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Cosmar
Seeker
89 Posts |
 Posted - 30 Apr 2020 : 10:17:26
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Hi all,
I DM a lot (mostly 3.5, finally getting into 5e). When I do it's usually in a homebrew setting of my own design (which has a decent amount of lore but not nearly as much as FR), or just a generic, more-or-less "lore-less" setting.
I'm just wondering how a DM might introduce brand-new players (who are both new to D&D as well as the Realms) into the Realms without completely overwhelming them in character creation alone. I toyed with the idea of offering premade characters, but that takes away a lot of the fun, IMO.
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TheIriaeban
Master of Realmslore
USA
1289 Posts |
Posted - 30 Apr 2020 : 17:48:37
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How familiar are you with the Realms? One way is to have each person describe their character and that may give you a clue that it sounds like they would be from a certain place in the Realms. That can be done before any actual character creation so they would have something to guide their choices. You could send them a link to that area's article on the FRWiki. That way, if they want, they can read up on the area and decide if that sounds like a good backstory for their character.
Also, you know where they are going to start so you could send them links from the FRWiki for articles about where they are starting out at and get a feel for what their characters are going to experience there. It all depends how much the player wants to put into their character's backstory and personality. |
"Iriaebor is a fine city. So what if you can have violence between merchant groups break out at any moment. Not every city can offer dinner AND a show."
My FR writeups - http://www.mediafire.com/folder/um3liz6tqsf5n/Documents
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4460 Posts |
Posted - 30 Apr 2020 : 19:54:27
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Personally, I really like a lot of the pre-made adventures they created and they're all set in the Forgotten Realms (well, most anyways). I have read some of, but not played through, the Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle adventure. It's an adventure towards the near beginning of 5E and from what I've read does delve quite a bit into the lore of the surrounding lands (so basically the Sword Coast, Daggerford, Waterdeep, etc.) and have some cool elements like Dungeon-delving and fighthing a black dragon at the end. It's meant for 4 to 6 characters of 1st level and will progress you up through 4th level by the end (so it says). There's also stuff for random encounters to help control their usage of spells, powers, and consumables.
Now if a pre-made Adventure isn't your style, and I can certainly understand that because they can definitely feel Rail-Roady at times, then I'd place them in a relatively small starting area or town but somewhere close to a bigger city or metropolis. I know the Sword Coast and the Western Heartlands are done to death, so maybe a place like Cormyr? Personally I have a strong love for the Moonsea region as it's much more ambiguous in terms of Alignment and there's the remains of the Zhentarim there, dragon cultists, slavers, sea quests, Aboleths and creatures of the Far Realm, Orcs, and Undead lands of Barrow Mounds summoned by the King in Copper (aka the Lich Aesperus). You have cities like Hillsfar, Melvaunt, and Phlan and towns like Glister and Hulburg to start off in. When we did our Realms game, while I did do pre-made adventures all linked together in 3.5, we started off in Glister and then from there we went all over the area fighting off the Orcs of Thar and the Zhentarim occupation of a few strongholds in the region. We then ventured to Melvaunt and eventually that led us to the far west into Cormanthyr forest. |
Diffan's NPG Generator: FR NPC Generator |
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Altonao
Acolyte
Netherlands
1 Posts |
Posted - 30 Apr 2020 : 20:41:42
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After years of lurking, I’ve signed up to give my thoughts on this.
The ‘players’ (actually one player, playing several characters), being new to D&D, I gave only the simplest options for character creation: there were three to be created, so the only choices were Fighter, Cleric, Sorcerer, or a simplified Druid (found on the internet as homebrew).
I wanted them to start on the Sword Coast (yes, done to death, but the player didn’t know that), so I created a little village (south of Neverwinter) and put them there. They apparently met at some meeting (fayre) for employment – looking for general work, but bumped into each other, and decided they wanted to go Adventuring together. The village is too small, however, to be marked on any maps….
They knew very little about the world. I told them a few things they did know. Orcs here (Avoid! You’re only little!); a dragon lair here (Never Ever go there!!).
Slowly, slowly, oh, very slowly, they discovered the Realms.
That party went up to level 18, and then retired. One of them had had a child, and gave to them the book they had written (the player had indeed written it) about their adventures. Twenty years later, the child gathered some others about them, and also went adventuring... at level one, but with knowledge about the world. Having gathered some other companions about the way, they are now all levels 17 to 20, and certainly know a lot about many places and many (rather complicated) politics and interactions.
All from starting as Totally Ignorant in a little (invented) village. |
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Cosmar
Seeker
89 Posts |
Posted - 06 May 2020 : 19:36:16
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quote:
Originally posted by TheIriaeban
How familiar are you with the Realms? One way is to have each person describe their character and that may give you a clue that it sounds like they would be from a certain place in the Realms. That can be done before any actual character creation so they would have something to guide their choices. You could send them a link to that area's article on the FRWiki. That way, if they want, they can read up on the area and decide if that sounds like a good backstory for their character.
Also, you know where they are going to start so you could send them links from the FRWiki for articles about where they are starting out at and get a feel for what their characters are going to experience there. It all depends how much the player wants to put into their character's backstory and personality.
That's a great idea! I am very familiar with the Realms so that could work out. Just say what kind of character they'd like to play and extrapolate from that where they might like to be from/start. |
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist
USA
12022 Posts |
Posted - 06 May 2020 : 21:34:21
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| Yeah, that's GENERALLY how I helped players define their backstory. I asked them what they were like and then gave them an inkling of where they might be from and gave them some reading material. That being said, don't get your hopes up that they'll dive into the lore. Many players only marginally worry about their history. Also, after listening to their character designs, it also often helped me as a DM pick where the group might start at. |
Alavairthae, may your skill prevail
Phillip aka Sleyvas |
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PattPlays
Senior Scribe
469 Posts |
Posted - 06 May 2020 : 21:56:35
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I would say do not be afraid to have a portal leading directly into the realms, or having realms characters out in other planes. I put lord Zelraun Roaringhorn of Waterdeep (from Out of the Abyss) inside the Abyssal Tavern of my updated 2e Planescape module )The Deva Spark) and after rescuing him I had the archmage trounce around Sigil for a few weeks before finding a portal back home to Toril. If your party ever reaches one of the inner planes, even for a moment, they may very well run into a Faerunian on an errand. Then, there's places like the Forgotten Realms' version of White Plume Mountain..
Edit: Off topic but thanks for the clicks through to the blog! |
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Edited by - PattPlays on 06 May 2020 22:41:06 |
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How to introduce brand-new players to the Realms?
