Into the Darken Wood

New campaign. It will be running on Saturday evenings through the holidays. If there's a space, it's open. It will be closed to new players after the first session.

Character Creation Rules:
1: Make a third level character. You may use the Players Handbook 2024.
2: Your character can take any background, or use a custom background with 1 origin feat, 2 skills and any combination of 2 tools or languages.

Add the following information when making your character:
You were born in on the eastern edge of Cormyr in Hearthglen. A small farming village. Two years ago you joined the Cormyrian army and were stationed on the other side of the country. You have finished your military service and are on the way home. All the PCs grew up together in Hearthglen. You all served together and are now traveling home. Anxious to see friends and family again.

I need to know your Name, Race, and Class, at least one week before the first session. There may be further background information about your character depending on what you tell me. Hearthglen is a mixed community of different races.

3: You start with 150 gp and either half-plate, a breastplate, or plate armor. You are Purple Dragons of Cormyr after all. If you are a bard, a sorcerer, a warlock, or a wizard, you may take an Elven Chain Shirt in lieu of a breastplate or a suite of half-plate. You are a War Wizard of Cormyr after all. Rogues will begrudgingly be given an Elven Chain Shirt.

You may not sell your armor to buy stuff. No one would buy the property of the state in Cormyr, there are too many War Wizards about.

4: We will have a VERY brief zero session on the 25th and then dive in. If you feel like you need a zero session, have virtual one in the comments of this post.

Hints:

• This will be a 60% wilderness/40% dungeon campaign, plan accordingly. i.e. Skills such as nature and survival might come in handy where normally they don’t.
• Tools like Mason’s Tools, Carpenter’s Tools, and the Herbalism Kit may or may not come in handy. Depending on the path you choose.
• The most commonly used languages in this campaign will be Common, Dwarvish, Elvish, Giant, Goblin, and Sylvan. And possibly some Draconic if you the right way.
• The new Forgotten Realms books come out on the 11th of November. I will look at character rebuilds into that content at that time. Interested parties should see the UA and the announcement on DND Beyond. Fortunately Faerun is already 2024, where Eberron is not.
• If you don’t have at least one upfront fighter you will TPK.
• This will be a fairly classic D&D mini campaign with mostly classic bad guys. Though some of them have been remixed.
• You will need a mini. Let me know what you’re playing and I might be able to come up with something more custom than a generic mini. Especially if you’re playing a martial.

About Hearthglen:
Hearthglen is a small town in the Barony of Baron Grellus of Rustenford. It was created in the middle of a clearing on the north eastern side of the Hullack Forrest. It was some of the only clear farmland in the forrest and thus provides the main food supply for the rest of the Barony.

The town is so small and so remote that the only road in or out leads north to Rustenford. The town has an inn, a blacksmith, a sawmill, and a granary. As well as a general store. Though you may add your family’s business if your family isn’t in one of those businesses. There is a priest of Lathander in the town who holds service in the inn on holy days.

Don’t worry to much about Hearthglen, it’s mainly for character background. It’s simply a town in Cormyr that all your characters grew up in.

If you are interested in knowing more about Cormyr, it’s the part of the Faerun most similar to Camelot. Google it, it’s famous. You can also go to YouTube and search for Cormyr on Ed Greenwood’s Chanel, Ed will tell you more than you ever wanted to know.

DND Beyond link for those who wish to use it:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/campaigns/join/70664922889134312

There will be custom magic items so use the link if you're using DND Beyond.