As a DM, I like the Faerun setting a great deal. There is a great deal of diversity, a large amount of background information both in books and online, and it is a high magic setting, which gives good players a lot of options. Any sourcebooks for this setting I would expect to remain true on these three points, and I believe Dragons of Faerun meets this expectation. If that's your expectation for this book, read further. But if you're looking for a numbers heavy book with lots of new monsters, spells and prestige classes, you'll want to pass on this book. There are stat blocks for some of the dragons, a few new monsters are included, there is a modest spell list, and two mini-adventures can be found within the contents of this book, but while that sounds like a lot, when you actually have the book in your hands, you'll realize that it's not anywhere near as much as it sounds.
Introduction
This section gives a brief overview of the book, how a campaign revolving around dragons (dracocentric) can be run, and what other sources are needed to use this resource. If you've read the Year of the Rogue Dragons trilogy by Richard Lee Byers, you'll find that this section gives a brief nod on how to have a campaign that follows a similar story path. Nothing really to note in this section, as it is the introduction.
Chapter 1: True Dragons of the World
This chapter options with an introduction to the history of dragons within Faerun. As the introduction points out, the history now interleaves the Dragonfall War from Races of the Dragon of the conflict between Bahamut and Tiamat (which has actually been a story line since first edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons). There is coverage of some of the true dragons around Faerun, incuding some stat blocks. I'm not very keen on this new stat block method of recording monsters. It takes up a lot of space, in my opinion, and the information isn't as easy to read as the previous Forgotten Realms stat block (once you get used to it). I do like the additional information the section provides on each dragon: hoard, lair, tactics, known allies and enemies, schemes, what you can learn from a knowledge check, adventure hooks, and what the dragon did during the Rage of Dragons. There is a lot of interesting background information that can be integrated into a Faerunian campaign. In addition, some of the lairs are detailed, including maps.
However, I'm going to issue a word of caution here. While all of it seems useful, how much can actually be incorporated into a campaign is hard to say. If a DM uses too many dragons the world starts to seem like Ansalon of DragonLance. Also, if a DM is not running a dracocentric campaign, a lot of the adventure hooks are ones which have to led into. Given that dragons tend to be aloof creatures as presented in the literature, not many of the dragons have schemes which would likely involve an adventuring party. A good DM can probably mull over the information and tie it into his or her campaign, but don't expect to pull this book off the shelf with no preparation and use it "as is" without some difficulty.
Also, there does seem to be inconsistency in the write-ups. For instance, Tchazzar's hoard is said to contain the hammer of Ramman and there it is described as a +2 shocking burst thundering warhammer. However, his greatest archenemy, Alasklerbanbastos, has in his hoard the same hammer of Ramman, but it is described as a hammer of thunderbolts (an artifact). Two hammers of Ramman (which are clearly different in power) should have been caught.
Chapter 2: Cult of the Dragon
Information on the Cult of the Dragon has receive coveraged in Lords of Darkness, Faith and Pantheons (Wearers of Purple prestige class), and Champions of Ruin within the 3.0/3.5e Forgotten Realms literature. If you want basic breakdowns on typical Cult of the Dragon groups, refer to Lords of Darkness. If you want to get a bit more background on this group, Dragons of Faerun provides more fluff. History of the cult, its organization, and some of the cult cells are covered. There is also a mini-adventure called The Cliffs of Karthaut which is intended for 4-6 9th level characters. The mini-adventure is okay... I won't personally use it, but it was humorous to see a reference to Lovecraft's Dagon. Also, in the pages of the mini-adventure you'll find an update on the Wearer of Purple prestige class, which originally appeared in Faith and Pantheons.
Chapter 3: Tyranny of the Dragon Queen
Like the previous chapter, this one is a mix of fluff and mini-adventure. Tiamat's role in Unther is covered as is a brief write-up on the ntion of Threskel. There is a page and a half on the Church of Tiamat and then the rest of the chapter is left to the mini-adventure, The Altar of Scales, which is intended for four to six 13th-level characters. It's a straight-forward adventure... nothing really stood out that will knock your socks off. I was a little surprised that the guards for the temple were 4th level fighters but there needs to be a challenge for 13th level characters, and hordes of first-level warriors wouldn't do it.
Chapter 4: Orders of Dragonkind
Some of the orders of dragonkind around Faerun are covered in this aptly named chapter. The Blood of Morueme is interesting and allows for a new take on hobgoblins, one which should give lower to mid-level parties a new challenge. There is coverage of the Tchazzar's order, since he's a 12th level Dragon Ascendant (Draconomicon), making him immortal, and a new feat which allows clerics of his to get spells. The Talons of Justice, which appeared in the Year of Rogue Dragons trilogy, are also covered. Chapter 5: Dragon Lairs
The Draconomicon has all sorts of ways to make dragon lairs deathtraps, but this chapter gives a few new options, including a handful of monsters and a small amount of new spells. If you don't have Races of the Dragon, the dragonblood subtype is better explained than it is in Monster Manual IV.
Chapter 6: Dragon-Related Spells There are some nice dragonhunter type spells like Diminish Breath Weapon and Dragon Blight that would prove useful in a dracocentric campaign. In addition, there are epic spells which explain the mythals found over Waterdeep and what played a central part in the Year of Rogue Dragons trilogy storyline. Chapter 7: Magic Items
This chapter is on nothing but new items, but it does contain good writeups of armor, weapons, and miscellany, including several artifacts for those epic campaigns out there. Most of the items are generic and could be in any appropriate treasure hoard, but there are a few, like the crownring of Tchazzar, which are unique, even though they aren't artifacts. Also, there are new special abilities, Command and Fearsome, which can be applied to armor and shields. Both have uses in non-dragon campaigns and are a nice addition.
Chapter 8: New Dragons
The mercury dragon, steel dragon, and mist dragon appear in this section with new write-ups. None of these are new to experienced players, as all have appeared before (such as on the Wizards of the Coast site under Monster Mayhem ). The write-ups do give some indication of where the natural habitat for each dragon species is. Also, there is a sidebar that updates the brown, deep, and song dragons to 3.5e. There are enough dragons already in the literature that this is probably enough.
Appendix: Roll Call of Dragons
This is a nice addition to end the book: a list of all the dragons which have appeared in various Forgotten Realms products. However, the book indicates that there is more information available as a download from the Wizards of the Coast site. Indeed, this is the case. The download includes the fate of the dragon as well as the source where the dragon first appeared. You can grab the download here: Roll Call of Dragons .
Concluding Thoughts
I didn't spend any time talking about editing, typos, and spelling errors, but I was surprised at the number that I saw. I don't tend to keep track of such things, even during a review, because I am more focused on content. However, the fact that I *did* notice says there were too many for my comfort level. Do I think the errors distracted from the book? A bit, I think, but not greatly. Still, for a book that's retail US$29.99, those kinds of things should have been caught.
Which leads me to whether or not I think the book is worth the money... it's not a must buy, even for a Faerunian DM. There's good content in the book, but none of it strikes me as essential. Also, if you're looking for more than a fluff book, this will probably disappoint you. The mini-adventures are okay, but it takes some finesse to get them into a campaign not in the regions in question. The best part of the book is the background, but even if you're looking for that, you'll probably want to peruse the book at your favorite locale first, to see if you can apply it to your campaign. If you're the type that just likes reading the fluff, this book is probably worth your investment. While I won't use a lot of the material, I will gain some pleasure reading it.
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