Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, 4th Edition
Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, 4th Edition
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.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars a great FR book
I love the new 4th ed books. whether you like the new system or not, this is a great quality book. worth every penny.
2 Stars Over-simplified
Many old time players of Dungeons and Dragons see the new 4th Edition rules as over-simplification, and it’s true, but for people who’ve never played the game before, it can be the best way to go, while we veterans sit back and cry. Wizards of the Coast is owned by Hasbro, after all, and the new 4.0 rules call to mind a board game with no board.
That said and out of the way, I have to admit that the 4th Edition Forgotten Realms books also had me clutching my head in despair and frustration. Part of it is the lack of ‘fluff’ (the flavor text, if you will), that made the previous editions of Forgotten Realms so immersing that you felt as if you were a native. Now it feels like a half-baked effort that has no heart or soul; what made the Realms so unique has been reduced to just the facts, ma’am, and no more. The major NPCs are barely given any mention, the entire cosmology has been turned on its head and no longer resembles the Forgotten Realms we long-time players know and loved.
So as much as I’d like, I can only give this product two stars, and one of those is only out of respect for Ed Greenwood and the original, true Realms, otherwise, it’s a severe and saddening dissapointment.
5 Stars My Favorite 4E Book thus Far
I spent a long time thinking about this one before I purchased it. On the one hand, I had no experience with Forgotten Realms in any campaign and wasn’t sure I wanted to start. On the other hand, there were so many negative reviews that I started to believe them. Long story short, it was my loss that I waited so long. To date, this is hands-down my favorite 4E book.
Many of the negative reviews center on the changes in this edition of FR as opposed to the previous edition. I can’t speak to that because this book was my introduction to FR. As someone who has just started DMing, the $26 Amazon price for this campaign guide is a STEAL.
What do you get for that $26? 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.
4 Stars Unfortunately Misunderstood
It only seems bad because it isn’t what people expected. This setting is unfortunately misunderstood.
I had bad feelings about this book initially. My dearest Forgotten Realms got an unwanted face lift. Wizard of the Coast made a bold move, that is all there is too it.
My perception changed after I talked with a local game store owner. Why would WotC offer the same setting AGAIN!?!? I don’t know how many times the Forgotten Realms setting has been released, but I know the 2nd edition setting had a load of supplements, as I own a bunch of them along with the older setting. Then version 3.0 came out with a great well polished campaign book. Re-releasing the same campaign over and over starts to turn into something akin to re-releasing Lord of the Rings again and again. It is great, but if I already have the book on my shelf (which I think most DnDers do…) why bother with a new book. Why make a book people just aren’t going to buy? WotC isn’t in business to just get by. D&D will die eventually if new products do not continue to come off the production line and actually generate sales. I would probably buy it regardless because I love the stuff, and because I feel responsible to support one of my favorite hobbies. A lot of casual gamers may not feel the same way.
I personally like the gamble. I don’t like the new version of the Realms as much as the old, but I accept it for what it is. An avenue to present something new to both players and even myself. I enjoy new settings to create adventures in. Similar locales, but with a twist. I am fine with that. Changing something isn’t always better than the original, but that doesn’t mean it won’t have any good qualities. I have the freedom to choose whichever version of the realms I want to use. I am thankful to have another option with a solid foundation presented in the new book. This even provides some interesting ideas if you know both settings. There is no reason one could not use both versions together. Or even magically move from the old to new world or vice versa in some fashion. There is no need to completely abandon the old setting if you don’t want to. This is just another option.
If you like the 3.x style buy that one, it is still available and very cheap! If you want to try something new, pick this one up. It isn’t exactly a bargain, but I feel a lot better knowing this is not simply another rehash of the 3.x Realms book.
A lot of complaints stem from not enough information about some changes. Seriously… we have one book to encompass an entire world. I am sure there will be more supplements, but to fit a entire fleshed out world into one book is an accomplishment if you ask me. They even threw in a new continent! I dare you to complain about that!
Bottom line… Four stars. I think this book is great because it actually provides new content to work with.
(I am a tough critic. Another 100 pages of fluff might have won me over haha. All in all I am pleased. To get 5 stars from me, this would probably have to be an entirely new setting altogether. The foundation for this book was laid out decades ago.)
4 Stars not the same old realms but still interesting
Its definitely not the old realms that we’ve all come to love but change I suppose is inevitable. It actually has a lot of interesting subjects in it including some cool monsters and some sweet NPC’s, including Jarlaxle. The only bad thing is that that left out some key places, and they could have combined it with the player’s guide.
I’m also getting sick of the 4E nay sayers. Give it a chance. Just consider it a different game.
Filed under: Dungeons And Dragons 4th Edition
