Post/Author/DateTime	Post
phizuol 03-30-04, 02:55 PM	I don't know if this has been asked a lot or not and I heartily appologize if it has. I looked on the forum and didn't see it asked specifically, so here goes. I have experienced Forgotten Realms for quite a while now, starting with the old SSI version of Pool of Radiance for the PC. I even read a little from the 2nd edition box set. A friend and I even memorized the dwarven and elven alphabets to send secret messages at school (nerd alert!) The odd thing is, after all this time I realize I really don't know that much about FR. I spent all my time in high school reading the Dragonlance novels and never touched a single FR novel. I would really like to fix this problem but it has been so long I wouldn't know where to start. I believe there are several storylines so maybe I even have a choice of where to begin. Like a majority of people I'm fascinated with the Underdark so the sooner I get to read those stories the better. =) So which novels should I get started with? Further, which D&D source books should I pick up? I got the new player's guide but it didn't really have much for descriptive details. Mostly I just want to know about the setting more than the stats of various things. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.
Faraer 03-30-04, 03:07 PM	The Player's Guide is mostly a rules update to D&D 3.5, though it does include some new content. You'll want the 2001 Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting and, if you want to see more or less how the original conception of the Realms looked (and I recommend that you do), the 1987 Forgotten Realms Campaign Set (http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=806&). Beyond those, it's a matter of what subject you're interested in, though some sourcebooks are of course better written, longer, more or less well researched or focused, etc. A fair few pre-3E books are free downloads at wizards.com. Novelwise, Spellfire gives the best introduction to the Realms (it was written with such in mind). There are indeed many storylines rather than a single main narrative. Beware that discussion of novels as novels (rather than as sources of lore) is now off-topic for the wizards.com boards.
phizuol 03-30-04, 03:20 PM	Cool, thanks. I'll definitely be checking those out as soon as I can.
Alac Luin 03-31-04, 01:03 PM	I would suggest looking at WizoBigSis's thread "Healpful FR Links" it should be stickied to the top of one of these fourums. Head on over to Candlekeep and ask what novels to read. Thats somewhat taboo here now (agien, read BigSis's info on what can be said here) If you intrest is in gameing accesories, well, there is the FRCS book, good general overview. Also, you can get many fluffy 2ed material for free at this page http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/downloads