Hi folks,
Recently I came up with some ideas for a new FR campaign of my own that would involve characters into a great divine project that could change the face of Faerun forever.
Shar , the dark goddess , is said to have a growing cult that is slowly and secretly taking the reins of power in Halruaa. And what if the goddess gave birth to a mortal heir that could oneday take the crown in the magical realm ? Imagine what it could be if that would ever happen ?
the campaign should begin in the Dales and take the characters all the way to Halruaa , and involve many major groups from the realms as it is a major event that concerns everybody....
This campaign as I see it would have an atmosphere like "The Exorcist" movies serie , something scarry , thrilling and in a conspiracy tone , and I'm looking for any ideas and tips that would help me build this campaign and make it a memorable one.
So tell me please , what do you think of this idea , what are yours about it , etc.....All your help is very welcome !
Griselame
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An interesting idea, considering the effort WotC has put into the whole shadow weave thing and making Shar more of a threat.
Of course, you are also highlighting one of the problems I have with FR. In Toril you can't throw a dwarf 2 feet without hitting a spell caster, some powerful extraplanar being, or someone drawing on the power of a deity. The whole world has become less about PCs and more about the ridiculously powerful beings that comprise most everyone else.
Hi,
You know , I'm not too fond of epic , "gigantic ultra power levels from the dead" kind of stuff too......
I think this campaign should start at 1st level , and take the characters all the way to high-levels , BUT no way that they could one day fight with Shar on a direct level , I mean this campaign is set to be horrific and chilling , and all the questions shouldn't be answered to keep the tone of it.....
I was thinking also about corrupting some important NPC to fit the story , like I did for my "War in Cormyr" campaign where I had Vanderhagast assassinated by noble party that unleashed the war against the crown.....
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Sounds like a good idea to me. It is always a challenge dealing with the FR backstory, but a DM's gotta do what a DM's goota do if changes are necessary.
The Shining South is quite a good region for setting stuff in, as it is pretty neglected in terms of previous material. So you are less likely to clashes with established FR lore. Obviously, it's convenient for Halruaa too.
A good Dungeon adventure that was previously published was "The Harrowing" (#84, by Monte Cook) that deals with a child of a goddess and the child's machinations to carve out her own place in the Demonweb Pits (as she was a child of Lolth).
While not set in the Realms, it would probably be a good base idea for some machinations and ideas for a final confrontation with Shar's Child.
I also agree with what's been stated here - gradually work your players into the plot and don't do too much deus ex machina - gods smeared about the campaign around every corner, well, smears the campaign.
Hi again folks,
I just finished the first touches of my campaign and I wanted your opinion about it.
First of all , it's gonna be a HUGE campaign at least !!!
The first part of the campaign will be divided in 5 or 6 adventures , and there will be 3 parts total.Each part will involve a different bunch of adventurers , with different levels of power .I think it's quite nice to involve many characters from different horizons for this worldwide and threatening conspiracy. I have no idea at the moment for the 2nd part , but as the final part will take place in Halruaa and the area around , I could see a group of Halruaan magicians of extreme power - why not Halruaan elders ?
First part will take place in the Dales and should begin with 1st level adventurers that will reach level 6 at the end of the part . But before talking about characters , let's start with the global idea of the campaign (based on official FR timelines and events , but interpreted of course)
GENERAL PLOT
Shar has inhabited the essence of a mortal child , thanks to the troubled times of 1358 DR. In 1357 , Zalathorm the diviner and ruler of Halruaa became mad and had to leave the throne for a short period of time. Shar blinded his spirit thanks to his illness about all the forthcoming events , so when Zalathorm returned to business , he would never have any idea about what was secretly prepared.In 1358 , the greatest evoker of Halruaa gave birth to a daughter , and Shar invaded her body just before being pushed down to Toril by Ao's powers. She then revealed to her most loyal followers her plans and ordered them to slowly and secretly take the reins of power in the lands they are living in...
FIRST PART BACKGROUND
The cultists of Shar started their invasion , keeping the secret of the plan and preparing the ground for their future queen....
But some wizards from the Conclave in Halruaa discovered a part of the truth.They tried to gather as much information as they could, but they were betrayed , and quickly all of them disappeared in what seemed sad accidents , but of course "accidents" were caused by the followers of the dark goddess....
