Sword coast adventurers guide pdf download free

The shadow-touched nobles of the city almost immediately began hunting for ancient Netherese ruins and artifacts and preparing for a restoration of their once-great empire. This act ripped asunder the fabric of magic in the world, unleashing its raw power in a catastrophe called the S pell plague. Thousands of prac- titioners of the Art were driven mad or killed, while the face of Faer iln was reshaped by waves and veils of mystic blue fi re.

Entire nations were displaced or exchanged with realms from other worlds , a nd pa rts of the ea rth were torn free to float in the a ir. The fi rst indication of new turmoil ca me in DR, when Bhaa l, the long-dead god of murder, was reborn in Baldur's Gate amid chaos a nd bloodshed, leaving two of the city's dukes a nd many of its citizens dead.

The return of Bhaal and his appa rent recla mation of the doma in of murder fro m Cyric led some scholars a nd sages to believe that the rules by which all deities must abide were in flu x.

In , strange cala mities began to occur throughout Faeril n. An earthquake s truck Iriaebor. A plague of locusts afflicted Arnn. Dro ughts gripped the southern la nds as the sea steadily receded in places. Amid this tumult, conflict broke out in many regions of the continent.

The ores of Many-Arrows warred agains t the dwarfholds of the North and their a llies. Sembia invaded the Dalela nds , and Cormyr raised an army to come to the aid of the Dalesfolk. Netheril brought forces to Cormyr's border, a nd Cormyr was drawn into a wa r on both fronts. Throughout this period, ta les began to s pread of individuals who had been touched by the gods and granted stra nge powers.

Some of these so-called Chosen were at the root of the conAicts that gri p the land. S ome seemed driven by divine purpose, while others claimed to be mystified as to why they would be singled out. In Anauroch, seeing that Netherese fo rces were s pread thin, the long-subjugated Bedine people rebelled. Having defeated or besieged the dwarfholds of the North, ores ma rch on Silverymoon.

In Cormyr and S embia, the Netherese and the Cormyreans traded ground, while the Dalelands became a war zone. As if to offset the drought in the south , in the autumn of 5 the Great Ra in began to fa ll around the Sea of Fallen S ta rs a nd continued unceasingly. W hile the waters rose to the east in early , the tide turned against the ores in the North, and by the end of the year their a rmies were broken a nd scattered.

Also during that year, the elves of Myth Drannor came to the aid of the Dalelands and helped push back Sembian forces. In Waterdeep a nd Neverwinter, efforts were made to clear those cities of century-old rubble a nd neglect. Cormyr repulsed the last of the S embian a nd Netherese forces from the nation, reclaiming its territory, a nd recalled its forces, turning inwa rd to address issues of rebuilding. Late in , the Great Rain finally abated, but this event didn't signify an end to the chaos.

The S ea of Fallen Stars had grown, submerging great swaths of land beneath its waves. Early in , earthqua kes and volcanic eruptions abounded for months, as if the whole world was convulsing. Rumors spread of chasms caused by the Spellplague suddenly vanishing, and stories circulated of known destinations being farth er away from one another, as if the world had quietly added miles of wilderness to the dista nce between them.

Word began to s pread of places and peoples not heard from s ince the S pell plag ue. It became appa rent that some of the effects of that terrible time had been reversed.

During the year, ships cla iming to be from Evermeet, Lantan , and Nimbra l- nations thought vanished or destroyed- sailed into ports on the Sword Coast and in the Shining South. Ta les spread of the legendary skyships of Halruaa being spotted in southern skies.

In a struggle for control of Myth Drannor's my thal and the Weave itself, the flying capital of Netheril was brought crashing down on Myth Drannor, resulting in the cataclysmic destruction of both. As the year drew to a close, there were nights when the heavens seemed to ha ng motionless. Throughout much of Faeriln , the winter of and lasted longer than any on record. The solstices and equinoxes had somehow drifted. Later seasons followed suit, with each starting and ending later tha n expected.

Prayers to the gods for knowledge and mercy seemed to go unacknowledged, apart from the presence of their Chosen. Although the ores were defeated in the North, the League of Silver Ma rches was dis banded in , as fo rmer allies blamed one a nother for failures in the wa r. Sembia divided into separate city-states only nominally allied with one another.

