Greenwood, Ed Books

Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, 4th Edition

Bruce R. Cordell, Ed Greenwood, Chris Sims, Philip Athans

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Empty. Soulless, Forgotten 1 out of 5 stars.
8 of 10 people found this review helpful.

First of all let me say this review is written from the point of view of a gamer who has used the Forgotten Realms as his primary game world for a little over 18 years but is willing to embrace a new system when it works such as the transition between 2nd and 3rd ed.

I had already felt like D&D had been destroyed by the 4th ed. I hated the video game approach to the game and laughed at the explanation that they are taking the game back to "role playing". As I have said elsewhere regarding this subject, If you need a new system to inject role playing into a game, you're doing it wrong. I also laughed when I read that the reason the Realms has changed so much is to better reflect the new system. This baffled me, it still does. They didn't need to tear apart the Realms when the 3rd edition came out.

"That's OK though" I thought. "Forgotten Realms has always been about the lore and substance of the world, I can still use the 4th ed Realms books for their information rather that their implemented rules" (I still have many 1st and 2nd edition books that serve this purpose admirably). With growing incredulity I watched the writers gloss over almost everything of any interest.

Things that are major issues to fans receive little or, more often, no explanation. For example (SPOILER ALERT) the entry on The Silver Marches (Now called Luruar for no explained reason) casually states "Before she passed away, High Lady Alustriel of Silverymoon founded a mutual defense league in the region." That's the soul mention of Alustriel in the entire book. No how, when or why. Just "passed away". This would mean nothing to the casual reader but to myself and countless other fans of the Realms it requires a little more than that. To put it into broader terms, this would be like reading and loving the Sherlock Holmes stories and then picking up a book one day and reading "Before he died, Watson was a close friend and confidante to Holmes" with no further explanation or insight as to why or how this major character was tossed aside without rime or reason.

It didn't take too long to sadly see that the Realms no longer existed. Now I'm not talking about "The Realms you knew no longer exist due to a great calamity" kind of no longer existed, I'm talking about the kind of "no longer existing" that involves throwing out every single piece of what makes something appealing, intriguing and deep, and replacing it with something else that calls itself by the same name but is simply a shadow of it's predecessor. I can only describe it as...well, empty. This word kept coming back to me as I turned page after soulless page. Empty. The heart of the Realms has been ripped out and replaced by a clockwork replica that tries to do the job but is so distant from the original it might as well be something else entirely.

WOTC could almost have released this as a new campaign setting and got away with it. Change the names, countries etc and voila, new money making scheme. This is to the Realms what the Highlander, Robocop and The Crow sequels were to their original incarnations. An Insult. They took a wonderful, creative concept that fans embraced and loved and then decided to ignore everything that came before it and turn it into an empty shell of it's former self.

The only people I can see enjoying this game are the people who were introduced to D&D via 4th ed and have never heard of the Forgotten Realms before and good luck to them. It just saddens me that they missed out on such a good thing.

I always liked to remain relatively faithful to official Realms canon for simplicities sake. That way, when new books or source material came out that is specific to events or history, I don't have to twist things around too much to make use of it. With all the little details and events taken care of in the official lore, I could concentrate on merging my game/story into that world and use the wealth of information as a foundation to build upon. I have now abandoned official Realms at this point and will do as I damn well please because I no longer care what WOTC do with it because I won't be buying it. (I know I could have done this anyway as any game world is the DM's to do with as he/she pleases but I explained why I didn't). I;ll start by fully embracing the Pathfinder system by Paizo Publishing, currently available as a free beta PDF, which both streamlines and expands upon the 3.5 core rules under the open game license. Wow, that sounded like an infomercial, I swear it wasn't. I just like 3.5 and would rather give my money to a company who is going to do something with it when the 500+ page final release comes out next year.

Editorial Review:

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.

Grand History of the Realms (Forgotten Realms)

Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

DM tool only, not worth a "read" 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I got the book hoping for a good read of the GRAND history of the realms. While it starts off fairly well (I liked the little one page clips throughout) it falls short when reaching the years of the FR novels I'm very familiar with. Then it goes into FAR too many details about the whole Areavin and reclamation of Myth Drannor series. I was not looking to read all of that story again on a timeline. (I find it sad that Wizards of the Coast has felt it necessary to wreak Faerun with the spellplague so they can sell the NEXT edition of DND material.) I was hoping for so much more. The best part of the book is the front and back cover pictures. One would think that Drizzt being on the cover would warrant more than 7 lines in the entire book and that the creation of the SPIRIT SOARING would appear at least once. Alas, no. He is used only on the cover to sell the book.

