D&D 1E Forgotten Realms in AD&D 1st Edition a better setting for adventures?

[squibbles]

Not in the 1E prese Tatiana, it was not. It was a very chaotic region, Points of Light surrounded by darkness.

Not sure what you mean by prese Tatiana--but I did read every entry in the 1987 Forgotten Realms Campaign Set and mark the adventure locations and settlements it describes on a map (in post 114 of this thread). It did not seem particularly 'points of light' in the heartlands region (or dalelands subregion) to me. Take a look back at the dalelands description in the campaign set, if you have it handy, there's more in there about proud rural self-governance and recent events in geopolitics than there is about the roads being dangerous.

But I concede that I didn't read any of Ed's articles in dragon magazine, or any other content for that matter, so I may be missing some context.

 

[Parmandur]

Not sure what you mean by prese Tatiana--but I did read every entry in the 1987 Forgotten Realms Campaign Set and mark the adventure locations and settlements it describes on a map (in post 114 of this thread). It did not seem particularly 'points of light' in the heartlands region (or dalelands subregion) to me. Take a look back at the dalelands description in the campaign set, if you have it handy, there's more in there about proud rural self-governance and recent events in geopolitics than there is about the roads being dangerous.

But I concede that I didn't read any of Ed's articles in dragon magazine, or any other content for that matter, so I may be missing some context.

Presentation, sorry.

The Dale's are small isolated rural communities in the middle of a dangerous forest with both a major power vacuum amd a megadungeon. Just the wilderness and standard 1E random encounter rules are pretty dire, but Myth Drannor is crawling with Fiends, and the Zhentarim are encroaching and plotting. And early Zhents were no joke.

 

[Yora]

One of the things I'm curious about (I asked some time back in another thread, but didn't get terribly insightful answers) is how many of the regions in FR are not original to Ed.

The best known and documented ones are the Moonshae Islands, and Vaasa and Damara.

With the Moonshaes it's really obvious, as they don't have any connections to any other regions, except one of the two peoples living there being said to be related to the Norsemen of Ruathym and Luskan. Even the gods worshipped there have different local names.

Vaasa and Damara are from the adventure Mines of Bloodstone that was first released as a stand alone adventure. I don't know if Impiltur originated there as well.

Where I am more unclear about is Mulhorand and Unther. I am pretty sure they are at least heavily influenced by Tracy Hickman's Pharaoh, but I don't know the actual story there.

And of course, Kara-Tur was originally a fully separate world before it was decided that it would be on the same planet as Faerûn.

 

[Thauramarth]

The best known and documented ones are the Moonshae Islands, and Vaasa and Damara.

With the Moonshaes it's really obvious, as they don't have any connections to any other regions, except one of the two peoples living there being said to be related to the Norsemen of Ruathym and Luskan. Even the gods worshipped there have different local names.

Vaasa and Damara are from the adventure Mines of Bloodstone that was first released as a stand alone adventure. I don't know if Impiltur originated there as well.

Where I am more unclear about is Mulhorand and Unther. I am pretty sure they are at least heavily influenced by Tracy Hickman's Pharaoh, but I don't know the actual story there.

And of course, Kara-Tur was originally a fully separate world before it was decided that it would be on the same planet as Faerûn.

Tracy Hickman's Pharaoh etc. (Which predated the published Realms, but were later re-packaged as the Desert of Desolation supermodule with a Forgotten Realm logo slapped on it, and an additional introduction namechecking Elminster) is quite different from the Old Empires setting. There are some hints on the genesis of Mulhorand in the product history of "Old Empires" on Drivethrurpg.com. Mulhorand is described as the "second Egyptian" setting, after the the Desert of Desolation. (On later maps, the setting for Desolation is on the opposite side of Raurin).

In Ed Greenwood's original setting, Mulhorand was imagined more like Robert E. Howard's Stygia, with a lot of "bald-headed priestesses of Set" for PCs to fight.

For "original" Unther, there's a video on Ed Greenwood's Youtube channel, where he goes into how the original description was changed for the published setting. It involved snakes, I think. It's been a while since I watched it.

While both nations existed in Ed's campaigns, I seem to recall from the Ask Ed Greenwood threads on Candlekeep that his games only rarely ventured in the area, but that Unther, Mulhorand, and Thay were sources of strange magic, odd vistors and dangerous enemies.

