Silver Marches Sandbox 12 - Raiders of Galath's Roost

One of my absolute favourite adventures of all time is the 3E adventure Raiders of Galath's Roost published in Dungeon 87. I am biased because it involves the Zhentarim - they are, simply put, my favourite D&D organisation of all time - but, for me, the real attraction is that it is, like the Caves of Chaos from B2 Keep on the Borderlands, so portable and useable in almost any location or, indeed, in any world.

Part One: Galath's Roost

The set-up is simple. The titular raiders are attacking the Dalelands but, when pursued, they cannot be found. This is because they are using a portal - no surprises there - near the ruins of the titular (that word again) Galath's Roost which includes both a small surface level and a slightly larger underground level.

Here are the maps from the first part of the adventure:

That's the surface level and some of the surrounding wilderness. In the original adventure, the surface encounters include some drow scouts who are also investigating the raiders.

And that's the dungeon level. The maps are quite simple but easy to adapt for a variety of settings. More on that below.

After the PCs investigate Galath's Roost and discover the portal and its method of activation, they can travel via the portal to the raiders' base, a Zhentarim fortress in the mountains nearby.

Part Two: The Zhentarim Fortress

The portal leads to a Zhentarim fortress which spreads out over three levels. I rather like the maps and I like the thought that has gone into, for example, having the portal open outside the fortress on a piece of ground separated from the entrance to the fortress by a sheer drop that can be crossed with difficulty, with magic or by lowering a drawbridge. It's a good way to make the players stop and think:

The fortress as seen here is quite large with a lot of encounters - and that's before looking at the other levels. Even in 3E I had to modify it on the fly to remove the grind; that's an even bigger issue in 4E unless a lot of minions are used.

The fortress also has an upper level which is perfect for overlooking the arrival area:

It also seems designed to handle flying creatures. Perhaps there is a Zhentarim skymage in residence?

My favourite level is the dungeon level with its Banite sacrificial chamber shaped like a hand:

That cage-like area on the floor represents a grille over an oubliette where ghouls are kept. The adventure actually provides an illustration for this:

The primary goal in the fortress is to defeat the Zhentarim whose leader is a cleric of Bane (this is pre-Spellplague, of course, when the Banites, rather than Cyricists, were in charge) who is illustrated in the adventure's cover art:

Even though the colours are wrong, I love this illustration because it really captures the arrogance and superciliousness of a cleric of Bane, and I like the dire rat beast of Bane hiding behind the cleric's legs. R K Post does good work.

Part Three: Fitting this in the Silver Marches Sandbox

The beauty of this adventure with its RUIN + PORTAL + FORTRESS model is that it can fit almost anywhere. The Silver Marches is full of ruins and the use of a portal to travel to the fortress means the fortress can be in any of the mountains of which there are plenty.

However, I've been trying to think of an introductory adventure for a prospective Silver Marches campaign which will begin in the city of Silverymoon. I've already posted a couple of ideas for using B1 In Search of the Unknown and B2 Keep on the Borderlands as starter adventures but, in keeping with the sandbox theme, I want to be able to present the PCs with other options.

 

The Silverwood

 

Also, looking at the map of the Silver Marches I am using, the geographical feature that stands out near Silverymoon is the Silverwood. Strangely enough, despite its proximity to one of the most storied and developed cities of the Realms, next to nothing has been written about the Silverwood. In fact, all I can find boils down to this:

The land rises at the edge of the Trollmoors (aka Evermoors) and a small forest made up almost entirely of of silver birch trees covers the rise. Trolls from the moors below continue to roam in this wood, but there are other terrors as well. The eastern side of the woods ends in a sharp escarpment which drops down to the River Rauvin and Silverymoon.

I'm not sure of the canon source for the silver birch trees but the rest seems consistent with what I recall reading. And silver birches fit both in terms of the name of the Silverwood and the prevailing climate so I will be keeping this entire description. 

The Raiders

Looking at the map and reading the description above of the Silverwood, it's clear that the Silverwood overlooks the River Rauvin which makes it a prime location for river piracy. Trade flows down the River Rauvin and, wherever there is trade, there are criminals seeking to profit from it.

I rather like the idea of river pirates. The barges that are used on the river are relatively slow-moving (except in spring when the river is flowing because of melting snow and ice in the mountains) and they are difficult to manoeuvre.

