Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Eli_the_Tanner 08-27-07, 09:27 PM	Inspired by another thread about an old gamer introducing some first-time gamers to the world of Forgotten Realms (and D&D as a whole), I decided to start this thread. I'd like to hear of others first time experiences of Forgotten Realms, what adventures did you go on? who were your characters? where did you start? What did you think of D&D and the realms when you started? Did you love it from your first tavern meeting or has it slowly grown on you over the years? - Feel free to go into as much or as little depth as you like, I'll be reading them all.:whatsthis With all the new changes going on around at the moment I think it would be nice for us to all step back and think back to how we all started.:)
MerrikCale 08-27-07, 10:33 PM	My first character was Merrik Cale, of course, human ranger of Harrowdale
Old Sage 08-27-07, 10:45 PM	My first experience with the "written" Realms was with the Darkwalker on Moonshae novel by Doug Niles. Initially, I was looking for more DRAGONLANCE fiction [Dragons of Autumn Twilight served as my introduction to this style of fantasy-fiction several years before] when I managed to pick up a copy, shortly after its initial release here in Australia [from the local library]. It was, as I recall, just a few weeks past its publication in the US. Intensely curious with this new trilogy, I read the entire novel in less than three days and was immediately entranced with this strange fantasy land called the Moonshae Isles. I wanted more! From there, I learned of Ed's 1987 FR boxed set which was just beginning to be sold here in Australia, and also of the fact that the Moonshae Islands were detailed inside the boxed set as part of the Realms [which was actually the first section of the Old Gray Box that I read when I first got it home]. Moving out from the Moonshae Islands, I then started to read about the main continent of Faerūn, where I slowly became aware of just how fantastic the world around the Moonshaes was. The old SSI games for the C64/Amiga were my first experience with the "electronic" Realms.
Alleran 08-27-07, 11:28 PM	My first experience was playing Baldur's Gate II, I think (reading all the books in the game). Then it progressed to Icewind Dale, into the Drizzt series, Avatar trilogy and some of Ed's stuff, and from there to the actual game.
OKCPayne 08-28-07, 12:26 AM	The first time I played it was in the realms... I didnt think anything special about it. My character was a druid, and we were in heavy wooded/wilderness areas a lot. Then I started playing with a different group... everything was desert and jagged mountains and lava and no rain and ugly. (some home brew world) At this point I found out that D&D had different settings. It was then that my appreciation for the realms was discovered. I ran off and bought the box and started to absorb all I could. Now I'm sort of a snob to anything else. :embarrass
True_Atlantean 08-28-07, 07:33 AM	I was introduced to FR when I wanted to move from Mystara into 2nd ed. The guy at the local gaming shop sold me a bundle of novels (all three of the Avatar Trilogy) at a vastly reduced rate and I signed up to a group that played every fortnight in store - my first experience with FR and with gamers who didn't go to school with me. I learned that I loved the Realms and learned a lot about life from the guys who were five to ten years older than me and living in that scary 'real world'. First module was the Doom of Daggerdale, which I recently purchesed in .pdf from Paizo and I'm running for my current group. I played a Dwarven priest of Clangeddin who died from poison (a Dwarf successfully poisoned! It doesn't get more ignomonious than that). Rolled up a Wood Elven Ranger/ Cleric after that and survived all the way to Undermountain where the whole party was eaten by a Bullette. Fun times... Now, fourteen years on, I'm still running in the FR, I re-read the Avatar Trilogy every now and again and I'm glad to see that FR will still be supported in 4th ed. I'm really looking forward ot seeing the organised play component as well.
MarkHall 08-28-07, 09:37 AM	My first experience with the Realms was in 1994; we'd just moved to Houston, I was a junior in HS, and one of my brothers friends knew a guy who was a DM. We ran through the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar. My character was a half-drow mage/thief named Zerek... 10 Str, 16 Dex, 7 Con, 16 Intelligence, 10 Wisdom, 6 Charisma. We'd been sent by the Harpers to find "Warwinner", a luckblade that's in the Halls, and bring it to Berdusk. I've got a lot of stories out of that game...
Narsil 08-28-07, 10:33 AM	Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale for me. Playing Daniel-James the Paladin and kicking evil's arse repeatedly... I sucked at it mind, being about eleven or twelve years old at the time. I then moved onto being Daikorin the Arsekicker Paladin in Baldur's Gate 2 (I sucked at it less), and then finally, I moved onto reading the novels. I read the Shadow Stone (still trying to get hold of that one again), Death of the Dragon*, the Magehound and the third book of the Icewind Dale trilogy*. When they both came out I started playing Neverwinter Nights and Icewind Dale 2. After them I moved onto Temple of Elemental Evil at about the same time as I started looking into the actual rules of the game and seeing about playing it properly; so I got hold of all the books. This has only really happened relatively recently, so I'm a bit of a newbie. *I have a habit of acquiring the third book in a trilogy and reading it before the others. This also happened with a series of Star Wars novels, a series of Star Trek novels and a few of the Star Wars graphic novels.
Eli_the_Tanner 08-28-07, 10:35 AM	Excellent! Some classic stuff here guys, keep it coming.
ShadezofDis 08-28-07, 10:35 AM	Wow. . . lets see. It may have been the old Pools of Radiance game. . . oooohhhh. . . wait. . . Gateway to the Savage Frontier! An old game that sent you through various cities (including Yatar, Nesme, Everlund, and others and ends in the ruins of Ascore) I think I did Gateway before Pools though it could have been the other way around. Anyhow, after that it was a couple of years before I picked up D&D, a friends older brother was in a group and he decided to start running games for us. My first PC died within the first couple of games and sadly I do not remember him at all (well, other than that he was a paladin). My second PC was Sir Terry Calahan (I was about 13 or 14 :p) who was a Paladin of Tyr and has survived to this very day (though I haven't run him in about a decade). I've given him a place in my realms as the head of the MPs of the Church of Tyr (internal investigation, basically looking for heretics and for spies and saboteurs). Once I'd run Terry for a while I decided I wanted to know more about FR and started reading Forgotten Realms Adventures and the cities section just amazed me. I was hooked and haven't stopped reading FR lore since (well, there have been pauses but not too many *g*)
Mutus 08-28-07, 05:10 PM	I think my first exposure to the Realms was from the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon on saturday mornings. Tiamat was bad to the bone if you were 11. I wasn't really introduced to the game until my first year of college and then we played home-brew stuff till Dark Sun came out. I knew a guy who played in a different group and his Drow always fascinated me, but at that time I didn't really know what FR was. I guess all I knew was it was the most popular setting and I never played in it :thinks: Like many of you, the first time I played in FR was Baldur's Gate and from there I went to Neverwinter Nights. About 5-6 years ago I was in my local shop and spotted the re-packaged Icewind Dale and Dark Elf Trilogies, picked them both up and have been wanting to run a campaign there ever since. Unfortunately, my group all graduated college many years back, moved in separate directions and kind of grew apart. The 4th ed. announcement brought those old memories back and, while having drinks on my deck, got to talking to my neighbor about it. He had some friends that played but he never had. I called my brother, twisted my wife's arm a bit and last weekend I ran 4 new-ish players through their first adventure in FR. I think they're all coming back this weekend.
derekkohn 08-28-07, 06:37 PM	i to got started by watching the cartoon, way back in the day. nothing came about it till was stationed at Mt. Fugi japan w/ my fellow seabees, back in 91. there was 5 of us i was running an elven thief. we got recruited to help out this lord to hunt down this big bad a__. the party is getting ripped apart. i do my move silently & hide in shadows 2 times, get behind the guy. roll to hit & i roll a 20!! the damage, i max out & kill the guy!! i played till 98. then the group sort of went other ways. always been reading the books. would love to start playing again but no time really.
Eli_the_Tanner 08-28-07, 06:52 PM	The 4th ed. announcement brought those old memories back and, while having drinks on my deck, got to talking to my neighbor about it. He had some friends that played but he never had. I called my brother, twisted my wife's arm a bit and last weekend I ran 4 new-ish players through their first adventure in FR. I think they're all coming back this weekend. Hi there Mutus, it was your thread that caused me to start this one, hearing the story of you introducing the realms to some new players was great. Brought back some fond memories for me and probably quite a few others. It would be great if you could keep us posted on their continuing journey into the realms.:)
Sroblin 08-28-07, 07:11 PM	I got started playing Baldur's Gate I, and that pursuaded me I wanted to play pen-and-paper DnD and also that if I was going to learn a DnD fantasy setting, than it would definitely be the realms. I always read every single one of the tomes scattered throughout the game that talked about the land- (the 'bowling with skulls' tale is absolutely the best!). When I loaded up Baldur's Gate II and ran into an entire library of the texts right at the start of the game- well- I knew I had my work cut out for me. My first 3rd edition game was Forgotten Realms to, although it didn't get past the first session (to my regret). We started at ridiculosly high level, we were given a mission by Alustriel, and my poor 17th level barbarian was randomly planeshifted to arborea after an unfortunate encounter with a Red Wizard casting prismatic spray. Well, I got back eventually and later chopped up some drow and half-dragons, but the most important legacy of the game was the GM let me borrow the then new FR campaign setting, and boy was I hooked ever after that. Although I've never gotten to play in a FR PnP game, (though I always try to play the PC ones, which are generally pretty good) I've run several campaigns, and it remains my favorite setting.
tim120hawkins 08-29-07, 11:14 AM	I started out with running " Into The Forgotten Realms" out of Dragon magazine (anybody else that old?) way back a long time ago but what got me hooked foreverwas our campaign in Daggerford with my halfling rogue Sebastian "Trinket" Smythe and my fellow comrades Rex (Paladin), Therenge (mage), and Cameron (Cleric of Lathander), We were coaxed into the militia by no fault of mine (LOL). There are adventure began back in 88'. We travelled mainly on the west coast along the Trade Way. Under Illefarn was great! Sadly to say Trinket met his demise on lizard man spears while trying to save his friends in the High Moor. We played for 5 years and had many good times! I love the REALMS because of it.
CharginCrusader 08-29-07, 08:23 PM	Jaesen dinAlt, a thief from Waterdeep. Adventured a lot on the Sword Coast and the North.
