As some of you may be aware, I am running a campaign set in the Forgotten Realms. I started off with the Loudwater notes and adventure from the campaign guide and immediately ran into walls of missing information.
While the guide has a wealth of information about the realms in general, the place is so huge that there is so much more not covered. Having played the Realms since 1st Edition and through the transition to 2nd Edition I was lucky enough to have access to my horde of old background information, unfortunately thanks to the Spellplague that was all now 100 years out of date, aargh!!
After trying to uncover more information from online sources I was still a little disconcerted by the apparent lack of updated info available and so decided that I would do it my way.
This meant digging into the 2nd and 3rd edition information I had unearthed and tweaking it to my needs (particularly with regard the Uthgardt Barbarians and their current status) - the upside of this was that as one of my players characters was an Uthgardt it opened up new plot possibilities (these are becoming more apparent in the campaign now).
We followed the campaign guides small adventures with the Icy Spire adventure from Dungeon magazine and leading on from that introduced another player driven plot based upon the Aurilte incursion of the High Forrest and the murder of our Druid's mentor. This subsequently led on to the recent dragon attack on Loudwater and theft of the Druids corpse and the Temple of Silvanus' holy relic (an item I created specifically for the campaign to explain how a lowish level priest could perform higher level powers/rituals).
I also introduced the npc of the magistrate, who is now somehow mixed up with a league of Netherese assasins that seem to have grand designs on the entire region. (community.wizards.com/new_to_dming/go/th...)
I have taken inspiration and elements from numerous places; series of books read in the past, other adventures and scenarios, and even one or two movie plots.
The Aurilte's lair in the High Forrest was created using the upper temple area of the Red Box Games Day "Sunderpeak" adventure with a few tweaks of the monsters. The underground section was based on the maps from the "chase" section of Encounters season 1 (I just had to include the beholder runt just to see the players faces when I placed an old Ral Partha beholder miniature on the map) culminating in the battle in the icy cavern with a white dragon and the hobgoblin priestess "Fist of Auril" (created using monster builder and based on the Fist of Bane combined with the Frost Goblins of Icy Spire).
There is also a plot thread leading to the Bloodreaver Orcs and their slave trading, for which I have "cannibalised" the chamber of eyes section of H2 Thuderspire Labyrinth. (community.wizards.com/new_to_dming/go/th...)
These forums have been a great help so far and I sincerely hope they will continue to be for myself and all the members of this group. If anything I have written above has given you ideas for your own campaign by all means use them, if it has given you questions by all means ask them.
"Well that encounter was easy....er, guys, why is the DM grinning?" (party members last words)
Our wizard/shaman "Aetholric" is a member of the Uthgardt tribe of the Grey Wolf, on seaching through the campaign and players guide for the Realms I found an annoying lack of info on the Uthgardt and after reading through some of the LFR modules (in particular the "Prey for the Night" scenario) came up with the following:-
(Information the players have access to)
Uthgardt Barbarians
The Uthgardt is a collective term used to refer to various human barbarian tribes who worship the deity Uthgar. Each tribe is named after a beast totem of Uthgar who mediates between the deity and his people. The Uthgardt are humans often with black hair and blue eyes. They speak a dialect of Illuskan and are believed to be related to the Northlanders of Ruathym. All Uthgardt will never willingly cut down a living tree.
The Black Lion tribe of the Uthgardt barbarians are centered around the village of Beorunna’s Well, located in a valley near the Great Glacier. Is it within this community of huts and long houses where the tribe has found some contentment living as farmers and herders of livestock. Somewhat forsaking their barbaric heritage, their agricultural advancement has allowed this tribe to become a source of trade in the region. Thier Ancestor Mound is the Beorunna’s Well.
The Black Ravens are a particularly secretive tribe of the Uthgardt barbarians who reside at Raven Rock. They hold to the old strict barbaric traditions and react violently to new customs or dynamics. They are the renowned raiders and bandits of the North, often preying on foreign merchants and missionaries. Thier Ancestor Mound is the Raven Rock.
