I would like to share a little something with you @richesandliches I did not grow up in D&D culture or lore. I tried playing as an adult and found it too complex and time consuming. It all changed thanks to Larian Studios BG3. THEN I discovered the amazing, breath taking, unbelievable rich LORE behind this amazing franchise. I'm at my core a story-driven gamer, reader, fantasy enthusiast. Thus I found one of its architects Mr. Ed Greenwood. I wish this man could live forever once he's gone will be lesser for it. No one writes like him anymore. This brings me to you. I simply must thank you from the bottom of my heart for the incredible way you bring this lore to life in easily, interesting, well thought out, explanation videos. I could listen you this type of content forever. In short, thank you Larian Studios, Ed Greenwood, and Riches and Liches for absolutely everything you do.
To even be mentioned in that company is an undeserved honor... but for my part, I will continue to improve and provide my style of content that too is inspired by legends like Ed Greenwood.
It's all in the delivery my good man. You do well enough in that regards. I follow plenty YTs who dive into the lore, but none come close to what you do. Perhaps I should also mention I was never much of a CRPG or TTRPG player. Therefore, I never actually played BG1 & BG2. I owned the games for years never got around to playing them. Then you uploaded your BG games and lore series of videos and a had to finally give it a shot. You & your content did that. I'm not easily swayed. So again thank you for everything you do.
I started playing D&D and AD&D during the uproar about Demons and Satan. When I was barely a teen I have not sat at a table in over 30 years. It still holds a place in my mind and heart and I think it always will. I saw the raise of Dragonlance, Spell Jammer and Dark Sun the wonder and creativity then was the peak of D&D and BG3 taps into that time and that's why it is so good.
It always hurts me to love ...so passionately..the mythology of our time...and lets not fool ourselves....D and D..is largely exactly that...I say this because my son always tells me that fiction is a waste of time..but I am obsessed and have been since 1986 when I discovered Dungeons and Dragons...and Dragonlance....then in 1988 the forgotten relams came...the crystal shard...all this has been a part of my fabric...ill be 51 next week and I still love nothing morecthan falling to sleep to a good forgotten realms audiobook..or even eberron...i cannot het enough...im.so happy to hear your videos.dude..i tip my hat to.your phylactery.....
Thank you for the countless hours I'm certain you invested in researching to put together such a well built series. The DM community as well as players greatly appreciate all you do.
As someone with 31 years of D&D gaming experience, the vast amount of which was spent in the Forgotten Realms, if you want suggestions for future videos and research might I suggest the gods that created them. Every aspect, every action anything or anyone can take in Faerun falls under the domain and watchful eye of some deity or another. There are tons of stories there that still havent been fully explored on RU-vid by great sages of lore yet. For example Selune the godess of the Moon took on a lover in Shaundakul god of portals and travel and they had a child together, another minor deity. Shaundakul was so smitten with the Lady of the Moon that he built her a stairway, The Inifinite Stairway, which connects to any place in space and time somewhere along its spires. He anchored it in her godly realm and its only accesible during full moons, which happens a lot more in the Gates of the Moon, duh. Anyway, theres infinite stories yet to be told in video format out there. Tons of gods and heroes deserving their own 15min of video.
As someone with 27 years in the hobby and about 25 years in the realms, I 100% agree with this opinion. After getting my first gray box set, I fell in love with the Dale lands. The nooks and crannies in the stories. Growing up in Central Kentucky I felt like I lived in the Dale lands. And over the years we explored lots of places within the realms and I still feel like we never touched more than a small bit of the locations and stories and lore available
@@sethhale8828 Funny you should say that, I grew up on the wetter side of Tallahassee and my main campaign growing up our home city was set in a marsh. Its funny how much we pull from our own settings. Makes reality seem a little more magical anyway.
First 6 minutes and I'm already in love with this man and his channel been playing BG3 and desperately want to learn the lore like I have with so many other fantasy properties, but never knew where to even start. I finally found the perfect place to start and that's here with this channel. Thank you.
Oh wow... such motivating words, I am humbled, thank you! First.. welcome to the channel and this growing community. There are TRULY some really chill and knowledgable lore and D&D fans in here. I take a lot of pride in interacting with the community and I read every comment and try to reply to as many as possible. I am still learning and trying to improve with every video, so please do not hesitate to reach out if you have questions, comments or feedback!
