Ed Greenwood
Encyclopedia
Ed Greenwood is a Canadian writer and editor who created the Forgotten Realms
. He invented the Forgotten Realms as a child, as a fantasy world in which to set the stories he imagined, and later used this world as a campaign setting
for his own personal Dungeons & Dragons
playing group. He began writing articles about the Forgotten Realms for Dragon
magazine beginning in 1979, and he sold the rights to the setting to TSR
in 1986. Greenwood has written many more articles and D&D game supplement books for the setting, and has written Forgotten Realms novels as a freelance author.
suburb of Don Mills
. He began writing stories about the Forgotten Realms
as a child, starting around 1967; they were his "dream space for swords and sorcery stories". Greenwood came up with the "Forgotten Realms" name from the notion of a "multiverse" of parallel worlds; our Earth is one such world, and the Realms another. In Greenwood's original conception, the fantastic legends of our world derive from a fantasy world that we've now lost the way to. Greenwood discovered the Dungeons & Dragons
game in 1975, and really got into role-playing with the first AD&D game releases in 1978. The setting became the home of Greenwood's own personal campaign
. Greenwood began a Realms campaign in the city of Waterdeep
, then started another group known as the Knights of Myth Drannor in Shadowdale. Greenwood felt that his players' thirst for detail made the Realms what it is: "They want it to seem real, and work on ‘honest jobs’ and personal activities, until the whole thing grows into far more than a casual campaign. Roleplaying always governs over rules, and the adventures seem to develop themselves."
Beginning with the periodical's 30th issue in 1979, Greenwood published a series of short articles that detailed the setting in The Dragon
magazine, the first of which was about a monster known as the curst. Greenwood wrote voluminous entries to Dragon magazine, using the Realms as a setting for his descriptions of magic items
, monsters, and spells. In 1986, the American game publishing company TSR
began looking for a new campaign setting
for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, and assigned Jeff Grubb
to find out more about the setting used by Greenwood as portrayed in his articles in Dragon. According to Greenwood, Grubb asked him "Do you just make this stuff up as you go, or do you really have a huge campaign world?"; he answered "yes" to both questions. TSR felt that the Forgotten Realms would be a more open-ended setting than the epic Dragonlance
setting, and chose the Realms as a ready-made campaign setting upon deciding to publish AD&D 2nd Edition. Greenwood agreed to work on the project, and began working to get the Forgotten Realms officially published. Greenwood sent TSR a few dozen cardboard boxes stuffed with pencil notes and maps, and sold all rights to the Realms for a token fee.
wrote the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set
for TSR
—though Greenwood had used the Forgotten Realms for his home Dungeons & Dragons campaign since 1975. The spawned campaign world was a success, and he has been involved with all subsequent incarnations of the Forgotten Realms in D&D. Greenwood's most lasting character from the setting is the wizard Elminster, whom he portrayed (at TSR's
request) for a number of years at conventions and as a participant in the RPGA's
Living City
campaign.
Since the release of the Forgotten Realms, Greenwood has published many Forgotten Realms novels, as listed below. He retains certain rights of his setting, but is essentially a freelance author.
Greenwood feels his work on the Realms that he likes best are "those products that impart some of the richness and color of the Realms, such as the novel I wrote with Jeff Grubb, Cormyr; the Volo’s Guides; Seven Sisters; The Code of the Harpers
; City of Splendors; and stuff that lots of gamers have found useful, such as Drow of the Underdark
and Ruins of Undermountain
." He found that it has been easy to keep his enthusiasm for the Realms over the years, as so many people care about it, ask him questions about the world's lore ("Realmslore"), and share with him what they have done.
Ed Greenwood has stated that the Forgotten Realms, as run by him in his own games, is much more "dark" and edgy than it is in officially sanctioned, published works.
He works at a public library
.
and Polyhedron Newszine
, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Association (RPGA
) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
He has also contributed to most Forgotten Realms gaming accessories, and authored many more—including the detailed Volo's Guide series—and continues to DM his own campaign. He writes regular Realmslore columns for the Wizards of the Coast
website, and frequents the Candlekeep web forums (where he may be contacted).
In addition to all these activities, Greenwood works as a library clerk (and sometimes as a librarian) and has edited over a dozen small press magazines. When not appearing at conventions, he lives in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario.
As of 1998, Greenwood lived in applegrowing country on Lake Ontario
, still working full time at the North York Community Library, as he had since 1974, and continued to run his original Waterdeep campaign with the same core group he started with, albeit meeting only sporadically.
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons 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...
. He invented the Forgotten Realms as a child, as a fantasy world in which to set the stories he imagined, and later used this world as a campaign setting
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
for his own personal Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
playing group. He began writing articles about the Forgotten Realms for Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
magazine beginning in 1979, and he sold the rights to the setting to TSR
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
in 1986. Greenwood has written many more articles and D&D game supplement books for the setting, and has written Forgotten Realms novels as a freelance author.
