If there were awards for the longest-running Dungeons & Dragons campaigns in history, Ed Greenwood’s Forgotten Realms would likely garner top honors alongside Greyhawk, which came from the imagination of D&D co-creator Gary Gygax. Launched as a campaign with friends in 1975, Greenwood’s elaborate fantasy world became an official D&D setting in 1987, when TSR published a boxed set developed in collaboration with Jeff Grubb.

The Realms, as they’re known to many fans, became increasingly popular during the 1990s, spawning a series of novels (some written by Greenwood), a comic book series, and more gameplay materials. The world also served as the setting for many D&D-based videogames, starting with 1988’s Pool of Radiance and continuing into the present day with Baldur’s Gate II, Neverwinter Nights, and the Neverwinter Nights expansion packs and sequel.

The web site Candlekeep hosts not only copious amounts of Forgotten Realms lore but also a forum where members can ask Greenwood questions. There, he has answered queries addressing not only Realms minutiae but also how and why the world came into existence.

As a child, he voraciously read everything from physics books to fantasy and science-fiction works by the top authors of the 1960s and 1970s. When series chronicling his favorite characters didn’t come out with new entries fast enough, he started writing his own, he reveals in one Candlekeep forum post. “Most of these, of course, were both horrible and unfinished little pastiches, but that hunger was the root from which the Realms grew,” he explains.

He began inventing original characters for his stories and wrote his first Realms tale in 1967, he recalls. The world became a natural setting for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign when the game was released in the mid-1970s. Thanks to his players’ tireless desire to explore the world he had created, Greenwood spent hours “puzzling out economics, trade routes, currents, prevailing winds, floods and droughts, mineral wealth locations, and so on,” he says.

As Abeir-Toril Turns

The Realms exist on a planet called Abeir-Toril, which has one moon, Selûne; asteroids known as the Tears of Selûne orbit the two. Selûne is also the name of one of the Realms’ many deities, which are split into four levels of importance and are subservient to Ao, who created the world and has no worshippers. The rest of the gods must attract legions of the faithful to survive. You may choose one for your character to worship in Neverwinter Nights 2.

The subcontinent Faerûn is the best-developed part of the planet. Its northwestern area is the setting for the Neverwinter Nights videogames, as well as many others that take place in the Realms, and it is home to a cast of well-known characters, including Greenwood’s wizard, Elminster Aumar, and the drow (dark elf) Drizzt Do’Urden, who was created by the novelist R.A. Salvatore. “I truly don’t have a favorite character,” Greenwood says in a different Candlekeep post. “I believe it has to be that way, for me to handle my creation properly as I continue to detail it.”

In the early days of the Forgotten Realms’ official D&D existence, TSR said that the world was linked to other campaign settings through the Great Wheel, which connected various planes of existence. However, in 2001, the revised official gameplay materials for the Realms and broke it off into a distinct cosmology. Abeir-Toril exists on the prime material plane, surrounded by 26 outer planes.

Greenwood continues to develop the Forgotten Realms, assisted by several novelists and many fans. Much of the planet is still uncharted territory, so there’s plenty to explore and invent. “I wasn’t trying to create a game setting or a bestselling fictional fantasy world,” he recalls. “I was just entertaining myself.” He attributes its enduring popularity to the fact that “it feels real … [It] has built up a history that makes events and character achievements seem to matter.”

He adds: “The Realms has become my life, taken me all over the world, and changed everything for me.”

Hero Shot. One of many places you’ll visit during the game.

A Relative of Faulkner’s Bear? He’s no match for your trusty sword.

Powerful Forces Unleashed. An epic battle that will decide your fate, until the next one.

• Humans: They’re adaptable to many character classes and are the most well-rounded of Faerûn’s races. That makes them perfect for new players.
• Planetouched: Sometimes, humans cross-breed with angels and demons that visit from Abeir-Toril’s outer planes. The offspring are often ostracized by society, but the good Aasimar make excellent clerics and paladins, while the evil Tieflings are perfect candidates to become rogues and warlocks.
• Elves: These lithe, long-living creatures are good fits for wizards and sorcerers, except wood elves, which usually prefer the fighter, ranger, and barbarian classes. Moon elves and drow (dark elves) make up the other elvish sub-races. You can also choose to be a half-elf, which is the offspring of a human and an elf; they’re well-rounded, like humans.

• Dwarves: Short and stout, this race makes excellent fighters. Sub-races include shield dwarves, gold dwarves, and gray dwarves (Duergar), which are usually evil.
• Gnomes: Typically shorter than dwarves, gnomes prefer to be bards or spellcasters of any sort. The most common ones are rock gnomes, although you’ll occasionally encounter deep gnomes, which are humorless, underground-dwelling creatures also known as Svirfneblin.
• Halflings: The shortest of Faerûn’s races, Halflings are similar to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Hobbits. Divided into Lightfoot and Strongheart varieties, Halflings are good rogues, bards, or spellcasters.
• Half-Orcs: Half orc, half human, and 100% grouchy, they’re another race that’s a good choice for beginners. They make excellent fighters, barbarians, and monks.

Stumped? Then you may need some help, thanks to the cheat codes that are commonly placed in most video games. They allow you to, well, cheat and change the rules. This sometimes includes activating bonuses, unlocking secrets, and accessing new levels of gameplay. To activate cheats in Neverwinter Nights 2, click on the character who will be the target of the cheat code. Then press the Tilde (~) key and bring up the Debug screen. Type in “DebugMode 1” (without quotes, and exactly as you see it here, with the space before “1”) and you’re ready to start entering the codes below. GameFAQs hosts lists of numbers for feats, items, and spells. Replace “#” with the relevant number from one of those lists. Remember that these codes are case sensitive, and that you need to include the space before “#.”

A word of warning: the “irolltwenties” code will prevent your character from increasing in levels. You can’t go beyond 20th level in the game, however, so if you’re already there, you might as well use the code.