Forgotten Realms
Introduction
Welcome to the world of Faerun, a place of great heroes and stark
evil, encompassing lands of magic, mystery, and high peril.
Bold knights dare the crypts of dead monarchs, seeking glory and
treasure. Insolent rogues prowl the dank alleyways of ancient cities,
plotting their next exploit. Devout clerics wield mace and spell,
questing against the terrifying powers that threaten the land. Cunning
wizards plunder the ruins of fallen empires, delving fearlessly
into secrets too dark for the light of day. Dragons, giants, blackhearted
villains, demons, savage hordes, ant! unimaginable abominations
lurk in horrible dungeons, endless caverns, ruined cities, and
the vast wild places of the world, thirsting for the blood of heroes.
This is the land of Faerun, a continent of heart-stopping beauty
and ages-old evil. It is your land to shape, to guide, to defend, to conquer,
or to rule. It is a land trod by noble heroes and unredeemable
villains, a great and terrible company to which you and your fellows
now belong.
Welcome to the FORGOTTEN REALMS campaign setting.
The Land of Faerun
From the bitter, windswept steppes of the Endless Waste to the
storm-lashed cliffs of the Sword Coast stretches a wide, wild land of
shining kingdoms and primal wilderness, Faerun is only one continent
of the world known as Toril. Other lands lie in distant corners
of the world, but Faerun is the center of it all, the crossroads and
crux upon which all else turns. Dozens of nations, hundreds of city-states,
and countless tribes, villages, and settlements dot its expanse.
The continent of Faerun measures more than thirty-five hundred
miles from east to west and twenty-five hundred from north to
south. It includes sun-blasted deserts, vast forest deeps, forbidding
mountains, and gleaming inland seas. Across this vast expanse travel
minstrels and peddlers, caravan merchants and guards, soldiers,
sailors, and steel-hearted adventurers carrying tales of strange, glorious,
faraway places. Good maps and clear trails can take even an
inexperienced youth with dreams of glory far across Faerun. Thousands
of restless young would-be heroes from back-country farmsteads
and sleepy villages arrive in Waterdeep and the other great
cities every year in search of wealth and renown.
Known roads may be well traveled, but they are not necessarily
safe. Fell magic, deadly monsters, and cruel local rulers are all perils
that you face when you fare abroad in Faerun. Away from the main
roads and the great cities, the countryside is far wilder than the city
folk remember. Even farms and freeholds within a day's walk of
Waterdeep itself may fall prey to monsters, and no place in Faerunis safe from the sudden wrath of a dragon.
The Civilized Folk
Of the many races of Toril, a dozen or so account for nine-tenths of
all folk who live in the world today. Humans are the most numerous.
They are a race of kingdom-builders, merchants, wizards, and clerics
whose crowded cities lie scattered across the fair face of the continent.
Young and vigorous in comparison to the other races, humans
hold the future of Faerun in their hands—for good or for ill.
While humans were still eking out a subsistence in scattered, disorganized
bands, two older races—dwarves and elves—raised mighty
realms in the mountains and forests. The zenith of both races is now
past, but Faerun is filled with wonders of stone, wood, and magic they
wrought at the heights of their power. Grim dwarven citadels filled
with the clamor of industry and breathtaking elven cities as graceful
as spun glass still stand, even as year by year human dominion grows.
Though they never commanded the power of the dwarves or the
elves, halflings and gnomes have adapted better to the rise of humankind.
Halflings have prospered, taking advantage of the situations
created by the cultural conflicts between the humans and the elder
races. Although halflings hold lands exclusively for their people in
only a handful of places, their settlements can be found throughout
most human lands. Gnomes prefer more reclusive dwellings and do
not raise mighty cities, but,' like the halflings, their homes and settlements
are scattered through a dozen human lands.
Other races are sometimes considered civilized folk, too, despite
their smaller numbers. Centaurs and fey roam the great northern
forests, good of heart but growing evermore wary of human incursions.
Merfolk rule vast underwater domains in the warm seas of thesouth. Proud, wemics roam the endless plains of the Shaar. But their
numbers are few compared to even a small human land.
Savage Peoples and Monsters
Against the young human lands and the ancient refuges of the older
races stand ranged a great number of enemies. Foremost among
these are the savage peoples—goblins, orcs, ogres, and all their kin.
Breeding fierce warriors in dark mountain fortresses and noisome
cavern dens, they regularly burst forth from their strongholds to
pillage and slaughter villages and towns unfortunate enough to lie
in their path.
Faerun is home to creatures far more malevolent, cruel, and calculatingthan orc chiefs and rampaging ogres. The deeps of the
Underdark house sinister and powerful beings such as the drow, the beholders, and the mind flayers. These terrible creatures dream ofenslaving the surface lands and feasting on human cattle while they
rule as the overlords of all Toril.
