Campaign VI Prep Sheet

Some important notes for creating your character

Your character must have some reason for being (and staying) in such a small and isolated village. Non-Skorbunds rarely travel to the Skorbund territories, and when the Skorbunds do trade, they usually travel to the people they will trade with. Perhaps you were born in this village, or perhaps you were exiled from another; perhaps you were taken or traded to the village. It would not be reasonable, though, to simply be a passing traveller making their way through the village.
Your character should have something they do in the village: smith, fisherman, hermit, even. They shouldn't just do nothing until the time they are called to adventure; they don't know that call is coming. Tie this into your background, perhaps.
Your character should have a birthday. Perhaps your exact birthday is uncertain, but you or the people close to you would have chosen one for you close to when you/they think you were born. You can see the calendar here. The current year is 834 of the Common Age (or 214 of the 2^nd Era of the Common Age, though most will use 834 CA). As this campaign will span several years, your character will pass several winters, and their age will increase.

Changes

Basic Mechanical Changes

This is a substantially different setting from previous campaigns, with dwarves, small villages, court wizards, and tales of dragons. However, as it's based more in the Early Medieval period, it is still not high fantasy. It is a more traditional dark fantasy, where life is nasty, brutish, and short. Survival is difficult, and you must rely on those around you.

• The "gritty realism" rules for resting will be used; this means a short rest is eight hours, while a long rest occupies one week. A long rest will not simply be a "fade to black" for a week, and ample role-play time will be provided during a rest. This campaign will likely cover several years of in-game time.

• The "injuries" rules will be used; if a character drops unconscious (Con save, DC = 2×damage beyond what was needed to reduce character to 0 HP), or takes a critical hit (Con save, DC = 13), they receive an injury according to the table in chapter 9 of the DMG.

• Because of the last two points, combat will be dangerous and exhausting, and you will have to pick your fights wisely.

• The survival, nature, and medicine skills will see significant usage. You will likely have to hunt or forage for food, make herbal remedies, heal battle wounds, etc.

• Disease will be a considerable risk; paladins (if one is present) are not immune to disease nor can they immediately cure it without difficulty.

Technological/cultural Changes

As this takes place nearly two thousand years prior to the events of the last campaign, and in an era inspired by the Early Medieval, technology is significantly more primitive, knowledge significantly less widely spread, and peoples significantly more isolated from one another. Magic is poorly understood and has a mystical and mysterious aspect to it, and those whom can practice it demand an almost reverent respect. Knowledge is often not written down, and is verbally passed from one to another, including the secrets of magic.

• Metalworking is not to the point where plate armour is practical; there is no plate armour or half-plate armour. There are no crossbows, guns, rapiers, lances, or halberds. All metalwork is somewhat crude; weapons and armour are functional and almost never ornamented.

• Your people do not know about the Glass Sea; arcane magical foci are unknown to you. You may elect to have a component pouch.

• Other items that do not exist yet or are unknown to your people: abacus, alchemist's fire, crossbow bolt, crossbow bolt case, cigarettes and tobacco, ink pen, paper (not parchment), spyglass.

• Items that are quite rare and exotic to your people: hourglass, ink, ink quill, lock, magnifying glass, map, map case, merchant's scale, perfume, sealing wax.

Demographic Changes

As this takes place long before the events of the previous campaigns, none of the human races of later eras are present; however, many related and predecessor ethnicities exist. Non-humans are more common than they are in later eras. While few if any of your village have met any, there are still many horils in the south, bands of tribal orcs to the north, the dwarves, though secretive and isolationist, do frequently interact with humans. Dynitians, fleshless, and fogmen are treated with great intrigue or great suspicion; different cultures have different superstitions and traditions surrounding them. Akridians, arps, and lizardfolk are unknown to your people. Even with respect to other human peoples, you and your people have had little interaction.

• The human races are all different, with the exception of Duekman being mechanically identical to Dvekmenu, and Xöngüu (Tarshan subrace) being mechanically identical to Faltish.

• Your people have had no contact nor heard no tales of akridians, arps, and lizardfolk; as such they are unplayable.

• Your people have heard tales of Tira Vella, but have never met a Tira Vellan; as such they are unplayable, and it's very unlikely you would be familiar with the Tira Vellan language.

Class Flavour

As you all hail from a small Skorbund village, and given the setting, some flavouring ideas have been provided for the classes. Each class is also accompanied by a number, one to four, representing the rarity of this class or ease integrating it into the setting, with a one being quite common and easy to rationalise in the setting, and a four being nonexistent and unplayable unless you can create a convincing reason for why they should exist.

