Hello all. I need to do some research on the forgotten realms as I am new to it and running Tyranny of Dragons. I want info that is closest to what WOTC will "probably" release in the 5e campaign guide. I have heard that the 4e book was bad (again I have no idea) and that the realms are no longer anything like what is detailed in the 3e book. 1e and 2e are expensive, hard to find and I assume also outdated. ..
What would you recommend? Thanks
The only up-to-date info on the Realms is what's in the two Tyranny of Dragons modules. There was a series of novels - and a series of playtest modules - that covered the period of time known as the Sundering, but that has finished now, and there's been no comprehensive "This is what happened during the Sundering and here's what the whole of the post-Sundering Realms looks like". That being said, I think part of the idea behind the Sundering was to undo the changes that 4e's Spellplague had wrought on it, so in a way, the 3e campaign guide might actually not be such a bad reference to use until they release an official 5e version (should they actually do that).
That's a tough one. What I'd recommend first is to go look around at this website:
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
Just follow the "Portals" links and it should get you some basic info.
As far as actual products are concerned...that's a bit of a problem. Thing is, we are dealing with a new era that doesn't have an overall description other than what you can get from the adventures placed therein. For instance, I can learn from LMoP that the town of Phandalin has been resettled recently and that Neverwinter is still around (along with other things on the map). Other than that I have no idea how much of what I have in my 3e Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is supposed to still hold true. And I have no idea of any particular changes to the region that may have happened in the 4e era. Except that the PHB says there are Asmodean tieflings around now.
I have no intention of following the published timeline, and will just be setting my games near the 3e era. But for those in your shoes, I can imagination the frustration.
The short answer is that there is no answer until a 5e campaign setting is published. The "closest" is probably to get the 3e Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting and then extrapolate differences from information provided in Tyranny of Dragons and other products.
Sorry I couldn't be more help. Maybe someone else can provide a better suggestion.
Well I appreciate your ideas. It seams that my question was a lot harder than expected lol. Maybe this is a better question. Which book would provide a more up to date idea of currant geography, people, culture, cities etc?
Again thx and sorry for such a difficult question
I'm using the FR Campaign Guide for 3e, absolutely invaluable and still a wealth of info. If you can snag one on Amazon or eBay I highly recommend it.
I'm ignoring all the changes they made with 4e, so works perfect for my campaign.
gmanjkd wrote:
OK. I have read lost mines of Phandelver, HoTDQ, tRoT, and the first 5 books of the sundering, however without a foundation in the FR it's really not much to present a complete world. I may have to check out the 3e book. Is the 4e book "bad" because it's different? I ask because I would not know the difference between authentic FR and New FR. To be honest the reason I ask is because I just looked up all of the 3e FR setting books and got intimidated lol. That's a lot of books 
My opinion: The 4e FR book is "bad" mostly because it changed the face of the planet, deleted some nations and regions, introduced some new races, retconned some history, introduced the spellplague, made the FR more of a points-of-light setting, and a bunch of other stuff that (almost) everybody hated. Long-time FR fans seem to be the most pissed off about it.
But, I also feel that the 4e FR book was one of weakest 4e books. Maybe I haven't spent enough time with it (because I don't particularly want to play or DM in the Realms) but I don't think it measures up to the 4e Eberron book, and especially the 4e Dark Sun book (which is pretty darn good). Unless you really want to use the spellplague and Returned Abeir, don't bother with it.
Of course, the 4e book might look a bit less intimidating. It's not that big. The 4e Neverwinter Campaign book is much better, but only looks at the Neverwinter region. It's not a very intimidating book.
Awesome! That helps a lot. Finale question l promise. If I could lay my hands on a 2e FR book, would that be useful or just a waste of time compared to the 3e book?
gmanjkd wrote:
Great thanks everyone for your advice. 3e book it is.
I will also say that the 3e Forgotten Realms Campaign Settings is, IMO, one of the best campaign world presentations in D&D. It includes much more info than any other campaign setting book or boxed set I've seen.
Sword_of_Spirit wrote:
pukunui wrote:
Zardnaar wrote:
pukunui wrote:
Zardnaar wrote:
pukunui wrote:
Anauroch shows up on the map at the beginning of HotDQ.
I rather liked having Netheril as an antagonist. (I did not like the Shades nor the close ties to Shar.) Possessing the tools to make your own top-end magic plus an ego to match, makes for a good villian: heroes have to out-think him and get into his blind spot rather than out-power him.
There's desert: Sahara and then there's desert: Arizona.
For my personal Realms, I'm going to say that Returning Netheril annihilated whoever it was that magically made the land a barren waste, and set out to create a green paradise. This magical project was over-ambitious and failed. But nature herself is reclaiming the area slowly, it presently (HotDQ) looks like the US Southwest where it rains from time to time (seasonally), you can usually find some scraggly green plant holding out in a sheltered spot, weeds bloom after a rain/flash flood then fade just as fast, and a desert Ranger or Druid can find water / sustenance when he needs it. In a human generation or two Anauroch will look like the Great Plains, and maybe at the end of an elven lifespan it will be lush again.
One flying city - the capital - was smashed into Myth Drannor. I consider this a waste of a perfectly good adventure site (I mean Myth Drannor).
At Winter Fantasy 2014, the BI allowed some high-level characters to steal the other flying city and make it invisible. They used it for a Special Forces mission and afterwards nobody remembered where they left it in midair under total cloak with the population removed. It could be blowing in the wind right now just about anywhere. IIRC, this is the crashed city that was revealed when the Sea of Falling Stars partially drained away.
A third flying city is mentioned in the Neverwinter Setting. The book implies it was never ready to get off the ground; repair efforts drove some of the plot conflicts. (It has guardians.)
Also mentioned in Neverwinter is another flying city that was being used to annoy Thay. It is not clear if this was the flying city that usually patrolled over Sembia. It may BE the one currently "blowing in the wind".
I own both the 3e and 4e FR setting books, but I don't particularly care for the Forgotten Realms setting. I purchased both of them for the mechanical bits, and I was pleasantly surprised by the map in the 3e book (which I adapted for a homebrew game by simply changing all the names). Both of the books ended up being rather bad investments for me because I didn't get enough use out of the mechanical bits to make them worth the costs, though if I also count the fold out map in the 3e book I do feel like I got more of my money's worth from the 3e book than the 4e one.
BRJN wrote:
I don't think the floating scities are actually that large. Artwork from 3.0 seems to have them as several city blocks not a flying Manhatten or whatever.
For basic info, I'd go with the 3e FR core rulebook. The only reason I picked it up at the time was so I could use the info to help make NeverWinter Nights adventures. It's a very solid book.
If you can find some 2e books, I'd suggest Volo's gudes. There's great flavor text (and ratings.) for various inns/taverns/shops that can be used in any edition. I'd also suggest Aurora's Whole Realms Cataloge. (But, these books may be rare/expensive.)