The Sword Coast, also known as THE EMPTY LANDS, was a region in Western Faerun ranging along the coast of the Sea of Swords, ranging specifically from Neverwinter in the North to Greenest in the South.
In preparation for Session Zero in July 2024, I offer a bit of a campaign primer. Now, A good D&D campaign primer should inform players about the campaign’s setting, its overarching genre, and the tone it aims to set. It should provide information about the characters within the campaign, including both NPCs and PCs, and offer guidelines for character creation to ensure that the player characters fit seamlessly into the setting and adventure. So that’s the goal here.
TIER TWO
There are four distinct Tiers of adventure in the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons. We will be playing at Tier Two, also called “HEROES OF THE REALMS.” This encompasses levels 5th to 10th. Your characters have a home base and have established themselves as celebrated heroes. They have found their place in the world and have begun to involve themselves in the dangers that surround them. Playing characters will begin “Sword Coast Adventures” at the 5th level. Races are limited to those Player’s Handbook.
CORE RULES
This is a teaching campaign because most of the players are new to the game. As DM, I am trying to avoid “variant” and “optional” rules as much as possible. So we won’t be using Feats because in 2014 D&D Feats are optional and are used to emulate the third edition of D&D. Feats will be presented as Core Rules in the 2024 books when they are published later this year.
HOMEBREW
I do use several homebrew rules. These mainly pertain to combat and do not change the Core rules greatly. I will always make a point to label a homebrew rule as such so that when you play D&D with some other group, you aren’t going in assuming that my Homebrew is a Core Rule.
CHARACTER CREATION
If you didn’t play the first adventure with us at the library or you want to create your own character because you used a pre-made one, you should work with me on Discord to get the D&D Beyond settings correct for Character Building. The Core Rules give you three ways to make characters in the fifth edition of 2014 D&D: Point Buy, Rolling dice, and Standard Array. We will be using Standard Array for building new characters.
DEATH AND DYING
It happens. Your character may die during the campaign. If so, you will have to discuss what to do next with the DM. You may be able to have your character resurrected by going into debt, assuming the adventuring party can retrieve your body and return it to a temple. Otherwise, you can make a new character. You’ll work with the DM between sessions to get the character made at the proper level for the campaign and to introduce the character as a new party member.
BACK STORY
Your back story has mainly been created for you already from the last part of the campaign. Your characters lived in Phandalin for six months before the story began. They did quests for the Townmaster to lend assistance and earn money. You established yourselves as trustworthy and capable adventurers, so when Venessa/Venomfang arrived in town, you were chosen as reliable candidates for the mission of infiltrating Icespire Peak and stealing the dragon eggs.
Six months have passed since the day that the Green Dragon wrecked the city square and your group was heralded as heroes for “driving her off” away from Phandalin. Party members have come and gone since then, but your adventuring troupe remains strong. You still call Phandalin your home and your base of operations is still the Stonehill Inn.
That’s your back story for your character. That’s all you need, the established history within the part of the campaign that the DM will be referencing going forward. Don’t fall into the backstory trap like most D&D players. Because honestly, you’re not going to read paragraphs of dialogue to the other players and you don’t want them to do that either. You want a quick, to-the-point description of who the character is and what they look like. That’s what the DM wants too.
A backstory at character creation (first level) should be essentially 3 sentences. 1 sentence for the Species (Race), one for the Class, and the last for the Background on your character. For example:
“Solomon Morningstar is a High Elf from Silverymoon. He served as a priest in the temple of Lathander before beginning his adventuring career as a Cleric. He was an Acolyte within the church learning the ways of the Morning Lord.”
Or … “Malcolm Neegan is a Human from Waterdeep. He was press-ganged into a pirate ship crew when he was ten and has been serving on The Lucille ever since. He is a Noble in that his family holds status in Waterdeep but he does not speak of it, ever.”
Simple. To the point. Effective. With 4-6 players in a campaign, it’s refreshing for the DM to have players use the “3-sentence method.” It was the creation of Mike Mearls, a designer of both the third and fifth edition D&D rule sets.
Again, you can write an extensive back story for your character if you wish. If it gets you excited about your character and creates investment, that’s good. I won’t steal that from you. I’m just being blunt and honest about the Backstory Trap.
There really won’t be time given to Back Story during Session Zero but it’s good to consider where your character fits in with the established backstory developed during Tier One if you’re joining the campaign now during Tier Two.
New characters should be: (1) Residents of Phandalin for at least 1 year living in the town, not in the surrounding environs (2) a member of the adventuring party (3) on good terms with the other playing characters
FRONT STORY
The important thing is the Front Story. We will spend some time during Session Zero discussing front story. This is the goals for your character as your character, rather than as a player. Some of you who used pre-made characters had built-in front story already. If you want to keep those details, you may. Otherwise, you can set your own character goals. Some suggestions could be: “Return to Goldtoe Mine and explore it.” “Return to Icespire Peak and steal the dragon’s treasures.” “Travel along Triboar trail and rebuild the shelters for local travelers who might get caught in a snowstorm like we did.” “Travel to a nearby temple dedicated to my god to make a tribute.” or even “Seek out Venomfang in Thundertree to discuss working for her.”
Notice that all of those Front Story goals relate to the Back Story from the previous adventure. But maybe you have other ideas. During Session Zero you can bring them up and we’ll brainstorm. Having Front Story Goals is good. They might even help the DM spice up the upcoming campaign.
Genre and Tone
The genre and tone will continue to be the same as in the first adventure. The setting is the Forgotten Realms specifically along the Sword Coast. The genre is High Fantasy and the tone is High Adventure.
The overall expectation of the campaign is that your character is Good and trying to make Phandalin a safe, secure, flourishing place to live.
Non-Playing Characters
Your characters have lived in Phandalin for a while now and are on first-name basis with most of the important characters. As much as a reference for myself as DM and as a reference to you as players, I will likely create a list of important Non-Playing Characters (NPCs) to be given out at Session Zero.
Faction
Your adventuring party will be linked to a political faction of the Sword Coast. During Session Zero, we will decide together which one it is. The entire group will be part of the same faction.
1489
1489 is the “Year of the warrior Princess.” In Faerun, years have 365 days, with 12 months of 30 days each. A week is 10 days, called a tenday, so each month has three weeks. The extra five days between months make up the 365 days in a year.
Phandalin has thrived in the last six months since your party returned from Icespire Peak. Each of you has spent the last six months investing yourself in making Phandalin a safer, more prosperous place to live and work. We can discuss what your characters have been doing to pass the time as Session Zero.
Cyrovain, the White Dragon, remains a threat to the region. Rumor has it that his mate was seen returning to the North shortly after the loss of her clutch of eggs. Orcs have established Icespire Peak as their base of operations. From there they are raiding caravans moving through the Sword Coast. Merchants are paying well for reliable protection from mercenaries.
Venomfang has not been seen or heard of since that day about six months ago. Rumor has it that Dragonborn have been seen migrating to Thundertree. Some say that Venomfang is amassing a small army made of Dragonborn, Kobolds, and Lizardfolk.
Rumors of the resurgence of The Cult of the Dragon has been a major talking point with travelers passing through Phandalin. Some say that the cult is working hand in hand with the vile Red Wizards of Thay.
Wars and rumors of wars abound. You have recently received word from your faction that an agent will be coming to Phandalin to speak with you. That can only mean that they have a job offer. You might want to start polishing your armor and sharpening your sword now.
Children of the Ampersand 