The ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide'' is a supplement to the 4th edition of the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

The ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide'' includes everything a Dungeon Master needs to run a 4th edition ''D&D'' campaign in the

Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a ...

setting, as well as elements that DMs can incorporate into their own ''D&D'' campaigns. The book provides background information on the lands of

Faerûn Faerûn is a fictional continent and the primary setting of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' world of ''Forgotten Realms''. It is described in detail in several editions of the ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting'' (first published in 1987 by TSR, Inc.) ...

, a fully detailed town in which to start a campaign, adventure seeds, new monsters, ready-to-play

non-player character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster o ...

s, and a full-color poster map of Faerûn.

Publication history

The ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide'' was written by

Philip Athans Philip Athans (born 1964 in Rochester, New York) is an American editor and author. Biography Philip Athans was born in 1964 in Rochester, New York, but was raised in Chicago. Athans grew up reading Marvel comics and ''Starlog'' magazines, and wat ...

Bruce R. Cordell Bruce Robert Cordell (born 1968) is an American author of roleplaying games and fantasy novels. He has worked on ''Dungeons & Dragons'' games for Wizards of the Coast. He won the Origins Award for ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors'' and has also wo ...

Ed Greenwood Ed Greenwood (born July 21, 1959) is a Canadian fantasy writer and the original creator of the ''Forgotten Realms'' game world. He began writing articles about the Forgotten Realms for ''Dragon'' magazine beginning in 1979, and subsequently sold ...

, and Chris Sims, and published in 2008. The book features art by Drew Baker,

Leon Cortez Leon Cortez (27 May 1898 – 31 December 1970) was a British musician and actor who appeared regularly on stage and in films and television in a career that spanned five decades. Biography Leon Cortez was born in London as Richard Alfred Chalklin ...

Eric Deschamps Eric Deschamps is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Career His ''Dungeons & Dragons'' work includes interior art for '' Sharn: City of Towers'' (2004), '' Explorer's Handbook'' (2005), '' Dragon Magic'' (2006), '' Complete ...

, Steve Ellis,

Randy Gallegos Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of the ...

Adam Gillespie Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

Michael Komarck Michael Komarck is a fantasy artist. His work has been featured in many roleplaying games, board games, book covers, and collectible cards. Komarck produced the official art and calendars for George R.R. Martin's ''A Song of Ice and Fire''. Early ...

, Robert Lazzaretti,

Ron Lemen Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

Lee Moyer Lee Moyer is an People of the United States, American Painting, painter, illustrator, graphic designer, and web designer. Notable works include posters for musicians Tori Amos and Melissa Auf der Maur, as well as Laurel and Hardy paintings for t ...

, William O'Connor,

Mike Schley Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

Keven Smith Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

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Mark Tedin Mark Tedin is an artist whose work has appeared in collectible card games and role-playing games. Early life and education Mark Tedin was born in Sitka, Alaska. After high school, he attended college at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, ...

Francis Tsai Francis Tsai (April 14, 1967 – April 23, 2015) was an American comic book artist, illustrator, author and conceptual artist. He was of Taiwanese and Japanese ancestry. Early life Tsai was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, and raised in Lubbock, Te ...

, Matt Wilson,

Sam Wood Samuel Grosvenor Wood (July 10, 1883 – September 22, 1949) was an American film director and producer who is best known for having directed such Hollywood hits as ''A Night at the Opera (film), A Night at the Opera'', ''A Day at the Races (fi ...

Ben Wootten Benjamin (Ben) Charles Wootten is a graphic artist and designer based in Wellington, New Zealand. Early life and education Wootten was born in Essex, England in 1969, and his family moved to New Zealand when he was three. He grew up in Whakatane ...

, Kieran Yanner, and

James Zhang James Zhang is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Career Zhang has done interior illustrations on a number of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' books for Wizards of the Coast, including '' Sharn: City of Towers'' (2004), the ''Eberron ...

. Shannon Appelcline commented that with Fourth Edition ''Dungeons & Dragons'', Wizards planned to publish just three books for each setting, and after that they would start on a new setting in the next year: "The ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide'' (2008), the ''

Forgotten Realms Player's Guide The ''Forgotten Realms Player's Guide'' is a supplement to the 4th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Contents The ''Forgotten Realms Player's Guide'' presents the changed Forgotten Realms setting from the point of view of ...

'' (2008) and ''FR1:

Scepter Tower of Spellgard ''Scepter Tower of Spellgard'' is an adventure module for the 4th edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Plot summary In ''Scepter Tower of Spellgard'', a mysterious presence has taken up residence in one of the towers ...

'' (2008) kicked off the cycle… and were some of Wizards' worst-received supplements ever. This was largely because Wizards had decided to destroy the old Forgotten Realms to make it fit into their ideas of a 'points of light' setting. Old gods and NPCs were gone, kingdoms had fallen, the timeline was dramatically advanced and the Realms lay in ruins. From the scathing reviews that the new setting books got, it seems likely that they did as much to alienate existing fans from fourth-edition play as the core rulebooks had."

Reception

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...

'' commented that "Some readers complained that the book was too vague, but that seems reasonable to me – how could you thoroughly describe such a vast campaign setting in one book? Ultimately, the product succeeds at both entertaining old Forgotten Realms players while informing new ones."

References

{{D&D topics Forgotten Realms sourcebooks Role-playing game supplements introduced in 2008