Worlds & Realms: New D&D Book Announced
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This year marks several major milestones for Dungeons & Dragons, with the legendary role-playing game celebrating it’s 50th anniversary and preparing for the launch of a set of updated Core Rule Books.
Building on this momentum, Wizards of the Coast recently announced a new upcoming book entitled Worlds & Realms: Adventures from Greyhawk to Faerûn and Beyond. Written by former Wizards of the Coast game designer Adam Lee and published by Ten Speed Press, the illustrated book is an exploration of some of D&D’s most popular campaign settings and is narrated by the legendary wizard Mordenkainen. The book will be released on October 29th, 2024 but is available for pre-order now from Amazon.
So just what can we expect to see in this guided tour of the D&D multiverse? Below we dig into all the details.
What is “Worlds & Realms” about?
Worlds & Realms: Adventures from Greyhawk to Faerûn and Beyond is a 368 page illustrated book that explores some of the many worlds and planes of existence that make up the Dungeons & Dragons multiverse. This includes fan-favorite D&D campaign settings such as Dragonlance, the Forgotten Realms,, Planescape, Spelljammer and Ravenloft.
While the book is technically non-fiction, and is written as a guide to these many unique worlds and locations, it’s narrated by the archmage Mordenkainen who hails from the world of Greyhawk and most recently appears in the campaign sourcebook Vecna: Eve of Ruin.
The book features both new and existing artwork from various D&D sourcebooks, along with several new short stories written by authors including Twitch stream gamer and actress Jasmine Bhullar, narrative designer Geoffrey Golden, comic book writer Jody Houser, RPG designer Eric Campbell and fantasy novelist Jaleigh Johnson.
Who is “Worlds & Realms” author Adam Lee?
Adam Lee is a writer, game designer and former Creative Lead for Wizards of the Coast, who spent almost 12 years working on dozens of Dungeons & Dragons products. This includes serving as the Story Lead on Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus, as well as contributing to sourcebooks including Candlekeep Mysteries, The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, Tashas’s Cauldron of Everything, Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Xanathar’s Guide to Everything.
In 2021, Lee left Wizards of the Coast and co-founded the company, Mysterious Alchemy, which provides creative consulting services for companies who are interested in IP world building and narrative design. Worlds & Realms appears to be the first new D&D product that Lee has worked on since leaving Wizards of the Coast.
When will “Worlds & Realms” be released?
Worlds & Realms is slated for release on October 29th, 2024 in both a hardcover and eBook format. Notably, reviewer copies will likely be available several weeks before then, so we should be able to get a better sense of what.
Interestingly, the book is being published by Ten Speed Press, which is an imprint of Random House Books; the former distributor of Dungeons & Dragons products who parted ways with Wizards of the Coast in October 2023.
How much is “Worlds & Realms”?
Worlds & Realms is retailing for $50 USD in hardcover and $17.99 USD for the Kindle eBook. This puts it in about the same price range as the upcoming book The Making of Dungeons & Dragons, which is somewhat similar in terms of content and length. Currently, pre-orders do have a discount on them, but it’s not clear how long these savings will be available for.
Notably, the book will be available online and from brick and mortar retailers. It will also likely be widely distributed to local game stores who carry D&D products.
Final Thoughts
It’s really the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons that have made the game so popular, with settings like Dragonlance and the Forgotten Realms remaining a key part of the D&D experience. That’s why it’s great to see these settings getting this level of love and attention – something that will likely appeal to both new and returning fans aliek.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on Worlds & Realms in the days ahead and will provide more information and a complete review closer to launch. In the meantime, you can pre-order your copy now from Amazon.
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Ollie Delano is a Staff Writer who lives in Chicago, Illinois where he majored in Journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He’s been playing Dungeons & Dragons for over 10 years and currently plays in a weekly game group where he rolls way too many natural 1s and chugs way too much Mountain Dew. His favorite D&D campaign setting is Eberron and his favorite character to play was a Tiefling rogue named Draxiss who enjoys both literal and figurative backstabbing.
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