and other factors.

Identity helps you roleplay your

<INSERT ART #; ADVENTURERS; 1/2H>
character in a consistent manner.
Starting Equipment: Finally, this chapter helps

Character you determines the objects you have at the start of

the game.

Creation
As a player, you control a character given to you or
one you create using the rules presented in this
chapter. You might play a devout follower of the
High One, a curious mage, a traveling entertainer
who happens to be good at swordplay, or a cunning
investigator who has a knack for finding clues. You
could play a human, much like yourself, an elf, a
dwarf, or something exotic like a clockwork or
salamander. You can master the secrets of magic,
call upon the supernatural power of your patron
deity, be a crook, a hero, or someone in between.
You can play the character you want to play and be
anyone you choose to become.
Creating a character involves make a few big
choices and recording the results of those choices
on a character sheet. (You can find a sheet at the
back of this book or on the company website.) The
choices you make determine your attributes,
profession, ancestry, personality, and the path you
take to develop your character. There are no right or
wrong options and you can make your selections in
any order. And if you can’t decide, each section
includes tables to let you randomize some or all
aspects about your character.
Obviously, this chapter is intended for players,
but Sages should pay special attention to this
chapter as well. If you plan to be the Sage, take some
time to make a few characters so you understand
how the process works and can help the other
players make their own characters.
In brief, the main sections cover the following
subjects.
Level: Your character has a level. Most games start
at level 1/2, but the Sage might start the game at a
higher level.
Attributes: The basic building blocks of all
characters, you determine your attribute scores to
see what tasks you’re best at performing.
Ancestry: A great many intelligent people live in
the New Lands and any of them might take up the
mantle of adventurer. Ancestries provide you with
traits that describe your physical capabilities.
Profession: Your profession tells you what you
did to make ends meet and grants you one or more
talents.
Identity: As people living in a world, all
characters have identities made up of their
experiences, personality, culture, religious beliefs,

1
Level
Your character has a level, which describes your
experience and overall capabilities. As you play
through adventures, your level increases. Normally,
your character begins at level 1/2, but the Sage might
start the game at a higher level. The Level Benefits
table shows you the benefits gained for each level.
Details on novice, expert, and master paths appear
in their respective chapters.
LEVEL BENEFITS
Level Benefit
1 Choose a novice path and gain the level 1 benefits
from that path.
2 Gain the level 2 benefits from your novice path.
3 Choose an expert path (see chapter $#) and gain the
level 3 benefits from that path.
4 Gain the level 4 benefits from your expert path.
5 Gain the level 5 benefits from your novice path.
6 Gain the level 6 benefits from your expert path.
7 Choose a master path (see chapter $#) and gain the
level 7 benefits from that path.
8 Gain the level 8 benefits from your master path.
9 Gain the level 9 benefits from your expert path.
10 Gain the level 10 benefits from your master path.

2
Attributes
A set of attributes broadly describe your character’s
capabilities. The attributes include Strength, Agility,
Intellect, and Will. For each you have a score and a
modifier. A score is a number from 1 to 20, while the
modifier is your score minus 10. If you have a 12
Strength, you have a +2 modifier. On the other hand,
if you have a 9 Agility, you have a –1 modifier. Your
scores operate as the target number for rolls made
against you. And you add your modifier to d20 rolls
made to use a particular attribute.
Strength
Strength represents physical might, athletic ability,
durability, and fitness. You use Strength to resist
effects that would force you to move or that would
restrain you, as well as when you would perform
activities that relate to athletic feats such as
climbing, swimming, attacking with most melee
weapons, kicking down doors, or overpowering
other creatures. You also use Strength to withstand
pain, injury, poison, venom, and infection.
Make Strength your high score if you want to
focus on fighting with melee weapons.
Health
Your Health score tells you how much damage you
can take before you become incapacitated, as
discussed in Chapter 1. Your Health score equals
your Strength. When your Strength score gains a
permanent increase, you increase your Health as
well.
Intellect
Intellect describes intelligence, wit, memory,
knowledge, and the ability to use logic to solve
complex problems. You use Intellect when you
would thwart an effort to deceive you, solve complex
problems, or deceive or outwit another creature. You
also use Intellect for using some forms of magic.
Make Intellect your high score if you want to use
magic and know things.
Will
Will describes courage, willpower, resolve, and
mental fortitude. You use Will to resist efforts to
erode your confidence, manipulate your emotions,
or terrify you. You also use Will to overcome some
mental effects and to use some forms of magic.
Make Will your high score if you would be
courageous and serve the gods.
Starting Scores and
Modifiers
Choose one of the following sets of scores and
modifiers and assign one score and modifier to one
attribute until you have assigned all four scores. If
you can’t decide on a set, you can roll a d20 to
determine your scores randomly.
STARTING SCORES AND MODIFIERS
d20 Scores and Modifiers
1–5 11 (+1), 11 (+1), 10 (+0), 10 (+0)
6–10 12 (+2), 10 (+0), 10 (+0), 10 (+0)
11–15 12 (+2), 11 (+1), 10 (+0), 9 (–1)
16–20 11 (+1), 11 (+1), 11 (+1), 9 (–1)

Agility
Agility represents poise and dexterity, balance, aim,
speed, and reflexes. You use Agility when you
maintain your balance, either because someone
shoves you or you are moving across challenging
terrain, when you would perform an activity that
requires manual dexterity, such as when you pick a
lock, disarm a trap, or perform sleight of hand,
chase, and flee.
Make Agility your high score if you want to focus
on fighting with ranged weapons, be sneaky, and be
quick.

Defense
You have a Defense score, which is the target
number for rolls made to attack you. Your Defense
equals your Agility. If your Agility gains a
permanent increase, your Defense might also
increase. Note that your ancestry might increase or
decrease your Defense and you can increase your
Defense by wearing armor and wielding a buckler,
shield, or similar weapon.

3
Ancestries
Size Most characters are size 1, though some
ancestries might be smaller or larger.
Erth hosts a myriad and diverse people made up of Languages Your ancestry determines the
countless ancestries and nowhere is this truer than languages you know how to speak, read, and write.
in the New Lands, for here, Old Country refugees You can always trade out a language granted by your
mingle with lumbering ogres, mercurial dragonets, ancestry for Common or Native.
and countless other peoples. You can choose your Background Each ancestry includes a short table
character’s ancestry from the options presented in of possible backgrounds. You can roll a die to
this section. determine your background, choose one from the
The various ancestries offer a general description list, or make one up.
of the people with a focus on their physical
characteristics. Such things as personality, culture, Archon
and the like are left for you to determine with the The angels cast you out from Paradise and
Sage’s help. Your human character might have lived condemned you to pass your days in the mortal
among the faeries, while another’s dragonet could world as an archon. An independent streak, a
been raised by dwarfs. Ancestry makes no demonstration of free will earned you your exile.
prescriptions about the behavior and interests of the You might lament your estrangement from the
people they represent as people, regardless of their heavenly realm or revel in the freedom you have
ancestry, can be good or evil, cruel or kind. gained.
RANDOM ANCESTRIES You cannot hide your angelic heritage. Despite
d20 Ancestry Description having a human-shaped form, you appear to have
1 Archon You are an angel exiled from Paradise. been sculpted from bronze, gold, or silver and faint
2 Cambion You are a human tainted by darkness. filigree appears all over your form. You have no
3 Changeling You are a faerie who can change your body hair and you lack reproductive organs. You can
face. recall having great feathery wings once, but you lost
4 Clockwork You are a mechanical being.
them in your fall from grace and now short stumps
5 Dragonet You are a tiny, talking dragon.
6 Dryad You are a faerie who can turn into a tree. mark the places where they once emerged.
7 Dwarf You are a stout, hirsute humanoid. You resemble all other archons, being six feet tall
8 Elf You are a faerie of grace and beauty. and weighing exactly one hundred sixty pounds.
9 Faun You appear as a human with the horns and The metallic sheen of your skin might be silver,
legs of a goat. gold, or copper, and you have unique patterns
10 Gnome You are a humanoid made of living stone. etched in your skin that tell the story of your
11 Halfling You are a diminutive and agile humanoid.
immortal existence.
12 Hobgoblin You are a diminutive faerie who can stay
out of sight.
13 Human You belong to a numerous and varied Angel Your angelic heritage renders you immune to the
people. effects of aging, infection, poison, venom, and other
14 Ogre You are an enormous, furry humanoid. toxins. You suffer no negative effects from growing
15 Orc You are big, brutish humanoid. older and short of violence or mishap you can live
16 Salamander You are a humanoid with the lower body forever.
of a serpent and an affinity for fire. Inner Light You can use an action to perform the inner
17 Shade You are a humanoid touched by shadow. light activity.
18 Skinchanger You are a humanoid who can transform Celestial Voice When you speak, you can choose to speak
into an animal. in a celestial voice. Everyone who can hear you speak
19 Sylph You are a winged humanoid. and that knows at least one language understands what
20 Undine You are a humanoid with an affinity for you say. You can understand any spoken language you
water. hear.

Traits INNER LIGHT

Pure light shines from your body.
Ancestries grant one or more traits that reflect
unique physical qualities that set them apart from Range Personal; Target You
others. A trait provides a constant benefit that Effect You emit dim light until you become unconscious
modifies how your character interacts with the or you use an action to end the effect.
world. You retain your traits for as long as you ARCHON BACKGROUNDS
remain in your ancestry’s form. If you transform d6 Background
into another kind of creature, you lose the traits 1 Exile saw you imprisoned in a vault buried deep in
granted by your ancestry and gain those of your new the mortal world. You escaped thanks to the efforts
ancestry. of oblivious delvers.

4
2 You fell from Paradise into the fiery depths of
Perdition. You escaped, scorched and wide-eyed,
into the mortal world.
3 Falling in love with a mortal saw you exiled from
Paradise.
4 You slew a mortal who summoned you to perform
some evil deed.
5 A rent in reality showed you the darkness of the Void.
Madness sent you fleeing from Paradise.
6 You grew to resent service to the High One and quit
Paradise of your own accord.
Effect Each enemy must succeed on a luck roll or become
frightened for one round.
CAMBION MARKS OF DARKNESS
d20 Mark of Darkness
1 A strange glyph, rune, or marking stands out in the
center of your forehead.
2 You have a pair of small horns sprouting from your
forehead.
3 Odd, irregular markings appear all over your skin.
4 You have an unusual, exotic skin color.
5 Your eyes look like those of goats.