Alleran 08-29-07, 10:09 PM	I read the Shadow Stone (still trying to get hold of that one again) I've still got my copy of that. Not a bad story, all in all. :)
MerrikCale 08-29-07, 10:20 PM	I've still got my copy of that. Not a bad story, all in all. :) I liked it
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 08-30-07, 09:58 AM	The Baldur's Gate games. The atmosphere was wonderful and enticed me into learning more... ...and the rest is history.:)
Beaver 08-30-07, 10:46 AM	Well, my first experience was the RA Salvatore novels. The first one I read was the Dark Elf Trilogy as soon as it came out.... But, my first playing experience was about in 2003 or so. It was a 2 person group, I was playing a Ghostwise halfling Barbarian/Cleric of Cyric, and the other was a Sorceror/Rogue. I just flipped through until I came to Cyric, and I liked the idea of a halfling spreading strife (in spiked armor of course). So, it was not too long ago that I started playing, but, I have played ALOT since then. I have now played all through BG1 and 2, played the neverwinters and Icewind dales....as well as taken 3 characters from low to epic level. So, I became experienced in a short time.
Halidan 08-30-07, 11:01 AM	My first exposure to the Realms was an article by Ed Greenwood on the use of gates in campaigns in Dragon magazine #37. It was called "From the City of Brass to Dead Orc Pass." While the article was about gates, it contained enough details about Ed's world that I finished it thinking, "wouldn't it be great to play in this guy's campaign." While I've never been able to make that wish come true, I have kept up on the Forgotten Realms since than. My first Realms adventure that I ran as a DM was "The Assassin's Run," another Dragon magazine adventure that predates the grey box set. I ran it shortly after it came out for my regular D&D group and they loved it. So, when the 1987 Grey Box came out for the Realms, I switched all of my D&D games to that setting and I haven't looked back since. Except for conventions, all of my D&D games since 1987 have been set somewhere in the Realms. For some reason, I missed the Darkwalker novel when it first came out. I believe that my first Realms novel was Jim Ward's "Pools of Radiance." As for computer games, my first were the old SSI Gold Box games - either "Pools of Radiance" or "Hillsfar." From there, I went onto the old AOL version of "Neverwinter Nights." It's been all part of my passion for the Forgotten Realms.
Jagaer 08-30-07, 02:52 PM	My first experiance with the realms had to have been back in BGI. After there, it peaked my interest, and I started buying up AD&D books. My first novel was not until i read The Crystal Shard from R.A.Salvatore. From then on, it opened up a floodgate of novel buying and reading, almost to fast for my own good I think. I have to say though, w/o BGI i never would have found my way to the realms, and that would not be something that i even want to think about.
Eli_the_Tanner 08-30-07, 06:57 PM	It's great to hear all these fascinating stories of how people got into the realms - looking forward to the next posts, while I re-read the others.
Fabius Maximus 08-30-07, 07:09 PM	I read (!) about the old SSI games set in the Realms. I still have an old special issue of an computer game magazine with all walkthroughs for the DL and FR games. I then bough all six novels of the Dark Elf trilogy (those money grubbing german publisher routinely split fantasy and SF books in two), because I read the DL novels before. I found the books were nice, and bought the Icewinddale series after that. While I was quite disgusted by it, I still though the world hat potential. But it took a while until I got into the roleplaying material.
ChuutRiit 09-02-07, 06:14 AM	Baldur's Gate I and II made me an offer I couldn't refuse...:D
Alurvelve 09-02-07, 06:04 PM	My first exsperiance was back in 2nd edition. I rolled up stats and wanted to be a Paladin. We started in the dalelands and I was a Paladin escorting my mentor to his retirement home in the dales. We got attacked by a Carrion crawler. It slayed my mentor before I finshed it off with the help of traveling Bard. (The bard was my friends character. He thought a bard was a male version of a rogue, these were our first D&D characters and exsperiance with it.). We then traveled together and helped fight off the Zhents and stopped a drow upraiseing. My Paladin landed in jail I think on 3 seperate occasions all which were not his fault and mistakes on the Law.
ORC_Paradox 09-03-07, 03:55 AM	Dragon Magazine had a promotional poster map of the Realms for the "gray boxed set". My DM brought it in, but for some screwball reason didn't want to tell me where he got such a nifty map. I found out when I picked up Dragon later that month. And soon after that, the aforementioned boxed set.
Mordayn 09-03-07, 06:42 AM	My first experience was when I bought the old gray box from the "used" shelf at the local gaming store. Since I was busy DM'ing my Mystara campaign, I let my friend take a shot at being a DM, creating the weirdest, but yet one of the most memorable campaigns I have ever played in. I played a Cormyrean paladin named Vane Bowen, and we ended up fighting Cyrisists and a Dragon from Ravenloft. We played this campaign for many years, and lots of weird stuff happened (the color coded floating balls of Shar comes to mind :crazy: ). My first DM'ing experience was playing the adventure's in the 2nd edition Forgotten realms boxed set, I think it was called beneath the twisted tower or something. I don't remember much from the sessions, but i do remember that there was a high casuality rate, and one of the player's was a Drizzt fanboy so he wanted to play a Drow ranger.
_Jarlaxle_ 09-03-07, 11:06 AM	My first experience was playing Baldurs Gate 2 on the PC. After it BG1, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights followed. For some time (maybe a year, don't know) I'm reading a lot of novels playing in the Forgotten Realms. I read all from Salvatore, the Elminster series from Ed Greenwood, War of the Spider Queen and currently I'm reading the Avatar series. But I'm not a pen&paper Player, only like Computer RPGs in the Forgotten Realms ;)
Suin Bahhar 09-04-07, 11:08 AM	My first experience with D&D was in the basement with one of my highschool buddies. I rolled up a young short redbearded dwarf with a penchant for very speedy delivery of his battlecries and axeslashes. Dorn set foot in the forresty region of Shadowdale were he and his party ended in a dungeon infested with carrioncrawlers and an owlbear. I think we all found some great loot but had to stop because of joining a bigger group of AD&D players in a 2 DM homebrew campaign, where I played a halfling fighter (cant remember his name). This one lasted slighlty longer but was soon followed up by a campaign in Mystara, where I played two elf characters at once. These bladesinger twins had absurd scores and proceeded to lead a pretty wild bunch of humanoids (we got a hold on a copy of the complete book of humanoids). Later I got distracted by computer games and wargames. Untill something like 5 years ago I picked up a copy of NWN and got adjusted to the 3rd edition rules. These were better to my tastes and a friend of mine opted to start a new campaign with the new rules in the Forgotten Realms. (before that we started a grand citybased campaign with AD&D rules set in Grey Mausers world where I played a rascal human thief but it was too complex for our busy GM) So 2 years ago I revistited the realms and ever since we played weekly and it was the first time I could actually advance a character beyond 3rd level! My favourite character Thuran Silverforge (Rogue5/Fighter2/streetfighter1 with str 18 dex 16) was the (disputed) leader of the party of 3(others were 2 elves, one a sorcerer and one a cleric). They whent to Menzoberanzan and survived (my first time underdark experience) unscathed. This campaign used rotating DM's and I was the third in line. So my favourite character was sent off on a trip through the Barrens of Doom and Despair via a portal used by evil nighthags (I'm the DM now so he'll survive untill I can give back the DM reigns). This campaign ended a month ago when 2 players whent on a big vacantion to travel through the eastern lands for a year. Now being DM has really gotten me to love the realms as I can research lore at my liesure and plant it in my campaigns to awe my players. I am starting a new campaign in Chessenta tomorrow! Can't wait!
peteyrock 09-04-07, 11:45 AM	When I was a sophomore in high school, a buddy of mine let me borrow The Dark Elf Trilogy. Which, of course, was pretty cool. Then, he starting flipping out about Baldur's Gate (this game was brand new at the time) and how awesome it was. I made my dad upgrade our computer so I could play this five disc computer game. As for RPing, I hadn't really played anything in the Forgotten Realms setting until about a year ago when I DMed a sizeable campaign, starting out in Daggerford and taking them all to the other side of the continent.
Eli_the_Tanner 09-04-07, 12:32 PM	My first experience with D&D was in the basement with one of my highschool buddies. I rolled up a young short redbearded dwarf with a penchant for very speedy delivery of his battlecries and axeslashes. Dorn set foot in the forresty region of Shadowdale were he and his party ended in a dungeon infested with carrioncrawlers and an owlbear. I think we all found some great loot but had to stop because of joining a bigger group of AD&D players in a 2 DM homebrew campaign, where I played a halfling fighter (cant remember his name). This one lasted slighlty longer but was soon followed up by a campaign in Mystara, where I played two elf characters at once. These bladesinger twins had absurd scores and proceeded to lead a pretty wild bunch of humanoids (we got a hold on a copy of the complete book of humanoids). Later I got distracted by computer games and wargames. Untill something like 5 years ago I picked up a copy of NWN and got adjusted to the 3rd edition rules. These were better to my tastes and a friend of mine opted to start a new campaign with the new rules in the Forgotten Realms. (before that we started a grand citybased campaign with AD&D rules set in Grey Mausers world where I played a rascal human thief but it was too complex for our busy GM) So 2 years ago I revistited the realms and ever since we played weekly and it was the first time I could actually advance a character beyond 3rd level! My favourite character Thuran Silverforge (Rogue5/Fighter2/streetfighter1 with str 18 dex 16) was the (disputed) leader of the party of 3(others were 2 elves, one a sorcerer and one a cleric). They whent to Menzoberanzan and survived (my first time underdark experience) unscathed. This campaign used rotating DM's and I was the third in line. So my favourite character was sent off on a trip through the Barrens of Doom and Despair via a portal used by evil nighthags (I'm the DM now so he'll survive untill I can give back the DM reigns). This campaign ended a month ago when 2 players whent on a big vacantion to travel through the eastern lands for a year. Now being DM has really gotten me to love the realms as I can research lore at my liesure and plant it in my campaigns to awe my players. I am starting a new campaign in Chessenta tomorrow! Can't wait! I really enjoyed your post Suin Bahhar, a great story of your early relationship with the Realms and D&D. All nicely finished with a look foward to the new adventures that await. This page is now a bookmarked link for me, so I can quickly check out any new stories.:D
Shiftkitty 09-05-07, 03:46 PM	A friend of mine wanted to DM in a new campaign. Since I was an old hand at the game, he wanted me to play something of a "fish out of water", a new-comer to the Realms so that I wouldn't have any mechanical advantages over the other players, who were newbies. Enter Col. Michael H. Dugan, United States Army Air Force, lost somewhere over Germany during WW2. I played him as a trigger-happy loudmouth, brash and cocky. Hey, he was 19, not an unusual age for a colonel in the USAAF. High turnover rate, y'know. He went out of his way to step on the toes of the bad guys. His big challenge to any and all "evil boogers" was that they'd never make him kneel. Matron Mother Baenre took him up on it. Sent the boy to his knees, totally dominated him, then gave him to Gromph as a pet. ("Oh, I wouldn't give him to Quenthel. She tends to break her toys.") For three game years I lost control of the character, but then got to have him escape, having learned a valuable lesson about challenging the drow on their home turf! We never finished the campaign, but the DM hinted that Gromph had done something to the colonel's mind before letting him go. (I thought the escape was a little too easy...). Dugan's still alive, now a DMPC. I may have to reopen that story.
