Is Forgotten Realms worth it?

[Henry]

If you are looking for a new campaign setting, you can do worse than the Realms. The FRCS gives the setting the uniqueness it needs to stand out, and the "crunchy bits" give it things that you can definitely use in any homebrew campaigns you decide on. If nothing else, As T. Billy said, it really sets the bar for what a Campaign Resource guide should be.

The rest of the books are not that necessary - Magic of Faerun, Lords of Darkess, etc. You can run a very successful FR campaign without.

 

[zhouj]

The biggest question now seems to be if I should buy Silver Marches, Lords of Darkness, and Faiths & Pantheons along with the FRCS sourcebook. I would appreciate if anyone who owns the books could summarize them.

 

[EricNoah]

Silver Marches is a good sourcebook -- lots of detail, NPC stats, even has four short adventures/encounters. Good maps. Would make a nice place to run a campaign for sure.

Lords of darkness is useful if you want to have one of the major evil organizations in play.

The gods book .... I'd put that on the back burner for now unless you have a strong need for god stats or cleric-related PrCs.

 

[zhouj]

*bump*

 

[The Serge]

I voted no. I could afford the book(s) myself with no problem, but after reading about how everything was so broken rule-wise (spellcasting prodigy, anyone?) I decided to save the $40+.

If you want to play in a campaign world that has been played and played and played and played and played, and can afford to spend maybe $100 or so for all the supplements, then go for it.

I prefer a little originality myself. And game balance.

Broken? I just don't see it. I honestly don't see ANY of the Feats in FR, D&D, or any official WotC product as "broken." Heck, I don't even see the weird and wonderful stuff out of Bastion Press as "broken."

That's a word I think most people use when they already have issues with a class or concept that they think is being even more unfairly "rewarded."

 

[Wolfen Priest]

Broken? I just don't see it. I honestly don't see ANY of the Feats in FR, D&D, or any official WotC product as "broken." Heck, I don't even see the weird and wonderful stuff out of Bastion Press as "broken."

That's a word I think most people use when they already have issues with a class or concept that they think is being even more unfairly "rewarded."

Well, if you don't think any feats in D&D are broken (3rd party or no ~ I'm not familiar with Bastion Press's material), then we probably disagree on a lot of things. I'm content to agree to disagree.

As far as having an issue with a class, speaking only for myself, I don't, in fact I prefer to play spellcasters and don't think they are broken at all, or even really unbalanced. Although having played a few 3e clerics, I can say that a couple of the feats in DotF are a little broken (not to mention the spells and prestige classes, which are another reason I wouldn't want to play in FR anyway, since that is the actual thread topic). I just don't see a need to add a pretty awesome feat to an already good repetoire of feats for spellcasters.

And as has been discussed here, there are plenty of _valid_ reasons (doesn't mean you have to agree with them) to consider the feat Spellcasting Prodigy "broken" (for lack of a better term). For one, the +1 DC to ALL SPELLS is pretty hard to come by; add to that the (IMO very underestimated) *high-level extra spell slot you'll get, which I think is actually a *really* good deal. An extra 5th level spell slot? Every day? That's not powerful??

I will admit that I am not familiar with the ruleset of FR; I tried to make that clear in my first post. But from what I have garnered from those who are 'into' that setting over the months, it seems a veritable munchkin's paradise. Plus, and this is obviously more important, it just doesn't interest me.

 

[Davelozzi]

The biggest question now seems to be if I should buy Silver Marches, Lords of Darkness, and Faiths & Pantheons along with the FRCS sourcebook. I would appreciate if anyone who owns the books could summarize them.

Silver Marches is really good, I definately felt like I got my money's worth. However, you only need it if you plan on setting your campaign in the North. And in my opinion, the North is the most interesting part of the Realms for an old school dungeon & wilderness style campaign.

As for the Lords of Darkness and Faiths & Pantheons, I don't have them so I can't say. I do have Monsters of Faerun and consider it to be a worthwhile purchase.