Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Mand12 Mar 22, 2011 13:37:59	So I'm interested about the setting and am planning on getting some reference material to get a sense of what's going on and how we might incorporate things in my group.  The Campaign Guide seems like a no brainer, as it clearly would have a large amount of stuff we'd need to run a game in FR. My real question is how useful is the Player's Guide?  Note that I do have Insider, and as such have access to things like the swordmage and feats and items and things like that.  How much other good content is in the book that I can't get via DDI?  Am I correct in assuming that the Campaign Guide is chock full of goodness?
#2 sfdragon Mar 22, 2011 15:33:27	the players guide contains character back ground deals. it would be best for you to find it in a shop and take a look through it yourself. the CG is for dms the players guide is for players.
#3 pruano Mar 23, 2011 8:05:16	I recommend getting both as there is background info on the PG that is not present on the DMG.
#4 Imruphel Mar 26, 2011 10:02:04	I would also definitely get both. The Player's Guide is fantastic in that you can actually give it to players to read up on some of the more well-known areas. I would love to have seen a second volume giving the same attention as to the other areas. I would also recommend the Living Forgotten Realms adventures. Go to www.livingforgottenrealms.com . Sure, it's a mixed bag but there are some gems there including some with good background information on the 4E Realms. Anyway, I'm just happy to see another group embracing the 4E Realms. It's a good setting and one I am still very much enjoying (and I go back to the Grey Box).
#5 The_Silversword Mar 28, 2011 9:05:11	Get the campaign guide, the players should buy the Players Guide. The PLayers Guide is mostly crunch, all the fluff is in the Campaign Guide. Thats the one the DM really needs, especially if you have insider access to all the classes, races, etc. from the players guide.
#6 Aegeri Mar 28, 2011 20:49:01	I personally didn't like the players guide at all and DDI was better for the crunch. The campaign guide I think is worth getting, but I wouldn't recommend the players guide at all.
#7 Alveric Apr 04, 2011 18:27:22	No need to pick up the Player's Guide if you have DDi with all the errated crunch on Swordmages and Drow.  The rest is repetitive, uninformative fluff duplicated from the Campaign Guide.  Use your money to buy the 3rd Edition Campaign Setting and/or History of the Realms books instead, so you'll have a little history on all the stuff the 4th edition FRCG ignores or glosses over.
#8 pruano Apr 05, 2011 9:54:20	No need to pick up the Player's Guide if you have DDi with all the errated crunch on Swordmages and Drow.  The rest is repetitive, uninformative fluff duplicated from the Campaign Guide. Not quite. The PG has a good section on the player races place and distribution in the Realms, has a brief section of common knowledge of each region/kingdom (which may be useful to give to players who should not have too much knowledge of those faraway regions) and even some lore that is missing from the DMG (a good example is the Akanul section, where the PG has brief entries on the cities of New Breen and Deepspur, which arent even mentioned in the DMG). Crunchwhise, you can get everything from the CB, but its a hard copy reference to the Genasi entries, Paragon Paths and Epic Destinies specific to the Realms, the regional benefits, feats and rituals.  Its an appendix, for which you may or may not agree its worth the price (i would try to get a used copy). Use your money to buy the 3rd Edition Campaign Setting and/or History of the Realms books instead, so you'll have a little history on all the stuff the 4th edition FRCG ignores or glosses over. This i would agree with, not only it will give you a better understanding of some points of the history of the realms, but also give more details that are (on purpose) missing from 4th ed. The downside of this is that you will have to fill a lot of holes if using elements from 3rd Ed (given the 100 year difference).
#9 Ogiwan Apr 10, 2011 9:55:04	I got the PG so I could feel prepared enough to play in LFR games, but I found it to be fairly.....useless. I simply couldn't get into the setting, despite loving the hell out of Baldur's Gate I and II, and the Icewind Dales. However, I'm an Eberron fanatic, so I may be  (unintentionally) biased.
#10 tallric_kruush Apr 19, 2011 20:32:31	I got the PG so I could feel prepared enough to play in LFR games, but I found it to be fairly.....useless. I simply couldn't get into the setting, despite loving the hell out of Baldur's Gate I and II, and the Icewind Dales. However, I'm an Eberron fanatic, so I may be  (unintentionally) biased. I've been a huge Eberron fan from day one, as well, but I still dabble in the Realms. ;) It is (or was) a great setting. I don't know what the 3E FRCS is going for, these days, but I can't imagine trying to play in the Realms without it. The FRCG and FRPG are simply too shallow. You'll never really appreciate the depth of the setting if those are all you have to go on. If you can do so affordably, grab the 3E FRCS, as Alveric suggested. I'm considering a FR campaign sometime later in the year, and for now have decided to play in the "new Realms". That said, I've spent three times as much time poring through the 3E FRCS as through the FRCG and FRPG. Those books suck, sadly. It only makes matters worse that this is all we'll ever get.
#11 sfdragon Apr 19, 2011 21:24:08	The 4e FR material is so shallow-Xan the Greycloak. well so far anyway
#12 MojoFlow Jul 12, 2011 13:25:53	Is there a thread, or a couple of good links that some could direct me at that gives some overview of the current campaign settings, so I can choose which one I want to start my players out in? I haven't DM'd in over 20 years (AD&D), and I am going to be starting up a group this Fall, and I am just getting organized and learning 4e. Any help/direction would be MUCH appreciated. Cheers!
#13 pruano Jul 13, 2011 14:02:26	Is there a thread, or a couple of good links that some could direct me at that gives some overview of the current campaign settings, so I can choose which one I want to start my players out in? Well, there is the Worlds page, but is missing the D&D Core Setting (of which a small part, Nentir Vale, is described in the DM Kit/DMG; is still in the air whether its a setting or not, despite all the recent material from the new Monster Manual and the Conquest of Nerath boardgame, and associated articles in Dragon). There was a thread asking this same question, the general consensus was Core World  for beginners, Eberon for a more rich world (getting the older, 3.5 Ed. volumes for the full story). Im particularly fond of the Forgotten Realms setting  but it has several problems right now (particularly the 100 year leap from 3.5 to 4th Ed, with plenty of gaps, which the Eberon setting does not suffer from); however, if you are willing to get it, the forthcoming Neverwinter Campaign setting may be perfect for your needs (and there is also the Neverwinter Game Day to start things off).
#14 MojoFlow Jul 13, 2011 17:08:50	Thanks pruano, I will look more into some of the FR resources. Since I am starting a new campaign, me or my players have never actually played 3.5 (I got the books and read them, but never got a game going), is that 100 year gap much of an issue for us? Sorry for the thread highjack, I will leave you guys back to it and start a new thread or post appropriately if I have anything else. Cheers!
#15 pruano Jul 13, 2011 18:58:36	Since I am starting a new campaign, me or my players have never actually played 3.5 (I got the books and read them, but never got a game going), is that 100 year gap much of an issue for us? Depends on if either you or your players are FR fans, and you mind filling those gaps yourself, with lots of non-canon; if either of those is a big yes, then it may be. The advantage of the Neverwinter Campaign Guide (its stupid to call it a setting) is that you will have a probably known area with plenty of differences, which will hopefully be thoroughly detailed. The FR setting also has a very big advantage, the resources from the Living Forgotten Realms.
#16 MojoFlow Jul 23, 2011 23:46:57	I think I am going to go ahead and run the campaign in the Realms setting.  It looks like there will be some decent resources here, especially if I leverage the LRF material as it is released.  I just got the core rule books last week and am getting ramped up, will probably pick up the Realms Campaign and Players guides as well. Cheers!