From Baldur's Gate to Waterdeep: The Geopolitics of Faerun

[@victorhugothomaz3480]

Cormyr and Sembia are actually two powerhouses in Faerûn, one being a prosperous kingdom with a strong military and nobility and the other beng a powerful merchant nation respectively. The 5e map just don't do it justice.

[@kailae3269]

Map is weird as it shows Marsember, but not the capital of Cormyr, Suzail, nor Arabel which are very large cities.

[@OhThatRobin]

@@kailae3269 I was looking for Suzail! Glad to know it’s not just me xD

[@animusnocturnus7131]

@@kailae3269 Actually, Arabel is on the map. You can see it at the crossroads at 13:00

[@zandilar630]

Indeed. If I am remembering correctly, trade from Cormyr, Sembia and presumably the Dalelands gets to the Sword Coast by travel to Iriaebor, then up the river to Baldur's Gate.

[@mjc6364]

I think the idea is that this map is from the perspective of the Lords' Allience cities on the Sword Coast, so it only has detailed information on that region and gets less specific the further you get from it. For example Marsember is on the map because it is an important city that trades with the sword coast, but Suzail isn't because most of Suzail's outgoing trade goes through Marsember.

[@schroecat1]

The 3rd Edition map from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide is more useful for this kind of analysis, not only is it larger but it also shows where pretty much all of the major towns and cities are. This map is missing a TON of critical towns and cities. The 3rd edition map also extends much further east and south.

[@thekaxmax]

4E was redrawn with the 'Points Of Light' model, which involved removing a bunch of settlements and towns. 5E has kept that, both the map and the model.

[@Marcusianery]

@@thekaxmax Points of Light? Typical 4E removing things and 5E keeping it!

[@moseshamlett3887]

Yeah I have some old Campaign modules from 2nd edition that focus more on the south and east respectivily. They don't even include the Sword Coast. I have always assumed that since the popularity of the Drizzt Novels was the main thing keeping this shared universe afloat that WOC has always just focused on the west since thats where the majority of those stories took place. But there is plenty of lore in the far south and east of Fearun that doesn't get covered in any games. None that I know of at least.

[@TheRyndiculous]

another reason 3rd is better than everything else

[@208getalife]

@@moseshamlett3887 Can't blame the Drizzt novels for this one, it's so fixated specifically on the parts of the sword coast between Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter that it is very clearly a symptom of those two games being the only thing Forgotten Realms a lot of the casuals and incoming devs even know about. If it were Drizzt info would be WAY more emphatic of things like The Silver Marches and Northern Heartlands, where a significant chunk of those books actually take place.

[@JoeBlogs000]

That was pretty amazing, I'm 31 yo with an engineering degree and only now realized I not only didn't know anything about geopolitics, but didn't even know what the science was about. Great video.

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

It's comments like this that keep me going.

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

Also, you should look up George Friedman and Peter zeihan

[@roonocerus]

With all due respect to our profession, how does a degree in a completely unrelated field to the subject pertain to anything?

[@martinemaggi8507]

@@roonocerus engineers and physicists are renowned for their ego and utter faith that they have the ability to be good at anything and everything. As a physics undergrad myself, Ive seen this before.

[@edgeldine3499]

Well if you see this comment I recommend looking up Peter Zeihan. Specifically his books you can start with accidental superpower or disunited nations both are great. Also keep in mind he's been talking about what just happened in Ukraine since at least 2014.. that's the power of Geopolitics. Peter is also an easy lift in comparison to someone like Henry Kissinger.. I still haven't finished his book "World Order" it's a bit dry by comparison but still worth reading. Anyway good luck.

[@sakisaotome6753]

I LOVE that Menzoberranzan is on this map despite being miles underground but other major cities and even entire regions are almost totally ignored and or left out.

[@franciscomuro8427]

This pretty much encapsulates the political struggle in the Sword Coast and the cities. We know for a fact that before the rise of Neverwinter, and Waterdeep that Dwarven kingdoms were abundant before falling into ruins, and before that the elves ruled much of Toril and their ruins, magical items, and infrastructure still can be found throughout the whole of the Sword Coast. Piracy is pretty rampant and when you read the Legend of Drizzt novels, Drizzt joins up with a pirate hunter to keep the sea lanes cleared of pirates but it is such a problem that overland trade is still conducted from Ten-Towns to Calimport. The one thing that the map doesn't show or is not explained at least as far as I know with 5e lore but the area south of Baldur's Gate should be filled with towns and cities. Amn is a powerful city-state that rivals Baldur's Gate and as is discussed in the games named after the city they nearly go to war several times. Why there are no locations there is actually somewhat baffling. The only road with my limited knowledge of the Forgotten Realms that should see active trade is the road south that leads from Amn to Calimport and the other desert cities. Overall by doing the analysis it is uncanny how accurately most of the politics that have been described have reflected the lore within the books, adventures, and video games.

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

Thank you for the verbose comment! It's kind of shocking to me that the lore was so Geopolitically cohesive (which you wouldn't expect in a fantasy setting written so long ago) and that I was this accurate with it.

[@andrewvincent7299]

I'm pretty sure Amn isn't just a City-State but a full fledged country.

[@OhThatRobin]

@@andrewvincent7299 it is ^^ it’s capital is the city of Athkatla one of my characters is from there :>

[@sheepbeeps3369]

@@andrewvincent7299 Amn has fallen on hard times in the last two editions. Including loosing their overseas colonies, and plague.

[@jorgedasilva7665]

@@DungeonMasterpiece Best part is you're talking about a road system around Myth Dranor and saying it must have been built by an ancient/fallen empire. XD All I could think was, "Well that's DEAD on."