At the risk of introducing more story elements into this sandbox, I already have in mind that I want to use the Zhentarim but these are not the well-organised, Bane-worshipping Zhentarim of pre-4E; rather, these are the more cell-like, Cyric-worshipping (or at least -tolerating) mercenaries of an organisation that has kept the Zhentarim name but is no longer the continent-wide threat it once was. (For now.) 

The Zhentarim in the Silver Marches are based in Newfort (this is a settlement that was introduced in 3E's Silver Marches and noted as being made up of settlers who originally hailed from Zhentil Keep) and are available for hire as mercenaries. I haven't given any thought yet to what they have been doing in the past but, for now, they have been hired by the Netherese to disrupt trade between and among the three major cities of the Silver Marches, namely Silverymoon, Everlund and Sundabar.

One of the basic ideas behind my plans for a clone of B2 Keep on the Borderlands is to have the titular keep be Hawk's Nest in the Silverymoon Pass but to have it taken over by the Zhentarim and used as a forward base for unleashing the humanoids they control (the humanoid lairs are, of course, the Caves of Chaos from that adventure) to bring trade in the Silverymoon Pass to a standstill.

Similarly, I think I could do much the same here with the ruin being the forward base for the Zhents and then the humanoid raiders arrive each day (or night) before being unleashed on the barge traffic on the River Rauvin.

And rather than using the Zhent fortress maps from Raiders of Galath's Roost, I am thinking of actually tying this into my version of Keep on the Borderlands and simply having the origin of the raiders be my version of the Caves of Chaos near Hawk's Nest thereby mashing Raiders of Galath's Roost and Keep on the Borderlands into a single adventure.

The major problem with this in the context of a sandbox is, of course, that it is strongly story-based. You have the link from the river raiders to the Zhents in the ruin then the portal leading to the Caves of Chaos and, finally, the Zhent headquarters in Hawk's Nest (and this also feels like it has some similarities with the plot of 4E's excellent Reavers of Harkenwold). At this point the PCs will probably find evidence that it was the Netherese who hired the Zhentarim to disrupt trade and that might suggest that the next adventure is against the Netherese.

I'll stop right there.

By simply making it so that the PCs can't work out how to use the portal, I can simply keep the river raiders (goblins? hobgoblins? orcs?), the ruin in the Silverwood with a Zhentarim leader and some bodyguards (this makes me think of Broken Spire Keep and the cleric Ranchefus in 2E's Night Below boxed set mega-adventure) and maybe have the ruin include a tomb of an eladrin or elven cleric of Moander from ancient Eaerlann that the PCs awaken as some sort of plant-based mummy that might even be potent enough to stat up as a solo creature.

Taken together, that's probably a fairly solid introductory adventure with a decent background, a nice mix of monsters and an unresolved mystery as to why the Zhentarim are using humanoid raiders to disrupt trade. And this picture from Night Below definitely makes me want to include Ranchefus or at least a cleric of Cyricist based on him:

Ranchefus, aka Yet Another Reason for Loving Arnie Swekel's B&W Work

Further Development

The easiest option to expand this adventure is to mash it up with Keep on the Borderlands and flavour it with Reavers of Harkenwold, as I have already mentioned.

Another option draws from Night Below and ties in with the Demon Weave storyline involving Lolth wanting to become the deity of magic - WotC's Rise of the Underdark event - and, while keeping the background elements already mentioned, have the underground level of this ruin in the Silverwood connected to the Underdark where "Ranchefus" is selling those his raiders capture on the river as slaves to the drow.

The idea here is not to pursue the drow all the way back to Menzoberranzan, but I do like the idea of taking on a band of drow slavers and then returning to Silverymoon to report to the city's leaders that the Zhentarim were behind the raiders and it seems that the drow were behind the Zhentarim. Who knows what might come of that?

And, of course, while it is probably seen as a horribly clichéd storyline for anyone who has played for a while, I think it could work really well with a group of new players. Anyway, the point in throwing around these sorts of ideas - in my brain or in a blog - is to simply to throw out options. A sandbox game lives and dies on options because you need options in order to offer players meaningful choices.

