The massive foldout map in this book says everything about the new Dungeons and Dragons Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun guide and player supplement. It’s evocative, colorful and densely populated with names. The map, like the book, does not document everything about the high fantasy world of the Forgotten Realms, but both of them point and hint at places for further exploration. Cartographer Mike Schley’s subtle use of different shades of green, and his judicious use of forest, mountain and other icons gives both contours and borders for the eye to follow.
When players want to have a flavorful Faerun backstory that comes with more than just lore, this is the book. Classes, Feats and Backgrounds that mechanically enhance their characters along with a new variation on spellcasting called Circle Magic are given lots of space.
While this is a Dungeons and Dragons book aimed at players who want to create characters in the Forgotten Realms, you could use this material for your home game with little, if any, adjustments.
Jason Tondro, lead designer for this book, had decades of material to draw from for this project and acknowledges that he read “hundreds of novels…set in the Forgotten Realms.” He also mentions that of all the novels and materials that were used as source materials, that he recommends the Legend of Drizzt series by R.A. Salvatore as one of the best places to start.
As I am a fan of Elaine Cunningham’s novels, I do wish they had mentioned some of them here. Her Starlight and Shadows series is about the Drow, and her “Song and Swords” book tells many amazing elven-focused stories. You do get a great look at Waterdeep, the city built by Ed Greenwood for adventurers. The amazing video game Baldur’s Gate 3, which recently earned a perfect 5 GiN Gem review, the long running MMORPG Neverwinter and the recent Dungeons and Dragons movie all get a mentioned here as well.
The gods are also given good encyclopedia style descriptions. My favorite of the bespoke deities, Waukeen, goddess of wealth and trade, gets a good writeup. One of the early originators of Forgotten Realm lore, Jeff Grubb, wrote this deity from a suggestion by one of his players. The player had used a walking Liberty Half-Dollar as inspiration to have a god for merchants.
The 2024 Player’s Handbook, which we also reviewed, did not inventory all of the subclasses that have come along since the 2014 Player’s Handbook was first released. This new book rectifies that by adding eight subclasses with 2024 mechanics that match the world of Faerun. It also helps with mechanically fleshing out those heroes. For example, the College of the Moon (Bards) get their training from the Moonshae Isles, the Oath of the Noble Genies (Paladins) are from Calishem and Winter Walker Rangers are from Icewind Dale. Thankfully, from previous editions and novels, the beloved Bladesinger (wizard) class is also included.
The Paladin subclass comes with some great features that make them match a genie’s power. The Bard subclass has a certain romance with the moon along with powers of teleportation and the spell Moonbeam that makes for great effect during a game. The Winter Walker is not as powerful as either of the above, but if set against creatures of the cold, it comes into its own.
The feats also fold into Faerun lore, with some pretty good effects. Dragonscarred, Genie Magic and Harper Teamwork grant the player things like ability score increases, damage resistances and powers that appear when you work with others.
If there is a common cloth to this crazy quilt of Forgotten Realms material, it’s that teamwork is rewarded. Backgrounds often give you access to information and communities. And many feats work by helping other players with their hit points. But the ultimate teamwork feats are part of the new Circle Magic mechanic.
Circle Magic requires two or more spellcasters concentrating on the same spell. This enhances its effect, and there are even unique spells that only work when you have two or more casters. While this is a great idea for making spellcasting more interesting, it also mechanically makes two or more players plan and work together, which will let players interact with each other more.
We were provided a review copy for this article, and the one we received has excellent art curated by Emi Tanji. The art for Chapter 4 “Aurora’s Whole Realms Catalog,” which has many enchanted items, common clothing and even magically powered prosthetic limbs, is especially fun to look at.
Dungeons and Dragons Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun is great for both players and dungeon masters. It can be used for more than just adventures in Ed Greenwood’s famous high magic world. The Circle Magic and most of the book’s contents could also be used for any campaign you can conceive of in a Dungeons and Dragons setting.