“Now the Realms are yours to conquer.”

TSR’s Forgotten Realms setting (find at Amazon.com*) for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game is one of the most detailed and described imaginary worlds in existence. I do not know for certain, but I feel confident saying that tens of millions of words have been written about the Forgotten Realms since it was launched three decades ago, and I suspect that hundreds of thousands of Dungeons & Dragons players have adventured through the setting.

The advertisement above, from 1990, presents the fabulous Forgotten Realms Adventures* hardcover for the then-new second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Ever since I first bought this book in 1990 it has been an inspiration; loads of near-random and useless details are scattered throughout the book, and back when I was writing roleplaying supplements full-time this book inspired dozens of products. Looking at this ad makes me kinda wish I was still spending my days writing instead of the near-constant management and planning that consumes my life today.