D&D’s New Books Could Finally Fix Netheril — Will They Save the Infamous How the Mighty Are Fallen?

Two upcoming Forgotten Realms books arrive in November, and a digital expansion will take players back to Netheril — one of the setting’s most famous lost empires. Below I list what’s confirmed about the releases and how an older Netheril adventure connects to them.

1. New books and release window
2. 1996’s How the Mighty Are Fallen (2e)
3. Karsus’s Folly: the historical event
4. What the digital Netheril’s Fall promises
5. Concise summary

New books and release window

Wizards of the Coast lists two Forgotten Realms titles due in November: Heroes of Faerûn and Adventures in Faerûn. In addition, the Forgotten Realms Ultimate Bundle includes a digital expansion called Netheril’s Fall, which is described as a time-traveling look at the fallen Netherese empire.

1996’s How the Mighty Are Fallen (2e)

The 1996 adventure How the Mighty Are Fallen is a 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons scenario set during the final days of Netheril. The module was designed as a companion to the Netheril: Empire of Magic boxed setting and runs around 61 pages.

Among its notable plot beats, the adventure asks characters to locate ingredients for Karsus’s spell, including a Tarrasque’s pituitary gland and a gold dragon’s gizzard. However, the module also contains other plotted threads: a jeweler who wants his dead wife recovered, encounters with orcs and phaerimm, and a lich building an undead army. The book itself includes the line, “This adventure is not extraordinarily linear in nature.”

Karsus’s Folly: the historical event

Karsus’s Folly is the canonical Netherese event dated to -339 DR in the Dalereckoning calendar. According to Forgotten Realms histories, the archmage Karsus cast a 12th-level spell called Karsus’s Avatar in an attempt to seize the Weave and replace the goddess Mystryl, which led to Mystryl’s death and a temporary shutdown of magic. That shutdown caused Netheril’s floating cities to fall.

For calendar reference, see the Dalereckoning listing on the Forgotten Realms wiki: Dalereckoning calendar.

Separately, 5th Edition adventure Rime of the Frostmaiden includes an optional sequence where characters can be sent back in time and land in ancient Netheril, providing an in-game hook to visit that era without adapting older 2e material.

The YouTube playlist above contains Exandria Unlimited: Calamity, a short campaign set in an Exandrian past with thematic similarities to Netheril’s Age of Arcanum.

What the digital Netheril’s Fall promises

The official summary for Netheril’s Fall states it will describe both the flying cities of High Netheril and the ground settlements of Low Netheril, and provide city maps, gazetteers, and new monsters and magic items. The product is billed as allowing players and Dungeon Masters to set adventures “during iconic Netherese events.”

Concise summary

In short: two print Forgotten Realms books (Heroes of Faerûn and Adventures in Faerûn) are scheduled for November, and the Forgotten Realms Ultimate Bundle includes a digital expansion called Netheril’s Fall that promises maps, gazetteers, new creatures, and options to run adventures during key Netherese events such as Karsus’s Folly. For historical context, the 1996 2e module How the Mighty Are Fallen remains a referenced but distinct portrayal of Netheril’s final days.