A very different Toril - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

A very different Toril

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
martinaj
Jul 15, 2008 10:18:41 A couple of years ago, I ran an epic level campaign in FR and it ended up being one of my groups favorite games ever (definitely one of our top three). The characters played a major role in shaping the world, as did the game's archvillain - an ancient (one of the first) aboleth bent on opening a permanent portal to the elemental plane of water and flooding Toril, returning it to the state it was in before the gods were ubiquitous, and when his kind ruled the world. The campaign ended with a question mark, though. The final sessions ended with the party fleeing with the body of Elminster (so he could be resurrected) as the aboleth (who possessed an artifact that could nullify godlike powers) did battle with Mystra for the final relic he would need to open the portal.

Anyways, we did some talking about how the world would have changed, and have been talking about returning to it (set 20 years later) with new characters. I figured I'd post the altered Toril here and see what you guys thought, and any suggestions on how to further improve (butcher) it would be welcome.

This new Toril is shaped by two very significant events, both initiated by the afore-mentioned aboleth. First, he has succeeded in opening the portal to the elemental plane of water. In the 20 years that have passed since the conclusion of the campaign, the sea level has risen quite a bit. Most of the coastal nations are about halfway underwater now, and all coastal communities (with the exception of Waterdeep, kept dry by a sustained wall of force) are underwater.

Secondly, the aboleth has performed an ancient and terrible ritual, requiring the sacrifice of his anti-god artifact. The result of this has been a second Time of Troubles. The gods once again walk the earth in mortal forms, and are completely unsure of how to go about regaining their divine status. Due to the joint efforts of Gond, Azuth, and Oghma, however, some deities are still able to grant divine spells. These three gods have pooled their resources to create powerful items colloquially known as spell alters. A god attuned to a spell alter can spend one hour each day in concentration to grant divine power to all of its faithful who also happen to be praying at the time. Several deities share one alter, and so they are now worshiped jointly (one example would be the new church of Tyr, Torm, and Illmaytr). With the gods in mortal form, however, resurrection is impossible.

While we are on the topic of the deities, I may as well detail what the current agendas of all of the gods are. Gond, Azuth, and Oghma are working jointly to find a solution to this disaster. They are combining their resources to discover a way to restore all deities to true godhood as soon as possible, knowing that without his artifact, the aboleth could be quickly defeated if only such an event could happen.

Several deities have been killed. Mystra was the first, slain (barely) by the aboleth 20 years ago (as far as his power level goes, I had him advanced to 32 hit dice and with 21 levels of psion). As a result of her death, the weave has been damaged, making it difficult to cast arcane spells (need to work on exactly what the 4e effects of this would be). Many new students of the arcane are being taught to use the shadow weave, and psionics are growing in popularity. Even now elements of the portfolios are beginning to pass on, though they do not fully move to the being who killed the god. In this case, there are several contenders for the new god of magic. Azuth is first in the running (and his clerics are fervently trying to repair the Weave), and Shaar is taking great efforts to gain power over the Weave. A drow wizard named Vivian (a PC in the last campaign) is also a contender, and the Symbul would be if she could be returned to life. Elminster has no desire for godhood, and Alustriel and the other seven sisters find themselves depressed and lethargic with the death of their mother. In any case, it is likely that due to this catastrophe, when the importance of the god of magic itself itself will become far less important so that their death will have less of an impact. They will become more of a custodian to the weave, with the various schools of magic split between other deities. Talos may finally get his wish to become the god of destructive magic.

Helm was already wanting in popularity, and his murder of Lathander has not helped in the slightest. He learned of the sun god's plans to repeat the Dawn Cataclysm, and simply could not suffer him to live afterwards. No one is doing more to end this Time of Troubles than Helm and his Clergy, but no one is hated more right now. It currently seems that Kossuth is gaining the renewal and sun aspects of Lathander, with the more creative components passing to Sune. Helm has gained the athletics component of Lathander's portfolio.

Finally, Tempus has been slain by Garagos, killed in an ambush consisting of 200 fiendish barbarians. Tempus's portfolio seems to have been split down the middle between Garagos and Red Knight, who now battle each other to the exclusion of all else.

