| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Werthead |
Posted - 12 Aug 2025 : 22:23:07
After that discussion a couple of days ago raised the issue, I got to thinking about the definitions of the regions of Faerûn. Over the course of 5 (and a half) editions, the number of regions in Faerûn and their names and borders have shifted several times, though there are some areas which have remained pretty constant (the most popular, natch).
Map here, reflecting the (very) broad consensus of 1-5E on what the regions are.
Second map here, with the possible breakdown into smaller, more coverable regions at the expense of there being a lot more of them (almost 30).
I'd say the following regions are pretty much set in stone.
The North (aka Savage North, Savage Frontier, Sword Coast North)
Waterdeep (though also part of the North, it is usually covered in-depth in its own supplements and sourcebooks, along with Undermountain, Skullport and the surrounding countryside)
The Western Heartlands (aka the Sword Coast, Backlands and Chionthar River Valley, including Baldur's Gate)
Anauroch, the Great Desert (aka Netheril, when that empire is knocking around)
Cormyr
Sembia
The Dalelands
The Moonsea (although the borders of the Moonsea to the north are debateable: it should always include Thar and the Ride, but should it also go way north to include the Tortured Lands?)
The Vast
The Dragon Coast
The Vilhon Reach
The Unapproachable East (although there is the perennial debate about whether Impiltur is part of the Unapproachable East or the Cold Lands, or even folding it into the Vast)
The Chultan Peninsula (although 1E and 2E both rope in Chult as part of the very general "Shining South," they quickly realised that wouldn't fly by giving Chult its own adventure/sourcebook and having the actual 2E and 3E Shining South supplements focus on the lands to the east, namely the Shaar, the Great Rift, Halruaa, Dambrath and Luiren). 3 had the interesting idea of keeping the Jungles of Chult (basically the western end of the peninsula) as its own thing and splitting off Samarach, Thindol and Tashluta (and maybe Lapaliiya), along with the Mhair and Black Jungles, into the Serpent Kingdoms. I'm not sure if that's strictly necessary.
The Utter East, though not often featured in FR, is pretty easily delineated as the various lands south-east of Durpar as far as the border with Zakhara, so basically Ulgarth, Doegan, Edenvale and Konigheim, plus the goblin kingdom of Nix and the Hidden Realm of Langdarma (this a deep cut region).
These regions seem more debateable:
The Lands of Intrigue (formerly Empires of the Sands, until someone realised the only desert in the region is tiny) seem to struggle with detailing all of Amn, Tethyr, Calimshan and Erlkazar in an efficient manner. 2E solved this by having the Lands of Intrigue include only Amn, Tethyr and Erlkazar (plus the Pirate Isles of the Nelanther) and introducing the Empires of the Shining Sea region to include Calimshan and the Lake of Steam/Arnaden region. This didn't entirely take, with 3E re-unifying them into a single region called the Lands of Intrigue again. There are arguments for keeping them separate and including the Border Kingdoms, Tharsult and maybe even Lapaliiya in the Empires region, but the strong intwining of the histories of Calimshan and Tethyr remains an issue.
The Cold Lands in the 2E definition are immensely vast, too much so to really get good coverage. The Great Glacier by itself is massive, and the 2E sourcebook strains to just discuss the Glacier and its peoples, without even touching on the surrounding lands. 1E actually offered a better solution by roping Vaasa, Damara and even Impiltur (which tends to get lost in the mix a lot) into the Bloodstone Lands region. This would leave the Cold Lands to cover the Great Glacier, Sossal and Narfell, allowing for more focus.
The Old Empires seem straightforward, incorporating Chessenta, Unther, Threskel, now Tymanther, Akanul and Mulhorand. However, I often feel that Murghôm and Semphar should be part of this region given their historical ties with Mulhorand, and they feel more like part of the Old Empires than the Hordelands. The only issue with that is that the resulting region would be too massive. My solution is to keep the Old Empires as they are but add an Old Imasker (or Even Older Empires) region to the east incorporating not just Murghôm and Semphar, but also Solon, Ra-Khati and Khazari on the borders of Kara-Tur, plus the Raurin desert, since these lands are all linked by their common ancestry with Imaskar.
The Shining South, even with Chult split off, is still unfathomably massive. A very easy solution is to carve off the Shining Lands, so you have the Shining South focusing on the Shaar, Great Rift, Halruaa, Dambrath and Luiren, and the Shining Lands focusing on Estagund, Var, Durpar and the Beastlands.
The Island Kingdoms is such a loose term as to not be very useful, incorporating such incredibly varied locations as Evermeet, the Moonshaes, Ruathym, Lantan and Nimbral. An easy fix here is to have Evermeet as its own region (and it has its own sourcebooks anyway), the Northmen island kingdoms (Gundarlun, Ruathym, Tuern, the Purple Rocks) as their own, Moonshae as its own (as it often is anyway), and maybe combine Lantan & Nimbral, which feel like they should have had their own sourcebooks several times over but their anomalous location meant that they never did.
Taan, aka The Hordelands, is another giganormous region, which is even vaster with the 2E definition which also includes Ra-Khati, Khazari, Solon, Semphar and Murghôm, as well as northern Raurin. Splintering those off into their own "Old Imaskar" region leaves the rest of the Hordelands much more manageable.
Just wanted to see what people considered to be a better model, more, smaller regions which allow for a more focused exploration, or a smaller number of much vaster regions which allow for more general coverage. |
| 3 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Bragi |
Posted - 24 Aug 2025 : 18:50:59
I prefer the smaller regions outlines on your second map. It's simply a matter of them being easier for me to identify and relate to. I usually equate regions to the names of published products like you've done.
quote:
Originally posted by Werthead
These regions seem more debateable:
The Lands of Intrigue (formerly Empires of the Sands, until someone realised the only desert in the region is tiny) seem to struggle with detailing all of Amn, Tethyr, Calimshan and Erlkazar in an efficient manner. 2E solved this by having the Lands of Intrigue include only Amn, Tethyr and Erlkazar (plus the Pirate Isles of the Nelanther) and introducing the Empires of the Shining Sea region to include Calimshan and the Lake of Steam/Arnaden region. This didn't entirely take, with 3E re-unifying them into a single region called the Lands of Intrigue again. There are arguments for keeping them separate and including the Border Kingdoms, Tharsult and maybe even Lapaliiya in the Empires region, but the strong intwining of the histories of Calimshan and Tethyr remains an issue.
As far as the Land of Intrigue goes, I think 18 & 19 could be combined in to one region with 3 subregions: Calimshan, Arnaden, and the Border Kingdoms. I generally don't equate the Border Kingdoms with the Shining South and I think they fit more politically and geographically with Arnaden.
Lapaliiya I generally equate with Chult since it has a common jungle feel to it.
Tharsult I think of as belonging to the Island Kingdoms. As in: any island nation within the Trackless Sea or the Shining Sea. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 13 Aug 2025 : 19:38:45
quote:
Originally posted by Asharak
There's two 19 on the second map.
Yeah, no unapproachable east. Your breakout of "Old Imaskar" too, I'd break it into two regions personally since some of it is pretty populated and modernish.... and other areas are just ruins in deserts. overall the two regions don't interact a whole lot (and the more modernish regions interfact more with the old empires and the hordelands) |
| Asharak |
Posted - 13 Aug 2025 : 11:46:59
There's two 19 on the second map. |
|
|
