Forgotten Realms: Campaign Guide

Recommend based on overview and previous reads from this author

Picked up as future read.

Was it worth the read.

I have read all of the other books chronicling the adventures of Elminster.
I must say, this was quite a let down from the other tomes.
The book had great detail until ~ the last 40 pages.
Almost too much that made parts of it hard to get through.
It seemed disjointed and jumped from character to character.
Parts of important conversations seem to have been left out as well.
(Probably to bring some 'stunning' revelation of insight in the next book.
The last 40 pages or so really seemed cut short. The stories jumped from one location to the next with no real explanation.
This definitely did not seem like the El of old.

I also read all of the other review posted under this title/paperback.
It seems they were reviewing other books or just the author. Something wrong with the Barnes and Noble association with the correct book?

slow but satisfying

A slow book, and frustrating at times for traditional Elminster fans, but the ending is great and made me want to read Bury Elminster Deep asap!

Well Worth the Price!

I spent a long time thinking about this one before I purchased it. I had no experience with Forgotten Realms in any campaign and wasn't sure I wanted to start. Long story short, it was my loss that I waited so long. To date, this is hands-down one my favorite 4E books, second to the Ebberon Campaign Guide.

What do you get in this volume? Almost everything a new DM would want when it comes to world creation, back-story, and politics for the context of a campaign. Much of the grunt work is done, with just the right amount of detail to tweak things to your own tastes and insert your players into your campaign's story arc.

The book starts with a VERY brief introduction to the world of Faerun. This is followed by a series of encounters in the town of Loudwater to kick things off (if you like . . . I skipped this for my campaign but may use a variation of it later). Next, is a history of the world, magic, the pantheon, and cosmology. My favorite chapters, however, are the last two. Chapter 6 is an overview of many of the regions of Faerun, Returned Abeir, and the Underdark. I found them quite useful to think about in the context of where I'd like my players to go in the campaign and what challenges they'll encounter when they get there. Chapter 7 adds the element of danger and room for political intrigue by addressing common threats in FR. Being a new DM, I found this invaluable. It saves so much time to have a series of nefarious organizations, people, and creatures that I don't have to create on my own. The nuggets of information are laid down in this chapter, now all that I, or any DM, has to do is to weave those ideas together in whatever plot or storyline a see fit.

A minor complaint, I don't like that small part of the information in the Campaign Guide refers to the FR Player's Guide for further explanation. Thus, the DM needs both books in some cases. However, this was a rare situation and as long as a player has the book, all should be well.

In short, if you are a new DM, or just want an introduction to a complete campaign world for your game, don't let the negative reviews scare you off - I think you will find that this book is a very valuable addition to your collection.

Good Start to a World Revamp

Being set in the future in this 4th edition of D&D many things have changed and this book does a good job hitting the highlights and picking out new adventure hooks. It doesn't spell out the actual adventures for specific sights but gives you enough background you can make your own. It is incredibly in depth about cities and nations and overall a good resource to have. There will no doubt be stand alone adventures published that will expand on things found in this book. Some people complain about not having enough details on certain things but you can't make everyone happy. The game is supposed to be about imagination. It's a good purchase as fas as I'm concerned, though it could be a little cheaper.

A Deep Disappointment, And a Good Example of What is Wrong With the New Novelists at WotC and 4th edition D&D as Well.

As a long time fan of the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting and a fan of nearly every realms novel to come out up through the end of 2007, I have seen a disturbing trend in the Realms and a pointless change the D&D rules overall in the 4th edition. Unfortunately, this campaign setting embodies a great many of the problems with licensing a world to a corporation.

Typically when writing a review I would begin with a general statement about the product and then work into more specific areas. However, because I am concerned that those of you reading this review may tire and stop at some point. I want to ensure that if you read just one thing it be this:
A very interesting statement was made by Richard Baker (One of the Authors of this campaign setting) in one of his newest Forgotten Realms novels. He said "Some fans think that taking the Realms in a new direction means we have lost respect for the dozens of authors and game designers that have worked on the setting before us, but nothing could be further from the truth. Ed Greenwood's world inspires me now more than it did the first time I laid eyes on it..." Prior to that paragraph he says that swordmage, without a doubt the worst realms book ever written, is his "own small part of hammering out a bold new leap for the realms." I bet that Richard Baker is the kind of man that marries a woman telling her he loves her and then proceeds to change everything about her. If these men who are 'hammering out a bold new leap for the realms' actually loved the realms they would have the respect to love the realms in a dignified way not change vast amounts of it.

