does he frequent reddit. i watch his channel on youtube sometimes.

According to Baldur's Gate 3, she's the mother of all magic and governs the entirety of it in existence. Is it true?

I mean, if Mystra controlled the Weave only in Realmspace, how would a Wish spell casted in Realmspace affect other planes, or characters in there? How can a Realmspace Wish affect City of Sigil, or Lady of Pain herself, to an extent that she intervenes in order to stop it's effects (according to PHB'24), if Mystra is restricted only to one solar system?

That doesn't add up at all.

Was able to add these to my collection today!

I like her, and i'm really curious to read what Ed of the Greenwood wrote about her, unfiltered. ᕙ⁠(⁠ ͡⁠°⁠ ͜⁠ʖ⁠ ͡⁠°⁠)⁠ᕗ

''Old Red-tits is still holding a grudge against me, huh? I mean, don't get me wrong, i get it. Once you have tasted fine cormyrean wine for free it's hard to go back chugging cheap inn ale for cash. If you know what i am talking about. You know what i am talking about? (Lengthy pause) D, i am talking about d!''

-Cyric, probably

Eilistraee and her Enclaves

I've been looking at Eilistraee culture and was wondering how a surface born half drow follower that refuses to engage in the ritual nudity and free love would be seen? I was building a half drow that idolized romance novels and knightlihood, using a bastard sword and dance-like combat to fight Lolth's followers but very conservative with her body waiting for her "soulmate" though she wouldn't have a Thiramin has a half drow.

Her reason is less shame and more how she grew up reading romanticized stories and wants to encapsulate that herself. She was not raised in the Underdark, she was raised on the surface by an isolated human man and drow woman but after their deaths she resides in an Eilistraeen Enclave. I'm using 3.5e and was considering making her a Favored Soul, but that is under the interpretation that Eilistraee would accept this half drow as much as a drow who engages in the more open culture of many enclaves. I think my main question is what is the actual dogma of Eilistraee's Enclaves, is it freedom in all forms even if it means clothes and monogamy for one or just their form of freedom?

I should have mention, there is no DM. I'm playing solo on NWN with a 3.5e PRC and NWN2. Just wanted to understand the lore and if my character is plausible per lore or if she would be refused or not fully accepted by Eilistraee or an Enclave of Eilistraee's.

Hi, as the title says I'm pretty new to the Forgotten Realms but wanted to run a 5e campaign here. I'm planning my campaign to be set in the Heartlands region around Cormyr. One very important thing to note: I was a bit overwhelmed by all the history and timeline of the region, so I decided I would just set it in the year 1492 and mostly ignore the canon timeline in favor of just picking out the most interesting pieces from the lore and slapping them together regardless of the timeline.

So I'm trying to figure out what to do with Sembia. From my (admittedly quite poor) understanding of the canon lore, Sembia exists for a while as a collection of mercantile city states, they have a civil war, the Shadovar take advantage of this to subjugate them, and then they live under subjugated rule for a while (and invading the Dalelands, I think?) before eventually becoming independent when the Shadovar Netherese empire falls again, where they're left a bit ruined but are able to swiftly rebuild and go back to being mercantile cities.

There's also the topic of Sakkors, one of the Netherese flying cities that the Shadovar found in the Sea of Fallen Stars and raised again. Its quirk is that it has a unique, sentient mythallar. It seems this place kind of just floated around Sembia for a while before eventually being crashed into the Sharran maelstrom that had destroyed Sembia's former capital.

Other than that, there doesn't seem to be much lore or flavor to Sembia as it sounds like they were intended to be a sort of blank slate for DMs to put their own homebrew in. However, the canon events of Sembia don't really work well with how I have my version of the lore set up. The main thing is that in my world, the Shadovar have just recently re-entered Faerun from the Shadowfell and immediately crashed into the desert, becoming the city of Shade. The Shadovar are still a threat to the neighboring realms and still plan to recreate Netheril, but aren't quite at the level of subjugating entire nations yet.

