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Welcome to Faerûn and You. This primer serves as a basic guide to the setting of this campaign. It strives to convey a subset of information that's important to you, the player. Its purpose is to aid in the creation of your campaign character(s).
Particularly, a DM request is to create a reason for your character to be in Amn, a nation in western Faerûn, so the section below on Amn will provide useful info to that end.
You do not need to read the entirety of this primer. You, the player, may have access to this information, but you, the character, may not necessarily know of everything here. Note that setting elements are subject to deviate from their source material as we progress. More sections may be added as players explore and adventure.
See any problems or missing knowledge? Create an issue.
Hail and well met, traveler! Welcome to a world of magic and adventure. Originally created by Ed Greenwood, the Forgotten Realms setting has been home to Dungeons & Dragons stories and games for decades. Built for tales of swords and sorcery, the Realms initially grew and flourished in Ed's D&D campaign... ref
You may hear Forgotten Realms, Toril, Faerûn, and the Sword Coast referenced at times in discourse about this setting & world. These names refer to different aspects of the setting:
- The Forgotten Realms is the setting itself.
- Toril, or Abeir-Toril, is the planet on which the various continents of the Forgotten Realms may be found.
- Faerûn is a major continent on Toril and where this campaign will take place.
- The Sword Coast is a region in western Faerûn.
The word "Faerûn" is a modified version of "Faerie", the name of the homeland of ancient elves.
For more details about Faerûn as a whole, this wiki serves as a good starting point.
The denizens of Faerun go by the Calendar of Harptos, created by the wizard Harptos of Kaalinth. There are 12 months of 3 tendays (30 days), with 5 holidays falling between some months:
- Alturiak - "The Claw of Winter" / "The Claws of the Cold" - awl-TUR-ee-æk
- Ches - "The Claw of Sunsets"
- Spring Equinox on 19 Ches
- Tarsakh - "The Claw of Storms" - TAR-sæk
- Greengrass between 30 Tarsakh & 1 Mirtul
- Mirtul - "The Melting" - MUR-tuhl
- Kythorn - "The Time of Flowers" - KIGH-thorn
- Summer Solstice on 20 Kythorn
- Flamerule - "Summertide"
- Midsummer between 30 Flamerule & 1 Eleasis
- Shieldmeet day after Midsummer, every 4 years
- Eleasis - "Highsun" - eh-LEE-sis
- Eleint - "The Fading" - eh-LAYNT
- Autumn Equinox on 21 Eleint
- Highharvestide between 30 Eleint & 1 Marpenoth
- Marpenoth - "Leaffall"
- Uktar - "The Rotting"
- Feast of the Moon between 30 Uktar & 1 Nightal
- Nightal - "The Drawing Down"
- Winter Solstice on 20 Nightal
- Hammer - "Deepwinter"
- Midwinter between 30 Hammer & 1 Alturiak
Faerûn has a wide and varied geography. It was a continent with terrain as varied as any other. Here is a comprehensive map of Faerûn.
Besides the western and southern coastlines, the most dominant feature is the Sea of Fallen Stars. This is an irregular inland sea that kept the interior lands fertile, connecting west and east. It serves as a major trade route for its bordering nations.
Another notable feature of the continent is the Shaar, a broad region of grasslands in the south that, together with the Lake of Steam, separates the area around the inland sea from the coastal nations at the southern edge of the continent.
To the east, Faerûn is bordered by a vast region of steppes from neighboring continent Kara-Tur, and in the north are massive glaciers (Pelvuria and Reghed) and tundra. South of the continent, separated by the Great Sea, is the sub-tropical land of Zakhara.
To learn more about each of the nine geographic regions of Faerûn for your character backstory, visit the Forgotten Realms wiki page. It's recommended to create a character from West Faerûn, as that is where our campaign will be taking place, and traveling outside of civilizations is expensive, not to mention fraught with danger...
There is no unifying government for this continent; Each nation has its own histories resulting in its own particular type of governance. In general, many parts of Faerûn are kingdoms, city-states, or carefully maintained alliances of rural communities.
Alliances form and break between nations, and factions hurt or help the people of Faerûn depending on their own internal goals.
Agriculture & trade are the lifeblood of common citizens. Most rural folk depend on farming, but Faerûnians in cities may ply skilled trades or use brawn to earn their keep. News & gossip are carried between population centers by caravans and trade ships, and by traveling bards and minstrels. Adventurers can spread news while also creating it. ref
A place of varied cultures and races, Faerûn is dominated by human lands, be they kingdoms, city-states, or carefully maintained alliances of rural communities. Interspersed among the lands of humans are old dwarven kingdoms and hidden elven enclaves, assimilated populations of gnomes and halflings, and more exotic folk.
The common folk of Faerûn look on adventurers with a mixture of admiration, envy, and mistrust. Folk believe that any stalwarts willing to risk their lives on behalf of complete strangers should be lauded and rewarded. But such adventurers, if they become successful, amass wealth and personal status at a rate that some people find alarming. Even people who admire these adventurers for their energy and their acts of valor might have misgivings: what horrors will be unleashed if adventurers, heedless or unknowing of the danger, unlock a ruin or a tomb and release an ancient evil into the world?
Most of the people who populate the continent have little or no knowledge of lands outside Faerûn. The most educated among the populace agree that Faerûn is but one continent and that Toril is the whole of the world, but for the majority of people, who don't experience intercontinental travel or extraplanar exploration, "Faerûn" is more than large enough of a concept for them to comprehend.