Suin Bahhar 09-05-07, 06:56 PM	The new campaign session in Chessenta came alive today. I'll add a little more later...
Shiftkitty 09-05-07, 09:57 PM	One more thing about Colonel "Iron Mike" Dugan: He thinks he's gone insane and the whole thing is a wild hallucination, albeit one that can make him feel like genuine fire is being breathed on him! He also thinks that any second now he's going to wake up in some Nazi POW camp with wires running into his brain. Even after all these years. Yep, he's a stubborn one, all right!
Wellin_Adipocere 09-06-07, 01:01 AM	I have just recently started playing a game using the realms world for the first time. Only the Dm has the official books so i am limited in gaming knowledge of Faerun. First experience though was actually quite recent. When war of the spiderqueen came out with the first novel the cover art just lept at me and i had to read this book not knowing it would be a six part series. After the first two chapters i was hooked. I then tracked down all the FR titles i could get my hands on and am proud to say since that time i have pretty much read all of R.A.Salvatore's, Ed Greenwoods, Phil Athans, troy dennings, etc. except for the really early stuff. and have an impressive collection of books that i will one day have the pleasure of reading to my children and getting them hooked. That way i can still know whats happening to Drizzt without straining my then old eyes.
Suin Bahhar 09-06-07, 08:37 AM	So the Chessenta campaign started and went really well. The 1st level party consists of a Salun, a sun elf mage, the Nameless One, a tiefling beguiler and Bennie Genasi, an air genasi lurk. They entered Cimbar in Old Cimbar, in the old docks and traveled to their own rental home in new Cimbar. Along the road I could describe the city and drop several hooks. I was amazed at how smooth things went. I guess having even half a year experience as a DM can improve your game drasticly. I must say the boards really help me fit all the end and bits together in the Realms. Here's a salution and thanks to community as a whole! Warm winds and a cooshie puppie for all!
KnightoftheWhiteRose 09-08-07, 12:04 PM	My very first expeariance in the realms was simply chatting with some buddies about it. then i bought sea of swords. first book i saw on the shelf. twas good so i collected for alittle while i have less than 20 FR novels but i got the idea. Drizzt gets a bit old for me. it takes RAS a solid paragraph to do an attack with drizzt when goblins can slay men in a single sentence. :rant: Other wise a good expeariance.
Mathas 09-08-07, 12:14 PM	My very first experience with the Forgotten Realms was with the original "Ruins of Undermountain" boxed set. I remember staying up to four in the morning when I had first gotten it, reading trough it and looking at the maps, absorbing the material n front of me. At the time I wasn't sure what the FR was as I had received the set as a gift from a friend. The nest weekend I ran a group of my buds through an adventure in Undermountain and everyone loved it. About two weeks after that I was looking around in a book store and my eyes caught the grey outline of a box with the words Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting on the front of it. Something clicked in my head and I was like..Forgotten Realms..hey that sounds fami...oh yeahhhh. So I purchased it and ever since the Realms has been my home away from home...even though I was still at home LOL.
captaincarot 09-08-07, 12:27 PM	a friend of mine bought a game world in a grey box, when it was first released in england, but by this time i was already bored with D&D and was moving over to rolemaster. so i didn't really get to know it too much. not that we disliked the world but RM was just so liberating when compared with first edition. it was with the release of the first baldurs gate pc game (you have to do some thing to avoid talking to the wife) then out came the rest of the BG games and by the time i'd played them about 20 times id managed to escape from the wife completely and decided to brush off the old books. so it's only in the last 3 years or so that i started actually playing D&D in the realms, but i've been reading the books on and off for nigh on 20 years.
Eli_the_Tanner 09-08-07, 09:27 PM	I have just recently started playing a game using the realms world for the first time. Only the Dm has the official books so i am limited in gaming knowledge of Faerun. That's quite a good way of experiencing a setting for the first time. Currently I am doing something similar in an Eberron campaign, I'm playing a druid who has literally no knowledge of the world outside of his forest. I've avoided all information on the setting (bar info relevant to my druid)purposefully. Everything I know about this setting has come through my characters adventures in the world and discussions with the other characters in my party. So I'm all for your continued ingame exploration of the realms - good luck on your adventures in the Forgotten Realms.
GothicDan 09-09-07, 12:08 PM	Me? I got into it via online roleplay when I was about 11. I was in a freeform chat, and someone told me that I wrote way too well to hang out with all of those n00bs, so they brought me to an FR-specific RP room. Had a lot of fun years there, but then it sort of died when 3E came out.
White_Wizard 09-10-07, 08:00 AM	My very first experience in a Forgotten Realms game was the Eye of the Beholder computer game. At that time I didn't know it was Forgotten Realms, but I liked the game. I even used the video game manual to create rules for a Roleplaying game (which were very simple and straightforward). I played it (my own paper game) just once, but I've still got the map I created for that game (somewhere, deeply buried under a ton of something else I don't know where). I played the entire series of EOB. After that I read Homeland from RA Salvatore. A couple of year later I bought my first copy of D&D 3.0 and before the end of the year I had a shiny (now battered and very used) copy of Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (which I loved since the day I saw it while at a friend of mine's and I recognized Khelben Blackstaff - which is the party's mentor in Eye of the Beholder II). My first experience as a player came in that period, when I played a human barbarian/fighter along with a party that ranged from 8 to 9 characters (the DM had to double every single dungeon room and number of monsters and every fight was like a mob). Funny. Very, very funny.
DarkSongKnight 09-10-07, 01:54 PM	It was divine power that led me to the Realms! I was looking at the different types of elves in the MM 3.5, got interested in the dark elves, and delved deeper into their history. I then saw the mention of a good-aligned goddess of song and beauty (both of which I'm a fan of), Eilistraee. At this point, I didn't even realize most drow were evil, and that they were dark skinned with white hair. So, starting with Eilistraee, I moved on to her places of worship, the history of her faith, etc., and was thus lead into the dance, and the Realms. ;) I've learned a lot since then, and RP with some friends of mine usually 2-3 times a month. :D
Eli_the_Tanner 09-10-07, 02:42 PM	My very first experience in a Forgotten Realms game was the Eye of the Beholder computer game. :eek: Wow, I didn't realise that was a forgotten Realms game(entire parts of my childhood are now being re-written!!) I used to own that game aswell....back in the day when floppy disks were actually floppy.
Shiftkitty 09-10-07, 03:45 PM	OMG, you've still got floppy disks??? LOL, I never thought I'd see the day when a floppy disk would send me into a fit of nostalgia! My floppy drive is disconnected. The only reason I've still got it is because the DVD is squirrely, and it's the only reliable drive to run a boot disk from. I remember "Pool of Radiance" a loooong time ago, but for some reason we couldn't get it to work. It was supposed to be compatible with my (ahem) Atari 800, but it never ran and I never got to play it. :weep:
Simrobert2001 09-13-07, 06:42 PM	My first experience was with Hordes of the underdark, an expansion pack to Neverwinter Nights. Ahh... Those were the days...
The WarOverlord 09-14-07, 07:25 AM	Inspired by another thread about an old gamer introducing some first-time gamers to the world of Forgotten Realms (and D&D as a whole), I decided to start this thread. I'd like to hear of others first time experiences of Forgotten Realms, what adventures did you go on? who were your characters? where did you start? What did you think of D&D and the realms when you started? Did you love it from your first tavern meeting or has it slowly grown on you over the years? - Feel free to go into as much or as little depth as you like, I'll be reading them all.:whatsthis With all the new changes going on around at the moment I think it would be nice for us to all step back and think back to how we all started.:) SSI's "Eye of the Beholder" for the PC.....lol
That_GD_Drow 09-15-07, 11:32 AM	In 1995 I was re-introduced to D&D via FR during an on-the-job surprise. I hadn't played in a while, since getting out of high-school and going off to work (whilst my gaming friends all went to college). There I was, on the job when I looked up at the co-worker in front of me and realized he's nose deep in a book with the old AD&D logo atop it. It was a realms supplement. We got to talking and he's been my DM ever since. My first campaign started out with a brief discussion of the other PCs he was gaming with and what they were playing and where I, an old schooler might feel I best fit in. They were all playing elves (of the various subtypes) and the judge really was trying to set up an elf-centric campaign. Wanting to play against the type, I went Drow and started the fun. I decided upon an elven ranger (after having read the Salvatore books, I admit it) with a tweek. I hated my own kind (those pesky Lolth worshippers) and was trying to build a homeland for my displaced kin somewhere in the world. I wasn't alone in any way. To add a bit of flavor, I multi-classed into Rogue so I could play up an attempt at recapturing the Dark Elves past glory via dungeon and ruin delving, artifact procuring, etc. Since I was several levels behind the others, I was placed in-media-res with a quick campaign in the City of Splendors. Given several start-off options, I skipped the "Pssst...over here" (dark alleyway) opening and went for the mercenary job instead. Reviled by almost all, I joined a group of fellow rejects (an ex-patriate Red Wizard, a 1/2 Shou warrior, an escaped Thayan Gladiator and a Half-Giant) in a mission to retrieve a Rod of Resurrection stolen from the Church of Mystra by thieves (and hidden within Waterdeep's labrynthine sewers). Apparently, the good heroes were too busy for sewer delving and the scum had to do the literal dirty work. Along with the poor, youngest priest of the order. After a fight with the sewer classics (otyugh, carrion crawlers, the previously mentioned thieves and one of our Red Wizard's former associates), we emerged victorious (and stinky) and set on for more adventure (and hot baths and Cure Disease spells). From there, the judge graced me with a Lolth worshipper ambush which set me up as the local Drow Slayer; and when one of the other PC's younger siblings were kidnapped by more Drow...you know who got called in. A quick foray into Undermountain to find them added some well needed XP and evened us all out. It also reminded me how good Dungeon Delving could be when done right (God, I love Undermountain) My misfit and his merry band has been the thorn in the sides of those 'classic' good guys for years now, constantly one-upping them and being general pains in the rear. I'm that GD drow and they can't stand that they need me. It's better than being a dwarf amongst them ever could be and after 12 years, it's still a blast.
