Post/Author/DateTime	Post
sigil_beguiler 12-01-07, 07:56 PM	I plan on starting a campaign in Faerun, but I want to take Faerun/events happening in Faerun in my own direction. I plan on having the campaign atleast start in The Sword Coast. So most of my questions will be mainly directed towards there. 1. What is a well-defended place in Faerun near the Sword Coast. Something that most civilians would know about and go to if there was no other place of refuse, so if the cities weren't safe. A kind of Helm's Deep of Faerun if you will? 2. How much control/management do the City-States have over the smaller towns and villages and how far deep does it go into the rest of Faerun, so how far east? 3. How easily do people travel from say Cormyr and The Sword Coast? 4. Is there any specific Knightly Order in The Sword Coast that would go on routine patrols of it? Thank you towards anyone who answers :)
Stigger 12-01-07, 08:12 PM	1) There's quite a few places like that... though I can't think of any with better defenses than a city. You could take a look at the Friendly Arm, The Way Inn, or possibly even Candlekeep, although that one isn't terribly likely given the fact that they value books much higher than mortal lives. 2) Not much as far as I'm aware, though I'd think that within 3 days ride you'd see quite a bit of influence from the various cities. I've always been left with the impression that its more of a protectorate relationship that they have with them, rather than a direct overlordship thing. I think that pretty much holds true for most of Faerun, apart from actual nations, at least as far as I've read. 3) Depends on the route really. Taking a ship from a Cormyrean port to one of the Dragon Coast ports just south of Suzail/Marsember should be fairly easy, and from there its just an overland journey along relatively flat ground. Going over the Storm Horns is considerably harder, given the mountainous terrain involved. 4) Can't think of any in particular, perhaps the clerics and paladins of the Citadel of Strategic Militancy near Baldur's Gate might. Which could count for a refuge come to think of it. Its a military order/church to Red Knight, though I'm not sure it's quite what you meant by Knightly Order. You might want to pick of Champions of Valor for a fairly comprehensive listing of Knightly Orders in Faerun if you're that interested in them, there's a lot to choose from really. I'd recommend getting a hold of Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast, which should be available as a pdf (should be around $4 or so) off of Paizo.com or a similar site. I'd also say that perhaps the free downloads off of the wizards sites might be good to check out as well, here (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads). The Volo's Guides I've found quite helpful, and perhaps Gold and Glory as well, as it covers mercenary units you could maybe make some use of. Hope that helps some, and good luck. :)
sigil_beguiler 12-01-07, 08:32 PM	Thank you, I shall check into the Volo's Guide and the various places you asked about. The reason for the refuge is I want this to be dealing with the events coming up to 4.0 so I imagine with all the stuff going down people would be going on mass exodus to safe-locations.
Stigger 12-01-07, 08:37 PM	Not sure there's really going to be that many safe locations outside of the cities. City walls would probably be a safer bet than most of those small holds, most of which can't hold more than a few hundred people. Maybe I could see some flee out of the cities, but lack of food is really going to hurt them. You might look a bit farther north though, and take a look at Goldenfields (Volo's Guide to the North mentions it in some detail), one of the few places that might be able to sustain a radical shift in population with its massive farmlands.
anjinson 12-06-07, 08:17 PM	1) I really cannot think of any, and as stated the reason for this is that people congregated in the places that would be safe and they became cities. Many of those cities started out as not much more than keeps themselves. Great thing is though, you can make one up. Also consider that the Sword Coast is a fairly expansive region, so it is likely there are some places along the trade routes that could suffice for this. You may alos consider that a smaller city might see more traffic if a larger neighbor was having issues...see #2 as an example. 2) Very little in terms of control but consider that Daggerford is fairly reliant on Waterdeep...so perhaps there would influence more than control...kind of a don't bite the hand that feeds you idea. 3) Pretty easily...major cities and trade routes. 4) In Waterdeep you have the City Guard, The Griffon Riders (Knights of the Blue Moon), as well as the Church of Tyr, The Order of Aster (Lathander). Baldur's Gate has the Flaming Fists. Most of these are regional in that they protect the area near the cities where their temples are, the Sword Coast is too large to cover it all. However these groups have combined forces in the past to combat threats such as when Baldur's Gate and Waterdeep combined to defeat the denizins of Dragonspear Castle. I would check out the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting...I use this book all the time, City of Splendors:Waterdeep...also there is quite a bit of 2nd Edition stuff if you look at the FRE series, and of course Volo. The Sword Coast has a lot going on, and there is enough empty space (content wise) for you to add your own flare.