Games - Forgotten Realms

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	Games - Forgotten Realms

The Forgotten Realms is a fictional setting for the Dungeons & Dragons
(D&D) fantasy role-playing game, created by Canadian author and game designer Ed Greenwood. Commonly referred to as simply The Realms, it became the most popular setting with D&D gamers in the 1990s, boosted by the success of novels by authors such as R. A. Salvatore and numerous computer role-playing games such as Pool of Radiance and Baldur's Gate
. The primary focus of the setting is the supercontinent of Faerûn, part of the world of Abeir-Toril, an Earth-like planet with many real world influences.

It is a highly developed and comprehensive fantasy world, comprising of many characters, places and events, detailed in a long line of game products, novels and accesories published since the late 1980s. It is currently one of the two campaign settings that Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast is still officially creating new material for.

History

Initial release

The Forgotten Realms were originally designed by Greenwood as his own personal adventure campaign, from which he began publishing a series of short articles detailing the setting in Dragon magazine. Although The Realms were yet to be an official campaign world, the first module based on the setting, H1 Bloodstone Pass
, was released in 1985 by TSR. The first fully official Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (often referred to as 'the old grey box') was later released in 1987 as a boxed set of two source books and four large maps, designed by Greenwood in collaboration with author Jeff Grubb.

Late 80s-Mid 90s

After the initial popularity of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set, the first novel based on the setting, Darkwalker on Moonshae, the first of The Moonshae Trilogy, by author Douglas Niles was published in May 1987. The following year saw the release of the first novel to feature the highly successful character Drizzt Do'Urden, who has since appeared in more than seventeen subsequent novels, many of which have featured on the New York Times Best Seller list. In 1988 the first in a line of Forgotten Realms computer role-playing games, Pool of Radiance was released by Strategic Simulations, Inc. The game was quite popular, winning the Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Computer Game of 1988, and in 1992, the game was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System.

The setting received a revision in 1993 to update it to the newer second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules system, with the release of Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, containing three books and various 'monster supplements'. Additional material for the setting, as well as further novels by various authors, was released steadily throughout the 1990s.

Late 90s-Present

1998 saw the release of Baldur's Gate, the first in a line of popular computer role-playing games developed by Bioware for the PC. The game was followed up with a sequel, Baldur's Gate II:Shadows of Amn
in 2000, as well as Icewind Dale a separate game that utilised the same game engine. Several popular Forgotten Realms characters such as Drizzt Do'Urden and Elminster made minor appearances in these games.

With the release of the revised Dungeons & Dragons rules system in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast, the Forgotten Realms campaign setting received its own revision, released in 2001, updating the official material and advancing the timeline of the game world. In 2002, the latest revision of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting won the Origins Award for Best Role-Playing Game Supplement of 2001.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Forgotten Realms ]

Games - Forgotten Realms

History

Initial release

Late 80s-Mid 90s

Late 90s-Present

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