Rufus_StoneHammer 09-15-07, 03:43 PM	My first time I was playing a dwarven battlerager, his name was Norak I liked him alot but he got killed by a beholder I think. From there I made my elven wizard now she was my pick of all the ones I have played, she was a b*%ch. Not sure what the game was I thinking it was undermountain.
Butterface 09-16-07, 07:06 PM	The first D&D (AD&D then) product I ever purchased was the old gray box, the FR campaign setting. Being a complete noobie to the ways of D&D (our whole group was at that point), I read hungrily of Shadowdale, and while it was fascinating, I couldn't for the life of me determine how to make a character to play in this wonderful setting. . . I soon discovered that there was such a thing known as a "Player's Handbook!" Ah, 1994. . . .
Xaean 09-18-07, 07:35 PM	My first contact with Forgotten Realms was the first Baldur's Gate computer game, though it took a couple of years until I had my first P&P experience. I had just played through the second Baldur's Gate as I more or less accidentally discovered the 3rd Edition Player's Handbook in the shop in which I used to buy Magic: The Gathering cards. Though I already knew some basic concepts of D&D at that time, I had had no previous experience with P&P RPGs. As the same shop also had a Forgotten Realms campaign setting, got that book too. I gathered some friends and DMed my first campaign. I started playing P&P RPGs relativly late (at the age of 23) - maybe because they were not yet so common in Austria at that time.
Eli_the_Tanner 09-18-07, 08:52 PM	I'm impressed out how many people have been brought into the fold via books and computer games. I'm glad that so many people started with these stories and adventures from the Forgotten Realms products and decided to pursue them into the P&P game. Great stuff everyone, it's cool to many so have been willing to share their experiences, looking forward to more!:)
Nickolay 09-23-07, 04:51 AM	I introduced myself to FR (and to D&D) not long ago. About 3 years, when I decided to play Eye of the Beholder. I liked drow elves, but myself never play any race apart from human, as I belong to human race in real world. :)
Eli_the_Tanner 10-28-07, 09:00 PM	:bump: .....I'm just missing peoples stories:weep:
johnkretzer 10-28-07, 10:03 PM	My fist experience with the FR was with my older brother. He used to run pretty much solo games for me. One day he brought home the old grey box. My very first Realms character was Telemark a human ranger inservice as a scout for Silverymoon. He fought lots of orcs. I remeber distictly because his father was human and his mother was half-elven. We play for that summer almost non-stop(got about to 14th level I believe which if you know about 1st edition that is how much we played). Then he went to his first yuear of college and that was pretty much the end of RPing to gether(he doesn't anymore though has shown interest in 3.x). From there I read the Realms novels up like crazy(those were actualy the first novels I read for pleasure and not school related, and I think they definitly have influence in me becoming a avid reader that I am now) and played the old SSI games. And then I meant people at my LGS and well have been playing ever since. While the novels and computers game didn't lead to the Realms they definitly kept me involved till I found groups to play with.
AffableDoomwalker 10-28-07, 10:17 PM	"Max's Gate" So we called it. I detailed it somewhere on the D&D general boards... essetially it was the simplest mission gone awry; one mummy, and a few traps later: what was left of the party was running for its life, ad out of Calimshan for the forseeable future.
meto30 10-28-07, 11:32 PM	I am a newbie in FR, a newbie DM, and even a newbie DnD player. My first experience of FR was with Neverwinter Nights 2, published by Obsidian. Right after completeing the OC I started building modules, but after a while decided I wanted more freedom. So I emptied my pocket, special-ordered some rulebooks (none could be found in Korea, Japan, or China, and thus I had it delivered by ship from the States), gathered a playing group and launched my first campaign. The mid-term exam is over and we're looking forward to our tenth session. Please keep me informed of what happens in your Chessenta campaign, Suin Bahhar. I'd love to hear of Chessenta from an experienced DM. But I fear it will take my group two months real-time to get to Chessenta... they're still stuck in Waterdeep! :weep:
Suin Bahhar 10-29-07, 06:17 PM	The story in Cimbar is slowly getting shaped, mainly partybuilding to feel out eachothers characters and to get an old 2nd ed AD&D player up to speed with 3.5 rules. His complaint is 3ed rules are too restrictive. You need a feat to do the things you could do all along in 2nd edition. I think he'll appreciate the rules more when he gets that aha moment of how the system works and the balancing that was made was a step in the right direction. They made some progress with the build up story but the main dish will be served at level 5 and up. Up untill now the party managed to uncover the mystery of a ghostly appartion in the Mycky Fynn inn, a pub next to their house in the adventurers district in New Cimbar. It turns out leprechauns were entertaining themselves by projecting this ghost and stealing beer and coins from the patrons. The keen hearing of Bennie Genasi allowed him to track an invisible 'chaun in the crowd and Bennies kicking motion turned the place into a small riot. Nameless, the tiefling beguiler, promptly cast an obscuring mist and picked the cashcontainer and charmed his way out of the place. Salun remained his cool and anticipated the casting sounds of the other leprechauns and cornered one on the second floor of the inn. After convincing the little female 'chaun to go find her brothers they helped Bennie Genasi and Michael Fynn, the barkeep, to subdue the remaining wand of fear using leprechauns. They surrendered and the party handed them over to Michael. They next went to do some resourcemanagement. They had to pay taxes at the always smiling nephew of the Sceptenar, tried to sell their partially burned down house to a transmuters and real-estate guild and went looking for some more illegal goods. They got a hold of a thieves guild location in the new docks area. The shadowy storehouse had a tense bodyguard and who let them in as soon as he suspected business. He led them to a leatherclad woman who did not hide her affection for Loviatar and showed them all the finest tools of the trade for torture and break and enter. Later on they decided to find and inspect the local mercenary info pole for wanted criminals and fugitives. It turns out they want to bring in the 10000 drake(gp) reward on the fugitive Ningal (:)) and the Black Knight. But first they set their sights on Relgore a bugbear who has a reward of 2000 drakes and has escaped his camp when a rooting attack of mercenaries and several Lathander clerics failed. They bought a cheap secondhand chariot of the chariotraces and left Cimbar for the last known locations of Relgore and the Black Knight.
Blibbering_Humdinger 10-29-07, 08:25 PM	I haven't done any role-playing pen/paper style yet, alas. My experience with the Realms is chiefly through books and videogames. I first found my way through the magical shoe-closet into Faerun (my version of C.S. Lewis's wardrobe to Narnia, don't'cha know) when my mother gifted me with a pair of paperback novels in an easter basket some years ago, when I was still in grade school. The novels were The Legacy and Starless Night, and they were given to her by a friend, I think. I read them, I loved them, and I puzzled for hours on end as to who the ugly, white, sideburned evil sorcerer-ish character on the covers was, because surely that gold-headplated monstrosity couldn't be the uber-cool and uber-awesome Drizzt Do'Urden. After reading those books, I got my hands on The Crystal Shard and read that, and loved that, and considered the red-faced ranger on the cover a bad but infinitely better illustration of the uber-cool and uber-awesome Drizzt Do'Urden. Having little spending money my ability to buy Drizzt books died there, but years later, after getting out of high school and once I had some paychecks of notable size rolling in, I came across the paperback single-volume Forgotten Realms novels in Barnes & Noble. Memories of the uber-cool and uber-awesome Drizzt Do'Urden rose like a bile of nostalgia in my throat and demanded in no uncertain terms the immediate purchase of the Icewind Dale Trilogy and the Dark Elf Trilogy, under pain of death. So I bought it, marveling at how lame the red-faced ranger on the cover was at representing the uber-cool and uber-awesome Drizzt Do'Urden. Yet still it was better than the abomination on the latter cover. After reading those two floppy tomes ragged, I returned to the same bookstore and bought Legacy of the Drow and Paths of Darkness, marveling at how cool the former illustration of the uber-cool and uber-awesome Drizzt Do'Urden was, and considering the latter representation merely passable. After reading those ragged, I purchased The Hunter's Blades Trilogy in hardcover via the 'net, having recently acquired a credit card. I was in drow heaven--Lockwood was on board, painting the uber-cool and uber-awesome Drizzt Do'Urden with all the uberness he rightly deserved, and the format of the text itself had improved beyond measure. At some time around then I discovered the Baldur's Gate videogame series, having remembered it from a passing mention by a friend in grade school. I haven't actually beat it yet (problem with me and long games--I get sidetracked easily and can never pick up where I left off when too much time has passed), but my current character, a heroic bard named Handel, has grown on me. I think I'll play as a bard whenever I find a decent band of fellow adventurers to roleplay with. Anyway... this game gave me a glimpse of what the Realms had to offer beyond the uber-cool and uber-awesome Drizzt Do'Urden, and also gave me my first taste of D&D roleplay rules (outmoded rules, but rules nonetheless). I was now in love with this game and in love with the world therein, rather than simply obsessed with one uber character, and so I began my exploration of Faerun in its entirety. The rest, as they say in the Elfsong, is Volo's tale to tell.