There's a couple of goals I want with Sembia

1. I want them to keep their role as the subjugated Heartlands antagonist, but not by the Shadovar.
2. I want to give them some more flavor beyond "mercantile city states" (a role that Vesperin already fulfills in my world)

To do that, I was thinking of incorporating Sakkors, as currently it's still sitting at the bottom of the sea. I was thinking of having it rise and conquer Sembia in a similar fashion to what happens in canon (maybe even in a state of civil war with the Shadovar and the Sakkors faction fighting a sort of proxy war for control of it?). I wouldn't want Sakkors to be another Netheril remnant clone, but I would want it changed/corrupted in a manner similar to how the Shadovar were corrupted by the Shadowfell. Ideally they would operate as a foil to the Shadovar's ambitions of Netheril resurgence.

TLDR: In my version of Faerun, I'd like to give Sembia some unique flavor while keeping their role as the subjugated Heartlands antagonist nation, preferably with the Netherese city of Sakkors. Does anyone have any suggestions for where I can go with this to give Sakkors/Sembia a unique identity?

The Imperium from Warhammer 40k, that is. Not from Horus Heresy. And i'd argue they are relatively close in their grimdarkness.

Both are horrific militaristic utilitarian regimes locked in endless warfare for aeons.

Both rule their people with fear and fanaticism.

Both have their ancient arch-enemy - illithids and Chaos.

Both had major civil conflicts in their history, some of which continue presently.

Both hate xenos, heretics and mutant abominations, it's just that Githyanki Empire's versions are called differently - istiks, kainchi and aberrations. Though it must be said that Githyanki are not even remotely as extreme in their hatered as servants of The Emperor.

Both are ruled by apostates who turned the teachings of their Empire's creator upside down - i'm sure Mother Gith's true alignment was either neutral, or good. Vlaakith lies about her teachings just as The Imperium lies about The Emperor whose true teaching was The Imperial Truth.

Both worship their supposed undead leaders as Gods - The Emperor and Vlaakith/Mother Gith who's captured by Tiamat and revered by Githyanki as some sort of deity.

In both cases, their Empire creators were betrayed.

Both are locked in a perpetual state of degradation - Imperium because of Mechanicus and Githyanki Empire because of Vlaakith, who eats the most capable Gith, and her fanatics.

Both have The Inquisition and in both cases, The Empire would have been better off without it.

Both feed the souls of their people to a so-called deity.

Both have an enormous scale - The Imperium has more than million worlds and Githyanki Empire has the numbers so vast that even Balduran with The Netherbrain under it's control was reluctant to go to war against Githyanki, for there are legions of them.

The Imperium of Man cries to the skies - The Emperor Protects!

The Githyanki Empire cries to the skies - Yisk Gith’ka tavki krash’ht (Gith’s light guides us/Mother Gith, reveal your light/Mother Gith, hear me)!

Or another version - Ch'mar, zal'a Vlaakith (Vlaakith's will above all)!

And finally.

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.

For both men and gith. With a slight glimpse of hope far, far away.

It's obviously in regards to my latest post questioning if Mystra is multiversal or not.

Please help.

Let's say Demetrian Titus from The Ultramarines somehow teleports to The Forgotten Realms, namely Faerun, and becomes so furious with the sheer amount of xenos, heretics and mutants there that he becomes frenzy and starts doing what Space Marines always do.

REAP AND TEAR UNTIL IT IS DONE!

FOR THE EMPRAH!

Who would be the strongest creature he'd be able to purge in the name of Holly Terra? Who'd be able to grant him The Emperor's Peace? How many Faerunian cities would he conquer in the name of Humanity?

And what CR would you give him?

Paladin's Oath features are clearly akin to magic, but not considered as such. Does Oath itself grant magical effects outside of The Weave? Or is its magic not magic at all but something different?

Or am i mistaken?

Judging by description of both Paladin Class and Antimagic Field, Paladin's key features, such as auras, are immune to the effects of the spell.