Neither the uncounted hordes of goblinkind nor the dark powers
that lie beneath the surface world are the most dangerous threat to
human cities and realms, however. That honor must be reserved for
the most terrible and awesome creatures of Faerun—-the dragons. No
one knows just how many dragons soar through the icy spires of the
Spine of the World or slither through the depths of the Forest ofWyrms
, but even a single dragon can spell doom for a city. From timeto time, great numbers of dragons take flight at once and wing across
the face of Faerun in a terrifying Rage, burning and devouring at will.
Heroes and Villians
Faerun is a land of heroes both light and dark, and you must choosewhere you will stand in the struggle to come. Regardless of race or
station, the most notable creatures to roam Faerun are its heroes
and their enemies. In the courts of kings, the dens of thieves, and the
citadels of dark powers, companies of questers, treasure seekers,
monster slayers, and freebooters struggle to preserve the things they
hold dear and to vanquish the enemies who would destroy them.
The most dangerous creature on Faerun is, as you might expect,
a person with the ruthlessness to do whatever is necessary to achieve
her goal. Even a dim-witted ogre can guess what a red dragon might
want when it appears on the horizon, but fathoming the purposes
and designs of a scheming wizard or unscrupulous merchant lord is
far more difficult.
A World of Magic
Toril is steeped in magic. It permeates the entire world. Fallenempires thousands of years old left portals and wrecked towers scattered
across the landscape that are still filled with potent enchantments.
Haughty wizards whose spells can lay low entire armies plot
against each other as they pursue their studies into ever more powerful—
and more dangerous—fields of arcane lore. Deities channel
divine energy through their mortal agents to advance the causes
that interest them. Adventurers of all types, evil and good, wield
mighty spells seemingly at will.
Most Faerunians never learn to speak a spell, but magic touches
their lives in ways they do not always see. Skilled wizards and sorcerers
serve the monarchs of the land, plying their spells to defend their
realms against attack and to watch their enemies' movements. Clerics
intercede with the deities to invoke their blessings as real and tangible
benefits to the endeavors of the community. Monstrous aberrations
of twisted magic and warped energy are often the deadliest creatures
to prey on Faerun's common folk, and adventurers armed with
enchanted steel are the land's first line of defense against such perils.
Ancient Wonders
The history of Faerun is dominated by the cyclic rise and cataclysmic
destruction of empires founded on knowledge of the intricacies of
magic. The Imaskari wrought magical pariah to bridge the gap
between worlds, only to be destroyed by the god-kings of the slave
races they imported to Faerun. Their lost realm now lies beneath the
dust desert of Raurin. The mighty Empire of Netheril dominated the
center of the continent, its skies graced by floating cities and its wizards
commanding unimagined might. They reached too far and were
destroyed in a magical catastrophe of world-shaking proportions, forever
changing the workings of magic itself. Realms such as Narfell
and Raumathar, Athalantar and Cormanthyr, Illefarn and Hlondath
have left their ruins throughout the world.
Magic both old and strong still slumbers in the wreckage of these
ancient realms, Every year some new marvel is rediscovered in an
old ruin: a spell never before seen or a wondrous item of great power
and high purpose. More often, though, blights and perils long forgotten
or magical abominations that should never see the light of
day emerge to trouble the world anew, unearthed by those ignorant
or unscrupulous enough to seek them out.
Mages, Priests, and Minstrels
Crumbling towers and buried vaults of elder lands hold power and
peril beyond compare, but it is the living wielders of magic who shape
Faerun's future. Every land in Faerun is home to the lonely towersof reclusive wizards and the fortress-like temples of clerical orders.
Practitioners of the Art, the wreaking of arcane magic, include the
most powerful mortals to walk the face of Toril. Mysterious
enchanters, proud diviners, and depraved necromancers roam Faerun,
engaged in their own secretive business, Some seek deeper knowledge
and greater power, others toil in the service of dark masters, and others
still strive to right wrongs wherever they find them. Any person with
the wits of a fence post treads cautiously in the presence of sorcerers
or wizards, for who can guess at their purposes and designs?
Invokers of divine magic, also known as the Power, include the
clerics of Faerun's multitudinous goddesses and gods. Devoted to the
service of their patron deities, they run the gamut from 'priests of
Tempus who march with armies to scholarly clerics who carefullyprotect knowledge in the hoary halls of the Inner Chamber of Deneir and the Seat of Lore of Oghma in Berdusk. The deities of
Faerun watch over every corner of the world and aspect of life, andonly a fool would ignore their mortal agents.
Wizards and clerics are not the only wielders of magic in the
world. Druids and rangers serve nature deities and guard the deep
forests. Bards wander the land, carrying news and gossip with their
magical songs. Faerun is a land rich with wielders of magic, and their
works and deeds topple thrones and shake empires.
Characters
Guarded wizards of Thay, distrusted by the
common folk of the Dalelands, seek deeper
knowledge in the elven ruins of Cormanthor.
