D&D 5E Starting the realms

[fjw70]

I have never played the FR before. I still have the gray box from the 80s and I have only read a few FR books. I enjoyed the Orc King. Back in the 80s I read the Avatar series.

With 5e I am thinking about playing in the realms but I am thinking that I will start from the time of the old gray box. What are the good adventures from back then? Particularly if they are available on D&D Classics.

i am not interested in the new 5e APs since I like having an electronic version of stuff I run and I figure that will be available later and I can get to them someday.

 

[Ezequielramone]

Spellbound is a good adventure, how the mighty are fallen, there is another one, I don't remember the name, in which you have to rescue the goodness of fortune (I believe her name is leira).
Under mountain boxs are really good, the same goes for menzoberranzan and the ruins of myth drannor.
The netheryl box could be interesting to play.

 

[Bleys Icefalcon]

I would reccomend opening that boxed set up and reading through some of the lore and history of the different areas, and pick something that intrigues you, that speaks to your imagination. I am a huge fan of Myth Drannor and all things Waterdeep. The Moonshaes make a great kick-off point as well.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I do love that classic Grey Box. As far as 1e FR modules go, I dig the Lords of Darkness book – it’s got a bunch of undead-themed short adventures.

I have fond memories of Ruins of Undermountain as well. But that's a 2e era boxed set.

 

[fjw70]

I think I may have the undermountain box set that someone gave me.

I was thinking of setting it over in the Vassa/Damara area and leading up to the H1-4 events. I am somewhat familiar with those (I have played H1 before).

 

[Li Shenron]

With 5e I am thinking about playing in the realms but I am thinking that I will start from the time of the old gray box.

I don't have adventure suggestions, but I just wanted to say that yours is a great idea. If you're already familiar with that point in the FR timeline, you'll likely do very well without need to update your knowledge. As for fluff, you have everything you need from that edition's setting book/box, and IMHO you already have enough valid crunch anyway between core, UA articles, and supplements. If you think you're missing some key character option, you can always design it yourself - and then share it on ENWorld please

 

[fjw70]

I am not all the familiar but have started reading the Crystal Shard to get more familiar. I just need some familiarity since I will make up a lot of the details myself. The realms will just give me a basic framework.

I was thinking since I haven't really played in the realms and my players (my kids) don't even know it exists then why not just start at the beginning. Then when I want to play 4e then I will introduce the spell plague.

Also I am good on options. We don't need many and just use the basic game for now.

 

[fjw70]

Well I put my gray box FR map in some poster frames. They look nice. It enhances the look that they are starting to look old and has a rip above the legend. Makes it seem like an old historic map.

 

[Patrick McGill]

Having just got my hands on the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, I would definitely recommend it for just starting out on FR. Rather than taking in the whole of Faerun, it just details one part, with brief mentions of surrounding areas. Gives a good, brief introduction to a lot of FR content as well.

Now, I'm only familiar with FR through novels. I've generally avoided playing in it as an RPG campaign because when I was younger I had a stick up my ass about only doing custom campaigns, and have only recently fallen in love with classic campaigns and adventures. FR stalwarts will probably be better at giving you a good starting point.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Maybe Red Hand of Doom (generic, but easily adaptable). Other than that, boxed sets aside, I struggle to think of any truly great FR adventures. I've played and enjoyed City of the Spider Queen, so I suppose that's a good recommendation for a mini-campaign. But both of those adventures are 3.5-era. Late 1E/2E's strength was really campaign settings, not adventures.

But then, that's the strength of FR as a campaign setting. There's a little bit of everything in there, so it's easy to pick up a well regarded classic adventure and drop it into the Realms with minimal modifications -- change some place names and you're pretty much set. That's the approach I'd recommend.