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Ozreth
Learned Scribe
188 Posts |
 Posted - 25 Jan 2018 : 00:39:40
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Outside of Salvatore, all of which I've read.
Looking specifically for novels that would help one running a FR game with only the OGB and FR1-FR6.
Thanks!
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3738 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jan 2018 : 01:14:09
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-Looking at wikipedia, those books are:
Waterdeep and the North
Moonshae
Empires of the Sands
The Magister
The Savage Frontier
Dreams of the Red Wizards
-The Moonshae Trilogy (obviously) deals with Moonshae, and was written around the same time. Red Wizards appear in various products as bad guys, though the Haunted Lands books take place quite a few years after the time those sourcebooks were written. Hmm...there's plenty of other ones... |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)
Elves of Faerūn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerūn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
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Seravin
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1266 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jan 2018 : 03:12:12
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Red Magic (book 3 of the Harpers) has a great view of Thay, one of my favorites as well. The Simbul's Gift is also great for Thay but set quite after.
OGB era I would read Azure Bonds - it is set in the pre-TOT and quite good!
Pool of Radiance is also set pre-TOT, OGB era.
Spellfire, Crown of Fire as well.
Sadly not enough novels are set in pre-ToT - I wish more were. The Knights of Eveningstar series is set pre-ToT but IMHO the series is poorly written, it comes off like fanfic (ironically since it's from Ed the man himself!) . I wanted to love it but...didn't.
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7970 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jan 2018 : 04:26:45
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FR1 and FR2 were released in 1987, FR3 through FR6 were released in 1988. AD&D 2E was released in 1989 (although my 2E PHB has a 1988 copyright, lol).
FR9 through FR16 were AD&D 2E products. The Avatar Trilogy in 1989 explained the transition between editions, and FRA was published in 1990 (though available in 1989) to update FR0 Realmslore to post-Avatar 2E.
2E products were largely compatible with 1E rules, at least until they evolved in late-2E era when the multiple PHBR handbooks and prototype "d20" systems and complex psionics and the "2.5E" books and Spelljammer and Planescape and Dark Sun went off on messy almost-3E-like tangents. FRA described lots of setting stuff, but as far as rules went it basically just nerfed some "optional" 1E classes (notably bards, barbarians, and cavaliers), asserted 2E's new 8-school (re)organization of magical specialties, provided wonderful new crunch for priests, handwaved psionics away, and introduced primitive firearms.
A list of Realms novels published (or in progress) before 2E:
- Avatar trilogy: Shadowdale (1989), Tantras (1989), Waterdeep (1989)
- Dark Elf trilogy: Homeland (1990), Exile (1990), Sojourn (1991)
- Azure Bonds (1988)
- Icewind Dale trilogy: Crystal Shard (1988), Streams of Silver (1989), Halfling's Gem (1990)
- Ironhelm (1990)
- Moonshae trilogy: Darkwalker on Moonshae (1987), Black Wizards (1988), Darkwell (1989)
- Pool of Radiance (1989)
- Spellfire (1988)
- Harpers series: Parched Sea (1991), Elfshadow (1991), Red Magic (1991)
Some of these were published after 2E was published. But remember that 2E took a few years to become the standard, many people still preferred 1E and many authors were carefully vague about edition-specific "rules" playing out in their novels (which were very rare anyhow in the early days, TSR/WotC wasn't yet using novels as a tool to showcase and sell new special races, classes, rules, and splatbooks). And some of these novels simply took a long time to write or publish, they were basically "1E" material which for whatever reason weren't published until after 1E was replaced. And some of these novels inspired famous sequels and series which I haven't listed because I feel they're too distantly detached from their 1E-based origins. And some 1E-era stories were published in later years/decades, usually within anthologies, which I haven't listed.
Don't forget the famous Pool of Radiance CRPG, along with novel and the FRC1: Ruins of Adventure mini-campaign module (there's still some controversy about which of these came first and inspired the others, but nonetheless all three are clearly linked). But also the many slightly less famous CRPGs it spawned: Curse of the Azure Bonds, Eye of the Beholder, Secret of the Silver Blades, Hillsfar, Gateway to the Savage Frontier. They were all built on a (basically) 1E game engine, and considered "1E canon" as much as the novels. |
[/Ayrik] |
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The Masked Mage
Great Reader
USA
2420 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jan 2018 : 15:10:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Lord Karsus
-Looking at wikipedia, those books are:
Waterdeep and the North
Moonshae
Empires of the Sands
The Magister
The Savage Frontier
Dreams of the Red Wizards
-The Moonshae Trilogy (obviously) deals with Moonshae, and was written around the same time. Red Wizards appear in various products as bad guys, though the Haunted Lands books take place quite a few years after the time those sourcebooks were written. Hmm...there's plenty of other ones...
The Harpers books hit all of them. (Except the Magister which is a collection of magical things). They are stand alone (or with later sequels).
The Moonshae books have a couple series and relate directly to the sourcebook.
The Azure bonds / spellfire books are all set near Cormyr/Dales.
The Pool of Radiance books are near the Moonsea.
The Maztica books are set over there.
The Drizzt books are all in the North (Savage Frontier), except the Halfling's gem (empires of the sands)
If you are looking for a wide array - go with the Harpers. They are tied together by theme, not location. The main character in each belongs or works with the Harpers. Anauroch, Sword Coast, Thay, Sembia, Cormyr/Chult, Sword Coast/High Moor, Great Glacier, High Forest, Moonsea/Dales, etc. and thats just the first 8 books. |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
Canada
7970 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jan 2018 : 16:04:50
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| The Moonsea and the North were popular locations for authors in late-1E, briefly outlined but also just barely "off the edge of the map", places where they could have relevant things happen without much worry about conflicts with stuff (by other authors) published in the main "Heartlands" area. The trend continued through 2E, always pushing the boundaries yet a little further into previously unworked areas. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Which novels best cover FR1-FR6