Similarly, the humanoid raiders don't even need to be led by a Zhent, nor does there need to be a portal linking them to another location. These could simply be orc raiders led by a shaman of Gruumsh, or goblins led by a hobgoblin (or even human) cleric of Bane or the leader may even be a fey'ri sorcerer seeking to obtain the resources to equip an army. There are river raiders. There is a ruin. It is in the Silverwood. Have fun from there.

Silver Marches Sandbox 11 - Riding the River Rauvin, Part 2: The Dungeon of the Ruins (aka The Prison of the Firebringer)

In Part 1, the PCs found themselves in the town of Nesmé after accepting a commission to guard a barge travelling down the River Rauvin from Silverymoon and carrying weapons that Nesmé would use to fight off troll raiders from the Evermoors.

At the end of this short adventure, the PCs are left with three options and I will cover one of those here: deciding to travel north to explore the Dungeon of the Ruins, also known as the Prison of the Firebringer.

Bazim-Gorag the Firebringer

This is what the Forgotten Realms Wikia has to say about the Dungeon of the Ruins:

Originally a dwarven hold called Andalbruin, the site was transformed into a human village when the Selskar Order, a group of Netherese arcanists, occupied the ruins of the hold in -626 DR and set up a magic school named Selskartur (Tower of the Star in Loross). Less than forty years later, as the village looked to expanding into a realm of its own, the troll warlord Harska Thaug attempted to attack Rilithar but Selskartur was in-between the troll's forces and the elves.

Troll magic-users defended Harska's army against the arcane might of the Selskar Order and appeared to have the upper hand despite taking tremendous casualties. Ilviroon, the leader of the Selskar Order, opened a gate and summoned Bazim-Gorag whom he charged with burning the trolls to death. Bazim-Gorag did as he was commanded and drove the trolls into the Spine of the World. When Ilviroon dallied in compensating the slaad lord for his services, Bazim-Gorag turned on his summoners and killed many Selskar arcanists. Ilviroon trapped and bound Bazim-Gorag in some dwarven vaults beneath Selskartur and left him there, beginning an effort to rebuild what had been destroyed.

Harska and his trolls returned the following winter though and, still weak from the last attack, the Selskar Order was wiped out. Unfortunately, Ilviroon was the only person who knew how to release Bazim-Gorag from his binding. The slaad was trapped with no hope of rescue for nearly two thousand years.

Over that time Selskartur became known as the Dungeon of the Ruins and in 1356 DR adventurers calling themselves the Company of the Riven Orb ventured far enough into the dungeon to meet their ends at the eyes of a beholder just outside Bazim-Gorag's vault. With the path to him almost completely clear of obstructions, the slaad managed to remotely influence many evil individuals to come serve him. These individuals became a cult, calling themselves the Acolytes of the Hidden Flame, and came to inhabit the dungeon, doing all they could to enact Bazim-Gorag's will. In 1373 DR a durzagon cultist discovered a method to free his master but his plans were foiled by adventurers.

The source for this background was the Prison of the Firebringer adventure by Rich Baker and published in Dungeon 101. I am not proposing a simple conversion of Prison of the Firebringer - that adventure was designed for 3.5E characters of levels 13-15 - but the maps, background and general idea provide a really good framework around which I can easily build an adventure suitable for 4E's Heroic Tier. (And, of course, it would be even simpler to adjust it for almost any level for a 13th Age game.)

Adventure Hooks

Black-Feathered Bandits

The Black Raven tribe of the Uthgardt have their primary camp west northwest of the Dungeon of the Ruins. They are notorious bandits and raiders in the area having eschewed almost any form of civilisation but holding fast to their Uthgardt traditions.

It seems that many have been sighted around the Dungeon of the Ruins and the ruler of Nesmé hires the PCs to find out why as the place has a sinister reputation.

Build It and They Will Come

The simplest hook for this adventure is for the players to see Dungeon of the Ruins on the map and simply decide to explore what's there. This actually makes a lot of sense in the context of the set-up assumed in Part 1: bored adventurers looking for something to do in or near Nesmé.

Lurkwood Loggers

The Lurkwood has an unsavoury reputation that keeps such races as eladrin, elves, and the more goodly fey from settling within its borders. However, that also means that it is a target for loggers who don't want to upset the goodly fey and their allies amongst the rulers of the Silver Marches.

