Two Full-Sized Forgotten Realms Sourcebooks with Player Options and More
When we revisited the core rules for fifth edition D&D, we were spurred to also revisit the game’s most popular setting: the Forgotten Realms. The setting will be featured in two full-sized sourcebooks—The Forgotten Realms Player Guide (working title) and The Forgotten Realms Adventure Guide (working title).
The Forgotten Realms Player Guide contains everything players and Dungeon Masters need to play in this beloved D&D setting. It contains a setting overview for new and returning players, as well as the following player options:
Subclasses
Feats
Backgrounds
Spells and a new type of spell
Key information on factions such as the Harpers and Zhentarim and how to join them
The Forgotten Realms Adventure Guide will be a trove of information and resources for Dungeon Masters to create their own epic fantasy adventures. It will also contain five in-depth setting guides for iconic locations in the Forgotten Realms that support a variety of adventure genres:
Baldur’s Gate
Calimshan
The Dalelands
Moonshae Isles
Icewind Dale
Sounds like the player book will have subclasses, feats, backgrounds, spells, new spell types, and factions. I was hoping the first supplement for players would be setting agnostic to update all the other player options: artificer, subclasses, feats, invocations, etc. It wouldn't make sense to put all of that remaining content in a setting book when it was setting agnostic before. If not, then it sounds like we'll have to wait until 2026 to get the other revised options like Necromancer.
I wonder what new spell types mean. Psionics? They've been leaning in the direction of Psionics being a type of magic for a while.
It'll be interesting to see what they do in the adventure guide. I really like TOR's setting books...but so far the setting guides for D&D aren't as useful. Hopefully this will be better (for me, at least), but I guess we'll find out.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I love the approach being taken here splitting up the player-facing and DM-targeted products. I'm interested to see what we get for the DM's book in particular, this seems like a totally new approach for WotC in a campaign setting product. I'd love to see them do more of these for other areas of the FR but doubt that will happen. If nothing else hopefully it will be a successful format that people can use for similar releases on the DM's Guild.
In this case I don't think it's that much of a money grab. First, its mostly DMs that by books so th4e second book becomes quite useful for the DM that doesn't want his players knowing all the details he is about to use. Second, the first book is a lore book and player centric with info that a PC probably should know about their home world - or at least the region they are from. Seeing as how I run a (heavily modified) FR world I expect to get both books at some point next year - in both digital and hardcover versions. That way I have a paper copy to annotate and index for my DMing use.
I love the approach being taken here splitting up the player-facing and DM-targeted products.
I agree on splitting the books. But I wonder how long before people start calling it a money grab?
Depends how they do it. If they take one book, split it into two smaller ones and charge full price for them? Money grab.
If they publish two full volumes of a couple of hundred pages plus each that are well done? Ethical job of meeting needs and making a profit while doing so.
I appreciate that people on both sides will probably try to conflate those two concepts to their advantage, like they do with micro-transactions, but in reality, it's about the amount of content. If they're trying to sell what should be one book as two and charging full price twice, like they pretty much did with Spelljammer, then that's a money grab. If they're providing two full books for the full price (or smaller ones but appropriately priced), then that's capitalism actually working properly and a good move by WotC.
Hopefully, they'll have taken the right lessons.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
i'm interested in what direction the backgrounds will go in that book. Will it be a repeat of the same style ASI+feat+2skils+1tool or will they break the mold and do something whacky with them.
I love the approach being taken here splitting up the player-facing and DM-targeted products.
I agree on splitting the books. But I wonder how long before people start calling it a money grab?
I'd assume they already are.
It seems likely to me that the boxed set approach of spelljammer and Planescape was not considered a success, so they're trying this instead. Maybe it's just because of the sheer volume of FR material making a boxed set infeasible, but I expect to see other setting releases in the future use the same approach.
i'm interested in what direction the backgrounds will go in that book. Will it be a repeat of the same style ASI+feat+2skils+1tool or will they break the mold and do something whacky with them.
That's the new standard of backgrounds, and they're unlikely to start messing with it so soon after release.
I love the approach being taken here splitting up the player-facing and DM-targeted products.
I agree on splitting the books. But I wonder how long before people start calling it a money grab?
Depends how they do it. If they take one book, split it into two smaller ones and charge full price for them? Money grab.
If they publish two full volumes of a couple of hundred pages plus each that are well done? Ethical job of meeting needs and making a profit while doing so.
I appreciate that people on both sides will probably try to conflate those two concepts to their advantage, like they do with micro-transactions, but in reality, it's about the amount of content. If they're trying to sell what should be one book as two and charging full price twice, like they pretty much did with Spelljammer, then that's a money grab. If they're providing two full books for the full price (or smaller ones but appropriately priced), then that's capitalism actually working properly and a good move by WotC.