Determined clerics of Tyr wander the cold lands of the Moonsea,
battling against the sinister influence of the Zhentarim. Stout-hearted
shield dwarves seek to free the plundered citadels of their ancestorsfrom the feral orcs and ogres that occupy them. Almost any
kind of fantasy hero or villain may find a home in the FORGOTTEN
REALMS campaign setting. Faerun is an old continent with hundreds
of disparate cultures.
In this world, your fighter is not defined simply by his Strength
score of 16 and his mastery of the bastard sword. He is defined by
his homeland, his training, and his background. Just as the Dungeon
Master (DM) carefully crafts adventures to highlight the magic and
perils of the far-scattered lands of Faerun, each player contributes
to the campaign a character whose personality, motivations, and
attitudes reflect the heroes—or the villains—of a land shrouded in
mystery, myth, and legend.
Races of Faerun
Faerun is inhabited by hundreds of different races. Some races are
native and have lived here for uncounted thousands of "years. Others
arrived over centuries of migration and conquest from other planes
and worlds. The races most commonly found as player characters--
humans, dwarves, elves, half-elves, half-orcs, halflings, and gnomes—are descended from both Faerunian natives and immigrants from
other worlds. Because of their complex ancestry, members of most of
these races and subraces display a wide range of skin and hair colors.
As a further consequence of their mixed heritage, humans,
dwarves, elves, and the other major races of Faerun have much in
common with their kin on other worlds.
Automatic and bonus languages for all races appear in
the race descriptions, since Faerun is home to a number of unique
tongues. In the case of races for which "home region" appears in the
race description—for example, humans or planetouched—the language
selection is determined by the character's home region.
A character's choice of race and region determines her automatic
and bonus languages. The following languages are always available as bonus
languages to characters, regardless of race or region: Abyssal (clerics),
Aquan (water genasi), Auran (air genasi), Celestial (clerics), Common, Draconic (wizards), Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Giant, Gnoll, Halfling, Ignan (fire genasi), Infernal (clerics), Orc, Sylvan (druids), Terran (earth genasi), and Undercommon. Druidsalso know Druidic in addition to their other languages.
Each race description gives the primary regions or
strongholds of the race. Characters can choose one of these regions
for their home region, they can default to the general racial entry
for their region, or they can choose to be from elsewhere in Faerun.
The information given in this section helps you construct a character,
but does not directly affect your character's starting feats or
equipment.
Humans Dwarves Elves Gnomes Half-elves Half-orcs Halflings PlanetouchedClasses
Following the class discussion is a listing of
lands or cultures suitable as home regions for characters of that class.
For example, Narfell is a land of nomadk horseriders. Barbarians,
fighters, rangers, and rogues are well suited to this kind of life, and arecommonly found there. Wizards are not. Therefore, the barbarian,
fighter, ranger, and rogue class descriptions list Narfell as a region.You do not have to choose one of the regions listed for your character's
class if you do not want to. However, whether your character
comes from a region suited for his class affects your ability to
choose regional feats and your selection of starting equipment.
Barbarians of the Realms Bards of the Realms Clerics of the Realms Druids of the Realms Fighters of the Realms Monks of the Realms Paladins of the Realms Rangers of the Realms Rogues of the Realms Sorcerers of the Realms Wizards of the RealmsPrestige Classes
Complete List of Prestige Classes of the RealmsCharacter Region
A character in the FORGOTTEN REALMS campaign is more than
just a class and race. Your homeland determines in part your personality,
your outlook, and what sort of abilities you have. In game
terms, character regions encourage you to take a class relevant to
that region's culture, allow you to learn special feats appropriate
to your region, and enable you to start out with some extra equipment
based on the way people in that region live. Every character
has the opportunity to choose a region during the character creation
process.
"Region" is a broad term. In most cases, it refers to a political
entity, such as the wizard-ruled nation of Thay. It may also refer to
a geographical area that lacks a central government or well-defined
borders, such as the barbarian lands of Narfell. Finally, a region can
be defined as a racial cultural identity, such as that of the gold
dwarves or half-orcs.
A character can only have one homeland, so you cannot get the
regional benefits of both Amn and its neighboring nation, Tethyr.
However, nonhuman characters are free to designate either their
physical homeland or their racial culture as their character region,
although they must be a member of a class listed for their race or
homeland to select the corresponding regional feats and receive the
bonus starting equipment. For example, Vartok the gold dwarf
might be from the Smoking Mountains of Unther, but he can
choose either gold dwarf or Unther as his native region, and he gains
the benefits for the region of his choice if he selects a character class
listing the region he chooses as a preferred region.
Automatic Languages: The languages automatically known by allcharacters from this region, regardless of Intelligence score.
Common, though not listed on the table, is always an automatic language
unless Undercommon is listed as an automatic language.
