Hi folks! Welcome to the City of Splendors campaign discussion thread. I'm really looking forward to running this campaign for you all, and I hope you're all excited about playing it. Before we jump into gameplay, I want to spend just a little bit of time discussing your characters, who already knows who and how you met, and the setting, including what you're all doing right now, and some of the current events happening in the North and Waterdeep. So please, check in with your aliases and feel free to start discussions or ask questions along the lines of the above topics. I'll be prompting things a little, and once we've got a general sense of who we are, how we know each other, and what's happening, I'll make the first post on the gameplay thread and we can get started!
In addition, I just want to put forth a few expectations.
Firstly, as mentioned, for the good of the game I'll ask you all to try to post at least once a day, in general. If you can't, let me know and I can keep things moving, no problem.
Second, I intend this to be a long-running campaign, however, this isn't my first spin around the block, and I know that sometimes, for various reasons, people want or need to bail out. That's okay, it happens. But please drop me a line if you can't play anymore, don't just disappear into the ether! Also, I'd ask that everyone at least commit to the first, short section of the campaign, which will get the party to Waterdeep. That should coincide with reaching level 2, so I'd think that's only a month or two of play, or even less.
All in all, communication is the key. Let me know if you have any problems with anything. If it's about rules or one of my decisions, post it here rather than the gameplay thread, or message me directly if you'd rather.
As mentioned, the first section is a bit planned out, but once you reach Waterdeep I will mostly just be dangling a multitude of things in front of you and responding to what you go after. Most of you have things in your backstory that I'll give you the opportunity to explore too. If you want to create more of your backstory as we go in order to explore personal storylines, tell me here, and I'll work out a way to make it part of the narrative.
Aaaand go!
Reynwyn checking in! First, please let me say thank you for selecting me to be part of this campaign. I am very flattered considering all the competition we faced!
I'm liking the group we have here, a nice balance it seems! As far as knowing anyone else from the group before we kick things off, Reynwyn is pretty chill and fluid when it comes to most things. The one area where he is obstinate is his perceived destiny and furthering the research of his journal. Although, he is going to be pretty tight-lipped about that for quite sometime. I would be open to developing a little pre-campaign partnership/friendship.
As far as Reynwyn's backstory, it is basically his entire reason for heading towards Waterdeep. I'm definitely interested in expanding that out and working more into the relationship between him and the Raven Queen. As well as to her machinations in Faerun and the repercussions that may follow with other deities and their followers when they take notice of her.
Yes, the Raven Queen is definitely something we'll explore throughout the campaign. I forgot that at this stage, Kelemvor is still AWOL; at the start of play, Cyric is still the god of the dead. So that should be fun!
Oh snap, I didn't even think about that... Oh Cyric, you sly devil. I may need a little brushing up on the Time of Troubles affair. Most of my Forgotten Realms experience was the 3.0/3.5 variety. My 2E group was mostly homebrew or Greyhawk setting.
I'm planning on playing it kind of loose when it comes to the abilities and such that I'm going to select for Reyn as we progress in levels, but I do know that he will probably be utility spell inclined, but the general theme for him will be shadowy/ice/dead style powers; for example Armor of Shadows and I'm really digging Chronicle of the Raven Queen...
You can place a corpse’s hand or similar appendage on your Book of Shadows and ask one question aloud. After 1 minute, the answer appears written in blood in your book. The answer is provided by the dead creature’s spirit to the best of its knowledge and is translated into a language of your choice. You must use this ability within 1 minute of a creature’s death, and a given creature can only be asked one question in this manner.
Also, we never really need to worry about setting a watch when we are outside of town during the night because of my Sentinel Raven! He does not require any sleep and can awaken me as a bonus action as long as he is within 100'.
Piety, reporting as ordered!
Also, I shut down for 4 hours a day, but I am still perfectly aware of my surroundings, so I will be able to help with guard duty then as well.
Hi there Piety, glad to have you on board.
Here are some recent events, so you can get a feel for what's going on.
Current events:
• Last month the Citadel of Many Arrows (Citadel Felbarr on the map), under control of King Obould's orcs of Many Arrows, came under seige by a 150,000-strong horde of orcs.
• Also last month, the Waterdhavian Navy crushed the fleet of the Black Admiral's Sword Coast pirates. The Black Admiral and all his major lieutenants remain at large.
Recent history:
• Six years ago (329 NR/1361 DR) the land of Maztica, far to the west, beyond the Moonshae Isles and even Evermeet, was discovered by pilgrims of Helm. Two years ago (333 NR/1365 DR) trade was established between Waterdeep and the New World.
