NewCharacterMaterial - 6-16-14 Playtest

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Genasi
If people know anything of the planes at all, most consider
them remote, distant worlds apart from their own, vast and
wondrous vistas that might be homes for the gods, places of
perdition and horror, or alien landscapes that bear little
resemblance to their own. What knowledge might be gained
comes from the old tales or those infrequent occasions when
one of these realms casts a shadow upon the world, either
through the monsters unleashed through realitys cracks or the
manifestation of supernatural events that alter the worlds
course. At best, the planes of existence rest with the
cosmologists and priests, the wizards and warlocks who
bargain with fell agencies to gain temporal might. For all the
distance, for all the uncertainty, the planes influence can be
felt throughout the world, manifesting in curious ways or in
people who through an accident of birth carry its power in
their blood. The genasi are one such people and while many
might pass for humans of unusual appearance and disposition,
they stand apart for the elemental power raging in their hearts.
Mortals and genies have few occasions to interact. The
genies dwell on the elemental planes, places far beyond the
capacities of most mortals to dream of reaching, if theyre
even aware of their existence at all. Furthermore, the
elemental planes rank as some of the most inhospitable to
peoples of the Material Plane. Crushing earth, searing flames,
boundless skies, and endless water all present obstacles that
make even visiting these places for a short time dangerous.
The genies, however, do not face such troubles when
venturing into the mortal world. As powerful entities, they
adapt well to the mingling of elements making up the Material
Plane, and they frequently visit, sometimes under their own
volition, others when compelled by magic. During these
occasions, a mortal might catch a genies eye. A friendship
could form, romance bloom, and sometimes these
associations result in a child. These children are genasi, the
offspring of genies and humans, individuals with ties to two
worlds, yet belonging to neither.
Genasi fit into the world in different ways. Some live as
outcasts, driven into exile for their unsettling appearance and
the strange magic that manifests itself on their command.
Others, especially on the continent of Zakhara, may gain
positions of great power and influence. They might hide their
elemental heritage or display it for all to see, to strike fear in
their rivals hearts and to speak with the voice of the genies
whom most respect or dread. A few genasi who manage to
escape the Material Plane may find refuge in the household of
the genie who sired them.
Inheritors of Elemental Power

Genasi inherit something from both parents in their
appearance. All genasi have humanoid forms and may pass
for humans. The match humans in height, often weight as
well, and have all the features one might expect. But there is
something odd about them, some quirk that sets them apart,
some difference that attracts or repels people they meet. This
D&D Playtest 6-16-14
otherness stems from the elemental blood flowing through

their veins and manifests in each genasi in different ways.
In spite of their strange appearance and violent magical
power, genasi take pride in their elemental heritage. Some
genasi gain power and influence, coaxing every advantage
from their bloodline to rise above the people with whom they
were raised. Genasi become powerful sorcerers and wizards,
clerics, druids, or warriors emboldened by elemental magic.
Some genasi hold the elemental gifts come with a great
responsibility. These leave behind their old lives to be forces
for good or evil in the world. Some are driven into exile,
shunned for their strangeness, while others climb the rungs of
power to become leaders of savage humanoids, weird cults,
and other people with twisted views on the world. Whatever
path the genasi walk, they go knowing they have the potential
to wield great power and this fact informs their outlook on the
world and every decision they make while exploring it.
Wild and Confident

Perhaps it sources from their unusual heritage, isolation born
from their uniqueness. It might be a front they show to others
who would judge them unfairly. Or it could just be the way
they are. Whatever the reason, genasi never lack confidence
and they see themselves as being equal to almost any
challenge in their path. The certainty they feel may translate
into boasting, posturing, or simple arrogance.
The elemental heritage also drives them to buckle
convention. Genasi have little use for custom and tradition.
They would rather go their own way, certain their way is best
or, at least, the most entertaining. Their self-confidence may
blind them to the risks and are always surprised when their
great plans lead them and others into trouble. They offer
excuses when confronted, evasions when cornered, never
taking the blame for the mishap.
Too much failure can chip away at a genasis sense of self,
so they strive to make good on their boasts. They push
themselves to improve, to hone their talents and perfect their
craft, to keep self-doubt at bay. They dont seek excellence
for its own sake; they pursue it because it reinforces their
identity and builds their image in the eyes of others.
Many and Varied

At a glance, a genasi can usually pass for human. They have
the same range of height and weight that humans have,
though those of earth elemental descent tend to be heavier,
while those of air elemental descent tend to be lighter.
How the elemental heritage manifests in a genasi varies
from individual to individual. Not only do genasi differ in
appearance thanks to those differences inherited from their
human parent, the elemental nature reveals itself in a variety
of ways. Some genasi display subtle hints about their
otherworldly natures and could easily pass for human while
others are markedly different, with flames crowning their
heads, glowing lines crawling across their skin, rock-like
flesh, hair that waves on its own, and more. While each genasi
has a unique appearance, certain characteristics are more
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prevalent based on the nature of their elemental ancestry.

Air Genasi. The elemental heritage air genasi possess
manifests in subtle ways. In a world filled with elves,
dwarves, halflings, and gnomes, a person with light blue skin
or hair does not stand out. Some air genasi have breathy
voices, marked by strange inflections or a faint echo that
follows their words. Others have skin cool to the touch eyes
of bright blue. Some display odd patterns in their flesh or
grow bizarre crystals from their scalps, though this
manifestation is quite rare and harkens back to another time.
For most, though, a constant breeze that tousles the hair and
stirs the clothing hints at the power flowing in their blood.
Earth Genasi. Elemental earth bleeds from the earth
genasis pores. Most genasi seem dirty, with bits of dust
falling from their bodies, mud clinging to their clothes, never
getting clean no matter how much they wash themselves. Or,
the genasi could be as clean and polished as a gemstone, with
skin tones a deep brown or black, eyes sparkling like agates.
Earth genasi can also have smooth metallic skin, dull iron
skin spotted with actual rust, pebbled, rough flesh, or even
tiny crystals embedded in their skin. The most arresting earth
genasi are those with fissures in their flesh, with faint light
shining up from the cracks.
Fire Genasi. Rather than hide their distinctive appearance,
fire genasi exult in it. Nearly all have feverish skin as if their
insides were on fire, a suggested aided by flaming red, coalblack, or ash gray skin. The more human-looking fire genasi
have fiery red hair that flicks and writhes when feeling
extreme emotion, while more exotic genasi might have flames
dancing on their heads. The more subtle manifestations
include voices that sound like crackling flames, the faint scent
of brimstone that seems to follow them, or eyes that flare with
flame like intensity when they become angered.
Water Genasi. Elemental waters impact on a water genasi
reveals itself in many different ways. Most look as if they just
finished bathing, beads of moisture collecting on their skin,
hair wet, clothing damp. They never stink of mildew, though.
They smell of fresh rain and clean water. Blue or green skin
seems to be common to the water genasi, and most have
somewhat overlarge eyes, blue-black in color, slightly slanted.
A water genasis hair might floating freely, swaying and
waving as if underwater. Others have odd voices, sounding
like the echoing songs of whales or recalling the sound of a
stream trickling over rocks.
Of Two Worlds
Denizens of all planes pass through the Material Plane with
great frequency, even if they do so unnoticed by the common
person. From angels to demons, devils to elementals, these
extraplanar individuals enter the mortal realms through
hidden portals, on errands good and evil, for causes great or
despicable. From time to time, these visitors leave behind
children borne from unions with mortals. These offspring,
generally regarded as the planetouched, are born with the
appearance of their mortal parent, but bearing the mark of
power from their otherworldly parent. This mark may lay
dormant for generations, waiting until some moment to reveal
itself or it might manifest right away, forever after setting the

child apart from his or her peers.
A genasi claims descent from one of the elemental beings
inhabiting the Inner Planes. The most common elementals to
leave offspring in the world are the geniesdao, djinn,
efreeti, or maridas they can disguise their true appearance
behind a magical faade and might develop feelings or at least
a desire for mortal companionship during their time on the
Material Plane.
Other genasi might result from exposure to a surge of
elemental power, such as what is sometimes described as an
elemental breach or, in other worlds, a planar convergence. In
these cases, the elemental energies saturate the creatures in
their presence and may alter their nature enough to create
genasi from their offspring with other mortals.
Genasi almost never have contact with their elemental sires.
The genies and other elemental beings responsible for their
existence have little interest in their offspring and if ever
confronted would be hard-pressed to recall the dalliance and
if he or she was able, would not feel any responsibility or
loyalty to their offspring. The reasons are many. Some
elemental creatures disdain their offspring, seeing them as
imperfect mistakes, accidents, or even abominations. Others
just feel nothing for them at all.
Genasi in other Worlds
Any world that includes one or more elemental planes can

also feature genasi. On Athas, the world of the Dark Sun
Campaign Setting, elemental forces hold greater sway than
they do on other worlds. Genasi might be a people touched by
elemental energies, and have a more stable and widespread
society. In the World of Greyhawk, genasi can be found
walking the streets of the City of Brass, in the courts of the
Wind Dukes of Aqaa, battling Olhydra for dominance of the
Elemental Plane of Water, and anywhere else the elemental
planes intrude.
Independent and Self-Reliant

Their rarity means many genasi can go their entire lives
without ever encountering another one of their kind. They do
not have communities of their own, and typically adopt the
cultures and societies into which they are born. The more
strange their appearance, the harder the time they have.
Genasi may lose themselves in the great cities, where their
distinctiveness will hardly raise an eyebrow in places
accustomed to a variety of different people.
Those living on the frontier, though, have a much harder
time. People tend to be less accepting of differences. A cold
shoulder and a suspicious glare may be the best a genasi can
hope for. In the more backwards places, genasi face ostracism
and even violence from people who mistake them for devils,
mutants, or worse. To be a genasi raised on civilizations
fringes is a hard and lonely life, and those who dont find
refuge in a grand city, seek isolation in the deep wilds,
making their homes in high mountains, forests, near lakes, or
even underground.
Genasi Names
The genasi use the naming conventions of the people among

whom they were raised. They might later assume distinctive
names to capture their heritage, such as Flame, Ember, Wave,
Onyx, or something similar.
Genasi Traits
Your genasi character has certain characteristics in common
with all other genasi.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases
by 1.
Age. Genasi mature at about the same rate that humans do
and reach adulthood in their late teens. They live somewhat
longer than humans do, living up to 120 years.
Alignment. Self-interest and ego tend to make genasi
neutral. A genasi tends to put personal interests before
anything else, especially since they rely on themselves first
and foremost. They choose their sides based on their situation
and what they can gain from action.
Size. Genasi are as varied as humans are, standing
anywhere from 5 feet to over 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.
Speed. 30 feet.
Darkvision. Owing to your elemental heritage, you can see
in darkness within 60 feet of you as if it were dim light.
However, you cant discern color in darkness, only shades of
gray.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and
Primordial. Like Dwarvish, Primordial is a guttural language,
filled with harsh syllables and hard consonants. Individual
words tend to be longer and stretch out certain sounds when
the word has ties to one of the four basic elements.
Subraces. Four major subraces of genasi are found among
the worlds of D&D: air genasi, earth genasi, fire genasi, and
water genasi.
Air Genasi
As an air genasi, you descend from the djinn and claim the
power of elemental air as your birthright. Yours is the sky, the
wind, and the very air other creatures breathe. As changeable
as the weather, your moods shift from gentle calm to wild and
violent with little warning and less provocation. Thankfully,
these storms rarely last long and once you exhaust the
emotion you return to your normal, easy going self.
Air genasi that do not live in the cities favor open lands
such as plains, deserts, high mountains, and anywhere they
have a view of the skies. In the Forgotten Realms, air genasi
are most common in Calimshan as much of that land was
once ruled by the djinn.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by
2.
Breathless. You do not need to breathe, and thus you are
immune to drowning, suffocation, or any effect that requires
inhalation such poisonous gas.
Mingle with Wind. You know the float cantrip. When you
reach 5th level, you can cast the levitate spell once per day.
You may choose Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma for your
spellcasting ability for these spells.
Earth Genasi
As an earth genasi, you descend from the cruel and greedy
dao. While you need not share your sires evil nature, you do
inherit some measure of control over elemental earth. Earth
genasi revel in their superiority, strength, and earth-born
power, and often become powerful warriors. You tend to
avoid rash decisions, pausing long enough to consider all your
options before taking action. Only fools mistake your
considered approach for a simple mind, for your decisions are
often the right ones.
Many earth genasi that live in the wilderness choose places
underground where they can be in their favored element.
When not emerging from their caves, they might roam the
hills and mountains, or lay claim to an old ruins.
Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1
and your Constitution score increases by 1.
Earth Walk. You may move across difficult terrain caused
by the rubble, debris, or anything made from earth or stone
without expending extra movement.
Merge with Stone. You know the resistance cantrip. When
you reach 5th level, you can cast the pass without trace spell
once per day. You may choose Intelligence, Wisdom, or
Charisma for your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Fire Genasi
Fire genasi burn hot. You have inherited the fury and power
of your efreeti sire and find your emotions are nearly alive,
straining against your control and often breaking free. One
moment you might erupt into hysterical laughter and then
erupt into a white-hot rage that leads you to act rashly and
often with violence. Your emotional nature may be a burden
to you or it could be something you accept about yourself and
let others sort out. You are often impatient, quick to make
judgments, but you live without regrets. You probably speak
quickly and act without thinking things through.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 1
and your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Fire Resistance. You have resistance to fire damage.
Reach to the Blaze. You know the control flame cantrip.
When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the flaming sphere
spell. You may choose Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma for
your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Water Genasi
As a water genie, the endless lapping of wave after wave, the
salty sea foam spraying into the air, the bottomless ocean
depths with pitiless darkness and breath-stealing pressure: all
these are the elements of your heart. You go where you want,
do what you want, and never feel bound to anyone or
anything. You take pride in your independence and make sure
your needs are always met first. Others might consider you
selfish, but you cant help how you are. You are what you are
and you make no apologies.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1
and your Constitution score increases by 1.
Amphibious. You can breathe water as easily as you
breathe air.
Swim. You have a swim speed equal to your land speed.

Call to the Wave. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast
the create or destroy water spell. You may choose
Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma for your spellcasting
ability for these spells.
Aarakocra
Sequestered in high mountains, at the tops of tall trees, and
elsewhere mankind fears to tread, the aarakocra, sometimes
called the birdmen, evoke fear and wonder in those who
behold them. Unlike many peoples living in the world, the
aarakocra are not native to the Material Plane. They hail from
a world beyond, from the boundless vistas of the Elemental
Plane of Air. And so they are immigrants, refugees, scouts,
and explorers, their outposts functioning more as footholds in
a world both strange and alien.
Beak and Feather

From below, aarakocra look much like birds, large of course,
but birds all the same. Only when they descend to roost upon
a branch or, rarely, to walk across the ground does their
humanoid appearance reveal itself.
Standing upright, aarakocra might reach 5 feet tall and with
hollow bones rarely exceed 90 pounds in weight. Their
outstretched wings span 20 feet and have a three-fingered
hand midway along each wing. These hands have all the same
dexterity and functionality as human hands, but they are only
useful when the aarakocra is not flying. Aarakocra have long,
narrow legs that taper to sharp talons. An aarakocra can
unlock these talons to reveal yet another pair of functional
hands.
Bright feathers cover their bodies. Aarakocra plumage
typically denotes membership in a tribe. Males are brightly
colored, with feathers red, orange, or yellow. Females have
more subdued colors, being brown or gray. Their heads
complete the avian appearance, being something like a parrot
or eagle, again, with distinct variations found within the
various tribes.
Sky Wardens
Nowhere are the aarakocra more comfortable than when they
are flying. They can spend hours in the air without growing
tired and some go as long as days, locking their wings in
place and letting the thermals hold them aloft. In battle, they
prove dynamic and acrobatic fliers, moving with incredible
quickness and grace, diving to lash opponents with weapons
or talons, before turning and winging away.
Once airborne, an aarakocra leaves the skies with great
reluctance. On their native plane, they can fly for days or
months, landing only to lay their eggs and feed their young
before launching themselves back into their air. Those that
make it to the Material Plane find the world a strange and
unfamiliar place. Clear concepts of up and down can leave
them somewhat confused and they have nothing but pity for
those earthbound people forced to live and toil in the muck.
Chirps and Clicks

Their resemblance to birds is not limited to physical features.
Aarakocra display many of the same mannerisms as ordinary
birds. They are fastidious about their plumage, always tending
to their feathers, cleaning and scratching away any passengers
they might have picked up. When they deign to descend, they
often do so near pools where they can catch fish and bathe
themselves.
Aarakocra pepper their speech with chirps and clicks,
sounds they use to convey emphasis and to shade meaning,
much as a human might through facial expressions and
gestures. An aarakocra may become frustrated with people
who fail to pick up on the nuance of their conversations; a
serious threat may be taken as a jest and vice versa.
The idea of ownership utterly baffles aarakocra. After all,
who owns the sky? Even when explained to them, they find
the whole notion mystifying. As a result, aarakocra who have
little interaction with other people may be a nuisance as they
drop from the skies to snatch livestock or plunder harvests for
fruits and grains. Shiny, glittering objects catch their eyes.
They find it hard not to pluck the treasure to bring back to
their settlement to beautify their nests.
Confinement terrifies the aarakocra. They belong in the
boundless skies, drifting on the thermals, free to soar
wherever their hearts desire. To be grounded, to be trapped
underground, imprisoned by the cold, unyielding earth is a
torment few aarakocra can withstand. Even when perched on
a high branch or at rest in their mountain top aeries, where
their tribes gather, they appear nervous, eyes always moving,
bodies tense, ready to take flight at a moments notice.
Homelands
The aarakocra normally live on the Elemental Plane of Air.
Aarakocra may be drawn into the Material Plane, sometimes
to pursue enemies or thwart their designs on that plane.
Accident might send a nest of aarakocra tumbling into this
world. A few find their way to the mortal world through
portals on their own plane and establish nests in high
mountains or in the canopies of old, sylvan forests.
Once tribes settle in an area, they share a hunting territory
that extends across an area 100 miles on each side, with each
tribe hunting in the lands nearest to their colony, ranging
farther should game become scarce. A typical colony consists
of one large, open-roofed nest made of woven vines. The
eldest acts as leader with the support of a shaman. Males
usually hunt, while females craft weapons and tools, though
these roles are fluid.
Aarakocra in the Realms
Sages suggest aarakocra first came to the Material Plane in

the distant land of Maztica, far to the west. Never well
established in Faern, they have had only four major colonies:
in the Star Mounts within the High Forest, in the Storm Horns
in Cormyr, in the Cloven Mountains on the Vilhon Reach, and
in the Mistcliffs in Chult. Those colonies established in the
Star Mounts were ever a secretive and guarded people, only
spotted during their flights over the High Forest.

Unfortunately a cruel and rapacious green dragon nearly
wiped out the population and scattered the survivors. These
aarakocra and their descendants have sworn vengeance
against the dragon and may be seen scouring the lands of the
North and Cormyr for signs of their foe.
Their only remaining settlement lies down on the slopes of
the Star Mounts southernmost mountains. At the headwaters
of the Unicorn Run, the Last Aerie is home to just a few dozen
aarakocra and more and more of them depart their
communities each season.
Great Purpose
Aarakocra enjoy peace and solitude. They have little interest
in dealing with other peoples and less interest in spending
time on the ground when the skies call to them from above.
For this reason, it takes an exceptional circumstance for an
aarakocra to leave his or her tribe and undertake the
adventurers life. Neither treasure nor glory is enough to lure
them from their tribes; some dire threat to their people,
mission of vengeance, or catastrophe lies at the heart of the
aarakocra adventurers chosen path.
Two other circumstances might call an aarakocra to
adventure. As all aarakocra have strong ties to the Wind
Dukes of Aqaa, exceptional individuals might seek out the
missing pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts, a storied artifact
fashioned by the Wind Dukes long ago to defeat the Queen of
Chaoss monstrous champion, Miska the Wolf-Spider. When
plunged into the demonic beings body, the chaos in its blood
sundered the Rod and scattered its pieces across the planes.
Recovering the pieces means gaining honor and esteem in the
eyes of the vaati who forged it and could possibly restore a
powerful weapon for defense against the agents of elemental
evil.
Alternatively, the aarakocra are sworn foes of elemental
earth, particularly those evil earth elementals in the thrall to
the Elder Elemental Eye. Aarakocra on the Material Plane
might leave their colonies to lend aid to other humanoids
committed to fighting the earth cults and thwarting their
efforts.
2.
Age. Aarakocra reach maturity by age 3. Compared to
humans, aarakocra have brief lifespans and do not usually live
longer than 30 years.
Alignment. Most aarakocra are good. Aarakocra do not
choose sides when it comes to law and chaos. Tribal leaders
and warriors might be lawful, while explorers and adventurers
may tend toward chaotic.
Size. Aarakocra are about 5 feet tall and have wingspans up
to 20 feet. They have thin, lightweight bodies that weigh
between 80 and 100 pounds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base land speed is 20 feet.
Fly Speed. Your base fly speed is 50 feet. You may only fly
when you are outdoors or you have an unobstructed path to
the sky. At 10th level and higher, you may fly anywhere.
Talons. You can use your talons as melee weapons that
deal 1d4 slashing damage.
Language. You can speak, read, and write Common and
Primordial.
Aarakocra Names
As with much of their speech, aarakocra names include clicks,
trills, and whistles to the point that other peoples have a
difficult time pronouncing them. Typically, a name has two to
four syllables with the sounds acting as connectors. When
interacting with other races, aarakocra may use nicknames
gained from people they meet or shortened forms of their full
names. Aarakocra of either gender use the following common
names.
Short Names. Aera, Aial, Aur, Deekek, Errk, Heehk, Ikki,
Kleeck, Oorr, Ouss, Quaf, Quierk, Salleek, Urreek, Zeed
Aarakocra Traits
As an aarakocra, you have certain traits you inherit from your
people.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by
Barbarian
The rage inside every barbarian rattles the cage of self-control
like a wild animal. Desperate to be freed, it drives barbarians,
giving them power, might, strength, and the will to keep
fighting long after they should have succumbed to their
wounds. While the fury most often leads to wanton carnage,
many barbarians learn to channel the rage in constructive
ways. Some do so by only letting it free when in the thick of
battle. Others rely on their spirit guidestotem animalsto
help them focus their power to accomplish more than they
could without it.
Path of the Totem Warrior

Many barbarians following the path of the totem warrior
believe another world lies just beyond mortal perception, a
world inhabited by the spirits of animals, heroes, and
monsters. As a rite of passage, the barbarians undertake a
mystical journey to find a spirit guide to give them wisdom,
guidance, and, above all, power. Although barbarians often
search, the spirit animals find them at the completion of the
quest. The spirit animal can be anything found in nature,
though barbarians most often accept those most closely
associated with their clan or tribe.
Most spirit guides take the shape of animals and other
creatures found in nature. Not all tribes have strong ties to
animals, however. Some look to their ancestors for guidance
and instead of a bear or a wolf, barbarians may forge a bond
with an ancestors spirit, the vestige of a great warrior,
chieftain, or shaman. The spirit uses the barbarian as a vessel
for protecting the tribe, completing tasks left unfinished, and
exacting vengeance against enemies that linger long after the
spirit fled the mortal body.
Other barbarians turn to the natural world for spiritual
guidance and believe their spirit guides can be found within
the mighty trees that shelter them. Often, these barbarians
have a sacred tree, sometimes with faces carved into their
trunks or decorated with symbols, surrounded by trophies of
those enemies they have slain. The spirits of the woods prove
mysterious guides, their ways nearly inscrutable to all but the
most fervent in their devotion.
If you choose the Path of the Totem Warrior, you may
choose expanded options presented here.
Totem Spirits
At 3rd level, you may choose one of the following totems in
addition to the options presented in the Players Handbook.
Ancestor. When you enter a rage, one willing creature of
your choice within 30 feet of you also enters a rage that lasts
for as long as your rage lasts. The creature gains all the
benefits and drawbacks for being in a rage. It uses the bonus
to damage as shown in the Rage Damage column of the
Barbarian table for that creatures level.
Grandfather Tree. While youre raging, arent wearing
heavy armor, and in contact with an earthen or stone surface,
you cause the ground around you in a 30-foot radius to
become difficult terrain for all creatures other than you.
Grass, vines, and roots twist and writhe. The earth trembles
and shakes as a result of Grandfather Trees fury.
Great Worm. Once each time youre raging, you can use a
bonus action on your turn to breath fire from your mouth.
Each creature in a 15-foot cone must make a Dexterity saving
throw. A creature takes fire damage equal to 2d8 + your rage
damage bonus on a failed save, and half as much damage on a
successful one.
The fire ignites any flammable objects in the area that are
not being worn or carried.
Aspect of the Beast

