which old supplements should I get? [Archive] - Wizards Community

which old supplements should I get? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
MerrikCale
12-26-06, 09:07 PM I was thinking about getting some used old supplements with some Xmas cash. Sio I was wondering which do you like and why? Here's whats on the menu: Bloodstone Lands, Old Empires, Dwarves Deep, The Great Glacier, Gold & Glory, Kara Tur, Empire of the Shining Seas, land of fate.

I have much of the others.
Old Sage
12-26-06, 09:55 PM Definitely Ed's Dwarves Deep, since we have so little specific lore on the dwarves of the Realms. And, again, definitely Steven's Empires of the Shining Sea, since it provides in-depth lore on not only Calimshan, but its surrounding environs. And also for the lore about the Shoon Imperium.

Bloodstone Lands would fall in-between a first and second choice, and only if I had the gold pieces to spare. That's because, while I'm still waiting for some in-depth updated material on the region, 3e has managed to provide us with some rather interesting tidbits for the region, which updates most of the old material.

Old Empires I'd place as a second choice, mostly because of its lack of true Realmslore. As I would with The Great Glacier as well.

Kara-Tur and Lands of Fate would come third simply because I don't have much love for the 2e "add-ons".

Gold & Glory is another I'd purchase only if I had the gold pieces to spare. While it is a useful resource, especially the lore on the various merc companies, I usually tend to follow my own system for merc unit creation and operation in the Realms.
MerrikCale
12-26-06, 10:04 PM what about anauroch?
Old Sage
12-26-06, 11:33 PM I'll say yes for Anauroch. 'Tis a worthy resource and has some solid connections to established Realmslore.
Rell
12-26-06, 11:47 PM Gold & Glory is another I'd purchase only if I had the gold pieces to spare. While it is a useful resource, especially the lore on the various merc companies, I usually tend to follow my own system for merc unit creation and operation in the Realms.

I'll just mention that it's available to freely download in PDF format on the website of the Wizards of the Coast.
ZolDarklock
12-26-06, 11:54 PM Old Empires...

the southern wiz/pre spells, items, and npc's are awesome, and then the godkings themselfs are a big plus...

also i noticed the old empires region had some of the most deadliest fighters ever concieved, and many really bad-ass adventuring parties, mercs, and a few great unique monsters, especially the brown dragons, and the great skiriaxti

if your playing a 2e version game this book is fantastic, and can easily be converted to 3e, it is the best supplement on a specific area I have ever purchased
Jiggawha
12-27-06, 09:58 AM I was thinking about getting some used old supplements with some Xmas cash. Sio I was wondering which do you like and why? Here's whats on the menu: Bloodstone Lands, Old Empires, Dwarves Deep, The Great Glacier, Gold & Glory, Kara Tur, Empire of the Shining Seas, land of fate.

I have much of the others.

This is how I rate this products

1. Dwarves Deep (there isn't anything better about dwarves till this day)

2. Empires of the Shining Seas (really detailed campaign, Sage Schend, need I say more)

3. The Great Glacier (if you're in that area the only available source)

4. Bloodstone Lands (too old to me, but if you're into chivalry and stuff, hell yeah)

5. Anauroch (not a big fan of Bedine stuff, great descriptions, outdated)

6. Gold & Glory (available for free download, old and unique)

7. others (not interested)
Lord Karsus
12-29-06, 12:18 AM Bloodstone Lands...Eh

Old Empires...:thumbsup:

Dwarves Deep...:thumbsdow

The Great Glacier...Eh

Gold & Glory...:thumbsdow

Kara Tur...:thumbsup:

Empire of the Shining Seas...:thumbsup:

Land of Fate...:thumbsdow
MarkusTay63
12-29-06, 02:39 AM I was never really interested in the Bloodstone lands, one of those out of the way locales that is only useful if you want to run something there. Too specific and obscure for me.

I missed out on Old Empires :(

Dwarves Deep is good if you're a fluff fanatic, some Gods in there that don't appear anywhere else.

Same with great glacier, great fluff, but like the Bloodstone lands way to specific to be really useful.

