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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Adlon" data-source="post: 754992" data-attributes="member: 1972">Ahh, the FRCS. One of my areas of experience, to be sure.I ran a 6 year long campaign in the FRCS, during 2E's heyday. I have ALL of the accessories and sourcebooks published by TSR for FRCS, and all the 3E sources published by WotC.We played EVERY saturday night, from about 6 PM to 2 AM the following morning. My party finally retired out at average 23rd level.I found the FRCS very pliable. What appealed to me the most, initially, was the fact that I didn't have to re-invent the wheel. Here was a world already done for me. Politics, geography, history, NPC's, POI's, maps. Detailed accessories on specific regions and/or cities. The 2E FRCS still to this day has one of the best citybooks ever done: Waterdeep and the North, originally about 9$ retail.I have seen threads like this one many times, usually more heated over the Realms, so, I have usually stayed out of said threads.What I've seen, is, that people dont like either:* High Magic* Drizzt* Elminster* Other published NPC's* Harpers/other organizations* The plethora of accessories that have been published* The inaccuracies between the novels, and the CS* The novels themselvesOr certain combinations of the above.What I can say about these common dislikes, is very basic.If one doesn't like the presentation of possible High Magic, then, tame it down. IMG, the 5-6th level PC's were happy to have found a +1 Longsword. A ring of Feather Fall was a treasure to behold. The massive inconvenience that my mages had to endure to learn that Fireball spell.Magic 'strength' can be pumped up or down very easily.On Drizzt, or other NPC's. If you dont want Drizzt in your game, dont use him. Same for Elminster, or any published NPC's.The PC's need not even KNOW about such legendary NPC's, if you choose to have it that way.IMG, the PC's DID meet Elminster. One of the group was from Shadowdale afterall. They also met Alustriel, Mirt, Kelben, Laeral. And several other NPC's. The SAW Drizzt from a distance ONCE.But these high level NPC's were not used as a wall to guide the PC's, or as 'buddinsky's', or as spoilers. They were only used to remind the party that there ARE greater ones than them. Just about the time the PC's were feeling cocky to the extreme, they met an NPC who, by presence alone, re-set the tone of the game.For everyday NPC mentoring, spoilering, or butting into the PC's adventure, I had my OWN NPC's for that, IF needed.As for the amount of stuff published. It's a successful CS. What can be said about that...I personally liked the amount of stuff out there. I was free to pick and choose what I'd use and not use.Relating to 2E materials, I used:* Haunted Halls of Eveningstar: my first adventure I ran for this game, eventually to become the PC's homebase.* Cormyr: Eveningstar was after all the PC's home area, and Eveningstar is in Cormyr.* The Dale Lands, and the Shadowdale booklet from the Rev. 2E FRCS.* Waterdeep and the North* Ruins of Undermountain* Savage Frontier (The Silverymoon area)* Ruins of Myth Drannor* The Moonsea* Moonshae (Our Ranger was from one of the Moonshae's)Over 6 years long, that game, and still I had a ton of stuff left over from those materials I mentioned. The rest, though I owned them, I never used.I intermingled many published generic AD&D modules, modifying as needed. I also used a few FRCS modules. A ton of Dungeon Magazine adventures. Adventures from Temple, Tower, Tomb, Book's of Lairs, and the like.Along with a bunch of my own adventures.My point being, the CS IS modularized, in the way that you can use or NOT use whatever you want or like/dislike.But what you get, is alot of detail. For some DM's (me in particular), this can be a nice gift. Most of the tedious stuff is already done for you.If you're in Waterdeep, you have many sources for Taverns, Inns, shops, NPC' and other POI's.Those of us DM's who would rather put your limited time into the adventure itself, can freely do so with a highly detailed CS like the FRCS, or the Scarred Lands.As for the novels. I have them all. I have read them all. That group from my 6 year game had 2-3 people who read them all.And their events had NOTHING to do with my FRCS game.We played Post ToT, so, the war of the gods was past.While in Waterdeep, the party got to meet Danillo Than, and Aurilyn Moonblade, but, the party didn't get involved in the intrigue that those two NPC's had going on. It was a chance meeting, at a party in Waterdeep, a 'hello, how are you ' meeting. Same mostly for all of the NPC movers and shakers.The novels, IMO, are all very good reads for lateral story line, but need not be implemented in your game. I did like the fact, though, that if I needed lateral storyline to enter into my game, I was able to pull on those novels, for timeline accuracy. They also helped, from time to time, with extra news and roumors 'from abroad'.With the FRCS, what you get, is detail. Extensive detail. You can use as much of it as YOU see fit. Or as little as you want.To those who like the detail and versatility, the FRCS is that. And it looks like the Scarred Lands will go in that direction, which I applaud.Which is why I'm embracing the SL setting as my next CS for 3E.I can come home from work, work on my adventure, and have time for other interests around the house.Granted, the FRCS isn't for everyone. These are just reasons why I like the setting.But, when you strip away the novels, the high powered NPC's, and all the other fluff people dont like, you STILL have a CS that is very rich in detail.</blockquote>

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