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MaxKaladin
Seeker
77 Posts |
 Posted - 09 Feb 2007 : 19:34:40
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I'm looking for an out of the way spot. I'd originally been considering the dales for a new campaign, but it seems the dales and surrounding areas are ground-zero for all sorts of major events. I'm getting a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out what all is going on and keep up with it. I'm thinking of finding somewhere, er, quieter, to set my game. Somewhere that's not been subject to so much change and upheaval in recent years.
I need somewhere that's not too settled, doesn't have a strong central authority and accepts adventurers. Ideally, I'd like to have some more civilized and structured areas relatively nearby but that's not strictly necessary. I was originally going to use the area around Deepingdale with the more civilized/structured areas being Cormyr/Sembia.
I want to avoid Waterdeep and the north because of a previous campaign in the area and a player request to go "somewhere new".
I'd considered something around the Giant's Run mountains and the non-Amnian part of the Troll Mountains or perhaps something in Erlkazar.
Any suggestions?
Thanks.
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Kuje
Great Reader
USA
7915 Posts |
Posted - 09 Feb 2007 : 22:52:05
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I really can't think of a place that hasn't been used in recent years. The novels and sourcebooks are all over the map and novels, more then sourcebooks, have made changes to the setting that many of us are not enjoying.
The only place I could think of is using one of the other continents, at least that way ya'll most likely not have to worry about dealing with the changes that are taking place all over Faerun.
Otherwise.... I dunno... maybe the Border Kingdoms? |
For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 09 Feb 2007 : 23:00:34
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The Border Kingdoms is a good suggestion. Also, how about Sossal? It's a very cold place (up by the Great Glacier) but there is almost no lore on it.
The Western Heartlands has been surprisingly untouched, mostly (and I pray it stays that way!), but it's a little less exotic than what your players *might* want. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
Edited by - Rinonalyrna Fathomlin on 09 Feb 2007 23:03:31 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2007 : 00:13:30
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Erlkazar's only just recently been the focus of a Realms novel -- specifically Master of Chains. I'd say the Border Kingdoms are a possibility, though with Ed presently expanding on the entries presented in PoF for his BK articles at WotC... may also make this somewhat difficult.
For the Border Kingdoms though... Gallard is definitely a possibility. Owlhold is another. And, one of my favorites... the Realm of the Ready Sword.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2007 : 00:23:47
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| Ed's expanding on the BKs, but in a good way, I think, not in an "I'll overwhelm you with all this detail" sort of way. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Dhomal
Senior Scribe
USA
565 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2007 : 05:06:39
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Hello-
Well - it may not be far enough away from Waterdeep for your taste - but I am currently liking - and using - Hills Edge. :)
the city is at just under 10K population, and along a lesser-used route from Cormyr and Waterdeep/points North. Adventurers are fine here. As far as not having a centralized authority - there is a Mayor position (not currently filled as of FRCS) and the local 'law' is limitred to the gate-guards/toll collectors and the guards of the merchant concerns in the city.
While it could certainly be considered part of or close to the North - it is certainly also close to the more Southerly places, as well as Cormyr and the Aunauroch.
Something to think about!
Otherwise - you could look at the map and choose a small settlement/city in an area that interests you - and just go with it. :)
Dhomal |
I am collecting the D&D Minis. I would be more than willing to trade with people. You can send me a PM here with your email listed - and I can send you my minis list. Thanks!
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Sian
Senior Scribe
Denmark
596 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2007 : 12:36:17
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| Shaar prehaps ... maybe the NW corner of Halruaa (with a raid of chinti riders every now and then) :P |
what happened to the queen? she's much more hysterical than usual
She's a women, it happens once a month |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2007 : 15:03:47
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| The Dragon Coast would be a good fit. Many independent communities, a crossroads area that can lead you anywhere you want to go and little changed with the years. If you go south or southwest there's plenty of wilderness areas to. |
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MaxKaladin
Seeker
77 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2007 : 15:21:28
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It's that bad, huh?