• Seven years ago (328 NR/1360 DR), far to the east, the Tuigan invaded Faerun under the leadership of its Khahan. King Azoun IV of Cormyr led a coalition of nations and defeated the Khahan, forcing the Tuigan horde to retreat.
• Nine years ago (326 NR/1358 DR), the gods walked Faerun during the Time of Troubles. A number of gods were slain, and two mortals rose to take the place of some of the dead deities: Cyric, the Prince of Lies, and Mystra (formerly Midnight), the Goddess of Magic.
• Ten years ago (325 NR/1357 DR) Mithral Hall (to the east of Mirabar) was re-established in the North by King Bruenor Battlehammer.
More news at eleven.
To add to the recent history above:
I'll gather all that stuff under a tab on the Campaign Info page to go with maps and the NPC roster.
Revjak of the Elk strides down from the north!
Thank you, GM Hewy, for the welcome. I'm looking forward to this game. Could you open the gameplay thread if only so we can dot in it? It would make keeping track of this game that much easier.
Revjak is a huge man who wears little but some furs and tattoos. A glaive of dwarven craftsmanship is his main weapon and he is very adept at its use. Revjak is quite personable. He talks a lot about his homeland near the Reghed glacier, especially his people in the Tribe of the Elk. He recounts friends and foes of the tribe from years back as if they just did their memorable deeds. He is not afraid of hard work, volunteering to chip in for whatever physical labour needs to be done. He seems bemused by the idea of being paid to fight, but he isn't complaining! If asked about why he is south, he will say that "visions of the shamans lead me to Waterdeep".
Carric, reporting in. Thank you very much for the selection. I am truly looking forward to this one. We have a great group of players on hand.
Carric is tall and wiry. He is the quintessential Elven Ranger with a militaristic bent. He served as a scout in the Silvered Knights of Silverymoon for many years. He now heads to Waterdeep and the Sword Coast to satisfy his wanderlust.
So the only real thing you guys need to do is start spitballing about who else you might know, and how you might know them. As for what's happening...
Revjak would have looked to make straight for Waterdeep. So I imagine he would have first encountered the others if they were wandering around a fair bit. Carric seems an obvious possibility. Revjak has no love of orcs and is a reasonably skilled woodsman.
The Current Situation:
Kehlann Majarra is a Waterdhavian nobleman, the second son of Lord Kelthul Majarra, and in charge of the family's business interests in the City of Splendors. His elder brother Axor now lives with his wife in Mirabar, where the Majarra family owns a number of silver mines, and Kehlann has been in Mirabar trading and visiting his brother. Having taken on some valuable cargo in Mirabar, he has hired the lot of you to escort him and his caravan of wagons back to Waterdeep for the princely sum of 20gp each.
Kehlann is an affable man in his early 30s. He gives the impression of a fun-loving man who has had to "grow up" in order to do his duty for his family. He treats his employees with respect and familiarity, and often strikes up conversations with you and the other guards about your lives, your work, and your interests. He also travels with his beautiful Majarra lute (the Majarras are renowned for their instrument-making) and plays songs around the campfire at night, often spoiling his very competent playing with his less competent singing.
There are three other hired guards: Borric and Lavina, a young adventuring couple, and Gregor, a burly veteran of the road. All three are pleasant enough in their own way, though Gregor can be terse, particularly early in the morning. Kehlann's manservant Sillon, a very serious but kindly older man, completes the personnel.
No, just describing the current situation so you all know what's going on in a general sort of way. Then you can work it into how and why you're here.
Okay, just checking.
Edit:
I don't see Revjak having an issue with anyone there, unless anyone is foolish enough to insult the Tribe of the Elk or other Reghedmen in his presence. Terse isn't so bad in itself in his reckoning. He would especially like Kehlann's cheerful manner, even if he doesn't understand his ways.
I would imagine that Carric could have met up with Revjak as he came down from the north, and they both could have read the ad for the caravan escort in a local tavern while enjoying a few ales. They would have both relished the opportunity to head west to the City of Splendors.
Sounds good! Revjak would ask Carric if he knows anything of the City. Revjak only really knows for sure that it contains many people and that he must go there.
Yep, makes total sense that you two wilderness goers would team up.
@GM
Will you be using the rules variant "Skills with different abilities", noted near the top of the player's handbook, p175?
