| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Tamsar |
Posted - 24 Jan 2011 : 18:34:07
I remember the feeling of awe and wonder I felt upon first opening the Gray Box for the first time back in the summer of 1987. I'd been eagerly awaiting the release of the campaign setting since I bought Darkwalker on the Moonshae, and being totally engrossed in the novel to the extent that I read the whole book in one go, finally finishing it with sleep blurred eyes at around 4am.
I would say that I own about 90% of all published FR gaming material & Novels, although I stopped collecting with the advent of 4th edition, and even before then my purchases were winding down.
This got me to thinking, when and what was the last product you bought that engendered that feeling of "Wow, this is awesome?" |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Christopher_Rowe |
Posted - 31 Jan 2011 : 01:04:32
The two times in the last few years when I got that buzz was when I picked up my copy of the 4E Forgotten Realms Player's Guide and when a friend sent me a "mint-in-shrinkwrap" copy of the 2E boxed set Lands of Intrigue.
Cheers,
Christopher
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| The Sage |
Posted - 31 Jan 2011 : 00:52:36
quote:
Originally posted by Razz
I would put "Dragons of Faerun" up there, but I was angered by the lack of pages it should've been given and the loss of so much more material we could've had if WotC didn't cheapen out on their book space towards the end of 3rd Edition.
I recall that particular tome causing much consternation among Realms fans -- particularly here -- who felt that the increased number of advertisements and the like, provided more distraction than anything else. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 30 Jan 2011 : 22:50:39
quote:
Originally posted by swifty
when i got the forgotten realms atlas.
Which one, the print one or the Interactive one? |
| althen artren |
Posted - 30 Jan 2011 : 22:17:20
Razz, you have a great point. Swifty, you are a lucky man, because I
yearn to have the Atlas. |
| swifty |
Posted - 30 Jan 2011 : 22:07:55
when i got the forgotten realms atlas. |
| Razz |
Posted - 30 Jan 2011 : 06:58:47
The last Realms product that made me go "Wow" had to be "Serpent Kingdoms". I would put "Dragons of Faerun" up there, but I was angered by the lack of pages it should've been given and the loss of so much more material we could've had if WotC didn't cheapen out on their book space towards the end of 3rd Edition.
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| Razz |
Posted - 30 Jan 2011 : 06:54:56
quote:
Originally posted by althen artren
LEoF. That book is a masterwork.
If only it was given a "2nd Edition" treatment in terms of writing...smaller font, tons of lore, little "crunch" material to fit more fluff...
I can only imagine how much MORE of the Realms we would've had if they stuck with writing using the same layout those 2E Realms products used but with the 3E books. Actually, the 3E FRCS was perfect, I wish they stuck with that layout for ALL their Realms books in 3E. |
| Thauramarth |
Posted - 30 Jan 2011 : 03:16:23
It's been a long while since I've had that feeling, mostly because since the advent of 2E I have not really purchased any gaming supplement (I had no gripe with 3E; it was just real life intervening, no budget, no quantitive easing available) except for GHoTR. I liked it, but I did not havve the "wow" factor, since most of the material was already available through the PDF version. My last "Wow" moments were Volo's Guide to All Things Magical and Cult of the Dragon - both things that I had immediate use for my campaign; especially Cult of the Dragon gave better insight in that organisation, and allowed me to transform it from a background and source to flesh out the occasional "random encounter" into a major villain in my campaigns, which they still are to this day.
Based on the comments of the scribes here, I'd probably get a bit of a kick out of Lost Empires of Faerūn and Serpent Kingdoms, but I have not worked up the energy to try and get a hold of those. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 30 Jan 2011 : 02:18:45
quote:
Originally posted by Tamsar
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by idilippy
When I got Serpent Kingdoms and the City of Splendors book in the mail the same week, Serpent Kingdoms from Paizo's sale and City of Splendors from ebay, I was more excited for a FR book than I've been in a long time.
