Harpers

The Harpers is a scattered network of spellcasters and spies who advocate equality and covertly oppose the abuse of power. The organization is benevolent, knowledgeable, and secretive. Bards and wizards of good alignments are commonly drawn to the Harpers.

Beliefs

• One can never have too much information or arcane knowledge.

• Too much power leads to corruption. The abuse of magic must be closely monitored.

• No one should be powerless

Harper agents are trained to act alone and rely on their own resources. When they get into scrapes, they don’t count on their fellow Harpers to rescue them. Nevertheless, Harpers are dedicated to helping one another in times of need, and friendships between Harpers are nigh unbreakable. Masterful spies and infiltrators, they use various guises and secret identities to form relationships, cultivate their information networks, and manipulate others into doing what needs to be done. Although most Harpers prefer to operate in the shadows, there are exceptions.

Structure

Harper Advancement

Rank	Renown	Other Requirements
1 - Watcher	0	None
2 - Harpshadow	3	None
3 - Brightcandle	10	5th level, 1 secret mission
4 - Wise Owl	25	11th level, 3 secret missions
5 - High Harper	50	17th level, 10 secret missions

Rank 1 - Watcher

This is the rank your character receives when first joining a faction. It is available at character creation or any time the character wishes to join.

Participate in Faction Activities

You can participate in any activities that are considered specific to your faction.

Earn Renown

You earn renown points in your faction and advance in rank.

Faction Assignments

As an Initiate, you are eligible to take on faction assignments during adventures. (These are minor side quests found in many D&D Adventurers League adventures.)

Receive Your Faction’s Insignia

You receive an insignia of your faction, fashioned into a wearable or held item.
Fraction Insignias - Pin

Rank 2 - Harpshadow

You have shown that they’re aligned with the Harper's goals and can take on more responsibility.

Secret Missions

During certain adventures, you may be given the opportunity to undergo a secret mission on behalf of the Harpers. Completion of these missions might earn you additional benefits or enable you to advance to higher ranks within the ranks.

Apprenticeship to an Adventurer Mentor

Your character can serve as an apprentice to a higher-ranking adventurer from within your faction. See the Apprentice-Mentor Benefits section, below, for more details.

Apprentice Activities

Each character in the relationship gains a story award, “Faction Mentor (Apprentice Name)” or “Faction Apprentice (Mentor Name)” and is eligible to participate in specific activities.

Adventure Details

When an apprentice and mentor bond they reveal the locations of magic items and faction secret missions that they have participated into each other. There is no additional cost associated with this activity.

Item Trading

When trading magic items between the apprentice and mentor, the cost is only 10 downtime days instead of the usual 15.

Fighting Partners

By practicing fighting together before adventures, an apprentice and mentor can gain complimentary combat abilities. When both an apprentice and mentor are participating in the same adventuring group (they must be together at the same table, not just in the same Epic) the apprentice and mentor may spend 5 downtime before the start of the adventure. If they do, they gain the following benefits:
• Any saving throw made by one participant to save against an effect created by the other is made with advantage.
• Once per short rest, a participant may use the Help action to assist the other as a bonus action.
• Neither participant acts as cover against ranged attacks made by the other.

Apprentice Activities

Language and Tool Training

The apprentice may learn any language or tool proficiency that their mentor possesses for 125 downtime (no GP cost).

Word of Advice

Mentors grant their apprentice advantage on one check, save, or attack roll once during an adventure or chapter. This activity costs 5 downtime days to the apprentice, spent prior to the adventure and declared to the Dungeon Master prior to the start of the adventure.

Faction Training

Your character can take advantage of accelerated training programs for tool kits most often used by your faction. This training comes at a lesser cost than usual tool training, taking half as long (125 downtime days), but you must pay an additional 125 gp as a training expense for each proficiency.
Harper Faction Training - Musical Instrument, Calligrapher’s supplies, or Disguise Kit

Rank 3 - Brightcandle

Stalwarts are reliable faction members, entrusted with many secrets and deserving of additional support during adventures.

Faction Downtime Activity

You gain access to a Harper downtime activity that gives you additional benefits when you use it. (If your faction has any specific downtime activities for the current storyline season, they can be found in the D&D Adventurers League Dungeon Master’s Guide.)