Cambion
Blood will out, or so the saying goes. From time to
time, mortals produce children that bear unusual
characteristics, physical qualities that suggest
something more than expected range of variations
one expects to find. Often, these qualities portend
nothing, though they might make life a bit more
difficult, but sometimes they reveal a stain, a
corruption in the blood, a darkness in the family
heritage that has lain dormant for generations.
These individuals stand apart from the ancestries of
their birth families and become cambions.
Despite being other than the rest of your family,
you likely share physical characteristics in common
with your parents, being tall or short, thin or heavy,
with certain facial features, coloration, or other
cosmetic qualities that signal your blood
connection. But you also have something else, a
mark of darkness that sets you apart.
A mark of darkness always manifests in a physical
form. Rarely subtle, the mark might show itself in
your eyes, the color of your skin, or the possession
of extra, unusual appendages. As tolerant as most
people can be when it comes to the sheer variety of
forms people might take, your mark has a sinister
quality that signals the darkness within you and
many believe you to be in league with the Adversary
or the fiends who serve him.
The mark notwithstanding, you appear human
and your height and weight fall within the typical
ranges for such people, with heights ranging from 4-
1/2 to 6-1/2 feet and weight from 90 to 300 pounds.
Fiendish Heritage You take half damage from fire.
Secret Face You can perform the secret face activity.
Menacing Presence Others can sense the darkness in
you, which imposes 1 bane on rolls made in social
situations. However, in such situations when you would
intimidate or threaten, the bane becomes a boon.
Languages Common
SECRET FACE
Your face contorts into a hideous grimace that shocks your
enemies before returning to normal.
Special When you become injured, you can use a reaction
to perform this activity.
Range Melee; Target Each enemy
6
7
Your eyes shed blood or black ichor.
Your large, jagged fangs make it almost impossible to
close your mouth.
8 You have an elongated forked tongue that often slips
through past your lips to lick your face.
9 You have a long, flexible tail.
10 Your fingers end in black points.
11 The shadow you cast never quite matches your
movements.
12 You have snakes instead of hair.
13 You have a large bump or growth somewhere on
your body that’s difficult to conceal such as on your
neck, arm, back, or hand. It shudders, from time to
time.
14 You have a third eye in the center of your forehead.
15 Infernal fire burns in your eyes.
16 You have both horns and a tail.
17 You have a second mouth on your neck that
sometimes mutters and complains.
18 You have a pair of vestigial, black bat wings on your
back.
19 You have double pupils and irises in each eye.
20 Spurs and nodules grow from your arms and legs,
and down your spine.
CAMBION BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 Abandoned or orphaned, you somehow managed to
survive on your own.
2 Your family feared your mark of darkness and hid you
away until you finally escaped confinement.
3 An angry mob drove you out of your home
community.
4 You come from a long line of cambions and your
family believes the mark of darkness anticipates a
great destiny for you.
5 Your community accepted you and your unusual
appearance, so you were surprised to find fear and
ostracism elsewhere.
6 An evil inquisitor hunts you. You cannot stay in one
place for long.
Changeling
You could have been any kind of faerie: an elf, a
hobgoblin, pixie, or something else. But choosing a
final form felt wrong to you, too restrictive, too
determinative. You wanted the freedom to become
anyone you wanted to be, to adopt different guises
whenever you chose. And thus you joined the ranks
of the unchosen faeries and become a changeling.
Lacking a fixed form, you can cause your body to
flow into other humanoid forms. You can appear

5
human, as a dwarf, or something else. You can also
look like any kind of faerie, an orc, or a mongrel.
The choice is yours.
When forced into your normal form, you appear
unfinished in many ways. Small and slight, you
likely stand under 4 feet tall and weigh no more
than 80 pounds. You have no apparent gender and
your facial features appear understated and subtle,
with the mere suggestion of a nose, a small slit for
the mouth, and lidless eyes.
Night Vision You see in dim light as if it were bright light.
You benefit from dim light as if it were bright light and
faint light as if it were dim light.
Small Your size is 1/2. While you are this size, you have a
+1 bonus to Defense.
Faerie Upon reaching adulthood, you grow no older
physically and, short of violence of mishap, you live
indefinitely. Your faerie heritage renders you immune
to aging effects and infection.
Change Self You can use an action to perform the change
self activity.
Languages Sylvan
CHANGE SELF
You cause your body to reshape itself into a different form.
Range Personal; Target You
Effect Change the appearance of your physical body to
appear as someone else. The change holds up to
physical inspection. Your new appearance must be of a
humanoid form of flesh and blood and of size 1/2 or 1,
but you can make any other decision about what you
look like. You retain your ancestry traits regardless of
your current appearance and though you might look
like a member of a different ancestry, you gain none of
that ancestry’s traits.
CHANGELING BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 You crawled through a mirror and became lost in the
mortal world.
2 You prefer mortals to faeries. You came up with
several tricks to help you avoid discovery.
3 An organization, perhaps criminal, recruited you to
serve as an informant.
4 After months living in a community of mortals, you
were exposed and driven out by a mob armed with
torches and pitchforks.
5 You found your hidden kingdom stifling. You left that
life behind, believing something greater awaits you.
6 You were a fool in the court of an elf noble until you
offended your patron and were sent packing.
Ancestral Languages
The language entry in ancestries presumes a character with that
ancestry came of age in a place where the language was
spoken. If your character was from some other place, feel free
to swap out the ancestral language for one that matches your
character’s cultural upbringing.
Clockwork
The Weird Wizard made you at some point in the
past, constructing your innerworkings from gears,
spindles, springs, and cogs, and then encasing your
mechanical components inside a metal shell. Once
done, the Wizard woke you up, gave you your name
and identity, and set for you a task that you must
accomplish. Your life, until recently, has been spent
in service to your maker, but he has left the
Forbidden City and you are now free to find your
own destiny.
It’s likely that you have not yet encountered
another clockwork in your journey so far and based
on the reactions of the people you meet you are the
first they have ever seen. Your mechanical form
evokes wonder and fear in equal measure, as you
are a marvel of magic and engineering. The
reactions you find likely affects you in some way;
you might feel emboldened to travel in the open to
educate others or you could hide your nature
behind a heavy cloak and mask to avoid the
attention your unusual nature attracts.
You have a humanoid shape and you stand from
four to seven feet tall and weigh about fifty pounds
per foot you are tall. You can choose any appearance
you like. For example, you could look like a rotund
man with a metal mustache and goggle eyes or have
a ram’s head or have no face at all. Your maker
assembled you from base metals, so you need not
fear some scoundrel taking you apart for treasure.
One thing you have and that over which you have
little control is your key. Your key sticks out from
your back and turns at a slow rate, a full rotation
after about a minute. When your key runs down,
you lose all awareness and mobility, becoming an
object. Anyone can wind your key and when fully
wound, you regain your senses and can move once
more.
Mechanical Body You have a body made up from
clockwork machinery and count as an animated object.
Increase your Health by 3 and you can use your
Strength instead of Agility for calculating your Defense
score. Despite your mechanical body, you count as a
creature for targeting purposes.
As a machine, you have no need for sustenance and
thus ignore suffocation, deprivation from hunger and
thirst, aging, and infection. Poisons, venoms, and other
toxins have no effect on you. Because you ingest
nothing, you derive no benefit from consuming
substances such as elixirs, potions, and powders, nor do
you benefit from healing kits or poultices. When you
rest, you heal damage and regain expended resources as
normal, but you do not regain lost Health with making
repairs.
A creature can use a tool kit to repair your body. At
the end of each hour spent working, the repairing
creature makes an Intellect roll and, on a success,
allows you to regain 1d6 Health. You also regain Health
6
 from any effect that would enable an object to regain
Health.
Clockwork Motor Somewhere on your back is a large key.
The key stops turning when you become unconscious,
at which point you lose the animated object trait and
become an inanimate, insensate object, causing your
Defense to drop to 0, though your Health score remains
unchanged. Without the animated object trait, any
damage you take comes off your Health score, just as
with any other object.
If you lack the animated object trait, a creature that
can reach you can use an action to wind your key.
During the upkeep after your key has been wound, roll
luck. You heal damage and regain the animated object
trait on a success, or lose 1d6 Health and remain an
object on a failure.
Languages Native
CLOCKWORK BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 You lived in the Forbidden City until your maker
vanished. You set out to find him.
2 The Weird Wizard gave you a quest. You set out to
complete your mission only to find your master has
vanished.
3 Sometimes, you experience memories that seem to
belong to another person, one of flesh and blood.
4 You fled the Forbidden City years ago, having
angered your maker.
5 You woke up in the middle of a field with no memory
of how you got there. Someone turned your key.
Who was it?
6 You found strange diagrams and writings you believe
were written by the Weird Wizard and might hold the
secret to making more clockworks. You hope to find
someone who can make sense of them.
CLOCKWORK DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
d20 Feature
1 Your chassis appears worn, pitted, and cracked.
2 Your interior components sometimes make a horrid
grinding noise.
3 You spray oil or some other fluid when frightened.
4 You have strange antennae, bolts, and other
protrusions.
5 You have a heavy cloth wrapping over your
mechanical body.
6 Someone scratched words or initials onto your
chassis.
7 You have no facial features at all.
8 You have a monstrous visage.
9 You have sockets in your body that can hold square-
shaped objects.
10 Your head resembles that of an animal.
11 You have tiny, nonfunctioning wings sprouting from
your back.
12 Your eyes glow in the dark.
13 Your key looks like a sword.
14 You have keys hanging from rings all over your body.
15 Someone painted your body an unusual color.
16 You have corroded spots all over your body.
17 You have oddly shaped legs, arms, or both.
18 You have highly ornate and decorated plates
covering your body.
19 Pieces of your body tend to fall off at weird times,
though their loss never discomfits you.
20 You have a strange arrangement of limbs. You could
have a centauroid shape, crawl around like a crab, or
have an extra set of useless arms.
Dragonet
The blood of dragons flows through your veins.
Although your kind happen to be the smallest of the
dragons, your people have long taken pride in their
connection to the most magnificent monsters to
ever haunt the Erth. And what you lack in size, you
more than make for in intelligence. Where your kin
might rend and rip with tooth and claw, you and
your fellows find cunning and trickery serve you
just as well.
You might not be able to raze a city with your
dragon flame, but the fire burning in your breast
can melt metal and make candles of people. A body,
three feet long and sixty pounds contains all the
fury of your kind. You have a long, prehensile tail
that works like an extra limb, along with tiny claws
at the end of your short arms and legs, and a mouth
full of sharp teeth. You look like a diminutive
dragon, with scales of any color you choose, and
your wings can lift you from the ground and speed
you through the forests you call home and over the
lands that lay beyond your realm.
Small Your size is 1/2. While you are this size, you have a
+1 bonus to Defense.
Wings and Tail You have a pair of wings, which grant you
the flier 1 trait, though you lose it while injured. So long
as you are conscious and able to use actions, you do not
have to use a move to fly in order to remain flying.
You also have a prehensile tail. You can use your tail
as if it were an extra arm. You can use it to pick up,
carry, and manipulate objects as if it was your off-hand.
Breath Weapon You can use an action to perform the
breathe fire activity.
Languages Native
BREATHE FIRE
You spew a stream of fire from your mouth.
Range Zero; Target One creature or object
Roll Agility against Agility
Success 1d6 + your level damage.
DRAGONET BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 A powerful magician kept you as a pet. You stayed
until you tired of the arrangement.
2 You alone survived an attack by loathsome monsters.
3 You became a companion to a wizard or witch until
your friend vanished, died, or became imprisoned.
4 You hope to find a spell that will transform you into a
true dragon.
5 You crave gold, gems, and treasures.
6 Your queen sent you on a special mission. What are
you supposed to accomplish?
DRAGONET DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
d20 Distinctive Feature
7
1 You have a deep, gravelly voice. Requirement You must be standing on an earthen
2 You have multicolored scales. surface
3 Your eyes twinkle when you see gold and gems. Range Personal; Target You
4 You have an extra finger on each hand and an extra Effect You transform into a tree. Everything you wear and
toe on each foot. carry transforms with you. You become rooted in place
5 Your wings are quite a bit larger than normal. and cannot move or use actions, and you have the
6 Your tail is a different color from the rest of your awareness 2 trait (see Chapter 1) and take 1d6 extra
body. damage from fire.
7 Water steams off your body when you bathe. For each hour you remain in this form, you heal
8 You have a musty smell about you. damage equal to your level. In addition, if you stay in
9 You have furry ears. this form for 2 hours, you derive enough nourishment
10 You have lots of facial hair. to ignore deprivation from hunger and thirst for 24
11 You slobber and drool all the time.
hours. You can return to your normal form at any time
12 You have butterfly wings.
without using an action to do so.
13 Your scales change color with your moods.
14 You have a strong lisp. DRYAD TREE FORMS
15 Smoke spills from your nose when angry. d20 Tree
16 You purr like a cat. 1 Walnut
17 You attract butterflies. 2 Oak
18 You have an irritating laugh. 3 Dogwood
19 Your tail seems to have a mind of its own. 4 Mulberry
20 You have horns and spikes all over your body. 5 Black Poplar
6 Elm
Dryad 7
8
Fig
Pine
You come from the sylvan forests, ancient woods, 9 Maple
places of primeval growth that have never known 10 Cedar
the touch of an axe thanks to your efforts and those 11 Willow
of your fellow dryads. Your home might stand 12 Chestnut
13 Hawthorn
within the bounds of a hidden kingdom or grow
14 Ash
somewhere in the world. Since dryads leave their 15 Alder
forest homes under duress, some major crisis must 16 Beech
have led to your own departure. Fire, a blight, 17 Birch
invasion, or some quest handed down to you could 18 Elder
all explain why you have ventured out into the 19 Rowan
world. 20 Holly
You have two forms. One is that of a slender, fey DRYAD BACKGROUNDS
humanoid, with slightly pointed ears, and skin, hair, d6 Background
and eye color matching the colors of leaves in your 1 You left your grove to live with a mortal whom you
current season, such that you become fiery red in loved, but your lover died at an old age. What will
autumn, gray in winter, bright green in spring, and you do next?
deep green in the summer. 2 You hunt for the villain who cut down a sacred tree in
your grove.
Your other form is that of a great tree. The tree 3 A natural disaster wiped out your home forest. You
can be any species you like and grows about as large carry the seeds of trees and travel to find a place to
as a normal adult tree of its kind, space permitting. plant them.
You feel comfortable in either form and might 4 You search for Grandfather Tree to gain wisdom.
spend years as a tree only to shed that form and 5 A horrid blight spreads through your forest. You hunt
walk the lands as a being of flesh and blood. for a cure.
6 You seek the fate of another dryad who left the
grove, one whom you loved.
Night Vision You see in dim light as if it were bright light.
You benefit from dim light as if it were bright light and
faint light as if it were dim light.
Faerie Upon reaching adulthood, you grow no older
Dwarf
physically and, short of violence of mishap, you live In the Old Country, the dwarfs divided the
indefinitely. Your faerie heritage renders you immune mountains into numerous kingdoms, each mighty
to aging effects and infection. with impregnable defenses to guard the fabulous
Tree Form You can use an action to perform the tree form treasures they had unearthed from the bowels of the
activity. earth. Tragedies of war, plague, and treachery
Languages Sylvan toppled their kingdoms, sending one after that
other into ruins until the dwarfs had no choice but
TREE FORM
Your body transforms into a living tree.