MerrikCale 10-30-07, 09:18 PM	I haven't done any role-playing pen/paper style yet, alas. My experience with the Realms is chiefly through books and videogames. thats good too
bobsan 10-31-07, 02:36 PM	Ah my first D&D experience. Honestly, my first time with D&D wasn't in the Realms. Rather in a generic setting with the original 1st Edition 5 box sets. My folks would hire kids of a family friend to watch us (myself and my younger brother) when they'd go out (We're talking about 18-20 years ago) and one of the kids was a DM. I don;t recall what led me to trying it, but I do remember it was a hell of alot of fun. The details are fuzzy though. I only really recall bits and pieces of that time: A human fighter named Rancor (the name was quite possibly influenced by Star Wars) A human sized Hobbit/halfling hole-in-the-ground home Killing a werewolf (Not knowing what it was at the time) and then waking the next morning to a dead human limb hanging in my window. Oh those were the days. But, my first introduction to the FR came after that point. Once I was fully immersed in the hobby that is D&D. I was hanging out with a friend and he (Or a brother) had a copy of, what is still to date, my favorite box set: Waterdeep: City of Splendors Of course, I grew up with Mystara and so to be taken in by so much detail and fluff (Let's not forget 2 full poster maps to just show the city)...It was overwhelming. I was able to aquire the box set from him and delved right into this bold new world. I went to the local library and checked out my first trilogy not long after that; The Avatar Trilogy. Hard reading for a first timer. But I loved it none the less. After that it's all a blur. Frequent trips to local used book stores to find those 'gems'. Scouring the internet for all kinds of information. Hooking my first gaming group into playing. And to this date, it is still the only setting I run D&D in. Home Sweet Home
Eli_the_Tanner 12-30-07, 10:47 AM	:bump:
Hopeless 12-30-07, 04:39 PM	Inspired by another thread about an old gamer introducing some first-time gamers to the world of Forgotten Realms (and D&D as a whole), I decided to start this thread. I'd like to hear of others first time experiences of Forgotten Realms, what adventures did you go on? who were your characters? where did you start? What did you think of D&D and the realms when you started? Did you love it from your first tavern meeting or has it slowly grown on you over the years? - Feel free to go into as much or as little depth as you like, I'll be reading them all.:whatsthis With all the new changes going on around at the moment I think it would be nice for us to all step back and think back to how we all started.:) I ran a gnome fighter and a dwarven fighter/cleric under 2e rules. The dwarf was stuck in Ravenloft after being turned into a vampire by means of being stuck in an animated coffin although the dm only revealed that when the group returned to Faerun having been stuck in Undermountain when I started playing. Ran a female cleric before generating up a half elf Mage/Rogue who was killed in a fall due to a bad save and the back to that cleric before generating up a human female paladin who was reduced to 0hp so many times s the dm rules she died when she did so so went from 15 Con down to 10 and she doesn't hold the record for the most dying in the group. Then ran a human cleric of helm who was the character I was running when the game was converted over to 3.0 but i stopped playing with the group as I got tired of the dm's antics and finally realised I wasn't helping by continuing to play I did however try to start up a table of my own before this, but was talked down by the group so finally quit. Currently trying my hand at running Mongoose's version of Runequest as the group I'm currently with has a member who loathes d20. The news about Faerun has kept me curious albeit I can't help feeling there's a lot more left unsaid. By the way happy new year one and all, take care and all the best!
GreenKnight 12-30-07, 05:00 PM	My first experience involved an adventure which, I think, was taken from this book. http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/137/137974/folders/233373/2263380Shadowdale.jpg Although I don't remember much about it, other then Elminster making a brief cameo, where he's teaching a pet dog of his to heel. He keeps saying "HEEL! HEEL!", waving a wand around, and it happens to be a Wand of Cure Light Wounds. So every time he says 'heel', the wand thinks he said 'heal', and its magic healed us. Before we got near enough to him to say anything he teleported away.
Suin Bahhar 12-30-07, 06:19 PM	Was that the grand archmage?! I encountered exactly the same thing! By the Light!
Alkasyn 12-30-07, 06:43 PM	If I remember correctly, my first character was Kael'thas, a moon elven bard. No details come to my mind when I think about his adventures, though, as that was definitely long ago. The character I spent most time with is Hennet Eaglesight, a human cleric of Helm/Warpriest, who is now known as a barbarian lord and the savior of the Sword Coast. Good times. Not playing anymore, as I'm the one dming for my group atm.
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 12-30-07, 07:03 PM	Although I don't remember much about it, other then Elminster making a brief cameo, where he's teaching a pet dog of his to heel. He keeps saying "HEEL! HEEL!", waving a wand around, and it happens to be a Wand of Cure Light Wounds. So every time he says 'heel', the wand thinks he said 'heal', and its magic healed us. Before we got near enough to him to say anything he teleported away. Oh yeah, I remember reading about that encounter!
GreenKnight 12-30-07, 07:08 PM	Oh yeah, I remember reading about that encounter! The other notable thing I remember about that adventure is that my character died. Not because of the adventure, though, but rather because of another player who was being a colossal prick. Never before or since have I felt an urge to physically assault a player the way I did that night.
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 12-30-07, 07:18 PM	The other notable thing I remember about that adventure is that my character died. Not because of the adventure, though, but rather because of another player who was being a colossal prick. Never before or since have I felt an urge to physically assault a player the way I did that night. Aww, sorry to hear that.:( What a shame!
Eli_the_Tanner 12-30-07, 07:20 PM	I ran a gnome fighter and a dwarven fighter/cleric under 2e rules. The dwarf was stuck in Ravenloft after being turned into a vampire by means of being stuck in an animated coffin although the dm only revealed that when the group returned to Faerun having been stuck in Undermountain when I started playing. Interesting! I've recently got hold of the Ravenloft boxed set, it's a very compelling setting(supernaturally so), how was the setting introduced to your campaign in the realms? By the way happy new year one and all, take care and all the best! And a happy New Year to you aswell. Although I don't remember much about it, other then Elminster making a brief cameo, where he's teaching a pet dog of his to heel. He keeps saying "HEEL! HEEL!", waving a wand around, and it happens to be a Wand of Cure Light Wounds. So every time he says 'heel', the wand thinks he said 'heal', and its magic healed us. Before we got near enough to him to say anything he teleported away. Classic stuff!
Ody_Saraph_of_Karsus 12-30-07, 09:34 PM	My frist FR/DnD expirience was with a human Paladin of Torm named Odlanier. I was naked, in a cell, in a dungeon in Anm, with no memory of my past... This Thief free me cuz the people from the dungeon saw him and he was using me as a divertion, my frist weapon was a rusty short sword that broke pretty much in my very first encounter, so my secon weapon was a DEAD GOBLIN!!! I was a pain but i loved it!:D I then my DM had stuff to do and I was forced to become a DM too early but I did my best (But to all First timers they get to start Naked in a dungeon too :D). I DM most campains but I still play that Paladin when I go home to PuertoRico Is a Pal 10 Fist of Raziel 4 and is in a quest to revive her(It used to be a man but I died once and the priest that brought me back made a "miscalculation") God. (Is still FR but the story is really Home Brew)
Caemun 12-31-07, 01:26 AM	The Baldur's Gate games. The atmosphere was wonderful and enticed me into learning more... ...and the rest is history.:) This is true, for me as well.
companion_cube 12-31-07, 04:34 AM	It was baldur's gate for me too as well. Besides being a great game there was so much lore and atmosphere I wanted to find out more about the realms, and there you have it 10 years later I'm here, hoping 4e doesn't wreck things. The thing I liked best about the realms at first was it was accessible on any level, and to any depth. If all I wanted to know about shadow thieves was that they could help me for 10,000 gold then that was fine. But also if I wanted to find out LOTS more about them, I could also do that with the books. There arent many worlds as fleshed out as the forgotten realms.
ukplayerX 12-31-07, 08:38 AM	it was with the box set!! all i can remember is having a halfling rogue, coz the gaming group i was with at the time decided to have a 'favoured class' group of adventurers. don't remember much else. it was YEARS ago. i've now got 3.5 rules and the FRCS and Waterdeep sourcebook
ukplayerX 12-31-07, 08:40 AM	[QUOTE=GreenKnight;14702204]My first experience involved an adventure which, I think, was taken from this book. http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/137/137974/folders/233373/2263380Shadowdale.jpg Hmmmm, Gandalf the Red...
Kenzuki 12-31-07, 10:38 AM	[QUOTE=GreenKnight;14702204]My first experience involved an adventure which, I think, was taken from this book. http://216.77.188.54/coDataImages/p/Groups/137/137974/folders/233373/2263380Shadowdale.jpg Hmmmm, Gandalf the Red... Looks more like Radagast the Brown.....
ukplayerX 01-01-08, 05:58 AM	it was with the box set!! all i can remember is having a halfling rogue, coz the gaming group i was with at the time decided to have a 'favoured class' group of adventurers. don't remember much else. it was YEARS ago. i've now got 3.5 rules and the FRCS and Waterdeep sourcebook Thought: did we actually have favoured class back in the day? :confused:
Alkasyn 01-01-08, 11:11 AM	Thought: did we actually have favoured class back in the day? :confused: Probably the class was favoured because of books and stats each race possesed.
Suin Bahhar 01-01-08, 11:30 AM	Mostly all the fun racial kits that were available. Also most races couldn't advance very far in all classes except for their favourite class in which they could advance to level 15 or so.
Stigger 01-02-08, 07:08 AM	Can't remember much of it, but I do remember that it was in the Realms with a very drunk DM... was so amusing I started looking into the weird stuff he was sprouting on about.
Nevulin 01-03-08, 09:34 PM	My first D&D experience was running an elf, (back when your race WAS your class)and my weapon was a warhammer, of all things! Me and a buddy went through the module "Isle of Dread" and between all of us we had the entire set of the boxed rules, basic through the immortal sets. This was back in 1987. I was in middle school and we spent the whole summer role-playing in my buddy's camper. His character was a human fighter. It was the two of us and the DM. Man, it seems like it was a century ago. The original basic D&D was so stripped down. Shoot, the rulebooks for back then were more like a pamphet or a brochure than a regular book.
