Heirs to Arms Player Handout

Welcome to Heirs to Arms, a campaign being run by Stephan in the Forgotten Realms. This page will hopefully tell you everything you need to know about the start of the campaign, including the current plot and how to create a character for the game. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, and I will update this page as questions and clarifications come up.

IMMEDIATELY USEFUL CHEAT SHEET FOR PLAYERS:

The Story So Far...

In the north, a beleaguered collection of independent communities and once-proud nations sits on the brink. Vaasa, once united with Damara to the east, is now under the control of the Warlock Knights, who threaten the area with a growing army of humanoids and monsters. Impiltur, resting south of Damara, has all but fallen, crippled by the death of their king and the receding Sea of the Fallen Stars, and is threatened in more than one way by demons which roam the landscape. Further east, the small, unincorporated settlements in the Great Dale and Narfell face constant siege from demons which have begun to pour out of the Dunwood, its druids struggling to contain the threat.

These are known as the Demonlands. The beginning of the end may rest here.

Opening

The campaign opens on 19 Ches, 1479 DR in Uthmere, a modest, walled trading post along what remains of the Great Road, marking the western end of the overgrown trade route that runs along the Great Dale. Through birth, choice, or misadventure, a determination to right wrongs or a simple love of exploration, you have found yourself in the area. Though you do not know what may come of your time in these lands, you have heard much of their troubles, and have already come to understand the challenges of the Demonlands.

Potential Background Hooks

The following paraphrase the example motivations presented in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide. There is of course more detail, and more adventuring opportunities, outlined in the book.

The Great Dale

Impiltur

Narfell

Campaign Themes

The story so far exists to get a sense of the starting plot. The threat of war, and war itself, will be a common theme for the start of Heirs to Arms, as will the threat of demons and primordials. On the side of civilization, concerns will include uniting a number of fractured and weakened nationstates, potentially under one banner, to face a common threat. Their are many opportunities for your characters to become great generals, diplomatic uniters, champions of the wild, or signs of the region's doomed fate.

While war looms over the area, and may be unavoidable, the common elements of adventuring will still be present. Before, during, or after your time on the battlefield, your party may be sent on special strike missions, to investigate a boon used by incoming adversaries, or find a relic claimed to protect the lands. You may seek to entreaty far off nations to civilization's cause in the Demonlands, to identify the real power behind your attackers, or to find the next threat waiting in the wings.

In short, this will come across as and entail much of what a normal adventuring party would face, with a heightened focus on demons and primordials in a war motif. The story is yours to change, however, and as is always the case in the Forgotten Realms, you may find all manner of adventure anywhere in the world.

Inspirations

The following, in no particular order or importance, are media that inspired or contain elements related to some of the campaign's themes.

Character Creation

Unless otherwise noted, content in the Character Builder is available for use without any explicit approval from me, your friendly DM. I do not mind answering questions, of course. Characters start at level 1.

One item of general note: in the new digital world of Wizards of the Coast, any selections you make may, at their whim and unbeknownst to either of us, be updated in a later release. We must always use the most recent version of those selections. If an update is particularly grievous to you or it ruins your concept, please consider retraining or refactoring your character.

Races

All of the races provided in the Character Builder are approved for use, but please contact me if you select any of the following, so we can "port" the race's flavor text to the Forgotten Realms and/or provide some light background for your exceptional choice:

Be aware that some options are preview content and Wizards may change them at any time; you must use the most recent releases.

Classes

All classes in the Character Builder are fair game. I may want to do a minor port of the artificer flavor text, if anyone selects it. Otherwise, the normal Wizards of the Coast caveat applies. Be especially careful with hybrids, which are still in the playtesting phase.

Backgrounds

Forgotten Realms and General categories only, please. As a reminder of what the Character Builder states, you can select a number of backgrounds (only one regional background, however), but you choose only one benefit from your list of backgrounds. I suggest you select at least one Forgotten Realms background and a couple more of any source to flesh out the character; this step is a simple way to provide character development.