I think it would make sense that for straightforward displays of sheer might, Strength would make more sense for Intimidation checks for Revjak then Charisma. The rule even notes a barbarian using "a display of raw strength" as an example of an alternate ability.
Sure, on a case-by-case basis. If you describe it that way, just ask, as I might not think of it, but I'm totally open to that.
Cheers, that sound fair. It wouldn't make sense for more subtle uses of Intimidate, so case-by-case is fine by me.
Look forward to traveling with you all, I'm sure it'll be fun.
Signey is slender, well dressed and graceful, while her armour is tailored and elegant, she prefers not to wear it unless on the road or expecting danger (along with the rest of her adventuring gear)
Signey has been struck by a little wanderlust, though hasn't strayed far from the sword coast, and is now looking to return to Waterdeep - she sees little harm in making a little coin on the way, especially since a caravan is less likely to be attacked than a lone young lady.
Signey will flirt shamelessly with Kehlann, while making it clear she has no interest in anything further, she will also talk easily with the other guards. The manservant makes her nervous and she avoids him whenever she can do so without being obvious about it. He feels a little too much like a disapproving parent or teacher.
She's intrigued by Carric, but a little intimidated by Revjak
Hi Signey, good to have you in the team. So Signey's been travelling solo up till this point?
Reynwyn and Piety, do you guys want to have met each other already?
Revjak and Carric, I guess you two have probably slaughtered some orcs together?
I feel like we're almost ready to go...
Unless orcs have stopped being a threat on the roads, or were in overwhelming numbers, I imagine that the woodland duo would have gone after them. Carric, your thoughts?
Absolutely...Favored Enemy and spent many years defending Siverymoon from those scum! :-) read...deep-seated hatred.
To Revjak, they are a significant enemy, having often threatened his tribe. So him and Carric can swap stories of driving them off!
I think Piety would be a very interesting traveling companion for Reynwyn! He would definitely be interested in hearing all about his story and learning about any insight Piety could offer into the history of his time.
As far as Reyn goes, he is tall and slender like most half-elves with long, raven-colored hair that hints at his moon elf heritage. His eyes are a greyish-blue with a small amount of golden flecks that shimmer when the light hits them at just the right angle. He is quite handsome and has a look of confidence about him at nearly all times, his lips more often than not turned upward into somewhat of a smirk. And while his initial appearance might mislead some to believe him arrogant, he is not... just confident.
Most of his adventuring gear appears fairly worn and used; the leather armor is stamped with the mark of the Daggerford militia, same with the crossbow attached to his backpack. His clothing is of finer make though and he also carries with him a finely crafted boomerang tucked into his belt.
*EDIT*
Hmmm, I just found Mirabar on the Swordcoast map. I'm trying to think of how Reyn would have ended up that far north when his destination was likely going to be Waterdeep. Any thoughts, DM?
Probably not solo, she's not confident enough to travel alone, but she's not been interested enough in her prior travelling companions to stick around, unless anyone wants to have met her before...
I am fine with Piety travelling with Reynwyn. Do you have any ideas on how they met?
I'll try to come up with something :)
Edit: While you were hoping for more, you were buoyed to find more validation of your uncle's research from a third party. The monks there venerate the Raven, but seem to have little in the way of genuine understanding of the Raven Queen per se. They do, however, recall your uncle and his visit, and an older monk remembers that Jareth took two volumes of Valas' with him when he left.
@Piety, I think we've established that Reynwyn was up in the Spine of the World recently, and made his way down to Mirabar. Let me try this on you. The Black Raven tribe of Uthgardt barbarians live up that way, and if you can see yourself in the foothills of the Spine, you may have been set upon by a small group of them. It was six to one, and while you had laid out a couple of them and were making a good show of it, you were inevitably going to succumb to the weight of numbers. Enter Reynwyn, with his raven animal companion and his powers of the Raven Queen. He may have been able to impress them enough with his command of their totem and managed to gain some reverence, or at least respect, out of them. He convinced them to quit the fight, and, entranced by the obviously magical creature before him, made friends with you and offered to travel together for mutual protection. You arrived in Mirabar together, and both of you having an interest in reaching Waterdeep and its libraries and sages, you both took the job with Kehlann Majarra as a way to travel and get paid while doing it.
All up for change however you like, but a starting point perhaps? You may need to think about why you were up there in the first place.
@Signey, given your backstory, you don't really have to have travelled yet at all. You could have grown up in Mirabar, and now that you've found your goddess you're ready to spread your wings and see the world.
