Campaign Directions

If your group is interested in playing a Moonshae- based campaign, you have many options for where the characters should start, what overall direction the campaign should take, and how to draw the charac¬ters into the deeper plots of the Moonshaes. Some of the adventures in Moonshae are going to be the same regardless of which faction the characters choose to represent: The giants of Oman, the lycanthropes of the Black Blood Tribe, and the pirates hiding in the Korinn Archipelago do not discriminate in who they are willing to attack. As the characters grow in power and come to learn more about the connection between the threats to the Moonshaes and their roots in the Feywild, they might want to adventure on that wondrous but deadly plane as well.
Kendrick Loyalists: The most natural and heroic direction for the campaign would see the characters begin as natives of the Moonshaes, loyal to High King Derid, and sympathetic to the plight of House Ken¬drick. The ultimate goal for such adventurers would be to see Derid's forces regain the lands they had lost. These characters could first come to the attention of advisors and military leaders working for House Ken¬drick, and at the low end of the heroic tier they would be tasked with small-scale missions on Alaron. After proving their skill and loyalty, they could work their way up the notice of the chain of command until they were asked to work for Derid directly.
Northland Blood: Characters who have ties to the sea and to the Northlanders could instead see the Storm Maiden as a more suitable leader for a unified Moonshae. The tenor of the early events following this path would involve sea-based adventures. Just as the Storm Maiden must prove herself among her own people, the characters would have to start with challenges that both advance their cause and prove their worth. When the characters learn of the dual nature and the inner conflict of the Storm Maiden, a major decision point would be in front of the play¬ers and possibly the DM: Will the characters help the Storm Maiden tame her inner tumult, allowing them to leave their imprint on a future leader of the Moon- shae Isles? Or will they treat her as a villain? In the latter case, the DM can turn her into what the charac¬ters see her as, possibly forcing them to rethink their allegiances and fall in with High King Derid after all.
Returned Fey: Another option could see charac¬ters with an affinity for fey backgrounds hail from the returned realm of Sarifal. In that case, the characters might begin the campaign fighting the evil fey of that island. After a few victories, they would trek into the wider world and learn about Moonshae's other conflicts, concentrating on fighting evil and seek¬ing treasure and knowledge. These characters might come to represent Sarifal to the other power groups, and the decisions and actions those characters take reflect on how the high king and the Storm Maiden choose to deal with Sarifal and its occupants.
Snowdown Usurpers: Characters of a mercenary bent could start the campaign as hired soldiers in the employ of Amn. In this case, the first few adventures might involve guarding shipments against attacks from monsters in the hinterlands of Snowdown or raids from pirates or Northlanders on the high seas. At certain intervals throughout the campaign, the characters and the DM would have to decide if the characters were ready to betray their employers and join one of the other power groups. This flexibility would also allow one, some, or all the characters to become double agents.