Saturday, May 23, 2020

Character Crunch: Wild Dholes & Gnoles? Yes, "gnoles".

WILD DHOLES & GNOLES

Dholes are the dogfolk common to the southern continents of Sublanarya. While most "civilized" dholes can trace their ancestry back to Hamutian servitude, they originally come from the land of Tazlan. Nomadic tribes of dogfolk still dwell there and have remained there for thousands of years. Wild dhole sometimes make their way to Zafaria to make trade in Nadjabad. They are known for being suspicious but curious creatures, preferring their own company and lacking the friendly nature of dholes. Dholes tend to live in family units, sometimes extending up to a hundred members, and have adapted to herding Tazlan cattle and other hooved beasts. They are renowned for their ability to maneuver safely during a stampede. Tazlani leather is a particularly exotic good, due to the unique patterns of the tazlan cattle, and most wild dholes trade these goods with neighboring peoples. Wild dholes have a reputation for disliking catfolk. Some believe this can be traced back to a past of military rivalry.

Gnoles are a subspecies of dogfolk that gave the "gnolls" of the beastman. They both similarly have features of hyenas but gnoles are notably smaller, have more natural fur tones, smaller fangs, and have female members. The female gnoles are larger and make up the warrior caste of their society. Their male counterparts are usually laborers and merchants but all gnoles are expected to participate in military training. Gnoles actually live in a matriarchal society ruled by female warlords called Khatans. The Khatans are united by a Great Khatan. Smaller familial unit clans of gnoles create intense politics The Khatan are said to have been at war with Raj-Hamut in the past and to be at war with the catfolk of Tazlan but have recently begun offering their services as mercenaries abroad. 

Both gnoles and dholes are shamanistic and share a common ancestry but, due to gnoles enslaving their enemies and selling them abroad, the dholes dislike gnoles even moreso than catfolk.

They are both dogfolk and therefore have the standard dogfolk features and the following subrace features.

Ability Score Increase.  Your Constitution score increased by 2.
Age. Dhole have lifespans equivalent to humans.
Alignment. Between being bred in servitude for millennia and having strong pack instincts that reward obedience, Dhole are inherently loyal and being from a culture of merchants that prides themselves on honesty, they tend to be lawful. They are rarely evil since they usually are quick to make friends and are doggedly loyal.
Size. Dhole are taller on average than humans but are built in a similarly varied manner. Guard breeds tend to more muscular and scout breeds tend to be more lean. Your size if Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Bite. Your jaw is a strong natural weapon, which can be used to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.
Bloodhound. You have proficiency in the Perception skill and have advantage on all Perception skill checks involving your sense of smell.
Pack Tactics. You have advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of your allies are within 5 feet of the creature and isn’t incapacitated.
Extra Language. You can read, write, speak and understand common, Dholish, and one additional language.
Subrace. You also choose and gain the features of one of the subraces below.

Wild Breed
Ability Score Increase.  Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Herder. You have proficiency in the Animal Handling skill.
Nimble. You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.
Gnole Breed
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Rampage. When your reduce a creature to 0 hit points with an attack, you can take a bonus action to move up to half your speed and make a bite attack.

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Character Crunch. Bearfolk, Armadilliards, and Pixies. WIP

It has been too long. Thanks to Corvid-19, I have been furloughed long enough to breakthrough my writer's blocks so here is some new content. I eventually plan to disable this blog soon but for now, for my players, this is a convenient place for you guys to find my content by googling "sublanarya" and then whatever you need. Anywho, without further ado, a handful of new races:

Friday, February 8, 2019

Character Crunch. Otterlings.

OTTERLINGS: RIVER-RUNNIN’ SWAMPFOLK

Otterlings are found mostly in the northern swamps of Thule, living in small family clans called “lodges, and make their home in submarine dwellings that they dig out by the riverbank. They make a living by avoiding swamp predators and fishing through cooperation. They often get additional pay as swamp guides and working on riverboats doing any number of tasks that require their size and expertise. They are diminuitive folk, standing two to three feet tall, and resemble the critters that they are descended from except for some more humanoid shape, expressive faces and intelligent eyes. Their eyes are said to be exceptionally human-like.

Despite being native to the cold and unforgiving country of Zholtovka, a place where the local humans have cast out or executed all non-humans, otterlings are exempt from their inquisition due to an otterling helping one of their prophets. They say it a sin to harm such helpful creatures and the otterlings are all too happy to live up to that expectation if it means freedom from being hunted for their pelts. They mostly avoid any unwanted human contact and are exceptionally good at not being found when they don’t want but their curiosity and energetic nature often see them feeling compelled to interact with any passersby. It is not unheard of for a hero traveling through the swamp to wind up with a permanent traveling companion. And, despite their size, their ferocity is legendary. They are predators, after all.

There are also sea-otterlings who are smaller, cuter and more specialized for the sea. They tend to be excellent with tools and are welcome on many ships but they are known to have “sticky paws”.They often trade in trinkets, especially those that have a puzzle element, and are excellent at identifying and discussing curious objects.

