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The Good: Many, many plot hooks are included here which is a wonderful way to assist in presenting the world. Full color, detailed maps bring the world to life. The individual entries on each geographic area are well done and provide plenty of ideas for playing in that area.
The Bad: To an extent it can be hard to see the whole setting for each geographic area. Some existing fans may find the changes to be strange or even disfavorable.
The Physical Thing
At $39.95 for a 288 page full color hardcover, FRCG showcases top of the line production values. The artwork is well done and completely appropriate, the cartography is amazing, and the presentation both looks good and is easy to work with. I found the index to be useful in play, speeding me to just the piece of setting detail I was looking for.Under the Cover
The Realms have changed and stayed the same. For the convenience of those familiar with the Realms and newcomers I’ve decided to present the review from the perspective of a person totally unfamiliar with the Realms. If you’re more interested in how the setting has changed then take a look at my final section focusing in on just that.FRCG kicks off with an example town called Loudwater, a small trading village build on a river with a bit of a goblin problem. For a starter town it’s done well enough, and the NPCs and locations play off of one another sufficiently to provide a little intrigue and a few simple plot hooks. An attached adventure focusing on a goblin attack can serve as an acceptable jumping off point for a campaign despite how generic it is.
As a kick off point, Loudwater is weak. It does little to drive home the setting, instead becoming little more than a generic railroady adventure based simply on dealing with goblin raiders. That said, the setting does include several two page mini-adventures in addition to the goblin assault which could be useful to novice DMs looking for a little assistance though they’re no more interesting than the goblin attack.
While the included adventure might not be useful to every reader, suggestions on adventuring in the Realms certainly are. Ideas for updating a current game to the timeline are provided, which is useful considering that the setting has advanced 100 years since the Realms were last published with 3rd Edition. This leads in to a more global view of the setting. Let’s examine the setting as a whole starting at the beginning.
The Forgottem Realms began when the overgod Ao formed twin worlds from elemental chaos. The silvery remnants of this creation formed the Astral Sea and twin goddesses who began to war with unimaginably powerful elemental beings. The aftermath of these battles gave birth to more divine entities, and life began on the twin worlds. Time seized the world, slowly ushering in eras of giants and dragons while the ancient conflicts faded away.
In recent history the twin worlds collided, bringing great upheaval and change to Toril. A new continent appeared, the landscape changed, and the very laws of magic were altered all due to the assassination of Mystra, Goddess of Magic, at the hands of the evil Cyric. With this event only 100 years past, the aftermath of this apocalypse has generated even more reason to adventure than ever before.
The Realms represent an interesting setting in that they fully embrace the concept of a band of adventurers, having them be a common occurrence within the setting. Magic is commonly found all throughout the setting, and while it’s wondrous it’s also a fact of life that everyone accepts. The Realms has also been a kitchen sink setting, featuring a broad variety of environments, cultures, and races thereby leading to a setting where the group can enjoy whatever sort of adventure they have in mind for the week.
In the past the Realms has commonly been criticized for having far too many extremely powerful NPCs spending time in the world. This, for some, resulted in a setting where the PCs played a secondary role to the iconic setting characters. Fortunately, this version of Forgotten Realms definitely pushes those NPCs back down to secondary roles and makes certain that it’s the Player Characters that drive events throughout the world. Because of this, if you’ve ever been intimidated by the setting due to the number of iconic characters and fictional elements then I think you’ll find that this edition is much more accessible.
One of the unique aspects of any fantasy setting is how it handles magic, and the Forgotten Realms have seen a major revision in how magic is dealt with. In the past magic was primarily controlled by Mystra and the evil goddess Shar, with power over the Weave and Shadow Weave respectively. From these sources arcane spellcasters could draw power and sculpt spells. Divine spellcasters, such as Clerics, drew strength directly from a particular god or concept. With this edition of the Realms this old system has been completely removed.
Instead, the updated Realms have an integrated magic system wherein all forms of magic are drawn from the world as a whole, since magic suffuses every aspect of Toril now. Magic is so much a part of the world that highly magical geographic features are present, such as earth motes which are floating blocks of earth that gradually drift across the sky. What’s more, a sort of wild magic called the Spellplague ravaged the world during the apocalypse 100 years ago and still influences The Spellplague remains as a major setting feature, offering a bit of magical chaos as it twists and warps life while also providing an opportunity for greater power among spellcasters willing to risk studying it.
Magic, of course, is only a fraction of the wonder present in this setting. The cosmology includes such incredible places as the Astral Sea, the Elemental Chaos, the Feywild, and the Shadowfell. The Astral Sea is a realm of pure thought and imagination where the gods reside in varied wondrous domains. It’s a maze of distinct micro-realities that reflect the nature of various gods, and no doubt navigating this area is an excellent option for high level adventure.
The Elemental Chaos exists as a plane accessible through a ritual and offers truly fantastic environments. Significant turmoil among the elements exists here, though several distinct regions are made manifest and reflect the properties of a single specific element. The Feywild reflects some Celtic myth and serves as the original home of Elves/Eladrin. Finally, the Shadowfell is a dark, nightmarish area that the dead must cross on their way to the afterlife. It’s connected to the Underdark and certain other locales, and is a haven for all manner of nasty undead.