8
to follow humanity in to the lands beyond their
ancestral homes.
You stand 3-1/2 to 4 feet tall and have a heavy,
sturdy body that weighs up to 200 pounds. Like
most dwarfs, hair covers much of your body, from
the mustache and beard covering your rough and
craggy features down to the toes on your feet. Like
humans, though, you might have any coloration you
like, from deep black to palest white and everything
in between.
Night Vision You see in dim light as if it were bright light.
You benefit from dim light as if it were bright light and
faint light as if it were dim light.
Small Your size is 1/2. While you are this size, you have a
+1 bonus to Defense.
Incredible Constitution Increase your Health by 6.
Bulky When you take the initiative, you make attribute
rolls with 1 bane until your turn ends.
Languages Runic
DWARF BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 You brought shame to your ancestors. You set out to
repair your reputation.
2 You found a map to an ancient holdfast that contains
fabulous treasure. You hope to claim it, but a dragon
guards the hoard.
3 You seek a weapon stolen from your people.
4 An ancestor spirit charged you with performing some
great task to allow the spirit entrance into the Hall of
Plenty.
5 You have a book filled with all the wrongs done to
your clan. You intend to right them all, one at a time.
6 Another people raised you and their customs and
beliefs became your own.
Elf
Something drew you out from the realms of the
faeries and into the mortal lands once held by you
and yours at the dawn of time. Whether obligation
or curiosity, to answer a threat or to forge peace with
the newcomers, you have left behind paradise for a
world in the grip of violence and despair. How long
you choose to remain among the mortals and what
risks you are willing to take while there depend
largely on the cause of your departure, but while
you remain in the New Lands, you must contend
with everything your homeland was not. Instead of
beauty, you find ugliness. Instead of peace, incessant
warfare, hunger instead of plenty, and hatred rather
than an abundance of love.
To the mortals, you appear as one of the lords or
ladies of the faerie, a noble being of a stature and
appearance in many ways similar to humans, but
also quite alien. In truth, your form represents a
choice you made when you reached adulthood, a
choice that came with certain responsibilities of
leadership and maintaining the safety and integrity
of the faerie realms.
You might have become an elf only recently or
have lived as one for a thousand years. You exist in
the present and spare little thought for the events
through which you lived in the past or for the
consequences of those actions you take in the
moment. You have a humanoid form, with qualities
mortals likely deem striking for beauty and
perfection, and made more appealing by their
juxtaposition against your other, stranger physical
characteristics. Pointed ears and almond-shaped
eyes might be common, but you could also have the
ears of a rabbit, the legs of a cat, a bushy fox tail,
butterfly wings, or even be hollow inside. You stand
4-1/2 to 5-1/2 feet tall, with a slim build, weighing no
more than 130 pounds.
Night Vision You see in dim light as if it were bright light.
You benefit from dim light as if it were bright light and
faint light as if it were dim light.
Faerie Upon reaching adulthood, you grow no older
physically and, short of violence of mishap, you live
indefinitely. Your faerie heritage renders you immune
to aging effects and infection.
Keen Senses You see twice as far as humans see and you
ignore the effects of obscurement on your vision. You
can also hear a whisper from up to two zones away. And
the Sage might make a luck roll on your behalf to
determine if you notice a hidden creature, object, or
feature in your zone.
Languages Sylvan
ELF DISTINCTIVE FEATURE
d20 Quirk
1 You have unusual ear such that they look like those
belonging to a rabbit, goat, or some other animal.
2 Your skin color changes with the seasons. You have
bright green skin in the spring, golden in the
summer, fiery red in the autumn, and bone white in
the winter.
3 You have odd eyes. They might be feline in nature,
look like those of a goat, or be of a strange color.
4 You have a tail! Your tail can be as bushy as a fox’s,
naked as a mouse’s, or short like a deer’s.
5 You have feathers instead of hair. These feathers can
be any color you choose.
6 You have unusual legs. Your legs could resemble
those of a grasshopper, bird, or cat. You might even
have the lower body of a deer, if you choose.
7 You have butterfly or moth wings growing from your
back. They flutter when you want them too, but they
cannot lift you off the ground.
8 You have a pelt of soft fur.
9 Long, delicate antennae extend from your brow.
10 Soft scales cover your hands and feet and extend up
your limbs, gradually giving way to skin.
11 From behind, you appear hollow. Clothing you wear
simply fades away from behind.
12 You have a frog’s mouth and tongue.
13 You have webbed fingers and toes.
14 The air smells pleasant and clean around you.
15 Your skin glitters and sparkles.
16 You have pictures of animals in your skin. The animals
depicted move as if they are alive and move around
9
 your body, such that when you are startled, the birds
on your chest take wing and fly to your backside, for
example.
17 You have thick hair, fur even, growing along your
arms and legs.
18 In moonlight, glowing motes, like fireflies, dance
around your body.
19 You have an extra digit or one less on each hand and
foot.
20 Your movements leave faint tracers.
ELF BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 You hope to win the heart of the Lady of the Silver
Waters by completing a great quest.
2 A mortal used magic to pluck you from your hidden
realm and made you a servant for many years.
3 You scour the lands for a missing realm of faerie, one
believed to exist but long lost.
4 You owe your life to a mortal and vowed to repay the
deed.
5 Goblins stole something from you—a kiss, a mortal
you loved, your tears. You quest to retrieve what was
taken.
6 You hate trolls. Trolls live in the mortal world and so
now you do.
Faun
You come from the people who have long guarded
the paths into the faerie lands, as charged by the
immortals when the world was still young. Legends
claim your people were once human or humanlike,
but long exposure to the uncanny energies bleeding
out from the hidden kingdoms affected your
people’s transformation into your present form,
which combines human and animal, though not in
the manner of mongrels or other weird monsters.
No, yours is a stable union, such that you have a
generally human upper body, though you likely
have horns growing from your brow. Thick, short
fur, similar to that of goats, covers your waist and
legs all the way down to your hooves. You stand
between four and five feet tall and likely weigh
between ninety and one hundred forty pounds. You
have the full human range of skin, hair, and eye
coloration.
Night Vision You see in dim light as if it were bright light.
You benefit from dim light as if it were bright light and
faint light as if it were dim light.
Fleet-Footed When you take a turn, you can increase the
number of times you can move by one. Once you use
this trait, you lose it (luck ends).
Languages Native
FAUN BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 You found a magic door in the woods. You stepped
through it and became lost in the New Lands.
2 You served a wicked faerie queen as her henchmen.
You felt so guilty, you helped her enemies defeat her.
3 A witch turned you into a sparrow. You flew away in
fear and could not find your way home after the
curse wore off.
4 You befriended and protected a mortal child for
many years. Your friend reached adulthood and
vanished. You search for this friend.
5 Evil brigands sacked your village and carried away
your true love.
6 You hope to become a great hero. You set out with
your belongings to find your fortune.
Gnome
Despite your lack of flesh, bones, and blood, you
are, in fact, a living being. Your body consists of a
humanoid-shaped pile of chert rocks that stands
about two feet tall and weighs one-hundred and
fifty pounds. A large stone serves as your head with
eyes that look like chips of lava rock. You talk
through the fine crack that runs across your head.
Few gnomes venture out from the subterranean
enclaves, but you overcame the xenophobia that has
come to dominate many of your people’s
settlements. Emerging from the darkness of the
depths, you have found a world of endless
possibility, of strange people with even stranger
customs. And though the people you meet appear
different, you have found enough common ground
to find a place for yourself.
Awareness 0 You have the awareness trait (see chapter 1).
Small Your size is 1/2. While you are this size, you have a
+1 bonus to Defense.
Inorganic Anatomy Your body consists of chunks of rock
assembled in a humanoid shape. You can use Strength
in place of Agility for calculating your Defense and you
increase your Health by 3.
You ignore hunger and thirst, suffocation, and
exposure, as well as to infection, poison, venom, and
other toxins. Since you consume no food or drink, you
derive no benefit from using elixirs, potions, powders,
and other substances, nor do you benefit from healing
kits or herbal poultices.
You benefit from resting, like any other creature, but
if you rest on an earthen or stone surface, you heal
twice the damage and regain twice as much Health.
Finally, you cannot swim. Instead, you sink to the
bottom. While submerged in a liquid, you are impaired.
Language Elemental
GNOME BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 You seek the legendary Heart Stone that was stolen
from the Gnome King and left him bitter and hateful.
If you can restore it, the Gnome King will become
kindly once more.
2 Wicked dwarfs stole treasure from your people. You
and others set out to find the thieves and punish
them.
3 An earthquake collapsed the cave in which your
people live. You escaped, but left many dead behind.
4 An alchemist employed you for a number of years,
believing you held the secrets of transmutation.
10
5 You search for the Deeping Gorge, the place from
which all gnomes come.
6 The Voice of the Depths spoke to you and gave you a
great purpose you must achieve.
Halfling
Some claim your kind has kinship with the humans,
being a branch of the tree of humanity, but your
people know better. The halflings have lived in the
world for as long as the humans have and have
largely lived apart, keeping to your own separate
worlds. Some halfling clans live a nomadic lifestyle,
but most favor life in little communities tucked away
in distant lands, far from the strife and struggle that
seems to follow humans wherever they go. And yet,
here you are, moving among the larger folk.
You stand between three and four feet tall and
weigh between forty and eighty pounds. You have
many human characteristics, including the same
proportions, but you have just three fingers and a
thumb on each hand and the same number of toes
on each foot. By human standards, you have large
eyes and slightly pointed ears that lack earlobes and
have tufts of fur growing from the tips.
Small Your size is 1/2. While you are this size, you have a
+1 bonus to Defense.
Keen Senses You see twice as far as humans see and you
ignore the effects of obscurement on your vision. You
can also hear a whisper from up to two zones away. And
the Sage might make a luck roll on your behalf to
determine if you notice a hidden creature, object, or
feature in your zone.
Nimble You make Agility rolls with 1 boon and you can fit
through any opening large enough to accommodate the
size of your head, which is about 20 inches in diameter.
Language Common or Native
HALFLING BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 You and your family lived among another people.
You adopted their customs and count yourself
among them.
2 You come from a large family of nomads. You have
traveled around the New Lands in a wagon caravan.
3 You want to see the world. The next opportunity to
do so that comes, you’re taking it.
4 An old wizard found you and charged you with a
grave burden.
5 The authorities in a community believed you were
responsible for some crime. You fled the hangman’s
noose.
6 You are a great gourmand and you travel to sample
the cuisines of other cultures.
Hobgoblin
Many legends paint faeries as beautiful and exotic
in their appearance, but, in truth, most faeries fall
quite a bit short from being attractive let alone
enchanting. You stand about three feet tall and
weigh between fifty and seventy pounds. Thick hair
grows in tufts from all over your pudgy body,
especially from the top of your head, nose, and ears.
You have a wide face, expressive features, and an
extremely long nose.
Hobgoblins have talent for sneaking and hiding,
able to disappear in the face of danger. This makes
them valuable to faerie lords and ladies in need of
spies, but it also lets hobgoblins infiltrate mortal
communities for good or ill designs.
Night Vision You see in dim light as if it were bright light.
You benefit from dim light as if it were bright light and
faint light as if it were dim light.
Small Your size is 1/2. While you are this size, you have a
+1 bonus to Defense.
Faerie Upon reaching adulthood, you grow no older
physically and, short of violence of mishap, you live
indefinitely. Your faerie heritage renders you immune
to aging effects and infection.
Stealthy You move at full speed while sneaking and when
you become hidden, you become invisible until you use
an action.
Language Sylvan
HOBGOBLIN BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 Choose a mortal character in your group. You
bonded with the character’s family and watched over
this character for years. You have a close bond.
2 Your life is a mystery. You have no memory of your
past.
3 You lived in a burrow near a human settlement. You
sometimes snuck around, helping people in need
with their chores.
4 Something frightened you so badly that you packed
up and left your old life behind. What happened?
5 You recently left a faerie kingdom to see the mortal
world.
6 You have lived as a loner for years, but something
drove you toward civilization.
Human
You belong to the great family of humanity, the most
numerous and diverse people living on all of Erth.
You might be short or tall, thin or heavy, or
somewhere in between. Ethnic and cultural
divisions might exist, but their boundaries tend to
be informed more by geography rather than in