Editorial Review:

The definitive timeline of the Forgotten Realms(R) campaign.

The Grand History of the Realms chronicles the rich history of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, presenting a detailed timeline accompanied by essays from Elminster of Shadowdale and other Realmslore experts. Although not a game supplement, it serves as a handy reference guide for players and Dungeon Masters seeking information on specific historical events. In addition, the book features an exclusive Forgotten Realms short story by best-selling author R.A. Salvatore and new revelations for Realmslore aficionados.

Swords of Dragonfire (Forgotten Realms: The Knights of Myth Drannor, Book 2)

Ed Greenwood

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Slightly better than book one 3 out of 5 stars.
17 of 19 people found this review helpful.

Swords of Dragonfire by Ed Greenwood is the second book of the Knights of Myth Drannor trilogy. The first book, Swords of Eveningstar (Forgotten Realms: The Knights of Myth Drannor, Book 1)was released in 2006 and the third and final bok, The Sword Never Sleeps, will be released in August of 2008. This trilogy is intended to be a prequel for the Knights of Myth Drannor, to give them more `face' time and to better explain how they came together and what some of their early motivations are. Most fans of the forgotten Realms will recognize many characters in this novel, which is both a positive and negative, but I'll explain that later in the review.

The plot of this book is rather jumbled at times. This is mostly due to how the book is written and laid out. The main storyline is that the Knights of Myth Drannor are trying to save the royalty of Cormyr (the King, Queen and two princesses, and of course Vangy). Throughout the course of the main plot there are various sub-plots thrown in for good measure. Sub-plots such as internal strife within the Zhents, a love interest between a couple of the main heroes, and trying to discover what really is behind an ancient mystery for a long lost treasure. The plot itself is decent; there really isn't anything new here. It seems all the plot points and `mysteries' in this book have been read countless times before. In fact there were time while I was reading this novel, that the plot felt stale to me. There were moments of it being interesting though. I would say the overall story of this book was better than the first book.

The characters of this book are largely the same as from the previous book. As with the first book, I purchased this largely because one of my favorite characters was present, Florin Falconhand. While he is certainly featured in this book, I still don't feel as though I know much more about him than I did before I started this book, and trilogy for that matter. It almost seems as though Mr. Greenwood does not care entirely too much on the concept of character development in this trilogy, rather he just wants to `tell the story'. I think that is one of the major pitfalls of writing a story, in particular, a trilogy about characters that are already established. The reader already has a very good idea of what will happen, and that certain characters have no chance of being killed - because they are present in books set many years after these events. One of my complaints about the previous book is that some of the characters felt as though they were two dimensional and very clichéd, I am disappointed to say that those feelings are still present in this book as well. The only character I was interested in steadily throughout the book was Florin, but that was largely due to my previous readings about him, not from this book.

The pacing of this novel does not lend itself to easy reading. The scenes jump from one point of view to another several times throughout a chapter. Just when the reader is grasping what the intent is, the book suddenly jumps to something else. This severely hampers the flow of the book and makes it feel like a jumbled, disjointed buffet of stories instead of one continuous tale. The last fifteen to twenty pages are actually the most succinct and concise parts of the story. That is the only part where there is decent flow and continuity other than that it's hit and miss.

It still appears as though Mr. Greenwood has an infinity to use ultra-strong character at points that don't really fit. There is one scene in particular where Vangerdahast is responding to something, suddenly Khelban shows up, then is followed by Elminster showing up. That scene in particular made me feel like Mr. Greenwood was saying, "Oh, I have to get these characters into this book." And then tossed them in one big lump to make sure they were noticed. It felt contrived and useless.

While this book `feels' more like a Forgotten Realms book, it still doesn't measure up to the likes of Paul Kemp and R.A. Salvatore in terms on plot and character development. I am sure `hard core' fans of the Forgotten Realms, those who read all the source books and articles, will find something to appreciate about this novel. However, fans like myself, who merely read the novels, may find this novel lacking in any real depth. It is my belief that novels should be written for a larger fan base and not just the `hard core' gamer. I say that because I can't see myself recommending this book except to the very niche group. This is by no means an introduction to the Realms or to fantasy novels in general.

