DREADBORNE AND DUSTBORNE
Two new Daggerheart Communities born from places shaped by dread or devastation, and by those who learned to survive it.
DREADBORNE AND DUSTBORNE
INTRODUCTION
I'm currently working on a campaign frame inspired by high-fantasy stories such as Frieren: Beyond Journey's End and Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.
It is set in a world where a powerful and dangerous Demon Lord ruled for more than 200 years before finally being defeated, yet the scars left by that long reign continue to shape the world.
For this reason, I felt like I needed two communities: one representing people who have lived under the rule of a dark and terrifying entity (yes Mr. Strahd I'm also thinking about you), and another representing those who come from a place destroyed by a magical or natural catastrophe.
I hope you find these communities interesting, and if you use them in your game, let me know how it goes!
Special thanks to Giuseppe “The Prof Player” for helping me review and revise these documents.
About me
Hi, I’m Andrea (but everybody call me Il Rosso due to my red beard and hair) a TTRPG enthusiast and Daggerheart fan.
In the last ten years I’ve done a lot of organized play in Italy and works on some kickstarter project like Journey to Ragnarok and Nightfell for 5e (for the last one I’ve win an Ennies).
In the last two year we found the Dragonslayer Society an Italian RPG club and this year we start our first Daggerheart Shared Campaign.
Over the past year, I've started creating content for Daggerheart, and I've been amazed by how welcoming and creative the Daggerheart community can be!
My goal is to create content that other groups can easily use in their own games. You can find my creations on FCG, or in a more polished and definitive version, when available, on Heart of Daggers.
https://heartofdaggers.com/author/andrea-il-rosso-lucca/
Ciao from Italy!
DREADBORNE
Being part of a Dreadborne community means that you come from a place that is, or was, under the control of a powerful entity of fear, darkness, and dread.
Demonic lords, vampire counts, or circles of malevolent witches are all examples of the kinds of creatures that, through their power, can seize control of entire cities or regions and impose a reign of terror.
These communities might be made up of civilians, who struggle to survive under constant fear while doing everything they can to avoid the wrath of the darkness, or servants of these dark powers who, willingly or not, have embraced the role of serving their terrifying masters.
In some cases, even after the dark master is slain, the land remains corrupted by their power. A shroud of dread lingers, permeating everything and continuing to influence the customs, beliefs, and way of life of those who inhabit these places.
Dreadborne learn to live alongside these malevolent forces, developing beliefs and rituals meant to appease the darkness, avoid it, hide from it, or, in some cases, fight against it and drive it away.
In any case, being a Dreadborne also means forever bearing the mark of darkness in some way.
Many Dreadborne remain frightened for life by the powers they once lived under. Some develop a visceral hatred towards evil creatures. Others learn that the only way to live to see another day is through distrust, caution, and submission.
Likewise, Dreadborne often develop a deep understanding of dark powers and the creatures connected to them, a connection that can amount to far more than simple knowledge.
Dreadborne are often astute, distrustful, resourceful, disheartened, mindful, and keen.
COMMUNITY FEATURE
Dark Communion
You can instinctively perceive the presence of dark powers, evil creatures, or obscure aberrations in a location.
You have advantage on rolls made to perceive, understand, or hunt creatures connected to dark powers.
DUSTBORNE
Being part of a Dustborne community means that you come from a place that was completely devastated by a tremendous cataclysm of natural, magical, or technological origin, leaving the land unable to recover and transforming it into a dangerous, deserted wasteland.
Dustborne are children of annihilation, people who live among the ruins of civilizations and lands that ceased to exist. Being Dustborne means facing an everyday struggle for survival in a shattered world, surrounded by ruins and the remnants of what once stood there.
Most Dustborne are born and raised in the wasteland, but some of them, usually the oldest, remember their life before the cataclysm. These survivors often try to preserve what remains of their former society by passing down stories, customs, and traditions, creating new rites and rituals suspended between two different ages.
The wasteland, however, is also a place of violence and brutality, where law is often absent and the rule of the strongest may be the only one that matters.
All of this makes Dustborne masters of survival, people capable of finding a way to endure even in the most hostile environments.
Dustborne are often stubborn, curious, ritualistic, uncanny, independent, strange, and savage.
COMMUNITY FEATURES
Wasteland Shelter
Once per session, a Dustborne can find a safe place to rest regardless of the situation. Depending on the fiction, this place can be used to take either a Short Rest or a Long Rest.
Ruins of the Old World
Dustborne always have advantage on Knowledge rolls related to ancient ruins.