I was reminded by a recent post on this sub that whenever the question comes up of places the community would like to see more of outside the Sword Coast, someone always says "Kara-Tur," followed by someone else agreeing that "nothing has been said about Kara-Tur since the Spellplague," followed by someone else saying "that's probably for the best." This got me thinking that I wanted to dig through my notes, magazines, and books to see what, in fact, has been said about Kara-Tur in 5e. The answer is indeed "almost nothing," but we do know more about the current state of Kara-Tur than you might expect as long as we start with 4e. Below are my findings:

Kara-Tur and the Spellplague (4e)

The 4e FR Campaign Guide states that Kara-Tur was hit as hard by the Spellplague as Faerûn, however it is implied that this is an understatement. By 4e times (1479 DR), fully half of Thesk’s human population is made up of Shou immigrants and Kara-Turan refugees from the Spellplague, plus there are large “Shou-towns” full of refugees on the Dragon Coast (notably in Westgate, which has problems with Shou criminal organizations, and Nakleth, which has been completely overtaken by Shou and declared the capital of an insular Shou ethnostate called Nathlan) as well as Shou yakuza gangs active in major cities as far west as Luskan. Even Kara-Turan spirits, ranging from monsters to minor deities, are said to have emigrated to Faerûn, which really seems to suggest that Kara-Tur was hit much harder by the Spellplague than elsewhere (although I personally suspect all this Shou immigration was just meant to provide more justification for players and DMs to have Asian-coded characters and stories in Faerûn). The book only says a few things about Kara-Tur directly, namely that Shou Lung and Kozakura still exist as nations, Shou Lung still has an emperor, and lucrative trade still occurs between Kara-Tur, Faerûn, and the Hordelands (which will potentially no longer be true after the Second Sundering, as we'll see).

Kara-Tur then got a bit more fleshed out in Dragon #404, which is the “Kara-Tur themed issue” that outlines a bunch of Asian-flavored character options. From these articles we can glean a few random facts about 4e Kara-Tur, most of which imply that not too much has changed since 2e: ninja are very active especially in Shou Lung; large cities teeming with people still exist (so the Spellplague wasn’t totally devastating); traditional religious institutions are still intact (despite the Spellplague wreaking havoc with the gods); hengeyokai, korobokuru, and spirit folk remain among the most common races; the Shadowfell and Feywild are both present/accessible in Kara-Tur (and what was once called the “Spirit World” seems to just be the Feywild); spellscars are/were rare throughout Kara-Tur except in the Ama Basin; T’u Lung, Koryo, Tabot, and Wa still exist as nations; martial arts remain important; rune magic is prevalent and runepriests (shan zi) use and teach calligraphy as part of their traditions; and samurai, bushi, and yakuza remain major players in Kozakura and Wa. 

Aside from these background details, Dragon #404 also includes some actual new history. Most of it is smaller histories of individual martial arts or magic traditions that I suggest you check out if Kara-Tur lore interests you, but some of the juicier notes include: the Spellplague weakened the barrier between parts of Kara-Tur and the Spirit World/Feywild, such as in the Sheng Ti province of Shou Lung; hengeyokai and spirit folk were given permission to join the civil service of Shou Lung beginning in 1396 DR thanks to their cooperation during the upheaval of the Spellplague (and this has triggered a decades-long racist backlash by humans); Kozakura devolved into civil war following the end of the Spellplague, with one result being the expulsion of many of its hengeyokai; oni have enslaved the hobgoblins of the Land of Snow Demons and use them to terrorize settlements along the Ama River; and the “Dragon Claw” style of martial arts has rapidly become the second-most common style in Shou Lung.

The only other source in 4e where Kara-Tur gets more than a passing mention is Dungeon #195, which has an adventure called The Five Deadly Shadows set in the village of Kudoku in Kozakura. It doesn’t have much to say about Kozakura or Kara-Tur beyond the narrow confines of the adventure, although it gives a sense of the Japanese cultural flavor and I suppose it confirms that Kozakura is controlled by “provincial governors” who can do little against powerful criminal organizations and that wu jen remain the most common form of arcane magic user. The only other 4e mention of note is Dragon #430, which suggests that the Harpers have become active in Kara-Tur (as of ~1480 DR).

