RP: my next Forgotten Realms campaign

Matthieu

Okay folks, I'll start writing about the next Forgotten Realms campaign I will play at my local club from September onward as a GM. It will be running for at least two seasons (if not more). I am conservative in my way to interpret the realms regarding the work done for the first and second editions.

First the storyline: the players will live through important events and will follow the stories of the Moonshae trilogy, the Avatar trilogy and then the Baldur's Gate Trilogy. Bhaal's antics being the linking point.

The ruleset will be of the second edition, though I have to work on adapting some elements because the campaign starts during the first edition era. As a result, the continent of Maztica hasn't been discovered yet, gunpowder weapons haven't been yet invented (but they will be during the campaign), wild magic hasn't entered the realms yet (but will do and a lot, especially during the Times of Troubles). For the planes I will take the rules from Planescape, but with the statistics of the Manual of the Planes and the associated Monstrous Compendium... planar creatures are much more powerful and mysterious.

I will be mostly conservative on races and classes combination. While I will allow two players (the first to have signed up) to play more original characters the other 4 or 5 will have to stay orthodoxic in their choices.

I then decided to divide races and classes in two categories: casual and exotic.

Human are both, but someone from Kara-Tur or Zakhara is considered and exotic character (Zakhara wasn't developped until the 2nd edition like Maztica but since and unlike Maztica there is no reference to the date it was discovered I consider contacts already exist). Drows, Duergars, Asimaar (from the Planescape ruleset), asian races (Hengekokai, Spirit Folks) etc... are all exotic.

Classes like Sha'Ir, Samurai, Kensai, Anti-Paladin (renamed Blackguard) are considered exotic and restrained to some ethnicity (forget the elven kensai, only asian characters can take it on my table).

I will tweak equipments a little, I always hated how crossbows were weak when they are trully among the most powerful weapons in real.

The story will start in the Moonshae archipelago, players will meet there and will be dragged in the war triggered by Kazgoroth (following the conservative storyline where he is a minion of Bhaal). I will then let the players wander a little (Tales of the Sword Coast way) before dumping the events of Pools of Darkness and then the Times of Troubles on them. Ultimately, after more wandering I'll dump them on the events of Siege of Dragonspear and Throne of Bhaal (Baldur's Gate and Shadow of Amn have less impact on the environement).


Any thought, am all ear. And sorry for the long post, I don't have a cosmic miniature potato.

LadyRhian

Actually, Maztica was "discovered" in 1361 DR by explorers from Amn, Captain Cordell and the Golden Legion. He built a fort and port named Helmsport, and landed at a group of islands known as "The Green Sisters", and there was a large body of water near Helmsport renamed "The Gulf of Cordell".