One of them , Halarak , just had the time to flee from Halruaa in 1365 and he took with him some proofs of the conspiracy that he magically protected and fragmented in three parts (a mirror , a painting , a book). The three items must be assembled through a process of enigma to reveal their real meaning , and Halarak dispatched the items on his way far away from Halruaa. Halarak was the master of a bottle djinn to who he gave the power to locate quite precisely the three elements
He gave the mirror to an Amnian merchant , the painting to a Rashemen wizard female and finally the book to an adventurer from the Dales , Cormac Gerren , of course not revealing the true nature of the gift to any of them....The three items had each a very different fate , but concerning the book , Cormac finally came back to the Dales and established himself in the southern part of Daggerdale after leaving some valuable or important items in Scardale city....
Halarak was finally captured and slain by the minions of Shar , and since then there has been a constant search for the items of Halarak ,even if they don't know precisely what they are....
At the same time , a drow sorcerer female , Ridlet'h , flew from the slaughter of her family in the Underdark and established herself in the dephts of Cormanthor. There she received the revelation of Shar and quickly became the head of the Dales' church of Shar.She's very powerful and counts on the success of the goddess to make herself the queen of a Dales kingdom. She's counting on her faithful lieutenants , a conclave of illythiad and a beholder , as well as a mortal half-drow assassin....
So 5 years passed , it's 1370 and the characters are living with Cormac Gerren and his wife Katylin.They can be sons , nephews or sons of some of Cormac closest friends....And finally the cult of Shar has discovered to who Cormac gave one of his items.....
So that's it for the moment. I would appreciate very much your comments (good or bad) , as well as all your ideas and tips to help me in this gargantuan creation.....
Have fun and long live D&D !!!
I think this campaign should start at 1st level , and take the characters all the way to high-levels , BUT no way that they could one day fight with Shar on a direct level , I mean this campaign is set to be horrific and chilling , and all the questions shouldn't be answered to keep the tone of it.....
wonderful ideas! i've been mulling over what i'd do if i got to run a game in Halruaa, and your ideas are helping me flesh out my own.
i'll agree 100%; FR can be too high-level if you allow everyone's fave ultra-NPC into the mix. the PCs are who the story should concern / be about. in the case of Faerun, you've got lots of canonical material you *can* use, but you don't *have* to use.
I was thinking also about corrupting some important NPC to fit the story , like I did for my "War in Cormyr" campaign where I had Vanderhagast assassinated by noble party that unleashed the war against the crown.....
i've recently had a revelation about running games in established settings: YOU MUST MAKE THE WORLD YOUR OWN. it's beginning to sound like you're on the right track to do just this.
the FR game i'm playing in is completely different than published / canonical Faerun because the GM has diverged his history of the Realms away from the published works pretty seriously. he's made his Realms his own; and it's a blast!
great ideas for the Exorcist-feel!! Shar is an under-used antagonist, IMO.
please keep us posted on how this set of scenarios works out! i'm really interested in hearing how your players react to this plot.
-peace is for the conquered!-
Just don't use the big NPCs at all. I'm getting ready to start a vast FR campaign, myself, starting in the Dales, and Elminster lives right next to where a war's going to break out. At least, according to the FRCS he does. SCREW THAT. Using any logic at all, he'd just pop over, fling a few spells around, and everything would be fine. Elminster's on a looong extraplanar vacation for me- or whatever else it takes to keep him, Drizzt, and almost every other NPC with a picture in the FRCS out of my game.
In an effort to help, since we're both planning sprawling campaigns set initially in the Dales, here's my outline so far- take whatever you want and make it yours! This is also the first FR campaign of any size that I've designed, and will be more or less a first true introduction to the setting for my players. speaking of my players, TURN BACK NOW.
THe campaign will start with the party traveling through southwest Mistledale, along the edge of old Sessrendale. The campaign actually starts when they wake up and realize that they've actually been captured by hobgoblin slavers (mized with some drow, maybe, or perhaps neogi). They'll break out and free the other captives and find their way back to a thorp called Sanctuary.
Sanctuary is, in truth, a temple of Lathamder that was abandoned when war came to Arabel. A few years ago, a priest of Ilmater fled the troubles in Scardale with his flock and found the old temple and converted it. The refugees set up houses and the place has become a little-known magnet for people seeking out of Scardale.
