| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| cudi |
Posted - 11 Aug 2005 : 19:36:03
I am goig to start running a new campaign with a group of four dwarves. They are stating at level 5: a shield,gold,urdunnir and maybe a renegade duergar.
I would like, on the long run, to let my players get involved in the reconstuction of dwarven holds and war against evil invaders( orcs, giants&co).
I need a nice dwarven place where to play such a campaign, but I want it to be sufficently detailed. I dont´want to play it in the silver marches or in the dales: Where could I?
Any good ideas?
I know there are many places but I dont want a roughly detailed one.
Thanks  |
| 17 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Brother Ezra |
Posted - 18 Nov 2005 : 04:09:12
If you're interested in exploring the war of good versus evil, and a traditional besieged dwarven hold theme, then the Earthfast dwarves are just the ticket. Once a thriving community of over 10,000 dwarves, the population has dwindled to about a thousand, thanks to the nearly 700 years of continuous raids by orcs, goblins and the like. More info on the Earthfast community can be found in Dwarves Deep.
Additionally there are several other dwarven communities in nearby Damara and Vaasa. The Hillsafar dwarves in the Sunderland of Vaasa have already been mentioned. Additionally, there are the Orothiar dwarves of Bloodstone Pass, the Ironspur dwarves of the west Galenas, and a community of duergar beneath the Galena Mountains.
There's a lot of history for dwarves in the area as well. Dwarves lived in the region for centuries before humans came to settle (owing largely to the larger Great Glacier prior to DR 1038). Although I don't have a reference to support this theory, I strongly suspect that the Earthfast dwarves are descended from the dwarven nation of Sarphil which was destroyed over 3000 years ago. |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 17 Nov 2005 : 22:16:54
Definitely for the dwarves that you describe, the most logical place to me becomes Damara & the rest of the Bloodstone lands. The only ones who would be a stretch for that area would be the gold dwarf, but that easily explained as gold and hill dwarves are at least amicable. |
| coach |
Posted - 17 Nov 2005 : 18:23:48
dwarves in damara sources:
H2 mines of bloodstone
FR9
FRCS
Dungeoneer's Survival guide (reference in H2 lists deepearth as an 'underdark' area of Damara and Deepearth is detailed on pgs 75-99 of the DSG) |
| cudi |
Posted - 17 Aug 2005 : 23:13:53
Thank u everyone! Now I really have many ideas( and many things to go to read...), u where really helpfil, thanks again. |
| Faraer |
Posted - 17 Aug 2005 : 19:35:55
Underspires is detailed in Eric Boyd's "The City of Sunken Spires" (Dragon #267).
-- Footnotin' Faraer |
| TomCosta |
Posted - 17 Aug 2005 : 19:16:46
I would think one of the best places is along the southern edge of the Dragon Coast. You have settlers from the Gold Army encroaching into the Giant's Run Mountains to the SW, you have Shield Dwarves in Ironfang Deep in the Mts. of the Aloereum between the eastern edge of Gulthmere and Turmish, and you have the duergar of Underspires and other settlements below Turmish and the Shining Plains. Urdunnir is a much tougher fit, as I think they are only really found in the north.
So you can easily get a duergar renegade from Underspires, it's army of Steel, or one of its nearby colonies, an enterprising gold dwarf settler, and adventuring shield dwarf and of course there be giants in them their hills....
The only downside is their is very little information on the region.
The Troll Hills got some detail in Lands of Intrigue, the lands below the Giant's Run Plains and Mts is Cairnheim and the Giant's Chalice detailed in Drizzt's Guide to the Underdark, the 3E FRCS, and the 3E Underdark, Underspires was detailed in the 3E Underdark and I believe Dragon Magazine (but it might have been Polyhedron), and Ironfang Deep got some attention in the Vilhon Reach. Lastly, you can find a little info on the gold dwarves moving north in FRCS and Races of Faerun. |
| Lashan |
Posted - 17 Aug 2005 : 18:54:33
I have always wanted to run a campaign idea I had for Tethyammar. It involes an all dwarf party, though I was going to insist they were all shield dwarves. The idea is that the king of Tethyammar is getting old and wants to start the reclemation of his old lands. His current court is in Tsurlagol, which has become a bit of a crossroads town for shield dwarves of the north. The king wants a small group to scout out Tethyammar and get as much information as possible. He gives some useful information, such as a hidden bunker near Tethyammar that most likely wasn't discovered to use as a base of operations.
