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Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, 4th Edition |
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Amazon Sales Rank: 6941
Publication Date: 2008-08-19
Release Date: 2008-08-19
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
ISBN: 0786949244
Type: Hardcover
Number Of Pages: 288
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Dark perils and great deeds await!
Welcome to Faerûn, a land of amazing magic, terrifying monsters, ancient ruins, and hidden wonders. The world has changed since the Spellplague, and from this arcane crucible have emerged shining kingdoms, tyrannical empires, mighty heroes, and monster-infested dungeons. The Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide presents a world of untold adventure; a land of a thousand stories shaped by the deeds of adventurers the likes of which Faerûn has never seen before.
This book includes everything a Dungeon Master needs to run a D&D campaign in the Forgotten Realms setting, as well as elements that DMs can incorporate into their own D&D campaigns. The book provides background information on the lands of Faerûn, a fully detailed town in which to start a campaign, adventure seeds, new monsters, ready-to-play non-player characters, and a full-color poster map of Faerûn.
Average Rating: 
Review: 2008-10-15
Mostly useful
It is interesting to start the guide with a full 1st level adventure as chapter 1. It is also interesting to see the new maps and art. The book is a guide to the realms. The book is clear that the FR players hand book is also needed. The rules are mostly in the FR PHB and not in this book and maybe that is OK. It was just a surprise that you needed both.
Like previous books it lists all the lands and tells you a bit about each. It also has a few interesting new rules. The FR PHB has much of the same information but presented differently and at a player view. It reminds me of a Fodor's Guide more than a rule book.
Review: 2008-10-15
The Design Team Was Just Plain Lazy
I bought the first release of the FR campaign setting back in the early 90's when D&D was in its first edition. Since then I have been continually impressed with how well the Realms have evolved to accomodate each new release of the D&D game. Somehow they managed to keep the game current and exciting while still retaining the enduring, unique "character" of Toril - high fantasy, intriguing heroes and villains derived from the setting, a unique cosmology, and most of all, a "lived in" feel to the game world any long time gamer could relate to.
So when the latest evolution of FR was released with the latest revision of the D&D game rules I didn't hesitate to purchse this book. The 4th edition rules open up a slew of new possibilities for evolving the setting. I was extremely excited to see what Ed Greenwood and company had come up with. Instead, I found a sloppily presented, poorly engineered game world. Both of which would have been unfortunate, but still forgivable, if only the designers had found a way to successfully capture the unique character of the Realms in how they rendered it for 4th edition. TSR found a way to do this when they evolved the setting from 1st edition to 2nd edition. WoTC then did the same in evolving the setting for 3.0/3.5. But for 4th edition, WoTC has failed. Dramatically.
I'm late to the game on providing a review for this book. So don't want to reiterate the scores of other negative reviews - the illogical presentation, the absence of creativity, the destruction of the setting's core aesthetics. What I do want to comment on his how shocked any long time reader of Realmslore will be as to the lack of concern the design team had for maintaining the integrity of the game world. Rather than dilligently adapt and evolve the setting for 4th edition, they just poached a half dozen new concepts from Wizards' 4th edition marketing bin (new races like dragonkind or new magic rules for spells). And then dumped them into this book with what appears to be very little valuation of what makes the Realms well .. the Realms! This isn't just heavy handed. It's lazy. Which for a world with this kind of cachet (and one would think revenue potential) is absolutely shocking.
I have a proposal for Wizards. Back in the early 80's a hit TV show called "Dallas" had a disatrously conceived season. At the end of he season, it was unclear how the show could recover it's fans. It had written itself into a corner with poor plot turns and choice of character development. The solution? The writers started the show's next season with a sequence that showed the entire previous season had been a dream by one of the lead characters. A terrible, terrible dream.
Wizards has some of the best talent in the business. And a lot of revenue on the line. This first shot at a 4th edition adaption has been an unmitigated flop. But what if Elminster just woke up one morning in his quaint tower in Shadowdale. He'd had the strangest dream ...
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Amazon List Price: $39.95
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