Starting a Cormyr:Tearing of the Weave Game - Looking for Suggestions [Archive] - Wizards Community

Starting a Cormyr:Tearing of the Weave Game - Looking for Suggestions [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Xippendollom Krakenwarren
08-02-07, 12:47 PM Ok, so I decided to put my DMing hat back on after a couple of years off, and I've decided to do it with the Cormyr:Tearing the Weave game. I wasn't really sure whether I wanted to or not, but things kind of got a little out of hand and before I knew it I had 6 players who all had really interesting characters and were chomping at the bit to play. We're looking at starting sometime in the next couple of weeks, but I was really hoping for some ways to tie the characters into the plotlines and make them feel a little more at home.

I was hoping that some people who have run this module (and the Shadowdale one that I haven't bought yet) can give me a few tips on how to better run it and a few different opinions to make the characters care more.

Here's the cast:

-Human Fallen Paladin/Cleric of Kelemvor. Used to worship Illmater until his faith was challenged with the torture and death of his sister. Turned to Kelemvor and is looking to become a Doomguide.

-Sun Elf Wizard (worships Angharradh). An elf from the Western Heartlands, he has an affinity for nature and the science of light and plants. Seeking to become an Initiate of the Seven Veils

-Gnome Wizard (likely worships Mystra). This little gnome has a bit of a crazy side and loves nothing more than watching things blow up. She has ties to Cormyr and hopes one day to become either a War Wizard of Cormyr or an Incantrix.

-Human Fighter (worships Mystra). He is a lesser nobleman from the Cormyr region who has joined the Guardians of the Weave. He is charged with the capture and return of several dangerous artifacts, and hopes to one day become a Knight of the Weave.

-Human Bard (worships Lleira). Somewhat of a character, this bard tends to mock the idea of death and dying, not really sure why people always view this as such a somber occasion.

-Human Rogue (worships Oghma). Not your typical rogue, he was brought up in a very secure and sheltered environment and never really learned too much about the world. His naivity has affected him several times throughout his life, and will likely continue to affect him in the future. He tends to be more of a sage and a scribe than a "sneaky" rogue.

So, any suggestions would be helpful. It's a good group of players with good characters, and I know how to fit them into the story as it is, but I love getting tips and suggestions from other DMs - especially ones who have run the modules before.

Thanks in advance!
sillaric_culdanin
08-03-07, 08:26 PM A couple questions... if you don't mind.

Do the members of the party know each other previously? I assume they are starting at 4th level... have they adventured before the game is set to start... even its just in their backstories? As a followup to the last question, have they adventured together before?
Paix
08-03-07, 10:32 PM It would depends on how 'local' in relation to Cormyr your players feel.

Cormyr has been on hard times recently; sahuagin attacked the coastal cities, a red dragon and its army devastated large parts of it, the Royal mage is no more, Tilverton was devastated, its weather has been altered drasticaly due to shade activity elsewhere and famine together with the specter of Sembia looms.

Personaly I would expect it to have lost over half of its standing army and a lot of war wizards, with the remains being concentrated at the borders with Sembia and in the Tilverton area .

It would not be unreasonable for local adventurers (especialy those of good standing) to be deputised and be dispatched to investigate suspicious reports. It could be also a test for those players of yours that aspire to formal admitance to Cormyr's ranks either as a Purple Dragon or War Wizard.

As for the adventure itself, with a bit of tweaking, you can concentrate on the aspects of it beyond combat to enhance it, if your players enjoy puzzle solving.

Instead of the Cyricists having things written down for players to find in the temple, they could commune with the Sharans via magic to avoid detection. that would mean that your players would require a lot of cunning (impersonation of a candidate and keeping up the act until they know where next to go) to advance the adventure.

For added spice the son or daughter of the local crown representative in Tilverton could have been taken in by the antagonists, willingly or not.

While roaming the wilderlands of Cormyr, you can even throw in a group of goblins with sophisticated armor and bronze weapons, a left over of the forces of the red dragon, to tie in with the recents events.
Xippendollom Krakenwarren
08-07-07, 02:33 PM A couple questions... if you don't mind.

Do the members of the party know each other previously? I assume they are starting at 4th level... have they adventured before the game is set to start... even its just in their backstories? As a followup to the last question, have they adventured together before?

The PCs are being created specifically to start out at 4th level for the module, but they each have given me relatively thorough backstories about how they have gotten to this point. Since the group hasn't actually sat down all together yet (tomorrow will be the first time), we haven't completely decided how the group ties together itself, but there are a few links that I'm going to play up.

It would depends on how 'local' in relation to Cormyr your players feel.

Thanks for the recent details on Cormyr. At one point I was up to speed on all the novels, but life has swamped me enough that I haven't been as up to par on the timeline as I should be. I'll definitely make use of those tidbits of information. All of the players are fairly local to the region. Most are from Cormyr, one from Sembia I believe and a couple from the Western Heartlands.

