FRA begins in the tap room of the Smoky Skulll, a quiet tavern on the west end of Arabel, the Overland City of Cormyr. At the behest of Elmdaerle the Naturalist, a mutual friend and noted collector of unusual commodities, a small group of 1st level adventurers, most of whom are strangers to one another, have gathered. The PCs may come from all walks of life, from nearly all races and classes (Elmdaerle has a curious prediliction for aquiring uncommon friends), and may have nothing more in common than their acquaintanceship with the old man -- or perhaps an interest in acquiring a bit of notoriety or wealth for themselves.
The Year of the Prince, 1332, is coming swiftly to a close, and a deep blanket of snow has already settled thickly over the distant Stormhorn peaks. The weather is unrelentingly foul, and the streets of Arabel are choked with slush, coal sellers, and frostbitten merchants taking shelter 'til the spring. Most of the native population stays bundled up and locked inside their homes, grumbling over bad food and benumbed fingers; those few driven out into the chill are unvariably there on business, or ducking between inns in search of the season's best (and warmest) ciders.
A few changes have been made to the traditional Realms setting to reflect my tastes and also to differentiate FRA from the teeming hordes of pbem games already out there. Regular 3.5 edition rules will be respected for the most part, but there are certain exceptions of the sort every picky DM takes, particularly with regard to character creation. Therefore I present a few of my personal pecadillos:
- Magic is uncommon, and usually underrepresented in adventuring parties. I am unlikely to accept more than one mage and one cleric per group at any given time in the campaign. This is not a concrete rule, but applicants should bear in mind that fighters and rogues will take precendence when it comes to sorting out the final group's make-up. Along with this goes an expectation that very little in the way of magical items or equipment is going to be distributed.
- Wizards must specialize in a school.
- Characters must gain at least three levels in a particular class before they will be allowed to multiclass, or two levels in their favored class.
- Demihumans resemble those found in 2nd edition AD&D's Complete Handbook series. I have never cared for the way they were presented in the Realms campaign setting, so I am changing them back to the 'standard' subraces.
- Barbarians, half-orcs, drow, genasi, and evil characters are all off limits. Sorry...
Players are free to use whatever supplements they like when building their PCs, with a couple of notable exceptions: neither Savage Species nor Dragons of Faerun offer balanced possibilities for a low-level campaign based in Cormyr, and so -- at least for now -- should be left on the shelf. I am not requiring anybody to have more than a 3rd edition Player's Handbook and a copy of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, 2nd edition or higher; if you want to use more than these, all I ask is that you note the name and page numbers of the supplement that you are applying to your character. It would be foolish of me to promise that all your requests will be granted, in terms of supplemental rules; but as I am a reasonable DM, and since you are a reasonable hero, I'm sure we can work things out.
bravenet.com