Kara-Tur today (5e and 5.5e)

The main source of post-Second Sundering lore about Kara-Tur comes from the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, and it is legitimately not a lot. This book tells us that Kara-Tur as of ~1489 DR is regarded as more "mysterious" than it once was, and trade along the Golden Way is less than what it once was. Even so, Kara-Turan merchants and diplomats still make the journey to Faerûn (and all such foreign Kara-Turan humans are referred to as "Shou" by the peoples of Faerûn regardless of their real ethnicity). We once again get confirmation that Shou Lung, Kozakura, and Wa still exist, as does the traditional Kara-Turan religion that makes no sense to those who worship the Faerûnian gods. The book also states that gnomes, orcs, and chromatic/metallic dragons do not exist in Kara-Tur, which will be at least partially retconned in our next source.

In 2025, Dungeons & Dragons Japan gave us a 5e adventure called Oni No Migite, which the internet has translated as The Oni's Right Hand since no official English version exists (a fan translation is available on Google, which I am not linking to only because I am not sure if it counts as pirated content). In short, this adventure features pregenerated characters from Kozakura and Wa who arrived in the Sword Coast via a teleportation circle just in time for a tie-in adventure for Dragon of Icespire Peak (which I believe means it is set 1491/92 DR). The backgrounds of these characters give us some new Kara-Turan lore, but just a bit. The characters are brought together in service to the Fighter pregen, a "Young Lord" named Tatsuwaka-maru, who is a scion of a Kozakuran samurai family that was wiped out by a rival family which had become Asmodeus worshipers. The character stories in general seem to strongly imply that Asmodeus is growing in influence within Kozakura. As I mentioned before, there are some retcons: one character is a gnome and another is a half-orc (although it may be the case that “half-orc” is a placeholder for being a descendant of an oni), and we are told that isolated populations of these races as well as of elves and tieflings are now canonical to Kara-Tur. Also Buddhism may now be canon, although that could just be a translation issue.

Aside from this, Kara-Tur is mentioned in both the 2014 PHB and DMG, although we get nothing new from either book (they just identify the Shou as Kara-Tyr’s primary ethnicity and state that they have a "distinctive" culture and take "honor" very seriously). Kara-Tur is also mentioned in passing in a few 5e adventures and sourcebooks, but always in reference to some historical note, as a source of exotic trade goods, or as the homeland of the Shou. The Adventurers League module Cloaks and Shadows (set 1491 DR) suggests that the Princes of Elemental Evil have influence in Kozakura or Wa. The adventure anthology Candlekeep Mysteries (set 1492 DR) features a group of evil monks originally from somewhere in Kara-Tur called the Order of the Immortal Lotus. Of all places, the Heroes Feast cookbook discusses Shou Lung in the most detail, saying it is one of the most powerful and influential realms on the whole planet. It also discusses the tea trade and mentions that some Kara-Turan dishes can be found in metropolitan centers on the Sword Coast, namely the "Kara-Turan Noodles" dish in the book can be found in Waterdeep. I guess this joins a couple other random mentions of "Kara-Turan" food found on the Sword Coast, like sushi being sold in Baldur's Gate (per Murder in Baldur's Gate).

As for 5.5e, there is no mention of Kara-Tur in the core rulebooks nor in either Heroes or Adventures of Faerûn that I can find. The closest we get is that Westgate's Shou District and local Shou criminal organization, the Nine Golden Swords, is still prominent in the city as of 1501 DR. There is no mention of any of the other Shou-towns, and Nathlan (the Shou realm centered on Nakleth) seems to have been retconned out of existence.

Final thoughts

In short, Kara-Tur seems to be mostly unchanged save for some increased non-human diversity. Obviously WotC has shied away from Kara-Tur content for fear of being accused of publishing orientalist cliches and tropes, but it occurs to me after this deep dive that there is penalty of room to revamp or revise problematic parts of the setting by simply claiming that the huge impact of the Spellplague changed a lot more than we’ve been told so far. Ed said something similar on a podcast earlier this year, namely that to bring back Kara-Tur would require new writers and an excuse that would allow for a reset. I think they already laid the groundwork for that reset almost twenty years ago!

