This is a very nice edition neutral book, published in 2012, chock full of Ed Greenwood writing and reproductions of his original, typewritten notes sent to TSR in the 1980s. Publication-wise, the book fit into the gap between the end of D&D 4e and the onset of D&D 5e, but content-wise, it harkens back to a much earlier era in the Realms (c. 1350 DR or so; before even the 1987 release of the original gray box set). It truly is a good day-to-day look at the Realms as Ed envisioned them, before the others arrived to make it truly a shared universe.
As Shannon Applecline (Dungeon Master's Guild historian) reports, this book can consider the original Volo's Guides to be its predecessor; those works of "small-picture Realmslore" that show a glimpse of how people lived their lives; richly detailed fluff. It's what I like about the setting.
I am astonished at the level of output Greenwood had, right from the get-go. Deep and interesting tidbits, asides, and details. I am not done reading this book yet, but in the introduction he describes how he runs his home game. He says he builds upon three characteristics:
1. Player character have complete freedom to do their own thing. He presents the world, and the players around the table freely decide where to poke their character's noses.
2. He keeps a flow of current events and rumors burbling past his player's ears to make the world seem alive around them, and to present a continually renewed, rich selection of adventuring and roleplaying opportunities.
3. Subplots and intrigues abound. This means mysteries large and small, little secrets and big ones, clever and sinister behind-the-scenes villains, and power groups galore.
I don't suspect I have the ability (or perhaps desire) to pull off #1. I don't know that I could keep up or keep it balanced, interesting, and fun. It might be a wonderful thing to try, someday, however. To really let loose and see where the story might take us all.
As for #2, I quite like the Realmslore tidbit of the broadsheet. A product of the early printing press, the broadsheet is a one page gossip column or similar; not quite elaborate enough to be called a newspaper. It might be fun to create a few issues of the local rag, tossing in some red herrings, cryptic clues, and potential plot hooks.
As for #3, one can readily ascertain from his novel writing style, this is most definitely a hallmark. Sometimes to a fault, where the ultra powerful good and bad NPCs far outstrip and outshine the actual player characters. Part of feeling at home in the setting should be having brushes with the famous NPCs and run-ins with the evil power groups, plotting in the shadows. It's a very adventurer thing to do, to wreck some ne'er-do-well's plans and then be dogged by said bad guy for sessions to come.
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