Raistlin was my favorite for Dragon Lance, but that's a close first, they're all legendary. Artemis Entreri and Drizzt are one the best anti-team stories there is
My brother is at it again. Hail to my table top kin. I'm hoping Rich covers the Underdark in one of these. Maybe going over each section or City. And compared to Earths 4.6 billion year history, Faeruns 35,000 is laughably short. Unless there's earlier epochs not mentioned. Humans have been in our current form for 300k.
I could have been clearer that the blue age through the dawn war took place before time was recorded and therefore we are covering something far greater than 35 millennia... I will have a clarification on that in the intro to volume 2 that i am working on right now. :)
This was absolutely amazing!! I only began DMing about 3 years ago and I have always loved the history and lore of these lands but never have the proper time to delve deep enough. Your delivery and presentation is also very easy to follow and I thank you for that! I’d love a spotlight on the Elder Evils at some point…currently dropping hints to my players that Atropus is the end goal to our current 3 year campaign! Thank you again so much!
gosh thank you so much for making this !!!! got into bg3 and it was my first introduction to dnd. since finishing the game, ive just been wanting to learn so much more about the lore and the worlds and the existing characters but there’s just so much to it and trying to find a starting point to learn is so overwhelming !!! that is until i found your video. its incredibly well made and you are a great story teller, i am so excited to watch part 2 shortly and hope you continue making these !!! thank you ! 🖤
That's very true. I've seen them also. They have no foundation. There's geek and then there's useless geek. I'm definitely into geek but every geek needs to be able to reign it in or go over the cliff into The Nothing. Rich keeps this balance well.
Always wanted to play DnD with my friends but none of my friends really wanted to. With BG3 we all got into it and we all watch your channel now to learn the lore. Keep up the good work
That is awesome! (not that you all watch the channel, although that is great too :) but that you found a way to get new people/players/lore fans into this awesome community! Thanks for sharing that... made me smile!
I always had a passing interest in Dungeons and dragons. I never played a table top game. I knew it existed and I liked the fantasy setting. But no one I knew ever played or had an interest. But as years passed I found out about it but never knew where to begin, didn't know books or how long the series been around. But ever since I found this channel, I have been hooked. Please keep it coming. Your way of narrating and storytelling tics all the boxes. I love the content. Your art especially when combined. You are amazing and is now one of my favorite channels. I looked forward to your uploads. I had to edit this in just in case you wanted to know I have watched every video on your channel and favorite is the Nine Hells.
As a big lore nerd of mythologies and story’s and now with bg3 and the dnd movie I’m glad to have found this series since I’ve always wanted to know the full depth’s of lore behind the dnd multiverse from Ao to wherever the current state is so can’t wait for all the videos hope you never stop doing this glad people are investing this time and research into these sorts of projects like you and jorphdan
Just randomly stumbled on this channel and I love the intro, feels like a documentary from back when channels like Discovery and History actually gave a shit about real history. For someone with so few subscribers I find the video and audio very professional.
In researching some of the points you brought up, i realized that some of this lore was only revealed when the dragonborn of Abeir made their way to Toril and told the people of the forgotten realms what they knew. Super interesting!
Just discovered your channel bro and I’m only 4 minutes and 31 seconds in but I already love the person that you are. Driven by passion and a big heart. I’m excited to watch each of these volumes! God bless you man
It is comments like these that are really motivating to me personally and are appreciated on a level that most probably do not realize, so sincerely thank you. Starting and growing a small channel includes a ton of work and some very long days. Just knowing that the work is found and appreciated by others is very affirming to the effort. Thank you again for both taking the time to watch and comment such kind words. /bow
@@RichesandLiches You are very welcome man. Keep up the good work. I have no doubt you will reap the rewards of this in the long run because your channel is really high quality. Thank you for the kind response as well!
I stumbled across this channel and this video. After watching it, I thought it was so well done that I have now hit the like button for each of his videos on this channel. I'll be watching them too but I didn't have enough time yesterday to get them all watched.
"From the fall of the Primordials... The Gods take to their roles." The tall being stares up at the countless stars. Hooded and robed, he gives a deep sigh. "A devoured star... what will the mortals think up next?"
Just something I wanted to add to this volume. You mention AO as the God of Gods, I would want to mention that in the Epilogue of the Time of Troubles trilogy. Paraphrasing here, it starts after AO left Toril and returned to his home "the Plane of Corcordent Opposition" As he settled down he has a conversation with an unnamed entity which he humbly explained his actions and the conclussion of these events and he addressed as Master.
