question about the Anauroch Desert, I am creating a background that incorporates the archaeologist into it and would like to use the desert as his breaking point. Is it back in 5e? The map in swordcoast shows it as desert again? Did it revert back? It did. Deserts occur when rainfall/groundwater is too scarce, so back it came. BTW, Anauroch is all sorts of desert: sand dunes in some places, rocky waste to the north, and frozen ice-slick rock (condensation coating, not abundant water) north of that.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 3, 2019
ForgottenRealms
How has Halaster “The Mad Mage” Blackcloak stayed alive for 1200 years?
Trying to find information on the timelines of Halaster Blackcloak and his apprentice Trobriand. It seems that the Seven constructed the Hold in 168DR. Halaster takes complete control of the Undermountain in 309DR. The events of the Dungeon in the Mad Mage takes place The events of the Dungeon in the Mad Mage takes place over 1000 years later. For the rest of the surviving Seven, they have canonical reasons to still be alive, but Trobriand is still just a human. How has he stayed alive for 1200+ years or was he not part of the original Seven?
— Nupperibo (@Justincred1ble_) June 18, 2019
The increasingly-rare Potions of Longevity were something many Imaskari archwizards could make, or knew the spells behind, and so could make use of themselves. The ranks of these mages included Halaster and his apprentice Trobriand.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 18, 2019
But potions of longevity cap out at a max possible 120-year age reduction… Nope. Only those latecomer potions that were crafted during a particular game edition. ;}
In-Realms lore (that's "happened" already) trumps later metagaming nerfing; the later rules changes don't undo what's befallen in the world, just govern what happens henceforth (unless…— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 11, 2019
…revealing new information that leads to a new understanding of past events (i.e. the earlier chroniclers got it wrong, in light of the limits of their knowledge). In this case, Potions of Longevity vary greatly depending on who crafted them and how (the "secret formula," if…
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 11, 2019
…you will). The 120-year-limit applies to the most widespread ("standard") version of the potion, now most widely found in treasure hoards and the like. (That is, the version of which most were made, and so are most "popular" in the Realms.)
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 11, 2019
There's also a trick involving combining a potion of longevity and Phezult's Sleep of the Ages, but it's so dangerous I'll leave PCs to discover it for themselves.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 11, 2019
Is this what happened to Durnan and Mirt? Mirt was trapped in stasis in a blueflame item (see my Sage of Shadowdale trilogy) for over a century. Durnan's longevity is partly NDA, but when he retired from adventuring to run the Portal, he was sitting on a STACK of Potions of Longevity.#Realsmlore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) July 12, 2019
Was the Mulan addition an original component in Forgotten Realms?
So, a legit set of questions then. Was the Mulan addition (kidnapped/enslaved from a mythic Earth's ancient Egypt and Sumeria) an original component, and were the Creator Races and Days of Thunder original components?
— PanzerLion 🇨🇦 (@POCGamer) June 29, 2019
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As depicted, none of them were original.
However, in my original Realms, elves and dwarves were losing the dominance fight with humans and orcs because the latter two races could outbreed and swamp them, there WERE creator races but the Realmsfolk of today were……very fuzzy on just who (as was I, though I knew one of them was large sentient reptilian), and I did have the "dragons, giants, and elves have all dominated the Realms before humans" element, and I did have migrations of races from other worlds, and figured…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 29, 2019
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…some migrants would be enslaved. I did NOT have anything close to ancient Egypt or any other Earth culture, but TSR had the existing Desert of Desolation modules to link into the Realms, so hello pyramids.
That was the pattern. This Ed idea/element can, with a …little twisting and surgery, be repurposed to do what we need to do/add/spotlight in the developing D&D game. Which is just fine: that's what a base setting has to do, and what they'd bought FR for.— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 29, 2019
I ask because in the strange and convoluted timeline of FR, they just seem odd. The former because it's just such a strange event and doesn't sync well, and the latter because it seems to have been added later.
— PanzerLion 🇨🇦 (@POCGamer) June 29, 2019
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They seem odd to me, too. However, think of the Days of Thunder as an in-house design decision: to keep this setting from being static, we DO have to introduce change (that will have long-term consequences as opposed to just immediate). The old dilemma Stan Lee……and I talked over a time or two: "Peter Parker Never Graduates" because we don't want to change the appeal of this character that's working, BUT.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 29, 2019
Does justice in the Forgotten Realms include the use of attorneys/barristers/advocates?
@SageAdviceDnD Does justice in the Forgotten Realms include the use of attorneys/barristers/advocates?
