D&D 1E Forgotten Realms in AD&D 1st Edition a better setting for adventures?

[Aellic Mornbringer]

Just going over the FR1-FR16 listing:
FR1 - Waterdeep - keep if you don't have the City of Splendors boxed set; if not, the boxed set is more useful.
FR2 - Moonshae - if you play there keep; also, the Moonshaes have not really been given a full treatment elsewhere.
FR3 - Empires of the Sands - keep only if you don't have the Lands of Intrigue boxed set (and / or the Calimshan book)
FR4 - The Magister - Not useful enough to keep;
FR5 - The Savage Frontier - I'd always keep this pne, because it's one of the best 1E books, but if you have The North boxed set, you can afford to lose it.
FR6 - Dreams of the Red Wizards - Definite Keep.
FR7 - Hall of Heroes - not useful enough to keep; most of the NPCs in there will either never be used in campaign (novel characters), or have been written up elsewhere (Elminster, and the staple NPCs)
FR8 - City System - keep it if you have it, because of the additional info on Waterdeep and the maps.
FR9 - Bloodstone Lands - These have not gotten the full treatment elsewhere, so worth keeping, but of you don't venture there, you can afford not to.
FR10 - Old Empires - this depends on which era your playing in; if it's pre-Times of Troubles, keep; if post-Time of Troubles, the lore in Lost Empires of Faerûn is better.
FR 11 - Dwarves Deep - Keep. Very good writeup of dwarven culture, and if you have a dwarf PC or some dwarf NPCs, it's worth it.
FR12 - The Horde (or, what if Osprey Publishing made a Realms supplement) - Not really worth it from a lore point of view. If you want to play with the Hordelands, the Hordelands boxed set is better.
FR13 - Anauroch - Keep. If you want to use Anauroch as a sandbox (pun intended), this is the place to be.
FR14 - The Great Glacier - corner case; if you play there, keep it; if not, then don't.
FR15 - Gold and Glory (or, what if Osprey Publishing got to make a second Realms Supplement) - not that useful.
FR 16 - The Shining South - I think the lore in this one is outdated; I use the lore in the 3E Shining South and Serpent Kingdoms as the baseline even in pre-1372 DR games.

If you have some of the boxed sets, these are worth keeping around for the maps, and casual readin): The North, Lands of Intrigue, City of Splendors. Also nice for casual reading: any Volo's Guide, the three 2E god books (Faiths & Avatars; Powers & Pantheons; Demihuman Deities); Cloak & Dagger.

I have not played much 3E, but the books that I like for some hidden gems; Lost Empires of Faerûn, Serpent Kingdoms, Shining South

Great shopping list er...summary write-up on these supplements!

 

[Stormonu]

1E's "The North" (TSR 1142) by Janell Jaquays is a very useful reference for North Sword Coast/Savage Frontier.

This would be the one I gave away to a co-DM to run Rime of the Frost Maiden.

 

[SPECTRE666]

@Stormonu I would definitely keep any Volo Guides. The information is sooo damn useful from a roleplaying perspective. One could even use them in a 1490 Realms game. I seriously doubt that any PC would know or care that any NPC that you are using should have died 80 years ago

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

FR5 - The Savage Frontier - I'd always keep this pne, because it's one of the best 1E books, but if you have The North boxed set, you can afford to lose it.

Disagree. There's a big difference in how the North is presented between 1e and 2e. In general, the North is a much more dangerous place in 1e. Here's an old rpg.net thread about the changes in the North between 1e and 2e.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

This would be the one I gave away to a co-DM to run Rime of the Frost Maiden.

It's available in PoD

 

[LordBP]

It was offered by TSR/WOTC way back in the day as a free download. You can still access it and other downloads via archive.org.

Previous Edition Dungeons & Dragons Downloads

https://web.archive.org/web/20041213213412/http://www.wizards.com/forgottenrealms/thenorth.asp

It's available in PoD

 

[Jolly Ruby]

Disagree. There's a big difference in how the North is presented between 1e and 2e. In general, the North is a much more dangerous place in 1e. Here's an old rpg.net thread about the changes in the North between 1e and 2e.

You made me realise The North is the 2e's boxed set not the 1e's book, and I was endorsing the wrong product.

 

[Thauramarth]

Disagree. There's a big difference in how the North is presented between 1e and 2e. In general, the North is a much more dangerous place in 1e. Here's an old rpg.net thread about the changes in the North between 1e and 2e.

You're right.

But.

My reasoning was that, if you like the North to be a Savage Frontier, rather than the on-the-way to civilisation Luruar north, than FR5 is the way to go. I like it that way myself, but for me, it's easier to use the information in the Box set (i.e., disregard part of it, while still using some of it) to go more Savage than it is to make things more "civilised" using only FR5. Hence, my not that massive endorsement of the North box in "can afford to lose it." Because I think that The North (the box) can more effortlessly accomodate more campaign styles than FR5 can. That's all.

 

[AnderNGmx]

Playing with 1e FR box is good for the beginning and seeing the setting at its more foundational state. Even if one moves to 2e, 3e setting (or later editions and past that, having the experience of the setting in 1e adds to the fun of the game.

 

[Gus L]

Perhaps late to the party...
I played a fair bit of Forgotten realms 1E back in the 90's. At least 10 or 20 sessions. The thing was it was utterly unmemorable. We played through some of the ruined city of Phelan and then Azure Bonds. I remember having a dual classed (human) Fighter Cleric of some underearth god of darkness - special high level spell summoned shadows I think? ... that's it. I don't remember the setting. We quit D&D so after to play Rifts, Car Wars, and Mekton (It being the 90's).

To me that's the major issue with Forgotten Realms - it's both completely bland and absolutely expansive. I felt this again looking at the grey box set of books a few years ago, thinking about reviewing or using them. It's basically a vernacular fantasy D&D setting that makes up for a lack of character with a lot of content. It's so overwritten that it's hard to add content but what's there now feels like the average, uncreative D&D fantasy. Orcs in a hole, grey corridors, sad and noble elves, etc... It's not entirely this, but there's enough of it that I still feel "Why am I reading this setting book? The implied setting of every D&D offers the same?". I also feel a bit sad for Greenwood around this sentiment - because Forgotten Realms is different from Greyhawk and the Known World. It's very densely imagined, and it carves away a lot of the appendix N science fantasy and swords and sorcery to get to something that is VERY SERIOUS 1980's Tolkienesque/D&D fantasy.

That's just really played out to me in 2024. It felt played out in 1991 as well - if you'd been playing D&D for years already.

Rather then continue my tirade by going into the way Forgotten Realms destroys everything interesting about its alleged 13th century European inspiration (crusades, feudalism, chivalry, mysticism etc.) and replaces it with anachronism like printing presses ... Instead I want to ask others what 90's/2E First Forgotten Realms adventures they still find inspiring. I generally think the early 90's TSR products aren't discussed much in OSR/POSR circles, even if a lot of folks experienced them.

My personal fave from that era is Treasure Hunt. It's not perfect, but the core ideas are good and it has some fun implementation (also not Forgotten Realms - so not appropriate). Did anyone absolutely love and enjoy Curse of the Azure Bonds or some other such thing? Does anyone have a shining example of good adventure design from that era?