By Ed Greenwood, Sean K Reynolds, Skip Williams and Robert Heinsoo
The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, as we all know, was the “primary” supplement of the Forgotten Realms in the 3e era. The 3e Forgotten Realms bible, so to speak. Even with it being so old, in relation to other 3e products, and where the setting is now, I find that I reference this book a lot. Most general things are discussed in more detail in other sourcebooks, but there is plenty in the FRCS that- in the 3e era- can only be found in the FRCS.
I’ll start out with the first chapter, Characters. A bunch of feats, races and Prestige Classes. It’s good stuff, more or less, and all you need to play in a Forgotten Realms campaign. I have two complaints here, though. The first is that this chapter is very wordy. The chapter has almost 50 pages, in total. With about 325 pages in the book, in total, that’s a huge chunk of material dedicated towards characters and character building. Too much, I think. Related to this is setting-unspecific PrCs being included. Of the 13 included, only 5 are really Forgotten Realms-specific. The other eight, they are PrCs that exist in the Forgotten Realms (Archmage, Arcane Devotee, etc.), but are generic, without injected Realmslore, and could fit elsewhere. Removing those eight would have freed up eight pages that could have been assigned to something else.
The next chapter, Magic, I wasn’t very impressed with. The same complain from above- there are plenty of things that lack Forgotten Realms flavor, that are included. New domains and new spells could have been introduced and included elsewhere, in generic books. Other than that, the chapter was alright, if not information light. It seems to promise information about Elven High Magic, but doesn't actually get into it. A big tease.
Chapter three, Life in Faerûn, is the bread and butter of the book, along with chapter four, Geography. With both, the book goes into sufficient detail for a general, all encompassing overview, enough that someone who wants more can delve deeper, in other sources, and that a person who finds too much already exists to ignore whatever it is they want. A very happy medium, I found.
Chapter five, Deities, and chapter six, History, are both pretty disappointing. It is campaign setting book, so this is only supposed to be an overview, but, with both chapters, I don’t think there is enough information given. On these issues, I don’t think the FRCS alone does a good enough job, and other sources should be consulted. Look at the history chapter, for instance. The entire history of the setting abbreviated into 12 pages just doesn’t cut it for me.
Chapter seven, Organizations, on the other hand, is both disappointing and good at the same time. The chapter is disappointing in that I think that there should have been a broader cross-section of organizations. It was good, however, in that it provides little blurbs for each, enough to know what each mostly stands for. Though, I don’t think that Xanathar’s Guild really belongs, nor do the Seven Sisters.
Chapter eight, Running the Realms, some of it I liked, and some of it I didn’t. A lot of it seemed to be information that was already in the Core 3e books. I mean, I can consult the DMG to figure out X about being at a glacier, and put two and two together, using this information to apply to the Great Glacier, for example. The two adventures, as I always say, totally unnecessary. Get rid of adventures in campaign overview books.
The maps in the book were good, for the most part. Especially the book illustrating the movement of products, and the scholar’s view of Abeir-Toril. I wish that the book included a large, foldout map. At least, mine didn’t. The best map showing the entire continent is on page 100 and 101, and that doesn’t really depict sites, as much as it does political boundaries.
Out of a possible five Beholders, I give the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting Three Beholders and a Chicken.
Your book should have had a large, foldout map, in the very back. Maybe someone tore out the map before you got to it (it was attached to the book, by the way)?
I agree that referring to the Seven Sisters as an "organization" was a bit odd.
Damn the bad luck. I still have my poster map from the FRCS. Its the best map of the Realms period. (Sorry Markus. :P )18DELTA (Chosen of Cyric) :D
-I've been ripped off then, living in ignorance for years and years, now...
Not to rub it in, but to offer sympathy... that was one of the best FR maps ever made. Maybe you can find a replacement, somewhere.
As for the book itself, I agree with your
rating.Mostly, I thought the 3E-3.5E Realms guide was a re-tread of previous work in 1E and 2E sources. Lovely presentation, and a good effort to gather up material from diverse sources, but not a lot that was new.
Harry Connick Jr.'s Greatest Hits is a must-have for all Realms fans! :P
we are both full of it.
come to think of it, the gaming store active imagination, thats just 20 minutes up the street still has some copies of that book.
http://www.aigamestore.com/
but the online store is not up, but it never hurts to email
Selune knows they have about copies to almost every other 3.x book.
hell they had the 2nd edition players book too...
50 pages of that one chapter, man LK that is over worded, and come to think of it, some of the other splat books are over worded as well.
...come to think of it, the gaming store active imagination, thats just 20 minutes up the street still has some copies of that book.http://www.aigamestore.com/
Hey, that's my home town! Not living there presently, but definitely my stomping grounds!
Don't tell me your's was ALSO missing the CD?
-Wait, what? You are pulling my leg, right?
-Wait, what? You are pulling my leg, right?
Yes, they are.
There was no CD.
;)
You know... the one with the 'bonus features'?
And yes... it came with a map, and that was it (and was good enough). The 3rd edition Players Handbook and DM's guide both came with a CD, however, and this time I'm NOT kidding.
From what I understand, later printings were missing this feature.
That little preview proggie was beautiful, and E-Tools just didn't do it justice.
More broken promises... a trend that seemed to develop for D&D under WotFC. Promise them anything and deliver very little.
Sad... just sad...
Or, try to buy another FRCS on the cheap.
-It doesn't really matter much, at this point. Thanks, though.
You're welcome. I could always lend you my map (I'm pretty sure that actually isn't in storage...).
-So, know this, whoever you are out there, that stole the map from my book: You have forever tarnished and sullied the name of the FRCS because of your greediness.
Boredom? Madness? Nostalgia? Or some deeper reason...?
LK, what inspired you to review this classic now, in December 2008?
-Someone mentioning that I should review more sourcebooks.
-Someone mentioning that I should review more sourcebooks.
I see. Nicely done.
Too bad about your map. Hopefully it bears a terrible curse that even now exacts a toll on the one who absconded with it. I had actually just been looking at mine about 20 minutes before coming back to the PC to log-off for the night. I always seem to log-off far later than I intended...
It's been interesting laying it side-by-side with the 4E map from time to time. I guess that's not for everyone, though. It's been known to cause mood swings, twitchy-eye, extreme rage, and an overwhelming desire to choke someone among test-groups.
But the map is great!
Why should I? I have the three 2e books. :D
The geography section is just perfect, though. Not a whole lot of detail, but enough to give you a feel for the area, along with a bunch of good plothooks to use.
In fact, the editting was top-notch.