| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Shadow_stormsword |
Posted - 22 Mar 2008 : 15:44:30
I've been trying to figure it out but idk what books to buy first..... |
| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Big Mac |
Posted - 13 Apr 2008 : 19:01:43
The 4th edition presentation of Forgotten Realms is probably going to be a lot different from the 3rd edition presentation (or earlier versions).
June is a long time to wait to make your decision. I think you could browse through older material to get an idea of the quality of the current (soon to be out of print) FR material.
You don't need to buy any gamebooks to do this. The three core rulebooks (Players Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual) have most of their rules put into something that WotC call the SRD. The SRD is free to use (under a licence called the OGL that you don't need to know about). So surf over to a website like the Hypertext d20 SRD to see how the existing D&D rulebooks work.
Once you have had a quick look at them, go look at many of the Forgotten Realms Web Enhancements from WotC. They will give you a chance to see the sort of quality you would get if you hunted down the 3rd edition products.
Don't feel the need to memorise any of this stuff. Just surf around and see what you can see.
Then try to find out where you can see some previews of what is going to get done with the 4th edition FRCS.
If you love 4th Edition it would be pointless buying the current books, but if you hate 4th Edition (or the 4th edition modifications to Toril) you are going to have to run around and hunt down the rare 3rd Edition. (On the other hand you might see the non-rare FR books going really cheap over the next few months, as people try to dump their stock!)
Don't forget that earlier editions are also an alternative. Some 2e and 1e FR stuff can be bought as PDFs from Paizo or RPG Now. There is a new game system out there called OSRIC ('Old School Reference and Index Compilation'), that is mostly compatible with the really early Forgotten Realms stuff and other 1st edition AD&D material. So if you are happy with PDFs you could use OSRIC. (Like the SRD, you can download the main game engine for OSRIC for free, so you can have a surf through the rules and see if you like it.)
I would say beware of anyone who tells you to get or not get 4th edition without knowing your requirements. And there is no right of wrong edition. Some people still play with gamebooks that might have been printed before you were born! ;)
I know that I don't want to go down the 4th edition route, but that is because I want to use conversions of 2nd edition things, like Al Qadim, Maztica and Kara-Tur and I also don't want to move on because I don't have the time to learn a new set of rules. However, your situation is different to mine. You are starting from a clean slate. I think you should investigate your options over the next couple of months, but don't take too long as the decision will be taken out of your hands once the 3rd edition stock starts to sell out.
...and if you do decide to go with the 3rd edition rules, I suggest you look for a book price comparison website. If you use these you can find the best price for each FR rulebook and save yourself a lot of cash.
And the number of books you get depend entirely on how geeky you want to get about your game. At a minimum you would need the Players Handbook and Fogotten Realms Campaign Setting to be a player and those two plus the Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual as a dungeon master (the guy that runs the game). 4th edition looks like it is going to make you buy a similar number of books. And if you go retro then 2nd and 1st edition had a similar pattern. (If you do go retro then ask in here to get information about what to get on top of the 3 core D&D rulesbooks. There have been various TSR boxed sets and the names are not always especially informative.)
Even if you go with 4th edition, you still might want to get hold of some 3rd edition (or earlier) books that give information about specific areas of Faerun.
Good luck! |
| Rizzen1lc |
Posted - 25 Mar 2008 : 02:16:08
Get a few people to play with consistently, and there is almost no way NOT to enjoy this!
Play around in these forums, read, learn and post any questions you have. This is one of the best communities for any hobby. |
| Shadow_stormsword |
Posted - 22 Mar 2008 : 19:05:05
thanks :-D I've always enjoyed the novels hopefully I'll really enjoy this as well. |
| Markustay |
Posted - 22 Mar 2008 : 18:46:50
I would say that right now, given the chaotic state of affairs between editions, your best bet might be to find a used copy of the 3e PHB.
Then you can decide to get the other two 3e books (used), or take the plunge come June and purchase the new PHB.
Just don't buy a brand-new 3e PHB ATM.
and BTW, welcome to the club.  |
| Shadow_stormsword |
Posted - 22 Mar 2008 : 18:35:48
I just might have to do that Kuje, cause when I went to the bookstore I was pretty much completely lost. I was also dissapointed that the local BAM had fewer FR novels than my local used book store did..... |
| Kuje |
Posted - 22 Mar 2008 : 16:38:31
You could also go to the bookstore, or amazon, and pick up the D&D for Dummies and Dm'ing for Dummies books. They are useful if you are new to RPGing. |
| scererar |
Posted - 22 Mar 2008 : 16:33:49
Yep. If you are truly new to the RPG realm, I would suggest waiting until June, when the D&D 4th edition comes out. No sense purchasing stuff, just to have to turn around and get the newest version. It truly depends on your interests.
You can check out the wizards of the coast website for more information on products.
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| Shadow_stormsword |
Posted - 22 Mar 2008 : 16:25:15
no I don't have any of that..... so do I buy the D&D players guide and start with that? |
| scererar |
Posted - 22 Mar 2008 : 15:59:53
for 3.5 play -Do you already have the D&D players guide, Dungeon masters guide and at least the first monster manual?
If so and you are asking about Forgotten realms, I would check out the forgotten realms campaign guide and/ or the players guide to the realms.
4th Edition stuff starts coming out in June. Check out the 4E threads here for more info. |
