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Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
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<blockquote data-quote="Arnwyn" data-source="post: 2008972" data-attributes="member: 7701"><p>The format for all future campaign settings...</p><p></p><p>Indeed, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (FRCS) is not only a game book, but a work of art. They went all out with the production quality on this one.</p><p></p><p>All the other reviews have covered this book very well, so I'll just note what I found to be this book's strengths and weaknesses.</p><p></p><p>Strengths: Most of it. </p><p>The character creation section was very well done, with a myriad of character races, all detailed in PHB style. For those running FR campaigns, this section is an absolute godsend, noting the PHB races and loads of FR-specific ones that we've all known and loved from the Realms for years. It was particularily nice to see the aasimar, tiefling, and genasi show up (originally from Planescape and well-detailed in the Planewalker's Handbook for 2e), since FR has always been fairly integrated with the planes.</p><p></p><p>The Life in Faerun chapter is also a fantastic chapter. In the past, most campaigns have ignored the everyday life of the Realm. This chapter describes very well what it's like to simply live in such a world. Other authors take note - this was brilliant.</p><p></p><p>And what I cheered about the most: a map of trading commodities, and a list of imports/exports for each region of Faerun. How great is that? To date, no other (D&D)setting I know has included such valuable information.</p><p></p><p>There are new prestige classes, and they are appropriate - both for the setting, and for what prestige classes were "meant" to be (as noted in the DMG). They're not like some of the travesties found in WotC's class books. The Harper and Red Wizard were especially appreciated.</p><p></p><p>Other nice aspects of this book include additional domains to fit the myriad of gods in the FR setting, 2 mini-adventures (not very good ones, but nice that they're there), a good-looking map, and an absolutely wicked index that makes finding things a snap.</p><p></p><p>Weaknesses: Not much.</p><p>As mentioned above, though there are 2 adventures, they aren't that inspired. Fairly dull, actually. The higher-level one (a dragon's lair) is better than the low-level one.</p><p></p><p>There are some inconsistencies with previous FR material, which is something that really gets my goat. Some of the gods' weapons were very odd, and the "thunder blessing" of the dwarves (many dwarf twins being born) was also a little bit, um, kooky. IMO, of course. All of this is moot if you're new to FR, though.</p><p></p><p>The map, while nice-looking, is less than useful, as the scale is so huge (1"=120 miles). Turns out to be a pretty picture, as opposed to tracking characters' movements.</p><p></p><p>The NPCs are scattered throughout the geography chapter (in the areas that they "hang out" the most), so it makes them a little difficult to find (the index is great, though).</p><p></p><p>I'd say that the geography section is weak, but what does one expect? Faerun is a big place, and it's not reasonable to expect good detail on all the areas.</p><p></p><p>If we're all lucky, this book will set the trend for future campaign settings.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Arnwyn, post: 2008972, member: 7701"] The format for all future campaign settings... Indeed, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (FRCS) is not only a game book, but a work of art. They went all out with the production quality on this one. All the other reviews have covered this book very well, so I'll just note what I found to be this book's strengths and weaknesses. Strengths: Most of it. The character creation section was very well done, with a myriad of character races, all detailed in PHB style. For those running FR campaigns, this section is an absolute godsend, noting the PHB races and loads of FR-specific ones that we've all known and loved from the Realms for years. It was particularily nice to see the aasimar, tiefling, and genasi show up (originally from Planescape and well-detailed in the Planewalker's Handbook for 2e), since FR has always been fairly integrated with the planes. The Life in Faerun chapter is also a fantastic chapter. In the past, most campaigns have ignored the everyday life of the Realm. This chapter describes very well what it's like to simply live in such a world. Other authors take note - this was brilliant. And what I cheered about the most: a map of trading commodities, and a list of imports/exports for each region of Faerun. How great is that? To date, no other (D&D)setting I know has included such valuable information. There are new prestige classes, and they are appropriate - both for the setting, and for what prestige classes were "meant" to be (as noted in the DMG). They're not like some of the travesties found in WotC's class books. The Harper and Red Wizard were especially appreciated. Other nice aspects of this book include additional domains to fit the myriad of gods in the FR setting, 2 mini-adventures (not very good ones, but nice that they're there), a good-looking map, and an absolutely wicked index that makes finding things a snap. Weaknesses: Not much. As mentioned above, though there are 2 adventures, they aren't that inspired. Fairly dull, actually. The higher-level one (a dragon's lair) is better than the low-level one. There are some inconsistencies with previous FR material, which is something that really gets my goat. Some of the gods' weapons were very odd, and the "thunder blessing" of the dwarves (many dwarf twins being born) was also a little bit, um, kooky. IMO, of course. All of this is moot if you're new to FR, though. The map, while nice-looking, is less than useful, as the scale is so huge (1"=120 miles). Turns out to be a pretty picture, as opposed to tracking characters' movements. The NPCs are scattered throughout the geography chapter (in the areas that they "hang out" the most), so it makes them a little difficult to find (the index is great, though). I'd say that the geography section is weak, but what does one expect? Faerun is a big place, and it's not reasonable to expect good detail on all the areas. If we're all lucky, this book will set the trend for future campaign settings. [/QUOTE]
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