[@daniell1483]

I love analyzing fantasy worlds through a realistic lense. So, first things first: the Anauroch Desert is a desert due to the collapse of the Netheril Empire, which greatly taxed the "Weave", which is the source of all magic; the Weave was damaged, and a formerly fertile land filled with rivers, lakes, and forests shriveled up and died. The desert is a desert because of magically inflicted damage on the ecosystem basically, so I'd expect to see plants trying to recolonize the edges but having problems due to the rocky nature of the area now. The High Forest is a remnant of early elven realms, so there are more magical shenanigans happening there, like an inverted case of Anauroch. North of the High Forest is the Silver March and is home to the Uthgardt barbarian tribes with Silvery Moon and Mithral Hall being the main population centers. Many-Arrows is a recently unified orc kingdom based out of the Spine of the World mountain range and acts to keep the people of the High Forest area unified politically. The major cities of the Sword Coast are bound together through trade and a defensive alliance, meaning they primarily try to project their influence into the interior. Reaching those valuable resources, the cities can then export refined and magical goods by sea and road. Baldur's Gate is the primary exit route leading away to the eastern lands. The Moonshae Isles are not united and are facing an invasion from the Feywild, preventing them from being a proper menace for the Sword Coast. Thay, off in the east, is a wealthy land of trade and dark magic and has made the western coast of the Sea of Fallen Stars fabulously wealthy. Cormyr for example is said to be the wealthiest country in Faerun because it ties trade from the east and west together. I don't know why no population centers are depicted but they do exist; Suzail is the capital of Cormyr and has a population of over 55,000.

[@michaellinke6448]

What I find interesting is that he identified an entirely plausable, non-magical, and to-be-expected reason for the desert to be there without needing to know anything about the history. Can we really blame Netheril for that desert? Or is the desert that region's natural state, and Netheril just stopped artificially (magically) irrigating it when they fell?

[@daniell1483]

@@michaellinke6448 The lore is actually clear on this point. Yes, the region was once a bountiful, fertile land flowing with freshwater rivers, and as I recall Netheril (the city) started off as a small coastal town. So there is no question, the region's current status as a desert is artificially inflicted. Another point worth noting is that Netheril mages created flying cities by uprooting mountains. When the Weave was damaged, the magitech engineering keeping the mountains in the air failed, causing the mountains to fall. That is part of the reason the region is so rocky now.

[@michaellinke6448]

@@daniell1483 Lore isn't always accurate. We have real world lore about how Chinese monarchs held and lost the mandate of heaven, resulting in invasions and civil wars. An early English monk wrote about how the incompetence and laziness of the English people caused declines in trade and industry that were better explained by the collapse of the Roman Empire on the European mainland, leaving them to abandon their presence in the British Isles. Just because we have Lore doesn't make the Lore true.

[@michaellinke6448]

@@daniell1483 The flying cities explaining the rockiness is another great example of a perfectly reasonable natural explanation for the terrain. Anauroch is present on Ed Greenwood's hand drawn maps. I wonder at what point the story of Netheril was added, and whether it was done so by a collaborator who just failed to ask Ed how Anaurach got so rocky. The Forgotten Realms wiki page for Netheril lists only a single source prior to 1996, which is an adventure module written by Ed Greenwood in 1995 where he mentions a structure as being left behind by the Netherese. Certainly, the whole Floating Cities explanation is accurate as of the current state of the Forgotten Realms setting, but most of that story is considerably newer than the maps.

[@TheMadmage]

@@michaellinke6448 I briefly had an email exchange with Ed Greenwood 20 something years ago. Basically, he has a whole room full of boxes (at the time I believe it was in his garage) of lore he wrote up and whenever TSR and later WotC wanted to write books about stuff, they'd communicate with Ed to get the original lore and they'd keep/discard based on the preference of the authors of the campaign books (when not written by Ed himself). To the credit of most of the authors, they mostly did abide by Ed's original world building.

[@andrewdillehay5340]

While the methods of analysis offered by a geopolitical view are interesting, what I take away from this is really that the accuracy of the analysis is based on the quality of the inputs. For example, the map you have used shows greater detail about the sword coast then the surrounding regions, so the conclusions drawn about the sword coast region are pretty accurate to the lore, while those about outlying areas of the map that are less detailed like Tethyr or Cormyr are pretty far off. Those regions absolutely do have major population centers, but they just aren't marked appropriately on the map because it is not the focus. You even mention there should be a population center at Marsember based on the geography, but there isn't on the map. Well in the lore Marsember is a major population center, petty close to the size of Baldur's Gate. Interesting concepts, but highly dependent on the characteristics of the input.

[@zandilar630]

5e has firmly moved the focus of the Realms to the Sword Coast. It's a shame, because the interior of Faerun has so many interesting places. (I am personally a fan of Cormyr.)

[@maesdejardin8648]

@@zandilar630 Likewise with Thay and Thesk, the Narfell, Halruaa, and Mulhorand

[@izanaginomikoto1893]

@@zandilar630 I think the focus on the Sword Coast is because it provides a good mix of frontier wilderness, ancient ruins and civilizations, threatening hordes, and at the same time a few large centres such as Waterdeep, Neverwinter, or Silverymoon to act as major locations, and a scattering of smaller towns and villages. It is very much the traditional fantasy trope setting. It's a good introduction for new gamers, and that is what 5e is all about. The 3 and 3.5 sourcebooks on other areas of the Realms (and a lot of even older edition ones) continue to provide a wealth of great knowledge and setting information for all sorts of different areas of the Realms... but require a bit of work to convert game information where needed.

[@TheWonkster]

It also ignores or doesn't account for humanoid species that don't have to worry about things that real life humans do, or the existence of magic that allows people to force things to grow where they shouldn't or to bring water where a population needs it. Or the extremely unrealistic trade in Forgotten Realms where a single wagon of adamntine every month would create enough profit to make maintaining a road from a major city to a tiny mining village and all the other tiny villages with unique access to something as simple as bats for their droppings or wings more than worth the cost. There's also the unprecedented wealth distribution and personal freedom in a city like Waterdeep where they're able to keep most of the criminal element quashed and open lords just tend to not be maniacal assholes that love crushing their peasantry, the opposite of what we'd usually see in real history. Probably because anyone behaving too badly without a lot of power to back it up risks a person in a robe showing up in their quarters, telling them to stop, and then dropping what is essentially a tactical nuke from space onto their castle; or the rabble calling on one or more groups of people that could crush standard military regiments by themselves to deal with them. Magic, monsters, and the existence of leveled heroes and villains completely skews any analysis that isn't made by someone very aware of the ins-and-outs of those variables.

[@davidhodgson1011]

@@zandilar630 I miss the 2e FR box with the starting adventure in Shadowdale including a scripted cameo by the old sage himself

[@nikolajsteffensen6578]

well one thing you didn't quite take into account is magic and different races. for example the reason the mountainous area is so well populated is because of the dwarfs who don't really need to travel over land due to massive networks of tunnels. same goes for the drow who travel through the under dark which is a colossal underground cavern and tunnel network stretching across faerun and possibly even further.