While this book is slightly better than book one, I am still disappointed in the overall direction this trilogy has gone. As I said before, there is an inherent danger in writing prequels, and Mr. Greenwood, in my opinion, has fallen into that danger. I don't see myself recommending this book to many fellow readers, which is unfortunate.

Editorial Review:

Jump into a new adventure by fan-favorite Ed Greenwood!

Florin and his friends have finally made a name for themselves--only to find themselves the pawns of both dark and noble forces in a battle for power. Together, the Swords of Eveningstar must untangle the webs of lies that surround them before the threat to the kingdom eclipses their abilities to defend it.

Swords of Dragonfire is the second title in an exciting new trilogy by best-selling author Ed Greenwood, the creator of the Forgotten Realms setting. This novel is a fast-paced sword and sorcery adventure worthy of a place on your shelves next to Conan and Fafherd and the Gray Mouser.

Swords of Eveningstar (Forgotten Realms: The Knights of Myth Drannor, Book 1)

Ed Greenwood

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Enjoyable start, awful disjointed middle, decent yet random ending. 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Overall the book was rather weak, with a bit of action at the end but not too many other redeeming qualities. The writing style became very disjointed during the middle of the book (much like my review) and never seemed to correct itself. Besides that, the characters were fairly boring, and there was too much wizard glorification for my tastes. The book ends with somewhat of a resolution (if any), but just enough loose ends to leave the reader curious about the next book. If not for the hefty price tag of what might also be another disappointed book I'd pick it up myself.

I enjoyed reading the beginning of the book which dealt with some restless youngsters desiring the life of an adventurer, as well as all the wise-alec quips Florin was giving Narantha. However, my enjoyment of the book came crashing down after the daring rescue, and the start of their actual adventures.

That's not to say the beginning was perfect either. There were plenty of parts where I couldn't help but roll my eyes as all the side characters were singing Florin's praises. It goes a little something like this:

S - Man I wish we could go on an adventure
J - Yeah I bet Florin McAwesomesexypants is on an adventure right now
I - Yeah, since Florin's so awesome
J - And Sexy! I think I'll waste a few paragraphs pining for Florin while I stare at the moon and weep bitter tears because my worth can be measured by the number of times I cast magic missle. {Which happens thrice, if that)
S - I wish I could be like Florin.. Unfortunately, I am but a mere sham of a priest that will be delegating into the side character role with nothing to do all day but crack jokes with my equally useless priest friend.
I - Having no effect on the convoluted story guarantees you'll live on to the next book.
Ghost of dead side characters - Boo! Hiss! Boo!!
S - Fair enough!

Not that the borderline important side characters don't have reason to worship him or anything. He's in the Odysseus class when it comes to the amount of women he beds even though he's supposedly has a nobleborn sweetheart, oh well. Then again the majority of the characters in the book end up being very promiscuous so I suppose it's too big a deal.


Afterwards, they're to explore the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar which their group was named after. Not that they spend much time there, nor do you the reader have much of a chance to understand what's going on let alone make a mental image of the place. It's around here that I felt the writing was really falling apart, it was hard to tell who was moving where, and why. Furthermore, at this point you've got about 3-5 people constantly spying on them for their own petty schemes, many of them almighty wizards whose interest in them isn't the least bit well defined. One of them never being revealed throughout the book, although I'm sure he'll make an appearance later in the trilogy.


***Minor vague spoilers ahead***
The constant scrying and scheming continues throughout the book and leads you to boredom, since you, the reader, realize that the Swords of Eveningstar are little more than rats in a cage. They end up in a town named Arabel later on where they manage to piss off every guardsman and evil crime organization agent in sight at no fault of their own. Then proceed to jump through a plethora of portals defeating some wizard who was weakly introduced earlier on. They didn't defeat him due to their own merit of course, only due to the intervention of some powerful wizard who decides to mess with his subordinates wizards plans and conveniently let the adventurers live. More of this continues with all the spying schemers playing their hands until finally they get a ticket to invincible archmage tower, then ride into the sunset with the queen of Cormyr to be knighted for their lack of grand deeds or some rubbish.