At 6th level, you may choose the same spirit you selected at
3rd level or a different one.
Ancestor. Your ancestor spirit warns you of impending
danger. While you are conscious and able to use actions, you
cannot be surprised.
Grandfather Tree. You spirit reaches into the land through
the roots of Grandfather Tree. You have advantage on
Wisdom (Survival) checks to forage or navigate.
Great Worm. You are proficient with Intimidation if you
are not already. In addition, your proficiency bonus is doubled
for your Charisma (Intimidation) checks.
Totemic Attunement
At 14th level, you may choose the same spirit you selected at
3rd level or a different one.
Ancestor. While raging, your ancestor spirit emerges from
your body and appears in an open space within 30 feet of you
and remains until youre no longer raging. When you move,
you can move your ancestor spirit in any direction up to your
speed.
When you hit with a melee attack, you may use a bonus
action to unleash your ancestors fury. One creature you
choose within 10 feet of your ancestor must make a Wisdom
saving throw against a DC equal to 10 + your proficiency
bonus. On a failed save, the creature becomes frightened until
the end of your next turn. On a successful save, the creature
cannot be affected by your ancestors fury for 24 hours.
Grandfather Tree. While youre raging, you can use a
bonus action on your turn when you hit a Large or smaller
creature on the ground with a melee weapon attack. The
creatures speed drops to 0 until the end of your next turn.
Great Worm. While youre raging, you may use a bonus
action on each of your turns to make a bite attack against a
creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the bite deals piercing
damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier.
Barbarians of the Frozen North

The Uthgardt barbarians have been anything but friendly
neighbors to the cities and towns in the North. As a whole,
these barbarians demonstrate their disdain for the decadence
and stink of the cities by raiding farmsteads and towns,
ambushing caravans and carrying off whatever they can take.
Efforts to contain or drive off the barbarians over the years
have had mixed results. Part of the trouble stems from their
superior knowledge of the wilderness, but, really, they are just

terrifying to face in battle, crazed and ferocious driven by
their hatred and the strange spirits some believe possess them.
As dangerous as the Uthgardt barbarians can be, not all the
tribes making up this loose and scattered nation regard their
neighbors as enemies. Rather, they focus their scorn and fury
against monstrous threats tumbling out of the ruins of ancient
civilizations, those hateful servants of dark powers, and
anyone and anything that threatens their way of life.
Two tribes stand out as being potential allies in the fight
against the troubles casting a shadow across the Sumber Hills
and are great choices for barbarians hailing from the North.
Great Worm Tribe

The Great Worm tribe venerates a terrifying spirit that is often
depicted as a gigantic, bat-winged serpent with the head of a
red dragon. The shamans of the tribe believe the their chief is
an ancient dragon asleep in the depths of the Great Worm
Cavern, a place sacred to the tribe. Shamans commune with
the spirit once each year at the Runemeet to discern prophetic
meaning from the dreams their spirit guide issues.
Fierce and warlike, barbarians from the Great Worm tribe
wage war against the foot soldiers of darkness and regularly
raid orc camps, fell giants, and cause endless trouble for
Hellgate Keep and elsewhere evil thrives. Their ongoing war
against evil humanoids has revealed other, darker dangers
afoot in the lands. Orc numbers seem to be on the rise,
flowing in from neighboring lands, and attack ancestor
mounds, barbarian settlements, and even pushing south to hit
the farmsteads and villages scattered on civilizations borders.
Tree Ghost Tribe

The Tree Ghost tribe has spent generations roaming the
northern wastes, searching the lands for the elusive ancestor
mound to which your totem spirit is bound. A rootless people,
they live as nomads, wandering from place to place as they
continue their unending search.
Scouts have been reporting weird weather, flooding, sudden
windstorms, earthquakes, and wildfires, all appearing and
disappearing with little warning. The Tree Ghosts normally
fight against undead foes, but the troubles promised by this
spate of supernatural phenomena have caused the shamans to
grow concerned, concerned enough to send envoys south to
gain aid from their civilized neighbors.
Bard
The bards seek out adventure to form the basis of their stories
and songs. They travel across the length and breadth of the
world, searching out great heroes and despicable villains, to
witness those events that shift historys course, and record all
they have seen and the people they meet in the songs that
seem to take a life of their own. In the Forgotten Realms,
many bards have ties to the Harpers, a legendary organization
made up of courageous champions who fight the age-old fight
against evil and advance freedom and justice wherever they
go. Even those bards who are not affiliated with the Harpers
may benefit from the organization. People who know what

they do welcome them into their communities, looking to
them for more than a good song.
Bards in the North

Although not especially common on the frontier, some of the
greatest bards in the world come from nearby Silverymoon.
The Harpers have agents throughout the North, watching for
signs of evil emergent and stand ready to rally the people to
stand fast against the coming darkness. Other bards travel
from town to town, playing in taverns and inns, collecting
rumors, and sharing tales about what they have seen and
heard during their travels.
People in the North, especially in the wilderness, consider
bards to be skaldskeepers of the lore, wise men and women
armed with magic and cunning. While some of the more
savage peoples might fear magic, they respect bards and
praise them for their songs, especially when they sing of great
Northmen victories. Even the Uthgardt set aside their
superstitions when it comes to the bards and gladly fight
alongside them.
The Harpers
The Harpers have risen and fallen, achieved great things and
tumbled into infamy only to reclaim their place once more.
An institution committed to toppling tyrants, breaking the
chains of slavery, and ensuring freedom, equality, and justice
for all, the Harpers act very much as a force for good in the
world.
The Harpers welcome any person of good heart and
courage into their ranks. One can find people from all
backgrounds and professions, from freedom-fighting rogues
to rangers and just about everyone in between. Most Harpers,
however, are bards, who act as spies, informants, and, on
occasion, instigators of change.
Rumors about the Sumber Hills and the surrounding lands
have drawn the Harpers attention. Too many stories about
dark magic and unspeakable monsters have been flowing
from this area, and the instability their proximity undoubtedly
will cause creates opportunities for despots to take power.
Since theyre only dealing with rumors, at least for now, the
Harpers have dispatched several operatives to gather
intelligence about the area, to follow up on the various stories,
and get to the bottom of the troubles casting a shadow over
the land. These spies keep their affiliation secret since not
everyone shares their ideals, and find they can coax
information from locals more easily when people just think
they are singers, poets, and players. The Harpers work for
long stretches, periodically checking in with contacts to pass
intelligence up the ladder to the higher-ups and then await
orders for what to do next.
Vagabonds and Wanderers

While many Harpers are bards, not all bards are Harpers. The
notion of freedom, fairness, and equality are fine for some,
but other bards have other motivations. These individuals may
wander into the Sumber Hills because thats where the road
they followed took them.
The ruins speckling the countryside in the North often lure
bards affiliated with the College of Lore. They hold secrets
from the pasts, answers to questions no one has yet dreamed
of asking. There are mysteries to be solved, old magic to be
recovered, and new legends to be made. Storied places such
as the Halls of the Hunting Axe, the Haunted Keeps, Rundreth
Manor, and other places besides offer opportunities for
excitement and adventure, inspiration for the next great song
the bard will sing.
As much as bards delight in unknotting tangled mysteries
and uncovering lost lore, some bards feel driven to inspire
others to reach their potential, stand up for whats right, and
to become the heroes they were born to be. Bards belonging
to the College of Valor know all the old stories of great
heroes, people who stood up against their enemies and
acquitted themselves as heroes, and many set out to find new
heroes so they can add their tales to those of old.
The threat of war and upheaval threatening Red Larch and
other places in the Sumber Hills promises opportunities for
great deeds, heroics, and events worthy to be recorded. Bards
from the College of Valor filter into the communities and in
crowded taverns recount the great deeds of fallen champions
and bold adventures to inspire their audiences and help them
to find the courage to stand against the tide of darkness some
believes approaches.
Finally, bards of any type and background might come to
this region for the promise of adventure. The tales of the
North are rich with terrible monsters, howling barbarians, and
strange magic. Treasure awaits in the rubble of old ruins. A
magic sword might be pried from a dragons hoard. The
troubles swirling around these lands merely hint at greater
secrets to be uncovered, and these bards are often the first to
undertake missions for the sake of adventure, fame, and glory
on their own.
Cleric
The gods rarely take a direct hand in mortal affairs, so they
depend on their chosen servants to advance their objectives
and further their cause. The investiture of divine power
reveals itself both in the rites the clerics perform and the
spells they can cast, but is perhaps best expressed by their
domain. A domain represents a facet of divine power and
clerics serving the gods gain access to the domain that best
reflects their nature and relationship with the divine.
Air
Gods who rule the skies, who claim the clouds, the seasons,
storms, sun, and the creatures that dwell in these
environments, are the ones who claim dominion over air.
Most gods Aerdrie Faenya, Akadi, Atroa, Bahamut,
Balinor, Chislev, Frey, Freya, Obad-hai, Phaulkon, and
Shaundakuloffering this domain have strong ties to the
Elemental Plane of Air. They might be elemental powers
themselves or have established dominions on that plane. The
gods of air may be fickle, capricious powers, reflecting airs

changeable nature, or stoic and impartial guardians of the
natural world, commanding the power of air alongside the
other elemental forces.
Clerics who follow these gods make their temples in high
places where they can commune with their gods. They loathe
tyranny and confinement, slavish devotion to laws and rules,
and, above all, those who creep and crawl upon the ground or
under it.
Gods of air are often neutral, but may be of any alignment.
Domain S pells
Cleric Level
1st
3rd
5th
7th
9th
*New spell
Spells
fog cloud, gust of wind
dust devil*, soar*
grasping wind*, wind wall
air walk, fling*
conjure elemental, control winds*
Bonus Cantrips
At 1st level, you know the float* and shocking grasp cantrips
if you dont already know them.
Devotee of Air
Also at 1st level, you may exert control over air to speed you
along and cushion your falls.
Increase your speed by 10 feet. In addition, while you are
conscious and able to use actions, you halve the damage you
take at the end of any fall.
Channel Divinity: Protective Winds

Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to
call upon the winds to protect you from harm.
As a bonus action, you cause a strong wind (about 30 miles
per hour) to swirl around you in a 5-foot radius for 1 minute.
Creatures making ranged attacks against you and creatures in
the area have disadvantage for their attack rolls. Creatures
other than you treat the area as difficult terrain.
Channel Divinity: Rebuke Elemental

At 6th level, you can use your Channel Divinity to rebuke
elementals.
As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak a
prayer to invoke elemental power. One elemental that can see
and hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom
saving throw. If the creature is an air elemental, it has
disadvantage on this saving throw. If the creature fails the
save, it becomes turned for 1 minute or until it takes any
damage. See Channel Divinity: Turn Undead for the effects
of being turned.
If the elemental was an air elemental, you may instead
cause the creature to become charmed for 1 minute. While
charmed by you, you have a telepathic link with it as long as
the two of you are on the same plane of existence. You can
use this telepathic link to issue commands to the creature,
which it does its best to obey. You can specify a simple and
general course of action, such as Attack that creature or
wait here.
Potent Spellcasting
Starting at 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the
damage you deal with any cleric cantrip.
Channel Divinity: Divine Flight

Also at 6th level, you can use your Channel Divinity to fly.
As an action, you gain a fly speed of 40 feet for 1 minute.
When the spell ends, you fall at the start of your next turn if
you are still aloft and have no means to stop the fall.
Domain S pells
Cleric Level
1st
3rd
5th
7th
9th
*New spell
Spells
fist of stone*, shockwave*
eruption*, hail of stone*
stone spike*, wrack earth*
stone shape, stoneskin
conjure elemental, wall of stone
Bonus Proficiencies
At 1st level, you gain proficiency with martial weapons and
heavy armor.
Avalanche Strike
Bind Air Elemental

At 17th level, you add the bind elemental spell to the list of
spells you have prepared, and it does not count against the
number of spells you can prepare each day. You may only
cast this spell to bind air elementals.
Form of Air
Also at 17th level, you can transform yourself into a being of
living air and remain in that form for up to 1 hour, until you
use a bonus action to return to your normal form, or until you
become unconsciousness. While in this form you have all of
the following benefits:
You have a fly speed equal to twice your land speed.
You hover for as long as long as you remain in this form.
You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing
damage from nonmagical weapons.
You are immune to poison damage.
You are immune to the grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, and restrained conditions.
From 1st level on, you can unleash earth power through your
weapon attacks. When you use the Attack action to attack
with a melee weapon, the target and each creature you choose
within 10 feet of the target must succeed on a Dexterity
saving throw against your Spell Save DC or fall prone.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your
Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Channel Divinity: Earth Armor
Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until after
you complete a long rest.

armor yourself with dirt and stone.
As a bonus action when you are on an earth or stone
surface, you present your holy symbol and invoke the name of
your deity. The earth and stone flows up to encase you. For 1
minute, your speed drops to 10 feet if it is higher than 10 feet
and you cannot benefit from increases to speed, but you have
a +5 bonus to Armor Class. When this effect ends, the dirt
and stones fall free and an area of difficult terrain spreads
across the ground from you in a 5-foot radius and remains
until cleared away.
Earth
Gods might claim Earth in their portfolio for many reasons.

Agricultural gods, such as Chauntea and Demeter, have ties to
earth for the bounty it provides, while nature gods, such as
Obad-Hai and Silvanus, regard earth as the foundation for all
living things. Gods associated with metalworking, the forge,
and gem cuttingGond, Hephaestus, Moradin, and Reorx,
claim earth for the metals and stones pried from its unyielding
grasp. Other gods claim dominion over earth as an elemental
force, and are as unyielding and as resolute as the highest
mountain.
Clerics in service to these gods often act as guardians and
protectors, lending aid to druids and rangers in safeguarding
the land. They may offer blessings on those who work the
forge and unleash blights on crops and earthquakes against
those who offend them.
Like many elemental domains, gods associated with it are
often neutral, though they can be of any alignment.

elementals.
saving throw. If the creature is an earth elemental, it has
of being turned.
If the elemental was an earth elemental, you may instead
wait here.
Channel Divinity: Earth Might

Also at 6th level, you may use your Channel Divinity as a
bonus action to draw strength and power from the earth. For 1
minute, as long as you are in contact with the ground, you add
your proficiency bonus to your weapon damage rolls and you
add double your proficiency bonus to your Strength and
Constitution ability checks and saving throws.
Divine Strike
At 8th level, you gain the ability to infuse your weapon strikes
with divine energy. Once on each of your turns when you hit
a creature with a weapon attack, you can cause the attack to
deal 1d8 extra radiant damage to the target.
When you reach 14th level, the extra damage increases to
2d8.
Bind Earth Elemental

cast this spell to bind earth elementals.
Form of Earth
living earth and remain in that form for up to 1 hour, until you
use an action to return to your normal form, or until you
become unconsciousness. While in this form you have all of
You have a +2 bonus to Armor Class and Strength.
You have a burrow speed equal to your land speed. When
you burrow through natural, unworked earth and stone, you
do not disturb the material you move through.
You deal double damage to objects and structures.
You are immune to poison damage.
You are immune to the paralyzed, petrified, and poisoned
conditions.
Domain S pells
Cleric Level
1st
3rd
5th
7th
9th
Spells
control flames*, pyrotechnics*
flaming sphere, heat metal
fireball, fire stride*
fire shield, wall of fire
conjure elemental, immolation*
Bonus Cantrips
When you choose this domain at 1st level, you gain the
produce flame and scorching burst cantrips if you dont
already know them.
Ravenous Flames
Also at 1st level, you can immolate the targets of your spells
that deal fire damage. When you deal fire damage with a spell
you cast, the target must make a Dexterity saving throw
against your Spell Save DC or catch fire. An affected target
takes fire damage equal to 1d8 + your cleric level at the start
of each turn. A creature can take an action to extinguish the
flames, which ends this effect. Anything that smothers the fire
also ends the effect.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your
Wisdom modifier (a minimum of once). You regain all
expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Channel Divinity: Divine Fire

infuse your flames with divine power.
When you would roll fire damage, you may use your
Channel Divinity to turn half the damage to radiant or
necrotic damage and deal maximum damage instead of
rolling.
Fire
Elemental fire conjures visions of destruction brought on by
searing waves of heat and flame. Yet for all of its ruinous
qualities, fire also represents the spark of creativity and
passion. Such gods as Gond, Hephaestus, Onatar, Reorx, and
Sirrion teach fire is a force to be harnessed and controlled for
creative ends, usually in working at a forge and shaping
metals, though sometimes as the spark of an idea that leads to
greatness. Gods of war, destruction, and violenceSargonnas
and Surtur for exampleembody fires wild and terrible side.
Finally some gods such as Kossuth and Obad-Hai embrace
fire in its elemental form.
Clerics with the Fire domain can be forces for inspiration or
agents of devastation. They inflame passions and act as muses
for poets and artisans. The more militant clerics may scourge
their enemies with fire, dispensing swift and terrible justice
with their magic.
Most gods are fire are neutral, though they can be of any
alignment.

elementals.
saving throw. If the creature is a fire elemental, it has
of being turned.
If the elemental was a fire elemental, you may instead cause
the creature to become charmed for 1 minute. While charmed
by you, you have a telepathic link with it as long as the two of
you are on the same plane of existence. You can use this
telepathic link to issue commands to the creature, which it
10
does its best to obey. You can specify a simple and general
course of action, such as Attack that creature or wait here.
Domain S pells
At 6th level, when you cast a spell that would deal fire
damage to creatures you can see, choose a number of them
equal to 1 + the spells level. A chosen creature becomes
immune to the damage from that spell.
Cleric Level
1st
3rd
5th
7th
9th
Potent Spellcasting
Bonus Proficiencies
Shape Flames
Spells
bestow curse, denunciation*
righteous shield, zone of truth
divine retribution*, fear
castigation*, locate creature
flame strike, geas
Starting at 8th level, you add your Wisdom modifier to the

damage you deal with any cleric cantrip.
At 1st level, you gain proficiency with martial weapons and

heavy armor.
Bind Fire Elemental
Retribution
cast this spell to bind fire elementals.
At 1st level, your sense of justice fills you with fury whenever
wrongdoers triumph. You can make an opportunity attack
against any creature that attacks another creature in your
reach.
Form of Fire
Channel Divinity: Brand of Justice

living fire and remain in that form for up to 1 hour, until you
use an action to return to your normal form, or until you
become unconsciousness.
While in this form you have all of the following benefits:
You are affected as if by the fire shield spell (warm shield
only).
You increase your speed by 20 feet.
You are immune to fire and poison damage.

brand your foe with the mark of your god. When you hit a
creature with an attack, you can use your Channel Divinity to
brand that creature. The brand remains until the end of your
next turn. If the branded creature deals damage, it takes half
the damage it dealt as radiant damage.
Divine Strike
Justice
For civilization to work, there must be order. Civilization
needs its laws to define what is right and what is wrong. Laws
place hard limits on what people can do, and what awaits
them should they break the law. Gods of Justice may embody
the ideal, such as Anubis, Forseti, Heironeous, the Silver
Flame, and Tyr, while other gods see justice as an expression
of retribution as in the case of Hoar. Some gods may have
given mortals a system of laws or inspired them, with the
prime examples being Athena and Erathis, while other gods
assume justice as an extension of honor and sacrifice as with
Arvoreen, Clangeddin Silverbeard, and Dol Arrah.
Clerics of these gods are expected to abide by law in all
things and to mete punishment to those who upset the normal
order. These clerics may serve as magistrates and constables,
or as bounty hunters, tracking down criminals to bring them
back in chains or end them with sword and flame.
Almost all gods associated with Justice are lawful, but can
be good, neutral, or evil.
Channel Divinity: Justice Served

At 6th level, you when a creature within 30 feet of you makes
an attack roll, you can use your reaction to impose
disadvantage on the attack roll, using your Channel Divinity.
You make this choice after you see the roll, but before its
determined whether the attack hits or misses.
2d8.
Chains of Justice
At 17th level, you can bind your foes with chains of glowing
light.
When you hit a creature with an attack, the creature
becomes restrained in chains made from glowing light that
remain until the end of your next turn. While the creature is
restrained by this feature, it has vulnerability to radiant
damage.
Water
Gods of water embody its role as a life-giver and destroyer, as
a force for nature, and as the facilitator of ideas. Many gods
that claim water in their portfolio rule over elemental water or
claim dominion over the seas such as Deep Sashelas, the
11
Devourer, Istishia, Melora, Poseidon, and Zeboim. Others,

like Obad-Hai, tend to be more expansive, and consider water
as part of nature and thus part of their role as a nature god.
Sailors and fishermen pay tribute to these gods since their
lives depend on safe waters and great bounty. Gods like
Aegir, the Devourer and Zeboim demand tribute lest they
become wrathful and send storms to destroy the offending
people. Other gods, such as Habakkuk and Isis, see their roles
as being that of a protector and provider.
Clerics of water reflect their deitys nature. Those serving
dark gods might oversee sacrifices and conduct the expected
rituals and ceremonies that demand much from the people
living in fear of divine retribution. Should the people falter or
lack the proper respect, the clerics may be the ones
responsible for flooding, storms, or barren waters. Most
clerics of water, however, lend aid to those in need, calming
the waters, saving the drowning, and offering their blessings
to ships and crews.
Gods of water can be of any alignment, though neutral is
most common.
Domain S pells
Cleric Level
1st
3rd
5th
7th
9th
Spells
create or destroy water, ice knife*
wall of water*, watery fist*
tidal wave*, water breathing
control water, vitriolic sphere*
conjure elemental, transmute rock*
Channel Divinity: Flowing Form

Also at 6th level, you can use your Channel Divinity to
assume a watery form.
As an action, you and everything you wear and carry
become clear, clean water that has your shape until the end of
your next turn. While in this form, you double your swim
speed, have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing
damage, and can squeeze through cracks wide enough to
permit the flow of water. If you drop an item you were
wearing carrying when you assumed this form, it instantly
reverts to its normal shape and material when it leaves your
possession.
Divine Strike
Devotee of Water
At 1st level, you know the shocking grasp cantrip, and you
gain proficiency in your choice of the Athletics, Medicine, or
Nature skills.
Servant of Water
Also at 1st level, you have a swim speed equal to your land
speed and you can breathe air and water.
Channel Divinity: Airy Water

infuse water around you with air so that creatures can breathe.
As an action while you are underwater, you present your
holy symbol and cause the water within 10 feet of you to
become effervescent for as long as you concentrate, up to 1
hour. Creatures in the area that normally breathe water or air
can breathe normally while they remain in the area.
Quench
Also at 2nd level, you can extinguish flames with a word and
gesture. As a bonus action, you may extinguish any flame
inside a 10-foot cube that you can see within 60 feet of you.

elementals.

saving throw. If the creature is a water elemental, it has
of being turned.
If the elemental was a water elemental, you may instead
wait here.
2d8.
Bind Water Elemental

cast this spell to bind water elementals.
Form of Water
living water and remain in that form for up to 1 hour, until
you use an action to return to your normal form, or until you
become unconsciousness.
While in this form you have all of the following benefits:
You increase your swim speed by 60 feet.
You can pass through spaces occupied by enemies and pass
through any opening that water can pass through without
squeezing.
You have resistance to acid damage and bludgeoning,
piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons.
You are immune to and poison damage.
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Clerics in the North
Elemental Clerics
A rash of murders and disappearances have befallen followers
and priests of gods with strong elemental ties. At first, a few
people, some of who were leaders in their communities,
simply vanished. More recently, the bodies of priests and
attendants have been discovered, many appearing to have
killed as ritual sacrifices to unknown powers. With the threats
against the faithful, normally devout and pious followers have
begun concealing their religious affiliation, causing temples to
shrink or even disappear altogether.
Word of the troubles affecting these faiths have reached
larger congregations in surrounding lands, and temples of
such gods as Istishia the Water Lord, Kossuth the Firelord,
Akadi the Lady of Air, and Grumbar the Earthlord have been
making pilgrimages to the shrines and holy sites associated
with their temples to reinvigorate the congregation and to
uncover who is behind the killings and abductions.
Clerics of Justice
The Temples of Tyr and Torm feely give aid to those in
distress. Their clerics venture into the lands, dispensing swift
justice to lawbreakers and drag criminals back to present them
to the authorities for their judgment. Most of these clerics and
other followers committed themselves to fighting the forces of
evil. As trouble seems to be building in the wild North, the
servants of these gods and others of similar disposition have
made the journey to lend their strength and might to the cause,
to help throw back the enemies of light from overrunning the
settlements in these lands. Many Justice clerics work
alongside secular institutions, supporting constables and the
watch with their divine magic and skill at arms. Others
undertake quests on their own to wipe out infestations of
wickedness wherever they find it.
The Order of Templars

The Order of Templars operates as the military arm of the
Silver Flame in the world of Eberron. The Templars commit
themselves to not only protecting their temples but, more
importantly, hunting down and destroying evil creatures. For
this reason, many templars represent their religion while
living as wandering adventurers. They travel from place to
place to right wrongs and bring law-breakers to justice.
Shining Blades of Heironeous