differences in appearance. You can choose any
reasonable height or weight within normal ranges
for a human.
Typical humans must rely on their ingenuity,
pluck, and determination to make their way in the
world as they lack many of the qualities that make
other ancestries physically distinct. You, however,
stand apart from the teeming masses. You could
have been born under a special star, descend from a
line of heroes, or simply have talents few others can
11
equal. Your quality comes regardless of any other
physical characteristic; your gifts come from within.
Destined You make luck rolls with 1 boon.
Language Common or Native
HUMAN BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 Your family fled the Old Country when you were
young and settled in the Borderlands. You can barely
remember your former homeland.
2 You were born in the New Lands and have lived here
all your life. You have never left your community and
know little of the world beyond it.
3 You come from a family of famous adventurers. You
hope to live up to their example.
4 Your family has ties to the nobility in the Old Country,
but have since lost everything.
5 Monsters or calamity destroyed your home
community. You’ve been on the move ever since.
6 You have gained some fame. You could have saved
your community, made a great piece of art, or have
earned acclaim from your performances.
Ogre
Blood and suffering stain the pages of your people’s
history for, long ago, the trolls made you their slaves
and forced you to fight for them, performing acts of
terrible violence on people with whom the ogres
had no quarrel. Your ancestors broke their chains in
a great uprising that sent the trolls fleeing for the
dark places, but the ogres have never forgotten what
was done to them and have striven to avoid conflict
when possible.
People might recoil from you, given your size,
hirsute body, and the great spiraling horns that grow
out from the sides of your head. You have a wide
maw, filled with thick, flat teeth. You stand eight to
nine feet tall and weigh as much as six hundred
pounds. Most ogres have red to brown fur, but
blonde, black, and gray are common too.
Large Your size is 2. While you are this size, you have a –2
penalty to Defense.
Hulking Increase your Health by 12.
Language Native
OGRE BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 You have not seen another ogre for ages. You set out
to find others of your kind.
2 After frightening woodcutters, they came back in
force. You fled rather than harm them.
3 A faerie ensorcelled you to perform some service.
You did as commanded, but you have no idea where
you are now.
4 One or both of your parents fought trolls to punish
them for their ancient crimes. You have taken up that
role.
5 You encountered a god in the woods. You vowed to
serve this deity.
6 Monsters moved into your home territory. You seek
aid to help drive them off.
Orc
The fear and distrust people sometimes show to
orcs come from the violent and depraved history of
societies built by the orc peoples. Often, these
cultures and nations form around diabolical figures
who enslaved the orcs, or cruel, tyrannical religions
that celebrate chaos and evil. Some orcs, however,
manage to escape the culture of brutality and lead
peaceful lives in more civilized lands.
You stand between five and seven feet tall and
weigh anywhere from 150 to 300 pounds or more.
You have a stooped posture, long arms, and, most
likely, a powerful body corded with muscle. You
have bright red eyes under a pronounced brow and
a prominent jaw and oversized teeth that might
include a tusk or two. All orcs have green skin
pebbled with warts and nodules.
Night Vision You see in dim light as if it were bright light.
You benefit from dim light as if it were bright light and
faint light as if it were dim light.
Tough Increase your Health by 5 and you ignore the bane
imposed from being injured.
Sunlight Weakness You are impaired while in zones lit by
sunlight.
Language Runic
ORC BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 A dark wizard enslaved your people and compelled
you to commit atrocities. You escaped after breaking
your chains.
2 Another people found you when you were young
and raised you among their people.
3 You come from a tribe who lived in peace with their
neighbors. Calamity struck and you were one of the
few survivors.
4 Foul priests of a dark god came to power in your
tribe and turned many of your people into
bloodthirsty killers.
5 Your people struggled to survive in a bleak and
forlorn badland. You left it behind as soon as you
could.
6 You followed a charismatic warlord on a campaign of
conquest and deserted after a series of defeats.
Salamander
Your story began when you broke free from the
large black egg your sire placed in the blazing
bonfire. The blaze quickened your development and
gave you the strength you needed to shatter your
prison. You grew to adulthood after a few years to
take your place among your people or seek out your
fortunes in the world beyond their fiery enclaves.
Your salamander heritage grants you a humanoid
upper body and a long, muscular tail in place of
legs. You measure between seven and ten feet in
12
length, though you can hold yourself up to maintain
eye contact with other human-sized people. You
weight around two or three hundred pounds.
The heat radiating from your mottled red, orange,
and white skin reveals your origins and your solid
white eyes glow in darkness. You have combs and
fringes of darker skin along your arms and the sides
of your face. You lack body hair and your skin feels
rough, hot to the touch.
Fireborn You take no damage from fire and you ignore
the effects of exposure.
Stoke the Flames You can use an action to perform the
stoke the flames activity.
Serpentine You have the lower body of a serpent. You
cannot run and you make rolls to jump or leap with 1
bane. You impose 1 bane on rolls made to move you or
knock you prone and you make rolls to avoid being
moved or knocked prone with 1 boon.
Language Elemental.
STOKE THE FLAMES
You seize upon the fires of your elemental heritage and cause
flames to dance across your body.
Requirement You must not be submerged in a liquid.
Range Personal; Target You
Effect You erupt in flames that last for one minute. Your
melee attacks and unarmed attacks deal an extra 1d6/2
damage from the heat and flames.
SALAMANDER BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 You hunt someone who wronged you, your family, or
your community.
2 You left your community to become a monster
hunter.
3 A spell summoned you and bound you to service for
a period of three years. The summoner never sent
you home and you’ve searched for it ever since.
4 An oracle foretold your future. You have been on the
run ever since, trying to escape your doom.
5 Your people went to war with a neighboring
community. You nearly died on the battlefield and
deserted soon after.
6 You or your family settled among another people
and you have lived there ever since.
Shade
The Underworld waits for most living creatures that
die and into this shadowed place, the souls
languish, fading in body as well as mind until
nothing remains but empty husks of who they once
were. Most mortals seek to avoid this fate and curry
favor with the gods to be invited into Paradise or
wherever the divine happens to rule, but most, no
matter how good or virtuous, can resist the pull of
Lord Death’s domain.
You remember nothing of your former life other
than that you lived one at some point in the distant
past and in death you found refuge in City of
Dreams, a great dark metropolis surrounding
Death’s grand palace, and there joined the other
souls in becoming a shade. Normally, you would
spend eternity in the gloom of that place, but
something led you out of the dark and into the light
once more. Having escaped the Underworld, you
have little interest in returning as now you have
another chance to live.
You have a humanoid form, though you have a
deathly pallor, with dark circles around your blood-
red eyes. You have white hair and have a slender,
almost gaunt frame. Somehow, you have a corporeal
form, even though you lost your original body long
ago. Your purpose and place in the mortal world
remain a mystery to you.
Night Vision You see in dim light as if it were bright light.
You benefit from dim light as if it were bright light and
faint light as if it were dim light.
Shadow Blend You impose 1 bane on rolls made to attack
you when in a zone lit by dim light and you take half
damage from all sources while in zones containing no
light.
Sunlight Weakness You are impaired while in zones lit by
sunlight.
Language Common, Native, or High Archaic.
SHADE BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 You followed a bard who had come to the
Underworld to rescue his beloved.
2 You found your way back to the mortal world by
infiltrating the Midnight Spire, a mysterious tower of
black stone that rises from the center of the City of
Dreams.
3 Lord Death himself dispatched you to the mortal
world to carry out an important task. Unfortunately,
the trauma of your return erased your memory of
this task.
4 Since escaping the Underworld, you have tried to
discover who you once were.
5 You loathe revenants and destroy them wherever
you find them.
6 Someone you met in the Underworld asked you to
deliver a message to someone living in the mortal
world. You search for this person still.
Skinchanger
A beast lives within you, just under your skin, and it
craves release. When you surrender to your animal
impulses, you shed your humanoid form as your
body flows into that of a wild animal such as a wolf,
bear, or great cat. While in this form, you possess
many qualities of the animal you resemble, but you
retain your mind and knowledge you’ve acquired so
far. And when the beast grows weary, you need only
stand up to resume your normal form.
Humans mistake you for being one of their own,
though there’s something feral about you, some
quality that might raise suspicions. Golden eyes,
13
extensive body hair, large canines, a taste for raw
meat: these clues might be hard to miss. Though
some might deem you a monster for your ancestral
talent, you find it liberating when you reveal your
secret face and embrace the wild spirit that lives
inside you.
Beast Form When you move, you can choose to transform
into a beast of your size. The beast form can have any
appearance you like, but the form is that of a
quadruped predatory animal and once you choose it
the first time, you return to this form each time you use
this trait to assume your beast form. When you
transform, everything you wear and carry transforms
with you and you remain in your beast form until you
use an action to return to your normal form or you
become unconscious. When you use an action to return
to your normal form, you heal damage equal to your
level.
You can use this trait a number of times equal to 1 +
your level and you regain expended uses when you
finish an eight-hour rest.
While in your beast form, you gain the following
benefits and drawbacks.
• You cannot speak.
• You cannot make use any equipment that
transforms with you.
• You have Scent 2 (see special senses in Chapter
1).
• You have a bonus to your Health equal to your
level.
• You can use your tusks, claws, or teeth become
natural weapons (see below).
Language Native
NATURAL WEAPON
Claws and teeth, spikes, tail, or horns: you use your natural
weaponry to attack.
Range Melee; Target One creature or object
Roll Strength or Agility with 1 boon against Defense
Effect [Attack Dice] + Strength modifier damage.
SKINCHANGER BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 You were raised by another people and only recently
realized your skinchanger heritage.
2 Your tribe fought against the settlers for years, but,
after a human saved yourself, you have begun to
rethink your people’s aggression.
3 Wild and unruly, you felt constrained by your tribe’s
rules and struck out on your own.
4 Your tribe adopted you from another tribe. You
search for your original people to find out what
happened to them.
5 You have a life debt to another character. The debt
binds you and you can repay it only by saving that
character’s life.
6 You killed a rival and fled your tribe in fear and
shame.
Sylph
The sky calls to you, always. You feel drawn to soar
among the clouds, to dance with the birds. And
sometimes, when the heaven’s tugs too strong upon
your heart, you unfurl your wings to shed the
shackles of the earth from your body and take your
place where you belong.
You are a slim, slight humanoid with a pair of
large fragile wings growing from you back. The
wings resemble those found on moths, but, of
course, sized for your body. You stand between 4
and 5 feet tall and weigh no more than 100 pounds
thanks to the hollowness of your bones. You have
large, wide eyes that can see farther than humans
can see. Your skin, eyes, and hair seem drawn from a
palette of colors most commonly found in the
heavens, such as the blue of a summer sky, the rose
color of dawn, or the purpling twilight when the sun
sets.
Winged You have large wings on your back that grant you
the flier 3 trait. While injured, you lose this trait.
Language Elemental
SYLPH BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 Something struck your island from the sky. You and a
few others survived the attack.
2 You value a friendship made with a land-dweller and
prefer to keep that individual’s company.
3 You swore to undertake a quest. What does this
quest entail?
4 You were injured and forced to convalesce with land
dwellers. Your time there fostered an interest in
them.
5 You have always wanted to visit the realms of the
faerie.
6 Grief over a loved one’s death drove you out from
your sky island. You don’t think you can ever go
home.
Undine
Your people, the undines, make their homes in the
waters of the world, in the rivers, lakes, and seas,
while some of their most elaborate cities of coral
and stone rise from the ocean floor. As water-
dwellers, undines can breathe water as easily as
humans do air and move freely in aquatic
environments. However, being suited to aquatic
environments in no way limits their ability to move
about on dry land, as they can also breathe air.
You have a tall, slender body covered in fine silver,
blue, or green scales. You have wide dark eyes
equipped with nictitating membranes to protect the
delicate organs from silt and sand. Small fins grow
along the sides of your arms and legs, and from the
base of your neck down the length of your spine.
14
You stand between 6 and 7 feet tall and weigh
between 170 and 250 pounds.