Both subspecies share the same unique language that is made up of high pitched squeaks and whistles and low growls that carry over long distances. Despite their bestial language, they are quite adept at speech and are quick learners. 

OTTERLING TRAITS
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age. Otterlings mature quickly to adulthood at 12 years of age and live to about 50 years.
Alignment.  Oterrlings are notorious curious and affectionate creatures who love to make friends but are fierce in the face of threats. They are most commonly chaotic good.
Size. River otterlings stand between three to four feet tall and sea otterlings are usually smaller and pudgier between two and three feet. Your size is Small.
Speed. Otterlings are fast on land and water. You have a walking speed of 30 feet and a swim speed of 30 feet. They are even faster when prone and can move at 35 feet when they are prone.
Slip & Slide. Your bone structure is impressively flexible and you're used to moving through cramped spaces. You are considered one size smaller when attempting to move through tight spaces and take no movement penalty when doing so.
Nimbleness: You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.
Hold Breath. You can hold your breath for up to 15 minutes.
Travel Guide. Sea otterlings are expert navigators and survivalists. You have proficiency with navigation tool.

RIVER OTTERLING SUBRACE TRAITS
Ability Score Increase. River otterlings are adapt hunters with sharp senses and wits. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Swamp Warrior. You are adept at hiding from larger predators and catching prey unaware. You have proficiency in the Stealth skill.
Bite. Your jaw is a strong natural weapon, which can be used to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.


SEA OTTERLINGS SUBRACE TRAITS
Ability Score Increase. Sea otterlings are clever sailors. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Sticky Paws. Sea otterlings have a bad habit of putting anything that catches their eye into their pocket. You have proficiency in Sleight of Hand.
Curious Critters. Sea otters love toys and trinkets. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to magic items, alchemical objects, or technological devices, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of any proficiency bonus you normally apply.

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Cloaks & Daggers: The Criminal Guilds of New Mithrak

Crime is a serious problem in Mithrak. The lack of proper law enforcement, the widespread injustice and inequality, and the opportunity available to those willing to do anything draw criminal enterprises from across the realm. The urbzthrong are able to respond to individual crimes done against them with their personal security but are hardly capable or interested in policing the city. Most of the business minded vithzar would rather pay off these criminals for some sort of immunity without really thinking about the naivete of trusting them. The citizens, particularly small business owners, have no choice but to deal with these crooks and thugs on a daily basis. Arguably, some of these organizations contribute to the city in more positive ways than their corporate overlords do and others are larger and more terrible than even Smaragdine the Green Dragon of the Emerald Bank.

Gangs 


The Bogeymen. Goblins and orcs are relative newcomers to Mithvale and it is a testament to the city's creedo of "opportunity for all" that they aren't run right out of town. After all, the reputation of goblins and orcs are that of invaders, cowardly and brutish, and their name is dirt with the native population. But just because their welcome and have "opportunity" doesn't mean the opportunity is equal to that available for dwarves, gnomes, halflings and humans. Goblins and orcs are expected to take what they can get, job-wise, and forced to live in ghettos by the urbzthrong who want to keep an eye on the "green bastards". This ill-will has led to the rise of the Bogeyman.

By positioning themselves as heroes of goblinoid and orcish kind, the bogeyman run a number rackets among the ghetto: they offer protection to their neighborhoods with armed thugs positioned to push out other gangs, they often enforced tolls, that are little more than polite theft, on those who travel through their neighborhoods, and are known for their lack of scrutiny. Bogeyman are popular hires for jobs that nobody else wants to do, whether due to the dangerous nature or the immoral nature. Bogeyman prey on men, women, children, dwarf, human and their own kind alike. Gold is gold.

Bogeyman have no honor. Or so the other gangs say.

The leadership of the bogeyman is often shifting between the hands of the toughest and meanest orcs and hobgoblins. Their symbol is a green humanoid figure.

The Brick Dragons. The Brick Dragons started out as an adventurers guild that tried to establish themselves in the city. After their membership ballooned, leadership changed hands several times, and they wound up embroiled in a gang war, the Brick Dragons became another street gang that, occasionally, offered mercenary and treasure hunting services, but more often than not engaged in the same sort of criminal enterprises of the other gangs. They still operate under the auspices of "an adventurer's guild" but it is merely a front for recruitment. Many young and naive adventurers wind up in the grip of the guild, bound by contract, debt or loyalty, and reduced to a life of petty crime.

The Brick Dragons can be spotted by their formal aesthetic, often wearing formal dressware and hats, adorned with patches of the red and brown dragon symbolizing their guild. 
 
Their leader is a human druid named Harlock, a bit of a nutjob, who says he can hear the city's thoughts.
 
