Setting Overview Season One: The Lost Mine of Phandelver Welcome to Season One of the unofficial Dungeons and Dragons series. A small village with big problems! More than five hundred years ago out in the Wild Frontier, clans of Stone Hill dwarves and arcane gnomes made an agreement known as the Phandelver’s Pact, by which they would share a rich mine in a wondrous cavern known as Wave Echo Cave. In addition to its mineral wealth, the mine contained great magical power. Red Mages allied themselves with the dwarves and gnomes to channel and bind that energy into a great forge, called the Forge of Spells, where magic items could be crafted. Times were good, and the nearby human town of Thundertree, as well as its sister Phandalin, prospered as well. But then disaster struck when a small sect of the Red Mages, now brimming with corruption, rallied together an army of goblins and orcs that swept through the western reaches of the Wild Frontier, laying waste to all in their path. A Powerful force of orcs, reinforced by the evil sect of the Red Mages attacked Wave Echo Cave to seize its riches and to take control of the Forge of Spells. The Red Mages who still allied themselves with Phandelver Pact fought alongside the dwarves and gnomes to defend the Forge, and the ensuing battle became a dreadful war, destroying many of the budding communities on the edge of the Wild Frontier. Few survived the blood shed, and the tremors caused by the powerful clashes of mage against mage caused the caverns of the Wave Echo Cave to collapse, and the Forge of Spells was lost. For centuries, the War of the Red Mages slowly slipped into legend and lore, but as civilization started creeping back towards the edge of the Wild Frontier, rumors of buried riches have attracted treasure hunters and opportunists to the area around Phandalin, and the ruins of its sister city, Thundertree – but no one has ever succeed in locating the lost mine. In recent years, on the wave of the rumors, Phadalin has become a rough-and-tumble frontier town, but many eyes are falling upon it. More important, the Rockseeker brothers – a trio of dwarves – have discovered the entrance to Wave Echo Cave, and they intend to reopen the mines. Unfortunately, for the Rockseekers, and the hope of the budding communities on the brink of the Wild Frontier, they are not the only ones interested in what was lost in Wave Echo Cave. The Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons offer incredible worlds to explore. Some, like the legendary Forgotten Realms, are rich with a storied history. All need heroes looking for adventure. THE LAND OF FAERÛN From the bitter, windswept steppes of the Endless Waste to the storm-lashed cliffs of the Sword Coast stretches a wide, wild land of shining kingdoms and primal wilderness, Faerûn is only one continent of the world known as Toril. Other lands lie in distant corners of the world, but Faerun is the center of it all, the crossroads and crux upon which all else turns. Dozens of nations, hundreds of citystates, and countless tribes, villages, and settlements dot its expanse. The continent of Faerûn is a landmass of approximately nine and a half million square miles, located mainly in the northern hemisphere of the world of Toril. Sub-arctic extremes chill its northern reaches, where ice sheets like the Great Glacier dominate the landscape in blinding white. To the south are the equatorial jungles of Chult and the tropical coasts of Halruaa. It’s bordered on the west by the Trackless Sea and on the east by the Endless Wastes and the Hordelands that separate it from Kara-Tur. Faerûn is an open land full of kingdoms and empires, large and small, and scattered city-states and villages struggling to make their way in a landscape that can be unforgiving wilderness one mile and cosmopolitan city the next. Countless millions of humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, and other sentient beings call Faerûn home. It is a land of magic and intrigue, cruel violence and divine compassion, where gods have ascended and died, and millennia of warfare and conquests have shaped dozens of unique cultures. The Sword Coast An expansive tract of wilderness, dotted with independent cities and overrun by bands of monstrous creatures, that some saw as merely a place through which you had to travel in order to reach an actual meaningful destination. It was much more than that of course, a rich and vibrant land with a long and storied history that encompassed some of the most important cities in all the Realms. It was considered one of the rougher locales of Faerûn, both geographically and by virtue of its people. Gameplay Review TEXT-ONLY The games will be run in a strict 'live session' text-only format without using voice. However, voice chat will often be available in case there are questions, or for simple bonding. Why Text-only? A wise man once said if you can't say it better yourself, quote them. 'Because it can provide a better roleplaying experience and it is more relaxing. Not everyone is a native english speaker and most people find it better to write their character than to voice them. It also allows for a wider variety of RP and better immersion. Of course there is also people with anxiety or speech problems or just want a great reading experience. There is thousands upon thousands of Voice/Video campaigns out there but there is definitely a drought in text-based games. People who prefer text needs some love too.' - Renan B. From my experience, using text actually seems to work out very well for role-play focused campaigns. Shy players are able to break out of their shell, and people who aren't good actors can still paint one hell of a scene regardless of their acting chops. Campaign Style/Theme This is a mature campaign, so please 18+ only! There will be content containing strong sexual themes such as nudity, Dialogue, violence, and language. With that said, R-rated content will be strictly for narrative reasons only, and we will certainly not be playing a campaign that is focused on these themes. As stated above, this will be a text-only campaign, so character roleplay will definitely be something that is a primary focus here, but we are going to be playing Dungeons and Dragons, so there will also be a good amount of combat for you blood lusty players. I am looking for serious players who are ready to dive into some adventures and not make to light of things while in character. When and Where Live sessions will be held on Roll20 every other Friday starting at 11:30 pm EST. Discord will be used for out-of-character chat and between-session role play. The listed date is just a placeholder and not the actual date we will be starting the campaign. How to join First, make sure you agree to meet the following requirements: I will be on time to games. I will stay engaged while we are playing. I will not be rude or disruptive. I will assume that my character has a reason for adventuring with the others, and will act in general cooperation with them. I am able to communicate on a timely basis anything that may come up to cause me to miss a session (but, seriously, I'm not going to miss any sessions). If this still sounds like you, then please send me a direct message that answers the following: Why do you want to join this campaign? What's your play style and history with D&D? (It's ok if you are new!) How do you handle (or expect to handle) conflict at the table? What's your favorite type of character to play and why? What character do you want to play for this campaign? A little about the real you. Your name, age, and pronoun(s).