It's clear to see how much effort and passion went into this, and it paid off. This is excellent. Incredibly well done. Easy sub and like and I'm excited to listen to the rest of the series.
🎉 Chills, Sir. I love this video. Depth in lore is something I live for. I am currently running a "homebrew" campaign taking place in Chult. I have woven quite a bit of the lore surrounding Chult into the campaign, including Dendar visiting some of the party members in their dreams to tempt them. I can't wait to see where this series goes. I am definitely along for the ride all the way.
It's rare to hear anyone pronounce Selune correctly and you did, along with Abeir-Toril! I for one appreciate it. 1990 was when i first discovered the Realms and the "Old Grey Box" (DnD 1.e). Ed Greenwood's extensive intro to the Realms included the pronunciation of just about every name of which are seared into my brain. I cringe everytime i hear the name Selune pronounced "Selloon". Nice job in weaving in lore from other DnD sources beyond the FR. Just as a side note, it's interesting how each edition of DnD introduced players to particular regions in the Realms. 1e - Cormyr, the Dalelands, Myth Drannor, and in game modules the Bloodstone lands. 2e - the Heartlands (east and west), the Moonsea, all post-Time of Troubles. But also the entirety of Faerun was covered. 3e - was similar but with introduction of the Shadow Weave and Shade Enclave. 4e - who cares? 5e - the Sword Coast. It was 2e and 3e that gave us all of the extensive lore. For me, the Realms were at its most exciting time during these editions. For those who only know the FR from 5e, few would know just how good this world is from previous editions.
Really well done, sir. Thank you for making this lore concise and more approachable. I'm curious if you can share links to the artists? Some of the artwork is stellar!
I'm starting to catch up on the huge backlog I let build up on your channel. I know it's late, but, your videos are awesome. I have personally seen how interactive you are with your audience, and I imagine most of your audience does, too. I, at least, see and appreciate how you run your channel, and again, I imagine most of your audience does, too. PS Congrats on the gains since this video posted
Good video. Awesome art. ❤ Faerun was my favorite until I decided to bite the bullet and start my own world. You have a lot of lore in here I've never heard before. That's a lot of research.
Man, if I wasn’t very dedicated to checking out this video, patient with getting to the meat and potatoes, I wouldn’t have made it past the 8 minutes and 12 seconds of into and post intro intro.
I have heard the feedback and am now hyper aware of reducing all "non-story" intros to the bare minimum if not to zero. Hopefully you'll agree volume 2 and 3 are an improvement (the story stingers are part of my format though, they serve the lore and will not be removed). I appreciate you sticking it out and your feedback!
8:14 "our mortal beginnings start..." I wanted to leave a quick piece of constructive criticism. Your video quality is superb: great visual transitions and pictures. But I found myself hearing some form of "let's get started" over and over up to this point without an actual start. I'd suggest for the future to condense your intro down from the 33% of your run time, because thats what everything is up to chapter 2: a series of intros smushed together. My commitment to the video faded at the three minute mark and I wonder if there are others like me that experienced it. All this to say, so many comments praising your work so take my inexperienced take with a grain of salt! And I'm excited to see what the rest of the series (and video 😅) looks like. EDIT: ok I came back at the end of the video... holy cow, super well done! You got my sub!
This is good feedback and I have listened to others such as yourself, resulting in reduction of intros. I think you will find Volumes 2 and 3 to be shorter... and 4 (which is coming soon) will be shorter still. I am still learning and reading/listening/considering all feedback... so thank you!
This video was amazing and I can't wait to dive into the series but if I could make one suggestion, flash the spelling of names and places on the screen as you say them it would be a massive help in for people who want to run a campaign in this realm
2:03 I love this. It’s not “there’s too much so we won’t cover, go somewhere else for that” it’s “there’s too much for this broad strokes series. Ask me for even deeper lore Also yay lore, also also I thought faerûn was the world, maybe it’s only the continent on Toril. If so, what are the forgotten realms themselves? All the entirety of the cosmos? Only toril and the feywild and shadow fell? (Only 2 mins in, I gotta stop thinking and start watching!)
