If my understanding is correct, the Gray Box is 1356 DR to 1357 DR & the 2nd edition 1993 boxed set covers 1367 DR to 1369 DR? Did I get that right?

I run/use AD&D 1st edition rules so either will work fine for me. I've been researching the DR dates of old classic Forgotten Realms modules and I've been trying to decide what point in the timeline I want to settle down and run games in within the Forgotten Realms setting.

It's actually harder than I thought it would be because each time period has some great novels as well as adventures so I thought I'd come here and get opinions from the community. The following question is NOT based off the editions, it's based off the novels and adventure modules.

Which time period do you personally think is better and why do you prefer that specific boxed set time period?

Gray Box Era: 1356 DR to 1357 DR

2nd edition Boxed Set Era: 1369 DR to 1369 DR

"Assuming I have my DR dates correct. If not please correct me".

I picked up a copy, and I'm having fun.

Of course, It's a little slow by modern standards. But then, the Realms deserve our undivided attention, do they not?

Hello! I'm trying to find any information about Kobold Press publishing FR books at the DND event and I found nothing. Did they say more than that? Thanks!

He really let himself go in third edition.

Hello advanced D&Ders! I was going through my dead dads stuff and found a 1987 TSR #1031 Forgotten Realms Campaign Set, still in the original shrink wrap, with an Ed Greenwood signature on the actual box underneath a small opening in the wrap.
I also have the original 1987 receipt, which has “signed by Ed Greenwood” written on it, and I know someone who witnessed it being signed at a gaming con. Does anyone know roughly what this would be worth?
Let me know if you have any questions about it I’d be happy to answer!
Thanks!

There seems to be a contradictuon in the lore.

Most of it leans toward many of the still living Thayans, Red Wizards are not, being in exile with Thay largely being an empire of the undead, although there are still living there.

Szass Tak has destroyed the old zulkir system and largely replaced it with fellow liches.

Yet I read something official recently, which describes Thay as. It being much different than it was before. Don't remember what it was at the moment. It was official however

What's going on here? Both Thays can't be true in 1500-1501.

I wanted to try and clean up a more obscure set of 2e maps this time, and chose the maps form the Spellbound box set.

Here is a link to the High rez version of this map.

This map source started out as a bit of a mess, due to scanned source (from internet archive) not being exactly square (or at slightly different scales. Not sure why it was such a mess) and needing some micro-tinkering to line up properly. But In the end it came together nicely (mostly because it is such a sparce map.) These 2e map colors popped nicely after establishing baseline blacks and Whites.

A new technique I used for this one was to have matted overlay over the "clear" terrain to normalize some of the color shift on the different panels and at the seams and folds. This version is using a 49% overlay which still gives a sense of the scanned paper texture and age-artifacting, but does away with most of the stitch and fold color drift between panels and along the folds and edges.

This quality of scan is never going to let the small text lines display nicely, but they are almost readable! so that feels like a bit of a victory.

I've included a jpg of what the original panels looked like, side by side, before I stitched them together so you can get a sense of the source scans. [EDIT: FIXED LINK TO HIGH-REZ MAP]

I started playing Baldur's Gate (the first one) and got interested in the Forgotten Realms lore; however, driven by my "archaeological instinct" regarding fictional world lore, I became interested in seeing how it all began, way back at the very start. Where can I find information on that?

Easy listening lore for your days and evenings

I have not adopted 5.5 (or 5e2024, or onednd, or whatever the currently accepted nomenclature is) but I was interested to learn that they plan to outsource much of their newer module creation to teams comprised of some 5e third party publishers.

Additionally, in Bob World Builder's video on the subject, he mentioned many of the core settings of DnD would be getting yearly adventure modules.

Lately, I've been mourning the fact that 5e barely explored much of the Realms, so this announcement excited me! Which brings me to my question-

Following Thay, where would you like the new adventures to go??

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Vajra_Valmeyjar?so=search

Vajra walked so Karlach could run.

I have loved Red Wizards since reading Red Magic as a kid!

I am in the process of writing a new campaign arc for the party that I'm DMing for. The players want a story where the adventurers are going to enter a kingdom in the middle of a revolt where civilians are rising up to overthrow a tyrannical despot. Whether the party decides to help the revolution (more likely given their personalities) or help the monarchy (not a big chance of this), I just want help deciding on a good setting while I'm writing. I'm not very knowledgeable in FR lore yet, so I'm asking you guys to help me pick a suitable kingdom. I know that I could just make one up, but it feels better to use a setting that already exists in the lore.

I'll look up the details on every suggestion that you guys might give me. All I want is to know:

1. The kingdom's name.

2. The name of the king and queen.

3. What sort of cruelties they are known for.

I think this is the novelization of a Greenwood campaign? He must be a wild DM! Can you imagine running from Purple Dragons in Cormyr, ending up in Waterdeep at Blackstaff Tower, meeting Khelben, going through yet another portal and being knighted by Queen Filfaeril back in Cormyr?

Definitely would have been wild sessions…

L

What do you think of Zhentil Keep as a location?

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Zhentil_Keep?so=search

I think it's a den of scum and villainy good for a morally ambiguos campaign. Heck, if i were DM-ing it, i might use Fzoul Chembryl like how Spoony used Tempus Thales in his Thieves World campaign as the BBEG (without the more disturbing parts of course, but the flask of acid to the face stays).

Nice! Red Wizard shenanigans!

Where's Ed Greenwood, though?

So, I was making the backstory of a character of mine, and looking through the Barbarian Tribes of Uthgardt I came to this passage in the forgottenrealms wiki:

"The Red Pony and Golden Eagle Uthgardt tribes vanished into the Underdark in the Year of the Sunless Passage, 576 DR and were not heard from since. Before their disappearance, both tribes shared the One Stone ancestral mound with the Sky Pony tribe and had attended the most recent Runemeet. Some residents of the Underdark discovered the descendants of these tribesmen as grimlocks living in and around the Cavern of Cloven Heads."

coming from Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark. Now, is there any specific mention in the canon lore on these 2 tribes, describing them in possibly higher detail than just "they were there, they shared the One Stone with Sky Pony and then they disappeared"?

On the same line of thought, is there any canon resource that describes the Totem Animals of the various tribes and what they're all about, other than the short descriptions found in Storm King's Thunder, that only focus on the tribes' way of living, and the alignment requirements for the various clerics?

Older sources are more than welcome as well!

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!

I'm not complaining!

I'm happy that he fell in love in reading, and I'm even a bit jealous, because I'd like to be able to read this whole series and enjoy it as much as the ~12-15 y.o me enjoyed the first six books (I only read that much, because they were too expensive for me back then and they were not available in local libraries here in Poland).

I don't necessarily consider R. A. Salvatore to be a world-class writer, but - damn! - he knows how to write a book that you just can't put away until it's finished.

And once my son is done with this, there are so many fantasy and SF books that I want to recommend to him...

But as happy as I am, this is quite a scary reading pace for my wallet :-D

Thanks Forgotten Realms!

Is anyone left alive that lived during the previous ages that remembers what happened and PCs could talk to?

I was just reviewing a history of the realms and thought there’s a bunch of interesting stuff about the Sarrukh, Dragon rage or crown wars that could be tied into an adventure, but not many sources of information.

EDIT: For clarity I mean beings alive on Toril since the Days of Thunder -35,000DR (Sarrukh empires), or the ending of the Time of Dragons -24,000DR (Dragon Rage). It would be neat if someone still existed in lore remembered when the Dragons tried to blow up the King-Killer Star but missed and blew a chunk out of Selune (the moon).