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Hi,

I think I have most of the Forgotten Realms games. Is there any order to play them? Does it matter?

Thanks
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There are a few different series of games. Within a series, you should play the games in order.

For example, the Pool of Radiance series:
1. Pool of Radiance
[Hillsfar goes here, but is optional.]
2. Curse of the Azure Bonds
3. Secret of the Silver Blades
4. Pools of Darkness

That's one series.

There's also the Savage Frontier series:
1. Gateway to the Savage Frontier
2. Treasures of the Savage Frontier

And, of course, there's the Eye of the Beholder series.

Each series is separate from the others, but the games within a series should be played in order.

I could add that most of the Infinity Engine games (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale) also take place in the Forgotten Realms setting, and BG1 is meant to be played before BG2.
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dtgreene: There are a few different series of games. Within a series, you should play the games in order.

For example, the Pool of Radiance series:
1. Pool of Radiance
[Hillsfar goes here, but is optional.]
2. Curse of the Azure Bonds
3. Secret of the Silver Blades
4. Pools of Darkness

That's one series.

There's also the Savage Frontier series:
1. Gateway to the Savage Frontier
2. Treasures of the Savage Frontier

And, of course, there's the Eye of the Beholder series.

Each series is separate from the others, but the games within a series should be played in order.

I could add that most of the Infinity Engine games (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale) also take place in the Forgotten Realms setting, and BG1 is meant to be played before BG2.
Thanks!

I have played through BG1 & 2 some years ago. AND some EOB, but I trying to play through games anew and wasn't sure if there was any continuity of story line. The original FR D&D games I played when I was younger. Giving away my age but have still have the 1.0 Rules and books.
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dtgreene: There are a few different series of games. Within a series, you should play the games in order.

For example, the Pool of Radiance series:
1. Pool of Radiance
[Hillsfar goes here, but is optional.]
2. Curse of the Azure Bonds
3. Secret of the Silver Blades
4. Pools of Darkness

That's one series.

There's also the Savage Frontier series:
1. Gateway to the Savage Frontier
2. Treasures of the Savage Frontier

And, of course, there's the Eye of the Beholder series.

Each series is separate from the others, but the games within a series should be played in order.

I could add that most of the Infinity Engine games (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale) also take place in the Forgotten Realms setting, and BG1 is meant to be played before BG2.
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Xarwyyn: Thanks!

I have played through BG1 & 2 some years ago. AND some EOB, but I trying to play through games anew and wasn't sure if there was any continuity of story line. The original FR D&D games I played when I was younger. Giving away my age but have still have the 1.0 Rules and books.
My exwife stole all my books up to 3.5, bit hard to DM without books...
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dtgreene: There are a few different series of games. Within a series, you should play the games in order.

For example, the Pool of Radiance series:
1. Pool of Radiance
[Hillsfar goes here, but is optional.]
2. Curse of the Azure Bonds
3. Secret of the Silver Blades
4. Pools of Darkness

That's one series.

There's also the Savage Frontier series:
1. Gateway to the Savage Frontier
2. Treasures of the Savage Frontier

And, of course, there's the Eye of the Beholder series.

Each series is separate from the others, but the games within a series should be played in order.

I could add that most of the Infinity Engine games (Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale) also take place in the Forgotten Realms setting, and BG1 is meant to be played before BG2.
Additionally, while the Savage Frontier and Eye of the Beholder games can be played through with a single party pretty well, do not expect to play the original (Pool) series through with the same squad. Indeed, it's likely only a couple of characters are going to take the ride all the way through to the end, because -

* Paladin and Ranger don't become available until Curse and there are significant advantages to both (Paladins can, depending on game and version, usually afford you the ability to personally command NPC party members; Rangers are probably even more useful, because of the damage bonus against Giants - the Fire Giants in Pools make Rangers especially to be thankful for. There's also the fact that Rangers are the only ones who can dual class to Magic-User and be able to cast spells in armour, although the usefulness of this deteriorates with time due to Bracers and stacked Protection items being in the long run superior, and shields/helms do not count as "armour" for purposes of restricting casting).

* Also Fighters don't transfer well from Pool of Radiance unless you have a hex editor handy, due to the bug that scrambles Strength scores when an imported character that had 18(#) Strength is subjected to any Strength altering magic. (The +1 Con from the Manual of Bodily Health in Pool seems to have problems as well if you try to combine the 19 - or 20 for a Dwarf - Con with the +1 Con/-1 Cha girdle in Curse, FWIW)

(Note: I'm still not sure if this glitch continues with a character through the series if not triggered - i.e., if you import a Fighter with 18(#) Strength from Pool into Curse, then carry through Curse without any alteration in Str, then import the same character into Secret, will they still glitch when they first receive Str altering magic? Probably easy enough to test, as a character could simply be imported into Curse and then on to Secret without having to actually play any of Curse first. Heck, they might still have more XP than a fresh Secret character - Pool fighter cap is 8 so up to 250,000 XP can be meaningfully transferred and fresh Secret toons only get about 200,000 ...)

