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The Multiverse of D&D
sandukutupu
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I was talking to another player and they didn't understand what I meant when I said, "Ravenloft and Spelljammer are not part of this universe.". Just like other series, D&D has created multiple universes to deal with alternate history and settings.
For the most part we play in the Forgotten Realms universe. Ed Greenwood created Forgotten Realms as his personal campaign and detailed in a long series of articles in Dragon Magazine from the late 1980s on to today. While most of the world resembles pre-industrial Earth of the 13th or 14th century, this planet is called Abeir-Toril. It is sometimes shortened to Toril and the region of Faerûn is where Neverwinter resides.
Where did we play before Ed Greenwood?? Blackmoor was the original setting. created by Dave Arneson. But this predates when I even started to play. Blackmoor dates back to 1977 when I was about 12 years old. Ravenloft came out while I was in high school and I loved vampire stories. Ravenloft is another universe and the realm of Ravenloft has more than just Barovia and Strahd. For example, beyond the fog, is other countries held in terror by other dark lords. Dr. Victor Mordenheim is the dark lord of Lamordia, and has created a monster called Adam. Yes a real Frankenstein story just nearby.
Other universes include; Dragonlance, Eberron, Greyhawk (created by Gary Gygax), Planescape, Mystara, Spelljammer, and several others. Even Warcraft on the planet of Azeroth, is part of the D&D universe. But no longer supported by the intellectual property rights. What you don't believe me??
Third Edition D&D
For the most part we play in the Forgotten Realms universe. Ed Greenwood created Forgotten Realms as his personal campaign and detailed in a long series of articles in Dragon Magazine from the late 1980s on to today. While most of the world resembles pre-industrial Earth of the 13th or 14th century, this planet is called Abeir-Toril. It is sometimes shortened to Toril and the region of Faerûn is where Neverwinter resides.
Where did we play before Ed Greenwood?? Blackmoor was the original setting. created by Dave Arneson. But this predates when I even started to play. Blackmoor dates back to 1977 when I was about 12 years old. Ravenloft came out while I was in high school and I loved vampire stories. Ravenloft is another universe and the realm of Ravenloft has more than just Barovia and Strahd. For example, beyond the fog, is other countries held in terror by other dark lords. Dr. Victor Mordenheim is the dark lord of Lamordia, and has created a monster called Adam. Yes a real Frankenstein story just nearby.
Other universes include; Dragonlance, Eberron, Greyhawk (created by Gary Gygax), Planescape, Mystara, Spelljammer, and several others. Even Warcraft on the planet of Azeroth, is part of the D&D universe. But no longer supported by the intellectual property rights. What you don't believe me??
Third Edition D&D
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Comments
Spelljammer is a real oddball in D&D lore and the means to hop from one universe to another. Unless you're on the power level of Elminster, the Blackstaff, or Mordenkainen.
Meanwhile I made a cross over between Neverwinter and Millennium City. The Zorgs of Neverwinter were sent to another realm while fighting in the Dread Ring. Thus their daughter Zandra Zorg aka Red Inferno, remains there in the city where she was born. It will never be offically canonized but it is nice to link some stuff together.
Official website here. Has nothing linking it to Toril or the same universe, but doesn't say it isn't in the neighborhood.
But I found the user supported wiki here. states "Reallu, Athas, like all the worlds of the multiverse, changes with the passage of time. And, like all worlds inhabited by Humans, time is marked by the occurrence of great events."
And of course the Wikipedia says, "Dark Sun deviated from the feudalistic backdrops of its Tolkienesque pseudo-medieval contemporaries, such as Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms, in favor of a composite of dark fantasy, planetary romance, and the Dying Earth subgenre.". The information box shows it was property of TSR and now Wizards of the Coast.
I think WotC hasn't done anything with this property since 4th edition.
Since Cryptic has already added elements of Ravenloft and Spelljammer, maybe they will add a trip to "Dark Sun".
@gradii I am glad someone enjoys mod 15. I felt like it was out of step with the whole game. While my son, I mentioned above, said he enjoyed playing it, and got the stone. All my people barely started it.
I don't mind a little slapstick humor in any game now and then, but an entire campaign of D&D meets the Keystone Cops is a bit much.
Have fun!
> @ron#1747 That is very strange because I remember playing Ravenloft in 3rd edition back from around 1986 to 1990, and I still have my books too. My husband has his 3rd Edition boxed sets up in the closet. Ravenloft is another universe of D&D and I would never have placed the icon on the Swordcoast map. It should have been a Vistani talisman off to the side or you should go talk to a Vistani NPC to get there. The way it appears in the game is wrong, but not my call to make.
The location on the game map is the location you can transfer to barovia FROM, not the location of barovia itself. Barovia is located in the shadowfell
You can read a little more about their history here and on the other linked pages on there:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Tymanther
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Dragonborn#History
The events of the main ingame campaign happen some time after the Spellplague (1385-1480 DR), though newer content, some of the modules like Storm King's Thunder, Into the Abyss, Curse of Strahd (Ravenloft), Tomb of Annihilation and Descent into Avernus take place in the "modern" times of the Forgotten Realms. I've yet to find an acurate ingame date, but it should be sometime close to or after 1500 DR.
So yes, the Dragonborn are very new to Toril, quite literally an alien species from another world that has lived "here" for only a few generations.
Al-qadim: the Arabian setting.
Birthright: Kings and knights kind of vibe.
Dark Sun: A post apocalyptic dying world in which psionics started to take the place of magic since magic led to the slow apocalypse.
Dragon lance: we all kinda know Dragonlance.
PlaneScape: Home of the lady of pain, D&D's sharpest dresser.
Kara-tur: an Asian themed setting that had ninjas and Ninja magic.
Maztica: an Aztec themed setting.
Ravenloft: Like Barovia but an entire world.
RedSteel: Hamstering pirates man.
Savage lands: which i honestly know nothing about.
Spelljammer: Magic Space star trek.
Mystara: The one that the D&D arcade beat um up takes place in.
( I only know about most of these because i bought a Wizard's spell Compendium as a kid and some of the spell were particular to certain settings and had them listed. )
Nevertheless, through some deep lore and DM fudging all these disperate realities could fit together in some fashion, and we are already seeing them have aspects migrate in with Curse of Strahd bringing small sections of Ravenloft back in, Calisham basically being the Asia equivilent of toril and savagelands or Maztica could be rebuilt using Chult as a template.
Now these are only old official settings. When it comes to homebrew then the whole 'different universe' thing can get really out there.
Like I helped some religious friends build a home brew that did away with many of the aspects they found troubling. There was a single god and all magic, arcane or Divine all came from that god. There were only humans as playable races, but this was done because the players were newish and didn't want the complications of racial feats to deal with.
Now, take the game i helped my christian buddies run and try to slot it into official D&D lore and it would be like trying to stuff a bowling ball in your pocket. They are just not meant to fit together.
I look at it like this. D&D is the rule set and system first and the lore and setting second.
I too wish to be recreated, and to be loved long after my death.