Of course, you could have travelled, and you could have come from anywhere, including Waterdeep. If you don't want to be a Mirabar native, let me know where you came from. Then the question becomes: why have you started travelling? To see the world? To spread the good word of Sharess (maybe even try to start up a shrine or temple)? Or is there something at home that you're running away from (like an ex that's bad news, or a long-term enemy that wants you ruined, if not dead)?
Apart from where you come from, you don't really need to decide any of this right this minute; feel free to make it up and add it in to the story when and as you like.
Also, you've chosen the Actor feat... if you go up a level or three and find that it's completely useless (ie you've basically never used it), I'd be willing for you to swap it out. I really like that you've gone for a social kind of feat, but I don't want you to feel that it was a complete waste. And if you've never used it, it's pretty much like you've never had it!
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I've found an article of combat tips for beginning players. A lot of the advice seems to be widely applicable to other D&D editions or Pathfinder, but someone might find it useful for ideas.
Edit: And a list of guides for 5th edition in general. There looks to be social stuff mentioned under the general character creation spoiler, and feat analysis. Could be handy!
Well, I'm super keen to get started, but I want to make sure you're all happy with what's going on, so I may make an introductory first post on the gameplay thread that you can start to respond to, but if anyone wants to keep discussing background stuff we can do that before we get into the real nitty-gritty of gameplay.
I've found an article of combat tips for beginning players. A lot of the advice seems to be widely applicable to other D&D editions or Pathfinder, but someone might find it useful for ideas.
Edit: And a list of guides for 5th edition in general. There looks to be social stuff mentioned under the general character creation spoiler, and feat analysis. Could be handy!
Good work Revjak!
At this stage, if anyone wants to fiddle with their crunch (perhaps due to advice in the guides above) I'm cool with that for the next week or so, so long as it's not changing the essence of your character. Just let me know.
I am ready to move forward with my new companion, Revjak. Let's get everyone else together.
Hear, hear!
One very important question... Do you pronounce it Rev-jack or Rev-yak?
That is a very good question. I think Rev-yak is more apt.
Would the monks have had any inclination as to Uncle Jareth's destination from there? Also, would the Black Raven tribe have any connection to the Raven Queen at all? Or would the name be more of a coincidence and they just happen to be very impressed by Reyn's powers?
I am also ready to get started. Piety and I can work out the details as we move along I think.
Thanks for those guides, Revjak. Looking over the ritual guide has made me reconsider my 5th level invocation, since I'm the only arcane-based character in the party. I'm definitely going to snag Book of Ancient Secrets so that way I can start snagging ritual spells from all over the place! I can focus on those utility spells that are great to have for adventuring parties.
As for the barbarians, when Valas the half-drow appeared to the Black Ravens they were taken with his aspect of the Raven Queen, just like they were with you. The monks suggest that Valas founded the monastery there because the barbarians respected him and saw him as kin. They continue to protect the monks to this day, even though they don't seem to have any direct connection to the Raven Queen. However, as the Black Raven is their totem, the monks say the possibility that she watches them and influences them cannot be fully discounted.
Gameplay thread is live, folks! Jump in at your leisure.
Also, I couldn't help myself... I got five of the other applicants for this game rounded up for a campaign in Shadowdale. Consider them your sister party. At some point, if both games continue, you all may meet up, or even switch up into two different parties. So feel free to follow along with their adventures if you like. They got a much bigger first post than you did, but it's not the size that matters...
@Reynwyn: You're welcome and I'm glad they turned out useful.
@GM Hewy: Ah right! If you feel up to running an additional campaign, I have no complaints!
I have no problems with you starting up a second group! There were a lot of amazing applicants, so I can understand that feeling.
Question for you, DM, about the Sentinel Raven. The ability states that while the raven is perched upon your shoulder that it grants Darkvision for 30'. So would that mean that the raven itself would have Darkvision out to 30' when not perched? If so, I think Jareth would be flying 25' in the air ahead of the caravan as a sort of advanced scout around 200' ahead of the caravan with specific instructions to return immediately should it spot any movement or creatures around or on the road ahead. If it does not have darkvision, it will likely just be perched upon Reynwyn's shoulder.
@Reynwyn: That is an excellent question. I'll look into it.
Reynwyn/GM: I am fine with the proposed "Met in the mountains" scenario that you posted Hewy. It more or less works without one person being in another's debt.
@Reynwyn I don't think the raven has darkvision. It doesn't by the rules given, and the darkvision you receive seems to be part of a suite of bonuses you receive through your physical connection to the raven. I think when you're together you're both more powerful than just the sum of your parts.