I was very excited about City of Splendors: Waterdeep, myself. I've long been a huge fan of all things Waterdhavian, so getting my hands on that book was a very good thing. I bought it on my lunchbreak the day it came out, and before even getting out of my car back at the office, I was looking to see what changes had been made to the roster of Lords. 'Twas most cool to see Kyri added to the list, because I'd long thought she was a good candidate.
I am also a fan of all things Whaterdhavian. I don't think Volo's Guide to Waterdeep left my sight for over a week. It's fair to say that it rather rapidly became well thumbed. It sort of became my FR security blanket, was on my bedside table for ages lol.
When I had to replace all my stuff, it took me a couple tries to get a copy of Volo's Guide to Waterdeep that was in good condition. One of those extras is now in my car, for those odd moments when I've got some time to kill whilst behind the wheel. |
| Tamsar |
Posted - 29 Jan 2011 : 23:34:37
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by idilippy
When I got Serpent Kingdoms and the City of Splendors book in the mail the same week, Serpent Kingdoms from Paizo's sale and City of Splendors from ebay, I was more excited for a FR book than I've been in a long time.
I was very excited about City of Splendors: Waterdeep, myself. I've long been a huge fan of all things Waterdhavian, so getting my hands on that book was a very good thing. I bought it on my lunchbreak the day it came out, and before even getting out of my car back at the office, I was looking to see what changes had been made to the roster of Lords. 'Twas most cool to see Kyri added to the list, because I'd long thought she was a good candidate.
I am also a fan of all things Whaterdhavian. I don't think Volo's Guide to Waterdeep left my sight for over a week. It's fair to say that it rather rapidly became well thumbed. It sort of became my FR security blanket, was on my bedside table for ages lol. |
| froglegg |
Posted - 29 Jan 2011 : 17:56:00
For me it was getting my hands on my 3rd copy of the 1st Edition AD&D Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting! The WOW just never goes away.
John |
| Faraer |
Posted - 28 Jan 2011 : 18:28:14
For me, in terms of books, The Sword Never Sleeps. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 23:34:37
Probably Silver Marches, much of which was garnered from earlier products.
Since 1e I have had varying degrees of that 'wow factor' with every product, but I have felt less of it as time has gone on.
There were a couple of "thats pretty cool" moments even with the 4eFR material, but they were far and few between. To me, it comes down to "would I use this?", and the amount of adapting I have to do for it to work. The more I have to tinker with things, the less of that wow-factor I'm going to feel. I can re-work movie and (non-FR) novel plots and lore, and I have been doing so for years, but I expect more from a product specifically designed for the world I play in. |
| Marc |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 21:16:47
Last time it was the Moonshaes online article. Inspiring for a campaign that involves the Tethyrians. I had a nice feeling after downloading AGHotR, WotC's version was a let down.
|
| Erdrick Stormedge |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 20:14:29
Most recently, when I purchased "The Grand History of the Realms", and later, when I downloaded "Spellplague: The Wailing Years". These two products really gave me the 'verve' to run games in the Realms again.
Loved both of these products for introducing the Spellplague! |
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 18:11:29
One that I particularly enjoy from the D20 Spell compendium (or whatever it was called- not the WotC D&D one-) was Touch of Rapture. It, uh, made all sense of touch incredibly sensitive and pleasureable. VERY fun for a more "adult" campaign, considering its main applications.... Yes, I've used some rather unusual spells for my spellcasters over the years. some for practical jokes (try casting the speedy Undress on a Lolthite priestess during negotiations and see what happens, lol!) and others for unorthodox battle tactics. |
| Therise |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 18:04:26
quote:
Originally posted by Alystra Illianniis
No, it did not have all the old spells in it. There were many that were never converted. Like one of my personal favorite "prank" spells- Nature Call. Does exactly what it says- makes a traget have to answer "Nature's call".... some of the other more obscure ones never made it, either.
Haha, that's hilarious!
|
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 17:59:37
No, it did not have all the old spells in it. There were many that were never converted. Like one of my personal favorite "prank" spells- Nature Call. Does exactly what it says- makes a traget have to answer "Nature's call".... some of the other more obscure ones never made it, either. |
| Therise |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 16:58:18
Weren't all the 2E compendiums collated, updated for rules, and published as that big 3E hardback compendium?
