Moonstone Campaigns
Our new Campaign Deck is now available to order, containing Upgrade and Campaign Cards for all Factions (including Shades). This means you can enjoy Campaign-play with your gaming buddies, or add something different to your usual games.
But what does that mean and why should you bother with a campaign? Let’s take a look at the rules first:
Upgrade & Campaign Cards
Upgrade Cards are attached to your characters to add abilities and bonuses, such as allowing other nearby friendly characters to use their Signature Moves, or +1 Arcane / Melee when a particular keyword is nearby. These cards, which remain attached to a character throughout the Campaign, give a sense of character progression.
Campaign Cards are one-off powerful effects that are kept secret to be revealed during play. When used, they often swing the momentum of the game in your favour such as through dramatic shock tactics or an ongoing bonus affecting your entire troupe.
Both Upgrade and Campaign Cards add a new dimension to list building and gameplay, which players may agree to explore during casual games too.
Campaign Rules Overview
Campaigns are a series of linked games. During Campaigns each player represents an Elrich (aka Wizard) residing in the Tower of Grommel. The Elrich are attempting to amass as much power as possible for themselves, in part by collecting the most moonstones but also plotting with their fellow Elrich.
One player is declared the Wizard Chamberlain, who will take part but also has the additional administrative duties to make sure the Campaign runs smoothly. The Wizard Chamberlain is responsible for organising the schedule and making sure players take part equally between games (over WhatsApp, Discord, or similar). The Wizard Chamberlain should also set the Game Size (we recommend 6 characters in 2-player games).
When setting up a Campaign Game, players choose Campaign Cards and Upgrade Cards depending on the stage they’re at in the Campaign and the success (or not!) they’ve had in the Machinations Phase.
The Machinations Phase happens between scheduled games and allows you to secretly Support or Sabotage other players (up to two). The results of the game and Machinations Phase is combined to identify the winner of the Campaign.
For more details, grab a copy of The Arising from our webstore and you’ll have access to the full ruleset for Campaign play.
Real Stories!
We think Campaigns are a really fun format, giving you a slightly different Moonstone experience while also encouraging you to interact as players.
But don’t take our word for it, we’ve got plenty of stories, piccies and videos to share of other folks enjoying this format.
Warriors Table Wargaming
A couple of years ago Warriors Table Wargaming (then T&G Productions) ran an entire Moonstone Campaign via their YouTube channel. They invited people to take part in the Machinations and shared their batreps. It’s a fun series to watch, whether you want to run a Campaign or not!
‘A Teacake’s Tale’ in Scotland
The folks at Common Ground Games have run two narrative events in Stirling (Scotland), using their own variation on the campaign mechanics (which is simplified for 3 rounds over a single day).
Iain, who organises the events and created the rules said:
“Sabotage & Support really bring people into the game through the day and result in deal making/breaking, general shenanigans and lots of laughter. Each time, the overall winner hadn't actually won a single game on the day, but was the most supported player through the day. We let everyone choose 1 Upgrade and 2 Campaign cards (only Faction specific, no Elritch). How many they get to use in each round is based on Support or Sabotage votes. The most supported players bribed people with teacakes on each occasion (gamers vote with their stomachs!), and on the second occasion, the most sabotaged was voted down by his club mates in the last round as they all turned on him!”
Iain has kindly shared the event pack for the two Campaign Event Days he ran, which you’re welcome to use if you’d like to run your own event:
‘The Great Eclipse’ in Besançon, France
Five players started a campaign a few weeks ago in Besançon, France, which should last up until the autumn equinox. We’ve got some photos to share already of the five troupes in action: Dominion Humans, Dominion Pirate Goblins, Gnomes, Witches and Fauns, Risen.
‘Become Keeper of the Stones’ in Houston, Texas
Below is a battle report from a recent Campaign to ‘Become Keeper of Stones’ in Houston, Texas, run by Randall Miller. One of the platers, William Tyler, said of the Campaign:
“I really love the scheming that occurs during the Machination periods. We had a lot of new guys but it was easy for them to get the hang of it and they ended up being just as horrible back stabbers as I was! Truthfully between the Machination weeks, the Campaign card upgrades, and just the overall ruleset like the supports/sabotage and the attack/abduction, Moonstone has to have the best campaign system. It is hilariously fun.
“For example, I bartered with someone to Abduct my opponent’s Belladona. I also made many promises to do a Nefarious Bargain with many people in return for the same. Of course I did not keep my end of the bargain! I was definately trying to scheme. Karma hit me in the third week when my Mortician got Abducted for 3 weeks, which in turn rendered my Jobie useless! It is so fun even when losing.”
EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT...
A Tauber Times Exclusive
The Elrich have entered into a brutal competition with the goal of becoming the sole Keeper of Stones. Rumor has it that Lichen Da'Nightfungus is back to his old scheming ways and has bartered with the Goblin King to engage in a battle with Queen Diana and her Faeries. He played into the uneasy tension between the two rulers. Especially, after Diana told the Goblin King that Scissors beat Paper during a heated match of Rock, Paper, Scissors. The Goblin King believes this to be fairy lies and is ready for war.
The Elrich instigated this by telling the Goblin King that the fairy cheated him because there is no possible way that Paper can be cut by Scissors. This infuriated the Goblin King even more, leading to the battle in which the Goblin King ordered his troupe (consisting of himself, Portly Pete, Doug, Jobie, The Mortician, and The Tax Collector) to find this so called “mystical pair of scissors” that are able to cut through paper and, of course, steal all of the moonstones for their Elrich, Lichen Da Nightfungus
It was a bloody battle in which the Goblins obtained three moonstones to the Faeries’ two. The Goblins found all kinds of ways to cheat the cheating insect. They placed decoys on the field and even learned some Ninja Reactions to obtain moonstones. But due to Diana's Noble Birthright, any damage the goblins tried to inflict on her, she selfishly deflected to her underlings - sacrificing them instead. Even though all seemed lost, Diana learned to keep her robes clean and concealed her secret weapon. After the battle Diana pulled out a pair of Scissors that was hidden and proceeded to cut through a lonely piece of paper that traveled to the battlefied like a leaf flying in the wind. Across the battled, the Goblin King and be screaming defeated "NOOOO", as he watched this evil act of paper cutting play out. With this heroic and overly dramatic cut, Diana showed that even though she did not get more moonstones, she was the only noble who proved her point - gaining her 1 VP and resulting in a tie.
