I've followed Forgotten Realms since I first read the novel Spellfire when it was released. I loved the setting more than Dragonlance and always thought it was a better place to adventure in.
But I always realized it was an unrealistic hodgepodge of ideas and societies crammed together.
I still remember my first Forgotten Realms box set with the fold out map. Back when TSR said Sembia would always remain undeveloped so that players could have their own region that wasn't disturbed by canon interference. I must've read those books a thousand times or more. Back then I read every Realms novel that was published. My bookshelf was my secret best friend. My greatest treasure.
And while I appreciate and prefer settings that lack technology, I'm forced to accept that DnD, Forgotten Realms included, has always been a bit of a sandbox. Whether players were hopping between planes or delving into engineering miracles underground, what was included in the setting was always beholden to the needs of the storyteller.
In today's Forgotten Realms there are artificers. Clearly there's smokepowder and infernal machines, and there's always been clockwork automatons. It's a setting that attempts to please every nook and cranny of taste.
Are there factories in Forgotten Realms? I'll bet you Wyll's good eye that there are and that you'll start to see more and more of this stuff as WotC releases more and more product. I get the feeling that KillerRabbit is advocating for his preferred version of Forgotten Realms rather than recognizing that what exists in BG3 has the WotC stamp of approval. It's not some crazy Larian interpretation. This stuff is canon now.
So again, are there factories in Forgotten Realms? There sure are. BG3 is the proof, not the culprit.
(I prefer a fantasy setting without factories and smokepowder.)
