D&D 5E Which Region in the Forgotten Realms and which Book?

[clearstream]

Hi,

one of my gaming groups is now switching to 5e and we decided to play in the Forgotten Realms (Faerun of Course) but not around the sword coast.

Now I've asked myself which region should I choose? I'm relatively new to the Forgotten Realms, so maybe you can recommend some regions?

And more importantly: Which Setting Book should I buy? The 3e Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide? Or better the 4e Version (which is still available as a printed version, which I like)?
Maybe a single Book about, e.g. the Moonsee?

I'm thankful for every suggestion!

best regards

The updated 3rd edition Forgotten Realms campaign Setting is best. I have owned all three of the first boxed FR campaign, the 3rd ed one, and the 4th. The 4th ed one is poor... by which I mean unusable. Or perhaps I am being unfair and it is simply not to my taste. I found the changes so heavy handed that I couldn't reconcile the setting back into any game that I wanted to run.

When they setup the Realms one of their early statements is that they'd leave some areas relatively empty of official backstory, while other areas got a lot of work. Regions like Damara are good if you want a blank canvas. While Cormyr, the Moonsea and the North have more people and places already worked out. If you want a more exotic feel you might choose Amn, or for a more oppressive feel Thay. The Moonshaes were intended to have a Celtic feel but to me it never quite came off. It ended up twee.

The North is both well developed and has a solid barbarian cultures sort of feel and some extensive environments like Waterdeep. The Dalelands and the Moonsea is more traditional D&D feudal fantasy feeling but with Anauroch on one side and the inland sea on the other it offers a lot of adventuring options.

 

[TheSleepyKing]

I'd say it really depends on what you want. FR is the very definition of a kitchen sink setting - no matter what kind of campaign you want to run, there's probably somewhere in the realms it fits.

The Sword Coast and the North have been the most commonly used, because they're the closest match to the default assumptions of D&D. But there's also:

Cormyr and Impiltur - the best places for an Arthurian/romantic style knights-and-princesses story.
Sembia - a sophisticated nation of arrogant merchant lords.
Dalelands - largely rural villages set amidst an ancient forest that was once an elven kingdom.
Westgate and Dragon Coast - the "city of thieves".
Thay - a nation ruled evil sorcerers (think Conan's Stygia).
The Moonsea - a region of dark cities ruled by Stalin-esque types.
The Moonshaes - islands with a strong Celtic feel.
The Pirate Isles - the name pretty much says it.
Calimshan - Arabian Nights.
Mulhorand - Egypt.
Chessenta - Greece.
Amn - Spain.
Halruaa - a nation of wizards.
The Shaar - Native Americans.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. There are literally dozens of other nations, each with their own cultural "hook." And that's not even including Zakhara and Kara Tur in the mix. If you want something easy, that doesn't deviate too much from the default assumptions of D&D, I'd suggest maybe the Dragon Coast, the Dalelands, Sembia or the Moonsea. If you're interested in something more exotic (and less well trodden), try Halruaa or Chessenta.

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

I'm thankful for every suggestion!

best regards

You will want the 3E FRCS. Pretty much the best maps and overview of the Realmsthat exists.

I suggest starting in Cormyr. Plenty of civilization surrounded by mountains, forests, lakes, swamps, ruins and difficult terrain.

If you need a jumpstart, I suggest purchasing Volo's Guide to Cormyr. It's an indispensable resource for adventure hooks, NPCs and locations. It almost makes running a campaign too easy.

Good luck!

 

[Jeff Albertson]

The Shaar - Native Americans.

The Shaar is Northern Africa (wemics, etc), the Native Americans are across the sea in Poscadar, in northern Maztica.

There is also the continent of Katashaka, the Land of the Tarrasque (Africa), below Maztica, and you have Osse (the continent south-east of Zakahara), which is basically Australia, lots of marsupial and surfing adventures.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

Now I've asked myself which region should I choose? I'm relatively new to the Forgotten Realms, so maybe you can recommend some regions?

Most Realms fans would want to lynch me for this, but 4e Realms is in fact an interesting setting. The big problem is the amount of changes it wrought. But you have, as you say, not much experience with the Realms so will probably not starting to froth.

Am objective disadvantage of the 4e Realms is that there's next to nothing giving details beyond the FRCS: there are no regional descriptions beyond the book Neverwinter, which is said to be very good.

I guess your first decision is whether you want some global description of the settnig or one more focussed on a specific region qith a specific theme. As far as I know only the 2e boxed set had the global world description as well as describing one particular region (Shadowdale) in more detail.

Other posters have already outlined different regions, so there you go.

 

[plancktum]

Thanks to all of you! You helped me very much!
I will buy the 3e Campaign Setting Book as a start and then expand it on the needs of my group later on.

best regards

 

[Riley37]

My knowledge of FR is weak. That said, the Adventurer's League stories set in and around Phlan have worked fine for me. My players are beginning to get a sense of who's who in the city, and the instability of the balance of power.

On another hand, Phlan, as played at my table, feels isolated; it has trade routes, but I don't have a clear sense of the most common destination of the caravans and ships which depart each day from Phlan. (I am assuming, until I learn more, that the major export of Zhentil Keep is "refugees", and that the major export of Thay is "refugees" with a sideline in "spies".)

When players say "hey, remember that NPC we met? We should ask her about this!" then I feel successful as DM.
When players remember the name without hesitation - "We should ask Lt. Aleyd about this!" - then I feel triumphant.

 

[Riley37]

Who here would recommend running a 5E campaign, set in Faerun, centered on the threat of the cult of Tiamat, which ignores the upheavals written in the 4E material, and which rolls back the calendar to the time of 3E material?

Would you recommend rolling it back to before the Spellplague and/or the Time of Troubles?

 

[Capn Charlie]

The inner sea can be a lot of fun for a shipgoing campaign. Islands full of nefarious pirates, exotic ports of call, undersea cities of magical creatures, but no fear of falling off the edge of the world.

EDIT: also, 3e FRCS is the best single realms book ever printed, for my two coppers.

 

[Staffan]

Who here would recommend running a 5E campaign, set in Faerun, centered on the threat of the cult of Tiamat, which ignores the upheavals written in the 4E material, and which rolls back the calendar to the time of 3E material?

Would you recommend rolling it back to before the Spellplague and/or the Time of Troubles?

At least in Hoard of the Dragon Queen, there's pretty much nothing that is specifically 4e-Realms that isn't easily ignored (artificial sun above Elturel) and/or absorbed into 3e-Realms (Greenest as an established town instead of a new outpost).