Ed Greenwood--Talking Forgotten Realms 4e at DDXP 2008

Convos With Creative People

Convos with Creative People is a podcast about creative paths and processes. Each episode features interviews with creators of all genres and mediums, and discussions on writing, art, design, marketing, music, podcasting, and more. Hosted by me, Brian LeTendre.
In this episode I reach all the way back into the 2008 archives of the Secret Identity podcast, for a conversation with the creator of the Forgotten Realms, Ed Greenwood.
Way back in April of 2008, my friends Alana Abbott, Max Saltonstall and I traveled to the Dungeons and Dragon Experience (DDXP) convention, to get a preview of the upcoming 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons. We got to meet, interview, and play games with some of the architects of 4e, and it was an amazing time.
One of the highlights of the show was getting to sit down with the legend himself, Ed Greenwood, the creator of the Forgotten Realms. We got to talk about the Realms being the base setting for the new edition, what was new and different with the Realms in 4e, and some of the projects Ed was working on at the time.
Maybe my favorite part of this interview from a creative standpoint, was hearing Ed’s take on the Living Forgotten Realms initiative, and how it contributed to the richness of the stories being told around that world. Fantastic stuff.
As I said in the intro for this episode, these old interviews are great to revisit, and provide a time capsule of what was happening at any given point. This time in particular was a very exciting one for D&D and the Forgotten Realms, and it’s fascinating to see what part of WOTC’s plans for 4e came to fruition, what didn’t, and how that informed a lot of what we see with 5e today.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this interview from 2008! Here are links to some of the things Ed and I talked about, as well as things I mentioned in the intro:
Blackstaff Tower (Book 1 in the Waterdeep series): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786949139
Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide (4e): https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/57376/Forgotten-Realms-Campaign-Guide-4e
Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster’s Forgotten Realms: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/166568/Ed-Greenwood-Presents-Elminsters-Forgotten-Realms
Living Forgotten Realms Campaign Archive: https://www.livingforgottenrealms.com/
History of Winter Fantasy/DDXP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_Fantasy
Ed Greenwood on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheEdVerse
Article about the launch of Gleemax: https://v1.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/interviews/1218-Gleemax-Wizards-of-the-Coast-s-Gamer-MySpace
Article about the shutting down of Gleemax: https://critical-hits.com/blog/2008/07/28/someone-broke-the-brains-jar/
As always, you can follow me and keep up with my creative projects on Twitter @seebrianwrite.
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CWCP Theme music: Dreamer by Kevin MacLeod, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License. Link to original work: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3676-dreamer