Close
Close
Advanced Search

Heroes' Lorebook (2e)Click to magnify
Quick Preview
/gs_flipbook/flip.php?xml=/demo_xml/16856.xml&w=500&h=346
Full‑size Preview
https://watermark.drivethrurpg.com/pdf_previews/16856-sample.pdf

Heroes' Lorebook (2e)

ADD TO WISHLIST >

They are the stuff legends are made of. In fact, they are legends.

The major characters who have fought -- and in some cases died -- for the sake of goodness and justice in all parts of the Forgotten Realms campaign world are chronicled for posterity in Heroes' Lorebook, a 160-page compendium of the heroes whose exploits have filled dozens of novels over the past decade.

Inside you'll find updated game statistics ad descriptions for Elminster, Drizzt Do'Urden, Alias, and many other characters who appeared in the Hall of Heroes collection published in 1989, as well as a host of brand-new biographies for heroes such as Brianna and Tavis Burdun, Alicia Kendrick, Cadderly, and Danica, who have never been featured in a game product until now.

No collection of Forgotten Realms gaming literature is complete without this "Who's Who" of the people -- and creatures -- who have prevented the forces of evil form having their way.

Product History

Heroes' Lorebook (1996), by Dale Donovan and Paul Culotta, is an NPC sourcebook for the Forgotten Realms. It was published in July 1996.

About the Cover. Which stars are worthy of the cover of Heroes' Lorebook? Alias, Elminster, and Drizzt Do'Urden.

Origins (I): Another Hall. The Forgotten Realms kicked off the AD&D 2e era with FR7: "Hall of Heroes" (1989), an NPC sourcebook that statted up the major characters of the first two and a half years of Forgotten Realms novels. Seven years later, the book was out of print and Donovan and Culotta "worked hard" to collect as much information as they could on all the characters characters that had appeared since.

Origins (II): More Novels. The original "Hall of Heroes" translated the first ten Forgotten Realms novels: the Moonshae Trilogy (1987-1989), the Avatar Trilogy (1987), the first two-thirds of the Crystal Shard Trilogy (1988, 1989), Spellfire (1988), and Azure Bonds (1988) — plus an unpublished eleventh novel. By 1996, the Realms fiction line was much larger, with almost 70 novels in print. It was one of TSR's crown gems — though also one of its biggest vulnerabilities, as TSR's relationship with its Random House and the book trade would be a large factor plunging TSR toward bankruptcy by year's end.

R.A. Salvatore was clearly the star of the line. By 1996, he'd completed the Crystal Shard Trilogy (1988-1990) and the Dark Elf Trilogy (1990-1991). He was also just a month away from ending his four-book Legacy of the Drow sequence (1992-1996), which had begun with The Legacy (1992), TSR's first hardcover. Salvatore's Realms bibliography also included the lesser-known Cleric Quintet (1991-1994).

Meanwhile, many other authors had become major forces in TSR's fiction line. Douglas Niles followed his Moonshae Trilogy with the Druidhome Trilogy (1992-1993). Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb has similarly expanded Azure Bonds into the Finder's Stone Trilogy (1988-1991) while Ed Greenwood wrote a sequel to Spellfire (1988) called Crown of Fire (1994). Realms-shaking events also continued with the Empires Trilogy (1990) and to a lesser extent Douglas Niles' Maztica Trilogy (1990-1991) and Ed Greenwood's Shadow of the Avatar Trilogy (1995).

TSR was also supporting one-off books (and new authors) as part of two extended series, The Harpers (1991-1998) and The Nobles (1995-1997). Even short stories were getting their time in the sun, thanks to the "Realms" anthologies (1993-Present), debuted by James Lowder with Realms of Valor (1993).

The elf-focused Elaine Cunningham was probably the biggest star to appear in these more varied series, with four of her Harper books becoming the first four volumes of Songs & Swords (1991-1999); she followed that up with Starlight & Shadows (1995-2003). Troy Denning, who wrote two of the Harpers novels similar went on to write about The Twilight Giants (1994-1995).

In other words, the world of Realms fiction was very big by 1996, which means that Donovan and Culotta really had their work cut out for them, trying to fit all the major protagonists into a single book!

b>NPCs of Note. The NPCs of the Heroes' Lorebook primarily come from the novels. Some had first appeared in "Hall of Heroes" but now returned, sometimes with improved stats and new companions. Many others were brand-new.