I liked Gold & Glory! It was a perfect balance of fluff/crunch. You find out a tiny bit about lots of locales and get plenty of adventure hooks, and it's a great resource for NPCs. Lots of converting now though.

Kara-Tur - Eh. It was okay, only useful if you plan on going there or if you just want to know all things Realmsian.

Empire of the Shining sea was another book that had just the right mix, they don't make 'em like that anymore.

I thought Land of Fate was very good. Pratically all fluff, but a good read, very informative about Arabian culture. Just forget Zahkhara and apply everything in it to Calimshan and your good.

Anauroch - another VERY dated fluff piece. Good read, but yet another not-overly-useful item. Get rid of the Bedine (The Shades are doing it anyway) and add in some sand people and Jawas and you got yourself a fun little locale. Just watch out for the stupid psionic kid with the flaming sword. ;)

Maztica - Meh. If you are a Realms buff then its a must have, but you will most likely NEVER use ANYTHING in there.

Dreams of the Red Wizards was well done (like shining sands), good adventure hooks. You can get the same exact info from Spellbound, just updated for 2e and added in Rashemen and Aglorand (and who really cares about those places?)

Any of the softcovers - Evermeet, sea of fallen stars, Pirates of the fallen Stars, Drow of the Underdark, etc... are great, full of fluff, lots of Realmslore, and for the most part useful anywhere, even if you aren't in those locales.

For nitty-gritty detail, you have things like Cormyr, Shadowdale, Elminster's Ecologies, all good IF you are gonna go there.

Then theres Chult... :yuck: I only bought it because the back cover claimed there was a 'new' magic system based on gemstones! It never existed. seems TSR decided it wouldn't have been cost-effective to include it, but never bothered to take the blurb of the back of the product. :ahem:
aside from that, it was awful! Buy it if you need kindling.

I never bought Moonshaes, and I always regretted it, It was the first FR supplement to be released, and they never bothered to cover the area again. If I didn't read the novels I would know nothing, but you can run an entire Celtic based campaign there.

Netheril was chock full of Realmslore, but not much applies to the here-and-now. Fortunetly thats also a free download.

That being said, you might as well download ALL the freebies. The volo guides are particularly fluffy.

Lastly, Forgotten Realms Adventures was mostly a snore-fest, just updates for the ToT. The ONLY juicy tidbit in it is that it is the ONLY source to get info about the firearms used in the Realms. If you aren't going to use guns, don't bother. Besides, you can just use the ones in the DMG, theres a terrific pic of a Dwarf with a way-cool gun in there.
MerrikCale
12-29-06, 09:49 AM Bloodstone Lands...Eh

Old Empires...:thumbsup:

Dwarves Deep...:thumbsdow

The Great Glacier...Eh

Gold & Glory...:thumbsdow

Kara Tur...:thumbsup:

Empire of the Shining Seas...:thumbsup:

Land of Fate...:thumbsdow

by "eh" I assume you mean average or OK
wesleytj
12-29-06, 10:13 AM also remember that you can get them as .pdf downloads on paizo.com for $4...might be cheaper than what you are looking into, meaning you could afford even more of them. :)
MerrikCale
12-29-06, 10:44 AM also remember that you can get them as .pdf downloads on paizo.com for $4...might be cheaper than what you are looking into, meaning you could afford even more of them. :)

Thanks. I don't know about others but I prefer the book. Its easier to read it that way.
Lord Karsus
12-30-06, 01:18 AM by "eh" I assume you mean average or OK

-Exactly.

Thanks. I don't know about others but I prefer the book. Its easier to read it that way.

-PDFs are actually a lot easier. Sure, you can't physically flip each page, but PDFs have one thing the regular books can never have- a 'Search' feature. Can't tell you how useful that is.
MerrikCale
12-30-06, 08:52 AM if I had to pick between being able to flip thru pages and having a search engine, I go with flippin'
wesleytj
12-30-06, 12:26 PM Thanks. I don't know about others but I prefer the book. Its easier to read it that way.

