How to insert lore regarding Sword coast?

[Pinjata]

Hey guys,

I'm soon DM-ing a campaign for a group of noobs (nice noobs hopefully) in Faerun. They will start in Green Fields and if they feel like it, they can roam wherever they want. (it'll be sort of sandbox)

Now I want to present a single artifact/item/story of setting lore each session. I want to make a list of these events.

My questions are:

- how should I do it

- what lore should I include

Obvious way are some interesting ruins. Perhaps bards singing tales of days old? What else?

thanks

map

[LibraryOgre]

An option, if you use a laptop, is make a powerpoint of it, and run it, facing them, whenever you have to take a break (get a drink, go to the bathroom, talk to another player, etc). They don't have to pay attention to it, certainly, but it's something game-related they can look at.

[Keltest]

An option, if you use a laptop, is make a powerpoint of it, and run it, facing them, whenever you have to take a break (get a drink, go to the bathroom, talk to another player, etc). They don't have to pay attention to it, certainly, but it's something game-related they can look at.

Or perhaps print out a few pamphlets containing the information and just stack them in a pile in the middle of the table. Those interested can browse through them whenever they aren't doing anything else.

[Jonagel]

As far as what lore to include, can you advise on the PCs backstories/classes/races? It'd be best to include things that the PCs (or players themselves) would find interesting. Happy to help advise on idea if you can provide the backstories/classes/races. This way you can have side quests or campaign ideas/themes based off the lore that the PCs are actively interested in.

Alternatively, if you have a campaign/story in mind, try to find Lore that helps flesh out specific aspects of the campaign. Example: If the campaign involves stopping the evil necromancer from summoning the dead from a long forgotten epic battle field in a near by Wizrad's tower, have Lore on the land, the battle, the kingdoms that fought, the heroes of the battle, necromancy/dark magic from the region, the builder of the wizard tower, etc.

Hope that helps!

[JAL_1138]

Write up a primer on the history, customs, and other setting info their characters would plausibly know. And no matter how cruddy their history skill (or whatever knowledge skills), they should know a fair bit about the place they live in. History skill is for obscure-ish stuff, not common knowledge. Give the players this primer. Further lore only needs to come up if they look for it or if there's an adventure-related reason to include it (in which case a quest-giver could just explain it).

If someone has invested in history skills, you could call for a check when they approach a site or encounter something else related to a past event, location, group, or individual, and if they pass it, just tell them they recognize the whatever-it-is from something they studied and give them a quick description of it.

[Pinjata]

Thanks guys :) Especially JAL's suggestions will be usable.