Hey @TheEdVerse , if you had to pick your top 5 publications that had an abundance of knowledge/lore useful to newer DMs(trying to catch up) running games in the Forgotten Realms, what would those be? There's so much content sometimes its hard to know where to start.
— Michael Butler (@thembutler) June 6, 2020
1)
I get asked this a lot, and the answer depends on where (geographically) you are setting your games, and their nature (urban, wilderness, underground). The Sword Coast Adventurers Guide is your 5e baseline, but for more depth and wider geographical coverage, I’d.. 2)
…add the 3e core book, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting hardcover; it's the largest and most comprehensive overview Realms fact-guide published. To it, I'd add EdGreenwoodPresentsElminster'sForgottenRealms for details of life in the Realms, and then the…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 6, 2020
3)
…2e Forgotten Realms Adventures hardback for a broad city overview.
Then decide where you want to adventure: the various 5e super-adventures provide the best up-to-date coverage of places (for example, Storm King’s Thunder covers the 5e Sword Coast North), and.. 4)
…if I did a 2e Volo's Guide to an area you want to use, grab it! Then decide the nature of interests: 2e Cloak & Dagger if you want shadowy organizations and intrigue, 3e Lost Empires of Faerun if you want old ruins to explore, and so on.
Then go to the FR wiki to look up…— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 6, 2020
5)
…specific things. All entries have their published sources at the bottom (the footnote citations lead there) and that will show you which specific books, adventures, and magazine articles covered the elements you want. Anything not covered? Ask me!#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 6, 2020