I'm a tough critic. I dislike pretty much all of the standard 5e setting stuff. So don't aim to please me. I'll probably just end up telling you what I want more of and what I'd like to change regardless of what module you base stuff off of. I haven't looked into any of the modules that're out there other than tomb of horrors.
Pretty much all I want out of the campaign is character interaction, customization, and exploration. Questing, rewards, and combat aren't really something I care for as much, although it's not as though I hate them. I like roleplaying, making new abilities, items, or spells, and learning new stuff a lot more. So if you really push me, I guess I'd say my preference goes to whatever campaign setting would be most focused on exploration and least on questing, and whichever one has the most relaxed time constraints.
@Vii I don't know much about the modules themselves but I know Waterdeep is ripe with roleplay interaction opportunity, rime of the frost maiden should be too considering there are 10 towns to visit and interact with, along with priests of the evil goddess in the area. So either way there's lots of RP opportunities, and even if the modules don't list them they can be adjusted to fit more RP as needed!
Honestly to me the only difference would be if you want to be in an icy setting or a city setting.
If the only difference is "icy" vs" city", that's not a big enough difference for me to have a significant preference, lol. The climate and population level of the area our characters will be in most frequently isn't too important to me. I'd rather the GM just assign those details to whatever makes him most passionate about the game.
Yeah I'm also with you on that, as long as everyone is passionate about it and having fun, especially the DM since we don't want them to run a setting they aren't happy with.
Also a fun thing is we could actually do both if the GM wanted since they're both relatively close to one another (kinda like going across Europe).
Wow @EldridSmith , I wasn't aware they were that close!
I have a lot of "one shots" that could also be placed along the destination from one to the other that have no particular setting, so you'll always have something to do in between "structured" modules, some of these I think you'd like @Vii As they're things like helping a wayward acting troupe, or a who-dun-it alchemists edition, all of which look pretty neat.
That sounds awesome! Also most of the 5e modules are all in the sword coast which is the map I posted (with exception of out of the abyss which is in the underdark and abyss iirc, though I may be wrong on that one). Either way this sounds like it's going to be a ton of fun, as for which idea I use it mostly depends where we start.
That's hilarious.
OH ALSO I've already got an awesome idea for a courtier of waterdeep subserviant to the noble Crommor house of waterdeep, since Crommer is CG mostly and deals with brasswork and music my character would be a former mute drow from the underdark who follows Eilistraee and was given a voice thanks to the brasswork of the house of Crommor. That would be an awesome reason for him to follow them as singing is very important to Eilistraee. I'm thinking of making him an oath of redemption paladin. (If we start in waterdeep ofc)
@PrideAscending I'm assuming we've got enough to go off of to get a game ad up if you're ready (no rush if you aren't), this way things can start up giving people time to make characters and form connections and all before the game starts.
An example would be the below video so the group has common ties (good for group cohesion always helps keep a game going)
@EldridSmith I actually have no clue where I want to start or how. It'll be at least a week until life settles down :/ So You'll have to bear with me on this.
The starting scenario doesn't really matter at all. Just pick a place for the party to meet up in. Player buy-in is going to be way more critical to the longevity of the campaign than any amount of planning you do to make a unique starting scenario.
If you need a specific idea, here's one:
maybe there's a festival in waterdeep, so there're no spots open in any inns in the town, but the adventurer's guild has some space for travelers to set up a cot in an unused meeting hall in exchange for taking on some quests from the government like keeping the streets clean or helping to set up some booths and stalls. Even if everyone's player character happens to have some background feature that gives them a place to stay, there're still going to be plenty of ways for the player characters to unintentionally bump into one another during the festival. Have some strength contests, some "trivia quizzes", some carnie games that you're supposed to lose, and maybe a tournament or race of some sort. As long as all the players are on the same page and aren't edgelords, they're probably going to have their characters take note of the other PCs due to each others' strengths, and they might also notice a few important NPCs.
