So, my latest kink in this project is the timeline. The main trouble being, if I follow the latest official timeline, then Tyranthraxus is defeated in 1340 DR (some errata list this as 1347), by "[unnamed] adventurers", who, a decade later (in 1350), are involved in some malarchy with Bane and a Hammer of Tyr and yadda yadda yadda. (And then their kids do some more great stuff in 1372, whee.) Trouble is, if I run FRC1 in my campaign, then none of this ever happened, as my PCs were responsible for freeing Phlan, not some poorly fleshed-out 1st edition-types. (Seriously, in the first novel, you could practically see the authors bending over backwards to describe Ren without saying, "look, he's a dual-class ranger/thief, ok?")
Ok, no problem, so none of that happens in my campaign. (None of it was that well written, anyway.) No harm, no foul. But, the idea is, in theory, that I'm able to run FRC2 Azure Bonds back-to-back with FRC1, with no intervening level hike. The module Azure Bonds follows events that happened in 1357, in the Azure Bonds novel; these events are pretty well-established in the timeline, and tie in directly with the events of the module. So, what, we're supposed to believe that the PCs cool their heels in Phlan for 17 years, sipping on mai tais? Nuh-uh. Doesn't fly.
Ok, so we can do one of two things: Move FRC1 forward ("to the future, Marty!"), or move FRC2 backwards. If we move Azure Bonds backwards, it causes all kinds of problems (Elminster, for example, whom the PCs have dealings with, hadn't even retired to Shadowdale in 1340, and the Hillsfar/Yulash war hadn't started), plus I don't have any interest in running a "pre-grey box" (1356) campaign (yet).
So we move FRC1 up. This actually jibes better with the established timeline in several ways: For example, the Dragon Run is described in both the module and (I think) the novel as being "50 years ago". The timeline has this in 1306, fifty years later = 1356, bull's-eye, one year before FRC2 is established to take place. However, this isn't as smooth as it might seem.
The grey box campaign set describes (and the current timeline maintains) a Flight of Dragons over the Moonsea and the Dalelands in 1356, with a "great worm" resting in the ruins of Phlan. This is pretty vital to the campaign up to the point of the grey box, and affects quite a few well-established plot points. (The death of Sylune, for example.) It seems pretty likely that this is what the designers of the PoR gold box game / authors of the PoR novel were attempting to expand upon when they came up with the whole plot, and they were just playing fast and loose with the timeline when they set the Dragon Run "50 years ago" - only, now we have two copies of - essentially - the same event in the timeline, with the earlier one retconned in to explain away the discrepancy. (And, now the original one in 1356 has been retconned as "not a real Rage of Dragons", and the last "real" one placed some three hundred plus years ago (in 1018), so they can get another Realms-Shaking Event for 1373 in time for the holiday season. Ugh.) So we have a Flight of Dragons taking place in 1356, which makes it sort of difficult to run low-level campaign believably at the same time. (Ok, you hit the kobold for 5 points of damage. Oops, ancient red dragons just flew overhead and fried everybody. Roll up new characters, please.) Furthermore, I'd rather not set the campaign just before the Flight - "Yay! You saved the city, you're heroes! Oh, and by the way, HAVE SOME HOT, DRAGON-Y DEATH! PWNEDZZOR LOLOLOLOL"
So, my thought so far (as I'm loathe to erase a well-established and setting-defining event simply to square up later authors' bungles), is this: The Dragon Run occurred, as listed, in 1306, wiping out the human inhabitants of the city and reducing it to ruins. 34 years later, in 1340 (again as listed) Tyranthraxus lures the bronze dragon Srossar into the Pool of Radiance, enslaves him, and subsequently assumes control of the ruins of Phlan. 16 years later (50 years after the fall of the city, as established), the Flight of Dragons over the Moonsea and the Dalelands described in the grey box (and elsewhere) take place. Srossar, being possessed by a demonic entity, is obviously not affected by this. However, the rampaging dragons exact a great toll on the inhuman inhabitants of the city, throwing them into chaos and temporarily loosening their hold on Phlan. Humans quickly seize this opportunity, and move to reclaim sections of the city. Our story begins here.
Another option, as I see it, would to simply set the adventure right after the original Flight, forget about the Run (or, at least, not make it central to the plot), and suppose that humans are moving right in on a freshly ruined city - but, this doesn't explain the presence of the humanoids, and greatly diminishes the impact of reclaiming the city. I'm not a fan of this option, but it is one possiblility.
Then, there's the possibility of just erasing the shoehorned-in Dragon Run, and taking the Flight of Dragons in 1356 as described in the grey box as the fall of the city. Flash forward 16 years to 1372, and humans are taking back the city. This results in a campaign that can be run in the "modern" WOTC-era Realms. Only problem: Go forward one year, and ANOTHER FREAKING FLIGHT OF DRAGONS in 1373. (!#$%@^ WOTC, they just couldn't leave well enough alone. Way to overuse a theme, guys. I'm pretty sure this is gonna be the point where my "modern" Realms campaign starts totally ignoring the published setting; we'll see how that goes.) Not to mention that you'd have to do some serious shoehorning with FRC2 to use it as a follow-up. Anyway, that's another option that I'm not too into, but it's there.
So, that's where I'm at, so far. I'll probably go with the 1356, post-Flight setting, it seems to side-step most of the continuity problems pretty nicely and works with FRC2 nicely.
Any thoughts?
