[TheAscendant]

“And in this land I'll proudly stand
Until my dying day, sir;
For whate'er a king o'er all command,
I'll still be a Cormyte brave, sir."
— The Cormyte's Boast

GAME INTRODUCTION

They had come like tall shadows at sunset, Harbingers of the Queen of Thorns who promised an end to the Obarskyr line. This Queen had waited generations for an opportunity to attack and chose her move right after a successive series of invasions had weakened Cormyr sufficiently. When the Weave collapsed, she knew it's War Wizards would be little match against the hordes of her corrupted vessels and so she sent the Harbingers to ensure her victory. Slowly, the Kingdom devolved into a mess of panic and chaos where people turned on each other viciously. A famine greater than anything in recorded history combined with disease, mass hysteria and impending war to crush any resistance. So great was the Kingdom's utter devastation that when the Queen's forces finally unveiled themselves, her armies were able to quickly dispatch what little force was assembled against them.

Within a week, she had conquered most of the northern lands and a week later, her forces marched into Suzail nearly unopposed. That last week was a scene like few others in recorded Cormyrian history. Many nobles turned on each other, their private armies used to settle ancient blood feuds rather than to defend their cities, and for days it seemed more like a civil war than an invasion. King Foril tried valiantly to rally his retainers, but those strong enough to resist the Queen's machinations seemed to sense the inevitability of defeat. Rather than see the destruction of their houses, many fled. Your patron family, the Crownsilvers were the last to retreat to their refuges, but if whispered rumors were true, the decision was made out of obedience and not fear.

It has been almost two generations since your parents and grandparents fled to an abandoned keep tucked away in the Stonelands. The fort itself has since been taken over by a militaristic goblin tribe who lives in total ignorance of the Sword Herald built underneath them centuries before the keep was even erected. The extradimensional refuge only has a singular physical entrance and fully functional teleportation circle, which is likely what has kept your family safe thus far. Within the Herald's militaristic quarters, you were born and bred for one thing: reconquest.

Over the years, some of the remaining Sword Heralds went silent; ragged tales of demonic invaders, groups that finally tired of living underground before trying their luck in traveling to Westfall, or others who simply faded from existence without explanation. The closest cell to your own, another of the Crownsilver family holdings near Lundeth, sent an urgent message asking for help which could no longer be ignored for reasons unknown to any of you. Your entire squad had grown up together though, training for this very moment and dreaming of the day when 'the call' would come.

Gathering in the confines of the Herald's main hall, the Crownsilvers formed ranks, shoulder-to-shoulder, as younger aides moved through the rows of nobles, soldiers and former house staff who had become legitimate blood relations. The hope of the family, Cormyr's last great house, was assembled to receive their arms and armor; one hundred and twenty young men and women. Quickly the aides handed each of you deep purple cloaks, plumed helms and livery befitting what you were raised to become: Purple Dragon Knights.

The torchlight flickered, shadows dancing across the ceiling as you dressed in your armor, received your weapons and then with a soft command, each of you took to a single knee. A woman emerged from the rear of the hall, full plate armor hiding what all of you knew was the comely appearance of Lady-Marshall Lysandra Obarksyr; legitimate heir to the throne of your Kingdom. Last of her kin, she held in both hands Ansrivarr, the ancient sword that symbolizes the sovereignty of Cormyr. Over the next three hours, each man and woman took their turn taking 'the Oath of the King' as the sword touched their forehead.

There were no cheers, no rousing speeches, just orders and the unveiling of a plan. Lysandra would lead a contingent of Purple Dragons to Lundeth while your squad was tasked with clearing the keep of the goblins who had claimed it. Once the keep was cleared, you were to return to the Herald, report and await orders. Step by step, the Crownsilvers would reclaim the Stormhorns and then Cormyr itself, restoring the throne to Lysandra and the Obarskyr's in the process. The time for hiding had ended - the Purple Dragons had been reborn.

GAME OVERVIEW

So the game I am going to offer is based in Cormyr after the Spellplague and collapse of the Weave however I won't be using 4E because it sucks. The game will likely be a fair mix of politics/intrigue and combat. I don't like random puzzles or dungeons that you have to go explore because... 'umm, I have the module and it might be able to fit in'... or some other absurdity. I also have no problem killing characters and won't pull punches if you decide to charge High Hold out of 'chivalric' commitments. Nope, you'll just get hammered. I also don't expect characters to be paragons of virtue simply because they are associated to the Purple Dragons; no, folks have depth and complexities for a reason. Don't submit an archetypical LG Paladin for the game because it will bore me and should bore you as well. I want motivation, scheming, clever game play, tactics and goals.

How long will the game last? That's up to the players candidly. I am looking for established posters who won't flake out and go away, and sadly I am looking for a balanced party. The game forum has most of this reposted and some links detailing changes to the cosmology for those of you interested in being pious/informed. I have also included a map of the Kingdom based on last reports and a short overview of the socio-political situation for background. Characters have never been out in the daylight, do not know how to ride horses (yet, because Knights without mounts suck), and should approach the setting with wonderment because it is all new to them. I am not against homebrew ideas, but I am violently opposed to 'stupid.' The difference is generally fairly apparent, but feel free to ask any questions here or in the appropriate section in the game forum and I'll be happy to answer your questions. The game will be very PG-13.