Hopefully, they'll have taken the right lessons.
I am super excited to see how these books turn out, there is a lot of potential for a really awesome product here.
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CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
It would be great to see an interactive map of FR comeout with the purchase. Something to the level that https://www.aidedd.org/en/ has put in would be amazing. Im excited for the books as well, but if the focus is also utilizing digital to the max, then why not provide an interactive map, linked to the shortcuts and informaiton available within the books.
The interactive map would be nice but is more likely to be a separate purchase than included in either book. To go back to Vladimir’s initial post it actually does make sense to put all that stuff in an FR player’s book - for 2 very different reasons. 1) the FR setting pretty much has everything so anything fits in . Yes artificers are originally from Ebberon but in some ways the whole class is based on the FR gnomes of Lantan so a new subclass centered on them would make sense. Everything else is pretty much already there so why not a few new subclasses. If the new spell type actually is psionics then that would fit well with the lore of FR as well. 2) as I understand it FR represents about 25% of the total fan base (25% FR, 25% other published settings, 50% homebrew roughly) so a book aimed at just 25% of the audience doesn’t make a whole lot of sense- unless it contains a lot of stuff useful for other settings to expand the purchaser base to cover all or most of the audience.
The interactive map would be nice but is more likely to be a separate purchase than included in either book. To go back to Vladimir’s initial post it actually does make sense to put all that stuff in an FR player’s book - for 2 very different reasons. 1) the FR setting pretty much has everything so anything fits in . Yes artificers are originally from Ebberon but in some ways the whole class is based on the FR gnomes of Lantan so a new subclass centered on them would make sense. Everything else is pretty much already there so why not a few new subclasses. If the new spell type actually is psionics then that would fit well with the lore of FR as well. 2) as I understand it FR represents about 25% of the total fan base (25% FR, 25% other published settings, 50% homebrew roughly) so a book aimed at just 25% of the audience doesn’t make a whole lot of sense- unless it contains a lot of stuff useful for other settings to expand the purchaser base to cover all or most of the audience.
As a purely homebrew DM, I would only be buying it (and buy it I will) for the character options so that I can share it with my groups.
I'm tired of FR. And Eberron, for that matter. I really thought we were onto something new with Radiant Citadel, but I guess WotC are just kinda addicted to old IP.
I love the approach being taken here splitting up the player-facing and DM-targeted products.
I agree on splitting the books. But I wonder how long before people start calling it a money grab?
I'd assume they already are.
It seems likely to me that the boxed set approach of spelljammer and Planescape was not considered a success, so they're trying this instead. Maybe it's just because of the sheer volume of FR material making a boxed set infeasible, but I expect to see other setting releases in the future use the same approach.
I like the box sets, I just am not a fan of either Spelljammer or Planescape. I bought the alt-cover of Spelljammer only because I won an ebay auction that was stupid cheap ~$25 shipped, it is still sealed. I would gladly buy a similar type set with some maps instead of a dm screen for the Forgotten Realms. I am excited to see how these two books are done, I have high hopes!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
The interactive map would be nice but is more likely to be a separate purchase than included in either book. To go back to Vladimir’s initial post it actually does make sense to put all that stuff in an FR player’s book - for 2 very different reasons. 1) the FR setting pretty much has everything so anything fits in . Yes artificers are originally from Ebberon but in some ways the whole class is based on the FR gnomes of Lantan so a new subclass centered on them would make sense. Everything else is pretty much already there so why not a few new subclasses. If the new spell type actually is psionics then that would fit well with the lore of FR as well. 2) as I understand it FR represents about 25% of the total fan base (25% FR, 25% other published settings, 50% homebrew roughly) so a book aimed at just 25% of the audience doesn’t make a whole lot of sense- unless it contains a lot of stuff useful for other settings to expand the purchaser base to cover all or most of the audience.
As a purely homebrew DM, I would only be buying it (and buy it I will) for the character options so that I can share it with my groups.
As another homebrew DM, that’s the big appeal of the split for me. I can pick up the player book with its subclasses and other character options, and ignore the DM book, which I’m guessing will include mostly FR fluff I wouldn’t use anyway.
I'm tired of FR. And Eberron, for that matter. I really thought we were onto something new with Radiant Citadel, but I guess WotC are just kinda addicted to old IP.
I agree wholeheartedly. Forgotten Realms specifically is a bloated, boring, and internally inconsistent setting. After so many decades of books and adventures and novels and the DnD movie, it's time for a new, fresh, and well put together setting. I'm a homebrew DM, but that's mostly because the setting stuff that WotC releases includes titles such as SCaG. If they released new and interesting settings, I might actually use them.
