D&D 5E Crisis on Infinite Torils

[GameDoc]

I so wanted to title this "Crisis on Infinite Oerths" but alas my interest lies in the Realms, not Greyhawk.

Anyhoo...

Feeling a bit nostalgic I returned to the Cyclopedia of the Realms from the original 1e gray box looking for inspiration. I had forgotten how great that original presentation of the setting really was. I enjoyed it so much, then I think I'd like my five 5e campaigning to go back to that period. Especially I like the idea that you don't know much about areas far beyond where you've lived or visited. There's some general knowledge but a lot left to discover. Moreso if you want to go beyond Faerun and visit other lands.

But I would also like to incorporate a few things that have developed over the years without necessarily being beholden to the continuity amassed through all the major "Realms shattering events" that have come with each new edition of D&D.

So I'm thinking of taking a page from the DC Comics playbook and having the Sundering (whatever the hell that is, I guess no one outside of WotC really knows right now) be an event that produces infinite parallel Torils. One where the Time of Troubles happened; one where the Spellplague happened; one where both did, one where neither did, and so forth. This might allow beings or artifacts to slip from one parallel world to the next at times.

I'd like my particular version to be basically the original with the exception of keeping what's in the 5e PHB available to players. Off the top of my head than would include dragonborn and tieflings as playable races whose members can generally go about civilized society without being attacked on sight, the PHB rates of exchange for coin, and the inclusion of Kelemvor in the human pantheon. Warlocks and sorcerers seem easy enough to slip in seamlessly.

I'd appreciate any constructive suggestions or ideas (i.e., let's not grognard-hate on newer material and concepts).

In particular I'd be interested in alternate ways to address the presence of dragonborn, and suggestions for backgrounds or other options for making the PHB races and classes fit characters from Kara-Tur, Zakhara, and Maztica.

 

[GameDoc]

Here's a crack at dragonborn that pays a bit of homage to the 4e origin of being transported from Aiber in an event that also destroyed Unther and Mulhorand (which also gets rid of the Egyptian and Babylonian pantheons, leaving only the Faerunian Powers).

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DRAGONBORN

AT A GLANCE: The Dragonborn are relative newcomers to the Realms and only in the past century well known enough to walk openly among civilized folk without being thought monsters. They are somewhat larger than humans, with scaled skin and largely draconic features, although they lack tails or wings. Their scales range in color from rust red to greenish bronze to pale gray, but never the bright colors or pure metallic hues of true dragons.

ELMINSTER’S NOTES: The Dragonborn were transplanted here from another world in the Year of the (1052 DR). A great storm of some unknown magical origin (which came to be known as the Dragonstorm) began in the Alamber Sea and expanded outward. By the time it subsided, it had swept away nearly all traces of central Unther and Mulhorand and the people who lived there. The Dragonborn city of Tymanchaber and a great mote of the earth it sat upon was deposited in the eye of the storm and promptly began to sink into the sea. The fleeing inhabitants washed ashore along the southern coast and slowly began rebuilding.

With aught but wastelands in all directions, the Dragonborn initially turned to a seafaring life for survival, exploring outward towards the Inner Sea. It was not until much later that overland trade routes were established with the lands of the Shaar. To date, the lands held by the Dragonborn (which they named Tymanther) are not large enough to support their numbers, and Dragonborn clans have established themselves in other parts of the Realms, generally agreeing to abide by the laws of the cities and nations where they take up residence. Many clans remain eternal seafarers, born, raised, and dying aboard ship and buried at sea.

Dragonborn are remiss to speak of the Dragonstorm or of the world they came from, although it may be of note that they often call it “Other-Toril”. Whether they simply use “Toril” as a generic word for “world” or whether the implication is that they come from some parallel version of Aiber-Toril itself is unknown.

 

[Parmandur]

Honestly, the vagueness of the Grey Box makes it pretty easy to let Dragonborn and Tieflings in without blowing up any countries. They might be regarded with suspicion, as the PHB suggests.