That thing, the 3E hardback, is a collectors' item these days (I've seen it for over $200). One can only imagine what the individual 2E ones go for.
|
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 16:54:01
Shorter and narrower, but much thicker. They were about the size of the Encyclopedia Magicka, which is another set I love. I have all four of those, and still use them. In fact, I gave my bard a magic flute from those books, which he uses only in dire emergencies- a Flute of Puppies! |
| Mr_Miscellany |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 16:38:48
The Spell Comendiums are something I'd dearly love to find in a used bookstore. So many varieties of spells...would be a great tool for spicing up a mage NPC.
They were about the size of Volo's Guides, right? |
| Alisttair |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 12:03:28
I remember as a kid before I had money to buy stuff, I drooled looking at the North: Guide to the Savage Frontier boxed set. Store no longer had it when my birthday came 
12 years or so later though, managed to buy it on ebay and the joy was still there  |
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 05:59:22
I love the Wizard ones. So many fun and obscure spells for my PC's and NPC's! And the appendix in the back gave me a lot of really great ideas for wizard builds, back in the day. Was part of the inspiration for an entire form of magic for my homebrew setting- using song magic as a major branch of magical practice. Unfortunately, I only ever found one volume of the Priest's set. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 05:41:28
Never bothered with the Spell Compendiums. Not sure why that is.
|
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 05:01:04
Coolness. I recently ordered mine brand-new off of Amazon, along with the Complete Elves and Drow of the Underdark (2nd ed). Love all three. I am also planning on buying the two volumes of Priest's Spell Compendium I am missing. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 04:55:37
quote:
Originally posted by Alystra Illianniis
I also was very happy to the the Complete Bard's Handbook.
Oooh! Another personal favourite. Though my copy is entirely well-worn, it now comes complete with draft partial compositions and old sheet music that I've written to potentially drop into any campaigns as I see fit. |
| Alystra Illianniis |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 04:02:25
*snickers* NO ONE teases like The Hooded One!! I was very happy to get my hands on the pdf's for Elves of Evermeet and Fall of Myth Drannor, myself. Actually, ANYTHING "elfy". Including the DDGttU and Complete Book of Elves. I also was very happy to the the Complete Bard's Handbook. Come to think of it, most of my 3.5 hard copy library gave me that feel. Planning on getting Draconomicon next- just as soon as I have the $$ to spare. |
| althen artren |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 02:20:45
Oh Erik, how you tease like the hooded one. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 00:04:19
quote:
Originally posted by idilippy
When I got Serpent Kingdoms and the City of Splendors book in the mail the same week, Serpent Kingdoms from Paizo's sale and City of Splendors from ebay, I was more excited for a FR book than I've been in a long time.
Serpent Kingdoms remains one of the best RPG tomes in my entire 30+ year collection. Not only because of the collective Eric- and Ed-lore. But, also, because I've long been a fan of the scaly-folk. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 26 Jan 2011 : 00:02:44
quote:
Originally posted by Erik Scott de Bie
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Alisttair
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Ah, Cloak & Dagger. Still a favorite for me, and I consider it one of the best Realms supplements.
I wonder how excited you would get should they ever decide to release a Cloak & Dagger 2 which would further develop all that was talked about in the original
Heh. Considering the way they unceremoniously ended the Manshoon Wars and ignored the Harper Schism (and then disbanded the Harpers altogether!), it's not overly likely.
Not only that, but it's clear from most of the more relevant 4e lore, that the focus is on developing new plot-elements that play more on the post-Spellplague status of the Realms, than what came previously.
Never say never, my sagely friends.
Cheers
Always tempting, eh friend Erik?
I should note that my above rambling wasn't in any way meant as a strike against the function of the 4e Realms. I merely sought to indicate what Rich Baker and other 4e designers have said when questions about prior plot-lines from previous editions have been brought up. Not to ignore them wholesale, but to focus instead, on developing new plot-lines for the new edition.
I'd very much like to see the weaving of older established plots through some of the new stuff, though. |