In the World of Greyhawk, clerics pledged to Heironeous may
adopt a more ascetic lifestyle, one free from worldly
distraction to better emulate their god and his cause in the
world. These champions act as the mortal swords of their god
in the world and spend their lives hunting down law-breakers,
servants of chaos and evil, and wicked monsters loosed into
the world to trouble the good and noble. The Shining Blades
wield the power of their god, but focus their training at
achieving excellence at arms and perfecting their fighting
techniques as a way of showing devotion to their patron deity.
The gods have a strong foothold in the North and most faiths
and major gods have devotees here. Across the long centuries,
clerics have come to the North from faraway lands, to spread
the word of their faith and make converts of those peoples
who cling to outmoded and primitive beliefs. Temples and
shrines can be found in almost all towns and villages, though
the larger cities have grander and more varied temples. The
most common gods worshipped in these lands include Mystra,
Lathander, Mielikki, Tempus, and Tymora, while the savage
peoples follow their own gods, venerate spirits, or other
powers. The Uthgardt have little tolerance for peddlers of
foreign religions and may cast them out or even kill them if
they press their cause too hard.
Druid
From the forests to the mountains, plains to swamps, the
druids devote themselves to protecting the world from those
forces that would tip the scales in the delicate balance that
allows life to exist in Faern. Many druids go their own way,
living on the fringes of civilization, working to cultivate and
enrich the land with their magic, while helping others to
benefit from the lands bounty and respect it. Other druids
form societies, called druid circles, united by common cause
and work together to protect their chosen territory. Whatever
way they serve the world, the druids stand as its chief
protectors.
Druids draw their magic from multiple sources. Some draw
their magic from the land itself, calling upon the burgeoning
power found in every living thing. Others commune with
nature spirits, and learn primal secrets from them useful for
performing magic. In the Forgotten Realms, most druids find
their path by serving a deity with strong ties to nature. Deities
such as Chauntea, Malar, Mielikki, Silvanus, and many others
count druids among their followers. Even the most devout
servants, however, rarely draw a line of distinction between
the gods and the world, and instead see themselves as true
servants of the world.
While all druids regard it as their sacred duty to nurture and
maintain the wilds, the methods they employ vary from land
to land. Each druid circle has particular customs and rites they
perform to carry out their mission. Druids belonging to Circle
of the Land devote themselves to a particular region and
benefit from a potent link to the landscape to which they are
bound. Those affiliated with the Circle of the Moon embrace
natures fury, calling upon the power of wild animals and the
elements to drive off interlopers and destroyers. Joining the
two most common circles is the Circle of the Hierophants, a
mysterious and ancient society focused on the elemental
forces underpinning reality.
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Circle of the Hierophants

Druids founded the Circle of the Hierophants long ago to
understand the connection between the elemental planes and
the Material Planes, to delve into the mysteries of reality and
discover how the world formed from the chaotic mess of earth
and air, fire and water. Calling themselves the Hierophants,
they broke many of the druidic traditions to take a more
scholarly approach to their magic use. While all druids can
and do wield elemental power in their spells and, on occasion,
in their physical transformation, the hierophants demonstrate
an even greater ability to call upon its forces, to transform
themselves into living embodiments of the elements and use
the energies from the Inner Planes to empower their magic.
Shunned by most druids, considered dangerous by some,
heretical by others, the hierophants guard their affiliations and
secrets lest they invite interference or conflict from their
peers.
Elemental power flows through the hierophant druids. They
call forth that power to maintain the balance of elements as
they manifest in the world. A druid associated with this circle
may hide as a boulder, transform into a pillar of living flames,
or crash among enemies as a wave of water. The elements
obey their every command.
Bonus Cantrip
When you choose this circle at 2nd level, you learn one
additional druid cantrip of your choice.
Elemental Transmogrification
Starting at 2nd level, you may use a bonus action to expend a
use of Wild Shape on your turn to undergo an elemental
transformation. Rather than assume the form of a beast, you
instead gain one of the following elemental characteristics,
chosen when you use this class feature. The transformation
lasts for a number of hours equal to half your druid level
(rounded down), after which time you revert to your normal
form unless you expend another use of this feature. You may
revert to your normal form earlier by using a bonus action on
your turn. You automatically revert to your normal form if
you fall unconscious, drop to 0 hit points, or die.
Flame. Flames dance across your body, though they do not
harm you or your possessions. Until you resume your normal
form, you emit bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light
for an additional 20 feet. You can use a bonus action to
extinguish or resume the light on your turn.
In addition, as an action, you can hurl flames at a creature
within 30 feet of you. That creature must make a Dexterity
saving throw. The creature takes 2d6 fire damage on a failed
save, or half as much damage on a successful one. When you
use an action in this way, you may also expend a spell slot.
The creature takes 1d6 extra damage for each level of the
spell slot you expended.
Ice. Frost covers your body until you become completely
encased in a thin layer of ice. Until you resume your normal
form, at the end of each of your turns, ice creeps across the
ground around you in a 10-foot radius, transforming the area
into difficult terrain until the ice melts.
In addition, as an action, you can fling a shard of ice at a

creature within 30 feet of you. That creature must make a
Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 1d6 cold damage
and 1d6 piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much
damage on a successful one. When you use an action in this
way, you may also expend a spell slot. The creature takes 1d6
extra damage for each level of the spell slot you expended.
Stone. Your skin and clothing become as hard as stone.
Until you resume your normal form, and if you are not
wearing medium or heavy armor, you have a +5 bonus to
Armor Class.
In addition, as an action, you can fabricate and hurl a rock
at a creature within 30 feet of you. That creature must make a
Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 2d6 bludgeoning
damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a
successful one. When you use an action in this way, you may
also expend a spell slot. The creature takes 1d6 extra damage
for each level of the spell slot you expended.
Wind. You become as light as air. Until you resume your
normal form, you increase your speed by 10 feet, you have
advantage on Strength (Athletics) checks made to jump, and
you may move through difficult terrain on the ground without
spending extra movement.
In addition, as an action, you can hurl a missile of air at a
creature within 30 feet of you. That creature must make a
Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes
1d12 bludgeoning damage and is pushed 10 feet away from
you. On a successful save, the creature just takes half the
damage. When you use an action in this way, you may also
expend a spell slot. The creature takes 1d6 extra damage for
each level of the spell slot you expended.
Elemental Burst
Starting at 6th level, when you use your Elemental
Transmogrification class feature, you may release a burst of
elemental energy that extends out from you in a 10-foot radius
that spreads around corners. The energys effects depend on
the form you chose.
Flame. Each creature in the area must make a Dexterity
saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes 2d6 fire
damage and catches fire. On a successful save, the creature
takes just half the damage.
A creature that catches fire takes 1d6 fire damage at the end
of each of its turns until the flames are extinguished. A
creature can use an action to extinguish the flames using
normal meansrolling across the ground, smothering them
with a cloak, or dousing them with water.
Ice. Each creature in the area must make a Constitution
saving throw. A creature takes 2d8 cold damage on a failed
save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Stone. Each creature in the area must make a Dexterity
saving throw. A creature takes 2d4 bludgeoning damage and
falls prone on a failed save, or just half the damage on a
successful one.
Wind. Each creature in the area must make a Strength
saving throw. A creature takes 2d4 bludgeoning damage and
is pushed 30 feet in a straight line away from you on a failed
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save, or just half the damage on a successful one.
Elemental Wild Shape

At 10th level, you expend two uses of Wild Shape at the same
time to transform into an air elemental, an earth elemental, a
fire elemental, or a water elemental.
Elemental Passage
At 14th level, you may cast the plane shift spell without
expending a spell slot or providing the material components.
You may only cast this spell in this way to travel to the
Elemental Plane of Air, Elemental Plane of Earth, Elemental
Plane of Fire, the Elemental Plane of Water, or back to the
Material Plane if you cast this spell on an elemental plane.
Once you cast this spell in this way, you cannot do so again
until after you finish a long rest.
Elemental Druids
Druids have strong ties to the Inner Planes. Their association
stems from the part these planes play in influencing nature
and shaping the mortal world. While druids typically include
elemental magic in their spells, in some worlds druids go
much further and focus their studies and training toward
mastering its power.
Athasian Druids
The world dies. Where once there were great oceans, rich
forests, and abundant life, now one finds silt, sand, and
desolation. The druids pledge their lives to protect natures
last bastions and know the battle they fight against the
templars and the sorcerer-kings is a losing one. With no gods
to aid them, the druids instead bargain with the great powers
lurking in the elemental planesoften faceless, unreasoning
beings of incalculable might, figures that have little interest in
mortal affairs and less in those petitioners who disturb them.
No druid chooses this life for selfish reasons; to be a druid
is to be an enemy of the templars, a pariah, hunted and
reviled, with enemies at every turn. Each druid protects a
particular region, a place where nature resists the ravenous
magic that feeds on life. The lands they protect have ties to
elemental forces and they channel magic from the power in
places where the element is most prevalent. While druids of
other circles exist on Athas, hierophant druids are by far the
most common since they can supplement the worlds failing
magic with power gained from their elemental patrons.
The association between druid and elemental entity is not at
all personal. In fact, the patron might not even be aware of
the druid who draws the magic from it. Such links are short
lived and each time the druid prepares spells, he or she
contacts a different entity.
Destroyers of the Unmaker

Followers of the Old Faith in the World of Greyhawk were not
always opposed to the elemental cults scattered across eastern
Oerik. In the eyes of the Grand Druid, they were unusual in
their dedication to the elemental princes, perhaps misguided,
but posed no significant threat to the world or its inhabitants.

Attitudes toward the cults changed with the appearance of the
Temple of Elemental Evil. That blasphemous structure,
festooned with demonic imagery and populated by all manner
of unsavory and wicked humanoids proved some darker force
was behind the cults, some agency of vast and unspeakable
evil. The druids realized the Elder Elemental Eye, some
shadowy force responsible for the drawing together these
fractious bands under one hideous banner, aimed not only to
wage war against the great nations, but also to unmake the
world.
As with many people in the lands, the druids leant their aid
to the forces of light opposed to the Temple and its denizens,
though a few were seduced by the Eyes darkness and
abandoned their cause to throw in their lots with the cultists.
These renegade druids delved deeply into elemental magic
and were as crazed and dangerous as the Doomdreamers who
pitted the various cults against one another and hatched
improbable plots to free their dark master from his extraplanar
prison. Although the renegades were largely wiped out, their
secrets and techniques remain of interest to those druids who
would use their magic against them. Such druids, called
hierophants, traverse the planes, working to stamp out the
forces of elemental evil wherever they find them.
Hierophants of the Cabal

Some elemental druids face ostracism and even hostility from
other druids. In the world of the Nentir Vale, the a secret
society of druids, calling themselves the Hierophants of the
Cabal, broke away from the druid orders and forge their own
path in effort to understand the fundamental forces that
brought their world into existence. Rather than commune with
the primal spirits that normally grant them their magical
powers, these druids consorted with the primordials and their
servants, tapping into energies sometimes difficult to control
gained from beings that would go to great lengths to undo the
gods dominion over the mortal world.
Although their opponents and detractors would level the
charge of weakening the bindings that shackle these entities
and keep them from unleashing their wrath on the world, the
Hierophants of the Cabal argued their position was in fact one
that would ultimately strengthen those chains. The
Hierophants strove to understand elemental forces so they
could shape them and keep the primordials where they
belonged.
The Hierophants willingness to explore the Elemental
Chaos and treat with these powers means many are forced to
work in secret. They may hide among other druid circles,
concealing their interests behind an acceptable faade or they
may go their own way, forming smaller circles in urban areas
where they can work and study without interference from
their peers.
Druids of the North

From the Sword Coast to Impiltur, druids in lightly settled
areas sometimes gather in small groups, often with rangers
and other allies. Rarely exceed a dozen druids and twice as
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many allies, they gather together to share information and

help protect the lands. More often, druids live along, scattered
widely across the North. Their rarity and the magic they wield
afford them respect and honor from civilized and barbarian
alike.
Dusk Circle
For generations, the people living in Kheldell, a small
settlement in the Sword Mountains north of the Westwood,
have enjoyed the aid and protection of the Dusk Circle.
Always secretive, given to strange habits and behaviors, the
druids largely keep to themselves. Locals depend on the
Circle to nurture the crops and keep away predators that
would otherwise steal off with the livestock. These tasks, as
well as offering healing to the injured, relief from disease and
other ailments, have elevated them, at least in the eyes of the
common people, as benevolent protectors, allies in the
struggle to live on the frontier. The druids aid comes at a
price, however. They demand the people abide by the tenets
of their faith and customs, to observe the sacred rites, and to
live harmoniously with nature, never taking more than is
needed and to respect the land on which they lived. Thus the
woodcutters only claim those trees the druids permit, hunters
take game only during those seasons the druids allow, and
people keep the old ways in the manner of the druids.
The relationship between the Dusk Circle and the villagers
is one of mutual benefit, but they largely live apart and rarely
mingle. The druids keep to their forest and the common folk
stay in their community. In fact, no one truly knows how
many druids make up the Circle or have ever seen more than
one or two at a time.
The Dusk Circles secrecy stems from their estrangement
from other druidic groups. While they abide by all the same
customs and perform all the same rites, their magic focuses
more on controlling the elements, mastering the winds, the
flame, the soil, and stream. The druids comprising their ranks
have murky pasts, individuals who have delved deep into
elemental power and may have had ties to elemental cults at
points in their pasts. If they had such connections, they have
severed them now, and use their magic and the magic they
learned from their delvings into elemental magics secrets to
protect and nurture the land.
The druids here sense great peril on the horizon for the
North and are troubled by reports from the rangers about
unusual environmental phenomenawildfires that start and
stop with little reason or warning, blistering hot gales that
topple trees, and the occasional rumble that shakes the earth.
It is with great reluctances that the druids have begun to look
beyond their region, but they feel unless they act soon,
whatever evil lies at the heart of these troubles will be too
great to stop.
Druids of the Tall Trees

An enclave of druids make their home in the Tall Trees, an
area found in the eastern reaches of The High Forest. There,
they maintain the shrines to Mielikki and carry out the
goddesss will. They welcome novices into their fold and
many who learn from them either go on to become nature

clerics or druids.
The Druids of Tall Trees place the protection of the ancient
elven wood as their primary purpose. They count themselves
friends of the Harpers and the treants of Turlang Wood, and
may be drawn from their enclave in times of trouble. Their
nearness to Hellgate Keep means they must remain watchful
of that dark and foreboding place and work to contain its evil.
The druids are quite sensitive, however, to the whole of the
North and may send out novices and initiates to watch over
the lands and gather information about rising threats.
In recent months, druids from the Tall Trees have traveled
from their forest home to explore the countryside, to gain
insights into the present troubles and to reach out to the
Emerald Enclave in effort to combine their resources in
pursuit of protecting the whole of the North. Troubling news
about gathering armies combined with the strange weather
and earthquakes have begun to confirm their suspicions that
some new danger casts as shadow across these lands.
Fighter
Hard-bitten, grizzled mercenaries, stalwart knights, and bold
champions, ready for any challenge: all these and more
represent the fighters. Found in all lands, in every society,
some of the greatest heroes and villains the world has ever
known were fighters. Its easy to overlook the fighters
capabilities since they are so common in the lands. But their
ready weapons, combat prowess, and durability combine to
make them invaluable components of every adventuring
group.
Fighters of the North

The North needs capable men and women who can handle
themselves in battle. Fighters make up the majority of those
willing to fight. They shore up the ranks of defenders,
repelling orc hordes and other monstrous invaders, or they
might accompany caravans and merchant vessels bound for
distant market lying in wait beyond the frontiers. Fighters can
be found among the Uthgardt peoples and the savage peoples
of the Icewind Dale, battling their foes alongside the
barbarians and rangers or they might hail from the cities,
selling their swords to whomever can afford their fees.
Treasure, glory, and high adventure await those fighters with
the courage and might to take them.
Agents of the Lords Alliance

A coalition of powerful nobles forged an alliance to combat
the threat against their lands. Protecting their interests takes
priority in all things and they respond to any threat with
overwhelming force. So far, the Lords Alliance has been
effective at maintaining the peace in their lands, quashing
those rare threats before they can become a significant danger.
The Alliance has recently turned its attention to the Sumber
Hills after learning about strange supernatural events and the
mustering of monstrous hordes. The Alliance dispatched
agents to help organize a defense of these lands, to build
16
militias to protect civilizations outposts, and to lead forces in

expeditions to wipe out rampaging mobs and dangerous
monsters. The forces theyve sent have made a difference, but
the opposition has been growing more powerful too and the
agents positioned there are beginning to buckle.
The Alliances leaders are now in talks to bolster the
defenders there and have been reinforcing their operatives
with fighters and other adventurers sympathetic to their cause.
As the demand grows, opportunities abound for new fighters
looking to test their mettle on the frontier.
Local Heroes
weapons, both for defense and to achieve greater

understanding about the cosmos.
Each monastery cleaves to a particular tradition, each with a
different philosophy about the universe and the mortals place
in it. Students may be welcomed openly or have to undergo
rigorous testing to prove themselves worthy to the masters
who keep the ancient lore. Once a student finds the
monastery, many spend their lives there, honing their
techniques and spending long hours in meditation. A few,
though, leave behind the cloistered life to test their training in
the wider world.
Story after story about orcs attacking settlements, farmsteads,

and caravans fill the conversations in taverns from as far away
as Waterdeep and all the way to Neverwinter. In the midst of
all the horror stories, undoubtedly theres a tale of great
heroics, of someone standing up for whats right and risking
all to fight back against these mysterious enemies. Sometimes
these heroes die, but sometimes they live and find their
destinies. They rise to the challenge, lending their strength
and skill to protecting their fellows.
Way of the Four Elements
Mercenaries
The following disciplines supplement those found in the

Players Handbook.
Climb the Cloud Ladder. As a bonus action, you can spend
2 ki points. Until the end of your next turn, you can move in
any direction you choose. You may also move across and
stand on any surface as if it were solid ground, even if that
surface is air. If you are not standing on a solid surface when
the effect ends, you fall unless you can somehow prevent it.
Eclipse the Sun. When you use the Attack action on your
turn, you can spend 1 ki point to cause flames to wreathe your
hands and feet. A hit with such an attack deals fire damage
instead of bludgeoning damage, and if you spend 1 ki point
when the attack hits, the target has disadvantage on attack
rolls and ability checks involving sight until the end of your
next turn.
Falling Star Strike. As an action, you can spend 2 ki points
to leap up to 60 feet into the air and land safely anywhere you
choose within 60 feet. This movement does not provoke
opportunity attacks. If you spend 1 ki point when you land,
you send a shockwave spreading through the ground in 30foot radius. Each creature standing on the ground in the area
must make a Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
Flow of the Winter Mist (6th Level Required). As a
reaction when you take damage, you can spend 2 ki points to
take half the damage and transform into a cloud of mist that
spreads out from the space you last occupied in a 30-foot
radius and remain in that form until the start of your next turn.
The area becomes heavily obscured. While in this form, you
act as if under the effects of the gaseous form spell. Once the
effect ends, you return to your normal form in any open space
you choose within 30 feet of the space you occupied when
you used this discipline.
Footsteps of the Fire Drake. As a bonus action, you can
spend 2 ki points to leave a trail of fire behind you when you
move. The surface of any 5-foot space you leave catches fire
and burns until the end of your next turn. Any creature that
As news about gathering forces of orcs, giants, ogres, and

other monstrous threats spread throughout the towns and
cities of the North, the nobles are growing concerned. To
bolster their defenses, many authorities supplement their
standing armies with mercenary forces. While certainly not as
reliable as people defending their homes and loved ones, extra
swords and shields on the front lines can make all the
difference against the monstrous threat. Fighters seeking
quick coin can find it from nobles desperate to protect their
holdings.
Treasure Hunters
Adventurers have traveled into the North for centuries. There,
they battle monsters and loot dungeons for treasures. With all
the parties that have tested their mettle against the dangers of
these lands hold, there seems to be no shortage of places to
explore and treasure to find. A steady trickle of adventurers
have been flowing into the area, drawn by new stories about
dungeons under the Sumber Hills and old sites that have
become haunted again. Inns and taverns throughout the region
become more and more crowded with sellswords and
adventurers looking for compatriots for a new expedition into
the unknown.
Monk
The monasteries scattered across the world hold the key to
enlightenment. Great repositories of wisdom, masters living
there instruct novices in the fighting arts to help them
transcend the limits imposed by their beliefs and perceptions,
to achieve true enlightenment and leave behind the flawed
vessels of their bodies. The complex forms, strikes, and
moves all help focus the mind, girding it against distraction so
that the monk can harness unseen forces and wield them as
Monks embracing the Way of the Four Elements see the

world as a fusion of those basic building blocks from which
all things are formed. Their training lets them harness these
forces from within themselves and call them forth either from
their bodies or their immediate environment. As their mastery
grows, so too does their ability to wield these powers.
New Elemental Disciplines
17
enters that space or starts its turn there must make a Dexterity
saving throw. On a failed save, the creature 2d6 fire damage,
or just half the damage on a successful one.
Grasp of the East Wind. When you use the Attack action
on your turn and hit, you can spend 1 ki point to cause the air
to grasp your target and drag it up to 30 feet away from you in
a direction you choose. For each additional ki point you
spend, you increase the target moves by 10 feet.
Raindrops on Still Waters (11th Level Required). As an
action, you can spend 4 ki points to leap up to 60 feet into the
air and land safely anywhere you choose within 60 feet. This
movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.
If you spend 1 ki point while youre in the air, you can
create up to four duplicates of yourself from elemental water
that appear in open spaces within 30 feet of you. When you
land, you and each of your duplicates can each make a single
unarmed strike attack. Your duplicates use your statistics for
this attack. After resolving each attack, the duplicates collapse
into puddles of water.
Stance of the Eternal Mountain. As a bonus action, you
can spend 2 ki points to cast mage armor on yourself. Until
the spell ends or you become unconscious, you cannot be
physically moved or knocked prone unless you choose to be.
Monks of the North

The monastic orders typically originate in civilized human
lands. The oldest orders arose in Amn and Calmishan or in the
eastern lands of Kara-Tur. The teachings and philosophies of
these institutions slowly spread across the lands, with new
monasteries found to collect the wisdom and pass it on.
Students may travel deep into the wilderness, to establish new
monasteries where they can teach their techniques to worthy
pupils.
Agent of the Order

Several religiously minded monasteries have joined forces
with the Order of the Gauntlet, a widespread organization
focused on using faith in the fight against evil. Monster
members of the Order display great battle prowess and
include clerics, paladins, and several monks. The Order has
recently uncovered cult activity in the lands around the
Sumber Hills and has sent operatives into the region to root
them out and uncover the corruption they believe is hiding
within the areas communities.
The Order understands that a show of force at this time
would be inappropriate; such a move would only cause their
enemies to dig in or scatter. So before the Order brings the fist
of justice down on their heads, theyve sent several monks
into the area to masquerade as farmers, refugees, laborers, and
other discrete positions to get a better sense of what is going
on here.
henchman and cohort, Iltmul, is a monk of considerable skill,

He sometimes takes on apprentices, teaching them the basic
techniques for a fee. Iltmul teaches the Way of the Open
Hand, though his students do not always demonstrate the
same discipline and focus as their master.
Hin Fist
Most monastic traditions trace their roots to human cultures.
One exception is the Hin Fist, a fighting style founded to help
halflings master themselves and the world. Students of the
Hin Fist left their homes to establish new monasteries on the
frontier, and at least one managed to survive the long years in
the North. Halflings in other monasteries only teach the
techniques of Hin Fist to halflings, but the smaller monastery
in these lands teach the art to skilled gnomes and dwarves, as
well as humans.
The Temple of the Four Bells

Founded over five centuries ago, purportedly by a mystic
from another plane of existence, the monks settled in an old
stronghold, tucked away in a secluded valley somewhere in
the Sword Mountains. The monks there studied the Way of
the Four Elements, that mystical path that leads to elemental
power. The masters taught students to free themselves from
distraction, to liberate their minds from the desires of wealth,
pleasure, and comfort so they could better understand the
world around them. The Temple never accumulated many
students, but the ones who discovered the place more often
than not decided to stay.
The isolation the monks have enjoyed for so long has come
to an end after thieves infiltrated the monastery under the
cover of night and made off with a relic stored in one of the
monasterys deepest vaults. Numerous monks were killed in
the robbery and, despite all their advanced fighting
techniques, they managed to capture one injured robber, who
erupted in flames that reduced him to ash before he could
reveal for whom they worked.
A few monks have since left the monastery to find out who
was responsible for the robbery and, if possible find and
retrieve the relic. These monks find the world a strange and
confusing place and often stand out in the towns and villages
they visit thanks to their curious dress and odd manners.
Paladin
The Citadel of the Mists
Many different paladin orders exist in the world. The sacred

oaths of Devotion, the Ancients, and Vengeance are not the
only oaths that paladins take; some of these holy warriors
commit themselves to protecting the mortal realms from
secret temptation and hidden corruption. There are always
those who seek to hide their evil from the light of justice, but
those who swear the Oath of Vigilance devote their lives to
the most thankless of tasksprotecting people from their own
hidden wickedness.
Several monks living in the North learned their techniques at

the Citadel of the Mists. A mysterious strong ruled by a
powerful illusionist known only as the Mistmaster, his chief
Oath of Vigilance
Paladins who take the Oath of Vigilance commit themselves
18
to the defense of the world against the hidden forces that

corrupt or pervert the hearts of mortals. When dark powers
move in secret, when villains dabble in perilous magic, when
false gods rise to mislead the people, the vigilant orders fight
to expose the rot and protect that which is good and pure.
Vigilant paladins are sometimes known as inquisitors, knights
of the test, or even witch-hunters. In some lands they have an
unfortunate reputation as persecutors of nonconformity, even
when it is harmless. But in a world where monsters such as
aboleths or mind flayers secretly enslave whole cities and evil
warlocks traffic with entities that seek the destruction of the
world, vigilant paladins are sorely needed.
Tenets of Vigilance
Paladins of this oath share the following tenets.