With the arrival of spring, logging crews have departed Nesmé, their winter base, to log the eastern edges of the Lurkwood near the Dungeon of the Ruins. Soon enough, a lone logger appears at Nesmé's gates claiming that his fellow loggers have all been slain, have disappeared and/or have been taken as slaves by Black Raven barbarians, dark fey, frog-like humanoids (ie, bullywugs) and/or slavers. The PCs are then hired to deal with the situation and the parties involved which ends up leading them to the Dungeon of the Ruins....

Getting There: The Surbrin Way

I like this relatively simply wilderness map that is part of the Prison of the Firebringer adventure as it makes it relatively easy to turn the journey to the Dungeon of the Ruins into a mini-sandbox.

Surbrin Way

I really like the idea of a simple ambush by Black Raven Uthgardt barbarians, filling a role that might be played by orcs in other campaign. To mix it up a bit, perhaps I can have a Black Raven shaman riding a giant raven (stats for these are in 3E's Silver Marches and they would be easy enough to convert).

Old Selskar Road

The encounters along the Old Selskar Road are probably going to be very similar to those in Selskar Vale which, in turn, will be determined by what is actually the primary threat at the Dungeon of the Ruins (see below).

Frost Hills

These hills could easily hold common creatures like leucrotta, ogres, orcs, perytons, and maybe a dragon or two  (grey, red, white), all of which might decide that a party wandering along Old Selskar Road makes for good eating.

It's also likely that these hills contain other dwarven ruins and maybe a steading of hill giants which may provide inspiration for further adventures in this area.

The Lurkwood

As implied above, the Lurkwood is a dark and dangerous place. It's noted in a few sources as a place with bottomless bogs and deadly quicksand. That suggests that will-o'-wisps are likely to be plentiful which further suggests the presence of dark fey.

Perhaps those who explore the Lurkwood eventually encounter cyclops slavers working for a fomorian king whose Feywild demesne overlays this great forest and perhaps that fomorian king is also linked to the troll problem in the Evermoors.... (I'll post a link expanding this idea at some point.)

Selskar Vale

What will the PCs find in the Selskar Vale? At this point, I haven't decided what the primary threat might be but here are some initial ideas:

• The bullywugs of Faerûn are the devolved descendants of the Creator Race - the batrachi - whose mastery of the Elemental Chaos allowed them to transform into the elemental horrors known as slaadi. Under the influence of a powerful but rather insane bullywug chaos sorcerer, a band of bullywugs is here at the Dungeon of the Ruins seeking to free Bazim-Gorag because the chaos sorcerer has promised that the slaad lord will transform them all into slaadi!
• The drow of House Xorlarrin in Menzoberranzan are searching for "fuel" for the creation of Lolth's Demon Weave and it seems an imprisoned slaad lord, even only an aspect, would provide a significant amount of "fuel". When the PCs arrive, the House Xorlarrin drow are performing various rituals that will syphon off the Firebringer's life and power... unless, of course, the PCs stop them.
• The ultimate goal of Shar is the utter annihilation of everything and some of her more devout followers - including among the Netherese are aware of and share that goal. The power of the Firebringer unleashed would cause much destruction so this band of Netherese wants to tap that for themselves... but the PCs are there to stop them. 
• The Zul family from Thay were, before the Spellplague, known as devout Cyricists but Szass Tam's bargain with Bane meant that their worship of the Dark Sun needed to be hidden otherwise the Regent of Thay's wrath might be unleashed. Sefris Zul, also known as the Queen of Lies, is a Cyric-worshipping mystic theurge who has heard the Dark Sun's whispers telling her that she is the key to his freedom. In response to those whispers she and her Thayan band are at the Dungeon of the Ruins seeking to free the aspect of Bazim-Gorag imprisoned therein because it seems the Firebringer knows part of the ritual (or maybe it's an item) that will allow Cyric to be freed. Her forces have been gathering slaves to dig their way to the dungeons where the slaad lord is ensnared.

Actually, I could use a combination of two or more of these ideas to create factions at the site which might make the dungeon that much more interesting. I think with further development, it could end up with more of a T1-4 Temple of Elemental Evil feel to it, which would be a great excuse to use this wonderful piece of art:

Maybe the Dungeon of the Ruins is not so ruined after all?

The Dungeon

Finally, we get to the dungeon itself.

