AOP:PlayerStart

## **Welcome to Westgate**

*Well, you're here now*...

This wasn't your first choice. It wasn't even your second. Probably nowhere in the Top 10, to be honest. In fact, if the Dragon Coast could get an enema, you're pretty sure **Westgate** is where they'd stick it. But this is where the jobs are...

You know your background, you thought you knew who you were and what you stood for. *This town, though*... not that there's *much*slavery here, but this place will have you selling your soul if you stay, and you might sell your soul just to get out.

## Meta Note

Hello player! This is the landing spot and background you'll need to build a character in the Primal Magic mod of the Forgotten Realms setting. This page is specifically for the Outsiders' Path mini-campaign, an introductory adventure suitable for 3-5 level-1 characters.

This mini-campaign is rated "T" for teen. You will definitely find violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, a splattering of blood, possible simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language, including a "shit!" (though that's only found in the Meta Note).

You had a life, and now you're following your calling into a new life. Maybe you worked on a nearby farm in the foothills of the Giant's Run Mountains, just close enough to know how bad this place is. Maybe you're an elven pilgrim from deep in the forests of Gulthmere, and you've stayed this long just to marvel at the sheer spectacle of corruption. Maybe you're from much further away: an escaped slave from across the Sea of Fallen Stars, running from a cruel Thayvian master. Maybe you'll give yourself a surname of *Freeman*...

Either way, take a breath. Just not a *deep* breath. You're in Westgate now. It's time to find a pub with thick enough smoke to cover the stench.

### **Building Character**

Old or young, your life as an adventurer is just getting started. You know the pointy end of a sword but you haven't crossed enough steel to be anything but level-1 cannon fodder. Likewise, if you're magically inclined, you've just learned to tap the Weave at cantrip capacity. Thank the Gods, too, because those goblins were nearly the end of you.

Any of the common races, backgrounds and classes are available to you. You begin with the normal kit available to you during character generation. Break out your Player's Handbook or use Ye Olde Online Service: *D&D Beyond*.

#### **Passing the Background Check**

The character's background (PHB 125) carries more weight in this campaign than it typically does for a hack-and-slash adventure. There is some intrigue going on and where a character hails from will affect the swirl of politics as the party finds itself sandwiched between two battling armies in an undeclared war.

We encourage players to build a person here, not just a collection of stats. Min/Maxing for combat will leave characters dangerously underprepared for the moments that take finesse and insight. While the barbarian might love the phrase "You and what army?" ...The army will actually be there and this will be a very short campaign.

*There are a few things to think about when choosing a background:*

1. This campaign takes place on the eastern Dragon Coast – that's the southwestern corner of Faerûn's Inner Sea. Characters can come from anywhere in the Forgotten Realms, but they need a story on how they got there. What made them leave home?
2. Going back to min/maxing and building for combat – *and there is definitely combat in this campaign* – the character with a "soldier" background is going to have very limited time in actual combat, two or three battles (tops), or they'd be a high level fighter by now. If you'd like to play a fighter with a soldier background, keep that in mind as you build the history and why they're not still fighting with their one-time compatriots. *If you'd like to play a more experienced fighter, former sergeant or captain or grizzled veteran, talk to your DM to see if bringing in a higher-level character is right for you*.
3. Finally, once you have an idea of your background, *work with your DM to throw in specifics*. What city or region do they identify as home? If they were a soldier, and especially if they came from an area close to the campaign setting, in what army did they serve? That will definitely make a difference in certain interactions. If they were a guild artisan, what Guild? If they came from the west, anywhere near the Sword Coast (especially Baldur's Gate), they'll already have familiarity with the Stonehearth faction – and likely strong opinions about them one way or another.

#### **Literacy: re-valuing the power of education**

Similar to the commons of the Late Middle Ages, the majority of Faerûn's commons can speak multiple languages, but on average, 80% of any given population is illiterate. This varies from region to region, and it holds true for Player-Characters as well. We're striking the literacy assumption from the 5e rules.

 Check the **Campaign Literacy** page to determine if your character is literate.

#### **Getting there is Half the Fun**

In addition to the default starting kit, your character will start the game with a **modest personal mount**.

### **Regional Lore**

You may or not be from the central regions of Faerûn, but even just passing through, you've heard enough tavern gossip around the Dragon Coast to know that Westgate is one of the last bastions of local neutrality in a low-grade war between Cormyr and Sembia.

You're also well aware that their fight is on the heels of a long, painful war with the Shadovar, the Shade remnants of the ancient Empire of Netheril. The Netherese returned a century ago to occupy their old lands. They promptly restored a cursed desert to its natural grasslands state... *and naturally subjugated north-central Faerûn under their rule*. For that century, they were pretty successful.

Everyone in the region has heard the story of *The Great Battle.* Just two years ago, and a few days ride beyond the Dragonmere's north coast, Elminster himself brought the floating Shadovar city of Thultanthar crashing from the skies. Unfortunate that it landed on Myth Drannor, as it destroyed both cities in the process.

## Stonehearth rumors in the Dragon Coast

After the fall of Thultanthar, Stonehearth annexed the old Netherese territory and renamed it Aetheril. It was a region that endured two millennia as a phaerimm-cursed desert, and now the Marquisate is allegedly doing what the Shadovar couldn't: hunting down the last of the phaerimm deep in the Underdark.

In pubs around western Faerûn, there are murmurs that a sleeping giant has awoken. Maybe. Whatever their intentions, it's fair to say that Stonehearth is shedding their once-famous neutrality.

Elminster is Elminster, but you heard the Shadovar weren't fighting at peak strength. That was mostly due to their entanglements with the rising stars of the Sword Coast: the **Stonehearth Marquisate**. The Shade had never fully recovered from that war and Elminster had the benefit of timing.

You've heard stories about the Marquisate... *and you imagine they're probably true*. A potion to restore a wizard's mana? *You've seen it*. Spell scrolls imbued with metamagic? *A regular occurrence*. It seems like an exciting place. Someday, when you feel like fighting hordes of giant regenerating Trolls and a godlike Lich, maybe you'll find passage out there.

...But you're not finding passage *there* until you've found dinner *here*.

## Where to From Here?

* I'm intrigued. What was the thinking behind this campaign?
* I'm playing a smart character. I should know more about this world...
* I've got a backstory in mind. What was that *D&D Beyond* thing you mentioned?
* **Reminder:** Is your character a member of any guilds? Have they fought under any flags? Reach out to your DM/GM with your background and work out the details...
* **Reminder:** Does your character **know how to read**...?
* **Reminder:** Does your character have a **modest mount**...?