Which pdf to buy? (FR original CS or the Revised)

[Nyeshet]

I recently went over to RPGNow to buy the recent Mythic Earth, but while looking around I decided to add a few more to the cart (Van Richten's Compendiums one and two; Poisoncraft: the Dark Art). Then I came to the Forgotten Realms.

There is the original player's guide / campaign setting and the revised one available among the older edition pdfs. I am not looking for crunch, as prior editions used different rules. I am looking for a better understanding of the setting: of what it was and what it should be.

Is the FR Revised Campaign Setting mainly a rule update of the original Player's Guide to FR, or does it add substantially to the map, the regions described, etc?

 

[Jeremy E Grenemyer]

As I recall, the revised box had crummy maps, poor art and gave a much different 'feel' than the original FR boxed set.

The revised set did include a heftier book on Shadowdale, though. The original just had some pages devoted to Shadowdale in the back of one of the two books.

I never felt like the revised CS really added much of anything; it was a disappointment for me.

It's my opinion that the original is by far the better of the two and does the very best job of conveying the feel of the Forgotten Realms.

J. Grenemyer

 

[Razuur]

I gotta say that when the original gray boxed set for FR came out, I loved it, and that was all we played. When the revised came out, I scooped it up, and was shocked that it felt like a completely different setting, using the same names. By 3e it was a compeltely different animal.

I would say that the 1e has almost a sword and sorcery/high fantasy feel - a lot more dangerous and unknown.

2e is what you get in the earlier novels (Post time of troubles) in feel.

3e is the ultimate evolution of the novels taking form

Which one you should pick should match your style.

1e is the least complete - but rife with possiblity.

2e is more complete, and much like the feel of the novels.

3e is everything and the kitchen sink - with details on all corners of the faerun.

Razuur

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

An apt description. Though the 3e book is pretty flashy, the 1e boxed set is probably my favorite, as far as giving the DM enough ideas without choking on them.

1e is the least complete - but rife with possiblity.

Razuur

 

[philreed]

I prefer the original gray box set but that has more to do with nostalgia than anything else.

 

[ruleslawyer]

The 1e gray box, hands down. That set has several advantages:

1) It has the incomplete, rambling, hook-laden feel that distinguishes most/all of the FR stuff actually written by Ed Greenwood rather than some of the later add-on writers.

2) It's got a HUGE news and rumors section that's begging to be mined.

3) The graphics, maps, and layout are better.

4) It has two solid adventures and a bunch of interesting magic books in it.

5) The NPC levels and powers are lower/unspecified, seriously alleviating the problem of too many high-level movers and shakers that many people see in FR.

6) It's pre-novels, allowing you to set the course and history of the Realms for yourself, starting with the original source material. This is GOOD news for those of us novel-dislikers.

7) It actually meshes BETTER with many of the best FR supplements (Dwarves Deep, Ruins of Undermountain/Myth Drannor, etc.) than does the 2e box.

Those are the high points I like. Having run FR campaigns since 1987, I started off adding on each new supplement and revision that came out, only to find my campaign spiraling out of control. Shortly after the release of the 3e FRCS, I did a relaunch (1356 DR) using just the 1e boxed set and selected supplements (3e rules, though). Both my players and I were VERY happy with the results!

 

[Mystery Man]

The 1e gray box, hands down. That set has several advantages:

1) It has the incomplete, rambling, hook-laden feel that distinguishes most/all of the FR stuff actually written by Ed Greenwood rather than some of the later add-on writers.

2) It's got a HUGE news and rumors section that's begging to be mined.

3) The graphics, maps, and layout are better.

4) It has two solid adventures and a bunch of interesting magic books in it.

5) The NPC levels and powers are lower/unspecified, seriously alleviating the problem of too many high-level movers and shakers that many people see in FR.

6) It's pre-novels, allowing you to set the course and history of the Realms for yourself, starting with the original source material. This is GOOD news for those of us novel-dislikers.