* Because of the very low level limits in Pool and the fact that you start from scratch, the demihuman multiclasses are especially useful there; however, apart from Fighter/Thief and Fighter/Mage/Thief combos, they lose steam rapidly afterwards due to level limits. The Cleric/Fighter/Mages that dominate the Krynn games are almost worthless beyond Pool, as Half-Elves (the only race able to do this combo in the FR games) are capped at a mere 5/8/8! Even Fighter/Mage/Thieves are limited - Half-Elves can only reach 8th level Mage, and while Elves can reach 11th, the fact that they cannot be raised from the dead becomes a major liability in Pools where instant kill effects become frequent (in Curse and Secret, they largely come from poison and petrification effects which elves can still be cured of, but in Pools a lot are straight instant kills). Fighter/Thieves can be useful in all games (especially Dwarves, who can have 18(99) Strength which dovetails well with backstab, although the 17 Dex cap means a 5% greater vulnerability to being hit compared to other races, and level draining undead are frequent in both PoR and PoD), but the Fighter import issue remains a problem unless you start a new one in Curse or later.

Ultimately, it's likely that the only characters that come all the way through all four games are probably single classed human spellcasters (which you probably are only going to have 1 or 2 of in your initial Pool party ...).
high rated
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Xarwyyn: Hi,

I think I have most of the Forgotten Realms games. Is there any order to play them? Does it matter?

Thanks
I asked the same question, because I'm new with these games and I've just made some research to make a plan. In general I believe that it always make sense to play in chronological order and to stick with one series at the time.

Here are the series and the order within them. I hope there will be some suggestions. Please, keep in mind that the order is made for a person who wants to play all of the games from D&D/FR collections.

Forgotten Realms: The Archives - Collection Two
• Hillsfar (1989)
◕ Pool of Radiance series
• Pool of Radiance (1988)
• Curse of the Azure Bonds (1989)
• Secret of the Silver Blades (1990)
• Pools of Darkness (1991)
• Forgotten Realms Unlimited Adventures (1993)
◕ Savage Frontier series
• Gateway to the Savage Frontier (1991)
• Treasures of the Savage Frontier (1992)

Forgotten Realms: The Archives - Collection One
• Eye of the Beholder I (1991)
• Eye of the Beholder II (1991)
• Eye of the Beholder III (1993)

Forgotten Realms: The Archives - Collection Three
• Dungeon Hack (1993)
• Menzoberranzan (1994)

Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft Series
• Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession
• Ravenloft: Stone Prophet

Dungeons & Dragons: Krynn Series
◕ Dragonlance series
• Champions of Krynn (1990)
• Death Knights of Krynn (1991)
• The Dark Queen of Krynn (1992)

Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Sun Series
• Dark Sun: Shattered Lands (1993)
• Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager (1994)

Al-Qadim: The Genie's Curse (1994)
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ciemnogrodzianin: Forgotten Realms: The Archives - Collection Two
If you want to play the games in chronological order, I'd put the Krynn series after the Pool of Radiance series, either before or after the Savage Frontier series, and I'd play Unlimited Adventures last, since it's independent, not really part of a series, it's the most recent and advanced of the Gold Box releases (1993), and also because you can't really "play through" or "complete" it. It's first and foremost a tool to create your own Gold Box campaigns with or play those created by others. It does come with an official campaign you could play through, "Heirs to Skullcrag", but that campaign pales in comparison to the other Gold Box games and a lot of the user made content for UA. It's more of a demo campaign to show what you can do with UA and to encourage future module creators to take a peak inside it with the editor, in order to see how things are done in UA. If playing through this campaign is the only thing you plan to do with UA, you won't really experience what it was and still is about. The user made content on the other hand could keep you busy for years.
Post edited April 15, 2017 by Leroux
It's worth noting, since the Krynn, Ravenloft, and Dark Sun series were mentioned, that Forgotten Realms, Krynn (DragonLance), Ravenloft, and Dark Sun are each mutually exclusive settings. I agree to place Krynn after Forgotten Realms as far as play order goes though, but you aren't going out of sequence if you don't.
Post edited April 15, 2017 by codefenix
Wow. Was doing a google search and found this thread I posted in 2017.
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Xarwyyn: Wow. Was doing a google search and found this thread I posted in 2017.
You spent a lot of time in the Forgotten Realms, apparently.