I'm creating a new campaign for my daughters and a few friends. I played D&D heavily as a DM and worldbuilder for decades but I have not played in a very long time. I am thinking about putting my campaign in the Forgotten Realms - I always loved that world and I can use the existing kingdoms, lore, and NPCs as my world to save some time. It seems like Wizards of the Coast uses Forgotten Realms as their default world - their published materials all seem to be set there - but I may have that wrong.
Do you have any advice on where to start my campaign? Is there are part of Forgotten Realms that has more lore and published material to get me going? Baulder's Gate? Waterdeep? Icewind Dale? Where would you start?
How do I get my Forgotten Realms lore these days? Is it all online someplace for free in a wiki? Does Wizards sell world books now? Where should I go to get the details of the kingdoms and NPCs so I can start my adventure planning?
Lastly, if you have any advice for an old man returning to D&D in the digital age I am all ears. Reddit, Twitch, and even D&D Beyond confuse my old brain. Back in my day we had graph paper and a worn copy of the Field Folio and we were glad to have it!
Waterdeep is detailed pretty extensively in the Waterdeep: Dragon Heist adventure, and Baldur's Gate is detailed in Baldur's Gate: Desecent Into Avernus WoTC adventures.
But, almost all the published adventures are set in the Realms. The Lost Mine of Phandelver is an excellent introductory adventure (and is set in the Realms).
If your not looking to do much homebrewing, or just want a good base to start with, using the Lost Mine of Phandelver or Dragon of Icespire Peak would be a good start. The modules can even be combined somewhat to give it more breadth as they both mostly revolve around a village called Phandalin pretty close to Neverwinter.
Also you might look into getting the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide as it tells you a good amount about the Sword Coast (the main area of adventure in the Forgotten Realms) and it's inhabitants.
The Sword Coast is by far the most supported area in Faerun. Neverwinter and Waterdeep are the two most supported cities on the Sword Coast. As others have mentioned, Lost Mines of Phandelver is an excellent starter, and takes place just east(ish) of Neverwinter. So there's plenty of room to build from there.
The majority of Adventure League modules are in or around the Moonsea, it can be hard to follow though as the place has changed a bit over the years...but it'd be an easy option to pick-choose adventures to just drop into your campaign. If you go this route and get your hands on some adventures, I'd sort them by location.
As one old head to another: I don't know how many of your old books you still have, but the "official" time difference between 5e and 2e in the Realms is maybe 150 years. That sounds like a lot given the Industrial Revolution and all, but it's really not that long. And considering the lifespans of some of the beings in this game, it's nothing. So a lot of that stuff is still in play, as far as I'm concerned. Human NPCs might be different, but the same families will still be the aristocracy and the same families will still be tradesmen and artisans. In smaller towns even some of the same bars will be there.
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I'm creating a new campaign for my daughters and a few friends. I played D&D heavily as a DM and worldbuilder for decades but I have not played in a very long time. I am thinking about putting my campaign in the Forgotten Realms - I always loved that world and I can use the existing kingdoms, lore, and NPCs as my world to save some time. It seems like Wizards of the Coast uses Forgotten Realms as their default world - their published materials all seem to be set there - but I may have that wrong.
Do you have any advice on where to start my campaign? Is there are part of Forgotten Realms that has more lore and published material to get me going? Baulder's Gate? Waterdeep? Icewind Dale? Where would you start?
How do I get my Forgotten Realms lore these days? Is it all online someplace for free in a wiki? Does Wizards sell world books now? Where should I go to get the details of the kingdoms and NPCs so I can start my adventure planning?
Lastly, if you have any advice for an old man returning to D&D in the digital age I am all ears. Reddit, Twitch, and even D&D Beyond confuse my old brain. Back in my day we had graph paper and a worn copy of the Field Folio and we were glad to have it!
:)
Thanks guys.
Waterdeep is detailed pretty extensively in the Waterdeep: Dragon Heist adventure, and Baldur's Gate is detailed in Baldur's Gate: Desecent Into Avernus WoTC adventures.
But, almost all the published adventures are set in the Realms. The Lost Mine of Phandelver is an excellent introductory adventure (and is set in the Realms).
If your not looking to do much homebrewing, or just want a good base to start with, using the Lost Mine of Phandelver or Dragon of Icespire Peak would be a good start. The modules can even be combined somewhat to give it more breadth as they both mostly revolve around a village called Phandalin pretty close to Neverwinter.
Also you might look into getting the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide as it tells you a good amount about the Sword Coast (the main area of adventure in the Forgotten Realms) and it's inhabitants.
The Sword Coast is by far the most supported area in Faerun. Neverwinter and Waterdeep are the two most supported cities on the Sword Coast. As others have mentioned, Lost Mines of Phandelver is an excellent starter, and takes place just east(ish) of Neverwinter. So there's plenty of room to build from there.
Awesome! I'll buy the Sword Coast book and start from there. Thank you :)
Waterdeep of course.
The majority of Adventure League modules are in or around the Moonsea, it can be hard to follow though as the place has changed a bit over the years...but it'd be an easy option to pick-choose adventures to just drop into your campaign. If you go this route and get your hands on some adventures, I'd sort them by location.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
Saltmarsh, Sunless citadel, Forge of Furry are three more modules, that can easily be added to Phandalin/Neverwinter.
As one old head to another: I don't know how many of your old books you still have, but the "official" time difference between 5e and 2e in the Realms is maybe 150 years. That sounds like a lot given the Industrial Revolution and all, but it's really not that long. And considering the lifespans of some of the beings in this game, it's nothing. So a lot of that stuff is still in play, as far as I'm concerned. Human NPCs might be different, but the same families will still be the aristocracy and the same families will still be tradesmen and artisans. In smaller towns even some of the same bars will be there.