D&D

• Artificer (4) – Off limits unless you can really sell me on it (a dwarf would make sense).
• Barbarian (1) – A berserker, obviously.
• Bard (2) – A war drummer.
• Cleric (2) – The town healer, medicine-man, shaman, and/or priest.
• Druid (1) – Yeah, just a druid, town shaman, hermit.
• Fighter (1) – Yeah, just a fighter, farmer, hunter, etc.
• Monk (3) – A hermit who pursues bodily perfection on the outskirts of town.
• Paladin (4) – Off limits unless you can really sell me on it.
• Ranger (2) – A traveller who wanders from place to place, a hunter, fur trapper.
• Rogue (2) – A beggar, thief, or delinquent.
• Sorcerer (3) – One blessed by the gods, viewed perhaps even as a demigod.
• Warlock (3) – An outcast who's struck a bargain with something in the woods, and inheritor of a magical artefact.
• Wizard (3) – Someone who spent time studying in the east.

Tentpole

• Battlemage (3) – A mystic warrior from the Duekmen states.
• Berserker (2) – A berserker, obviously.
• Commander (2) – A war leader, tribal/clan chief.
• Diplomat (4) – A political figure from the Duekmen states
• Healer (2) – The town healer, medicine-man, shaman, and/or priest.
• Infiltrator (1) – A beggar, thief, or delinquent.
• Man-at-Arms (1) – Yeah, just a fighter, farmer, hunter, etc.
• Paladin (4) – Off limits unless you can really sell me on it.
• Ranger (2) – A traveller who wanders from place to place, a hunter, fur trapper.
• Thaumaturge (4) – Off limits unless you can really sell me on it (a dwarf would make sense).
• Warlock (3) – An outcast who's struck a bargain with something in the woods, and inheritor of a magical artefact, a student of the occult from elsewhere.
• Wizard (3) – Someone who spent time studying in the Duekmen states.

Races

Humans

Duekman

The oldest and most well-established of the human races, their kingdoms stretch back the the first era, they were the first to learn arcane magic from the dwarves, and their keeps, castles, and monasteries hold much of humanity's recorded knowledge. Native to the northeast, they hail from the kingdoms of former Dvekmenya. Their interactions with the dwarves and their long-lasting and well established kingdoms have made them the most adept arcane magicians and craftsmen of the human races.

Type: Dvekmenic – Arboric
Naming Source: Slavic, Frankish
Ability Score Increase: +1 Any Ability
Age: Normal human age.
Size: From just over 5 feet to well above 6; your size is Medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages: You know Ald Duekmen and Skorbund.
Features:

• Adaptable: You gain +1 to any ability score of your choice

• Magically Tuned: You gain +5 to all Intelligence, Willpower, or Charisma saving throws against magic (choose one).

• Northerner: Accustomed to the harsh Sossian winters, you gain +2 resistance to cold damage.

• Scholar: You have proficiency in two of the following skills of your choice: Arcana, Investigation, Lore, Medicine, Occult.

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Jalman

Type: Dvekmenic – Salic
Naming Source: Saxon, Burgundian
Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution or Willpower
Age: Normal human age.
Size: From just over 5 feet to well above 6; your size is Medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages: You know Jalmejn and Skorbund.
Features:

• Rhino Skin: You can focus yourself to occasionally shrug off injury. When you risk taking an injury, you can use this feature to pass the Constitution check and heal 1d6 hit points. After you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

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Skorbund

A hardy people from the scarcely populated reaches to the west of civilisation, they are a warrior society, but they've spent most of their time squabbling amongst themselves, the Duekman states, though weaker than when they had been unified, still prove too hardy to raid. Many of their settlements follow along the western coast of Sossis, and they have become adept at navigating both rivers and the sea. They have been known to occasionally raid the reaches of West Duekmenya, but they are a more maritime people, and do not make frequent incursions into the inland. This has led them to journeys of exploration by sea, and the start of their raids into Tira Vella, or what they call "the land of gold".
Type: Dvekmenic – Salic
Naming Source: Norse, Old English
Ability Score Increase: +1 Strength or Constitution
Age: Normal human age.
Size: From 5 feet to well above 6; your size is Medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages: You know Skorbund and one other language.
Features:

• Aggressive: As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward an enemy of your choice that you can see or hear. You must end this move closer to the enemy than you started.