This sort of thing is really what caused me to drift from the realms in the first place. I just couldn't find a corner of the realms where someone with official standing from WotC wasn't coming through with a plot bulldozer and changing everything. The last straw was the game I was setting up in Erlkazar and then ended up dropping once Erlkazar's geography itself got changed by the map changes that came with 3e.
I'll look into some of the suggestions people have made. Sossal seems a bit far north for me, but it's still a possibility. Shaar might do it and the Western Heartlands are another. Most of the Western Heartlands are probably too close to Waterdeep but the area in the south near the Greenfields might work.
I certainly don't mind creating my own material. In fact, that's what I plan to do. I don't need an actual village so much as somewhere one can exist.
How "new" is "new enough" is rather undefined. One player suggested the Nelanther, which is new, but the plot idea she suggested was actually based on events in the old campaign. At the same time, I'm sure they'd love it if I took them off to a new continent and let them romp in a completely different culture. That could be Shou Lung, Kozakura, Maztica, Hordelands, Maztica, Zakhara or something completely new. I've got a lot of "wiggle room" here. I'm mostly just trying to get enough separation from Waterdeep that it doesn't come up very often.
It's starting to look like things are so crowded that I should just set the game in the dales like I originally planned and just deal with the flood of official-plot as best I can.
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MaxKaladin
Seeker
77 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2007 : 15:23:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens
The Dragon Coast would be a good fit. Many independent communities, a crossroads area that can lead you anywhere you want to go and little changed with the years. If you go south or southwest there's plenty of wilderness areas to.
This came in while I was composing the last reply.
The Dragon Coast is a strong possibility. The nebulous border between the Dragon Coast and the Western Heartlands is probably the leading contender at the moment.
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2007 : 15:26:34
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| If you use the distances on maps in the older editions of the Realms you will also get a lot further from Waterdeep if I remember correctly, as the Western Heartlands were shrunken quite a bit. This also lessens the crowded feel. |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2007 : 19:11:15
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| Also, just because a novel is set in X-town doesn't mean the events of the novel "bulldoze" X-town and change everything around. Some novels are definitely like that...but not all of them are, so I don't think you should worry whether or not a town has remained "untouched" by recent Realmslore. Not all Realmslore and novels need be the bane of a DM's life. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Delzounblood
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
578 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2007 : 22:02:39
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quote:
Originally posted by MaxKaladin
I'm looking for an out of the way spot. I need somewhere that's not too settled, doesn't have a strong central authority and accepts adventurers. Ideally, I'd like to have some more civilized and structured areas relatively nearby but that's not strictly necessary.
Any suggestions?
Thanks.
Hi
I agree with Rinonalyrna Fathomlin SOSSAL it is the most out of the way place the realms has AND hs yet to be touched by the writers and desingners.....
so if you like snow and ice and not alot else put on your Parker and hitch up your dogs and GO.
Delz
ps lookout for the Artic Dwarves!!!
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nbnmare
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
205 Posts |
Posted - 10 Feb 2007 : 23:20:06
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| Icewind Dale hasn't popped up in a long time. I don't think there's been any realmslore regarding that area since the early Drizzt novels. |
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MaxKaladin
Seeker
77 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2007 : 18:42:57
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quote:
Originally posted by Jorkens
If you use the distances on maps in the older editions of the Realms you will also get a lot further from Waterdeep if I remember correctly, as the Western Heartlands were shrunken quite a bit. This also lessens the crowded feel.
I don't think it's really distance they're worried about so much as just not having all the same places come up again. |
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MaxKaladin
Seeker
77 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2007 : 18:46:42
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quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Also, just because a novel is set in X-town doesn't mean the events of the novel "bulldoze" X-town and change everything around. Some novels are definitely like that...but not all of them are, so I don't think you should worry whether or not a town has remained "untouched" by recent Realmslore. Not all Realmslore and novels need be the bane of a DM's life.