The Ilmater priest (who has no name yet) will ask the party to help stop the slavers and save Sanctuary, which will bring the party into conflict with a small Banite church, revelling in the return of their god and seeking to gain power in the region.
After defeating that temple, the party will be contacted by the residents of Peldan's Helm, who have been looking for heroes to deal with a local cult. Along the way, the party will pass the Barrowfields and do a little dungeon crawling for some loot, then get to Peldan's Helm and fight a cult devoted to Talos and evil elementals.
The PCs will discover Zhent involvement in the cult, and learn that the Black Network is attemtping to start a pincer maneuver to reclaim Daggerdale. So, off go the heroes to southern Daggerdale, where they fight some Zhents but then discover others in the Black Networks already dead. This is due to a former Cyricist who was thrown out of the organization when Bane returned. He and his allies are now wreaking their revenge on the Zhents. After dealing with both factions, the party is hailed as heroes and will have some downtime in Daggerdale.
The adventure picks back up when the a fire giant lord starts attacking from the Desertsmouth mountains. After a few battles with the evil army, things look bleak for Daggerdale. An elven wizard from Cormanthor who was aiding Daggerdale comes forward and tells the party that he knows of a cache of powerful ice magic in the High Ice, left by a Netherese lord centures ago. THis mage also has pagasi allies, so the party flies to the High Ice, does a long dungeon crawl for the sword, and comes back to fight to giant. With his death, peace returns for a while.
Until it's found out that the pyromancers formerly thought to be minions of the fire giant lord are actually members of the Cult of the Dragon, and served as intermediaries between the giant and his true master, a red dragon. Still equipped with their ice magic, the party sets off to defeat the dragon quickly in what is really just a way to introduce the name of a new foe: Tukhanos the blue dragon. Thukanos rallied an from the Anauroch and attempted to conquer Cormanthor 900 years ago, but the elves trapped him beneath the desert, scattered his army, and set wardens to guard the dragon. Now, it seems someone is trying to release him.
Enter the Harpers (trumpets, please). They, priests of Selune, and a group of elves from Cormanthor analyze ancient prophecies and send the party on a quest to retrieve an item from the plane of shadow. Ages past, a wizard mencaced Cormanthor from that plane, and the elves merely turned his stronghold into a prison for his army when he was defeated. This part should involve vampires and shadow dragons. I haven't developed it yet, but that will work into a prophecy that will tell the party what to do next. I HAVE worked out what that next step is.
The PCs will go south into Cormyr, into the Underdark below that land, and fight a group of devils that were responsible for the loss of Tilverton and were planning on repeating the disaster on Suzail.
With that threat defeated, the Harpers will relate that their agents across the Sea of Fallen Stars, in Aglarond, have found another aly of Tukhanos, a priestess of Shar. The party will sail across the sea and enter the dungeon to fight her... only to find out too late that the information was given to the Harpers on purpose. It's all a trap for the party. As they go through the dungeon, the priestess and her allies will watch the party and learn their tactics, then confront them with their exact weaknesses. In this time, the party will hear another name: Kor Zuth.
After defeating this unholy foe, the party should return to the Dales and tell their allies about this new name, and learn that Tukhanos, himself, was only a servitor of Kor Zuth. Kor Zuth was an archmage who left Netheril before its fall and sensed the coming disaster. He tried to save his people, and ending up selling his soul to the Baatezu to accomplish his goal. They tricked him, convinced him to become a lich, and of course Netheril still fell.
At this point, the party heads into the Anauroch to find the wardens left by the elves: a group of Bedine (inspired by the Arab guardians in The Mummy). The Bedine are fighting former allies of Kor Zuth and Tukhanos who have started drawing together again in anticipation of their old masters' reawakening.
The party needs an artifact held on another plane, so off they go, plane-hopping again, this time to a lower plane (maybe Gehenna?), where they will first have to traverse a Blood War battle field before finding the dungeon the artifact is held in. With that in their possession, they can return to the Material Plane, break into the ancient prison of the dragon and the lich, and destroy them and their most powerful minions (including the pit fiend Kor Zuth sold his soul to ages ago).