For added spice the son or daughter of the local crown representative in Tilverton could have been taken in by the antagonists, willingly or not.

While roaming the wilderlands of Cormyr, you can even throw in a group of goblins with sophisticated armor and bronze weapons, a left over of the forces of the red dragon, to tie in with the recents events.

I like those little ideas. I've been trying to find a few more ways to add some Cormyr flavour to it, and I think those both might kind of help. Tilverton is a sore spot for me, since my first ever character, when they got to high level, created a tavern in Tilverton and marked herself as the "defender" of the town. It was a random town selection at the time...

As for the players, the player of the fallen paladin has changed up his character a bit and is actually going to go towards PDK instead. He is a lesser nobleman as well, so my thoughts right now are that the "note" that starts everything off is actually going to be delivered to him and the other lesser nobleman (the fighter) along with the gnome wizard who has decided she wants to join the Guardians of the Weave as well. The three of them will be charged with finding 3 other people to join up with them and then to go and investigate what is happening in Wheloon.
Paix
08-07-07, 08:54 PM It is a daunting task to keep up with all that is going on. I am not that much up to date myself, having played mainly and still playing the previous edition semi-regurarly.

I should have referenced some of the sources. The Red Dragon and her armies were in the Cormyr trilogy novels. Creatures called the Gnazeths (of which the dragon was one) that fed on magic and whose purpose was to devastate Cormyr as part of an ancient curse, besieged the kingdom. It culminated in the death of king Azoun.

The sahuagin attacks I saw referenced in the second edition supplement about the Inner Sea. I believe the full details were given in novels. Cormyr was not the focus but as part of a war under the waves, sahuagin attacked many coastal cities across Faerun.

The devastation of Tilverton, the royal magicians current role and the bad weather are the most recent, detailed in the Return of the Archwizards trilogy. The recently returned Shades were the culprits.

However not all of that is necessary to run the adventure, so I would not feel obliged to learn all the details around these events.

And a mistake on my part; in the initial post I said Tilverton when I was talking about the daughter/son of a local official, when I meant to post Wheloon.

Since the majority of your players have ties to magic and related deities, one additional hook you could use is to take advantage of the recent Shadovar (the Netherese Shades) attack on Tilverton and have the characters tasked by War Wizards to scour Cormyr and ferret out practitioners of the Shadow Weave. A temple that professes loyalty to Mystra but is not known to clerics/temples of that deity in more central parts of Cormyr, would be enough to arouse curiosity or suspicion in the currently paranoid forces of Cormyr who are probably feeling besieged by disasters.
Xippendollom Krakenwarren
08-08-07, 12:55 PM It is a daunting task to keep up with all that is going on. I am not that much up to date myself, having played mainly and still playing the previous edition semi-regurarly.

I should have referenced some of the sources. The Red Dragon and her armies were in the Cormyr trilogy novels. Creatures called the Gnazeths (of which the dragon was one) that fed on magic and whose purpose was to devastate Cormyr as part of an ancient curse, besieged the kingdom. It culminated in the death of king Azoun.

The sahuagin attacks I saw referenced in the second edition supplement about the Inner Sea. I believe the full details were given in novels. Cormyr was not the focus but as part of a war under the waves, sahuagin attacked many coastal cities across Faerun.

The devastation of Tilverton, the royal magicians current role and the bad weather are the most recent, detailed in the Return of the Archwizards trilogy. The recently returned Shades were the culprits.

You're officially my hero.

That's the kind of background that I was really hoping I could put into the game to give it the sort of Cormyr feel that I felt was a little missing from it. I read the Archwizards trilogy, but I didn't read the other ones... maybe I'll pick them up.

Since the majority of your players have ties to magic and related deities, one additional hook you could use is to take advantage of the recent Shadovar (the Netherese Shades) attack on Tilverton and have the characters tasked by War Wizards to scour Cormyr and ferret out practitioners of the Shadow Weave. A temple that professes loayalty to Mystra but that is not known to clerics/temples of that deity in more central parts of Cormyr would be enough to arouse curiosity or suspicion in the currently paranoid forces of Cormyr who are probably feeling besieged by disasters.

Another good idea, and I think I might use that one too. Since I now have two people in the Guardians of the Weave, and since they are such a loosely connected organization, I think I'm going to have them sent there for different reasons. The gnome is going to be charged with the seeking out of practitioners of the shadow weave, while the fighter is charged with guarding the gnome and investigating the very curious complaint by the priest.
Paix
08-09-07, 12:35 PM I am glad I could help. Enjoy your campaign.
Caellus
08-09-07, 12:51 PM My group have started at lvl 1 and did some minor quest up to lvl 4 in the Cormyr area, they are already friends.

