Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ced666 05-22-07, 09:23 AM	Hello, First I was not sure were to post this so I posted in the general forum. Sorry if this is innapropriate. So, I'm currently working on an adventure that will take place in Cormyr and I would like to have some feedback on what I've already come up with (and sorry if my english is not perfect, I'm not a natvie english speaker ;) ). I separated this post into different sections so that it is (I hope) a little bit clearer. 1. The party First let's start with introducing the party (the level presented is the level at which they will probably be once I start the campaign): - A half-orc barbarian, lvl 3 - A dwarf cleric of Moradin, lvl 3 - An elf warrior, lvl 3 - An elf rogue, lvl 2 (but probably close to level up) 2. Background As already explained, the campaign will take place in Cormyr, in a small sized town which is not listed in the existing campaign settings (I needed something very specific). The party came to Cormyr after having heard that this region is experiencing some troubles and that adventurers have a chance to become both famous and rich. So, they end up in this city (called Nurn) and they soon discover that the old graveyard of the city has been 'closed' to the public by the local milicia because some events took place there: people are speaking about dead raising from the graves and such ghosts stories... Finally, a rich noble of the town (and parent of the royal familly) will contact them so they clean the cemetary (the familly crypt of this noble is in this cemetary). The party will go in this graveyard and will fight against some undead (zombies, gouls, skeletonns, ...) and even some outsiders (vargouille). They will finally defeat a necromant (a cleric of Baine) that was responsible for raising the dead. They will discover on him a letter that shows that this guy is only a minion of a more powerfull sorceress and was trying to gather an army of undead to attack the town. After investigation, they find that this witch lives in an old castle that was previously built by a powerfull wizard which disappeared some years ago. The castle was left to abandon (some stories speak about it being haunted) but was finaly used as the headquarters for this witch, which even increase the gossips about it being haunted (too keep curious eyes away). They will finally defeat this sorceress and her army (a guard composed mainly of humans, and evil outsiders mainly). They will discover that she was the head of a cult devoted to Baine. The purpose of this cult was to take the city (which is important for the Cormyr, see later) so that the Cormyr would be more vulnerable. They also discover that some important citizens have been corrupted and are now loyal to the cult. 3. The cult of Baine The head of this organization is this sorceress which is fully devoted to Baine and received some powers from him. She maintain her powers by sacrificing innoncent peoples. The organization is also very rich, and they 'bought' the loyalty of some highly important people of the city with their money. The money is also used to maintain a little army (mainly humans). Baine also provided them with some evil outsiders (don't know exactly what yet) to help them. They try to be as invisible as possible for now and their weapons are lies, corruption, assassination and fear. They plan to stay hidden for as long as possible, until the city falls into their hands. 4. The city The city is not important because of its size but more because it is used as a garrison for the Purple Dragon Knights (I'm not sure if this is the right translation in english). A cousin of the royal family of Cormyr (Elphin Griverne) is responsible for it and is quite influent in the city, even if he doesn't hold any other 'legal' status. If the city falls into the hands of the cult, the garrison will be disbanded and the Cormyr will be much more vulnerable to its ennemies, that's the reason why the cult is interested in it. Another important figure of the city is the mayor. He is also responsible of the local militia and there are sometimes tensions between him and Elphin. Technically, the Purple Dragons can also help the local militia but they are in fact loyal to Elphin only. The mayor had lost his wife some years ago and its only 'treasure' was his daughter. But, she has been captured by the cult and used by them to manipulate him. There is also a council made of rich and influent people of the town. This council is reelected every 4 years and is compounded of 7 members. 4 or them have been corrupted by the cult and the cult has plan to assassinate one or two other that are not loyal to them. 5. The castle A little note about the castle: it has been built by a powerfull wizard a long time ago (long before this events took place). This wizard was quite powerfull and rich. He decided to build this castle to protect himself from his ennemies. The legend says that he was also trying to train new wizard, as he was feeling that magic was slowly dying. Rumors said that he built a secret passage filled with tests that was used by him as a final exam for its apprentices. Rumor says also that a lot of them died in it but those who succeded gained some powerfull items. Nobody knows exactly where the entrance is but the rumor says that this tunnel exit inside the castle itself. Then this wizard disapeared and nobody heard from him anymore. At this time, rumors about the castle being haunted started to spread. Some years later, the castle has been taken as a headquarter for the cult of Baine and they spread even more rumor to protect themselves from curious eyes. The party will need finally to assault the castle and two options are offered to them: simply a 'direct' assault (trying to find a way to sneak inside) or try to find the hidden tunnel that leads deep into the castle. The passage is even unknown from the cult itself. That's it. I hope you didn't fell asleep after this long reading :). I would like to have some feedback on it: what do you think of it, what can be improved, ... I'm a fairly new DM and it is the first time I'm working on a campaign on my own. Any advice or cool things that can be added are greatly welcome. Also, I'm the only one who has the "Forgotten Realms Campaign Settings" so my playersare totally unaware of that. I would like that they learn things of the world while roleplaying. I was thinking of making a big table containing information about the world, the Cormyr and the city, some legends also and important people from Faerun. Each time they go in a pub or speak to somebody, they got a chance to learn something new (a gather information check but with roleplaying). What do you think ? Any suggestions about that ? Anyway, thanks for having read and sorry for the long post. Thank you PS: if people are interested in using what I have described here (some part or everything), you are free to use it. It would be nice if you tell me and share your experience with me then ;).
Renvale999 05-22-07, 01:15 PM	Not bad Ced, I like it. The only thing I "might' suggest is maybe changing Bane for Cyric, Velsharoon(can't spell) or even Shar, as I think Banites might be a little more foward and less sneaky, but it depends on how you play Banites(I run them more as kick in the door and kick your a** then sneaky guys).
Ced666 05-22-07, 01:55 PM	Thanks for the feedback. I'll take a look at your suggestion. But when I selected Bane (yeah, in english its Bane and not Baine like in french), it was perfectly fitting with what I had in mind. And it also gave me some ideas for the cult. In fact, when I read the description of the adepts, it correspond quite neatly to what the cult is doing in my campaign. Anyway, I'll take a look at Cyric, it seems to be a good alternative also. Thanks. EDIT: I just saw your sig: "Lawful Good does not mean Lawful Stupid". That's really funny because some time ago I said something very similar to one of my player who was playing a paladin :).
Renvale999 05-22-07, 03:04 PM	Hopefully later on today, LK, Markus, Merrickcale, Old Sage, and Stigger will jump on here and give some more feedback, they're really good with that kind of stuff. As far as my sig goes, I just hate when people play paladins like their mindless idiots who slay evil without thought of the consequences...they're hardcore, yes, but not completely without a brain.
Stumm_Dolch 05-22-07, 03:18 PM	Hey there Ced, I'm running a quasi-evil campaign where my party are all worshipers/followers of Velsharoon. And while you would have to come up with the motive for a Coven of Valsharoon worshipers attacking a town I think it would be a better match considering the undead. Velsharoon Priests, called Necrophants are seeking the path to nirvana through power and undeath so perhaps they just want a fresh supply of corpses for their "research". If your PCs become powerful enough during your campaign, a nice Lich or two as a mid-high encounter at the end would top it off nicely aswell as tie the story together.
CuttinCurt 05-22-07, 03:49 PM	From a purist DM of many campaigns in Cormyr, I like the inclusion of a city as you described it. It seems like a High Horn kind of spot on the map, or even a castle Crag. As such, I think you are making the city seem a little less important to Cormyr by your lack of important highly placed citizens within the cities walls. It also doesnt follow the power structure of most "fortified outposts" in Cormyr. There are not councils in cormyrian cities, much less, garrison cities. And having only one royal in the city means that he would run the place, not a mayor. I am just pointing these things out to help you. If I percieved this wrongly, I appologize, and retract what I have said, but a mayor is for villiages of minor importance with no tactical worth to the Royal line of Cormyr. Otherwise, like High Horn and Crag, there are a contigent of Purple dragons and war wizards all under the control of a different power group. This is all I am saying till I get more info, but that is my perception. I am not tryig to offend, just thinking about the backbone of Cormyrian policies and history. Thanks, CC
Ced666 05-23-07, 07:15 AM	Thanks to everybody for your replies. I am not tryig to offend, just thinking about the backbone of Cormyrian policies and history. Of course, no offences :-). I'm asking for some feedback, I would be stupid if I felt offended when somebody answers something :D. Furthermore, you are probably right about the fact that the royal cousin should run the place. Also, about the council, I can modify it so that it is limited to judgement for highly important 'crimes' and doesn't have any other influence (on the prurple dragons and militia for example). Concerning the mayor: in fact I would like to keep something similar because the local militia will be responsible to close the cemetary (and to restrict access to it). They claim to do that to protect people but in fact they do that because they don't want anybody to enter there. And so, the mayor should be helping the cult in that sense. In fact, what I had in mind was that: I was thinking that the purple dragons and war wizards are kind of similar to soldiers from today and the militia of the town is kind of similar to police of today. So, the purple dragons will be used during the war and not for everyday 'problems' (like maintaining order or closing the cemetary, ...). The militia is under the orders of the mayor, but this can be replaced by a 'militia captain' (or whatever name) instead, which is in turn under the orders of the royalty. Now, what would be the reason for the royal cousin to send adventurers to the cemetary instead of directly asking the militia captain to do that ? Maybe because he feels that something is going wrong and he would like to bypass the militia by sending adventurers directly... I was also thinking about the fact that the cult has plan to assassinate the royal cousin, just before taking control of the town. The adventurers will get a chance to discover that and to try to avoid it. Thanks for the feedback
CuttinCurt 05-23-07, 11:07 AM	Sounds good. I like the Militia Captain idea. Perhaps a local that has gained much favor with the local citizens through heroic type actions that has elevated him in the eyes of his peers. That is powerful in and of itself, as loyalty to the crown and loyalty to a servant of the crown can be two totally different things sometimes. Keep us updated on how it goes. I love to hear different campaign stuff when Cormyr is the backdrop of the adventur(ers). I can send you a nice file I got a while back with all the noble family names and status with the royal family. It is pre-Caladei when Vangerdahast was the main wizard. But it can really help. LEt me know if you want it. CC
Ced666 05-24-07, 02:47 AM	Perhaps a local that has gained much favor with the local citizens through heroic type actions that has elevated him in the eyes of his peers. That's a nice idea. It will give more 'depth' to the character ;). That is powerful in and of itself, as loyalty to the crown and loyalty to a servant of the crown can be two totally different things sometimes. Sorry, I didn't really understand what you meant by that. Keep us updated on how it goes. Ok, no problem. But I still have a lot of time before it will take place: we don't play very often (once per month more or less) and with the holidays coming... This campaign will probably start in july or august. I can send you a nice file I got a while back with all the noble family names and status with the royal family. It is pre-Caladei when Vangerdahast was the main wizard. But it can really help. Wow, that would be great ! My e-mail is: cedric_moonen at hotmail dot com. Thanks for that :) I have also been rethinking the introduction to the campaign, following your advices. I will keep the idea of the cemetary but drop the fact that Elphin (the royal cousin) will ask the adventurers. Instead, the adventurers will come to the city and be the witnesses of Purple Dragons being attacked by mercenaries. They will eventually help. The story is that these dragons were bringing something important to the city, or to Elphin (don't know yet what) and the cult heard of it and sent mercenaries to kill them. Unfortunately for them, their informations were wrong and the number of dragons was higher than expected thus the attack failed. I do that because the difference of level between my players and a purple dragons (for exemple) is too high, so if they take part of the fight, chances are they will die fast. So, they arrive when the fight is over or just at the end. The adventurers can find a letter on the body of a mercenary. This letter is written in infernal and briefly explain that something is going on in the city and speaks about the 'Black Hand' (which is in fact Bane, or maybe another God, I still need to see). And that is how they get involved in the story. Of course, I still need to think about all of this and make something consistant :).
CuttinCurt 05-24-07, 05:27 AM	ok, files sent. and I am glad to have aided you. As far as the loyalty to the crown and loyalty to a servant of the crown comment, I was simply refering to the shady area of grey that can cloud an npc's mind when it comes to the reasons he is doing something that might be considered treasonous. If you get a chance to read any of ed greenwoods books on Cormyr, you will find that many nobles that have been exiled or killed for their actions of treason agaisnt Azoun have stated that what they did was for the betterment of Cormyr. "It was all for the Crown!" they would say before being hung. That is the only reason I wrote that as the militia captain could easilly think he was strengthing the fortifications of this city by "offing" the royal if he felt that the royal was incompetent, lacking leadership, ignoring the signs of a posssible attack on the city, or some other such thing that would put his "loyal sybjects" at risk. This could be accomplished through the cult feeding him false information that was partially true, for as you have said, the noble and this militia captain already have an issue, so anything that wold strengthen his hate for the royal cousin would bolster the plans of this cult. You might not even have to take the captains daughter if you want to use this type of scenario, for in this captains mind, the little people are what make Cormyr the great country it is today, and anyone looking down on them like they were little ants to be sent to slaughter would make this captain think that the best thing he could do is send this royal to an eternal dirt nap so he can save "his" people. I hope this makes sense. I can sometimes get very convoluted when it comes to Cormyr as it is one of my favorite places in FR. Good luck with everything. CC
The Heretic 05-24-07, 10:23 AM	Like the previous poster, I find an orthodox Banite cult to be a bit problematic for inclusion in your campaign. Banites seem much more interested in dominating and conquering the living rather than killing them with legions of the undead. Further, I don't know that most Banites are subtle enough to pull all of this off. Generally they are blustery and arrogant. Might I suggest this: This cult is a religious faction (perhaps a heresy) that is focusing on the "Fear Me!" aspects of their faith. In this way, they are causing honest Cormytes to inadvertantly pay homage to Bane by making them fear for their lives. This cult would see themselves as the hidden hand of enforcement to Fzoul's openly iron fist. In this way you can create and incorporate some idiomatic religous rituals that cause confusion for the PC's. Further, the PC's might be aided by Orthodox Banites seeking to exterminate this little heresy (and in so doing improving their relationship with the Cormyrean crown). By the way, your English is fine. I know a lot of native speakers that would do a lot worse. Bonne Chance!
Ced666 05-24-07, 01:50 PM	This cult is a religious faction (perhaps a heresy) that is focusing on the "Fear Me!" aspects of their faith. In this way, they are causing honest Cormytes to inadvertantly pay homage to Bane by making them fear for their lives. This cult would see themselves as the hidden hand of enforcement to Fzoul's openly iron fist. In fact, I'm far from being an expert of Faerun and I know only some little parts of this huge world (I only read some parts of the capaign settings book and we never played with this theme). So, I never heard of Fzoul and I searched for it. And I found that he is part of the Zhentarim organisation. Mmmh, that could be a really good idea to have this 'cult' in fact simply be Zhent agents. I also saw that the Zhentarim has plan to invade Cormyr, so it matches perfectly. And I would like to stick to the maximum to the world described in the book so that my players (and I, also) can learn little by little the world of Faerun. In this way, my players will discover the Zhentarim, and not just a simlpe cult that I made up for the campaign. Now, I was looking more in details about this organisation and I saw that they are in fact followers of Bane. First, they were following Cyric, until Fzoul (who is priest of Bane) defeated him and took control of the organisation. By the way, I really appreciate the feedback, it helps me clearing my ideas and give me some nice ideas that I wouldn't have thought of (because of the lack of time for reading the complete book :-) ).
Dielzen 05-24-07, 02:27 PM	Alternatively, you could have them be Banites! (silly idea, yea) Make them all Heretics of the Faith (detailed in Powers of Faerun) and give them all slightly different options for selecting their domains, which would allow you to squeeze in something undead-related.
MerrikCale 05-26-07, 10:48 PM	Hopefully later on today, LK, Markus, Merrickcale, Old Sage, and Stigger will jump on here and give some more feedback, they're really good with that kind of stuff. Now I feel pressure to come up with some awe-inspiring idea. I pretty much agree with the Heretics suggestion about Fzoul's involvement as Zhents tend to be a little less direct than Banites in general. It seems to me that the ultimate goal of this cult is to make Cormyr more vulnerable. There is no shortage power groups who would want that. Obviously, Fzoul would be on that list. So to would Sembia. Perhaps there is problem from within as one of the noble families (with ties to a church) have made a play for the crown by weakening the state gearing up for Civil War with Nurn as their base of operations. Or perhaps even a city from the Dragon Coast wants to weaken the state. Your groundwork here (which is admirable) can lead to a much bigger and sinister picture.
Tseramed 06-15-07, 12:57 AM	Hi there fellow DM of Cormyr. I currently run a weekly game set in Cormyr since about a year now. I truly find it one of the best place in the realms for adventures. I really like your concept and I think that it stays in the Cormyr mood of thing. That is, schemes behind the curtains of power and treason. Of course, if the PCs are having a hard time figuring out everything that is going on behind their back, you can always involve the war wizards of Cormyr that have their noses in everything everywhere in the realm. That way your PCs might stumble upon a War Wizard investigating and asking for their help and they might share their clues. I know how it goes sometimes, you have a good and tight storyline but your Players don't seem to be able to figure it out... I had to make heaps to get my PCs going but right now, they have been double crossed, are in prison and the Bad Guy is about to summon an ancient devil... Will they be able to stop it? Once it's started, they won't stop until every loophole has been explored, trust me. The castle you talk about, do you want it to be close to the city or hidden? If you want it to be fairly hidden you could always set it in the Stonelands to the north, past the Storm Horns. I did this in my campaign ( which is coming to an end soon), the Big Evil Bad Guy's tower was located in the Storm Horns and the Players where lucky to stumble upon it. Plus, the stonelands have a natural habitat full of monsters so it gives your PCs a good challenge just to get there. Of course, if you are going to the more haunted type of castle that everyone talks about and fear, setting it in the Hullack forest would be great. There are a lot of rumors going on around that wood. Also, if you want the Purple Dragon Knights to act like some kind of important force like the police, you can have them check on the adventurers often. There is a law in Cormyr that you must have a decreet that gives you the right to bear a weapon. You can have the PCs get those or else they might get bothered by the law. And I hope you don't have too shady players because the purple dragons have the right to search anybody in the realm. I you want more obscure information like that on Cormyr I highly suggest "Volo's guide to Cormyr", it is availlable as a free download on the Wizards' site. The PDF is packed with goodness and adventure ideas. It's 2nd edition but the lore still works most of the time. You were talking about making a table about the realms and everything. I did a similar thing for my players. Most of them didn't know much about the forgotten realms so I thought I'd help them out. I bought them all a Duotang ( 50cents each) and filled it with blank sheets so they can take notes and put their character sheet in there. Then I typed a booklet with important things to know when wandering the realms. I wrote the months, the name of the years, the forms of address, the geography of Cormyr, Important people and recent events, everything a citizen of the realms should know about. I did not write every NPC in the FRCS in there... It would not have made any sense. After all, not everybody knows about Mirt the moneylender etc... After that, I made a page for each of the character in the group. That page was filled with information about the world that only their Character would know about. Some of them came from Cormyr so knew more about the region but others came from places such as Amn or Bligdenstone ( Underdark) so they knew whole different things and some of them would later encounter people in the campaign that they knew about because it was in their "brain" as I like to call the little Duotang I made. It's quite a bit of work but it's worth it. All in all, I say that you are on a very good way for a wonderful campaign. Your storyline is tight and you seem to know where you are going. If sometime your PCs don't do what you expect them to do, don't panic! Just improvise and plan things accordingly for next session considering the new direction they took. You might plan 99.9% of the way a player is going to react, they will always go for that 0.1% you didn't plan. See you somewhere in the forest kingdom. -Malaky Tseramed For Cormyr!
Ced666 06-16-07, 10:23 AM	Hi Tseramed, Thanks a lot for your feedback ! It is really appreciated. The castle you talk about, do you want it to be close to the city or hidden? If you want it to be fairly hidden you could always set it in the Stonelands to the north, past the Storm Horns. Yes, I plan it to be fairly hidden. I don't want my players to stumble upon it before defeating the rest. It should be the final act, the lair of the BBEG :). The Stonelands could be a good idea yes. The Hullack forest is also a nice idea. I also have some troubles to figure in which city the story will took place. I read some old information about Tilverton and that seemed quite adapted to what I'm looking for (I'm also looking for a city in which there is a thief's guild, to make a continuation with my current adventure). But reading through the campaign settings, I realized that the city has been destroyed... Well, I could still 'create' a new city that doesn't appear on the map (yes, the DM is god and can do that :D ) I you want more obscure information like that on Cormyr I highly suggest "Volo's guide to Cormyr", it is availlable as a free download on the Wizards' site. The PDF is packed with goodness and adventure ideas. It's 2nd edition but the lore still works most of the time. Yes, I downloaded it and started to read it. I really like the law about bearing arms in Cormyr. This will definitively add something to the session :). You were talking about making a table about the realms and everything. I did a similar thing for my players. I was thinking to let them roll a certain number of knowledge dices to see what they already know about Cormyr. Of course, those who lived closer know more things. I don't know exactly yet how I would do that. I was also planning to let them make 'Gather information' checks to learn about some specific things. I will tell that to my players before we start playing so they can search for themselves a little bit ;). All in all, I say that you are on a very good way for a wonderful campaign. Your storyline is tight and you seem to know where you are going. Thanks for the compliment :D You might plan 99.9% of the way a player is going to react, they will always go for that 0.1% you didn't plan. I know. And my players will certainly do things that I didn't expect :P . EDIT: I'm also very interested for every information about Cormyr I can get (the campaign settings doesn't go that much in details about Cormyr). So if you have links, they are welcome.
Mr_Miscellany 06-16-07, 03:24 PM	Traditionally the Crown representative that rules in the name of the King (or Regent, depending on your timeline) in any city or town is called the local Lord. The Lord will have one herald. I don’t think all towns have Lords, as some aren’t big enough to warrant a crown representative. Just some thoughts off the top of my head: Mayhap there is no local lord, so you’re town has something of a power struggle going on, where maybe the people of the town want their mayor to be named Lord, but Elphin Griverne is using his back-channel contacts in the Royal Court of Suzail to keep the mayor from achieving this status. Perhaps the Banite sorceress has mind-controlled Elphin and so is responsible for his interference at Court? This way the Crown has no direct Lordly link to the town of Nurn and the Banites can go about their business without the threat of being observed or interfered with by the Crown? A very well planned campaign and a pleasure to read about. Best of luck!
Tseramed 06-17-07, 01:26 PM	If you are looking for a ready made City within Cormyr, there is one which is almost perfect for what you are looking for. Arabel. Arabel is a metropolis that just came out of occupation after the Goblin/orc war led by the Devil Dragon. The occupation was lifted by Myrmeen Lhal, Ladylord of Arabel with the purple dragons. The reason I think Arabel would make a good place to start your campaign is because, as they are coming out of occupation, the power of the city is vulnerable and easy to exploit. Scheming Nobles and Trading Compagnies might try to get a hold in the power of the city by conseling Myrmeen Lhal and later completely usurp her of her lordship. Since the city came out of the war, the purple dragons can't possibly take care of everything everywhere in the city so a Trading Company might offer her service to help with some "mercenaries" and everything. I think this fits your bill just fine as you wanted to have some sort of power scheme going on in a city. The "governement" of the city isn't really complicated but it is a big city so Myrmeen Lhal should have some counselors and an herald to help her out. Of course the mercenaries helping the population out might get very good at solving the "problems" of the city. Better than the purple dragons. This way they earn respect and the citizen are more and more in their favor. Of course this might just be a cover up as those bands are actually causing the problem either by releasing some monsters or undead and solving it as they know exactly how and where to find it... Arabel has always been a city prone to rebellions and has often claimed it's independance upon Cormyr. The population would probably approve of the new changes in power. They don't have to know it, Myrmeen may still be the lord but her ways of governing might have changed a bit because of those that took counseling spot behind her. Also, you said you wanted a thieve's guild. A city in such trouble ( reconstruction, an almost civil war on the hands...) is bound to devellop some kind of crime syndicate. A thieve's guild or two could have taken over the underworld of the city. A big city like this is bound to have some criminality problems. On the question of the location of the castle of your BBEG, Hullacks forest might be a better idea. It's actually full of hidden vale and valleys that have gone unseen for decades like the FRCS says. There are also a lot of rumors and a lot of the folklore revolves around hauntings and strange beast so I think this fits what you wanted for the castle at first. Oh yeah and if you take Arabel as the city, Hullacks forest is not far away to the east... Sorry for the long post (again...) and I hope this helps you. -Tseramed
Ced666 06-19-07, 02:30 AM	Thanks for your answers. If you are looking for a ready made City within Cormyr, there is one which is almost perfect for what you are looking for. Arabel. That could be a good option yes. But I would like the city to be smaller: my players are relatively low level (level 3) and I think that is not totaly appropriate if they save a so important city now. Anyway, I'll take a closer look at Arable and see if it fits. (I'm still changing my mind a lot to find the best option :D) On the question of the location of the castle of your BBEG, Hullacks forest might be a better idea. Yes, I think I'll put it in the Hullack forest. Seems a very nice place for that :) Sorry for the long post (again...) and I hope this helps you. No problem, it is really appreciated ;). To Mr_Miscellany: thanks also for your feedback. You were asking if I would like to compare notes and help each others. Of course, it would be a pleasure :). But I'm not very experienced in the realms: it is the first adenture I'm doing in the realms. But I can try to help if I can. I also realize that there is really a lot of information about Cormyr but unfortunately, in the campaign settings it's quite a brief description (and I need much more details). Does anybody know if there is a book I can buy with some detailed info about Cormyr ? I've already downloaded "Volo's Guide to Cormyr" which is really nice but which mainly focuses on cities (and which describe Cormyr from some years ago, without the recent events). I also would like to know a little bit more about Cormyr recent history (the battle between the dragon and Azoun IV, the dissapearance of Tilverton, ...). Speaking of Tilverton, what happened exactly there ? I only have a very small description that say it was the target of an unknonwn magical attack that left only a big hole in the ground... Thanks for any feedback.
Mordakay of Thay 06-19-07, 07:52 AM	Well,I'm afraid that the best way u can learn more about the more recent history of Cormyr(and about Azoun) is by reading the novels.Oh yeah,if you can somehow get the second edition Fogotten Realms campaign setting,there's bound to be lore on Cormyr there.
Ced666 06-19-07, 08:34 AM	Well,I'm afraid that the best way u can learn more about the more recent history of Cormyr(and about Azoun) is by reading the novels. Oh, that's not really a problem. I'm ready to invest some time if it's worth. Searching on the web, I found a trilogy of novels about Cormyr (the first one is "Cormyr: A Novel"). But it is quite an old book and I don't know until which point it stopped in the Realms history (does it already discuss about the death of Azoun and the destruction of Tilverton ?). Otherwise, if you have titles of more recent novels about Cormyr, I would be very interested. Thank you
Mordakay of Thay 06-19-07, 09:07 AM	Hmm,the most recent one(I think)(that takes place 99% in Cormyr) is Elminster's Daughter.It take's place after Caladnei became leader of the War Wizards.Try to get it,it really sheds some light as to whats happening in Cormyr.About the older novels,this is the description given on the wizards site about Cormyr:a novel:"Cormyr has been ruled by the Obarskyr family since its inception one and a half millennia ago. Now its king, Azoun IV, lies on his deathbed, and the vultures are circling, hoping to usurp the throne for their own. Against this crisis of state, the history of the Forest Kingdom unfolds, relating the previously untold story of a nation, its rulers, and its wizards."You should read the whole trilogy,it's not really that old at all,and it's got allot of lore you can pick up.Hope this helps. P.S.:do a search:Cormyr on wizards.com,you'll find some of Ed Greenwood's realmslore posts about Cormyr.
