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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2506 Posts |
 Posted - 20 Jun 2025 : 08:55:34
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I'm preparing a two players campaign for my brother and my niece. It will be about their characters conquering a fortress and making it the starting point for a new kingdom. The idea is that they are going to expand their kingdom by annexing the nearby farms and villages, either by diplomacy or by force; while administering the lands (recruiting soldiers, safekeeping the lands, that kind of stuff). It will be a 5e campaign, using the 2024 rules, and set in the late 1490s, or even the early 1500s. This will happen in a "different continuity" than my Neverwinter/Tymanther Campaign, so nothing of that campaign necessarily influences this one.
While thinking where to place the campaign (I don't want to play in the Sword Coast), I found the Border Kingdoms perfect for this premise. A borderland, "points of light"-like lawless place, where the players can become rulers of their own kingdom, if they have the strength of arms to defend it. After a bit of inner deliberation, and the help of people from the Greenwood Grotto, I decided to place this campaign in the lands of Nether Mukshar, as it has the "vibe" (a dangerous land, a lot of isolated farms, and a fortress that can be used as the main base). I'm going to adapt Restwell Keep (from 4e core) for this campaign, and maybe even bring the "Chaos Scar" locales as well (I can always said it was created by the Spellplague).
I open this topic as a repository to share ideas (as well as backup), the campaign building process and eventually the campaign itsel.
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Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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Diffan
Great Reader
USA
4471 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jun 2025 : 14:44:55
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Well first, Awesome! I really love the Border Kingdoms for the reasons you stated above, plus there isn't a TON of lore one might feel compelled to follow, which has potential to put in stuff that is your own unique flare. I especially like the Chaos Scar idea! Honestly, I might even set that particular adventure path there when I run 4e next. Solid choice.
I would highly suggest getting the 5e Border Kingdoms sourcebook put out by Ed Greenwood and Alex Kammer because it does update a lot of the stuff that was originally put in the 3.5 supplement Power of Faerûn. |
Diffan's NPG Generator: FR NPC Generator |
Edited by - Diffan on 20 Jun 2025 14:45:48 |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2506 Posts |
Posted - 21 Jun 2025 : 08:40:40
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Small timeline
- c.1300 DR: The druuth begin activities in High Mukshar.
- 1305 DR: The retired adventurer Davert Flameblood proclaims himself "High Duke" of Nether Mukshar. He commissions the building of Dalonstal Keep to protect the northwestern frontier, and the repairs and expansion of Castle Torn, which will be the seat of power for his government.*
- 1309 DR: Dalonstal Keep is finished. In the following years, the keep becomes a key bastion for the security of the northern duchy.*
- 1330 DR: The rulers of High Mukshar are killed, one by one, by the druuth. In the following years, the druuth plunge High Mukshar into chaos and anarchy, then move to infiltrate Middle Mukshar and other regions.
- 1340 DR: High Duke Davert Flameblood begins to hire adventuring bands to deal with the druuth incursions in Nether Mukshar.
- 1356 DR: High Duke Davert Flameblood passes away of old age. His generals start a civil war over the rule of the duchy.*
The druuth are unable to take advantage of the chaos, and decide to raid elsewhere.**
- 1360 DR: After four years of civil war, High Duke Torvald "the Crow" Bloodember takes over the duchy, but his rule is turbulent, fraught with political intrigue and internal conflicts.**
- 1385 DR: The Spellplague: the magical chaos creates a particularly virulent plagueland near Dalonstal Keep. The Keep is abandoned in the following weeks.**
High Duke Bloodember dies during the chaos of the Spellplague.**
Nether Mukshar falls into anarchy once again, infested by bandits and monsters. The druuth make sure that no capable leader can govern the Mukshar lands in the following century.
- 1395 DR: The Wailing Years end. The Spellplague diminishes in power, but the plaguelands remain.
People begin to call the plagueland near Dalonstal Keep as "the Chaos Scar". Over the years, creatures of evil spirit have been drawn to this place.**
- 1482 - 1487 DR: The Sundering. Faerûn is healed from the damage of the Spellplague, and most plaguelands disappear.