Like others, I want to know what a "full sized book" is before I get excited.
If this is just exactly like Spelljammer or Planescape where they took a 256-page book and split it into to 128-page books then I'm not really excited. It's what we had before without the slipcase. If this is a 128-page book and a 256-page book (or larger) then I'll be happy.
Plus, I really want the DM book to explore ALL of the Realms with a page or two on each major region and a deep dive into the five specific areas. I'll be very dissapointed if it's mostly those areas and nothing on Sembia and Cormyr and the Moonsea and Neverwinter etc
Myself I hope we get adventures away from the Sword Coast the Realms are big let's wander around a bit. Even close to the Sword Coast has Myth Dranner the Moonsea, Kara-Tur and other lands
Two Full-Sized Forgotten Realms Sourcebooks with Player Options and More
When we revisited the core rules for fifth edition D&D, we were spurred to also revisit the game’s most popular setting: the Forgotten Realms. The setting will be featured in two full-sized sourcebooks—The Forgotten Realms Player Guide (working title) and The Forgotten Realms Adventure Guide (working title).
The Forgotten Realms Player Guide contains everything players and Dungeon Masters need to play in this beloved D&D setting. It contains a setting overview for new and returning players, as well as the following player options:
Subclasses
Feats
Backgrounds
Spells and a new type of spell
Key information on factions such as the Harpers and Zhentarim and how to join them
The Forgotten Realms Adventure Guide will be a trove of information and resources for Dungeon Masters to create their own epic fantasy adventures. It will also contain five in-depth setting guides for iconic locations in the Forgotten Realms that support a variety of adventure genres:
Baldur’s Gate
Calimshan
The Dalelands
Moonshae Isles
Icewind Dale
Sounds like the player book will have subclasses, feats, backgrounds, spells, new spell types, and factions. I was hoping the first supplement for players would be setting agnostic to update all the other player options: artificer, subclasses, feats, invocations, etc. It wouldn't make sense to put all of that remaining content in a setting book when it was setting agnostic before. If not, then it sounds like we'll have to wait until 2026 to get the other revised options like Necromancer.
I wonder what new spell types mean. Psionics? They've been leaning in the direction of Psionics being a type of magic for a while.
It occurred to me given they want to tie into BG3, the new kinds of Spells could Tadpole powers.
I love the approach being taken here splitting up the player-facing and DM-targeted products.
I agree on splitting the books. But I wonder how long before people start calling it a money grab?
Depends how they do it. If they take one book, split it into two smaller ones and charge full price for them? Money grab.
If they publish two full volumes of a couple of hundred pages plus each that are well done? Ethical job of meeting needs and making a profit while doing so.
I appreciate that people on both sides will probably try to conflate those two concepts to their advantage, like they do with micro-transactions, but in reality, it's about the amount of content. If they're trying to sell what should be one book as two and charging full price twice, like they pretty much did with Spelljammer, then that's a money grab. If they're providing two full books for the full price (or smaller ones but appropriately priced), then that's capitalism actually working properly and a good move by WotC.
Hopefully, they'll have taken the right lessons.
The article says they are full sized books, so I'm thinking anywhere from 256 to 320 pages, maybe even 385 pages like the PHB.
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It looks like the first campaign guides after the new core books are going to be the Forgotten Realms, in late 2025.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1807-d-d-direct-recap-a-look-at-two-forgotten-realms#forgotten-realms-books
Sounds like the player book will have subclasses, feats, backgrounds, spells, new spell types, and factions. I was hoping the first supplement for players would be setting agnostic to update all the other player options: artificer, subclasses, feats, invocations, etc. It wouldn't make sense to put all of that remaining content in a setting book when it was setting agnostic before. If not, then it sounds like we'll have to wait until 2026 to get the other revised options like Necromancer.
I wonder what new spell types mean. Psionics? They've been leaning in the direction of Psionics being a type of magic for a while.
It'll be interesting to see what they do in the adventure guide. I really like TOR's setting books...but so far the setting guides for D&D aren't as useful. Hopefully this will be better (for me, at least), but I guess we'll find out.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I love the approach being taken here splitting up the player-facing and DM-targeted products. I'm interested to see what we get for the DM's book in particular, this seems like a totally new approach for WotC in a campaign setting product. I'd love to see them do more of these for other areas of the FR but doubt that will happen. If nothing else hopefully it will be a successful format that people can use for similar releases on the DM's Guild.
I agree on splitting the books. But I wonder how long before people start calling it a money grab?
