Abeir-Toril
Abeir-Toril is the
The name means "cradle of life" in an archaic fictional language of the setting. It consists of various
Publishing history
Toril was the name of
In a significant
Abeir-Toril is the default world for the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons.[9][12]
Fictional continents
Anchorome
This Dungeons & Dragons-related section describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. (February 2010) |
Anchorome is almost unexplored and is at the North of
The character Balduran, a sea captain and founder of
After the discovery of Maztica by the mercenary captain Cordell, mercenaries from the
It is speculated that it is the land where the
Faerûn
The continent of Faerûn is the primary setting of the Forgotten Realms and the part of Toril most detailed in stories and supplements.[7][13][14]
Kara-Tur
Kara-Tur's cultures and peoples are fantasy analogues of medieval regions of East Asia, including China, Korea, Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, Tibet, and others.
The ten distinct nations and regions described in the boxed set and their real-world analogues include:[15][20][23][24][25]
- Shou Lung: Imperial China during periods of centralized government[24]
- T'u Lung: Historical China during eras of political disunity, e.g. the Warring States period[24]
- Wa:
- Kozakura: JapanFeudal/Sengoku period)[24]
- Northern Wastes: Historical Eastern Siberia[23]
- Tabot: Tibet[20][23]
- Koryo: Korea[20][23]
- The Island Kingdoms:
- The Plain of Horses: Historical Hordelands, also known as the Endless Wastes.
- The Jungle Lands of Malatra: Pre-colonial civilizations of hill tribes inspired by their real-life Southeast Asian counterparts.[citation needed]
In 1989 a printing of Trail Maps for Kara-Tur appeared as part of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition. In 1990 the maps were again included in
The setting of Kara-Tur still exists on Abeir-Toril in Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition and is often mentioned in Forgotten Realms supplements. Characters and artifacts from Kara-Tur sometimes show up in Faerûn, but beyond that there is little interaction between the continents. The 2015 release of Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, a supplement for Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition, introduced Kara-Tur to the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons.[17] There is a brief description of the land along with references throughout the book to its culture and how certain classes or backgrounds might fit in there.[30]
Reviewer Michael Mullen, looking at the setting of Kara-Tur before the publication of the boxed set, stated that players would probably like the world, but that it would depend largely on how familiar the DM was with Oriental culture or Japanese movies and television. He remarked that the "usual opposition, if not human, will be from the spirit world", rather than more conventional battles versus monsters.[24] Game studies scholar Aaron Trammell commented: "Although Gary Gygax envisioned a campaign setting that brought a multicultural dimension to Dungeons & Dragons, the reality is that by lumping together Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Philippine, and "Southeast Asian" lore he and co-authors David "Zeb" Cook and Francois Marcela-Froideval actually developed a campaign setting that reinforced western culture's already racist understanding of the "Orient".[31]
Related products set in Kara-Tur
Modules
The Kara-Tur campaign setting inspired the following eight adventure modules (in chronological order):
- OA1, Swords of the Daimyo (1986)
- OA2, Night of the Seven Swords (1986)
- OA3, Ochimo: The Spirit Warrior (1987)
- OA4, Blood of the Yakuza (1987)
- OA5, Mad Monkey vs. the Dragon Claw (1988, zip)
- FROA1, Ninja Wars (1990)
- OA6, Ronin Challenge (1990, zip)
- OA7, Test of the Samurai (1990)
Books
Three choose your own adventure style books (one was actually released before the original Oriental Adventures book) were published:
- Blade of the Young Samurai – Endless Quest 23 (1984)
- Test of the Ninja – AD&D Adventure Gamebook 5 (1985)
- Warlords – 1 on 1 Book 7 (1986)
One of novels in The Empires Trilogy is set in Shou Lung of Kara-Tur.
- )
Other
- Dragon #315, for information on ancestor feats and martial arts styles specific to the Kara-Tur setting, as well as updated information on the 10 empires and regions of Kara-Tur.