I have a cleric of Mystra in my group and just the fact that he didn't know about a new temple of Mystra in Cormyr was enough to send the group to the temple of Mystra to investigate...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Xippendollom Krakenwarren 08-02-07, 12:47 PM	Ok, so I decided to put my DMing hat back on after a couple of years off, and I've decided to do it with the Cormyr:Tearing the Weave game. I wasn't really sure whether I wanted to or not, but things kind of got a little out of hand and before I knew it I had 6 players who all had really interesting characters and were chomping at the bit to play. We're looking at starting sometime in the next couple of weeks, but I was really hoping for some ways to tie the characters into the plotlines and make them feel a little more at home. I was hoping that some people who have run this module (and the Shadowdale one that I haven't bought yet) can give me a few tips on how to better run it and a few different opinions to make the characters care more. Here's the cast: -Human Fallen Paladin/Cleric of Kelemvor. Used to worship Illmater until his faith was challenged with the torture and death of his sister. Turned to Kelemvor and is looking to become a Doomguide. -Sun Elf Wizard (worships Angharradh). An elf from the Western Heartlands, he has an affinity for nature and the science of light and plants. Seeking to become an Initiate of the Seven Veils -Gnome Wizard (likely worships Mystra). This little gnome has a bit of a crazy side and loves nothing more than watching things blow up. She has ties to Cormyr and hopes one day to become either a War Wizard of Cormyr or an Incantrix. -Human Fighter (worships Mystra). He is a lesser nobleman from the Cormyr region who has joined the Guardians of the Weave. He is charged with the capture and return of several dangerous artifacts, and hopes to one day become a Knight of the Weave. -Human Bard (worships Lleira). Somewhat of a character, this bard tends to mock the idea of death and dying, not really sure why people always view this as such a somber occasion. -Human Rogue (worships Oghma). Not your typical rogue, he was brought up in a very secure and sheltered environment and never really learned too much about the world. His naivity has affected him several times throughout his life, and will likely continue to affect him in the future. He tends to be more of a sage and a scribe than a "sneaky" rogue. So, any suggestions would be helpful. It's a good group of players with good characters, and I know how to fit them into the story as it is, but I love getting tips and suggestions from other DMs - especially ones who have run the modules before. Thanks in advance!
sillaric_culdanin 08-03-07, 08:26 PM	A couple questions... if you don't mind. Do the members of the party know each other previously? I assume they are starting at 4th level... have they adventured before the game is set to start... even its just in their backstories? As a followup to the last question, have they adventured together before?
Paix 08-03-07, 10:32 PM	It would depends on how 'local' in relation to Cormyr your players feel. Cormyr has been on hard times recently; sahuagin attacked the coastal cities, a red dragon and its army devastated large parts of it, the Royal mage is no more, Tilverton was devastated, its weather has been altered drasticaly due to shade activity elsewhere and famine together with the specter of Sembia looms. Personaly I would expect it to have lost over half of its standing army and a lot of war wizards, with the remains being concentrated at the borders with Sembia and in the Tilverton area . It would not be unreasonable for local adventurers (especialy those of good standing) to be deputised and be dispatched to investigate suspicious reports. It could be also a test for those players of yours that aspire to formal admitance to Cormyr's ranks either as a Purple Dragon or War Wizard. As for the adventure itself, with a bit of tweaking, you can concentrate on the aspects of it beyond combat to enhance it, if your players enjoy puzzle solving. Instead of the Cyricists having things written down for players to find in the temple, they could commune with the Sharans via magic to avoid detection. that would mean that your players would require a lot of cunning (impersonation of a candidate and keeping up the act until they know where next to go) to advance the adventure. For added spice the son or daughter of the local crown representative in Tilverton could have been taken in by the antagonists, willingly or not. While roaming the wilderlands of Cormyr, you can even throw in a group of goblins with sophisticated armor and bronze weapons, a left over of the forces of the red dragon, to tie in with the recents events.
Xippendollom Krakenwarren 08-07-07, 02:33 PM	A couple questions... if you don't mind. Do the members of the party know each other previously? I assume they are starting at 4th level... have they adventured before the game is set to start... even its just in their backstories? As a followup to the last question, have they adventured together before? The PCs are being created specifically to start out at 4th level for the module, but they each have given me relatively thorough backstories about how they have gotten to this point. Since the group hasn't actually sat down all together yet (tomorrow will be the first time), we haven't completely decided how the group ties together itself, but there are a few links that I'm going to play up. It would depends on how 'local' in relation to Cormyr your players feel. Thanks for the recent details on Cormyr. At one point I was up to speed on all the novels, but life has swamped me enough that I haven't been as up to par on the timeline as I should be. I'll definitely make use of those tidbits of information. All of the players are fairly local to the region. Most