Bonus Languages: Characters of exceptional Intelligence (11 orhigher) begin play with one bonus language per point of Intelligence
bonus, which must be chosen from the list on the table.
Regional Feats: If you choose a home region preferred by yourcharacter class, you may select regional feats appropriate to that
region. These feats represent the common sorts of talents that
people from that region learn.
If you did not choose a character class preferred in your home
region, you cannot begin play with one of those regional feats. You
are still limited by the number of feats available to your character
based on class and race.
You can acquire regional feats later in your adventuring career.
With a few exceptions, any regional feats appropriate to your race
or homeland that you don't select at 1st level are still available the
next time you gain the ability to select a feat.
You may even learn feats from a new region altogether,
whether or not you belong to an encouraged class for that region.
After 1st level, each 2 ranks in Knowledge (local) pertaining to
the new region you have allow you to select feats from a single
region (other than your home region, if applicable).
Equipment: Finally, the table lists equipment your characterstarts with if he chooses a region preferred for his character class.
This equipment is in addition to any equipment you get with your
starting package or whatever you might buy with your starting
money. If multiple choices for bonus equipment are available in a
region, you may only choose one of the options listed.
You may choose to sell your bonus equipment at 50% of its listed
cost, if you would rather have extra cash instead. (Some particularly
wealthy areas offer gold pieces as one of the options. You don't
want to sell them.)
Character RegionsFeats
Almost every rogue or fighter from the mythical land of Halruaa
knows just a bit of magic. In Sembia, Waterdeep, and the dark cities
of the drow, duelists teach the beautiful and deadly twin sword fighting
style. Common-born rangers and druids of the Dalelands are
known for their oddly fortuitous luck and their perseverance in the
face of terrible peril. It seems that any adventurer exploring the
deadly ruins and perilous wildernesses of Faerun possesses a little
specialized training or a knack common to the lands in which he
grew up.
Feats of the RealmsMagic
The world of Toril is literally a magical place. All
existence is infused with magical power, and potential
energy lies untapped in every rock, every
stream, every living creature, even the air itself. Raw magic is the
frozen stuff of creation, the mute and mindless will of being, suffusing
every bit of matter and present in every manifestation of
energy throughout the world.
Magic permeates the peoples of Faerun as well as the lands. Everytown is home to mighty temples venerating the deities and housing
clerics who call upon divine power to heal injury, ward against evil,
and defend the lives and property of the faithful. Subtle and astute
wizards stand by (and sometimes behind) the throne of every land,turning their formidable powers to the service of their lords. Aberrations
made by ancient magic seethe and hunger in the dark spaces
beneath the world's surface, awaiting the chance to feed. Even the
most unimaginative fighter or most brazen rogue quickly learns to
respect the power of magic, or sees her career as an adventurer come
to a spectacular and ghastly end.
The Weave
Mortals cannot directly shape raw magic. Instead, most who wield
magic make use of the Weave. The Weave is the manifestation of
raw magic, a kind of interface between the will of a spellcaster and
the stuff of raw magic. Without the Weave, raw magic is locked
away and inaccessible—an archmage can't light a candle in a dead
magic zone. But, surrounded by the Weave, a spellcaster can shape
lightning to blast her foes, transport herself hundreds of miles in
the blink of an eye, even reverse death itself. All spells, magic items,
spell-like abilities, and even supernatural abilities such as a ghost's
ability to walk through walls, depend on the Weave and call upon it
in different ways.
The exact nature of the Weave is elusive because it is many things
simultaneously. The Weave is the body of Mystra, the goddess of
magic. Mystra has dominion over magic worked throughout Toril,
but she cannot shut off the flow of magic altogether without ceasing
to exist herself. The Weave is the conduit spellcasters use to channel
magical energy for their spells, both arcane and divine. Finally, the
Weave is the fabric of esoteric rules and formulas that comprises the
Art (arcane spellcasting) and the Power (divine spell casting). Everythingfrom the texts of arcane spell books to the individual components
of spells is part of the Weave. Magic not only flows from
source to spellcaster through the Weave, the Weave gives spellcasters
the tools they need to shape magic to their purposes.
Whenever a spell, spell-like ability, supernatural ability, or magic
item functions, the threads of the Weave intertwine, knit, warp,
twist, and fold to make the effect possible. When characters use divination
spells such as detect magic, identify, or analyze dweomer,
they glimpse the Weave. A spell such as dispel magic smooths the
Weave, attempting to return it to its natural state. Spells such as
antimagic field rearrange the Weave so that magic flows around,rather than through, the area affected by the spell.
Areas where magic goes awry, such as wild magic zones and dead
magic zones, represent damage to the Weave.
Unique Effects of the Weave
Wild Magic Dead Magic SpellfireMagic in Society
From the smoking foundries of Luskan to the wondrous cities of Halruaa,
Faerunians live in a world populated by practitioners of magic
both arcane and divine. Magic has changed the world more than once
in the past—the deserts of Raurin and Anauroch now mark the places
where the highly magical empires of Imaskar and Netheril once stood.