Again, the starting action will be focused on the Demonlands, which loosely encompasses the regions of Impiltur, Damara, Vaasa, Narfell, and the Great Dale. Not all of these areas are usually available for character backgrounds. Due to the potential for plot interaction, contact me if you would like to hail from Damara or Vaasa. Otherwise, you can of course select any region, or choose to hail from an area without a regional background; a one-line description of why you are in the area is recommended but not required.

Ability Scores

Standard point buy, as in the Character Builder.

Skills

Nothing special here, just a note that despite the obvious combat themes in the plot, social and knowledge skills will still be as useful as always (you are still adventurers, after all). Do not forget skills necessary to use any rituals you may be interested in.

Feats and Powers

Anything you qualify for within the Character Builder is allowed. I do not foresee any problems here.

Items and Equipment

Anything in the Character Builder as suitable for your level and resources is fair game, with a slight amount of hesitation around immurements. Although not relevant until the epic tier, please contact me if you are interested in one.

Miscellany

Faerûnian deities only, of course. The Character Builder, while containing the names of all the deities, does not classify them. You may want to wait until you can see a list, as there are many, described in varying detail. If you have your heart set on a standard deity, however, we can almost certainly find its analogue in the Realms, or just add it to the pantheon if we get desperate.

If you wish, you may start with a spellscar (p. 41 of the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide), and there will be opportunities to obtain one during play.

For languages, select from Player's Handbook and Forgotten Realms languages. As a mechanic, I think that the utility of the Realms-specific languages will be to provide interaction bonuses for people of that area, and to be able to read official documents and so on. You can, of course, just take the language of your region for flavor.

Experience and New Characters

Every member of the party will be locked to the same experience point total, so that there are no level disparities when some players cannot attend for a while. Basically, all characters will have the experience point total, no exceptions (rewards will be given through other means).

As such, replacement (new, due to either heavily refactoring (see below) or character death) characters will come in at the same level and experience point total as the rest of the party. They will suffer the same temporary penalties as from the Raise Dead ritual.

A Note on Retraining and Refactoring

You are allowed to retrain once per level, as in the Character Builder. Refactoring when new sources are available will be allowed, but obviously, past a certain point we are talking less about refactoring and more about making a new character (which is also allowed if you so desire). But, in general, if you are regretting a decision or just have a shift in focus, either retrain when you level, or talk to me when you've leveled and you will probably be free to make your changes (especially so when we're still early in the campaign).

What to Expect During Play

Knowledge Checks

Knowledge checks (identifying monster properties, magical effects, etc.) will start as passive skill checks, to represent that if you know it, you know it. This is a deviation from how we as a group normally run it, but I believe the method suggested by the core books. With time or more data, you will be allowed to make additional checks, using actual rolls, as a standard action. Knowledge-related skill checks in skill challenges will work as written; you will always make an actual roll.

Rewards

One element I think I will introduce is the concept of titles, which will be implemented as a sort of quasi-achievement system. Rather than smaller, objective goals, the idea is a two-way process where the exceptional and notable actions of your character, intentional or not, lead to purely thematic titles, e.g. "Kingslayer" or "Amaunator's Minstrel". This is intended to be for your benefit and mine; generating interesting titles will hopefully cause me to use them in character conversation, the promise of them will hopefully lead you to tell me things your character would like to achieve — if you have a goal in mind, bring it to me and we will try to wrap it into the game.

As always, there will be perks for those who provide me detailed backgrounds, histories, songs, or whatever for their characters, and this reward extends throughout the campaign in the form of expanded backgrounds, detailed session or adventure logs, campaign lore contributions, and the like. All of this work is optional and will thus be rewarded. So as to keep the level balance, rewards will be a gifted magic item of a level appropriate to your current point in the campaign. Of course, the relative usefulness and effort in this extra work is a subjective measurement, but I will try to be fair.