While a handful of settlements s urvived, the Netherese Empire was no more. The rema inder of the Netherese forces battle with the Bedine over control of the Memory S pire, thought to be a tomb of the phaerimm , Netheril's ancient enemies.

The battle awakens what turns out to be a hive of the creatures , and they use the life and magic-draining power of the s pire against the la nds below. By , many of the wars th at began during the Sundering had ground to a close. Other conflicts arose, and mighty threats s till imperiled the world, but the deities ceased interfering with the world through their Chosen. The gods were no longer silent but quiet, and in ma ny places new priesthoods arose to interpret the gods' now s ubtle signs.

The world today seems a place filled with new lands and opportunities , where those who dare can leave their ma rk. S tudents of history and those elves and dwarves who recall the past that short-lived humans see as distant perceive a world much like it was over a century ago.

For most folk, wild tales of people empowered by the gods, and of far-off lands returned to the world, are the s ubjects of fireside chatter.

Daily concerns and the da ngers and opportunities just beyond their doors take precedence, and plenty of both remain on the Sword Coast and in the North.

Any understanding of magic begins, and ends, with an understanding of the Weave. Some creatures, objects, and locations have deep, intrinsic ties to the Weave and can perform extraordinary feats that come naturally to them a beholder's flight, a va mpire's cha rming gaze, a dragon's breath weapon , and so forth.

Creatures with the necessary talent and s kill can also manipulate the Weave to perform magic by casting spells. The Weave isn't norma lly visible or detectable, even through the use of s pells. Detect magic doesn't let you perceive the Weave, for instance.

The Weave isn't magic, precisely, any more than a collection of threads is a garment; it's the raw material from which the tapestry of magic is woven. In two senses , both the metaphorical and the real, the goddess Mystra is the Weave. She is its keeper and tender, but a ll three times the goddess of magic has died or been separated from her divinity twice as Mystra , a nd once as her predecessor, Mystryl , magic has been twis ted or has fail ed entirely.

With Mystra's last death and the coming of the Spellplague, the Weave was thought destroyed, and the term lost its significa nce. Since the end of the most recent Sundering, both Mystra and the Weave have returned to their roles of centuries past, and s pells and magic items a re more reliable tha n they had been while the Spellplague raged.

The mental state of the user is vita lly important: monks and some psionics-users train long and hard to attain the right frame of mind , while creatures with supernatural powers have that mind-set in their nature. How these abilities are related to the Weave remains a matter of debate; many students of the arcane believe that the use of the so-called Unseen Art is an aspect of magical talent that can't be directly studied or taught. MAGIC ITEMS Where a s pell effect is brought to life by manipulating the threads of the Weave, the creation of a magic item ties some of those threads together in a specific way, to produce the desired effect for as long as the item lasts.

The Weave provides immediately available energy for spells and also enables those who know the craft to har- ness that energy inside an object until it is called forth by its user who, of course, need not be a spellcaster. In some cases, the magic of an item must be tied to its wielder; representing an entwining of the threads of the Weave between wielder and object known as attunement. As with all matters related to magic, the number of items to which a s ingle being can be attuned is limited , but the benefits of such a relationship can be considerable.

A m ythal is a permanent field of overlapping magical wards and effects tied to a specific location. In its original usage, this term applied to the works of High Magic that protected ancient elven cities. It has since been expanded to cover all manner of similar protections, from the immense floating cities of fallen Netheril to the wards of Silverymoon to the smaller- but no less effective- workings of magic that keep safe important locations like Candlekeep.

Even the many-layered wards and effects of Undermountain, beneath Waterdeep, are considered a mythal by some. Most my thals are defensive in nature, designed to restrict the kinds of magic that can be employed in the area they govern, and the most common restrictions are concerned with teleportation and conjuration magic. Evereska's mythal influences the weather of the area and wards its inhabitants against disease, while the mythal of undersea Myth Nantar makes its waters breathable and more comfortable for creatures not s uited to underwater life.

In many ways, a mythal is less like a spell or a magic item than a living creation of magic, capable of growing stronger or weaker, absorbing damage, or dying. Mythals can also sometimes heai themselves, as did the mythal of Silverymoon, blossoming out of the Moonbridge following Mystra's most recent return. Each active mythal has one or more beings attuned to its effects, who can ignore any restrictions on spellcasting, can direct targetable effects of the mythal, and can teach others of appropriate s kill how to access its secrets.