There are too many gods to detail here, but following is a list of the activities of several noteworthy ones. Bane has constructed a massive fortress of black iron and has sequestered himself away, hell-bent on surviving the time of troubles. He is guarded by the remaining half of the Zhentarim (we'll get to what happened to them in a moment), lead by Fzoul Chembryll. No one knows it, but Asmodeus is driving events that he hopes will lead to Bane's demise so that he can steal his portfolio and become a fully fledged god. Shaar is laying low, but gaining power due to the increasing popularity of the shadow weave. Cyric has gone on a killing spree, attempting to gain as much divine power as he can before the Time of Troubles ends, as he is sure it will. He is especially interested in gaining Kelemvor's portfolio, who has gone into hiding at the behest of priest. Cyric is hoping to draw him out with his wanton slaughter of all he finds. Tyr, Torm, and Illmaytr lead one of the most popular churches in Toril right now, and they combat the aboleth and his aquatic armies more fervently than any other deity. Mask has not yet surfaced, and that is because he has made a play that know one has anticipated. He has managed to ensure that his avatar has taken the very same form in which he was slain in the last Time of Troubles, the sword Godsbane. An unassuming blade that radiates no magic, it is an intelligent item that hungers for the blood of other gods, especially Cyric. I'll post more of these as I think of them, and any ideas you guys have would be great.

As far as the shape of the world, it's pretty different. Cormyr (the starting point for my previous campaign) has become a refuge for the less violent denizens of the now-flooded Underdark.

Many illithids, not content to stand by and watch while someone else conquers the world, have formed a tenuous alliance with the red wizards of Thay (who have conquered Agroland without the Symbul's protection). The red wizards themselves are attempting to convert all of their Zulkirs to godly status, at the same time doing what they can to reverse the flooding of the world. No one will touch this nation with a 10-foot pole.

The Dalelands are hurting right now. Knowing the large number of powerful individuals in one place, the aboleth somehow sunk a good portion of the dales (including all of Shadowdale) in an attempt to scatter them.

Several organization are attempting to push the leaders to deific status. The Cult of the Dragon in particular wants to see a dracolich join the ranks of the gods.

Elminster is currently traveling the planes, searching for solutions to these problems beyond Toril.

One of the most unexpected changes, perhaps, is the current state of both the Harpers and the Zhentarim. The Harpers immediatelly agreed that the aboleth had to be stopped and the flood reversed, but with many of their leaders out of commission (Elminster is traveling the planes, and all of the Seven Sisters find themselves lacking any energy) they took a serious blow to moral. Kelben Blackstaff has stepped back onto the scene and taken charge. Many Harpers were opposed to this, but most recognized the necessity. Nevertheless, they lost about 25% of their number. The Zhentarim, realizing that the state the world was coming to was very counterproductive to their goals. The also began working against the aboleth (at least those not dedicated to the defense of Bane). When Kelben took charge of the Harpers, it was Manshoon who first proposed an alliance between the organizations. This of course infuriated Fzoul Chembryll, and caused a schism in the organization. In the end, it split, with half of the Zhentarim (who are considered the "official" Zhentarm) dedicated themself wholly to the defense of their deity and the other half, now lead by Manshoon, joining with the Harpers. It is an uneasy alliance, at best, but they have accomplished great things in the defense of Toril with their joint resources. This organization, lead by Keblen and Manshoon, has been given no official name, for it is clearly recognized that the alliance will only last as long as it needs to. However, a rare few individuals, seeing what they have accomplished, would like to see the union become permanent, and have taken to calling them the Custodians. There are many other that are truly terrified at the notion of the two most meddlesome groups in the history of the Realms joining forces. This organization has recently ousted Halastar Blackcloak from Undermountain and are using Skullport as a base of operations near the sea from which to strike against the aboleth.

Well, that's what I've got so far. Thoughts, ideas, criticisms?
#2
dmd
Jul 15, 2008 11:22:56 I like it. Would have been more interesting for the old group to stay and see the battle through to the end though. I would guess that now as 25+ level characters they can reshape much of the history of the world themselves now. Would you still give them creative control over those old powerful characters or are they simply NPC's now?
#3
martinaj
Jul 15, 2008 11:41:29 They are NPCs, but I would always come to the players to get a feel for how they would act, and in many instances they may be given control of their old PCs. Furthermore, they have stated what their characters have been doing, and I have not neglected to include the results of their activities in this world.