*****MORE SPOILERS ALTHOUGH IT'S ABOUT AS IMPORTANT AS THESE CHARACTERS IMPORTANCE TO THE STORY OR LACK THEREOF****
The main antagonist is also killed at the end by some other minor character, who guess what? Also happens to be a mighty wizard. Add some more cameos of important FR figures and the book wraps itself up. Maybe the next book will explain why he put melting elven wizards brains on pause and fool around with the Swords of Eveningstar. Heck I'd cast him as the hero of the story if he had been keeping the population of interfering almighty wizards in Forgotten Realms down instead of mind-melting the reclusive elven why-can't-I-Just-live-with-my-cats types. Of course without those pesky meddling mages we might actually get a story about *GASP* adventurers. Particularly the Swords of Eveningstar **Double Gasp!!**




***
Well that's enough satire out of me, time for some:
Ending Thoughts
***

While I had no problem with the constant perspective shifts, it may irritate you and ruin the plot. Not that there is much of a plot, nor do any of them really come to fruition. Essentially you're reading a book about a bunch of meddling wizards who manage to have all their schemes ruined by other meddling wizards on team good guy, with a few loose ends that will likely be tied up in later books. While the book is about the Knights of Myth Drannor (formerly know as the Swords of Eveningstar) they really contribute nothing to the story, besides being tenacious pawns for a bunch of meddling all-powerful wizards. If you've ever played a pen and paper game, be it D&D or whatever, the story feels much akin to a railroading DM and a helping handful of deus ex machina. If that's what you're into then by all means go for it.

Editorial Review:

The paperback release of an exciting new book by the creator of the Forgotten Realms!

After they saved his life, the king grants Florin and his friends what they've always dreamed of: an adventure! But the "adventure" proves a little more difficult then the newly named Swords of Eveningstar had thought it would be. Scions of evil from across the Realms manipulate the Swords like pawn, and it's all the Swords can do just to stay alive!

Dark Vengeance: A Novel of Niflheim (Niflheim 2)

Ed Greenwood

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Orivon Firefist was captured as a six-year-old child by the Nilfghar—the dark elves—who attacked his village by night on one of their surface raids.

Fifteen years later, he was a moon-pale, scarred, muscular giant of a man, who spent his days at forgework for a dark elf family. He had been trained (and flogged and ordered about) by the beautiful Tsarnarra, a lash-wielding matron who is icily cruel, but proud of the slaves that she has trained.

Through all of this, Orivon's spirit had never been broken and he rose up and opposed his underworld tyrants. He has successfully returned to the surface world home that he thought only existed in his most distant dreams.

But the score is far from settled. Years of oppression and new revelations of the dark deeds of his former captors only fuel his forge of rage. And the fact that their evil still permeates the underworld only intensifies his desire for a dark vengeance.

The Sword Never Sleeps: The Knights of Myth Drannor, Book III (The Knights of Myth Drannor)

Ed Greenwood

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Editorial Review:

The thrilling conclusion to Ed Greenwood's latest epic!

Florin Falconhand and his friends have always wanted adventure--but when it finally finds them, it turns out to be a lot more than they bargained for. Over the course of The Knights of Myth Drannor, the Knights learn the true meaning of adventure, honor, and what it means to be a hero.

Elminster's Daughter (Forgotten Realms: Elminster)

Ed Greenwood

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

About the Author: Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, is the best-selling author of hundreds of stories, game products, novels, articles, and other material set in the world of Faerûn. His most recent titles for Wizards of the Coast, Inc., were Elminster in Hell and Hand of Fire. He is also the author of the Band of Four novels published by Tor Books.

Amazon.com Exclusive Content

Amazon.com's Significant Seven

Ed Greenwood kindly agreed to take the life quiz we like to give to all our authors: the Amazon.com Significant Seven.

Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?

A: I can't possibly pick just one. The Lord of the Rings is one of them, but there have been so many. I have 80,000 of them at home right now.

Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?

A: The book: any Discworld omnibus (Terry Pratchett), because I'm greedy. I think I'll ask him if I can pick my own selection, the next time his publishers are slapping several titles together. If it really must be just a single book: A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay.

