Train Tuesday P2: The Brains

Today, we’ll share the official name, logo, and starting cast of characters — it’s time to get this hover train DnD content moving!

Last week, we started to lay out our overall plan of attack and put some guardrails around our DnD content plan. We’re big fans of creating an initial outline and then flushing out each connecting piece. This sort of approach really gets us energized (and keeps us focused).

So, let’s start by announcing the official name and tagline of our 3D-printed hover train railway (from Aether Studios)! Our creative team came up with all sorts of fun options, including The Waterdeep Express and The High Mount Hover Rail, but after numerous Discord polls, The Forgotten Rails was the clear winner.

To help you get your map bearings, everything we’re developing revolves around the Sword Coast and Waterdeep (and then sprouting outwards from there). However, all this ongoing, free DnD content will easily fit into your own RPG campaign. We just happen to love this particular 5e setting.

Several names were indeed saved from the cutting room floor. We decided that a few of the runner-up names, including “The Triboar Rail” and “The Icewind Rail,” would be utilized as specific sections of rail lines — but more on that later!

The Forgotten Rails covers the entire Realm, but its first station and set of “tracks” will center around Waterdeep.

This new hover train is a massive breakthrough for the Realm! Commerce flourishes with the right transportation, and Omin Dran of Acquisitions Incorporated knows that’s good for business (and his pockets).

Alas, Omin would love to control every facet of the hover train, but he didn’t invent the technology and can’t push its lucrative expansion across the Sword Coast without a partnership among its pioneering masterminds.

Dran often gets quite frustrated because he has to appease their bickering, paranoia, and idiosyncracies at every turn to protect his own selfish railway interests.

The Forgotten Rails technology is closely guarded. Intentionally, one operator can’t survive without the other. Money keeps the train moving, muscle keeps it from breaking down, and magic powers its engines. If any of those core blocks are disrupted, the hover train comes to a dead halt.

So, let’s introduce our first three railway NPCs. We love the idea that they ultimately need each other for their new precious railroad to flourish, but each colorful individual will have a unique role in our campaign!

Without further ado, The Forgotten Rails founding fathers include:

• a temperamental tycoon (the money)
• a brilliant blacksmith (the muscle)
• a whimsical wizard (the Magic)

They’re nicknamed “3M,” and they just can’t stand each other. However, deep down, each of ’em knows their own place in history won’t be solidified without the other.

First, let’s introduce our shifty financier, Cornelius Fitzwalter. He’s a pudgy human and holds the title of Lord in Waterdeep. He comes from a rich bloodline. Those deep pockets make him responsible for all of The Forgotten Rails’ accounting and expenses.

Lord Fitzwalter carries a British accent and comes off all prim and proper. He dawns a monocle over his right eye – not out of necessity…he just thinks it looks good. Cornelius bores easily, so he’s always buying something new “to play with.”

Next up is our cutting-edge inventor and gears genius, Collis Strutt. He’s a dwarf and is rather rough around the edges. Cyrus is responsible for all things engineering with the hovertrain.

Unlike Cornelius, Collis came from nothing and used his smithy-ness brilliance to rise out of the Waterdeep slums. He speaks with a Scottish accent and has no filter. He also consumes exorbitant amounts of ale and chases the ladies at every turn.

He demands absolute mechanical perfection from his trains and is always looking for ways to make them go faster…and faster…and faster.

And last but not least, we have our peculiar wizard, Leland Farce. He’s Elven, with a tall frame and a way-too-skinny body. He’s an elf of few words, preferring his beloved pet crows over conversing directly with others. Farce is in charge of the hovertrain’s powerful propulsion system.

Little is known about our spellcaster as he is rarely seen in public and prefers to lock himself in a sky-high mage tower overlooking Waterdeep for months at a time. He’s so disgusted by human contact that he often sends his precious crows out as his messenger go-between.

Farce the Mysterious is fiercely protective of his magic but loves testing new theories and spells whenever he can, no matter the danger.

Right now, we’re aggressively printing up all the various hovertrain STLs from Aether Studios’ amazing train series and beginning to assemble all the individual railcar types. You can peek in on the 3D prints progress over at our 24/7-ish Twitch channel.

Next week, we’ll start to flesh out some of the hovertrain mechanics and maybe even discuss the first railcars coming off our Prusa printer!