The Clan Bastards. Dwarven culture is built upon family. Your clan name is your history and your history defines you. In a city partly ruled by prominent dwarven clans, those that come from lower families, those disowned and exiled by their clans, often turn to forming bands of mercenaries or, in the case of Mithrak, thugs. The Clan Bastards are small change crooks, running protection and shake-down rackets, and pitfighters in the outer rings of the city. They wear no symbols of their houses and abandon their family names. Instead, they wear the bastard's symbol of a boar's skull with crossbones, and go by nicknames specific to their reputation. The Clan Bastards are famous for riding pigs and boars around the city.

Their leader, Guncan Fingerbreaker, operates pit fights throughout the city, being a former champion of the ring himself.

The Hatpin Harpies. The city can be a tough place for anybody, including young women. This tough scene creates tough women and none are tougher than the Hatpin Harpies. The harpies often work in conjunction with the Washwomen's Guild but also provide protection for orphanages, widows, and women of "ill repute". The harpies have a reputation for their disrespect for patriarchy, particularly dwarven misogyny, and take pleasure in taking opportunities to show of their disrespect for the city's institutions and the other guilds (particularly the clan bastards and the brick dragons).

Their half-orc & half-elf leader, Arabella Halfsong, started the gang after being pushed out of the Bogeymen several times. Their symbol is a yellow canary carrying a pin.

The Midnight Revelers. Punks, junkies, carnies, and sadomasochists make up the nastiest gang in the city of Mithrak. They consider themselves "artists".

The revelers might be a guild if not for their chaotic nature, being joined by their involvement in various annual festivals and carnivals held throughout the regions, and are known for their "eccentric" appearances, random acts of frivolity and violence, and their relationship with pain, drugs, and insanity. The revelers often through block parties, without the permission of the urbzthrong, that get increasingly raucous. When challenged by authority figures or other gangs, they respond with horrible violence. Their gang are all known to use any number of concoctions to increase their revelry, all of which have turned them into little more than slaves to their addictions and appetites, and ruined their lives/minds.

Their business is mostly being paid to perform/NOT TO PERFORM by citizens but they also deal in the sell of drugs & contraband that even the most ruthless businessmen have the sense not to hoist upon the populace.

Their leader is a tiefling bard, Bungler, who often calls himself the "prince of mayhem". Bungler is believed to responsible for a string of elaborate murders....and taken credit for some elaborate atrocities. Their symbol is a purple and red jester's cap.

The Sewer Scorpions. Ratfolk, perhaps even more-so than orcs and goblinoids, have been slighted in New Mithrak. After all, they have been here longer than the Founder. They make their homes in the "under-city", in the sewers and ruins that New Mithrak is built upon, and provide services relevant to their knowledge of the under-city. With little opportunity above ground, and due to the harsh nature of under-city, it is no wonder that ratfolk turn to crime. Most are part of the criminal enterprises of the Santitation Union but many youths form their own sewer gangs. The biggest and most infamous, currently, are the Sewer Scorpions.

These young toughs and scrappers claim a large portion of the city's sewer ways and demand respect for any passerbys foolish enough to find themselves in the sewers. They are common pickpockets and thugs but, within the confines of their domain, are the only crooks who know the secrets of the sewers.

They are also the most notorious "taggers" in the city, using paint to mark their territory and sometimes even making elaborate murals depicting their heroes, and the symbol of the scorpion is found on walls all over. The fact it often looks like a spider with a spiked club is another story.

The Semi-Legitimate Guilds

Their is no formal guild system recognized in the city of Mithrak. That doesn't mean there aren't guilds with a formal structure, from membership dues to retirement funds, and that these organizations manage to find a way to exist in the city.... as long as they don't threaten to unite the laborers against the urbzthrong.


The Working Women's Guild.  Maybe the guild was formed by prostitutes or maybe they were formed by washwomen, seamstresses and midwives. Or maybe both. All that matters is that the Working Women's Guild, the WWG, is formed by like-minded ladies looking out for each other in business. In a city dominated by male ambitions, the WWG is formed of equally ambitious, industrious and business-minded women. And business is booming.

While the reputation of the WWG is often slighted by less-respectful opponents, they aren't afraid to defend their reputation. A fool who goes around calling a working-woman a "whore" is quickly going to find it hard to get his socks repaired and even harder to get his socks off. It is generally considered important to follow the rules set by the WWG to protect their members and they're not afraid to respond to any infractions by calling on the harpies or other hired muscle to teach them a little respect... or throw them in the sewer.

The leader of the WWG is Prudence Redlace who operates a home & school for wayward girls. Their symbol is a cursive WWG over a corset/hourglass.


The Bodysnatchers. In a city of Mithrak's population, death is an unavoidable part of every day life. Whether there is a work accident that needs to be discreetly cleaned up or a blight tearing through the outer ring, the snatchers are called into take care of the bodies. They store the bodies for a period of time until they are either claimed or left to rot. The snatchers collect fees from those claiming the bodies and provide funerary services in the graveyards that they have collectively gathered under the banner. The urbzthrong have paid for corporate cemetaries for the bodies of employees that aren't claimed, that might as well be mass graves. But even these mass graves are better than what happened to the bodies that go completely unclaimed.