[@powerist209]

Part of me wonder about Underground geography idea. That would have changed a general idea about what we think about geopolitics (especially Shabazik's take on Drows and Dwarves, who often engage in tunnel warfare to the point that an engineering team can break through walls or an assassin can sneak through nooks and crannies.)

[@kellysamuel3383]

Pretty sure the point of this was to rely on the map as much as possible without using outside knowledge

[@mayube9292]

And Anauroch isn't home to a nomadic steppe-dwelling peoples. It's a mostly-inhospitable desert wasteland caused by the fallout of Karsus' Folly and the fall of the Netheril. The modern inhabitants are mostly the Bedouin-themed Bedine and D'tarig people, who are too busy trying to survive in the desert and dealing with in-fighting to worry about invading the west.

[@dobo9150]

@@mayube9292 due to the Bad Things that happened there with the fall of Netheril, yes. But I like the idea that it should have been such a steppes if that Bad Stuff hadn't happened. It's kind of Faerûn's nuclear fallout zone for that, and it would make sense as something that influenced the war against the Netherese, or wars against the Creator Races.

[@stanleyclark923]

@@mayube9292 I thought the Anauroch was created by the phaerimm when they were imprisoned under that area. They sapped the life from all of the surrounding lands with their spells and created the wasteland now known as the Anauroch.

[@Malvisk]

Candlekeep is located on a high cliff, and isn't really a settlement, but a castle. Think of it like a monastery. Access to the keep is restricted. It's occupants doesn't provide protection to a populace. It's a place of knowledge. I don't think it has a harbor.

[@daviderwin4705]

No harbor from a shear cliff face. One of the things that enlarges Baldures Gate's importance is Candle Keep's reliance upon trade within the region serviced by their ports. Keep scholars happy, and magic items and such flow

[@NANA-zz8hb]

I feel like castle doesn't even do it justice, it's possibly the most heavily protection on the sword coast.

[@Malvisk]

@@NANA-zz8hb even more than Blackstaff Tower, Host Tower of the Arcane?

[@Saru5000]

Isn't Candle Keep more of a monastery? I guess it's also a castle. Things can be two things.

[@Malvisk]

@@Saru5000 it's monastery like, if not a monastery to Ohgma. It is both

[@aaronsherman8257]

I didn’t realize how absolutely fascinating Geopolitics are until I watched this video. As someone who’s developing a homebrew campaign setting, this was SO helpful

[@maecenus778]

Another major influence that I think is often ignored in Forgotten Realms geopolitics is the presence of Dragons. Creatures that require a huge amount of calories to sustain themselves, presumably and would potentially have a major impact on the environment. I once came up with a website to track this information, lists of known dragons and it was even incorporated into a rule book.

[@nikolasmilligan6213]

As a DM, I would love to have access to a resource like this if it's still available!

[@davedujour1]

This analysis also shows why different maps present different information and can lead one to different conclusions. I'd love to see this same thing done with more than just the current 5e map. All of the Faerun maps are probably available online and they all give a lot more population centers than this one, especially in Cormyr and the Dalelands. The Sword Coast is just the most popular area, and has the most products made about it. It's also the first part of Faerun that Ed Greenwood drew.

[@Muriloprado229]

Hey! Amazing video! Referring to the information you brought about distant and expensive roads only profitable if an ancient civilization has builded it, well, comes to my mind that Forgotten Realms was a perfect name for the setting. Greetings from Brazil!

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

Heloooo down there!!!! 🤣

[@VengefulJarl]

Any inaccuracies aside, which i assume is just ignorance with the setting itself (which is fine), i thought it was a really interesting video. I think Ed Greenwood would absolutely love your ideas just based off the map. He started making it when he was like 6, so im sure he would love that you took the time to really try and examine faerun. Even if it is the 5e map.

[@captainconway2236]

As someone who has some knowledge of the wider area I can confirm a lot of things that are quite inconsistent with the map that you analyzed in this video. The map you have analyzed here seems extremely focused on the sword coast specify, to the detriment of many other regions, namely, as i'm sure many other people have already mentioned, Cormyr and Sembia. Both of these nations are massive powerhouses on the continent of Faerûn, but given the location of the Sea of Fallen Stars and the relative difficulty of traveling east through the mountains, most of their power is projected westward, and to other places along the Sea of Fallen stars. I think this is why the major cities of Cormyr and Sembia are not marked on this map, as they don't have as much influence over the sword coast do to their isolation from it. The Sea of Fallen Stars itself is a massive body of water at the center of the continent of Faerûn, comparable to the Mediterranean, albeit, almost entirely landlocked, with only a few key channels leading mostly southward. There are many nations and major cities all along all coast of sea. You can find much more detailed maps that focus on the Sea of Fallen Stars, or maps of the entire continent that still include many of the important locations online, but one of the best ones I could find were from a reddit post (linked below) which includes the estimated regional boarders for the nations across Faerûn. I would love to see another video diving in depth to the geopolitics of the eastern and southern parts of the continent. www.reddit.com/r/dndnext/comments/e56gx3/made_a_map_of_faerun_as_of_1492_dr_with_nations/?context=3 (Side note: while the boarders of the nations are fan created using the best research and information we have on hand, the maps themselves are official from Wizards of the Coast)

[@devinkerr5474]

Some days I forget that Amn dwarfs the Sword Coast and that Thay is an eternity from the Sword Coast

[@connorupton4200]

4:50 so glad you used this an an example. I’ve lived south of Seattle my whole life and I do honestly love the 7 months straight of 50f° days and constant rain we get. You get used to it after a while. Eastern Washington feels like a different place compared to the western half, especially since it’s divided by a mountain pass. Totally different cultures, one based off of tech industry the other on agriculture.

[@nickh3205]

You should check out a book called “The Forgotten Realms Atlas” by Karen Wynn Fonstad it has an incredibly detailed map of the western realms and eastern realms and also has an sea level overview to see what areas are at sea level; sadly it’s in black and white

[@warrenchristensen8836]

Easily one of the smartest and most impressive videos I've seen about D&D. Absolutely loved it.

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ladymeredith1831]

This is definitely going to have an impact on my world building! Fascinating!

