Looking to run Yawning Portal adventures as campaign, need some recommendations

[tchntm43]

I'm going to be starting a new group of 4 players (will likely be all new players). I recently went through The Sunless Citadel as a player and absolutely loved it, so I'd like to DM my next group using this book. The Yawning Portal adventures are designed so that they can be run as individual adventures or strung together as a campaign, which is what I'm looking to do. Since some of the adventures probably can't really be extricated from the Forgotten Realms ("Dead in Thay", for example), I'm just going to have it be in Forgotten Realms.

I would like to know if there are any recommendations for a large Faerun map so that I can show the players the world they are playing in and specifically where the campaign is going to begin. I've seen a few on Amazon but I'm unsure about quality. It appears that there is no official product for this purpose.

It seems crazy to me that WotC never produced a Forgotten Realms boxed set for 5e. I had one back in 1993 for 2nd edition and it was great. Detailed information for pretty much every city and town on the continent. Has much changed since then 2nd edition as far as NPCs in the towns and locations of things? I suppose I could dig it out and use that if I have to, as long as it's still applicable.

So to sum up my requests:
1. I want a big printed map of Faerun
2. I want a resource for detailed information about all the nations, cities, towns, and other interesting locations, similar to the book that came with the 2e boxed set.
3. If nothing like that exists for 5e, please let me know if the information in the 2e book is still mostly accurate.

[Unoriginal]

Sword Coast Adventures is the one D&D 5e book about FR, outside of adventuring modules.

A lot changed since 2e, but not everywhere.

[Luccan]

I see no reason you couldn't just use the 2e box set stuff, though admittedly I'm not very familiar with 2e in general. But that having been said as these adventures are from all over the place in terms of setting anyway, it seems logical that it shouldn't be that much more work to convert any actual Faerun parts from TotYP to make more sense if you use the 2e stuff. Beyond SCAG I'm sure there are some changes in the 5e modules to Faerun but I would certainly not recommend reading four or five extra campaigns just to make sure you're properly updated.

If you have players that like Forgotten Realms you should ask them what it is they like and make sure it's included, then use the material you're already familiar with.

That said, if you want to be as updated as possible then there's certainly been releases from 3e and probably 4e to look into that go into more detail on the more recent setting changes.

[Atranen]

Unfortunately, no official product does that for 5e.

When I run FR, I use the 3.5 setting book. Both the 3.5 and 4e versions of FR came with a big map; you can find used copies. I prefer the 3.5 version, because the 4e version incorporates some large changes (like the Underchasm) associated with the lore of that version. 5e FR is more similar to the 3.5 version.

I also use the 3.5 campaign setting for information on locations, etc. that have not been explicitly updated to 5e. There's a bit of mixing and matching, but as long as your players don't know or care exhaustively about the details, it should be straightforward to do.

I'm not sure about 2e, as I haven't used it--but I imagine it would be feasible.

I know there are some fan made maps for 5e, some very good quality. You'd have to get it printed and put together yourself though.

[Keravath]

Unless you really need to make the game set in whatever the exact time frame for the current FR setting might be .. just use any of the earlier published materials. From the player perspective, especially for new players, it doesn't really matter. City names and such stay the same but you won't need whatever the recent historical events might be.

Also, I've done more or less what you are planning except that I also used Ghosts of Saltmarsh with Tales from the Yawning Portal to build a bigger campaign. I had the party meet while taking passage on a ship to Saltmarsh and the town became the base for the campaign. I more or less alternated adventures from GoS and TftYP. Since Saltmarsh was originally in Greyhawk, I used that for the maps and setting since I could download the bits I needed from the internet but it could just as easily be situated on the Sword Coast, likely somewhere near the Mere of Dead Men and Leilon (as one of several possible locations).

However, since TftYP are all dungeons, you could just as easily drop the party into Phandalin and use content from Lost Mines of Phandelver or Dragon of IceSpire Peak to fill in the background.

The main difference I found when combining the two books is that leveling was a bit more restrained instead of breakneck since the party completed roughly twice as much content through Tier 1. This worked fine for my players who were more experienced with earlier editions of the game and would likely have found the typical 5e leveling rate a bit too fast. (Though a lot of that attitude stemmed from not really wanting to play earlier editions at high levels - whereas 5e seems pretty good in terms of higher level play).

[tchntm43]

I know there are some fan made maps for 5e, some very good quality. You'd have to get it printed and put together yourself though.

I just found the page for Mike Schley, so I think I have what I need. His maps look like the old maps of Faerun for 2e, would not be at all surprised if it's the same map-maker.

[Lord Vukodlak]

Also, I've done more or less what you are planning except that I also used Ghosts of Saltmarsh with Tales from the Yawning Portal to build a bigger campaign. I had the party meet while taking passage on a ship to Saltmarsh and the town became the base for the campaign. I more or less alternated adventures from GoS and TftYP. Since Saltmarsh was originally in Greyhawk, I used that for the maps and setting since I could download the bits I needed from the internet but it could just as easily be situated on the Sword Coast, likely somewhere near the Mere of Dead Men and Leilon (as one of several possible locations)..

Wow I’m in that exact campaign, right now Saltmarsh and using Tales of the Yawing portal to fill in the level gaps.
I play a Swashbuckler/Battlemaster
Captain Alderac Overhill.
So yeah it works

[MarkVIIIMarc]

It is a GREAT idea. Some of the TFYP content I modified to fit into life time but it really worked for the group.

Collect your player backstories and see if you can't modify the hooks to apply. Maybe Sharwyn Hercule (spelled wrong) was a friend of a dead relative for example.... Maybe some Hill Giants smashed your Barbarian's village.....

I DID NOT use a very fixed map.

With mixed results I even put some filler in between. That D&D movie stole scenes from me lol.

In a bar make an annoying Palladin try giving the party a lead on where an evil dragon is AND have an attractive waiter/waitress entjce them with stories about how Grandma's chicken's keep disapearing. It is up to you to decide which leads to a fun session killing wolves vs the "real" plot.