Item Procurement

With an expenditure of resources, you can acquire a magic item from your faction. To procure the item, you must go on minor adventures for your faction (represented by downtime days), and perform bribes, charitable acts, and provide provisions (represented by the expenditure of gold) in service of your faction.
The item received in exchange for this increases your magic item count and is not tradeable. Some items are only available to certain factions as indicated in the Item Procurement Options table. A character may purchase any number of items so long as they pay the associated downtime day and gold costs for each item. Additionally, you must be at least 5th level to acquire a rare item.

Item Procurement Costs

Rarity	Downtime	Gold
Uncommon	50 days (-5 days for every point of charisma over 15)	500 gp
Rare	100 days (-5 days for every point of charisma over 15)	5000 gp

Item Procurement Options

Uncommon Rarity	Rare Rarity
+1 Weapon or +1 Shield	+1 Armor
Cloak of Elvenkind	Ring of Spell Storing

Rank 4 - Wise Owl

Mentors are trusted voices within their given faction. They are looked upon as champions of the faction’s beliefs, and as mentors by those of lower rank.

Become a Mentor

You can designate Agents or Stalwarts as your charge.

Mentor Activities

Mentorship Renown

When a mentor takes on a new apprentice, they immediately gain the benefit of a successful Secret Mission for their faction. This can only be done once per character.

Learn by Teaching

Mentors gain advantage on one check, save, or attack roll once during a module or hardcover chapter due to reflecting on their prior adventures with their apprentice. This activity costs 5 downtime days to the mentor, spent prior to the adventure and declared to the Dungeon Master prior to the start of the adventure.

Faction Pedagogue

By taking on an apprentice you become approachable to other members of your faction who ask you for advice. As you dispense this advice you become better known in your faction. You may spend 30 downtime days in exchange for 1 renown. This can only be done once per character.

Mentor’s Pride

As your apprentice grows in power their deeds reflect on you. Each time your apprentice gains a level that would put them into a higher tier (levels 5, 11, or 17), you gain 1 renown.

Faction Philanthropist

As a Mentor of your faction, you may choose to pay for or cast raise dead, resurrection or true resurrection spells for a member of your faction after an adventure is completed even if you were not adventuring together. In doing so, assuming you aren’t casting the spell yourself, you must pay the full cost of the spellcasting service plus 25 downtime days (to deliver the body and find a cleric)

Rank 5 - Exemplar

Exemplars are deeply ensconced within the leadership of their faction and have a great degree of influence, guiding faction decisions.

Become a Faction Exemplar

When you play this character along with other members of your faction, you can choose one lower ranked member of your faction (Agent, at a minimum) to begin the game with Inspiration. This must be used by the end of the game session, or it is lost.

Public Agenda

• Gather information throughout Faerûn.

• Promote fairness and equality by covert means.

• Thwart tyrants and leaders, governments, and organizations that grow too powerful.

• Aid the weak, poor and oppressed

History

The Harpers were originally founded as The Harpers at Twilight in 324 DR deep in the Elven Court woods, and the members included human, elf, and half-elf warriors, rangers, druids, thieves, and mages. The Harpers founded the Heralds of Faerun in 992 DR to maintain records of lineages and rolls of blazonry as part of their goals of anchoring civilization by maintaining clear communication and having accurate record keeping. In 1116 DR, the Heralds break away from the Harpers and become their own organization.
For various reasons, the Harpers came into conflict with the Nation of Thay and so their operations expand from just focusing on the northern Sword Coast region, to encompass working in opposition to Thay’s many and varied nefarious plots.
During their history, the Harpers focused on working against those who wish to destroy or take control over the population of the northern Sword Coast. They found themselves working to eliminate the threat from Hellgate Keep, to stop the Cult of the Dragon from succeeding in their plans to create dracoliches, and regularly ran up against the Zhentarim.
For much of their history, members of the Harpers acted autonomously and with great leeway in their methods. In 1321 DR, the Harpers were reorganized and the organization became more regimented and hierarchical in nature.
During the Spellplague years, the Harpers essentially disbanded as their individual members were too caught up in facing down local threats and difficulties. Many Harpers died or disappeared during this time.
After the Spellplague, the Harpers of Luruar were founded to counter the threat of the reborn Netheril. This led to many other Harper cells becoming active, each having its own name (e.g. Harpers of Waterdeep, Harpers of Cormyr and the Dales, etc.).
With the return of Mystra, Storm Silverhand worked to revitalize the Harper organization in Cormyr. In 1487 DR, the Harpers once again worked against the Cult of the Dragon when that villainous group tried to bring the goddess Tiamat to the Material Plane. This led to the Harpers becoming an active organization across Faerun once more.

Type

Secret, Brotherhood