Except in the most remote or insular places, Faerûnians are accustomed to seeing people of different cultures, ethnicities, and races. Only in the most cosmopolitan areas does such casual acceptance extend to evil humanoid races—such as goblinoids, orcs, and drow—to say nothing of even more dangerous creatures. Adventurers tend to be more tolerant, accepting exiles, misfits, and redeemed folk from strange lands and with unusual shapes. ref
Our campaign begins in Amn, a nation in the south of the Sword Coast in western Faerûn. It's also known as the Merchant's Domain, due to the people there seeing wealth as an indicator of status.
As part of your character creation, include a reason your character may be found in Amn at campaign start. They might be an orphan raised on the streets of Amn, a mercenary looking for coin and blood, a merchant hoping to strike it rich with new trade routes, a protector of the innocent looking for a noble cause, or a myriad of other things. The possibilities are endless.
Bookended by mountains and forests, Amn sits in a fertile basin with a wealth of natural resources. The weather is pleasant almost all year round. At Lake Esmel near the center of the nation, the temperature is warmer due to the hot springs.
A diverse selection of crops grow very well, making for a surplus which is traded with other nations. The rainy season is from Uktar to early Tarsakh, and in the winter, there may be minor freezes and a little snow, except near Lake Esmel. Higher elevations such as the Cloud Peaks often experience blizzards.
Amn is considered a colonial power, holding ports in Chult and the Moonshae Isles. Its capital Athkatla, the "City of Coin", is located on the western coast.
The government and economy of Amn are fairly intertwined.
Amn is an oligarchy, ruled over by the Council of Five, consisting of the heads of the five wealthiest merchant houses. Their duties are to maintain trade within and outside Amn, controlling nearly every aspect of the nation's economy.
Directly beneath the Council are the head merchant families, which used their wealth to buy political power. While they have little direct government influence, their authority among the towns or cities in which they reside is still considerable. In any given city of Amn, there are ten or more heavily influential families.
Next in the power food chain are mercantile houses, companies formed by the consolidation of two or more families' wealth. The Council and other factions invest in them to keep an eye on the economic interests of lesser mercantile families.
Various factions stand equal in power to the mercantile houses: the Cowled Wizards, the Emerald Cabal, and the Shadow Thieves. These factions are all secretive in nature and maintain closed ranks, but it's well known that the Cowled Wizards are the only legal arcane institution in Amn, all others banned by decree of the Council. Spellcasters outside the ranks of the Cowled Wizards may be hunted down, imprisoned, and even put to death by this faction.
In smaller settlements, village lords and harbormasters maintained control over their settlements and port townships. They are elected, with only stakeholders, businesspeople, property owners, and landlords having voting power.
Some southern settlements in Amn have split loyalties, preferring to consider themselves part of the queendom of Tethyr to the south, due to its recent prosperity. The southern border is disputed, with the official border being the Tethir Road, and those with Tethyrian loyalties claiming the border to be further north. Despite this, Amn & Tethyr are formally considered allies due to their close proximity and economic ties, although the reality of the relationship may be more adversarial.
Amn controls important trade routes to Calimshan to the south, and Baldur's Gate and the Heartlands to the north. Amn's economy has flourished due to being the central land point of trade between the southern nations and the Sword Coast. Amn's biggest trade rival is Waterdeep in the northern Sword Coast.
Muranndin, the "monster kingdom" of ogres and orcs to Amn's southwest, poses a significant threat to trade to the south. More than a century ago, Muranndians waged a war against Amn and took many slaves, and Amnians have since passed down their hatred of the kingdom, and orcs & ogres in general, to their descendants.
Two thirds of the population of Amn live west of Lake Esmel. Amn is majority human, with a large minority halfling population, whom the humans treat equally due to the latter's business skills. The majority of halflings are concentrated in Esmeltaran or east in Riatavin.
Other races are in the minority, and considered uncommon, though not discriminated against, except in the case of half-orcs. Half-orcs are looked down upon as second-class citizens due to Amn's bloody history with Muranndin.
Money is key to status in Amn, and the main symbol of success. You could even buy nobility, at the right price. Lavish parties are common to celebrate occasions, and as an opportunity for the host to show off their status. Expensive gifts may serve the same purpose.
Status is measured in terms of the location of a person's property. Of course, owning property in Athkatla, the capital of Amn, is the most coveted, with the Gem District being the best area in the city. Properties around Lake Esmel are also considered highly valuable.
Fashion is another means of demonstrating status. People often wear turbans, with elaborate and ornate decorations showing off higher status. Precious metal embroidered silk garments are popular amongst all socioeconomic classes and all genders. Vests and cloaks from the North are in fashion despite the temperate climate. Jewelry is another show of status, with pearls, especially black pearls, being in high demand.
In the wealthiest families, dressing ornately may be frowned upon, with people resorting to other displays of status instead. A recent show of wealth can immediately raise a person's status, even beyond those who are wealthier overall. More emphasis is placed on proper business conduct than racial stereotypes.
Arcane magic is considered illegal unless the magic user has the patronage of any of the Council of Five. However, divine magic is not considered an issue as long as the caster is connected to a recognized religious sect.
Amnians generally follow the Faerûnian pantheon, although exotic religions aren't unheard of. There is no state religion. Religious practices are tolerated as long as they don't interfere with the government or economy. Religious freedom is important to Amnians, though some deities are more favored than others. Waukeen, goddess of wealth and trade, is the premier deity in Amn, for obvious reasons.
For other common deities, see here.