Session 0, Introducing the Campaign
The campaign will take place in Waterdeep, the City of Splendors. Waterdeep is the largest city on the Sword Coast and can be seen as a fantasy medieval London. Many traders pass through from all over the world with their goods and their cultures. Waterdeep’s population consists mostly of humans, halflings and dwarves but is very accepting of all the different races. The players are encouraged to create a character of a monstrous or more villainous race.
Waterdeep’s government is unlike any in the real world. Waterdeep is ruled by a senate of Masked Lords, whose identities are unknown to the city and to each other. The leader of Waterdeep is called the “Open Lord” of Waterdeep, the position is called this way because this is the only leader of which the identity is known. Recently this position was taken over by Laeral Silverhand, a very old and powerful elven Sorceress.
The previous Open Lord was Dagult Neverember, a corrupt leader whose incompetence and nepotism has made some people quite rich. He has been ousted a few years back by Laeral and fled to Neverwinter to rebuild it from some recent catastrophe.
There are rumours that Neverember left something behind during the take-over. Rumours are going around about Neverember’s Enigma, some kind of riddle that Dagult Neverember left behind about something important. It’s THE gossip of the city but no one really knows what it’s about.
Characters
Let’s introduce the characters of the campaign. They were informed that this campaign would entail quite a lot investigation, stealth and social interaction. A character with proficiency in stealth, deception, investigation etc… will probably be more fun. Additionally, it was advised to create a character that is not completely opposed to some illegal activity. Finally, they were told that a character motivation for a lot of money would also be rewarding.
Steven has created Cithras, a Fire Genasi Paladin. Cithras belongs to the Rozsnar noble family, who have returned to Waterdeep after being banished for slavery. Cithras is trying to restore the reputation of his family. He was already part of the Watch but has turned to adventuring for a greater impact.
Robbert’s character is Coco, an Aarakocra Ranger. Coco has come to Waterdeep to make money as an adventurer to help his tribe. They have gone through difficult times due to the Cult of the Dragon who still holds power over the mountains in the north.
Joris has created Merlijn, a half-elf Sorcerer. He is very old and going a bit crazy, which has introduced some wild magic into his spell-casting. He acts unpredictably. His desire is to create a school for the younger people to combine magic with art.
Tom’s character is Venthras, a drow Rogue. He is 400 years old and has lived all of them in Menzoberranzan, the underground capital of the drow. He is mostly driven by curiosity and has come to the surface world to learn new things and experience a whole new world. He is surprised by things we take for granted in the surface world but are unknown in the underground.
Inez’ character is called Rogelio de la Vega, a human bard. An incarnation of the same named character in the TV show “Jane the Virgin”. Rogelio is in a play portraying an adventurer. To improve his acting skill he has decided to go on adventures himself. He is very narcissistic but in a surprisingly pleasant way.
Luc’s character is Ludoviche, a human Warlock (hexblade). He is a noble from Amn and has been cut off from his finances. He has a very expensive taste and has picked up adventuring to make some money.
Connections with the world and each other
The players were handed NPC cards to get some connection to the world and were encouraged to at least know one of the other characters so they were all connected. The players thought a little about how they could connect and made sure there was some starting friendship and companionship in the party.