That's true. A lot of it is not knowing where to get it. It's very annoying to put together a bunch of stuff on a region only to find out the area was featured (and, of course, completely different) in Product {X} or Novel {Y} and I didn't know about it.
Having Product {X} or Novel {Y} come along and change everything after you've done all this work is potentially distressing as well. That's why I'm leery of the Cormyr/Dales/Anauroch region at the moment. I'm afraid the mega-modules coming this year will end up leaving a crater where I set my campaign or something. |
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MaxKaladin
Seeker
77 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2007 : 18:50:38
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quote:
Originally posted by Delzounblood
so if you like snow and ice and not alot else put on your Parker and hitch up your dogs and GO.
I'm from Texas. I barely know what snow and ice ARE. Snow is that stuff you see on TV and ice is what you put in your drink when it's hot (which is most of the year). |
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 13 Feb 2007 : 19:23:06
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Given that I am now home today due to that stuff on TV, I can describe it for you . . . I got a really good look at it due to the fact that in the four hours I was at work, I managed to accumulate a foot deep drift on top of my car . . .
Hm . . . I think I'll restrict my Realms reading to Calimshan and points south for today . . .  |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2007 : 00:06:58
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quote:
Originally posted by MaxKaladin
quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Also, just because a novel is set in X-town doesn't mean the events of the novel "bulldoze" X-town and change everything around. Some novels are definitely like that...but not all of them are, so I don't think you should worry whether or not a town has remained "untouched" by recent Realmslore. Not all Realmslore and novels need be the bane of a DM's life.
That's true. A lot of it is not knowing where to get it. It's very annoying to put together a bunch of stuff on a region only to find out the area was featured (and, of course, completely different) in Product {X} or Novel {Y} and I didn't know about it.
Having Product {X} or Novel {Y} come along and change everything after you've done all this work is potentially distressing as well. That's why I'm leery of the Cormyr/Dales/Anauroch region at the moment. I'm afraid the mega-modules coming this year will end up leaving a crater where I set my campaign or something.
Understandable. However, do remember that this is a hobby where you are free to put in or leave out whatever details you want--no one is going to arrest you just because you don't want to follow WotC's suggested path as laid out in a sourcebook and/or novel.
Remember what the FRCS says: "Make the Realms your own." |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2007 : 00:08:11
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quote:
Originally posted by MaxKaladin
quote:
Originally posted by Delzounblood
so if you like snow and ice and not alot else put on your Parker and hitch up your dogs and GO.
I'm from Texas. I barely know what snow and ice ARE. Snow is that stuff you see on TV and ice is what you put in your drink when it's hot (which is most of the year).
Do some research on tundras and try to imagine what living in frigid weather would be like. Probably not fun, but bound to be interesting. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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see
Learned Scribe
235 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2007 : 01:53:23
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| Well, we do know nothing's planned for Kara-Tur, Maztica, Zakhara, the lands north and south of Maztica, the big continent between Kara-Tur and Maztica, and the various bodies of Realmspace. |
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MaxKaladin
Seeker
77 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2007 : 21:45:51
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quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Understandable. However, do remember that this is a hobby where you are free to put in or leave out whatever details you want--no one is going to arrest you just because you don't want to follow WotC's suggested path as laid out in a sourcebook and/or novel.
Remember what the FRCS says: "Make the Realms your own."
That's very true. |
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MaxKaladin
Seeker
77 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2007 : 21:51:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Do some research on tundras and try to imagine what living in frigid weather would be like. Probably not fun, but bound to be interesting.
I was being a bit tongue in cheek. :)
We had an ice storm just a month ago and I can remember the Great Blizzard of '85 when we got two feet of snow where I grew up and drifts up to six feet in the hills around town. Our winters are nothing compared to what they get in the great frozen north, but they're plenty cold for me.
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MaxKaladin
Seeker
77 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2007 : 21:51:46
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quote:
Originally posted by see
Well, we do know nothing's planned for Kara-Tur, Maztica, Zakhara, the lands north and south of Maztica, the big continent between Kara-Tur and Maztica, and the various bodies of Realmspace.