The great river of history is directed and redirected by magically powerful
people acting out of both malice and benevolence. Even so,
magic still rarely touches the life of the common Faerunian.
The Art
The Power
The Invisible Art
Magic ItemsSecret Lore
Since the days when elves, dwarves, giants, and dragons ruled a
Faerun of trackless forest and unspoiled wilderness, those who couldmanipulate the Weave have sought deeper understanding, greater
power, and hidden knowledge in the hope of gaining an advantage
over their enemies. The early human empires were no different. The
Imaskari mastered the lore of gates and portals, transporting thousandsof hapless slaves from other worlds to serve their arcane
might. The Netherese studied the art of devising magic devices, creating
marvels and terrors that still slumber under the sands of
Anauroch. The Raumathari blighted Faerun forever by summoninghordes of orc warriors to serve in their war against old Narfell and
then losing control of their own warriors.
Wizards dream of secret schools of magic, paths of spells madepossible by a new understanding of the Art, and forbidden studies
leading to awesome new powers. Dozens of paths to power and
understanding have been tried and abandoned, and new research—
some founded in meticulous study, some inspired by fevered flights
of horror—routinely unveils some new methodology of arcane spellcasting
or results in spells never before seen in Faerun.
Stories abound of the legendary spells of old Netheril and the vanished
elven realms, spells whose power dwarfed that of the mightiest
wish possible today. Wizards have unlocked the secrets of a dark Weave
unfettered by Mystra's power, clerics and adapts draw potent spells
with runes, and the wreckage of ancient dweomers lie scattered across
the land in the form of a portal network riddling the fabric of space.
Circle Magic Elven High Magic Portal Magic Rune MagicThe Shadow Weave
The Magister
Spells of Faerun
Almost every faith of Faerun harbors secret divine spells, prayers
and invocations known only to the initiated clergy. Hundreds of
reclusive wizards and sinister circles devise new arcane spells, seeking
a purer understanding of the Art or a simple weapon other spellcasters
lack. The temples of fallen deities and the ruins of ancient
cities hold scrolls of powerful and dangerous spells, forgotten by the
lesser clerics and wizards who populate Faerun today.
The spells and domains described in the Player's Handbook form
the common knowledge of Faerun's bards, clerics, druids, paladins,
rangers, sorcerers, and wizards. Any character may acquire thesespells in the. usual fashion. The domains and spells described here
represent the secrets and special knowledge available to certain
groups and individuals, plus a few Faerunian spells that have become
common parlance among the land's spellcasters.
Cleric Domains Spell DescriptionsLife in Faerun
Nomadic hunters wander the icy barrens of the
Great Glacier and the trackless jungles of Chult.Soot-covered armorers hammer away in the
dwarven forges of the Great Rift and the stinking smelters of
Baldur's Gate. Heavily guarded merchant caravans wind through Calimshan's harsh deserts and along the roads of the Heartlands. Anadventurer's road leads through many lands and even more cultures,
customs, and locales.
Most of Faerun's humans labor as peasants, farmers, and simple
craftsfolk, living in countless tiny thorps and villages. Over this vast
sea of simple folk rule the wealthy and the privileged, in whatever
form wealth and privilege take in a particular land. In some lands the
common people are ruthlessly shackled and exploited by their cruel
overlords, but by and large Faerun is populated by folk content with
their lot in life.
Time and Seasons
Almost every people or race of Faerun marks the passage of days,
seasons, and years in some fashion. In Cormyr and a dozen other
kingdoms, royal astrologers carefully tend the Roll of Years. Even
the war-heralds of the unlettered orc-tribes compose harsh chants
that record the days and deeds of their fierce chieftains.
Day and Night The Hours of the Day The Calendar of Harptos The Marking of the YearsThe Lore of the Land
Toril is a large world, and Faerun one of its largest continents.Thanks to diligent sages and scribes over centuries, the details and
characteristics of many lands have been recorded. But in all that
time, only a small part of Faerun has been described in any detail.
To most folk who dwell in it, climate is a matter of harsh basics:
when the seasons come, how the growing season (and therefore the
available food supply) fares, and how severe the weather is the rest
of the time. In general, the kingdoms of Faerun produce more than
enough food to feed their people and the various beasts that roam
them. But localized shortages and the perils of lack of water, blistering
heat, exposure, and freezing keep folk from complacency.
Climate Flora and FaunaHome and Hearth
Wood elves make their homes in graceful pavilions under the starsin forest clearings, rarely remaining in the same place for more than
a day or two. Shield dwarves carve workshops and mines from the
hearts of mountains, fortifying their homes. Goblins and orcs favor
warrens of burrows in the wilderness. Human homes run the gamut
from a herder's yurt in the Endless Waste to a prince's palatial
townhouse along Waterdeep's richest street. Any experienced traveler
soon comes to appreciate that there are as many different ways
of life in Faerun as there are kinds of people.