I think the most important point is this: even if the PCs are only level 1 and the rest of the adventure suits beginning characters, if the PCs explore far enough, they will encounter the imprisoned aspect of Bazim-Gorag even though he is probably something like a level 12 elite soldier (which has the same XP value as a level 7 solo soldier: this is another option if the PCs come back after a few levels).

The dungeon should feel like it was built by dwarves - and that means that there might be some stonework traps in less-travelled areas - but also have a theme of elemental fire and chaos. And the final encounter should involve the PCs coming across a ritual to free Bazim-Gorag which they must stop else they will have to fight the Firebringer themselves....

Anyway, with this rough outline plus the Dungeon 101 adventure Prison of the Firebringer, I think most DMs could nut something out fairly quickly on the fly for use in a sandbox campaign set in the Silver Marches.

Silver Marches Sandbox 3 - Keep on the Borderlands

My previous post suggested ways B1 In Search of the Unknown, after which this campaign is named, could be incorporated in a sandbox set in the Silver Marches. And what follows B1 In Search of the Unknown? Why, B2 Keep on the Borderlands, of course.

I find that B2 Keep on the Borderlands, particularly the main adventuring site, the Caves of Chaos, seems to try and sneak its way into every campaign that I write. There's something about a valley filled with evil humanoid tribes that are both allied and at odds with one another that seems to be so eminently portable and, of course, game-able.

Considering how much of the real estate, as it were, of the Silver Marches is covered in hills and mountains, and also how many tribes of orcs and other humanoids are identified in 3E's Silver Marches, placing the Caves of Chaos is a really simple endeavour. What is more of a challenge, however, is finding a suitable location for the titular keep.

Mike Schley's outstanding map of the Silver Marches is really large and my plans for this campaign involve narrowing my focus to a 100 mile radius circle centred on Silverymoon. You can see some of that - and a lot more - on the following extract from the main map:

Some 60 miles east northeast of Silverymoon is Hawks's Nest, a location that is barely detailed in FR Realmslore. All that I can find boils down to it being a small watchtower at the top of Silverymoon Pass from where a dozen or so Knights in Silver protect the pass during the months when it is used by travellers.

 

However, that description dates back a century or so as it comes from 3E's Silver Marches. I think the idea that Hawk's Nest has been expanded into a larger keep from where scouts are sent out to monitor the Ripped Gut and other orc tribes to ensure that they're not whelming into a horde that could threaten Silverymoon makes a lot of sense. And, who knows?, perhaps other more secret threats from, say, the Underdark have arisen in the years since the Spellplague necessitating an expanded presence of Silverymoon's defenders at this key point in the Silverymoon Pass.

So that's the titular keep taken care of from a background perspective. Now for the Caves of Chaos:

This picture is from a WotC book (I think 3.5E's Dungeonmaster's Guide II) and is supposed to depict the Caves of Chaos from B2 Keep on the Borderlands... but it doesn't really match the map in that adventure. Nevertheless, it's an interesting take on the Caves of Chaos and one that could inspire a rather interesting adaptation.

The original Caves of Chaos included multiple humanoid tribes - from memory: gnolls, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds and orcs plus a solo ogre and a solo minotaur - with no hint as to how they might successfully co-exist in such proximity to each other. The closest we have to a hint is the presence of mysterious shrine of or to "evil chaos" and that's something I would like to give some thought to because I think the Caves of Chaos work best when you first decide what has caused such disparate races to co-exist relatively peacefully.

In my previous post, I posited the presence of a group of Netherese in a dungeon adapted from the one in the B1 In Search of the Unknown adventure and I am going to again run with this idea at the risk of creating a plot for this campaign rather than a simple sandbox.

And here's the basic idea: what if the Netherese are using some relic of evil - some of the 1E artefacts such as the Regalia of Evil might provide inspiration - to draw these evil humanoids to this location where they are brainwashing them and training them for a mass assault on Silverymoon when the time is right.

The shrine of "evil chaos" instead becomes a temple of Shar presided over by a shadar-kai invoker of the Mistress of the Night. The keep of Hawk's Nest also plays host to a secret trio of Sharran assassins, actually sorcerer/monks from the order of Dark Moon monks, who may be used by the Netherese to punish those PCs who strike against the Caves of Chaos then think they are safe when they return to the keep at Hawk's Nest (and generally they are but, at some point, even new players need to learn to be scared of assassins in the night).