Be Ready for Judgment. You hold a special authority to
examine the words and deeds of others. Make sure that your
own remain above reproach.
Defend the Innocent. Your sacred mission is to protect
those who cannot protect themselves. While that often means
taking up the sword against physical threats to life or liberty,
sometimes you will be called on to protect the innocent from
dangerous knowledge or corrupting influences.
No One Is Perfect. Both good and evil in some measure
exist in almost every mortal soul. You cannot defeat sin or put
an end to temptation. Fight against dangerous evils, not venial
ones.
See Evil Clearly. A seemingly good deed or kind word may
hide a black heart. Do not let yourself be fooled by
appearances; evil is as evil does, and no one is above
suspicion. But remember also that some things that appear
monstrous or dangerous may not be evil at all.
The Ends Never Justify the Means. Sometimes it may seem
that good may come from dark deeds or through evil means,
but the easy road leads to damnation.
Oath Spells
You gain oath spells at the paladin levels listed below.
Paladin
Level
Spells
3rd
command, @@NEW (buff against charm or
illusion?)
5th
detect thoughts, silence
9th
dispel magic, zone of truth
13th
banishment, NEW (exorcism?)
17th
dispel evil or good, NEW (mass break charm)
Channel Divinity
When you take this oath at 3rd level, you gain the following
two Channel Divinity options.
Vigilant Censure: When a creature within 10 feet of you
casts a spell, you can use your reaction to censure it. While
under your censure, the target has disadvantage on any spell
attack rolls it makes, and any creature making a saving throw
against spells cast by the target gains advantage. In addition,
you add your Charisma modifier to melee attack rolls you
make against the target of your censure. The censured
creature may attempt a Wisdom saving throw at the start of
each of its turns to end the effect.

Turn the Outsider: As an action, you present your holy
symbol and speak a prayer censuring fiends and elementals,
using your Channel Divinity. Each fiend or elemental within
30 feet of you that can see you must make a Wisdom saving
throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1
minute or until it takes damage.
A turned creature must spend its turns trying to move as far
away from you as it can, and it cant
willingly move to a space within 30 feet of you. It also cant
take reactions. For its action, it can use only the Dash action
or try to escape from an effect that prevents it from moving. If
theres nowhere to move, the creature can use the Dodge
action.
If the creatures true form is concealed by an illusion,
shapeshifting, or other effect, that form is revealed while it is
turned.
Aura of Vigilance
Starting at 7th level, you and friendly creatures within 10 feet
of you gain advantage on opportunity attacks and Wisdom
saving throws while you are conscious.
At 18th level, the range of this aura increases to 30 feet.
Purity of Spirit
Beginning at 15th level, you are always under the effects of a
protection from evil spell.
Stern Judgment
At 20th level, you can use your action to pass judgment on a
wrongdoer or group of wrongdoers by naming their crimes
and calling upon the powers of justice. For 1 minute, you gain
Each enemy within 30 feet of you when you use

Stern Judgment cannot move until it succeeds on a
Charisma saving throw. Each affected enemy may
attempt a saving throw at the end of each of its
turns.
You can use your Cleansing Touch on yourself as a

bonus action at the beginning of your turn.
Your Improved Divine Smite deals 3d8 extra radiant damage instead of 1d8. Whenever you hit a
creature native to a different plane of existence with
a melee attack, the target must succeed on a Charisma saving throw or be instantly banished to its
home plane.
Once you use this feature, you cant use it again until you
finish a long rest.
Vigilant Paladins
At first glance, it might seem surprising to find paladins of
vigilance standing watch over the North. After all, the threats
facing these frontier lands rarely bother to hide behind a fairseeming mask; one doesnt need the advice of an inquisitor to
appreciate the dangers posed by hordes of orcs, rampaging
giants, or hungry dragons. However, while much of the North
is monster-haunted wilderness, this vast landscape is also a
19
graveyard of empires. Over the centuries a number of lost

kingdoms and forgotten cities have risen and fallen in these
lands, and many of them left behind a legacy of buried secrets
and dangerous artifacts. Orders of vigilant paladins maintain
chapter-houses and outposts in these lands to make sure no
one digs up things that should stay buried.
The most well-known vigilant order in the North is the Eyes
of Justice, who are affiliated with the church of Torm. The
knightly order is descended in part from the society known as
the Vigilant Eyes, who were dedicated to the god Helm, and
retains the ancient symbol of Helm in their heraldrya steel
gauntlet emblazoned with a stylized eye in the palm. Another
vigilant order native to the Dessarin Valley is the Holy Order
of Samular, an elite brotherhood based in the monastery at
Summit Hall. They are affiliated with the church of Tyr.
Beast Master
Beast masters forge bonds with animals they befriend. They
combine their fighting talents with those of their beast
companion to become a deadly team, capable of handling a
wide range of challenges. The following animal companions
expand the options found in the Players Handbook. These
animals are suitable companions for adventurers in any of
D&Ds worlds, particularly those living in cool or cold
climates such as the southern reaches of Xendrik in the world
of Eberron, and the lands of the Frost Barbarians, Snow
Barbarians, and Ice Barbarians in the world of Greyhawk.
Trained Elk
The Topaz Order

In the Greyhawk setting, the most prominent group of vigilant
paladins are the warriors who belong to the Holy Order of the
Supernal Topaz Defendersor the Topaz Order, as they are
better known. Sponsored by the church of Heironeous, the
Topaz guardians are sworn to defend humankind and its allies
from monstrous races that seek to secretly influence or
enslave human realms. This makes the Topaz Order the
special enemy of aboleths, beholders, mind flayers, and
similar aberrant creatures that use their mental powers to
control human agents or corrupt human society.
The Topaz Order takes its name from its special emblem
a diadem of topaz worn on the brow. The topaz represents the
sun, which is the bane of creatures that lurk in darkness and
seek to hide their presence. Most chapters of the Topaz Order
operate from temples of Heironeous, but the paladins of this
society go wherever people are threatened by insidious evil.
The headquarters of the order is a fortified abbey known as
the Hall of Supernal Topaz, near the city of Verbobonc.
Templars of the Silver Flame

Vigilant paladins in the world of Eberron are often drawn to
serve in the Church of the Silver Flame as templars, the
warriors of the faith. The mission of the Silver Flame is
simple: Purge the world of evil. Over the centuries Silver
Flame templars have been instrumental in detecting and
countering demonic activity, but they have also been
associated with merciless inquisitionsspecifically, the
Lycanthropic Inquisition, in which the templars of the Silver
Flame destroyed the great majority of Khorvaires werecreatures, both evil and good.
Ranger
Rangers roam the blank places on the map. Their lands are the
uncharted woods, the treacherous mountains, and the rolling
plains. They blaze the trails through the wilderness and know
the landscape better than most. Many rangers see their role as
the first line of defense civilization has against the horrors
tumbling out from the wilds, while others join forces with the
druids and nature clerics to preserve the wilderness against

the despoilers and destroyers. Other rangers take refuge in the
wild places, having quit civilization for good.
Large beast, unaligned
Armor Class 10 + your proficiency bonus

Hit Points 4 [ts] your ranger level
Speed 50 ft.
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
16 (+3) 10 (+0) 12 (+1) 2 (4) 10 (+0) 6 (2)
Languages
Running Leap. As part of its movement and after a 10-foot
running start, the elk can long jump up to 20 feet and high
jump up to 9 feet.
Trample. If, on its turn, the elk moves in a straight line a
minimum of 10 feet toward a creature before making a ram
attack against that creature, and the attack hits, the creature
must succeed on a DC 11 Strength saving throw or be
knocked prone. If the creature is knocked prone, the elk can
take a bonus action to make one hooves attack against it.
Actions
Ram. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 plus your proficiency bonus to
hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2d4 + 3 + your proficiency
bonus bludgeoning damage.
Hooves. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 plus your proficiency bonus
to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d4 + 3 + your proficiency
bonus bludgeoning damage.
Trained Raven
Tiny beast, unaligned

Speed 10 ft., fly 60 ft.
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
2 (4) 14 (+2) 8 (1)
6 (2) 12 (+1) 6 (2)
Skills Perception +2 plus your proficiency bonus
Languages Common
Mimicry. The raven can mimic simple sounds it has heard,
such as a person whispering, a baby crying, or an animal
chittering. A creature that hears the sounds can tell they are
imitations with a successful DC 7 Wisdom (Perception) check.
20
Actions
Beak. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 plus your proficiency bonus
to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d4 + 2 + your proficiency
bonus piercing damage.
Trained Wolf
Medium beast, unaligned

Speed 40 ft.
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
12 (+1) 15 (+2) 13 (+1) 3 (4) 12 (+1) 6 (2)
Skills Perception +2 plus your proficiency bonus, Stealth +3
plus your proficiency bonus
Languages
Keen Hearing and Smell. When using its sense of hearing or
smell, the wolf has advantage on Wisdom (Perception)
checks.
Pack Tactics. The wolf has advantage on attack rolls against a
creature if another enemy of that creature is within 5 feet of it
and isnt incapacitated.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 1d6 + 2 + your proficiency bonus piercing damage, and a
hit creature must succeed on a DC 9 Strength saving throw or
be knocked prone.
Trained Wolverine
Small beast, unaligned

Speed 30 ft.
STR
DEX
CON
INT
WIS
CHA
13 (+1) 10 (+0) 15 (+2) 2 (4) 12 (+1) 5 (3)
Language
Keen Smell. When using its sense of smell, the wolverine has
advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks.
Actions
Claws. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 2d4 + 3 + your proficiency bonus piercing damage.
Rangers of the North

People all across the North respect rangers. They rely on them
for protection and to give warning of impending attacks.
When not aiding towns and villages in defending themselves
against raiders and evil humanoids, rangers explore the
wilderness, scouring the countryside for signs of malfeasance,
and gathering intelligence for those organization with whom
they are allied.
Most rangers have ties to the Harpers or Lords Alliance.
Harper-allied rangers gather information for the organization,
spying on enemy encampments and rooting out enemy cells.
Rangers associated with the Lords Alliance represent the
organizations interests and enforce the law of the land. In

remote areas, the word of a ranger is law.
Defenders of the Wild

Many rangers assume the mantle of protectors of the land.
Having walked the trails and blazed no few of their own, they
develop a deep and abiding appreciation for the wilderness
and make their homes there, forgoing their connections to
town or city. This, of course, is not to say that rangers wash
their hands of settlements, rather, they just lose interest in
such places and would rather spend their time hunting down
and dispatching things that dont belong before they deal
irreparable damage to the lands they protect.
Living in the wilderness makes rangers intimately familiar
with their environments. They know the wilderness and the
types of creatures that typically inhabit the areas they explore.
This familiarity makes it obvious to these rangers when
something is wrong. A few rangers have noted odd weather,
such as freak storms that appear in clear skies and drown the
land below with rain. Forest and field catch fire, leaving
behind weird burn patterns that form unfamiliar symbols.
Rivers rise and flood the lands, while the ground sometimes
trembles in areas that are strangers to earthquakes. Something
is going on, and the rangers who live on the frontier have
begun to look more closely into these events and stop them
before they get worse.
Emerald Enclave Scouts

The Emerald Enclave is a loose, widespread organization
made up of those who have pledged to safeguard the natural
order and destroy those perversions that have no place in it.
Agents of the Emerald Enclave despise undead and
aberration, and commit themselves to fighting those creatures
conjured by magic from other worlds whose mere presence
upsets the natural order.
The Enclave has agents in most wilderness areas and they
sometimes offer their services as guides and guards for
expeditions traveling through the deep wilderness or in places
dangerous for the unprepared. Elsewhere, the agents keep
watch for signs of aberrations and magical beasts let loose to
wreak havoc.
In the Westwood and other wildernesses around the Sumber
Hills, scouts have been reporting about remains of animals
killed by fire and left where they died and swathes of forest
burned and destroyed. One scout came upon a person in the
center of a wildfire that seemed to be controlling it and when
confronted the person vanished and the fire went out. The
Enclave believes there may be some new force working evil
in this area and theyve focused their attention on the hills.
While protecting the people living in the area is an objective,
safeguarding nature is a higher priority.
Sorcerer
The magical birthright granting all sorcerers their power
comes in many different forms and awards them with a
variety of different magical powers. Most sorcerers in the
21
world gain their power from a trace of draconic blood flowing

through their veins, while others harbor wild magic, forces
they can scarcely control or hope to ever understand. Some
sorcerers gain their magical powers from other sources, some
accident of fate, quirk of ancestry, or exposure to some
cosmic event of climatic proportions.
Common people see little difference between the sorcerer
and the wizard. Both master the Art and can perform
miraculous acts of magic. What most people dont know is
that a rivalry exists between wizards and sorcerers. Wizards
see sorcerers as dabblers in forces they lack the training and
experience to understand. Sorcerers see wizards as arrogant
and stodgy, trapped in outmoded theories of how magic works
in the world.
Elemental Adept
The roiling, seething energies spawned by the Inner Planes
strain to breach their boundaries. The planes clash with one
another, mixing in unpredictable ways to create all manner of
strangeness. Just as the elemental forces rush against one
another, so too do they leak into neighboring planes, with
plumes of elemental fire jetting into the Ethereal Plane or
geysers of water shooting up from the ground in the Material
Plane. Sometimes these energies do more than dissipate when
they intrude on other planes; sometimes they leave a lasting
impression, a magical mark that can touch the world and the
creatures living in it.
You derive your innate magic from such a mark. You have
been touched by the Inner Planes. You might have had a
genasi ancestor or someone in your bloodline may have been
exposed to a rush of elemental power. Whatever the source,
you wield the magic of the Inner Planes. You are like a living
conduit to these cosmic forces, able to call upon the
tumultuous winds from the Plane of Elemental Air or to cause
the ground to shudder under your feet with the groans from
the Plane of Elemental Earth.
While you may have encountered elemental magic at some
point in your life, its magical imprint may have been lingered
in the blood, a dormant presence passed down through the
generations until it reached you. A moment of intense
emotion would have been all you need to call upon its power.
Elemental Aspect
At 1st level, choose one elemental aspect. Features you gain
later use the damage type associated with the aspect you
chose.
Elemental power flows through you and strains to break free

from your control. When you cast a spell that deals cold, fire,
lightning, or thunder damage, you emit an aura of destructive
energy in a 5-foot radius that lasts until the end of your next
turn. The energy lightly obscures its area. Any creature that
starts its turn in the area takes damage of the type associated
with your aspect equal to 1d6 + your proficiency bonus. A
creature that succeeds on a Dexterity saving throw against
your spell save DC takes no damage.
You can use a bonus action to end this effect early when
you cast a spell that deals damage of its type. The spell deals
2d6 extra damage.
Elemental Affinity
Starting at 6th level, when you cast a spell that deals damage
of a type associated with your elemental origin, add your
Charisma modifier to that damage. At the same time, you can
spend 1 sorcery point to gain resistance to that damage type
for the next hour.
Elemental Boon
At 14th level, you gain a benefit based on your elemental
origin
Air. As a bonus action on your turn, you gain a fly speed
equal to your current speed. The effect lasts until you land.
Earth. As a bonus action on your turn, you squeeze through
solid earth and stone. You can only move up to 10 feet
through those materials and if you end your turn inside a solid
object, you are forcibly ejected into the nearest open space
back the way you entered the object and you become stunned
until the end of your next turn.
While you can squeeze through earth and stone, you can
move across difficult terrain caused by anything made of
sand, earth, or rock without spending the extra movement.
This effect lasts until you are no longer in contact with the
ground or until you use a bonus action on your turn to end it.
Fire. As a bonus action on your turn, you can perform a
long jump to jump up to a distance equal to your current
speed and land safely or perform a high jump to jump up to a
height equal to one-half your current speed and then land
safely.
Water. You can breathe water as easily as you do air. You
also have a swim speed equal to your current speed.
Beginning at 18th level, when you elemental corona appears,

you can spend 5 sorcery points to increase its radius to 60 feet
and increase its duration to 1 minute or until you lose your
concentration (as if you were casting a concentration spell).
Damage Type
Lightning
Thunder
Fire
Cold
You can also speak, read, and write Primordial.

Additionally, whenever you make a Charisma check when
interacting with elementals, your proficiency bonus is doubled
Elemental Corona
Elemental Breach
Elemental A spect
Element
Air
Earth
Fire
Water
if it applies to the check.
Elemental Sorcerers
The appearance of an elemental sorcerer in a region most
often heralds an intrusion from the Inner Planes into the
22
world. A plume of liquid flames spewing from a crack in the

ground or when the waters of a river rise up without cause can
signal a manifestation of elemental energies into the world.
And when such things occur, the influence of the Inner Planes
leaves an indelible mark on the people and lands around the
place where the event occurred.
Individuals with the elemental origin may have always had
the talent for the magic and energy from these planes entering
the Material Plane are the only catalyst needed to realize the
hidden potential. Others might never have had the power to
wield magic and only gained it after a brush with elemental
forces. Regardless of the reasons, the appearance of an
elemental sorcerer in a land is an omen, one that hints at
greater powers working behind the scenes and imminent
cataclysmic events that could shift the course of history.
In the North, especially in the lands around the Sumber
Hills, a few individuals have discovered the power to wield
elemental magic. The various factions have taken a keen
interest in such people for those who know understand this
strain of sorcery is quite rare. Such characters would be
highly sought by all factions, especially the Lords Alliance.
Fernia, while elementals of all kinds haunt the Twilight Forest

of Lamannia. When one of the orbiting planes draws close to
Eberron, its nature intrudes at special places called manifest
zones. People with the elemental origin are most likely to
have gained their power by visiting one of these zones when
Fernia, Lamannia, or a different plane was coterminous, or
can point to an ancestor who traveled to a zone.
Devotees of the Elemental Princes

The Princes of Elemental Evil and Elemental Good vie for
dominance over the Inner Planes. Their contests have raged
for as long as the world has existed, with Imix battling against
his counterpart Zaaman Rul, and Olhydra ever-opposed to
good Ben-hadar. The princes, behaving much like gods, may
extend their conflict to the Material Plane through their mortal
servants. Cults devoted to elemental evil, such as those that
once infested the infamous Temple of Elemental Evil gain
elemental power from their fickle masters, while the Princes
of Elemental Good may grant boons to those champions who
oppose their evil.
Warlock
Elemental Priests
The Burnt World of Athas has never had gods, or, if it had,
they have been silent for so long, nothing of their influence
remains. Instead, the people of the land commune with
elemental forces to call upon the magic from the Inner Planes.
While called shamans or priests by some, these talented
individuals owe their magical abilities to an inborn talent born
from the worlds proximity to the elemental planes. They
draw their power directly from the elemental planes and use it
to cast their spells.
Elemental priests add cure wounds to the sorcerer spell list.
The DM may add other healing spells to the sorcerer list in
this setting at his or her discretion.
Primordial Adept
In the world of the Nentir Vale, the gods and elemental beings
known as the primordials fought for dominance in a bitter
struggle remembered as the Dawn War. The gods ultimately
triumphed over their rivals, bound them in adamantine chains,
and locked them away to trouble the mortal world no further.
The primordials may languish in their prisons, but they can
sometimes touch the world through the primordial adepts who
bind themselves to these forgotten powers and in doing so
gain access to elemental magic.
The gods and their servants as well fear what would happen
if the primordials escaped their prisons and thus mortal
servants bear the responsibility of tracking down these
reckless power-seekers and turn them from their paths before
they bring doom upon the world. And should they fail to
dissuade them, they have the authority of their temples to use
whatever means at their disposal to stop them.
The elemental planes are home to many powerful beings. Like

archfiends, fey lords, and forgotten gods, these elemental
powers are interested in the mortal world and seek mortal
agents to do their bidding and extend their influence in mortal
affairs. Elemental patrons are not particularly subtle, and they
naturally bestow gifts and abilities that match their own
favored elementsif you want to be a master of fire magic,
there is no swifter route to power than seeking the favor of
great lord among fire elementals.
Unfortunately, the swift route to power is rarely the path of
good. For reckless warlocks seeking elemental patrons, the
Princes of Elemental Evil are all too likely to suffice. The
Princes represent a particularly nihilistic form of evil that
desires only destruction and suffering; helping their favored
mortals to gain power and extend their influence in the world
is a secondary goal at best. To put it another way, the Princes
of Elemental Evil dont seek out servants or recruit
worshipers. Their cultists (and the more reckless warlocks)
merely tap their power, which soon corrupts them and leads
them into ever greater acts of destruction. There is no bargain
or pact that can earn the favor of the Princesthere are only
fools and madmen who are drawn to their power.
While the power of elemental evil is a dangerous lure for
crazed or evil warlocks, the Princes of Elemental Evil are not
the only potential patrons from the elemental planes. Some
elemental beings are staunchly opposed to the Princes. The
most prominent of the enemies of elemental evil are the great
lords of geniekind. These mighty beings compete with the
Princes of Elemental Evil for mastery of their respective
planes, and regard elemental evil as a corruption or perversion
of the rightful power of the elements.
Touched by the Planes

In the world of Eberron, elementals scatter across numerous
planes. Fire elementals rage across the blazing landscape of
Elemental Evil Patrons

While the Princes of Elemental Evil make poor patrons for
23
player characters, there is no doubt that amoral warlocks

might be drawn to the power they offer. If you want to choose
Imix, Ogrmoch, Olhydra, or Yan-C-Bin as your warlocks
otherworldly patron, you can do so by selecting the Genie
Lord (described below). The flavor of your powers and
features may be different, but the effects are similar. For your
pact boon, choose the Pact of the Blade or the Pact of the
Tome.
Another way to select an elemental evil patron is to
choose the Great Old One as your otherworldly patron. The
being or force known as the Elder Elemental Eye is a good
example of the type of entity that might answer to such a pact;
in fact, deities such as Ghaunadaur or Tharizdun may in fact
be one and the same with the Elder Elemental Eye, although
few mortals indeed know much of such things.
New Patron: The Genie Lord

Your patron is a high noble of one of the genie races. Much
like the Princes of Elemental Evil, genie lords are also
creatures of the elemental planes, and often meddle in mortal
affairs for their own purposes. The best-known types of genie
include the djinns, lords of the air; dao, genies of the earth;
efreeti, creatures of elemental fire; and the mighty marids,
lords of water. Genie lords are legendary for granting wishes
to those who earn their favor, but some mortals wish only
powerand magical power is something that genie lords
grant gladly, hoping to create useful agents in the mortal
world.
As powerful lords of the elemental planes, genie patrons
naturally bestow gifts and abilities that reflect their own
elemental nature. When you choose the Genie Lord as your
patron, you also choose whether your patron is a khan of the
dao (earth), djinn caliph (air), efreet pasha (fire), or marid
sultan (water).
Expanded Spell List

The Genie Lord allows you to choose from an expanded list
of spells when you learn a warlock spell. Each type of genie
wields power over a different element, and makes different
spells available to you.
Dao P atron
Spell
Level
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
@@, lightning serpent (NEW SPELL)
Efreet P atron
Spell
Level
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
Spells
burning hands, pyrotechnics (NEW SPELL)
control flame (NEW SPELL), scorching ray
fireball, fire stride (NEW SPELL)
@@, wall of fire
@@, immolation (NEW SPELL)
Marid P atron
Spell
Level
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
Spells
ice knife (NEW SPELL), @@
wall of water, watery fist (NEW SPELL)
@@, water breathing
control water, ice storm
cone of cold, @@
Genie Stride
Starting at 1st level, your patron gives you the ability to
briefly transform into a whirlwind or cloud when you move.
You are incorporeal, and you can fly at a speed of 30 feet.
You can move through spaces occupied by other creatures,
and you can pass through small holes, narrow openings, and
even cracks. You do not provoke opportunity attacks while
using your genie stride. This transformation ends when you
finish moving, or at the end of your turn.
The exact form you take depends on your genie patron. If
your patron is a djinn caliph, your genie stride takes the form
of a whirlwind of dust; if your patron is a dao khan, you take
the form of a whirling blast of sand; if your patron is an efreet
pasha, you become a cloud of smoke and embers when you
use this ability; and if your patron is a marid sultan, you
transform into a swift-flowing stream or a blowing drift of
snow.
finish a long or a short rest.
Shield of the Elements

