Why one or the other?
I cant start in two places.
Waterdeep has Undermountain, nuff said...
From what I read of it, Im not really interested in Undermountain.
If you have many pick-pocket and catburgular rogues for instance, I would suggest Waterdeep.
Waterdeep is the cosmopoltian place where 'everybody' (covering all races and classes) can live in the start of your campaign, while Cormyr is a 'central' country from where you can travel into every direction (and your PC's might meet while they are 'on the road to somewhere else') afterwards.
-Very traditional-style medieval kingdom, complete with king, nobles plotting against said king, monster threats from outside, the whole nine yards.
Pros:
- Cormyr is a somewhat large kingdom, with a lot of different terrains and locales to go to, all while still staying in Cormyr.
- Concerning those plotting against Cormyr, they are a dime a dozen, so finding good enemies should be extremely easy.
Cons:
- Most of Cormyr is "generic", so you'll have to go out and get the exotic stuff elsewhere.
Waterdeep
-Stereotypical megalopolis, where, if it exists, it can be found. Plenty of racial unity and harmony, to an extent.
Pros:
- There's plenty written about Waterdeep, and plenty of detailed maps.
- If you have an NPC, of any race of any alignment, he can be found here, operating freely, no problem.
Cons:
- Skullport/Undermountain. I always found the idea of both (moreso Skullport) very corny.
- It's a city-state, so campaigns in Waterdeep are going to stay in Waterdeep, or the surrounding environs, if you are going to keep the game setting in Waterdeep, and not "explore".
But even if Undermountain didn't exist, I'd still want my characters to be based out of Waterdeep. I guess cause I tend to think of myself as an urbanite. I can identify with the subtle undertones a large city has, and how the seedy side of a sunny city actually flourishes and thrives just on that fact.
Lets fact it, although in a smaller city, you could have some seedy characters doing some business in the background during some annual festival in the city, but unless the characters are somehow connected to a larger organization that transcends the small town, a large urban setting not only expect that seedy characters, and men/women of ill repute plying thier trades and making less than wholesome deals and choices...
...but at the same time, you could have 5 different people in this dimly lit room, all in collusion with each other...
... and in fact those 5 poeple are secretly trying to out do the other 4, because nobody in the room realises everybody is in liege to thier own faction. And the tension is palpable with the deals being done.
Did I mention in the background, you can hear the festival sounds filtering through the wall? After all, there's a celebration going on, and tens of thousands of people are jammed in the streets... its high noon, and in a little bit, the fesiitval's Grand Marshall is going to speak.
on the otherhand you could start in one and end up in the other.
ummm, whats the starting level
otherwise waterdeep and in the expanse around it.
If you're the type of DM who enjoys bringing the exotic to your players right from the start, as well as embroiling them in numerous plots, NPCs and all manner of trouble, then Waterdeep is for you.
If you're the type of DM who wants to take it easy at first and build the campaign as you come to know the sort of adventures you want to run and what your players want from the game, then Cormyr is for you.
Long Version:
Waterdeep is the place to run the classic dungeon crawl (via the many levels of Undermountain), but with a bustling city atop it as the fallback and rest point for the player characters. Amongst the active trade and exchange of coins that can readily supply any adventurer, the streets and alleys of Waterdeep are lined with unique shops that sell virtually anything that can be found in the Realms, as well as strange things like talking hands that will offer advice and beg magic items to eat in exchange, or phantom footsteps that echo the last, desperate moments of a mage before she met her doom at the hands of fiends.
Cormyr has its dungeons too, but it also has vast, partially tamed forests and mountain ranges ever teaming with fell monsters, agents of villainous cabals and enemy nations poking about to find the one weakness that will allow Cormyr to be overtaken. As well the Forrest Kingdom is not without its magical oddities, for within its borders you can find a tower that will not fall, though its base and supports are long gone, restless phantoms such as the ever searching Looking Lady, or the fell ruins of the Wormtower whose wards unleash harsh blasts of lightning and twist the very bodies of intruders who venture too close into bizarre, monstrous shapes.
Shazam!
Thank you but that article isnt very applicable. I am using the edition 3 setting And the edition 4 rules. I probably should have said that at the beginning. Im new to D&D mostly and the edition 4 rules are the only ones I know how to use but I dont really like the edition 4 FR. I used to but after I ordered the edition 3 FRCS I stopped mostly because the edition 3 one seemed so much better. I am using a few things that I liked from the edition 4 FR but I am using edition 3 95%.
I can tell you my party now since we have it (only the basics) if that helps:
Human Barbarian
Eladrin Swordmage
Human Wizard x2
Human Rogue
You can work in any plotline you desire much easier in Waterdeep than in Cormyr. Even if you don't want to run an urban-heavy campaign, you can believably introduce representatives from any organization or conjure links to any locale on Faerun from the City of Splendors--literally! If someone has the money to pay for teleporting the PCs where s/he needs them, it's not a stretch to think you'd find them in Waterdeep.
Your group will be free to take on whatever adventures await with fewer worries about setting verisimilitude or plot railroading if you choose to play in Waterdeep.
(My name is Marius and I approve this ad. :P Paid for by the Tourism Guild of Waterdeep.)
With get and the do
Piece out
Elrik Darkstorm
-After reading that last post, all I have to say is, "Sigil". Adieu.
Sigil rocks.
Sigil>Waterdeep
Sigil>Cormyr
Sigil>FR
Sigil rocks.
Sigil>Waterdeep
Sigil>Cormyr
Sigil>FR
-It's more like:
Sigil > Waterdeep
Sigil > Cormyr
Sigil < The Forgotten Realms
Planescape = The Forgotten Realms
in a way so does Waterdeep
you CAN play in both you know, start in one and end in the other.
you can travel from one to the other following some murderer, stolen item, just to see the otherside, merchant guard, etc.....