The snatchers definitely sell of their possessions but rumors abound about what the guild does with the bodies: some say the guild just throw the bodies into the sewers, others say they sell their organs and body parts to alchemists and necromancers alike and the wildest rumors claim the snatchers eat the dead. They are called "ghouls" for a reason.

The guild is currently led by a council of their most elder members. Their symbol is a coffin with crossed shovels.

The Rubythroats. Entertainment is big in New Mithrak and professional actors, singers and dancers have formed the Rubythroats. Originally, the Rubythroats were a family of gnomish bards but quickly grew their theater company, expanding to providing all sorts of membership benefits and expanding until they shifted into an unofficial guild that controls the theatre and club scene within the city's walls. Membership is earned through audition, apprenticeship and due payments.

While other entertainers are allowed to entertain in the city, the Rubythroats are known to control the best spots and their reputation carries enough wait to encourage enrollment. They have a black list that is infamously effective and any artist who's name winds upon the list would be lucky to perform on a street corner without getting harassed by "critics".

They are known to carry business cards with the symbol of a green and pink hummingbird. They are still led by the Rubythroat family and their current matriarch, Guerda Rubythroat.


The Sanitation Union. The city of New Mithrak is filthy. It produces tons of waste, both industrial and humanoid, every day that are not only unsightly but often dangerous. And, if it wasn't for the Sanitation Unions efforts, the city would be up to its knees in trash and the sewer drains would back up with waste. They keep the sewers running and they clean the streets at night. They also help ship garbage off on barges going down river and bury it in the pits under the city. Without them? This city would fail. There is no guild as underestimated and omnipresent as the Sanitation Union.

There are many gangs in the sewers. There are many who operate in the sewers. But there is only one king in the sewers and the sanitation union, all ratfolk, are his subjects, his family, and his army in a socio-political game he has been waging for a decade. The Big Cheese is a legendary figure in the sewers and his name is well-known to hang on the breath of the vithzar. If it were up to him? He would be a vithzar. Whether or not this criminal genius will ever get his due, whether or not the ratfolk will ever get respect, and whether or not the sewers will remain in the hands of their native inhabitants remains to be seen.

The vithzar don't share power easily with non-dwarves and non-gnomes.


Secret Organizations
There are at least three organizations in the borderlands that don't want their name on any outsider's lips. They operate outside the law and prefer to operate outside of common knowledge. They oppose each other vehemently and the war that they fight in the shadows could determine, not only their own fates, but the fate of the world.

The Coil of Apophis
"The snake that cannot cast aside its old skin dies. The man who cannot cast aside his identity dies too." An Apophisian Proverb

There are many snake cults in Narya. Most of them are evildoers who have tried and failed to bring about their ascension to world dominance or the very end of the world. They have overthrown and foiled several times throughout history. But, like a hydra, every time a head is cut off, the serpent splits into new horrors. The most infamous of these organizations, known and feared by scholars, political leaders and do-gooders alike, is the Coil of Apophis.

The Coil can be traced back almost a thousand years ago, back to the snake cult that installed Apep II, the colossal demigod serpent, as the god-king of Ptah-Hamut, and their members would have you believe that they are much older than that. After the death of Apep II, the snake cult was banned in Hamutia but they have simply slunk into the shadows to grow into a new and terrible form as one of the premier organizations dealing in death.

The Coil takes in orphans, training them in stealth and martial arts, and build them into completely loyal servants of the Coil. These assassins are then let loose into the world, handed missions to be carried out with no hesitation, and serving the whims of their unseen masters. Most members don't even know the name of their organization or their master's identity as they take missions from handlers. Only those assassins who earn the trust of their masters, impressing them with their skill and loyalty, learn the true nature of their purpose. They are transformed and become part of the conspiracy leading the cult.

Currently? It is no known who bears the mantle of the guild's leader, the one they call the Apophis. It is also unknown what their larger goals are beyond destabilizing the power structure of the realms and growing their own power. It is possible that many of the leaders do not believe in the cult's goals and instead play along for their own power.

Traitors are dealt with and suffer horrible consequences.

The Coil's symbol is the ouroborus, a snake eating it's own tail, often with a body in an endless loop or a spiral, representing the endless cycle of birth, growth, death and rebirth that is the coda of the cult.

The Masquerade
"We are none and we are all." A Masquerade Assassin

The Coil is driven by ambition. That is clear. What drives their rivals? What drives the Masquerade?

The members of the Masquerade, the Masqs, are strange figures. When they choose to be seen, they are always wearing a mask that is unique to them. This guild item is something that they are said to make unique to them and the guild pays good coin for the return of these masks, as well as the bodies of their fallen members, and pay even more to punish those that would keep them.  They often wear cloaks, gloves and other clothing items to disguise as much of themselves as possible. They consider it a great dishonor if anyone ever learns more about them, whether it be their appearance or anything about the guild, than they would wish to share. While the Masquerade deals in assassination, their main business is the acquisition, silencing and sale of information & secrets. They have an affinity for espionage that leaves even their customers uncomfortable.

