Excuse the disjointed story, I'm pouring my brain out on my keyboard.
Forgotten Realms
Though I want to start out small, with starting level characters, and a very sober, low-magic feel to things. Much closer to true medieval life than the epic, high magic setting that Forgotten Realms has turned into over the years. My reason for doing this is three-fold; 1) We have some newbies to D&D and I think the first few campaigns shouldn't be too over the top, 2) my players aren't looking for an epic level game, and 3) I want to take things slow, character development slow and character build-up slow, in order to do it right and not rush into things. The reason that I did pick Forgotten Realms is because I have a fair bit of experience in this setting, and there's a lot of interesting material to cannabalise. Also, once we get past a certain point, the level of magic can pick up a bit, and the games can become a bit more grand and epic, if my players want to. So there's scalability.
Low Magic
I've seen a lot of systems to enforce low-magic D&D games, and I'm going to ignore them all because I think it's too much work. I'm just not going to drag many wizards, sorcerors, spell-wielding bards into things, and I'll be damned sure to make every magical item unique. Priests and Paladins are to be denied their powers if they call upon them without good reason. Cure Light Wounds will, with the avarage God, only be granted if the reciptient is truly wounded and unable to heal without intense and long effort, and if the God in question deems the recipient worthy. I think everyone gets the drift.
Setting
I've decided to place the group in "the North", north of the Silver Marches and the Western Heartlands, along River Mirar, upstream from Mirabar where the river comes down from the Spine of the World Mountains. It's secluded, it's dreary - something I immediately associate with medieval England, which is sort of the idea - and it's dangerous territory.
In short - very short - the town is called Williamsborough, named after it's founder William Stuyvesant of Waterdeep, a well-off noble who came there in 1329 DR with two friends to exploit a small abandoned Dwarven mine, empty since 1257 DR due to prevailing illness amongst the miners.
The Dwarves were part of the Battlehammer clan forced out of Mithril Hall by the shadow dragon Shimmergloom and his hordes of goblins in 1172 DR. While most of clan Battlehammer went north, past the Spine of the World and settled near Ten-Towns on the Icewind Dale, some broke away and found another mining sight in 1173 DR. When, after 84 years the miners started becoming ill with a disease that the Dwarven priests couldn't cure, and their natural hardiness couldn't withstand, they decided to abandon the mine and meet up with the rest of clan Battlehammer.
Years later William Stuyvesant of Waterdeep offered a token sum of gold for the deed to the mine and started exploiting it. Now, in 1372 DR, the town is still small, with only 350 or so inhabitants - slightly more during spring and summer, due to trade - it is run by Miranda Stuyvesant, William's daughter, who took over from her father after he started suffering from a brain-fever about a year prior.
The town has three forms of income; 1) the small gold-mine, 2) logging around the northern edges of Lurkwood, utilising a small, but efficiently run saw-mill on the river, and some minor agricultural products, which is mainly used to support the population [potatoes, carrots, etc.] The logs are moved downstream towards Mirabar three or four times a year, tied together in rough rafts, carrying excess food supplies and gold for trade to Mirabar, and sometimes Luskan beyond.
With the Spine of the World Mountains to the north, the Lurkwoods to the south, a river running through the town, the isolated valley in which the town rests, with the Silver Marches to the east, the Trollmoores to the south-east, Mirabar and Luskan to the west, and some traderoutes to the south-west, everything some 7 - 14 days distance, I think this would be an ideal spot to start the campaign.
First of all, being confronted with the old Primarch's brain fever. Second, the sudden appearance of two strange adventurers in their town during the autumns months - a fierce dwarf, sporting bladed and spiked armour, and a long-haired easterner, carrying two odd looking identical blades - claiming to have been sent to end the Ogre nuisance the town has been experiencing in recent months. And last, the slow, but steady tension growing between the miners and the foresters, coming closer and closer to out and open violence, and a seemingly ambivalent Sherrif, whose sinister neutrality smells of corruption.
Comments?
...please?
