Tyler Do'Urden
Soap Maker
Hello again... my, it's been a long time since I started a thread on here...
Anyway, I've just decided to start a new Forgotten Realms campaign, set in the Eastern portion of the realms (those areas covered by the Unapproachable East sourcebook- Aglarond, Thay, Thesk, Rasheman, The Great Dale, Narfell, et al). The character creation parameters are as follows- 75 points to be distributed directly into stats, or you may roll for stats, 4d6 drop the lowest six times, rerolling if the total doesn't add up to at least 75. This gives players the option of either point-building a character however they wish, or rolling for stats in the hopes that they might get a better point total (though not necessarily getting the spread they want). Nobody rolled more than 77, and two players point-buyed, so far, so good. Characters are made at 4th level, with 5400 gp to buy equipment, plus a free regional item. Characters must have a region in the East (listed in the "appropriate regions" entry in the Unapproachable East sourcebook), and recieve one of their regional background feats as a bonus feat. Classes and prestige classes are pretty much open, as long as they fit the character's background and meet with my approval.
Here's what they made:
Female River Spirit folk (Unapproachable East), Spirt Shaman 4 (Complete Divine), Shou Expatriate, Neutral.
Male Human Barbarian 1 / Ranger 3, Rashemi, Chaotic Good
Male Human Samurai 4 (Complete Warrior), Shou Expatriate, Lawful Evil
Male Human Rogue 3 / Sorcerer 1, Thayan, Chaotic Neutral
It's a solidly balanced group- a committed divine spellcaster, two tough warriors (one more stealth-focused (the Rashemi), one more of a tank fighter (the Shou)), and a solid rogue who is shifting his focus into arcane magic (all of the character's levels from here on out, as this player plans, are to be in arcane classes- Sorcerer, Wild Mage (Complete Arcane), and Daggerspell Mage (Complete Adventurer)).
Just one problem- between the backstories, backgrounds, and alignments, I can think of absolutely NO reason these people would be working together!
Here's the deal. The Shaman is an orphan of immigrants from Shou who were killed by Rashemi raiders. Although not an evil type, she is driven by spirits of vengeance who command her to fight those who destroyed her family- the Rashemi. Which immediately gives me a problem, since one character is a Rashemi! On top of that, she's a loner who dwells in the wilderness. The hook that the player offered me is that she is allied with the Red Wizard Sanh the Magnificent, a PC from another campaign (who won't be appearing in this one in all likelyhood, but the story is still relevant) who is determined to destroy Thay's Zulkir of Evocation, Aznar Thrul, Sahn's illegitimate father (who later slew his mother, a Tiefling, to cover up his son's impure blood). As the Shaman is driven by spirits of vengeance, she naturally wants to assist Sanh in his blood feud- provided, of course, that he help her unleash doom on the Rashemi. Though true neutral, she vastly favors order over chaos, whether it's good or evil- naturally preferring the hierarchy of Thay over the freewheeling Rashemi.
The Rashemi is a young warrior just returning from his djemma, a walkabout of sorts. During his years away, he visited Aglarond, where he took up residence in a village in the Yuirwood, where he learned combat techniques from the half-elves (and became quite fond of longswords). He's pretty much an open book, other than that.
The Thayan is a survivor- and a manipulator. As a sorcerer, he is an outcast among Thayans- so he tries to keep his "gift" secret and concentrates on skullduggery and espionage- spying for Red Wizards and merchants in the political mess of intrigue that makes up Thayan high society. He is not a particularly malevolent person, or racist- his only concern is with keeping his skin and freedom intact while trying to enjoy some of the bonanza of Thay's emerging trade dominance. At the same time, he has a slightly idealistic side- part of him would like to see the Red Wizards toppled from power.
The Shou Samurai is a self-described Ronin- which is not entirely accurate, given that he does have a daimyo of sorts- the Nine Swords Yakuza of Thesk, for which he is a soldier.
So, we have two characters with diametrically opposed alignments- LE vs. CG. We have a Shou who hates Rashemi, and a Rashemi who hates Thayans- in a party with all of the above. On top of that, they all seem to have different, if not conflicting life goals...
in short, what common ground do they have- how do I get such a party together in a realistic manner, without "You all meet in a tavern" or "Wizard ex machina" (in which a powerful mage (or insert other powerful individual here) gathers the party for unexplained reasons for a cryptic mission, and they're ramrodded through a plot)? I'm tempted to have three of the players sold into Thayan slavery and "purchased" by the Thayan PC- but that's problematic, as the River Spirit Shaman designed her starting spell selection to avert exactly that occurence (short of being hunted down by high level mages, rangers, or druids, she isn't easy to catch, and no slaver is going to waste their time on her). Another possibility, since Rasheman and Thay would be rough for some of the PC's, is to start them on more neutral ground (Thesk or Aglarond), but what in the heck are they doing there, and why would they get together?
