Editing Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (section)

== 1st edition ==
===Contents===
The 1987 ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Set'' was sold as a [[box set]] containing two 96-page books, four maps, and two clear plastic overlays marked with hex grids.<ref name="HW"/> The maps were four full-color, 34" x 22" maps, two of which combine to form a large-scale (1" = 90 miles) map of the western half of the vast Realms continent, while the other two provide a more detailed (1" = 30 miles) map of the regions featured in the campaign pack.  

The ''Dungeon Master's Sourcebook of the Realms'' describes how to set up and run a campaign in the Forgotten Realms. A pair of short scenarios is included, and information is provided on terrain and movement in the wilderness, important [[non-player character]] personalities, rumors, as well as important and magical books.<ref name="HW"/> Written from the perspective of [[Elminster]] the sage, the book introduces the campaign setting, explains how to use it, and offers adventure resources. Large areas were set aside to be developed for house campaigns, and no published materials were intended to be printed to exploit those areas, while one area detailed in this package was intended to have no subsequent publications use that area. The package covers only the western half of a single continent; the eastern half would later be covered in a separate sourcebook for [[Kara-Tur]]. Two complete dungeon-style adventures are provided: "Halls of the Beast-Tamers", a dungeon with many unconventional problem-solving exercises, and "Lashan's Fall", a dungeon with a mystery and an opportunity to parley with a monster. The "Books of the Forgotten Realms" section is a treatment of several magical tomes that suggests a variety of adventures, with a description of the appearance, history, and contents of each book.

The ''Cyclopedia of the Realms'' contains background information on and detailed maps for the locations featured in the maps of the Forgotten Realms that come with the set.<ref name="HW"/> It begins with an explanation of the Realms' treatment of time, names, language, and currency, and its gods and religion. The remaining 75 pages of the book is an encyclopedic and alphabetic listing of important places, races, nations, cultures, character classes, and organizations of the Realms.

===Publication history===
[[Ed Greenwood]] and [[Jeff Grubb]] collaborated beginning in 1986 to turn Greenwood's [[Forgotten Realms]] campaign setting into a publishable product for the public.  Greenwood sent in packages filled with raw material, maps, and notes to Grubb.<ref name="riggs">{{cite book |last=Riggs |first=Ben |author-link= |date=2022 |title=Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons |location= |publisher=St. Martin's Press |pages=78&ndash;82; 155&ndash;156; 273&ndash;274 |isbn=9781250278043}}</ref>  Grubb then organized and rewrote much of the material, and Karen Martin edited it.  Their combined work created the ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Set'' that was published in 1987.<ref name="designers70s">{{Cite book|author=Shannon Appelcline|title=Designers & Dragons: The '70s|publisher=[[Evil Hat Productions]]|year=2014| isbn=978-1-61317-075-5 |pages=72–73}}</ref>  It featured illustrations and artwork from [[Keith Parkinson]], [[Jeff Easley]], [[Clyde Caldwell]], and Tim Conrad.<ref name="HW">{{cite book|last=Schick |first=Lawrence|title=Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games|publisher=Prometheus Books |year=1991|isbn=0-87975-653-5 |page=99}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Carbonell|first=Curtis D.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1129971339|title=Dread Trident: Tabletop Role-Playing Games and the Modern Fantastic|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2019|isbn=978-1-78962-468-7|location=Liverpool|pages=80–108|chapter=Chapter 3: Dungeons and Dragons Multiverse|oclc=1129971339}}</ref>