Night Vision You see in dim light as if it were bright light.

You benefit from dim light as if it were bright light and
faint light as if it were dim light.
Waterborn You can breathe water and air. You swim twice
as fast as normal and you always succeed on rolls made
to swim. However, you make rolls to resist the effects of
heat exposure with 1 bane and when you take damage
from fire, you become fatigued for 1 round.
Language Elemental.
UNDINE BACKGROUNDS
d6 Background
1 Wanderlust afflicts you. Never do you stay in one
place for long.
2 You lived in the Sunken City at the bottom of the Sea
of Fear. You came out from the depths to trade with
land dwellers.
3 You saved a drowning sailor and accompanied your
friend to dry land. You liked it so much, you decided
to stay awhile.
4 Reavers attacked and killed many of your people.
You vowed to get revenge.
5 You lived with a small community of undines in a
large lake. You have since struck out on your own.
6 Calamity struck your home, forcing you and others to
find somewhere else to live.

15
Professions Acolyte
Religions and the gods they serve depend on people
Your character begins the game a profession. A to defend the faith’s interests, make converts, and
profession describes, in broad terms, how your spread across the lands. You might have been a ward
character fits into the world, what activities your of a temple, a convert who, as part of your
character performed prior to becoming an conversion, committed your life to service, been a
adventurer, and how your character made ends lesser scion of a noble house, or just an individual
meet. You can choose a profession or roll a d20 to who hopes to do good in the world through service
gain a random profession. to the divine. You hold a low rank within your faith
RANDOM PROFESSIONS for now, but with time and training you might climb
d20 Profession the ranks to become a leader of your religion.
1 Acolyte
2 Agitator Orison Whenever you use an action to help a creature,
3 Apothecary increase the number of boons granted by 1.
4 Aristocrat Faithful You make rolls to perform the temple service
5 Barbarian downtime activity with 1 boon.
6 Charlatan Starting Equipment Uniform
7 Commoner
8 Criminal
9 Engineer Agitator
10 Entertainer Whether you’re fighting against injustice, a noble
11 Gambler
12 Guide
cause, or just seeking power in local politics, you
13 Healer move among the people, delivering speeches and
14 Investigator handing out pamphlets to any who will take them.
15 Magician As an agitator, you seek to disrupt the normal, to
16 Merchant bring awareness about your causes to the benighted
17 Sailor population. A master of rhetoric, when you take the
18 Scholar
stage and begin speaking, you can hold the
19 Seer
20 Soldier
audience’s attention and twist their emotions in any
direction you choose.
Profession Benefits Incite Whenever you use an action to help a creature and
Your profession offers several benefits. the creature uses the granted boon on a roll to attack,
Attack Dice You have one Attack Die from your the creature’s attack deals 1d6 extra damage.
profession. For information on how to use the Trouble Maker You make rolls to perform the rabble-
Attack Die, see Attacking in chapter 1. rouse downtime activity with 1 boon.
Talents Your profession grants one or more
talents that reflect your experiences and training.
Gear Some professions add to your starting
Apothecary
The secrets of alchemy promise to solve the riddle
equipment.
Extra Languages Your profession might grant you of immortality, the creation of new life forms, and
additional languages. If the language entry gives you transmutation of materials, among numerous other
rewards for those with the patience to tease out the
a choice of language, you can choose any language
other than a secret language. If you already know means from ancient tomes and forbidden manuals.
You have taken the first tentative step on the road to
the language granted, you can learn a different one
of your choice in its place. understanding the sciences and learned the useful
properties of many different herbs and substances,
which help you to manufacture potions, elixirs, and
Professional Knowledge more.
As a member of a particular profession, you can
readily recall uncommon information related to Skilled Brewer You know the recipe for the elixir of
your work. For example, as an acolyte, you know a healing or a different substance of your level. make rolls
great deal about your religion and, as a gambler, you to perform the create recipe downtime activity with 1
know how to play a variety of games of chance and boon. If you have an alchemy kit, you can produce a
proper etiquette when playing them. When you substance for which you have a recipe in 1 minute
would make an attribute roll to perform an activity instead of 1 hour.
related to your profession, the Sage either grants Starting Equipment Alchemist’s kit.
you 1 boon or an automatic success. Extra Language Arcane