A member of the Masquerade will always choose death over capture and are known to be unbreakable under interrogation. While the members of the Coil are known for lurking in the shadows and using the cloak of night to commit their misdeeds, the Masquerade operates in a very different manner. Masqs operate in the open. They use a mix of research, craftsmanship, and magic to create disguises that are seamless. They create or steal personas that fit perfectly into their surroundings, tailored to achieving their missions, and can live out this false-life for years and, only upon completing their mission, disappear as if they never existed. Some are so capable that they create elaborate alibis for their personas disappearance-- either killing them off to avoid suspicion or having them leave for an extended period until they have need of them again. They pull of these disguises with supernatural ease that has many question whether they are even human or some sort of chameleon humanoids. If their conspiracy is uncovered, they will flee immediately and, if forced to fight, they are notoriously deadly and fearless. Or so it seems. It is impossible to read the face of a masked assassin.

At least one captured Masq was revealed to be a changeling, a shape-shifting human/doppelganger hybrid, but reports were unable to confirm this allegation after the prisoner committed suicide with a strange poison that reduced their body a heap of silver goo.

They have no symbols or known history.

The Shepherds Guild
"The good people are like sheep in a world filled with wolves. We are the shepherds. We are the sheepdogs." The Shepherd's Decree

Not all organizations that choose to operate in secret are assassins, thieves or worse. In the case of the Shepherds, they are the opposite. They are perhaps the only neutral adventurer's guild that puts itself above simple mercenary work or treasure hunting. They have no specific religious allegiance and act outside of any rigid system. They do not serve any particular state and they do not pick sides in times of war. They are independent and they fight evil at every turn. They, perhaps naively but definitely boldly, consider themselves heroes.

The Shepherd's Guild is a secret organization ran by and composed of like-minded adventurers with the objectives of exploring the world of Narya, acquiring powerful and dangerous magical items/artifacts, and opposing the worst sorts of villainy. Ultimately, they see themselves as defenders as against threats to the world. After all, it was formed after the second Dark Age, after the beastmen horde of Kalibos almost wiped out the northern continent and threatened all of Sublanarya. Their ultimate goal is to oppose the threats to peace, justice and life that are always present and to prepare for those that are waiting for their opportunity to strike. Without the actions of the goodhearted and brave, the world would've fallen into darkness countless times. The guild finds and recruits the brave, the goodhearted and the talented and puts them to work.

Up-and-coming adventurers that join the guild are called "sheepdogs" and are expected to go on quests posted at their secret guild headquarters by the senior members of the guild, "the shepherds". These locations are carefully guarded and, somehow, are all connected by a magical network that allows for instantaneous travel between each HQ's chimney. This network is just one of many reasons the guild operates in secret due to hot it could be used for great evil purpose. The guild doesn't collect dues but it does expect the members to utilize their services, hand over powerful and dangerous artifacts for research and share in information that is useful in their war against the forces of darkness.

 The Shepherds may not always be seen by their flock, but they are always vigilant and watching over them.

Saturday, August 18, 2018

The Borderlands: Mithvale (...so far)



South of the grey mists and black shores of Zholtovka, north-east of the cursed Lake of Gold, and just a sliver to the west of the Howling Mountains, nestled between the Mith and the Demorna Mountains sits the Mithvale. Mithvale was once a prosperous dwarven kingdom established shortly after the Wyrd Wars and famed for its craftsmanship, its industry, and its army of "tin soldiers". It stood as one of the shining kingdoms in the Age of Wonder, but dwarven prosperity never lasts and all that shines fades. Mithvale's wonders were nearly lost to the first dark age. Giants invading from the north demolished the defenses of the dwarves, crushing their armies, looting their treasures for their own vanity, erasing dwarven innovation and enslaving the survivors of the invasion. Mithvale would've faded into the stuff of legends if not for the recent reclamation of the ancient city of Mithrak.

 NEW MITHRAK: THE CITY OF PROGRESS
Two centuries ago, seven dwarven clans and thirteen gnomish familie left Rhyn-Durazar, fleeing from the draconic invasion of the Saesun Civil War, and took their combined fortunes and skills to rebuild in their ancestral homeland. These families were ambitious and industrious folk-- merchants, craftsmen, and investors, who after being failed by the leaderships of kings and priests, sought to build a new type of community atop the ruins of old Mithrak.

The twenty families formed powerful organizations, called The Urbzthrong in dwarven tongue or "clan conglomerates" in common tongue, that used their combined skills to craft and sell a number of cheaply priced but adequately produced & clan-branded products throughout Sublanarya. Each of these family corporations is overseen by Vithzars or, in common, "corporate lords". The city is structured to best serve the interests of the urbzthrong:

At the bottom of the city, the ancient dwarven ruins of old Mithrak have merged with the city's complex sewage system that transports waste out of the city. The sewer systems are operated by native ratfolk and other "undesirables" that are forced to live in the subterranean ghettos built into the ruined passage. On street level, the city is surrounded by a wall maintained by the urbzthrong's cooperation. Surrounding the wall are the outskirts, home to tent cities, cheap taverns, inns, stables and other basic services, resembling a border town that stretches around each side of the city, and provides for the needs of the corporate laborers and passersby. The gates of the city are guarded to allow and monitor the passage of laborers through the entertainment and business districts and into the industrial districts. 

