| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Wrigs13 |
Posted - 03 Feb 2009 : 16:28:24
I currently run a game with four players and have recently moved to forgotten realms 3.5. If each of us was to purchase only one product each what should they be?
What are the 5 best products for running the 3rd Ed Realms?  |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| dragonfriend |
Posted - 21 May 2010 : 11:17:04
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by dragonfriendA regional book
Any regional sourcebook in particular?
here I am, a month later :)
It depends where you want to play your campaign.
In 3.5 my choice is difficult, every book is great, even those not 100% regional (power of faerun, Dragons of faerun or Mysteries). But I choose "unapprociable est" for it's Rashemen vs Thay, Reshemen vs wild lands, Telflam city adventures, Alglarond vs Thay, mysteries of Yuirwood campaign, against old demons campaign. As always in the realms, a lot of interesting situations to play with. |
| BlackAce |
Posted - 20 May 2010 : 15:08:02
3rd edition only? Thats kinda sucks as there are so many great 2ed products.
Still the best 3e products would be:
* FRCS
* GHotR
* Power of Faerun
* Races of Faerun
* Magic of Faerun
If you want a more in depth look at FR religion then Faiths and Pantheons is a good choice as a 6th book.
The Players Guide to Faerun mainly deals with bringing the FRCS in line with 3.5 edition, so it largely repeats the latter's crunch content.
Everything else is either race, region or organization specific. |
| Sandro |
Posted - 19 May 2010 : 06:55:57
Heh, Jakk, I think you've given him more than enough lists. 
Personally, for 3.5:
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
Lost Empires of Faerūn (Netheril!)
Serpent Kingdoms
Grand History of the Realms
Player's Guide to Faerūn
However, I'd also heartily second anyone saying you should look for older sources as well. Some can be found here for free download, while you should be able to find most others either via eBay or a good used book store. |
| Jakk |
Posted - 19 May 2010 : 06:02:40
Okay... I posted my top Realms products from all editions in this scroll earlier; I thought I should share my top 5 not-yet-published Realms products:
5) A circa-1375-DR Lands of Intrigue sourcebook (for 3.5);
4) A circa-1375-DR Cormyr sourcebook (for 3.5);
3) The complete Haunted Halls of Eveningstar dungeons;
2) The remaining Border Kingdoms Web articles;
1) The Cormyr Lineage in all its glory.
I hope to one day see (3), (2), and (1)... it's a bit late for (5) and (4) now.  |
| Elfinblade |
Posted - 21 Apr 2010 : 10:18:10
Thankee Sage. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 21 Apr 2010 : 08:12:44
quote:
Originally posted by Elfinblade
arrg double post, and i cant seem to delete it myself :/
'Tis done.  |
| Elfinblade |
Posted - 21 Apr 2010 : 07:39:02
arrg double post, and i cant seem to delete it myself :/ |
| Elfinblade |
Posted - 21 Apr 2010 : 07:37:22
Top 5 3.x ed books:
-FRCS
-City of Splendors: Waterdeep
-A Grand History of the Realms
-Silver Marches
-Power of Faerun
Honorable mentions also goes to the FRCS map, as i've spent much more time huddles over it than any of the books  |
| The Sage |
Posted - 21 Apr 2010 : 01:07:02
quote:
Originally posted by dragonfriendA regional book
Any regional sourcebook in particular? |
| dragonfriend |
Posted - 20 Apr 2010 : 19:08:59
Grand History
Lost Empires
Faths and Pantheons
Lord of Darkness
A regional book |
| MerrikCale |
Posted - 26 Mar 2010 : 03:26:15
The Campaign Setting, Races of Faerun, Power of Faerun, Lords of Darkness, and Lost Empires
methinks |
| Jakk |
Posted - 15 Mar 2010 : 02:01:40
I'll second the recommendations for NobleKnight.com and DragonTrove.com... eBay is good, but make sure (if it's a softcover book you're replacing) that it gets shipped by courier, not by regular post, regardless of the cost; I had to replace my Complete Barbarian's Handbook (2E) about ten years ago, and it was shipped by Canada Post (I found a domestic seller) and arrived in my mailbox folded in half, including the padded envelope and two sheets of *extremely* stiff card front and back. Either the delivery person was having an extremely bad day, or they were just feeling maliciously whimsical. I've never bought printed matter on eBay since.  |
| The Sage |
Posted - 11 Mar 2010 : 13:17:29
There's also dragontrove.com also. |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 11 Mar 2010 : 11:35:52
quote:
Originally posted by Elfinblade
Greetings fellow scribes.