Anastasio 01-03-08, 09:59 PM	I played the Buldars Gate games as a child. Then much later( in my teen years) I discovered my sister and brother-in-law playlin FR and then Ebberon after that. I played a bit with them as a burly Human Barbarian with some oddly complex equipment. Our sessions were so few I didn't even bother naming my character. This year im planning on DM'ing a FR game with anyone from school who is interested in playing.
MarkusTay63 01-07-08, 11:05 AM	What happened to the dog? Did he ever get it to heel? :confused:
Dzwood 01-08-08, 01:15 PM	My first expereance was Doug Niles Darkwalker series and i fell in love with it. that was way back in sixth grade. My first PnP expreance was when I found out some friends played regularly. This was no all that long agp. they made me start with a lvl 4 Gnome Barbarian. Ya i died that first day. talk about the wors combo ever lol. Now i co-DM and run a Lvl 4 Sor/1 roge/1fighter. No one knows for any thing for sure about him becaue he stays covered in a cloke glove and a mask all the time. I a m actually using half elf stats though. On guy in my group is playind a crossdressing half orc bard who actuall kicks massve amounts of a#$... I still live for the novels even if some of them have been loew quality of late
faellamos 01-10-08, 06:46 AM	first experience was playing baldur's gate 2 and icewind dale 2. still two of the best computer games ever made. my first experience playing the actual game was with Ilothe Fayalim, a human multiclass Psion(kineticist)/Soulknife from Baldur's Gate (specifically, his family lived next door to the adventurer's mart in Waukeen's Promanade :D ). Never got very far with him, but still an awesome character imho.
Khaelieth 01-10-08, 07:15 AM	My first was when my DM converted the setting (generic) into Faerūn. First thing my CG moon elf Ftr/Wiz did was insult a purple knight (Constipated, stuck-up lawful stupids) and then when on to doing a bit of... well... travelling. Greyhawk, Ravenloft, Sigil etc. Also killed a white dragon. Ended up being Ftr 15/Wiz 17 before I retired him. Back then, I was nigh-on being a Drizzt fanboy, good thing I came to my senses. This was way back in 2nd ed, but my first D&D experience was 1st ed. Also, I remember having the ol' grey box, DMG and PH. Didn't have MM, but we did fine with old 1st ed Norwegian books!
Eli_the_Tanner 04-03-08, 06:46 PM	:bump: Anymore for anymore?
Khaelieth 04-03-08, 07:44 PM	Well, my first encounter with D&D was when my mate ran a game with about 7 players or so. i was an elf fighter called Elendil (original, eh?) and we went through two levels and i got a bag of holding. 'Twas excellent! Disbanded the group after that, sadly enough, i had the time of my life!
LumTheMad 04-03-08, 11:15 PM	I started as a human paladin just outside the Inn in Candlekeep (PC Game - Baldur's Gate). That was 10 years ago and my only RPG experience at the time consisted of Diablo. Countless incarnations followed and the Baldur's Gate series is still installed on my PC. I don't really remember when I started with pen & paper but it was probably 9 or 8 years ago. Damn, I should have saved the savegames of that paladin! It would be hilarious to see them now. It is entirely possible that I took the first roll at the character creation with this char. :D
Lord Karsus 04-03-08, 11:57 PM	Damn, I should have saved the savegames of that paladin! It would be hilarious to see them now. It is entirely possible that I took the first roll at the character creation with this char. :D -One thing I have learned over the years is to always keep the character sheet of old characters (P&P). I have a binder full of them, and it's always fun looking back at them.
LumTheMad 04-04-08, 12:18 AM	-One thing I have learned over the years is to always keep the character sheet of old characters (P&P). I have a binder full of them, and it's always fun looking back at them. I keep all my character sheets too. Throwing them away would be like cutting a piece out of my leg or something. *proud to be a geek* :D
Lord Karsus 04-04-08, 12:54 AM	I keep all my character sheets too. Throwing them away would be like cutting a piece out of my leg or something. *proud to be a geek* :D -I've had a couple "disappear" after a campaign ended, for whatever ended, and the DM packed things up. Always make sure you get your sheets back. I don't let my DMs have my sheet, at this point. When the game ends, I put my sheet back in my binder (I keep them in all in a plastic holder, with the relevant printed biographies), go home, and when the game starts again, I show up with my binder.
Angua 04-04-08, 03:46 AM	BG1, and other FR games and novels since. I haven't yet played PnP D&D. My other role playing game is WoW, in which I do ~0% roleplaying. :D The really annoying thing about FR computer games, is that the choices you make, are either "save the child's puppy" or "kill the puppy, and force feed it to the child until it chokes to death". And the chaotic choices available are almost always the same as the evil choice :mad:
Jiggawha 04-04-08, 06:51 AM	We started playing in 1999. I don't remember most of the details, and the characters were undeveloped, adventures not complex. Party consisted of elf priest (with a battle axe, others laughed at that), a human mage (always missed with magic missiles), and a human fighter (my character, Str 16, Dex 16, Con 15, 4d6). First adventures were hack and slash, aaracockra led us into a trap, medusa's lair, I got her head, then was the fight in the arena with a manticore. A more experienced player joined us, as a thief, we robbed a jewlery store, and wizard's tower (acquired magical golden full plate?!, thief left the mage locked in there) in Kalimport (still homebrew). The thief returned to the older group, they played in FR, we photocopied a lot of books from them. FR seemed the most popular, and more interesting than Greyhawk, Dragonlance, or Dark Sun at the moment. I'd say that the art was cruicial in picking the campaign, the logo seemed cool, and Zhentarim ''Z'', and the cover with Drizzt. A ranger, thief and paladin joined us then (first time players, ranger went home after DM had killed his squirell, mage that died in the tower, started playing a dwarf priest). I don't remember the adventures then well. Think it was searching for missing pieces of a map, after that pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts. One piece was underwater in a giant crab-thing, with sharks, pirates (gith), the other in an undead city (some Tethirian city with anti-paladins), looked normal during the day, turned vile at dusk. I remember that we killed an abishai (huge xp reward) in some hag pit with a barrel of holy water, we had no magical weapons. The campaign ended in Marsh of Chelimber, tribe of lizardmen captured us. I fought one on one with their finest warrior for the release (but with only a dagger, without the golden full plate). Unlucky rolls, the others attacked the lizardmen, who defeated and ate them. I died in a slave arena, fighting tigers or something, was successful at first. I never kept character sheets back then, DM was really serious, not like us, sometimes died about four times per day, sheets eventually had holes in them.
Eli_the_Tanner 08-19-08, 08:10 PM	:bump: Anymore for anymore?
naex 08-19-08, 08:18 PM	Pages from the mages and the write up of Elminster in Dragon magazine. And then Azure Bonds, Spellfire and Darkwalker books, followed by the Ruins of adventure and azure bonds modules, and the SSI games on my C64. My first character was Calex Kurgeth, a dual class fighter/mage, who found his way into the realms from GH, and made a home here. Somehow he ended up travelling back in time a few thousand years to become the grandfather of Naex in ancient Jhaamdath.
Relic 08-19-08, 09:04 PM	In a library I found a "Chose Your Own Path" novel... I was around 10 or 11 and the picture on the book was interesting to me (a glowing "sword in the stone"). After that I came across the Basic red box set in a hobby store. I think this was around... 1985 or 1986? I have been playing/DMing ever since. My first FR exposure was with the adventure, "Assassin's Point." I ran it for a couple of friends. After that, I bought the Grey box set Campaign Setting. And I fiercely enjoyed Douglas Niles' Darkwalker trilogy... it is still one of my favorite reads. Although my favorite setting is Eberron (and Ravenloft!) I still enjoy a lot of the lore in the realms. I really enjoy products like Volo's Guides which give you a personal flavor of the setting.
Cilionelle 08-19-08, 10:06 PM	My first taste of Faerun and D&D was thru Pool of Radiance (party of six: 3 Fighters, a Thief, a Magic-User and a Cleric, all human, all with "adjusted" stats (all 18s or 18/00 for strength!), then Curse of the Azure Bonds and so on, although I skipped Hillsfar until one of my friends with an IBM compatible got it. We played through the Secret of the Silver Blades as a group of friends, deciding on actions and stuff as we went. It was pretty cool. I also found the FR books and that kept me going. Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, Icewind Dale 1 and 2, Neverwinter Nights (but not 2) and its expansions. I've been a fan of the setting since those early days. Pool of Radiance was a blast, going up against Tyrannithraxis (spelling?). My most memorable moment was clearing out the Temple of Tyr (descrated by Banites). First time I did it I got slaughted by the orcs in there. Arn, the magic-user, was only level 4, with only stinking cloud and sleep to rely on. It was the first TPK I experienced. I went back to my save and headed out on some different quests first, clearing the library, I think, and managed to get Arn to level 5... and Fireball. Then the orcs dropped like flies in the Temple and I blitzed it! It was awesome, all those little skulls and the "Urrgh" noise as they all died! Woohoo! My first characters were lost in translation between my Amiga 500 and new IBM compatible 486, but in Curse of Azure Bonds, I can still remember Panin, a paladin of Tyr, Noot, the plucky halfling thief and Arn, a reconstruction of my human mage from Pool of Radiance. They still make appearances now and then and Arn is currently working at the World Serpent Inn alongside Mitchifer. I hadn't ever played pen and paper D&D until about a year ago when I finally got the 3.5 books on eBay. It was great. I DM'd a short adventure for my wife (Dwarven rogue with a silver rapier - pretty cool character actually), but it didn't continue. Now I'm playing in the Realms again in 4e, using the Keep on the Shadowfells adventure. It's good to be back!