The entertainment districts are home to bars, clubs, theaters, brothels that attract the coin of laborers and lords alike. This is district is commonly owned and controlled by criminal organizations & foreign guilds to act as a front for any number of unsavory practices. The business districts house smaller businesses that make their products and serve their customers on site. Most of these businesses do not own their properties and are either indebted or partially owned by one of the urbzthrong. The industrial district is home to a maze of massive factories and plants, with steam and smoke rising up and forming a permanent cloudy haze over the area, and is divided by the various urbzthrong. The laborers wear uniforms specific to the urbzthrong that owns their plant and each campus is guarded by corporate security.  These plants serve as the lifeblood of the city, drawing laborers from hundreds of miles away for the opportunity available, and producing everything from textiles to metalwork to food stuffs to weaponry for customers from Grand Saeffura to Undai.The wealthy management, the corporate lords, live in the central district. The central district, also called the Cloud District, is home to impressive "cloud scrapers', building that tower several stories above the pollution of the city. These elites look down upon the city below and rule with a golden fist.

There are no elected officials or laws in this city. Justice comes at the hands of corporate security, little better than mercenaries paid to represent the interests of the vithzar and wearing the colors of their prospective urbzthong, and but have little interest in the rights of the city's citizens. Their job is to maintain order, which means just as often tracking down thieves and apprehending murderers as it does cracking down on would-be unionization and unrest, and to serve as the personal army of the vithzar. Disputes between corporate lords or often resolved in shadow wars between these mercenaries that can end in literally hostile takeovers. Mithrak is a place where wealth and connections are power. But, recently, a revived ancient technology threatens the balance of power: the return of automatons.


Disputes between corporate lords are often resolved in shadow wars between mercenary groups that, in the past, end with literally hostile takeovers. Mithrak is a place where wealth and connections equal power. Recently, a revived technology of the ancient Mithrak dwarves has threatened the balance of power: automatons.

Automatons are artificial humanoids made of metal, wood, porcelain and magic. They were originally built to fight during the Wyrd Wars. each automaton is created by a combination of engineering, magic and a small spark of the divine: artificers build the bodies, mages concoct the the runic instructions that inform the automaton's programming, and the creators each add a little both of their souls to give the automaton life. Automatons are slaves built to do mundane, tedious and/or hard labor. They make excellent laborers due to their hardiness and their low cost of upkeep. They usually lack enough self-awareness or consciousness to question the commands of their masters or proests poor treatment. They can easily work in twenty hour shifts before needing a short four hour recharge. But not all automatons remain so simple...

Some automatons are "awake" and have become self-aware. Many of these automatons are immediately "decommissioned", effectively destroyed, upon discovery by their overseers but other owners allow these models to remain operational, giving them more complex jobs that fit their personalities, and some are even given some freedom to do as they please. But many oppose the use automatons wholesale.

Many laborers have found it harder and harder to find work as the workforce is automatized and believe this trend will just get worse. Others have ethical concerns about the creation of artificial life and fear an inevitable uprising from this physically superior slave class. Attacks on automatons and their creators have been undertaken by several groups but the corporate lords have crushed most rebellion and dissent. The vithzar do not believe they can continue to compete without taking advantage of the efficiency of automatons.

And despite all of the inequality, with the vithzar controlling everything and guaranteeing the continued success of their families, the city portends to be a bastion of freedom and equality. It does open its doors to everyone: goblinoids, half-orcs, and even kobolds can be found working in Mithrak. The best example of this is the Emerald Bank. It is most important banking institution of the entire continent, it is owned by a green dragon named Smaragdine and operated by goblins and kobolds.

The Urbzthrong
Of the 20 urbzthrong, gnomish and dwarvish "corporate clans" that rule Mithrak by controlling the various industries of the city of progress, some are more prolific than others. Here are some examples:
  • The most powerful conglomerate in Mithrak is Forge Tech. This corporation is composed of the gnomish Tinktonk family & dwarven Brokenforge and Strongbeard clans. The Tinktonk and Brokenforge are the architects of New Mithrak. The Strongbeard were once a strong crime family and bring their skills in espionage, smuggling and security to strengthen the urbzthrong. They are also responsible for the innovation of incorporating automatons into their manufacturing and produce goods including: armor, building materials, tools, weaponry, and components such as wagon wheels and anchors. Their products can be found throughout the realm and are a favorite among merchants because, while low quality, they are cheap and widely available for restock.
  • The Silver-Rings are a dwarf family that control a chain of mining operations throughout the northern continent and specialize in the crafting of high-quality jewelry. They have carried over these skills into the crafting of small pieces for clockwork and machinery. Their symbol, three interlocking rings, is a symbol of fine work respected by purveyors of luxuries and engineers alike. 
  • The Button-Eyes uniquely earned a spot among the urbzthrong by being the only halfling family to earn the respect of the big families and controls much travel along the Ribbon River that winds throughout the valley. Impressively, they have managed to keep the city from building causeways carrying pollution into their river, often via sabotage, and have one of the cleanest waterways. The Ribbon River is a difficult river to fjord but they've managed to make it an invaluable route for shipping goods to and from Mithrak, Zholtovka, the Imperium and the dwarven holds to the west.

