One of my long frustrations is that even though Faerun is huge and has room for expansion (the unexplored continents in addition to areas in the parts labeled “Beyond,” like the Lake of Steam, Evermeet, Mezro, Port Nyanzaru, and more), the overwhelming majority of products for it has been focused on the Sword Coast. I get it. The Sword Coast has legendary locations like Waterdeep (my favorite), Neverwinter, Baldur’s Gate, etc., but there are so many other options. We did get an Icewind Dale 5E adventure, but what about locations like Cormyr, Amn, and so many others?
Finally, locations like Narfell, Unther, The Vilhon Reach, and so many more get some 5E attention here. The Guide to the Realms chapter doesn’t dive deeply into any of the locations—this book is too packed with other material to do that—but there is enough to spark a DM’s inspiration, whether that’s for a campaign seed, an exotic location for an NPC’s backstory, or as ideas that can be modified or re-skinned for a homebrew campaign.
The realms are broken into regions, specifically Anauroch, Arcane Empires, Forgotten Lands, Heartlands, Lands of Intrigue, The North, Old Empires, the Sword Coast, the Trackless Sea, the Vilhon Reach, and the Beyond, which includes Chult, among others. Each region then gets an overview, realms within it, languages, landmarks, threats, a map, noteworthy sites, and a description of life within that region. It includes tips like the Heartlands being the place for classic medieval fantasy adventure, small-scale stories, and tales of knightly chivalry. The realms within a region get further attention, listing their notable locations and useful, relatable material on politics, intrigue, and daily life.
Creating Characters
Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun isn’t just focused on material for DMs. FR:HoF starts with options for players, some new and some building upon what’s in the Player's Handbook. For example, two origins are detailed for Dragonborn, the rarity and difficulties of growing up as an Aasimar are explained, etc. Every PHB species gets some love, including their subspecies like Forest Gnomes, Duergar, and Moon Elves.But players mainly show up for new subclasses, and FR:HoF offers eight:
- The Bardic College of the Moon
- A Knowledge Domain for Clerics
- The Banneret subclass for Fighters
- The Oath of Noble Genies for Paladins
- A Ranger Winter Walker
- Scion of the Three for evil Rogues
- Spellfire Sorcery
- Bladesinger
Folks with College of the Moon are bards trained by Moonshae Isles druids. Among other abilities, the level 3 Inspired Eclipse grants the user, after using a bonus action to grant someone a Bardic Inspiration die, the invisible condition and ability to teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space. That can set up a bard for a fantastic next action in combat.
The Knowledge Domain is for followers of gods like Gond, Oghma, and Selune. The level 17 ability Divine Foreknowledge grants advantage on all d20 tests for the next hour of game time.
Bannerets are for Fighters exhibiting leadership, courage, and faithfulness to a code of conduct, like chivalry. Its level 3 Group Recovery allows the player to, when using a Second Wind to regain hit points, designate a number of allies within 30 feet to regain hit points up to 1d4 + your level as a fighter. The number of people affected are equal to the Fighter’s Charisma modifier.
Paladins who revere the elemental planes can take the Oath of the Noble Genies. They “lead with splendor and grace,” demonstrating respect for the elements and fear of their wrath. This might be a handy subclass for an Elemental Evil campaign. Paladins with this oath have handy abilities like, upon reaching the designated paladin level, always having the listed spells prepared and Genie’s Splendor. With the latter, when not wearing armor, base AC is plus your Dexterity and Charisma modifiers, and you can still use a shield.
Winter Walkers are the Rangers of the North. The Level 3 Hunter’s Rime causes ice to frost you and your prey, protecting you and hindering them. This variant of Hunter’s Mark grants temporary hit points equaling 1d10 plus the ranger's level, and the prey can’t disengage.
A Rogue who becomes the Scion of the Three dedicates themselves to evil gods called “The Dead Three” who rule tyranny, murder, and death (Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul, respectively). Their level 9 Strike Fear ability causes the target to be Terrified, forcing them to succeed on a Wisdom save or experience the Frightened condition for 1 minute, granting you advantage when attacking them. The target must attempt to save at the end of its turns.
Spellfire Sorcery taps into the power of the Weave, the source of all magic. Its Level 6 ability Absorb Spells means you always have Counterspell prepared, and when a target fails their save against the Counterspell, you regain 1d4 Sorcery points.
Bladesingers mix wizardry with swordplay and dance. The Level 14 Song of Victory allows you to, after casting a spell with the casting time of an action, make an attack with a weapon as a Bonus Action.
I’m reluctant to label any subclass a winner without play-testing it, because how something reads can be very different from its actual use, but all of these additions seem promising mechanically and definitely have good flavor for role-playing, filling existing gaps amid subclasses.
The character creation chapter also offers 18 new backgrounds. Seven are faction-specific. The Spellfire Initiate background is available to anyone with the Spellfire talent, regardless of class. Ten backgrounds are inspired by regions in Faerun, but characters from those regions aren’t required to take the corresponding one. Similarly, these backgrounds don’t necessarily require being from that region, so anyone for whom a pirate background might work can take Chondathan Freebooter without being Chondathan. They all make sense and expand the Background options nicely.
Lastly, FR:HoF includes 32 new feats. Eight are origin feats. 11 are general feats. And 13 are epic boon feats. The latter all have a prerequisite of level 19+.