Hehehe I just print them off at work. :)

Best of both worlds that way...I have them saved on my PC for searching the .pdf when the game is not running, and then I have it printed for quick and easy reference during play as well. I have a 3-hole punch, and 3 ring binders with the cover page in the front sleeve.
MerrikCale
12-30-06, 12:28 PM Hehehe I just print them off at work. :)

there is that
MarkusTay63
12-30-06, 12:44 PM if I had to pick between being able to flip thru pages and having a search engine, I go with flippin'I'm a flipper myself. :D

Hehehe I just print them off at work. :)But then you don't have the nice spiffy covers. :(
Lord Karsus
12-30-06, 06:39 PM But then you don't have the nice spiffy covers. :(

-All you need is a color printer, and a laminating machine.
MarkusTay63
12-30-06, 11:07 PM Ooooohhhhhhhh....

I LOVE to laminate. :love:

I was gonna laminate my kids, but the wife wouldn't let me.
Lord Karsus
12-30-06, 11:44 PM -That's cool. If I ever have kids- and hopefully, I don't- I'd laminate them. Yeah, laminating is fun. I have one of those machines at work, and since I've been unsupervised for the week (everyone gets to go on vacation except for me), I've been laminating so many unneccesary things. Why, just today I laminated a napkin, because I could.
MarkusTay63
12-31-06, 12:30 AM A man after my own heart. :P
Lord Karsus
12-31-06, 12:39 AM :rofl:
guitarlover65
12-31-06, 12:52 AM i feel stupid asking and because this is totally off subject of the thread topic but....can somebody give me a breif explanation about this forgotten realms game?.....untill today i thought there was only the books(which i love) so if someone could tell me a lil about it i would be very thankful
GothicDan
12-31-06, 12:54 AM Um... Well, it's a D&D roleplaying game. Basically, you play out an adventure that a DM (dungeon master) creates, around the table, using dice, character sheets, and little miniatures on maps, if you like. :)
Lord Karsus
12-31-06, 12:54 AM -Wow.

