DnD Tower Campaign - The Beginning

Premise

Sleep, if you're not dreaming, how do you know time passes? Have you ever had a dream where you just lie down, then suddenly you wake up? There's no way to know how long you've been asleep. That's what happened to everyone in the world. You've been awake for only a short time, recently woken up in a strange room surrounded by a horde of unfamiliar people. They told you that you've been asleep for decades. They recognized that you had weapons and armor nearby, or perhaps a spell book and brought you into their halls. These people are called the Reclaimers and you're now one of their recuits. All the other recruits have a similar story some have only been awake for a few days others for a full month. Oh you get to go back to sleep, its not like your awake all the time, but you haven't fallen back into "sleep". You have been told that you must fight for a cause and today the senior Reclaimers have gathered you into an audience room to explain the history of the world. An old man walks into the room, and begins telling us some stories.

Recruits, Its time for a history lesson so gather round and listen well...
He tells you stories about the towers.
The first tower was taken down by a band of adventurers who spread the word of a being called he who sleeps that holds most of the world in thrall.
The First TowerThe second tower was taken down by a group of adventurers who found out that the towers could be warped and twisted with dark magic to serve mortals.
The Second TowerThe third tower was taken down by a group of adventurers who found out that the towers were evolving or growing in complexity, manifesting the combined dreams of an army of thousands.
The Third TowerThe old man in finishes telling his stories.

My name is Tom. I allied with some of the heroes who took down the initial towers, and created this organization. Our task is simple, take down the towers to fully awaken the world and return it to normality, defeat the dreamers who seek to either control or protect the towers, and to protect the people who have awakened from threats that have also awakened.

It is your duty to do this regardless of the affiliation you had prior to falling asleep. Not even the gods are fully able to interact with this world anymore due to He Who Sleeps, so whoever you followed before cannot guide you now. You will aid senior members as they venture out to take down towers, but your goal is to take care of the communities that have awakened. Later on when you have become more powerful you can aid in the destruction of the towers, but as of right now we know your fighting strength is not nearly enough to take them down. It would just cause your deaths. Frankly we are understaffed and we need help to take care of the villagers, and we need your help to do so.

Casts dancing lights

You four come with me. The newly formed group of adventurers ventures outside of the room and see two men and one woman. You will accompany Thrace, Theska, and Ana to the town of Tesser. Thrace will fill you in on the details.
(Thrace is duskblade, Ana is beguiler Theska is Dragon Shaman.)

Tom leaves and Thrace speaks.


There’s a tower near the town Tesser. The people there reported raids from some kobolds in the nearby area. They have someone tracking the location of them but they need help in order to wipe them out. We’ll rendezvous with you and return back here afterwards. If we take longer than a week to destroy the tower, return without us.

The group uneventfully travels to Tesser. There isn't much time so the recruits and seniors just work together on their own teamwork along the way. Upon arrival at Tesser, the town mayor greets the groups.

"Thank God you arrived, please the tower's to the south, as you can plainly see. We've also managed to locate the kobolds at a hillside a few miles east from the town, quickly I can guide you there!"

The group splits up to their assigned tasks.
Party ends up defeating the kobolds wandering the hillside and some pseudonatural bears.

Party begins exploration of the cave. They manage to defeat a few more groups of kobolds in the area but get pushed back and retreat to the town.

The weather has changed slightly, although it was previously sunny, it is now much colder and it appears that a fog has rolled in. Thao has acquired a riding dog from local residents as thanks for their work, and the townsfolk provide the party with 3 potions of cure light wounds.

The party hears a loud drum at the side of the town, a

lizardfolk accompanied by two elemental grues walk in holding a human prisoner. “You dare attack our coalition! Filthy Humans! We captured this human snooping around our camp and we know there were others that came from this village! Bring them forth so that we may exact retribution!” After some banter the lizardfolk commands his elementals to attack but he himself gets quickly dispatched with one sapphire nightmare strike from Sablefox.

“My name is Gil, thanks for saving me! I was the one who found the location of the cave, and informed the mayor, but I didn’t think he’d send you there so quickly! I haven’t finished scoping out the full force of what we have to deal with.

“The problem is far worse than I originally thought. Something has organized the monsters in the wilds and they’ve been preparing for an assault on this village for a long time already. How do you want to deal with it?”

