New Rules - Character Backgrounds

DM Disclaimer: All material in the Player Guide portion of this blog is copied directly from the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide, which is freely distributed and available for public download at EN World. I take no credit for any of the text or images found in posts tagged with the "player guide" label.

Gate Pass Character Creation Benefits

The following rewards are available to characters invested in the campaign’s conflict from the beginning. The first adventure, The Scouring of Gate Pass, introduces the player characters to a variety of organizations in the city of Gate Pass. At the GM’s option, if you create a character with one of the affiliations listed below, you gain the associated feat as a bonus, in addition to your normal feats at 1st level. You may also select one of these feats normally. These affiliations are used instead of the Backgrounds rules found in the D&D 4E Player’s Handbook 2.

* City Council: While most of the politicians in Gate Pass wish to surrender to Ragesia, some want to take a stand. A character involved in the government and politics of Gate Pass gains Civic Minded as a bonus feat.

* The Temples: The religious community of Gate Pass fears the heretical zealotry of the Ragesian inquisitors. An associate of one of the temples gains Blessed by Dreams as a bonus feat.

* The Military: Elements of the Ragesian military are displeased with their orders and their new ruler Leska, while commanders of Gate Pass’s military desire reinforcements. A member of either military gains Mounted Combat (see the D&D 4E Player’s Handbook) as a bonus feat.

* Gabal’s School: Gabal, a famed evoker, maintains a school of war, and he intends to make a stand against Ragesia. An apprentice of Gabal gains Student of War as a bonus feat.

* Thieves’ Guild: The guild in Gate Pass is nervous about the prospect of Ragesian martial law. One of their members or agents gains Thieves’ Guild Sympathizer as a bonus feat.

* The Resistance: A small group of Gate Pass natives are taking up arms to defend their home against both Ragesia and Shahalesti. A member of this group gains Blade of the Resistance as a bonus feat.

Background Skills

Characters are more than combat prowess or their ability to climb; they have interests, hobbies, and backgrounds. These things fill out the character, giving him more depth. Every character in the War of the Burning Sky campaign saga gets one free bonus skill. This skill is a new skill created by the player with the GM’s guidance. It should answer the question “What did your character do before he became an adventurer?” or “What does your character do for pleasure?” Examples include singing, carpentry, painting — even origami!

These skills tend to be craft, profession, or performance related. The GM and the player decide together which ability score is appropriate for that skill, and the character receives it as a Trained skill at creation.

Spelldueling

The students at Gabal’s school in Gate Pass — as well as the mages of Lyceum — practice spelldueling as a way to better their art. The techniques of spelldueling are particularly useful in combat against inquisitors. Students of these schools may also select Primordial as a bonus language.

Spellduelists are introduced to the Spellduelist and Spellduelist’s Counterspell feats and may learn a unique spell. There are rumors that inquisitors have perverted versions of these feats and spells in their repertoire.

Planning Your Character

Later in the War of the Burning Sky campaign saga, you will gain access to advanced character options. These include paragon paths such as Disciple of the East Wind, Aspirant of the West Wind, Solei Palancis, and Spellduelist. Some of the feats in this chapter are prerequisites for these paragon paths: Initiate of the East Wind, Initiate of the West Wind, Shining Warrior, and Spellduelist, in particular.

New Rules - Character Races

DM Disclaimer: All material in the Player Guide portion of this blog is copied directly from the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide, which is freely distributed and available for public download at EN World. I take no credit for any of the text or images found in posts tagged with the "player guide" label.

Within the Lands, the great races have special histories and regional strongholds. If you create a new character, you may wonder where others of your race may be found. The following section identifies the areas where each race is concentrated and some likely motivations for adventuring. Those races not mentioned exist in the Lands, but are exceptional to see and require a more customized treatment by the GM and player. The GM may allow background benefits for each race as described in the D&D 4E Player’s Handbook 2. If you wish to play a gnome or half-orc, please refer to their descriptions in the D&D 4E Player’s Handbook 2. 

* Dragonborn: A few small clans of dragonborn inhabit the mountains between the Ostalin and Ragesian border. Loosely in communication with each other, the predominant goal is to solidify the creation of a new republic of dragonborn within the mountains. Those who adventure often do so to lay foundations for future diplomacy, learn and improve on the latest technologies of war and combat, or seek riches and glory to advance the dragonborn legacy and become the future leaders of the new empire.

* Dwarves: Once plentiful and well represented across the lands, the mighty dwarf nation has become insular and isolated from the rest of the world. Those who venture beyond the tunnels and caverns of their mountain realm (near Gate Pass), do so in an effort to fight against the resignation that seems to be overtaking the older generations. Convinced that the isolationism is just as imprisoning as their ancient servitude to the giants, the adventurous dwarves venture out to build an inspiring legacy, rekindle the pride of the Dwarven nation, or restore faith in the ancient gods that seem to be forgotten in this modern day.

* Eladrin: Eladrin are found in Shahalesti lands. In the Lands of the Burning Sky, “Shahalesti” is synonymous with “eladrin.” Always vigilant, the Shahalesti remember well the conquests of Emperor Coaltongue. Sorcery, spying, and military/mercenary prowess are all reasons for a Shahalesti to adventure in the Lands.

* Elves: Of late, the elven tribes have come to fear Ragesian encroachment upon their forests. While the Shahalesti are more or less united in that they jealously guard their fey-touched land, the elves are divided: some seek isolation, others want to establish new alliances, and still others simply see a changing world and desire to be a part of it. All these reasons bring out many elves to the cities and towns where adventures often begin.

* Gnomes: If history is any indicator of the future, the gnomes continue to seek being ignored as a threat. Seeing the success of Coaltongue in using magic to secure his throne, the gnomes of the Lands strive to gather all manner of history and magic in order to avoid becoming slaves to the might and power of Ragesia … or Shahalesti. To the gnomes, knowing how one could capture and enslave another allows the knowledgeable to avoid the possibility altogether. Their quick wit and seeming mockery of the Ragesians and the Shahalesti is vexing to orcs and eladrin alike. Most gnomes come from Shahalesti, but some small groups can be found in almost any land. If a gnome character encounters other gnomes, he will strive to spend at least a few hours with his brethren before continuing to adventure.

* Half-Elves: More fully integrated with their human side, most half-elves come from the great cities of the Lands: from Gate Pass and Seaquen to the many cities of Ostalin, Dassen, and Sindaire. The motivation for adventure is as varied in a half-elf as it is in a human. Some do see the latest bellicose attitude of the Ragesians troubling and seek to help fend them off in the impending conflict.

* Half-Orcs: No matter what their racial origin may be, the half-orcs of the Lands enjoy a unique position; fully realized citizens in Ragesia, Gate Pass and Dassen. The other kingdoms are less cordial, and so most half-orc adventurers are found from the middle part of the Lands. Always struggling with their heritage, the adventuring life is often a way to throw off subtle, lingering prejudices or find a place in a group of allies and equals.

* Halflings: Found mostly along the rivers and byways of Ostalin and Sindaire, the halflings of the Lands sometimes leave the west in search of adventure and treasure. Though once halflings were generally quite well traveled, the unrest in Ostalin has concentrated the population in that country because it presents the best hope for them to start a nation of their own. As the country continues in strife, the halflings work with some factions in Sindaire to destabilize the kingdom even further.

* Humans: As the greatest population in the lands, human characters can come from anywhere and their motivations for adventure are limitless. Those originating from the Gate Pass area have access to some ready-made regional benefits, and the city is diverse enough for almost any character type to be made.

* Tieflings: Ostalin is a haven for tieflings. The designs of Ostalin’s ambitious ruler, Khagan Onamdammin, have created a sort of demand for the skills of those who struggle with their darker nature, while the unstable government makes it hard for anyone to act against the tieflings as they strive to survive in a world that doesn’t trust them. In recent decades, the gregarious nature of Gate Pass merchants traveling the Lands has impressed some tieflings, and a few have set up a small merchant house within the fifth district of the capital, the mountain city of Kistan. The small but cosmopolitan city offers charms and temptations that make it enticing to those who struggle between good and evil and, though small, the merchant house is growing, both in legitimate trade and in their less noble underworld dealings.

New Rules - Overview

DM Disclaimer: All material in the Player Guide portion of this blog is copied directly from the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide, which is freely distributed and available for public download at EN World. I take no credit for any of the text or images found in posts tagged with the "player guide" label.The magic-rich Lands of the Burning Sky have a complex history that will unfold as you play in the saga. If you are making new characters native to the Lands, a number of new options and rules are available to help them fit well within this world.

The Lands are far more dangerous than the average D&D world. Spells can affect whole cities, monsters are rumored to be able to possess and charm for years, and ancient artifacts and devices frighten the gods. The Lands are harsh and unremitting and heroes are often blessed beyond normal character development. What follows in this section is a list of new options, powers, equipment, and physical differences from the standard D&D world. The rules do not reveal every mystery of the Lands, but new characters will have enough information to feel truly immersed in a unique campaign world. As you progress through the War of the Burning Sky campaign saga, many more new powers, feats, and items will become available to you. Your GM will inform you when this happens.  As you create new characters and increase in levels, use this section as a reference alongside the core books.

Lands of the Burning Sky - Ostalin

DM Disclaimer: All material in the Player Guide portion of this blog is copied directly from the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide, which is freely distributed and available for public download at EN World. I take no credit for any of the text or images found in posts tagged with the "player guide" label.

Ostalin
For many years, the small island people of Ostalin battled among themselves, before finally a warlord conquered his foes and proclaimed himself Khagan. He then led his people to the mainland, conquering lands from Sindaire with the aid of hippogriff aerial archers until he reached a mountain range and met resistance from a clan of dragonborn. Impressed with the honor the dragonborn exhibited on the battlefield, the Khagan decided to learn from this strange race and sued for peace. The dragonborn accepted and the Khagan became a disciple of the dragonborn culture, even changing his name to Barazar.

During this time, Barazar had many children with many wives, but ultimately he left his nation to his half-elf son Onamdammin, in whom he saw the same fire of obsession that led him to conquer. The Khagan hoped his son would be the one to topple Coaltongue and rule Ragesia, but he did not see that the young ruler had no honor underneath his veneer of respectability. With deep regret, he denounced Onamdammin and fled along with his family to the mountains, vowing to correct his mistake. He died from an assassin’s arrow before he could carry out his coup. His remaining sons are now seeking help from other nations to depose their half-brother.

The Khaganhold of Ostalin is a violent state, ruled poorly by Khagan Onamdammin, whose passions and desires far outstrip his talents. He has broken relations with the dragonborn because they refuse to relinquish his siblings. In response, he has become sympathetic to the many tieflings chased out of other countries. The Khagan is also intent on finding his remaining three half-brothers; he is obsessed with securing his throne through a program of elimination. The capital city of Kistan is relatively small, since the city that used to occupy the land was burned down only a few decades ago by the original Khagan. The nation’s diverse landscape is renowned for its beauty, and Sindaire still seeks to reclaim it.

The Monastery of Two Winds
The Monastery of Two Winds lies in the mountains that form the main border between Ostalin and Dassen, near to the large town of Eresh. The monastery teaches two different approaches to harnessing the power of air magic, the gentle west wind style, and the fierce east wind style. Some monks of the two winds feel compelled to travel the world, letting the wind guide their journeys.

Lands of the Burning Sky - Sindaire

DM Disclaimer: All material in the Player Guide portion of this blog is copied directly from the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide, which is freely distributed and available for public download at EN World. I take no credit for any of the text or images found in posts tagged with the "player guide" label.

Sindaire
The national government of the Exarchate of Sindaire is officially run by a representative from Ragesia, but in practice the Exarch has limited power. The people of Sindaire — mostly humans with some caravans of nomadic gnomes — pay some taxes to Ragesia, but maintain their own armies and laws. They take mild comfort in knowing that, should Ostalin, their neighbors to the south, ever attempt to claim more land, Ragesia will come to their defense.

Recently a vocal group of city mayors in the center of the nation began to protest the taxes to Ragesia, and refused to pay. Unlike the coastal cities, they little benefited from trade with Ragesian ships, and they called for the removal of the Exarch, a half-orc woman named Horstea. Despite protests from the government ministers, the Exarch sent a plea to Ragesia, and Coaltongue’s army reponded, traveling by Torch to the central prairies to put down the rebellion.

Sindaire has a long-established druidic tradition, coming from a time when a group of refugees fleeing a catastrophe in what is now Shahalesti settled in Sindaire’s warm forests, converting many of the locals through their generosity and their disciplined devotion to nobler ideals. The refugees revered lions, and lions now fill the role of pets to the aristocracy and guard dogs for the common folk.

The large capital city of Turinn lies on two sides of a long rock spur. The western side has ports on the sea, while the bulk of the city lies safe on the east.

Knights of the Aquiline Cross
The Order of the Aquiline Cross originally emerged in Sindaire a decade ago. Since then, small chapels that teach the order’s doctrine of mercy, sacrifice, and a fierce defense of life have sprung up throughout the lands of Ragesia and its neighbors. Knights of this order dress in white and red tabards marked with a cross surrounded by a halo of feathers.

Lands of the Burning Sky - Dassen

DM Disclaimer: All material in the Player Guide portion of this blog is copied directly from the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide, which is freely distributed and available for public download at EN World. I take no credit for any of the text or images found in posts tagged with the "player guide" label.

Dassen
The Kingdom of Dassen lies to the south of Ragesia, and the southwest of Shahalesti, its borders defined by craggy mountains defended by hundreds of small dwarven strongholds. Dassen’s people, a swarthy assortment of humans and dwarves, cherish their land, to the point that superstitious cavalrymen even put dirt in their boots so never have to stop touching the soil of their homeland.

King Steppengard rules a patchwork of eight feudal holdings, many of them controlled by distant relatives with claims to the throne of numbing complexity. To assure that he never has to worry about untangling these claims, Steppengard has had a huge family with eighteen children, all legitimate on the word of his oath. There are no mighty cities in Dassen, only thousands of farms and towns growing out from the nine castles of the king and his dukes. The largest city, Bresk, lies on a major river beside Steppengard’s castle, and is a hilly community built both above and below ground. It’s population is a mix of humans and dwarves with a small number of orcs (65% human, 28% dwarf, 5% orc, 1% half-orc, 1% other).

Lyceum Academy
At the end of a swampy isthmus on Dassen’s southern tip, the town of Seaquen is home to a school called Lyceum, devoted to teaching magic of all kinds. Students of Lyceum are encouraged to learn a variety of magical styles, and are trained in spelldueling techniques similar to Gabal’s in Gate Pass. They were relatively unknown in the region until recently, when Simeon, headmaster of the school, sent out a call to all the people in and around Ragesia, asking for them to stand up against the threat posed by the Ragesians and their new leader Leska.

The Wayfarers
Every port in the region has at one time or another been host to the Wayfarer Theater, a beautifully-decorated ship that is both home and base of operations for the Wayfarers. The Wayfarers are both master acrobats and skilled mages, prone to dress in elaborate and eclectic costumes with elements cobbled together from dozens of lands. Wayfarers can teach a wizard a limited teleportation spell at second level (wayfarer’s step, q.v.). The Wayfarers will only teach this spell to a friend; friendship may be gained through adventuring or a skill challenge.

Lands of the Burning Sky - Shahalesti

DM Disclaimer: All material in the Player Guide portion of this blog is copied directly from the War of the Burning Sky Player's Guide, which is freely distributed and available for public download at EN World. I take no credit for any of the text or images found in posts tagged with the "player guide" label.

Shahalesti
On the far side of the mountains that mark Ragesia’s eastern border spreads the Shining Land of Shahalesti, ruled by Lord Shaaladel, a middle-aged eladrin who rose from being a military commander to the nation’s ruler during the ascension of the Ragesian Empire. Shahalesti was in danger of being conquered like Ragesia’s other neighbors, and Shaaladel’s aggressive displays of force — including the conquest and destruction of two nearby elven lands that were hostile to him — are credited as major reasons why Ragesia has so far not looked east for conquest.

During Ragesia’s annexation of its neighbors, Lord Shaaladel even lent his aid, he and his trusted aides participating personally in battles by Coaltongue’s side. A canny and charismatic commander, he is respected even by the Ragesian army, and many expected him to succeed after Coaltongue’s death. Rumors say that the eladrin lord had been quite displeased that the old halforc was refusing to die of old age.

Shahalesti is not an entirely eladrin nation. The majority of its population is human, but they live as commoners with little real power. The aristocracy is almost exclusively eladrin, as well as the higher ranks among the military. Despite a grudging alliance with Ragesia, however, orcs and half-orcs are despised and persecuted, unable to hold any public positions, often horribly exploited as nearly slave labor. A few outposts of wealthy orcs with ties to Ragesia have tried to start their own communities, and this is a steady source of strife.

The capital of Shahalesti, Calanis, is built over a crescent rift carved by a waterfall. The city is forbidden to non-eladrin except by invitation from one of the royal family which, as of now, consists only of Shaaladel and his daughter Shalosha. The population of Calanis is mixed (45% eladrin, 35% human, 10% elf or half-elf, 5% halfling, 2% orc, 2% half-orc, 1% other). Shahalesti is viewed by most politicallyminded sages as an opportunistic country. It will ally and war according to advantages it sees through the weaknesses and strengths of its neighbors. In general, Shahalesti is a good and peace-loving country that respects its borders, but as the winds of war blow, it is perceived that the Shahalesti people will seize opportunities to advance itself, even to the detriment of its allies.

The Solei Palancis
The Shahalesti military, including its navy, focuses on quality rather than quantity. Most soldiers are equipped with at least minor magic items, and arcane magic in general is key to most of the nation’s tactics. Their most famed soldiers are the Solei Palancis, the shining legion, whose swords shed light as bright as the sun.