# Best Forgotten Realms books (any edition)



## Mercurius (Nov 4, 2008)

I'm looking to beef up my Forgotten Realms collection and wanted to get input on what are the best supplements that have been printed, any edition, although I prefer a weighted preference for 3E+; but I'm more interested in the quality of the work than the edition. I have a bunch of 3E stuff, the original box set, and the 4E guide, but am wondering if there is a gem I missed (I used to have the entire original FR supplement run, but sold them all on ebay in a down-cycle of RPGing about a decade ago). 

To give this question a bit of form, what do you consider the best 3-5 FR books?

My choice:

1. 3E Campaign Setting book - best campaign sourcebook book ever?
2. 1E box set - the original Greenwood masterpiece.
3. 4E Campaign Guide, mainly for the novelty.
4. Its a toss-up between any number of 3E hardcovers; Races of Faerun, maybe.
5. A remember a couple of the original FR series being very good, like Waterdeep and the North and The Savage Frontier.


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## Alzrius (Nov 4, 2008)

From 2E, the three books about the gods of the Realms, _Faiths & Avatars_, _Powers & Pantheons_, and _Demihuman Deities_ are incredibly great books (much better than 3E's _Faiths & Pantheons_). They describe a myriad number of deities in exhaustive detail, and present a scope of divine politics and happenings that is holistic, even as it's presented in the context of just being in regards to Faerun.

I strongly recommend those three.


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## Arnwyn (Nov 4, 2008)

My 5 favorite FR books (very tough to decide):

1) *Empires of the Shining Sea* (2e, box) - best FR regional supplement, bar-none. Fascinating regions, lots of hooks, great detail... Great maps in this box set, too.

2) *City of Splendors* (2e, box) - the best city guide to date. Again, great maps, lots of detail, with room to add whatever you want.

3) *Shining South* (3e, HC) - finally, The South gets detailed. Much better than the old 2e FR16 accessory, this book is better written with more interesting locations and a far better layout.

4) *Faiths & Avatars*, *Powers & Pantheons*, *Demihuman Deities* (2e, SC) - yes, I'm cheating here, as these are 3 books. But they're really all one... These books give the best detail on all the religions of the Realms. Day-to-day activities, dogma, titles... it's all here. Blows the 3e Faiths & Pantheon book out of the water.

5) Any of the *Volo's Guides* (2e, softcover) - my players crave details, and these books give it to them. I have them all, as my players like to have their PCs travel, but for this exercise, I'll say: "choose the one that fits the region you play in the most".


Honorable Mentions:
- Lands of Intrigue (2e, box)
- The North (2e, box)
- FOR4 Code of the Harpers (2e, SC)
- FOR2 Drow of the Underdark (2e, SC) - yeah, I'm one of _those_


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## Uzzy (Nov 4, 2008)

Cloak and Dagger. It's a 2nd Edition Book that describes all the various shadowy organisations around Faerún. Done in plenty of detail, and should give you plenty of hooks and inspiration. Strongly recommended.


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## Sora Justice (Nov 4, 2008)

#1) Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, because it has the Swordmage in it. #2) Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, because it cleared away all of the crap that was the FR and tried to make it gameable.  Everything else ranks approximately dead last.


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## Renshai (Nov 4, 2008)

I've been running Forgotten Realms for over twenty years and more or less own all the products. My favorites, in order of usefulness to a DM.

1)*Lands of Intrigue*: You simply can't find a modern setting today that has the level of details both on the maps and information presented. The plot hooks introduced here and later fleshed out in *Empires of the Shining Sea* by the masterful Steve Schend.

2) *Empires of the Shining Sea*: Steve Schend continues to explore the themes of southern Faerun, offering pages of adventure hooks, plots and intrigues. The organizations introduced in both Lands of Intrigue and Empires of the Shining Sea provide numerous adventure hooks and enough material for campaigns that could last years. The Twisted Rune, in particular is an excellent shadowy organization that can easily be tapped for campaign ideas.

3) The 2E deity books, *Faiths and Pantheon*s, *Powers and Pantheons*, *Demihuman Deities*. All of these books are excellent source of information for ideas involving the deities of the Forgotten Realms. 

4) *Volo's Guides*: These are all excellent sources of information that address the smallest detail of certain areas of the Realms. Though they are outdated by many of the dramatic and overreaching changes found in 4E, you can still mine them for information. 

5) *Lost Empires of Faerun*: A good place to find information about some of the forgotten kingdoms found in Faerun. 

Good luck in your campaign, and well met!


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## Psion (Nov 4, 2008)

Not an FR fan, but...

1-3) The 2e deities trilogy: Faiths & Avatars, Powers & Pantheons, Demihuman Deities. A model for what following deities books should have been.
4) Ruins of Undermountain. As much setting as dungeon.
5) 3e FRCS. Well done DM resource for the setting, that did edition transition _right_.


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## Mercurius (Nov 4, 2008)

Renshai said:


> Good luck in your campaign, and well met!




Thanks for the greeting, but just to be clear I am not actually going to run the Forgotten Realms but like to collect good setting material for reading enjoyment and idea-mining.