Now, the king knows that the Black Network would hate to have some new dwarven stronghold on their border and would stop at anything to prevent an expedition from reaching it. They have a spy in the court of the king wiht a cleric of that evil and greedy dwarf god. He is the cousin of the king and believes that Tethyammar is fallen and will never be retaken (and therefore just wants to get rich). This cousin has been spying for the Black Network for years and leaks the information about the party trying to reach the place.
I wanted to start the characters out at lvl 1 (as any real campaign should) and by the time they actually reach the hidden bunker, they should have gained quite a few levels. I was going to have the Zhentarium hire all sorts of lesser bad guys to attack, trap, or trick the party away from their quest. First off would be the Bloody Tusk orc tribe I created for the south-eastern Vast. This tribe has some connection to the human merchants of the area, including the zhentarium agents. They get hired to kill the party. The party must avoid them and escape beyond their clutches as the first adventure.
After that, the party can pick their own way to get to the Desertmouth Mountains. I had a different adventure in each port and a few on the roads between them. I also was going to create some crazy quest about being able to locate the hidden bunker. The last castillian lives somewhere in the Vast and he will only give the key to the place if the party does something with an obscure and lost dwarven temple in the Vast. I was going to place the castillian in some difficult place in the Vast that wasn't close to where they wanted to go, just to be annoying. It also gives the spy network a better chance to try to set up traps on the party of dwarves. I was considering having them find some way through the "Lost Ways" to get closer to the Dalelands.
Of course, there can be lots of adventures and everything just getting to the hidden bunker. Once they get there, they have to content with scouting patrols who are aware that there are some snooping dwarves around. The mines are under the control of some evil, banite liches who are not part of the zhentarium (but perhaps allied with). The party needs to get in and try to find out what the status of the enemy is before they can report back to the king in Tsurlagol. This could take quite a while and could lead to a higher level adventure where they can actually try to free the mines from the evil bad guys.
I hope that helps. |
| Misericordia |
Posted - 14 Aug 2005 : 21:27:56
quote:
Originally posted by cudi
I was interested in knowing something about dwarven comunities in Damara and Vast: where may I find such lore?
Bloodstone Lands states that dwarves were the first settlers of Damara, and they use to mine bloodstones (obviously). The largest clan, Hillsafar, of about 2000 mountain dwarves, lives in the Sunderland, on the Vaasan side of the Galenas. There's also a clan of hill dwarves and some other smaller clans of mountain ones. Beneath the mountains are also Duergars, so it may be an interesting place for your campaign. |
| ode904 |
Posted - 14 Aug 2005 : 21:11:27
Hmm...
What about areas like Nether Mountains or Snowflake Mountains?
Just an idea.. |
| cudi |
Posted - 14 Aug 2005 : 00:13:55
It seems that some drow know about this "overgrowth" in dwarven population, but I don't know to wich extent.
I have lost empires of faerun, Ammarindar is interesting... I'm thinking.
I was interested in knowing something about dwarven comunities in Damara and Vast: where may I find such lore?
Shanatar is good but I'm afraid I don't know enough of what the Army of goldand the one of Steel are doing there: is the war still raging? |
| khorne |
Posted - 12 Aug 2005 : 18:17:34
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote:
Originally posted by khorne
(do the elves know of the thunder blessing and it`s effects?)
I'd imagine that it's not widely known outside of dwarven communities. The other races may have noted more dwarves around, but unless a dwarf tells them, they're not going to realize there's more dwarves being born.
It sure would be depressing for the elves if they found out that their longtime rivals are going up, while they themselves still dwindle |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 12 Aug 2005 : 17:45:56
quote:
Originally posted by khorne
(do the elves know of the thunder blessing and it`s effects?)