The fairly simple cosmology of the Realms is populated by a modest number of gods, greatly changed from past editions where hundreds of gods could be found. The current roster of 18 cover all the concepts one would expect and then some, and in my view offer enough gods that there’s plenty of variety but the characters will regularly encounter the same ones throughout a campaign. The gods include: Amaunator, Asmodeus, Bane, Chauntea, Corellon, Cyric, Ghaunadaur, Gruumsh, Kelemvor, Lolth, Moradin, Oghma, Selune, Shar, Silvanus, Sune, Tempus, and Torm. Each of these gods is served by one or more lesser gods, and the existence of other beings of great power such as Archdevils can provide even more sources of divine beings for those DMs who want them.
Until now we’ve looked at the world from a more global standpoint, but the majority of the book focuses in on smaller regions across Abeir-Toril. These sections are typically one or two page spreads that include lore, settlements, story hooks, and sidebars focusing in on a few topics of interest. A map section is displayed for each to provide easy explanation of exactly where in the world this region can be found. It’s a great way to present a setting, especially one as large as the Realms, and while I could never find the time to discuss each region specifically I can make some general comments.
The setting is as diverse as you could ever hope for, drawing on all manner of cultural, geographic, and climatic features to offer a large variety of potential adventuring locations. While magical gates and airships do exist, the principal means of travel involves walking or riding across the land and because of this it’s easy to see the incredible variety of adventures a group of travelers could have just from trying to move to a different region. Those that enjoy the existence of just enough detail to flesh a setting out but not so much it limits the DMs own creativity will enjoy this setting.
As to the quality of the setting, that’s a different matter. Some regions are perfectly done. When I read about an empty throne I immediately want to play a character trying to put someone on that throne, and many of the hooks are real quality pieces that will encourage you to set adventures in a specific region. However, some of the regions are quite dull. The two page format for these entries necessarily restricts how much information can be presented, and because of this for every shining gem that I want to set an adventure in I also found a region that produced a shrug. Ultimately, though, that’s probably true of any setting as large as the Forgotten Realms. Most readers will find some entries that they instantly want to play in and others that just don’t engage them.
This setting includes far more than just what’s on the surface of the world, offering an entire other world below called the Underdark. The Underdark has found its way into many different D&D products over the years, though it has always received the most attention in the Forgottem Realms. In 4.0 we find that the Underdark has been expanded after the magical apocalypse 100 years ago, and because of this many setting entries are provided exclusively for the Underdark. An entire campaign could easily be set in this dangerous underworld using just this product. I consider this significant increase in the size of the Underdark, and the resulting detail, to be a wonderful addition to the setting and one I hope to make use of in later campaigns. It’s an interesting place, filled with Drow, Illithids, oozes, and horrors beyond imagining, and with the amount of detail provided it definitely fits my desire for a high fantasy environment.
Finally, no D&D setting would be complete without a good understanding of what sorts of dangerous the adventurers face while plying their trade in this world. The last chapter offers a large number of different threats, but it does so in a manner that is far superior to a mere bestiary. While some of the entries are Realms specific monsters, many more represent organizations that pose a serious threat to the world. In addition to detailing these organizations we are provided with multiple NPCs or monsters that typically represent the group, allowing a DM to easily incorporate any one of these villainous associations into a campaign without any trouble.
The New Realms for Old Fans
While my review has noted some of the changes, I’m striving to enable first time readers to understand the product. For those of you who are already fans I should point out a few additional things. First off, my honest evaluation here is that you’re either going to like the new Realms or you’re going to hate it. I suspect that those who like making the Realms their own and don’t mind that the setting has changed will generally enjoy the changes, especially the de-emphasis on past fiction and major NPCs. Those that are deeply committed to the setting, including the major NPCs created in the many works of fiction over the years, may have more trouble accepting this version of the Realms since it sets most of that material aside.
The new setting is more fantastic. Giant floating rocks appear in the sky, airships are not too uncommon, wild magic (spellscarring) is common throughout the world, the Underdark is larger than ever, and there are many places where the planes might bleed over into the material world. The only real reduction in fantastic elements is that the gods meddle a little less in the affairs of mortals.
The setting is smaller but it also feels a little more isolated. Many more hazardous regions dot the landscape and travel simply feels more dangerous than it did in past years. The smaller setting size is due to the geographic changes from the apocalypse, though it’s generally hard to notice because a lot of the areas cut out didn’t have a lot going on.
The 4.0 updates sometimes make sense and sometimes don’t. The inclusion of Eladrin, retconning of the elves, the dragonborn, and similar elements all feel very artificial as if the writers just didn’t care enough to do more than say “Yes, this is 4.0, we’re using the PHB material, so… here’s an artificial reason for these elements.” While the changes to the races are a little odd, the change to magic works well for me. I always thought clerical magic was the most fun in the Realms specifically because of the great variety of gods, but as far as a shift in cosmology goes having Mystra killed to bring in a new order of things makes a lot of sense.
There are some changes that will baffle readers. I don’t understand why the Harpers, my own favorite setting element, were mostly removed from the setting. They have a tiny presence in Silverymoon, but they exist as nothing more than an isolated group. I’m sure that most fans will encounter at least a couple of changes that don’t make a lot of sense either. I was initially surprised that cities like Baldur’s Gate remained the same until I recalled that it wouldn’t make good financial sense to radically change the fantasy town you base most of your video games on.
My recommendation to existing fans is that if you want a fully integrated 4.0 setting and don’t mind the changes then pick this one up. If you’re happy with the way the setting was, however, then just keep using it. This is by and large a setting book, and it’s very easy to maintain the original Realms in 4.0 by just tweaking a few core options.
