What books/materials do I need to start playing in the Forgotten Realms Universe?

Question

I want to begin playing in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons and Dragons Universe and I will try to answer my own question here and someone can correct me.

I think I need the ;

- Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide

- Forgotten Realms Player's Guide

- One campaign adventure (for example... Thunderspire Mountain)

- Perhaps a few miniatures and battle grids

- Some knowledge of the Forgotten Realms (perhaps from reading books from Forgotten Realms which I have tons of)

- Paper, Pencils, etc.

- Forgotten Realms Character Record Sheets

Is there anything else I need to play, or is there anything in here that you think is a waste to buy?

Answer 1

You might also want to check out the 4.0 Forgotten Realms Players Handbook coming out next month. Should have a set of new races, classes and powers. The 4.0 Campaign Setting comes out this month or in Sept. For More check out http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=pro... For current Forgotten Realm Products.

Answer 2

Bare minimum for books; the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide and the 3 core rulebooks (DM Guide, Player Handbook, Monster Manual).

If you have read a lot of FR novels you could probably get by without the campaign guide.

If you don't feel up to creating your own adventures, you'll need an adventure (Thunderspire Mountain is a good choice I think)

Obviously Pencil, Paper, Dice are also a necessity.

The rest is all very optional....and there's very little difference between a  Forgotten Realms Character Sheet and a standard Character Sheet. Heck I get by fine writing my characters down on standard lined notebook paper most of the time.

Unless you're playing in 4th edition dnd then I'd add the miniatures and battle grid. They aren't strictly required but they make it so much smoother that they may as well be. The grid if nothing else; you can use virtually anything you like to represent characters/monsters (I'm fond of using spare change myself when the need arises)

Of course if you're playing 4th edition dnd there's currently only 1 Forgotten Realms specific book (the campaign guide; released this month) the FR player's guide is coming next month for 4e.