The Elk tribe is one of the Uthgardt barbarian tribes whose realm of influence includes the Evermoors, the Dessarin and the lower Surbrin valleys. Under the leadership of chieftain Zokan Thunderer they have also gained loose ties with Luskan. With respect to the other tribes they are the most arrogant and self-indulgant, often regarded as nothing than mere bandits. They raid caravans and villages endlessly, taking prisoners ransom or selling them as slaves. Thier Ancestor Mound is the Flintrock.
The Gray Wolf Uthgardt tribe were once rumoured to be the most welcoming in the North to travellers and outsiders, forever willing to aid those in need within their territory. However, this soon changed following their acceptance of refugees from Gauntlgrym. Since then the tribe has been aflicted with a terrible curse and their pleasant nature soon suffered. They shared the Raven Rock Ancestral Mound with the Black Raven tribe, though for the last couple of years no sign of the Gray Wolf tribe has been found.
The Griffon tribe is led by the charismatic Chief Kralgar Bonesnapper. Under his leadership, the tribe has strived toward many greater accomplishments, making them among the most powerful of the Uthgardt barbarians. Thier Ancestor Mound is the Shining White. They have declared war on the cities of the North, with their eventual goal being the conquest and acquisition of one of the region’s cities. Scattered, unallied clans that typically seek benefits from these cities have often rather joined the Griffon tribe, increasing their ranks dramatically. So much so that the Griffon’s Nest, the tribe’s main encampment, rivals even some of the smaller cities of the north. Despite the fact they are perpetually at war, the tribe welcome outsiders, considering all possible potential allies in their quest. Among these allies are orcs that are hungry for plunder, wizards who hold personal grudges against particular city-dwellers and agents of distant empires seeking chaos in the region for one reason or another.
The Red Tiger are part of the Uthgardt Barbarians of the north, proclaiming along with Black Lions, Beorunna’s Well as their ancestor mound. Their typical hunting grounds are the Cold Wood. When people of the north speak of the barbarians, it is normally the Red Tiger tribe they are speaking of. Most suspicious of what they don’t understand, they would prefer fighting unarmed than wielding a magic weapon. They are also users of their own unique weapon, the Tiger Claw, which are three-bladed stone daggers.
(Information they dont know)
The Gray Wolf Uthgardt tribe have a characteristic that every single member shares. Under the light of the full moon, they all turn into savage werewolves. This is a legacy of when the tribe accepted refugees from fallen Gauntlgrym into their fold. These refugees had just been attacked by lycanthopic illithid thralls who carried the curse and then went on to transfer it to their saviours. The tribe’s beast totem mutated the curse over time as the Gray Wolves embraced the savagery inherent in it. They all turn into werewolves, despite their ancestor and any Gray Wolf who does not wish to share the curse will be cured within a year if they leave the tribe.
They shared the Raven Rock Ancestral Mound with the Black Raven tribe, but as they fell further under the sway of the Malarite the more devout Ravens drove them off.
The Grey Wolf tribe have been subverted by a new shaman who is a worshipper of Malar, turning them into savage killers known as the “people of the black blood”.
Their ancestral mound is now located in the Glimmerwood, and is now a sacred area of Malar, soaked in the blood of those hunted and slaughtered by the pack in honour of their bloody god.
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So the plot line I have coming up is that a boyhood friend of Aetholric's has tracked him down but is closely pursued by hunters faithful to the Malarite who just happen to catch up just as he finds the party. The wounds he sustains in the battle are too much for him to recover from (hunters were using silver somehow - possible some sort of silver cestus or similar).
"Well that encounter was easy....er, guys, why is the DM grinning?" (party members last words)
A shade under 6 foot tall this human male is of indeterminate build as he always appears in loose fitting robes of office. The only sign of his age is his salt-and-pepper hair, though his eyes have the keen edge of a sharp and calculating mind.
He lives in his fortified mansion house, built on the site of his family’s ancestral home in Loudwater, the sole remnant of a once prosperous merchant family that made their name in the shipping and transportation of the local farmers produce across northern Fearun.
He is always accompanied by at least two well-armed guards, and is known to have at least half a dozen on duty nearby at any one time.
Sebren gained the post of Magistrate some 15 years ago after leading the local merchants in their petition to Lady Moonfire for an elected representative to be the head of Loudwaters justice system. Rumours abounded that through a generous spread of money, he bought his win and was elected Magistrate, though no proof has ever been found of this.
