I don't know when I came up with the concept of the two-sided campaign. I just seem to often come up with game ideas that don't really have any bad guys… just a bunch of good guys, all with different ideas of good. However, this is going to be my notes for the various two-sided campaigns I come up with.

First of all, though, some notes about two-sided gaming. Basically, a two-sided campaign is one that the players can take either side in, without resorting to optional rules or all-evil campaigns. The DM only has to make up one set of notes (with two sets of NPC's) for these campaigns, because the external events are going to be largely the same. Whether you're playing on side A or side B, the NPC's are going to jump the same way to a certain result. For example, if your Group A PC's stop a late night raid, the King of A'dom will have the same reaction as if your Group B PC's botch the same raid. Why? Because they're identical events, viewed from different sides of the battle. I think something like this would be really fun to play as a PBEM, if you could get everyone active and involved, with Group A eventually learning to hate Group B, simply because they're the opposition. Also, these kinds of campaigns tend to be easier on the DM, who can make sure the party has a coherent goal, and is reasonably homogenous in make-up (and thus at the same racial power level), and with a good, campaign-oriented reason for doing so.

As a note, most of these campaigns (and all of them, at first) will be designed around Wizards of the Coast's Forgotten Realms campaign setting, and for the D&D rules. There are, of course, more options, but those will develop more slowly.

The Year of Wild Magic (1372) has severely destabilized both the Mythal on Myth Drannor and the magical defenses on Evermeet (as well as several other, unrelated, problems). Whereas the Mythal simply started to decay, the elves had been actively maintaining the defensive magics around Evermeet throughout the year, so they were all misfiring... and there were some things the elves really didn't want going off at random. So, by the Year of the Risen Elfkin (1375), the elves are reversing the Retreat, and are moving into old Cormanthyr. A sizable faction, with great political power, is pushing to reestablish the old borders, which would wipe Sembia off the map and push the Dalelanders all the way to Tilverton.

Normally, this would quickly be solved through the intervention of the Dirty Old Mage. However, Elminster disappeared in the Year of the Unstrung Harp (1371) due a conflict within the Harpers, that resulted in that group's loss of a central authority (in my version, a powerful Doppelganger Wizard had infiltrated the higher ranks of the Harpers, murdering several leaders before it was discovered. Elminster disappeared while fighting it, and has not been seen since. He is feared dead… again). Since no one else really commands his level of respect from the elves, and the political pressure from the hard-line factions is great, the war will likely roll ahead.

Right now, all that stands between the humans and being driven from their homes are the brave people of Hillsafar, Cormyr, and Sembia, though they don't yet know the extent of the Elven Menace.

Alternatively, if the players wanted to be elves, many things stand in the way of an Elven homeland. The humans who had encroached upon the land in violation of the Treaty of the Standing Stone (since they have cleared the traditional boundaries of the forests and moved inward) are a minor nuisance, since they aren't militarily inclined. The demonic forces are only slowly being driven out of Drannor (it's Mythal is rapidly degrading, and the elves are actively working to destroy it). The humanoids, which the humans have allowed to gain a foothold in the forest, might prove to be a pernicious problem, however, because they breed so rapidly and are difficult to completely wipe out. Lastly, the interfering human nations who are trying to take away the rightful elven homeland might prove a problem, once the campaign really begins.

Racially, the humans are finding allies in the dwarves, as well as other nations, long considered foes (such as the repressive Hillsafar). The elves are finding that the centaurs are staunch allies and some gnomes and tallfellow halflings are rallying to their cause, as well. Also, some few drow, allied to the Goddess Eilistraee, are being allowed to serve in the elven armies for night-raids and underground operations. In general, though, neither gnome nor halfling is committed to one side or the other, usually having friends on either side (of course, this means they are alternately courted and demonized by both sides). Half-elves are completely stuck… neither side trusts them, and a substantial number (including the High Dale) have gone rogue… they're fighting both sides, trying to establish their own homeland, separate from both elven and human lands.