-Well, to start, it's Dungeons and Dragons. Hopefully that rings a bell. To avoid getting this thread thrown off topic, I suggest you open a whole new thread.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
MerrikCale 12-26-06, 09:07 PM	I was thinking about getting some used old supplements with some Xmas cash. Sio I was wondering which do you like and why? Here's whats on the menu: Bloodstone Lands, Old Empires, Dwarves Deep, The Great Glacier, Gold & Glory, Kara Tur, Empire of the Shining Seas, land of fate. I have much of the others.
Old Sage 12-26-06, 09:55 PM	Definitely Ed's Dwarves Deep, since we have so little specific lore on the dwarves of the Realms. And, again, definitely Steven's Empires of the Shining Sea, since it provides in-depth lore on not only Calimshan, but its surrounding environs. And also for the lore about the Shoon Imperium. Bloodstone Lands would fall in-between a first and second choice, and only if I had the gold pieces to spare. That's because, while I'm still waiting for some in-depth updated material on the region, 3e has managed to provide us with some rather interesting tidbits for the region, which updates most of the old material. Old Empires I'd place as a second choice, mostly because of its lack of true Realmslore. As I would with The Great Glacier as well. Kara-Tur and Lands of Fate would come third simply because I don't have much love for the 2e "add-ons". Gold & Glory is another I'd purchase only if I had the gold pieces to spare. While it is a useful resource, especially the lore on the various merc companies, I usually tend to follow my own system for merc unit creation and operation in the Realms.
MerrikCale 12-26-06, 10:04 PM	what about anauroch?
Old Sage 12-26-06, 11:33 PM	I'll say yes for Anauroch. 'Tis a worthy resource and has some solid connections to established Realmslore.
Rell 12-26-06, 11:47 PM	Gold & Glory is another I'd purchase only if I had the gold pieces to spare. While it is a useful resource, especially the lore on the various merc companies, I usually tend to follow my own system for merc unit creation and operation in the Realms. I'll just mention that it's available to freely download in PDF format on the website of the Wizards of the Coast.
ZolDarklock 12-26-06, 11:54 PM	Old Empires... the southern wiz/pre spells, items, and npc's are awesome, and then the godkings themselfs are a big plus... also i noticed the old empires region had some of the most deadliest fighters ever concieved, and many really bad-ass adventuring parties, mercs, and a few great unique monsters, especially the brown dragons, and the great skiriaxti if your playing a 2e version game this book is fantastic, and can easily be converted to 3e, it is the best supplement on a specific area I have ever purchased
Jiggawha 12-27-06, 09:58 AM	I was thinking about getting some used old supplements with some Xmas cash. Sio I was wondering which do you like and why? Here's whats on the menu: Bloodstone Lands, Old Empires, Dwarves Deep, The Great Glacier, Gold & Glory, Kara Tur, Empire of the Shining Seas, land of fate. I have much of the others. This is how I rate this products 1. Dwarves Deep (there isn't anything better about dwarves till this day) 2. Empires of the Shining Seas (really detailed campaign, Sage Schend, need I say more) 3. The Great Glacier (if you're in that area the only available source) 4. Bloodstone Lands (too old to me, but if you're into chivalry and stuff, hell yeah) 5. Anauroch (not a big fan of Bedine stuff, great descriptions, outdated) 6. Gold & Glory (available for free download, old and unique) 7. others (not interested)
Lord Karsus 12-29-06, 12:18 AM	Bloodstone Lands...Eh Old Empires...:thumbsup: Dwarves Deep...:thumbsdow The Great Glacier...Eh Gold & Glory...:thumbsdow Kara Tur...:thumbsup: Empire of the Shining Seas...:thumbsup: Land of Fate...:thumbsdow
MarkusTay63 12-29-06, 02:39 AM	I was never really interested in the Bloodstone lands, one of those out of the way locales that is only useful if you want to run something there. Too specific and obscure for me. I missed out on Old Empires :( Dwarves Deep is good if you're a fluff fanatic, some Gods in there that don't appear anywhere else. Same with great glacier, great fluff, but like the Bloodstone lands way to specific to be really useful. I liked Gold & Glory! It was a perfect balance of fluff/crunch. You find out a tiny bit about lots of locales and get plenty of adventure hooks, and it's a great resource for NPCs. Lots of converting now though. Kara-Tur - Eh. It was okay, only useful if you plan on going there or if you just want to know all things Realmsian. Empire of the Shining sea was another book that had just the right mix, they don't make 'em like that anymore. I thought Land of Fate was very good. Pratically all fluff, but a good read, very informative about Arabian culture. Just forget Zahkhara and apply everything in it to Calimshan and your good. Anauroch - another VERY dated fluff piece. Good read, but yet another not-overly-useful item. Get rid of the Bedine (The Shades are doing it anyway) and add in some sand people and Jawas and you got yourself a fun little locale. Just watch out for the stupid psionic kid with the flaming sword. ;) Maztica - Meh. If you are a Realms buff then its a must have, but you will