This is a challenge for you clever DM's out there... have fun...
Anyway, I've just decided to start a new Forgotten Realms campaign, set in the Eastern portion of the realms (those areas covered by the Unapproachable East sourcebook- Aglarond, Thay, Thesk, Rasheman, The Great Dale, Narfell, et al). The character creation parameters are as follows- 75 points to be distributed directly into stats, or you may roll for stats, 4d6 drop the lowest six times, rerolling if the total doesn't add up to at least 75. This gives players the option of either point-building a character however they wish, or rolling for stats in the hopes that they might get a better point total (though not necessarily getting the spread they want). Nobody rolled more than 77, and two players point-buyed, so far, so good. Characters are made at 4th level, with 5400 gp to buy equipment, plus a free regional item. Characters must have a region in the East (listed in the "appropriate regions" entry in the Unapproachable East sourcebook), and recieve one of their regional background feats as a bonus feat. Classes and prestige classes are pretty much open, as long as they fit the character's background and meet with my approval.
Here's what they made:
Female River Spirit folk (Unapproachable East), Spirt Shaman 4 (Complete Divine), Shou Expatriate, Neutral.
Male Human Barbarian 1 / Ranger 3, Rashemi, Chaotic Good
Male Human Samurai 4 (Complete Warrior), Shou Expatriate, Lawful Evil
Male Human Rogue 3 / Sorcerer 1, Thayan, Chaotic Neutral
It's a solidly balanced group- a committed divine spellcaster, two tough warriors (one more stealth-focused (the Rashemi), one more of a tank fighter (the Shou)), and a solid rogue who is shifting his focus into arcane magic (all of the character's levels from here on out, as this player plans, are to be in arcane classes- Sorcerer, Wild Mage (Complete Arcane), and Daggerspell Mage (Complete Adventurer)).
Just one problem- between the backstories, backgrounds, and alignments, I can think of absolutely NO reason these people would be working together!
Here's the deal. The Shaman is an orphan of immigrants from Shou who were killed by Rashemi raiders. Although not an evil type, she is driven by spirits of vengeance who command her to fight those who destroyed her family- the Rashemi. Which immediately gives me a problem, since one character is a Rashemi! On top of that, she's a loner who dwells in the wilderness. The hook that the player offered me is that she is allied with the Red Wizard Sanh the Magnificent, a PC from another campaign (who won't be appearing in this one in all likelyhood, but the story is still relevant) who is determined to destroy Thay's Zulkir of Evocation, Aznar Thrul, Sahn's illegitimate father (who later slew his mother, a Tiefling, to cover up his son's impure blood). As the Shaman is driven by spirits of vengeance, she naturally wants to assist Sanh in his blood feud- provided, of course, that he help her unleash doom on the Rashemi. Though true neutral, she vastly favors order over chaos, whether it's good or evil- naturally preferring the hierarchy of Thay over the freewheeling Rashemi.
The Rashemi is a young warrior just returning from his djemma, a walkabout of sorts. During his years away, he visited Aglarond, where he took up residence in a village in the Yuirwood, where he learned combat techniques from the half-elves (and became quite fond of longswords). He's pretty much an open book, other than that.
The Thayan is a survivor- and a manipulator. As a sorcerer, he is an outcast among Thayans- so he tries to keep his "gift" secret and concentrates on skullduggery and espionage- spying for Red Wizards and merchants in the political mess of intrigue that makes up Thayan high society. He is not a particularly malevolent person, or racist- his only concern is with keeping his skin and freedom intact while trying to enjoy some of the bonanza of Thay's emerging trade dominance. At the same time, he has a slightly idealistic side- part of him would like to see the Red Wizards toppled from power.
The Shou Samurai is a self-described Ronin- which is not entirely accurate, given that he does have a daimyo of sorts- the Nine Swords Yakuza of Thesk, for which he is a soldier.
So, we have two characters with diametrically opposed alignments- LE vs. CG. We have a Shou who hates Rashemi, and a Rashemi who hates Thayans- in a party with all of the above. On top of that, they all seem to have different, if not conflicting life goals...
in short, what common ground do they have- how do I get such a party together in a realistic manner, without "You all meet in a tavern" or "Wizard ex machina" (in which a powerful mage (or insert other powerful individual here) gathers the party for unexplained reasons for a cryptic mission, and they're ramrodded through a plot)? I'm tempted to have three of the players sold into Thayan slavery and "purchased" by the Thayan PC- but that's problematic, as the River Spirit Shaman designed her starting spell selection to avert exactly that occurence (short of being hunted down by high level mages, rangers, or druids, she isn't easy to catch, and no slaver is going to waste their time on her). Another possibility, since Rasheman and Thay would be rough for some of the PC's, is to start them on more neutral ground (Thesk or Aglarond), but what in the heck are they doing there, and why would they get together?
This is a challenge for you clever DM's out there... have fun...
![:]](http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png "Devious :]")
