FR: Players Guide to Faerun is out what do you think?

[Pseudonym]

I have heared that Initate of Mystra allows one to cast spells in antimagic fields (with caster level checks). Is that true?

To cast in an anti-magic field, they need to make a Spellcraft check vs a DC of 11+ the caster level of the antimagic field.

 

[Kai Lord]

How's the artwork?

*dead silence*

Wow, that bad, huh?

 

[reiella]

Thanks for the info Reilla! The new Incantatirx sounds soooooooo cool! So they no longer have any anti-outsider abilities, I take it? Do they still have the same requirements as before (ie knowlege planes, iron will, etc)?

I'm also glad they took out the weird specialist thing with them. Giving up one extra school is alot more balanced, IMO. I am going to miss Hardy Spirit though...

No more anti-outsider.
They lose Knowledge (the Planes) as a req, but retain it as a class skill. Rest is the same.

 

[reiella]

Thanks for the information, Reiella and Celtavian.

Hm. That would get the Initiate of Tyr who has also chosen War as one of his domains +2 on Longswords? Now to decide whether I like that or not...

From the contents lists that have been posted on several places, there seems to be some description of Human Ethnicities. Is the description any different or adding anything new to the Races of Faerûn?

I hate laptops, anyway.

Human Ethnicities are about as addressed as they were in FRCS, with of course, more region data in the FRCS, so I'd imagine the Races of Faerun book to have more information/data.

The Player's Guide works nicely as a big link between different WotC products and FR... Although it does seem to require more from other books than any other WotC product to date.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

It seems to me that the whole regional feat panic is overblown.

Sure some of the feats sound good. But, with the exception of the interaction between prestige class requirements and the all martial weapons feat (and really, is anyone maintaining that Martial Weapon Proficiency is a good feat; I've always thought of it as a significantly subpar feat), most of them sound balanced. And I rather like the idea of providing an incentive for players to ground their characters in the game world (as well as a mechanical reason that, say Halruaa is known for producing effective wizards and the Dalelands for tough, heroic fighters). It may increase the power scales a little bit but it doesn't do so nearly as much as increasing one's point buy from 25 to 32 or 28 to 36 points would do.

The prestige classes seem a good deal more worrisome. The Hammer of Moradin is definitely over the top. They Eye of Horus Re may well be too (though I don't have the book and it's not in the web preview so I couldn't say for sure). Its prerequisites don't look significantly tougher than the Morninglord's to me (ranks in spot are not nearly as suboptimal for most clerics as ranks in perform and if you've got spot ranks, alertness can be a worthwhile feat).

 

[Dark Jezter]

How's the artwork? Did they shell out the big bucks for Dennis Crabapple and a chimp with crayons?

See for yourself.

Truthfully, the artwork isn't that bad. Sure, there's no Todd Lockwood or Sam Wood, but there's still some good art in there.

 

[reiella]

Another interesting change to the region system.

At least I think it is.

Every region now has Bonus Freebie equipment (like FRCS). However, it isn't restricted to class. You're also able to take a 100 gp option at any time.

 

[Kai Lord]

See for yourself.

Truthfully, the artwork isn't that bad. Sure, there's no Todd Lockwood or Sam Wood, but there's still some good art in there.

You're right. The art for the most part doesn't blow my socks off, but nothing's really horrible either, with even a few that are downright cool.

 

[Kesh]

Okay, so basic question then:

Suppose I have a copy of Silver Marches. If I pick up FRPG, will I be able to effectively run an FR campaign? What would I be missing from the FRCS? And what if I had Faiths & Pantheons to supplement any missing gods/spells?

Essentially, I have to sell off some of my books. I'll eventually pick up FRPG, so I'm wondering which book I can safely ditch: FRCS or F&P, or both?

 

[reiella]

Okay, so basic question then:

Suppose I have a copy of Silver Marches. If I pick up FRPG, will I be able to effectively run an FR campaign? What would I be missing from the FRCS? And what if I had Faiths & Pantheons to supplement any missing gods/spells?

Essentially, I have to sell off some of my books. I'll eventually pick up FRPG, so I'm wondering which book I can safely ditch: FRCS or F&P, or both?

None of them.

You will need the FRCS to use the FRPG.
And Faithes and Pantheons is not antiquated by FRPG. FRPG does update relevant (PLAYER) information (ie, spells, domains, etc) from Faiths & Pantheons.

Silver March is effectively Untouched by the FRPG.