There are over a dozen other urbzthrong operating in the city today, competing to dominate their market, push out the competition and to expand their influence. And there are other forces at work in the back alleys and sidestreets that operate outside of the urbzthrong's influence.

Mithrak is the city of opportunity and progress. But it is not the only civilization to be found in Mithvale. 

THE MITH MOUNTAINS

The Mith Mountains stretch along the shores of the lake of Gold and serve as the southern border of the Mithvale. These mountains are formed of white and grey stone, tinged with green and red growth, and are a beautiful, wild but hospitable sight to the natives of Mithvale. Just over the mountains and past the passageways through it, are the temperate and jungle environments found in the Imperium, and all manner of exotic threat. Luckily, these threats are usually dealt with by the Imperians and dwarves serving at the Saint Gates.

In the shadow of these mountains, are numerous dwarven, human and gnomish settlements. While some exist as satellites or way points for the wagons and riverboats carrying goods from New Mithrak, others have managed to make a home here even before the reclamation of the city, and have their own storied pasts. Mostly agricultural or mining settlements, these small towns and villages have managed to survive and now thrive thanks to their remote location. They make good trade with the supply trains and merchants traveling to and from the city. Many of these settlements, much like Mithrak, are built on or nearby ancient settlements and ruins that are of interest to historians and treasure hunters alike.

But explorers should be weary of all manner of monster and goblinoid that have taken these ruins as their lairs.

 
THE LONELY MOUNTAINS OF DERMONA

Cold and lonely. Those are the words that describe the high peaks and deep crevices that form the land that the snow elves call "Demorna". The mountains of Demorna form the natural barrier between Mithvale and the Hold. They start in the foothills of the valleys that form the titular Mithvale and quickly steepen into the sides of the mountains that raise up and dominate the eastern horizon of the land. The mountains themselves are some of the tallest and most treacherous of Sublanarya, with frigid winds that quickly transform the slope into a canvas of white speckled with black stone that offers little refuge, and would seem inhospitable to all but the hardiest of creatures. And yet, some still manage to call these mountains home.

The Olossar
The snow elves of the lonely mountains made their home here during the first dark age and have isolated themselves ever since in the frozen peaks. They've adapted extremely pale white skin and hair to better blend into their environments and are shorter, stockier and hardier than their iaurdin cousins. They are known to spend their time focusing on survival and occupy themselves by crafting objects of beauty. Perhaps no peoples are better adapted or more knowledgeable of the secrets of these mountains.

They are known to hunt the orcs and other evil-doers who invade their mountains with extreme prejudice, help lost travelers indirectly and fiercely defend their mountains against under-elves who would enslave them.

Morgana La Fey, The Terrible and Magnificent
Lesser gods are known to walk among the borderlands of civilization. The goddesses of witchcraft, far from zealous priests and meddling mages, play out their feuds, wrestling with forces natural, divine and magic alike for power are not to be trifled with lightly. Their petty vengeance is legendary and perhaps, save Baba Yaga, none are more infamous for their inscrutable pettiness than Morgana La Fey.

Morgana was once a fey princess of some long-lost civilization that settled between the planes in the valley. There was a great calamity and that civilization, like so many civilizations of antiquity, was lost to time. Morgana remains as an immortal and terrible artifact of the Tuathans. Legends say the tuathans could take the form of animals and wielded great power. Some legends, spoken by the snow elves, say that tuathan refugees hide among the peoples of Mithvale. From what do they hide? Morgana.

Morgana makes her lair in the Raven Tower, high in the peaks of the lonely mountains, and looks down upon the Mithvale with a jealous interest. Her goals are indiscernible but her every action sends ripples throughout the realm. She commands a great host of orcs, goblinoids and barbarians that have fallen under her thrall and sets them to all manner of terrible tasks. Entire villages are wiped out by her army for refusing her requests, families are hunted down by mercenaries to be dragged back to her ebony tower for gods know what, and, to remind any who would forget who truly rules the realm, she takes the form of a great black feathered dragon and casts shadows over the homes of those that would call themselves lords and gods. Only a fool would refuse her.