Spells
fist of stone, shockwave (NEW SPELLS)
@@, earthen grasp (NEW SPELL)
stone spike (NEW), meld into stone
@@, stoneskin
passwall, wall of stone
Djinn P atron
Spell
Level
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
Spells
@@, gust of wind
blur, soar (NEW SPELL)
@@, lightning bolt
greater invisibility, @@
Starting at 6th level, you learn how to quickly shield yourself

against enemy attack by using the elements around you. When
an enemy makes an attack roll against you, you can use your
reaction to interpose a shield composed of your patrons
favored element (buffeting winds, a curtain of sand or snow,
or a fiery blaze). This shield provides you with three-quarters
cover against the triggering attacker, and lasts until the
beginning of your next turn. In addition, any creature that
ends its turn adjacent to you while the shield is present suffers
the following penalty:
Wind Shield: The target must succeed on a Dexterity save or be blinded by dust and grit until the
end of its next turn.
24
Sand Shield: The target must succeed on a

Strength save or take 1d10 bludgeoning damage
and be knocked prone.
Fiery Shield: The target must succeed on a Dexterity save or take 3d8 fire damage.
Snow Shield: The target must succeed on a Constitution save or take 2d6 cold damage and suffer
disadvantage on its attacks until the end of its
next turn.
finish a long or a short rest.
Fealty of the Elements

Beginning at 9th level, your patrons blessing is so strong that
the elements under your patrons authority recoil from your
person, and answer to your command. This has three effects:
You gain resistance to the damage type dictated by

your patron. The dao patron grants resistance to
thunder damage; the djinn grants resistance to lightning; the efreet grants resistance to fire; and the
marid patron grants resistance to cold.
All creatures with an elemental origin have disadvantage on attacks against you. You gain advantage
on saving throws you make against spells or effects
created by elemental creatures.
You gain advantage during any social interaction

with creatures of elemental origin.
Fourfold Prison
Starting at 14th level, you can trap a creature in a cage of
elemental power. As an action, choose a creature you can see
within 60 feet of you. It must succeed on a Dexterity saving
throw or be restrained by you for 1 minute or until your
concentration is broken (as if you were concentrating on a
spell). The elemental prison provides half cover to the trapped
creature, and all creatures outside the prison have half cover
from the creature inside.
The exact nature of the prison generally reflects your genie
patron; your foe may be suspended in a whirling vortex of
wind, trapped by bars of ice or solidified flame, or hemmed in
by scouring clouds of gravel. The prison is a physical obstacle
and does not deal damage, although contact with it is painful
for the trapped creature.
You must finish a long rest before you can use this power
again.
Pact Boon
At 3rd level, your patron bestows a gift upon you for your
service. In addition to the boons described in the Players
Handbook, a new boon is presented here: The Pact of the
Shair. Most warlocks who choose the Genie Lord as their
patron choose this pact (although some prefer the Pact of the
Blade).
Pact of the Shair

You learn the find familiar spell and can cast it as a ritual (the
spell doesnt count against your number of spells known). To
cast the spell as a ritual, you must add 10 minutes to the

casting time. When you cast the spell, you gain the services of
a minor genie known as a gen (see the description below).
This is the only kind of familiar you can choose.
Additionally, when your gen is adjacent to you, you do not
grant advantage while incapacitated (or suffering from any
other condition or effect that includes being incapacitated as
an effect).
Gen
Tiny elemental, neutral
Armor Class 13
Hit Points 10 (3d4+3)
Speed 20 ft., fly 30 ft.
Str 5 (3)
Dex 17 (+3)
Con 13 (+1)
Int 10 (+0)
Wis 10 (+0)
Cha 12 (+1)
Skills Perception +7, Stealth +3
Special Senses darkvision 60 ft.
Damage Resistances see below
Languages Common plus one other (see below)
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)
Elemental Affinity. Each gen has an affinity for air, earth, fire,
or water. This affinity has the following traits:
Damage Resistance: Air gen have resistance to lightning;
earth gen have resistance to thunder; fire gen have
resistance to fire; and water gen have resistance to cold.
Damage Type: The slam attack and elemental orb attack
of a gen deals bonus damage of the same type it has

resistance to.
Language: Air gen speak Auran; earth gen speak Terran;
fire gen speak Ignan; and water gen speak Aquan.

Elemental Shift: As an action, a gen can shift to the
elemental plane of its affinity or back to the material

plane. It can only move itself when it shifts planes.
Familiar. The gen can choose to serve another creature as a
familiar, forming a telepathic bond with its willing master.
While the two are bonded, the master can sense what the gen
senses as long as they are within 1 mile of each other. While
the gen is within 10 feet of its master, the master gains a +1
attack bonus with spells or abilities that match the gens
elemental affinity.
Actions
Slam. Melee Attack, +5 to hit, reach 5 feet, one creature. Hit: 1
(1d43) bludgeoning damage, plus 4 (1d6) elemental damage
(see Elemental Affinity).
Elemental Orb. Ranged Attack, +5 to hit, range 30 feet, one
creature. Hit: 4 (1d6) elemental damage (see Elemental
Affinity).
Gens are minor genies that are found on all four elemental
planes. They serve as messengers, scouts, and advisers to
more powerful genies, and sometimes choose to serve mortals
as their familiars. They appear as small whirlwinds or dust
devils of sand, mist, embers, or snow when moving or
attacking, but seem to solidify into tiny humanoids in genielike garb when standing still.
25
New Eldritch Invocations

The following eldritch invocations are especially useful for
warlocks who select the Genie Lord as their patron or choose
the Pact of the Shair.
Fetch Spell
Prerequisite: Pact of the Shair
You can command your gen to go in search of magic you
normally could not use. Choose two 1st-level spells that have
the ritual tag from any classs spell list. These spells dont
count against the number of spells you know, but you can cast
them as rituals by dispatching your gen to fetch them. Your
gen transport itself to the elemental planes for 10 minutes, and
returns with the spell that you can then complete.
On your adventures, you can add other ritual spells to the
list of spells your gen knows how to fetch.
When you find such a spell, you can add it to your gens list if
the spells level is equal to or less than half your warlock level
(rounded up) and if you can spare the time to prepare your
gen to retrieve the spell at need. For each level of the spell,
the preparation process takes 2 hours and 50 gp.
Fiery Blast
Prerequisite: eldritch blast cantrip
When you cast your eldritch blast cantrip, you deal 2d6 fire
damage on a hit instead of the normal damage.
Icy Blast
Prerequisite: eldritch blast cantrip
When you cast your eldritch blast cantrip, you deal 1d8 cold
damage on a hit instead of the normal damage. Until the
beginning of your next turn, the target moves at half speed,
and has disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws.
Elemental Warlocks
Until recently, warlocks with elemental patrons or familiars
were a rare sight in the Sword Coast or the North. More
traditional approaches to arcane magic are much more well
established in these lands; in fact, the North is famous for its
wizard colleges and brotherhoods, such as Blackstaff Tower
in Waterdeep or the Spellguard of Silverymoon. Warlocks
bargaining with genie lords or other elemental powers are
more commonly encountered in the lands of the far south,
especially the ancient realm of Calimshan. However, the rise
of elemental evil cults in the North seems to attract seekers
after elemental power, and warlocks are notorious as seekers
after power.
Because warlocks are not very well known in these lands,
most common folk in the Dessarin Valley regard them as
funny sorts of wizards, and make little distinction between
magical talent bestowed by a mysterious elemental patron and
magical talent mastered by the study of ancient tomes. To the
average person, grim necromancers or capricious illusionists
are every bit as threatening (if not more so) than a warlock
who seems to have a not-quite-healthy fascination with forces
of elemental destruction. That will undoubtedly change as the
true threat posed by the elemental cults becomes more

obvious to the people of the North.
Likewise, the relative scarcity of warlocks in the North
mean that there are no real societies, guilds, or brotherhoods
in which warlocks gather to learn from each other or look out
for their collective interests. However, the major factions
active in the North are aware of the special talents warlocks
possess. The Order of the Gauntlet and the Lords Alliance are
generally distrustful of warlocks and regard them as potential
threats, not recruits, while the Zhentarim eagerly recruit
individual warlocks and dont particularly care who or what
the warlock bargains with for power. The Harpers take a
position between these two extremes. They recognize that
spellcasters often have to make dangerous choices in order to
master their art, and are more interested in what their
prospective members do with their power, not its source.
Warlocks whose patrons are fiends or dark gods are regarded
with a good deal of suspicion, but warlocks with archfey or
genie lord patrons are welcome among Those Who Harp so
long as they uphold the fellowships goals.
Shairs of Zakhara
Warlocks who forge pacts with genies are unusual in most
lands, but in far-off Zakhara, shairs are far more common
than in other lands. Zakhara has always been a land heavily
influenced by the magic of genies, so it is only natural that
many individuals interested in learning how to wield magic
would turn first to genies. In most other lands, warlocks of
any kind are feared and distrusted. They exist outside the
accepted social order, dealing with powers that rarely mean
mortals well. That is not the case in Zakhara; shairs are held
in high regard, and are frequently found as valued advisors
and counselors to great lords. More conventional wizards, on
the other hand, are seen as dangerous and impiousa reversal
of the normal situation in how society regards these two types
of arcane practitioners. Zakharans regard arcane magic as
something not entirely fitting for mortal use, but a warlock
who has the patronage of a Genie Lord clearly has the favor
of genie-kind. In the Land of Fate, that is a powerful
endorsement.
The Sign of the Red Talisman

Most warlocks are loners, but in the Sultanate of Zeifa
powerful Baklunish state in the western portions of the world
of Greyhawka mystic society known as the Sign of the Red
Talisman includes scores of warlocks who seek out pacts with
elemental powers. Most of these are bound to noble genies,
but there are rumors of a secret cabal within the Sign of the
Red Talisman, consisting of warlocks who knowingly traffic
with the Princes of Elemental Evil and plot to seize power in
the Sultanate. The Red Talisman is viewed with great
suspicion by the priests of the True Faith in Zeif and the
surrounding lands, but the order has great influence in the
sultans court and in fact is a powerful shield against the very
powerful Zashassari guild based in the Caliphate of Ekbir.
26
Wizard
People with passing familiarity with wizards regard the eight
schools of magic to be the only traditions these magic-users
embrace. What other traditions could there be when the
School of Evocation offers vast, destructive power, and the
School of Necromancy reveals the secrets of what lies beyond
the grave, and Divination throws open the curtains to what
can be? Abjurers frustrate and defuse their enemies with
potent wards, while enchanters take control over others
emotions and actions, until they become puppets dancing to
the wizards strings. These examples and more have come to
dominate popular conceptions of wizards across the world and
for good reason: they exist in the greatest numbers.
Yet wizards do not have a monopoly on magic. Sorcerers
command magical energies drawn from within themselves.
Warlocks bargain away their souls in exchange for power that
defies the rules and laws governing wizardry. If other systems
exist in the world, surely other traditions exist within the
world of wizards. Others do exist.
Many wizards choose the traditional pathways to magical
power because those are the only techniques available to
them. From generation to generation, wizard academies and
private tutors alike teach magic in the manner that it was
taught to them, and thus create new wizards who cleave close
to the common techniques and thoughts regarding arcane
magic. Yet there are some who break from tradition, who
reject the orderly and structured approach of magical mastery
and pursue another path. Among these renegade traditions,
the elemental schools come closest in terms of numbers and
knowledge to the established schools found in most worlds of
D&D.
School of Aeromancy
You belong to the School of Aeromancy, an arcane tradition
devoted to the study and mastery of elemental air. Your
studies reveal spells that tap into the power of air and grant
you control over it. Your spells might let you cause a breeze
to clear a room of noxious gas, call forth a powerful gust to
scatter your foes, or take control over all the air around you,
sweeping aside your enemies or scattering them before you.
As your power grows, elemental air leaves its mark upon you
and you can soar through the heavens as easily as you once
walked across the earth.
As an aeromancer, you typically learn spells associated
with your element. Spells that create fogs, clouds, or gases, as
well as spells that manipulate the air and weather are all good
choices. Most aeromancers avoid learning spells that affect
earth or stone.
higher wizard spell, you can use a bonus action to fly. You
can fly up to 10 feet per level of the spell you cast and you
must land at the end of this movement. If you dont, and you
dont have a means to prevent it, you fall.
Vaporous Form
At 6th level, you add the gaseous form spell to your spellbook
if it is not there already. In addition, when you cast the spell,
you increase your fly speed by 20 feet and you can talk and
cast spells that have only verbal components.
Admixture of Air
Beginning at 10th level, you may infuse your wizard spells
with elemental air. When you cast a 1st level or higher wizard
spell that deals damage on a failed saving throw and the target
fails the saving throw, elemental air blasts the target and
causes it to fly in a horizontal line 10 feet per level of the spell
in a direction you choose and then land prone at the end of
that movement.
Touch the Sky

Starting at 14th level, you have a fly speed equal to twice
your land speed. In addition, you never take damage as a
result from falling as the elemental air swirling around your
body cushions your fall.
School of Geomancy
The School of Geomancy concerns itself with exploring the
magical energies and substance drawn from the Elemental
Plane of Earth. Magic associated with this tradition grant
wizards the means to manipulate earth and stone, to shape it
into useful forms, or cause the landscape to move under its
own power, either as a result of an earthquake or in the form
of earth elementals called from the Inner Planes. The more
extensive your work with elemental earth, the greater your
command of it until when you reach the heights of your
studies you can move through solid stone unimpeded.
Earth Adept
Beginning at 2nd level, you learn the magic stone cantrip. If
you already know this cantrip, you learn a different wizard
cantrip of your choice.
When you cast the spell, you affect up to five pebbles
instead of three.
Stony Mantle
Beginning when you select this school at 2nd level, you learn
the zephyr cantrip. If you already know this cantrip, you learn
a different wizard cantrip of your choice.
Beginning at 2nd level, whenever you cast a 1st-level or

higher wizard spell, you may use a bonus action to harden
your skin until the end of your next turn. While under the
effects of this class feature, and you would take bludgeoning,
piercing, or slashing damage, you reduce the amount of
damage by the level of the spell you cast that triggered this
feature.
Harness the Wind
Earth Door
Air Adept
At 6th level, you add the meld into stone spell to your
27
spellbook if it is not there already. When you cast this spell

and would use movement to leave the stone, you may choose
to exit from any other stone object or surface large enough to
fully contain your volume within 90 feet from the point where
you entered it.
Admixture of Water
Admixture of Earth
with elemental earth. When you cast a 1st level or higher
wizard spell that deals damage, you may divide the number of
damage into two groups. One group of dice deal the spells
normal damage type while the other deals bludgeoning
damage from the chunks of rock, earth, and flying grit you
mix with the spells energy when you cast the spell.

with elemental water. Whenever you cast a wizard spell of 1st
level or higher and the spell deals damage to creatures in an
area, you increase the size of the area by 10 feet in all
directions. If the spell requires a saving throw and a creature
fails, the creature also falls prone. Finally, all unprotected
flames in the area are automatically extinguished.
Water Passage
Earth Passage
Starting at 14th level, you can use magic to move through the
earth. As a bonus action when you are in contact with an earth
or stone surface, you may choose an open space on earthen
surface within 90 feet of you. You then move into the earth
and move out again from the surface you chose. Each time
you use this feature after the first, you reduce the distance you
may travel in this way by 15 feet. When you reduce the
distance to 0 feet, you cannot use this feature. Upon finishing
a long rest, the distance you may travel using Earth Passage
resets to 90 feet.
School of Hydromancy
As a student of the Hydromancy School, you strive to
apprehend power over elemental water, to draw energies from
its plane of origin and command it wherever you go. Power
granted from your studies allow you to control water in all its
forms, whether you evaporate water into billowing clouds of
mist or condense it until it becomes ice. As with other
traditions focused on elemental magic, you bear the mark of
your research in your ability to control the water making up
your own body and as your power grows, you can flow
around obstacles, squeeze through cracks, and escape almost
any situation.
Flowing Steps
higher wizard spell, you can use a bonus action to move up to
one-half your speed plus 5 feet per level of the spell you cast.
You may move across difficult terrain without expending
extra movement and through spaces occupied by other
creatures regardless of their size. Finally, this movement does
not provoke opportunity attacks.
Water Adept
the acid splash cantrip. If you already know this cantrip, you
learn a different wizard cantrip of your choice.
Water Mastery
Starting at 6th level, you have a swim speed equal to your
land speed and, if you cant already, you may breathe water as
easily as you breathe air.
You also add the water walk spell to your spellbook if it is
not there already.
Starting at 14th level, you can squeeze through cracks large

enough to permit the passage of water and can always move
through spaces occupied by other creatures, regardless of their
size. Finally, creatures have disadvantage on attack rolls made
as a result of opportunity attacks provoked by your
movement.
School of Pyromancy
The most destructive and dangerous of the elemental
traditions, the School of Pyromancy teaches students to
create, shape, and control flames. While fire has constructive
uses, many who study this school of magic revel in the
mayhem and destruction it creates, thrilling in the sound
created by a detonating fireball or hypnotized by a wall of
fires shimmering flames. As a pyromancer, you can cause a
flame to appear in the palm of your hand, hurl gouts of fire at
your enemies, and cause objects around you to spontaneously
combust, eager flames rapidly consuming whatever they
touch. Your growing mastery in this school eventually results
in you becoming the incarnation of elemental fire, such that
ordinary flames never harm you and even magical flames
wash over your body.
Fire Adept
the produce fire cantrip. If you already know this cantrip, you
learn a different wizard cantrip of your choice.
Spontaneous Combustion
Beginning at 2nd level, whenever you cast a wizard spell of
1st level or higher that deals fire damage, you may choose one
flammable object that is neither worn nor carried and is within
30 feet of you. That object ignites and takes 1d6 fire damage
plus 1d6 extra fire damage at the end of each of your turns
until the object is destroyed or the fire is extinguished.
Fire Walk
Starting at 6th level, you add the fire stride spell to your
spellbook if it is not already there. In addition, whenever you
cast the fire stride spell, you may use a bonus action to cast
the produce flame spell.
28
Admixture of Fire
with elemental fire. When you cast a 1st level or higher
wizard spell that deals damage other than fire, you may divide
the number of damage into two groups. One group of dice
deals the spells normal damage type while the other deals fire
damage from the flames swirling within the other energy
created by the spell.
In addition, any fire damage dealt by a wizard spell you cast
ignores the targets fire resistance if it has fire resistance.
Heart of the Conflagration

Starting at 14th level, you are immune to fire damage that
comes from non-magical sources and you have resistance to
all other forms of fire damage.
As well, whenever you cast a wizard spell that deals fire
damage (either normally or through the use of your
Admixture of Fire feature), you increase the die size of the
fire damage by one. For example, fireball normally deals 6d6
fire damage on a failed save. When you cast, however, it deals
6d8 fire damage.
Elemental Wizards
Servants of the Elemental Princes
Most wizards recognize elemental magic as a concept, but

rarely agree on how its divided. Many point to the classic
four elements of air, earth, fire, and water, while wizards from
Kara-Tur include wood to bring the number up to five.
Typically, an elemental wizard favors clothing of a color
appropriate to the element (white for air, brown for earth, red
for fire, green or blue for water) and eschew spells with clear
ties toward their opposing element. A pyromancer is not
likely to learn spells that deal with water or cold, while a
geomancer avoids spells that enable flight or manipulate air.
The Schools of Elemental Magic do not often have a place
within the formal institutions that disseminate magical
knowledge. At best, experienced wizards find them
interesting avenues, but usually too limiting, too focused on
one corner of the province of all that is arcane magic. At
worst, such wizards are freaks, abominations, reckless powerseekers who seek to undermine the very fabric of the weave
by drawing upon power that lies beyond that found in the
mortal world. For this reason, students of elemental magic
usually undertake their studies on their own, poring through
forbidden tomes and manuscripts filled with the theories of
the rare elemental wizard who bothered to record his or her
discoveries.
In almost all cases, wizards who choose an elemental
school already have an affinity for one of the Inner Planes.
They may be genasipeople with an elemental ancestor.
They could themselves have been exposed to the elemental
energies at a young age. Or they may just have a talent, one
that might result in their becoming sorcerers. After all, the
dearth of instructors makes developing the talents in an
academic setting difficult or impossible. A few, however,
develop their talents while studying to become wizards and
follow their interests during their training, finding spells with
clear ties to an element comes to them more easily than
others. If they continue their work, they might go on to

become pyromancers or hydromancers on their own, joining a
School as the only member for leagues around.
Other elemental wizards in the North eschew the traditional
route to learning magic due to the cultural limitations placed
on them. They may have strong ties to nature and learn magic
from spirit guides, ancestor spirits, or hermits that have
abandoned civilization for the isolation the wilderness offers.
These self-taught wizards keep probably lack spellbooks in
the traditional sense and may instead tattoo the mystic
formulae on their bodies, etch them on bones or small rocks,
or even burn the writing into leather and bark strips that they
then strap to their bodies. Civilized wizards might scoff at
such crude methods, yet the elemental wizards are every bit
their equals, even if they hold to untraditional customs.
Many aeromancer hail from Halruaa as that land boasts
skyships and the ancient, floating cities of the Netheril.
Geomancers are most common among desert and mountain
folk. Pyromancers tend to come from Thay, where Kossuth
the Firelord is an important deity. Finally, hydromancer
usually come from coastal regions such as the Sword Coast or
the Sea of Fallen Stars.
In the World of Greyhawk, wizards who pursue one of the

elemental schools often do so through service to one of the
elemental princes. As a result, they tend to be wrapped up in
one of the elemental cults and occupy positions of leadership
and influence within these cults thanks to their magical
power. While this often means such individuals act as villains
in the world, not all elemental princes in that world are evil.
In fact, for every evil elemental prince, there is a counter, a
force representing good or at least impartial elementals.
Beings such as Ben-Hadar, Chan, Entemoch and Sunnis, and
Zaaman Rul all oppose the machinations of the Elder
Elemental Eye and those prince bound in his thrall. Wizards
in service to good elemental princes are sworn foes of
elemental evil and strive tirelessly to thwart them at every
turn.
Wizards in the North

People fear and respect wizards for good reason. Individuals
capable of turning their victims into scurrying mice or
burning down their towns with a well-placed fireball is reason
enough to have a care when around these powerful men and
women. Unfortunately, the same respect wizards earn from
civilized people engenders fear and loathing from those living
on the frontier. In the barbarians tribes, wizards are seen as
people who deal with demons, dabble in the forbidden, a
threat to everyone and everything around them. The Uthgardt
in particular persecute wizards and may execute people they
suspect as dabbling in arcane magic.
People born with the talent in these lands can develop their
abilities in a variety of ways. Silverymoon boasts one of the
best know universities of magic and it attracts students from
all over the world. Students who cannot afford the tuition may
have better luck in small academies, such as the one in
29
Waterdeep. Many apprentice wizards learn the Art from

private tutors. In smaller towns and villages, a wizard might
set up shop and take on apprentices from worthy candidates.
Of course, wizards come to the North from all over the
world. Ruins and dungeons litter the landscape, each a
repository of magic, treasure, and lore. Wizards scour these
sites for items of interest, adding those baubles to their
collections. When not adventuring, wizards retreat to the
comforts of the urban centers. There, they have ready access
to the material components for their spells and the company
of other skilled practitioners of the Art with whom they might
trade secrets and rumors.
A rare few choose to risk their lives on the frontier. These
individuals may return to the homes where they were born,
lending their skills in the defense of their towns. Their magic
proves to be a valuable asset against the myriad dangers
stalking the lands and thus wizards who settle there find
welcome, respect, and honor.
30
Waterdhavian Dandy
3: Backgrounds
Charlatans of the North
Rarely heroic and ever scoundrels, charlatans make their way
in the world by trickery and deception. Their livelihood
depends on the gullibility in the people the meet, their
willingness to believe the lie, the eagerness with which they
part with their coin. Charlatans seize upon their victims
hopes and dreams, spinning tales that makes achieving them
seem possible. The dream doesnt matter. Loss of hair, the
removal of a stubborn fungus, a love potion to woo a beau, or
any other desire a person might want: The charlatan is there,
wide smile, quick hands, sweet words, and honest face. And
then, after one, two, a dozen or more, have pressed their coins
into their hands, they set off, the town shrinking behind them
as they strive to put as much distance between themselves and
their victims.
Opportunities abound for a cunning charlatan to make easy
coin in the North. The great cities teem with travelers from all
over the world and charlatans prey on these visitors,
exploiting their ignorance and unfamiliarity to part them from
their wealth. The towns, villages, and smaller outposts on the
frontier also draw these swindlers. While these places cannot
match the wealth found in places like Waterdeep, skilled
charlatans can play upon rustic superstition and fear to fleece
them of their hard-earned coins.
Charlatans flirt with danger everywhere they go. Its only a
matter of time before people realize they have been duped.
Since the charlatan makes ends meet through chicanery, they
collect enemies with each gold piece they take. The
accumulation of angry, vengeance-seeking victims means
charlatans have to keep moving before the magistrate comes
to clap them in chains. Their mobility and unwillingness to
stay in one place for too long makes charlatans ideally suited
to the adventuring life.
The following backgrounds demonstrate ways you might fit
your character into the Elemental Evil campaign.
Luskan Gambler
The last few years, you trawled the gutters of Luskan. You
were a fixture in gambling dens, brothels, and taverns of this
disreputable city. You have a knack for winning at games of
chance. Cards, dice, or tiles, you might loose a few rounds,
but in the end you always come out with more coins than you
had when you started the evening. You cheat, of course. You
cheat every chance you get and youre good at doing so
without anyone being the wiser.
All good things end. When grumbles become threats and
threats become violence, you know its time to move on. You
drifted south, through Neverwinter and across the Sword
Mountains. You eventually you wound up in Red Larch after
you ran out of money. Do you plan to linger here for a while?
Or are you looking for a chance to be on your way once
youve built back up your supply of coin?
Why shouldnt you have everything you want? Why do the

nobles get to live a life of comfort and plenty when everyone
else must scrape by, fighting like dogs over the scraps? You
were never willing to accept the station into which you were
born. You managed to leverage your wits, good looks, and
knack for making friends and influencing people to your
advantage. Those were gifts the gods have you and youd be a
fool not to use them.
You siphon wealth and status from Waterdeeps elite. You
prey on their weaknesses and gullibility to insinuate yourself
into their favor as a lover, trusted confidant, companion, or
adopted scion. You play to their desires, doling out what they
need from you that costs you nothing to deliver, and in return,
you drain them, taking their gifts of coin and jewels, comforts
only accorded to the aristocracy, and whatever other treasures
they might offer. In time, they may grow weary of your
companionship. Or, you might find someone who can provide
you with an even better life. You move on and latch yourself
onto the next victim.
Call to Action: The Charlatan