Sorry to go slightly off topic here Wrigs13, but could anyone enlighten me as to where one could buy 2ed book these days? If i were in dire need to restock on some various books gone missing over the years, where should i look?
As i live in the frigid nothern parts of norway it would have to be a netshop of some kind. I don't suppose Amazon could provide these ancient tomes for me?
Amazon could work. I've heard a lot of people praise NobleKnight.com. I've replaced a lot of stuff by going to eBay, myself. |
| Elfinblade |
Posted - 11 Mar 2010 : 09:29:42
Greetings fellow scribes.
Sorry to go slightly off topic here Wrigs13, but could anyone enlighten me as to where one could buy 2ed book these days? If i were in dire need to restock on some various books gone missing over the years, where should i look?
As i live in the frigid nothern parts of norway it would have to be a netshop of some kind. I don't suppose Amazon could provide these ancient tomes for me?
|
| Jakk |
Posted - 11 Mar 2010 : 02:15:46
quote:
Originally posted by Matt James
A Grand History of the Realms! :)
The scroll asks for your five favourite Realms products, Matt... and no, you can't choose the Grand History five times. That title missed my cuts only because I have all the 1E, 2E, and 3.x sources that a majority of the book is taken from... but it's still an awesome reference work. I tend to overlook it (not even consciously) I think in large part because it introduced me to the Spellplague... and regulars here know how much I love that little event.  |
| Matt James |
Posted - 08 Mar 2010 : 20:49:53
A Grand History of the Realms! :) |
| Jakk |
Posted - 08 Mar 2010 : 06:15:45
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by Wrigs13
It seems generally that all the information is in 1st and 2nd ed books.
Do the 3rd ed books only provide a new game mechanic?
A lot of the 3E material was reprints and updates of 2E material. There is new lore to be found in those books, but not nearly as much. 1E and 2E books were mostly lore; usually, the only rules were new spells, magical items, and nastybads. For 3E, there seemed to be a rule that no book could be published without several pages of new PrCs, feats, and page-long statblocks.
And that rule was amplified for 4E, about which I'll say no more.
Sorry I'm finding this scroll a year late, but it's seen some activity recently, so I figure I'll put my thoughts in:
My five top FR products for 3.5:
- the Player's Guide to Faerun;
- Power of Faerun;
- Dragons of Faerun;
- Lost Empires of Faerun;
- Serpent Kingdoms;
City of Splendors: Waterdeep just missed the cut. The FRCS isn't on the list because (a) technically it's a 3.0 product and (b) I couldn't justify not having any of the above 5 on the list.
My five top FR products for 2E:
- Faiths & Avatars;
- Code of the Harpers;
- The Seven Sisters;
- Pages From the Mages;
- Cult of the Dragon;
I really had to think about this, because the vast majority of my 2E sources are in another city, apart from the odd PDF. Just for kicks:
My other five top FR products for 2E:
- Dwarves Deep;
- Anauroch;
- The Great Glacier;
- Forgotten Realms Adventures;
- the 2E boxed set (either version);
Narrowly missing the cut are the Heroes' Lorebook, Villains' Lorebook, Powers & Pantheons, Demihuman Deities, and the 2E Draconomicon... call that a third set of five if you want.
