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Grynning
2008-08-30, 08:20 PM
Ok, so here's the deal - I've managed to convince one of my groups to let me DM 4th (finally) and the game will be starting in about a month (give or take) so I have some time to prepare. One of the players is a huge fan of FR, and given that it's the first setting to come out with 4th, I decided to set the game in it.

The problem is, I'm not terribly familiar with the setting (only ever read a couple of the early Salvatore books, never played in it in 2nd or 3rd), and reading through the campaign guide is pretty overwhelming. I want to narrow my focus down to a particular area/city to start the campaign in, so I can have a good handle on that one area and give me some time to read up and develop stuff for other places they may go. I haven't been able to pick out a spot just yet, so I thought I'd ask the playground and see what you guys thought.

To give an idea of the kind of area I'm looking for:

1) I want there to be some kind of port or water, because the culmination of my first set of adventures will be the players getting their own boat to travel around in (think tramp-freighter, Firefly/Serenity style but in D&D).

2) The Sea of Fallen Stars seems to be the best area to focus their further adventures around, so one of the countries with a shore to that would be best.

3) The area must be well suited to low-level adventuring (not crawling with high level stuff) and ideally have established areas with goblins, lizardmen, pirates, and/or undead.

Cormyr, Sembia, and the Dragon Coast seem to be the best places so far, but I don't know which city. Any other suggestions are welcome. Also, any extra info that clarifies what they're talking about in the book so I don't look like a noob to my FR fan would be helpful.

Beleriphon
2008-08-30, 08:26 PM
1) I want there to be some kind of port or water, because the culmination of my first set of adventures will be the players getting their own boat to travel around in (think tramp-freighter, Firefly/Serenity style but in D&D).

Waterdeep is good for this.


2) The Sea of Fallen Stars seems to be the best area to focus their further adventures around, so one of the countries with a shore to that would be best.

Also good.


3) The area must be well suited to low-level adventuring (not crawling with high level stuff) and ideally have established areas with goblins, lizardmen, pirates, and/or undead.

The Sea of Fallen Star is probably right up your alley then. It has, or used to, have enough pirates, goblins and other assorted things to stab with sharp bits of metal for even the most battle hardened PCs to find entertainment.

turkishproverb
2008-08-30, 08:36 PM
Erm, did you make sure they LIKE the new version of FR? Alot of FR fans hate 4th simply for what Wizards did to FR when they transferred to it.

This isn't me taking a shot at 4th, but it is something you might want to consider before running the setting.

past that, Waterdeep is always fun.

Grynning
2008-08-30, 08:40 PM
The only player who was really into the old version seems to be ok with the changes, I asked him if he wanted to play the new one and he said ok.

Isn't the ocean that Waterdeep borders pretty vast and lacking other ports? I just seem to feel that if I put them in Waterdeep there won't be anywhere for them to sail to once they get their boat.

black dragoon
2008-08-30, 08:45 PM
Me and few other players pirated that coast for awhile. If follow it long enough there's a few nothing major however.

Beleriphon
2008-08-30, 08:49 PM
Isn't the ocean that Waterdeep borders pretty vast and lacking other ports? I just seem to feel that if I put them in Waterdeep there won't be anywhere for them to sail to once they get their boat.

North to the Moonshae islands, south to Baldur's Gate, and further south to Amn. The Moonshae's might be nice for a sort of Pirate of the Carribean meets Gaelic myth feel. There are also the Pirate Isles (I think thats the place) between Waterdeep and Amn.

EvilElitest
2008-08-30, 10:24 PM
The only player who was really into the old version seems to be ok with the changes, I asked him if he wanted to play the new one and he said ok.

Isn't the ocean that Waterdeep borders pretty vast and lacking other ports? I just seem to feel that if I put them in Waterdeep there won't be anywhere for them to sail to once they get their boat.

make sure he checks it out first. They didn't just convert the system, they disfigured it
from
EE

Grynning
2008-08-30, 10:37 PM
The FR campaign guide is fluff, not a "system." They re-wrote the cosmology then threw an apocalypse on it. Either way, YES MY PLAYERS ARE OK WITH THE NEW FR. Thanks.

Does anyone have any favorite cities on the Sea of Fallen Stars they'd like to suggest?

Tsotha-lanti
2008-08-31, 01:59 AM
Isn't the ocean that Waterdeep borders pretty vast and lacking other ports? I just seem to feel that if I put them in Waterdeep there won't be anywhere for them to sail to once they get their boat.

Not unless Neverwinter, Luskan, Baldur's Gate, the Moonshaes and other isles, and the cities of Amn and Calimshan disappeared between 3.5 and 4E. Waterdeep is a huge port city - how would it get so big without plenty of ships docking to trade? The Sword Coast was the biggest shipping line in Faerūn.


And nobody likes the Sea of Fallen Stars.

Grynning
2008-08-31, 02:01 AM
And nobody likes the Sea of Fallen Stars.

Why not? Just curious.

Also, FYI, Luskan and Neverwinter are both in serious decay. They're still there, but they're hardly nice places to visit, let alone live (they could still make for good adventures though).

Morty
2008-08-31, 05:41 AM
IIRC, the Sea of Fallen stars is no more in new FR, but don't hold me on that. I remember something about it leaking out through an enormous crack in the ground or something.

Myshlaevsky
2008-08-31, 05:49 AM
From ENWorld (http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?p=4424966):


The Sea of Falling Stars is nearly gone. It flows into the Underchasm.

Not a literal quote, I imagine, but from the book.

Grynning
2008-08-31, 10:10 AM
It still looks pretty big on the map, and they talk about it as if people still sail around it quite frequently.

No offense to anyone, but I'd like some help from people who actually have read over the new setting book.

Myshlaevsky
2008-08-31, 10:47 AM
It still looks pretty big on the map, and they talk about it as if people still sail around it quite frequently.

No offense to anyone, but I'd like some help from people who actually have read over the new setting book.

Apologies, I was just trying to help from the best sources I have available. To be honest, if you have the book you're probably vastly better informed than most of us, and therefore it's kind of your call.

Thrud
2008-08-31, 05:34 PM
Yeah, I could help you quite a bit in the old FR, but I am not even sure what exists in the new FR. For instance, you are all talking about Waterdeep, but it doesn't even get a mention in the index in the back. I picked up the new book to flip through it, and discovered that Maztica is gone, which was a place I liked too. So most of the places I would mention I am not even really sure are there any more. Normally I would have said Waterdeep is the best place to run a campaign from if you want a port city, but without even a mention in the new book, I am not really certain it even exists any more.

(Also no mention of Khelban, And Elminster is just some old dude who lives in shadowdale now, so he isn't going to be statted out either, I guess.)

So, as you can see, I too am pretty unsure about how things will work out in 4ed. Still, with all that in mind, I would say Waterdeep is a favorite of mine as a port city. You have the Moonshaes as a great place for sea based adventures too, and they always have a kinda Celtic feel to them, which is also fun.

Colmarr
2008-08-31, 09:42 PM
Suzail or Marsember in Cormyr are probably a good bet for you.

Both are ports on the Dragon Lake (IIRC it used to be called the Dragonmere), which opens onto the sea of stars.

Cormyr is a more-or-less orderly country, so your PCs don't really need to worry about paragon or epic foes until you're ready to throw them out there.

There was an article on Cormyr in Dragon 365 and it gave some pretty interesting setting info (including greater detail on Suzail).

Suzail is the nation's capital. And I think Marsember is detailed somewhere, isn't it (3.5 DMG II or 4e DMG)?