Forgotten Realms: Campaign Guide by Bruce R. Cordell, Philip Athans, Chris Sims

Well Worth the Price!by Jay_Laugh

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November 23, 2009: 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.

I Also Recommend: Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, Dungeons & Dragons, Eberron Campaign Guide.

Good Start to a World Revampby jvenkman

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July 20, 2009: 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.