D&D will split new Forgotten Realms release across two books
Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast has finally revealed the 2025 release calendar for the iconic tabletop role-playing game. During its D&D Direct streaming presentation on Tuesday, Hasbro’s premier role-playing studio previewed a handful of new releases designed to inspire creativity among the community. Pre-baked story campaigns are apparently out, while a return to the Forgotten Realms setting is on the horizon.
While the nearly 20-minute presentation concluded with an extended look at the new virtual tabletop, no firm release date was given outside of an open beta this fall. Instead, the core of the video dealt with the new books already in the pipeline.
The 2024 rule update appears to be pretty much set in stone at this point, starting with the new Players Manual in wide release on September 17th. The revised Guide for Dungeon Masters on November 12 and the Monster Manual on Feb. 18, 2025. Then, things take a slight turn: an untitled dragon-inspired adventure bundle will land in summer 2025, while a new Starter Set will arrive in fall of next year. The calendar will then round out with a Forgotten Realms player guide and a Forgotten Realms campaign guide in late 2025.
“It’s too much to fit into one book, so our return to the Realms will be in two books,” lead rules designer Jeremy Crawford said in the announcement video. “One tailored for Dungeon Masters, and another that’s tailored for players – but also useful for our DMs.”
Of course, this also means that fans will now have to buy a second book to get all the content from Forgotten Realms 5th Edition. The move makes sense from a branding perspective. Created by Ed Greenwood in 1967The Forgotten Realms actually predates tabletop role-playing games by about a decade, but these days the high-fantasy setting is home to virtually all of Wizard’s beloved characters, including RA Salvatore’s Drizzt Do’Urden, Chris Pine’s Edgin the Bard, and the entire cast of Baldurs Gate 3.
This is a new approach to 5th edition adventure D&D content, which previously relied primarily on long narrative campaigns with the occasional anthology. While setting books have been published in recent memory, they have tended to be smaller parts of larger releases. For example, the long-awaited reboot of the Spelljammer setting launched at a mere 64 pages Astral Adventurer’s Guidewhich many fans felt ruined the beloved space setting.
The video promised a variety of gameplay styles in the Forgotten Realms, including urban fantasy, survival horror, and more traditional high fantasy. There’s also an Elvish mega-dungeon involved.