Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
The "Forgotten Realms" boxed set was upgraded in 1993 to the "AD&D" 2nd Edition game rules, which was later republished in 1996.In 2001, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. published the "Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting", a Forgotten Realms campaign source book for use with the 3rd Edition of the "Dungeons & Dragons" role-playing game. The book was written by Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams and Rob Heinsoo, with additional contributions from members of the Wizard company's staff. Interior art was by Todd Lockwood, Sam Wood, Matt Wilson, Carlo Arellano and Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. The hardbound book is 320 pages in length and features color illustrations.
Forgotten Realms
The focus of the Forgotten Realms setting is the continent of Faerûn, part of the fictional world of Abeir-Toril, usually called simply Toril, an Earth-like planet with many real-world influences. Unlike Earth, the lands of the Forgotten Realms are not all ruled by the human race: the planet Toril is shared by humans, dwarves, elves, goblins, orcs, and other peoples and creatures. Technologically, the world of the Forgotten Realms is not nearly as advanced as that of Earth; in this respect, it resembles the pre-industrial Earth of the 13th or 14th century. However, the presence of magic provides an additional element of power to the societies. There are several nation states and many independent cities, with loose alliances being formed for defense or conquest. Trade is performed by ship or horse-drawn vehicle, and manufacturing is based upon cottage industry.
Toril consists of several large continents, including Faerûn, the western part of a continent that was roughly modeled after the Eurasian continent on Earth. Faerûn was first detailed in the original "Forgotten Realms Campaign Set", published in 1987 by TSR. The other continents include Kara-Tur, Zakhara, Maztica, and other yet unspecified landmasses. Kara-Tur, roughly corresponding to ancient East Asia, was later the focus of its own source book "", published in 1988. There is also a vast subterranean world called the Underdark beneath the surface.