I'm been wondering if this worth buying, admittedly I was more interested in Eberron but have been playing in a couple of Faerun based games and been more interested in the setting as a result.
Is it worth picking up and by that I mean I wouldn't need any other books in the faerun setting so I could run games based on that setting?
I had heard it wasn't that good, but wanted to know the opinions of those that actually bought it to see what they think now they have had time to read and run games using it as a reference for this 4e setting.
If you have the PHB, DMG and Monster Manual, picking up the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide gives you everything you need to start running games in Faerun.
Now, your players would probably benefit from having a copy of the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, but you may want to encourage them to purchase that if you're unwilling to yourself. It contains a new class (the Swordmage), new Warlock pact (Dark Pact), two new player races (Drow and Genasi), and a whole bunch of new feats, paragon paths, epic destinies, magic items and rituals. You can run a game in Faerun without this book just fine, though, as long as your players are cool with the stuff in the PHB.
I own the book, and it's pretty useful for coming up with your own adventures. Chock full of interesting plot hooks and regional information.
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I'm been wondering if this worth buying, admittedly I was more interested in Eberron but have been playing in a couple of Faerun based games and been more interested in the setting as a result
Unlike Scott, I didn't find the FRCG all that satisfying. Out of all the 4E books out (I have all of them), this one ranks near, if not the very bottom, in my own mind for quality. The writing is dry and unimaginative, and reads more like a manual on how to set your VCR clock than something that is supposed to inspire. I guess because it is the Faerun technical manual that brings this forth, but I found more information in the much smaller FRPG than in here. Your own mileage is definitely going to vary, but I will state this is my least favorite 4E book.
Disclaimer: For months I hated the new Realms. Until now I don't really see them as the -real- Forgotten Realms but I have grown to appreciate the setting.
This is what I like about the new Realms:
- It really is a clean slate. The overwhelming nature of the Spellplague really gives a DM, especially a new DM, licence to make the Realms their own without any need to have researched the minutiae of Realms history. And some DMs need that explicit licence.
- The Player's Guide is the first time that there has actually been a Player's Guide to the Realms. Other products may have had the name but they also served other purposes.
- I am addicted to WotC's online tools and their character generator as are my players. That's actually what forced my hand, as it were, to convert over to the new Realms.
- You can still use a lot of the older products for inspiration, particularly for sites for what are now ruins and dungeons! ;)
- Each country or region in the Campaign Guide gives you enough hooks and ideas to spark quite a few adventure and campaign ideas. Sure, there are only 2 or 3 pages but they're generally quite well written (and I love the consistency with the information in the Player's Guide).
This is what I don't like about the new Realms:
- The maps suck beyond all suckage. I don't know how else to express that. They suck beyond belief. I accept that a conscious decision was made to limit the amount of detail but the maps are appalling. Terrible. Waste of time. And too damn difficult to edit to add in interesting stuff... and even if or when you do the maps still suck.
- A lot of the canon explanations for what has happened suck. Suck beyond all suckage. Check out the "bizarre love triangle" involving Tyr, Helm and Sune (IIRC). Someone spends too much time watching soap operas for inspiration.
The Cormyr backdrop article had a wonderful map of Cormyr. I don't care if we never see a backdrop article again but I honestly hope that we will see more maps of that calibre.
On balance, I do recommend the new Realms if someone is looking for a 4E setting.
PS: Sorry about the overuse of "suck/suckage". I just didn't know how else to explicitly state how much the maps, um, suck.
Overall, I like the new Forgotten Realms. However, as a DM I find that both the Player's Guide and Campaign Guide books to be absolutely essential. The Player's Guide has important information about key nations and locations that is often left out of the Campaign Guide. It has other flavorful information such as the Realm's calendar. Plus, if you want an NPC swordmage, you'll need the Player's Guide to see what powers you can extrapolate.
Even with the two books, it still feels like they have gaps and sometimes I have to look across several places within both books to get all the information I need on a particular subject. There is enough hints at the history of the Realms that sometimes I feel I'm missing something by not knowing that history.
That said, I like what is most controversial about the books - that is the spellplague, all its effects on the landscape, and the leap forward 100 years. To me, it gives the setting more character.
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That said, I like what is most controversial about the books - that is the spellplague, all its effects on the landscape, and the leap forward 100 years. To me, it gives the setting more character.
That is pretty much my opinion as well. I was very definitely NOT a Realms fan. I bought the material only for the classes and also as a starting setting. That being said, I've come to appreciate what it is now, and I like having most everyone in the old setting dead. Somehow it's okay for me to be a first level nobody instead of some outrageous level and still enjoy play.
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I quite like the new FR setting. The old one was good but it could be difficult to get into given the weight of history. And what they effectively did was blow up the boring places (and there were a few) and leave the places that were already fairly well detailed and with good adventure hooks pretty much as they were. The new Realsm are a lot more wild than the previous ones, which can only really be (on balance) a positive thing for adventuring.
The books, it must be said, are not an especially satisfying literary experience, and they are much less detailed than the previous 3e version. I'm not that struck on the new continent, and would have preferred that stuff to be cut in favour of more detail on the changes to the pre-existing realms. But overall, I would say it is a reasonably worthwhile purchase. The Players' Guide has lots of setting-based rules to flesh out the Realms mechanically - in particular, lots of paragon paths that link back to 3e and before (like Cormyrian War Wizards, for example). Also, the swordmage is nice too.
I should also point out that, in my opinion, the new Living Forgotten Realms campaign blows away the Living Greyhawk campaign in terms of ease of access for new players. They just released a list of upcoming LFR projects and events, including customizable adventures, adventures designed specifically for adventuring companies, and a mini adventure path of 6 double-length, closely connected adventures designed for new characters.
To the OP: You've been been playing in a couple of Faerun based games and been more interested in the setting as a result. What kind of Faerun-based games? Were they campaigns set in the FR? What year was it? Were these video games or table top? Just curious...?
Both on play by post games here on Paizo, I'm not sure about the Ashenport game setting (I think I mispelt it too!) but have bought the FR PG and got more interested as it feels you could run whatever game you want, but wasn't sure whether the campaign guide was something I should buy since I've been waiting for the eberron release this year.
I believe they are set in the new Faerun setting but no year has been declared yet.
I'm hoping to run Keir since the game I was running him in ended recently, however I am running a 4e game at a friend's place and am thinking it would work better in Faerun but not sure if its worth picking the campaign guide up.
Disclaimer: For months I hated the new Realms. Until now I don't really see them as the -real- Forgotten Realms but I have grown to appreciate the setting.
This is what I don't like about the new Realms:- A lot of the canon explanations for what has happened suck. Suck beyond all suckage. Check out the "bizarre love triangle" involving Tyr, Helm and Sune (IIRC). Someone spends too much time watching soap operas for inspiration.
Yes I agree on that point which is one reason why I am considering picking it up so I can run a game where the PCs learn that isn't what happened but merely the result of a certain artefact of the prince of lies being destroyed during the spellplague that left people believing that it was true even though anyone with any sense would realise it was hogwash.
Oh and i was wondering if I could have Waterdeep destroyed revealing Skullport to the world but thats just a pipe dream at the present!