Overall, my impression is that all the old empires were supposed to be similar to Conan's Stygia and surrounding lands. I remember first reading "Dreams of the Red Wizards" and immediately thinking the Red Wizards reminded me of the Sorcerers of the Black Ring.

I've got a weakness for all things Old Egyptian, and in my own campaigns, I've expanded more on the theme, mixing in some other "Egyptian-feel" lands, and leaning a bit more into the Conan-Stygian themes.

 

[Yora]

While both nations existed in Ed's campaigns, I seem to recall from the Ask Ed Greenwood threads on Candlekeep that his games only rarely ventured in the area, but that Unther, Mulhorand, and Thay were sources of strange magic, odd vistors and dangerous enemies.

It's something that becomes quite apparent when you go through the Grey Box with an eye for such things. It very much feels like everything south of the Sea of Fallen Stars is only a vague reference and not actually detailed at all.
When the Grey Box talks about "the North", it's always referring to all the lands North of the Sea of Fallen Stars. (The lands beyond the High Moor and Anauroch are still called the Savage Frontier at that point.)
And the North is referenced in many places as the lands where all the wild adventures are to be found.

 

[Stormonu]

So, I have a ton of FR books for various editions, but I'm looking to trim my physical collection down considerably. What would you consider from the various editions to the "the best" sourcebooks to hang on to?

So far, I'm planning to keep:

1E Gray Box set
2E Boxed set (Gold cover)
3E Campaign book
2E's Forgotten Realms Atlas
Ruins of Undermountain series
(Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog)

I'm strongly considering keeping FR1 - FR16, and FOR03 - Pirates of the Fallen Stars (for nostalgia). I'm eying the 3E area books (Lost Empires, Silver Marches, Serpent Kingdoms, Shining South, etc.), but am unsure how good the lore in them is and if they would be better than the FR1-FR16 series; I'd like to keep from duplicating info (beyond the base edition settings). I have all of the 1E-3E books electronically, so I'm primarily interested in what'd be good to keep around as a physical copy for casual reading.

Any suggestions?

 

[Voadam]

So, I have a ton of FR books for various editions, but I'm looking to trim my physical collection down considerably. What would you consider from the various editions to the "the best" sourcebooks to hang on to?

So far, I'm planning to keep:

1E Gray Box set
2E Boxed set (Gold cover)
3E Campaign book
2E's Forgotten Realms Atlas
Ruins of Undermountain series
(Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog)

I'm strongly considering keeping FR1 - FR16, and FOR03 - Pirates of the Fallen Stars (for nostalgia). I'm eying the 3E area books (Lost Empires, Silver Marches, Serpent Kingdoms, Shining South, etc.), but am unsure how good the lore in them is and if they would be better than the FR1-FR16 series; I'd like to keep from duplicating info (beyond the base edition settings). I have all of the 1E-3E books electronically, so I'm primarily interested in what'd be good to keep around as a physical copy for casual reading.

Any suggestions?

The 2e god books. The lore on the gods and religious structures is good reading and a useful reference regardless of the edition you run.

 

[Jimmy Dick]

I am working on a sandbox FR campaign set around 1490. The goal is to have a lot of player choice by incorporating a lot of material into the setting aimed at a diverse group of players. There's so much stuff out there to fit into the campaign. I like the original FR setting, but after working with it for a bit, I chose to go with the 1490 date. I'm focusing on the Sword Coast area which has a lot of good content. Plus, I'm going to build up some urban areas in Waterdeep and other coastal cities for some urban flavor to the campaign.
The best part is that I am not using D&D rules. I'm using Pathfinder 2e rules with FR lore and flavor. I think this is going to be interesting, but a lot will depend on how players choose to use the sandbox.

 

[Jolly Ruby]

So, I have a ton of FR books for various editions, but I'm looking to trim my physical collection down considerably. What would you consider from the various editions to the "the best" sourcebooks to hang on to?

