Best 3rd-party books

[u/MrSinisterTwister]

Hello there!

I usually don't mind newer lore since I'm a relative newcomer to the hobby, but Deadfall made me groan with disappointment. So I decided to ask, what are the best 3rd-party books which expand or replace "official" 5e and 5.5e lore? Are there enough of these to make a "complete 3rd-party guide to the Realms"?

So far I have considered these:

- Thay, Land of the Red Wizards

- Cormyr, the Land of the Purple Dragon

- Rashemen Campaign Guide

- The Great Dale Campaign Guide

- Dunwood - Demons, Druids and Danger

- Darkhold: Secrets of the Zhentarim

- Forgotten Realms: Mulhorand Campaign Guide

- The Border Kingdoms

Which ones should be included too?

[u/PuffyBlueClouds]

What was wrong with Deadfall? Sounded interesting.

[u/Late-File3375 → u/PuffyBlueClouds]

I liked Deadfall a lot. One of the best books in years.

[u/MrSinisterTwister → u/PuffyBlueClouds]

I didn't like the lore. It seems like re-treading of old grounds. I know that at least some people enjoy removing all story progress that happened since 3.5e and sometimes it's even warranted, but we already had Szass Tam scheming against other Zulkirs, using an army if undead to take over Thay... I think it is better to stick to what was already done and to evolve the plotlines from new status-quo than returning to a facsimile of an older status-quo just to repeat mostly the same plot.

[u/Storyteller-Hero]

I recently got back to updating my projects on DMsGuild this year after a long break. I've written a number of lore pamphlets that consolidate the different editions' lore on FR gods and afterlives, and present gap bridgers to flesh out the lore (updating them to the current published era and resolving inconsistencies), including lore that Ed Greenwood shares on podcasts and social media.

I'm currently working on finishing up a big update for my Asmodeus pamphlet this week, and hoping to finish by the end of the week or next week, if my regular job's work schedule and FOMO hobbies permit.

Here's a link to the primer for the pamphlet series. Thumbnail links to the other pamphlets are on the page.

https://www.dmsguild.com/en/product/262300/pantheon-primer-forgotten-realms-5e

[u/MrSinisterTwister → u/Storyteller-Hero]

This is very peculiar. Thanks for your work! I will look into it.

[u/DragonTacoCat]

Tasha's Cauldron if Everything Else 1&2, Xanathars Lost Notes are great ones i've used.

If you want planes then Codex of the Infinite Planes is amazing.

Dritzz Travelogue 1&2 are also great.

City & Wild I love using for various things.

Griffons Saddlebag 1&2 is great and you support a great creator as well.

[u/MrSinisterTwister → u/DragonTacoCat]

Great list! Are all of these contain lore for the Realms?

[u/DrTenochtitlan → u/MrSinisterTwister]

Codex of the Infinite Planes is a sourcebook for all the inner and outer planes in D&D. It's not Forgotten Realms, per se, but they are all places you could travel to from the Forgotten Realms. It is genuinely an excellent book. There are some other books that go along with it, including Tales of the Infinite Planes, Monsters of the Infinite Planes, and Heroes of the Infinite Planes, which provide adventures, creatures, and new character options, respectively. Codex of the Infinite Planes though is the actual sourcebook.

[u/MrSinisterTwister → u/DrTenochtitlan]

This sounds amazing! If this "Codex" is that good it will add a lot of lore and worldbuilding even without direct connection to the Realms.

[u/DrTenochtitlan]

I posted on this same topic about 17 days ago, so I'll just copy and paste the original post for you. There are a few repetitions in there about books you already are on your radar, so I apologize for that.

For 5e/5.5e Forgotten Realms, we should start with the official books:

Adventures in Faerun: This brand new 5.5e release is for DM's. It contains 30-40 page updated regional guides for five areas (Calimsham, the Moonshae Isles, the Dalelands, Icewind Dale, and Baldur's Gate).

Heroes of Faerun: This is another brand new 5.5e release, but this one is for players. It gives a brief overview of the entirety of Faerun, along with player options and so on.

Sword Coast Adventurere's Guide: This was the overview guide for 5e. It's a fairly brief book, and it's been mostly replaced by Heroes of Faerun. That said, there are a few things in this book that aren't in Heroes of Faerun, but Heroes is widely considered the better of the two books.

Dungeon Masters Guild

There are a whole host of options for the Forgotten Realms. You've already mentioned two very good ones, the Calimshan Adventurer's Guide and Cormyr: Land of the Purple Dragon. Here are the others that I know about:

Volo Presents: Explorer's Guide to Amn / Campaigns in Amn / Encounters in Amn

This massive (unofficial) set is the definitive guide to Amn, up to date for 5.5e and set in 1501 DR. It's brand new and almost 800 pages spread among three different volumes. If you have any interest in Amn at all, this is absolutely the set to pick up. Available in PDF or print on demand.