Vivian (mentioned earlier) is hoarding magic items and knowledge, hoping to become the new goddess of magic. Lauren, a halfling rogue, escaped to the Astral plane to raise her daughter (she was [forcibly] impregnated by one of her jailors while imprissoned by Levistus). This player has expressed a desire to play his old character's half-fiend child. The other three characters were Pierre Bonecrusher, a Cormyrian barbarian and honorary Purple Dragon Knight, Valgov, a half-brass dragon spellsword with an untouchable AC, and a raptoran samurai who's name eludes me (he was funny. He said that the samurai tradition was new to his people and spoke proudly of his ancient fighting style, passed down through two whole generations). The three of them founded a fighting academy that blended their fighting styles, giving rise to a group of duskblades (phb2) that dual-wielded a waraxe and battleaxe as a samurai does their katana and wakizashi.
#4
lord_karsus
Jul 18, 2008 21:44:45 -Aboleth, apparently, are going to be playing a more "lead" role come 4e.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 martinaj Jul 15, 2008 10:18:41	A couple of years ago, I ran an epic level campaign in FR and it ended up being one of my groups favorite games ever (definitely one of our top three). The characters played a major role in shaping the world, as did the game's archvillain - an ancient (one of the first) aboleth bent on opening a permanent portal to the elemental plane of water and flooding Toril, returning it to the state it was in before the gods were ubiquitous, and when his kind ruled the world. The campaign ended with a question mark, though. The final sessions ended with the party fleeing with the body of Elminster (so he could be resurrected) as the aboleth (who possessed an artifact that could nullify godlike powers) did battle with Mystra for the final relic he would need to open the portal. Anyways, we did some talking about how the world would have changed, and have been talking about returning to it (set 20 years later) with new characters. I figured I'd post the altered Toril here and see what you guys thought, and any suggestions on how to further improve (butcher) it would be welcome. This new Toril is shaped by two very significant events, both initiated by the afore-mentioned aboleth. First, he has succeeded in opening the portal to the elemental plane of water. In the 20 years that have passed since the conclusion of the campaign, the sea level has risen quite a bit. Most of the coastal nations are about halfway underwater now, and all coastal communities (with the exception of Waterdeep, kept dry by a sustained wall of force) are underwater. Secondly, the aboleth has performed an ancient and terrible ritual, requiring the sacrifice of his anti-god artifact. The result of this has been a second Time of Troubles. The gods once again walk the earth in mortal forms, and are completely unsure of how to go about regaining their divine status. Due to the joint efforts of Gond, Azuth, and Oghma, however, some deities are still able to grant divine spells. These three gods have pooled their resources to create powerful items colloquially known as spell alters. A god attuned to a spell alter can spend one hour each day in concentration to grant divine power to all of its faithful who also happen to be praying at the time. Several deities share one alter, and so they are now worshiped jointly (one example would be the new church of Tyr, Torm, and Illmaytr). With the gods in mortal form, however, resurrection is impossible. While we are on the topic of the deities, I may as well detail what the current agendas of all of the gods are. Gond, Azuth, and Oghma are working jointly to find a solution to this disaster. They are combining their resources to discover a way to restore all deities to true godhood as soon as possible, knowing that without his artifact, the aboleth could be quickly defeated if only such an event could happen. Several deities have been killed. Mystra was the first, slain (barely) by the aboleth 20 years ago (as far as his power level goes, I had him advanced to 32 hit dice and with 21 levels of psion). As a result of her death, the weave has been damaged, making it difficult to cast arcane spells (need to work on exactly what the 4e effects of this would be). Many new students of the arcane are being taught to use the shadow weave, and psionics are growing in popularity. Even now elements of the portfolios are beginning to pass on, though they do not fully move to the being who killed the god. In this case, there are several contenders for the new god of magic. Azuth is first in the running (and his clerics are fervently trying to repair the Weave), and Shaar is taking great efforts to gain power over the Weave. A drow wizard named Vivian (a PC in the last campaign) is also a contender, and the Symbul would be if she could be returned to life. Elminster has no desire for godhood, and Alustriel and the other seven sisters find themselves depressed and lethargic with the death of their mother. In any case, it is likely that due to this catastrophe, when the importance of the god of magic itself itself will become far less important so that their death will have less of an impact. They will become more of a custodian to the weave, with the various schools of magic split between other deities. Talos may finally get his wish to become the god of destructive magic. Helm was already wanting in popularity, and his murder of Lathander has not helped in the slightest. He learned of the sun god's plans to repeat the Dawn Cataclysm, and simply could not suffer him to live afterwards. No one is doing more to end this Time of Troubles than Helm and his Clergy, but no one is hated more right now. It currently seems that Kossuth is gaining the renewal and sun aspects of Lathander, with the more creative components passing to Sune. Helm has gained the athletics component of Lathander's portfolio. Finally, Tempus has been slain by Garagos, killed in an ambush consisting of 200 fiendish barbarians. Tempus's portfolio seems to have been split down the middle between Garagos and Red Knight, who now battle each other to the exclusion of all else. There are too many gods to detail here, but following is a list of the activities of several noteworthy