[@lufasumafalu5069]

you have great content , pleasing presentation and narrative , zero clickbait and stupid thumbnail pix... and likable smile.. you deserve more subs and liked.. just subbed

[@pierrez8570]

Hi! Amazing video. I am a big fan of geography, history and geopolitics as well as a huge Realms nerd, so I can't believe I only discover your video now, it feels like something I have dream of my whole life. I love the work and the deep dive analysis you did, it's super interesting especially on the climate part; such details with glaciers, wind direction and all can easily be overlooked and it gives me a newfound appreciation for the geography of the Realms to see Ed Greenwood was somewhat accurate when he built the world (the map is also fairly consistent with the old ones he made by hand decades ago!). The first thing I noticed, and it pains me a bit, is that the information available on the map is limited. This is due to the directions Wizards of the Coast have been taking since the fifth edition, giving more emphasis on the Sword Coast at the detriment of other regions. This means areas like Cormyr, Sembia, Amn and Tethyr, while important powers that shape the politics of the region, do not appear as such. It is fascinating that you mention Marsember should be rich and prosperous - it exactly is. Actually, Cormyr has two cities on the northern bank of Lake Dragonmere: Suzail (the capital), and Marsember (the second largest city in the realm). Combined, they are larger and richer than Baldur's Gate. Cormyr is a well-developed monarchy with a strong feudal nobility and does indeed produce luxury goods (typically, wine). They are a more militarized kingdom that is often at odds with Sembia, to the east. Sembia has a better access to the Sea of Fallen Stars, and as a result is a trading powerhouse in the region. Interestingly, the roads also *are* the result of an ancient empire: the former Elven empire of Cormanthyr, centered in Myth Drannor and the forest of Cormanthor. Anauroch, to the north, is actually a dry sand desert akin to the Sahara. Its presence there is not explained by geography alone but by magic - it is the result of the fall of the former empire of Netheril, a magic-oriented nation that was attacked by another race of magic-wielding creatures who dried up the entire region. It is only sparsely populated by tribes of Bedine people who are indeed formidable warriors, but keep to themselves and do not invade the west. Now for the most interesting part of the map and your analysis, the Sword Coast. To the south of Baldur's Gate lies the nation of Amn and its capital of Athkatla. The main difference between Amn and Baldur's Gate is how, similar to Cormyr, Amn is surrounded with mountains and a body of water that offer natural defenses. Athkatla, its capital, is easily twice the size of Baldur's Gate. The nation is also an economic powerhouse, ideally located at the center of trade between the northern Sword Coast and the southern regions of Tethyr and Calimshan who export exotic goods up north. Tensions run high between Amn and Baldur's Gate - a very important context in the first Baldur's Gate game. The region north of the High Forest, the Silver Marches, is indeed more sparsely populated and has a reputation of being less rich and developed than the Sword Coast. The only exception is the city of Silverymoon which acts as a center of enlightenment and diplomacy in the region. Just like you pointed out, the region is home to tribal cells of human barbarians and close-knit communities of Dwarven city states. The archipelago is a very interesting case. In your analysis, it should hold the key to the domination of the Sword Coast, but plays a much more isolated role in the stories of the Realms. I believe this is due to several reasons. First, the southern Moonshae are blessed by the "Earthmother" goddess and are, as a result, incredibly fertile. This has likely led its inhabitants to settle and farm, potentially giving up their seafaring ways. The northern islands (Norland, Ruathym, etc) are populated by Viking-esque clans, however they are raiding their southern neighbours more often than the coastal cities. There is no union in the Moonshae, and even the southern islands were only recently united under a "high king" in the cannon lore. Finally, all the cities of the Sword Coast have a strong naval presence: Neverwinter and Luskan are constantly at odds, with the latter being notorious for harbouring pirates and privateers. Baldur's Gate and Amn are rival powers who both colonized the continent of Maztica, located to the far west of the Sea of Swords. All this explains why islanders and Sword Coast dwellers are more or less leaving each other alone... and probably why of all cities, Waterdeep became the richest (no direct rival). Your video reminds me of an old map for the 3rd edition that showed the production and trade of goods in Faerûn. I'll link it here if you're interested to have a quick look: i.pinimg.com/originals/b0/97/52/b09752c0f7a31393bdefce2b3e0b6872.jpg Once again, amazing work. Sorry for the wall of text, but, as I said, I love the Realms and that kind of analysis!

[@marco0445]

Wow incredible deep dive! Are you studying geopolitics?

[@pierrez8570]

@@marco0445 Not at all lol, I'm just a Forgotten Realms nerd and I guess I enjoy geopolitics and history too.

[@Thegenderfluiddinosaur]

Yeah the lack of much information outside of the sword coast for 5e is really sad

[@kmortensen9312]

Idk if you meant that athkatla was twice the size of baldurs gate in area size.. population sizes though both cities are pretty close to the same amount of people aprox 120000 people

[@pierrez8570]

@@kmortensen9312 Only in 5E, where the population surge in Baldur's Gate is explained by the spellplague and... WOTC only caring about the northern sword coast. In the FRCS for 3E Baldur's Gate is estimated at 42k while Atkathla is at 118k.

[@mikehoran2602]

Really enjoyed this! Very informative on a digestible level. Will definitely apply these basics to my stuff!

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

Glad you like it

[@jasmin-mae506]

Finally, someone who actually understands what geopolitics are! and their importance! Mate idk how you got

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

Thanks! Also, those 18k subs all have happened in the last three weeks. I had like 1,500 at the beginning of the month lol

[@jasmin-mae506]

@@DungeonMasterpiece the algorithm is in your favor now, use the power wisely :D

[@graphthis2249]

You tricked me into learning about geopolitics and I appreciate you for that

[@ryke_masters]

fwiw, as someone with a background in sociology (i.e. social science but not geography), I feel like most of what is covered in that video would most likely be called "human geography" while "geopolitics" is usually more or less synonymous with macro-level international relations, including in a scholarly context. But then my first language is French, and maybe it's just a difference in semantics depending on what field you're in. Still some pretty cool content!

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

Lots of overlap, and it was also my first crack at a Geopolitical video. Geopolitics is more focused on the power struggles of nations within the context of their geography. I definitely focused on both in this video.

