Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerûn

by Wizards of the Coast

Genres: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Fiction, Games, Forgotten Realms

288 pages, Hardcover

Published November 11, 2025

About the author

Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC /ˈwɒtˌsiː/ or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. Originally a basement-run role-playing game publisher, the company popularized the collectible card game genre with Magic: The Gathering in the mid-1990s, acquired the popular Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game by purchasing the failing company TSR, and experienced tremendous success by publishing the licensed Pokémon Trading Card Game. The company's corporate headquarters are located in Renton, Washington in the United States.[1]

Wizards of the Coast publishes role-playing games, board games, and collectible card games. They have received numerous awards, including several Origins Awards. The company has been a subsidiary of Hasbro since 1999. All Wizards of the Coast stores were closed in 2004.

Reviews

[Messorem Animarum · Rating 1 out of 5]

A bizarre product starting with the front cover. With all of the incredible characters the Forgotten Realms has at its disposal, the choice to feature this rando on the cover is highly bizarre.

From there, we get a cursory introduction before the book detours into dozens of "adventures" of all levels in the Realms. Unfortunately, these are merely one-half to one-page rough outlines of adventures, all of which require tremendous effort by a DM to bring to fruition. What's more, the usual bizarre DEI infestation is present with characters in these adventures.

Following these are regional gazetteers, which are fine at best. The problem is, every location feels the same due to the bland, corporate ethos WoTC applies to every location. Everywhere seems to adhere to leftist ideology commonplace in 2025 Seattle. Odd, that. Out of place ethnicities and gender activism rule the day, so that everything, everywhere seems like the United Nations. Apparently, the entire Forgotten Realms conforms to the leftist politics currently faddish in the USA. Nothing feels real or grounded. There is zero verisimilitude. Political correctness pervades the art.

The single "full" adventure, The Lost Library of Lethchauntos, is fleshed out at least, but is a politically-correct "Orcs are people too!" screed.

The magic section is fine and the monster section at the back is the one high-quality substantive part of the book, yet even that is infested with political correctness (brave, stunning, strong female warrior pirate queen amongst others)

Sad state of affairs at WoTC. D&D is no more, replaced by a skinsuit rpg which will hopefully pass to the hands of far more responsible, capable stewards who can restore the ripped and faded D&D brand and legacy at some point before too long.

Tip: pick up literally any other guide to the Forgotten Realms from the 1E, 2E, 3E, or even 4E eras for a superior Forgotten Realms experience.

[Jelle Starremans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish we got to see more of the realms, but what we got was fine. I’m currently running an campaign that takes place in Icewind Dale so that is nice to have, but it doesn’t offer that much new lore, the most of it we got already in Icewind Dale: Rime of The Frostmaiden.

I get the Baldurs Gate chapter because of Baldurs Gate III, but would’ve loved if they either focussed on the entire Sword Coast (I know the Sword Coast Adventures Guide excist) or a complete new section of the realm that we didn’t already see in 5e.

The adventures seem to be fun and easy to drop in any campaign that takes place in the Forgotten Realms, I’m fine with the Monster selection we got, but would’ve liked to see more Magic Items related to the places they cover in the book and the Forgotten Realms in general.

Overall I liked the book and will use it in current and upcomming campaigns. Would recommend it to every DM that runs a Forgotten Realms game.

[Sean]

A strong DM’s guide to building 5.5e Faerun campaigns. The five regional gazetteers are the highlight and they sync up nicely with the tips and examples on genre-based design. The one detailed adventure is fine, the best part being the section on adapting it to different regions/genres. The ~50 half-page adventure outlines are all individually underwhelming, but as a whole they contribute somewhat more usefully to the guidance on campaign building. The bestiary has some fun additions both at the minion and boss levels, again tied to the regions’ designated genres of high fantasy, survival horror, fairy tale, gritty urban antiheroes, and Arabian Nights adventure with a steampunk twist. The magic items additions are sparse but what’s there is fine. A handy sourcebook.

[António Massena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adventures in Faerûn é um excelente manual para Dungeon Masters utilizarem, contendo inúmeros monstros do famoso cenário de Forgotten Realms. Possuindo informações sobre cinco regiões, ou quatro regiões e uma cidade pois Baldur's Gate é explicitamente focado na cidade, a obra tem conselhos sobre como jogar nessa região, como também nos Dalelands, Icewind Dale, Calimshan e Moonshae Isles.

Além disso, esta obra vem com aventuras prontas para começar logo a jogar, inclusive uma de nível 1 para ensinar os jogadores sobre o cenário em si. É um pouco chata a leitura em certos pontos, porém, recomendo imenso!

[Nigel Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but could have been so much better.

My first gripe is the areas chosen. Calimshan and The Moonshaes are good, The Dalelands are ok, but why pick Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate when there are already books that cover those areas. Why not choose areas that are different, such as The Forgotten Lands, or the Old Empires?
There are some interesting adventures in Chapter 2 but many of them will require work from the DM to use them. There's also a complete adventure which takes players from Level 1 to level 3, but it's almost at the end of the book.

[Andy Schwartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The gazetteers are great but they get less detailed and there are only 3 new regions. Starts out strong with the Dalelands. Ten Towns as well, though we’ve already seen Ten Towns before. Then there’s a noticeable dip in quality with Calimshan, Moonshae Islands and Baldur’s Gate. Again, did we need another map of Baldur’s Gate?

[Donald Dudley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish it had more but what it did have was good. I wanted Thay, Chult, and other areas.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

my full review can be found at https://www.enworld.org/threads/explo...