The CD: Cheating time again. Your Hundred Best Tunes (London label, two 4-CD sets, but a dearly loved and now-vanished store, The Madrigal, once sold them taped together, in a brick of glorious music). Force me to pick just one? I can't. Tubular Bells? Selling England by the Pound? Eldorado? No, I just can't.

The DVD: Jackson's complete Lord of the Rings set. If I really can only pick a single disc: The Man Who Would Be King (Connery, Caine, and Plummer). Beats The Princess Bride by a nose, some days but not others.

Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?

A: Not telling a friend that the love of her life had just been killed, because I didn't think she should learn that from me, in that place, at that time. It hurt to do it, and I still think it was the right thing to do, but it still hurts.

Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.

A: A Secret Place: a quiet spot where I can go off by myself to think. For me, a forest glade. That just happens to have electricity running up a handy stump, right beside a smooth stump angled to sit upon. Not just for my computer, but for kettles so I can brew endless mugs of green tea and hot chocolate.

Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?

A: Here lies Ed, who tried to make people happy. Please sit down and have an easy moment. I now have plenty to share.

Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?

A: Any of my grandfathers ("Any?" long story), because I was too young to be able to pick their brains in a candid, man-to-man fashion ere they died. Not just because I'd love to know the truth, or at least their side, of various family tales, events, and disputes. Not just because I desperately want to know more of their characters, and spend more time with them. It's also because they were gushing, articulate fonts of knowledge about times now gone, the daily customs and attitudes and aspirations of "then." The saying: "There were MEN in those days" comes to mind. And no, I'm not belittling the women of the family. They did talk to me, at eloquent length, before passing away. They knew the importance of sharing and passing lore on.

Q: If you could have one superpower what would it be?

A: The power to read people's minds, at very close range and only when I tried to. Not to read bank account numbers or anything of the sort, but to know their true feelings, so as not to offend and so I can best make them happy. Spreading happiness has to be the most heroic thing ordinary folk can daily do.

Elminster in Hell (Forgotten Realms: The Elminster Series, Book 4)

Ed Greenwood

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 2.0 of 5

Horrible 1 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

*SPOILER WARNING

I have read every Elminster novel in this series and I thought they were ALL horrible beyond belief. Why did I read this then?

I thought there might be a chance that Greenwood got better as a writer(I thought that same thing with every new Greenwood novel) and the premise of the story sounded really good: An adventure in hell! yesssss.

While the story DOES take place in hell (more specifically: Avernus which is the 1st level of the 9 hells), its certainly not an adventure.

First off. Elminster is all of a sudden shot to hell in the first page. As I read this, I asked myself "how?" and "why?". These two questions weren't answered until much later in the book! I know that any other author would have started the book differently. Maybe from the villans point of view? you know..a little plotting and planning in the beginning so we can know why and how Elminster goes to hell? It just seemed too all of a sudden.

So. As soon as our hero gets to hell. He is captured by an Archdevil by the name of Nergal. Nergal wants Elminsters memories of working magic, so he in turn can learn how to use it to rule all of Toril.

The memories that we read about are all dull and feel like they don't advance the plot. Mirt the Moneylenders night with a "pleasure-lass" who has 2 kids. Vanderhagast's (sp?) missing War Wizard. BLAH!

I understand that Elminster chose boring memories to goad Nergal, but did Greenwood think that the readers might find them boring as well? Does Greenwood even have an editor by the way?

Another thing we come to understand way later in the book, is that Elminster is choosing certain memories to contact his friends indirectly to come and save him (typical Elminster style of course). First there is Vanderhagast(sp?) who cant do anything to help, then there is Mirt, who cant do anything to help, then MYSTRA herself! She gets there and cant do much. THE GODDESS OF MAGIC...couldn't rescue him? Psshhh. Mystra then sends Halaster Blackcloak. He gets there and cant save our hero. So finally. The Simbul herself flies down to rescue of beloved hero and wisks him out of there. So the Simbul (who's pretty powerful) can rescue Elminster from Hell, and MYSTRA (Who gave the Simbul her magic)CANT? That just seemed way too unbelievable to me.

Nergal is an extremely annoying villan. He constantly repeats himself when Elminster's memories have ended. "Don't toy with me human" and others like it, are prevailant. He just seems too much like a cookie cutter villan for my taste.

