Unapproachable East (3E) vs Spellbound (2E) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Unapproachable East (3E) vs Spellbound (2E) [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
The Simbul
07-24-04, 01:55 AM I am considering buying the Unapproachable East sourcebook (at a discount) although I already have the 2E Spellbound (Aglarond, Thay, Rashemen) boxed set.

From what I can gather, many of the 3E regional books reprint alot of 2E material, and I really dont want to read the same stuff twice. Yet simulntaneously I am curious to see what has changed, and some of the sample pages I have been able to preview (amazon.com lets you search for keywords inside certain books, and select certain pages to view, although I went over the limit :P) have shown some information that wasnt in Spellbound.

I am primarily interested if the cities are more detailed, or if they contain mini-stat lines for armed forces, militias, or small groups. Likewise I would want to expand upon some of my Aglarond vs. Thay campaign ideas, and I tend to prefer this region over any of the others. Likewise I am sure it would make for good material to create a true-to-the-books Neverwinter Nights campaign module or persistant world for Aglarond or Thay (rofl yeah right, like I have the time!!)

Thus far much of the artwork has really put me off, the prestige classes seem incredibly tied to the region, and short of contingent magic, not too many magical elements have really caught my interest...

Is it a good buy? Does it have enough fluff information to make it a decent read?
warlockco
07-24-04, 02:19 AM For cities it follows the standard 3E stat presentation. Updated levels/classes for NPCs of note. New critters, spells, feats, races, templates, PrCs, magic items. Talks about each of the different regions. Can't really say how it compares to Spellbound, since I somehow missed that 2E supplement.

What was Lady Yhelbruna's stats in Spellbound?
She is presented as Female Human LN Clr6/Wiz12/Hth10 in UA.
Had someone request a write up on her, but since I don't have Spellbound, kinda shooting in the dark.
With the revised Hathran, was considering making her Wiz18/Hth10 or Clr18/Hth10.
Bloodtide_the_Red
07-24-04, 02:26 AM Well, at least 50% of the fluff, if not 75% is right out of Spellbound, almost word for word. There is much more lore and information in Spellbound. For example, Spellbound gives us 61 locations in Bezantur......UE gives 12(and the city maps only vaguely match too).
Not everything is covered in both books. For example, UE has Relkath's Foot, a half-elf city in the Yuirwood...but it's not in Spellbound. Though UE skips the towns of Orithar, Osker, Urst, and Urve that are in spellbound.

So you would get some new information in UE, though not much. UE does also cover the Great Dale though and that was not covered in much 2E stuff. Also there are bits about the easter sea of fallen stars area.

BT
The Simbul
07-24-04, 02:28 AM Lady Yhelbruna was a Mage 28 with the Witch of Rashemen kit in Spellbound. The Witches of Rashemen were never divine spellcasters, although they changed that with the Hathran in the FRCS, and IMO came to their senses with the PGtF single-classed caster version of that PrC.
warlockco
07-24-04, 02:32 AM Okay thanks, then will do her as a straight Wizard/Hathran then.
Lashan
07-24-04, 07:39 AM Personally, I liked UE because it had more then just Aglarond, Thay, Rashemen. I wanted Thesk, the Great Dale and more. I wish there was more of that in the book.
Demetrios
07-24-04, 05:56 PM There is a lot of repeat information in the book, although much of this is updated for the years that have passed since the old accessory.

The big draw, for me, was (finally!), the detailing of Thesk and the Great Dale, two areas which have never had more than a quick overview in previous FR products. That's about 30 pages of virtually all new material in the two chapters covering those areas, which, for me at least, was an excellent incentive to purchace the book...
Green Giant
07-25-04, 01:26 AM If your looking for something similar to the examples given of typical soldiers like those found in the Silver Marches sourcebook for Aglarond or other nations, they aren't found in UA. It does cover more areas than the Spellbound boxed set, though. However if you're really interested in this part of Faerun and wish to run a campaign there, this is the book to buy besides the Spellbound boxed set.

After looking over the list of NPCs that I had statted, I forgot about Lady Yhelbruna who has full stats in the Spellbound boxed set. It was probably during the period when I was awaiting the release of PGtF to get info on the updated Hathran PrC. I'll have to remember to convert her to 3.5e to complete all the conversions of the Spellbound boxed set.
warlockco
07-25-04, 02:41 AM That would be great if you could do Lady Yhelbruna, had Avatar of Paladine send me a PM asking me to do various NPCs, but I know nothing of them for the most part.

The only one that I did do was the Dodkong. Hope I did him some justice.