Orc-infested mountain ranges, troll-haunted wastelands, wildwoods guarded by secretive and unfriendly fey creatures, and sheer
distance divide Faerun's nations from each other. Faerun's city-states
and kingdoms are small islands of civilization in a vast, hostile
world, held together by tenuous lines of contact.
Government City and Countryside Class and Station Families Learning AdventurersLanguage
Common language and culture defines a state just as much as borders,
cities, and government do. Each major nonhuman race speaks
its own language, and humans seem to generate dozens of languages
for no other reason than their lands are so widespread and communications
so chancy that language drift occurs over time. Hundreds
of human dialects are still spoken daily in Faerun, although
Common serves to overcome all but the most overwhelming obstacles
to comprehension.
The oldest languages spoken in Faerun are nonhuman in origin.
Draconic, the speech of dragons, may be the oldest of all. Giant, Elven, and Dwarven are also ancient tongues. The oldest knownhuman languages date back some three to four thousand years. They
come from four main cultural groups—Chondathan, Imaskari, Nar,
and Netherese—that had their own languages, some of which survive
today in altered forms after centuries of intermingling and trade.
The Common Tongue
Alphabets Living Languages Dead LanguagesCoin and Commerce
If one single reason explains how humans have come to dominate
so much of Faerun compared to other, wiser races, it might be
this: Humans are Toril's best merchants. The great ports of the
Inner Sea spin gold like a spider spins silk. Dwarves excel at pureindustry and craftsmanship, and elves command ancient magic
conceived long before humans walked Faerun, but humans command
a different and perhaps more powerful magic—the magic
of gold.
The growth of human prosperity and influence in lands that were
once wilderness is the single greatest development in the Heartlands
of Faerun over the last thousand years or so. Human settlers carve
out freeholds and villages from the virgin wilderness, often fighting
for their lives and property against the monsters (or sometimes the
elves, fey folk, or forest creatures) who dwell there. From the new
settlements flow raw materials such as timber, furs, valuable ores,
and perhaps fish or meat. More humans come to harvest the waiting
riches, and new cities are born. Eventually a city is surrounded
by farmland instead of forest, and the process repeats in some other
trackless forest or mountain valley.
Labor Agriculture and Industry Travel Trade CoinageCraft and Engineering
With a few exceptions, Faerun is a land without heavy industry,
steam power, or firearms. For millennia magic, not technology, has
been the path to understanding and true power. Hundreds of wizards
develop new spells, create new magic items, or uncover new fields of
magical lore with each passing year; but the number of savants who
advance the boundaries of mundane knowledge is much smaller. Just
as wizards are inclined to closely guard their magical secrets, many
great architects, engineers, and inventors hoard their learning and
rarely pass it on to the world at large.
While technology is sometimes viewed as a somewhat inelegant
and weak compared to true magical power, most folk of the Heartlands
have a passing familiarity with simple machines such as waterwheels
and building principles such as the arch. Magic often serves
as an adjunct to any large construction process, not a replacement
for good engineering and months or years of heavy labor. The design
of a city's new bridge is likely to come from an expert architect, who
consults with various wizards regarding the use of magic to strengthen,
reinforce, and preserve the work after it is complete. The
strongest and most enduring structures make use of both sound construction
and potent magic without relying entirely on either.
Fortifications Ships Equipment Mundane WeaponsGeography
Seeing every kingdom, every city-state, every mountain
range and forest and ruined castle of Faerun would be the
journey of a dozen human lifetimes. Faerun is a continent
of extremes, in climate, terrain, and human geography. Almost
anything can be found somewhere within its vast wilds and myriad
cultures, which collectively are home to more than sixty-eight million
inhabitants. Towering mountains and oceans of grassland, blasted
deserts and lush forests, barbarians in iron and furs or decadent
city-folk in silk and perfume... all of these things and many, many
more exist in this wide and wondrous land.
Anauroch
AnaurochChultan Peninsula
Considered by most to be a backward, unsettled land of monsters,
jungles, disease, and savages, the Chultan peninsula boasts several
distinct cultures and relatively stable governments that date back
hundreds of years. These lands' reputations derive from their isolation
from the rest of the world, the magical concealment of key
cities, and the fever-induced rants of old sailors.
The Chultan peninsula encompasses the land from the Mhair
Jungles westward, including the Black Jungles, the jungles of Chult,
and the countries of Tashalar, Samarach, and Thindol.
Chult Samarach Tashalar ThindolCold Lands
The region called the Cold Lands consists of the territories adjacent to
or near the Great Glacier, namely Damara, Narfell, the Moonsea, Sossal, and Vaasa.
Their inhospitable climates are largely due to the glacier's influence,
This collection of nations is erroneously called the Bloodstone Lands
by many, but that title actually refers only to Damara and Vaasa.
