D&D 5E I just don't see why they even bothered with the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.

hawkeyefan said:

So mine just arrived! I'll be digging in soon enough.

Until then, all I can say is that I can understand those who were hoping for more crunch. I don't mind the amount there seems to be, but I can imagine how someone who had their heart set on a "Complete Warrior" type of handbook being disappointed.

And I can understand the lack of specifics about the Sundering being an issue for some. Personally, my game ignores any of the Spellplague or Abeir altogether, so I don't need a Sundering. The only Realms Shaking Events I use in my game are the Time of Troubles (which happened an unspecified number of years ago, around 25) and the return of the City of Shade. Both of those have played big parts in my campaign.

I guess I'm just a little surprised by the amount of folks who want to know the details of all the changes and so on. I'd think if anyone was into the story that much, they'd read the novels (although it seems those didn't really address everything). As far as the setting stuff goes, I feel like they've left in intentionally vague so that folks are free to make up whatever they want.

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I have read the novels. All the Sundering Novels seem to be about the Netherese War, against the back drop of the Sundering, except Ravager which is about the refilling of the Sea of Fallen Stars and Pirates.

Salavator's books after the Sundering appear to be about the Silver Marches, Menz, and Kingdom of Many Arrows.

The last Brimstone Angels book was about Cormyr, but still largely set during the Netherese War.

Spellstorm was a murder mystery set in a mansion filled with archmages.

So we knew the basics of the Sundering, even before the novels were written, tablets of fate being redone, a flood of chosen, repairing the spellplague, the restoration of the weave and lost gods.

But even after the super hyped Sundering Event was done, we had no idea what happened to 80% of the realms, what happened to the planes, ect...

Until SCAG Mulhorand and Unther's return was nothing, but a rumour and that rumour suggested Tymanther was gone.

So there is a sense of frutration with Forgotten Realms fans.

At least with Ashes of the Tyrant, the last of the Brimstone Angels series we should finally get a look at the Unther Tymanther war, and maybe get an idea for what's going on in general in the Old Empires region.

I bought the book but I hate the Forgotten Realms. I bought it to see how Wizards approached their campaign setting/players book. I bought it for $20 an it's done good for me, in getting me to figure out how to create my own stuff.

I wanted to support Wizards in making 5E products and hoping this will help to get a Eberron version out in the future.

[MENTION=6670153]gyor[/MENTION] Thanks for the rundown. I didn't read the novels, so I really wasn't sure how it was all handled. I remember the Spellplague in whichever of the Driz'zt books it was in, and I remember not really getting what it was or why it happened. It was tangential to the novel's story, despite having a huge impact. Pretty sure that was the last Driz'zt novel I read. Last FR novel, for that matter.

Netherese War? I'm not familiar with that at all. Can you give me a quick summary or synopsis?

hawkeyefan said:

Netherese War? I'm not familiar with that at all. Can you give me a quick summary or synopsis?

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The Netherese took over Sembia and attacked Myth Drannor and Cormyr. The Cormyreans managed to hold the Netherese off, and then Elminster killed the Netherese leader (can't remember his name), and then the Netherese cities started to fall. The main one, Shade, fell on top of Myth Drannor, turning it into ruins again. And now Sembia is independent again. There might be a few Netherese (Shadovar) hanging around in various places, but they're no longer a major threat.

Was it Telamont? He was the original Shade, I think, right?

So no more floating city of Shade? Hah that would royally mess up my campaign.

That's the one, yes! I seem to recall some people complaining about how cheesy Elminster's slaying of Telamont was. Never read the book myself, though.

Here's what the SCAG says about Shade: "No longer engaged in Cormyr, Netheril attacked Myth Drannor by floating the City of Shade over it. In a struggle for control of Myth Drannor's mythal and the Weave itself, the flying capital of Netheril was brought crashing down on Myth Drannor, resulting in the cataclysmic destruction of both." This event occurred sometime in 1487 DR.

I haven't finished reading mine yet, but I've quite liked what I've read so far. I am happy with my purchase as I have new ideas for adventures and campaigns that I would not have otherwise had.

Pauper said:

I think the valid question to ask is, 'What's coming next?'

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Quite possibly nothing. If the book sells poorly then we more than likely won't get a book in this style again. We might get a campaign guide that is more in the vein of 3e and earlier, or we might get splat books much more in the vein of 4e/3e. Or we might get nothing and WotC continues to simply release adventures and free articles online.

If the books sells well we'll likely get another book in this style. Eventually.

Mercule said:

Let me ask this....

Does the book provide enough information that it could "hook" a new player or DM and make them hungry for more?

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IMO it definitely does. This book can easily be used in conjunction with any 3e or 2e source (remember, new players and DMs aren't going to be so hung up on what year books are set in). If you wanted to use 2e or 3e material in the post-Sundering era than there's very little stopping you for 90% of the material out there. If you want to use the material in the Sword Coast Guide for a 2e or 3e era campaign than you'll be able to use 90% of the book.

Mirtek said:

Which has already been rendered moot as they decided to keep some parts of Abeir after all

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Not in my realms they didn't. When people in the Sword Coast say that part of Tymanther remained behind what they're hearing is garbled rumours. What actually happened was a band of Dragonborn mercenaries went and attacked an Unther city and overthrew the government and are now waging war against the rest of Unther. Those enemies of Unther have not yet allied with the dragonborns, but they're certainly considering it. As for the earthmote that remained behind. It certainly did. Although none of the inhabitants remained behind and there have been monsters cited coming from that earthmote. No-one really knows what's going on and no-one has gone up to it and then came back to tell the tale.

pukunui said:

What's stopping you from just using the grey box with the 5e ruleset?

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Do you know of a source for a copy in good condition that won't cost an arm and a leg? (I'm using 3e FRCS, 4e FRCG and the 2e Forgotten Realms Adventures as well as a host of other 3e and 2e books).

As for Abeir and Toril being separate or together: When the dragonborn of Tymanther were transported to Toril in the 100 years that followed they expanded their kingdom into the region surrounding the transported land. When Toril and Abeir unseparated again, the portions of Tymanther that remained behind were those that had expanded beyond the nation's original borders. Airspur remaining behind is a mystery and one rife with adventure possibilities for the DM and players that want to explore it.

Dunno if that's canon. But if it bothers you then it's a simple explanation to get the Realms into a state that doesn't bother you (I've personally gone with the only dragonborn left in the world are those who weren't in Tymanther at the time. Same with the Abeiran Genasi).

JohnLynch said:

Do you know of a source for a copy in good condition that won't cost an arm and a leg?

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You just have to keep an eye out. I managed to score a copy that's in pretty good condition for like $30 a few months ago. Have they got pdfs of it on dndclassics?

Because it is cool. And market research indicated people would buy it.

I wrote up a huge post on this a couple weeks back. And what it all boils down to is that we don't know the future. Is SCAG the only FR setting product that will be released? Will we see other SCAG-type player guide books for other areas of the setting? Will we see a full-fledged, DM-focused FRCS? Will we see both more SCAG-type books and an FRCS? Until we know a bit more on what the future holds, we really can't judge what SCAG is in the overall picture.

(And, as someone with most of the FR products for 2e and 3e, I'm perfectly fine with what SCAG is - it's given me and the people I play with loads more options that have already been greatly utilized in both the campaigns I'm involved with).