It is no secret that Sebren and Captain Harrowleaf do not see eye to eye. The captain of the militia has so far successfully blocked several attempts of Sebren’s to disband the militia and replace them with his own standing force.
DM only info
Sebren is the bought and paid for “eyes” of the Nighthawks in Loudwater. As a focal point for adventurers and commerce in the area the Netherese Assassins keep close watch on the comings and goings.
After releasing Zark and the Barge crewman for “insufficient evidence” he has aroused the suspicions of our heroes. Li is attempting to start a rumour-mill against him, and his Nighthawk masters are unhappy with the attention he is bringing.
What people don’t know is that Sebren is no longer Sebren, shortly after becoming the Magistrate he began to question the Nighthawks involvement with the slave taking activities of the Zelbross bandits and the Bloodreavers and so he was taken away to a Nighthawks base in nearby Llorkh. No-one in town knew any difference as his place has been taken by a doppelganger in the employ of the Nighthawks.
Nighthawk Assassins
The Nighthawk Assassins have arisen from within a demon-worshipping cult from Returned Netheril. They have an agenda known only to themselves and their demonic masters which may or may not coincide with that of Netheril’s rulers, the Princes of Shade.
Only recently have their activities outside of Netheril begun to be noticed as their level of influence grows in the northern reaches of the Realms.
When amongst the relative safety of Netheril, Nighthawks openly display their emblem, a silver hawk on a field of red and purple, and tend to favour garments of these colours over others. Though even in Netheril they are spoken of only in hushed tones and with many a wary glance over the speakers shoulder.
Outside of Netheril, the Nighthawks prefer a more subtle appearance, often carrying items such as stylized jewellery or weaponry as their identifying mark to each other. If a Nighthawk displays his identity openly outside of Netheril you can be sure it bodes ill for someone nearby.
DM only info
The Nighthawks are ultimately controlled by a group of 7 Warlocks dedicated to Karsus, the failed deity that brought about the “ruin” of ancient Netheril.
Since the return of Netheril to the Realms, this splinter group and their follower-assassins have sought to break away from the Princes of Shade, having stayed true to their faith even during their exile in the plane of Shadow.
Lady Moonfire - Female Half-Elf - Ruler of Loudwater
This youthful half-elf favors a black gown sewn with silver thread. Glittering rings decorate her delicate fingers, and a silver amulet hangs regally from her neck.
Lady Moonfire is given to laughter and light-hearted jest. She is likable, though some of the elderly residents in town regard her as flippant and flighty.
DM only info
Lady Moonfire is the town leader, though she has little interest in civic duties. She would like to visit the High Forest because she feels it would be a grand adventure. She is also interested in a tower called Draigdurroch, which lies on the edge of the Dire Wood. According to her research, Draigdurroch once held a small library of arcane tomes.
Lady Moonfire has become obsessed with the findings of Draigdurroch, and is seriously considering using the Dark Pact ritual found by the heroes. Draigdurroch and his former associates were cultists of Karsus and unbeknownst to all, the driving force behind the Nighthawk assassins and their breakaway cult from the shade worshipping returned Netheril.
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When the party eventually turn their full attention on to the Magistrate's business, they will undoubtedly discover his true doppelganger nature and thus incur the wrath of the Nighthawks in the vacinity. The party may decide to find the true Sebren, currently being held in a Nighthawk base in the nearby "bandit" town of Llorkh (thinking of using a modified version of part of the "Reavers of the Harkenwald" DM's Kit adventure for this).
If they take this information (assuming they survive) to Captain Harrowleaf, he encourages them to disclose their findings to Lady Moonfire, only to find that she is also missing (not an uncommon occurance for her).
Unfortunately she has succumbed to the lure of the power of the Dark Pact and has travelled to the Tower of Draigdurroch only to encounter his former colleagues and later taken to the Nighthawk base within the Greypeaks. They plan to let the pc's believe they have foiled their plans for Loudwater when in truth they know have a willing ally in Lady Moonfire. To further the ruse they would even allow the party to "discover" the lair of their sometime-comrades, the Bloodreaver Orcs or, if not already recovered, Sebren's whereabouts.