Elminster himself is tortured so badly throughout the book (getting his arms ripped off, etc...) and still manages to make wise cracks at his devil captor. If I had my eyeball poked out, like Elminster did, I wouldn't be able to even think words in my head. Then again. This is Elminster and he is invincible and unbeatable...please.

All in all, this was REALLY bad. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone. If you are like me and are addicted to the realms, then you could try to sit through this, apparently some people have and some actually enjoyed it!

I was interested to learn more about Elminster because I've heard his name mentioned many many times throughout other realms novels as the Realms greatest hero and wanted to learn more.

When I started reading the Elminster novels I was expecting great character development. After all Elminster is the greatest realms hero, so you would think he would have an interesting story right? Boy was I wrong. I think its very sad that a potentially great character was ruined by a bad writer. If any other realms author wrote the Elminster novels, you might have seen Elminster as the Mage-equivalent of Drizzt!

Instead we are left with this horny old mage, who talks like a dwarf trying to speak old english ("aye" "ye" "thee" "thou" etc...), who begs his goddess to help him whenever he gets into trouble (she helps him 99% of the time by the way), who seems to botch things rather then help, who is invincible, who is immortal, who knows every spell, etc etc I could go on for days. I like imperfect heroes, dont get me wrong, but Elminster is too IMperfect and too perfect for me. Also, when has a horny old man ever been a like-able character?

If you are thinking of getting into the realms, I would recommend (like MANY others) starting with RA Savlatore. His books have deep characters that you can relate to and understand, LOTS of action, and great fast paced plots. Unlike this.

Editorial Review:

Hell Hath Such Fury

On the world of his birth he's all but a god, but when an ancient evil banishes him to the depths of the Nine Hells, he's just another lost soul. Elminster, Sage of Shadowdale, Chosen of Mystra, faces his most desperate struggle--to survive, to escape, to cling to his very sanity--and all the forces of the inferno are rallied against him.

The top-selling book by the creator of the Forgotten Realms universe is now in paperback!

The Annotated Elminster Collector's Edition (The Elminster Series)

Ed Greenwood

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Reliving some classics 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 4 people found this review helpful.

It's been several years since I read the Elminster books for the first time. I picked up this book at the store, and I haven't been disappointed.

The writing remains both witty and exciting. The book itself is good, sturdy quality and has that great hardcover feel.

Editorial Review:

A look inside the mysterious mind of Ed Greenwood!

The Annotated Elminster collects the first three of Ed Greenwood's classic Elminster novels: Elminster: The Making of a Mage, Elminster in Myth Drannor, and The Temptation of Elminster for the first time in a deluxe omnibus edition. Extensive annotations by the author will provide fascinating insight into not only the books themselves but the process of creation that made the Forgotten Realms(R) world this generation's greatest fantasy setting.

These three books chronicle the early years of the Realms' most powerful and most colorful wizard, the Sage of Shadowdale, Elminster. Follow Elminster from his humble beginnings as a traveling mage to the tragic collapse of an elven empire, and on to a personal turning point that could have sent him down a path to corruption and darkness.

Power of Faerun (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Supplement)

Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 2.5 of 5

Power delivers on many areas for role playing but... 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 9 people found this review helpful.

Power of Faerun
Written by Ed Greenwood and Eric L. Boyd
Published by Wizards of the Coast
www.wizards.com/forgottenrealms
160 full color pages
Hardback
ISBN 10: 0-7869-3910-9
$29.95

Power of Faerun is devoted to bringing the game outside the dungeon and to the courts, churches and wilderness by focusing on areas of character growth that while involving power, often involve power of a sort not traditionally associated with Dungeons and Dragons characters.

Ed Greenwood and Eric L. Boyd are two of the best scribes of Forgotten Realms material and while the game mechanics fall flat more often than not, thankfully the majority of the book is in the form of non-game mechanics with background details.

Interior artists include Lucio Parrillo, who also handles the cover, as well as fan favorite William O'Connon along with others like Eric Deschamps, Francis Tsai and others. Kyle Hunter handles the cartography this time around and provides maps that are generally easy to read and easy to use.

The graphic design, like most of the Forgotten Realms books, is top notch. The yellowed parchment pages still look great even years latter. Use of sidebars with darker yellow easily catch the eyes. Chapter titles are at the top of the page centered while on the bottom are page numbers. Layout is standard two-column format and makes good use of white space despite the page within a page design of the book.