are from Cormyr, one from Sembia I believe and a couple from the Western Heartlands. For added spice the son or daughter of the local crown representative in Tilverton could have been taken in by the antagonists, willingly or not. While roaming the wilderlands of Cormyr, you can even throw in a group of goblins with sophisticated armor and bronze weapons, a left over of the forces of the red dragon, to tie in with the recents events. I like those little ideas. I've been trying to find a few more ways to add some Cormyr flavour to it, and I think those both might kind of help. Tilverton is a sore spot for me, since my first ever character, when they got to high level, created a tavern in Tilverton and marked herself as the "defender" of the town. It was a random town selection at the time... As for the players, the player of the fallen paladin has changed up his character a bit and is actually going to go towards PDK instead. He is a lesser nobleman as well, so my thoughts right now are that the "note" that starts everything off is actually going to be delivered to him and the other lesser nobleman (the fighter) along with the gnome wizard who has decided she wants to join the Guardians of the Weave as well. The three of them will be charged with finding 3 other people to join up with them and then to go and investigate what is happening in Wheloon.
Paix 08-07-07, 08:54 PM	It is a daunting task to keep up with all that is going on. I am not that much up to date myself, having played mainly and still playing the previous edition semi-regurarly. I should have referenced some of the sources. The Red Dragon and her armies were in the Cormyr trilogy novels. Creatures called the Gnazeths (of which the dragon was one) that fed on magic and whose purpose was to devastate Cormyr as part of an ancient curse, besieged the kingdom. It culminated in the death of king Azoun. The sahuagin attacks I saw referenced in the second edition supplement about the Inner Sea. I believe the full details were given in novels. Cormyr was not the focus but as part of a war under the waves, sahuagin attacked many coastal cities across Faerun. The devastation of Tilverton, the royal magicians current role and the bad weather are the most recent, detailed in the Return of the Archwizards trilogy. The recently returned Shades were the culprits. However not all of that is necessary to run the adventure, so I would not feel obliged to learn all the details around these events. And a mistake on my part; in the initial post I said Tilverton when I was talking about the daughter/son of a local official, when I meant to post Wheloon. Since the majority of your players have ties to magic and related deities, one additional hook you could use is to take advantage of the recent Shadovar (the Netherese Shades) attack on Tilverton and have the characters tasked by War Wizards to scour Cormyr and ferret out practitioners of the Shadow Weave. A temple that professes loyalty to Mystra but is not known to clerics/temples of that deity in more central parts of Cormyr, would be enough to arouse curiosity or suspicion in the currently paranoid forces of Cormyr who are probably feeling besieged by disasters.
Xippendollom Krakenwarren 08-08-07, 12:55 PM	It is a daunting task to keep up with all that is going on. I am not that much up to date myself, having played mainly and still playing the previous edition semi-regurarly. I should have referenced some of the sources. The Red Dragon and her armies were in the Cormyr trilogy novels. Creatures called the Gnazeths (of which the dragon was one) that fed on magic and whose purpose was to devastate Cormyr as part of an ancient curse, besieged the kingdom. It culminated in the death of king Azoun. The sahuagin attacks I saw referenced in the second edition supplement about the Inner Sea. I believe the full details were given in novels. Cormyr was not the focus but as part of a war under the waves, sahuagin attacked many coastal cities across Faerun. The devastation of Tilverton, the royal magicians current role and the bad weather are the most recent, detailed in the Return of the Archwizards trilogy. The recently returned Shades were the culprits. You're officially my hero. That's the kind of background that I was really hoping I could put into the game to give it the sort of Cormyr feel that I felt was a little missing from it. I read the Archwizards trilogy, but I didn't read the other ones... maybe I'll pick them up. Since the majority of your players have ties to magic and related deities, one additional hook you could use is to take advantage of the recent Shadovar (the Netherese Shades) attack on Tilverton and have the characters tasked by War Wizards to scour Cormyr and ferret out practitioners of the Shadow Weave. A temple that professes loayalty to Mystra but that is not known to clerics/temples of that deity in more central parts of Cormyr would be enough to arouse curiosity or suspicion in the currently paranoid forces of Cormyr who are probably feeling besieged by disasters. Another good idea, and I think I might use that one too. Since I now have two people in the Guardians of the Weave, and since they are such a loosely connected organization, I think I'm going to have them sent there for different reasons. The gnome is going to be charged with the seeking out of practitioners of the shadow weave, while the fighter is charged with guarding the gnome and investigating the very curious complaint by the priest.
Paix 08-09-07, 12:35 PM	I am glad I could help. Enjoy your campaign.
Caellus 08-09-07, 12:51 PM	My group have started at lvl 1 and did some minor quest up to lvl 4 in the Cormyr area, they are already friends. I have a cleric of Mystra in my group and just the fact that he didn't know about a new temple of Mystra in Cormyr was enough to send the group to the temple of Mystra to investigate...