UZKOLGAZT: THE NIGHT FOREST
To the north, bordering Zholtokva and Mithvale, is the dark and gloomy forest of Uzkolgazt. It is also called the Night Forest and stretched for hundreds of miles. The name comes from the density of the trees and the Northern winds that sweep storm clouds from the Dead Sea, across the neighboring swamplands, that perpetuate cold, damp and darkness in all but the height of the summer months when the forest becomes steeped in humidity. It has a notorious reputation thanks to its proximity to the supernatural horrors of Zholtovka and the orcish tribes that call it home. It is mostly avoided by humanoids but it would be foolish not to keep an eye on this contested region.


The Boarshead
Nago, the pig-headed demon prince of brutality, is known to manifest through the children of his worshipers. A scion, with a boar's head, was born and quickly rose to prominence. He slew all chieftains that opposed them and butchered their children until so many tribes fell under his thrall that he formed the largest orcish horde the continent had ever seen. Nago would've lead the horde on a path of destruction but he was challenged & slain by the orcish folkhero Smalldog (Smagund). But that did not completely stop the threat.

Nago's worshipers, his dark priests, salvaged the head and, using necromancy, manage to preserve and commune with the demonic boar's head. The Boarshead Cult manages to maintain a strong hold over the orcs of the region and stand as a threat to civilization should they ever mobilize past small raids.


 The Red & Blue Company
The goblins and bugbears that have settled into this region are often little more than scattered tribes scraping along from their cave and ruin homes. The Red & Blue Company, led by hobgoblins, stands as a prolific mercenary band that has taken the old dwarven fort of Azramidgal as their base of operations. The Red & Blue mostly engages in raids on the communities of Mithvale and into the Hold but do send small bands of warriors to seek employment as mercenaries. Their leader, Fulgrass, hopes to legitimize their services and looks for opportunities to build their reputation and warchest.



Otterlings
Even in the most hopeless places, there is hope.

These natives of the swamps of Zholtovka are a small race of aquatic muskelid humanoids resembling river otters. They have managed to survive in one of the cruelest environments of the realm by a mix of caution, cooperation and good fortune. They carefully monitor their waters for threats, quickly spreading information via their musical language, and avoid the prying eyes of would-be predators with ease. Many fisherman can spend years in the same waters without knowing they share them with entire communities of otterlings. 


Most people know otterlings from the few that get jobs aboard the Button-Eye trade-ships as navigators along the Ribbon River.

Saturday, June 9, 2018

Naryan Class Options: Roguish Archetype ~ The Sniper


THE SNIPER

Some rogues are expert assassins or thieves or faff about with arcane trickery. The magic marksman, the sniper, is the archetype that prefers to do their dirty work at a distance. Snipers build custom bolt rifles that fire magical projectiles at their intended target. They use this tool to pick off targets at a distance and cripple the enemy line with shots that would make anyone think twice before leaving the safety of cover. Some are just hobbyists, some are monster slayers but all experts at obliterating whatever gets caught in their cross-hairs.

Magic Marksman
When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you have combined your interests of magic and marksmanship to craft arcane rifles. You gain proficiency with the Arcana skill. You gain proficiency with the Light & Heavy Crossbow and Bolt Rifles. You learn the Prestidigitation and Mending cantrips.

Fighting Style
You gain the Archery Fighting Style: You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons.

Bolt Rifle Aficionado
At 3rd level, you also gain proficiency with the Carpenter's Kit.

By taking 1 hour, expending 25 gold, and using a Carpenter's Kit, you can customize a Light or Heavy Crossbow into a Bolt Rifle. The Bolt Rifle is a magic weapon that uses a powerful arcane apparatus to hurl magical bolts through the air from the end of a long barrel. Your Bolt Rifle deals 2d6 magical force or fire (your choice) damage per bolt and has a range of 200/800. It requires two hands when you attack with it. It weighs 20 lbs. It does not use ammunition.

Only you can use your custom Bolt Rifle.

Hawkeyes
And at 3rd level, you can use a bonus action to make a Wisdom (Perception) check to spot a hidden creature or object.

You also gain proficiency in the Perception skill if you don't already have it. You proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check that you make using that skill.

Homicidal Geometry
By 9th level, you have improved the rifling of your Bolt Rifle's barrel and increased the caliber of each bolt so that it penetrates your targets. Whenever you fire your Bolt Rifle at a target, you may expend you may instead choose to fire in a beam, which is 1 foot wide and 800 feet long, and you make an attack roll against each creature or object in that line until you miss. You may only use this feature once per round.

Use Magic Device
By 13th level, you have learned enough about the workings of magic that you can improvise the use of items even when they are not intended for you. You ignore all class, race, and level requirements on the use of Magic Items.

Overcharge
When you reach 17th level, you can take a bonus action to overcharge your weapon. When you do so, you aim at a point within your Bolt Rifle's range. Each creature in a 20-foot radius sphere centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw (8 + your proficiency bonus + your intelligence modifier). Each creature takes 20d6 force damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

A nonmagical object that isn't being worn or carried also takes the damage if it's in the spell's area.

After you use this feature, you can use it again until you take a short or long rest.