"Well that encounter was easy....er, guys, why is the DM grinning?" (party members last words)
I must admit my players caught me a bit in the hop when they decided to investigate the town of Llorkh before I had anticipated it, luckily I had my DM's Kit boxed set with me and already had a rough idea rolling in my head.
I have taken the town of Harkenwald as presented in the the two-part adventure "Reavers of the Harkenwald" and renamed it as Llorkh practically as is. The Iron Circle are now the bandits that stepped in to the power void left once the Zhentarim pulled out after the spellplague cut their supply lines through Anauroch.
After initial encounters with some low level Iron Circle bandit/patrols the party believe they can comfortably handle them. However, as all good leaders do, Nazin Redthorn just sent his 'plebs' out on the mundane tasks of patrolling and tax collecting. His keep is guarded by his elite troops and himself.
In some cases I have raised the levels of the troops listed in the keep encounters and in others I have increased the number of troops.
The party has discovered that a group of at least 3 nighthawks passed through Llorkh a week ago with another man on their way to Thunderspire in the Greypeak Mountains nearby. The fourth man is actually Sebren, being taken to the Nighthawk outpost hidden in Thunderspire.
As a side adventure, I have expanded the Tower of Green Flame.
After the Spellplague and the return of Netheril, the “heroic” commanders of the Zhentarim occupation force fled to the Tower of Green Flame. The strange warping magic has since turned them into horrific undead as it has done also to those foolish enough to venture in since and be slain by them. Only to rise again. Luckily for the residents of Llorkh it is only the Towers magic that keeps them alive and if they leave the tower (or are removed from it) they will know the final death. If they “die” within the Tower, its power raises them again at next nightfall.
Geildarr Ithym was a male human wizard and former Lord Mayor of Llorkh and Zhentarim Commander, he is now a wight.
Mythkar Leng was a devout of Cyric and in undeath retains his faith, he is now a zombie.
Many of the zhentarim soldiers are also zombies and there are numerous lesser zombies that used to be curious villagers etc.
Nazin Redthorn is going to ask the party to remove this "threat", figuring that if the party are successful he can reward them with maps and info on Thunderspire. And if they fail, no loss.
For the inside of the Tower I am using the Twisted Halls map from the Red Box.
"Well that encounter was easy....er, guys, why is the DM grinning?" (party members last words)
Lair of the Bloodreavers - modified from H2 - Thunderspire Labyrinth.
As the party pursue the Nighthawks into Thunderspire, they will follow the leads to the Bloodreavers lair in the Chamber of Eyes area. Below are the modified encounters I have created.
Modified for lvl 7 group.
A1-1 Into the Mountain (1000) lvl 5 3 x orc rampagers (250) MV 1 x orc pummeler (250) MV
C1 - Narthex (1038) lvl 5 2 x Orc Archers (175) MV (on the balcony) 2 x Orc Savages (44) MV 2 x orc reavers (200) MV 1 x gargoyle rake (200) MV (just beause i got a new miniature and theres one sat in front of the doors in the illustration)
c2 - Guard Room (1500) Lvl 6 5 x orc rampagers (250) MV 1 x orc pummeler (250) MV
c3 - Refectory (1700) lvl 7 3 x orc reavers (200) MV 2 x orc archer (175) MV 5 x battletested orcs (150) MV
c4 - Gruumsh's Shrine (2338) lvl 9 2 x Orc archer (175) MV 2 x duergar thugs (44) MV 1 x duergar raid leader (200) MV Garwen (dwarf prisoner - non-combatant) 3 x orc rampagers (250) MV 1 x orc storm shaman (250) MV krand - orc chief (700) MM
MV= Monster Vault, MM= Monster Manual
After reading Myrhdraaks articles on modifying H1-H3 (community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/758...) I like the idea of changing the BBEG, as this will fit with my underlying threat from the Nighthawks and their worship of Karsus.
"Well that encounter was easy....er, guys, why is the DM grinning?" (party members last words)
but wanted me to come up with a background that fit the campaign, so:-
Fenrir’s family lived on their farm in the Luruar valley near Silverymoon. Many such farms were subject to attacks from the “People of the Black Blood”, lycanthropic marauders fro the nearby Glimmerwood. Fenrir was born after his mother was raped during one such assault, but rather than hate the child his parents saw the inherent innocence in the child and raised it adulthood. In the last few years the raids had become more violent, instead of the occassional rape and theft of livestock, the raiders were wantonly slaughtering the farmers and livestock alike, and in some cases kidnapping. Several of the remaining farmers petitioned Silverymoon for aid but their forces were already spread too thin across the region and when they refused, the farmers pooled their resources and hired mercenaries.