For Players New To the Forgotten Realms

Welcome to the Realms! If you played in any of my 3.x campaigns, or are familiar with PC games such as Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Icewind Dale, you may not be as new to the world of Toril as you think, but a lot has changed. In any event, Forgotten Realms is a high fantasy world that is in many respects identical to what you may consider "normal" Dungeons & Dragons. The existence of a hierarchy of deities and exarchs is assumed by almost all denizens of the Realms, evil and unchecked monsters have shrunk the reaches of civilization, and opportunities for adventure new and old are around every dale and mountain.

Unfortunately, if you are looking for free general information on the Forgotten Realms, most of the sites on the Internet are focused on 3.x content, which in some respects is totally obsolete. Your best bet is likely to read the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide when you next have the chance to (I own it) and to browse the Forgotten Realms category of the Backgrounds section of the Character Builder. The FRPG also provides guidance on how members of your race fit into the world. A Grand History of the Realms, a PDF that is freely available, will give you plenty of background on past years of the setting, and D&D Insider subscribers can find articles related to the Forgotten Realms in Dragon magazines.

Above all else, do not worry if you know nothing about the Realms and just want to make a character. It is good for flavor, but your personal knowledge of the setting will never be a requirement for success during the campaign (although it may bring context or hidden meaning to some of the events). If you don't have time or opportunity to read any Forgotten Realms sources, just make a character and go with it — it will almost certainly fit into the Realms just fine.

For Players Familiar With the Forgotten Realms

If you're familiar with the Realms, and especially the 3.x edition of the Realms, it may be more constructive to go over what has changed. A number of deities have died, others have become exarchs of the gods (think divine servants, demigods), and in general their influence (some would say meddling) in mortal affairs is less prominent. The most important example is the death of Mystra at the hands of Cyric; her death caused the Spellplague, which changed magic in the Realms, warped land and creatures, and tore asunder countless magic items and portals. Parts of Abeir, a true forgotten realm, have merged with Toril, bringing with them dragonborn and a better understanding of the history of the universe, along with awareness of a great threat to the gods in the primordials that once ruled Abeir. A number of independent civilizations have fallen due to the Spellplague or the wars left in its wake, and of the few areas to recover, most have become bastions of evil and corruption. Much of the Demonlands are such an area.

But, for everything that has changed in the Realms, much has stayed the same. Individual cities and kingdoms may lie ruined, but the general makeup of most regions has not faltered. Cities along the Sword Coast still rule by the coin, much of what remains of the South is wilderness and savagery, the Underdark remains the threat it always has been, and the North still consists of determined, if battered, citizens holding to their settlements. Magic is as important as ever, despite the destruction of the Weave — it is now merely an internal force, as now understood by those who wield it. The gods, despite their diminished presence, still affect the world through their agents as they ally with and scheme against other members of the pantheon.

If you've been keeping up with the fourth edition version of Forgotten Realms, you're already off to a great start. Regardless, the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide is again the most valuable resource for creating your character, especially the introduction and sections on your race and background, though the latter may be discernible from the Character Builder alone.

For All Players

This is to be your story as much as mine. Use your characters and their motivation to shape its events, and I hope that the outcome is more than the sum of its parts.

Resources

If you are interested in reading more about the Forgotten Realms setting, check out some of the resources below.

Current Edition

Previous Editions

About This Wiki

The root section of Heirs to Arms is intended to be a player resource as much as it is a DM resource. Please post any content you're interested in having up here, including your character stats, backgrounds, wiki-style articles about a region or NPC (noteworthy or not), or anything else that strikes your fancy.

Unfortunately, to combat spam, editing is restricted to registered users and the registration form is disabled. Until I can decide on a suitable alternative, you will have to contact me with a desired username (default is FirstnameLastname) and password so that I can sign you up manually. You will then be able to change your password freely.

Categories: Dungeons & Dragons, Heirs to Arms

DungeonsAndDragons/HeirsToArms/PlayerHandout (last edited 2010-01-02 08:06:57 by DanielRutz)