The Ultimate Forgotten Realms

A while back I read a blog post (I can't recall the blog just now ) that hoped that “The Sundering”, the relaunch of 5e Realms, would basically shatter the Realms into an infinite number of alternate Realms. This would allow Wizards of the Coast to have their own official version, and each DM to have his own version in which events would play out in their own unique way. The idea would be akin to Marvel's infinite alternate universes.

I love this idea. It feels liberating to me. For a while now I've had this idea percolating in the back of my mind of starting with the the Grey Box, City of Splendours, and maybe a few other supplements and running an Ultimate Forgotten Realms campaign using D&D 5e.

The idea would be to run a campaign set in Waterdeep with a fresh take on things. The players wouldn’t be able to trust anything they previously knew about FR canon. Old villains, heroes, and history would be rewritten with new takes or twists and thus allowing the DM to have complete control over the campaign. I also think it would let many players sit back and enjoy playing knowing that they are the stars of the show and that they aren’t going to be shown up by Mary Sues or break the setting by doing some sort of crazy thing that might have an important realms shaking event. It would also allow the players and DM to learn about the world through play as opposed to having to earn a bachelors degree in FR history.

I suppose that for many groups out there this isn’t a new idea. Personally though I know this has been the case for the few groups I been with. Typically theres that guy that knows more than the DM and another that has no clue whatsoever. As a DM I can see this offering a happy medium solution. In the future I think I might begin a series of posts dedicated to my own personal Ultimate Forgotten Realms. If I suddenly fall off the face of the internet you know that Ed Greenwood has sent his Realms Lore Canon Ninja hit squad after me.