Another option involves focussing solely on orcs but arranging them by tribes. In such a case, these orcs include outcasts from Many-Arrows who are frustrated with the trappings of civilisation that now surround the orcs of that kingdom. These outcasts believe that this is not the orc way and they have gathered here in the Nether Mountains to build their strength until the point where they can wash away civilisation's stain.

The shrine of "evil chaos" thus becomes a shrine or temple of Gruumsh. And just as Gruumsh replaced Talos, Talos also replaced an earlier deity, Kozah, as the Storm Lord. I rather like the idea that this temple of Gruumsh was once a temple of Kozah known as the High Altar of Storms (and that's a nod to Warcraft II). Perhaps the orcs can perform ritual sacrifices here that allow them to call down destructive storms in the Silverymoon Pass providing both an additional adventure hook and an extra challenge to overcome.

I'm avoiding a Zhentarim connection but it does remain an option: the whole plan could be a Zhentarim operation and the temple could be devoted to either Cyric or Bane. I've used that idea so many times that I don't really want to use it again (plus I find that using Zhentarim tends to get me building more a plot-based campaign which is not what this campaign is meant to be) unless I somehow feel that it would be the best possible idea based on the players and the choices they have made.

Ideally, I would like to run this as the second adventure in the campaign - with In Search of the Unknown being the first - which suggests that at least one of the hooks could involve uncovering a Netherese plot following clues the PCs uncover in the first adventure and assuming that the shrine of "evil chaos" is now a temple of Shar. However, I really would prefer to avoid any hint of a plot except that which develops organically.

I rather like the idea of the PCs, following the success of their first adventure, being hired by the Knights in Silver to travel to Hawk's Nest and determine if there is a link between a series of unnatural storms afflicting Silverymoon Pass and mass movements of orcs from tribes that normally fight on sight but yet seem to travelling together. This is based on the idea that the shrine of "evil chaos" is now a temple of Gruumsh-who-was-Talos-who-was-Kozah.

Finally, if the Zhentarim are involved then the humanoids will definitely be raiding merchants travelling on the Silverymoon Pass (except for those who pay for Zhent protection). This option suggests that the adventure hook could come from the Knights in Silver seeking to remove the threat posed by the orc et al bandits or from a group of merchants concerned about their losses. It also suggests the possibility of some intrigue and adventure within Silverymoon as the PCs seek to first unravel a Zhentarim conspiracy before heading to Hawk's Nest for a more traditional adventure.

I think the sandbox is taking shape.

Land Under Shadow - A New Campaign

The Headless Zhent

If I kept a formal D&D/Forgotten Realms bucket list, one of the things on that list would be to run a traditional Ed Greenwood-like campaign set in the Dalelands - specifically Shadowdale - involving the Zhentarim, the drow and the PCs acting as foils against both.

Shadowdale featured quite heavily in the first two boxed sets for the Forgotten Realms: the legendary Old Grey Box included, inter alia, a census of Shadowdale's inhabitants while the revised campaign setting gave Shadowdale its own separate booklet that also included an adventure involving drow beneath the Twisted Tower.

It's the latter adventure, and Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land - the updated and heavily revised version published for 3.5E, that I particularly want to draw upon for my Land Under Shadow campaign. (By the way, Land Under Shadow was a former name for Shadowdale when it was under drow rule.)

Background

The year is 1479 DR, the Year of the Ageless One, the first year of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide for 4E. This is a post-Spellplague campaign.

The year before the campaign starts, Elminster and Manshoon destroy each other in spell-battle. This battle spills over and also destroys Elminster's tower which is now a ruin... but a high magic ruin. Picture the stones of the tower whirling around each other like some strange, vaguely tower-shaped asteroid field with flashes of silver runes and blue flames intermittently bursting forth.

This sets the scene for what happens next. Shadowdale is now without powerful protectors - Elminster is now dead and the Knights of Myth Drannor are either long dead or long gone - and that makes room for the PCs to play the role the Knights of Myth Drannor once did, assuming that they want to do so.