Phew! Sorry for the novella-post, but that's what I've got planned thus far. I hope you can find something in there to rip out and steal and make your own. I hope the campaign goes well. I was just reviewing the info on Halruaa the other night. :)
Hi,
Thanks Saern for this long message , you definitely have some ideas that are interesting in your campaign! How many adventures do you think will be necessary to complete your campaign ? And ah if you want some good ideas , check the Penumbra books like "7 cities" or "7 strongholds" , they're definitely worth the money for an idea-hungry DM !!!
As soon as my work evolves in the good way , I will tell you what's going on with it ! And I'm glad to see that you are too a fan of the Dales , that's my favourite region in the Realms so far !!!
Where do you come from , buddy ? I'm from Paris , France but I've been living in Dublin , Ireland , since last july.
Hi,
Thanks Saern for this long message , you definitely have some ideas that are interesting in your campaign! How many adventures do you think will be necessary to complete your campaign ? And ah if you want some good ideas , check the Penumbra books like "7 cities" or "7 strongholds" , they're definitely worth the money for an idea-hungry DM !!!
As soon as my work evolves in the good way , I will tell you what's going on with it ! And I'm glad to see that you are too a fan of the Dales , that's my favourite region in the Realms so far !!!
Where do you come from , buddy ? I'm from Paris , France but I've been living in Dublin , Ireland , since last july.
I live in Southern Indiana, just a few minutes drive from Louisville, KY.
My breakdown on adventures looks like this, with the levels the party will hopefully be outlined at specific points:
1st Adventure (1st lvl): Escape from slavers and reach Sanctuary
2nd: Defeat Banite slaver overlords
3rd: Raid Barrowfields tomb
4th (5th-6th level): Fight elemental/Talos cultists
5th: Go to Daggerdale and undo Zhent plot
6th: Follow up on Cyrisict lead
8th: Fight several small battles against fire giants
9th (9th-10th lvl): High Ice dungeon run
10th: Defeat fire giants
11th: Locate dragon overlord, find reference to Tukhanos the blue
12th (11th-12th lvl): Plane of Shadow excursion
13th: Underdark devils
14th: Aglarond dungeon run/Shar's trap
15th: Into the Anauroch
16th: Blood War battlefield/fiendish dungeon run
17th: Into Tukhanos/Kor Zuth's tomb (a sunken Netherese city with a mythal protecting it).
Some of these "adventures" will be pretty short, without even a full level up in them, but they still remain complete "thoughts."
I love the FRCS just because there's sooo much detail put into it that can be developed out into whatever plot you want. Some people complain that there's too much cannon, but I just view it as ammunition!
Well it's a long way to go for your players ,that's for sure !
But you seem to have all your ideas in place , that's nice .
Ok , I'm still looking for a genral story for the first adventure , but I have some ideas
-It should begin with the characters heading to their home village and sell products from their farm with their father.They will meet their "village foes" , a band of nasty little teens (The characters will be very young , 15 to 17 years of age) who are the sons of the richest members of the community , and a nice brawling should happen with them. Their leader could be desperately in love with one of the characters , and could become an enemy later in the campaign after our heroes ridiculised him.
-On their way back or sometimes after , they rescue a wounded man attacked by a pack of wolves , and this guy was heading to their house to deliver Cormac a letter. He's one of his old-time friend (I still asking myself if I want the past of Cormac to be partly mysterious and what if finally he ended as a major villain for his children...)
-Then the characters have to leave the house for some reasons and when they come back they find their house pillaged and their mum being savagely tortured by some goblins and an half-elf rascal . They kill the bad guys , and just have the time to hear the last words of their mum .Cormac has disappeared , and they only find the bottle of the djinn , hidden in some secret compartment , and head their way to Dagger Falls (Still have to find why . Is Cormac having some relatives in the city , a letter , etc???)
-On their way to Dagger Falls , they meet two dwarves (I want these guys to bring some fun as NPCs)from the Anathar's Dell , one of them is a Moradin priest , who are going to the city to honor their ancestors at the Eagles Eerie...
That's it for the moment , for sure in Dagger Falls they will meet an allie ( I have the vision of an half-drow undead hunter , and I want this guy to be a Punisher-like character) and find some links to their next adventure , for example a key of the chest where lies the element of the testimony of the Halruaan wizard , as well as their first nemesis , the assassin who's serving the drow wizardress of Shar...
Hey , readers,if you have any ideas , welcome !!! ;)