Anything of interest! You might wanna ignore me on this hehe, cause I’m interested in literally anything, from Broad strokes maps “these are the basic countries” to “and thus king Eredin the 14th (Witcher reference) overthrew the good high lord Argunthrurd on the 14th day of Er’athred” even to the nitty gritty of dates and times. Do they have months? Dates? They must do, it seems that “15,879 seasons ago” seems a bit excessive unless you’re an ancient Druid or something. Also, hi R&L hope you’re doing well!
I think you have a wonderful voice for podcasting as well. Since lore is mostly an audio medium, you can also slowly start turning your videos into podcasts. If you have not already done so.
I’d love to see a proper chronology done on all the best book series and spinoffs. Placing all the major series (Drizt, Elminster, etc) in order of Toril’s 35,000 year history.
There's also a fan made one online (trying to remember URL) not technically official but Ed Greenwood (creator of the Realms) gave it his personal stamp of approval. Will post url when I can find it...
I believe the book you are referring to is the 2006 source book by Ed Greenwood and Brian James. It's called "The Grand History of the Forgotten Realms".
Another AWESOME video. !! If it was actually possible to jump into the worlds of D&D i would be a human Fighter/Ranger who is a LEGENDARY Blacksmith who mastered ALL Weapons & favors The BADASS Greatsword. !!! 😁
I hate that they stopped publishing Forgotten Realms books... They were my favorite series of books to read. Now i don't have any good books to read...
I don't know how to frame this question without sounding like a tool so I'll just reduce it to two words. Spell Weavers? Doing amazing so far, look forward to the rest of the series and I'm really enjoying the entirety of your content so far.
You didn't mention the Spell Weavers and their role in the generation of the entire universe in which the Forgotten Realms exists. Didn't know if that was a purposeful omission or unintentional.
I do not have a ton of knowledge on them. I remember them being in an Vecna adventure where the lich stole their obelisks. I will research them more but I do not believe they are even mentioned in the Grand History of the Realms books... but I could be wrong.
Do you ever think that Hollywood would ever make a series of movies about Drizzt Do-urden book series? I never thought they would make a movie (not animated) of "The Lord of the Rings."
They might considering they literally just announced an animated lord of the rings with bg3 popularity it isn’t out of the question let’s just hope it isn’t butchered like most book-games adaptations that have happened recently
There is one topic that fascinates me since I played "Mask of the Betrayer": The Imaskari Empire It was also one of the first institutions that promoted the creating of Liches, so it would fit this channel's theme.
Dude I am very excited to hear your telling of the lore of DnD, but please. Cut down on the length of the intro. It took 8 minutes for you to get to actually talking about the lore. But a stupendous video, PLEASE keep it up.
First, thank you for watching and taking the time to comment. If you are referring to the Forgotten Realms Volume 1 - Chapter 1 began @ 5:42 and there was a 1minute stinger to start the video, leaving me three minutes to setup a video series that is going to span 10+ volumes and many hours of content, which I think is more than reasonable. That said, I promise you I am trying to keep them as brief as possible but there is context that I do not feel comfortable leaving out. I am aware some content providers do not provide any context and just start talking but that is simply not my style. I have come to the realization that I can't please everyone all the time but I will continue to try and find a reasonable pacing and once again, I thank you for your comments and ensure you I do not dismiss them.
@@RichesandLicheskicking ass! Thanks for doing these. I came to the comments to say the exact thing-8 minutes is waaaaay too long an intro, where you’re basically repeating the same thing, over and over. Cut that down big time, and reap more rewards!
Noted and thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. I will be looking for updated comments on volume 2 so let me know if you think the intro format has improved any.
Really looking forward to this series! One small note, another channel (MrRhex) has done a bird's eye overview of the Realms timeline. Not trying to promote another channel over yours, think the two channels actually complement each other rather than compete (at least not in a bad way). His is a very broad strokes look at things, and he's pretty clear about thatm. Most of the channel is focused on deep dives into specific monster lore. Some people may enjoy that as well. Like I said not trying to steer anyone away from you, just thought I'd mention another creator folks might also enjoy. Hope that's cool..
The art is spectacular, especially that of Lord Ao. Was this created specifically for this video or did you source it from somewhere else? I’d love to see more work by this artist in this domain. Your other videos have work by this same artist. Would you be willing to credit the artist? Their work is outstanding.
I absolutely always credit any art that is not my own. The images you mention were created and i own the rights through commercial license. Thank you so much for giving it a watch!
