You’ve read my thoughts on how my first time as a DM went. I think folks had fun.
So I shared the campaign pitch document with the group after the taster session on Saturday and also created and shared a google form to track responses.
The votes are in and the group has voted for…
In the wake of Pytheas.
So it looks like we are floating around the Sea of Swords and the Trackless Sea. Visiting the Moonshae Isles, Tuern, The Purple Rocks and all the other islands.
I’ve already started the player introduction document.
This campaign will be using the Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide, and The Ghosts of Saltmarsh source book (once released).
Looking for maps of the Moonshae Isles I stumbled across some adventures (4 in total) from the Adventurers League and a supporting region guide that are being used as the start of a new campaign called Rising Shadows. There is an old Dragon article that has some background info.
Although this next adventure isn’t set in the part of The Forgotten Realms I’m interested in. It does act as a useful inspiration for an adventure.
Naturally I do need The Ghosts of Saltmarsh for the finalised official rules for ships. However there is a ‘work in progress’ document that WotC used for play testing called Of Ships and the Sea. I’m going to assume that whatever finally appears in print will be some form of improved version of this. But this is enough to get started with.
There are also a couple of old AD&D supplements/adventures that cover the area too.
So with the extra information I’ve managed to dig up, the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide there is a lot of material to use for creating a campaign and adventures. And that’s before I even think of populating any undocumented islands with my own ideas or adventures that happen solely at sea, or exploring the depths of the Under Dark that exists here.
The boat above is the sort of vessel that I imagine them setting sail in from a small jetty in Saltmarsh.
The map does not do this part of The Forgotten Realm justice. I am so looking forward to exploring it with the players once they set sail.