I'd imagine that it's not widely known outside of dwarven communities. The other races may have noted more dwarves around, but unless a dwarf tells them, they're not going to realize there's more dwarves being born. |
| khorne |
Posted - 12 Aug 2005 : 12:03:53
I think Shanatar or Tethyamar would be good.(do the elves know of the thunder blessing and it`s effects?) |
| hammer of Moradin |
Posted - 12 Aug 2005 : 03:24:15
Do you have Lost Empires of Faerun cudi? Ammarindar is not too north, not too south. Although, it is part of the old realms of the High Forest. Also, if you want to go a bit more to the south, High Shanatar might work well. |
| cudi |
Posted - 11 Aug 2005 : 21:15:01
quote:
Originally posted by webmanus
Hi Cudi,
Although I am not answering your question, I ask you, are you aware of the coming adventure?
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/fracc/884467400
You made me think about it, as you wrote "war against evil invaders (orcs, giants&co)".
What do you meen with good dwarven place? Below, I have a link to my home page where regions populated by dwarves are listed.
http://user.tninet.se/~bsu242v/realmslore/races/races.htm
Yes, I do, and I am probably going to buy it as soon as I can, maybe after reading it it could make me run the campaign there... but I ´m not sure
quote:
Originally posted by webmanus
A shield, a gold, and an urdunnir ... Maybe, the campaign should be set somewhere where such dwarves coexist, or at least, live not too far from each other. Urdunnir ... hmmm, would not that be the North?!? But, you want to be out of the North ... And gold dwarves are from the south.
Sorry, no clue ... by the way, I am elaborating Daggerdale, and I have been thinking about the dwarves latetly. I have created an abandoned dwarven hold, that I called Stone Gate. Not a big kingdom, only a small hold for c 300 dwarves ... but this is in Daggerdale.
Do you have Dwarves Deep (FR11, #9300, 1990)? A lot about dwarves is mentioned there, but, the information is quite old, and although detailed ... maybe, you find it not detailed enough for your needs ...
There is goig to be a connection which will justify the fact of having such different reces; I´ve been seriously thinking about it. I´ve noticed, anyway, that many gold and urdunnir dwarves have left their original strongholds to estabilish new communities...
I would like to run the campaign in damara, for example, but I dont know where to find much lore about the dwarven communities in that area. Same for Vast.
Daggerdale is nice, and I could connect it very easily with an exploration or even a restoration of Thetyamar... is just that I´ve played recently place and I wanted to change place... but I may chenge idea.
I will try and find I way to read this "Dwar. Deep": I´ve never heard about it.
quote:
Maybe you can consider The Great Rift, in the center of eastern Shaar. It's the largest community of dwarves in Faerun, there's connection with the Underdark...
The basic idea was to lead to the restoration of an old kingdom or the construction of a new one, this area does not give me the chance to do it. |
| Misericordia |
Posted - 11 Aug 2005 : 20:04:38
Maybe you can consider The Great Rift, in the center of eastern Shaar. It's the largest community of dwarves in Faerun, there's connection with the Underdark... |
| webmanus |
Posted - 11 Aug 2005 : 19:56:29
Hi Cudi,
Although I am not answering your question, I ask you, are you aware of the coming adventure?
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/fracc/884467400
You made me think about it, as you wrote "war against evil invaders (orcs, giants&co)".
What do you meen with good dwarven place? Below, I have a link to my home page where regions populated by dwarves are listed.
http://user.tninet.se/~bsu242v/realmslore/races/races.htm
A shield, a gold, and an urdunnir ... Maybe, the campaign should be set somewhere where such dwarves coexist, or at least, live not too far from each other. Urdunnir ... hmmm, would not that be the North?!? But, you want to be out of the North ... And gold dwarves are from the south.
Sorry, no clue ... by the way, I am elaborating Daggerdale, and I have been thinking about the dwarves latetly. I have created an abandoned dwarven hold, that I called Stone Gate. Not a big kingdom, only a small hold for c 300 dwarves ... but this is in Daggerdale.
Do you have Dwarves Deep (FR11, #9300, 1990)? A lot about dwarves is mentioned there, but, the information is quite old, and although detailed ... maybe, you find it not detailed enough for your needs ... |
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