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Procopius
Acolyte
USA
1 Posts |
 Posted - 30 Dec 2024 : 15:54:10
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Hullo everyone,
In lieu of a midlife crisis involving fast cars (not much of a driver, really) or younger women (not terribly handsome or charming, get along pretty well with my very patient wife), I've begun collecting* AD&D 2nd Edition stuff, particularly Forgotten Realms stuff. Something about those boxed sets and all those maps, I reckon.
As a teen in the late 1990s, the Realms, AD&D, and Dragon Magazine all seemed the province of "the big kids", the gamers who'd been playing since the 1980s, or (whisper it) the late 1970s, an era before the advent of written history. I was never able to get into any of it then, a combination of parents who were okay with stuff like the Star Wars D6 RPG (if somewhat resigned to the fact that it meant no grandchildren—joke's on them, I've given them three INCREDIBLY DESTRUCTIVE grandchildren), but not the clearly satanic Dungeons and/or Dragons; the fact that I had only a handful of friends to play with in school at lunch; and no clear conception of what books I even needed to buy to play the game (I"m actually convinced, without a shred of evidence, that this was one of the things that did TSR in, as it was hard for people not in the ecosystem already to know what they needed to spend their pocket money on, and two or three or more necessary books meant two or three or more months before you could play). But now I'm old and dessicated, my blood has turned to dust in my veins, and I can buy whatever I want as long as I'm cool with my kids paying for their own college educations. So I got a bunch of stuff: City of Splendors, Ruins of Zhentil Keep, Spellbound, the Volo's Guides, the Dalelands, Ruins of Undermountain, Elminster's Ecologies, Wizards & Rogues, Warriors & Priests, Powers & Pantheons (for my guy Hoar), Faiths and Avatars, etc etc.
Now, did I have a group of players standing by? Could I convince my old and widely-scattered gaming buddies to play? No, of course not. But you know, if I could, I'm ready to go.
This rather long and tedious preamble gets me to my actual question, for those of you still with me: published adventures aside (Doom of Daggerdale, incidentally, seems somewhat less fatal than Haunted Halls of Eveningstar), how do or did you handle low-level adventuring in the Realms? It feels like most of the creatures roaming about are vastly more powerful than the poor adventurers; and many of the foes are "just" powerful or comparatively-powerful humans existing outside of the traditional dungeons (which I love, in terms of setting design). Do the PCs just spend a lot of time hiding or running for their lives? Are they resigned to fighting rats until they're ready to take on the weakest members of The Black Network?
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"Any life when viewed from the inside is simply a series of defeats."
-- George Orwell |
Edited by - Procopius on 01 Jan 2025 22:47:28
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DoveArrow
Learned Scribe
129 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2024 : 18:03:16
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I don't know a lot about 2E but the few games I've played in usually involved tomb plundering in the early stages of the game. It served two purposes:
1) You could get pit the characters against some easier challenges, like skeletons, zombies, and various vermin.
2) It allows the characters to acquire some treasure that they'll need to be effective against greater threats.
But yeah. Virtually every edition pits the characters against smaller threats in the early stages, like rats and the like. |
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Delnyn
Senior Scribe
USA
983 Posts |
Posted - 31 Dec 2024 : 22:49:54
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FR is also politics-friendly. While hunting rats or goblins, the party can build a reputation with potential sponsors. Membership in an established organization has its privileges as well as obligations.
The other point of slow pace easy combat is to acquaint the characters to the wider Realms. I would think it safe to say the PC's don't start knowing the Realms as well as their players. And if the players don't know the Realms well, diplomacy is far more conducive to a longer life than combat. |
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varyar
Learned Scribe
140 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jan 2025 : 13:08:55
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Start small scale, as suggested, and local - have the PCs run through a few low level adventures in or near a given small town, let them establish connections with the local mayor/elder/priest, and then after they've gotten a couple levels, move them on to the next tier - their local contact suggests they get in touch with the mayor/elder/priest of bigger town/small city because they've proven themselves and can maybe help solve Third Level Problem over there. Just because there's a lot of powerful NPCs and factions in the Realms doesn't mean they're going to squash the PCs on sight.
Perhaps in stage one, they come across the local bully and have a few minor altercations. Then, a few sessions in at bigger town/small city, they run into the bully again. Except now the bully is part of a gang. And not just a gang, but a gang that does local leg-breaking for a wizard or priest of Bane, one who does a little work for the Zhentarim as ordered. And now the adventurers are on wizard/priest's radar, and eventually they come to the attention of the actual Zhentarim - but by that time, they've established themselves (and hopefully have made a few friends with influence and power). |
Out Now on the DMs Guild:
Cormanthor: The First Flowering:
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/502169/Cormanthor-The-First-Flowering
Leira the Mistshadow:
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/493852/Leira-the-Mistshadow
Vandria Gilmadrith, Lady of Grief:
https://www.dmsguild.com/product/481871/Vandria-Gilmadrith-Lady-of-Grief |
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Delnyn
Senior Scribe
USA
983 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jan 2025 : 22:29:29
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In your Session Zero, I recommend screening out the murderhobos. They will get the other PCs killed through no fault of their own. The NPCs you may be afraid will squash you (and they most likely can) may turn out to be your reliable capable sponsors. FR encourages social interaction. Choose your allies and enemies wisely!
EDIT: I agree strongly with Varyar with regard to starting local and small. |
Edited by - Delnyn on 01 Jan 2025 22:31:13 |
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DMing low-level [2e] adventuring in the Realms