Except in cities such as Silverymoon and Evereska, adventurers are most likely to encounter damaged or failing mythals in ruined locations where magic once had great influence. Although an identify spell might reveal some of the simplest effects of a mythal, active restrictions on spellcasting can be discovered only by trying and failing to cast a prohibited spell.

A powerful spellcaster might learn how to access or repair a mythal without assistance, but s uch feats are legendary, and rarely attempted by even the most renowned of mages.

The ruins of such places are certain to have unpredictable effects related to their damaged or destroyed my thals. The Weave itself also has irregularities that affect spells. Detect Magic. Detect magic reveals threads of the Weave woven together through spellcasting, or the "knots " of the Weave in a magic item. A magic item appears enmeshed in the silvery-blue threads of the Weave, and the way the threads are arranged revea ls what type of magic is used necromancy, abjuration, and so on.

Similarly, active spells and areas imbued with magic are limned in a silvery network of threads, which might twist and reknit themselves depending on the magic involved.

Dispel Magic. Dispel magic unwinds and prematurely ends magic, unraveling whatever construct of the Weave was put in place. Antimagic effects can dispel existing spells and unravel any magic woven from the Weave.

Permanent effects, such as those from magic items , are usually suppressed by anti magic: while the effect is within an area of anti magic, the construct of the Weave unravels, but the threads snap back into place once the magic is outside the area. Dead Magic. In rare areas of dead magic, the Weave is absent. Not only do spells and magic items cease to function, but even the supernatural abilities of creatures that are innately tied to the Weave might fail as the knot of the Weave they carry with them unravels.

Wild Magic. In an area of wild magic, the Weave becomes "tangled ," spontaneously forming its own constructs and resulting magic. It also tends to twist the constructs of the Weave created by spellcasting, causing unexpected results. The gods play a role in the lives of nearly everyone, from the mightiest lord to the meanest urchin. The various races of Tori!

Although exceptions exist- the gods of Mulhorand, for example- all the gods are revered across all of FaerCm. Most vocations have a patron deity: farmers make offerings to Chauntea for the prosperity of their crops, clerks sharpen their quills with a prayer to Deneir, while pious merchants remember to set coins aside for Waukeen at the end of the day. Most people worship a deity associated with their livelihood, family, or home, while others feel called to a particular god for a variety of reasons.

Individuals often carry or wear a small token of thei r favored deity: a pendant or a pin in the image of the god's holy symbol, or some other personal keepsake. In addition, people regularly venerate gods based on their needs and circumstances: a farmer whose favored deity is Chauntea would pray to Amaunator for a few clear, sunny days, and a Waterdhavian noble who habit- ually worships Denier would give thanks to Sune after a successful coming-out party for her son.

Even priests of particular gods acknowledge the roles that other deities play in the world and in their lives. In general, worshipers view their relationships with the gods as practical and reciprocal: they pray and make offerings because that is how one invites the blessings of the gods and turns away their wrath.

These prayers and other acts of devotion are generally performed quietly at the shrine in one's household or community, or occasionally in a temple dedicated to one's deity, when a worshiper feels the need to "come knocking upon a god's door" to ask for attention. Forms of worship are often acts of veneration: giving thanks for favor shown, making requests for future blessings, and offering praise for the deity's intercessions, large and small.

Because most folk in FaerO. A hunter or a farmer might make offerings to Malar in hopes of keeping predators at bay, and a sailor might pray to Umberlee that she withhold her wrath for the duration of a voyage.

Nonhuman races honor their own gods, for example, and people in faraway lands are known to worship altogether different gods. Occasionally, foreigners bring the worship of these gods to FaerO. In addition, on rare occasions a new god comes into being, perhaps a mortal elevated to godhood or a deity whose arrival was foretold by prophets and leaders of new religions.

In cosmopolita n places such as Waterdeep and Calimshan, small shrines and temples to strange gods spring up from time to time. The burgeoning worship of a new deity is rarely a concern to the other gods of the FaerO. The methods of resolving such conflicts range from friendly dueling festivals or rites meant to emphasize the glory of one god over another, to campaigns of outright religious bloodshed.