Sparsely inhabited but rich in mineral wealth, these lands draw foreigners
looking to strike it rich quickly. Most, however, quickly become
daunted by the hostile environment and aggressive tribesfolk.
Damara NarfellThe Moonsea
Sossal VaasaThe Vast
The Heartlands
The nations of the Heartlands share a common language, and
their cultural heritage and social order are similar. They are not necessarily
the most populous, dangerous, or powerful states of Faerun,
but they are perhaps the most representative. Travelers from one
part of the Heartlands generally find the same kind of villages, the
same kind of merchants, and the same kind of overlords in other
parts of the Heartlands as they are accustomed to at home. Beyond
the Heartlands, people seem strange and lands are wild, uncivilized,
decadent, or ancient beyond belief.
Many adventurers lead long and successful careers without setting
foot outside the Heartlands. There is no shortage of dangerous
monsters, mysterious ruins, and murderous dungeons within these
lands. Sinister powers such as the drow, the Zhentarim, the Cult of the Dragon, the Red Wizards of Thay, and now the proud archwizards
of Shade all seek to extend their dominion over the human
kingdoms of these lands. Only the courage of bold and resolute
adventurers stands between Faerun and a very dark future.
CormyrThe Dalelands
The Dragon Coast
SembiaThe Island Kingdoms
The great island kingdoms of the western seas have little to do or
with each other. Nor, for that matter, do they have much to do with
the rest of Faerun. Each of them has its own people, history, and
way of life, ranging from the shifting arrays of magical power surrounding
the Elven Court on Evermeet to the brutal raiders of the
Nelanther Isles. Evermeet Lantan Moonshae Isles Nelanther Isles NimbralThe Lands of Intrigue
South of the Western Heartlands and west of the Vilhon Reach are
the Lands of Intrigue: Amn, Calimshan, and Tethyr. Tied to each
other by geography and a long history of invasions,
conquest, and competition, the people of
these countries have survived by wits and
sword, learning to guard their true feelings
and present a pleasant face to their enemies.
All three of these large, populous nations
rely heavily on trade, particularly with distant
countries. Their lands contain a wide variety of
terrain, making them home to an equally wide
variety of monsters.
Amn Calimshan TethyrThe North
Despite settlements and civilizations that have endured for a thousand
years, the constant orc invasions, harsh weather, and unyielding
wilderness prove that the North is still a frontier, "The North"
is a term Cormyrians and Dalesfolk use to refer to the lands west of
Anauroch and north of the High Moor.The North can be divided into five separate areas: the High Forest, the greatest existing forest in all Faerun; the Savage Frontier,
which encompasses the lands outside the High Forest and Silverymoon;
the Silver Marches, a new confederation of cities, towns,
and fortresses centered around the shining city of Silverymoon; the
Sword Coast North, the lands west of the Dessarin River; and Waterdeep, the City of Splendors, virtually a nation unto itself. High Forest Savage Frontier Silver Marches Sword Coast North WaterdeepThe Old Empires
Heirs to a fallen realm that defied the very heavens, the people of
the Old Empires were summoned to Faerun millennia ago and
enslaved by wizards. With the help of their foreign
deities, the former slaves freed themselves and settled
that lands that are now Chessenta, Mulhorand,
and Unther. These countries rose to power thousands
of years ago and have been in decline ever since, their
vast territories since lost to younger and more vigorous
realms.
Resistant to change and hostile to visitors for centuries,
the Old Empires have been forced into
active participation in Faerun in recent years,
and may be regaining a prominent position in
Faerunian politics and culture.
Chessenta Mulhorand Murghom Semphar UntherThe Shining South
Along the southeastern coast of Faerun stretches a vast land of
magic, mystery, rumor, and legend. To the folk of the Heartlands,
thousands of miles away, the South is a place of
myths and tales that seem unbelievable. A land
where everyone is a wizard? A kingdom of halflings?
A realm ruled by drow? All of these things
and more exist in the South.
The South is normally accounted to consist of
the coastal lands of Halruaa, Luiren, Dambrath,
Durpar, Estagund, Var the Golden, and Veldorn. Italso includes the land dividing the South from the
rest of Faerun, the great grassland known as the
Shaar, and the Great Rift, a mighty dwarven kingdomin the middle of the Shaar.
Dambrath Durpar EstagundThe Great Rift
Halruaa Luiren Rethild, the Great SwampThe Shaar
Var the Golden VeldornThe Unapproachable East
To the folks of the Heartlands, these lands are the mysterious,
exotic, and deadly east, a region of terrible magic, untold wealth, and
strange and capricious laws. The term "Unapproachable" generally
describes the distance from the Heartlands of Faerun, but some of
these countries are considered unapproachable because of their temperament.
