werecorpse
Adventurer
So I'm running my first Forgotten Realms campaign since I briefly gave it a go when the original grey box came out so I am a realms novice but have DMed a lot. I grew up on 1e as did most of my players and as a rule we prefer a slightly slower advancement. I like most of the WOTC adventures. So my plan, which is still in its infancy, is to run all the Sword Coast adventures together. I think probably not OotA even though that might get dragged in.
this is my proposed set up. Any suggestions, especially with helpful foreshadowing and crossover stuff is very welcome. I have looked around to see if there is a source of helpful material for this sort of amalgamation but have only found bits and pieces, some of those bits and pieces I have stolen to include here.
to start with a slightly altered background to the big 3 campaigns.
Background: Tyranny of Dragons + Princes of the Apocalypse + Storm Kings Thunder
Severin discovers a Dragon Mask location in a ruin and researches it in Candlekeep where he gains much of his knowledge.
The cult of the dragon is taken over by Severin who works towards summoning an aspect of Tiamat. To perform the complex arcane ritual they need arcane spellcasters, the 5 dragon masks, a huge hoard of treasure "looted from the realms", a sacrifice of a noble enemy of the children of Tiamat at a place called the Well of Dragons.
To do this he uses the cult network and its draconic allies to locate and secure the 5 dragon masks and personally locate the Well of Dragons. He meets and allies with some disaffected wizards of Thay and each decides to use the other.
In doing this he gains powerful allies (the cult, the wearer's of purple, dragons and his dragon mask wearers).
He fails to recruit Klauth or Gnawbones to his cause but does recruit Iymrith who offers to capture the sacrifice - specifically the Storm Giant King Hekaton - in a way that will place the blame for his disappearance on the Lords Alliance and the Harper's so as to both provide a sacrifice, cripple the possibilities of the Giants rising up to interfere with the summoning and to wreak havoc against the alliances that may seek to interfere.
Iymrith had already gained a position within the Maelstrom Court due to his ability to assume the form of a storm giant. He greedily seeks possession of the Wyrmskull throne.
Iymrith knows that for Severin and to cause maximum chaos in the court he must keep Hekaton alive and hidden until the time is right and so contacts the Kraken society. He knows the Kraken Slarkathel is an enemy of the Maelstrom Court. The society agrees to help, both by assisting in the kidnapping of Hekaton and holding him until the time is right.
The attack on Hekaton is more successful than anticipated. Hekaton is captured and his wife Queen Neri is slain. The Court is paralysed with machinations as some argue about how to find Hekaton, some wish to strike back at the perceived perpetrators of the regicide and some just wish to be the next monarch. (No deities involved just chaos within the Ordning)
Giant lords across the north take the opportunity to attack the small folk, thinly veiling their actions by justifying it as retribution. Some don't see the death as a bad thing and while the Maelstorm Court fumbles they will push their own agendas.
Meanwhile Severin and his cult massively increase their gathering of a hoard of loot. Openly and brazenly attacking towns up and down the Sword Coast. It is not just the value of the hoard that matters but that it is gained by being looted.
As the eyes of the forces of good on the Sword Coast are focussed on the threats and the chaos of Giant and Dragon attacks a group of small but perverse cults in the Dessarin Valley takes an opportunity to scale up their activities. The four elemental cults claim to each other that they will summon all the evil elemental lords to wreak havoc but each secretly believes that to be able to summon their patron they must show that they are the greatest of all the elements. So they begin to work together but also to treacherously undermine each other seeking to be the dominant cult.
this is my proposed set up. Any suggestions, especially with helpful foreshadowing and crossover stuff is very welcome. I have looked around to see if there is a source of helpful material for this sort of amalgamation but have only found bits and pieces, some of those bits and pieces I have stolen to include here.
to start with a slightly altered background to the big 3 campaigns.
Background: Tyranny of Dragons + Princes of the Apocalypse + Storm Kings Thunder
Severin discovers a Dragon Mask location in a ruin and researches it in Candlekeep where he gains much of his knowledge.
The cult of the dragon is taken over by Severin who works towards summoning an aspect of Tiamat. To perform the complex arcane ritual they need arcane spellcasters, the 5 dragon masks, a huge hoard of treasure "looted from the realms", a sacrifice of a noble enemy of the children of Tiamat at a place called the Well of Dragons.
To do this he uses the cult network and its draconic allies to locate and secure the 5 dragon masks and personally locate the Well of Dragons. He meets and allies with some disaffected wizards of Thay and each decides to use the other.
In doing this he gains powerful allies (the cult, the wearer's of purple, dragons and his dragon mask wearers).
He fails to recruit Klauth or Gnawbones to his cause but does recruit Iymrith who offers to capture the sacrifice - specifically the Storm Giant King Hekaton - in a way that will place the blame for his disappearance on the Lords Alliance and the Harper's so as to both provide a sacrifice, cripple the possibilities of the Giants rising up to interfere with the summoning and to wreak havoc against the alliances that may seek to interfere.
Iymrith had already gained a position within the Maelstrom Court due to his ability to assume the form of a storm giant. He greedily seeks possession of the Wyrmskull throne.
Iymrith knows that for Severin and to cause maximum chaos in the court he must keep Hekaton alive and hidden until the time is right and so contacts the Kraken society. He knows the Kraken Slarkathel is an enemy of the Maelstrom Court. The society agrees to help, both by assisting in the kidnapping of Hekaton and holding him until the time is right.
The attack on Hekaton is more successful than anticipated. Hekaton is captured and his wife Queen Neri is slain. The Court is paralysed with machinations as some argue about how to find Hekaton, some wish to strike back at the perceived perpetrators of the regicide and some just wish to be the next monarch. (No deities involved just chaos within the Ordning)
Giant lords across the north take the opportunity to attack the small folk, thinly veiling their actions by justifying it as retribution. Some don't see the death as a bad thing and while the Maelstorm Court fumbles they will push their own agendas.
Meanwhile Severin and his cult massively increase their gathering of a hoard of loot. Openly and brazenly attacking towns up and down the Sword Coast. It is not just the value of the hoard that matters but that it is gained by being looted.
As the eyes of the forces of good on the Sword Coast are focussed on the threats and the chaos of Giant and Dragon attacks a group of small but perverse cults in the Dessarin Valley takes an opportunity to scale up their activities. The four elemental cults claim to each other that they will summon all the evil elemental lords to wreak havoc but each secretly believes that to be able to summon their patron they must show that they are the greatest of all the elements. So they begin to work together but also to treacherously undermine each other seeking to be the dominant cult.