I'm afraid it's come to that...
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 14 Feb 2007 : 22:12:52
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quote:
Originally posted by MaxKaladin
quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Do some research on tundras and try to imagine what living in frigid weather would be like. Probably not fun, but bound to be interesting.
I was being a bit tongue in cheek. :)
We had an ice storm just a month ago and I can remember the Great Blizzard of '85 when we got two feet of snow where I grew up and drifts up to six feet in the hills around town. Our winters are nothing compared to what they get in the great frozen north, but they're plenty cold for me.
Heh. Here in New Jersey, our winters are cold and snowy, but our summers can still be very hot, so I still can only barely imagine what it'd be like living in an area where the ground is mostly--or always--frozen. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Sian
Senior Scribe
Denmark
596 Posts |
Posted - 15 Feb 2007 : 05:29:53
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| or as i said ealier ... Shining south is laying rather unused ... specificly Shaar |
what happened to the queen? she's much more hysterical than usual
She's a women, it happens once a month |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2007 : 00:44:52
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| True, and it'd have a more hospitable climate than Sossal. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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The Hooded One
Lady Herald of Realmslore
5056 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2007 : 02:03:33
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MaxKaladin, how large a geographic area do you need to "roam around in" in the campaign?
If a lawless adventurers-galore caravan city will do as the centerpiece, how about Scornubel? (Features briefly in Ed's novels CROWN OF FIRE and [even more fleetingly] SILVERFALL, nice full map in 2nd Edition Realms boxed set, has Elturel and Hill's Edge and Iriaebor within reach, and lots of open country between.)
A few chapters of Ed's books will give you the "feel," you can change the rulers and play the politics however you'd like, and although nothing is certain, Ed doesn't know of any on-the-go projects that will rampage through it soon. 
love,
THO |
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MerrikCale
Senior Scribe
USA
947 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2007 : 02:11:28
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
Ed doesn't know of any on-the-go projects that will rampage through it soon.
love,
THO
always an important point |
When hinges creak in doorless chambers and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls, whenever candlelights flicker where the air is deathly still, that is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight. |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2007 : 02:21:05
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
A few chapters of Ed's books will give you the "feel," you can change the rulers and play the politics however you'd like, and although nothing is certain, Ed doesn't know of any on-the-go projects that will rampage through it soon.
love,
THO
*breathes a happy sigh of relief* |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Jorkens
Great Reader
Norway
2950 Posts |
Posted - 16 Feb 2007 : 09:21:08
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quote:
Originally posted by The Hooded One
MaxKaladin, how large a geographic area do you need to "roam around in" in the campaign?
If a lawless adventurers-galore caravan city will do as the centerpiece, how about Scornubel? (Features briefly in Ed's novels CROWN OF FIRE and [even more fleetingly] SILVERFALL, nice full map in 2nd Edition Realms boxed set, has Elturel and Hill's Edge and Iriaebor within reach, and lots of open country between.)
A few chapters of Ed's books will give you the "feel," you can change the rulers and play the politics however you'd like, and although nothing is certain, Ed doesn't know of any on-the-go projects that will rampage through it soon.
love,
THO
Time for a little dance and sing old songs of a better time to come. Hope no one saw that.
It all depends on what you want MaxKaladin, as you wanted to use the Dales i got the feeling that you wanted a location in the "traditional" Realms, but with a little more room to breath so to speak. In that case the Dragon Coast, Vast or the southern part of the Western Heartlands would be my recommendations. The Vilhon Reach also makes for a good border area.
If you feel like trying a location more out of the way, with more new elements and intrigues, the lands near the borders of the Realms (Sossal, the lands bordering the Hordelands or the Shining South )make great alternatives. There is not to much done with Calimshan at this time either.
And as I said, if you use older maps, many of the areas become less crowded and give you more of a possibility to fit in your own elements and keep out of the way of ongoing changes.
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Looking for out of the way spot
