A Brief Introduction
Welcome to Arendor, a land cooked inside my beefstew brain because I wanted my own world.
To the east, you'll find Aethoria, a prosperous land of thinkers and inventors run by a gifted King. To the north, Brakkar Hold, a land of rugged individual tribes that represents itself at the Council of Stonemantle. In the center, Valestria, a stricken land damaged by the War of Shadows. Far to the west, Cragmoor, a nation of miners and craftsmen. Below Dawnhold, the historical meeting place of the great nations, lies Zephyria, with vast deserts and lush oases. Various Island chains dot the exterior of Thallindor, the main continent. Arendor does not have "planes"; rather, it features Divine Realms, often called Veils, each of which is as large as a plane and is functionally identical.
Your character heralds as one of the great warriors of your region, either as a champion, a great warrior of renown, infamous for their skill, or any other great feat of your choosing.
Each character must be from a separate region.
Regardless of how you achieved your past victories, your character has now been summoned by their nation to Dawnhold for an emergency joint meeting. It seems something has gone wrong in the Shattered Vale, the source of the corruption of Valestria. A combined force is necessary to combat the threat. The Heart of Narthos has vanished, leaving only pulsing darkness where it once rested.
The threat to Arendor cannot be overstated- If the Heart of Narthos is used once more, a new War of Shadows could ravage the continent.
"Hear me, warriors of Thallindor! Whether you hail from the verdant fields of Aethoria, the rugged heights of Brakkar Hold, the battle-worn landscapes of Valestria, the stone-heartened lands of Cragmoor, or the desert expanses of Zephyria. Whether you are a champion known by all or an unseen hero protecting your kin from the shadows, your time has come.
Your deeds have echoed throughout your homeland, and now they shall reverberate throughout all of Thallindor. Each of you, by merit of your skill and valor, have been chosen to stand in defense of not just your home, but all homes in our shared lands.
Look to the Shattered Vale. Once a blight upon Valestria, it is now a harbinger of a doom that threatens us all. The Heart of Narthos has vanished, and in its place, an unrelenting darkness grows. Should this dread relic be taken into the grasp of the nefarious, we may witness the dawning of a Second War of Shadows—an abyssal calamity from which the realm of Arendor may never again emerge to see the light of hope.
Today, we unite not as separate nations, but as a singular force under the fortress of Dawnhold. Each of us a strand, interwoven to form an unbreakable shield against the impending darkness. Stand ready, warriors of Thallindor. This is our moment. Let us act not just for victory, but for the very soul of Arendor. To Dawnhold! For Thallindor!"
— The Primarch
Character Creation
Each character starts at level 11 and is granted the following GP and
common items:
- 500 GP
- One 10th level item
- Two 9th level items
- One 8th level item
- Two 7th level items
One of these items may be uncommon if your character backstory supports its acquisition.
The GP may be used to purchase any common consumables or other common items at or below level 10. Any remaining GP is kept as coinage. A single item must always be the baseline item, so all runes must be taken individually or purchased. To have an item be made of a precious material, you must pay for the precious material separately. Runes may come preattached to armor/weapons. You can also trade down item levels- for example, exchanging a level 9 starting item for a level 8 starting item or exchanging a level 10 starting item for a level 9 starting item.
Your character also starts with the regional language of their nation, in addition to any other languages gained normally. Something to keep in mind is that "Common", as it is known, is actually Thorian, the language spoken by Aethoria during the War of Shadows. Thorian spread across all of Thallindor during the war, becoming a "Common" language. However, not everyone speaks Thorian. In modern times roughly 40% of Thallindor's civilized people speak Thorian. Even the Aethorians themselves have moved on to a more developed language known as High Common, which was named after "Common" since it was more known by that name than "Thorian".
Uncommon/Rare character options must be approved. You can have a maximum of 2 uncommon/rare character options at character creation, not including the option for an uncommon starting item or your ancestry selection. You can, however, earn uncommon/rare options through actions in game. This includes feats for previous levels, which can be retrained into an uncommon/rare feat if you've taken action in game to earn it.
Any uncommon or rare selection must also be thoroughly explored in your backstory.
Each character may utilize the free archetype variant rule. Free archetypes should also be included in your backstory.
See here.
A backstory, however long or brief, is mandatory. Feel free to take creative liberty with the nation or region your character heralds from- Nothing is set in stone. Additionally, many of the prereqs for PF2E simply do not exist in Arendor, and as such, must be translated to the world. For instance, Knights of Lastwall could instead become Knights of Dawnhold.
One such example of acceptable creative liberty: I want to be a Gnoll who leads the majority of Gnolls in Valestria. I have amassed a large village of mostly Gnolls that I lead. As Chieftan, they have granted me the Sword of Uncommon Rarity, a powerful relic of my people.
It is also highly encouraged that you, at the bare minimum, learn the lore of your home nation as well as a god or two. There are five nations, with 15 total gods. Nine of the gods form the Luminaric Pantheon, while the remaining six form the Umbraric Pantheon. The grouping came about during the first Pact of the Pantheon, which organized the deities of light and dark domains and set the rules for interacting with the mortal realm.
Your nations page will include the most common races, creatures, religions, and creature types for the region.
Finally, feel free to DM me or ask in the discord with any questions regarding the world, lore, or rules.
Things Your Character Probably Knows
Creature types (abberation, celestial, undead, etc).
The major landmarks for their region
The metropolises and cities of their region, as well as the metropolises of the world at large
The adventuring party Saviors of Eldersfield
The names and basic knowledge of the various third party factions of the world
The names and domains of the gods of the world
The government and leadership of their region
Major timeline events (ie, wars, pacts, era events)
Currencies and laws of their region
Detailed knowledge of the city/town/village they're from
Probably some other things, this list isn't exhaustive.
The Calendar
How to Tell the Time
Scholars and the well educated break the dates up into their respective eras, starting with the Age of Dawn (AD), then the Age of Kingdoms (AK), followed by the Age of Recovery (AR), finally ending with the Age of Enlightenment (AE). Commoners and laymen typically utilize Common Time (CT). The year at the start of the game is 635 AE, or 2635 CT.
Months
Jarnus (January)
Ferbura (February)
Marmos (March)
Appril (April)
Maida (May)
Jundar (June)
Julsun (July)
Augmire (August)
Septryn (September)
Octaevor (October)
Noventor (November)
Dectaran (December)
Days of the Week:
Selenday (Sunday)
Morday (Monday)
Tyrsday (Tuesday)
Wothysday (Wednesday)
Thalsday (Thursday)
Freiday (Friday)
Saturday (Saturday)
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