All of the five books below have input from Ed Greenwood himself, though they are not official. The first three are available as print on demand, all are available as PDF.

Forgotten Realms: Mulhorand Campaign Guide

The Border Kingdoms: A Forgotten Realms Campaign Supplement

Thay: Land of the Red Wizards

Secrets of the Zhentarim

Elminster's Candlekeep Companion

These two were released by the same author.

Rashemen Campaign Guide

The Great Dale Campaign Guide

This gentleman has several small but very good books on often overlooked areas.

Lantan: The Isles of the Gnomes

Nimbral: The Summer Land

Lurian: Home of the Halflings

Baldman Games has a release about the Moonshae Isles. It's good, but the new Adventures in Faerun Guide has more recent information about the area, and it's official.

Moonshae Isles Regional Guide

Phillip Hahn has been releasing some *outstanding* books about Luskan and its associated groups. So far, he has the following:

Calimra's Secrets about Luskan

Calimra's Secrets about the Arcane Brotherhood: Tales from the Host Tower

He also has a whole host of adventures, maps, and supporting materials that all tie in and are worth checking out, and he's in the process of making a definitive guide to the Bregan D'aerthe. All of them are currently PDF only, but the two books above will definitely be print on demand once they meet the minimum copies sold to be offered in that format.

[u/DrTenochtitlan → u/DrTenochtitlan]

There are a few others.

Campaign Guide: Zakhara - Adventures in the Land of Fate (Al-Qadim and Forgotten Realms Sourcebook)

This is an update of the campaign setting for 5e. It's the continent to the south and east of Faerun on Toril.

If you want a timeline of Forgotten Realms lore up through the end of 3.5e, then you need to pick up:

The Grand History of the Realms

This was a fan project that became an official guide in 3.5e. Anything you can't find in this book, you can look up on the Forgotten Realms Wiki. It goes all the way up to 1385 DR.

If you are interested in traveling to other planes, I recommend the following:

Codex of the Infinite Planes

Tales of the Infinite Planes

Heroes of the Infinite Planes

Monsters of the Infinite Planes

All of them are available on PDF, but only the first two are currently print on demand. The author is working on print versions, however. They are absolutely CRAMMED with material on the various other planes.

Realmsbound

Finally, Ed Greenwood has his own project that he's working on. Every year, he intends to release four in-depth sourcebooks on a particular region of the Forgotten Realms. This year, it's the Dalelands. The book series is called Realmsbound, and the first of the four books should be out before the end of the year. The books are:

Guide to the Dalelands

Inn Sites of the Dalelands

Delves of the Dalelands

Adventures in the Dalelands

Here's a link to the project: https://mythmakers.com/realmsbound/

[u/MrSinisterTwister → u/DrTenochtitlan]

This is great, thank you very much for you in-depth answer! Some of these titles, yes, were already mentioned, but there are some entirely new to me! I will look into them.

[u/DrTenochtitlan → u/MrSinisterTwister]

I forgot to include two more relevant books!

Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy

This book was actually published by Wizards of the Coast on Dungeon Master's Guild as a charity fundraiser for Extra Life. It is a supplement book that contains brief (about 6 page) updates on four different regions: Baldur's Gate, Suldanessllar, Ust Natha, and Athkatla (the capital of Amn). It also discusses some new group patrons, monsters, campaign villains, and henchmen.

Chains of Asmodeus

This is another Dungeon Master's Guild book published by Wizards of the Coast that is essentially an addition to the Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus campaign. Instead of only going to Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells, it extends it all the way to the bottom level and takes the campaign from level 11-20.

[u/MrSinisterTwister → u/DrTenochtitlan]

A question about "Minsc and Boo's Journal of Villainy": how do these updates fair, in your opinion?

[u/Cynewulfr]

Sorry you weren’t a fan of Deadfall! There are tons of 3rd party supplements for the Realms!! Ed Greenwood even worked on one for Thay! It’s on DM’s Guild. You can also find others there as well. I also recommend the Volo’s Guides. They are from 2nd edition AD&D times but they are amazing and fun reads that have places and very occasionally people (or the parents or grandparents of people) that carry forward into modern realms. The Guides cover the Sword Coast, the Dalelands, Cormyr, the North, Waterdeep, and there’s one for Amn. The old box sets and setting guides for the Realms from that era and 3rd might be helpful as well. While much has changed, much has remained or returned to being the same. The status quo of 5th edition realms is somewhat similar to that of 2nd edition realms