Early life and the Forgotten Realms
Ed Greenwood grew up in the upscale TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
suburb of Don Mills
Don Mills
Don Mills is a mixed-use neighbourhood in the North York district of Toronto, Canada. It was developed to be a self-supporting "new town" and was at the time located outside of Toronto proper. Consisting of residential, commercial and industrial sub-districts, it was planned and developed by...
. He began writing stories about the Forgotten Realms
Forgotten Realms
The Forgotten Realms is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons 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...
as a child, starting around 1967; they were his "dream space for swords and sorcery stories". Greenwood came up with the "Forgotten Realms" name from the notion of a "multiverse" of parallel worlds; our Earth is one such world, and the Realms another. In Greenwood's original conception, the fantastic legends of our world derive from a fantasy world that we've now lost the way to. Greenwood discovered the Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
game in 1975, and really got into role-playing with the first AD&D game releases in 1978. The setting became the home of Greenwood's own personal campaign
Fictional universe
A fictional universe is a self-consistent fictional setting with elements that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm ....
. Greenwood began a Realms campaign in the city of Waterdeep
Waterdeep (city)
Waterdeep is a fictional city-state that forms part of a popular Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game campaign setting called the Forgotten Realms. It is a port city that is located along the western coast of the Faerûn sub-continent...
, then started another group known as the Knights of Myth Drannor in Shadowdale. Greenwood felt that his players' thirst for detail made the Realms what it is: "They want it to seem real, and work on ‘honest jobs’ and personal activities, until the whole thing grows into far more than a casual campaign. Roleplaying always governs over rules, and the adventures seem to develop themselves."
Beginning with the periodical's 30th issue in 1979, Greenwood published a series of short articles that detailed the setting in The Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
magazine, the first of which was about a monster known as the curst. Greenwood wrote voluminous entries to Dragon magazine, using the Realms as a setting for his descriptions of magic items
Magic item (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a magic item is any object that has magical powers inherent in it. These may act on their own or be the tools of the character in whose hands they fall into. Magic items have been prevalent in the game in every edition and setting, from the...
, monsters, and spells. In 1986, the American game publishing company TSR
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
began looking for a new campaign setting
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, and assigned Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb is an author and game designer. He has worked on a number of computer and role-playing games and has written a number of successful novels, short stories and comics...
to find out more about the setting used by Greenwood as portrayed in his articles in Dragon. According to Greenwood, Grubb asked him "Do you just make this stuff up as you go, or do you really have a huge campaign world?"; he answered "yes" to both questions. TSR felt that the Forgotten Realms would be a more open-ended setting than the epic Dragonlance
Dragonlance
Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of popular fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job application...
setting, and chose the Realms as a ready-made campaign setting upon deciding to publish AD&D 2nd Edition. Greenwood agreed to work on the project, and began working to get the Forgotten Realms officially published. Greenwood sent TSR a few dozen cardboard boxes stuffed with pencil notes and maps, and sold all rights to the Realms for a token fee.
Publishing the Realms
In 1987, Ed Greenwood and Jeff GrubbJeff Grubb
Jeff Grubb is an author and game designer. He has worked on a number of computer and role-playing games and has written a number of successful novels, short stories and comics...
wrote the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is a role-playing game sourcebook first published in 1987, detailing the Forgotten Realms setting, containing information on characters, locations, and history as well as setting-specific rules for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game...
for TSR
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
—though Greenwood had used the Forgotten Realms for his home Dungeons & Dragons campaign since 1975. The spawned campaign world was a success, and he has been involved with all subsequent incarnations of the Forgotten Realms in D&D. Greenwood's most lasting character from the setting is the wizard Elminster, whom he portrayed (at TSR's
TSR, Inc.
Blume and Gygax, the remaining owners, incorporated a new company called TSR Hobbies, Inc., with Blume and his father, Melvin Blume, owning the larger share. The former assets of the partnership were transferred to TSR Hobbies, Inc....
request) for a number of years at conventions and as a participant in the RPGA's
RPGA
The RPGA , is part of the organized play arm of Wizards of the Coast that organizes and sanctions role-playing games worldwide, principally under the d20 system...
Living City
Living campaigns
Living Campaigns are a gaming format within the table-top role-playing game community that provide the opportunity for play by an extended community within a shared universe...
campaign.
Since the release of the Forgotten Realms, Greenwood has published many Forgotten Realms novels, as listed below. He retains certain rights of his setting, but is essentially a freelance author.
Greenwood feels his work on the Realms that he likes best are "those products that impart some of the richness and color of the Realms, such as the novel I wrote with Jeff Grubb, Cormyr; the Volo’s Guides; Seven Sisters; The Code of the Harpers
The Code of the Harpers
The Code of the Harpers is an accessory for the fictional Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
; City of Splendors; and stuff that lots of gamers have found useful, such as Drow of the Underdark
Drow of the Underdark
Drow of the Underdark is the name of two supplemental rules books for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, providing supplementary game rules focusing on drow culture, equipment and folklore for both players and Dungeon Masters....
and Ruins of Undermountain
Ruins of Undermountain
Ruins of Undermountain is boxed set for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the second edition of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game...
