D&D General Favorite Forgotten Realms products of all time?

[SlyFlourish]

Annoyed at the limited licenseable supplements released on D&D Beyond only for the upcoming Forgotten Realms book got me to look at older Forgotten Realms products available in wonderful downloadable PDFs on DriveThruRPG. I picked up a bunch and a few stuck out at me as good lore-rich products with material I could use in my games for decades to come.

Here were some of the ones that I bought and that caught my eye:

• Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3e
• Lost Empires of Faerun
• Unapproachable East
• Shining South
• Mysteries of the Moonsea
• Serpent Kingdoms
• Lords of Darkness

These are all from 3rd edition. I have a bunch of the 1st and 2nd edition supplements too but they didn't convert as well over to PDF, with weird parchment backgrounds that make them harder to read. The ones above typically have 60 to 80 pages of 3rd edition mechanics, which doesn't do me a lot of good, but about 100 pages of lore, which is worth the price for me.

What are your favorite Forgotten Realms products you think hold up regardless of the edition one might be playing? Which ones last the ages?

 

[TiQuinn]

The first grey box set.
Waterdeep and the North (1e)
Savage Frontier (1e)

These formed the core of our first FR campaign way back when and they are still fantastic resources. The maps are absolutely massive!

 

[SlyFlourish]

The first grey box set.
Waterdeep and the North (1e)
Savage Frontier (1e)

These formed the core of our first FR campaign way back when and they are still fantastic resources. The maps are absolutely massive!

My first D&D campaign was out of the FR boxed set set in Corm Orp opposing Manshoon and the Zhentarim! Back in the late 80s.

 

[LordBP]

The first grey box set.
Waterdeep and the North (1e)
Savage Frontier (1e)

These formed the core of our first FR campaign way back when and they are still fantastic resources. The maps are absolutely massive!

Came to post these

 

[LordBP]

Forgotten Realms Adventures and Atlas have a lot of lore in it that may be usable across multiple editions.

 

[Nebulous]

I have very fond memories of a book called The Magister. It had new items and spells that probably became redundant later on, but at the time, the book was pretty unique. I think it was all Realms specific stuff.

 

[Epic Meepo]

Forgotten Realms Adventures and Atlas have a lot of lore in it that may be usable across multiple editions.

I'm a fan of the Atlas, but I wasn't happy with the poor scan job WotC did for the pdf version I purchased. I haven't checked to see if they've updated the file since I first downloaded it, but the copy I got a few years back had several maps cut off at the edges because the pages were cropped too closely. There was also one page that had marks from a digital eraser scribbled on it. Very sloppy work.

 

[Reynard]

I don't even particularly care about the Realms, but the 3rd Edition era FR hardcover is a GREAT book. When I was moving and eliminated 90% of my RPG collection, including everything from 3e and 3.5 except the core rulebooks, the FR book stayed (as did Eberron).

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

If we're not talking licensed stuff (I firmly believe that all three Baldurs Gate games and the D&D movie are some of the best, most consistent fantasy tie-in fiction ever made), but I've always been somewhat fond of its attempts to flesh out its less western European inspired sub-settings. so I'm gonna go with Unapproachable East.

 

[kronovan]

Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms.
I liked the early FR, but didn't care much for it after the changes intro'd to it during the 4e era. After reading Ed Greenwood's book, the FR seemed like a different and better place.