There are several ways a charlatan might become involved in
the adventure. When you create your character, you can pick
one of the following options. Be sure to tell your DM which
one you chose.
Laying Low. If you had any idea who you were ripping off,
you would have tried your tricks on someone else. It was a
gaming house in some nameless village and you were having
your way with the yokels in a game of Three-Dragon Ante.
About mid-way through the night, a shield dwarf named
Ulgarr sat down and threw in a few electrum coins. A few of
the other players, purses already lightened after a string of bad
luck, quit, leaving you to play the dwarf. As usual, you lost a
few and then started winning. After you had taken the dwarf
for almost all he had, you thought to make your exit. The
dwarf had other ideas and a fight broke out when accusations
of cheating were raised. During the ensuing melee, you
managed to sneak away. This dwarf, it turns out, has powerful
friends, friends you dont want as enemies. So youre on the
run, looking over your shoulder for the dwarf you fear may be
just a step behind you.
Suspicious Fellow. You move through high society, finding
a place among the rich and powerful. You might be a
courtesan, hanging on the arm of a lord or lady, or you might
be a courtier, winning your place in a nobles entourage with
wit, cunning, and, perhaps, a falsified past. During one of
your social events, you overheard a conversation between a
strange man, whose name you believe was Thurl Merosska,
and a small group of interested nobles. Merosska spent the
evening imparting the some philosophical nonsense about
breath control and levitation. While you could see right
through his sales pitch, his audience seemed to be hooked.
You suspect this Merosska fellow is not what he seems and
youre interested in finding out more about what hes up to.
31
Criminals of the North

Civilizations hold on the North is tenuous at best. While a
scattering cities and towns form a loose alliance to maintain
law and order, to safeguard their common interests, much of
the landscape remains wild, untamed, and unexplored. This
makes the region a veritable playground for those who place
their own desires above those of others, for people who prefer
to engage in all manner of dark and unsavory activities.
Criminals of all types can be found in the North. They
might be cutpurses and burglars working the city streets in
Luskan and Waterdeep. They also include the river pirates
who sail the River Dessarin. Criminals might be bandits
springing ambushes on unsuspecting caravans that brave the
lonely roads crisscrossing the wilderness. Or they could be
hired killers, toughs and thugs, con artists, and worse. Theres
a place for every kind of criminal in these lands.
Being a criminal does not mean you need to be a villain.
Many former criminals venture into the hinterlands to start
new lives, to put their misguided youth and adventures behind
them. A chance for a fresh start, away from the circles in
which they traveled, free from the reputations their past
misdeeds earned them, all gives them a chance to become
someone new. The North is, for some, a place where reformed
criminals can make amends for the crimes they committed in
the past.
While setting aside ones bad habits may be a goal for some
criminals in the North, a great many keep their skills sharp.
Rather than use them for gain, they use those skills to thwart
other criminals. It takes a thief to catch a thief, as the old
saying goes. These reformed thieves and burglars know best
how to secure valuables, what tactics an enterprising robber
might use, and how best to thwart them. A thief-catcher
could work for the law, work as a consultant, or fight crime as
a private investigator.
If you choose criminal for you background, consider one of
the following options to help you fit your character into the
Elemental Evil campaign.
Dessarin Smuggler
Every city and every town wants a piece of the profit. A
merchant that risks his life and fortune to transport goods up
and down the Norths river ways finds she must part with a
cut of the profits for the mere privilege of bringing those
goods to the market. To make matters worse, not all goods are
welcome in all cities. While blocking dangerous materials
from entering a populace is reasonable, the various trade
guilds look after their own interests first and may prevent
certain finished goods from flooding a market and
undercutting their prices. Commerces pitfalls and
complications create a demand for people skilled at moving
goods discretely and for a reasonable fee. The smugglers meet
this demand.
It was obvious to you that there was gold to be had moving
illicit cargo, gold enough to keep you comfortable for many
years. You have spent the last few years working with other
smugglers and are now ready to start your own venture. You
know all the tricks to move your cargo without arousing
suspicion. You could masquerade as a legitimate trader,

keeping your goods in compartments hidden in places no one
would ever look, burying materials beneath common goods.
You also know who to bribe and who befriend to get in and
out without anyone but your customers being the wiser. You
might also specialize in moving dangerous materials,
transporting goods customers secure from sellers in faraway
lands. Whatever your cargo, you have worked in this illegal
business long enough to know the best routes in and out of
even the most guarded communities.
Killer for Hire

Blood stains your hands. For a bag of coins, you get a name
and perhaps a description if youre lucky. You then track
down the person and kill them. How you kill them doesnt
matter so long as you get the job done and with as little mess
and trouble as possible. Poison, a strangling cord, a crossbow
fired from a high window, or simply a quick strike from a
bludgeon against the back of the head: all these methods, and
others as well, get the job done.
Your line of work has many risks. Obviously, the law of the
land forbids your trade and if you are ever captured the best
you can hope for is for the rope to break your neck in one go.
So, youre careful. You cover your tracks, you clean up the
evidence, and you never, ever let your victims see your face.
Youre probably selective about the jobs you take as well. If a
person is willing to hire a killer in the first place, theres
nothing to stop her from hiring a killer to take you out as well.
You probably work in one of the larger cities on the
outskirts of the North. Waterdeep, Luskan, and even
Neverwinter have plenty of opportunities for a discrete killer.
After a mission, though, youre likely to make yourself
scarce, to disappear. Luckily, there are bolt holes aplenty on
the frontier and places like Red Larch provide a perfect haven
for you to lay low until people have turned their attention
from the murder to other concerns.
Kryptgarden Bandit
The Kryptgarden Forest marks the westernmost edge of the
Sumber Hills. A tangled, wild forest, so thick with growth to
be almost impassable, the shadows cast by the thick canopy
conceal old ruins, sinkholes leading into the Underdark, and
secrets people would do best to leave alone. Locals claim
terrible monsters skulk through the gloom, their shrieks and
cries sounding from the tree line, the weird bone piles left on
its edges testimony to the horrors within, and thus only the
bravest woodcutters and trackers dare set foot into this murky
place.
To you, the Kryptgarden Forest has been your home.
Situated as it is near the major artery connecting Mirabar to
Waterdeep, with Red Larch nestled in the foothills to the east,
it is ideally positioned for waylaying travelers and raiding
farms for supplies. You joined a bandit gang and your group
lairs in this deep forest. Many of the local legends about these
woods are exaggerated and thats good news for you and your
fellows. You have, however, seen things that give you
nightmares. You dare not venture too far into the forest alone.
32
Some circumstance must have turned you to banditry. Why

did you decide to take up a life on the wrong side of the law?
Are you an outlaw, with a reward on your head for some
crime you did or did not commit? Perhaps you were a
poacher, forced to steal game from a noble to feed your
family. Maybe other bandits burned down your homestead
and the only way to survive in the world was to resort to the
same tactics. Whatever your reasons, your time as a bandit
has made you a survivor. You know how to live in the
wilderness, to make do with meager supplies, and find your
way through the landscape without much fear of becoming
lost.
work, ancient evils stirring in the crust of the earth and foul,
capering legions working to coax them forth. More and more
Harper agents enter these lands to discover what might be
afoot and what steps, if any, they can take to halt its spread.
You work as a spy for the Harpers. You might be a
sympathizer, working to earn your place in the organization,
or you might be a full-time member. Harpers place fairness
and equality as the highest ideals, above the rule of law and
custom. What experience did you have that revealed their
beliefs were in alignment with your own? Finally, how were
you recruited? Did you seek out the Harpers or did you prove
your worth to them?
Scoundrel of Bargewright
Call to Action: The Criminal
Bargewrights proximity to the River Dessarin and the

Ironford Bridge makes Bargewright Inn a perfect stop for
travelers moving up and down the river or seeking a crossing
to the rivers far shore. The steady traffic flowing through this
place helped transform an otherwise minor wayside inn into a
bustling village that caters to travelers needs, offering food,
accommodations, and supplies for those with the coin to pay
for them. Such a climate makes Bargewright a perfect place
for charlatans to work their mischief on the people moving
through the community en route to whatever far-flung
destination awaits them.
You have spent much of your life working in and around
the Bargewright Inn, long enough that you have something of
a reputation for being a scoundrel, a neer-do-well that has no
compunction against taking advantage of other people. In fact,
you probably have a few confederates that help you pull of
your scams in exchange for a cut of what you take. The locals
not working with you tolerate your presence so long as you
dont try your tricks on them and play your games only with
those nameless and faceless travelers that flow through the
community like water.
With such an arrangement in place, something has likely
happened to dislodge you from your comfortable place.
Perhaps you double-crossed the wrong person. A noble in
disguise or a powerful wizard could be an enemy you rue
making and one that ultimately sees you putting the Inn to
you back as you hurry off. Then again, there are whispers that
the Zhentarim have their hooks in Bargewright. Perhaps your
mischief made trouble for the Zhentarim and forced you to
flee for your life. Then again, maybe you have a talent the
Zhentarim find useful and have found yourself drawn into the
sinister society as one of their agents.
There are several ways a criminal might become involved in

one you chose.
Best Served Cold. You spent the last month rotting in a
prison cell because a right bastard named Harrowind helped
put you there. You spent that time turning over the events that
led to your incarceration over and over again. Harrowind, the
lead singer and front man of a minstrel band named the
Windwyrds, was charming, handsome, and empty-headed: a
perfect combination. You spent the evening in his company,
gambling, conversing, drinking, and then everything went
dark. When you woke, you had a splitting headache, purse
empty, and locked inside a small cell for a crime you
obviously didnt commit. It was no trouble escaping; you
instigated a riot, picked the lock on your manacles, and
slipped away when no one was looking. Free from your cell,
you have begun the search for the half-elf, bound and
determined to get some payback.
Dangerous Secrets. You have been spying for an
organization for several months. The organization might be
the Harpers, the Lords Alliance, or even the Zhentarim.
Regardless of whom you work for, you have been following
up on some unsavory rumors about a group of druids known
as the Circle of the Scarlet Moon. After making a few discrete
inquiries, its clear they are not druids and are in fact
something much worse, though what, you arent yet sure.
Youve learned a phrase that will supposedly get you into
their headquarters and you hope to use it to infiltrate the
group and find out what theyre up to.
Entertainers of the North
Spy for the Harpers

Longtime opponents of despots and tyrants the world over,
the Harpers travel far and wide to monitor activities in the
lands they would protect. Since they are often viewed as
meddlers, agitators, and rabble-rousers, they do not always
find welcome when they travel. To ensure they can gather
intelligence without arousing suspicion and to earn the trust of
those they meet, many Harpers keep secret their affiliation.
The Harpers have become increasingly interested in the
Sumber Hills. Reports from this area suggest dark forces at
From the tiniest hamlet to the largest metropolis, one can find
entertainers almost everywhere in the North. Entertainers
offer respite from lifes drudgery. They provide an escape
from the worries and burdens through a somber tale told in
front of the hearth or in a lively song played by a popular
band of minstrels whose visits to the remote corners may well
be the most important event to happen all year long. In the
cities, entertainers may work in taverns, playing for room,
board, and the generosity of the patrons, but in the wilds, the
entertainers, even the ones with little skill, may find celebrity
33
status among those living on civilizations borders.

Adventure often finds entertainers whether they seek it or
not. Working the small stages in a citys taverns puts them in
front of all manner of people, from all over the world. A
mixture of charisma and skill might see these players drawn
into grand adventures, recruited for the scraps of lore theyve
picked up or the pleasure of their company. Traveling
entertainers face dangers on the open road and must be
prepared to protect themselves from bandits, monsters, and
worse.
If you choose entertainer for you background, consider one
of the following options to help you fit your character into the
Tavern Performer
An entertainer has to start somewhere. The tavern holds great
appeal for many entertainers. Regular performances on the
same stage gives the entertainer a chance to build a following,
an opportunity to draw an income, and, best of all, an chance
for audience members to spread word about the entertainers
talent. While the tavern, inn, or another similar venue has
great promise, it can also be a trap. Some entertainers never
move on once they become comfortable on a certain stage and
the longer they spend on that stage, the less likely they will
move on to find their fortunes on ever-larger stages.
You have found your stage in a tavern. You negotiated with
the barkeep for a regular performance and a couple nights
each tenday you step on the stage and do what you do best.
The arrangement keeps a roof over your head and food in
your belly, but you want something more. You know you are
better than the small stage where you play and one day, with
hard work and persistence, you might reach your true
potential.
Pit Fighter
When one thinks entertainer, a seasoned warrior with bloody
knuckles and savage scars crisscrossing her body is not likely
to be the first thing to come to mind. Entertainers cast a wide
net. They include anyone who earns a living performing in
front of audiences, even people who fight for a crowd.
Pit fighters take their name from the practice of climbing
into a pit with another combatant and brawling for the
spectacle of it, with crowds looking down from above,
passing bets between themselves on who will emerge
victorious. Many contests are between people, but in some
places, a pit fighter may have to square off against a different
sort of foea bear, serpent, or something much worse.
You fight these contests for coin. Each time you descend
into the pit, you never know if that battle will be your last.
Skill, perseverance, and raw toughness have kept you alive
and you now have something of a reputation for being an
accomplished warrior. People whisper stories about you, your
savagery and fearlessness, leading some to avoid you and
others to call you out to see just how dangerous you are.
Traveling Entertainer
Everyone needs a distraction from time to time, a break in
lifes drudgery, an escape from the worries and challenges

that strive to make life unbearable. The entertainer offers this
escape, freedomif only for a momentfrom lifes many
pressures. On the frontier, where travelers are uncommon at
best, entertainers find welcome almost wherever they go.
When a traveling entertainer comes to a remote town,
everyone turns out for the spectacle. Storytellers to minstrels,
singers to dancers, a traveling entertainer not only provides a
break in the daily hardship, but also brings news of the
surrounding lands.
You are a traveling entertainer and you wander the
wilderness, traveling from homestead to homestead, village to
village, stopping long enough to get a warm meal, a few
drinks, and a comfortable bed in exchange for an evenings
performance and a little gossip. What impels you to lead this
life? Are you hopelessly afflicted with wanderlust, unable to
put down roots and always looking to the horizon, drawn
inexorably to see whats over the next hill? Or are you
running from something? And if so, what? A jilted lover, a
debt-holder, an estranged family?
Call to Action: The Entertainer

There are several ways an entertainer might become involved
in the adventure. When you create your character, you can
pick one of the following options. Be sure to tell your DM
which one you chose.
Old Grudges. A few years ago, when you were first starting
out, you ran afoul of a traveling minstrel band, a group known
as the Windwyrds. You befriended the leader, a charming
half-elf named Harrowind and you played a few songs for
him, hoping to perhaps get a place in the band. The next
night, you went to watch them perform and watched in horror
when they played your songs, taking all the credit. When you
confronted Harrowind, he laughed in your face. You since
traveled to the North where you hoped to make a new start.
About a tenday ago, after you played your set, one of the
patrons came up to you and mentioned they heard the same
song played by the Windwyrds, accusing you of stealing the
music. It seems your old enemy has followed you to the
frontier.
Strange Map. A few nights ago, you had your performance
spoiled by a group of rowdy patrons. Rude, offensive, and
mocking, their jeers drove you from the stage. Later that
night, when you were helping to clean the tavern, you
discovered a map left behind at their table. The map depicted
a castle. Maybe its one of the Haunted Keeps in the Sumber
Hills? And if so, maybe there is treasure to be had there?
Folk Heroes of the North

Not all heroes were born to fill this role. Some heroes rise
from the ranks of ordinary men and women, individuals who,
when given the chance to do something extraordinary, take it.
Roving bands of monsters, droughts, war, reckless magic, and
countless other dangers make victims of honest folk and leave
their lives in tatters. It is from such adversity that heroes are
made. When the opportunity to do right, to rise above
34
expectations, it is the hero that seizes the initiative and does

what others are unwilling or unable to do. With the myriad
dangers stalking the North, opportunities abound for normal
people to become anything but.
If you choose folk hero for you background, consider one
Frontier Homesteader
A monster-infested wilderness the North may be, but it is also
a place of promise, of freedom from social conventions, and
hope for a life lived in whatever manner a person chooses.
Leaving the big cities strung along the Sword Coast and
moving inland, one passes through numerous towns and
villages, each one smaller and less populated than the last
until the horizon stretches, empty and devoid of human
habitation. It is here where the homesteaders settle, where
they build their homes, grow crops, and tend to their
livestock.
The frontier offers freedom from the crushing poverties of
the slums, the oppressive laws of the aristocracy, crime, and
all the other side effects of civilization. But there are dangers
too. Homesteaders face drought and disease, blighted crops,
roving bands of monsters. Considering the manifold dangers,
people living out beyond the towns cooperate with each other.
They trade gossip and goods, help each other with the harvest,
and track down wild animals that threaten their animals and
families.
As a frontier homesteader, your story begins out on the
edges of civilization. You might have been a first generation
steader or you might come from a homesteader family.
Opportunities for heroics are everywhere in the wilderness.
You might have spotted a band of orcs and brought warning
to the other farms. You could have offered refuge to
adventurers fleeing their enemies, hiding them in your home.
Any number of ways could have let you rise above the
ordinary and become someone quite extraordinary.
Member of the Militia

The Lords Alliance and other institutions offer some
protections to the smaller and more remote communities
scattered on the periphery of the large cities, but their
protections and enforcement of the law are haphazard. There
are simply too many places to patrol, too many people to
protect, for these law enforcers to be everywhere. As a result,
most communities rely on a local militia for protection. They
might not be the best trained or the best armed, but they are
willing and committed to protecting the community.
Your heroic, defining moment happened when you were
part of the militia. You might have started the militia in your
town, teaching young men and women the basic fighting
techniques. Or, you could have joined an established militia,
and distinguished yourself by rallying your fellows to drive
off the Uthgardt raiders. The militia might also handle other
tasks beyond fighting. You might have raced into a burning
house to rescue a family trapped inside. You might have
worked as the personal protector of a visiting dignitary.
Whatever role you played in the militia, you stood out, went
beyond the call of duty, and earned your place as a folk hero.
Village Wisdom
People learn to fend for themselves in the wilderness. They
dont have the protection of armies, the watch, or even much
in the way of priests to tend to their hurts and cure their ills.
People in the wilderness protect themselves, learn to provide
for their families and attend their hurts using herbs and
healing techniques discovered through the generations. Some
communities have a wisdom, an elder who keeps the
communitys lore and watches over the community.
You were your villages wisdom. In this role, you tended
the sick, mended broken bones, doled out advise to farmers,
and offered counsel to the community leaders. People look up
to you for the knowledge you possess, even if they might
bristle a bit under your gruff demeanor. To your people, you
have performed more heroics than they can count. Each baby
delivered, each sickness cured, each life saved cements your
place as a great person and vital member of your community.
Call to Action: The Folk Hero

There are several ways a folk hero might become involved in
one you chose.
Ominous Dream. You saw them die. Your friends, you
family, and everyone you have ever known or cared for sent
tumbling down into the earths greedy darkness. The ground
trembled and split open, your town sliding into fissures. And
above the screams, you heard insane laughter. Searching, you
found the source, and it was a man gripping an iron pick in his
fist, and from it rolled waves of dark magic into the earth.
When he cast his gaze upon you, you felt your body stiffen,
slowly turning to stone, and just before all awareness fled,
you woke, safe in your bed. Was this a dream or something
more?
Seeking Revenge. The cowards came in the night. They
struck with no warning. With torch and sword, they walked
from house to house, butchering the occupants and putting
everything to flame. They made no demands. They took
nothing. They simply killed and burned. You rallied your
friends and made a stand against the attackers. But they had
magic on their side, hideous warlocks, flesh on their faced
melted, who sprayed elemental flames from their fingertips.
They broke your defensive line and send the few survivors
scattering. You do not know who they were, but they
displayed a symbol on their clothing, a symbol you now seek
to get your revenge.
Guild Artisan of the North

The North is rich in resources. Great stretches of uncut woods
offer timber to the woodcutters. Mountains and hills sit atop
veins of silver, gold, and other precious metals. Hides from
wildlife, grains, and just about any other resource an artisan
might need to produce finished goods can be had for a
35
pittance compare to elsewhere in the world. And this is just

the way the trade guilds in Waterdeep, Mirabar, and
elsewhere like it. Producing goods on the frontier and
shipping them from the various ports carries some risk, but
the rewards more than make up for the occasional loss
brought about by pirates, raiders, and brigands. The Norths
abundance keeps the guilds in coin and influence throughout
these lands.
Guild members do not seek out adventure. Rather,
adventure happens to find them. As rich as the North is in raw
materials, it also has dangers aplenty and sometimes
apprehending those coveted raw materials means traveling
through dangerous lands and facing vicious monsters. Guild
artisans, especially those in the cities, do not normally find
themselves thrust into situations where their lives become
imperiled. But those artisans working in the smaller
settlements might find themselves thrust into adventure when
their community comes under attack, when slavers sweep
them up with other villagers, or worse happens.
Unlike guild artisans, guild merchants have far more
opportunities for adventure, whether they want them or not.
Merchants frequently set out with guarded caravans to find
new markets for their goods. Whether traveling the waterways
on riverboats or risking their lives in overland journeys to the
most distant bazaars, guild merchants may find new roads to
travel after an ambush, capture, or stumbling onto some
sinister plot while taking a respite at a roadside inn.
If you choose guild artisan for you background, consider
one of the following options to help you fit your character
into the Elemental Evil campaign.
Guild Envoy of Waterdeep