CHARACTER STRUCTURING

Structural Details

• Race: any standard LA+0, but you must be young.
• Class: characters are simply restricted to use classes that they are exposed to. If you find a Warblade or Factotum to teach you their secrets, so be it. Classes that characters can be without further exposure/training are:
  - Bard
  - Beguiler
  - Cleric
  - Crusader
  - Duskblade
  - Favored Soul
  - Knight
  - Monk
  - Paladin
  - Ranger
  - Rogue
  - Scout
  - Warmage
  - Wizard
  
  There are also a number of variant classes that we will use. They include:
  - all accessible Unearthed Arcana class variants
  - the accessible 'Complete' handbooks class variants
  - the accessible 'Races' handbook racial substitution levels
  - the Revised Fighter
  - the Revised Sorcerer
  - the Vanquisher
  - the Sublime Way Marshal
  
  All of the four linked classes listed above are accessible without exposure/training and as a nice encouragement to take one of them, you may add 1 to your base level roll, though characters will still cap at 4th level for the start of the game.
  
• Stats: 34 point buy
• Alignment: must be Good, LN or N with good tendencies.
• Level: roll 1d3+1
• Hit Dice: half your HD is guaranteed, just roll for the balance.
• Wealth: don't bother yet
• Flaws?: no more than 1 and you may 'bank' the Feat.
• Traits?: go ahead- no limit outside of 'stupid.'
• Sources:
  - all 'Races' books
  - all 'Complete' books
  - PHB 1 & 2
  - DMG 1 & 2
  - WoTC 'Forgotten Realms' material
  - Unearthed Arcana
  - Spell Compendium
  - Magic Item Compendium
  - Tome of Battle
  - Heroes of Battle
  - Book of Exalted Deeds (with restrictions)

Other Variants

• Saving Throws: use the Fractional system found in Unearthed Arcana. This way you don't have a Wizard/PrC/PrC who only has Will save adjustments.
• BAB: use the Fractional system found in Unearthed Arcana. For example, a Cleric1/Monk1 would have a +1 BAB though normally they'd only get +0.
• Skills: characters will receive 2 more skill points per level that must be spent in Craft, a mundane Knowledge/Language, or Profession. We will also use the Craft Points variable found here.
• Spells Known: if you are a spell caster who learns their spells, you may start with more spells 'known.' The number of additional learned spells is based on the modifier of your WIS (for divine casters) or INT (for arcane casters), whereas a Bard may determine which stat to base their bonus on. These 'known' spells cannot be re-learned except at every 4th character level.
• Ritual Magic: spell casters may also use Ritual Magic now to cast any spell they have access to (learned, domain, etc.) without using a spell slot to do so. Such magic though increases all 'cost/time' variables by 10x. So a spell that takes 10gp in components and 1 minute to cast would now cost 100gp and take 10 minutes to cast. Ritual Magic may also only be used in terms of 'collective spell level cast may not exceed caster level.' So a 4th level Wizard cannot prepare more than four levels of spells per 24 hour period using Ritual Magic, but the magic may be cast anytime including in advance. Activating a Ritual Magic spell is a Full Round action and can target any accepting person meaning your Wizard could prepare Bull's Strength on your Knight ahead of an engagement which the Wizard could then activate anytime within that same 24 hour period. 'Self' targeting spells may not be used on accepting persons and Ritual Magic automatically adds Verbal and Somatic requirements to the casting which means conditions that eliminate those options for the caster eliminate the use of Ritual Magic.
• Feats: any racial specific weapon is considered proficient for character's of that racial type as long as they possess the Martial Weapon Proficiency feat. Humans add the Bastard sword to their racial weapon access. Half-Elves and Half-Orcs gain access to both of their lineage's racial weapons.
• Races: almost any race from the approved sources is fine, but in addition, Half-Elves add 1 to CHA while Half-Orcs only lose 1 from INT and CHA, and each of those races receives 2 additional skill ranks at 1st level.
• Damage Reduction: Breastplate, Splintmail, and Bandedmail offer 1/- DR, Half-platemail offers 2/- DR, and Fullplate armor adds 3/- DR. This is untyped DR that stacks with the most applicable type of DR that a creature has if any.
• Dealing with XP loss in item creation: When you craft magic items, you do lose experience points, but not levels. So if you get to 3rd level and the excitement of Brew Potion overwhelms you, you may do so without worrying about dropping back to 2nd level. Experience point loss accrued through crafting doesnt reduce caster level or anything else level dependent, but it does make achieving your next level that much harder (as it should). Also, a crafter does not need to bear the full brunt of the XP loss paid in creation. Other characters who have either complimentary skills or Knowledge(s) may assist the crafter and pay a portion of XP divided equally or as agreed among the crafters (the obvious exception here being spells that require XP loss which have to be paid for entirely by the caster). So a great example is the Fighter. On his own, the skill Craft: weaponsmith is neato through about 4th level, but afterwards is fairly insignificant. Using this house rule, the Fighter/Smith may assist his Wizard/Sorcerer buddy in making a magic sword.

As per Myth Weavers rules, please do not make any dice rolls in this thread. The game forum's 'Character Creation Guide' thread is an appropriate place for those dice rolls. Thanks so much for the read and your interest!

IMPORTANT LINKS FOR CHARACTERS:

Purple Dragon/Cormyrian military structure:
http://www.candlekeep.com/library/ar...myrforcesa.htm
- Level dependent titles will be First Sword (lv2-3), Swordmajor (lv4) and Sword Captain (lv5)

War Wizards military structure (the system is 2E though):
http://www.candlekeep.com/library/articles/warwiz1.htm
http://www.candlekeep.com/library/ar.../warwiztab.htm
- Obviously the NPC names and positions are irrelevant at this point, but its nice info.
- Level dependent titles will be Second Circle (lv2-3) or Third Circle (lv4-5)

Volo's Guide to Cormyr is also insanely helpful:
http://web.njit.edu/~slg3/tsr9486.pdf
- Sword Heralds on pg 25

The Queen of Thorns adventure set:
http://community.wizards.com/lfr/wiki/Cormyr_Region
- You are welcome to actually read the adventures if you'd like.