The campaign begins with a one-shot adventure, taking place 10 years before the main campaign.

The players are to be divided into two groups. One group will be good-aligned, the other evil-aligned. A basic suite of gear will be provided, with an extra amount of gold usable for purchasing specific items. These characters will also be given major and minor artifacts to be used during the adventure. The adventure should be about 2 or 3 encounters. The good group (Party A) will be coming from one direction while the evil group (Party B) will be coming from the opposite direction. After beating their respective encounters, the parties will converge on a central location and fight each other and an advanced (or, more likely, templated) Ha-naga over an ancient artifact that will tip the battle outside in favor of their chosen alignment.

Character creation:
ECL 25. Large or smaller. No more than 1 outsider (extraplanar) per party. No deathless, no awakened animals, no characters reincarnated as animals, no characters in constant polymorphed form, no leadership chains, no followers, no mounts above large size (or huge if your own character is large), no stacking templates without explicit approval. You are allowed access to all MMs, each Races of book, the Complete splatbooks, Libris Mortis, Lords of Madness, Fiend Folio, ELH (obviously), Dungeonscape, and some 3rd-party books that will be provided to you. XPH/BoVD/BoED/Sandstorm/stormwrack/frostburn material must be reviewed and accepted on a case-by-case basis. Gear templates: Here are some packages to save you shopping time. Choose one. You can trade up to two of the items listed for cash at full price in order to buy a similar item (i.e. trading the robe of the archmagi for a robe of stars and 17,000 gp). Package 1 (228,000): Belt of [ability] +6, +8 weapon (including special effects), +8 armor, +4 shield, Package 2 (229,000): Belt of [ability] +6, +8 weapon (including special effects), +9 armor, Package 3 (229,000): Headband of [ability] +6, +5 weapon (including enhancements, if any), Robe of the archmagi, Bracers of armor +8, Ring of arcane might, Package 4 (24,550): Headband of [ability] +6, +8 armor, +4 shield, +5 weapon (including special effects), Greater elemental gem (greater elemental, CL 13, 4550 gp).

A note on character concepts:

The characters you make for this adventure will become important canonical fixtures of the campaign setting. With this power over the history of the setting, I am laying some ground rules so that you can use this authority responsibly. Try not to be a clone, or a similarly shoddy copy of someone elses protagonist. I would like this world to be a special place with original or close-to-original characters. To clarify: Concept The White Wizard Gandalf (aasimar mystic theurge with quarterstaff) Bad. Like Gandalf, but with a club instead of a quarterstaff Still Bad. As above, except a gnome or dwarf Better. As above, except warmage build and armor Much better. As above, except doesnt multiclass Acceptable. As above, except takes feat trees related to destroying a creature type, and backstory explaining this motivation Good.

As above, except race is exotic, like rhonian or spellscale -Great! Likewise, Drizzt is better left in FR games, but if you play an dual-axe-wielding orc with a similar abilities and backstory, hes a unique portrayal of an archetype. Got it?

Good guys: Be creative with your character concept. Classical heroes are a solid archetype, but
dont be afraid to try and go for something that will make this world feel unique. Give your real PCs something to compare themselves to, and to aspire to. Some ideas to spur your imagination: Goliath monk Halfling ninja Clockwork ranger Hound archon paladin Darfellan barbarian Dover druid Pixie war mage Rhonian bard or rogue Human Werebear knight

Bad guys: Make a real bastard of a villain, the kind who could stand as the end boss of a normal
campaign. Feel free to be creative with character concepts, but try not to be ridiculous. Some ideas to spur your imagination: Minotaur barbarian/blackguard Mind-flayer bard Human necromancer-lich Troglodyte cleric Valco swashbuckler/dread pirate Goblin scout/ranger Half-dragon Nightmare beguiler Illumian binder/warlock Drow fighter/ranger/master of pain