Maztica
Maztica, called by its inhabitants The True World, is a fictional continent that is a land of
Early in its fictional history it was a land fought over by the gods Qotal the Plumed Serpent and his brother Zaltec. For a crime against his sister, Qotal retreated from Maztica for an age but returned in recent times.
It was 'discovered' by
Maztica is divided into the nations of Nexal, Kultaka, Huacli, Kolan, Pezelac, and Payit. The region known as Far Payit neighbours Payit, both in the east around Helmsport. The native people of Maztica from Payit and Far Payit are known as Payits, whereas natives from the other nations are known as Mazticans. There are also the human races known as the Dog People and the Green Folk. Many monstrous races also live in Maztica, including wild
Some scorpionfolk from Maztica found an Underdark passage to the Underdark of Faerûn.[32]
North of Maztica is the continent of
Maztica was detailed for 2nd Edition Dungeons & Dragons in the Maztica Campaign Set by Douglas Niles, and in the Forgotten Realms novels of the Maztica Trilogy—Ironhelm, Viperhand and Feathered Dragon—also by Douglas Niles. It was based on historical Central America.[33]
In a retrospective review in Black Gate, Scott Taylor found Maztica unimpressive because the continent too closely mirrored the Mesoamerican world, down to the history of the Conquistadores, rather than creating a uniquely fantasy version inspired by the "colorful and diverse" reality that is Mesoamerica.[34] CBR author Matthew England considered it "a rarity in the fantasy genre" to base a continent on these cultures.[11]
Maztica was also the name of the elder goddess who embodied the land of Maztica. Killed by her own son Zaltec, she was the wife of dead Kukul, but unlike her husband, continues to live on in the continued existence of the continent.
In 4th edition, the Spellplague caused by Mystra's death caused Abeir and Toril to briefly merge and then instantly rip apart again. As a result, Maztica is no longer a part of Toril, having been replaced with a continent called "Returned Abeir". On some maps, it has been renamed Anchorome.
Zakhara
Zakhara is a
The
Waters around Zakhara are bountiful with pirates and corsairs who charge traders tolls to cross "their" seas, such traders willingly pay these exorbitant fees as Zakhara's exotic trading goods tend to be well worth the price back in Faerûn. Occasionally the pirates decide to completely cut off Zakhara from Faerûn.
The land is full of secretive cities, unwelcoming to travellers, huge deserts, lush oases and powerful
Zakharans are firmly convinced they are more civilized than the rest of the world and treat "barbarians" accordingly.
The capital city of Zakhara is Huzuz, the "City of Delights".[36]
In the view of Myles Balfe, the Fantasy "
Other features
Tears of Selûne
The Tears of Selûne are a pack of asteroids trailing Abeir-Toril's moon,
Wu Pi Te Shao
Known as the World Pillar Mountains in Faerûn or Wu Pi Te Shao in
Yal-Tengri
Yal-Tengri (also known as The Great Ice Sea) is Toril's equivalent of the Arctic Ocean. It is barely known at all. In the ancient time, the major city on its shore was
The Yal-Tengri is free of ice for the six summer months of the year
The Endless Ice Sea is the name of the western Faerûn part of it. Somewhere there is Jhothûn, the long-forgotten capital of a mighty empire of Giants.
Reception and analysis
Philip J. Clements referred to "the world of the highly popular Forgotten Realms series" as "an unusually well-developed D&D setting", which has great variety among its fantasy races. A number of human cultures in different regions take their inspirations from real-world cultures.[37][38][11]
Daniel T. Kline summed up Abeir-Toril as a "vast, high-fantasy, neo-medievalist world".[39]
CBR writer Jared King considered the history of the world of Toril "full of deep lore crafted over decades of editions" and found the Dawn War, a conflict involving the gods in the ancient past of the setting, especially fascinating.[40]
In comparison to other D&D worlds, Aidan-Paul Canavan found Toril "more illustrative" and that it "became further codified and developed over time" than the world of
Areas of the planet inspired by non-Western real-world cultures, namely
Medievalist Amy S. Kaufman listed Kara-Tur and the
Screen Rant author Derek Garcia questioned the use of Abeir-Toril "as the default setting of modern-day Dungeons & Dragons", as he saw many problematic stereotypes published in the game's history as associated with this world.[12]
References
- ISBN 978-3-290-22010-5.