  • The Moonshae Trilogy. Prince Tristan Kendrick, Robyn Kendrick
    • The Druidhome Trilogy. Alicia Kendrick, Keane
  • The Icewind Dale Trilogy. Bruenor Battlehammer, Cattie-brie, Drizzt Do'Urden, Regis, Wulfgar
  • The Spellfire Duology. Mirt, Narm Tamaraith, Shandril Shessair
  • The Finder's Stone Trilogy. Alias, Dragonbait, Giogi Wyvernspur, Olive Ruskettle
  • The Avatar Trilogy. Adon
    • Prince of Lies. Gwydion, Rinda
  • The Pool Novels. Ren o'the Blade, Shal Bal, Tarl Desanea
  • The Empires Trilogy. Alusair Obarskyr, King Azoun Obarskyr IV, Dimswart Vangerdahast
  • The Cleric Quintet. Cadderly Bonaduce, Danica Maupoissant
  • The Harpers Novels.
    • The Parched Sea (#1). Lander, Ruha
    • Red Magic (#3). Brenna Graycloak, Galvin, Wynter
    • The Night Parade (#4). Myrmeen Lhal
    • The Ring of Winter (#5). Artus Cimber
    • The Shadowking Novels (#6, #11). Caledan Caldorien, Mari Al'maren
    • Soldiers of Ice (#7). Martine, Vilheim)
  • Song & Swords. Arilyn Moonblade, Danilo Thann
  • The Twilight Giants. Brianna Burdun, Tavis Burdun
  • The Nobles Novels.
    • King Pinch (#1). Janol
    • War in Tethyr (#2). Zaranda Star
  • Starlight & Shadows. Fyodor, Liriel Baenre

Like "Hall of Heroes", Heroes' Lorebook also features several Shadowdale and Waterdeep personalities — though some were now also appearing in novels like Elminster: The Making of a Mage (1994) and the Shadows of the Avatar Trilogy. It also features all Seven Sisters (after just five made it into "Hall of Heroes").

About the Creators. Culotta was a freelancer who worked on a few TSR projects in the late '90s, but this was probably his largest contribution. Donovan was a relative newcomer at TSR who would go on to the be the sole author of Villains' Lorebook (1998).

About the Product Historian

The history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the editor-in-chief of RPGnet and the author of Designers & Dragons - a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com.

We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.

pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
 
 Customers Who Bought this Title also Purchased
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
Reviews (2)
Discussions (3)
Customer avatar
Giuseppe D September 30, 2021 12:44 am UTC
POD please
Customer avatar
Jason C December 04, 2019 5:53 am UTC
PURCHASER
Bought the pdf. The scan isn't very good. The pages aren't straight and the words get distorted near where the binding would be on a physical copy. Hopefully they will upload a better scan soon.
Customer avatar
Jason C June 16, 2019 4:43 am UTC
PURCHASER
I'd really like to see this in Print on Demand like the Villains' Lorebook is.
Narrow Results
$ to $
 Follow Your Favorites!
NotificationsSign in to get custom notifications of new products!
 Recent History















Product Information
Electrum seller
Pages
160
Edition
1.0
Publisher Stock #
TSR 9525
File Size:
96.76 MB
Format
Scanned image Click for more information
Scanned image
These products were created by scanning an original printed edition. Most older books are in scanned image format because original digital layout files never existed or were no longer available from the publisher.

For PDF download editions, each page has been run through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to attempt to decipher the printed text. The result of this OCR process is placed invisibly behind the picture of each scanned page, to allow for text searching. However, any text in a given book set on a graphical background or in handwritten fonts would most likely not be picked up by the OCR software, and is therefore not searchable. Also, a few larger books may be resampled to fit into the system, and may not have this searchable text background.

For printed books, we have performed high-resolution scans of an original hardcopy of the book. We essentially digitally re-master the book. Unfortunately, the resulting quality of these books is not as high. It's the problem of making a copy of a copy. The text is fine for reading, but illustration work starts to run dark, pixellating and/or losing shades of grey. Moiré patterns may develop in photos. We mark clearly which print titles come from scanned image books so that you can make an informed purchase decision about the quality of what you will receive.
pixel_trans.gif
Original electronic format
These ebooks were created from the original electronic layout files, and therefore are fully text searchable. Also, their file size tends to be smaller than scanned image books. Most newer books are in the original electronic format. Both download and print editions of such books should be high quality.
File Information
Watermarked PDF Click for more information
Watermarked PDF

These PDF files are digitally watermarked to signify that you are the owner. A small message is added to the bottom of each page of the PDF containing your name and the order number of your purchase.

Warning: If any files bearing your information are found being distributed illegally, then your account will be suspended and legal action may be taken against you.

Here is a sample of a page from a watermarked title:

File Last Updated:
November 21, 2016
This title was added to our catalog on November 22, 2016.