I feel that I could also add that we may already have a sense of what 5e Kara-Tur would look like if WotC decided to make something set there: Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel (a 5e anthology of adventures set in non-standard fantasy settings that was written with cultural sensitivity in mind) has an East Asian-inspired adventure called Buried Dynasty that it says could be set in "any nation east of the Sunrise Mountains [in Thay]," so while not actually a Kara-Tur adventure, they are aware that it is as close as they’ve gotten. The adventure is not directly compatible with Kara-Turan lore as we know it (for example, the adventure includes a metallic dragon and a dwarf as the emperor), but I think it gives a good impression of what WotC is comfortable with.

Obviously I may have missed something, so I welcome any other notes about 5e Kara-Tur in the comments. It is possible that Ed has shared some additional Kara-Turan lore on Twitter/X or on his Discord/Patreon, but he generally seems to be disinterested in Kara-Tur since it isn't part of his original Realms.

I recently ran into an issue with my usage of wizards IP and recently decided to make all my art using wizards IP free rather than take it down entirely so as to be in line with their fan content policy. This means that you all have the chance to get access to these keys as i release them all through the month of October in addition to other my other art.

If you are doing a Keys + dragon heist mashup come check it out, and keep an eye out for when i eventually release the full Wolves Den Tavern Mashup including all of the dungeon reworks, maps, handouts, content and writing the i did for my version of the campaign! it will eventually be released on DMs guild, but i will be sure to post it here as well when that eventually happens.

Check out my patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/TheWolvesDenTavern

Hi guys! Been running a campaign for a few years now for some of my best friends that centers on a giant war between the gods taking place in Faerun in 1609 DR (after the Kingdom of Cormyr conquers most of Faerun) all spurred on by the fact that Ao the Overgod has stepped away from his role as babysitter of Toril's deities.

The BBEG of the campaign is Asmodeus, with my PC's eventually confronting him in a super huge war and defeating him with a god-slaying sword (as I have it planned now. It's D&D so who knows what'll happen). But I sat down today and actually typed out his entire plan from "Step 1" all the way up until our campaign began. Deciding to post it here for fun.

Just a warning, my campaign has been heavily influenced by the 5.5e sourcebooks and HoF/AiF books since their release. I know they're not the most popular, but we started playing D&D well after the establishment of 5e, so the new system really appealed to me.

This plan includes a number of headcannons that I've invented for my version of the Realms. I justify them to myself by saying "although the FR sourcebooks don't say these things do exist, they also don't say that they don't exist"

My homebrew is the following:

1. Jergal isn't just the Final Scribe, recording the final fate of all souls. He was given the specific role of ending all of existence by Ao. Once Jergal determines it's time for existence to end, he'll inform Ao of the fact, and the Overgod will step away from controlling the cosmos to allow Jergal to destroy it
2. Milil, the God of Music, has a specific power unique to him known as "the Siren Song." Upon playing it, any being that hears it will be subjugated to the will of Milil until he stops playing it.
3. The reformation of the Tablets of Fate during the Second Sundering didn't just "result in the gods being more quiet", it specifically demanded it. If Ao finds any gods directly communicating with their worshippers (think avatars, making new chosen, big booming voice in the sky) after 1489 DR, Ao will punish them
4. After Sembia/Netheril's war with Cormyr from 1484-1486 DR (called the Cormyr-Netheril War in my setting), Queen Raedra Obarksyr of Cormyr wanted dire revenge (bc they lowkey killed her dad). Her creating the Purple Dragon Knights (the dragon riders detailed in HoF) was a precursor to her invading Sembia to get back at them. By 1501 DR, she has rebuilt Cormyr into an economic and military powerhouse, and is about to invade.

Anyways. Here's Asmodeus (my BBEG) and his devilish master plan to conquer the realms! Starting back when he first descended into Hell...

