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valiantcosmos
September 17th, 2016, 20:59
Hi all,

I'm new to the world of D and D and wondered how best to quickly learn something about the history and culture of the Forgotten Realms in preparation for playing Storm King's Thunder as a player. I was thinking of reading one of the Sundering series of novels (The first (The Companions)?, the last (The Herald)?). I've browsed the forgottenrealms.wikia site but get a bit overwhelmed with the breadth of information. Any suggestions for quickly getting up to speed on the backstory to the setting of Storm King's Thunder would be greatly appreciated.

LordEntrails
September 17th, 2016, 21:12
Hmm, not sure there is a quick way :)
I don't think any of the novels are up-to date. I think that the last of them was written for 4th edition timeline, but I'm not sure. (I'm not a FR guru). If no one here can help, I would suggest you ask at CandleKeep.com as that site is all about the FR.

The Sword Coast Adventures Guide is written for 5E, so it's upto date timeline-wise, but I don't have it so I do not know what info it might include.

Zacchaeus
September 17th, 2016, 22:02
There isn't really a series of novels that you can read which would give you the kind of background that you seek, since each series tends to focus on a very narrow area of the FR and of course on what is happening to the particular characters in the novel. Whilst in R A Salvatore's books things like the Sundering are happening they are doing so somewhat in the background. Your best bet is to get a hold of the Sword Coast Adventure Guide or perhaps the FR campaign guide for 4e.

However, to be honest a thorough reading of the material in the Introduction and chapter 3 of SKT will give you more than enough material to be getting on with. I'd also suggest a scan through the 'History' section of the FR Wiki to familiarize yourself with the Spellplague and the Sundering in particular. (These two events presaged 4e and 5e basically).

valiantcosmos
September 20th, 2016, 00:24
LordEntrails, thanks for the link to candlekeep.com -- hadn't come across that yet and it looks helpful/interesting.

Zacchaeus: thanks for the advice, that helps me know where to start on the FR wiki.

Jorthain
September 29th, 2016, 20:56
I found the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide very helpful to me. I only recently returned to D&D and had only ever played in Greyhawk or home brew worlds.