1. There’s a small summoning shaman they’ve been using to summon elementals, they’ve amassed a small force that could be devastating to the village. This is within the cave.
2. Attack a separate group of pseudonatural lizardfolk to the north of town of the town.
3. The main force of kobolds are amassing near the west of town directly attack them.
4. Arrange a defense, prepare for a stand in the center of the village, gather civilians into buildings near the center of town.

The party meets a weapon smith named Zur who gave them all access to his smithy and gave them masterwork weapons.

DnD Towers Campaign - Third Tower

The Third Tower

The story of the third tower is both grand and simple. It serves as a warning to always be vigilant of what towers are capable of. In this case a band of powerful warriors ascended to slay a tower. When the entered, they saw something truly amazing. The interior of the tower was not limited to the size seen from the outside, they arrived in the middle of a gigantic battlefield in an open plain next to a forest. They became part of the dream world created inside this tower and became members of the losing army. A few hundred against a horde of thousands.

Through deception and trickery they managed to isolate the generals of the opposing army away from one another and assassinate them. Even though their bluffs weren’t always successful, through luck and coincidence everything worked out to let them fight in small skirmishes instead of facing the might of the entire army working against them. In the end the sheer battle strength of this group of adventurers proved too much for the dream army and they emerged victorious, defeating the tower and destroying it.

This goes to show that you never know what to expect inside a tower, the possibilities are endless, and you must rely on your wits and teamwork in order to have any hope of prevailing against these towers.

…

Thank you for your patience young Reclaimers. My name is Tom the Bard and I wish you luck in your travels! Now we shall split you into teams in order to address some urgent situations at hand.

DnD Towers Campaign - Second Tower

The Second Tower

The tale of the second tower is a bit different from the first. Why do we call it the second tower? Was it the second tower to fall? In fact, it wasn’t. Heroes were taking down towers left and right, freeing more and more people from their sleep. Many towers fell before this one. Its called the second tower because it is the second most significant tower that was destroyed. 

A group of adventurers different from the first woke up to a town under siege. A small group of demons were attacking the townsfolk and the adventurers rushed out to fight them. Luckily, they were so strong that the demons were defeated with ease. The townsfolk told them about how one day these attack just started happening, and it seems that the demons emerge from the tower floating nearby. Again this tower was different from the first, normally a tower is seen just hovering above empty ground, but this time it floated above a gigantic magical glyph.

The heroes went up to the tower and found the entrance charred and partially destroyed, which was odd since the tower seemed in no danger of falling despite the damage. The heroes cautiously entered into the tower and were greeted by a well organized team of adventurers. Although individually weak, they worked extremely well in tandem and nearly defeated our heroes. However when they were defeated they did not fade into mist, they simply died. The enemies in this tower were not figments of dreams, they were real people!

As they approached the entrance to the next level in the tower, they heard the sounds of a corpse being dragged across the ground. They entered in and found two swordmages, one which drew power from the shadows and another who drew power from his draconic heritage. They were disposing the bodies of a group of adventurers that they had just defeated, and so our heroes were able to take advantage of their fatigue and overwhelm them. Once again their corpses remained.

In the final level of the tower the heroes took down a powerful necromancer who summoned undead dragons to fight against them. It turned out that this necromancer perverted the tower to his own uses in order to summon demons and send the dream beings out of the tower to attempt to conquer the surrounding areas. Luckily, he didn’t have very much time to practice this power before the heroes defeated him so his control over the tower was still weak despite the massive amounts of work put into the glyph below and on the walls of the tower. The other people in the tower were all disciples of the necromancer and were following orders to help set up the controlling glyphs and defend against intruders.

This was the first recorded attempt of someone using a tower to his own ends instead of trying to destroy it, and others would follow his example. Some folk even formed cults in order to keep the towers standing in the hopes that they would be drawn back into the magical sleep of the tower. We named these people collectively as dreamers. There isn’t an organization of dreamers yet, but these madmen have grown in number over the years and pose a significant threat to the goals of the reclaimers. This is our second enemy.

DnD Towers Campaign - First Tower

The First Tower

Recruits! Its time for a history lesson, so gather round and listen well.

Our story begins in a town next to a mountain. It was originally a prosperous area that gained wealth from mining operations in the mountains, but these were eventually abandoned. Bandits took residence in the abandoned mines, and harassed the townsfolk. A bard named Tom and an elf named Elanor hired a small band of adventurers to eliminate a few bandits in the mountainside. It should have been a simple job, as these adventurers were very powerful.  However, right before our heroes could defeat the bandits, one of them pulled out a scroll that caused an earthquake that collapsed the tunnel. The adventurers were trapped with no way to get out! With nothing better to do they just feel asleep in the tunnel.

