Forgotten Realms
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 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 (including the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game to use graphics), and comic books. The Forgotten Realms is one of the most popular "D&D" settings, largely due to the success of novels by authors such as R. A. Salvatore and numerous role-playing video games, including "Pool of Radiance" (1988), "Eye of the Beholder" (1991), "Baldur's Gate" (1998), "Icewind Dale" (2000) and "Neverwinter Nights" (2002).
Jeff Grubb
Grubb was a consultant on the first edition of "Unearthed Arcana", and authored the first edition of the "Manual of the Planes". Grubb contacted Ed Greenwood, author of numerous articles in "Dragon" about his home campaign setting, and soon Greenwood began sending Grubb packages full of maps and background information; this collaboration resulted in the publication of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting beginning with the "Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting" (1987). He is the designer of the "Spelljammer" campaign setting, and the Al-Qadim setting. Grubb felt that Al-Qadim was well received because the designers had managed to hide the setting's potential from TSR's executives.