Silver Marches: Forgotten Realms Supplement [Paperback]

Silver Marches is a 160-page softcover book, written by Ed greenwood and Jason Carl. The pages are high-quality as found in the FRCS hardcover, the cover art by Vance Kovacs is distinctive, and the interior art throughout the book is wonderfully done and fits with the content--this isn't always the case, sometimes an illustrator's work can be a detriment to the overall style. Doesn't sound like a big deal until you find out from marketers that the presentation (artwork, etc.) can make or break a sale before prospective buyers have a chance to delve deep into the contents. Overall, the presentation is decent.

This book is broken down into 8 chapters (barring the Introduction). The first, titled "The Lay of the Land," provides greater depth to the geography and monstrous threats of the area than found in the FRCS. Here you'll find notable bits on the Morueme clan of blue dragons, the orcish stronghold known as Dark Arrow Keep, and the Silverwood, just to name a few. It runs for 32 pages, and those fearing that they'll drown in a sea of too-much-info need not worry. The details on each area or personality are concise, they provide good ideas of what to expect in certain areas, as well as adventure ideas. You won't feel hemmed in by what's written, if anything one should get some good ideas from the material.

The second chapter, "Exploring the Wild," deals with flora and fauna, encounter tables, wyrms of the north (the names of whom you'll remember from the articles that Ed Greenwood used to write for Dragon magazine), and even weather tables. I don't recall something like this except, perhaps, in the old World of Greyhawk boxed set, and I consider it to be helpful. It has details on floods and fog, DC's when using skills in harsh weather, and so on. For those more interested in the encounter tables, they're lifted from the Forgotten Realms Dungeon Master's Screen accessory but have been updated to include new monster from Chapter 7. if you don't have the FR DM screen, it isn't necessary due to the pertinent tables' inclusion.

Chapters 3 and 4, "Cities of the Silver Marches" and "People of the Silver Marches," run for 43 pages and gives the reader a good overview of the confederation and its people without overwhelming you. Again, I find it worthwhile because the write-ups for various settlements make them more than just a place to kick up your muddy boots. Places like Everlund and Nesme, or (my favorite) Sundabar--now that's one gritty city, and the map in the back only reinforces the image. Brief histories are included, details on the various armies and human (and non-human) people are also provided, so if you're into wargaming that's another possibility to consider. In addition, stat blocks for characters like Helm Dwarf-friend and king Harbromm (leaders of Sundabar and Citadel Adbar, respectively) are sprinkled here and there for good measure. It's interesting to note that Bruenor Battlehammer and Wulfgar have been included but their histories are just a little behind the times (Bruenor's still listed as having lost an eye, with no mention of getting it healed--even the artwork depicts him as one-eyed). Also, Catti-Brie and Regis are missing. i don't think it's necessary to include the two, but fans of the Companions of the Hall may well be miffed by this little oversight.

Chapter 5, "Politics and power," deals with the articles of confederation, the league members, and how the council of the confederation works together (or argues, as the case may be). The main threats and enemies of the Silver Marches are also given space here, so nothing is left out (People of the Black blood, adherents of bane and Shar, the Daemonfey, and so on). Chapter 6, "Heroes of the North," is where it's at if you're looking for prestige classes to try out: The Giant-killer, Hordebreaker, Knight-errant of Silverymoon, Orc Scout, Peerless archer, and the Wild scout. Personally, I'm most drawn to the Peerless archer. It has a lot to offer, and seems to have been better designed than, say, the Arcane archer found in the DMG. Chapter 7, "Monsters of Faerun," is self-explanatory. It's okay, although more monsters aren't really necessary. Stats for giant ravens, rock wyrms, and snowcloaks are provided.

Chapter 8, "Adventures in the North," is 36 pages long and details three short adventures. I'm a little ambivilent about this, the adventures are okay and make use of the local well enough but the first two don't seem to have adventure levels listed (nothing saying flat-out, "This is for 4 PC's of X-level"). I find that irksome but mistakes and omissions can happen. Lastly, in addition to the fine illustrations of settlements found in the book itself, a fold-out map is included. It isn't glued-in, you just have to carefully separate it from the paper strip it's attached to. The fold-up map is comprised half of an overland view of the Silver Marches, whereas the lower portion shows maps of Sundabar, Silverymoon, Everlund, Citadel Adbar (nice crossview), Citadel Felbarr, and a smaller map showing the Adbarrim and distribution of Underdark settlements. Very well done, and I appreciate the effort.

Overall, I give this a 4 out of 5. I could've given it a straight 5 but there were a few minor errors in the book. Also, I'm ambivilent about the ratio of background material to game material (PrCs) and adventure matterial. It's good enough for me, it's a mix, but considering WotC is using the sales of Silver marches as a test of whether to keep producing FR books with some history or dump the background material in favor of game-pertinent material like more PrC's, monsters, spells, and...*shakes head*...This is a great book, it isn't all background material so it should satisfy Forgotten Realms fans who both want some utility and some history. Let's hope they stay the course, I can't see how they can go further in the other direction without losing the essence of the Realms.

I'll still be using it in 2005 when the FR hardback Waterdeep supplement comes out.

If you can only afford one supplement, this is it!

The book's split up into 8 chapters:

Chapter 1, the lay of the land, basically goes into detail about every part of the Marches, in terms of terrain. It describes smaller towns and villages, the Nether and Rauvin mountains, forests, even places that might not be technically IN the Silver Marches, like Anauroch and the High Forest.

Chapter 2, Exploring the Wilds, gives info on many things, including weather (for different areas of the Marches :P), Animals and Plants, and even wilderness encounters for every area of the Marches (see what I mean about detail..:P)

Chapter 3, Cities of the Silver Marches, speaks for itself; ot basically details all the major cities, plus Quaervarr and Newfort for some reason...

Chapter 4, People of the Silver Marches, basically outlines things such as economy, the armies of the Marches, and the Uthgardt tribes' customs.

Chapter 5, Politics and Power, explains how the League works, and details enemies of the Marches in more detail.

Chapters 6 and 7 (Heroes of the North and Monsters of the Marches, respectively), are quite small, detailing 6 new prestige classes and 7 new monsters.

Finally, Chapter 8, adventures in the North, details 3 small sites, and Blood and Gold, an adventure that works quite well.

Basically, if your campaign is set in the Marches, GET THIS BOOK. You will NOT regret it.