Good Starting Point for this campaign?

[orcmonk220]

Hiya
Well, I'll get right to the point. I'm trying to establish a campaign where the PCs will travel from around the Western Heartlands through to Thay and into the Abyss and Baator respectively. However, I'm at a loss to where I should start the campaign. Here's a brief background synopsis I've written out specially for this campaign, which should help you see where I'm going with this:

1380 DR, The Year of the Blazing Hand. This is the final year of all things normal in Faerun. This is the year when time will be changed forever.
Deep in the crypts of Candlekeep, the calendar of Harptos has written in it the names of all the years for all time on Toril. And yet, the years scripted by Harptos hold a sinister message within them. So far, all their descriptions have come true, save this one, and it is this fact that worried those who know the name given to 1381 DR - The Year of the End of All
For after The Year of the End of All, there is nothing. The dates do not extent past this. Those in denial claim Harptos' foresight simply could not see furthur than this year. However, deep down they know that this cannot be true, and fear what those who accept it fear - That Toril will not survive the coming year.
Thay's slavery is increasing, the Dwarves in the Starspire Mountains have uncovered runes even their experts are unable to decipher, and even Evermeet's strongest divination magic seems not past The Year of the End of All. The ground underfoot in some areas seems to grow hot, and many talk of the ghostly sound of battle in the deepest caverns. Toril is in danger, and Faerun is the focal area.
The schollers of the outer planes know of the increase in the Blood War throughout the Abyss and Baator. They know that the need for troops increase, and they know that those involved are not above searching other planes for 'recruits'.
Throughout all this, a group of friends patrol the Western Heartlands, a group who have no idea that, unless they take up the challenge, then Toril is doomed forever.

So, does anyone have any ideas for a starting point to this campaign?
Cheers
Chris

 

[Ed_Laprade]

"You meet at an inn..." (Hey, someone had to say it! )

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Quietly ... WOTC might pick this up for another Realms-Shattering Event (tm) novel series!

What level are you starting at? How far do you want to go before getting to the main part of the plot? It's a bit Baldur's Gate-ish, but they could all be apprentices at Candlekeep who stumble on the secret and decide to investigate.

Or they could be merchant caravan guards on the caravan route between Cormyr and Baldur's Gate/Waterdeep/Amn ... pick up the campaign anywhere along the caravan route.

Edit: Or perhaps, each has individually been given a clue from their own homeland to what is going on (the dwarf has dwarvish runes, the elf an elven prophecy, etc) and they all meet at Candlekeep and compare notes ... then, BANG.

But ... what if they don't want to save the world, but just party like it's 1381?

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

"Roll for initiative."

I've found that this is my favorite beginning to any campaign. The battle doesn't have to be long, or tough, or anything, but it's a great lead-in.

For instance, depending on what the rest of the party backstory is, they could be liberating some Thayan slaves, or stopping a Zhentish raiding party.

 

[orcmonk220]

@ Olgar: If they want to party, I'll let 'em, but they'll be in deep... trouble, when the demons and devils break through.

I'm hoping to not introduce the Demonic/Devilish aspect until a few levels in, say a small group of bandits they're sent to investigate has a Rutterkin leader, or a Thayan wizard has an Imp familiar with an attitude problem who taunts the PCs with "This isn't the last of my kin!" just before he dies/escapes.

I'm hoping to begin the adventurers at level 1, trainees in an organisation dedicated to keeping the Heartlands as safe as they can. Maybe a smaller, less prominate version of the Harpers.

I like the idea of freeing some slaves. Maybe the Thayans have been passing through the area with a small slave caravan, and the party has been ordered out to try stop it.

Cheers all
Chris

 

[Darklone]

Let them stumble in a small typical dungeon over some old books with prophecies. Send them to Candlekeep. Pay them royally and offer more money for some more books. Send them on more quests.

 

[Nyaricus]

The Harpers angle might work; you could encourage the party to start off as a 'hyrib' group between a church faction and the harpers. Say, an elven god and the harpers are into patrolling the western heartlands to keep them safe. When news is heard of Thayan slaver activity in the area, the party is sent to investigate.

You could also work it that they are from Candlekeep (in a motley assortment of scribes, priests, visistors, guards, etc), and they could come uon a set of previously undiscovered catacombs under Candlekeep itself. The party discovers a set of scrolls which desrcibes a group of sturdy folk who will rise to a new challenge intertwined with the end of Hartos' Calender. The party then is equipped and heds west, where they come across Thayan Slavers and a variety of other adventures, which eventually lead them into the inky back depths of the Abyss itself. Personally, I like this approach *yoinked for future game*


To further explain that "hybrid" organization, in my FR games, there is a group known as the Dirgesingers, who are harper agents working in conjunction with the church of Kelemvror. They sing at funerals and help with those preceedings and ensure that no tomb shall be defiled or the like - basicaly each half of the faction helps the other out in some way.

cheers,
--N