Why the Forgotten Realms Matters for Dungeons & Dragons

A video essay for D&D. I've grown to love the Forgotten Realms and so I wanted to discuss why I believe it matters to Dungeons and Dragons.

A fantastic Fantasy Map Generator I used for this video:

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[AJPickett]

*nods vigorously in agreement through the entire video, gets a little emotional in parts* This is exactly why I make videos as well man, to learn more about the game and share it with everyone else. There is also a lot of people who watch the lore videos who have not played a game of D&D, much like I read books set in the Warhammer 40K universe and watch vids on that lore, but don't play the tabletop wargames. The Forgotten realms is more than just the role playing game, it is a fantasy mythology, a fantasy history, a real story weaving treasure, and the moment you start running your game there, it becomes your forgotten realms.

[Banerixat]

Just wanted to drop a note of support. In particular your point of 'a shared experience'. The Realms gives us a baseline to work from that is supported by WotC and is rich with history and lore. It's not for everyone, but it's easily adaptable, and easy to break apart into segments or take as a whole. Keep up the good work.

[AriesFireDragon]

To me the Forgotten Realms is a huge all you can use buffet that allows me to make the Faerun I want.

[benjoe]

To be totally honest I stumbled upon your channel because I wanted to "stay true" to the FR setting in my first game as a DM. But this video was the most important of all of them. I don't know what you intended for us to take away from it but what I took was "FR is good. It's a source material with a lot of pre-written history, but the most important thing is that you can, and should make it your own".
Thank you :)

[alexandriamason]

There is defiantly a generational part to this. When I started playing D&D in middle school way back in the 90s everyone I gamed with and everyone I knew from the local store was playing games in Krynn. The Dragonlance saga is what brought so many into the game. Also as far as I can tell, the 90s also had the greatest number of TSR (yeah it was TSR back then) backed campaign worlds. We played multiple campaigns in Krynn, but also Ravenloft, Planescape, and Greyhawk. We also played games set in the realms, but it just seemed like there were more options backed by D&D back then.

[edmaldonado]

I love the FR setting mostly because of how eclectic it is. I see it as a massive garden to be explored. My friends and I have even added entirely new countries into the Realms just for the hell of it.

Speaking of how eclectic it is, I love the fact that so many areas of the realms can give you a different fantasy experience. Want a standard Tolkien-esque fantasy game? Use the Sword Coast. Want to do a game based more on Arthurian chivalry? Do an adventure in Cormyr. Want to do a game that has elements of Greek/Roman mythology? Do an adventure in Chessenta. Egyptian mythology? Mulhorand. And so on. Plus there's the other continents with their own flavors: Zakhara for Arabian Night's type fantasy. Kara-Tur for the Far East. And Maztica for Mesoamerica.

Point is, the Realms makes it really easy for me as a DM to homebrew any kind of fantasy game I want while still feeling like it's taking place in the same world.

[Dark-Lord-Of-The-Sith]

I started D&D with the old colored box sets. Then I went to The Hollow Earth setting of Mystara. When the Forgotten Realms was released, I was on board. I had read some the novels. I also jumped on to Ravenloth, I read a lot of those novels as well. I knew about Dragonlance and Krynn, Dark Suns, and Spelljammer.It was the novels that kept pulling me back to the Realms.

[lafortya]

Much respect for FR, but I don't like to DM in it. This is a personal choice of mine. There is so much lore, fluff, and crunch that I just can't keep track of it, and there is always at least one player at my table who knows way more of the FR than I do. This becomes uncomfortable and game breaking all to often.
I enjoy playing as a PC in the Realms, and in the Pathfinder world, but when I GM I run my homebrew world, because I know all there is to know about it, and well, you know... It's MINE. Haha.

[draygonsol]

As someone who's new to DND, the Forgotten Realms is awesome as for a new player I find it cool that there is so much detail to things I hadn't even realized as a new player. The little nuisances here or there with lore oozing from every single nook and cranny. I can definitely see how veteran players feel do not get me wrong in the slightest having played it for as long as they have, but for a new player this world just feels vast and there are places I can not wait to go and adventure in.

[feylights]

I agree with the one you interviewed that the gods are among the best aspects of the Realms. I'm in the minority here, but I actually love their involvement (though it can be overdone). But the reduction of the pantheon was the biggest beef I had with 4e. I love their history, the established afterlife, and, of course, their followers. Worldbuilding is part of what makes the Realms what it is.

[chensel]

Your videos have and continue to be my guide in the forgotten realms. I knew nothing before coming here and after months of your videos you have taught me the importance of this universe.

[BlackMagicCraftOfficial]

This was an absolutely wonderful video.

[carlk]

Another great video! The forgotten realms has helped me a lot to understand the game. Mainly, your deity series has helped me understand the impact of deities on the world and what it means for the players. Right now, I'm playing an acolyte of Lathandar in Curse of Strahd but by knowing the connection, I can relate what it means and the significance of it rather than have it as a meaningless title. Thanks for all your hard work!

[yamakiBR]

A great point of FR is that there's almost everything you can to run the game... I remember the 1st time I played AD&D... was like 11 and wanted to play a samurai, the GM simply said "ok, you are from Kara Tur on a diplomatic mission on Cormyr... for the rules let's use the samurai kit" and we fleshed out the details from there. Nowadays I love Eberron and dragonlance but I wonder if my passion for the game could have died out if he said "sorry you can't... it doesn't work with the campaign I'm running"... (btw great video, I love your channel ^^)

[Trashbandicoot]

Been binge watching this channel for a week for history lessons and campaign ideas. Great stuff, man. This has really opened up my games to more and more settings, characters, quests, etc. and I'm very grateful. Currently writing a campaign where our PC's do an item retrieval quest in the Shadowfell but are betrayed by the quest giver who turns out to be a Lich, so the party will basically be portal hopping around the great wheel cosmology until they find and battle the Lich in a controlled area of Limbo. Just before the Lich is defeated, he uses a portal key to trap the PC's in Sigil, where they must then do a quest for The Lady of Pain to get a portal key to return home. I'm really excited to play through this because the only other plane I've played in other than the material, is Mechanus, so seeing all the other realms will be quite interesting! Thank you again for the inspiration and history lessons! Keep up the good work, I can't wait to watch more!

[richardfortier]

One of your finest videos yet. You really put the finger on what is great and what is frustrating about the Realms.

[DarChaos]

I totaly agree with you :)
Please continue to make videos about this awesome world!
I played Pathfinder for about 3 years in a setting called Anglere and now I'm the GM for this group.
We play the Princess of the Apocalypse Campain with DND5 in the realms and your videos made my world feel so more alive.
I'm able to talk fluently about the realms because of your described experiences.
All my players love the world and feel connected.
I even told them to watch some of your videos because of the background!
And when we finished this campain another player will be the GM and we will play in the realms, too!
So I hope you will continue for a long time :)
Thanks for sharing!

[ishmiel]

It is getting so old that the defenders in proponents of fifth edition and the forgotten realms always claim that it’s major advantage and virtue is that it is modular. That you can take parts of it and change it and make it your own. That is true of every single role playing game in campaign setting ever created. You can change any campaign setting you want. That doesn’t make the forgotten realms special. That is just the truth of every single campaign setting ever invented.

[SirLucien]

"-the best way to learn is to teach." @jorphdan

[Doctor_Paxmor]

Oh hey, I'm that patron! Excellent essay Jordan, thanks for yet another great video!