Forgotten Realms Player's Guide: A 4th Edition D&D Supplement (Forgotten Realms Supplement) [ハードカバー]

If you read the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide called 'Paradigm Shift,' I gave it high marks because I thought they were going to organize it as such:
Campaign Guide - DM guide to Forgotten Realms that includes: Deities & geographical information.
Players Guide - Races & Classes, new spells and abilities, regional bonuses.

I felt that the Campaign Setting (ver. 3.0) had lots of races, deities, geographical info, etc. and went into more depth, but didn't cover so many regions. Therefore, I was totally happy that they were going to reorganize the books and fill it with more information over the span of two books. But a reorganization wasn't actually what happened. So here are the pro's and con's:

Pro's: I like the rituals section, it was big and had many cool rituals. I think the regional info is helpful (but misplaced) for making new characters. The drow and genesi are cool. The stuff they put in was cool and overall I do enjoy the book, despite my laundry list of complaints below.

Con's: There were only two new races. Drow and genesi. Where are the other races of Forgotten Realms? For example they could have added duergar, svirfneblin, etc. So it's not like they needed to go out on a limb to invent new races.
Also(if you think about it), there was only 1 new class; the swordmage. The swordmage wasn't bad, but it didn't wow me either. Adding a class called a Dark Pact warlock is not a new class. It's a rip-off... it's just another warlock. Whether the dark pact specialty is cool or not is irrelevant.. I was hoping for new classes. Then there is the spellscarred 'class.' I like spellscarred and will definitely use it, but it feels more like a multi-class rather than a class in-itself (if you follow the story line, spell scarring is a condition that affects you and you can pick up new abilities based on your infection). It can be played as a class... but really feels more like a prestige class, multi-class, etc. instead of a class in it's own right. EDIT: AFTER READING THE SPELLSCAR IN ENTIRETY, IT ACTUALLY IS SOLELY A MULTICLASS, NOT MEANT FOR A PRIMARY CLASS.
I felt they repeated a great deal of information in this book that could and should have been consolidated it into the Campaign Guide. Because of the lack of information revealed about this product before it's release, Wizards never made it clear that the Campaign Guide was for DM's only... so players who are into FR are probably going to buy both. Thus, it just doesn't make sense to have two books with regional information, cosmology, etc. The Almanac section repeated nearly everything already said in the Campaign Guide. The new information (such as the calendar, climate & geography, etc.) SHOULD have been organized into the Campaign Guide, not the players guide.
Also, I was expecting the same structural format as the Players Handbook. I thought I was buying a book that had races, classes, abilities & magic, rituals, just as the players handbook contains, but more specific to the Forgotten realms campaign. Regional information and paragon / epic paths are useful to a player, but only singularly so. Once a player picks their regional roots and picks a path, they are done with those sections of this book they don't need to read any more. This consequently takes up a full 30% of the book.

Finally, I felt a $29.95 sugg. retail price for a book of 160 pages is a rip-off. Overall, I am happy I bought it...it will definitely add to the fun of my game, but was a disappointing buy at the same time. I wouldn't say it sucks, but it certainly didn't meet my expectations either. I feel happier I paid less than $20 for it.

I must preface this with a bias warning. I want my "campaign setting" books to be detailed. I'm one who desire more information rather than less. I prefer my books to detail locales. I also like having things statted out and concrete, so that I know that when I speak of an NPC or location, both the players and I know that we're on the same page. Realize that if you are one who appreciate minimality for the purposes of artistic freedom, or who disagrees with me on any of these points, you probably would find your opinion of the book to be quite different. Now, onto the review.

Introduction
I find myself disliking the introduction. It draws upon the history of the Realms, yet a great degree of it's history seems to have recently changed. The 10 important facts about the FR seem contrived. Three deal with the spellplague, two deal with countries that were already threats and explains why they're threats now, and one handwaives why there's no longer about 10 species of elves. All-in-all, not really what I might consider important facts.

Chapter 1: Races
This chapter contains four sections: A two page section on the Drow, a three page section on Genasi, a seven page look at Other Common Races (the races which appear in the Players Handbook), and a Supporting Cast section (involving Gnomes, Goblins, Orks and other races you might meet in game). I find this section lacking in depth. In the PGtF (3.5), we met Faerunian flavored races from the PHB. Gold dwarves, Sun Elves, and Ghostfoot Halflings, for example. I feel that omitting these makes the Realms substancially smaller. No longer is there as much diversity as there was before. I realize that simply making a Dwarf and calling him a Gold Dwarf is a possibility, but I do like having a standardized reference which tells me what skills and special abilities they might have that are different than normal Dwarves. As a corellary, there is little attention payed to races previously described in the PHB.