[@adndchannel6647]

Great work. The way you explain is super affective. I’m usually very easily distracted, but this kept me intrigued the entire time.

[@costanzafaust]

I think the 2nd edition FR boxed set had a map with the flow of local resources and imports/exports, it showed things like lumber, minerals, textiles, and other goods, as well as the trade routes for the commodities. Ed Greenwood certainly considered much about the geopolitics of his realms.

[@TheMadmage]

It was in the 3rd edition campaign book.

[@siccodewilt1]

16:04 you are right about that! The region around Silverymoon is know as Luruar, commonly known as the Silver Marches.

[@randomusernameCallin]

Silverymoon near The High Forest and The Evermoors is a large city. They are also more tolerant than most other cities. It is famous for magic users.

[@AlternityGM]

As I understand Faerun history the Anauroch Desert is not a natural phenomenon but created by a magical disaster that destroyed the ancient Netheril Empire.

[@chainsawsubtlety9828]

"Without life, there's no society." Yes, "life needs things to live."

[@ThePrestonMN]

I understood that reference.

[@derrynmcmaster]

Great analysis - picked up a few pointers there for when my group go on a road trip Incidentally, the problem with this map is it’s primarily focused on the sword coast; I think it may have even been released to support the rambling content of the Storm King’s Thunder campaign which is why the coast and north are extensively labelled but everywhere else is pretty barebones. Suffice to say that all the other areas are equally populated with many large cities, which can be seen by looking at other larger maps, but they haven’t been marked up as they aren’t relevant to most of the published campaign books.

[@Darth_Insidious]

The sword coast North is one of the more sparsely populated areas of the continent too. The Savage Frontier is pretty much a few towns from along the route from Silverymoon to Waterdeep, and a lot of barbarian tribes.

[@Koshea69]

Would love to have seen you to have done this with a proper map of all Faerun, not just one that focuses on the Sword Coast, you totally nailed Cormyr even though you couldn't see the major cities in that area, there are no less than 8 major cities (including Marsember) along the north and south coast of the Dragonmere, west of Saerloon. And you can't find any major civilizations Baldur's Gate would trade with to the south because The capital of Amn, Athkatla is just missing! It's just below the Cloud Peaks. Also the tons of black dots in the north west shouldn't all be counted as large centers of population, and the one that should count Silverymoon certainly does have a major trade route connecting in Triboar down to Waterdeep. But places like Mithril Hall and Menzoberranzan are underground homes of Dwarves and Drow respectively and didn't come about from surface conditions nor contribute to the normal geopolitical landscape. Anyway great work, you really nailed Faerun as much as you could with all the info that was missing from this map. I'd love to see you go east and cover Thay and it's surrounding regions and what they SHOULD be like compared to what they are like, a conquering Magocricy.

[@glebkamenetsky2993]

This is an incredible overview; thank you. I especially appreciate that you not only draw specific conclusions but also reveal the way of your thinking

[@adams5613]

You really want a 3e map. This map your using is beyond bare bones. All your points are spot on though.

[@jake192]

I love d&d and the forgotten realms. You've given me so much greater insight that i can use in my own games and novel. Thank you!

[@LONO47]

This was very enlightening. I'd love to see you take this further. Political science/sociological dissections of waterdeep etc. Good post though.

[@leahwilton785]

I have found your commentary on geopolitics super helpful! Often, I find this type of thing is framed as "you have to make your world/map realistic!" which I don't super care for. You frame it a lot more as "Here are some tools, based on the real world, that may help you develop your world" which has proven to be super potent. Thank you!

[@patatpannenkoek4875]

Me after playing bg3: hey i know some of these places.

[@trentsaylor2597]

“i’ve drunk wines from daggerford to cormir” 🫵🏻😮

[@spencercastle7514]

6:17 My theory is a combination of Aurochs, Rhinoceros, and Elephants... maybe giant/dire Boar 12:57 Basically nobody could hold it for very long because of 'politics', i.e. cults, shadow organizations, and assassinations, and 'monsters' specifically many sea monsters and dragons. 19:02 The Northlander Isles (Northern part of the Archipelago) are home to a culture similar to the Vikings, while south of them the culture is more peaceful but they are still hardy due to the raids from the Northlanders.

[@fangstarfang]

It would be awesome to see a geopolitical breakdown of the Ten Towns from the Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign

[@thomaslindberg5752]

Fantastic analysis! Great work! Loved this.

[@juiceweezle]

Hey, this is fantastic! I'd love to see an update to this after you've had a chance to look at Cormyr and Sembia from a map/materials that properly represent them. Honestly your assesment of Cormyr is pretty spot on. They have major metro cities and Cormyr is possibly the most powerful "nation" in the Realms. If you would like some Cormyr materials, let me know and I can send you some PDFs.

[@JoeBombinoGameStreams]

This is such a well done video, thanks for posting!

[@Eamil]

The best single map of Faerun I've ever seen is a fanmade map you can find on a blog called Atlas of Ice and Fire. It's extremely detailed in the number of roads, towns, landmarks, and even known ruins/dungeons it shows. It would be interesting to see a similar analysis based on that map! An odd quirk of the Forgotten Realms is that as it was originally conceived, the Sword Coast is the "frontier," the untamed wilderness with only a handful of major cities linked by one or two major trade roads, and no real nation-states that owned large swathes of territory. But because so much material is focused there (because it was designed as the "adventurey" part of the setting), it now feels much more developed and crowded than it was originally supposed to. On top of that, because it's the central focus in 5e, the official 5e map shows it in much more detail than surrounding regions like Amn and Cormyr that ARE actual nations unto themselves, which makes the Sword Coast seem even more "overdeveloped" than it actually is.

[@DerKaetzer]

I am celebrating your video! Wonderful work, that will help me to no end to make my first homemade D&D campaign at the sword coast much more credible and lively. Thanks a lot, friend!

[@KnarbMakes]

It almost feels like the Sword coast ripped off (was inspired by) the North American West coast. Hmmm. Really cool video Baron, loved the illustration/graphics.

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

Thanks! Definitely a challenging edit! Glad you loved it!

[@Thumperoo]

@@DungeonMasterpiece I second that: very neat and easy to follow.

