Situated near the Sword Coast, the Nether Mountains have long been haven for dark forces. It is the legendary home of the Morueme dragon-clutch, and many clans of savage humanoids that pay them homage. It is perhaps no wonder that it is now the site of much conflict, as the outer world presses in upon the domain of the dragons.
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| Base Campaign Map |
From Shadowtop Cathedral all the way to Nether Peak on the eastern side of the mountains, an ominous gloom has fallen across the land. The dragons and their minions are on the move, and they have even formed alliances with dragons from across Faerun. Now, they marshal their armies and prepare to lay waste the domain of the Free Folk.
The targets of the dragon's march from Nether Peak will be Jalanthar and several other communities, including Newfort. Most importantly, the dragons must rid themselves of the troublesome presence of goodly folk of the Emerald Enclave at Shadowtop Cathedral. Once these marks of civilization have been cast down and burned to ash, a new kingdom ruled by dragons shall emerge.
The Cult of the Dragon is at the forefront of this operation. The cult's agents sought out the most wicked of dragons across the land to deliver a message - join in the Morueme's conquest in the north and share in the spoils. Of course not all the agents returned successful (or at all) from entreating with the evil dragons, but a great many of those dragons (and other fantastic beasts) have arrived to take part in the promised slaughter.
The Zhentarim, for their part, have been skeptical but remain willing to help. In exchange for pittances from the dragon's substantial hoard, they have deployed agents and mercenaries all around the countryside. When the war horns sound, they will be ready to assist the forces of the dragons. As always, the Zhentarim hope to profit in the new 'political' landscape.
The Harpers, ever with their ears to the ground, have been following the developing preparedness of the Zhentarim with alarm. Eventually their agents traced the activity back to the plans of a red dragon who was not known to be active in the area, and exposed the Cult's operations. Quickly as they could, the Harpers marshalled together what forces they could. Knowing that Shadowtop Cathedral would be the ultimate target of the incursion, the Harpers marched to aid the Emerald Enclave.
The Emerald Enclave has been preparing for this war for some time. They knew the signs, and had watched the dragons for many long years. Once the Zhentarim began to mobilize, they knew the time was nigh. War is near, and the Enclave stands far more ready than most.
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| You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you? |
The campaign map shows several bases the various factions control throughout the Nether Mountain region. The ultimate goal of the campaign is to destroy all the opposing faction's bases while maintaining control of your own. Each of the two opposing sides have eleven bases to begin with, and the first side to lose all their bases to their opponent's attacks lose the campaign.
Campaign play proceeds in a set of turns. Each campaign turn, the players on each team decide where on the enemy map they will attack next. Each specific base has it's own rules on which games will be played and the specific scenario. If the attacker wins, that scenario is considered cleared. Once all the scenarios associated with a base have been cleared by an attack, that base is destroyed. The scenarios on each base must be played in numbered order.
An attack is considered 'in progress' until the attacker is halted by the defender. Therefore, you can clear a base in a single attack if you win all the scenarios and 'clear' it. Once all games associated with the campaign turn's attacks, a new campaign turn will begin.
The bases themselves are ordered into tiers. All bases on the lower tiers must be cleared before an attack may be declared on a higher tier. Each scenario will be fully described in further sections, and will be linked below when updates are made.
Evil Forces of the Zhentarim and the Cult of the Dragon
Tier 1 - Outposts
Tier 4 - Fortress
Tier 4 - Fortress
The campaign will make use of several different rulesets, each of which will be laid out in the scenario. D&D Attack Wing and the D&D Miniatures Handbook (3rd Edition) will be used as the basis for many of the battles. However, several different rulesets could be used by enterprising hobbyists such as Battlesystem Skirmish for AD&D 2nd Edition (we'll get there) or perhaps using Kings of War for mass battles. Any additions to this list made during development will be updated here.
Battles begin 6/10/2018, so prepare your forces for battle. Join the Zhents, the Cult, the Enclave or the Harpers. Stats and release information on Wizards of the Coast miniatures can be found at this site, but we will be using similarly equipped models from our massive collection as stand-ins for certain models. Furthermore, the use of the combat grid will not be used for Miniatures Skirmish when using the D&D Miniatures Handbook, and the game will instead be treated as a normal miniature battle game.
Campaign Scoring
At the end of the campaign, determine the amount of remaining bases the victorious faction has. Count any base if it is not cleared by the enemy. Find the Campaign Narrative level from this score, and then compare it to the Victory tables on the Fortress scenarios. We'll then have a narrative to start our next Sword Coast campaign in!
- Outposts are 4 Campaign Points each.
- Bastions are 3 Campaign Points each.
- Strongholds are 2 Campaign Points each.
- The Fortress is worth 1 Campaign Point.
| Total Points | Campaign Narrative |
|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | Narrow Victory... |
| 5 to 11 | Victory! |
| 12-18 | Total Victory! |
| 19 to 26 | Heroic Victory! |
| 27+ | Victorious Domination! |
