Cormanthyr: Empire of Elves (Forgotten Realms Campaign)

Rating:
Summary: Free version on Wizards site: but softbound book is great
Review: Because this book is part of the 2nd edition stuff, Wizards of the Coast put the PDF up on their free downloads site at wizards.com ... which means you can legally read the book and see if it's something you want to purchase. It's easier to use in campaigns if you have the bound book, but the download is a great way to start.
Robynn
semberholme.com

Rating:
Summary: Free version on Wizards site: but softbound book is great
Review: Because this book is part of the 2nd edition stuff, Wizards of the Coast put the PDF up on their free downloads site at wizards.com ... which means you can legally read the book and see if it's something you want to purchase. It's easier to use in campaigns if you have the bound book, but the download is a great way to start.
Robynn
semberholme.com

Rating:
Summary: The Elves' past can come alive but requires work
Review: Cormanthyr: Empire of the Elves is a great work just to read. Much like the boxed set, Netheril: Empire of Magic, Cormanthyr has a great deal of interesting history; additional spells and magics; wonderful places to visit; dangerous enemies; and a lot of DM work.

So you say you're not afraid of work? You're not afraid to go the distance, do some creative thinking, make something up that's different? Good! A DM is supposed to be creative. This work details the elves in a way that other products haven't, but to truly give Cormanthyr a life of its own for your adventurers, you'll need to do some serious grunt work. But you've done that before, right?

Rating:
Summary: You wanna talk about insight into elven culture? It's here.
Review: Cormanthyr: Empire of the Elves is one of the best references for elven culture I've found. This book goes over elven high magic, dualists they're like specialist mages only they study one school of magic AND it's opposite), how one becomes an elven high mage, and the laying of mythals. MYTHALS! (You can make your own Myth Drannor!) It also has background on the elven court on the main land of Faerun (as opposed to Evermeet), and lot of information on what clans mainland elves might belong to, plus the most prolific members of each listed clan. I just don't understand how someone could say that this book is anything but amazing!

Rating:
Summary: Cormanthyr - Land of Tolkeen's Silly, Dying Elves
Review: I don't know who at TSR seems to think that elves are little more than slothful, frivolous flakes, but it has permiated every aspect of their product line for a long time. This supplement goes into vast detail about how elves can't do anything quickly, it takes them years, even centuries of debate to figure out what to do about a problem; and how they view themselves as real "People" and everyone else is merely "Not People", racism in other words. They also seem to be a very LAWFUL society for a group that has been, since day 1 of AD&D, listed as CHAOTIC. It may even be worse than material written for Dragonlance's own band of of racist elves, the Silvanesti, who are listed as also being CG...yet they kept the Kagonesti Elves as slaves, because the Silvanesti believed they were superior...uh-huh, I see... The author talks a lot about magic, art and food, but says nothing about it! No concept of recipes for elven food, except that non-elves aren't advanced enough to taste the subtlties of it. That elves use waterfalls to shape their sculptures through erosion...hope they're not making these things for their human pals, because they will be years dead before it's finished. Plus the overriding concept that the elves are retreating and dying out seems to alude to the destruction of the fantasy element of the whole AD&D millieu, and that somehow magic is fading from the land. This book is not worth the money.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite D&D book.
Review: I love this book. I don't even like Forgotten Realms that much, but I saw the cover and looked through it and I was hooked. It has a lot of helpful tips about an elven campaign for those of you who are trying to create your own TSR world.

Rating:
Summary: Elves have pointy ears.
Review: If that is your general knowledge on elves, you need this book!

I bought this book myself because I felt I could have use of the background information for a campaign into Cormanthor and Myth Drannor. Well, this book is GREAT for that, but while reading it I got a sudden urge to bring a REAL capaign into this world.

THIS world, which is 700 years back in time from the official Forgotten Realms campaign year, is a world very much alive in the elven forests, a world of high magic in the elven cities, and a world about to see the darkest days.

In this Arcane Age product you will find all the help and information you need to start a true native Cormanthyran campaign, or a destination for unweary time-travelers.

Deatiling the Elven Mindset, the Elven Ages, Cormanthyr's Civilization, Magic of the People, Mythals and magical items, and places such as Myth Drannor - City of Song, Semberholme the Elven Court and the Tangled Vale, aswell as their histories!

But most importantly this book deals with people, the elves. I believe this book should be read by anyone planning on playing an elven character, whether as a player or as a DM's NPC, to fully understand what elves are all about. (DM's descretion needed if they plan a campaign in this age.)

Included is a map of Cormanthyr and one of Myth Drannor.

Nice artwork but could use more maps.

Warmly recommended with the accessory "The Fall of Myth Drannor" for adventure ideas, plots and campaigns leading to the Fall.

Have fun gaming!

Rating:
Summary: Another Arcane Age Campaign Setting
Review: This book is much better than the first Arcane Age Campaign "Netheril; Empire of Magic." But considering the major flaws of the original this is not saying much. This book corrects some of those flaws, but has a whole bunch of new ones to throw into the mix. This book basically is half campaign setting, one fourth anupdate of "The Complete Book of Elves," and one fourth Forgotten Realms history lesson. It tries to explain elven physology but often falls short, using pseudoscience to cover it's tracks. Elves apparently have a magic gland in their heads, which iis supposed to explain why elves live so long. It only became a running gag in my group. Over all this is a good book to buy, and an interesting campaign setting to play, but as with Netheril you WILL have to do a whole lot of fleshing out of the campaign setting to get it up and running. But is info of the elves and the subraces of elves is good. So I would suggest it if you are an elf nut, trying to learn more about history in Forgotten Realms, or wanting a very unique campaign setting with new rules to throw old school players off.