Prolific D&D novelist R.A. Salvatore says writing around 4th Edition rules 'almost broke' him and he knew its setting changes were a mistake: 'In about 5 years they're going to come to us and say, Bob, we got to fix this'

Changes made in the popular 5th Edition seem to have vindicated him.
In a new interview with Polygon, fantasy (and sci-fi, and videogame) writer R.A. Salvatore dished on some of the unique challenges of writing stories that have to stay consistent with an ever evolving tabletop ruleset and world state.
Salvatore has notably contributed to the Star Wars Expanded Universe (RIP), but is most famous for his novels set in the Forgotten Realms, a world shared with classic PC games including Baldur’s Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and most of the Gold Box RPGs.
Like Realms creator Ed Greenwood’s Elminster, Salvatore’s characters have gotten cameos in Baldur’s Gate. Heroic cleric Cadderly pops in to say hi near the end of Baldur’s Gate 1, while Salvatore’s signature Drow Ranger and memetic Best Swordsman Ever, Drizzt Do’Urden, can be befriended or fought in both Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2.
According to Salvatore, making sure the action in his books hews close enough to the D&D rules of the day has been one of the job’s more challenging demands.

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