The trade guilds in Waterdeep rank among some of the most
powerful in the North. Having cornered their respective
markets in and around the city, they guild leaders cast their
eyes further afield, looking to expand their influence into
other lands. To this end, they dispatch envoys to the various
settlements and communities, to find skilled artisans to add to
their ranks and to take control over the production of goods
and services they represent. Envoys act as representatives of
their guilds, bargain with local craftsmen and merchants, and
make deals with suppliers of raw materials to keep the costs
low and artisans working round the clock to produce goods
that will be traded all along the Sword Coast and beyond.
Although guild envoys may be accustomed to the comforts
their status and position provide, traveling with all the
trappings of wealth invites unwanted attention from
scoundrels and cutthroats. As well, rivals watch out for guild
agents moving into their territory and go to great lengths to
frustrate the efforts of an expanding guild. For these reasons
and more, guild envoys keep a low profile when traveling on
the road, making sure they avoid attracting attention to
themselves.
You work for one of Waterdeeps guilds. You have been
assigned to Red Larch to gather information about trade, new
suppliers of raw materials, and to keep your masters informed
about troubles on the frontier. You likely have several
contacts in and around Red Larch and you often travel to

other towns and communities throughout the region. Your
work does not consume all your time, however, and you
might supplement your modest pay by undertaking freelance
missions for the rewards they offer.
Mirabar Weaponsmith
Mirabar, a fortified city situated on the Sword Coast, is home
to the finest armors and weaponsmith in the North. The shield
dwarves making their homes there extract ore from the
extensive mines under the city and turn the iron into steel,
crafting exceptional armor, weapons, and other metal goods.
Merchants, human and dwarven, move finished goods to
distant markets, while courageous defenders ensure no one
interferes with their work or the transport of their goods.
You spent the last few years apprenticed to a master
weaponsmith from whom you learned the secrets of steel.
You proved yourself an apt and worthy pupil, eventually
winning your journeyman status. While you could toil in
Mirabar, you have spent your life there and fantasized about
what lies beyond your citys walls. So you decided to set up
shop in one of the southern towns, likely traveling with one of
the caravans to your new home. Once you find a place to
settle down, you are confident word of your skills will reward
you with a comfortable life and possibly a place in one of the
great trade guilds.
Renegade Artisan
Guilds offer much to craftsmen. For those who can pay for a
place, masters train apprentices, instructing them until they
prove a workable knowledge, and then set them free as
journeymen so they can earn the title of master. Association
with a guild grants steady work, but at the cost of set prices
and subservience to the guild leaders. While some artisans
accept their circumstances, a few chaff under the guilds
demands and look for a way to be free from their sometime
oppressive oversight.
You reached the point when you could no longer tolerate
the guilds demands and decided to leave your old life behind.
What prompted this decision? Were you forced to accept
lower prices than what your work was worth? Were you
forced to produce work of a lower quality? Or were you
secretly selling your goods on the black market? The city and
the guild behind you, you have set out to make a new life on
the frontier. You may have established yourself in one of the
villages or you could still be searching for a place where the
guild cannot yet reach. How did you end your affiliation with
the guild? And what would they do if they discovered you had
gone out on your own?
Waterdhavian Merchant
The guilds in Waterdeep and in other cities have strangleholds
on trade throughout the North. The guilds keep tariffs low and
mitigate some of the risk of moving materials by investing in
shipments, supplying guards, and absorbing damaged or
unsalable merchandise. In exchange, merchants affiliated with
the guilds may a percentage of their profits back to the guild,
36
a percentage some can tolerate and others may find

oppressive, especially when the watch their profits shrink
away.
You belong to one of the trade guilds of Waterdeep. You
might head up your outfit or you may be one merchant among
many in your group. As a guild merchant, youre always on
the lookout for new markets for your goods. The North seems
ready for your groups expansion, especially considering the
rumors of war and unrest you have been hearing. Conflict
means higher demand for the goods your guild moves and
higher demand means you can charge more.
How did you become involved in the guild? Were you
recruited or are you part of a family business. What kinds of
goods do you normally transport? Finally, how successful is
your operation? Have you enjoyed great success or are you
struggling to make ends meet?
Call to Action: The Guild Artisan

There are several ways a guild artisan might become involved
Settle a Score. When Ulgarr Crumblechasm robbed and
betrayed your people, leaving an empty electrum mine and
taking all the profits from years of hard labor, he wrecked
your life and the lives of your fellows. Your small guild
collapsed as a result and the debt holders swept in to squeeze
every copper from your purses. Ruined, disgraced, and
penniless, you swore vengeance against the shield dwarf. You
will make him pay for his treachery and you will get back
every coin he stole from you, even if doing so would cost you
your life.
Recover your Sword. You have spent the better part of five
years working for the title of journeyman. Your master knew
you were ready. Your peers knew it as well. You had one last
test to prove you were ready, and you were tasked with
forging a sword. You labored long and hard of the project,
crafting an exquisite blade, etched with runes of power, no
detail overlooked. It was the work of a master. When the
weapon was complete, you locked it inside a special case you
had made to present to your master the next day. At some
point during the night, however, your forge was robbed, the
vault holding the weapons emptied down to the last dagger.
The apprentice tasked with guarding the place was murdered,
his throat cut. Your master paid a cleric to call forth the
apprentices spirit to see what happened and from the corpse
you learned a gang of thugs had broken into the place. The
apprentice knew them not, but recalled a device featured on
their clothing, a symbol that you later learned signified
elemental water. While your master refused to track down the
thieves, fearing their power, you want your sword back and
thus left your community to find it.
Hermits of the North

One can walk for days in the North without encountering
another person. As much as sections of these lands have come
to be settled, occupied by homesteaders and farms, sprinkled
with villages with roads between, even these meager efforts to

tame the wild give up after a few leagues, when they come to
the deep forests and rolling hills. What lies beyond is the
trackless wilds, the empty spaces on the map where a person
can leave behind civilizations trappings and find the isolation
he or she so desperately craves.
Hermits choose isolation over the company of others. Some
hermits may have been driven to this extreme, outcasts from
their tribe or town, but most leave behind their lives under
their own free will. Isolation gives one time to reflect, to
ponder the mysteries of the universe. It also grants freedom
from the societal expectations and the rules and law
governing society. Many hermits disdain these things and
leave it all behind to find a simpler way to live. Once they
find it, returning to the people they left behind may be a
traumatic and unsettling experience. After all, living alone in
the fringes of the world, the world turns, events transpire,
people die and new ones are born to replace them. History
moves on and for the hermit who spent many years alone, a
return can be something like entering an entirely different
reality.
Hermits do not give up their isolation lightly. It takes a
significant event to thrust them into the thick of other people
once more for if cities and towns held appeal, why would the
individual choose seclusion anyway. A hermit might find his
chosen home has become too dangerous. Perhaps a monster
settles nearby or even in the hermits home. A natural disaster
could force a hermit out of seclusion; a wildfire could reduce
the hermits chosen plot of land to ash and ruin.
Some hermits forced out of isolation find the adventurers
life suits them. Isolation has made them self-sufficient.
Spending too long in a crowded place is uncomfortable at best
and a former hermit is only too happy to pick up and move on
to someplace else. And the company of a few companions is
more tolerable than the stink and press of an overcrowded
city.
If you choose hermit for you background, consider one of
Former Prisoner
Not everyone who becomes a hermit does so by choice. For
crimes real or imagined, a person spending months or years
locked away in a cell or at the bottom of a pit passes time in
isolation, often in the darkness, and what contact with other
people occurs is usually the delivery of meals or torture. The
misery of confinement taxes the victims mind to the point of
breaking.
You know the isolation of imprisonment as you have spent
an extended period locked away in a dungeon cell. Why were
you imprisoned? Was it punishment for a crime you were
accused of committing? Did you break the law or were you
falsely accused? Or were you a prisoner? Maybe you were
captured in a battle and held in a cell until you could be
ransomed back to your family? How did your period of
imprisonment end? Did you escape your cell or were you
released?
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Wilderness Protector
Some hermits choose their way of life as a result of being
called to protect a particular place. The site may have
religious significancea god may have rested there for a
night or the place could have witnessed a climactic battle
between two gods. Other sacred places could be gateways to
other worlds, pristine areas of the wilderness, rich in natural
magic. Stone circles, monoliths, or shrines of great
importance to a religion that has all but faded from the region
can also be places hermits protect.
You have lived as a hermit to safeguard a place of great
significance to your culture or religion. What was the place
and what is its significance? If you are an Uthgardt barbarian,
the site might have some connection to your spirit guide. Or,
if you are an elf, the place could be a hidden entrance to the
Feywild. A place where the druids gather once every century
to conduct sacred ceremonies and rites or the tomb of a fallen
champion might also be worthy places to protect.
Call to Action: The Hermit

There are several ways a hermit might become involved in the
adventure. When you create your character, you can pick one
of the following options. Be sure to tell your DM which one
you chose.
Defeat the Skyriders. You broke your ties to civilization
long ago. You might have been imprisoned or you might have
become disillusioned with urban life. Or, you might be a
nature priest and act as guardian of a stretch of territory.
Whatever your reason, you have spend a year or more in near
isolation, only visiting a nearby village when you need
supplies or would lend a hand to helping the common folk. A
tenday ago, you were headed toward the village to trade some
fish you caught in the stream for a few tankards of local beer,
when you saw smoke crawling up into the sky. When you
drew near the village, you saw the attackers making ready to
depart, a vile bunch astride hippogriffs and burdened with loot
they took from the villagers. You didnt owe the villagers
much, but they were kind to you, and tolerant of your weird
ways. They deserve vengeance. Maybe its time for you to set
aside your isolation and do the right thing?
Mad Man at the Haunted Keeps. When you left behind the
civilized world, you settled in the ruins of the Haunted Keeps
and, perhaps, see yourself as something of a caretaker. A few
months back, a band of mercenaries moved into the Rivergard
Keep and began making repairs, presumably to watch over
river trade and keep the merchants safe from pirates and
monsters. You watched them work and while they did deal
with a few foul creatures, they seemed more inclined to
recruit the bandits and pirates to their cause. You know a
hidden way into the keep, but you dont dare go alone. You
need help. The trick is to find someone who will not only
listen to you, but also believe you.
Nobles of the North

Some heroes are born, not made. Nobles can be found among
almost any race or culture, and possess a dizzying variety of

titles and privileges. Scores of wealthy and influential
families can be found only a few days travel from the humble
settlement of Red Larch in cities such as Neverwinter,
Waterdeep, or Yartar. Scores more maintain estates, holds, or
lodges in the countryside of the Dessarin Vale, seeking to
carve out (or expand) rich fiefs from the wilderness.
Nobles are rarely forced into lives of adventure; as scions of
families with money, property, and influence, they have no
need to risk life and limb in search of monster-guarded
treasure. They seek adventure for different reasons. Some are
merely bored, and adventure to find excitement. Some seek to
prove their worth to themselves or their families, while others
adventure out of a sense of duty, protecting the people they
rule over against the dangers that threaten civilization. More
than a few are younger brothers and sisters to their families
expected heirs, and have no real prospects of inheriting their
parents title and wealth; adventuring is a career in which
non-heirs might eventually win titles and estates of their own.
Finally, a few adventuring nobles are black sheep, disowned
by their families for serious lapses or failings of one sort or
another. These disowned nobles are little better than
vagabonds, but at least they retain the genteel mannerisms and
expensive tastes of their upbringing.
Three noble backgrounds that are especially well suited for
the Elemental Evil campaign include the dwarven clanlord,
the lord of the hold, and the Waterdhavian rake.
Dwarven Clanlord
Many people naturally think of human lords and kings when
they think of nobles, simply because human societies are
more likely than most to be marked by divisions of class and
family. But noble lines exist among many races, not just
humans. In the North, highborn shield dwarves are almost as
common as human lordlings, and they enjoy many of the
same perquisites of rank and station that human lords do.
They hail from mighty cities such as Citadel Adbar, Citadel
Felbarr, or Mithral Hall, although many dwarven lords in the
North belong to dispossessed linesthese lands are full of
dwarven kingdoms that crumbled into ruin long ago, and
more than a few dwarven clanlords can only lay claim to
abandoned ruins.
Dwarven aristocracy tends to be more meritocratic than
many human systems of nobility. An inept human noble
might still command respect because of her familys name
and wealth, but dwarves have little patience for incompetence
in their leaders. Dwarven nobles are much more willing than
humans to pass over unworthy offspring and name distant
kinsmen as their heirs if their closer kin arent up to the job.
As a result, dwarven clanlords (and their chosen heirs) are
almost always skilled warriors and bold leaders, tireless and
driven to succeed.
You are the child or close relative of a shield dwarf
clanlordperhaps the aged King Emerus Warcrown of
Citadel Felbarr, or perhaps a long-exiled royal house of the
fallen realm of Ammarindar. Before you take your place at
the head of your clan, you are expected to master the crafts
38
esteemed by dwarves, such as mining, smithwork, and

engineering. You are also expected to travel widely, learn
new things, and prove yourself as a leader in battle. Taking up
the life of an adventurer for a few years should provide plenty
of opportunities to discover what you are really made of.
March Lord
The vast majority of the North consists of unsettled
wilderness. Towns and villages are often separated by miles
and miles of trackless forest and windswept hills. These lands
are often desolate and monster-haunted, but they represent an
opportunity to the bold of heartin these lands, a man or
woman can win a title with a strong sword-arm. Many heroes
(and a few villains) eventually settle down and establish a
stronghold, driving back the edge of the wild by a few miles
and bringing the light of civilization to lands that have known
only barbarism and savagery.
By the standards of the high nobles of the cities and longtamed lands, these lords of the marches are hardly lords at
all. March lords are regarded by many other nobles as rude,
ignorant, uneducated louts who are little better than thugs
leading gangs of sellswords. Instead of gilded palaces, they
make their homes in log palisades, straw-floored halls, or
cramped, drafty castles in the middle of nowhere. Most of
these would-be lordlings raise their simple keeps, rule over
muddy hamlets, and then die out in a generation or two. Of
course, those same high nobles forget that once upon a time,
their ancestors were march lords too.
You are the descendant of a march lord in or around the
Dessarin Vale. Your family holding is a tower or small castle
a couple of days travel from Red Larch and the Sumber Hills.
Your parent or grandparent fought hard to carve a small
holding out of nothing, and it will be up to you to continue
that work and make your family powerful and respected. Are
you the heir, training yourself for the responsibilities that will
one day be yours, or do you already rule your predecessors
holding? If you already hold the title, think about why you
would leave your fief to adventure. Are you fighting to
protect your home, or are you looking for a way to escape
your responsibilities?
Waterdhavian Rake
Not all nobles are feudal landlords living in castles. In Faern,
many nobles are city-dwelling aristocrats who choose to live
near the levers of power instead of isolated in remote fiefs.
The extensive estates their ancestors won generations ago still
represent a great deal of their family fortunes, but these urban
nobles regard their elegant villas, townhomes, or palaces as
their true homestheir holdings beyond the city walls are
simply property. Living in a great city such as Waterdeep
offers many advantages: a prominent presence at court, access
to the levers of power, and of course the opportunity to
socialize with other aristocrats of similarly exalted rank.
The rake is a noble who rarely sets foot outside the city
walls. Instead, the rake devotes his or her time to aristocratic
pursuits such as gambling, hunting, entertaining, flirtations
and love affairs, and most of all never-ending games of

intrigue to amass even more prestige, influence, or wealth.
While many rakes are harmless fops, spoiled brats, or indolent
underachievers, its unwise to assume that they are inept.
Some dilettantes court the deadly danger of the adventurers
career as a game, looking for something to challenge them.
Others belong to aristocratic houses divided by bitter rivalries.
Noble feuds often instill a prickly sense of family honor, a hot
temper, and a readiness to punish insultsreal or merely
imaginedwith sharp steel. Consequently, many rakes are
lethal duelists, and look for opportunities to demonstrate their
prowess.
As a Waterdhavian rake, you are the scion of a noble family
such as the Hallwinters, Ilvastarrs, or Margasters. For now
they seem content to let you wander, but its only a matter of
time before the intrigues and iniquities of city life draw you
back in again. Why did you leave? What could possibly
interest you in the cold and cheerless wilderness lands of the
North?
Variant Noble: The Rake
Some nobles are more interested in living the good life than
running kingdoms. Naturally, you acquire a different set of life
experiences if you spend your days in drunken revelry and
displays of bravado than you do by trying to live up to the
responsibilities of your rank. If you decide that you are a rake
instead of a stodgy knight or lordling, you gain Acrobatics and
Deception as skill proficiencies instead of History and
Persuasion (you never had patience for lessons or diplomacy,
but youve learned how to get out of embarrassing
escapades).
You can also choose Friends in Low Places as your
background feature, instead of Retainers. Youre at home in
just about any place where drinking is going on. Whether its
at a village pub or among your familys soldiers, when you
hoist a flagon with others, they treat you as a friend.
Call to Action: The Noble

A noble hero might be drawn to the challenge of elemental
evil in a number of different ways. Choose one of the
following calls to action, and let your DM know which one
you wish to pursue.
Captives of Fire: A month ago, a mysterious band of
raiders armed with powerful fire-magic descended on your
familys hold or one of your familys estates. They burned
fields full of crops and fired many buildings, but worse yet,
they took some of your people captive. You have sworn to
track down these raiders and free the captives they took.
Feathergale Rebel: Savra Belabranta comes from a highly
respected noble house in Waterdeep, but she has always been
a bit of a rebel. She is also a dear friend (perhaps even a
relative) of yours. A few months ago, she had a bitter quarrel
with her family and left Waterdeep to spend time in the
company of some new friends of hers, a band of hippogriffriders who style themselves the Feathergale Knights. They are
supposed to have a keep or outpost somewhere in the Sumber
Hills. Youve been asked to find her and persuade her to go
home because the Belabrantas are worried about Savra;
39
somehow, shes . . . changed.
Outlanders of the North

Doughty explorers risk their lives to blaze trails across the
wilderness. Uthgardt barbarians ransack the hated outposts of
civilization. Lone hunters move unseen and unheard through
the deep woods, while pilgrims who brave the lands manifold
perils with certainty that comes with their religious
convictions. All these people and more belong to the North
and each one represents a different facet of the outlander
background.
What unites these various characters is how they adapt to
living in the wild. They do not depend on the comforts of the
city to sustain them. They do not need brick walls to feel safe.
They rely on themselves to make their way in the world and
they have learned the tricks and techniques required to
survive in a dangerous world.
Outlanders are natural adventurers. They have the survival
skills an explorer needs to navigate dangerous territory. They
also know their own limitations and, when necessary, how to
push past them. An outlander might join an adventuring group
as a guide or navigator, or could recruit other capable
individuals for a mission to deal with a dire threat that casts a
shadow over the entire region.
If you choose outlander for you background, consider one
Variant: Elf Forester
Outlanders include members from all the major races in the

world. Human outlanders are not all that different from half-
orc or even dwarf outlanders. The elves, especially the copper
elves (also known as wood elves), however have a strong
connection to the natural world and can rely on their peoples
long=standing traditions to supplement the training they
need to be effective outlanders. The most famous of these
wilderness folk are the foresters.
Wood elf communities depend on foresters to protect
their borders from invaders and dangerous predators.
Foresters have unmatched knowledge of the territory they
patrol and can use their familiarity as a powerful advantage
when contesting with their enemies, whether they would
spring an ambush or lead them into the deep forest where
they become hopelessly lost.
If you choose to play an elf forester rather than an
outlander, for skill proficiencies, replace Athletics with
Stealth. For too proficiencies, replace musical instrument with
herbalism kit.
High Forest Warden

One of the oldest forests in the North, if not the oldest, the
High Forest stands as a reminder of what the world was once
like, recalling a time when forests covered much of the world
and the elves ruled the lands. So thick is the growth, so
tangled the paths, few dare venture under its canopy for fear
of never coming out again. Most people who live near the
forest tell tales of queer monsters and old ruins hidden by the
overgrowth, of fantastical treasures purported to have been
lost somewhere within. Numerous creatures live in the High

Forest, but it is the elves who act as its staunch protectors. Elf
foresters protect the boundaries, always on guard for orcs and
other savage humanoids that would despoil the forest for
timber, meat, or for the sheer pleasure destruction brings.
Elves may permit travelers to explore the woodland depths,
though they may follow, watching from a distance to ensure
visitors respect the land and its inhabitants.
You belong to this group of woodland guardians. You have
an excellent knowledge of the hidden pathways through these
lands. Whether driving back orc interlopers or disrupting
bands of brigands thinking to mount their raids against the
nearby settlements, you carry out your mission.
For some reason, you left the High Forest. You might have
left to pursue a villain that wreaked havoc in the forest. A
desire for justice could be enough to draw you from your
homeland. Then again, maybe you witnessed a terrible magic
loosed by strange intruders. Because you and your fellows
failed to stop them before they could unleash ravenous flames
or devastating quake to destroy a large area of forest, you
have set out to stop them before they strike again.
Homesteader
The frontier lures people from the cities, people tired of the
stench, the corruption, and crime. The unspoiled, untamed
frontier lies before them, promising a new life, with clean air,
good earth, and honest, though hard, lives. People who
answer the call pack up their belongings and set out, blazing
new trails across the wilderness until they find a place they
can call their own. Homesteaders form a loose community
spread across the leagues. Each an independent outpost in the
wilderness, they share the hardships of harsh winters, blights,
roving bands of savage humanoids, disease, and worse. Yet
for all thats stacked against them, they survive through
determination and the fruits of their own labors.
The dangers arrayed against homesteaders make them a
hardy and durable people, making them into capable
survivalists able to withstand the rigors of adventure.
However, most homesteaders focus their skills on surviving
on the frontier and protecting their families. Once they carve
out a place for themselves, they will usually die to defend it.
You were part of these courageous people and you built
your home somewhere out in the wilderness. You likely
farmed your lands, built your own house, and established your
tiny community far from the stinking cities to the north and
west. If you succeeded in this venture, why leave it behind?
Perhaps your parents were homesteaders and you did not
share their enthusiasm for the life they chose. Or, you might
have built a farm on the frontier only to lose it to orcs,
goblins, or brigands. All sorts of monsters haunt the darkness
beyond civilizations lights. Perhaps one of them destroyed
your dream and left you as the only survivor.
Variant: Guide
Although many outlanders spend their entire lives on the

frontier, some divide their time between the wilderness and
civilization. Having developed the survival skills and a
40
familiarity with the countryside, they realize their skills have

value to others seeking passage to far-flung lands reachable
only over land. Working as guides, they their knowledge of
the wilderness helps them reach destinations by the shortest
and safest routes. Guides always know what trails to take and
what places to avoid so they can deliver their charges safe as
they promised.
If you choose guide, you may replace either Athletics with
Perception and Survival with Nature as your skill
proficiencies. For tool proficiencies, replace musical
instrument with navigators tools.
Rather than start with a hunting trap and a trophy from an
animal you killed, you start with a bundle of maps and a tent.
Northern Pathfinder
The farther inland one travels east from the Sword Coast, the
more wild and unexplored the lands become until even the
tiny towns and villages one finds alongside the waterways or
the few roads disappear. What remains are great expanses of
empty plains with rolling hills on the eastern horizon, great,
tangled woods, and trackless swamps that have a habit of
swallowing up those who stumble into them. Unseasoned
explorers discover their error quickly if they set out into the
wilderness without a guide, for in some places its easy to
become turned around, especially in the woods and moors.
Luckily, one can usually find a pathfinder at any of the border
towns who will see them safely through the wilderness for a
price.
You have spent your whole life on the frontier and you
know the landscape like you know the backs of your hands.
You explored the Neverwinter Wood, survived the perils of
the Evermoors, climbed the Sword Mountains, and made the
journey from Red Larch to Griffons Nest more times than
you can count. Your expertise on this region makes you an
invaluable ally to have and your services are in high demand
from mercenary companies to caravans, adventurers to guild
merchants seeking out new markets for their wares.
The transition from being a professional guide to an
adventurer is an easy one. You might join the rest of the
group having learned of their mission. They might have
approached you for your expertise. Or, during one of your
expeditions, you might have come across some new evil,
some threat that could upset the lands delicate balance and
decided to fight for a cause greater than yourself.
Uthgardt Raider
The Uthgardt tribes reject civilizations trappings and
comforts. They disdain them as being decadent, corrupt, and
strange. These barbarian tribes live partly in the spirit world
as they receive guidance and instruction from the totem
animals representing their tribes and from the ancestors of
great chieftains and warriors. The Uthgardt clash with settled
lands and some of the more bellicose tribes attack with no
provocation. Great, howling hordes spill out from the
wilderness to sack town and village, to waylay caravans, and
drag their victims back to their encampments to serve as
slaves and thralls.
As violent as the Uthgardt savages can be, most oppose the
same enemies civilization fight. The barbarians fight against

giants and orcs, goblins and gnolls. They loathe undead and
hunt them down, destroying them wherever they find them.
And though they have no love for wizards or the societies that
produce them, the Uthgardt can set aside their differences
long enough to fight alongside their neighbors when they
must.
You come from these wild and warlike tribes. You are
likely strong and tough, a powerful warrior given to solving
problems with violence over discussion or negotiation. You
likely fear the magic used by wizards and sorcerers. You
would never show weakness in the face of magic; youd
sooner destroy it. With your natural disdain for the cities and
for arcane magic, something significant must have happened
to draw you out from your homelands and thrust you in the
thick of your enemies lands. Perhaps you and others in your
tribe witnessed some act of terrible magic and were sent south
to muster up aid from people who know about these things.
You could be an exile, cast out for violating a taboo or
displaying weird magical powers. Work with your Dungeon
Master to construct a story that makes sense for the campaign
and helps you fit into a group, especially if one or more
players have magic-using characters.
Call to Action: The Outlander

There are several ways an outlander might become involved
Friends in Low Places. A few months ago, a woman
named Hellenrae hired you to lead her and her henchmen to a
ruin somewhere in the wilderness. They were strange folk,
cruel and clearly unstable. You led them their destination as
you promised and received your pay. Before she sent you on
your way, she told you that if you ever wanted real power,
there might be a place for you in the Black Earth. She gave
you a letter of introduction and told you that if you ever
needed help to seek her out at the Sacred Stone Monastery.
Just present the letter and you would be given access.
Protector of the High Forest. You dont know who they
were or what they wanted. All you know is they came and
burned down a great swathe of your forest. Through the
flames you glimpsed them, horribly melted faces, liquid
flames spraying from their fingertips. They laughed as they
killed, exulted in the destruction they wrought, and then they
left. After you and your fellows put out the flames, you set out
to bring these villains to justice.
Sailors of the Sword Coast