." He found that it has been easy to keep his enthusiasm for the Realms over the years, as so many people care about it, ask him questions about the world's lore ("Realmslore"), and share with him what they have done.
Ed Greenwood has stated that the Forgotten Realms, as run by him in his own games, is much more "dark" and edgy than it is in officially sanctioned, published works.
Personal
Ed Greenwood runs a regular D&D game in the Forgotten Realms setting. He has stated that it is important for people who do freelance writing for roleplaying games to be active as both players and as dungeon masters.He works at a public library
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
.
Anthology Novellas
- "One Comes Unheralded, to Zirta" - originally written in 1967, published in Best of the Realms 2 (2005);
- "Elminster at the Mage Fair" - Realms of Valor (1993);
- "So High A Price" - Realms of Infamy (1994);
- "The Eye of the Dragon" - Realms of Magic (1995);
- "A Slow Day In Skullport" - Realms of the Underdark (1996);
- "The Whispering Crown" - Realms of the Arcane (1997);
- "The Place Where Guards Snore at their Posts" - Realms of the Deep (2000);
- "When Shadows Come Seeking A Throne" - Realms of Shadow (2002)
Non-Forgotten Realms Novels
- Band of Four Series
- The Kingless Land (2000)
- The Vacant Throne (2001)
- A Dragon's Ascension (2002)
- The Dragon's Doom (2003)
- The Silent House: A Chronicle of Aglirta (2004)
- Falconfar Series
- Dark Lord (Solaris BooksSolaris BooksSolaris Books is an imprint which focuses on publishing science fiction, fantasy and dark fantasy novels and anthologies. The range includes titles by both established and new authors...
2007) - Arch Wizard (Solaris BooksSolaris BooksSolaris Books is an imprint which focuses on publishing science fiction, fantasy and dark fantasy novels and anthologies. The range includes titles by both established and new authors...
2008) - Falconfar (Solaris BooksSolaris BooksSolaris Books is an imprint which focuses on publishing science fiction, fantasy and dark fantasy novels and anthologies. The range includes titles by both established and new authors...
2010)
- Dark Lord (Solaris Books
- Novel of Niflheim Series
- Dark Warrior Rising: A Novel of Niflheim (Tor BooksTor BooksTor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...
2007) - Dark VengeanceDark VengeanceDark Vengeance is the DVD from the television series True Justice starring Steven Seagal. It is the combination of third and fourth episodes Dark Vengeance: Part1 and Dark Vengeance: Part 2 from the series....
(Tor BooksTor BooksTor Books is one of two imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC, based in New York City. It is noted for its science fiction and fantasy titles. Tom Doherty Associates also publishes mainstream fiction, mystery, and occasional military history titles under its Forge imprint. The company was founded...
2008)
- Dark Warrior Rising: A Novel of Niflheim (Tor Books
Other activities
Greenwood has published over two hundred articles in Dragon MagazineDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
and Polyhedron Newszine
Polyhedron (magazine)
Polyhedron was a magazine which started out as the official publication of the RPGA . Publication began in the year 1981, and the target audience was players of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game...
, is a lifetime charter member of the Role Playing Game Association (RPGA
RPGA
The RPGA , is part of the organized play arm of Wizards of the Coast that organizes and sanctions role-playing games worldwide, principally under the d20 system...
) network, has written over thirty books and modules for TSR, and been Gen Con Game Fair guest of honor several times.
He has also contributed to most Forgotten Realms gaming accessories, and authored many more—including the detailed Volo's Guide series—and continues to DM his own campaign. He writes regular Realmslore columns for the Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
website, and frequents the Candlekeep web forums (where he may be contacted).
In addition to all these activities, Greenwood works as a library clerk (and sometimes as a librarian) and has edited over a dozen small press magazines. When not appearing at conventions, he lives in an old farmhouse in the countryside of Ontario.
As of 1998, Greenwood lived in applegrowing country on Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
, still working full time at the North York Community Library, as he had since 1974, and continued to run his original Waterdeep campaign with the same core group he started with, albeit meeting only sporadically.
Media Mentions
Ed Greenwood has appeared in the following newspaper and magazine articles, websites and podcasts.Podcasts
- Open Design: Open Design 004: Dwarves of the Ironcrags. Ed provides the voice for the introduction to this show.
- RPG Countdown: Ed appeared on these episodes: 29 July 2009 (Kobold Quarterly 010).
- DiceCast Episode 10 (by Polymancer Studios)
Magazines
- To Believe the Magic Is Real: A Conversation with Ed Greenwood Clarkesworld MagazineClarkesworld MagazineClarkesworld Magazine is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. The first issue was published October 1, 2006 and it has maintained a regular monthly schedule since, publishing fiction by authors such as Sarah Monette, Catherynne Valente, Elizabeth Bear, Caitlin R...
, December 2008