16
Aristocrat
Wealth, status, and power came down to you from
you forbears. Your family might have escaped the
Old Country with their fortunes intact or your
family might have accumulated their wealth here.
Whatever your story, you family provides you with a
comfortable life far removed from the struggles
faced by the masses.
Wealth Whenever you spend a downtime period in an
urban environment, you can take the superior lifestyle
without accumulating debt.
Elite Society You make rolls to perform the espionage
and intrigue downtime activities with 1 boon.
Starting Equipment Superior clothing
Extra Language One of your choice
Barbarian
You spent much of your life living without
civilization’s comforts. You might have belonged to a
tribal people or embraced isolation as a recluse. In
whatever manner you lived, you learned how to get
along in the wild, to forage and hunt for food, and
find shelter. You are self-sufficient and can survive
for long periods outdoors without fear or
discomfort.
Endurance You make rolls to resist infection with 1 boon.
In addition, whenever you would gain hunger or thirst,
you can roll Strength and reduce the hunger or thirst
gained to 0.
Charlatan
You made your way in the world by fleecing and
defrauding others. You understand people, identify
what they want. You promise them anything they
might want and thereby get them to do what you
want. That you lie, cheat, and steal to convince
others makes you no shortage of enemies, but you
find a way to slip away before anyone grows wise to
your shenanigans.
Blather When you use an action to hinder, you increase
the number of banes imposed on the target’s roll by 1.
Extra Language One of your choice
Commoner
Civilization depends on the mass of workers, the
tradesmen, the laborers, and the common folk to
produce the goods on which society depends. You
count yourself among these people and have
worked much of your life to provide for yourself and
your family. You could have been a farmer, a
blacksmith, tailor, servant, animal trainer,
bartender, cook, or something else. You could have
remained among the commoners had not adventure
called you to some greater purpose, and though you
stand ready to join the ranks of heroes, your past is
never far from your thoughts.
Trade You know one trade of your choice and
your professional knowledge applies to that trade.
Your trade can be anything you like, but it must
involve the making or maintenance of non-magical
items or structures, labor, or involve performing a
service of some kind.
Resilience You make rolls to overcome effects with 1
boon.
Laborer You make rolls to perform the work downtime
activity with 1 boon.
Criminal
Circumstance, necessity, or a lack of scruples saw
you embrace a life of crime. You live by taking things
that don’t belong to you and you have learned how
to pull of these crimes with aplomb. You know how
to pick pockets and pick locks so you can gain the
coin you need to make ends meet. Although you
might have chosen this career, your skills prove
useful to those headed into dangerous and
forbidding places as you have the training and
experience one needs to bypass the tricks and traps
that bar your way.
Fast Hands You make rolls to steal with 1 boon.
Career Criminal You make rolls to perform the commit a
crime downtime activity with 1 boon.
Starting Equipment Lock picks
Engineer
The efforts to tame the natural world made great
strides before the Old Country fell into chaos and
though many advances were lost in the great
diaspora, much survived with the engineers who
emerged from the smoke and fire to rebuild in the
lands formerly ruled by the Weird Wizard. You
finished your apprenticeship and have learned the
secrets of constructing marvelous devices, gadgets
and gizmos to aid you in your adventures. You carry
your tools and bag of spare parts wherever you go so
you can assemble something useful in a pinch.
Tinker You make rolls to perform the craft activity with 1
boon. In addition, you know how to craft devices and
engineering weapons.
Starting Equipment Tool kit
Entertainer
The stage calls to you. You have developed a talent
for performance and you can use it to entertain your
audiences. You might be a dancer, a musician, a
singer, or simply a good story teller. You can be self-
17
taught or you might have been apprenticed to a
master who saw the potential in you and helped you
reach it.
Performance You know how to perform in front
of audience. You know one form of performance
plus one for each point of your Intellect bonus
(minimum 0). Common performances include
singing, dancing, play an instrument, storytelling,
and oratory.
Perform You can use an action to perform and either help
or hinder one creature that can see you, hear you, and
is within two zones of you.
Seasoned Performer You make rolls to perform the
entertain downtime activity.
Starting Equipment Musical instrument
Extra Language One of your choice
Gambler
You make your living playing games of chance. You
bet on cards, dice, notched sticks, races, and bouts.
You take risks and sometimes you win, sometimes
you lose. You win just enough, however, to keep a
few coins in your pocket so you can ante up in the
next game you come across.
Risk-Taker Whenever you roll luck, you can choose to roll
with 1 boon. If you fail the roll, you lose this talent until
you finish an eight-hour rest.
Card Shark You make rolls to perform the gamble
downtime activity with 1 boon.
Gear Deck of cards, dice
Guide
Experience in traveling through the wilderness
makes you an exceptional guide. You can typically
find your way to destinations, have a good sense of
direction, and can help others keep up with you.
You also have a fair amount of wilderness lore and
can identify animal tracks and spoor.
Lead the Way When you move across challenging terrain,
you grant each ally that can see and hear you 1 boon on
rolls made for moving across the same terrain.
Seasoned Traveler You make rolls to perform the explore
downtime activity.
Healer
You earned a reputation for being skilled in the
healing arts. You might have learned from another
healer, such as a witch who look after the people in
a community, or you could have studied at a great
institution of learning. Then again, your healing
capabilities might have come as a byproduct of your
study of anatomy or one of the dark arts of magic.
Healing Arts When you use a healer’s kit, the target of
your ministrations heals an extra 1d6 damage. In
addition, when you would stabilize a creature and
expend a use from a healer’s kit, the target heals an
extra 1d6 damage. Finally, when you perform the aid
downtime activity to help an ally perform the
convalesce downtime activity, you grant the ally one
extra boon.
Starting Equipment Healer’s kit
Investigator
You have a knack for finding clues and putting them
together to form a story of what happens. You know
the best hiding places, how to separate the salient
bits of a witness’s account from the trivial. You can
spot clues in your surroundings and gather the
evidence you need. You could be a constable in a
community, a private detective, or a spy working for
an organization or government. You could also be an
unabashed blackmailer, gathering secrets to use to
your advantage.
Spot Clue You can find as a minor activity rather than use
an action to do so. In addition, if you would be
surprised, you can roll luck. On a success, you are not
surprised.
Ear to the Ground When you perform the gather rumors
or research downtime activity, you make the roll with 1
boon.
Magician
You received formal training in the art of magic
from a master. Your training might have taken place
at one of the rare institutions of magical learning
found in the Old Country or as private tutelage
under an experiences spellcaster. Your education
was anything but easy for it required you to study
uncanny texts, handle ingredients often toxic to you,
and wrestle with ideas any would find contradictory
and alien. In the end, you learned enough magic to
serve as a foundation for what you will discover in
the wider world.
Tradition You discover one tradition. See Chapter @:
Spells for details on traditions and spells.
Extra Language Arcane
Merchant
Commerce plays a crucial role in the development
of the New Lands. Merchants, such as yourself, help
bring goods to markets throughout the New Lands.
More than managing the logistics of moving goods,
you also had to convince others to pay as much as
you could wring out of them for the commodities
you sold. You’re at your best in social situations,
especially when it comes to negotiating.
18
Business Acumen At the start of each downtime period,
roll luck. On a success, you can have the superior
lifestyle for that period without accumulating debt.
In addition, you can perform one additional
downtime activity each period you spend in an urban
environment. For this activity, choose Buy and Sell or
Run a Business.
Extra Languages Three of your choice
Reading You must have implements of divination such as
a deck of cards, dice, or notched sticks. Choose one
creature or object you can reach and use an action to
use your implements to divine the future or the past.
Roll luck. The Sage tells you one true thing about the
target’s future or past on a success. On a failure, you
learn nothing and you lose this talent for 24 hours.
Starting Equipment Cards or dice

Sailor
Mariner, sailor, pirate, marine, boater, or fisher, you
ply your trade on the waters of the world. You have
likely traveled far and wide, seen distant lands and
met new peoples, while venturing into the
unknown. You know your way around ships and
boats and other watercraft from your time on them.
In fact, you likely spent much of your life on the
water, coming home infrequently to spend your
hard-earned coin.
Soldier
An uneasy peace has settled over the New Lands,
but the winds of war blow across the realm.
Communities raise militias to protect themselves
against brigands and bandits and monsters most
foul, while nobles seeking crowns quietly raise
armies with which they might carve out new
nations. You have taken up arms to fight as a
member of a militia group, a mercenary, or a guard
for someone in a position of power.

Sea Legs You make rolls to climb and swim with 1 boon. Martial Training Increase your Health by 3. In addition,
Iron Stomach You make rolls to perform the Carouse each time gain Health from increasing your level, you
downtime activity with 1 boon. gain 1 additional Health.
Tempered in Battle You make rolls to perform the
Military Service downtime activity with 1 boon.
Scholar Starting Equipment Uniform
A life spent in scholarly pursuits filled your mind
with the knowledge you need to make your way in
the world. While you likely focused on one or two
areas of knowledge, you know a little about
everything and can often recall useful information
when needed. You know your way around libraries,
can hold your own in debate, and where to look to
learn something when something proves beyond
your understanding.
Area of Expertise Choose one of the following
areas in which to have professional knowledge:
architecture, astrology, folklore, geography, history,
law and politics, nature, or science. You might
choose a different area with the Sage’s permission.

Educated You have uncommon knowledge in all subjects.

You make Intellect rolls to recall information about rare
or exotic topics with 1 boon. Finally, you make rolls to
perform the Research downtime activity with 1 boon.
Starting Equipment Book on topic of your choice
Extra Languages One of your choice.

Seer
You have a gift of the second sight, an ability to
divine future events before they transpire. You could
be the seventh child of a seventh child, come from a
long line of fortune tellers, or be haunted by a spirit
who whispers in your ear possible futures. You can
make predictions about future events and use that
information to help or hinder others.

19
Starting Equipment
5 Three torches and tinderbox
6 Lantern, flask of oil, and tinderbox

The equipment you have at the start of the game POCKET MONEY
can tell you many things about your character such d6 Wealth
as your level of preparedness and your current 1 1d6/2 cp
2 1d6 cp
financial circumstances. The game offers two ways
3 1d6 + 3 cp
to determine your starting equipment. You can roll 4 2d6 + 3 cp
dice and find the results on the tables below to build 5 1d6/2 sp and 3d6 cp
your list of starting equipment. Or you can begin the 6 1d6/2 gp, 1d6 sp, and 6d6 cp
game with 1d6 sp and purchase items from those
listed in Appendix #: Equipment. PERSONAL EFFECTS
d20 Item
If you roll for starting equipment, some items
1 A lock of hair, letter, or some other love token
might be useful for members of certain ancestries. 2 A piece of costume jewelry
Neither a gnome nor a clockwork has need of 3 A pet mouse, cat, rabbit, bird, or dog
rations or canteens. You can skip over these entries 4 A small bell
if you like or give the results of your rolls to your 5 Half of an old map
companions. 6 An old key
In addition to starting equipment, you can have 7 An iron horseshoe or a rabbit’s foot
8 A letter of introduction
whatever personal effects that you like. A pair of
9 A bottle of spirits
gloves, comb, an extra pair of underclothes are all 10 A single playing card
things you can have without needing to pay for 11 A bag of beans, a can of vegetables, or a collection of
them as they are items individually worth a fraction spoons
of a copper piece and rarely have an effect in play 12 A masquerade mask, a scarf, or a fancy hat
beyond character portrayal. 13 A toy or stuffed animal
14 An extra pair of sensible shoes
CLOTHING 15 Box of chalks, paints, or dyes in all the colors
d6 Clothing 16 A torn fragment from a paint, a sheet of music, or a
1 Inferior clothing piece of sculpture
2–5 Normal clothing 17 A pack filled with pots and pans
6 Superior clothing 18 A pair of manacles
19 A ten-pound bag of flour, a bag of marbles, a
ARMOR collapsible pole, 50 feet of rope, or small metal
d6 Armor mirror
1–3 None 20 A box of dead insects, a glass jar filled with sinister
4–5 Leather liquid, a lump of coal, a glass eye, a moldy cake, a
6 Mail towel and a small book filled with indecipherable
writing, a stoppered vial filled with an unknown
WEAPONS substance, a monstrous statuette, or something else
d6 Weapon others might consider strange
1 Inferior club, knife, or quarterstaff
2–5
6
Knife and any one basic weapon
Knife and any two basic weapons Identity
CONTAINERS The character you play represents a person in the
d6 Containers world, an individual with hopes and dreams, fears,
1 Nothing ambitions, a past, and a future. Your identity
2 Sack or waterskin encompasses all these aspects and helps to direct
3–4 Sack and canteen you when you make decisions about what your
5–6 Backpack and canteen
character does in the game and reactions to
PROVISIONS situations that come up in adventures. The
d6 Provisions following sections help you define aspects of your
1 One day character’s personality. You need not decide all
2 Two days aspects described here; some you might choose as
3 Three days you play the game. Also, you need not feel locked
4 Four days
5 Five days
into your choices. As you play through adventures,
6 Six days your character’s personality can change over time as
you play through adventures.
ILLUMINATION
d6 Illumination
1–2 Nothing
3–4 One candle and tinderbox

