Lost Empires of Faerûn (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Supplement) [Hardcover]

Edward Bonny (Author), Travis Stout (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005

A sourcebook unearthing the ruins and secrets of the fallen empires of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.

For the first time, the secrets of past empires of the Forgotten Realms world are chronicled in one comprehensive sourcebook. For players, this book contains new options for characters wishing to delve into ancient ruins, including new feats, prestige classes, magic, and equipment. For Dungeon Masters, this book contains new material associated with ruins, including rules for how to build and sustain a ruin-based campaign, more than a dozen detailed adventure sites with maps, and new monsters and artifacts.

AUTHOR BIO: Edward Bonny is a freelance designer who has written numerous articles for Dragon® Magazine. His previous design credits include Monster Manual™ II.

AUTHOR BIO: Travis Stout is a freelance designer who has written several articles for Dragon Magazine and whose previous design credits include Player’s Guide to Faerûn™.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

EDWARD BONNY is a freelance designer who has written numerous articles for Dragon® Magazine. His previous design credits include Monster Manual™ II.

TRAVIS STOUT is a freelance designer who has also written several articles for Dragon® Magazine and whose previous design credits include Player's Guide to Faerûn™.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786936541
• ISBN-13: 978-0786936540
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #223,994 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Gaming > Dungeons & Dragons

More About the Author

Richard Baker is an award-winning game designer and a best-selling author. He's worked on the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game lines since 1991. Rich traces his D&D experience back to 1979, when he began playing the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game as a 7th-grader. He spent a significant amount of his high school and college years playing D&D at every opportunity, and after serving as a surface warfare officer in the United States Navy, Rich decided to take a shot at working on the game he grew up playing - and so he joined the staff of TSR, Inc., and became a game designer. Rich's list of D&D design credits numbers over 50 game products, including the Origins Award-winning BIRTHRIGHT Campaign Setting, the ALTERNITY Science Fiction Roleplaying Game (which he co-designed with Bill Slavicsek), and the newest edition of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game. He has also served as creative director for the ALTERNITY and FORGOTTEN REALMS game lines. As an author, Rich has published eight fantasy and science fiction novels, including City of Ravens, Forsaken House, and the New York Times bestseller Condemnation. Rich is currently employed as a senior game designer at Wizards of the Coast, Inc., and works every day on new products for the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally!!!!, February 28, 2005

By 

Jolly Father (Croatia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Empires of Faerûn (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Supplement) (Hardcover)

Finally it's here! This book was worth the wait. Lost Empires has it all. Well almost. Most of the magic items and artifacts ever published in previous editions for Forgotten Realms (Nether Scrolls anyone) and most of the spells (Sakkratar's Triple Strike maybe). There are 16 new feats most of which are pretty good and useful (Craft Scepter is nice (2 spells up to 7th lvl with 50 charges), Arcane Manipulation is even better (up to 3 higher lvl spell slots are devided to give you many more lower lvl spell slots). There are 5 prestige classes out of which I'd select Olin Gisir (an elven "keep the bad stuff hidden" arcane spellcaster - gets secrets similar to the Loremaster, but every 3 lvls). The best part regarding the spellcasting are 2 new epic seeds: Mythal Seed and Shadow Seed. And then a really detailed explanation on making mythals. Really nice. Some old (and dead) gods are presented and there are a few pages of info and tables on "what's in that ruin type of stuff." The information about various ancient and lost empires and how they impact modern Faerun is well presented. Every "empire" or "time period" (Crown Wars?) chapter starts of with a timeline, and then presents an overview of the most important features and historical information regarding the specific empire or time period. A number of present day sites are detailed and even some adventures or adventure sites are connected with each lost "empire". In short: If you liked AD&D 2nd Ed "Nethril: Empire of Magic", "How the Mighty are Fallen", "Cormathor: Empire of Elves" and "Fall of Myth Drannor" you're gonna like this book even more. Crown Wars, Nethril, Imaskari, Cormanthyr (Myth Drannor), Realms of the High Forest (Ammarindar, Delzoun, Eaerlann...), The Old North (Ardeep, Illusk...), The Impreial South (Tethir, Shoon Imperium...). Each "period" also has a very useful "Information table" that sets DCs for know (history) checks and explaines how detailed information should DM give to the players and there is also enough historical information that DM's won't have as many problems as they did in the past when players asked about certain "Lost Empires" after a good knowledge (history) check. In the end there is a monster chapter which gives some updated monsters and presents some new ones (Phaerimm, Helmed Horrors, Baneguards etc.). All in all worth the money spent.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Relevance is the key, April 13, 2005

By 

Aethor "Army Veteran/Student" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Empires of Faerûn (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Supplement) (Hardcover)

I greatly looked forward to this book and was not disappointed. The Forgotten Realms is extremely rich in history that has been developed over the long years of its publication and this is truly a comprehensive source of that. The authors have touched on just about every area I can think of and they have done it well.

The book is divided into several sections, each dealing with a different geographic or cultural area. For instance, one section deals with the crown wars (wars between elves almost exclusively) and the elven nations involved (which covers a large area of Faerun) while another area covers the North and includes detail on several elven realms that had little part in the crown wars. They have timelines for each section of the book.

To be clear though, these histories are given not as a tool to play during those times, but as reference points to incorporate the locales of these ancient empires into the current timeline and an existing campaign. They bring the histories up to the current timeline and give you a good idea of what is going on in the ruins of these empires and the doings of the decedents of these empires.

On top of all of this rich history and information is a great deal of good crunchiness. There are several prestige classes, all of which seem well balanced and a great section on new spells and magic items. They even have specifics on mythal creation which is just plain cool to me. Going back to the integration of the past to the present, there is a section about Hellgate Keep and there they specify magic items of goodly races know to have been lost by fallen heroes there (items from the PGtF and this book).

All in all, a great tool for ANY dungeon master running ANY Realms Campaign for its information on ruins (dungeon - hint, hint) and its balance of historical information and crunchy bits. By far one of the most useful Realms products for any edition.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The misty past of Faerun, now yours to discover, March 19, 2005

By 

Peter Craig "Pete" (Europe) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Empires of Faerûn (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Supplement) (Hardcover)

I always loved the 3.5 (3.0) Forgotten Realms accessories, but I must say that this book is perhaps the best in the series.

This books gives you a +10 competence bonus to your Ancient History(Faerun) skill, as it offers you in-depth knowledge on almost all of the great empires of the past. You can learn all, about the great elven empires, about the history of the Sword Coast, about the phaerimm manace, etc.

Also, you will find some great feats, prestige classes and spells in the book. Some of them are not really for players, but for the DM (and to the NPCs). Players will also find it interesting, if for nothing else, then to add some flavour to the game.

I found it also great that young DMs get some help in a separate chapter to create adventures based on the "ancient theme". Of course, even old DMs, like myself can learn a lot from it.