One such band came to Fenrir’s farm and upon seeing him tried to attack him until his father and mother begged them to leave the boy alone, paying their few remaining coins to appease the men. The bands leader was a former Zhentarim (and still openly bore the symbol of Cyric proudly) and was angry at missing his “sport”, so after dark he ordered his men to return and razed the farm. Locking Fenrir’s parents inside as the building burned around them. Fenrir had been retrieving a sheep that escaped during their earlier visit and returned to see the mounted men laughing as the roof collapsed on the burning farmhouse. Overcome with rage he launched himself at the leader, catching him across the face with his claws and deeply gouging the flesh, before the mercenaries brought him down through numbers, and beat him to the ground.
Fenrir was left for dead by the mercenaries and was discovered by Brann, a priest of Oghma, who knew the family and had set out to make sure they were aware that the mercenaries were in the area in an effort to avoid just such an outcome. Finding the unconcious shifter, Brann tended his wounds and helped him bury his parents before bringing him back to the temple in Silverymoon to learn the teachings of Oghma.
Learning the ways of The Binder tempered Fenrir’s violent outbursts, and upon completing his studies he vowed to bring understanding through knowledge to others while thwarting the plans of chaos and its agents.
"Well that encounter was easy....er, guys, why is the DM grinning?" (party members last words)
So the party has decided to ignore the Orcs and Assassins in Thunderspire for now and concentrate on the Barbarian Werewolves and avenging Aetholrics fathers murder.
I've also decided to add in a couple of adventures from the Chaos Scar set to introduce the Duergar as more of a threat and also use the shards of the meteorite as lost pieces of the fallen god Karsus (which the Nighthawks and their masters would be most eager to acquire)
The adventures in question are The Hammer Falls and The Crawling Fane (though I'll be tweaking them for levels more appropriate).
"Well that encounter was easy....er, guys, why is the DM grinning?" (party members last words)
I just love forgotten realms second only to dragonlance. We also started our campaign out in loudwater. I am going to use some of the prebuilt adventures from LFR to continue. There is going to be some travel involved from adventure to adventure but we'll RP it out.
Ah yes, Dragonlance. Another of my favourites, the first full length campaign I ever ran (back in the 80's) - its just crying out for 4e make-over (hint hint WotC).
The LFR adventures are a great way to expand a FR campaign, hope yours goes well.
Feel free to have a look at my Obsidian Portal campaign pages (follow the link at bottom of my post) for more of our adventures in the Realms.
"Well that encounter was easy....er, guys, why is the DM grinning?" (party members last words)
So with only 3 players available for the latest session I decided to borrow a couple of the kobold encounters from Keep on the Shadowfell to act as introductory pieces for the new character to the party (Shifter Avenger).
I tied these in by having them work for the former Zhent officer from the seekers background and then added a further encounter to include his "messenger" and accompanying thugs, unfortunately before they could subdue him for questioning the overzealous Avenger hacked the poor messenger to death! (see my blog - session 21)
All in all a fun session though, specially using the "milk bottle" sweets as the minion kobolds and resurecting the eat your kills policy.
The goblin Irontooth proved a nice surprise, taking the paladin down in melee, when they were expecting something of the same combat level as the kobold dragon-soldiers.
So as the party continue northward to liberate the wizards tribe from the tyranny of the Malarite shaman, they have also to contend with the continued threat of the Night-hawks and now a former Zhent turned mercenary and his allies.
Next session I'm going to be using a modified version of The Crawling Fane (from the Chaos Scar) to re-affirm the involvement of the duergar (as briefly introduced in the stone tower in the Azurites lair) as another power group in the evolving struggle, but instead of the shard of the scar I will be using it as a missing piece of Karsus (which the Night-hawks will be most interested in retrieving for their sorcerous masters).
"Well that encounter was easy....er, guys, why is the DM grinning?" (party members last words)
