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I recently started trying to look at lore of the Forgotten Realms and Toril, and it has made me curious which rule books (such as the Player's Handbook and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything), setting books (such as the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide), and adventures (such as Lost Mines of Phandelver and Waterdeep: Dragon Heist) feature content from or take place on Toril.

Additionally, for books where the setting isn't in Toril, if there is a known method to reach the setting from Toril.

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4 Answers 4

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Adventures (in books)

Forgotten Realms

  • Lost Mine of Phandelver, Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
  • Tyranny of Dragons and Hoard of the Dragon Queen
  • Princes of the Apocalypse
  • Out of the Abyss
  • Tomb of Annihilation
  • Storm King's Thunder
  • Waterdeep: Dragon Heist and Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
  • Dragons of Icespire Peak
  • Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus obviously starts in the FR...
  • Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
  • Candlekeep Mysteries (Candlekeep is in the FR; it's been long enough that I don't remember if any of the mysteries transport you off-FR.)

For many years (at least eight) Adventurers League modules attached to the same setting as the book published that season; I haven't kept up with AL since the shift to Community Content (and, later, the pandemic), so things may have changed?

Not FR

  • Ghosts of Saltmarsh (Greyhawk)
  • Wild beyond the Witchlight (Faerie Feywild)
  • Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos (Arcavios, M:TG multiverse)
  • Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep (Exandria, CR setting)
  • Journeys through the Radiant Citadel (in the Astral Plane, though it bills as 'you can drop it into any setting')
  • Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen (Krynn)
  • Keys from the Golden Vault jumps around planes/setting-less

Argue somewhere else =)

  • Curse of Strahd is set in the "Demiplane Domains of Dread," newly part of the Shadowfell; it still 'moves around' to be accessed from anywhere you'd like.
  • Tales from the Yawning Portal is named after a tavern in Waterdeep. But the adventures contained in TftYP originally source from many locations, both in and out of the FR.

Other Books

  • PHB references (in examples) characters from multiple settings, including the FR; DMG and MM are functionally agnostic.
  • Volo is an FR character, Mordenkainen is from Greyhawk, Fizban is beloved of Krynn. Xanathar lives in Waterdeep (FR), Tasha dates back to Greyhawk, and Boo hails from wildspace (but lives in Baldur's Gate). The monsters and implied lore in these books are all over the map, literally.
  • Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide is FR-specific. Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica, Acquisitions Incorporated, Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, Mythic Odysseys of Theros, Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, Astral Adventurer's Guide, Spelljammer: D&D Adventures in Space all attach to their settings; Ravnica and Theros are M:tG settings transcluded into D&D.

Travel

Thomas Markov's answer already details travel—go upvote it!

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Note: Technically, Wild beyond the Witchlight begins on any world; the carnival travels the multiverse, and is explicitly visiting the character's world, whatever it is, at the beginning of the adventure. The adventure doesn't depend on the setting at all, so it's perfectly accessible to FR-based campaigns with zero access to plane-shifting or world-hopping resources. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Feb 15 at 0:07
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You can get from any setting in the multiverse to any other setting.

The spell dream of the blue veil provides a means of travel to any other realm in the multiverse (TCoE, p. 106):

You and up to eight willing creatures within range fall unconscious for the spell’s duration and experience visions of another world on the Material Plane, such as Oerth, Toril, Krynn, or Eberron. If the spell reaches its full duration, the visions conclude with each of you encountering and pulling back a mysterious blue curtain. The spell then ends with you mentally and physically transported to the world that was in the visions.

