What challenges are there when writing in the Forgotten Realms setting?
Obviously continuity with other authors/game designers/products is a huge challenge. I’ve been writing these books for almost 20 years now, and the game which serves as the “rules” background for the world has gone through several huge makeovers. I started with 1st edition, and now we’ve gone through 2nd, 3rd and 3.5. Spells have change, monsters have changed, and most challenging for me (and it’s probably my fault – no wait, it’s Drizzt’s fault – yeah, let’s blame him!), the dark elves have changed. With infravision no longer part of the rules, do I have to go back and rewrite Homeland? It’s a continual balancing act for all of us, particularly those of us who have been around for so long and who do not work at WotC. I don’t know the changes coming along from week to week, and usually I hear about rules violations in my books after the books are off to press. And of course, I’m dealing with many new readers, who have no concept of 1st edition. They’ll read The Crystal Shard and write