[@kazarofchult8086]

It was lol Waterdeep has a deep water harbor based on San Francisco

[@bradwoodard8289]

I live on the American West coast, and the way we look at it in our local game group is: Waterdeep = Seattle, Baldur's Gate = San Francisco, Candlekeep = Monterey, Amn = Southern California (Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Etc.) This gives us a good general idea of climate and characteristics.

[@bens3138]

Consider this: Wizards of the Coast was founded, and is still located in Seattle.

[@BerlinRams85]

Hands down, one of the best videos I've ever seen on any game!!!!

[@Blakobness]

That's an interesting take on the initial geographic analysis with the interaction of glacial activity and winds dropping their water vapor before heading over mountains, leaving the Anauroch barren; until you realize that the Anauroch was decimated deliberately by Netheril mages to wipe out ancient Orc populations. It's still very interesting that even a man-made magical disaster still more or less dovetails accurately with real life geographic climate tendencies.

[@Miggy19779]

It wasn't, it was the life drain magic of the Phaerimm that caused it, to destabilise low Netheril.

[@johnkon2810]

Well done video. Some of my biggest issues with the Realms are related to geopolitics & how many things do not make sense. Yes, there's magic, elves, dwarves & dragons but, still... While a few things have been done decently, there are many things aren't, especially geopolitical wise. Even for a fantasy world or rather... especially for a fantasy world (abundant with all manor of creatures, races & cultures), geopolitics matters.

[@AJPickett]

Excellent content.

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

Thanks so much! Means a lot!!

[@DeclanMurphyDM]

I thoroughly enjoyed this video. Bravo!

[@orionstar7323]

that was amazing, great video. I would love to share a more detailed map of Toril(the planet where Faerun is) for u to to analyze!

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

I plan on doing more of these, so please send it my way!

[@alexanderfrazier8799]

Hey @Orion Star, I was just wondering if you would mind sharing that map with me as well. I’m a very detailed oriented DM and I would love a proper map for my notes.

[@zandilar630]

@@alexanderfrazier8799 that's a tricky ask. There are so many different maps over a very long period of time, and they won't all agree with each other. If you want detailed maps of 5e Cormyr, Sembia, or the Dalelands, you'll be SOL, for example, since 5e is Sword Coast centric, and the more detailed maps of those areas are 1372 DR, while the 5e maps are in 1485 DR after both the Spellplague and the Second Sundering - so the geography has literally changed in places.

[@9NEJ6]

@@DungeonMasterpiece Handsome Rob's Maps: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WFdow4qtoCe6ywsps5uihvTjwlrntoGV

[@kellysamuel3383]

Glad this one blew up since it was my favorite video of yours from a long time ago

[@trioofone8911]

Here is something to think about: 8n those places with networks of roads that seem to lead nowhere, the ancient civilization would have arisen in that area for some reason. Most likely having to do with resource distribution. So, the Sword Coast around Baldurs Gate and south most likely has (or used to have) certain essential elements, namely copper and/or tin (if the ancient civilization were a "bronze age" empire) and/or perhaps iron (a la Rome). And then why did the ancient civilization disappear?...

[@bradwoodard8289]

No Spoilers, but Lost Mines of Phandelver gives one reason why there were roads and heavy traffic through the area in the past.

[@andrewmiller2464]

Well, part of the problem is the map being used, which is one meant specifically to highlight the Sword Coast. That region labelled as Amn looks empty because they didn't label many of the cities or locations in it, but it's a nation of millions of people and its capital is one of the major trade hubs in the region. Those roads (while many are certainly quite ancient and have been used continuously for centuries) are likely an active and intentional result of the current civilization existing in the region as much as they are some archaeological blip, it's just that the region of Amn wasn't the map-makers' focus so they weren't inclined to include much more information other than that the place exists.

[@matthewhanson701]

Insightful. And I really loved the use of highlighting to draw attention to what you were saying.

[@couchyrick6300]

hill giants are basica the reason the giant hills are like that i know i know it sounds obvious but if you didnt know hill giants activly function more like if elephants had a diet more similer to pigs they eat anything even sometimes mud and sticks

[@homunculus023]

Amazing. I wish you will continue with the series, this is fantastic!!

[@hungryclone]

It’s interesting to see what can be gleaned from this map even though it doesn’t show most of the cities in Ferun.

[@theghostwheel5137]

Yeah, Athkatla explains the road that doesn't make sense going from Baldur's Gate.

[@Eldagusto]

Glad I found this channel with this video! Love geopolitics in RPGs!

[@fleetcenturion]

10:44 - The Dalelands trade primarily to the east, across the Sea of Fallen Stars. You completely left out the eastern part of the sea. The magocracies of Thay are the gateway to Kara-Tur and the east, and are filthy rich as a result. 13:02 - Anauroch has little population, due to the fact that it is the ruins of the fallen Netherese empire. The area was once kept magically lush and green, until their floating island city-states fell out of the sky. The whole region is basically cursed, with eldritch magics and dangerous monsters. People who lived there would more likely be an extreme version of the Anasazi of the American Southwest, who had a flourishing civilization for about 300 years, until they could no longer grow the crops that sustained their cities. They then built settlements in the cliffs, and preyed upon their weaker neighbors-- literally, by the way; they were also cannibals! 17:16 - "... China has never once had a strong naval presence... " Just one question: _Are you high right now?_ As for piracy on the Sword Coast, the city of Luskan was and is the hub of pirate activity, now consolidated into noble houses (called "ships") and ruled over by wizards. They are basically the robber-barons of the sea lanes.

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

I love that you left timestamps related to your comments! I was purely going off of the map supplied on the dnd website. It's interesting to see how the real lore breaks down compared to just the data gleaned from a map!

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

And as far as my Chinese navy comment, to iterate, I meant that they have never had a naval presence that has afforded them the ability to project naval authority into the Pacific or indian oceans.

[@fleetcenturion]

@@DungeonMasterpiece - Maybe you just haven't been keeping up on current events.

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

@@fleetcenturion the manufactured islands and the casino boats turned carriers? Nah, I keep up with things that can be easily destroyed by Indonesian and Japanese rocket strikes. One indian destroyer fleet could disrupt 50% of China's petrol consumption, and there would be nothing sea-based the Chinese navy could do about it. Too many rockets.

[@fleetcenturion]

​@@DungeonMasterpiece - Remember those words when they invade Taiwan in the next year or so, and nobody does shit about it.

