Factions of the Sword Coast
The Sword Coast has no single ruler. Power is fragmented between city-states, merchant lords, secret societies, and ancient orders. These factions shape events from the shadows, through diplomacy, espionage, trade, and sometimes force.
As adventurers, your actions will draw their attention. You may find allies, employers, or enemies among them.
The Lord’s Alliance
“Order, Civilization, and Prosperity”
A coalition of the rulers and powerful merchants of the major cities of the North—including Waterdeep, Neverwinter, and Baldur’s Gate. The Alliance works to ensure the safety and prosperity of civilization by promoting trade, rooting out threats, and securing borders.
Who They Are: Ambassadors, city guards, sanctioned mercenaries, and influential nobles. Public Goals: Secure trade routes, destroy monstrous threats, and strengthen lawful governance. Reputation: The establishment. Respected, sometimes feared. They represent the “civilized” power of the cities. Likely to: Hire adventurers to clear bandits from a road, investigate threats to a member city, or recover artifacts that could destabilize the region.
The Order of the Gauntlet
“Evil Must Be Purged With Unflinching Courage”
A devout and militant order of knights, paladins, clerics, and warriors who dedicate their lives to smiting evil wherever it lurks. They are the shield of the innocent and the hammer against darkness.
Who They Are: Zealous warriors, templars, and holy champions. Public Goals: Hunt monsters, destroy cults, protect the weak, and stand as a bastion against chaotic evil. Reputation: Uncompromising, brave, and sometimes rigid or fanatical. Common folk feel safer with them around, but clever villains know to hide from their gaze. Likely to: Recruit brave souls to assault a demon-worshiping cult, defend a village from undead, or hunt a notorious monster.
The Emerald Enclave
“The Balance of Nature Must Be Preserved”
A widespread group of druids, rangers, and nature-worshipers who see themselves as the guardians of the wild places. They are less concerned with the politics of cities and more with ensuring the natural world survives—and that civilization does not overreach.
Who They Are: Druids living in sacred groves, rangers patrolling the deep woods, and hermits who speak for the land. Public Goals: Protect ancient forests, cleanse corrupted lands, ensure balance between civilization and the wild, and keep apocalyptic natural forces in check. Reputation: Mysterious, in tune with the elements, and often dismissive of city life. Respected by frontiersmen, misunderstood by urban dwellers. Likely to: Seek aid to cleanse a blighted forest, stop loggers from violating a sacred grove, or deal with a rampaging elemental force.
The Harpers
“Knowledge, Freedom, and Benevolence”
A secretive, decentralized network of spies, informants, and idealists. They work against tyrants, thwart evil plots, and preserve historical knowledge, all from the shadows. Few know their true numbers or full plans.
Who They Are: Bards, scholars, rogueish agents, and anyone who believes in subtle action for the greater good. Public Goals: Unknown to most. To those who know of them, they are whispered to be keepers of lore and a check on absolute power. Reputation: A myth to some, a quiet hope to others. They are not a public organization; you don’t join the Harpers—they find you. Likely to: Quietly enlist someone to retrieve a dangerous tome before it falls into the wrong hands, uncover a noble’s treasonous plot, or pass along a vital piece of information at the right moment.
The Zhentarim
“Power Through Wealth and Influence”
Often called the Black Network, the Zhentarim are a ruthless mercantile and mercenary organization. They seek to amass wealth, control trade, and wield power wherever opportunity exists—law be damned.
Who They Are: Mercenaries, caravan masters, black marketeers, and ambitious opportunists. Public Goals: Openly, they are a legitimate mercenary company and trading consortium. Their darker aims—monopoly, coercion, and domination—are an open secret. Reputation: Feared and useful. If you need something done cheaply and don’t mind getting your hands dirty, you talk to the Zhents. They are not trusted, but they are often tolerated for their efficiency and reach. Likely to: Hire muscle to protect a valuable (or illegal) caravan, strong-arm a business rival, or acquire a dangerous artifact for a client… or for their own vaults.
How This Affects You
In the frontier towns and wilds of the Sword Coast, faction influence is often subtle but real. A local shopkeeper might be a Harper informant. The captain of the militia might fly the banner of the Order of the Gauntlet. A merchant’s guard might secretly wear the Zhentarim sigil.
Your choices—who you help, who you cross, what deeds you become known for—will determine how these powerful groups see you. An ally in one faction could be an enemy to another.
Choose your reputation carefully.
Next: Learn about your destination, the frontier settlement of Phandalin, or revisit the broader history of the Sword Coast.