Alternatively, you can just do what the guy said in that video eldred sent us. Just assume the festival stuff already happened and have each player choose a few notable interactions they had with other PCs that would lead their PC to view the other PCs favorably. Maybe include a few NPCs that'll become important later on, like a few nobles, adventurers or merchants. Then introduce some sort of crisis, like a major political figure getting killed, or some strange magical event happening nearby, prompting the government of the city to react by preventing anyone from leaving the city while an investigation goes on to find the culprit. That leaves most players with the choice of either trying to help the investigations along, waiting and passing the time, or trying to get out of the city. Waiting and passing the time is dull, and whether they try helping or leaving, working alone clearly won't be as easy as working together, and they now have people with useful skillsets that they're familiar with, so finding allies is easy.
If you don't like the suggestion, just tweak parts. Instead of a festival, maybe there's a plague or a famine. Or perhaps the city that the players were going towards disappeared, and travellers are setting up camps in the spot the city previously occupied to try and figure out what happened. Again, the actual details don't really matter, it's just a backdrop for the players to become familiar with and favorable towards one another.
Anyway, regardless of the starting scenario, don't make the player characters special right off the bat. The "chosen one" thing is incredibly hard to pull off in a satisfying way, it generally just turns the story into a railroad since no one else is allowed to fill a PC's role in the story. Have the PCs just be slightly above average people, and match the scale of quests accordingly.
Speaking of which, in case you didn't notice from my proposed scenario, I don't think there should be consequences that directly harm the party if they choose to not take on a quest. In the world of D&D, until you get to really high tiers of play, there will always be a group that can replace the party somewhere nearby. Events like "random bandit attack on the road" are different, but those aren't quests. Also indirect harm to the party, like having the market crash, is totally fine. This is going to be a play-by-post game anyway, so you definitely won't have to plan too far ahead in high detail. The slow pace means you can spend less time preparing and more time reacting.
Thanks @Vii I tend to over think things and today is thinking overload. I have a slightly better idea where I want to start things off so I'll get back to yall sooner rather than later
@EldridSmith yes there was your question that was asked about the culture and setting. I'm honestly not to sure what your hoping me to answer specifically so I can give you the best answer. Because the setting is going to change frequently your going to be exploring quite the large world and going from cities to ancient ruins and from forests to deserts so..not completely sure how I should answer the setting question. Culture..that's a bit harder to answer because the cultures will change along with the setting...so....yeah. If you want to know the setting and culture of the area I'd have you starting off in I can definitely do that but as far as anything else goes that'll need a bit more specific of a question.
@PrideAscending I have heard about Curse of Strahd and Rime of the Frost Maiden and both sound like a LOT of fun to me and I would be open to doing both. I don't know too much about Waterdeep but I'd be willing to do it. So..yeah honestly I'm not too picky haha. As long as the story is engaging and deep I'm not too picky as far as what the overall setting is. So..yeah sorry not much help there but I'm open minded to doing any of those!
@Andy I was referring to where we were starting off. Also I can get you some lore info on waterdeep if you would like! It's a really fun urban setting ripe with trade, diplomacy, strife, and so much more juicy details!
@EldridSmith that I can do! So the area you'll be starting in is a small city known as Lweyier. The city has a church that is dedicated to all of the Gods/Goddesses in the pantheon that many come to visit on a pilgrimage or most would consider staring one there. It has a blacksmith, a tavern, an inn and a few other odd shops and ends. The city itself is mostly quiet however the biggest concern that the citizens have held recently has been the absence of their minor Lord that lives in a mansion at the back of the city. No one has seen or heard from him in some time and they are concerned that he is quite ill. You'll mostly find humans living there but they are more then accommodating to races of all kinds and while they don't have much for trade they do get a lot of foot traffic from merchants and adventurers on their way to and from the large port city of Calsora.
I hope that helps! If not please ask on something else you'd like to hear about and I'll fill you in!
And that'd be great :) i'd appreciate the read. I'll admit I'm much for the adventuring and combat of these stories then anything else but I do still love to hear about the lore and such :)
