I'm hoping to get some quick feedback as my session zero is tonight. There is a ton of detail provided in the campaign book, and the characters are all supposed to be residents of or currently living in Baldur's Gate. How much actual backstory / lore / information would or should I provide to the players to ensure their characters know something about the place they're allegedly from?
I've only ever done sandbox homebrew campaigns so I really haven't run into a problem like this before as the characters kind of just learned as they go, but I feel like in this case they should have some kind of knowledge, I just don't know where to draw the line.
Sorry, I'm sure I'm already too late to meet your session zero, but (as I've done in the past) it's possible to write a quick email of notes to your players about things like this to keep in mind before "actual" session one!
*If* your PCs are actually residents of Baldur's Gate, there would be every reason for them to have the following information:
1. The layout of the city. How the Upper, Lower, and Outer City areas are laid out, who lives there, how travel between them is restricted. How the people around those areas might act towards adventurers, especially 1st-level adventurers who have expensive armor/weapons/items but not a strong reputation to keep the denizens of those places a respectful distance (like pickpockets, thieves/bandits, corrupt nobles or guards looking for easy prey, etc.).
2. The political atmosphere in the city. Baldur's Gate is run by a wealthy aristocracy of sorts, with final authority over what happens in the city in the hands of a scant four people. Fairly recently, Baldur's Gate entered into the Lords' Alliance, a conglomerate of wealthy nations tied into a dense and complex weave of treatises with each other governing trade and military support of each other in times of trouble; Baldur's Gate did this in order to strengthen their position against the rival city of Amn. How do people view this rule by wealth in the different areas of the city? What do people think of the Council of Four? Of the Grand Duke? Is it respect that keeps them in line? Or fear? Are they openly resentful of these powerful figures?
3. The rule of Law. The keeping of the peace of Baldur's Gate is the shared duty by the city Watch (official government-employed persons) and a famous mercenary company called the Flaming Fist. Both organizations are well-known for being highly susceptible to bribes, and neither is known for being a "friend of the people". But just how much are they feared or respected? Of course, some commonfolk may have different views (as is the case in our own world) but of course generalities are a rule, not the exception. You can describe how seeing a member of the Flaming Fist approach you *should* strike a PC with fear or, at the very least, a reasonable concern for their own immediate well-being.
4. In the interest of keeping the actual gameplay moving at a good clip, I would probably touch on how Elturel is known in Baldur's Gate as a "holy city" of sorts. The man who governs the city is known as a famous priest, and it's a well-known fact that Elturel is protected by undead by a magical apparatus, an artificial sun, known as "the Companion" which keeps the city bathed in magical sunlight that rebukes and destroys undead and other creatures susceptible to it. Much of its citizenry are proud in their devotion to the gods Torm, Tyr, Lathander, and Helm. Their city guard and military are powerful and renowned clerics and paladins and a famous group known as the Hellriders. Additionally, as may be important to some of your PCs, the city of Elturel is one of a conclave of cities that collectively make up the small nation called Elturgard. Elturgard has a cool relationship with the city of Baldur's Gate, and often opposes their attempts to expand their power and influence with heavy taxes, particularly effective as Baldur's Gate relies upon the River Chionthar for the trade of goods, and Elturgard sits downstream of the river to the east.
That seems like it would be a good starting off point without giving anything away except that Baldur's Gate and Elturel are somehow related to the game. :) Hope this helps, and good luck! I'm actually getting ready to DM this game for my players this weekend; our session zero was this past Saturday! Have fun, and may the dice bring weal and woe unto your players in equal measure!
Also, I would probably pretty much give them verbatim the entire entry on the Commoners and Crews section of the Baldur's Gate Gazeteer in the adventure book, especially if your players have any of the urban-style backgrounds for the city.
The section on Patriars (including the notable Patriar Families!) would be appropriate if any of your PCs have the Noble, Sage, Guild Artisan, Spy, or City Watch background.
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"I saw her first. Go find your own genetic time-capsule or, so help me, I'll cut you."
On the topic of corruption. Having lived in a city where the police were well known for taking bribes, it also creates a culture where the police engineer situations in which they solicit bribes. Seeing a policeman in such a state maybe doesn't fill you with fear, but it leaves you wondering if they are going to shake you down today. It makes you really wary of authority. Maybe shake down your players a couple times for bribes-- and if the guard sees they're carrying gold pieces (as he probably assumes adventurers are) he probably demands that the bribe be a few gold. In places like that, often the authorities have quotas to fill for their bribes, as they divide the bribes up amongst their fellow officers. And around holidays, well, there are suddenly roadblocks EVERYWHERE looking for anything wrong. Don't let them off the hook the first few times (teach them that the authorities mean business.) However, after the norm of paying bribes sets in, maybe work in that some guards really don't want to start anything or do the paperwork and if they are resisted, they ask for a lesser bribe or just wave the characters onwards.
Not exactly on the topic of character backstories, but...
