Crothian
First Post
Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide
The Forgotten Realms have been around for a long time and existed in different ways through out the editions of Dungeons and Dragons. For Fourth Edition D&D the setting once again gets a little bit of a reset as the time line goes forward and the world is changed. However, unlike previous editions this should be the only book one needs for the DM. The players have their own book of course but unlike in the past there are no plans to have dozens of books about the setting. This is both good and bad. Good for those people that want to just have a few books and run with it and bad for the people that really get into the setting and love seeing what the creators come up with. Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide gives a solid over view of the world and presents Dms with what they will need to run the game.
The Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide gives a good overview of the world. Over half of the book is dedicated to describing many of the places in the world. For a long time fan of the setting some of this is going to be bits they already know. The world has been changed by the Spellplague but in reading about some places they seemed even familiar to this reviewer who is not all that familiar with what came before. Each sections gets a couple of pages so while it is a good overview it leaves a bit for the DM to fill in. In past editions this would have been handled by the many supplements that eventually came out.
The book is a bit boring to read through. It does not go into anything with much detail so a person who wants more does not have a place to go to except prior editions. There are a number of little adventure ideas in the book and a creative DM will be able to take advantage of that. But a DM with less skill could have trouble figuring out where the adventures go and how to give depth and substance to them.
In an unusual choice the book start with a small place and offers some adventures there. Loudwater is nicely defined and cane serve as a good starting place for the PCS. This type of item though is normally found at the end of books and not at the beginning. The areas player may explore around it are detailed well and it can easily be the start of a campaign. It feels like something specifically created for 4e and not something being reused and redefined from past versions.
One important section is adventuring. It has some great ideas for how to get around and travel the world. It briefly tells of the history but really if one wants that they should get the History of the Realms book. For people used to the Realms as well as new DMs the chapter of Cosmology will be important. It explains the Atral Sea, Elemental Chaos, and the new and heavily changed philosophy to cosmology that 4e has given the game.
The book gives a good solid overview of the world and comes with a nice sized poster map. It details much of what the players and DMs will need to start a campaign. I am interested to see what the campaigns of people will be like now that the setting is not going to be micromanaged.
The Forgotten Realms have been around for a long time and existed in different ways through out the editions of Dungeons and Dragons. For Fourth Edition D&D the setting once again gets a little bit of a reset as the time line goes forward and the world is changed. However, unlike previous editions this should be the only book one needs for the DM. The players have their own book of course but unlike in the past there are no plans to have dozens of books about the setting. This is both good and bad. Good for those people that want to just have a few books and run with it and bad for the people that really get into the setting and love seeing what the creators come up with. Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide gives a solid over view of the world and presents Dms with what they will need to run the game.
The Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide gives a good overview of the world. Over half of the book is dedicated to describing many of the places in the world. For a long time fan of the setting some of this is going to be bits they already know. The world has been changed by the Spellplague but in reading about some places they seemed even familiar to this reviewer who is not all that familiar with what came before. Each sections gets a couple of pages so while it is a good overview it leaves a bit for the DM to fill in. In past editions this would have been handled by the many supplements that eventually came out.
The book is a bit boring to read through. It does not go into anything with much detail so a person who wants more does not have a place to go to except prior editions. There are a number of little adventure ideas in the book and a creative DM will be able to take advantage of that. But a DM with less skill could have trouble figuring out where the adventures go and how to give depth and substance to them.
In an unusual choice the book start with a small place and offers some adventures there. Loudwater is nicely defined and cane serve as a good starting place for the PCS. This type of item though is normally found at the end of books and not at the beginning. The areas player may explore around it are detailed well and it can easily be the start of a campaign. It feels like something specifically created for 4e and not something being reused and redefined from past versions.
One important section is adventuring. It has some great ideas for how to get around and travel the world. It briefly tells of the history but really if one wants that they should get the History of the Realms book. For people used to the Realms as well as new DMs the chapter of Cosmology will be important. It explains the Atral Sea, Elemental Chaos, and the new and heavily changed philosophy to cosmology that 4e has given the game.
The book gives a good solid overview of the world and comes with a nice sized poster map. It details much of what the players and DMs will need to start a campaign. I am interested to see what the campaigns of people will be like now that the setting is not going to be micromanaged.