ones. Bane has constructed a massive fortress of black iron and has sequestered himself away, hell-bent on surviving the time of troubles. He is guarded by the remaining half of the Zhentarim (we'll get to what happened to them in a moment), lead by Fzoul Chembryll. No one knows it, but Asmodeus is driving events that he hopes will lead to Bane's demise so that he can steal his portfolio and become a fully fledged god. Shaar is laying low, but gaining power due to the increasing popularity of the shadow weave. Cyric has gone on a killing spree, attempting to gain as much divine power as he can before the Time of Troubles ends, as he is sure it will. He is especially interested in gaining Kelemvor's portfolio, who has gone into hiding at the behest of priest. Cyric is hoping to draw him out with his wanton slaughter of all he finds. Tyr, Torm, and Illmaytr lead one of the most popular churches in Toril right now, and they combat the aboleth and his aquatic armies more fervently than any other deity. Mask has not yet surfaced, and that is because he has made a play that know one has anticipated. He has managed to ensure that his avatar has taken the very same form in which he was slain in the last Time of Troubles, the sword Godsbane. An unassuming blade that radiates no magic, it is an intelligent item that hungers for the blood of other gods, especially Cyric. I'll post more of these as I think of them, and any ideas you guys have would be great. As far as the shape of the world, it's pretty different. Cormyr (the starting point for my previous campaign) has become a refuge for the less violent denizens of the now-flooded Underdark. Many illithids, not content to stand by and watch while someone else conquers the world, have formed a tenuous alliance with the red wizards of Thay (who have conquered Agroland without the Symbul's protection). The red wizards themselves are attempting to convert all of their Zulkirs to godly status, at the same time doing what they can to reverse the flooding of the world. No one will touch this nation with a 10-foot pole. The Dalelands are hurting right now. Knowing the large number of powerful individuals in one place, the aboleth somehow sunk a good portion of the dales (including all of Shadowdale) in an attempt to scatter them. Several organization are attempting to push the leaders to deific status. The Cult of the Dragon in particular wants to see a dracolich join the ranks of the gods. Elminster is currently traveling the planes, searching for solutions to these problems beyond Toril. One of the most unexpected changes, perhaps, is the current state of both the Harpers and the Zhentarim. The Harpers immediatelly agreed that the aboleth had to be stopped and the flood reversed, but with many of their leaders out of commission (Elminster is traveling the planes, and all of the Seven Sisters find themselves lacking any energy) they took a serious blow to moral. Kelben Blackstaff has stepped back onto the scene and taken charge. Many Harpers were opposed to this, but most recognized the necessity. Nevertheless, they lost about 25% of their number. The Zhentarim, realizing that the state the world was coming to was very counterproductive to their goals. The also began working against the aboleth (at least those not dedicated to the defense of Bane). When Kelben took charge of the Harpers, it was Manshoon who first proposed an alliance between the organizations. This of course infuriated Fzoul Chembryll, and caused a schism in the organization. In the end, it split, with half of the Zhentarim (who are considered the "official" Zhentarm) dedicated themself wholly to the defense of their deity and the other half, now lead by Manshoon, joining with the Harpers. It is an uneasy alliance, at best, but they have accomplished great things in the defense of Toril with their joint resources. This organization, lead by Keblen and Manshoon, has been given no official name, for it is clearly recognized that the alliance will only last as long as it needs to. However, a rare few individuals, seeing what they have accomplished, would like to see the union become permanent, and have taken to calling them the Custodians. There are many other that are truly terrified at the notion of the two most meddlesome groups in the history of the Realms joining forces. This organization has recently ousted Halastar Blackcloak from Undermountain and are using Skullport as a base of operations near the sea from which to strike against the aboleth. Well, that's what I've got so far. Thoughts, ideas, criticisms?
#2 dmd Jul 15, 2008 11:22:56	I like it. Would have been more interesting for the old group to stay and see the battle through to the end though. I would guess that now as 25+ level characters they can reshape much of the history of the world themselves now. Would you still give them creative control over those old powerful characters or are they simply NPC's now?
#3 martinaj Jul 15, 2008 11:41:29	They are NPCs, but I would always come to the players to get a feel for how they would act, and in many instances they may be given control of their old PCs. Furthermore, they have stated what their characters have been doing, and I have not neglected to include the results of their activities in this world. Vivian (mentioned earlier) is hoarding magic items and knowledge, hoping to become the new goddess of magic. Lauren, a halfling rogue, escaped to the Astral plane to raise her daughter (she was [forcibly] impregnated by one of her jailors while imprissoned by Levistus). This player has expressed a desire to play his old character's half-fiend child. The other three characters were Pierre Bonecrusher, a Cormyrian barbarian and honorary Purple Dragon Knight, Valgov, a half-brass dragon spellsword with an untouchable AC, and a raptoran samurai who's name eludes me (he was funny. He said that the samurai tradition was new to his people and spoke proudly of his ancient fighting style, passed down through two whole generations). The three of them founded a fighting academy that blended their fighting styles, giving rise to a group of duskblades (phb2) that dual-wielded a waraxe and battleaxe as a samurai does their katana and wakizashi.
#4 lord_karsus Jul 18, 2008 21:44:45	-Aboleth, apparently, are going to be playing a more "lead" role come 4e.