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''Moonshae'' is an accessory for the ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
'' ''
Forgotten Realms ''Forgotten Realms'' is a campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game. Commonly referred to by players and game designers as "The Realms", it was created by game designer Ed Greenwood around 1967 as a setti ...
''
campaign setting A campaign setting is a setting for a tabletop role-playing game or wargame campaign. Most campaign settings are fictional worlds; however, some are historical or contemporary real-world locations. A '' campaign'' is a series of individual adve ...
. It describes the Moonshae Isles of
Faerûn Faerûn ( ) is a fictional continent and the primary setting of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' world of ''Forgotten Realms''. It is described in detail in several editions of the ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting'' (first published in 1987 by TSR, I ...
.


Contents

''Moonshae'' is a supplement which details the
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
-inspired islands in the Sea of Moonshae, setting for the novel '' Darkwalker on Moonshae'' and its sequels by Doug Niles, describing the climate, topography, and economy of the region, including the Korinn Archipelago, which was created by
Aaron Allston Aaron Dale Allston (December 8, 1960 – February 27, 2014) was an American game designer and author of many science fiction books, notably ''Star Wars'' novels. His works as a game designer include game supplements for role-playing games, sev ...
and first detailed in the module N4 '' Treasure Hunt''. Allston, Aaron. '' Treasure Hunt'' ( TSR, 1986) It also details two regional cultures and their lands: the indigenous people known as the Ffolk, and the invading Northmen. The book discusses the character races, character classes, politics, conflicts, geography, and economics within the Moonshaes. The islands are home to the Ffolk, a druidic people who worship the Earthmother, a neutrally aligned aspect of Chauntea, the neutral-good goddess of agriculture. The Ffolk share the Moonshaes with the Northmen, a strong, warlike race of raiders who hail from the lands north of Waterdeep. Conflicts frequently erupt between the two races, as the Northmen expand their holdings on the Moonshaes at the expense of the Ffolk. Magic-users are viewed with suspicion by both groups. The Moonshaes are also home to marauding firbolgs, orcs,
goblins A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous humanoid creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances dep ...
,
trolls A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human be ...
, and other more dangerous monsters. The book next describes the major supernatural entities which exist in the countryside and seas. The most important of these is the Earthmother. She gives life and vitality to the land, and her power is manifested in the Moonwells. The Moonwells are pools of water with the magical power to cure the wounds of those who strive to maintain the "mystic balance", and are tended by druids who can use them to charge or restore charges in magical items. The Earthmother is served by her three immortal children: Leviathan, a huge whale; Kamerynnm, a majestic unicorn; and the Pack, a pack of dire wolves who roam the Isles. They are opposed by the evil Kazgoroth the Beast, who seeks to disrupt the balance and bring corruption to the Isles, aided by its magically created Blood Warriors:
undead The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if they were alive. A common example of an undead being is a cadaver, corpse reanimated by supernatural forces, by the application of either the deceased's o ...
soldiers who obey its every command. Several specific locales of the Moonshaes are also described, from the perspective of Elminster as a tour of the people and places he has visited. The style of presentation is similar to that used in the '' Forgotten Realms Campaign Set''. The 64-page booklet comes wrapped in a removable cover. Included with the book is a fold-out color poster map of the Moonshae Isles, which lie to the west of the main continent of the Forgotten Realms setting. This large color insert has maps of the Moonshae Isles printed on both sides. One side is at a scale of 20 miles per inch, while the reverse is scaled at 30 miles per inch. Both maps contain the same amount of detail, the major difference being that there is less open sea surrounding the 20-miles-per-inch map. One of the maps lines up with the edges of the maps in the '' Forgotten Realms Campaign Set''. Two appendixes explain using the Moonshaes in a campaign and the magical items of the Moonshaes.


Publication history

FR2 ''Moonshae'' was written by
Douglas Niles Douglas Niles (born December 1, 1954, in Brookfield, Wisconsin) is a fantasy author and game designer. Niles was one of the creators of the Dragonlance world and the author of the first three Forgotten Realms novels, the '' Star Frontiers'' spac ...
, with cover art by Tim Hildebrandt and interior illustrations by George Barr, and was published by TSR in 1987. The book features editing by Mike Breault, and cartography by Dave S. LaForce. Shannon Appelcline commented that as role-playing games became supplemented with more background material published in the 1980s, "TSR finally recognized this new direction and made it an industry standard in the late '80s. This wasn't through their publication of the ''Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting'' (1987) — which was a lot like ''The World of Greyhawk'' campaign box that had preceded it — but rather through their release of a string of detailed setting books that began with ''FR1: Waterdeep and the North'' (1987) and ''FR2: Moonshae'' (1987)." In June 2018 Wizards of the Coast working with Baldman Games published
Rising Shadows: Moonshae Isles Regional Guide
' by Shawn Merwin, Robert Alaniz, and Eric Menge. Douglas Niles provided a foreword.


Reception

Jim Bambra Jim Bambra (born 1956)Jim Bambra: Director Summary
Company Check Ltd
is a Briti ...
reviewed ''Moonshae'' for the December issue of ''
Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
'' magazine in 1988. Bambra felt that the physical quality of the supplement was high, although he felt that not all available space was used to its best effect. For example, the inside of the wrap-around cover is blank, as it could have been used to provide village or town maps, or even sample monster lairs. He did feel that maps were also put to good use to graphically depict the extent of Northmen settlements in the Moonshaes, and to show the economies and trade routes of the Isles. Bambra commented on Niles' design of the book: "it's more than just the background and people presented in this supplement that makes ''Moonshae'' a very strong source pack. Doug has written about the Moonshaes in his novels, a situation which means he is very familiar with them as a place where people live, work, and play." He criticized the wandering-monster tables, as "Moonshae is designed as an adventure setting for characters of any level, and yet we have beholders and dragon turtles popping up here and there to devastate low-level adventurers". Bambra found the section called Elminster's Notes to be the most impressive: "Here, the descriptions become very absorbing and vibrant as we follow Elminster on his travels. As well as providing an insight into life in the Moonshaes, we also get a good indication of Elminster's personality and share with him in his discomforts and pleasures." Bambra concludes by saying: "The style of presentation used in ''Moonshae'' is superior to the styles used in the other Forgotten Realms setting supplements ..While not containing as much detailed information as FR1 '' Waterdeep and the North'', Moonshae contains more evocative descriptions and gives a good insight into life in the Isles."


References

{{D&D topics Forgotten Realms sourcebooks Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1987