20
Distinctive Features 3 You have boils, piles, a goiter, or a nasty skin
condition that never heals.
Appearance plays little to no part in your character’s 4 Your joints pop when you stand up.
capabilities. Instead, it serves to help you imagine 5 You have a brand somewhere on your body.
6 One of your eyes looks in a different direction.
your character. The more detail you put into your 7 You eat with your mouth open.
character, the more alive the character seems to be. 8 You have a facial tic.
Your character starts as an adult with a height and 9 You have broken veins in your nose.
weight falling in the typical range explained in the 10 You smell of soup.
ancestry entry. You can come up with basic details 11 You have no pigment in your hair or skin.
such as your age, hair, eye, and skin color, apparent 12 You are hirsute.
gender or lack thereof, and any other cosmetic trait 13 You have a pleasant smile.
14 You are somewhat short for your ancestry.
you wish to include. 15 You look a lot like a member of a different ancestry.
To help spark your imagination, you can use the 16 You are gaunt to the point of appearing skeletal.
Distinctive Features tables to generate random 17 You have a musty smell.
physical and behavioral traits. Using these tables 18 You have an extra finger or toe.
helps you come up with a varied, unique individual. 19 You are a person of exceptional beauty.
Note, though, that not all results work for all 20 You have wide and expressive mouth.
ancestries. Clockworks and gnomes have no body 3. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
hair and all archons have the same height and d20 Feature
weight and general appearance. Simply ignore 1 Your ears have an unusual shape or size.
contradictory results when they come and roll 2 You have an uncommon number of body piercings.
again, choose a different feature, or use the 3 You have a wart on your nose or chin.
distinctive feature table for your ancestry to come 4 You wear an unusual hair style.
up with a different result. Finally, if you use the 5 You have a peg leg.
6 Nothing about you stands out. Lose all distinguishing
tables, don’t feel compelled to take a result you gain features.
if it doesn’t fit your concept. You can freely choose 7 You breathe through your mouth.
whatever distinctive features you want. 8 You slouch all the time.
For random distinguishing features, roll a d6 to 9 Your pupils have a strange shape.
determine how many you have and then roll a d6 to 10 You have long fingernails.
find the table and a d20 to find the result on that 11 You snort when you laugh.
12 You pick at your scabs.
table. Not all features work for all ancestries. Feel
13 You have an infectious laugh.
free to modify or ignore a result that doesn’t fit your 14 You have a slender body.
character. 15 You have an attractive body.
16 You have long legs.
1. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES 17 You are gap-toothed.
d20 Feature 18 You have polychromatic eyes.
1 Your nose has an unusual shape or size. 19 You have a thick, blocky body.
2 You have unusual eye color. 20 You have a pot belly.
3 You have halitosis.
4 You walk with a limp. 4. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES
5 You keep your head shaved. d20 Feature
6 You fidget all the time. 1 You have a beauty mark on your face.
7 One of your legs or arms is shorter than the other. 2 You have all the freckles.
8 You are far smaller than average. 3 You have a beetling brow or your eyebrows meet.
9 You have a high-pitched voice. 4 You are double jointed.
10 You have abundant ear and nose hair. 5 You have tattoos over most or all of your body.
11 You suffer from uncontrollable sweating. 6 You stomp when you walk.
12 You spit as punctuation. 7 You have a rattling cough.
13 You have gorgeous hair. 8 You have sleepy eyes.
14 You are young, either an adolescent or a young adult. 9 You are prematurely gray or you will never go gray.
15 You appear androgynous. 10 You can’t seem to stay clean.
16 You are quite rotund. 11 You have a shrill laugh.
17 You have hairy feet. 12 You have an extensive scarring on your body.
18 You have a long, pointed nose. 13 You smell of jasmine, flowers, or something else.
19 You are rather plain or homely. 14 You are rather portly.
20 You have a melodious voice. 15 You have dark circles under your eyes.
16 You have a stooped, hunched posture.
2. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES 17 You have different colored eyes.
d20 Feature 18 You are extremely large for a member of your
1 You are quite attractive. ancestry.
2 A few of your teeth have gone missing. 19 You have an odd bulge somewhere on your body.

21
20 You are attractive. Dependability
5. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES The degree of dependability describes how reliable
d20 Feature you are and whether you follow through on your
1 You have one or more patches of different colored promises and can make good decisions that
skin. recognize the needs of others.
2 You lost an eye, ear, or part of your nose.
3 You have incredible facial hair. DEPENDABILITY
4 You crack your knuckles when idle. 3d6 Dependability
5 You walk on the balls of your feet. 3 You can’t depend on me for much of anything. I
6 When standing, you shift your weight from one foot almost never see things through and I’m given to
to the other. impulsive behavior.
7 You have a raspy voice. 4–5 I have a hard time staying organized and prioritizing
8 You have small hands or feet. what’s important over what’s not.
9 You have a lined and careworn face. 6–8 Sometimes I become so distracted, I forget what I
10 One eye squints all the time. am supposed to be doing.
11 You smile all the time. 9–12 I try to be conscientious, but I sometimes fall short.
12 You wear dentures. 13–15 For the most part, I do what I say I will do. I try to
13 You have a kind face. stay organized and keep my priorities right.
14 You are tall for members of your ancestry. 16–17 I lead an orderly, disciplined life. I almost always do
15 You have pock marks all over your face. what I say I will do and people can rely on me.
16 You are shapely, voluptuous, chiseled, or muscular. 18 I become so focused on a task that I ignore almost
17 You have bad acne. everything else until I finish. You can depend on me
18 You have webbed toes. to do one thing at a time.
19 You have prominent teeth.
20 You appear awkward and gangly. Sociability
6. DISTINCTIVE FEATURES Your sociability describes how well you get along
d20 Feature with others, but also how you regard strangers and
1 You have a nasty scar on your face. acquaintances
2 You have multiple piercings in your ears or wear
gauges in your lobes. SOCIABILITY
3 You lost one or more fingertips or fingers on one or 3d6 Sociability
both hands. 3 People are the worst. I have few friends and almost
4 You have no hair anywhere on your body. no close friends.
5 You rock back and forth when sitting. 4–5 I avoid interacting with strangers and it takes a lot to
6 You are pigeon toed or duck-footed. get me to open up to others.
7 You often rub your hands together with glee. 6–8 Some think me aloof and reserved, but I prefer to
8 You have a deep, sonorous voice. keep to myself.
9 You have exotic skin color. 9–12 People can be good or bad. I don’t make a judgment
10 You have a few extra pounds. about them until I get to know them.
11 You have smooth, babyish features. 13–15 Sure, some people are bad, but most aren’t and I try
12 You have a haggard appearance. to give others the benefit of the doubt.
13 You have smooth and supple skin. 16–17 I like people and hate thinking bad of others. I have
14 You are an older adult. never met a stranger.
15 You move with grace and poise. 18 I try to help everyone I meet, even to my detriment.
16 You have short arms.
17 You have scaly patches on your skin. Outlook
18 You frown all the time. Your outlook reflects the your most common state of
19 You have a heavy jaw.
20 You have a strange birthmark.
mind. You could be calm and confident or nervous
and pessimistic.

Personality 3d6 Outlook

An individual’s personality forms from life 3 Doom, doom, everywhere is doom. Nothing good
experiences, connections to others, the satisfaction
of certain needs and the absence of others. Your
character can have any personality you like, such 4–5
that you might play a character who behaves much
6–8
like yourself or someone much different from you. If
you like, you can make use of the personality tables
presented below. Each lets you randomly generate a 9–12
personality facet that, when taken together, gives
you an identity you can adopt in play.
OUTLOOK
will ever happen to me and the whole world is
against me.
I have terrible nerves and tend to be anxious most of
the time.
I am something of a pessimist. I expect the worst in
almost any situation so that I’ll never be
disappointed.
Life is what it is. You can be calm and collected or
nervous to the point of fearful. It all depends on your
situation.

22
13–15 I strive to be a positive, upbeat person. I look for the 9–12 I look after myself, but I do try to do the right thing
good in things and hope for the best outcomes. when I can.
16–17 I am calm, serene, and easy-going. Little bothers me. 13–15 I know the difference between right and wrong. I
18 Give me enough time and I can figure it out. There’s feel obligated to do the right thing.
nothing too difficult, too complicated, too dangerous 16–17 I always strive to do good. I treat others with
that I’m not at least willing to try. kindness, respect, and lend a hand whenever I can.
18 I make considerable sacrifices to help other people. If
Receptiveness everyone would make the same effort to uplift and
support one another, the world would be a better
Receptiveness describes your ability to try and do place.
new things as well as your ability to adapt to
changing circumstances.
RECEPTIVENESS
Relationships
3d6 Receptiveness
The game assumes all the characters know each
3 I’m not at all interested in breaking my routine. I other and have done so long enough to be able to
need order in my life. work together. For each other character, choose a
4–5 If it’s not broken, why fix it. Be practical. result or randomly determine the result to
6–8 New ideas and activities make me uncomfortable. determine how your character feels about the other.
9–12 I’m up for trying new things, just not all the time. Feelings can change, naturally, and friendships
13–15 I’m always thinking about new ways to do things and might wither while rivals might overcome their
new activities to pursue. I might not do them all, but
I’m willing to try.
differences and become close.
16–17 I’m always willing to do something different. I am RELATIONSHIPS
looking for new experiences.
3d6 Relationship
18 You’ll never guess what I’m about to do. I tend to do
3 I can’t stand this person. It’s not hate, but it’s close.
things without warning or reason.
4–5 I dislike this person.
6–8 I’m indifferent toward this person.
Affability 9–12 I get along with this person well enough. We’re not
How you behave in social situations comes down to close, but we’re not strangers.
affability. You might be reserved or gregarious. 13–15 I like this person. We could become friends.
16–17 This person is my friend. I like them a lot.
AFFABILITY 18 I love this person, who might be my best friend,
3d6 Affability lover, or partner.
3 People exhaust me. I loathe social situations and try

4–5
to escape them as fast as I can.
I am quiet around other people, preferring my own Religious Beliefs
company to others. A great many gods and powers find followers in the
6–8 I prefer to let others do the talking. I think about New Lands and some of the major religions trace
what people say and consider every angle before their origins back to the Old Country and even the
offering my opinion.
9–12 I can handle myself in social situations, but I’m also
Devastation. Few people deny that gods exist, but
fine when I am alone. the degree to which people fear and honor the gods
13–15 I enjoy social situations and good conversation. varies from person to person. The following table
16–17 I am outgoing, friendly, and love to have fun with describes your degree of piety in regard to your
others. particular religion, if you happen to have one. You
18 I am loud and boisterous. I love being at the center of can choose your religion from one of the ones that
attention. follow. These religions are but a sampling of the
ones available.
Morality
Your morality describes how make decisions, PIETY
whether you veer toward selfless behavior or put 3d6 Piety
your own interests first. 3 I either don’t believe the gods exist or think they
have no influence over me or the world.
MORALITY 4–5 I have strong doubts about religion and worship no
3d6 Morality gods.
3 I do what I want without regard for the 6–8 I suspect the gods do exist, but I am not a religious
consequences. person.
4–5 Nothing and no one has greater importance than 9–12 I believe in the gods and I might follow a particular
myself. Other people come and go and their religion.
struggles and successes have nothing to do with me 13–15 I am follower of a particular religion.
unless they interfere with what I want to do. 16–17 I am a devout follower of my religion and my
6–8 You have to look after yourself because no one else religious views affect my outlook and behavior.
will. I’ll help out, but I’ll grumble about it.