Over generations, a new god might become a settled-in member of the pantheon. Indeed, some scholars posit that FaerO. Gods were struck down during the Time of Troubles, when the Spellplague wrought its destruction, and most recently when Netheril fell. Some deities have even been slain by mortals wielding impossibly powerful magic. Yet, as recent events have borne out, a god who is gone might not remain absent forever. More than a few supposed ly dead gods have returned and amassed a new body of worshipers.

Indeed, the legends of some gods speak of a cycle of death and resurrection. As the Sage of Shadowdale once noted, "If the gods can grant the power to raise mortals from death, why do ye assume they should be laid low by it forever?

The servants of the gods come to collect such souls and, if they are worthy, they are taken to their awaited afterlife in the deity's domain. Occasionally, the faithful are sent back to be reborn into the world to finish work that was left undone. Souls that are unclaimed by the servants of the gods are judged by Kelemvor, who decides the fate of each one.

Some are charged with serving as guides for other lost souls, while others are transformed into squirming larvae and cast into the dust. The truly false and faithless are mortared into the Wall of the Faithless, the great barrier that bounds the City of the Dead, where their souls slowly dissolve and begin to become part of the stuff of the Wall itself. Indeed, the power invested in clerics and other divine spellcasters by the gods is given out only rarely see "Divine Magic" below.

The work of a priest is to serve one's deity and that deity's faithful, a task that doesn't necessarily require the use of magic. The kind of person attracted to a deity's priesthood depends on the tenets of that god: the cunning rogues who venerate Mask have little in common with the upright law-keepers of Tyr, and the delightful revelers who revere Lliira are different from both.

Whether a small, out-of-the-way building, or a complex made up of multiple structures and tracts of land, each temple operates according to the traditions of its faith, although powerful or charismatic figures who rise to prominence within the temple hierarchy might motivate or inspire changes to those traditions. Temples in FaerO.

Group observances in a temple occur only at specific festival times, and priests also go out into the community to perform rites such as marriages and funerals. Temples are places where worshipers go either to spend personal or family time in a space consecrated to a deity or to seek the aid of the priests for some reason. Small shrines and private chapels , as distinct from full-fledged temples, are common throughout FaerO.

A shrine might be as modest as a roadside well, where traveling merchants can drop a coin to request good fortune from Waukeen, or as grand as a statue of Amaunator surrounded by braziers in a pavilion in the middle of a village. Traveling priests often seek out and visit these sites, and they act as meeting places for the faithful. When word gets around that a traveling priest of Elda th has come into town, the fait hful seek her out at the holy spring dedicated to the goddess at the edge of town.

A family or business might maintain a shrine or a chapel to its favored deity, perhaps a set of wind chimes consecrated to Akadi hung from the high branches of a tree in the garden, or a wooden symbol shaped like the hand of Azuth in miniature displayed on a prominent wall with a space nearby to burn a candle or some incense.

For the most part, the gods communicate with their faithfu l through signs and omens, appreciated by those able to interpret them. Of course, some signs are more subtle- and thus more open to interpretation- than others. The most common kind of communion that worshipers and priests find with their deities is in prayer, song, or meditation. S uch experiences are intensely personal, and it is common wisdom to keep them that way.

After all, "advice" from one's god that appears during morning prayer and gives one a good turn to the day is worthwhile only for oneself. Let each worshiper commune in their own way, as the saying goes.

Divine magic also provides a means of communing with the gods and can be used to call upon their guidance. Divine pronouncements of this sort are often personal in scope and brief, and those edicts that concern broader matters tend to be open to interpretation or debate. At a small temple, a novice or an acolyte might study under the only priest available.

Larger temples can accommodate groups of acolytes, each learning under the direction of one or more mentors responsible for training them in the duties and skills of the priesthood. Once acolytes complete their education, they are often ordained in a ritual in which a successful candidate is invested with the responsibilities of the priesthood. Most cultures and societies aren't nearly as cosmopolitan as the population of FaerO. Most governments that engage in persecution limit such restrictions to the establishment of formal temples, priesthoods, and organized festivals.

On a practical level, it's impossible to prevent individuals from innocuously or secretly worshiping whichever deities they choose. For instance, although worship of Talona- like that of many evil gods- is forbidden in Waterdeep, this prohibition extends only to the creation of a temple and the presence of her priesthood within the city. Individual citizens or families who revere Talona might be viewed as misguided, but they aren't taken into custody or punished as long as they obey the laws of the city.

