Cold Dread Hand Campaign: Session Zero Reference

So, yeah, got a new campaign going! Feels good to be back in the GM's chair, after pandemic and such have kept me away. But now is the time to begin anew, and I'm eager for a good, long campaign ahead! My players are as well, my group of old friends who I've adventured with both at the table and in the wide world beyond. 

But enough of waxing poetically nostalgic! In lieu of a face-to-face session zero, I'm laying out some initial considerations here for player (and public) reference:

• We're using the Castles & Crusades rules.
• Characters are starting at 3rd level.
• We have at least six players, with the chance for one or two others joining in at times.
• As busy adults, it's hard for all of us to get together. But to try and establish some consistency of play (rather than only get together very infrequently, which can kill campaigns), we've agreed to settle on the best date possible for the most people once a month. As long as we have a majority of players (i.e. at least four) able to make it to a session, we still have the session. This will give us at least 12 sessions a year for the campaign (with the hope that we can add in more over the course of the year)
• Sessions will be as long as we can make them, to make the most of our play time.
• Those who are unable to make a session still earn XP for their characters. However, the present players are in charge of how (if at all) they divvy up any coin, treasure, items, etc. gained during play to absent players.
• Save the fudge for the Jersey shore (sorry, colloquial joke)! Seriously, though, there will be no dice fudging. If PCs die, they die. New characters start at the same level as the dead character, but at the minimum XP for that level. The rest of the PCs in the party must decide what to do with the dead character's remains and personal effects.

The campaign takes place in the Forgotten Realms, and starts in the fall of the year 1489 Dalereckoning (in the ninth month, Eleint/The Fading). The party has come together at some point in the recent past, as they were all adventurers in the Sword Coast region. They’ve probably been together as a group for about six months, or at least long enough to have developed some semblance of group cohesion and mutual trust. The events of their meeting and prior adventuring are up to them to elaborate as they see fit. They can elaborate as much or as little as they want on their shared and individual backgrounds. 

The PCs are travelling north from their unspecified prior adventures along the Sword Coast. They are headed for Icewind Dale, because there are growing rumors of a supernatural cold settling over the region. One of the PCs, the barbarian Varhauth, is of the Wolf Tribe of the Reghedmen, and he seeks to discover the fate of his people. Also, there are rumors that the people of Ten Towns are eager for brave and capable souls to help free them from the strange supernatural power that has engulfed the region in unrelenting cold. It is said the Ten Towns folk pay handsomely for those who will aid them.

This post will be updated as needed during the campaign. I'll be posting session recaps as well!