Best Forgotten Realms books (any edition)

[Mercurius]

I'm looking to beef up my Forgotten Realms collection and wanted to get input on what are the best supplements that have been printed, any edition, although I prefer a weighted preference for 3E+; but I'm more interested in the quality of the work than the edition. I have a bunch of 3E stuff, the original box set, and the 4E guide, but am wondering if there is a gem I missed (I used to have the entire original FR supplement run, but sold them all on ebay in a down-cycle of RPGing about a decade ago).

To give this question a bit of form, what do you consider the best 3-5 FR books?

My choice:

1. 3E Campaign Setting book - best campaign sourcebook book ever?
2. 1E box set - the original Greenwood masterpiece.
3. 4E Campaign Guide, mainly for the novelty.
4. Its a toss-up between any number of 3E hardcovers; Races of Faerun, maybe.
5. A remember a couple of the original FR series being very good, like Waterdeep and the North and The Savage Frontier.

 

[Alzrius]

From 2E, the three books about the gods of the Realms, Faiths & Avatars, Powers & Pantheons, and Demihuman Deities are incredibly great books (much better than 3E's Faiths & Pantheons). They describe a myriad number of deities in exhaustive detail, and present a scope of divine politics and happenings that is holistic, even as it's presented in the context of just being in regards to Faerun.

I strongly recommend those three.

 

[Arnwyn]

My 5 favorite FR books (very tough to decide):

1) Empires of the Shining Sea (2e, box) - best FR regional supplement, bar-none. Fascinating regions, lots of hooks, great detail... Great maps in this box set, too.

2) City of Splendors (2e, box) - the best city guide to date. Again, great maps, lots of detail, with room to add whatever you want.

3) Shining South (3e, HC) - finally, The South gets detailed. Much better than the old 2e FR16 accessory, this book is better written with more interesting locations and a far better layout.

4) Faiths & Avatars, Powers & Pantheons, Demihuman Deities (2e, SC) - yes, I'm cheating here, as these are 3 books. But they're really all one... These books give the best detail on all the religions of the Realms. Day-to-day activities, dogma, titles... it's all here. Blows the 3e Faiths & Pantheon book out of the water.

5) Any of the Volo's Guides (2e, softcover) - my players crave details, and these books give it to them. I have them all, as my players like to have their PCs travel, but for this exercise, I'll say: "choose the one that fits the region you play in the most".


Honorable Mentions:
- Lands of Intrigue (2e, box)
- The North (2e, box)
- FOR4 Code of the Harpers (2e, SC)
- FOR2 Drow of the Underdark (2e, SC) - yeah, I'm one of those

 

[Uzzy]

Cloak and Dagger. It's a 2nd Edition Book that describes all the various shadowy organisations around Faerún. Done in plenty of detail, and should give you plenty of hooks and inspiration. Strongly recommended.

 

[Sora Justice]

#1) Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, because it has the Swordmage in it. #2) Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, because it cleared away all of the crap that was the FR and tried to make it gameable. Everything else ranks approximately dead last.

 

[Renshai]

I've been running Forgotten Realms for over twenty years and more or less own all the products. My favorites, in order of usefulness to a DM.

1)Lands of Intrigue: You simply can't find a modern setting today that has the level of details both on the maps and information presented. The plot hooks introduced here and later fleshed out in Empires of the Shining Sea by the masterful Steve Schend.

2) Empires of the Shining Sea: Steve Schend continues to explore the themes of southern Faerun, offering pages of adventure hooks, plots and intrigues. The organizations introduced in both Lands of Intrigue and Empires of the Shining Sea provide numerous adventure hooks and enough material for campaigns that could last years. The Twisted Rune, in particular is an excellent shadowy organization that can easily be tapped for campaign ideas.

3) The 2E deity books, Faiths and Pantheons, Powers and Pantheons, Demihuman Deities. All of these books are excellent source of information for ideas involving the deities of the Forgotten Realms.

4) Volo's Guides: These are all excellent sources of information that address the smallest detail of certain areas of the Realms. Though they are outdated by many of the dramatic and overreaching changes found in 4E, you can still mine them for information.

5) Lost Empires of Faerun: A good place to find information about some of the forgotten kingdoms found in Faerun.

Good luck in your campaign, and well met!

 

[Psion]

Not an FR fan, but...

1-3) The 2e deities trilogy: Faiths & Avatars, Powers & Pantheons, Demihuman Deities. A model for what following deities books should have been.
4) Ruins of Undermountain. As much setting as dungeon.
5) 3e FRCS. Well done DM resource for the setting, that did edition transition right.

 

[Mercurius]

Good luck in your campaign, and well met!

Thanks for the greeting, but just to be clear I am not actually going to run the Forgotten Realms but like to collect good setting material for reading enjoyment and idea-mining.

(Although if and when the homebrew campaign I am running ever gets to higher levels, I might send the PCs world-hopping).

 

[Mallus]

I'm no Realms fan either... but Faiths and Pantheons is a terrific book.

 

[Wizard Biscuits]

Hands down it's got to be the 3E Campaign Setting, one of the first campaign settings I bought as a newbie DM. From the design and layout to the sheer amount of comprehensive content I don't believe it can be beat. I know the Realms took a lot of criticism for being so bloated pre-4E, but I learnt a lot about the Realms from it, and felt like I could open this book anywhere and instantly find enough information to game in that area with plenty of information, plothooks and ideas.