[@SpiritWolf1966]

I enjoy all of Dungeon Masterpiece videos

[@THEQuantumBacon]

Really cool breakdown from a real world perspective, though I think it’s somewhat let down by the map used. I BELIEVE this was a map made from the in universe perspective of the Lord’s Alliance (mostly along the Sword Coast North) which could explain the lack of city size indicators elsewhere. A couple things: Cormyr and Sembia are huge cultural and economic powerhouses, so that checks out with what you predicted. Also, the roads in the south likely bring remnants of past empires does too, as that region was mostly the Shoon Empire for thousands of years, only in relatively recent times (a few centuries ago), breaking into smaller states, one of which (Tethyr) is only recently reformed after a civil war and complete collapse just over a century ago. Another, Amn, which is its own powerhouse and one of the first colonial powers (like Spain), really checks out with your analysis, because one of its major occupation efforts is on the island of Snowdown in the Moonshae archipelago - likely for the reasons you illustrated. A couple differences: The area of arid plains you associated with the Mongols and other Asian steppe cultures, is actually a magically created desert of massive size, with a population magically transported from a similar environment far to the south (on the continent of Zakhara, which is loosely based on the Arabian peninsula). There IS a very large area more closely analogous to the Asian steppes, but it is to the east of Sembia connecting to Shou Lung. They even had a series of books about an invasion of the Tuigan Hordes threatening all (or most) of Faerun that was a not so subtle Mongol invasion analogue. And finally, the area of the inland North you compared to Appalachia PROBABLY largely IS like that in smaller communities, but the presence of Silverymoon as a sort of cultural, economic and educational epicenter probably combats that somewhat. It’s be like dropping the Great Library of Alexandria right in coal country… I suspect the relatively prominent disposition of several current and historical mining-based dwarf strongholds in this region (Gauntlgrym, Mithral Hall, Citadel Adbar, Citadel Felbar et al.) is a slightly more exotic nod to the conditions you mentioned. Pretty cool breakdown over all. I’d love to see more like this. Makes these fantastical worlds even more interesting and “lived in.”

[@gstaff1234]

This certainly goes into the save category for future references in building my next campaign. Great analysis and appreciate how you gave Earth examples along the way

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

Glad it was helpful!

[@burnt-croissants]

who else is here after playing balder’s gate 3?

[@edelzocker8169]

Neverwinter Nights, BG3 and a campaign were I burned down the Neverwinter Wood south of the Neverwinter River...

[@gunslingerspartan]

11:29 those roads do connect to the river trade route to Baldur's gate through the chiontar river, which carries the bulk of the trade from the sword coast to Cormyr and Sembia, there are many settlements across this river and they can be assumed to have a connecting riverside road that is simply smaller than the other roads marked in red, most of the settlements that definitely deserve to be marked with points just aren't in this map, Marsember is a sprawling metropolis similar to venice built on sandy islands that are connected by small bridges and have a sprawling canal system one of the biggest ports in faerun, it's known as the city of spices, it sits on a huge trade river, it's so important in fact that this map puts its position over where its neighboring city Suzail is, not over where Marsember actually is at the mouth of that tributary to the lake of dragons far east of where the map places it the giants plain is indeed home to many migratory animals including huge bison like Rothé, and formerly actual giants, dwarves killed them off and humans later took the land from the dwarfs

[@elink2k1]

This was awesome! I⅜'d like to support you in making a simular video but focused on... the High Forest. It is located between two river valleys and contributes to them by a few rivers that flow out of a small central mountain chain. I was also interested in the idea that buttes exist in the forest, maybe just east of this mountain. It appears that these rivers once had ancient civilizations... now they are ruins, tombs, and abandoned strongholds. The north of the forest has a series of roads and locations of interest which seem to connect River Rauvin and the Delimbiyr River. To the north of the forest is the Evermoors and mountains. I would love to hear what you might be able to tell us about this region.

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

I plan on doing more geopolitical fantasy map reviews in the future, so I'll keep your curiosity in mind!

[@susinator]

Ok, i watched this video, and immediately subscribed. This was very well written and well made. I love it!

[@sheepbeeps3369]

That Road connects to the two trade powerhouses of Ferun, Cormyr and Sembia. I'm sure people have already brought that up. But. The roads were originally built by Amn. A merchant republic so powerful it once dominated the sword coast. The environment has changed over the centuries, and between that and it's loss of overseas colonies the great glittering city is now a shadow of it's former self, and it's empire has grown wild. Marsember's also had it pretty rough until recently. A war wizard despo, ad a series of incompetent Dukes squandered the city's potential in the last century. Also the Harpers intentionally retard technological progress. Dispite all this it's known as the city of spices and is the main trade link into the sword coast from the eastern trade routes.

[@PhDip]

This was great! A quick note though, the flora of the Serengeti and the Great Plains is determined by the geology and soil layers that hinders the root development of large trees, that is why grasses and other shallow root vegetation predominate. In both cases, there is a subsurface layer that is very hard for tree roots to establish themselves through. And there isn’t enough water below that layer to support them in many cases. So grasses grow, and the ruminants come in.

[@krissybaglin9206]

You could have looked into a lore a little more. There's some fasciating concepts that actually affected much of these regions including the ancient netherese who actively moved mountains

[@paulsavas2394]

Excellent video! Looking forward to watching again with my notepad!

[@saeravi]

This is awesome! Thank you so much for making the video! Gonna share it to the other DMs I know :)

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

Thanks for sharing!!

[@RedHornSSS]

Man this is such a cool video! I picked up little pieces here and there but your video really did made a great conclusion of all the things

[@JoesphEKerr]

Freaking cool - at first I was like, you've got to be kidding me, but I seriously couldn't stop watching except to take notes!!!

[@orboakin8074]

Holy heck! WHere has this channel been all my life? I love the analysis of world building, societal structure and geography in fantasy settings. Also, love your use of real-world examples. Never played dungeons and dragons before but I love reading fantasy fiction.

[@AxeGaijin]

It's great to learn more about this fay-run...

[@lunavarion]

This was amazingly informative and insightful! Every DM setting their games in the Forgotten Tank Realms should watch this video since not only does it inform, the information you present gives many campaign and worldbuilding ideas. Great video!

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@borgiedude]

Great video. For someone who prefers to draw only loosely from maps and established cannon, the concepts discussed in this video are excellent.