RedGlacier 08-20-08, 06:08 PM	My first taste of the realms was playing Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. It had a good story, and was pretty fun [chants: Boo and Minsc! Boo and Minsc!:cheer:], but, as with most things, I eventually moved to other RPGs. A year later or so, I was at a Chapters bookstore, where I discovered the D&D section. One book stood out, with its parchment-colored cover (Faiths and Pantheons). I thumbed through the book, saw the huge number of deities (most of whom I had never heard of) detailed inside, mentally uttered a girlish scream of glee, and decided on the spot to buy it. I guess that marks me as one of those "weirdos" that happen to like big, complex pantheons (yes WOTC, we do in fact exist :pbbbtt:). Anyway, when my brain made the connection between the game and the book (:thinks: Bane? Illmater? Helm?... :eek:!), I pretty much went: OH. MY. [insert deity/mystical concept here]! From then on I was hooked on the realms, with my last g*dgasm happening when I got the three 2e sourcebooks on the deities (info on the churches... :cloud9:)
Lord Karsus 08-23-08, 09:39 PM	What got Lord Karsus into D&D: -Since I was about nine or ten, I've been playing tabletop RPG games. And, of course, before that, I was playing video game RPGs, such as Final Fatasy II (IV) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_4) and Final Fantasy III (VI) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_6) on the SNES. The game I played was a game called CHILL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chill_%28role-playing_game%29). The campaigns were usually set in the present in local neighborhoods. At some point (by this point, I was probably 14 or 15), my friend and I suggested we play a CHILL campaign, but in the past. We wanted to be Samurai. So, we had a campaign set in the past, with Samurai, Vikings, and something else. In that game, though, swords and other "primitive" weapons didn't do much damage, since the system assumed that characters would be in the present. At some point, someone suggested that we switch the CHILL game to a D&D campaign. The rest, as they say, is history. What got Lord Karsus into the Forgotten Realms: -It was mostly by accident. My step-father purchased all of the 3e Core rulebooks, and shortly after, purchased Faiths and Pantheons. This was completely by accident. He was looking for Deities and Demigods (The Core deity book), but picked up Faiths and Pantheons instead. I browsed through it, and liked what I saw. But, for the most part, that was it. Some time later, an unrelated event happened. I was at my cousin's house, and he was in the process of building a free website from Angelfire. I don't remember what it was for, but he asked for a password. I looked around, and chose the first book on his bookshelf that I read: Homeland. I then noticed that the book had the same 'Forgotten Realms' logo as Faiths and Pantheons. I picked up the book, and asked if I could borrow it. I did, read it, and become fascinated with the Forgotten Realms. For my birthday present a few weeks later, my parents got me the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, and thus, Lord Karsus was born... :D
Belorin 08-24-08, 03:58 AM	After I got out of the Navy in 1986, I started looking for a new gaming group. I convinced a couple of old friends to play and then we were joined by some co-workers from my job. Since I was the most experienced player I was DM, we got the core 1E books and played a few module adventures, U1 Saltmarsh, L1 Bone Hill and S2 White Plume Mountain, then I read Darkwalker on Moonshae. I was hooked! I went out and got the boxed set and the N5 Under Illfarn adventure. We started a new party and except for FRC1 Ruins of Adventure and FA1 Halls of the High King, we played mostly in the Sword Coast area based in the Delimbiyr Vale. We traveled north as far as Waterdeep and south to Candlekeep. We switched to 2E when it came out, skipped 3.0 then switched to 3.5. We fought off the Hordes of Dragonspear Castle and invaded Hellgate Keep, battled Drow in the Far Forest and the Cult of the Dragon in the Graypeak Mtns. It took 10 years of playing every other week to get to level 15, I’m a stingy DM and we played other games also. I was burning out on DMing, so another player took over on occasion. He ran mostly modules and we rolled up new characters for his campaign. We played just about every week and played D&D at least once a month. He now runs the Pathfinder RPG game. Our new FR campaign begins Sept 1st. Bel
WhatDemonsDoToSaints 08-24-08, 04:08 AM	Belive it or not, with all the "heros win too much", "why can't the bad guys win sometimes?" talk, Paladin is my favorite class. The first character I've ever made when doing DnD back in high school. I think I like them because of their devotion not to fight for some personal gain, but for the good of the world in general. Also on a side note, how I compare Paladins in fantasy worlds to that of priest in our current world we live in today. It seems religous folk are too busy whorshiping their Gods and prophets rather than following their ideals and morals. Paladins do good, for simply nothing else than to help and protect. Not doing good in order to obtain a reward such as entrance into heaven. That's a selfish gain, and if there is a God, and he is truely all knowing and powerful, he will see through these personal gains of self-reward.
admcewen 08-24-08, 07:15 PM	I started with a group at school using the Grey Boxset and running N5 "Under Illefarn" adventure (which I still have). We used the pre-gen characters at the back and I was Kira the Elven Magic user who I still use to this day as a high level NPC called "The Lady". Ahhh the memories....
AffableDoomwalker 09-15-08, 03:52 PM	For me it was a combination of several factors, in the span of one year (97-98) I'd purchased Baldur's Gate, played my first ever Pen and Paper game (which was incidentally centered in Calimshan, thought I didn't really pay much attention to background - THAC0 was confusing me), and went to my first convention (Wizard World). Having already been a fan of comic books and video games (as well as several high/dark/low fantasy novels of varying quality; think Kane, and Conan, among others), the vastness of the setting, as well as the rich history is contained appealed to me, plus the prospect of having an impace on a place like the realms nothing short of excited me; so, considering for nearly a year I thought that Forgotten Realms was D&D, it was naturally my setting of choice, and has remained my de facto RPG home for nearly eleven years now. What about you? Happenstance? Walking past a sourcebook in a bookstore? Novels/Short Stories? Console or PC games? What brought you into the fold?
BurningTiger 09-15-08, 04:23 PM	Back in early 2002 the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance video game was my first official intro to the setting. While playing it I was reminded of the PC Baldur's Gate games I had watched my friend play about a decade before, so I went and bought them too. Then I learned of the novel line, went to Barnes & Noble and bought Spellfire and while I was there I found a copy of the Forgotten Realms Revised Edition Boxed Set from the TSR days and on a whim bought that as well. I haven't been back to the real world since.
admcewen 09-15-08, 04:25 PM	For me it was the gaming group at my boarding school, I had recently been given a copy of Basic D&D for Crimble and they introduced me to "Advanced" D&D and the Realms. The first adventure I played was a Realms one "N5 Under Illefarn". Since then I haven't looked back.
Lirdolin 09-15-08, 05:25 PM	The first glimps of the Realms for me were the the early Drizzt-Novels of Salvatore (although I didn't know they belonged to a RPG-world) and the cover of 'Waterdeep and the North' (Big Beholder, Rogues and Drow) got me to buy the first RPG-supplement. Lirdolin
thecasualoblivion 09-15-08, 07:35 PM	What brought me to the Forgotten Realms was the 4E revision and the nuke that came with it. Thanks to the removal of a lot of the baggage, D&D now has a mainstream flagship campaign setting suitable for the core game.
Iluvrien 09-15-08, 07:42 PM	What brought me to the Forgotten Realms was the 4E revision and the nuke that came with it. Thanks to the removal of a lot of the baggage, D&D now has a mainstream flagship campaign setting suitable for the core game. I Blame You! (as specified in your sig) What brought me to the Realms was the CRPGs and then the Novels and the characters therein. Most of whom are now dead. The richness of the world was more than slightly intriguing to me. One complaint I have always had with other fictional worlds is that no matter how many novels were written it only felt like the surface was scratched. In FR I looked at the cadre of Authors and thought "All these working on one world, maybe I will get to see all of this one?" Ironic, huh? Next!
Mr_Miscellany 09-15-08, 07:52 PM	The novels Darkwalker on Moonshae by Douglass Niles and The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore, 1st Edition D&D via a good friend who happened to have learned the game from his older cousin and last but not least finding the brand new (back then) Forgotten Realms boxed set on my local hobby shop’s shelves. The rest is history and all of it time well spent with friends at gaming tables all over the country.
kave99 09-15-08, 08:02 PM	the early Dragon articles by Ed, used to bump into him from time to time at game stores in Toronto, So when the gray box came out it was a must have. 4 editions later I'm still hear but only just.
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 09-15-08, 08:44 PM	Back in early 2002 the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance video game was my first official intro to the setting. While playing it I was reminded of the PC Baldur's Gate games I had watched my friend play about a decade before, so I went and bought them too. Less than a decade before--Baldur's Gate came out in 1998. And that game was what drew me into the setting.:)
Aseran 09-15-08, 09:56 PM	A little book called "Azure Bonds", followed by another called "The Crystal Shard". I couldn't help but enjoy the setting since.
Lord Karsus 09-15-08, 10:31 PM	-A thread on this already exists. I'll have this thread merged with that one.
Powercat 09-15-08, 10:43 PM	The group that got me started in D&D played in the realms, so I just picked it up by default.
Therise 09-15-08, 11:27 PM	As for me, I fell in love with all the wonderful things Ed Greenwood wrote in the earliest pages of Dragon. Pages of the Mages and the like. :D
Artifact 09-15-08, 11:39 PM	By the time I'd seen the adverts for Forgotten Realms in my comic books ("And on the 3.651st day, we rested" ;)) around '87, I'd already been playing D&D Basic for several years. It wasn't until I picked up the gray box however that I became aware that a "campaign setting" could be specific rather than implied (as the "Known World" was in D&D Basic). Points of Light (for 4e) isn't unique as an implied setting ;). It was still a while before our group managed to start an FR game. Finally, we made the move from D&D Basic to AD&D 2nd edition. Forgotten Realms Adventures was a good place to start. There's been a few groups since, but the Realms have been a part of my gaming for decades now. We soon found many other D&D worlds. We explored fantasy space in Spelljammer, faced psionic monsters in Dark Sun, got trapped in the mists of Ravenloft, we even revisited Mystara-- a 2nd edition take on the Known World. Dragonlance was a novel line more than a game setting (at least for me) but it's another solid source of D&D nostalgia ;). Of them all, the Forgotten Realms has a special place in my gamer's heart. I enjoy the novels but ultimately it's the games that keep me coming back for more. I'm not a big fan of the 4e take on the Realms but even that has it's place; can't deny it. More than ever before, I've felt compelled to draw a line between my homebrew Realms and the published setting. I bought the box . . . It's still my world ;).
