strictly limited to game design, theory, and the intended use of this in a game. D&D has a bit of a split personality right now, with the 4E reinventionalists, the 3.5E traditionalists, and the 5E new-classicalists. From the pre-launch discussion of this book, it seemed like it was going to be a book covering Ed Greenwood's home campaign. From how this reads, it seems more like a background book for any era of Forgotton Realms play - with a few major differences.

Designer's Notes

One of the best parts about the book are the reproductions of Mr. Greenwood's original designer's notes and typewritten submissions. Background data and behind-the-scenes info is given with these sheets, and it is a great addition to the book. As a world designer, these sections are priceless bits of info on the thinking and process behind world design, and very inspiring as well. I love designer's notes, and peeking into the creative process is rare and always appreciated. I wish the book would have went further here, with insight and backgrounds on creating the cast of characters that live in the realms, background on the books, and much more inside info covering the authors and fiction in the world.

Differences from D&D4

4E, and especially the 4E Forgotten Realms Guide, specifically adds Dragonborn, Eladrin, and Tieflings to the FR multiverse, along with concepts such as the Shadowfell and Faewild. From my first read through, I only found one picture of a Tiefling in the book, and hardly any mention of any of the other 4E specific concepts or races as mattering, or being important or present in the world. It seems almost as if the 4E specific stuff was left out, and the book concentrates strictly on the core 3.5E version of the realms.

Similarly, the points-of-light concept has been pushed aside, and the Realms is back to shadowy groups manipulating society, and monsters and the natural danger of the world being secondary concerns (despite the cover, I know). This is an important point, and also a distinction lost in the 4E conversion, the Realms has always been a more political world, with secret groups manipulating things behind the scenes, with powerful NPCs running clandestine plots and causing all sorts of trouble. In a sense, 4E's insistence that 'points of light' was the way to go was a step backwards for the Realms, as it lobotomized the intrigue and backstory to the world. Points of light assumes there is limited conflict among the good guys, and the Realms is not about that. In a way, the Realms is Wizard's "World of Darkness" setting (aka White Wolf), and reducing it to a simpler 'adventurers in Nerrath' feels wrong to me, and robs the setting of its unique charm.

In a sense, all these changes to the official 4E Realms make sense, since this is how Mr. Greenwood sees the world, and it is a 'classic' interpretation of the world and how it works. The break with 4E material is interesting, and it may signal a return to the classic FR setting in 5E, at least this is the way it feels to me. I would not be surprised if a rebooted version of the Realms (not in timeline, but in feel) is the default setting for D&D 5E. To support this theory, Mr. Greenwood also has a fun line in there about there being many false rumors and lies being spread in the world either intentionally by the bad guys, good guys, or by the uninformed masses. While this is a fun world detail for in-game use, it may also be a bit of author-speak to lessen or do-away with the material introduced in 4E.

NPCs & Factions

Wizards 'war on powerful NPCs' continues; as powerful NPCs are missing, a hallmark of the Realms since the first edition of the setting. This trend started in 4E, since the popular belief was that the Realms was unfun since referees and players felt their heroes couldn't exist in the world alongside the legions of powerful NPCs already present in the world. I like powerful NPCs, and I never really felt this was a hindrance to my enjoyment in the setting (nor my players). Having them missing in this book is a huge drawback

I never really made sense of the 'powerful NPCs make the game un-fun' theory either, to me they are color and make the world unique. As for powerful NPCs making the game un-fun; to me it makes as much sense as calling all of America un-fun as a role-playing setting: since the President and US Military will show up anytime there is trouble anywhere in the country. To me, it's always been a huge world, with a lot of room for struggles and epics without the NPCs being involved - or even having one along as a guest star for the adventure. I gave the Realms' NPCs no plot or GM immunity either, they could be changed, hurt, or eliminated just as much as anyone other character.

Factions are present and detailed, though the NPCs in these groups are not. As an overview of a 300 year span this may be practical, but it makes as much sense as discussing World War II and omitting the world leaders. To be fair, there are some charts of NPCs given from the author's design documents, but nothing saying 'X is the current leader of Y' sort of thing. I like powerful NPCs, and I like factions, so it feels like a surface discussion without too much 'boots on the ground' info.

Related to factions, the deities section is pretty good, but with all the changes in the FR pantheon from 1E to 4E, it seems a bit nebulous on the intended time period they were talking about. Mystra goddess of magic (since killed in 4E), is back, which syncs up with the info in the latest novels. This is another sign of a reboot coming with classic underpinnings. A number of other gods and goddesses are back, some vanquished in 2E and back in 3E, and the number and focus of them seems streamlined. It does sort of feel like a book setting up a Realms reboot, and that is interesting.

Overall Design

Elminster's Forgotten Realms is great as an overview book for culture, life, and the day-to-day in the Realms. It does not get into specific locations, people, or factions, and that is a minus to me. For the setting info, it is detailed and specific on a lot of color and culture, which I like and find interesting. If you play in the Realms, it is worth a look, since it gathers together a lot of information in one organized place. Experienced Realms players may know a lot of this stuff already, but for new players, this is a good primer for living and adventuring in this world (reboot hint, again).

Design-wise, the best part of the book are the designer's notes. This feels more like an intro-to-the-Realms book than anything else, minus some of the more important background NPCs. Who knows, maybe these groups and personalities will be introduced in the 5E guide to the Realms, but given the downplaying of powerful NPCs in the D&D product line, I would think not.

I do have mixed feelings about the Realms. A lot of changes have happened, some good, and some bad, and a reboot would make sense. A lot of excitement has moved onto other worlds, such as Pathfinder's Golarion and Midgard, 4E's Nerrath, the OSR DIY movement, and many others. Can the Realms recapture that excitement without the focus on the aspects that made it popular (books, NPCs, factions, and the world's focus on intrigue)? I hope they go back to the basics here, but also give up some of the current design hang-ups that prevent the Realms from being a great and powerful setting.

Overall, great book, great presentation, lots of value if you are a Realms fan, and wonderful designer's notes. Less value if you are looking for specifics and a gazetteer. Out of five stars, three; minus one for no PDF (we live in a new new world now), minus a half-star for a lack of specific NPCs, and minus another half-star for a lack of retrospective on the fiction and how it changed the world.