most likely NEVER use ANYTHING in there. Dreams of the Red Wizards was well done (like shining sands), good adventure hooks. You can get the same exact info from Spellbound, just updated for 2e and added in Rashemen and Aglorand (and who really cares about those places?) Any of the softcovers - Evermeet, sea of fallen stars, Pirates of the fallen Stars, Drow of the Underdark, etc... are great, full of fluff, lots of Realmslore, and for the most part useful anywhere, even if you aren't in those locales. For nitty-gritty detail, you have things like Cormyr, Shadowdale, Elminster's Ecologies, all good IF you are gonna go there. Then theres Chult... :yuck: I only bought it because the back cover claimed there was a 'new' magic system based on gemstones! It never existed. seems TSR decided it wouldn't have been cost-effective to include it, but never bothered to take the blurb of the back of the product. :ahem: aside from that, it was awful! Buy it if you need kindling. I never bought Moonshaes, and I always regretted it, It was the first FR supplement to be released, and they never bothered to cover the area again. If I didn't read the novels I would know nothing, but you can run an entire Celtic based campaign there. Netheril was chock full of Realmslore, but not much applies to the here-and-now. Fortunetly thats also a free download. That being said, you might as well download ALL the freebies. The volo guides are particularly fluffy. Lastly, Forgotten Realms Adventures was mostly a snore-fest, just updates for the ToT. The ONLY juicy tidbit in it is that it is the ONLY source to get info about the firearms used in the Realms. If you aren't going to use guns, don't bother. Besides, you can just use the ones in the DMG, theres a terrific pic of a Dwarf with a way-cool gun in there.
MerrikCale 12-29-06, 09:49 AM	Bloodstone Lands...Eh Old Empires...:thumbsup: Dwarves Deep...:thumbsdow The Great Glacier...Eh Gold & Glory...:thumbsdow Kara Tur...:thumbsup: Empire of the Shining Seas...:thumbsup: Land of Fate...:thumbsdow by "eh" I assume you mean average or OK
wesleytj 12-29-06, 10:13 AM	also remember that you can get them as .pdf downloads on paizo.com for $4...might be cheaper than what you are looking into, meaning you could afford even more of them. :)
MerrikCale 12-29-06, 10:44 AM	also remember that you can get them as .pdf downloads on paizo.com for $4...might be cheaper than what you are looking into, meaning you could afford even more of them. :) Thanks. I don't know about others but I prefer the book. Its easier to read it that way.
Lord Karsus 12-30-06, 01:18 AM	by "eh" I assume you mean average or OK -Exactly. Thanks. I don't know about others but I prefer the book. Its easier to read it that way. -PDFs are actually a lot easier. Sure, you can't physically flip each page, but PDFs have one thing the regular books can never have- a 'Search' feature. Can't tell you how useful that is.
MerrikCale 12-30-06, 08:52 AM	if I had to pick between being able to flip thru pages and having a search engine, I go with flippin'
wesleytj 12-30-06, 12:26 PM	Thanks. I don't know about others but I prefer the book. Its easier to read it that way. Hehehe I just print them off at work. :) Best of both worlds that way...I have them saved on my PC for searching the .pdf when the game is not running, and then I have it printed for quick and easy reference during play as well. I have a 3-hole punch, and 3 ring binders with the cover page in the front sleeve.
MerrikCale 12-30-06, 12:28 PM	Hehehe I just print them off at work. :) there is that
MarkusTay63 12-30-06, 12:44 PM	if I had to pick between being able to flip thru pages and having a search engine, I go with flippin'I'm a flipper myself. :D Hehehe I just print them off at work. :)But then you don't have the nice spiffy covers. :(
Lord Karsus 12-30-06, 06:39 PM	But then you don't have the nice spiffy covers. :( -All you need is a color printer, and a laminating machine.
MarkusTay63 12-30-06, 11:07 PM	Ooooohhhhhhhh.... I LOVE to laminate. :love: I was gonna laminate my kids, but the wife wouldn't let me.
Lord Karsus 12-30-06, 11:44 PM	-That's cool. If I ever have kids- and hopefully, I don't- I'd laminate them. Yeah, laminating is fun. I have one of those machines at work, and since I've been unsupervised for the week (everyone gets to go on vacation except for me), I've been laminating so many unneccesary things. Why, just today I laminated a napkin, because I could.
MarkusTay63 12-31-06, 12:30 AM	A man after my own heart. :P
Lord Karsus 12-31-06, 12:39 AM	:rofl:
guitarlover65 12-31-06, 12:52 AM	i feel stupid asking and because this is totally off subject of the thread topic but....can somebody give me a breif explanation about this forgotten realms game?.....untill today i thought there was only the books(which i love) so if someone could tell me a lil about it i would be very thankful
GothicDan 12-31-06, 12:54 AM	Um... Well, it's a D&D roleplaying game. Basically, you play out an adventure that a DM (dungeon master) creates, around the table, using dice, character sheets, and little miniatures on maps, if you like. :)
Lord Karsus 12-31-06, 12:54 AM	-Wow. -Well, to start, it's Dungeons and Dragons. Hopefully that rings a bell. To avoid getting this thread thrown off topic, I suggest you open a whole new thread.