Does anyone (maybe @TheEdVerse?) know off-hand where faerzress (magical radiation in FR's Underdark) was first mentioned/who is credited with the idea? I know it was mentioned in Condemnation (War of the Spider Queen, book III), Daughter of the Drow, and Underdark, all 2003. #dnd
— Dungeon Master's Workshop (@DMsWorkshop) September 16, 2020
The term appears in Menzoberranzan (1992).
— James Wyatt (@aquelajames) September 16, 2020
Faerzress was mentioned in the Menzoberranzan box set of 1992, and was so offhand it might well be the earliest mention, while the 1991 Drow of the Underdark didn’t say it at all. Faerzress was detailed further in Drizzt Do’Urden’s Guide to the Underdark in 1999. Interesting that it was mentioned as far back as 1992. I think I have the Menzoberranzan box set in storage somewhere. I might take a look at how developed it was back then. I'm trying to figure out when it became the underpinning of Underdark ecology.
— Dungeon Master's Workshop (@DMsWorkshop) September 16, 2020
The name comes from someone on staff at TSR. The idea that the Underdark has a radiation that accounts for the innate magic of the drow & other races, that fungi feed off, etc. arose at a panel at GenCon 17 (Wisconsin-Parkside); I and several other audience members suggested.
— Ed Greenwood (@TheEdVerse) September 16, 2020
The term appears in Menzoberranzan (1992).
— James Wyatt (@aquelajames) September 16, 2020