In terms of coverage, the book provides little bites on numerous areas. It starts off with wielding power in the courts and moves to the battlefield. From the battlefield to the churches. From the churches to the market. From the market to the wild frontier. From the frontier to patrolling the roads.

Each section provides use of the Leadership feat as well as how to `play' that type of game. For example, when looking at Keep the Faith, information on what religious leaders do, as well as methods of daily worship, are provided. One nice resource is the listing of Faith Specific Prestige Classes in one spot.

Notes on moving up the different ranks are included. Looking at the frontier section for example, provides information on being a vassal state or a fiefdom, how to hold a territory and how to fight off the various threats ranging from bandits and brigands to diseases and monsters.

Each section has it's own maps and NPCs to help the GM use the material right away. If you wanted some sample frontier strongholds, you have Wolfwatch Manor and Stormhawk Keep, each mapped out with an overview and numbered with details. Stormhawk for example has fifteen different locations from the Foreyard to the Feasting Hall.

The section on Play the Market provides Dabron Sashenstar, a high powered merchant prince and his unique mount as well as details on his challenge to the Iron Throne's hold on weapons trade in the Heartlands. A place where clever players can start with Dabron as a patron and perhaps move into their own efforts.


My favorite part is probably the section on the market. When reading one of Raymond Feist's books, there was a whole section with the characters working the market and effecting change on the setting not through swords, but through trade. It's an area that despite six years of an open game license, has rarely, if ever, been detailed. The only weakness is that the section relies on the user have the Dungeon Master's Guide II as it uses the rules for running a business.

From there it moves on to discussing challenges for high level characters. Some of these are obvious like working for or against deities. Regardless of character level, deities are often able to provide challenges. After deities the older dragons are another great adversary. The most interesting option for high level characters though, are other high level characters.

This involves the most work on the GM's part while providing the most dangerous options. For some GM's, it's almost too easy to customize a villain to counter a player, especially a player whose ultra-specialized in one field. Have a fantastic ability to deal death with a greatsword but a terrible fortitude save? Have awesome abilities with fire magic but no enchantment? Still, the advice on using rivals is a good place to get ideas.

Sometimes though, it's not the strength of an individual enemy, but rather, that enemy's horde that you have to worry about. Wizards of the Coast recently put their money where their mouth was with this idea and their adventure, The Red Hand of Doom, deals with adventurers fighting against humanoids and their masters, the dragons.

In addition to details on different character options, details on the Border Kingdoms are included. The Border kingdoms fill a useful role in being a place that the GM can manipulate for his own use, much in the way a similar named kingdom in the Warhammer setting can be used. A place where characters should be able to make long term changes.

Details are included for numerous parts of the land including Bedron, The Land of Two Princes, Owlhold and the Realm of the Ready Sword. Each section gets it's own brief details but is more or less there to provide the GM a place to put his own marker, much like say the Wilderlands of the old Judges Guild.

The book closes off a bit weak with a section on how to rule. This includes expanded Leadership scores and rules for bringing in, and losing cohorts and followers. It's a solid chapter but could be used for any campaign as opposed to just a Forgotten Realms game. Included with the expanded chart for Epic Leadership, are feats to augment leadership such as, yes, Epic Leadership and Born Leaders, a feat that provides a bonus to your leadership score and a bonus to your Influence modifier.

Power of Faerun is a solid book for any D&D campaign. While the specifics are Forgotten Realms, they can serve as examples for someone running a Greyhawk or Eberron game. The rules and methods of working for the church or fighting in the courts are often overlooked in the game and this book provides background information on ideas of what type of conflicts and rewards await those whose dungeon is a castle or cathedral.

Editorial Review:

Rule the Realms

You’ve survived countless deathtraps, slain hordes of monsters, and overthrown your fair share of petty warlords and would-be tyrants. Ever wonder what it would be like to hold sway as an influential member of the royal court, a mighty general, a powerful religious figure, or a successful merchant prince? Power of Faerûn shows players and Dungeon Masters how to play high-level characters and run high-level campaigns in the Realms. It presents worthy challenges and opportunities for heroes who have had their fill of crawling through caverns and plundering forsaken tombs.


For use with these Dungeons & Dragons® products
Player’s Handbook™ Dungeon Master’s Guide™ Monster Manual™
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting