5th Edition D&D: Dragonblade! Dragons, But Not Yet Blades

The setting is named Dragonblade! for Pete's sake. I'd better talk about either dragons or blades here soon. I pick dragons.

Obviously, with the goal of having an East/South Asian mash-up fantasy setting, dragons are going to look, and feel, and behave differently when compared to your "standard" Western dragons inspired by the likes of the Dragon of Revelation, the nameless dragon St. George killed, the nameless dragon that mortally wounded Beowulf and was slain by Wiglaf, Fafnir, Ancalagon the Black, Smaug the Golden and so on. I hope you are already pretty familiar with those kinds of dragons - generally sinister, almost as greedy and narcissistic as Donald Trump, fire-breathing, etc.

Eastern dragons (broadly), by contrast, tend to be wise, relatively benevolent, and associated with rivers. They are more serpentine and often wingless, though still able to fly in many stories. They often have lion's manes and clawed feet and long, flexible bodies. They often control the weather and sometimes, by extension, local fertility. They are, like their Occidental counterparts, associated with power and the supernatural, and do remain dangerous if crossed or aggravated. They're more likely to have a treasure-store of wisdom than of gold and gems, however. Obviously, there is a great deal of variation in both categories.

For Dragonblade, I wanted to stick with the strong elemental theme, and so I decided very early on that there would be five main types of dragons coinciding with the five Daoist elements. By color, in classic D&D fashion, that would be Yellow, White, Black, Red and Green dragons, and I'll describe them, but in a way to avoid spoilers for my players. You know, on the off-chance that they are some of the couple dozen people still periodically reading this blog.

Yellow Dragons, or Earth Dragons are on average the largest of dragonkind. In 5th Edition terms this means they will often have the largest hit dice compared to other dragons. This type of dragon was already covered briefly in my previous post about metaphysics in the setting.

White Dragons, or Metal Dragons, are able to glide at most. They have the highest AC of any of dragonkind, and have some capabilities that make them at home amongst undead. We know they will be strongly associated with lightening, and are likely to be vulnerable to fire in some way. In appearance, they are skeletal and have shiny scales that tarnish and rust with age. They are tireless and possibly even sleepless, and profoundly patient, even for dragons.

Black Dragons, or Water Dragons are flightless, though they have a stronger swim speed than usual for water sup-type dragons in the MM (like the Black Dragons listed there, or the Bronze Dragons). They are fully amphibious, at home in the water or on land, and are a lot like sea monsters sketched in to the oceans of old maps. We can already surmise that they will be strongly associated with cold, and will likely be vulnerable to acid and poison in some way. Black Dragons wield fear with incredible skill, and of all dragons have the most sinister reputation.

Azure or Green Dragons, or Wood Dragons, are the smallest and most flexible of dragonkind. They can fly, burrow and swim, though they are not fully amphibious like the Black Dragons and must simply hold their breath (which they can do for a long time). Green dragons are physically the strongest, especially for their size, and heal more quickly than other dragons. They are strongly associated with force and thunder, and vulnerable to fire. In appearance, they range from bright green to blue-green to sometimes even blue (sometimes this type of qi is referred to as green, and other times, as blue or blue-green). They are easily provoked to anger. In appearance they are the most "standard" Asian dragons, and of course, when they fly it is without the need for wings.

Red Dragons, or Fire Dragons, are able to fly but not burrow well, and certainly cannot swim. Whether they are able and simply hate it, or whether they drown easily none now know. They are the most affable and interested in lesser beings, and the most likely to genuinely care about ren and other races. They are passionate and value art and beauty very highly. Of course, they also breathe fire, and are in some way vulnerable to cold. In appearance, they can look less like dragons and more like huge phoenixes, or maybe like archaeopteryxes made of supernatural fire.

In addition to the five main types of dragons there are others. The ones I can't really talk about are the vast, epic monsters, the primordial beings from which all lesser dragons are descended. Can't spoil them here, though, sorry.

5th Edition D&D: Dragonblade! Five-Element Metaphysics. And Dragons.

Every time I run my game, it makes me want to write about, so here you go you lucky internet folk.

Specific definitions of elemental damage types come and go in D&D, but from the very beginning it has been explicitly built on a four-element metaphysics, consistent with, broadly speaking, Western civilization as influenced by the Greeks and Romans. The four familiar elements are earth, air, fire and water, and they are familiar to us even from diverse sources like Final Fantasy, board games, our four suits we use in card games (by "our" I mean Americans and Europeans, D&D's main audience).

If we look out East, we find other metaphysical models for the elements. In Hinduism, broadly speaking again, you can say there are zero elements, or one element, or five, or six. When looking at the five-element and six-element models, they were imagined as concentric circles, or as increasing complexity, which wasn't what I knew I'd need for a D&D game.

I was already quite familiar with Daoist elements, and some of you reading this might be as well from such sources as acupuncture and feng-shui. In the Daoist model, there are five elements, and each flows into the next, and then each is vulnerable to one of the other ones, making this model look like a complicated five-pointed star with a circle drawn around it, like this:

Granted, this is a complicated version, but it gives an idea both of the broad strokes as well as the complexities in this model. I hope. As you can see, the five elements are (from the top) fire, earth, metal, water and wood. Remember that these are not necessarily limited to the literal element as it seems in English translation, but to a form of energy that is present in the human body, the progression of the seasons, the rise and fall of dynasties, and pretty much everything else.

There are two cycles of interaction (actually four, but we're keeping it simple here). There is a cycle by which each element gives rise to the next, and also a cycle by which each element overcomes another. The generative cycle is the circle above, and the destructive cycle above is the star. One thing I like about it is that there is always a flow. It's kind of like Rock, Scissors, Paper, Lizard, Spock. Each element overcomes another element, and each is overcome by yet another, and if you follow either cycle all the way, you return to where you started.

Example: fire gives rise to earth (in the form of ashes); earth gives rise to metal (deposits of ore); metal gives rise to water (ancient people observed water condensing on metal surfaces); water gives rise to wood (duh); wood gives rise to fire (also duh).

Adapting this to D&D took some doing, obviously. I had to think it through in light of the way that elemental damage works in 5E. Leaving out radiant (which I'm calling yang) and necrotic (which I'm calling yin), there are acid, poison, fire, cold, lightening, force, thunder and psychic. I also left off psychic for this system, since in the metaphysical model itself, all of the five elements have psychic/psychological elements.

Reading further in the area, I found some correlations that were consistent. Obviously, Fire coincides with fire. Similarly, Water coincides with cold. Metal, being a conductor, I decided would coincide with lightening. Wood is associated with storms and strong weather, so I decided it would cover thunder. Earth is associated with acids and chemistry, so I left that association in place. And since thunder and acid damage are relatively rare, I added force to thunder and I added poison to acid. So, in terms of the type of damage associated with each element, I got this:

Fire: fire; Earth: acid and poison; Metal: lightening; Water: cold; Wood: thunder and force. That's in generative order. But each of the elements is also vulnerable to another. So, in thinking about supernatural creatures that are strongly rooted in one of the five elements - dragons, for example - I had to figure out what each one would be vulnerable to. This took a number of tries, but I ended up with :

Fire is vulnerable to cold; Earth is vulnerable to thunder and force; Metal is vulnerable to fire; Water is vulnerable to acid and poison; Wood is vulnerable to lightening (the least reasonable one at first glance, but necessary in the overall scheme).

This progression follows the overcoming/destructive cycle (the star above) exactly. Fire is extinguished by water. Earth is broken apart by wood (think of a tree root up the sidewalk). Metal is melted by fire. Water is broken up by earth (the sea hits the coast, the river held by the river bed, etc.).

An example of how this plays out is in the case of a Yellow Dragon or Earth Dragon. I reworked the Yellow Dragon to breathe either a line of acid or a cloud of poison. It is immune to acid and poison damage, and it is vulnerable to thunder and force damage. There are other changes too - no flying speed as it has no wings; +10' to base burrowing speed; higher Constitution; swap scores for Intelligence and Wisdom, all justified by the general idea of the element of Earth and how it is understood.

Figuring this out took a lot of work, but I'm proud of the result.

5th Edition D&D: Dragonblade! Classes and Races

I thought I would start where the Player's Handbook starts. I knew that for a homebrew setting, had to get the races right in particular, as that would be the first bit of color and system that the players would interact with, and would continue to be what the players interacted with the world through. I this case, I looked back at Oriental Adventures and L5R and the decisions that the designers made for those games, mostly because both are relatively familiar to me and OA was cheap as a PDF on DriveThru.

I also did some research on folkloric and mythological humanoids from east and south Asia. I looked at these various options through the lens of what would be fun to play and what would be easy to explain? Something more interesting than 'dwarves, but taller' and yet also a race or species that I could explain in a sentence or two at most. The final list of races, which I'll expand upon turned out to be: garuda, half-oni, koropokuru, kumiho (kitsune), naga, nezumi, ren (humans), tengu, vanara, yaksha and yashini.

With regard to classes, in thinking about it, all of the classes could be worked to fit into an Asian setting. Really, it's just a matter of color. You chant ancient sutras rather than arcane spells. Your spell components change a bit in form but not in function. A paladin's oath looks like a samurai oath and so on. I did decide to keep the setup from the Dragonlance Chronicles - specifically, that the previously known gods were forgotten, and that their worship had ended generations ago. Fortunately, I also had a robust tradition, in Confucianism and Daoism, or philosophy and ethics that weren't rooted in the decrees of specific deities. I left the door open for bards, druids, paladins and rangers, just not clerics. Yet.

Garuda

Garuda is a name for a great bird-like creature in Hinduism. This creature, a deity in its own right, is also depicted as humanoid and winged, somewhat like an angel. A similar being is named the kinnari in Japanese lore or kinnaree in parts of southeast Asia. They are always fierce, warlike and beautiful. They are always depicted as committed to the gods, and there are many stories of their wars with the Naga. Sounds like a rich field to start with.

Rules-wise, I decided that garuda would get a +1 to Strength and a +2 to Charisma. They have advantage when performing music before an appreciative crowd, are medium-sized, have a speed of 30 and are warlike, giving them proficiency with one martial weapon of the player's choice. (I'm not sure why, but most of the races I created do not have darkvision, but I could see the garuda having it. No players chose to play a garuda, so it dodn't come up this time). They also have an optional racial Feat called Winged which would allow them to glide and have fully functional wings rather than the mostly-decorative ones the are depicted with in art. Garuda begin play speaking their own language, Garuda, as well as one regional language.

Half-Oni

I needed a race that would be the orc-type - big, strong and scary. I decided on the half-oni because I already had ideas of oni playing a big part in the setting and the storyline for the campaign. I also liked them as a version of the Tiefling, their demonic origin making them hard to trust and accept.

As far as rules go, I decided half-oni would have +2 to Strength and +1 to Constitution. I wanted them to be big and brutal. Half oni are also cannibals - once per long rest, if they consume the flesh of a sentient being, they recover their level in hit points. (I might end up increasing this healing number, but I didn't want to overly encourage players to eat people.) Oni are demonic, and have disadvantage on any social roll to apppear trustworthy or harmless. At the same time, they are automatically proficient with Charisma (Intimidation). Oni have an elemental trait, and are resistant to acid and poison, cold, lightening, fire, or force and thunder. (This ties into how I altered the relationships between the elements for this setting) Lastly, half-oni are fearsome, and once per long rest they can use the Fear spell on a single target. Upon reflection, they half-oni may have too many benefits. I usually try to avoid RP penalties in exchange for concrete bonuses, since they are ripe for abuse, but that's sort of what I hope happens here. We have two out of four players who are playing half-oni, so we'll see how it balances out. Half-Oni begin play with one regional language. If raised by oni, they might be able to speak abyssal or infernal.

Koropokuru

I also needed at least one race that was the small, tricky type, and I chose the koropokuru. They're a little bit obscure, but actually show up in Zelda games (they're the ones who, according to the game's lore, hide things in baskets and jars that Link goes around smashing) as well as some anime. They are little folkloric humanoids from Japan's northern island, adapted from an Ainu word for people who  live under the butterbur plant's leaves.

Koropokuru gain a +2 bonus to their Dexterity and a +1 bonus to their Wisdom, and they are long-lived compared to ren (humans). They are skilled in camoflage, and have advantage on any Dexterity (Stealth) rolls when they have time to prepare in a natural environment. As gift-givers, koropokuru (koro for short) have advantage on any Charisma (Persuade) check with a creature who has accepted a gift from them in the past. They have a speed of 20 and are small in stature. (As an aside, it entertains me that given the abilities I gave them, they would be amazing smugglers.) Koropokuru begin play knowing their own Koro language and one regional language.

Kumiho

More commonly known as kitsune, at least to Americans like me, kumiho is the Korean term for a similar shapechanging fox. Generally, the kumiho is seen as more sinister and threatening than the kitsune. Mostly I wanted to integrate at least one Korean creature, and this one made sense.

Kumiho receive a +2 bonus to Dexterity and a +1 bonus to Charisma. They are fox-faced, and have advantage on Charisma (Persuade) rolls on characters they have already worked on seducing. They are also shape-changers, and can use a move to shift into a supernatural fox form, given away to careful observers because of their multiple tails (approximately one for every two levels or so). They can carry up to about 10 pounds of gear with them when they change, and the rest just drops to the ground. (I originally had them unable to carry any gear, but thought after the first few times naked kumiho running around would lose its humor). Fox-form kumiho have advantage on Strength (Athletics) rolls to jump and Wisdom (Perception) rolls involving hearing or scent. They are small in fox form and medium in humanoid form. Their speed is 30 on two legs and 40 on four legs. Lastly, as tricksters, they are automatically proficient in Charisma (Deception). Kumiho being play with one regional language.

Naga

As mentioned above, the naga and garuda in Hindu mythology (both are singular beings as well as kinds of beings) hate each other, and I kept that for this setting. Long ago the naga ran everything. Maybe this was even prehistory. The garuda are the ones who fought the war to liberate other conscious beings. As it stands in the 'present' of the setting, the naga are an ancient and mysterious race who are powerful and also mistrusted.

Naga gain a +2 to Intelligence and a +1 to Charisma. They keep their age and life-cycle secret from other creatures, but are thought to be incredibly long-lived. Naga respect, above all else, power, and this often means they lean toward evil in terms of alignment (later I'll talk about how I adapted the alignment system for this setting). Naga are shapechangers, and can change shape once per long rest. They have a ren (humanoid) form, an amphibian humanoid form with a serpent's lower half, or a huge sea-serpent with no limbs, fully aquatic. Naga in any form can unhinge their jaws and deliver a powerful bite, dealing 1d3 base damage and then 3d6 poison damage on the following turn. A Con save DC 8 + the naga's Constitution modifier + proficiency bonus. Naga begin play with Naga as their language, and must learn a regional language at character creation or in-game.

Nezumi

One of our player-characters is a nezume, and it's already more fun than I anticipated. The nezumi are my answer to one of the comic-relief races in Dragonlance that so bother me - the Gully Dwarves. I wanted a spot for a tough, durable, small race that lived in the shadow of more 'civilized' societies, but without being obnoxiously stupid. I also liked the idea of an 'unclean' humanoid race in societies where cleanliness is so important. They'd be the ones to handle dead bodies, the equivalent of untouchables.

Nezumi receive a +1 Dexterity bonus and a +2 to Constitution. Compared to ren they are short-lived, living about half as long, or about 40 years at most. Nezumi are gritty realists who know they don't fit into polite society so well, and so they tend toward the chaotic end of the spectrum. Unarmed, nezumi have a bite attack that deals 1d3 damage and they are small creatures. Their speed is 30 and they are vermin, meaning they have advantage on Wisdom (Survival) rolls to find food and water as well as advantage on saves against disease and poison. Nezumi begin play with one regional language.

Ren

For humans, I just took the Chinese word that means "person" as well as something very similar to the Confucian word for "humanity." They are exactly as written in the PHB. I also wanted to avoid the trope of having "humans" and then "humanoids" or "metahumans." It seems sort of species-ist. Ren begin play with one regional language.

Tengu

The garuda are Hindu bird-people, and I decided to also use the tengu, Japanese bird-people (ignoring that they are sometimes dog-people and sometimes just big-nosed demons). Where the garuda are blunt and warlike, the tengu are warlike tricksters, and I liked the parallel between the Silvanesti and Qualinesti elves in Krynn. The garuda and tengu were of course once a single people, called the kinaree, but an ancient wrong split them into two, and the tengu left their ancestral homeland.

Tengu receive a +2 to their Wisdom score, and live about twice as long as ren. Tengu can be harsh, disciplined masters or somewhat sinister tricksters, and so they tend toward neutrality. They are more avian than the garuda, and retain the ability to communicate with all birds, enabling them to use Charisma checks with them. Their speed is 30, and they are sword-masters, and are automatically proficient with all swords. Tengu start play with a regional language (equivalent of Common), the Primordial dialect of Avian, and Tengu.

Vanara

Already a race of beings in the Mahabharata, the vanara were an easy pick. Additionally, they're kung-fu monkeys, and who doesn't love that? Mythologically, vanara are described as courageous, playful and basically generous beings. Their homeland is in the vast forest at the base of the mountain where the garuda and tengu once lived together as kinaree. I like imagining their society as something bonobos would come up with after another million years or so of evolution.

Vanara receive a +2 to Strength and +1 to Wisdom, and they are medium-sized creatures even though they stand only around 4-5 feet tall and are significantly lighter than the average ren. Like apes, they have much more strength than their frames would indicate, and a different musculature and skeletal structure than ren. Alignment-wise they tend toward the good, and do not tend to be lawful. Their speed is 25 because of their proportionately short legs and feet unsuited to walking long distance, and they have a prehensile tail that is not a fine manipulator but can hold or carry around 5lbs.


Yaksha and Yashini

Yakasha and Yashini are the only species I have that has real sexual dimorphism. That was always something that bothered me about old-school D&D, that different genders had different ability score modifiers, minimums, maximums and so on. I do have a precedent in Hindu lore, however, of the yaksha, hulking people who steadily fatten as they age and are thought of as fierce and frightening, and the yashini, beautiful and volumptuous females who are more wise and alluring.

As of right now I haven't decided on specific abilities yaksha and yashini. For yaksha I am using stats from goblinoids based on their size, and for yashini I am using slightly modified stats for female drow.

5th Edition D&D: Dragonblade! High Concept

Image credit: Mirror with coiling dragon, Tang Dynasty, Cleveland Museum of Art

We recently finished our third session (two sessions after character creation and a system intro) of Dragonblade!, and so far I think it is going well. If nothing else, as DM, I'm having a blast. We have a half-oni warlock who has pacted with the Elder Gods who dwell in the darkness behind the stars, another half-oni barbarian who worships the Arbiter of Souls in a world the gods have abandoned, a vanara monk who is good-hearted and only slightly more intelligent than an Ochre Jelly, and a nezumi sorceress who enjoys biting people so much she sometimes forgets she even has spells.

Beyond the fun of playing is the necessary, for D&D, fun of planning and hacking my way through 5th Edition to make this homebrew setting. And this is what I'm going to be going through in these blog posts that probably no one reads. This blog is 10 years old - I started it back when blogging was a thing, and before WordPress was a thing. But I like throwing gaming-related stuff on here.

Dragonblade's High Concept

The high-level idea I had for Dragonblade came out of, as I've mentioned, my re-reading of the Dragonlance Chronicles and my thinking over what those storylines, so tied to AD&D, would look like if re-envisioned through the lens of 5th Edition, not to mention the last 30 years of game design. I thought about how Krynn, like many AD&D settings, was its own flavor of fantasy European mash-up. In contrast to the 500 million European fantasy mash-up settings, there are few East Asian ones, and most of them are Oriental fetishism, usually specifically Japanese fetishism. How many times have I had to sit through two caucasian fans of L5R argue about what "real" magic-wielding samurais would be like? Too many times. In addition, I'm all too aware of the history of cultural appropriation and Orientalism that periodically pervades Western culture. The "exotic East" and all that.

And there is so much more to East Asian mythology than the Euro-American view of feudal Japan, including religion, folklore and fantasy of every kind. In the same way that authors have turned to not only Celtic and Anglo-Saxon mythologies but Teutonic, Scandinavian, Russian and Mediterranean, what would it look like if a setting took into account Mongolian, northern and southern Chinese, Thai, Aryan and Dravidic cultures and lore, and took them on their own terms, as much as possible for an outsider who is not a scholar in any of these things? And rather than try to recreate a colonial view of these cultures, mash them up into a fun fantasy setting for D&D?

Then I dropped the idea of Dragonlance and went with Dragonblade, because it sounds awesome. (There are still "dragon-lances", which is actually one name used in medieval China for pole weapons that spat gunpowder and projectiles).

Having said all that, I still had to generalize and mash cultures together into big vague groups - the world is infinitely complicated, but this is D&D, and still a hobby after all. I decided there would be five main cultural groups: the Han (fantasy China), the Yamata (fantasy Japan and some Korea), the Lao (fantasy Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia), the Agama (fantasy northern India) and the Maluku Islands (fantasy Indonesia, Malaysia). I also have a few fringe regions with their own broad cultures: the Dry Lands (fantasy Australia and New Zealand), the Barrier Wastes (fantasy Mongolia, Syria and Silk Road cultures), and the North (fantasy tundra peoples, Siberians, etc.) which I don't have a cool name for yet. Boreal Realm? I'll think of something.

Of course a lot of this is stealing, drawing heavily on my dusty old Bachelor's Degree in Religious Studies, and a lot of mixing and matching and mashing. One of the things I'm learning over again is how much interchange in culture and mythology there was between all of these cultures. Not surprising, just cool to find these connections.

Coming in future posts, I'm going to talk about: playable species, animals, monsters, the forgotten gods, philosophies (I'm focusing on Vedaism, Confucianism and Daoism, especially at first), the interaction of the elements (translating the five Daoist elements to D&D terms was a fun challenge), and the multiverse (a mix of Tibetan six-realm metaphysics, Confucian and Daoist beliefs). Also, of course, dragons and blades.

The One Ring: Rohirrim

I'm getting ready to run a campaign using The One Ring by Cubicle 7, and my wife insisted on being able to play one of the Rohirrim. I got some good leads and resources from Cubicle 7's forum and used fan-created material as a starting point - but it wasn't quite right. Here is my take, 90% done.

Men of Rohan

"They are proud and willful, but they are true-hearted, generous in thought and deed; bold but not cruel; wise but unlearned, writing no books but singing many songs, after the manner of the children of Men before the Dark Years. ''

—Aragorn, The Two Towers

History

The Rohirrim are descended from the Éothéod, a race of Men who lived in the vales of the Great River Anduin, but that removed to Calenardhon, which was granted them in perpetuity by the Ruling Steward of Gondor, Cirion in reward for the assistance that they offered Gondor at a time of great need. As a result, they were lifelong allies of Gondor bound by the Oath of Eorl. At that time Calenardhon was renamed Rohan (Horse-land) after their many horses. By the Rohirrim themselves Rohan is usually called The Mark.

They are ruled by a line of kings descended from Eorl the Young, who had first brought them to Rohan, and in time of war every able man rode to meet the Muster of Rohan.

Description

The people of the Mark, men and women, tend to be tall and fair, and usually wear their hair long and braided. They often have beautiful singing voices, and know many songs, which is how they pass on lore and history from generation to generation. They are the culture that has the closest bond with their horses. They are accustomed to fighting the Dunlendings in the west and fending off goblin-raids from the north and east when they come seeking to steal horses and slaves.

The Rohirrim share a close ancestry with the Bardings of Dale and a more distant ancestry with the people of Wilderland.

Standard of Living

The people of Rohan do not live extravagant lives - their horses and wide lands constitute the majority of their wealth outside of Edoras. They are a Martial people, eschewing outward wealth but always well-equipped for war.

Languages

The people of Rohan speak Westron as well as their own tongue commonly called Rohirric, distantly related to that spoken by the people of the Vales of Anduin to the north.

Rohirrim Adventurers

Suggested Callings

People of Rohan living in Rhovanion are far from home, and this makes the most sense for a Slayer who has taken on a quest of some kind, to hunt a legendary beast or avenge a long-forgotten wrong, or a Wanderer, who is simply struck by a desire to see distant sights in Middle-Earth, and followed the Anduin north from his homeland.

Unusual Calling

It is highly unusual for one of the Rohirrim to live the life of the Scholar. Most Rohirrim are much more interested in glory than in lore.

What Their Chieftain Says…

Bardings

Bard’s people have returned to their homeland, we have heard, though we know little of how things fare with them. Some trade has come south down the Great River, and we have returned in kind. Time will tell whether the line of Girion will return to its former glory.

Beornings

We know nothing about these strange folk apart from rumors - that they take the shapes of bears. Our oldest songs speak of such things, but they have not come to the Mark.

Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain

We know of Dwarves, but seem little of them. We have our own smiths and stonemasons, and the only creatures living in the mountains to the north are Orcs and Goblins. We know them to be doughty warriors, but what we know is from ancient songs and stories.

Elves of Mirkwood

We do not trust Elves nor their sorcery. Some of our own have come under the shadow of the Lady of the Wood, or so she is called, and have been enchanted. They never return, or they return changed. Elves are best left alone, and they seem to prefer it that way for their part.

Hobbits of the Shire

We know stories of the holbytlan, the hole-dwellers, from before the time of Eorl the Young. We once lived near them, or so we believe, but we have not seen any of them for many generations, and most now believe them to be a fairy-story told to children during long winter nights.

Woodmen of Wilderland

It is said that Eorl the Young and the first Eorlingas came from the people who are now called Woodmen. Perhaps they stayed, preferring the woods to the open fields. Sometimes a group of them comes south, seeking to explore, and now and then riders go north to learn of our history for themselves, but while we share some distant relation to them Woodmen, we share little else.

Cultural Blessing

Rider of the Mark: When mounted, all weapon skills and movement skills are considered favored.

Starting Skill Scores

Awe 2

Athletics 2

Awareness 1

Explore 1

Song 2

Craft 0

Inspire 1

Travel 3

Insight 2

Healing 1

Courtesy 0

Battle 2

Persuade 0

Stealth 0

Search 0

Hunting 2

Riddle 1

Lore 0

Weapon Skills

Bow 2, Axe 1, Dagger 1

Spear 2, Sword 1, Dagger 1

Specialties

Choose two Traits from: Beast-Lore, Fire-making, Herb-lore, Horse-riding, Leechcraft, Riddermark-lore, Story-telling

Backgrounds (aimed at why they would be in the North)

1 - Shieldmaiden

While the men are called upon to defend the Mark, it is the women who are often called upon to defend the homestead, and there are no reinforcements coming to the rescue when reavers and raiders come. Some women eschew a family entirely, devoting themselves to martial training, and they will often fight alongside the men as well as in defense of their homes. You are one such, and you had to prove yourself more skilled and more fierce than most men - but you will see that your name is remembered. You do not fear death, but rather to be bound by any will but your own. You have left your homeland to make a name for yourself in the wider world.

Basic Attributes

Body 6, Heart 6, Wits 2

Favored Skill

Battle

Distinctive Features

(choose two traits from the following)

Bold, Determined, Fair, Fierce, Forthright, Proud, Secretive, Wilful

2 - Fell Deeds Awake - Ride to Ruin

You were not there when they came to your village in the Eastfold, raiders from the shadowy East. You were not there when they slaughtered families, including yours - when they burned farms and fields and took only the horses with them. You were suddenly awakened to a wider world around you, and to a looming Shadow that seems to be growing despite the courage of your people. You have sworn to hunt that Shadow - the least your village deserves is revenge.

Basic Attributes

Body 5, Heart 6, Wits 3

Favored Skill

Hunting

Distinctive Features

(choose two traits from the following)

Determined, Elusive, Grim, Hardened, Patient, Vengeful, Wrathful

3 - Emissary of Edoras

You were chosen by King Fengel to ride with a small group North and re-establish relations with King Bard and, if possible, King Dain of the lonely mountain. You are not so sure that Elves are to be trusted, but any information about them might be helpful to your King. You are to remain in the North. Each spring a rider will leave the north for Edoras, and each fall he will return to exchange news. Do what you can to learn of these distant relatives, and represent your own people to them well.

Basic Attributes

Body 3, Heart 5, Wits 6

Favored Skill

Awe

Distinctive Features

(choose two traits from the following)

Bold, Curious, Fair, Fair-spoken, Generous, Lordly, Proud, Tall

4 - Exile

You had a rival, or outright enemy, and the conflict between you escalated over the course of your adolescence until it finally came to blows. You fought, a duel like your ancestors used to fight, but it turned bloodier than you intended. It was meant to be to first blood, but the first wound you inflicted was fatal. Your foe was of higher standing than you, and had many friends. Your family, disgraced, had to pay the weregild, bankrupting them, and you were exiled. There was not enough evidence of malice to have you executed by the Marshall, but you doubt you can ever come home. You heard that some of the peoples in the North share ancestry with your people, and so you have made the long and arduous journey there to try and make a new life.

Basic Attributes

Body 7, Heart 3, Wits 4

Favored Skill

Explore

Distinctive Feature

(choose two traits from the following)

Elusive, Grim, Hardened, Merciful, Reckless, Suspicious, Wrathful

Rohirrim Names

Male Names:

Female Names:

Adventuring Age: 16-30

Endurance and Hope

Endurance 22 + Heart

Hope 8 + Heart

Cultural Virtues

Wise but unlearned

One of the Rohirrim with this Virtue can roll Song in place of Lore. If she also has Lore, then she can roll an extra advantage die.

Horse-speech

Your understanding of horses is such that you can speak to them simple phrases, and understand their responses.

True-hearted

When rolling Insight to discern whether someone is being honest, roll the Feat die twice and take the best result. When using Courtesy to speak the simple truth, do the same.

Proud and willful

When rolling a Valour check to resist fear, roll the Feat die twice and take the better result.

Cultural Rewards

White-plume Helm

When making an Awe or Inspire roll wearing the helm, roll the Feat die twice and take the best result.

Bow of the Mark (easier to use from horseback)

This is a recurve bow designed to be used from horseback, and imposes no penalty for being used thusly.

Named Blade

You have inherited a well-known blade, one that has been named and will be remembered. The edge rating for this sword is one better than normal.

Horn of the Mark

If the Horn of the Mark is blown during the opening volley of a skirmish or battle, all foes nearby lose 1 Hate.

Horse of the Mark (you are not assumed to start with a warhorse - they are very valuable, especially in the North)

Grave-Mound Spear

The spears that ring a burial mound of one of the Kings of Rohan are left to rust and moulder, but this one did not. It carries the blessing of one of the kings of old. Whenever you inflict a wound with this spear, your foe also loses one Hate (or Hope).

Fighting from Horseback

When attacking from horseback, all weapon skills are considered to be favored. In addition, when the hero would take a wound, the wound can instead be taken by the horse. Horses have two wounds, so if wounded twice, a horse is near death.

During the opening volley between two groups in a skirmish, a mounted character can charge to a Forward stance and make an attack with a bonus advantage die.

It is assumed that a warhorse is trained to lash out with bites and hooves during battle, but that these will not deal significant damage - they just provide the rider with an advantage over foes on foot.

A mounted fighter who is unobstructed (not in the middle of a melee or a battle line) can move from a forward to a rearward stance with one move.