JohnLynch 09-16-08, 12:08 AM	For me it was reading about this cool campaign (http://www.drinkinganddragons.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page) which it turns out is set in a non-core city.
Alter_Boy 09-16-08, 12:13 AM	All the cool kids were doing it. I just wanted to fit in.
Magister_Kal 09-16-08, 01:58 AM	First Neverwinter Nights game. Loved that game, sucked me into FR.
1 ton ghost 09-16-08, 02:55 PM	Moving to Cincy in '88 namely. Months after getting situated, a new mutual gamer friend from church busted out the (then new) 2nd ed Faerun stuff and we ran w/ that. Enough exposure and we were hooked. Despite rampant Ravenloft and a smattering of Darksun college, some Krynn in high school too, etc., I can safely say FR was my fav; best developed, most comprehensive, etc.
SolVacio 09-16-08, 04:59 PM	I remember back in the day the old Gold Box games I used to play on my Comadore 64. Anyone remember Pool of Radiance Ruins of Myth Drannor. Good stuff.:D
Karazhan 09-16-08, 05:27 PM	The depth of the world. The fact that after decades of novels, supplements, and other products there were still entire continents unexplored. The detail put into the heros and villians of the setting. The richness of the magic and lore. Unfortunately, with the removal of the lore and depth the setting has lost its unique quality.
JudgeDookie 09-16-08, 07:48 PM	Here it comes: Drizzt!!! :D
Ranger REG 09-16-08, 10:38 PM	What about you? Happenstance? Walking past a sourcebook in a bookstore? Novels/Short Stories? Console or PC games? What brought you into the fold? Ed Greenwood's and Jeff Grubb's Forgotten Realms boxed set, the gray one.
El_Shawno 09-16-08, 11:44 PM	Baldur's Gate 2 drew me in. The story was great, and the city of Amn itself was fascinating. It was fantastically designed and had a ton of atmosphere; all of those semi-random noises in the background, the changes in the weather, all of the little side quests at the beginning of the story, and the design of the buildings made Amn itself into a character in the story.
UmbralKnight 09-17-08, 04:06 AM	One more to the Baldur's Gate list here. That game brought me not only to FR, but to D&D itself. I still play it through about once a year.
Another Gnome 09-17-08, 04:07 AM	Baldur's Gate first and foremost. Even if BG2 is a better game in many ways, the original captured the atmosphere of the Realms unlike anything before or since. Hell, it made the atmosphere of the Realms for me.
Storm_Silverhand 09-17-08, 05:51 AM	Heya, A Friend's Enthusiasm and DMing + Some Novels (Darkwalker on Moonshae was one, Azure Bonds was another, but not the Drizzt books, strangely enough I managed to avoid them) + tons of awesome female characters who are now nearly all dead thanks to 4th edition + large pantheon of fascinating deities (see also "tons of awesome female characters") + Baldur's Gate et al + the depth and complexity of the setting = me hooked.
Estelindis 09-17-08, 06:23 AM	I was lured into Faerun by the PC game Baldur's Gate - the first one, not the sequel (though I bought that when it came out, of course!). Not too long after I played BG, I saw a lovely new copy of the FRCS in *Waterstones* of all places (a regular book shop in which I have never seen another gaming book since) and bought it to find out more about the world. Next year, I started DMing for a group in my university. Fun was had! :)
RUMPLESTIX 09-17-08, 06:36 AM	The novels Darkwalker on Moonshae by Douglass Niles and The Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore, 1st Edition D&D via a good friend who happened to have learned the game from his older cousin and last but not least finding the brand new (back then) Forgotten Realms boxed set on my local hobby shop’s shelves. The rest is history and all of it time well spent with friends at gaming tables all over the country. Cool. I borrowed Darkwalker from a friend and bought the Crystal Shard at the same friend's request. Although we never played FR, I can't begin to count the number of books I have read.
bobsan 09-17-08, 11:37 AM	I was introduced to the Realms many a year ago after getting into D&D in general. I started out in Mystara and the old 5 box sets For years that sevred us well. Until I found a copy of a FR box set ina friend's closet. He said he didn't play and it belonged to his brother who gave it to him. I, in turn, aquired the box set and dove into what became, and still is, my favorite city along the sword coast; Waterdeep. If there was ever a boxset to pull a rabid D&D fan into the Realms with, it's The City of Splendors. Once I was hooked, I went to my local library where I found my first realms novel, Darkwalker on Moonshae. The rest is gamer history. BTW, kind of surprising the number of people inundated into the realms due to the Darkwalker books. ^_^
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 09-17-08, 12:11 PM	Baldur's Gate first and foremost. Even if BG2 is a better game in many ways, the original captured the atmosphere of the Realms unlike anything before or since. Hell, it made the atmosphere of the Realms for me. Same here.:)
Oluevara 09-17-08, 08:16 PM	My first experience of the realms was either Eye of the Beholder(2?) or one of the issues of the comic book set during the ToT. I was about eight years old and had no idea what was going on. I got into ad&d about a year later, and shortly after that I got the 2e box set, which I liked because of how vast the world was, and how deeply thought out and populated. Even then, it felt lived in, loved. I think the three realms products that really pulled me in were the savage north, giantcraft and elves of evermeet, and the incredibly rich late 2e work of Steve Schend (lands of intrigue and cormanthyr: empire of the elves, especially) and eric l Boyd (the god books) cemented my love of the setting.
thecasualoblivion 09-17-08, 08:59 PM	The thread "What Got You Into the Forgotten Realms" was merged into this, and my answer to what was my first experience is different what brought me into the Realms universe. Here is my Realms history: 1. My first taste of the Realms comes from the SSI Gold Box video game Curse of the Azure Bonds. Still love that game, and I have actually played it this year. Especially love how Finder Wyvernspur and Fzoul die in it. Just think that's funny. 2. About 10 years or so ago, when I first started playing 2E with friends, we played in a campaign based out of Waterdeep, which didn't involve anything in the Realms beyond the name and basic concept of the city. 3. Shortly after that campaign began, I joined an RPGA Living City game set in Raven's Bluff. Again, I don't really remember any real Forgotten Realms lore coming out of this game, despite it being official. 4. At some point around this time, I read Azure Bonds, because I loved the game. 5. I play a little Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale here and there. Never really get very far. I still prefer turn-based RPG videogames. Call me old fashioned. 6. I borrow and read the FRCS for 3E. The book didn't impress me at all, and combined with bad experiences with Realms fanatics prompted me to pass on the setting. 7. Picked up the FRCG after listening to the buzz on it, and it addressing some of the issues I had with Realms fanatics and metaplot. Coming at the same time that I had burned out on homebrewing campaign worlds, I was hooked.
Eli_the_Tanner 09-18-08, 02:07 AM	This is brilliant stuff again everyone, I'm still impressed by the sheer amount of people who have been brought into the fold via the books and computer. Despite what many say about these supplementary products railroading the realms and stifling table-top play, it seems they have done more good in bringing in new players and interest than most other areas. -A thread on this already exists. I'll have this thread merged with that one. Thanks for that M'lord, It would be good to have this thread as a more definitive compilation of first-time stories. What brought me to the Forgotten Realms was the 4E revision and the nuke that came with it. Thanks to the removal of a lot of the baggage, D&D now has a mainstream flagship campaign setting suitable for the core game. I'm glad to hear 4E is managing to attract a few new players. You are the first to post in this thread with a 4e entrance....I'd love to hear more of how the new edition is shaping your first experinces, please share more if you can.
Lord Karsus 09-19-08, 12:05 AM	Thanks for that M'lord, It would be good to have this thread as a more definitive compilation of first-time stories. -It was merged, but the wrong thread was merged into the wrong thread. This'll have to be moved to Forgotten Realms General now. Yeah, that'll get done whenever.
johnny_no_mates 09-23-08, 04:45 AM	My 1st experience with FR was not that long ago. Around 2001, actually. Because of work and limited time plus the fact that I was an army recruiter which sucked hard, I could only play online. I found an online group and it was pretty fun. I hadn't played DnD for years at that point. I had a human rogue that was searching for his sisters who had been kidnapped by parites unknown, and the DM worked that backstory into the main plot. I really miss that group. When it broke up I tried to find another online group but the DM didn't post anything for about 3 weeks so I just called it quits on that party.
HobbitFan 09-23-08, 04:52 AM	For me it was Darkwalker on the Moonshae by Niles and the Crystal shard by Salvatore. Then the Grey box and the early SSI computer games.
Androlphas 09-23-08, 09:50 AM	I first experienced FR with the FR and AD&D (also set in FR, go figure) comics from DC back in the 90s. Around the time I transitioned from BCMI D&D to AD&D 2nd, I discovered the old "Gray Box" at a bookstore. It was love at first sight and FR became the setting of my AD&D campaigns through my high school years and beyond. FR and I had a bit of a falling out during 3.0/3.5. I never kept up with the novels and additonal lore, so the next edition of FR seemed unfamiliar to me and a bit unwieldy. I purchased some books out of love for the setting, but didn't touch it as far as DMing goes. The new version has brought me back and I'm now running a 4E FR campaign.
TheCheshireCat 09-23-08, 12:43 PM	I was first exposed to the Forgotten Realms through Baulders Gate, but never made the connection that it was anything but a stand-alone video game. In 2004 I was going through some pretty intense training for the US Air Force, and one of my buddies had an idea to try a game out which he played at home for recreation. I created my Drow Rogue and was extremely anxious for the game. I spent three hours trying to figure out a name, and ended up delving into Latin to get a REALLY good sounding name. It was just me playing, and he had me get in contact with a more experienced Rogue in the city. Someone to have me learn from. We had great fun planning, executing and inexorably botching cat-burglaries and stealthy-sneaky missions. We eventually moved apart, and I started buying Forgotten Realms books for the FLUFF! I loved reading about all these different locations and characters. I loved how so much of the world had so much story! And especially the variety of the peoples and how they interacted. I must have had 10 or so splatbooks when one of my friends told me that I'd understand more of them if I read the three Core Rulebooks :P I then moved on to the novels and actual GROUP DnD. You can probably guess that I'm none too happy about the "nuking" of the FR.