I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
Here ya go!
Probably the best game-oriented sourcebook.
If you're more interested in the fluff than the rules, this should bring you pretty up to date.
This gives you a sense of how the world looks.
There's a LOT of FR material, but the big takeaway for me -- as someone who is kind of ambivalent about the setting -- is that this is a setting defined by epic, world-shaking events and characters.
The NPC's are all larger-than-life big time hero bags. The villains all want to destroy or take over the world. The dungeons are the ruins of past civilizations nearly wiped from the face of the planet. Magic is phenomenally powerful for those who tap it. The gods are highly active, very approachable. The disasters that have struck the planet (The Time of Troubles, the Spellplague) have been global in scale. A big of the Realms seems to be "Go Big Or Go Home."
It can also be used for smaller-scale generic fantasy romps, but as much as FR has its own kind of identity and voice, it is a place of big events, big characters, big villains, and big history.
Probably the best game-oriented sourcebook.
If you're more interested in the fluff than the rules, this should bring you pretty up to date.
This gives you a sense of how the world looks.
There's a LOT of FR material, but the big takeaway for me -- as someone who is kind of ambivalent about the setting -- is that this is a setting defined by epic, world-shaking events and characters.
The NPC's are all larger-than-life big time hero bags. The villains all want to destroy or take over the world. The dungeons are the ruins of past civilizations nearly wiped from the face of the planet. Magic is phenomenally powerful for those who tap it. The gods are highly active, very approachable. The disasters that have struck the planet (The Time of Troubles, the Spellplague) have been global in scale. A big of the Realms seems to be "Go Big Or Go Home."
It can also be used for smaller-scale generic fantasy romps, but as much as FR has its own kind of identity and voice, it is a place of big events, big characters, big villains, and big history.