• Step 1: Become ruler of Hell
  • does that as soon as he arrives, cast down from the heavens
• Step 2: Become a deity. 
  • This one takes him a long-ass time. He has to make sure that the archdevils won’t rebel against him, which is somewhat accomplished in the Harrowing of Hell (a horribly failed rebellion against Asmodeus), and he also needs to ensure that they’re not overrun by demons from the Abyss, which he accomplishes through waging the Blood War (the neverending war between devils and demons)
  • Between all of this, he doesn’t have much time to focus his schemes on becoming a deity, and is content to fully solidify the infernal hierarchy into full and complete loyalty to him, something that he imagines will probably take a few more million years, until . . .
  • He suddenly does get the opportunity out of nowhere to become a god! In 1385 DR, Azuth, the god of wizards, falls into Hell and is consumed by Asmodeus, making Asmodeus a god (several million years ahead of his mental schedule)
• Step 3: Get a plan to send Ao the Overgod to sleep
  • Ao the Overgod is the entity who created all of existence and watches over all gods, ensuring that they’re following the divine rules that he sets in place
  • 3.1 - Become a more powerful god Asmodeus knows that, if he wants to conquer all of existence, Ao will need to be out of the picture. The only way to do that, though, is for Ao to be told by Jergal (the god of the end of existence) that existence needs to end, getting Ao to enter an eternal sleep. And the only way to do that is to control Jergal. Imprisoning Jergal is no easy task, though, and Asmodeus realizes that he needs to become an even more powerful god. Between 1385 and 1487, Asmodeus enacted a number of schemes across Faerun to get more people to worship him
  • 3.2 - Not powerful enough, so get someone who can do that In 1487 DR Ao the Overgod re-makes the Tablets of Fate: a list of rules and positions cementing each god in their power-level and portfolio they hold. Asmodeus is no longer able to become a more powerful god (while Ao is awake), but he’s still not powerful enough to control Jergal and put Ao to sleep! So, an alliance is made between Asmodeus and Bane, the god of hatred and tyranny. Although Asmodeus is a divine higher rank than Bane, Bane is a god who oversees the direct portfolios of subjugation and control, making him perfectly suited to imprisoning Jergal. As of 1490 DR, the two are stalwart allies.
• Step 4: Take over all of Faerun
  • Faerun is the one land in the Material Plane where the gods of the multiverse are most involved. It is seen as the nexus point of the Multiverse—the realm that most influences the makeup of the Outer Planes. Asmodeus’ ultimate plan is to force all of Faerun into worshipping him. This would give the arch fiend so much power that he would ascend beyond his status as “greater deity” and essentially become the Overgod, the “new Ao.” Asmodeus claims that he’ll share this status with Bane, who’ll also be worshipped.
  • Obviously, the reformation of the Tablets of Fate meant that the gods were required by Ao to be much less involved in specific orders/actions in the Material Plane. Bane and Asmodeus, however, were special exceptions to this. 
    • During the reformation of the Tablets, Bane opted to become a quasi-deity, staying in physical form in the world of Toril so that (unlike most gods) he could play an active role in its affairs. 
    • Asmodeus actually was barred from taking an active role in Faerun. However, his legions of devils weren’t. Asmodeus, therefore, had an effective loophole to Ao’s new mandate. Although he (Asmodeus) couldn’t directly do anything in Faerun, or give direct orders to his worshippers, his devils (who answer to him) could do this instead.
    • In this way, Bane and Asmodeus had ways to be actively involved in Faerun without being punished by Ao