The Chaos Scar is one of the few plaguelands that remains.**
- 1489 DR: An adventuring band, The Twilight Wardens, take control of Dalonstal Keep and use it as their base of operations for adventuring expeditions to Middle Mukshar. They expend the following years repairing the keep.**
- 1495 DR: Dalonstal Keep is fully repaired.**
- 1498 DR: The Twilight Wardens never return from an expedition to Middle Mukshar (they are all killed by a druuth). Dalonstal Keep is abandoned once again.**
- 1501 DR: The players seize Dalonstal Keep and use it as their base of operations (the campaign begins).**
Notes:
* A canon event that has no date given in the source materials, so I gave it a homebrewed date.
** A homebrewed event.
Dalonstal Keep:
In canon, there is little about this keep. The Border Kingdoms book says that Dalonstal Keep is "a small but impressive fortress" built "atop a crag surrounded on three sides by a marsh", and that has "impressive towers" and that commands "a view—and a field of fire for its turret-top ballistae and catapults—far across Middle Mukshar". It seems the old Polyhedron magazine that talks about Nether Mukshar has the same information.
This is not much, but is perfect because I can basically mold it to my ends (mwahaha). Without further ado...
Story
According to the old stories, High Duke Flameblood commissioned the construction of the keep to a group of dwarven stonemasons from a nearby kingdom in 1305 DR, and many say this is the reason the keep survived the chaos of the Spellplague and the following century almost unscathed. The tale of the dwarven builders is also used to fuel rumors about secret chambers and passageways that may exist beneath the keep that have yet to be uncovered.
In the early years of the 15th century, the keep was used as a refuge for the famed bandit Greysen Ramthane, a scourge of the western Border Kingdoms for many long years. He and his coterie of thieves looted untold wealth from the nearby kingdoms until they suddenly vanished without a trace around 1455 DR. While the Twilight Wardens claimed they found no treasure when they rebuilt the keep, many believe that Ramthane's wealth is still hidden somewhere in the keep, protected by traps and mechanical guardians.
In 1489 DR, Dalonstal Keep became the base of operations for a band of adventurers from Tethyr known as the Twilight Wardens. While the Wardens fought monsters in the nearby Chaos Scar, they also preyed on other, weaker adventuring bands that operated in Middle Mukshar, and even raided a few caravans. As they were content to keep their depredations far from their base of operations, in time the
keep became a refuge for people in search of a safe harbor to settle in.
The Wardens saw a benefit in the growing community within their walls, as the taxes they collected paid the mercenaries who guarded the keep, allowing them more time to launch expeditions to Middle Mukshar, and within six years, the keep was not only fully repaired but also a small village was stabilized within its walls. Despite the Wardens’ nature, they believed the safe harbor and profit offered by the keep was worth preserving.
However, the Wardens never returned from their last expedition to Middle Mukshar in 1489 DR, and Dalonstal Keep remained leaderless and almost abandoned until a trio of adventurers took control of the keep in 1501 DR...
Locations
Dalonstal Keep consists of an outer wall with an interior bisected into northern and southern ends by an inner wall, called the inner bailey and outer bailey respectively. The inner bailey is home to the trio of adventurers and their coterie of soldiers and advisors. They dwell within a small fortress, the keep’s final line of defense, nestled against the northern wall. A large, open area between the fortress and the interior wall hosts a parade ground and stables for the soldiers' cavalry.
The outer bailey is home to the bulk of the keep’s civilian residents, most of whom settled here during the rule of the Twilight Wardens, left the keep when they disappeared, and now that the keep is occupied once again they have returned. Crowded with small buildings, this area hosts an inn, a tavern, a smithy, a temple, a warehouse, and a few tenements with apartments for the village residents who don’t own farms or who work in the businesses within the walls. A small marketplace serves the farmers and the rare few merchants who visit the keep to sell their wares (as the ever-present threat of monsters from the Chaos Scar and the druuth prevents Dalonstal from becoming a thriving hub of commerce).
Still, the locals make enough profit from adventurers and the treasures they recover from the Chaos Scar to maintain a healthy living. The folk of the keep are by no means wealthy, but neither are they destitute. They are primarily an agricultural village with an small economy based on barter and trade.
Demographics:
The population of Dalonstal Keep is around 250 villagers, most of them human farmers with homes and lands outside the walls of the keep, and a scattering of halfling, gnome and half-elven families, and a handful of individuals of other common races, including a small group of dwarves.
The adventurers brought with them a retinue of 10 attendants, 50 human soldiers, and 10 dragonborn mercenaries. |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
Edited by - Zeromaru X on 22 Jun 2025 09:08:16 |
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Zero's Border Kingdoms: Ideas and stuff thread