My five top FR products for 1E:
- The Original Grey Box (OGB);
- Waterdeep and the North;
- Secrets of the Magister;
- The Savage Frontier;
- Dreams of the Red Wizards;
So there you go. Depending on the edition you're playing, you have one product each for your group, Wrigs13. I heartily recommend each of you picking up one product for each edition, however... and two or three each for 2E. |
| Asharak |
Posted - 01 Jan 2010 : 12:59:48
For me,
The Grand History of the Realms
Lost Empires of Faerun
Races of Faerun
Serpent Kingdoms
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting |
| Nilonim |
Posted - 31 Dec 2009 : 16:50:14
I vote for:
* Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
* The Grand History of the Realms
* Power of Faerun
* Races of Faerun
* Serpent Kingdoms |
| Nilonim |
Posted - 31 Dec 2009 : 16:48:53
I vote for:
* Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
|
| dwarvenranger |
Posted - 30 Dec 2009 : 21:17:33
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Player's Guide to Faerun, Grand History of the Realms, Silver Marches, City of Splendors: Waterdeep
But I generally wander the North. |
| wintermute27 |
Posted - 30 Dec 2009 : 05:53:03
I'd have to pick: - Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
- The Grand History of the Realms
- Races of Faerun
- Lost Empires of Faerun
- Power of Faerun
- Faiths and Pantheons
Also, I thought it would be interesting to see which books got the most votes overall so far, so here are the results (as I could best figure them out):
- Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (14 votes)
- The Grand History of the Realms (10 Votes)
- Races of Faerun (9 Votes)
- Power of Faerun (7 Votes)
- Lost Empires of Faerun (7 Votes)
- City of Spendors: Waterdeep (4 Votes)
- Serpent Kingdoms (4 Votes)
- Faiths and Pantheons (3 Votes)
- Player's Guide to Faerun (3 Votes)
- Lords of Darkness (2 Votes)
- Silver Marches (2 Votes)
- The Underdark (2 Votes)
- Champions of Ruin (1 Vote)
- Champions of Valor (1 Vote)
- Mysteries of the Moonsea (1 Vote)
- Shining South (1 Vote)
- Unapproachable East (1 Vote)
- Dragons of Faerun (No Votes)
- Magic of Faerun (No Votes)
- Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerun (No Votes)
- Adventure Modules (No Votes)
|
| SirUrza |
Posted - 29 Dec 2009 : 02:14:04
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
Limiting it to 3.x really cuts down on the available pool of products. And speaking for myself, all my fave Realms products are 2E.
What he said. To be honest, all the Realms books after the FRCS were just terrible disappointments IMHO. So I'd tell you to get the FRCS and that's it.
If you said, "Ok then what AD&D books should I get?" I'd say pick up all the Volo Guides. You can usually BUY the individual books of the AD&D boxsets without the maps and extra MUCH cheaper then you can get the whole boxset. So I'd tell you to get the books from The North, City of Splendors (Waterdeep), and Menzoberranzan. The stats might be off in all of them, but the lore is still invaluable. |
| Victor_ograygor |
Posted - 28 Dec 2009 : 11:28:42
my 5 3e books would be:
The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
City of Splendors: Waterdeep
Lost Empires of Faerūn
Races of Faerūn
Lords of Darkness
But if you realy want to find detailled information on the Realms get some 2nd stuff :O)
|
| Diffan |
Posted - 28 Dec 2009 : 10:44:31
I've always been fond of:
* Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
* Player's Guide to Faerun (not much lore, but lots of crunch for your PCs)
* Races of Faerun
* Faiths and Pantheons
* Powers of Faerun
As much as I like alot of the specific settings book (Lost Empires, Shining South, City of Splendors, Unapproachable East, etc..) if your not going to be adventuring there, then there is no real reason to get it until later or unless you want more info for PC backrounds. In either case, you can get by with the FRCS for those places and Races of Faerun for your character backround. I also really liked Champions of Ruin and Champions of Valor too. |
| woodwwad |
Posted - 27 Dec 2009 : 04:25:03
I would really recommend Volo's guide to which ever part of the realms is of helpful to your game. Even though it is 2nd ed. It is not a crunch book, it is a setting book and most of them are late 2nd time line, so they fit pretty much seemlessly into 3 and 3.5. So you should be able to get a lot of use out of that. I run FR 3.5 and have all those books and use them a lot. |
| Wrigs13 |
Posted - 09 Feb 2009 : 08:58:19
Cheers for that I will give it another look |
| Jorkens |
Posted - 08 Feb 2009 : 18:33:25
quote:
Originally posted by Wrigs13
I had a quick look at Power of Faerun but it looked like a guidebook to how to build a kingdom for your retirement.
Power of faerun is a little bit of everything. You get regional information on the Border-kingdoms, rules for leadership in various forms and lore on a wide variety of themes like trade, nobles, religious orders and trade. The book is pretty good, but it left me with a feeling that it could have been so much more. Still, it was worth getting, even for me who don't use 3ed. and only really use Serpent Kingdoms of the newer books. |
| Wrigs13 |
Posted - 08 Feb 2009 : 12:53:47
I had a quick look at Power of Faerun but it looked like a guidebook to how to build a kingdom for your retirement. |
