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Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
 Posted - 07 Aug 2002 : 20:51:10
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Being in the UK, The Silver Marches is still not available (and its driving me mad as im looking forward to this product almost as much as I looked forward to the FRCS!)
For those of you who have it already, how do you rate it as an FR 3rd Ed. product? Does it meet your requirements? Is the artwork and content as good as you expected? Im so anxious to get this product, I just hope im not disappointed.
In particular Im looking for heavy detail on the settlements and land descriptions of the Silver Marches. Hopefully some town maps etc. ?
Thanks
Rad
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Bragi
Seeker
USA
88 Posts |
Posted - 08 Aug 2002 : 21:09:00
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The Silver Marches is a great product, with lots of regional detail. I'd give it a 9/10 overall. The only thing I was disappointed in was the map. Its half the size of the other maps and the little city maps don't give much detail. I'd really like to have seen some street names on there.
A lot of the stuff has been updated and revised from the old FR5 The Savage North, along with some new content as well. I really like the random weather tables provided.
I don't usually use the adventures in accessories so I can't really comment on that part of it.
If you want to read a detailed review of the product check out this review posted on enworld
In Pursuit of Better Worlds,
Bragi of Erin |
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Fransys
Acolyte
United Kingdom
5 Posts |
Posted - 09 Aug 2002 : 13:57:23
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I'm in the UK too.
WOTC's distribution to the UK ( or lack of ) sucks big time.
So much Sean for asking us to support the FR product line. Wish I could.
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Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
Posted - 09 Aug 2002 : 14:21:20
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I couldnt agree more Fransys!
This is what i hate about it all. Its frustrating when you visit the official Wizards site, see all the Web Enhancements and such for a product, everyone in the US talks about it.....and months later we get a trickle of a few copies over in the UK.
Im sure weve seen this kind of thing before with TSR! Why is there such a problem with distribution outside of the US?? I really dont think that WotC US understand that D&D is a WORLDWIDE hobby! Such delays as this only anger the fans! Its certainly got my back up, its only a few weeks ago that i picked up a copy of the Wizardwar novel, after it was released back in March!!
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Celebrant Moonflower
Acolyte
USA
47 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2002 : 06:47:21
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Try online sources such as amazon.com if you are having a hard time finding a particular book in your area. Sure it's a hassle sometimes but who wants to wait?
When has truth been utterly devoid of paradox? |
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Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2002 : 15:30:05
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If only it were that simple 
Amazon.co.uk state that Silver Marches is "currently on order and we expect to have it within 1-2 weeks"! Its not just hobby stores that arent receiving goods from WotC, even online stores are being blanked out! This really isnt good for the D&D hobby internationally. WotC need to sort themselves out!
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Rat
Acolyte
United Kingdom
7 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2002 : 23:46:37
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As mentioned before, try amazon.com instead of amazon.co.uk
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Mumadar Ibn Huzal
Master of Realmslore
1338 Posts |
Posted - 01 Oct 2002 : 13:36:25
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To get back to the topic, I think Silver Marches is an excellent product in the new line of FR material being released from WotC.
It covers a lot of detail on a social level, a geographical level as well as describing the (tense) relations between the members of the aliance. The whole book paints the right atmosphere for the area.
I agree with the comment on the map, yet then again, I could envision myself wishing for even more detail then streetnames. ;) Overall I'd rate it somewhere between an 8 or 9 out of 10.
I know WotC had anounced another regional supplement and that they (initially) would leave it at that. I hope they will return from that statement and cover more areas of Faerun. |
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Ghost
Acolyte
Netherlands
38 Posts |
Posted - 11 Oct 2002 : 19:55:32
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I like it alot. It contains enough information to run games in the area, without restrainig you. Besides, chances are one of your players also owns the book, so what's the use of fully describes secrets?
YOU are in control! |
The way of a superior man are three-fold;
virtuous, he is free from anxieties;
wise, he is free from perplexities;
bold, he is free from fear. ~ Confucius
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skathros
Acolyte
Canada
9 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2003 : 21:04:56
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| One thing is for sure...eversince FR came out with it's "Grey Box", the setting and support products have almost always been the best around. SM is no exception do this. Its one of the latest in a long line of "well done", beutifully crafted Realms books. |
"...his people lamented him ever after and took no king again"-The Silmarillion. |
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Phineas of Oghma
Acolyte
USA
11 Posts |
Posted - 23 Jan 2003 : 22:51:18
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I've found Silver Marches to be a very good product. My next FR campaign will very likely be set there. The artwork is fabulous. As usual, books of this caliber cost quite a bit of cash, but this one is worthwhile.
