Discussions about the AD&D 1st edition Forgotten Realms campaign setting from the 1987 Grey Box and the FR-series supplements, in the pre-Time of Troubles continuity.
I created a new version of my 6-mile hexmap of the Savage Frontier region, based on the original map from FR6, with a few of the additions from the 2nd Edition The North that don't contradict or are in conflict with the original version of the setting. https://spriggans-den.com/2022/11/16/the-savage-frontier-hexmap-of-the-north/
My second favorite D&D artist to represent the look and feel of the classic Forgotten Realms.
I've been working on and off on an idea for a big campaign in the Savage Frontier. Since I want to target it at players new to OSE, I want to start the campaign at 1st level, and I feel it would probably work much better if the players first get some experience and resources going against minor threats, before taking on either the Zhentarim in Llork or the Kraken Society in Yartar.
The middle Dessarin Valley around Red Larch seems like a good place to start a campaign. It's a fairly civilized area of the North without major cities and no ongoing threats from top tier monsters or big villainous factions. But it's also close to the Sword Mountains, the Westwood, and Kryptgarden Forest, and it has the Stone Bridge for some sense of ancient dwarven wonder. A great area for both new adventurers and players, but I have to admit I am not getting any inspirations from this.
Southkrypt is a ruined dwarven stronghold that holds the lair of a hill giant vampire shaman. Which I think could make for a really cool final boss for this first act of the campaign, that would force a 4th or 5th level party to throw everything they have against it and require elaborate planning and perhaps calling on the aid of any allies they made.
But that would still be at the very end of the adventures in this area. What I need is material for the players to engage with at 1st to 3rd level before they encounter the hooks and follow up threads to face the unknown dangers of Kryptgarden Forest. Any ideas what kinds of adventures might be to be had around Red Larch based on existing Classic Forgotten Realms material, or simply thematically fitting for the area?
Neverwinter is certainly an interesting place for the PCs to visit and perhaps to have their home base at.
The Savage Frontier doesn't give us much in the way of gameable information on the city but it does sound like a magical place. And it certainly is when you also include information from later AD&D sources.
But when thinking about what kind of adventures you could have with a party based in Neverwinter, I noticed that all the wilderness you can reach from there is the Neverwinter Wood. And I don't think there's ever been any kind of information on anything interesting within or about that forest. It got a volcano in it, which is unusual. But that alone is not a hook for any kind of adventure.
The only adventure hook I can think of for Neverwinter is a threat from the captains or the Arcane Brotherhood from nearby Luskan, but that probably would mean setting out from Neverwinter to have adventures in Luskan.
What could a group of PCs that sets up camp in Neverwinter do in the city's surroundings? I believe there's never been anything written about Neverwinter Wood. But do you have any ideas to fill it with interesting sites and antagonists that are inspired by or extrapolate on what information we have?
These are not all originally made to show Forgotten Realms characters or places, but Keith Parkinson really embodies what I always think the original Forgotten Realms look and feel like.
