Forgotten Realms: Campaign Option (Dungeons & Dragons Accessory): Campaign Setting [Hardcover]

This has to be one of the best sourcebooks a DM can have in their arsenal. Even if you don't use the Realms as your campaign setting, there's enough in here to warrant buying the book. The extra races are balanced, which is great - too many books give out new classes, races or special abilities that can break a game but this book doesn't. All its races, feats and prestige classes are well thought out and, above all, very well balanced.

On top of this is the wealth of detail that's been put into every region of the map, with the major areas each getting a description, many of which gave me adventure ideas just reading them. There's also a list of potential plot ideas for each area and a mini adventure to get any new campaigns going.

Overall, this is the book you should have if you're intending to run a D&D campaign.

It's been eight years since the 2nd Edition of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting was unleashed and both the world itself and the larger D&D game have altered substantially in that time (including the real-life takeover of TSR by Wizards of the Coast and, in fiction, numerous developments in the FR novels). The arrival of D&D 3rd Edition heralds the arrival of the 3rd version of the Forgotten Realms campaign, the most popular setting yet created for the game. The first impression is that this is a quality product, printed on top-quality paper and given a nicely understated cover. The interior layouts are excellent, good-quality paintings arranged logically around the body text and the intriguing sidebars. The main complaint levelled at the core rulebooks - the horrible and confusing layout - is not shared by the FR sourcebook. Then there is the sensible arrangement of chapters, with the early ones telling you how to create FR characters (or customise D&D characters to the FR campaign), what equipment they can buy, what races are around and so forth, before unleashing the massive central third of the book, which is an in-depth look at the continent of Faerun. A highlight of this early section is the 'life in the Realms' chapter, telling you everything from how the average peasant lives to how castles are built to withstand even magic and dragon attacks. There is also a discussion of how magic works in the Realms. Whilst not exactly approaching the realism set by say Robert Jordan in making you understand how magic works, it goes far beyond anything attempted in a core D&D book before, telling you how magic works and the rationale behind it. The central section follows, with the Realms divided into areas and subdivided into countries, city-states and geographic features. Admirably, the designers have tried to cram the whole continent into the book (both previous editions neglected the Shining South and the lands of the furthest east), though this means previously highly-detailed lands like the Dales and Cormyr are covered somewhat more succintly than might be expected. This section strikes more of a balance between description and bulk statistics than previous 3rd Edition products, although the revelation that there is almost 200,000 people living in the region of Scardale is a bit hard to swallow (as, indeed, are many of the population counts). Some re-envisioning has been going on since 2nd Edition as well. Waterdeep's population has gone up by 10,000, Calimport's has either gone down by 1,800,000 or the slave population has been ignored and Halruaa seems to lack the giant cities it previously enjoyed. The book is rounded off by a section on history, organisations and the re-ordered pantheon of deities, all interesting and well-written, if a bit hard to swallow (Manshoon losing his position as leader of the Zhentarim, the Red Wizards turning into merchants and the unlikely, but nevertheless welcome, return of Bane). The book is rounded off by a large fold-out map which is simultaneously familiar and different, different because the continent has been stretched and tilted along its east-west axis to better reflect the curvature of the planet and compressed from north to south to bring the previously near-unreachable lands of the Shining South to a more easily reachable location (though almost eliminating the Shaar plains entirely). That said, the bulk of the continent remains the same as before. This is the first really classic product for the 3rd Edition game. It reeks of quality (almost, but not quite, justifying the price, which is twice that of the Player's Handbook) and has been well thought-out and planned. Now, if the follow-up products are as good than the Realms will at last justify their position as the premiere fantasy role-playing world.

The 3rd edition of the Forgotten realms Campaign is in mine and my groups opinion a godsend. It contains information on more than a dozen new PC races, many new prestige classes and a good few additions to the spell list. I love Grimwald's Greymantle, which renders the cleric in my group useless for one of his main functions(I'm a cruel DM sometimes... he he he). There is a massive insight into the geography of Faerun, including the return of many favourite NPCs(Entreri, Drizzt and Elminster to name but a few). Unfortunately some NPCs were missing, most notably Vangerdahast and the open lord of Waterdeep. The organizations section could have been more detailed, and was unrealistic at times(Manshoon dead!? His spirit lives on in a clone, but I mean COME ON! How did he die?). The rest of the book was pretty well done, especially the introductery adventures. All in all the best 3rd edition sourcebook published yet. I look forward to the 'Magic of Faerun' book coming soon. Wether you like the Realms or not, this is full of unmissable info. Just buy it, OK?