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<blockquote data-quote="rogueattorney" data-source="post: 5385802" data-attributes="member: 17551">I'm a FR refugee from the early '90s who had bad memories of the Realms.About two years ago, I reread the gray box and was pleasantly surprised with it - I wouldn't call it great, but it certainly isn't as awful as my memory made it out to be.&nbsp; I think much of the bad taste in my mouth with FR came from later products, particularly after 2e came out, when everything seemed to be tied to an overarching meta-plot, and cross-promoted with novels and computer games.&nbsp; You never felt like you were buying a product that could stand on its own.Anyway, back to the gray box itself...One of the interesting things it does is it varies in the amount of depth it gives various sections of the Realms.&nbsp; For example, in the Dalelands and Sword Coast, it goes into great detail, while in other areas, it gives nothing more than a faint gloss.&nbsp; It lets DMs choose which level of detail they want to deal with.Some of the criticism the Realms gets for bloated npcs certainly can be seen in its infancy in the original box, especially the Flaming Fist mercenary group, which was framed specifically as a means of putting pcs into their place.Finally, some of the Harpers v. Zhentarim details had a very G.I.Joe vs. Cobra feel to me.&nbsp; Quite silly.&nbsp; Most of the other nefarious operations listed in the gray box had recently been defeated by some of the more prominent npcs and some of the other more prominent villains in subsequent products weren't mentioned in any great detail (the Red Wizards, Iron Throne, etc.).&nbsp; This all makes the box have a very different vibe than Greyhawk's evil ascendant atmosphere in the 1983 box set.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="rogueattorney, post: 5385802, member: 17551"] I'm a FR refugee from the early '90s who had bad memories of the Realms. About two years ago, I reread the gray box and was pleasantly surprised with it - I wouldn't call it great, but it certainly isn't as awful as my memory made it out to be. I think much of the bad taste in my mouth with FR came from later products, particularly after 2e came out, when everything seemed to be tied to an overarching meta-plot, and cross-promoted with novels and computer games. You never felt like you were buying a product that could stand on its own. Anyway, back to the gray box itself... One of the interesting things it does is it varies in the amount of depth it gives various sections of the Realms. For example, in the Dalelands and Sword Coast, it goes into great detail, while in other areas, it gives nothing more than a faint gloss. It lets DMs choose which level of detail they want to deal with. Some of the criticism the Realms gets for bloated npcs certainly can be seen in its infancy in the original box, especially the Flaming Fist mercenary group, which was framed specifically as a means of putting pcs into their place. Finally, some of the Harpers v. Zhentarim details had a very G.I.Joe vs. Cobra feel to me. Quite silly. Most of the other nefarious operations listed in the gray box had recently been defeated by some of the more prominent npcs and some of the other more prominent villains in subsequent products weren't mentioned in any great detail (the Red Wizards, Iron Throne, etc.). This all makes the box have a very different vibe than Greyhawk's evil ascendant atmosphere in the 1983 box set. [/QUOTE]

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