  • 4.1: Baldurs Gate and Elturel: At the time of their alliance in 1490, both Asmodeus and Bane had projects on the back burner. Projects that they planned to use to take over Faerun, in accordance with their plan. 
    • Asmodeus was overseeing Zariel (archduchess of Avernus) and her plan to drag Elturel and Baldur's Gate into Hell.
    • Bane was overseeing a project to subjugate all of the Sword Coast into worshipping him through an ultra-powerful elder brain
  • These two events were stopped by adventurers in Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus, and in the video game Baldur's Gate 3. This sent Asmodeus and Bane back to the drawing board by 1493 DR
  • 4.2: The Cormyrean Conquest: In 1494 DR, Asmodeus and Bane realized that Queen Raedra Obarksyr, queen of Cormyr, was building up her military and economic might; getting ready to invade Sembia. They realized that she would be perfect to carry out their plan of controlling all of Faerun.
  • Between 1495 and 1501 DR, as Queen Raedra persecuted the Sembite gentry throughout Sembia and the Dalelands, Bane and Asmodeus worked through their respective cults and churches (and Asmodeus through his devils) to gain discreet influence over the Queen of Cormyr. One of Asmodeus’ warlocks (posing as a wizard) had infiltrated the War Wizards’ higher ranks years prior, and Asmodeus used them to slowly chip away at Queen Raedra’s mental defenses, distract/replace War Wizards who were wary of the Queen’s wards, and bring more Baanite agents into the Palace walls.
  • Finally, when the Queen’s defences were at their lowest, Asmodeus sent his most skilled succubus agent, a succubus named Sehkzeepandz, to kill Nicolette Silvermace, a prominent noblewoman in Queen Raedra’s court, and take her place. Disguised as Nicolette Silvermace, Sehkzeepandz began a secretive romance with Queen Raedra. 
  • By 1502, Sehkzeepandz was regularly casting dominate person on Queen Raedra. Through the use of circle magic (augmented by circle magic from Baanites and devil-worshippers in the Royal Court that had infiltrated it over the past few years) the effects of these spells were able to last for a full day, with the spell being re-cast every 24 hours.
  • Between 1502 and 1509, the mind dominated Queen Raedra conquered all lands between the Trackless Sea and the Wizard’s Reach. During this time, Bane and Asmodeus were quick to make Queen Raedra seem as “noble”, “kindly”, and as normal as possible, not wanting anybody in the Royal Court to become suspicious that she was under the command of evil gods.
  • The “Kingdom of Faerun” was officially established on Moonsong in 1509 DR. Although Bane and Asmodeus tried to use their control of Queen Raedra to expand even further East, by 1510 they realized that it would simply be stretching the Kingdom’s resources too far. 
  • They decided the time was right to get everyone to start worshipping them. But first, they had to finally get rid of Ao . . .
• Step 5: Take control of Jergal
  • With Asmodeus ready to dictate the order to all Faerunians that mandated worship of Asmodeus and Bane, all Bane had to do was dominate Jergal, and get him to tell Ao the Overgod to stop watching the cosmos so that Jergal could “destroy it” (a lie) 
  • In the winter of 1510 DR, Bane attempted to take control of Jergal. He failed. 
  • Over the next several months, Bane would make attempt after attempt at subjugating Jergal (beating him in combat, tricking him into prison, sheer number of worshipers, anything!) but, at the end of the day, Bane was no match for the strength of Jergal
  • Eventually, he realized that he would need the service of Milil, the god of songs, if he were to actually get Jergal to become his minion. 
    • Milil had a unique ability called the Siren’s Song: wherein he could get any being (including a god) to do his bidding. With the Siren Song, Bane could take control of Jergal