[@larryblackwell700]

Demonstrating the techniques of geopolitical analysis was absolutely worth the 20 minutes. Thanks.

[@neilg5579]

I hope you do more of this because I've been trying to find videos like this to no avail The closest I get the content creator just makes their own world rather analyzing the geopolitics of a given location

[@DungeonMasterpiece]

I'll be doing dark sun/Athas in the very very near future (prolly this month?) Do you have fantasy worlds you'd like me to explore specifically?

[@neilg5579]

@@DungeonMasterpiece among dnd worlds I'm familiar with faerun, athas, and grey hawk so I'd be cool with those

[@neilg5579]

From none dnd worlds I wouldn't mind more of the witcher, a song of ice and fire, and Tolkien worlds

[@JonSteitzer]

Just re-watched, this is maybe the most thought provoking break down of faerun I've ever considered.

[@sambojinbojin-sam6550]

Such beautiful handwaviam. Well done!

[@scotthull260]

Just came across this video. Well done and fascinating. I'm actually running a campaign on the coast area so this is very helpful. I do concur with some of the comments that the areas that are lacking population centers contrary to what should be happening is probably due to it not being a focus but that doesn't really matter. I loved the way you dovetailed modern geopolitics with the fantasy world. Well done!

[@mykeusgaming1510]

Fun video, pretty spot on with what you had to work from, one thing and I’m going to butcher the spelling: the aunerach area is actually a magically induced desert from the time of a fallen empire known as the Netheril. They became too big for their britches and a magic eating race of subsurface creatures destroyed their verdant homeland turning it into that desert that you see there today.

[@PilotSun-rg9bh]

This was very fun to listen too. I really enjoyed the way you looked at this map! Keep up the great content!

[@Jaszcz07]

I'm grateful for this series existing, it helped me gain a greater degree of understanding and depth in worldbuilding my homebrew setting

[@darktimesatrockymountainhi4046]

Lovely! Thanks for confirming my reading of the map - and my conclusions. So much to share & too little time or space, but you might appreciate a couple tasty bits! My Oath of the Weave Paladin, originally from the Shining Plains region, noticed the vulnerability long ago & has worked to forge a defense alliance, encompassing all the mountain ranges along the edges of the Anauroc. One of our tactics is to train companies of mountain rangers & scouts, and build a communications network of relay messengers. Cormyr is an ally & on board, as are Luraur, Yartar, and Waterdeep, but some distrust of Cormyr causes Proskur to hesitate. The Paladin has familial connections to the Dale Lands, so there are cells in development to eventually take up position in the mountains. The other bit is that this video today has inspired me to add a certain twist to the game I’m running for my wife & a neighbor boy. He’s 8 yo & apparently into walruses, so, in favor of walruses, we are headed up to Neverwinter, Luskan, and beyond in search of walruses. Now I speculate that someone might suggest to them the “the greatest walruses” are on the northern coasts of the archipelago, and we might eventually expand our alliance into the ocean, develop a base in the islands, and eventually have reasonable control over the coast - because of walruses! 😅

[@Thumperoo]

Pretty funny: I'm currently running different games in this setting and just discovered upon watching this I actually had pegged a few of the things mentioned in your vid, although more out of instinct (or luck) than from an actual depth of analysis like what you're sharing here. Very cool, and an invaluable demonstration on how to make a campaign setting more vibrant, alive... and, well: real ! Thank you. NOTE: the size of the cities / dots probably has little to do with their actual size. My guess is the dots are bigger in the north-western part of the map simply because that's where most of the designers put their attention. Sounds a little too obvious, but I'd bet that's what it is...

[@JefCollier]

You sir, have earned yourself another sub. I'm surprised I haven't stumbled across you before now, but this content is stellar. Keep up the great work. Now I need to rip through the rest of your backlog!

[@anubisgodofdeath420]

This actually really helped me understand the world better and what the people would be like from town to town

[@tyleremery7088]

From the Forgotten Realms wiki: _Marsember, also known as the City of Spices, was a metropolis and the busiest port in the entire kingdom of Cormyr._ Apparently its population was like 38,000 as of 1479 DR (~15 years prior to current 5e canon). Certainly nothing to sneeze at. Honestly, the most interesting part of this video is that the map is very consistent with what you would expect out of a real-world map, but the lore sometimes has a completely different way of justifying it that has nothing to do with the things you're describing - and it makes complete sense both ways.

[@custardpanda6209]

Phenomenal video, presented very clearly. Masterfully done!

[@charleslowry2513]

Very late reply. I really enjoy your insight into the game. I found this video particularly interesting as I'm developing/running a campaign along the 'Sword Coast'. I use the term 'Sword Coast' lightly as I am really only using the map and cherrypicking some ideas from various older FR material (AD&D material). Your explanation/reasoning helped me better understand competing resources within the region which aids my story development immensely. I greatly appreciate your videos and will continue to view/listen.

[@cloud1973]

This is a surprisingly fun video!

[@emPtysp4ce]

The point about the islands fucking with Baldur's Gate's trade capabilities probably explains why the road southeast exists; if the coast is hazardous from the islander pirates, and the northeast is hazardous from the Not-Mongols, then going southeast to find the trading partners of the Sea of Falling Stars makes sense. It makes even more sense if the communities you mentioned as being oddly unpopulated were only recently made so due to plague or something.

[@czcrossman]

I’m a political scientist by training (mainly International Relations w/ a focus on Eastern Europe & the Near East) and I’m also a total D&D nerd…so this video is like the coolest thing I could imagine 😆 Very well done man, I totally dig it. Subscribed!

[@macchannell1582]

I learned so much about not only the Sword Coast, but the real world as well. Well done sir, you are a fabulous teacher and content creator.

[@DamianSchoolcraft]

You did an AMAZING job on this video, thank you so much!

[@envisionedgames]

'Unless there is a specific and rare mineal that can be mined out of this region...' Mithril is your rare mineral -- Citadel Adbar, Citadel Felbar, Mithril Hall, Mirabar, and Citadel Sundabar are all either fully dwarven or heavy dwarven communities and thus all or most of their city is underground and highly defensible. Dwarven communities are also known for having trade routes through underground paths so trade and communication with these communities could easily continue uninterrupted no matter the current goings-on on the surface.