What Are the Forgotten Realms?

Welcome to the Forgotten Realms · Reading 1 of 8

The Forgotten Realms are a world built upon the remains of countless stories.

Ancient kingdoms lie buried beneath modern cities. Ruined towers stand where powerful wizards once tried to reshape the world. Gods walk among mortals, sometimes answering their prayers and sometimes causing catastrophes of their own. Empires rise, disappear, and leave behind artifacts whose creators have been dead for thousands of years.

And somewhere between all of this, adventurers gather around a tavern table looking for work.

This is the world of the Forgotten Realms, one of the most expansive settings created for Dungeons & Dragons.

A World Called Toril

The Forgotten Realms take place primarily on a planet called Toril.

Toril contains many lands and cultures, but most stories associated with the Forgotten Realms take place on the continent of Faerûn. It is here that you’ll find places such as Waterdeep, Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter, the frozen lands of Icewind Dale, the mysterious jungles of Chult, and the distant realm of Thay.

Faerûn is enormous, but it isn’t an untouched wilderness waiting to be discovered.

It is old.

Civilizations have been rising and falling here for thousands of years. Elven kingdoms once stretched across lands now occupied by humans. Dwarven cities disappeared beneath mountains. Magical empires built wonders that later generations could barely understand.

Some even built cities that flew.

The ruins of these civilizations remain scattered across the world, which means adventurers are constantly walking through the remains of someone else’s history.

Magic Is Part of the World

Magic in the Forgotten Realms isn’t merely a mysterious force practiced by a handful of wizards.

It has shaped history.

Most arcane spellcasters interact with magic through something known as the Weave, a magical structure intimately connected to the goddess Mystra. When the Weave has been damaged or disrupted, the consequences have affected entire civilizations.

Magic has raised cities into the sky.

It has opened passages between worlds.

It has transformed mortals into beings of extraordinary power.

And on more than one occasion, someone’s attempt to control too much of it has ended very badly.

The Gods Are Real

Religion also works differently in the Forgotten Realms than it does in our world.

The gods aren’t simply matters of faith. Their existence is a demonstrable part of reality.

There are gods of magic, death, war, knowledge, nature, justice, tyranny, murder, and countless other aspects of existence. They grant power to their followers, influence events across Faerûn, fight among themselves, and occasionally interfere directly in mortal affairs.

Some mortals have even managed to become gods themselves.

And some gods have died.

This relationship between mortals and divinity has repeatedly reshaped the history of the Realms.

A World With a Very Long Memory

Perhaps the most important thing to understand about the Forgotten Realms is that almost everything has a history.

A ruined fortress might have belonged to a forgotten kingdom.

The monster living beneath it might have been there before that kingdom existed.

The magical weapon hidden inside might have been forged by an empire thousands of years older still.

And the person who sends you there might know far more about all of this than they’re willing to admit.

That’s what makes the Forgotten Realms feel so enormous.

Behind almost every city, faction, god, artifact, ruin, and villain is another story. Follow one long enough and it will usually lead to another.

And another.

Until eventually you find yourself thousands of years in the past, wondering why an ancient wizard named Karsus thought becoming a god was a good idea.

But we’ll get there.

For now, there is only one thing you need to know:

The Forgotten Realms are old, magical, dangerous, and filled with stories waiting to be uncovered.

And we’ve barely opened the map.