Being objective with this one is hard, because I'm not really a big Forgotten Realms fan. I love the original 1e Grey Box, but past then, I just haven't liked it much. It's fair to say that even the (imo, underrated) 4e setting is one of my least favorite settings. Still, I know enough to trust WotC with setting books by this point, so I ended up snagging it. It's a remarkably well-done example of something I don't necessarily care for, if that makes sense. I don't know that I will ever run a Forgotten Realms game again, but if I do, this will be a good place to start.
Much like Gloomwrought, this is a self-contained campaign. If you have this and the game rules (and DDI for monsters), you can run a full Heroic-tier campaign - honestly, *several* Heroic-tier campaigns - easily. Please do note - although the mechanics cover all 30 levels, this setting is specifically and intentionally focused on the Heroic tier.
After a brief intro, the book starts out with about 65 pages' worth of some great crunch and fluff, mixed together in the new style. I'll focus on this, with an eye towards whether or not it's easily portable to other settings and other games.
We start out with 13 flavorful, setting-specific themes. This year, it looks like Themes will be a major focus in new rules development, and while I love them, I also hope they don't become 4e's Prestige Classes for content bloat. Still, these are pretty spectacular, though I think that a few (*cough*Pack Outcast*cough*) may be a bit too powerful. They provide a lot of neat stuff, such as two Themes that let a character turn into animals, a Theme version of the FRPG's Spellscars, and just some general great ways to tie your character into the FR setting. While they are very cool, I'm not a big fan of the race restrictions. Maybe I'm alone there, though, and it's easy enough to house-rule, provided the Character Builder is kept flexible! I think all of them can possibly be reskinned to another setting, though several - like the Harper Agent, Pack Outcast, and Dead Rat Deserter - might require some mental gymnastics. Each has a two-page writeup with a ton of fluff, and an associated Background.
(For those wondering, these are all the newer-style themes, like those found recently in Dragon 399. That is, they offer Level 1, 5, and 10 features, a Level 1 Encounter power, and Heroic-tier Utility Power swaps... but no Attack Power swaps. They're great, but be advised that they are a bit more direct power creep than the Dark Sun themes, because they offer more than just an Encounter attack - in a few cases quite a lot - for nothing. On the upside, they are equally valuable to all PCs, no matter what Class they have.)
Following this is a longer-than-expected section detailing Racial Variants. The FRPG dug into this a bit with a few feats, but this book really expands on the idea. They let your Elf, Dwarf, or Eladrin be an FR-specific Moon, Sun, Wood, or Wild Elf; or Shield or Gold Dwarf. Each offers a swap for their racial features, in addition to some excellent role-playing tips and backgrounds.
Warpriest Domains come next. There are four of them, and all of them look very capable. They are all FR-specific, but again, they should be pretty easily reskinnable. This continues the Realms' tradition from 2e of differentiating clerics of different gods, and it's a welcome development. (There's also a quick sidebar on which domains to use for other gods in the Realms). There's Corellon, which provides some Ranged support and a lot of movement; Oghma which incorporates knowledge, song, and psychic attacks; Selune for cold and radiant blessings with a focus on saving throws; and Torm for a near-Defender Warpriest. They are full 1-30 Domains, and all of the Powers are available to regular Clerics as well if your player can't or doesn't want to play a Warpriest.
The last part of the crunch is also one of the more controversial, if you check around some message boards. The Bladesinger from 2e's Complete Book of Elves is back, and how!
Somewhat confusingly, the Bladesinger is a Wizard subclass. Although it's called a Controller, I'd say it's really a Striker with some control on the side. And, frankly, it looks like it will play kind of similarly to a Monk. They focus on Basic Attacks with blades, and get to buff them up with their At-Will Bladesongs on a hit. These Bladesongs are just great; they let the Bladesinger zap an enemy within 10 squares with some minor damage and a light control effects whenever they hit with their swords. Their beginning Encounter power is an impressive two-round buff, but their Daily powers ... are Wizard Encounter powers. I know, "Hrm?" It's a weak point of the class, but I have a feeling their other perks will make up for it; I have yet to see it in action, though.
I was most worried that the Bladesinger would operate in a similar design space to the Swordmage from the FRPG ... and it really *doesn't*. The Bladesinger is a Striker/Controller, and the Swordmage is a Defender/Controller, and they look like they will play very differently. The Swordmage is its own brand-new 4e thing, but the Bladesinger really does look and work like a classic 2e Fighter/Mage, down to using actual Wizard spells at a lower level of mastery. (I think there's some wasted space here in reprinting the Wizard powers from HotFL, but YMMV.)
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OK, so on to the non-crunch stuff.
Much like in Gloomwrought, Neverwinter gives the DM a big collection of Sandbox tools. The next ... wow, almost 50 pages ... detail the most important factions in Neverwinter along with suggestions on how to use them in a game. The adventure hook ideas almost jump off the page. Unlike in Gloomwrought, each Faction is presented with a list of monsters with their levels, roles, and sources, rather than a large collection of brand-new foes. I think it's perfectly workable, and it looks to depend a lot on monsters from the recent Threats to Nentir Vale. I'm great with this; I don't need too many more Heroic-tier monsters right now! There are a few new ones, mind you, generally at least one per faction, but it mostly depends on support from earlier books or DDI. Awesomely, each faction also has a Theme Tie-In sidebar to show how to get your players' characters involved with all these power groups.
The next 65 or so pages are the main Gazetteer of Neverwinter. Again, hooks are everywhere, and you can tell this was written by Dungeon Masters, for Dungeon Masters. Even not being a fan of the Realms, this is pretty great, and the whole post-apocalyptic city vibe is pretty thrilling. There are sidebars on almost every page, providing either rules elements or a deeper focus on items of interest. The whole Neverwinter area is covered, from the city to outlying towns to geographical features. Many were familiar to me from playing the Neverwinter Nights series of computer RPGs, and again there are a ton of theme tie-ins to hook your PCs into the setting.
The last section of the book honestly came as a surprise to me; I didn't expect it at all. Evernight, the Shadowfell version of Neverwinter and its environs, are given an overview for the next few pages. The art here is great; I'm especially fond of the art for the Corpse Market.
A few pages on Thay and a Floating Fortress later and we're done. There's a tear-out map bound near the back cover, which I will remove if I end up using the book!
So ... overall impressions? This is the first time in about 15+ years that running a campaign in the Forgotten Realms has seemed at all interesting or fun, and the more I dig into this book, the more fun it seems. I rather wish this had come out closer on the heels of the original 4e Campaign Setting, because it makes the entire setting better, and might have done a little to explain the Spellplague and its effects to critics.
I'd rate it as a must-have for just about anyone running a 4e Realms campaign, and for anyone looking for a Heroic-tier campaign setting. Its usefulness for ongoing games, particularly non-Realms games, is more questionable, but I expect several DMs will try and sell their players on starting it all over again in Neverwinter!