Now I am about to spoil some things for you if you haven't been keeping up on novels in the realms or you haven't read the 4th edition campaign setting. I will tell you a few things and you decide for yourself if they have stayed true to the realms you know and love and if this is a product you want to purchase and play in. They have destroyed the weave and the shadow weave, both magics still exist but casting is a bit different due to both this settings change and the 4th ed rules. Mystra is dead, Eilistraee is dead, Lathander is now Amaunator, Qilue is dead, Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun is dead (killed by Bruce Cordell in his first Forgotten Realms novel, if thats not arrogance what is?) And the date has been moved up about 100yrs. So that all the characters you know and love are gone. Does this sound like changes made with respect for the realms?

Some changes in the sci-fi fantasy world take place due to corporate pressures and are often changes simply for the sake of change. There is an erroneous belief that in order for a long standing sci-fi fantasy series to stay viable from a sales perspective that it needs to be heavily changed over time. And this may be true for many products in the entertainment industry. But the sci-fi fantasy market is actually filled with die hard fans that are the ones making the bulk of the purchases. But the changes that we see in this campaign setting are not even that noble. No, these are the changes made by some second rate supplement producers finally let lose on actual novels, so they were more concerned with making their mark and making it a big one than being respectful to the setting we all know and love.

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Interesting but Disorganized

The 4th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons is a great game, much easier to play and to get new players involved than previous 3rd edition... however, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (and Forgotten Realms Players Guide) are too disorganized to be easily useable by any brand new players or dungeon masters interested in starting their campaign in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.

The introductory setting and adventure are great! but not worth the cost of the book entirerly. So, the rest of the book is dedicated to the different areas of the Forgotten Realms World... which compared to the 3rd Edition Setting has advanced 100 years and survived (mostly) the Spell Plague which has ravished most established communities and factions... yet somehow they fail to adequately fill you in on these changes and the guide does not present much coordinated history of the new campaign setting. It is organized by location, but they are in alphabetically order and not related geographically. The large map at the end of the book is great, but you basically have to figure out for yourself who is neighbors of who and how they might interact in a campaign.

I would have much prefered a more logical lay out of and order of describing each location/setting as they related to each other - start in the Northwest Icewind Dale and go south and east so that there is a logical connection between each area. Instead, you are basically presented with a gazeteer where you have to skip all over the book to figure out where you are, refer to the map, then try to figure out what neighbors you have. Very confusing for a first time dungeon master or players and never did I get the feeling that this was the rich, wonderful tapestry of locations that I remember from 2nd and 3rd editions or that is brought to life in all the Forgotten Realms novels that have been published.

As an avid D&D fan I do plan to use a lot of the material present in the book but I worry that inexperience dungeon masters and players are just going to be overwhelmed and not know where to go once the introductory adventure is done.

Let's hope the Eberron Guidebooks coming out are better organized than the Forgotten Realms books...

Another good Elminster book

This is basically another good book in the tradition Greenwood has written others. The main story could have been a little stronger throughout the middle of the book. The main character, however (Elminster's daughter), was extremely well written. He did a superb job of creating the character, gave the character depth and emotion. The ending was pretty good as well. I have to admit I didn't quite see it coming. Overall, definetely worth reading.

Awesome

Great book and story-been too long without Elminster-hope more to come

:)

The novel in Shandril's Saga completed her journey through Faerun, and it was loaded with all the action, love and sadness that the other two books included. However, the ending to this last novel was rather disappointing. I had hoped that it would have been a much happier ending, and I would really like another couple novels telling about Narm's new adventures in becoming a mage. But, all in all, this thrilling conclusion to Shandril's adventures was amazing.

Disappointing

Having loved the previous two installments in 'Shandrils Saga', I was thoroughly looking forward to 'Hand of Fire'. However having just completed it I wish I had simply left off with 'Crown of Fire', and let my own imagination complete the story for me. I have greatly respected and enjoyed Ed Greenwood's works thus far, but I strongly believe he made a mistake with the direction he chose to take this book. It is quite long without seeming to go anywhere, the dialog is not up to par of the previous two, and your favorite characters have too few parts. The end was the most unfullfilling portion of the entire book, and this reader feels that one would be better off stopping at 'Crown of Fire' and creating your own conclusion.

Oh Contraire, Monshaire

Elminster manifests all that I wish I were. His beek nose describes more of how I look, however, his commitment to do what is right; hearing what someone has to say before lashing out speaks to qualities I wish more people displayed nowadays. He is a humanist and reveres his deity who protects him. This book, with its inclusion of racism; greed, anger, stupidity, lust, learning, compassion, and love moved me positively in the most suprising of ways. I would highly recommend this to anyone who can understand that power comes from faith and courage.

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