Fractious Factions
Often when a D&D book details factions, it’s limited to the Emerald Enclave, Harpers, Lords’ Alliance, Order of the Gauntlet, and Zhentarim. Maybe it’ll include the Cult of the Dragon or Xanathar’s Guild or the Red Wizards of Thay. All of those are cited, but FR:HoF also includes the Arcane Brotherhood, Elemental Cultists, Fire Knives, the Flaming Fist, the Kraken Society, the Nine Golden Swords, the Order of Delvers, the Purple Dragon Knights of Cormyr, Shadow Thieves, Silverymoon’s Spellguard, the Waterclock Guild, and, surprisingly, Aurora’s Emporium, though the best-known factions get the most detail.Building off the Bastion rules in the Dungeon Masters Guide, members of certain factions can add a special facility to their Bastion. For example, a member of the Lords’ Alliance with a Level 9 Bastion can add a Noble Residence facility to their Bastion. This is a luxurious living space fit for guests. If you spend a long rest there, you gain a Heroic Inspiration, but the main purpose is as a place for important visitors. Said guests gossip about events, possibly providing valuable information, and even possibly revealing information about a creature you may be seeking.
This chapter has a lot of great material, some for players but especially for DMs. For example, I like the Harper Personas. The Persona table provides a list of starting tropes or personalities you can build upon. I especially like that a Harper can pass on a persona. It could give an NPC a sort of immortality as others take on the mantle.
I love the insignia art for the main factions by Olga Drebas. They’re gorgeous and almost look like they’re 3D. Unfortunately, she only does the insignias for the common factions like the Harpers and the Emerald Enclave, which provides a certain uniformity. The insignias by the other artists are perfectly good. I just think Drebas’ are especially well-done.
I also love that the main factions get a faction trinket table. My players love rolling for trinkets.
A Bit of Nostalgia
FR:HoF doesn’t just invoke classic but long-neglected locations in Faerun. It also devotes an entire chapter to Aurora’s Whole Realms Catalog, which definitely brought back happy memories for me. This is a business in Faerun, now run by the great-granddaughter of the original Aurora, that provides provisions and equipment of all kinds, mostly magical.I was surprised to see Aurora’s Emporium listed among factions, too, but it makes sense upon reflection. Aurora’s has locations all over Faerun, and items are procured and sold by people whose lives are as exciting and dangerous as many of the adventurers who buy their wares.
Aurora’s Emporium sells everything from locking spellbooks to bags of cheese, the latter being one of their more popular offerings (“Best Cheese Deal on the Material Plane.” One cheese bag costs 1 GP). The DM will roll on an enclosed table to determine the type of cheese. Several types of magical garb for the various climate regions are included. Aurora’s Emporium also provides services, such as sled-dog services in the North.
My favorite entry from this incarnation of Aurora’s Emporium is the one for ”Prosthetic Limb (zero GP.)” The entry for this item from Calimshan describes it as, “A perfect illustration of the notion that magic should make our lives easier. Thanks to the generosity of Sultana Songal, anyone who requires a Prosthetic Limb can have the device for free. Speak to one of our vendors in the Aurora’s Emporium nearest you.” I love world-building details like that.
Gods & Magic
The chapter on the gods of Faerun is extensive, detailing 42 gods ranging from Amaunator, god of the sun, to Waukeen, the god of trade. This chapter also includes information on what happens to clerics when their patron deity dies (as has happened during the Spellplague, for example), as well as the afterlife in the D&D Multiverse. Religious institutions and the differences between clerics and Chosen are also explained.The gods’ entries are filled with lore that can be spun into useful material for backstories, ideas for campaigns, or role-playing fodder.
The chapter on magic explains the Weave, Spellfire, Wild Magic, and Dead Magic, as well as High Magic and Mythals. More importantly, it introduces Circle Magic, a way for multiple casters to combine their abilities to cast a spell stronger than they could do individually. It’s one of those ideas that’s so obvious when you think about it, it’s surprising 5E didn’t have it earlier. It’s a good addition.
In addition to rules for Circle Casting, FR:HoF includes 15 new spells. Backlash and Death Armor are my favorites so far. Blade of Disaster might join that list after I get a chance to play-test.
Should You Buy It?
Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun is the 5E Forgotten Realms sourcebook I’ve been waiting for. It not only has more meat on its bones than The Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide, but I think it also reflects the confidence the Wizards team has developed as 5E grew in popularity. TSCAG was limited for a number of reasons, including the fact that it was in development before the 5E rules were locked. I suspect they might have also feared that in adding too much new so soon might have led to criticism.By taking a broader view of Faerun instead of just focusing on the Sword Coast, FR:HoF pretty much guarantees interest by bringing older locations and entities into the 5E fold. Lead designer Jason Tondro and his team have a much better sense of what appeals to players and DMs today and how to meld that with aspects of Faerun that haven’t gotten love in a long time, as well as to logically fill gaps.
I liked seeing some of the more far-flung locations like Amn, Cormyr, Rashemen, Turmish, and more. That said, I’m greedy. I would have liked more but can’t fault FR:HoF for the amount of space it got. Maybe if this book sells well and feedback is good, Wizards will mine some of the other parts of Faerun more broadly.
And I was very happy to find the Purple Dragon Knights of Cormyr included among factions. I’m a sucker for any good inclusion of dragons, but this one emphasizes a pet peeve of mine I wish Wizards would rectify. Namely, the neutral gemstone dragons should be core creatures in any edition of the Monster Manual. They fill the gap between the evil chromatic dragons and the metallic good dragons. On a sheer practical basis, it would be easier to include a roaming Dragon Knight in a campaign if the stats for their amethyst dragon were handy in the MM.
That being said, Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun basically delivered what I had hoped for after the book was announced. It has plenty of new options for players and a ton of inspiration for DMs and role-playing. Reviving things like Aurora’s Emporium is the cherry on top and a smart way to include new magic items. I give it a solid A.