When they woke up they found that the entrance to the cave opened up, they were free! As they approached the entrance though, it was clear something was wrong. The once barren mountain was now overgrown with vegetation. How could this have happened? Worried, they ran back to town and everywhere they look moss and vines overtook every inch of the road and buildings. As they moved in and out of the buildings in the village they found people sprawled about asleep, yet no matter how much noise they made they couldn’t wake them. 

As they got to the center of the town, they finally found some people that were awake. A community of halflings made a small garden in the middle of the square. The halflings led the adventurers to the same bar where Elanor and Tom hired them, who were both still there. However Tom was now very old. Elanor told the adventurers that on the day they took down the bandits, everyone fell asleep. Everyone in the entire world as far as they could tell. Nobody knows how or why or for how long this lasted but it was for a very long time. Eventually people starting waking up. But not everyone. Most people are still stuck in their dreams, never aging. Not only that, but a floating tower appeared within range of the town. The reason why Tom was so old was because he was one of the first to wake up. He and his allies gathered together and investigated the tower, but only Tom made it back alive, and he’s been insane ever since.

Elanor told the adventurers that since Tom’s attempt, others have gone up to investigate the tower but never succeeded in coming back. However that did not deter our heroes. They went up the tower and succeeded in bringing it down.

The tower was perilous indeed. Each floor is covered in mist, which coalesces into materialized dreams of the people in the world who are still asleep. This ranged from an assassin sneaking up on the adventurers from the rooftops to a dwarven king defending his homeland against orcs. These dreams attacked the adventurers and there is no way to reason with them while they are in the dreams. They see what makes sense to them, so even though our heroes were a human druid, a ninja, and a duskblade the king saw them as monstrous orcs. 

At the very top the team fought against Tom and his band of adventurers who were trapped in their final battle against monstrous enemies. The adventurers barely managed to prevail, defeating the final floor of the tower. Thus the first tower fell, and by unknown means they caught a glimpse of a powerful being, He Who Sleeps, that caused the entire world to go to sleep.

Thus ends our first lesson and our first story. The First Tower fell and our enemy was found.

DnD Forgotten Realms description

The following is a map and description of regions in the Forgotten Realms.

Political Maps

Trade Map

• Anauroch
• A desert wasteland currently occupied by two main peoples
• Bedine
• group of nomadic barbarians
• Shadovar
• The last remaining Netherese
• Citizens of the floating city of Shade
• 
  
• History
• This is the location of the ancient civilization Netheril. During this time the power of human mages was at its highest, and the display of their might was characterized by their floating cities. The 

DND Campaign

Towers Campaign a campaign hosted on roll 20 listed here: campaign

1. Tom's Stories
1. The First Tower
2. The Second Tower
3. The Third Tower
2. Campaign Events 
1. The Beginning
3. Character Sheets
1. Neveshia Sablefox
2. Nik Nak
3. Mr. Mockets

The following is a collection of materials related to a forgotten realms dnd campaign, to be run sometime in the future

1. Premise
2. Maps/Setting
3. Character Sheets

DND Campaign Intro

Campaign Backstory

Once again a time of troubles has hit the land of Faerun, though perhaps not The Time of Troubles where the gods fell from their place in the heavens. In Evereska, the last home of the elves on the mainland, the elf Galaeron and his tomb wardens encountered a group of human crypt breakers in the tombs of their Vyshanti elders. The humans were from Vaasa, nobles of the granite tower, wielders of the darkblades and servant to Telamont Tanthul, a netherese arcanist from the city of shade. Although these humans were breaking into the ancient elven crypts, they were not after the jewels and riches hidden in the tombs. They brought along a beholder, and were using its disintegration rays to dig deeper into the walls of one of the ancient tombs, to reveal the Sharn Wall.

The Sharn Wall is an ancient work of magic erected by the Netherese, along with the help of the Sharn, a relatively unknown race of sorcerers. The Netherese are citizens of Netheril, the greatest and most powerful civilization of human wizards. They were famous for using their magic to create floating cities by severing the top of mountains and inverting them to build their floating cities. Near the end of Netheril's reign, they fought against an enemy called the Phaerimm, a race of floating wormlike creatures armed with powerful magic, the ability to eat magic, and the ability to spawn their young by implanting their eggs within their victims. They came from the outer planes, and are one of the most deadly invaders Faerun had to face in its entire history.