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I'm hoping to get some quick feedback as my session zero is tonight. There is a ton of detail provided in the campaign book, and the characters are all supposed to be residents of or currently living in Baldur's Gate. How much actual backstory / lore / information would or should I provide to the players to ensure their characters know something about the place they're allegedly from?
I've only ever done sandbox homebrew campaigns so I really haven't run into a problem like this before as the characters kind of just learned as they go, but I feel like in this case they should have some kind of knowledge, I just don't know where to draw the line.
Thoughts or suggestions?
Sorry, I'm sure I'm already too late to meet your session zero, but (as I've done in the past) it's possible to write a quick email of notes to your players about things like this to keep in mind before "actual" session one!
*If* your PCs are actually residents of Baldur's Gate, there would be every reason for them to have the following information:
1. The layout of the city. How the Upper, Lower, and Outer City areas are laid out, who lives there, how travel between them is restricted. How the people around those areas might act towards adventurers, especially 1st-level adventurers who have expensive armor/weapons/items but not a strong reputation to keep the denizens of those places a respectful distance (like pickpockets, thieves/bandits, corrupt nobles or guards looking for easy prey, etc.).
2. The political atmosphere in the city. Baldur's Gate is run by a wealthy aristocracy of sorts, with final authority over what happens in the city in the hands of a scant four people. Fairly recently, Baldur's Gate entered into the Lords' Alliance, a conglomerate of wealthy nations tied into a dense and complex weave of treatises with each other governing trade and military support of each other in times of trouble; Baldur's Gate did this in order to strengthen their position against the rival city of Amn. How do people view this rule by wealth in the different areas of the city? What do people think of the Council of Four? Of the Grand Duke? Is it respect that keeps them in line? Or fear? Are they openly resentful of these powerful figures?
3. The rule of Law. The keeping of the peace of Baldur's Gate is the shared duty by the city Watch (official government-employed persons) and a famous mercenary company called the Flaming Fist. Both organizations are well-known for being highly susceptible to bribes, and neither is known for being a "friend of the people". But just how much are they feared or respected? Of course, some commonfolk may have different views (as is the case in our own world) but of course generalities are a rule, not the exception. You can describe how seeing a member of the Flaming Fist approach you *should* strike a PC with fear or, at the very least, a reasonable concern for their own immediate well-being.
4. In the interest of keeping the actual gameplay moving at a good clip, I would probably touch on how Elturel is known in Baldur's Gate as a "holy city" of sorts. The man who governs the city is known as a famous priest, and it's a well-known fact that Elturel is protected by undead by a magical apparatus, an artificial sun, known as "the Companion" which keeps the city bathed in magical sunlight that rebukes and destroys undead and other creatures susceptible to it. Much of its citizenry are proud in their devotion to the gods Torm, Tyr, Lathander, and Helm. Their city guard and military are powerful and renowned clerics and paladins and a famous group known as the Hellriders. Additionally, as may be important to some of your PCs, the city of Elturel is one of a conclave of cities that collectively make up the small nation called Elturgard. Elturgard has a cool relationship with the city of Baldur's Gate, and often opposes their attempts to expand their power and influence with heavy taxes, particularly effective as Baldur's Gate relies upon the River Chionthar for the trade of goods, and Elturgard sits downstream of the river to the east.
That seems like it would be a good starting off point without giving anything away except that Baldur's Gate and Elturel are somehow related to the game. :) Hope this helps, and good luck! I'm actually getting ready to DM this game for my players this weekend; our session zero was this past Saturday! Have fun, and may the dice bring weal and woe unto your players in equal measure!
"I saw her first. Go find your own genetic time-capsule or, so help me, I'll cut you."
Also, I would probably pretty much give them verbatim the entire entry on the Commoners and Crews section of the Baldur's Gate Gazeteer in the adventure book, especially if your players have any of the urban-style backgrounds for the city.
The section on Patriars (including the notable Patriar Families!) would be appropriate if any of your PCs have the Noble, Sage, Guild Artisan, Spy, or City Watch background.
"I saw her first. Go find your own genetic time-capsule or, so help me, I'll cut you."
On the topic of corruption. Having lived in a city where the police were well known for taking bribes, it also creates a culture where the police engineer situations in which they solicit bribes. Seeing a policeman in such a state maybe doesn't fill you with fear, but it leaves you wondering if they are going to shake you down today. It makes you really wary of authority. Maybe shake down your players a couple times for bribes-- and if the guard sees they're carrying gold pieces (as he probably assumes adventurers are) he probably demands that the bribe be a few gold. In places like that, often the authorities have quotas to fill for their bribes, as they divide the bribes up amongst their fellow officers. And around holidays, well, there are suddenly roadblocks EVERYWHERE looking for anything wrong. Don't let them off the hook the first few times (teach them that the authorities mean business.) However, after the norm of paying bribes sets in, maybe work in that some guards really don't want to start anything or do the paperwork and if they are resisted, they ask for a lesser bribe or just wave the characters onwards.
Not exactly on the topic of character backstories, but...