So every setting in the D&D multiverse that is on the Material Plane can be accessed via this spell—assuming, of course, you can actually cast it and have the appropriate materials.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Is it known how limited the access is without this spell? Or would that qualify as a wholly new question topic? \$\endgroup\$
    – Journer
    Commented May 26, 2023 at 11:38
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Journer Still the same question, I think. If someone doesn’t provide that sort of answer though, I’ll personally bounty this one for you to encourage an answer that doesn’t involve this spell. \$\endgroup\$ Commented May 26, 2023 at 11:43
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    \$\begingroup\$ Why mention only this spell? The spells 'gate' and 'plane shift' can also be used for this, right? And then there is the possibility of the existence portals. \$\endgroup\$ Commented May 26, 2023 at 12:28
  • \$\begingroup\$ For the record, the spell requires a material component of "a magic item or a willing creature from the destination world" \$\endgroup\$ Commented Mar 18 at 20:53
  • \$\begingroup\$ @SeanMcMillan that’s the last sentence of my answer. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Mar 18 at 21:05
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This answer is in addition to nitsua60's and Thomas Markov's answers:

This answer enumerates three broad ways of travel between settings as discussed in the rules

But really, such travel is completely up to the DM and can be incredibly easy or even accidental, the result of a high-level spell, simply not possible, or anything in between.

What the rules say

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything details multiple ways to travel between worlds. The spell dream of the blue veil (p. 106) is an example of one such way.

In Tasha's, the description of the dream of the blue veil spell contains an additional explanatory text box, entitled, "Traveling to Other Worlds".

It starts off:

The Material Plane holds an infinite number of worlds. Some—like Oerth, Toril, Krynn, and Eberron—are well documented, but there are countless others.

It then goes on to list three ways to travel between such worlds:

The Great Journey

Transit between these worlds is rare but not impossible and can be accomplished in various ways. One such method is called the Great Journey, an epic voyage fraught with peril and littered with obstacles to be overcome. This journey most often occurs aboard a vessel powered by magic.

The Dream of Other Worlds

Another method is the Dream of Other Worlds; travelers fall into a deep slumber and dream themselves into a new realm. The spell dream of the blue veil employs this method of transit.

The Leap to Another Realm

The most direct method is the Leap to Another Realm; a spellcaster casts teleportation circle or teleport, aiming to appear in a known teleportation circle or some other location in another world.

Conclusion

The purpose of the spell is to give players permission to move between settings

I don't think it takes much insight to suppose that the purpose of the spell, and the text box, is to explicitly give players (in the broader sense, to include the DM) permission to move between adventure worlds as they would like, and not feel constrained by the rules to a single setting. Specifically, it is telling you, as the DM, if want your players to from one setting to another, feel free! And here's a way we've made for you to do it!

It's entirely up to the DM

Such travels can't happen without the DM's approval. After all, even dream of the blue veil requires "a magic item or a willing creature from the destination world" as a material component. Personally, I find it amusing that you can negate the component by using wish. Take that, DM! Now you have to take me to Eberron! It says so right in the rules!

The DM should not feel constrained by these methods

But really, the DM doesn't need the Great Journey, the Dream of Other Worlds, or the Leap to Another Realm.

You asked, "Additionally, for books where the setting isn't in Toril, if there is a known method to reach the setting from Toril." Hopefully this answer has given some such methods. But don't feel constrained by what's in the rules. If you're a DM, you can make up anything you want. If you're a player, discuss with your DM. If the DM would like, Toril is reachable and can reach to anywhere at all.

If the DM wants to move the adventurers between worlds, any mechanism will do. A vessel powered by magic. A magical dream. A special teleport. A hidden cave. A mysterious artifact. A waterfall. A tornado. A wardrobe. A special train. A magic tollbooth.

Okay, some of those are dumb. They strain credulity and wouldn't work at all.

The method should be as easy or hard as helps the adventure. The method could be accidental or on purpose, one-way or two-way, repeatable or not repeatable, easy or hard, whatever the DM decides will suit the adventure.

Afterthought

For what it's worth, D&D Beyond published an article about dream of the blue veil, entitled Spell Spotlight: Dream of the Blue Veil.

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There are books from D&D Next (the playtest for D&D 5e) that are set in Toril and relevant to 5e. These sources are either extensive settings updates attached to adventures or stand alone books:

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