Ced666 06-19-07, 10:56 AM	Thanks, I'll try to buy Elminster's Daughter. It would have been nice to read the trilogy also but I don't have THAT much time :D. We will start the campaign in one month more or less. Is it ok to read it alone or does it make reference to a lot of other books ? :thinks:
Mordakay of Thay 06-19-07, 07:29 PM	Not really,it's from the Elminster Saga,but this one doesn't relate much to the others,it's pretty stand alone(Elminster's saga spans over a milennia u know =) )
Tseramed 06-19-07, 08:43 PM	"Cormyr, a novel" has a lot of good information on the Forest Kingdom and is a very good read IMHO. The other two books are also good but I personnaly like the first one more. "Elminster's Daughter" is very good and has a lot of great information as it was mentioned before. "The Swords of Eveningstar" by Ed is set in Cormyr in the time of Azoun IV and the Knights of Myth Drannor so it's been a while that those events took place but Ed describes the place like no other in this book and you really get the feeling of being there. Realmslore article are of course a good source of nutrients, especially the saga that highlighted Filfaeril and Azoun, sorry but I can't really remember what it was...
Mordakay of Thay 06-20-07, 04:27 AM	Sorry for missing this one,there's also 2nd ed suplement called Cormyr.It's a good source also .
Eccerion 06-20-07, 06:51 PM	Hello Ced. The setting you've prepared looks very good, very good work. Makeing your bad guys Banites isnt really a problem, just make the little twist that they are Zhentarim agents sent to weaken up Cormyrs defenses, its something the Zhents have alot of practice doing. Useing undead makes sense in a way since its easier to smuggle in a group of necromancers who can go and litteraly dig up reinforcements in the local graveyard, then it is to smuggle in a large group, especialy in a nation like Cormyr where agents of the crown are constantly looking out for any threats to the land. Might I suggest also useing some other forces as well? Cormyr is currently flooded with goblins after the dragon war (where the former king Azon died), they would make good toadies for the zhents to use as a distraction. The zhents send the gobbos to plunder and burn the farms and homesteads around the city, thus forceing the Purple dragons to spend alot of time hunting them down and patroling the area, thus the Zhents can move around much more freely. Personal favorite plotline of mine to make the PCs shine in areas with a military presence is to have the baddies poison the food/water supplies, nothing nasty just a dibilitateing disease or poison that keeps most of the troops in bed, this keeps the healthy troops busy and gives a good reason why the players cant just find the baddies lair, then go back home and get the army to storm the gates.
Ced666 06-21-07, 02:37 AM	Hello Eccerion, Thanks for your reply ! I was in fact searching for a way to introduce my players to the campaign and the goblin idea is very nice, I really like it. The PC can be attacked by a group of goblin while they are heading for the town. If they search the bodies, they can find a letter on the goblin captain that promises a reward (well, we can suppose that the goblin captain is a little bit more educated than the rest so he learnt to read). So, they can discover that the goblins are in fact lead by somebody more powerfull. That can led them to search information about this organization. Maybe, it is even better that the fight take place between a group of goblin and two or three Purple dragon knights around a group of burning farms with some villagers screaming :) . The fight is balanced towards the goblins and the players will 'save' the dragons and the farmers. That will be a good excuse to unbound their weapon (because the weapons will be bound with peacestrings) and introduce them to the 'ruler' of the city that will ask for their help (with a reward of course). That's nice: the different pieces of the campaign are slowly fitting together :) . Thanks everybody for your precious advices.
Ced666 06-23-07, 08:01 AM	Does anybody know where I can find some examples of already made Purple Dragons Knights and war Wizards ? What I mean is a 'character' sheet that is already completed for a dragon knight and a war wizard. That will make me gain a lot of time and if it already exists, why redoing it ? :D Thanks
Samej 06-23-07, 06:44 PM	I belive King Azoun IV was a Purple Dragon Knight himself so his character sheet might have it. And whenever I need a good Cormyrian War Wizard I just always put in a specialist Evoker Mage with really high damage spells and lots of wands and potions. It works.;)