Tallrunner Tigris (Tulrun) - Archmage
The Mad Mage Ilhundyl - Archmage
Martek, Grand Vizier of Raurin (The Greatest Mage of all, he didnt even have stats!!)
Ssessibil Istahvar (27th, 1st ed. extraplanar origins)
Dodkong: Male Stone Giant (Lich) Sor18
Lady Yhelbruna (28, Rashemen)
ruleslawyer
07-26-04, 02:20 PM Back to the original question:

IMHO, it depends on what discount you're getting, exactly. The fact is that UE, IMHO, has the following pluses if you already own Spellbound (as I do):

-The monsters: These are pretty cool, especially the Rashemi elemental templates.
-Details on the Great Dale, Thesk, and the independent cities: This is all material not covered, or covered only briefly, in Spellbound, and it's very, very good as presented here. Your post seems to suggest that you're not interested in looking beyond Aglarond and Thay, but if you are, I'd suggest UE for these regions. The plot hooks (including the conflict between the Nentyarch and the Rotting Man) are pretty great too.
The Simbul
07-26-04, 08:19 PM I think the final price was about $14, and I got MoF and F&P too for a total of $40 something all together, so I guess even if Aglarond and Thay are just cut & pastes from Spellbound I probably wont have as much buyer's remorse as I normally would after burning cash on RPG products.
GothicDan
07-27-04, 08:20 PM Unapproachable East was sort of useless, outside of the detailing of Thesk, the Great Dale, etc. There was nothing of particular import about Thay, Rasheman, and Aglarond that wasn't stated in Spellbound.

I was hoping to look forward to more interesting spells (especially), some cooler feats, and some stats on some of the most important Red Wizards... But, bah. Nada.

But for 14 bucks, it might be worth it.
Crust
07-28-04, 11:57 PM I've recently had a desire to buy Unapproachable East. Hopefully I can find it somewhere used or on a bargain shelf, since it's been out so long. I own Spellbound, but I've never used it. I'm toying with the idea of my next campaign being set in the East, so the box and the book together should give me plenty of info to work with.

I definitely wouldn't pay full price for UE. Not because it's a bad book, but because it's 3.0.
The Simbul
07-29-04, 12:42 AM Try Ebay or Half.com