Class-wise, it's a fairly even split, except where the Druids are concerned. Many are human or half-elven, but their sympathies tend to lie more with the low-impact elves, rather than the humans. However, they're not terribly strong allies, since they also oppose some of the elven plans for the forests (such as the extermination of all the humanoids, which are now part of the ecology). And, of course, those elves allied with human deities are finding themselves in something of a religious crunch… their churches are usually supporting the human effort, but do they really wish to join the drow in infamy, as being dragged down by the ambitions of a god?

Basically, it's a case of who do you want to play: the Humans/Palestinians, or the Elves/Jews? Heck, it's been 50 years (one human lifetime) since Israel was created... this war is gonna last a _long_ time...

In this scenario, the Kingdom of Cormyr is beginning their campaign to drain the massive Vast Swamp, and turn it into farm and pastureland. To the House Oskabyrr and their allies within the faiths of Chauntea, Tyr, and Helm, this is highly desirable… land that is currently under minimal cultivation, and provides a home for bandits and a route for invading armies can be made profitable and safe. Clearly, draining the swamp will increase the production of Cormyrean agriculture, increasing their share against the Western Heartlands (and they'll be cheaper along the Sea of Fallen Stars, because of easier shipping and more secure lands less subject to raids).

Unfortunately, the Druids of Silvanus and Eldath do not see it this way. The swamp is wild, true, but it is a natural wildness, and a healthy ecosystem, which pleases Silvanus, while Eldath is fond of some of the quiet pools, and the sense of peaceful solitude that will sometimes come upon one in the swamp. In addition, there are the fenmen… humans, half-elves, as well as some gnomes and halflings... who have for generations made their homes within the swamps. They make their livings with some limited agriculture, fowling and egg hunting, as well as collecting and selling reeds. Generally, these are a rougher breed of people, living off the land, and trading for what they need with the more civilized folk of Cormyr proper.

Legally, House Oskabyrr has owned the Vast Swamp for many years, but has done nothing to exploit it. Thus, the fenmen are claiming it is theirs by right of use, and that Cormyr has no right to drain the land and give it to others. Both sides are making noises, and the military fight will be nasty enough. The truly nasty fight, however, I brewing within the local Druid Circles, which often contain a mix of Chauntean, Silvanian, and Eldathian Druids. While their philosophies generally concur, the conflict is growing, especially between the Chaunteans and the Silvanians. To make matters worse, the Chaunteans refuse to allow the Eldathians to intervene… despite their adherence to peace and desire to avoid a conflict within the organization if they can, the Chaunteans know full well the preferences of the Eldathians, and consider them too biased to be effective mediators. Also, the usual mediators that would be called up are the Church of Tyr, who neither the Silvanians or Eldathians will accept, as they have often expressed in court a desire to "Drain the foul swamps and drive the brigands who inhabit it to court, then to the gibbet." So, on top of the secular conflict, there is a brewing religious war.

Racially, each side is a mixed bag. Dwarves are in much lower populations amongst the fenmen, probably no more than a handful, because they don't deal as well with the water (gnomes and halflings, though similarly stout, generally are also more agile, and can avoid many of the problems that dwarves have). On the other hand, many half-humans live within the swamp, such as half-orcs, half-ogres, and half-elves. Since they are distrusted by humans, and not all are willing (or able) to live in their other parent's society, many flee into the more accepting arms of the swamp-folk. Full-blooded elves are especially rare, since they have no set place in Cormyrean society.

In class terms, the people of Cormyr will have much more in the way of Paladins, Clerics, and Wizards. These will be met, however, by a population with a higher percentage of "classed" individuals, as their more rugged lifestyle demands more advanced skills. Many of the fen-folk are rangers and fighters, and are often ministered to by Druids and Shamans, and some few wizards make their homes in the fens (and others will defend it as a source of rare components). Also, the fens breed a particular kind of rogue, one who is more like a ranger than a cat burglar, and they also tend to have less scruples about taking down an important enemy leader in the night.