• Bravery: You gain +3 to saving throws against being frightened.

• Hard Living: You have proficiency in two of the following skills of your choice: Athletics, Dexterity, Medicine, Resistance, and Survival.

• Savage Attacker: When you score a critical hit with a weapon attack, half of the weapon's damage dice automatically roll the maximum amount.

• Sea Raider: You gain tool proficiency with Water Vehicles.

• Extra – Native: As a member of the majority, you will have more knowledge about the functions, institutions, and traditions of Skorbund society. Other Skorbunds will likely also be more trusting and open around you.

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Tarshan

A pastoral nomadic people known for their conquest of the Horil kingdoms and their frequent raiding of southeastern Duekman territories. Most are part of the Tarshan Alginate, a tribal confederation of nomadic Dischitic peoples to the east.
Type: Dischitic
Ability Score Increase: +1 Agility or Perception
Age: Normal human age.
Size: From just below 5 feet to nearly 6; your size is Medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages: You know Skorbund.
Features:

• Desert Roamer: You gain proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Athletics, Nature, Stealth, Survival.

• Horse Nomad: You gain proficiency in Animal Handling.

• Raider: You gain proficiency in Light Armour and the Net.

• Subrace: Select a subrace.

Goduk

Type: Dischitic ⁠– Godic
Naming Source: Old Turkish, Old Hungarian
Speed: Your base walking speed is 35 feet.
Languages: You know Goduk.
Features:

• Extra Feet: Your base movement speed is 35 feet.

Xöngüu

Type: Dischitic ⁠– Faltic
Naming Source: Old Turkish, Mongolian
Languages: You know Xöngüu.
Features:

• Lucky Shot: Once per short or long rest, you may activate one of the following effects:
  • You gain +5 to a single attack roll.
  • As a reaction, you impose -5 on an incoming attack.

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Vallaran

A somewhat mysterious and newly arrived people, their city-states flourish beyond the Narrows, but are only scarcely present on Sossis. Those who have ventured across the narrows largely ply themselves as traders, and rely on the hospitality of those hosting them.
Type: Vallaran
Naming Source: Latin
Ability Score Increase: +1 Agility or Charisma
Age: Normal human age.
Size: From just below 5 feet to nearly 6; your size is Medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages: You know Vallaran, Skorbund, and one other language.
Features:

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Non-humans

Dwarf

Native to the high mountains of central Sossis, they keep mostly to themselves underground, their clans squabbling among themselves. They share little with the outside world. What they do share with the world above, though, they are quite proud of; though they have reason to be proud of their work. Dwarven metallurgy and stonemasonry are unparalleled, and among them are also some of the best magical scholars in the world. They are not naturally inclined to magic, but are quite adept at imbuing objects with magical essence. They have given men all they know about magic by granting them knowledge of the Elvish language, though they claim to know nothing about their disappearance.
Type: Dwarvish
Naming Source: No real world equivalent, Armenian, Czech, and Arabic features
Ability Score Increase: +1 Constitution or Strength
Age: Dwarves mature at the same rate as humans, but are considered young until they reach the age of 50. On average they live about 300 years.
Size: Dwarves stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and average about 150 pounds; size is Medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 25 feet; it is not reduced by wearing heavy armour.
Languages: You know Dwarvish and Skorbund.
Features:

• Darkvision: Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

• Dwarven Resistance: You have +5 on saving throws against poison, and you have proficiency in Resistance.

• Dwarven Combat Training: You have proficiency with the battleaxe, handaxe, light hammer, and warhammer.

• Tool Proficiency: You gain proficiency with the artisan’s tools of your choice: smith’s tools, brewer’s supplies, or mason’s tools.

• Stonecutting: Whenever you make a History check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

• Extra – Dwaven Lore: You will have knowledge about the world, its workings, and its history that no men have.