(Although if and when the homebrew campaign I am running ever gets to higher levels, I might send the PCs world-hopping).


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## Mallus (Nov 4, 2008)

I'm no Realms fan either... but Faiths and Pantheons is a terrific book.


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## Wizard Biscuits (Nov 4, 2008)

Hands down it's got to be the 3E Campaign Setting, one of the first campaign settings I bought as a newbie DM. From the design and layout to the sheer amount of comprehensive content I don't believe it can be beat. I know the Realms took a lot of criticism for being so bloated pre-4E, but I learnt a lot about the Realms from it, and felt like I could open this book anywhere and instantly find enough information to game in that area with plenty of information, plothooks and ideas.


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## Allister (Nov 4, 2008)

Faiths & Avatars (and its two little brothers) takes this EASILY.

Best book for FR ever.


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## johnnype (Nov 4, 2008)

I agree with most of the books listed above but in the interest of thinking a bit outside the box allow me to recommend the following supplements:

*Power of Faerun* - this book was miscategorized IMO as a supplement for high level FR play. I think it served more as the glue that kept all the different elements of the setting together. Some people hated it in large part because it was one of the books that did not spend pages and pages describing a region in detail (like The Shining South, Silver Marches or Serpent Kingdoms did). That was unfair IMO. The book is full of interesting NPC's, organizations and adventure seeds. 
*
City of the Spider Queen* - I think I was the only person who liked this adventure. You get to play drow if you like although you don't need to. The adventure is rather epic in scope and involves drow who worship an undead godess not Lolth. Great if you want to explore the Underdark. 

*Cormyr, Shadowdale, Anauroch* - An interesting and, again, epic Campaign that brings Shades to the forefront. If you are a fan of anything having to do with the plane of shadow this is a good place to start.


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## jdsivyer (Nov 4, 2008)

I don't know about you, but the 3e FR Campaign Setting book was absolutely awesome! I could run endless campaigns just with that book alone


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## Elodan (Nov 4, 2008)

Most of my collection is 3E.  My personal favorites:

 - 3E FRCS
 - 3E Lost Empiires of Faerun
 - 3E Underdark


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## Dragonhelm (Nov 4, 2008)

*Well met!*

Some of my faves...

1.  3e FRCS.  The model by which all 3e campaign books should have followed.

2.  Forgotten Realms Adventures.  One of my big intros into the Realms.

3.  Grey/Gold boxed set.  I started with the original grey box, but got the revised gold box.  Great product.

4.  Gods books (Faiths & Avatars, Powers & Pantheons, and Demihuman Deities for 2e, Faiths & Pantheons for 3e).  Best info on the gods of Faerun out there.  I just loved the info on specialty priests in the 2e books.

5.  Heroes and Villains Lorebooks.  I have the original one that told of the early novel characters that I fell in love with, then the revised versions later on in 2e.  Great guide to characters.

6.  2e Harpers book.  Tons of info.

7.  Drow of the Underdark/Menzoberranzan.  The original book (and even its 3e successor) and Menzoberranzan will be the foundation for the drow for me for time immemorial.

8.  Al-Qadim book.  I know, technically a different setting, it's still part of the FR world.  Fantastic source for Arabian Adventures.  

9.  Magic of Faerun.  One of my favorite 3e FR books.  Has the gnome artificer prestige class.  Great tinker gnome concept.

10.  Under Illefarn.  One of the best modules for a first-time DM.  Complete with info on the town of Daggerford and its residents for DMs to create a home town for heroes.  A few glitches in the last adventure, though.

11.  Ruins of Myth Drannor.  Just a fun boxed set.

12.  Grand History of the Realms.  Magnificent.

All I can think of for now.


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## Betote (Nov 4, 2008)

4e Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Because it takes 20+ years of uninspired material, kills it, and takes its stuff


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## Rechan (Nov 4, 2008)

> *Power of Faerun* - this book was miscategorized IMO as a supplement for high level FR play. I think it served more as the glue that kept all the different elements of the setting together. Some people hated it in large part because it was one of the books that did not spend pages and pages describing a region in detail (like The Shining South, Silver Marches or Serpent Kingdoms did). That was unfair IMO. The book is full of interesting NPC's, organizations and adventure seeds.




This. This is my favorite. 

However, I disagree that it was crucial to the setting. Really, I saw Powers of Faerun as a general purpose book that used the running examples from the FR. But the most important aspect of this book, imho, is that it's a guide on how to conduct different forms of campaigns. From the king's court to the frontier. That's why it's an asset to me.


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## Shroomy (Nov 4, 2008)

I'm going to have to go with the original Grey Box set.


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## Haladin Easlegoth (Aug 15, 2010)

Which Realms books are best forgotten, you ask? 

Hmmm...  I'm not sure, I've forgotten the titles.


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## Mr. Wilson (Aug 15, 2010)

1. The 3E Campaign Setting.  Probably the best Setting book ever published (and I actually like Eberron more as a setting).

2. The 2E Gods Trilogy.  So good, FR deities became default gods for all of our homebrews for about 10 years.

3. Lost Empires of Faerun.  In a game about Dungeon delving, this book is absolutely amazing.  A great way to add details about that ruin you just happened to run across.