Some places take this form of persecution a step further, for a variety of reasons. A chosen few have their minds and souls opened to the power of magic. There is no formula for who does and doesn't receive this divine insight, as the gods keep their own counsel concerning their selections. Some who are favored seek to ignore or deny their gift, while others embrace it wholeheartedly.

Some who display the potential for divine magic develop and practice their abilities in a temple, a sacred grove, or some other spirit ual place, perhaps in the company of other students. Other practitioners of divine magic discover and nurture their gods-given power entirely on their own.

The makeup of the pantheon has shifted over the ages, as a result of changes in the Realms and its people or vice versa, depending on which scholars you believe. The following pages describe the most prominent members of the pantheon.

The deities of the Faerunian pantheon are by no means the only powers worshiped in the Realms. The nonhuman races have pantheons of their own described in chapter 3 , and scattered other cults and local divinities can be found across Faerun. His priests help establish bureaucracies and lawful order in communities. They often witness contracts and signed agreements, stamping such documents with the sun-symbol of Amaunator to signify their validity.

His priests teach that Amaunator has died and been reborn time and again. Like the s un, he might pass into the realm of darkness, but inevitably his bright gaze will fall on the world once again. Amaunator is seen as a stern and unforgiving deity, not unlike Silvanus in comportment, but his concern isn't for the balance of life- he cares that things proceed according to the celestial order, that promises are kept, and that the rule of law persists.

Farmers and travelers beseech him when they pray for rain or sun, as do any others looking for a favorable change in the weather. But the most common form of propitiation to Amaunator is the practice of swearing oaths, signing contracts, and declaring laws under the light of the sun. So ingrained in the common perception is the connection between a solemn oath and the sun that those engaged in closing deals or issuing edicts often pause and wait for a passing cloud to clear the sun before completing the transaction or pronouncement.

That catastrophe left many asking why the gods were angry or had abandoned them. Still, for the next few decades, the cult of Asmodeus struggled for acceptance. In the beliefs of the people of the North- which coincide with many tales told by dwarves, elves, and others- Asmodeus is Lord of the Ninth, the leader of all devils of the Nine Hells.

People know devils to be iron-minded and silver-tongued purveyors of temptation, whose price for their boons can be as dear as one's soul. All a soul needs to do is take one step out of the dust and the milling crowd and put a foot on the first rung of the infernal ladder that represents the hierarchy of the Nine Hells. The faithful of Asmodeus acknowledge that devils offer their worshipers a path that's not for everyonejust as eternally basking in the light of Lathander or endlessly swinging a hammer in the mines of Moradin might not be for everyone.

Those who serve Asmodeus in life hope to be summoned out of the moaning masses of the Fugue Plane after death. They yearn for the chance to master their own fates, with all of eternity to achieve their goals. To those not so dedicated, priests of Asmodeus offer the prospect of a reprieve in the afterlife.

All souls wait on the Fugue Plane for a deity's pleasure, which determines where a soul will spend the rest of eternity.

Those who lived their lives most in keeping with a deity's outlook are taken first. Others, who have transgressed in the eyes of their favored god or have not followed any particular ethos, might wait centuries before Kelemvor judges where they go.

People who fear such a fate can pray to Asmodeus, his priests say, and in return a devil will grant a waiting soul some comfort. Today, shrines to Asmodeus are still rare and temples are almost unheard of, but many folk have adopted the habit of asking Asmodeus for reprieve from their sins.

After transgressing against a god in some way, a person prays to Asmodeus for something to provide respite during the long wait. Asmodeus is known to grant people what they wish, and thus people pray for all the delights and distractions they desire most from life. Those who transgress in great ways often ask Asmodeus to hide their sins from the gods, and priests say that he will do so, but with a price after death. Folk propitiate Auril with offerings and prayers for mercy. The book focuses a lot on land and wilderness, leaving such iconic locations untouched.

Steve Kenson- He is an author and a designer who has worked in the industry since He has worked a lot on the Forgotten Realm material. He usually writes articles for Dragon magazine.

Sponsored Ads. Account About Us We believe everything in the internet must be free. It added some extremely needed class archetypes and background and provides an iconic fantasy setting for your adventures. I hope you have like that post. Thanks for visiting. Adventure in the Forgotten Realms: Discover the current state of the Forgotten Realms and its deties after the spell-plague and the second Sundering.