So far, I'm planning to keep:

1E Gray Box set
2E Boxed set (Gold cover)
3E Campaign book
2E's Forgotten Realms Atlas
Ruins of Undermountain series
(Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog)

I'm strongly considering keeping FR1 - FR16, and FOR03 - Pirates of the Fallen Stars (for nostalgia). I'm eying the 3E area books (Lost Empires, Silver Marches, Serpent Kingdoms, Shining South, etc.), but am unsure how good the lore in them is and if they would be better than the FR1-FR16 series; I'd like to keep from duplicating info (beyond the base edition settings). I have all of the 1E-3E books electronically, so I'm primarily interested in what'd be good to keep around as a physical copy for casual reading.

Any suggestions?

1E's TSR 1142 "The North" [EDIT: "FR5 - The Savage Frontier"] by Janell Jaquays is a very useful reference for North Sword Coast/Savage Frontier.

EDIT: I was mistaken, the book about the North that I have isn't "The North", it's "FR5 - The Savage Frontier". My bad.

 

[Thauramarth]

So, I have a ton of FR books for various editions, but I'm looking to trim my physical collection down considerably. What would you consider from the various editions to the "the best" sourcebooks to hang on to?

So far, I'm planning to keep:

1E Gray Box set
2E Boxed set (Gold cover)
3E Campaign book
2E's Forgotten Realms Atlas
Ruins of Undermountain series
(Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog)

I'm strongly considering keeping FR1 - FR16, and FOR03 - Pirates of the Fallen Stars (for nostalgia). I'm eying the 3E area books (Lost Empires, Silver Marches, Serpent Kingdoms, Shining South, etc.), but am unsure how good the lore in them is and if they would be better than the FR1-FR16 series; I'd like to keep from duplicating info (beyond the base edition settings). I have all of the 1E-3E books electronically, so I'm primarily interested in what'd be good to keep around as a physical copy for casual reading.

Any suggestions?

Just going over the FR1-FR16 listing:
FR1 - Waterdeep - keep if you don't have the City of Splendors boxed set; if not, the boxed set is more useful.
FR2 - Moonshae - if you play there keep; also, the Moonshaes have not really been given a full treatment elsewhere.
FR3 - Empires of the Sands - keep only if you don't have the Lands of Intrigue boxed set (and / or the Calimshan book)
FR4 - The Magister - Not useful enough to keep;
FR5 - The Savage Frontier - I'd always keep this pne, because it's one of the best 1E books, but if you have The North boxed set, you can afford to lose it.
FR6 - Dreams of the Red Wizards - Definite Keep.
FR7 - Hall of Heroes - not useful enough to keep; most of the NPCs in there will either never be used in campaign (novel characters), or have been written up elsewhere (Elminster, and the staple NPCs)
FR8 - City System - keep it if you have it, because of the additional info on Waterdeep and the maps.
FR9 - Bloodstone Lands - These have not gotten the full treatment elsewhere, so worth keeping, but of you don't venture there, you can afford not to.
FR10 - Old Empires - this depends on which era your playing in; if it's pre-Times of Troubles, keep; if post-Time of Troubles, the lore in Lost Empires of Faerûn is better.
FR 11 - Dwarves Deep - Keep. Very good writeup of dwarven culture, and if you have a dwarf PC or some dwarf NPCs, it's worth it.
FR12 - The Horde (or, what if Osprey Publishing made a Realms supplement) - Not really worth it from a lore point of view. If you want to play with the Hordelands, the Hordelands boxed set is better.
FR13 - Anauroch - Keep. If you want to use Anauroch as a sandbox (pun intended), this is the place to be.
FR14 - The Great Glacier - corner case; if you play there, keep it; if not, then don't.
FR15 - Gold and Glory (or, what if Osprey Publishing got to make a second Realms Supplement) - not that useful.
FR 16 - The Shining South - I think the lore in this one is outdated; I use the lore in the 3E Shining South and Serpent Kingdoms as the baseline even in pre-1372 DR games.

If you have some of the boxed sets, these are worth keeping around for the maps, and casual readin): The North, Lands of Intrigue, City of Splendors. Also nice for casual reading: any Volo's Guide, the three 2E god books (Faiths & Avatars; Powers & Pantheons; Demihuman Deities); Cloak & Dagger.

I have not played much 3E, but the books that I like for some hidden gems; Lost Empires of Faerûn, Serpent Kingdoms, Shining South