A slight tangent: I'm intrigued by the connecting thread between the product and R.A. Salvatore's The Thousand Orcs. Silver Marches seems to insure that Bruenor Battlehammer will indeed become the 10th King of Mithral Hall and will be its representative in the Silver Marches. I'm amused to think of our grumbling dwarf wading through even more stuffy politics  |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3563 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2008 : 15:45:29
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quote:
Originally posted by skathros
One thing is for sure...eversince FR came out with it's "Grey Box", the setting and support products have almost always been the best around. SM is no exception do this. Its one of the latest in a long line of "well done", beutifully crafted Realms books.
Just stumbled across this old scroll, which gives off a powerfull feeling of nostalgia!
And it made me wonder if we will be talking like this in 5 years about new Realms products?
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A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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Edited by - The Red Walker on 15 Sep 2008 15:46:42 |
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StarBog
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
152 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2008 : 16:23:05
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| What new Realms products? Realms articles in Dragon etc, sure, but WotC aren't producing any supplements for FR any more. |
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The Red Walker
Great Reader
USA
3563 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2008 : 19:37:40
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quote:
Originally posted by StarBog
What new Realms products? Realms articles in Dragon etc, sure, but WotC aren't producing any supplements for FR any more.
No supplements, ever??
Wow, that's something to think about. |
A little nonsense now and then, relished by the wisest men - Willy Wonka
"We need men who can dream of things that never were." -
John F. Kennedy, speech in Dublin, Ireland, June 28, 1963
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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3240 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2008 : 19:46:46
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| Yep, they're doing one campaign setting a year, producing only a Campaign Guide, Player's Handbook and an adventure for the setting. All other information will be via the web articles. |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
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Pandora
Learned Scribe
Germany
305 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2008 : 21:10:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Ashe Ravenheart
All other information will be via the web articles.
I dont think thats a wise decision since - I guess - the majority of the games do not involve people having a PC running all the time. You cant really go everywhere if you "need" something like that to reference stuff. Real books beat a PC screen in "readability" and only quick searching functions are an advantage of a PC. Well I count it as a "sign of the times" and yet another reason why our societies go down the drain. |
If you cant say what youre meaning,
you can never mean what youre saying.
- Centauri Minister of Intelligence, Babylon 5 |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 15 Sep 2008 : 23:47:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Pandora
Well I count it as a "sign of the times" and yet another reason why our societies go down the drain.
Well I wouldn't go that far... |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 16 Sep 2008 : 00:12:59
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'Books' are the life-blood of the RPGer.
The fact that WotC doesn't recognize this shows just how far from reality they have divorced themselves.
RPG players have always been about their books - PHYSICAL tomes you can carry around and lord over everyone else who doesn't have them (yet).
How a Collectible-Cardgame Company managed to overlook that little nugget is beyond me.  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 16 Sep 2008 00:13:20 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
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Kosta the Lich
Acolyte
United Kingdom
11 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2008 : 12:19:59
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quote:
Originally posted by Lord Rad
Being in the UK, The Silver Marches is still not available (and its driving me mad as im looking forward to this product almost as much as I looked forward to the FRCS!)
For those of you who have it already, how do you rate it as an FR 3rd Ed. product? Does it meet your requirements? Is the artwork and content as good as you expected? Im so anxious to get this product, I just hope im not disappointed.
In particular Im looking for heavy detail on the settlements and land descriptions of the Silver Marches. Hopefully some town maps etc. ?
Thanks
Rad
Hello, I have had my copy for some time and must say it is good stuff. One thing I mind is the lack of index, but that is probably all that I find wrong about that book. If you download the Savage Frontier and Volo's guide to the North from 2e (found on WotC website) it makes a great suplement. |
Minsc and Boo stand ready to polish my boots. |
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Ardashir
Senior Scribe
USA
544 Posts |
Posted - 21 Oct 2008 : 16:37:44
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quote:
Originally posted by Pandora
quote:
Originally posted by Ashe Ravenheart
All other information will be via the web articles.
I dont think thats a wise decision since - I guess - the majority of the games do not involve people having a PC running all the time. You cant really go everywhere if you "need" something like that to reference stuff. Real books beat a PC screen in "readability" and only quick searching functions are an advantage of a PC.