The most powerful mage of the time Karsus wanted to end the war between the Phaerimm and Netherese as neither side could gain a definitive advantage over the other, and as time went on, the Phaerimm were draining the life out of the earth where Netheril stood. Karsus in his hubris could not bear this blemish on the land that he owned, and decided to gain control over all magic in the world to use to eradicate all Phaerimm simultaneously. Due to his power he actually succeeded and wrested control of the weave of magic from Mystryl the goddess of magic at the time. However, he could not handle the influx of information and did not have the control necessary to direct his new powers, resulting in the fall of the Netherese cities. The Phaerimm now held an advantage but with the help of the Sharn and the new goddess of magic Mystra, the remaining Netherese were able to lock the phaerimm behind the Sharn Wall, in the Plane of Shadow. However, this was where the last functioning city of Netheril fled to. Shade, the city of shadow arcanists, fled to the plane of shadow right before Karsus caused the fall of Netheril. However, they were also locked behind the Sharn Wall with the Phaerimm in the plane of shadow, destined to fight for against its denizens for all eternity.

Through what is thought to be a misunderstanding, a magic missile from Galaeron and a bolt of shadow magic from Telamont, mixed together which caused a breach in the Sharn wall. This allowed a few phaerimm to escape, and the pride of the elves caused them to underestimate what was necessary to push them back. Soon more Phaerimm escaped, and Evereska is now in a full scale war. All active Chosen of Mystra have been called to help deal with this threat, with only a few exceptions. Elminster Aumar is now missing, due to an accident involving the princes of the city of Shade, Elminster was forced to fix a rift to hell caused by yet another blending of shadow and pure arcane magic. He was unable to seal the rift from Faerun, and is now lost in Avernus the first of the 9 hells. The Simbul Witch Queen of Algarond is likewise missing, as she searches for her consort Elminster. Sylune, the witch of Shadowdale, remains dead. Qilue, servant to Elistraee goddess of the the good aligned Dark elves, as well as Chosen of Mystra is busy protecting her temple in Undermountain, as the disappearance of Halaster Blackcloak, archmage and creator of Undermountain, caused a lack of stability in the region. All other chosen, from the Seven sisters, as well as Khelben Arunsun are now dealing with the threat of the Phaerimm in Evereska.

Campaign Introduction

Without the help of the most powerful mages, the harpers are lacking the resources necessary to keep track of events in Faerun. One such harper is the archmage of the seelie courts, Torden Kane. Kane noticed that there appears to be some coordinated events that could have disastrous results to the future of Faerun. To deal with this, he has created a chamber in his castle that utilizes an inverted version of planar binding to summon powerful beings of the material plane in Faerun to his own demiplane, which he then binds to his service using a powerful geas. This allows him to investigate these events without using his time as he is also aiding in the defense of Evereska.

This chamber currently has 5 summoning circles that are active at any given time. The current summoning has hooked a bard/priest, a dragonfire adept, a disciple of dispater, and a knight with his squire. An image of Kane appears in front of them, and commands them using a geas.
"Heroes and villains head my command, I order you to investigate the city of Darmshall in Vassa. On an outlying farm, a well now appears to be a spring of healing. One day there was barely enough water to distribute among the folk, the next clear water gushed from the spring, and those who drank from it were healed of aches and pains. Upon hearing of this, the necromancer Persephone, has launched an undead assault on the citizens of this village. Assess and deal with the situation as best you can and you'll be free from my geas."

"The enemies we face acts together in concert. Regardless of your differences, you must work together to overcome them and preserve the future of Faerun as the threat behind this events and others like it threaten everyone, from the Knights of Tyr to the servants of Asmodeus. To increase your coordination, my attendant will lead you to a room where you will test yourselves against my apprentices. Should you succeed in defeating them you will be transported to the outskirts of Darmshall to begin your mission."

You are standing in a large room made entirely out of ice. The circles that summoned and bound you lie at your feet. Immediately to your left is an icy wall marked with 5 glyphs which all appear to have activated, followed by a series of doors to some small rooms. To your right are windows that show a curious environment. You appear to be in a valley about 2 miles wide that is half covered in ice and darkness, that is separated from the other half by a river. Across the river lies an extremely bright area covered in trees. In front of you about 50 feet down is a large door, behind you is a stone wall. A hound sits idly by appearing to wait for your instructions.