Chapter 2: Character Classes
This chapter explains the Swordmages, Warlock (Dark Pact), and Spellscarred classes in the same fashion as the PHB describes other base classes. It goes on to describe Paragon Paths and even a new epic Destiny. Not much to say about it, good or bad. I suppose it strongly depends on wether you care for the classes or not.

Chapter 3: Backgrounds
This chapter expounds on places your character may have originated from. The Guide goes into some detail about the places, enough for you to get a taste of where you're from and even offers some possible motivations! It's not a bad section.. except... it's missing certain places where I think it might be normal for PC's to begin from. Sadly, I believe that they "saved" these for Dungeons and Dragons: Insider articles, so I feel a bit swindled for not getting those places. One other nitpick, I really liked the tables from the previous edition showing, at a glance, a location, what bonuses you might get from coming from there, and what available races are there, which is missing from this edition.

Chapter 4: Feats
A chapter of new feats! However, unlike the previous edition most of it's feats are almost exclusively made for new races/classes which debut in this book. I suppose most of this chapters' draw will be wether or not you care for the feats.

Chapter 5: Rituals
25 new Rituals of varying enjoyment. Use to taste, some seem pretty neat.

Chapter 6: Almanac
A chapter which claims to cover Deities of Toril, Lore of the Land, The Calender of Harptos, The Roll of Years, Languages, Coin and Commerce, Class and Station, Families, Learning, Adventurers, The Spellplague and Cosmology. It seems like it's chok-full of information, but that is slightly misleading as it is only 10 pages long. The Deities have been cut down dramatically (one part which I dislike), and it seems that some of the sections are page fillers. Do we need entire sections on how there are different classes, how families are generally like how they are in real life, how there's not too many formal schools in Faerun and explaining how not everyone you meet is an adventurer? The Spellplague section manages to tell you of the Spellplague without actually telling you about the Spellplague.

In the end it feels like it's a low page count, large text-size, picture heavy pamphlet that is supposed to direct you to the ACTUAL Players Guide to Faerun. I feel like if I mixed this book with the Campaign Setting and the Grand History of the Realms, I might have gotten a full books' worth, but for now, I just have a feeling of emptiness, of not knowing, and of not actually playing in the Forgotten Realms.

So 4e has created controversy. We can all agree on that. It's whether we like it or not that will determine how well we like the new Forgotten Realms material. If you are really into the 4e stuff then this is a pretty good supplement, and so is the Campaign guide. If on the other hand you were a die-hard Forgotten Realms fan that isn't really into 4e's premise then you might be dissapointed. So keep in mind those two determinants are framing my review.

If you love 4e: The player's Guide is a great 4e supplement. New races or 4e updates for old races. New classes and options. New powers etc. All very cool for those thirsty for new material. If you are familiar with FR and loved it or were indifferent, but are dedicated to 4e then the new setting is cool. It is a catacysmic setting based on the Spell-Plague. The Spell Plague was a magical disaster that descended upon the Realms drastically altering its races and their civilizations. The basic structure of the Realms is there, but the world has been altered to fit the 4e points of light amid a land of evil wildness premise. Lots to play with here and take the Realms into totally new areas.

If you're not too fond of 4e or were looking for a "faithful" FR supplement: you're out of luck. Both FR supplements are strictly 4e. They continue the present trend. They also have drastically changed the FR landscape, and setting. It has been custom tailored to fit the 4e concept. You won't find much at all about FR history or the past richness of its setting. It has been stripped bare and left as an FR shell filled with 4e concepts. Now having said that it does what it does well--it's just not really FR anymore; unless you are prepared to give it all up to move on to something completely different.

So, it all depends on where you're coming from when you decide whether or not to buy these new 4e books. Chances are if you love FR and are playing 4e you'll be open minded enough to go with the flow. But to really get that old taste of the FR you'll need to stick with earlier editions--or do your own updates. 4e FR material is not going to give you what you want. On the other hand if you're a 4e convert, or at least giving it a go then this is a pretty decent supplement as supplements go.

Whatever you decide, good luck and good gaming!