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18 I am a fanatical follower of my religion. My faith
dominates my life and I have few interests outside
my faith.
RELIGIONS
3d6 Religion
3–4 None
5 Honored Dead, Lord and Lady, or some other faith.
6 Cult of the Last Door
7–9 Circle of Thirteen
10–18 Church of the High One
Church of the High One
The Church of the High One began in the Old
Country and came to the New Lands with the
missionaries who sought to convert the unbelievers
that dwelled here. The Church serves a single deity,
known as the High One, who wrested Paradise from
the evil Adversary to spare the souls of mortals from
the oblivion of the Underworld. The High One
made a place for all souls and so the priests work to
convert people of other faiths to their holy religion.
The Church of the High One oppose anything the
dogma decrees as evil: sorcery, necromancy,
demonology, worship of false gods, and the like.
Inquisitors root out heretics and devil-worshipers,
while holy warriors wage war against militarized
cultists, undead, and similar foes. The High One
urges followers to show compassion, mercy, and
tolerance for others of the faith, to perform
charitable deeds, keep vows, commit no murder or
theft, and contribute to the communities in which
they live. Above all, the High One demands loyalty
and disavowal of all other divinities.
Priests of the High One wear white clothing
festooned with the eight-pointed star that represents
the High One’s beacon that shines first in the night
skies among the starry firmament. Men wear square
caps, while women wear wimples. Although priests
tend congregations and lend aid to those in need,
the Church has a militaristic side reserved for
combating significant threats to the faith and a great
many priests take up arms and armor to fight in the
name of the High One.
Cult of the Last Door
The dour cultists of Lord Death carry the burden of
shepherding souls of the dead into the afterlife. The
dead face judgment by the master of the
Underworld and discover their fates, whether they
have won a place in Paradise, sent to Perdition, or to
pass their time in darkness to await the turn of the
Wheel of Life. To ensure proper delivery of the
souls, the cultists of the Last Door administer rites
over the dead, prepare the bodies for internment in
the tombs, and guard against those, such as
necromancers, who would use the dead for
nefarious means.
As many people fear death, they might grow
nervous around the Last Door cultists, even though
the cultists rarely play a part in the ending of lives,
unless in doing so they show mercy to the suffering.
Instead, cultists focus on transitioning the souls of
the dead from the mortal realm to the Ephemera
and beyond. Other religions accept the role the Cult
plays and permit the cultists to carry out their
duties. Thus, even the most fanatical followers of
the High One show deference to the death priests
and never interfere with their work.
Cultists of the Last Door dress in black long,
hooded robes and they cover their faces with black
skull masks when on cult business. They drench
their skin with aromatic oils to help cover the stench
of putrefaction they often encounter. Cultists have
their temples in large cemeteries and in the center
of large, sprawling catacombs.
The Circle of Thirteen
The Circle of Thirteen is an ancient religion that
posits Death created the universe and populated it
with beings that grow old and die again and again
until the attain enlightenment and thus escape the
Wheel of Life. Death, whom many consider the
same figure as that worshiped by the cultists of the
Last Door, leads a pantheon of twelve other gods of
whom some were created, others born, and others
adopted into their body.
The priests of the Thirteen maintain the temples,
commune with the gods, lead ceremonies, and keep
the sacred scrolls that chronical the mythology.
During major holy days, thirteen priests recount
certain stories, each wearing a different mask to
portray the gods in these stories, but short of these
events, priests wear simple homespun garb and
wooden circles on cords hung around their necks.
Their temples tend to be old, simple in appearance,
with altars and idols crudely carved in ancient
times.
Although the Circle venerates all the gods in the
pantheon, each deity enjoys followings of dedicated
cultists. Such congregations might be small or large,
depending on the divinity’s appeal. Few people
worship Pestilence, for example, while nearly every
center of learning has a chapel dedicated to
Urbanus.
The Thirteen Gods
Thirteen gods make up the Circle.
Death: Oblivion and the Forger of Souls, Death
created living things to grow old and die. The Death
of the Thirteen is believed to be the same worshiped
by the Cult of the Last Door.
Mother Sun: Death fell in love with Celestia and
lifted her up and placed her in the heavens so that
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her light would bathe the world. Called Mother
Sun, she is the goddess of light and celestial bodies.
Draconus: The great serpent Draconus girdles
the world and on his back the Soul Forger placed
his creations. Draconus is the god of the earth,
secret places, and scaled things.
Fates: Death created the Fates to weave the
destinies of living things. Numbering three, they
include the Maiden, who embodies love, passion,
and hope, the Mother, who represents birth and
family, and the Crone, who cuts the cords of the
living and sends their souls to Death.
Sky Father: The Sky Father divides the lands
from the heavens. A jealous, angry god, he pines for
Celestia, who has been forever denied to him. He is
the stormbringer, whose voice causes the winds and
his tears fall as rain.
Grandfather Tree: At the center of the world
grows Grandfather Tree and his branches shield the
lands from the Sky Father’s rage. The maker of
green and growing things, his gnarled visage adorns
most farmers’ homes.
The Horned One: The last of the primal gods
sired by Death are Mother Sun, the Horned One,
sometimes known as the Beast and the Ravener, is
the god of wild beasts, fury, and violence.
Urbanus: After the Adversary bestowed the gift of
reason onto mortals, Urbanus sprang from the
Horned One’s mouth to teach mortals how to use
their minds. The Builder, the Philosopher, and the
Artist forged the chains that bound the Horned One
and taught mortals the sciences, arts, and
philosophy.
Revel: Urbanus’s twin brother became his
antithesis. Called Revel, the god of debauchery,
excess, and freedom, Revel is the patron of both
creativity and crime, drunkenness and the arts. He is
passion incarnate.
Blind: Another divinity appeared with the rise of
civilization: Blind, the goddess of justice and truth,
opposes Revel and gave laws to mortals so they
could build civilization.
Pestilence: The dark goddess of disease came to
prominence in the Old Country when a virulent
plague claimed the lives of half the population,
precipitating the collapse of the Great Kingdom and
dozens of smaller nations. Few people worship her;
when people offer prayers and sacrifices, they
appease her.
Abraxus: Abraxus taught mortals the secrets of
magic and is said to be magic itself, at least insofar
as the god’s priests claim.
Abaddon: The last god born to Death and one
who remains trapped outside time and space is
Abaddon, the Destroyer of Worlds. A deity of
entropy, Abaddon exists to undo what Death has
wrought. Some believe Abaddon to be the father of
demons.
Other Faiths
Religions have come and gone throughout the ages.
Some gained great influence while others sputtered
out before they began. Some have been more like
ethical systems with a veneer of religiosity while
others have been dangerous, breeding fanatics that
posed grave danger to society. Even now, as the
mortal peoples have begun the work of starting over
in the New Lands are new religions taking shape
and old ones being resurrected from the dead.
Oceanus
The god of the seas and waterways has gained a
following in coastal regions and among sailors,
pirates, and their ilk. Myths suggest Oceanus to be
an angry, fickle, and temperamental deity. To keep
the god sedate, crews pour a measure of rotgut in
the waters before undertaking a long voyage.
Honored Dead
Some people forgo worshiping gods and instead
worship their ancestors’ spirits. Most common in
societies established by dwarfs, the priests of the
Honored Dead claim the worthy find places in the
great Hall of Plenty, and pass the eons feasting and
drinking, never wanting for any pleasure. Only
worthy souls find a place there and so those who
believe live honorably, work hard, and do nothing to
bring shame on their clans or ancestors.
Lord and Lady
An old religion that has maintained a small
following among certain rustic peoples, the religion
of the Lord and Lady posits two gods representing
the masculine and feminine, light and darkness,
good and evil. Priests of the faith recognize the
importance of each and strive to walk between
them.
Ancient Ones
Centuries past, apocalyptic cults rose up to sow
division and discord in the mortal world. Their
gods, called the Ancient Ones, were monstrous
figures of madness and despair, some gnawing away
at the heart of the world, slumbering beneath the
waves, or drifting in the darkness between the stars.
These cults, and there were many, contributed to the
downfall of the Old Empire and the creation of what
is now known as the Devastated Lands. Cults of the
Ancient One find few allies in the New Lands and
the few resurgent groups have been put down.
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Druidism
Not so much a religion as it is a secret society of
thinkers and philosophers, the druids use their gifts
of prophecy to shift current events toward the future
they want to create, a future they have thus far kept
to themselves. To this end, druids have fought along
forces of good against terribly monstrosities, while
aiding those perpetrating atrocities. Druids have
earned the distrust many feel for them, but few
deny their wisdom or their magic, capabilities that
have for them long opened doors to the halls of
power.
The Adversary
Souls of those who lived wicked lives, who
consorted with demons, and who sought fleeting
power by bargaining with devils, murderers, thieves,
and worse, all find Perdition, sometimes called Hell,
waiting for them in the afterlife. And there waiting
for them is the Adversary, the Dark Lord, who,
according to some, is the author of all evils in the
world. In the tradition of the High One’s church, the
Adversary was the maker of things, but was cast out
of Paradise for heinous crimes against creation. The
mysteries of the Thirteen claim the Adversary was
Death’s favorite, but was cast down for giving
mortals the ability to reason and choose their own
fates. Regardless of his origins, mortals widely
believe the Adversary to be evil and avoid him and
his servants.
There have always been rumors of cults sworn to
the Adversary and the Church of the High One has
profited by fanning the flames of fear regarding
their secret acts and intentions. In truth, the
Adversary does have a small cult, but nothing like a
world-spanning conspiracy that has been suggested.
More often, individuals find themselves bargaining
with the fiends of Perdition and becoming their
agents of evil in the world.
Faeries and Religion
Religion belongs to the mortal peoples. Faeries and other
immortals do not, generally, have religions and while most
believe that the gods exist, they do not worship or serve them,
as they tend to see them as powerful kin rather than as
omnipotent beings worthy of adoration and servitude.
Protagonists with immortal ancestries can certainly become
clerics, but such characters might hold to a system of ethics,
pledge service to a faerie lord or lady such as the Faerie Queen
or the Queen of Air and Shadows, or the ideal of immortality.
Name Your Character
You can give your character any name you choose.
The name might be a name from the real world, one
of your own invention, or a nickname that reflects
your character’s identity. Sample names are
presented below and can be suitable for any
ancestry.
Abigail, Adym, Adilene, Aiden, Alexander, Amelia, Ami,
Angelica, Angelo, Annora, Archibald, Arthur, Asher,
Ashlyn, Athena, Autumn, Axton
Baine, Bartholomew, Baylor, Bernard, Bethany, Bill,
Binx, Blake, Blair, Bonnie, Bradford, Braxton, Bronson,
Bruce
Cannon, Carl, Camilla, Carina, Chandler, Charles,
Christopher, Cleo, Cole, Colt, Corrine
Daisy, Dani, Danita, Daphney, Daria, Darryn, Derrie,
Devan, Devin, Dexter, Dorris, Dory
Easton, Edgar, Edna, Eleanor, Elisabetta, Elliot,
Emerson, Ensley, Eugene, Evelyn, Evie
Fallon, Finley, Fiona, Florence, Franklin
Gemma, Gianetta, Geoffrey, Gracelyn, Gregory,
Guinevere
Harold, Harven, Haven, Hayden, Heather, Henley,
Henry, Hubert
Imogen, Isabell, Isen, Isolde, Isyck, Iva, Ivy, Iris
James, Jay, Jeffrey, Jenna, Jennifer, Jenson, Jewel,
Johnston, Joline, John, Jon, Jordan, Josephine
Kaiden, Kaisley, Kaizer, Kara, Kavi, Keaton, Kim, Kip,
Knox, Koraline, Kristin, Kristoff, Ky, Kyler
Lake, Lakelyn, Landon, Lariella, Lauriann, Leeah, Leo,
Leslie, Liam, Lori
Maddox, Mahala, Marc, Marcus, Margaux, Marina,
Marla, Massimo, Max, Meadow, Meldon, Melvin, Merry,
Michael, Millicent, Milly, Milo, Mindy, Monte
Nadine, Nala, Nali, Nathaniel, Neville, Nan, Nicole
Oakley, Odessa, Olaf, Olivia, Olga
Paisley, Palmer, Pamela, Paula, Petal, Prentiss
Quinn, Qon, Queren
Ragnar, Reed, Remington, River, Robert, Rodney,
Rosemary, Rowan, Rufus, Ruprecht, Ryker
Sailor, Samyra, Sander, Shadow, Shaina, Shanna,
Skylar, Slator, Sloane, Stacee, Stanton, Stephen, Storm,
Sydney, Sylvester
Tara, Taren, Tatum, Tawney, Tayden, Taylor, Tegan,
Thor, Titus, Thomas, Trenton, Troy
Umber, Urf, Ulysses
Vera, Vex, Victor, Vivianna
Wayne, Willam, Willow, Winifred, Winston
X, Xander, Xil, Xyllan
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Yolanda, Yael, Yasmeen, Yuri, Yvette
Zaina, Zala, Zamora, Zeke, Zoella Zypher

Play the Game

By now, you should have a finished character and
you’re now ready to play the game. You and your
friends go on adventures in which you explore this
new and strange continent, unearth fabulous
treasures, and fight terrible monsters, all to secure a
place for civilization to flourish once more. Each
time you complete an adventurer, you character
grows a bit more powerful, which results from
gaining levels.

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