4. Volo's Guide to Waterdeep: Probably my favorite of the Volo's guides.  Really, any of the Volo's guides are pure win.

5. Anything relating to Undermountain.  I can't tell you how many times we've lurked through those first layers.


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## JeffB (Aug 15, 2010)

The only ones that ever got a lot of mileage out of me

OGB- 1st boxed set
FR5- The Savage Frontier
FR1- Waterdeep and the North
Haunted Halls of EveningStar
Cloak & Dagger

I had a large collection of 2E era FR items, and many of the original 3E books but I never got much use out of it. The 3E book was pretty awesome as a "all you'll need" book, but I actually prefer the 4E FRCS from a usability/inspiration point of view despite the smaller word count.


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## Joshua Randall (Aug 16, 2010)

I'll give the contrarian opinion that I found the 3e FRCS incredibly boring.

However, 3e FR-era *Underdark* was an excellent supplement. You could run an entire campaign in the Underdark just using this book (well, plus the PH/DMG/MM obviously). The 4e Underdark is pretty good as well, though it's no longer FR-specific.

I am also fond of the 2e (I think? maybe 1e) FR supplement *Dwarves Deep*. But that is more because I really like dwarves than because of any inherent excellence in the material.


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## UniversalMonster (Aug 16, 2010)

The 4e Campaign Guide and the 4E Players Guide to the Realms are hands down the best sourcebooks for actually gaming in the Realms. I like Haunted Halls of Eveningstar (it's thin and includes Tressym and helplessly sleeping female captives in a dungeon..which gives me extra Greenwood). I also like the Jeff Grubb Forgotten Realms Adventures hardback, and the Drow of the Underdark trade paperback with the black cover.


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## Shazman (Aug 16, 2010)

Sora Justice said:


> #1) Forgotten Realms Player's Guide, because it has the Swordmage in it. #2) Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, because it cleared away all of the crap that was the FR and tried to make it gameable.  Everything else ranks approximately dead last.




There are so many things wrong with this post, that I don't even know where to begin.


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## Shazman (Aug 16, 2010)

Betote said:


> 4e Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide. Because it takes 20+ years of uninspired material, kills it, and takes its stuff




This post is also filled with wrongness.


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## DaveMage (Aug 17, 2010)

1. Faiths & Avatars, Powers & Pantheons & Demihuman Deities
2. Undermountain Box Set
3. Volo's Guides (wonderful flavor)
4. Ruins of Myth Drannor Box Set


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## AdmundfortGeographer (Aug 17, 2010)

I'll pick up the resurrection:

Gray Box
FR1
Faiths and Pantheons
Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue
Volo's Guides
Ruins of Undermountain
3e FRCS


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## Dragonfriend (Aug 17, 2010)

Empires of the Shining Sea above all!


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## S'mon (Aug 17, 2010)

I think if I GM'd the Realms I'd aim to stick with the 1e Grey Box, I think it works better than the directions TSR subsequently took the setting in.  Listed NPC levels are too high though, I think Greenwood's perspective on what being high level entails is different from mine, and those listed super-NPCs subsequently warped the setting.  So I'd probably halve NPC levels, at least for the uber-NPCs.


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## angelababy (Aug 17, 2010)

One of the first campaign settings I bought as a newbie DM. From the design and layout to the sheer amount of comprehensive content I don't believe it can be beat.Some people hated it in large part because it was one of the books that did not spend pages and pages describing a region in detail.I could run endless campaigns just with that book alone.


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## wingsandsword (Aug 17, 2010)

*Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue (2e)* - The best equipment guide ever made for D&D, any setting, any edition.  Even when I'm not running Realms, and no matter the edition (or even system, as long as it's a medieval fantasy game), that's the definitive "stuff" book to use.

*Faiths and Avatars series (2e)* - Faiths and Avatars, Powers and Pantheons and Demihuman Deities were the best treatise ever written about the Faerunian Pantheon.  The sheer amount of lore in there is one of the things that really fleshed out and defined the setting in a colorful and interesting way.

*Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (3e)* - Best compilation of the Realms into a single volume ever done.


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## Trevalon Moonleirion (Aug 17, 2010)

I'll always have a soft spot for the 2nd edition boxed set, simply because it was the home of the first game I ever DMed. That said, I've never seen the grey box, so I can't rightly compare the two, and if you're looking for the absolute best, my votes have to be:

1. 3e FRCS: Excellent gazetteer of the world, FILLED with plot hooks and great maps

2. 2e deities books.  These are fantastic. No one played clerics in my first 2e game--every cleric encountered was a specialty priest, just because there was so much flavor and neat stuff that they were able to do.

3. City of Splendors: City in a box! Lots of ideas

4. The Ruins of Undermountain: If you run a game in Waterdeep and NEVER end up in UM, you're probably doing something wrong.  Enormous dungeon maps with a few encounters pre-built and a TON of room to expand yourself, and license to change anything and everything, since Halaster is crazy.  Bonus are the little cards with "dungeon dressing" and other bits of stuff to get the players paranoid.


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