Manshoon's death has created a leadership vacuum in the Zhentarim... which is filled by Manshoon. A much weaker clone of Manshoon has been awakened by a beholder mage and is quietly rebuilding his personal power even as he manipulates the Zhentarim to become the Black Network it once was and not just loosely affiliated bands of petty mercenaries under the "leadership" of Cyric-worshippers.... 

Old families of Zhentil Keep who took refuge across the Moonsea region after its destruction by the Netherese are now back in the 'Keep and rebuilding the city that was once the home of their families. They do not know that the Zhentarim are being rebuilt concurrently... and using the trade being driven by the 'Keep's rebuilding to rebuild the Black Network as an economic force.

Zhents have infiltrated Shadowdale once again - Daggerdale is already under their control - and plan to conquer the dale directly or indirectly so as to control all of the trade routes leading to Zhentil Keep. And the indirect path to conquest is to let their new-found drow allies do the dirty work for them....

House Xorlarrin drow from Menzoberranzan have made the long journey by portal to the tunnels beneath the Twisted Tower of Ashaba at the behest of Lolth. It seems the key to Lolth's plan to create a Demon Weave lies within three altars once used by House Dhuurniv drow during the Sharran plot to tear the Weave in the decade before the Spellplague. Those altars need to be reclaimed and reactivated to birth the Demon Weave....

And the PCs stumble into all of this. There are Zhents on one side of Shadowdale and drow on the other, more or less. An alliance between the two - there is an existing alliance but it is fairly limited in scope - could be devastating for Shadowdale and it will be up to the PCs to stop this and the nascent Demon Weave. Or not.

13th Age

My plans for the Land Under Shadow campaign include a Caves of Chaos-like area - as in, the caves from B2 Keep on the Borderlands - that would allow the PCs to make repeated forays without having to, necessarily give too much thought to the larger plot. In other words, the area is set up to provide a series of scaling dungeon delves that would probably suit a group of new players as much as I hope to make it work for my veteran players.

Over the past few days I've been looking at the wonderful new d20-ish game 13th Age by Rob Heinsoo and Jonathan Tweet and thinking about how to adapt it to the Forgotten Realms simply because it looks to be incredibly suitable for new players. 

The combination of the one unique thing, player-created backgrounds in place of skills and icon relationships - not to mention a character generation that is elegant in its combination of customisation, crunch and simplicity - makes it look like it's actually a game I could use to introduce new players to fantasy RPGs... but still have a game they could still keep playing once they became RPG veterans. (4E is still my favourite fantasy RPG but that doesn't certainly doesn't blind me to the merits of 13th Age - or how much 13th Age demonstrates what a dud Wizards of the Coast has D&D Next aka Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition).

I just want to make a few comments about these three things - one unique thing, player-created backgrounds in place of skills and icon relationships - in the context of the Land Under Shadow campaign and an idea I had for one of the PCs.

In 4E terms, I was thinking of a human (race) paladin of Torm, fighter or warlord (class) who was a (former) Purple Dragon knight (character theme) who had been personally disgraced because his uncle or older cousin, the commander of his unit, had turned traitor betraying his unit and the nation of Cormyr to the Zhents and then fleeing from Cormyrean justice into the Dalelands  (my plan at the moment is for this renegade to now be the new lord of Daggerdale which is where I plan to set a possible continuation of the Land Under Shadow). The PC would have resigned his commission in the Purple Dragons to come to the Dalelands and bring his relative to justice thus restoring his personal and family honour.

How could I make this work in 13th Age?

One Unique Thing

I am a noble of knightly rank of House Cormaeril but am in disgrace as a result of the treachery of my uncle/older cousin and now seek to bring him to justice.

Backgrounds

• Purple Dragon knight +5 (military tactics, horses, etiquette, diplomacy, history of Cormyr)
• disgraced noble +3 (sense lies/motives, penetrate disguise, disguise, dissemble for the greater good)

Icons

• House Cormaeril, positive relationship, 1 point
• The King of Cormyr, conflicted relationship, 1 point (the PC's goal is to turn this into a positive relationship)
• The Zhentarim, negative relationship, 1 point

It's a really interesting way to put a character together and, I think, something that a new player can readily grasp. It's also interesting looking at the 13th Age version of the character and then using that to further information the 4E version of the PC. (I might do that for the existing 4E characters in my Neverwinter: Year of the Ageless Ones campaign and see what insights it provides me as the DM in terms of what other story options to offer the characters.)