By the time Bane discovered this, though, it was too late.

• In 1511 DR a group of adventurers (hired by the suspicious Sage Royal of Cormyr) unmasked Nicolette Silvermace for the succubus she was: Sehkzeepandz, and also unmasked the vast network of Baanites and devil worshippers purveying Cormyr’s Royal Court.
• Although the Sage Royal wanted to keep this development as secretive as possible, fearing a full-on noble uprising if they realized they had been following a puppet of Asmodeus and Bane for the better part of a decade, the Sage Royal and the adventurers began a secret crusade of ridding Cormyr of the dark gods’ influence.
• In a matter of tendays, all of Asmodeus and Bane’s control over Cormyr’s Royal Court was upended, and they were back to square one
  • Step 6: Repeat steps 4 and 5 again!
• Ultimately, Bane and Asmodeus realized that the reason why they failed with controlling Cormyr is because they tried to keep their control secret and, thus, as hands-off as possible, making their influence easy to oust once discovered
  • Asmodeus realized that his eagerness to become Overgod, spurred by the sudden development of him becoming a god during the Spellplague, had made him act brashly
  • He was deadset on taking his sweet time before his second attempt at “Overgod-dom”
• By 1512 DR, Bane and Asmodeus understood that, if they were to actively control their conquest of Faerun, they would need to get rid of Ao the Overgod first, and then take over the continent (unlike their prior plan in the 1500s, where the order was reversed)
• Asmodeus and Bane also know, however, that as soon as they get rid of Ao, all of the gods are going to go wild and start doing whatever they want, knowing that they are no longer forced to follow any rules. This will make conquering all of Faerun much harder
• So, between 1512 DR and 1608 DR, Bane and Asmodeus put much effort into forming an alliance with as many evil gods as possible.
  • Talona and Laogzed (eager to augment their own power) begin following along with Asmodeus’ plan. 
  • He puts Laogzed in charge of the Cult of the Dragon (he just tells Tiamat, who’s imprisoned in Hell, to endorse Laogzed's avatar to become her cult leader)
  • He tells Talona to start working on a super powerful, super contagious disease that will spread across Faerun and weaken their enemies once Bane gets rid of Ao and start the war. He also sets up her avatar to be the Regent of Thay in late 1608 DR
• Bane overpowers and captures Milil in 1586 DR. Using Milil’s Siren Song, Bane is able to finally subjugate Jergal, who becomes a ghostly shell of his former self, entirely subservient to the whims of Bane
• The two dark gods also form an alliance with Malar, Shar, Talos, Gruumsh, Bhaal, Myrkul, Maglubiyet, Loviatar, and Cyric (who they free in exchange for his–obviously duplicitous–allegiance). All these dark gods form an alliance with the ultimate intention of growing in power until they can betray one another
• Also, Bane establishes contact with Manshoon and makes the Dark Wizard one of his Chosen (which he does after Ao is gone). Although the Zhentarim were leveled during the Cormyrean Conquest, Manshoon begins rebuilding them from Zhentil Keep, entirely subservient to Bane
• In late 1608 DR, Bane orders Jergal to get rid of Ao, and the shit hits the fan! Gods quickly realize what’s going on, and the Everwar begins!

So yeah. That's pretty much it.

My campaign (now in 1610 DR) focuses on my players having to fight back against the Cult of the Dragon, the Zhentarim, the Red Wizards of Thay (now called the Empire of Thay) as they lead a three-pronged attack against the Kingdom of Faerun. The three groups are led by Laogzed, Talona, and Bane respectively (with Asmodeus pulling the strings, of course). They've also teamed up with large groups of rebels and freedom fighters across Faerun, that want independence from the Kingdom (think Tethyrians, Vaasans, Sembites and Dalesfolk that want independence for their respective countries, not to be a part of some greater kingdom).

Thanks for reading this far, and let me know what y'all think!

Admittedly, I'm considering running a 1-on-1 play-by-post campaign in the Realms, but I'm having a bit of a hard time choosing a specific era/region. Personally I prefer the 1370s in terms of lore since that's before the Spellplague invalidated a load of lore, and then messily retconned it back in. Additionally there's plenty of source material to pull from during that time period.

In terms of regions, I feel like a city based campaign might suit the 1-on-1 style better, though I suppose it just depends on whatever the player chooses as their class. As far as editions go, I prefer DMing 2e for play-by-post since it plays a lot faster than 3e and later editions.

But what do you guys think? Is there like a part of the Realms you've always wanted to explore but never had the opportunity?

How does the Church of Lolth work? Is it a separate organization or part of the houses? It is spoken of as something separate, but at the same time it feels like it isn't

I'm considering running The Tearing of the Weave adventures in the not too distant future, and I'm wondering if anyone has converted it to 5e, and if so, whether they'd be willing to share their resources. Thanks in advance.

I always loved the Yuan-ti halfbloods with snakes for arms. It's such a goofy design, but it just works for me. The newest version looks like this.

Has it ever been discussed in the lore how these things work? Do the snake heads have brains? Can a Malison see through the eyes on their hands? Do the heads have any sort of personality or intelligence? Like if a Yuan-ti was blindfolded, could they still see through their hands? Can they peak around corners, or are the eyes and nose just sort of decorative? If the main head is indisposed, could the hands still operate? I don't think it was ever mentioned in any of the Monster Manuals, and it's been a while since I read the House of Serpents trilogy. Is there any lore at all on how these things work?