- ^
Tom Costa (2005). "Africa in the Realms". Archived from the original on November 12, 2006. Retrieved March 19, 2007.
I know several folks (myself included) who transplanted Atlas Games' excellent Nyambe (with some tweaks), which also built off many of the old 2E articles in Dragon on African gaming, to the large undefined continent southwest of Nimbral and southeast of Maztica
- ^ James, Brian R. (May 2006). "A Grand History of the Realms" (PDF). p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-03-06.
Today, many sages surmise that humanity first appeared in the northern savannas of Katashaka around -34,000 DR
- ^ "TSR Profiles". Dragon (#111). Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR, Inc.: 64 July 1986.
- ^ "Volume 1 Issue 13 – Ampersands & Alliteration". Rfipodcast.com. 13 April 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0786408153.
- ^ OCLC 1129971339.
- ISBN 1-56076-617-4.
- ^ a b Baird, Scott (June 23, 2022). "How The Forgotten Realms Became The Default Setting Of Dungeons & Dragons". Screen Rant. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
- ^ Baichtal, John. "Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide Chronicles the World's Epic Changes". Wired. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
- ^ CBR.com. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ a b c Garcia, Derek (December 23, 2021). "D&D's Problematic Lore That Still Needs Fixing". Screen Rant. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
- CBR.com. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- ISBN 0-7869-1836-5.
- ^ a b c Kaufmann, Amy S. (2010). "Medieval Unmoored". Studies in Medievalism. 19: 1–11.
- ^ ISBN 978-3-290-22010-5. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-3500-1667-5.
- ^ Bambra, Jim (June 1988). "Role-playing Reviews". Dragon (#134). Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR: 76–77.
- ^ ISSN 0265-8712.
- ^ ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
- ^ Rolston, Ken (January 1988). "Role-playing Reviews". Dragon (#129). Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR: 84–86.
- ^ Applecline, Shannon (2014). Designers & Dragons: The '70s. Evil Hat Productions. p. 73.
- ^ a b c d e f Appelcline, Shannon. "Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (1e) | Product History". Dungeon Masters Guild. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
- ^ Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer(81). Allen Emrich: 28–30.
- ^ ISBN 0-8803-8099-3.
- ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
- ^ Shepherd, Ashley (August 1986). "Open Box". White Dwarf (80). Games Workshop: 2–4.
- ^ Appelcline, Shannon. "The Forgotten Realms Atlas (2e)". Dungeon Masters Guild. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
- ^ Appelcline, Shannon. "MC6 Monstrous Compendium Kara-Tur Appendix (2e)". Dungeon Masters Guild. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
- ISBN 978-0786965809.
- ISSN 2643-7112.
- ^ "EN World - Morrus' D&D; / 4th Edition / D20 News - Kara-Tur and Zakhara, are they going to be released as portions of FR?". Archived from the original on 2008-02-15. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
- ISBN 978-0810354067.
- ^ Taylor, Scott (November 30, 2011). "Art of the Genre: Maztica Memories". Black Gate. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
- ISBN 1-56076-358-2.
- ^ S2CID 145553724.
- ^ Clements, Philip J. (December 2019). Dungeons & Discourse: Intersectional Identities in Dungeons & Dragons (PhD). p. 78. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
- ^ a b Canavan, Aidan-Paul (April 2011). Looting the Dungeon: The Quest for the Genre Fantasy Mega-Text (PDF) (PhD). pp. 130–131, 238.
- ISBN 9781441102829.
- CBR.com. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- ISBN 9781476686837.
- ^ a b Blum, Jeremy (2020-07-11). "'Dungeons & Dragons' Book 'Oriental Adventures' Receives A Sensitivity Disclaimer". HuffPost. Retrieved May 14, 2022.