Close
Close
Advanced Search

FR2 Moonshae (1e)Click to magnify
Quick Preview
/gs_flipbook/flip.php?xml=/demo_xml/16803.xml&w=500&h=337
Full‑size Preview
https://watermark.drivethrurpg.com/pdf_previews/16803-sample.pdf

FR2 Moonshae (1e)

ADD TO WISHLIST >

The Moonshae Isles are alive with AD&D game campaigns opportunities.

Characters of virtually all the standard classes and levels can find adventure and challenge in some part of the islands.

Product History

FR2: "Moonshae" (1987), by Douglas Niles, is the second book in the "FR" series of sourcebooks for the Forgotten Realms. It was released in November 1987.

UK Origins. In the mid '80s, TSR UK was producing creative products such as the "UK" adventures, Imagine magazine, and a variety of other RPG supplements. Around this time, they decided to also create a "British Dragonlance" — a new, epic multimedia setting. Like the original Dragonlance, it would be supported by both novels and adventures. Douglas Niles was in charge of the novel and he got it partly written before TSR UK's creative department was shut down in 1986 — which left the novel without a home.

Meanwhile, Jeff Grubb and Ed Greenwood were preparing the Forgotten Realms for publication by the main TSR offices in Wisconsin; they wanted novels to support that line, but didn’t have time to write them on their own because they were working on the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (1987) and the impending line of “FR” sourcebooks. As Niles' partly written novel was traditional (Celtic) fantasy, it was a pretty good fit for the Realms.

Grubb and Greenwood threw out the Moonshae Islands that had been used in Greenwood's own Realms campaign and replaced them with the setting of Niles’ book. The novel, Darkwalker on Moonshae (1987), was then released as one of the first two Forgotten Realms products in May 1987 — alongside the compiled I3-5: Desert of Desolation (1987) adventure; it was so early in the release of the Realms that the novel didn't even carry the Forgotten Realms logo on the cover for its first printing!

But the novel was just the first step …

Continuing the "FR" Sourcebooks. Since the Moonshae Isles was one of the earliest areas revealed in the Realms, it made sense to detail that region in an "FR" sourcebook too.

FR2: “Moonshae" was more typical of the "FR" series than its predecessor, FR1: "Waterdeep and the North" (1987). That's because it describes a much wider area of land — the Moonshae Isles — as opposed to a single city. Within the Isles, the sourcebook covers topics like geography, economy, and religion. It also details several specific regions. The Known World "GAZ" sourcebooks (1987-1991), which preceded the "FR" series by several months, probably suggested some of these topics.

Most of the material is "fluff", with very occasional game crunch. Several Realms staples also appear in “Moonshae”, including selections from "Elminster's Notes" and occasional internal use of the larger Realms maps, cut down to describe specific areas.

Expanding the Realms. The original Moonshae Isles as imagined by Ed Greenwood was an archipelago of hundreds of islands. Most contained nothing more than rural villages, though the archipelago had a few self-styled lords as well. Greenwood referenced these Isles is some of his early Dragon articles, beginning with "More Pages from the Mages" in Dragon #69 (January 1983), where he talks about a Moonshae sage who bought a tome.

Niles' Moonshae is instead shaped a bit like the British Isles — complete with a historic British culture and invading Northmen. This Moonshae Isles became canon for TSR's Realms setting. Its introduction underlined the fact that the Forgotten Realms was going to be the joint creation of many writers, something that Jeff Grubb had promised in Dragon #119 (March 1987).

Future History. The Moonshae Isles got considerable attention in the '80s and the '90s thanks to the Moonshae Trilogy (1987-1989) and the Druidhome Trilogy (1992-1993), both by Niles. There was also one official adventure in this era: FA1: "Halls of the High King" (1990).

Much more recently, eight Moonshae Isles Regional Adventures appeared for the Living Forgotten Realms (2008-2010), while additional 4e material was published in Dragon #405 (November 2011) and Dungeon #196 (November 2011).

About the Creators. Niles actually worked on two settings that were later brought into the Forgotten Realms, the other being Bloodstone Pass (1985-1988). In 1987, Niles wrote the first Moonshae novel, this Moonshae sourcebook, the third Bloodstone adventure, and a complete RPG: Top Secret/S.I. (1987). Whew!

About the Product Historian

The history of this product was researched and written by Shannon Appelcline, the editor-in-chief of RPGnet and the author of Designers & Dragons - a history of the roleplaying industry told one company at a time. Please feel free to mail corrections, comments, and additions to shannon.appelcline@gmail.com.

We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.

pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
 
 Customers Who Bought this Title also Purchased
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif
Reviews (3)
Discussions (12)
Customer avatar
Andrew M July 07, 2023 7:08 pm UTC
I'd love to get a POD version.
Customer avatar
Matthew U April 20, 2023 5:53 pm UTC
PURCHASER
How is this not available in POD yet?
Customer avatar
Lucas D March 18, 2023 1:40 am UTC
i know next to nothing on the moonshae isles but i really want to learn more! please make a POD!
Customer avatar
Michael R January 19, 2023 11:37 pm UTC
One Vote for POD.
Customer avatar
Taylor O December 13, 2022 3:47 am UTC
Print on demand.
Customer avatar
David D April 12, 2022 4:10 pm UTC
We really need a print on demand of this book :)
Customer avatar
Daniel R February 11, 2022 9:00 pm UTC
POD please
Customer avatar
Heath P December 18, 2021 1:53 pm UTC
Please make this available for POD.
Customer avatar
Petr S July 22, 2021 7:01 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Little problem - on page 50 is missing beggining of "Elminster´s Notes". Didn´t appeared anywhere?
Customer avatar
Nicholas P July 13, 2021 10:09 pm UTC
POD please
Customer avatar
Simon W April 05, 2021 4:14 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Please make a Print On Demand option for this book. :)
Customer avatar
John H March 05, 2017 6:28 pm UTC
Does this come with a scan of the map?
Reply
Customer avatar
Simon W April 05, 2021 4:15 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Yes. :)
Narrow Results
$ to $
 Follow Your Favorites!
NotificationsSign in to get custom notifications of new products!
 Recent History















Product Information
Platinum seller
Author(s)
Pages
64
Edition
1.0
ISBN
0-88038-494-8
Publisher Stock #
TSR 9217
File Size:
41.92 MB
Format
Scanned image Click for more information
Scanned image
These products were created by scanning an original printed edition. Most older books are in scanned image format because original digital layout files never existed or were no longer available from the publisher.

For PDF download editions, each page has been run through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software to attempt to decipher the printed text. The result of this OCR process is placed invisibly behind the picture of each scanned page, to allow for text searching. However, any text in a given book set on a graphical background or in handwritten fonts would most likely not be picked up by the OCR software, and is therefore not searchable. Also, a few larger books may be resampled to fit into the system, and may not have this searchable text background.

For printed books, we have performed high-resolution scans of an original hardcopy of the book. We essentially digitally re-master the book. Unfortunately, the resulting quality of these books is not as high. It's the problem of making a copy of a copy. The text is fine for reading, but illustration work starts to run dark, pixellating and/or losing shades of grey. Moiré patterns may develop in photos. We mark clearly which print titles come from scanned image books so that you can make an informed purchase decision about the quality of what you will receive.
pixel_trans.gif
Original electronic format
These ebooks were created from the original electronic layout files, and therefore are fully text searchable. Also, their file size tends to be smaller than scanned image books. Most newer books are in the original electronic format. Both download and print editions of such books should be high quality.
File Last Updated:
January 14, 2014
This title was added to our catalog on January 14, 2014.