Unapproachable East: Forgotten Realms Accessory: Amazon.ca: Richard Baker, Matt Forbeck, Sean K. Reynolds: Books

Product Description

Explore a Mysterious Land of Might and Magic.

Tales from beyond the Easting Reach are told with awed voices and hushed tones. Known to most of Faerun as the homeland of the Simbul, the hathrans, and the Red Wizards, the Unapproachable East is filled with dark secrets, insidious plots, and untold adventure. Discover the people, politics, cities, and societies of the region, along with the monsters, nefarious organizations, and other perils that await unwary travelers in this treacherous corner of the Forgotten Realms game setting.

* 12 new prestige classes
* 21 new spells
* 19 new monsters

To use this accessory, you also need the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual.

About the Author

Richard Baker works as a game designer and Managing Developer for the roleplaying game line at Wizards of the Coast, Inc. His most recent author credit is Condemnation, the third novel in R.A. Salvatore's War of the Spider Queen series.

Matt Forbeck is the cofounder of Pinnacle Entertainment Group and worked on Deadlands and the creation of the superhero roleplaying game Brave New World. His most recent credits for Wizards of the Coast, Inc. are the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook and Races of Faerun.

Sean K Reynolds has worked on most RPG product lines from Wizards of the Coast, Inc. His most recent credits include contributing to Magic of Faerun, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, and Races of Faerun.

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Customer Reviews

9 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

3.4 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Strange yet satisfying, Sep 14 2006

By

Fireinthedust "giving back to the world aroun... - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unapproachable East: Forgotten Realms Accessory (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book that should not be overlooked.

It is different from regular FR books. Why? It's the exotic east. It's not the Dales, it's not Waterdeep, it's not the Silver Marches. Those areas have been well detailed for some time. They are also standard knights-in-shining-armour fare.

This is different, but in a good way. It's also not unfamiliar. Remember Conan the Barbarian? You can tell that kind of story here; less Arthur and Merlin, more Conan. Think barbarians vs. treacherous wizards, all of it on top of the ruins of a demon-summoning empire of long ago.
Also, you can feel free to use your Oriental Adventures books along with your usual FR books, as the East is where the "Golden Way" goes east to meet the lands of Kara-Tur.

The book is a Gazeteer: it goes over the different realms. You get a detailed look of Thay, Aglarond and others, but the big draw is the look at Rashemen. The barbarian lodges are cool.

The book has some really cool monsters, spells and PrCs: think trolls, and the spirits of the land.

The art is terrific, some of the best art in any sourcebook I've purchase (which is saying a lot, witht eh quality out there these days).

What the Book lacks:
1) Dungeon maps and encounters: not one actual place is given as a tool. There are loads of books out there with this, but as the style of the East is so different, it would have been nice to at least have an example of something weird: a tomb from Narfell would have been nice, or some prison in Thaymount to break out of. An adventure would be nice, but at the very least a geographical location.
2) Fully Statted NPCs of the realm: this could have been nice. Sure, everyone thinks of the Simbul, but there must be others or note. What about a nice Hathran? Maybe a Zulkir or two? Character is talked about, but not stuff to insert into an actual session.

Those would have helped. The Silver Marches had both of those, and that's the only thing that book really has on Unapproachable east; but easy insertion can really help a product.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Unfairly maligned, this is a good FR sourcebook., Feb 8 2004

By

Terrence Walsh (Strongsville, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Unapproachable East: Forgotten Realms Accessory (Hardcover)

I decided to write this review because I think some of the other reviewers here at Amazon have given this title short shrift.

The Unapproachable East is a great place to set a Forgotten Realms adventure which is different than your typical "Medieval Western Europe" type fantasy world. Admittedly, the book is not as good as the Silver Marches supplement, but it's pretty close. One reviewer mentioned that the artwork was as good as some home-printing jobbie. I disagree. There is some artwork that is stylisticly different than that we have seen in other WotC FR supplements. Some pieces are outstanding such as the Simbul's Palace and some are quite memorable such as the Ring of Grey Flames. Overall, I liked the art.

Content is also good. Here is a list of the chapters:

1. Introduction
2. Prestige Classes
3. Regions and Feats
4. Magic and Spells
5. Magic Items
6. Monsters
7. Adventuring in the East
8. Aglarond
9. The Great Dale
10. Rashemen
11. Thay
12. Thesk
13. Border Areas

As you can see, the content is pretty well balanced between background campaign information and "guidebook" overviews of the various areas. There is a good amount of plot hooks and plenty of places for a DM to set up a FR adventure that is different from the norm. I paid full price for this book when I bought it at a brick and mortar, and feel that it is well worth the value. There is plenty of material to read and enjoy even if you never use a bit of it for gameplay. It is much better than the 1st edition D&D compilation "Dreams of the Red Wizards". I don't give it five stars because it is not as much value for the money as the FR campaign setting (more pages +map) or the Silver Marches supplement (lower price +map) which I consider the best two FR products so far.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Average, Jan 10 2004

By

Joshua Williams - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Unapproachable East: Forgotten Realms Accessory (Hardcover)

Overall this book provides some useful information, however there are a few areas which needed expansion, one of the least developed, and the entire reason I had purchased the book in the first place was Muhulrond - there is about a paragraph on the entire place, despite the fact that it is supposed to be the largest and oldest constantly populated region in Faerun.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Not so disapointing - Very good background info
After re-reading this book a couple of time, I came to realise that it is actually much better than I used to think. Read more

Published on Dec 30 2003 by Bocklin

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as Silver Marches.
This book is not as detailed as the Siver Marches sourcebook, but it is still a good addition to FR line. Read more

Published on Aug 30 2003 by jthursby1