— Corey Brand (@iac249)
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Yes and no. As in: there are no formal “lawyers,” but anyone may have an advocate speak for them (though they MUST be present at the trial unless the magister (judge) grants otherwise (usually only when very ill/wounded). Waterdeep and most large cities now have… ..hired-by-an-accused "lawspeakers" who argue an accused's case before the court (rarer to have lawspeakers for plaintiffs, but this use is growing). Any citizen can speak at a case (intervenor), but no guilds or groups. Lawspeakers charge anything from 1 sp/day to 6 gp/day.— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 11, 2019
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Some lawspeakers have become pretty good at the finer points of case law, but most are at heart very good orators/actors.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 11, 2019
The post-Spellplague world includes no Chosen who are not exarchs
FRCG [pg. 72]: “The post-Spellplague world includes no Chosen who are not exarchs.” and Exarchs Table [pg. 81] lists 37 exarchs but only 3 known Chosen(Clangeddin ,Fzoul and Obould). Then what state of other Chosen(El, Amlaruil , Malik,etc.) around 1479DR? 1/2 All of them ascend to the rank of exarch/demigod but didn't list in the Exarchs Table? Or somehow lost their Chosen status at that time? 2/2
— coolguy (@coolguy73360922) June 8, 2019
1) The Exarchs table displays only known exarchs; there could be many more (up to your DM). When it comes to matters divine, mortals can rarely know the whole truth, as even the gods (and certainly their clergy) deceive, and sages are fallible in interpretation.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 8, 2019
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…loyalty to her, etc. who happened to hold a part of her divine essence (the silver fire). Other deities named "Chosen" who were avatars, or champions imbued with some divine power or abilities, or simply envoys with little or no "special" abilities. See some…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 8, 2019
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…scenes in THE ADVERSARY by Erin Evans for internment camps FULL of "Chosen." So, yes, you can assume there are exarchs/demigods around that aren't in the table, because they're working in secret, or are literally in hiding or stasis or otherwise inactive/won't..#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 8, 2019
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…be encountered by mortals, have been sent off the Prime Material (Toril) on missions, etc.
"The worlds are vaster, and stranger, than we can ever know" (Rhauntides, the Sage of Deepingdale)#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 8, 2019
Where are the most likely places to find combustion engines in Faerun?
In the innermost rooms of major temples of Gond (off limits to all but high-ranking clergy), as massive engines (like real-world historical "rolling beam" steam engines). These are best described as "explosive experiments" rather than "useful workhouse engines."#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 17, 2019
How does someone become a Lord of Waterdeep?
How does someone become a Lord of Waterdeep? I have a player interested in becoming one and I'm curious what that usually entails. #dnd #forgottenrealms #waterdeep @Wizards_DnD @ChrisPerkinsDnD @JeremyECrawford @katewelchhhh @SageAdviceDnD
— Entity. (@ACollectiveDM) June 8, 2019
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I think, and may be wrong, that it is as simple as attracting the attention of the lords, open and the masked. I see it as an invitation only club. Most of the masked lords know who each other are, the open lord knows them all. I think getting invited in is the way. Nicely put. Short answer: any of the Lords (Open or Masked) can nominate a candidate from individuals they have noticed (who are Waterdeep residents), the Lords vote in secret to admit a candidate, and the Open Lord extends a formal invitation AFTER a…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 8, 2019
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…successful vote (which the candidate can refuse). As Masked Lords vary in alignment and interests (beyond the common one of wanting to better their city) they welcome a wide variety of potential new Masked Lords, leading to diversity of membership (and more…#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 8, 2019
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…daily conflict within the Lords). Some Open Lords have had a veto over candidates (currently: Laeral doesn't), but all of them can sideline a particular Masked Lord by use of covert agents (who? see DEATH MASKS) or by arresting a Lord for real breaches of law.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 8, 2019
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What WON'T work is being seen to try to become a Lord of Waterdeep. The Watch, the Palace staff, the Open Lord, and the Masked Lords all dislike and shun people who ambitiously strive to become a Lord. It's an onerous duty; they mistrust anyone wanting the title.#Realmslore— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 8, 2019
Can you tell me about percent races population of the Forgotten Realms?
Hello, Ed! Can you tell me about percent races population of Toril? I know that humans are top-1, but what about drow, dragonborn, gnome, tabaxi? What part of 100% they took for them? Sorry for my English X_x No one can be certain (no censuses), but goblins are probably the most numerous, followed by orcs, then humans, then halflings. Humans and elves are more dominant than their population numbers reflect.#Realmslore
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) June 27, 2019