A great big fat YES to all of that. Why is it assumed that all gamers are online 24-7?
Heck, I don't even have home internet access...  |
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BEAST
Master of Realmslore
USA
1714 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2008 : 19:12:32
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I love the amount of detail in this book. It is very comprehensive. Clearly a lot of work went into its preparation.
However, it does not appear that enough work went into fact-checking it before it went to the printer. I'm a Drizzt buff, and I can see that there are several discrepancies with the established Drizzt lore from the novels here:
- If this book covers the year 1372 DR, then why is Bruenor still missing his right eye and wearing a patch (p.77-78); it was healed back in 1364 DR in Passage to Dawn.
- A new cleric is invented to serve as High Cleric of the Hall here, for some unexplained reason completely disregarding Stumpet and Cordio (p.78).
- There is a mix-up about the mission to re-take Mithral Hall, claiming that it occurred in 1356 DR, though Streams of Silver and The Halfling's Gem indicate differently (rediscovery of MH = Spring 1356; retaking of MH = Spring 1357 DR; separated by the mission to rescue Regis throughout late 1356 DR). This mix-up bizarrely now appears to have become canon, based on AGHOTR/TGHOTR.
- Since when did Wulfgar actually "marry" Catti-brie (p.96); he was abducted back when they were only engaged to be married (The Legacy), and when he returned to the Companions for a few months there was already chemistry between Cat and Drizzt (PTD); and he was such a depressed wreck that nobody really knew how to approach him, and then he punched Cat in his confusion (The Silent Blade)?
I haven't finished reading the sourcebook completely, but allegedly there is some disagreement between the description of the rise of the League of Silver Marches here and the description of related events in "The Hunter's Blades Trilogy". I dunno. |
"'You don't know my history,' he said dryly."
--Drizzt Do'Urden (The Pirate King, Part 1: Chapter 2)
<"Comprehensive Chronology of R.A. Salvatore Forgotten Realms Works"> |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 26 Oct 2008 : 23:35:09
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| Silver Marches is awesome. Buy it! |
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 27 Oct 2008 : 02:18:56
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quote:
Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight
Silver Marches is awesome. Buy it!
Absolutely! A FR must-have source book. Even though I converted to 4E, I use my copy all of the time. |
Edited by - scererar on 27 Oct 2008 02:20:05 |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 27 Oct 2008 : 06:38:34
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quote:
Originally posted by scererar
quote:
Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight
Silver Marches is awesome. Buy it!
Absolutely! A FR must-have source book. Even though I converted to 4E, I use my copy all of the time.
...and I think it's the only 3.X sourcebook with weather tables right? (hmm... perhaps Shining South as well... can't remember with all that new Paizo stuff crowding my head!  ) |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31701 Posts |
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scererar
Master of Realmslore
USA
1618 Posts |
Posted - 28 Oct 2008 : 00:23:26
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| there a couple 3E supplemental source books as well - Frostburn, and Sandstorm for example. |
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Purple Dragon Knight
Master of Realmslore
Canada
1796 Posts |
Posted - 28 Oct 2008 : 22:24:38
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quote:
Originally posted by scererar
there a couple 3E supplemental source books as well - Frostburn, and Sandstorm for example.
...none of which are directly applicable to the Realms or its canon. These are Core products. Silver Marches has a weather section and therefore solidified a canon weather pattern for this region. I find that this region-specific weather table was an amazing feature, and would come in handy for anyone running a campaign in the Silver Marches. |
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dwarvenranger
Senior Scribe
USA
428 Posts |
Posted - 05 Dec 2008 : 16:00:35
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Originally posted by Purple Dragon Knight
[/quote] I find that this region-specific weather table was an amazing feature, and would come in handy for anyone running a campaign in the Silver Marches.
[/quote]
Indeed it has PDK, many times to the detriment of my players  |
If I waited till I knew what I was doing, I'd never get anything done.
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hashimashadoo
Master of Realmslore
United Kingdom
1150 Posts |
Posted - 07 Dec 2008 : 02:10:02
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| I didn't like Silver Marches on the whole. Too many conflicting bits of information makes things confusing. Still, it had lots of good bits as well. |
When life turns it's back on you...sneak attack for extra damage.
Head admin of the FR wiki:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/ |
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The Silver Marches - How do you rate it?
