[FR] Forgotten Realms Setting products discussion

[Kyamsil]

I've been DMing in the FR since summer 1992, when I bought the Grey Box and the old "Adventures" hardback.

I just love the setting since I read Azure Bonds and was literally charmed with all the details about the different places, countries, customs... Then I just bought everything that went out from FR, perhaps I know it better than the real world

I think that the new 3e books are awesome, the FRCS is the best book ever to detail a setting. Also, the last 2e books are really cool and I plan to use some of those: Drizzt Do'Urden's Guide to the Underdark and Cloak&Dagger have enough plots, adventure ideas to keep not one, but 3 or 4 campaigns running for decades. Add to it the twists and all from the Lords of Darkness (and hopefully the new Underdark) and it is dm's heaven.

I am currently in the process of running the biggest FR campaign that I have ever tried. The action has started on 1356 DR since I want to use all the material (or almost everything ) that I have for the setting. Right now, they have just aided Tilverton to survive and repel the orc horde of 1356... they were present when Sylunê defeated the great wyrm red dragon that also slew her during the Flight of Dragons...

It is a bit outdated since I don't have much time to update it, but I keep a website of the campaign: http://www.shadowars.tk
The name of the website comes from the main villains to be of the campaign: the church of Shar, the Night Masks of Westgate with the Night King (vampiric clone of Manshoon) and the Shades. All in all, a really dark campaign

 

[Shadowlord]

The FRCS is the only really good book FR d20 has. The expansions are crap! What do they offer us? Books about places that are already extensively featured in the FRCS or older editions.

MoF ? You need 225 new spells on top of the 500+ in the PHB ?? You must have forgotten that turning magic into scientific little rules destroys all "magic" that magic is supposed to be!

F&P ? A list of hundreds gods and pres classes, yet little content on how to handle the gods as they are: masters behind the scenes. Since when has RPG become a sick bureaucracy?

MC: MoF ? A tiny booklet with crappy layout at the price of the hardcover MM. Where's the info on how to "play" the races, how to make them come to life?! Oh, it must be in the combat section...

So the FRCS is a really good book, the supplements are of totally inferior usefulness! Maybe this syndrome is part of D&D and it forgot what true RPGs are about...

 

[apocalypstick]

Give me a Cold Lands supplement book, and I will be happy. That having been said, Magic of Faerun is easily my favorite sourcebook for D&D. You can never have too many spells, and those spells are good, high-quality stuff. makes me wonder why I decided to play a Paladin insead of a Wizard... *sigh*

 

[green slime]

I enjoy the quality of the books and the heaps of ideas contained within.

And this even though I don't game in a FR setting. Every purchase is a joy to read and an inspiration. I'm also a sucker for good quality art and layout.

Now that isn't to say there isn't any crunch I wouldn't throttle a player for trying to introduce. But for every minor folly there is a whole heap of goodness.

 

[Enceladus]

The FRCS is the only really good book FR d20 has. The expansions are crap! What do they offer us? Books about places that are already extensively featured in the FRCS or older editions.

The expansions rock. They offer us new plot hooks, new information on the different societies, regions, I could go on.

MoF ? You need 225 new spells on top of the 500+ in the PHB ?? You must have forgotten that turning magic into scientific little rules destroys all "magic" that magic is supposed to be!

The spells from the pre 3E books were converted and some new spells, classes, feats etc were added. Great stuff actually! This is probably one of the top three FR books to come out since the FRCS.

F&P ? A list of hundreds gods and pres classes, yet little content on how to handle the gods as they are: masters behind the scenes. Since when has RPG become a sick bureaucracy?

Did you even read this book? Or the web enhancement?

MC: MoF ? A tiny booklet with crappy layout at the price of the hardcover MM.

It was actually 2 dollars more thank you very much! And there are even a bucketload of plots hooks in that book.

Where's the info on how to "play" the races, how to make them come to life?! Oh, it must be in the combat section....

Thats twice now you wanted everything little thing spelled out for you. What exactly do you need spoon fed to you anyway?

So the FRCS is a really good book, the supplements are of totally inferior usefulness! Maybe this syndrome is part of D&D and it forgot what true RPGs are about...

You couldnt be more wrong, but thanks for turning a great positive thread into yet another bash fest.

 

[Enceladus]

I like the FR maps most of all!

The old ones and the new ones, especially the Ruins of Myth Drannor maps, those rock!

I have so many FR maps from multiple products its sick, and I'm sick cause I love maps.

They need to come out with an atlas on par with Kingdoms of Kalamar. That is the fantasy map book to end all fantasy map books by which all other books on maps should be judged by.

 

[d12]

A little more on how the books have been used in IMC:

Two of my players took right to the Wood Elves - mostly for powergaming puposes. Thanks to the fact that they rolled incredible stats I now have two characters on my hands with 20 Str and 20 Dex. But the great thing is that both of these players have since worked in backstories that will take us to the High Forest to battle drow and on to Baldur's Gate to fight Banites.

Here's an example of another reason why I like the realms. Slight RttToEE spoiler:
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When the PC's found a deck of many things on an adventure, one of them drew the imprisonment card. I randomly determined that the soul of the character was imprisoned somewhere on Toril. So I got the map included in the FRCS and threw a die down to determine where. Whamo. I get a description of the place where the character's soul is and an instant plot hook. And we're adventuring again in fifteen minutes! Sure, if I were running in a homebrew I could have just made up a location and hook but then you get something like this "Uh....there's a city called...uh...Zobor.....uh....far to the ...uh...south!"

So, what I really love about the FRCS is that there's a detailed world that exists outside my imagination - and my imagination gets to steer things. The places in the Forgotten Realms "exist" before the characters get there or need them to be there.

 

[Shadowlord]

The expansions rock. They offer us new plot hooks, new information on the different societies, regions, I could go on.

-> Hardly so when compared to the amount of rules text that takes place.


It was actually 2 dollars more thank you very much! And there are even a bucketload of plots hooks in that book.

-> ?? What's to thank me for?
I spoke relatively; the same price tag for something MUCH smaller makes the product more expensive! Worse if it costs even "a litlle " more.


Thats twice now you wanted everything little thing spelled out for you. What exactly do you need spoon fed to you anyway?

-> So the "rules" give you "ideas"...? In depth text is needed for that. One which should form the majpority of the book, not vice versa; a book filled with rules and a bit of "flavor" text, just for the "flavor".


You couldnt be more wrong, but thanks for turning a great positive thread into yet another bash fest.

-> A good discussion is always two-sided, otherwise you have an empty praise that could only interest obsessed geeks. I said my opinion which was asked for by the original post.

 

[VorpalBunny]

So, what I really love about the FRCS is that there's a detailed world that exists outside my imagination - and my imagination gets to steer things. The places in the Forgotten Realms "exist" before the characters get there or need them to be there.

*DING*!

This is what really sets the Realms apart for me too. The detail and care put into the world set it head and shoulders above anything I could come up with on my own, while still providing room for me to customize the world and allowing my players to come up with interesting PCs and backgrounds.

So far, I've *loved* everything released for the 3e FR, with the exception of Unapproachable East. There's some good stuff in there, but IMO they over did the "crunch" to compensate for the stuff they reprinted from Spellbound. Still, it'll see some use IMC, just not as much as the other books.

 

[Shadowlord]

...but IMO they over did the "crunch"...

To put it very shortly, YES that's what I was saying!