In this case I don't think it's that much of a money grab. First, its mostly DMs that by books so th4e second book becomes quite useful for the DM that doesn't want his players knowing all the details he is about to use. Second, the first book is a lore book and player centric with info that a PC probably should know about their home world - or at least the region they are from. Seeing as how I run a (heavily modified) FR world I expect to get both books at some point next year - in both digital and hardcover versions. That way I have a paper copy to annotate and index for my DMing use.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
Depends how they do it. If they take one book, split it into two smaller ones and charge full price for them? Money grab.
If they publish two full volumes of a couple of hundred pages plus each that are well done? Ethical job of meeting needs and making a profit while doing so.
I appreciate that people on both sides will probably try to conflate those two concepts to their advantage, like they do with micro-transactions, but in reality, it's about the amount of content. If they're trying to sell what should be one book as two and charging full price twice, like they pretty much did with Spelljammer, then that's a money grab. If they're providing two full books for the full price (or smaller ones but appropriately priced), then that's capitalism actually working properly and a good move by WotC.
Hopefully, they'll have taken the right lessons.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
i'm interested in what direction the backgrounds will go in that book. Will it be a repeat of the same style ASI+feat+2skils+1tool or will they break the mold and do something whacky with them.
I'd assume they already are.
It seems likely to me that the boxed set approach of spelljammer and Planescape was not considered a success, so they're trying this instead. Maybe it's just because of the sheer volume of FR material making a boxed set infeasible, but I expect to see other setting releases in the future use the same approach.
That's the new standard of backgrounds, and they're unlikely to start messing with it so soon after release.
I am super excited to see how these books turn out, there is a lot of potential for a really awesome product here.
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
It would be great to see an interactive map of FR comeout with the purchase. Something to the level that https://www.aidedd.org/en/ has put in would be amazing.
Im excited for the books as well, but if the focus is also utilizing digital to the max, then why not provide an interactive map, linked to the shortcuts and informaiton available within the books.
The interactive map would be nice but is more likely to be a separate purchase than included in either book. To go back to Vladimir’s initial post it actually does make sense to put all that stuff in an FR player’s book - for 2 very different reasons.
1) the FR setting pretty much has everything so anything fits in . Yes artificers are originally from Ebberon but in some ways the whole class is based on the FR gnomes of Lantan so a new subclass centered on them would make sense. Everything else is pretty much already there so why not a few new subclasses. If the new spell type actually is psionics then that would fit well with the lore of FR as well.
2) as I understand it FR represents about 25% of the total fan base (25% FR, 25% other published settings, 50% homebrew roughly) so a book aimed at just 25% of the audience doesn’t make a whole lot of sense- unless it contains a lot of stuff useful for other settings to expand the purchaser base to cover all or most of the audience.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
As a purely homebrew DM, I would only be buying it (and buy it I will) for the character options so that I can share it with my groups.
*Sigh*
I'm tired of FR. And Eberron, for that matter. I really thought we were onto something new with Radiant Citadel, but I guess WotC are just kinda addicted to old IP.
I like the box sets, I just am not a fan of either Spelljammer or Planescape. I bought the alt-cover of Spelljammer only because I won an ebay auction that was stupid cheap ~$25 shipped, it is still sealed. I would gladly buy a similar type set with some maps instead of a dm screen for the Forgotten Realms. I am excited to see how these two books are done, I have high hopes!
CENSORSHIP IS THE TOOL OF COWARDS and WANNA BE TYRANTS.
As another homebrew DM, that’s the big appeal of the split for me. I can pick up the player book with its subclasses and other character options, and ignore the DM book, which I’m guessing will include mostly FR fluff I wouldn’t use anyway.
I agree wholeheartedly. Forgotten Realms specifically is a bloated, boring, and internally inconsistent setting. After so many decades of books and adventures and novels and the DnD movie, it's time for a new, fresh, and well put together setting. I'm a homebrew DM, but that's mostly because the setting stuff that WotC releases includes titles such as SCaG. If they released new and interesting settings, I might actually use them.
N/A
Like others, I want to know what a "full sized book" is before I get excited.
If this is just exactly like Spelljammer or Planescape where they took a 256-page book and split it into to 128-page books then I'm not really excited. It's what we had before without the slipcase.
If this is a 128-page book and a 256-page book (or larger) then I'll be happy.
Plus, I really want the DM book to explore ALL of the Realms with a page or two on each major region and a deep dive into the five specific areas. I'll be very dissapointed if it's mostly those areas and nothing on Sembia and Cormyr and the Moonsea and Neverwinter etc
Myself I hope we get adventures away from the Sword Coast the Realms are big let's wander around a bit. Even close to the Sword Coast has Myth Dranner the Moonsea, Kara-Tur and other lands
It occurred to me given they want to tie into BG3, the new kinds of Spells could Tadpole powers.
The article says they are full sized books, so I'm thinking anywhere from 256 to 320 pages, maybe even 385 pages like the PHB.