Also I am pretty sure that almost all D&D sourcebooks sell at about 25-32% off at Amazon.com, although you can usually find better rates than that.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
The Simbul 07-24-04, 01:55 AM	I am considering buying the Unapproachable East sourcebook (at a discount) although I already have the 2E Spellbound (Aglarond, Thay, Rashemen) boxed set. From what I can gather, many of the 3E regional books reprint alot of 2E material, and I really dont want to read the same stuff twice. Yet simulntaneously I am curious to see what has changed, and some of the sample pages I have been able to preview (amazon.com lets you search for keywords inside certain books, and select certain pages to view, although I went over the limit :P) have shown some information that wasnt in Spellbound. I am primarily interested if the cities are more detailed, or if they contain mini-stat lines for armed forces, militias, or small groups. Likewise I would want to expand upon some of my Aglarond vs. Thay campaign ideas, and I tend to prefer this region over any of the others. Likewise I am sure it would make for good material to create a true-to-the-books Neverwinter Nights campaign module or persistant world for Aglarond or Thay (rofl yeah right, like I have the time!!) Thus far much of the artwork has really put me off, the prestige classes seem incredibly tied to the region, and short of contingent magic, not too many magical elements have really caught my interest... Is it a good buy? Does it have enough fluff information to make it a decent read?
warlockco 07-24-04, 02:19 AM	For cities it follows the standard 3E stat presentation. Updated levels/classes for NPCs of note. New critters, spells, feats, races, templates, PrCs, magic items. Talks about each of the different regions. Can't really say how it compares to Spellbound, since I somehow missed that 2E supplement. What was Lady Yhelbruna's stats in Spellbound? She is presented as Female Human LN Clr6/Wiz12/Hth10 in UA. Had someone request a write up on her, but since I don't have Spellbound, kinda shooting in the dark. With the revised Hathran, was considering making her Wiz18/Hth10 or Clr18/Hth10.
Bloodtide_the_Red 07-24-04, 02:26 AM	Well, at least 50% of the fluff, if not 75% is right out of Spellbound, almost word for word. There is much more lore and information in Spellbound. For example, Spellbound gives us 61 locations in Bezantur......UE gives 12(and the city maps only vaguely match too). Not everything is covered in both books. For example, UE has Relkath's Foot, a half-elf city in the Yuirwood...but it's not in Spellbound. Though UE skips the towns of Orithar, Osker, Urst, and Urve that are in spellbound. So you would get some new information in UE, though not much. UE does also cover the Great Dale though and that was not covered in much 2E stuff. Also there are bits about the easter sea of fallen stars area. BT
The Simbul 07-24-04, 02:28 AM	Lady Yhelbruna was a Mage 28 with the Witch of Rashemen kit in Spellbound. The Witches of Rashemen were never divine spellcasters, although they changed that with the Hathran in the FRCS, and IMO came to their senses with the PGtF single-classed caster version of that PrC.
warlockco 07-24-04, 02:32 AM	Okay thanks, then will do her as a straight Wizard/Hathran then.
Lashan 07-24-04, 07:39 AM	Personally, I liked UE because it had more then just Aglarond, Thay, Rashemen. I wanted Thesk, the Great Dale and more. I wish there was more of that in the book.
Demetrios 07-24-04, 05:56 PM	There is a lot of repeat information in the book, although much of this is updated for the years that have passed since the old accessory. The big draw, for me, was (finally!), the detailing of Thesk and the Great Dale, two areas which have never had more than a quick overview in previous FR products. That's about 30 pages of virtually all new material in the two chapters covering those areas, which, for me at least, was an excellent incentive to purchace the book...
Green Giant 07-25-04, 01:26 AM	If your looking for something similar to the examples given of typical soldiers like those found in the Silver Marches sourcebook for Aglarond or other nations, they aren't found in UA. It does cover more areas than the Spellbound boxed set, though. However if you're really interested in this part of Faerun and wish to run a campaign there, this is the book to buy besides the Spellbound boxed set. After looking over the list of NPCs that I had statted, I forgot about Lady Yhelbruna who has full stats in the Spellbound boxed set. It was probably during the period when I was awaiting the release of PGtF to get info on the updated Hathran PrC. I'll have to remember to convert her to 3.5e to complete all the conversions of the Spellbound boxed set.
warlockco 07-25-04, 02:41 AM	That would be great if you could do Lady Yhelbruna, had Avatar of Paladine send me a PM asking me to do various NPCs, but I know nothing of them for the most part. The only one that I did do was the Dodkong. Hope I did him some justice. Tallrunner Tigris (Tulrun) - Archmage The Mad Mage Ilhundyl - Archmage Martek, Grand Vizier of Raurin (The Greatest Mage of all, he didnt even have stats!!) Ssessibil Istahvar (27th, 1st ed. extraplanar origins) Dodkong: Male Stone Giant (Lich) Sor18 Lady Yhelbruna (28, Rashemen)
ruleslawyer 07-26-04, 02:20 PM	Back to the original question: IMHO, it depends on what discount you're getting, exactly. The fact is that UE, IMHO, has the following pluses if you already own Spellbound (as I do): -The monsters: These are pretty cool, especially the Rashemi elemental templates. -Details on the Great Dale, Thesk, and the independent cities: This is all material not covered, or covered only briefly, in Spellbound, and it's very, very good as presented here. Your post seems to suggest that you're not interested in looking beyond Aglarond and Thay, but if you are, I'd suggest UE for these regions. The plot hooks (including the conflict between the Nentyarch and the Rotting Man) are pretty great too.
The Simbul 07-26-04, 08:19 PM	I think the final price was about $14, and I got MoF and F&P too for a total of $40 something all together, so I guess even if Aglarond and Thay are just cut & pastes from Spellbound I probably wont have as much buyer's remorse as I normally would after burning cash on RPG products.
GothicDan 07-27-04, 08:20 PM	Unapproachable East was sort of useless, outside of the detailing of Thesk, the Great Dale, etc. There was nothing of particular import about Thay, Rasheman, and Aglarond that wasn't stated in Spellbound. I was hoping to look forward to more interesting spells (especially), some cooler feats, and some stats on some of the most important Red Wizards... But, bah. Nada. But for 14 bucks, it might be worth it.
Crust 07-28-04, 11:57 PM	I've recently had a desire to buy Unapproachable East. Hopefully I can find it somewhere used or on a bargain shelf, since it's been out so long. I own Spellbound, but I've never used it. I'm toying with the idea of my next campaign being set in the East, so the box and the book together should give me plenty of info to work with. I definitely wouldn't pay full price for UE. Not because it's a bad book, but because it's 3.0.
The Simbul 07-29-04, 12:42 AM	Try Ebay or Half.com Also I am pretty sure that almost all D&D sourcebooks sell at about 25-32% off at Amazon.com, although you can usually find better rates than that.