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Dynitian

They can claim no home and no story; their origin is obscure and unknown. Just as one is treated with suspicion outside their own lands, they are treated with suspicion everywhere they go. They are said to be beings born of Ladocs, but stricken with mortality. They do not have their own language, nor their own customs; many seek to blend in wherever they are; some choose to live as hermits, away from society. They have a uniform distribution, and are present everywhere.
Type: Unknown
Naming Source: Varies
Ability Score Increase: +1 Intelligence or Willpower
Age: They never have knowledge of a childhood, and no one has seen a child Dynitian. They have been known to live over 100 years past their first memories.
Size: From just below 5 feet to nearly 6; your size is Medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages: You know Skorbund and one language of your choice.
Features:

• Brain Capacity: If you can cast spells or gain the abiity to cast spells at any point, as a bonus action, you can recover a number of mana points equal to your Willpower score. Once you use this feature you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest. If you are not a caster of any type, an ally may transfer their concentration on a spell to you as a bonus action, allowing them to cast another spell requiring concentration. You are in control of whatever spell you are concentrating on and must roll to retain concentration if you are hit according to your own Willpower.

• Glowing: Your eyes emit a soft glow, providing 5 feet of dim light around you when you are in darkness, as well as imposing a -4 on Stealth rolls when in darkness against creatures who can see./li]

• Pariah: You gain proficiency in two of the following skills of your choice: Intuition, Investigation, Occult, Persuasion, Stealth, Survival.

• Scarier Face: When a creature you can see makes a melee attack roll against you, you can use your reaction to impose a -5 penalty on the roll. You must use this feature before knowing whether an attack hits or misses. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

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Fleshless

Type: Aberration
Naming Source: No real world equivalent, Armenian, Czech, Arabic, and English Pidgin features
Ability Score Increase: –1 Charisma, +1 Constitution and +1 Perception
Age: The same as the human races.
Size: From just below 5 feet to nearly 6; your size is Medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages: You know Undercommon and Skorbund.
Features:

• Anomaly: You do not need to eat, drink, or breathe, and you are immune to disease.

• Dead flesh: You gain +2 resistance to necrotic damage.

• Detachment: You gain proficiency in Stealth and your choice of Occult or Survival.

• Regurgitate: You use a bonus action to make an attack, adding your proficiency bonus and Constitution bonus to your roll, for 1d4 poison damage, which becomes 1d6 at 4th level, 1d8 at 8th level, and 1d12 at 10th level. You cannot use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

• Superior Darkvision: Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

• Extra – Underdark Lore: You will have knowledge about the Underdark, its structure, and its denizens.

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Fogman

Type: Aberration
Naming Source: No real world equivalent, Armenian, Czech, Arabic, and English Pidgin features
Ability Score Increase: +1 Perception or Willpower
Age: Unknown
Size: From 5 feet to well above 6; your size is Medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages: You know Undercommon and Skorbund.
Features:

• Darkvision: You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

• Incorporeal: You can cast Misty Step as long as you are not in sunlight. You cannot use this feature again until completing a long rest.

• Veiled Form: You gain proficiency in Intuition and Stealth.

• Visions of the Dead: You can sense the dead. You have advantage on Perception and Investigation checks searching for dead things. When near dead things, you can gain glimpses into the emotions and ambitions of the dead; the fresher the body, the more you can glean.

• Extra – Underdark Lore: You will have knowledge about the Underdark, its structure, and its denizens.

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Horil

Type: Horil
Naming Source: Old Slavic, Bulgarian
Ability Score Increase: +1 Strength or Intelligence
Age: Shorter lived than humans, reaching adulthood around fourteen or fifteen and reaching old age around 50.
Size: From slightly above 6 to over 7 feet; your size is Medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 35 feet.
Languages: You know Horil and Skorbund.
Features:

• Back Muscle: Greatclubs, greataxes, greatswords, and mauls are considered versatile weapons for you, with a reduction of damage die one below its standard when being used with one hand.

• Extra Feet: Your base movement speed is 35 feet.

• Fortress: You gain proficiency in the Athletics and Resistance skills.

• Subrace: Select a subrace.

Uzholchian

Features:

Tribal

Features:

• Resilient: When you are reduced to no more than 10% of your maximum hit points below 0 hit points, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

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Orc

Type: Orcish
Naming Source: No real world equivalent, Slavic and Arabic features
Ability Score Increase: –1 Intelligence, +1 Strength and +1 Constitution
Age: Orcs reach adulthood at age 12 and live up to 50 years.
Size: Orcs are usually over 6 feet tall and weigh between 230 and 280 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Languages: You know Orcish and Skorbund.
Features:

• Darkvision: You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.

• Aggressive: As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward an enemy of your choice that you can see or hear. You must end this move closer to the enemy than you started.

• Menacing: You are proficient in the Athletics skill.

• Powerful Build: You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift. Your Strength score is considered one higher than its actual value when determining what kind of backpack you may wear.