7) It actually meshes BETTER with many of the best FR supplements (Dwarves Deep, Ruins of Undermountain/Myth Drannor, etc.) than does the 2e box.

Those are the high points I like. Having run FR campaigns since 1987, I started off adding on each new supplement and revision that came out, only to find my campaign spiraling out of control. Shortly after the release of the 3e FRCS, I did a relaunch (1356 DR) using just the 1e boxed set and selected supplements (3e rules, though). Both my players and I were VERY happy with the results!

That is almost exactly what I ended up doing with my campaign. Wierd, with all the new nifty books coming out going backwards actually feels better. Using all the rules and some of the fluffy bits (Serpent Kingdoms and Lost Empires) from the new books. A lot of the new "canon" was getting in my way so I retro'd the crap out of it, and its pretty much invisible to my players. It's working out great!

 

[ruleslawyer]

Mm hmm! I've done pretty much exactly this; some of the new FR stuff, IMHO, is among the best material I've ever seen from TSR/WotC (I count Serpent Kingdoms, Silver Marches, and Lost Empires of Faerun in said category, with the tip of the hat going to SK), and meshes well with the ol' skool FR material in any case.

FYI:

I am not looking for crunch, as prior editions used different rules. I am looking for a better understanding of the setting: of what it was and what it should be.

If I may blather:

IMHO, there is a "core grouping" of FR material that gets at what the setting "should be." In that group, I would put the following (all of which I highly recommend for $5 a pop at RPGNow, and some of which are available for FREE on WotC's Classic Downloads page):

-The "gray box" 1e FRCS
-The Everwinking Eye series from Polyhedron (yeah, I know, but see below)
-Ed's original articles from Dragon (most of which have since been reprinted in FR material)
-FR1 Waterdeep and the North
-FR4 The Magister
-FR6 Dreams of the Red Wizards
-FR11 Dwarves Deep
-FOR4 Code of the Harpers
-Ruins of Undermountain
-Ruins of Myth Drannor
-The Volo's Guides (oh, the Volo's Guides!)

IMHO, the above materials are sufficient to run an excellent FR campaign that gets right to the heart of the setting. If you are a detail junkie and want more info about the outlying regions of the Realms, the following are also pretty good:

-FR13 Anauroch
-Lands of Intrigue boxed set
-Empires of the Shining Sea boxed set

Is the FR Revised Campaign Setting mainly a rule update of the original Player's Guide to FR, or does it add substantially to the map, the regions described, etc?

The FR Revised Campaign Setting mostly serves to: (1) incorporate the detail to Sembia (which was intentionally left undetailed in the original boxed set to serve as a DM-customized setting) that was originally written up in the Forgotten Realms Adventures hardcover and (2) fold in sections of Ed's "Everwinking Eye" column in Polyhedron, which focused largely on the Moonsea and Vast regions. For those two tasks, it's quite good (although the original idea to "leave Sembia blank" is the better one, IMHO). Everything else is pretty dilatory. Note that the City of Raven's Bluff supplement (free as a pdf on WotC's Classic Downloads page) contains much of that detail on the Vast, and Ruins of Zhentil Keep has the stuff on the Moonsea.

 

[Staffan]

-Lands of Intrigue boxed set

I was incredibly disappointed in this one. When I was reading the 2e FR box, I thought Tethyr sounded like a kickass place to run a campaign, what with the low-key civil war going on leading to many different factions = great place to have adventures. Then I buy Lands of Intrigue, and it's all "Oh, and now the rightful king (who happens to be Elminster's scribe) and queen has returned and reunified the country, and everything is hunky-dory." Gah!

 

[ssampier]

I starting playing (A)D&D in '92 or '93. I was 12 or 13 at the time. I remember reading the FR 1st edition book and I was inspired (we haven't yet purchased the 2nd edition "update" book, FR Adventures?). We had a ball exploring the Ruins of Myth Drannor (of course it was *nothing* like the M.D. book that came out later) and adventuring with the Knights of Myth Drannor.

I guess it's the nostaglia fueled glasses (even though it wasn't that long ago) .