Thay is an aggressive magocracy, Aglarond defends itsborders against all intruders, and Rashemen is a cold, hard land of
powerful witches and fierce warriors. The lands of the Unapproachable
East trade with the Old Empires because of their proximity,
and Thesk is the avenue through which exotic goods from the far
eastern lands of Kara-Tur enter Faerun.
This region is known for its powerful and strange magic. Aglarond
is ruled by Faerun's most powerful sorcerer, Thay is under the
dominion of the Red Wizards, and the mysterious Witches of Rashemen
guide that land's berserker defenders.
AglarondThe Great Dale
Impiltur Rashemen Thay TheskThe Underdark
UnderdarkThe Vilhon Reach
This region shares its name with the body of water called the Vilhon
Reach, a long southern arm of the Sea of Fallen Stars. The region
encompasses much of the southern shore of the Sea of Fallen Stars,
from the mouth of the Reach west and north to the mouth of the
Wet River, and south to the Golden Plains. It is a fertile, rich landdivided up into quarreling city-states and petty nations. For all its
unrest, the Vilhon remains vital to the whole of Faerun: It forms
the trade link between the Lake of Steam, the Shaar, and the rest of
the world through its ports on the Sea of Fallen Stars.
With the subtropical and humid weather of the Vilhon Reach,
winter temperatures rarely reach the freezing point, snowfalls are
rare, and heavy winter rains are common. Spring arrives early, and
summer comes hard on its heels with scorching temperatures and
oppressive humidity. Autumn brings cooler weather and lower humidity,
but an autumn day in the Vilhon can be as warm as high
summer in more northerly regions.
The three important nations of the Reach are Chondath, Sespech,
and Turmish. In addition, a large number of independent city-states
and minor local authorities occupy the region.
Chondath Sespech TurmishBeyond Faerun
Even the wisest scholars of Candlekeep know only a little of what
lies beyond the realms of Faerun. While heroes, explorers, diplomats,
and merchants have traveled beyond Faerun, rare indeed is the
person who has visited more than one particular region outside the
commonly known lands.
The Hordelands
Kara-Tur Maztica ZakharaThe Sea of Night
The last and most fantastic of the lands beyond Faerun is so close
that every Faerunian has seen it from afar. Above the sky lies a
realm of incredible expanse, the so-called Sea of Night, where rivers
of stars and worlds both strange and wonderful shimmer like silver
fire, in the dark.
Stories abound of wizards who seek to climb above the sky and
explore its dark waters, of princes ruling castles of argent light, and
crystal elf-ships that rise gleaming from the western seas into
oceans vaster and more wondrous still when twilight falls over the
face of Toril. In a land where wizards make castles fly and clerics
bring forth godly miracles, the legendary isles and realms of the
night sky are home to the wildest flights of fancy and strangest
dreams of all.
Selune (moon)The Dawn Heralds
The Five Wanderers
Deities
The deities of Toril take an active interest in their
world, channeling power through their clerics,
druids, rangers, paladins, and other worshipers andsometimes intervening directly in the affairs of mortals. At the
same time, they plot, war, intrigue, and ally among themselves,
between themselves and powerful mortals, and with extraplanar
beings such as elemental rulers and demons. In this they resemble
their mortal worshipers, for to an extent deities are defined and
shaped by their worshipers, their areas of interest, and their
nature—for many deities are actually mortals who have gained the
divine spark. Because they lose strength if their worship dwindles
away and is forgotten, deities task their clerics and others to whom
they grant divine spells with spreading their praise and doctrine,
recruiting new worshipers, and keeping the faith alive. In exchange
for this work and to facilitate it, deities grant divine spells.
Worship Deities of the Realms Cosmology of TorilHistory
One after another, the great ancient races rose and fell, finally
giving rise to the Time of Humans—the last three to four
thousand years of Faerun's history. Even within this epoch, great
empires and shining kingdoms have risen and fallen passing into the dust
of centuries past, leaving only their cryptic ruins and fell lore behind.
Timeline of FaerunThe Roll of Years
Organizations
Hideous trolls and fire-breathing dragons may
account for the doom of many noble heroes, but
even more meet their end from the knife in the
dark or a smiling face that conceals black-hearted treachery. Faerun
is home to fell powers that choose to work through stealth, intimidation,
intrigue, and terror. Bold knights and battle-wise wizards
alike have fallen to foes they never even suspected in cities or courts
they deemed safe.
Hundreds of guilds, cabals, societies, and orders exist in Faerun's
wide lands. Some assemble to wage war against evil, swearing solemn
oaths of goodwill and protection as binding as any paladin's. But
most are alliances of ambitious, wealthy, and frequently ruthless
people interested only in advancing their hidden agendas, regardless
of who or what gets in their way.
See the main article, Organizations of Faerun
Monsters
Many creatures roam the wilds and ruins of
Faerun, from the terrible and deadly to the
strange and wondrous.
The Comprehensive List of Monsters of Faerun.