Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers alike as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setting for his childhood stories. Several years later, Greenwood brought the setting to publication for the D&D game as a series of magazine articles, and the first Realms game products were released in 1987. Role-playing game products have been produced for the setting ever since, as have various licensed products including novels, role-playing video game adaptations, comic books, and the film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
The drow or dark elves are a dark-skinned and white-haired subrace of elves connected to the subterranean Underdark in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. The drow have traditionally been portrayed as generally evil and connected to the evil goddess Lolth. However, later editions of Dungeons & Dragons have moved away from this portrayal and preassigned alignment. More recent publications have explored drow societies unconnected to Lolth.
Menzoberranzan, the "City of Spiders", is a fictional city-state in the world of the Forgotten Realms, a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting. The city is located in the Upper Northdark, about two miles below the Surbrin Vale, between the Moonwood and the Frost Hills. It is famed as the birthplace of Drizzt Do'Urden, the protagonist of several series of best-selling novels by noted fantasy author R. A. Salvatore. Menzoberranzan has been developed into a video game and a tabletop RPG setting. Menzoberranzan has been described as "a perfect unjust state" and compared to Glaucon's vision of a state that is held together only by the fear of retribution.
The Underdark is a fictional setting which has appeared in Dungeons & Dragons role-playing campaigns and Dungeons & Dragons-based fiction books, including the Legend of Drizzt series by R. A. Salvatore. It is described as a vast subterranean network of interconnected caverns and tunnels, stretching beneath entire continents and forming an underworld for surface settings. Polygon called it "one of D&D's most well-known realms".
Queen of the Demonweb Pits (Q1) is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game written by David Sutherland. The "Q" in the module code is an abbreviation for "queen". The module, a sequel to the D series of modules, was novelized in 2001.
War of the Spider Queen is a fantasy series of novels set in the Forgotten Realms universe published by Wizards of the Coast. The series contains six books focused on the drow and their principal deity Lolth. Each of the six novels in the series is written by a different author with veteran Forgotten Realms author R. A. Salvatore overseeing the project. Cover art for each book in the series was designed by Gerald Brom who has done other Forgotten Realms work including reprints of The Avatar Series.
Descent Into the Depths of the Earth is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game coded D1–2. It was written by Gary Gygax, and combines two previously published modules from 1978, the original Descent into the Depths of the Earth and Shrine of the Kuo-Toa. A sequel to the first two modules, Vault of the Drow, was also published in 1978. All of these D-series modules were produced for use with the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules.
The Star Fraction is a science fiction novel by Scottish writer Ken MacLeod, his first, published in 1995. The major themes are radical political thinking, a functional anarchist microstate, oppression, and revolution. The action takes place in a balkanized UK, about halfway into the 21st century. The novel was nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1996.
Homeland is a fantasy novel by American writer R. A. Salvatore, the first book in The Dark Elf Trilogy, a prequel to The Icewind Dale Trilogy. It follows the story of Drizzt Do'Urden from the time and circumstances of his birth and his upbringing amongst the drow.
Starlight & Shadows is a series of novels by Elaine Cunningham, set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.
The Legend of Drizzt is a series of fantasy novels by R. A. Salvatore that began in 1988, and consists of 38 books as of August 9, 2022. They are based in the Forgotten Realms setting in the dimension of Abeir-Toril on the continent Faerûn in the popular D&D universe currently published/owned by Wizards of the Coast. It combines the series The Dark Elf Trilogy, The Icewind Dale Trilogy, Legacy of the Drow, Paths of Darkness, The Hunter's Blades Trilogy, and other sets into an abridged compilation. Drizzt Do'Urden is the main character of most of the books.
Queen of the Spiders is an adventure module for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was published by TSR, Inc. in 1986 and is a compilation of seven previous related modules, often referred to as a "supermodule." Together, the seven adventures form an integrated campaign that begins in the World of Greyhawk, continues underground into the Underdark, and concludes in the Demonweb Pits, the abyssal lair of the demonic goddess Lolth. The campaign was originally intended for use with the rules from the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
City of the Spider Queen is a 160-page adventure module set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, for use with the 3rd edition of the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
Menzoberranzan: City of Intrigue is a system-neutral supplement to the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game published towards the end of 4th edition.
The Titan of Twilight is a fantasy novel by Troy Denning, set in the world of the Forgotten Realms, and based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It is the third novel published in "The Twilight Giants" trilogy of novels. It was published in paperback in September 1995, with a paperback re-issue in October 2005.
Dark Knight of Karameikos is a fantasy novel by Timothy Brown, set in the world of Mystara, and based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It is based on the Mystara setting. It was published in paperback edition in October 1995.
Murder in Cormyr is a fantasy novel by Chet Williamson, set in the world of the Forgotten Realms, and based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It is the first novel published in the "Mysteries" series. It was published in hardcover in March 1996, ISBN 978-0-7869-0486-0 and in paperback in July 1998, ISBN 978-0-7869-1173-8.
Tangled Webs is a fantasy novel by Elaine Cunningham, set in the world of the Forgotten Realms, and based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It is the second novel published in the "Starlight & Shadows" series. It was published in hardcover in April 1996, ISBN 978-0-7869-0516-4 and in paperback in May 1998, ISBN 978-0-7869-0698-7 with a paperback re-issue in March 2003, ISBN 978-0-7869-2959-7).
Cormyr: A Novel is a fantasy novel by Ed Greenwood and Jeff Grubb, set in the world of the Forgotten Realms, and based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. It is the first novel published in "The Cormyr Saga". It was published in hardcover in July 1996 ISBN 978-0-7869-0503-4, and in paperback in April 1998 ISBN 978-0-7869-0710-6.