The Dessarin Vale may seem to be a long way from the sea,
but its not as far as it looks. The city of Waterdeep, one of
the greatest ports in Faern, lies close by the mouth of the
river, less than a hundred miles from the Ironford. More than
a few sailors hoping for a change of luck strike out from
Waterdeep to seek their fortunes in the wide lands of the
North. Along the way some may find their destiny far from
the open sea.
41
If you are a sailor in the Elemental Evil campaign, you

probably hail from one of two origins: Northerner Seawolf or
Dessarin Riverhand.
Dessarin Riverhand
Overland travel in the North is hard; vast distances, difficult
terrain, ferocious monsters, and dangerous weather all
combine to make overland trade in the region very
challenging. Fortunately, nature provided these lands with a
different network of communication: The mighty rivers of the
North. From its mouth near Waterdeep, the River Dessarin
provides a navigable highway that extends almost two
hundred miles to the city of Yartarand its tributaries, the
Surbrin and the Rauvin, link the far inland cities of
Silverymoon, Everlund, and Sundabar to the rich trade of the
Sword Coast. Without the Dessarin (and the even mightier
Delimbiyr), the North would be nothing but an empty
wilderness.
While seagoing vessels can make their way upstream as far
as Ironford, the Dessarin grows progressively more fickle the
farther upstream one goes. Shallows, snags, and rapids soon
limit passage to vessels that draw no more than four or five
feet of water, so the cogs and coasters of the Sword Coast
give way to keelboats or riverboatssmaller, handier craft
with both oars and sails that can handle the changing river
conditions more easily. These boats have small, fiercely
independent crews who are renowned for brawling, drinking,
gambling, and bending the knee to no lord or master.
You are part of this free-spirited brotherhood. Youve
worked the passage from Zundbridge to Sundabar and back
again, ferrying fortunes in timber, fur, fish, and gold from to
the hungry markets of the Sword Coast. You know hundreds
of other riverhands and have a friend (or rival) on every
keelboat in the river. Youre quick with your fists, even
quicker with a bottle, and prone to outlandish boasts . . . some
of which you may even be able to back up. The North is a
wide and wild land, and you are just the man or woman to
tame it.
Northerner Seawolf
Your people inhabit the cold isles of the Sword Coast North:
Gundarlun, Ruathym, the Whalebones, or the remote
flyspecks known as the Purple Rocks. In these waters,
seafaring is not about rich cargoes and exotic portsits
about survival. Your people go to sea to fish, to seal, to whale,
clawing a slim living from the icy waters. When times grow
lean or the wind shifts to the south, your people leave their
nets and harpoons behind and become sea-reavers, raiding the
coastal villages and homesteads of the mainland. It is a hard
life, but it is the only one you know.
The sea itself has no special allure for you; theres nothing
romantic about the cold gray waters surrounding your
homeland or the hardscrabble existence of a fisherman or
sealer. You certainly dont believe that a life on the water is
the only life for you. Youre a sailor because thats what you
know how to do, and very few people ever escape the hard,
lonely life of the Trackless Sea isles unless they learn to sail.
Instead, you are an opportunist. The ports and the open lands
of the Sword Coast and the North are far richer and more
comfortable than the isolated islands where you grew up. You
are much more likely to find your fortune on the mainland,
after which you can return homeor not.
Mainlanders throughout the Sword Coast North see you as
a half-civilized seagoing bandit. Do you try to defy their
expectations and show them that you are more than your
homeland? Or do you find that youre more likely to get what
you want by acting like a bully and a thug? What prize or
rumor drew you inland, and what will you do when you find
what youve been looking for?
Call to Action: The Sailor

Sailors are common folk, poorly educated and mostly
interested in just getting by as best they can. Insidious threats
such as the cult of Elemental Evil rarely come to their
attention, unless they have suffered some personal injury or
loss. Choose one of the following calls to action, and tell your
DM which you selected.
Oceans One: Months ago you met a down-on-her-luck
sorcerer named Nameesna in a dockside tavern in Luskan.
She offered to help you gain a ship and crew of your own if
you would retrieve for her a magical pearl that was stolen
from her. The thief was a brutal warlock named Reave, and
Nameesnas divinations suggest that he is lurking in some sort
of mercenary headquarters in the Dessarin Vale. You are
supposed to find this Reave and get Nameesnas magical
pearl back from him. To help you, Nameesna gave you a fake
pearl with a false magical aura so that you could switch the
pearls if the opportunity arose. You trust Nameesna, but is her
pearl actually worth more than the ship she promised?
Shatterkeels Trail: A year or two ago, the ship on which
you were serving fell victim to the bloodthirsty pirate Gar
Shatterkeel. Most of your shipmates were killed out of hand,
including your brother. You, however, survived the cutlassslash meant to kill you, and washed up on the shore a day
later. Since that black day, you have searched every seaport
on the Sword Coast for the pirate captain who murdered your
brother. Rumors have led you to the Dessarin Vale and
whispers of a would-be river lord who intends to seize
control of the Dessarin riverboat fleet, but now the trail has
gone cold. Shatterkeel makes his lair somewhere along the
river, but where? And why has he left the sea behind?
Soldiers of the North

Soldiers protect the caravans that wend their ways through
empty spaces between cities and town. They stand guard over
the villages on the frontier. They protect the passes, the
bridges, and the city walls. They are the last line of defense
against civilizations endless enemies.
With all the dangers posed by the frontier, most cities along
the Sword Coast and in the North maintain standing armies.
One never knows when the orcs will come boiling out of the
darkness to scale the walls and plunder the city of its riches.
Professional soldiers may earn their pay from the city itself,
noble houses, or from the leaders of their mercenary
42
companies. Whatever role they play, professional soldiers

have the training and experience to acquit themselves well on
the battlefield.
Theres also no shortage of work for mercenaries. March
lords might use sellswords to bolster their defenses or mount
raids against rivals. Mercenaries sign contracts to serve
various political powers for a fixed period of time. Gold can
only buy so much loyalty, though, and only fools rely on
mercenaries alone for protection.
The rest of the Norths soldiery consists a hodge-podge of
militiamen, members of the watch, personal guard, conscripts
and levies, and just about anyone else who might carry a spear
and done a leather jerkin. These lesser soldiers are more
common on the frontiers, where people become soldiers from
necessity rather than desire. They may lack the formal
training professionals enjoy, but they make up for this lack
with the cause for which they fight: the defense of their
homes.
If you choose soldier for you background, consider one of
Caravan Guard
Every caravan bound for distant lands profits by spending the
extra coin to bring along a few guards. A caravan guards
principle task is to deter bandits and highwaymen from
attacking. Thus guards position themselves on or around the
wagons and stay alert for the entire journey in case of attack.
Many caravan guards belong to merchant guilds and can
produce recommendations and papers vouching for their
dependability to a prospective employer.
Professional guards can be expensive or not an option for
caravans that want to avoid guild or other attention. Caravan
masters seeking guards without ties might recruit them from
the taverns and pubs; there seems to be no shortage of
warriors looking for a few extra coins.
You sell your sword to whomever can afford your fee. You
dont belong to any large organization with whom you might
have to share your profits; you go it alone. Most times, your
work is easy and uneventful. A guarded caravan makes a poor
target for would-be robbers. Still, a few swords and crossbow
might not be enough to deter the desperate, so you probably
have had to fight for your pay.
As a caravan guard, think about how you got into this line
of work? You might have been a soldier once, but have since
moved on, leaving behind life in an army for something more
profitable. What sort of dangers have you faced while
guarding a caravan? Talk with your DM to come up with a
few contacts you have made so far, considering people you
have worked with, fought alongside, or protected.
Variant Soldier: Sellsword
Not all soldiers belong to armies. Some soldiers are

freelancers. They go it alone or in small groups, and sell their
weapon skills and combat training to employers for brief or
long stints based on the contracts they can get. Mercenaries
through and through, a sellsword may work for one employer
only to find the next job is to oppose a former master.

As a sellword, you might have been attached to a powerful
individuals personal entourage, worked as a caravan guard,
or stood guard over a valuable person or item for a time. The
job rarely matters provided you are paid for the risks youre
expected to take.
If you choose the sellsword variant, replace the rank
insignia with a contract from your current employer.
Member of the Militia

Small towns and villages cannot afford to maintain a standing
army. Such soldiers would need food, shelter, clothing, and
pay, all in preparation for a battle that might ever come.
Rather than keep professional soldiers employed, smaller
communities rely on militias made up of volunteers, ablebodied men and women willing to fight to protect their
families and neighbors in times of trouble. Members of a
militia may include former soldiers who have settled down to
make new lives for themselves or they could be ordinary
people who work as laborers, fishers, farmers, or in any of a
number of other occupations.
You belonged to your hometowns militia. Why did you
join? Did you feel it was your duty? Or, were you pressed into
service? As a member of the militia, what were your
responsibilities? Did your community ever come under
attack? If so, how did you handle yourself? Were you heroic
or did you just keep your head down, waiting for the danger
to pass? Finally, why are you still a member of the militia or
did you move on? If you left, why? Did you get a taste for
fighting and now want to develop your combat skills? Or did
you fail to protect your home and lost everything in one
disastrous defeat?
Soldier of Mirabar
Mirabar has a reputation of excellence when it comes to the
training of their soldiers. A mining city of fabulous wealth
and prosperity, the city leaders recognized the importance of
maintaining a standing army to protect their interests in the
city and in the mines delving deep into the Spine of the
World. At various times in Mirabars long history, the
soldiers have had plenty of chances to demonstrate their battle
prowess, most notably against the orcs who covet the citys
wealth.
In addition to protecting the city and its environs, Mirabar
sometimes hires out their soldiers as mercenaries. While
undoubtedly more expensive than the kinds of mercenaries
one finds in taverns and inns, caravans protected by the
humans and dwarves making up Mirabars armies have little
to fear.
You trained to be a soldier at Mirabar and have since been
working as a soldier-for-hire. Do you still count yourself a
member of the citys military or have you gone out on your
own? What was your role within the military? You might
have been part of the infantry, fighting in the thick of battle
and manning the walls when the city came under attack. Or
were you a member of the infrastructure?
43
Call to Action: The Soldier

There are several ways a soldier might become involved in
one you chose.
A Simple Job. It was supposed to be a simple job. You and
a few of your friends from Mirabar were to escort a caravan
down the Sword Coast. Even though you didnt have much
experience, you were trained by the best and you were
confident you could hold your own in a fight. At first, it was
everything you thought it would be: long days spent traveling,
your nights spent swapping lies around the campfire. About
five days in, though, everything went wrong. They spilled out
from the fog, shadowy forms armed with real steel and a
willingness to use it. The attackers carved a path through your
friends, putting everyone to the sword. You fought, as did the
few others who survived the initial attack, but you slipped and
struck your head when you fell. Everything went dark.
The next morning when you woke, you discovered you
were the only survivor. Your friends were all dead. The goods
were plundered, even the locked wagon in the center of the
train. Not a single drover survived, and the dead were left
where they fell. They even took your sword, a gift from your
master. You survived, though, and you believe you did for a
reason. These villains have to be stopped. People have to be
warned before they attack again.
Walked away from a Job. You have worked for some
scoundrels in the past. You didnt like it, but it kept you in
gold and one needs gold to live in this world. Until now, you
have never broken a contract, but those madmen in Cult of the
Eternal Flame were a special kind of crazy. You never really
had orders; they expected you to kill whomever they said
needed killing. It was butchery. You raided a town,
presumably for supplies, but when their warlocks started
burning people alive, you knew you didnt belong. You
slipped away the first chance you got and now lay low in case
they come looking for you.
You have probably settled in at Red Larch. Youre money
is running low and youre in need of work. Perhaps youll
find it in the towns tavern?
Urchins of the North

Urchins live in every city and large-sized town across the
North and the Sword Coast. These scrappy survivors, most of
whom are children or young adults, found ways to survive in
spite of their circumstances. Some urchins are orphans,
having lost their parents to disease, war, or accident. Others
ran away from their homes, possibly to escape a bad situation,
while many more were just born into poverty and use the
skills learned on the streets to keep themselves and their
family fed.
If you choose urchin for you background, consider one of
Drunkard of Red Larch

The detritus of civilization and the wilderness alike spill into
the crossroads town of Red Larch. The town offers respite to

merchants, caravans, and other travelers bound for other
lands. Adventuring groups hoping to test their mettle against
the dangers of the wilderness may return to the community to
spend their bloodstained coins or to recover from their
injuries. As bustling as the town can be, it may also be a place
where people just wind up, a community as good as anywhere
else to settle down for a time and just pass the time.
You never planned to stay in Red Larch. You had a life
before the bottle. You once dreamed of doing more, being
more than the sot you have become. Something terrible
happened to you, though, some misery you can only fight by
drowning it at the bottom of a bottle. You loiter in front of
taverns, sleep in the alleys or wherever a kind-hearted
townsperson offers. You might beg for coin, or offer small
services, such as being a guide or sharing in gossip. As a
drunkard, most people ignore you. This anonymity affords
you with opportunities to eavesdrop on the people around
you. You might hear conversations you probably should and
learn secrets that were never intended for sharing. Work with
the DM to come up with a suitable secret your character has
discovered.
Vagabond
Rural urchins, much like their street-dwelling counterparts,
rely on wits and skill for survival. These young men and
women roam the countryside, taking work wherever they can
find it. During harvest season, these urchins can find work
bringing in the crop and laboring on farms, which earns them
a place to stay, usually in the barn, and a meal or two. Once
the season passes, the urchins move on. When they cant earn
a wage, they might resort to theft to stay alive, poaching game
from a lords forest or stealing chickens from a farm.
You grew up living the vagabonds life. You have largely
kept to the farms and homesteads, moving from place to
place, but rarely too far from these lands as you know the
danger grows the farther you travel from settled lands. Why
did you become a vagabond? What happened in your past that
led to this existence? How long have you lived this way? Do
you know others or are you truly alone? Are there people you
can depend on to help you when youre hungry and have no
place to sleep?
Yartar Scamp
As a strong and powerful city in the North, refugees from the
surrounding lands sometimes take shelter behind the citys
high walls. Flooding the slums and ghettos, they struggle to
make their way in an unfamiliar city, working for pittance and
barely able to stretch their earnings to cover themselves let
alone their families.
Your family came to Yartar to find protection after your
village was wiped out by orcs. With little work to be had, you
took to the streets to help your siblings and parents. You
probably connected with a local gang, working as a
pickpocket and cutpurse for a time. Your explorations of the
city have made you familiar enough that you can find more
honest work, being a guide for newcomers, delivering
44
messages, and the like in exchange for a few coins.
Call to Action: The Urchin

There are several ways an urchin might become involved in
one you chose.
Hired Hand. You lost your parents a long time ago.
Bandits, a freak storm, or something else took them from you
and left you to make your own way in the world. You
survived on the charity of the farmers and homesteads. When
you grew older, they expected you to work for your keep, and
so you helped with the harvests, tending the livestock, making
repairs, whatever you were asked to earn a stay in the barn for
a night or two.
A couple tendays ago, you were headed to one of the more
welcoming homesteads, hoping to get a slice of apple pie and
a cozy spot in front of the hearth. They never worked you too
hard and they were always generous with their help. As you
drew closer to the farm, you saw something was horribly
wrong. The house was burned down to the foundation, the
livestock slaughtered in their pens. Afraid, you have headed
for a large town, to find help from the law. These people
cared for you, and the deserve justice.
Dangerous Information. You live in Red Larch or in
another one of the larger frontier communities. There, you
scrape together coins by giving directions, performing small
jobs, or delivering messages. You might be a young adult, an
orphan or a runaway, or you might be someone down on your
luck.
One evening, you were loitering in front of the local
watering hole when you heard voices coming from a
shadowed alley. You crept over to see if there was anything of
interest, some bit of information you might sell. You couldnt
make out any faces or much of what was said, but you got a
sense that someone by the name Jolly Grimjaw was planning
on making an attack against a few local farms. You heard
something about Rivergard Keep. Youre not sure what it all
means, but it seems important.
New Background: Miner

The North is legendary for its mineral riches. The forges of
cities such as Mirabar, Nesm, and Sundabar turn out some of
the finest steel and metal goods in all Faernand they are
always hungry for good iron and more precious metals.
Miners flock to these lands to ply their trade and feed the
smithies of a dozen cities, and you are one of them.
Your work as a miner included a great deal of backbreaking
toil. You possess a basic knowledge of many different mining
tasks: prospecting, tunneling and shoring, panning, building
sluices, and smelting ore. You how to recognize potentially
valuable deposits from the surface signs, how to cut rock and
tunnel in order to reach the lodes youre after, and how to
separate and smelt the ore once you recover it. You also know
how to boss mining crews and get them to do what you want
them to. Miners are notoriously stubborn and short-tempered,
and earning their respect is sometimes harder than breaking
rocks all day.

Talk about your mining experience with your Dungeon
Master. Were you an independent prospector roaming the
hills and panning streams? Were you a prisoner condemned to
hard labor for some crime? Or did you work for a guild or
company somewhere, working hard for a small wage that you
drank and gambled away as fast as you earned it?
Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Intimidation
Tool Proficiencies: Crowbar, miners pick, shovel
Equipment: Crowbar, miners pick, a pan (for gold panning),
headlamp with 6 candles, a set of common clothes, and a belt
pouch containing 10 gp
Feature: Veteran Tunneler

You have developed a feel for safe and unsafe areas
underground, and can find your way around in tunnels that
would baffle less experienced explorers. Whenever you make
Wisdom (Perception) check to notice unsafe passages, sloping
passages, or estimate your depth underground, you can add
twice your proficiency bonus instead of any proficiency bonus
you normally apply.
Suggested Characteristics
Miners work hard and play hard. They can be rough and
rowdy, but theyll endure day after day of backbreaking toil if
the prospect of a rich strike is at hand. Theyre also used to
looking out for themselves and fighting fiercely to protect
their claims against wild animals, hungry monsters, and
bandit gangs.
D4
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2
3
4
D4
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2
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4
D6
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2
3
4
5
Positive Personality Trait

I work harder than anyone.
I trust my fellows with my life, and they trust me
with theirs.
I know that Im lucky. Someday Ill make a big
strike.
The biggest jobs dont daunt me.
Negative Personality Trait
I aint too pretty, and I aint too clean.
I can nurse a grudge a long, long time.
I scorn people who dont work with their hands.
I have no sense of humor and no time for nonsense.
Ideal
Heart of Gold. I may have a crusty exterior, but I
cant stand to see good people suffer. (Good)
Fairness. We all work hard, we all share in the
rewards. (Lawful)
Freedom. Whether I strike it rich or not is up to me.
My fate is mine to determine. (Chaotic)
Greed. No riches I find will ever be enough. (Evil)
Progress. Civilization is built on the iron I unearth
and adorned with the gems I find. These lands will
be settled someday, and people will need resources.
(Neutral)
Aspiration. Someday I will find the mother lode, and
45
D6
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2
3
4
5
6
D4
1
2
3
4
set up an operation that will make a thousand

fortunes.
Bond
I have dreamed of a perfect ruby all my life. I know I
am destined to find it.
I discovered a cavern of unearthly beauty so
wondrous I could not bear to mar it with even one
single blow of my pick.
My family has a legend about the location of a lost
mine.
I have a family that I have to support. I send
everything I can to them.
I hate spidershate, hate, hate them!
Claim jumpers robbed me and left me for dead.
Someday Im going to get even.
Flaw
I punch anyone who mouths off to me.
The rocks are my only friends. I talk to them.
Sometimes I think they talk back to me.
Ive got gold fever, and Ive got it bad. Im going to
get rich or die trying.
I dont trust anybody.
Phandalin Prospector
You come from the mining town of Phandalin, a few days
west of Triboar. Theres a gold rush in the wild foothills north
of the Sword Mountains, and prospectors of all races have
been working claims in those lands for years. Its a hard life;
youre used to venturing alone into dangerous wilderness,
setting up a defensible camp, and stretching out your supplies
as long as you can so that you can avoid going back to town.
Every time you leave your camp theres a chance that robbers
will waylay you on the trail or that claim-jumpers may try to
seize the site youve been working. Youre used to being by
yourself, working long days on short supplies, and moving
from promising site to promising site only to have them not
pan out.
Now youve decided to move east and try your luck in the
Sumber Hills. Few prospectors are working in this area, but
youve heard stories that there are old abandoned dwarf-holds
in the areaand dwarves know their gold. They wouldnt
have settled in this area if there wasnt valuable ore to be
found. What made you decide to try your luck in a new area?
Was it just too crowded for you in Phandalin, or were you run
out by robbers? What will you do if you strike it rich?
Stonebreaker Clan
You are a dwarf of the Stonebreaker family. Mining is the
family business; you and a dozen of your siblings, cousins,
uncles, and in-laws work a copper mine in the hills north of
Beliard. Your clan originally hails from the rich mines of
Mirabar, but moved into the Dessarin Vale region a
generation ago to establish holdings of its own.
Business has been good for years, but in the last few
months several unexpected setbacks have damaged the mines
operationsa small earthquake that collapsed a profitable
drift and nearly killed a couple of your cousins, a mysterious

flood that drowned another excavation, and a rise in banditry
around the nearby small towns. So far the Stonebreaker ore
caravans havent been attacked, but some of your best
customers have suffered losses. The patriarch of the clan is
beginning to think about shifting operations to a new site, and
perhaps establishing mines in the nearby Sumber Hills.
Youre now looking at likely sites in and around the town of
Red Larch. If you find out something about the recent spate of
troubles in the area, so much the better.
Call to Action: The Miner

Most miners have little interest in strange cults or
supernatural dealings. However, the threat of elemental cults,
rampaging monsters, and world-shaking catastrophes cant be
allowed to grow. Choose one of the following calls to action,
and let you DM know which you decided on.
The Dwarfs Tale: Recently you came across a badly
beaten dwarf prospector named Baruhd and helped him back
to town. He told you how he followed an old map to a hidden
cave in the Sumber Hills, hoping to find an entrance to the
lost dwarven city of Besilmer. Instead, he was set upon and
beaten badly by strange monks in gargoyle masks. Baruhd
headed for safer lands when he recovered, but he gave you his
mapand a warning to beware the masked monks.
The Mud Sorcerer: A few months ago, you and your
partners found a strange deposit of black crystals, a type of
gemstone you had never seen before. But shortly afterward a
mysterious earth genasi sorcerer calling himself Miraj showed
up in your camp and demanded the crystals. When you and
your fellows refused him, he destroyed the camp, scattered
your fellows, and took the black crystals. The sorcerer Miraj
has much to answer for, but you have the one crystal he
overlookedand youve heard rumors he is still looking for
it.
New Background: Lawkeeper

In any civilized land, there are lawsand wherever there are
laws, there are those who would defy them, and those who see
them kept. You are sworn to uphold the law, protecting the
people around you from the thieves, thugs, murderers, and
worse who would otherwise prey on good folk. You work
tirelessly to enforce the laws of the land, deterring crimes
when possible, breaking up those you cannot prevent, and
pursuing the guilty when you cannot stop a crime in progress.
There are almost as many kinds of lawkeepers as there are
kinds of societies. The typical lawkeeper in most realms is the
city guard, a member of a semi-militarized watch that patrols
the streets and guards the gates. Large, well-organized cities
may also have dedicated investigators, thief-catchers, magehounds, or other specialists who investigate crimes and pursue
lawbreakers. Bounders, marshals, or wardens patrol the
frontiers, driving off bandits and making the roads safe. You
may have held any of these posts in your time as a lawkeeper;
in fact, you may still retain your authority even though youve
become an adventurer.
To be an effective lawkeeper, you must be willing and able
46
to face dangerous criminals and beat them. In many rural

areas, the job of constable or marshal simply goes to the
biggest, most intimidating person whos willing to do the job.
Cracking heads and stopping brawls is three-quarters of the
job in most places; more than a few lawkeepers are simply
thugs who happen to have the blessing of the local lord. The
best lawkeepers are observant and insightful, skilled at
anticipating trouble by reading small cues in behavior or
recognizing when things dont quite seem right.
Talk with your Dungeon Master about your experience as a
lawkeeper. Do you still retain the authority of your position?
If so, why did you wander away from your responsibilities to
seek adventure? Are you chasing someoneor is someone
chasing you?
3
4
5
6
D6
1
2
3
Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Intimidation

4
Tool Proficiencies: Manacles, thieves tools

Equipment: Manacles, signal whistle, a set of common clothes
(a watch uniform), a badge or emblem, and a belt pouch
containing 10 gp
Feature: Search and Arrest

You have the authority to carry out a lawkeepers customary
duties. You can enter private homes or places of business to
conduct searches. You can also arrest suspected wrongdoers
and have them held in jail. There are three important limits to
this power: First, your authority may not be recognized far
from home; second, you may be called upon to answer for
your actions if you abuse or harass people; and third, nobles
are traditionally exempt from search and arrest by ordinary
lawkeepers.
Responsibility lies heavily on the shoulders of most
lawkeepers. The nature of lawkeepers jobs requires them to
deal with people at their worst. Sometimes that may be an
otherwise decent person driven to bad behavior by tragic
events, but sometimes lawkeepers encounter truly heinous
crimes or monsters in human form. Even the best lawkeepers
are marked by the evil and tragedy they encounter.
D4
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2
3
4
D4
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D6
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2

Most people hold a lot of respect for my authority
and try to cooperate with me.
People can tell that I cant be bought.
I am uncommonly determined and keep on long
after most people would give up.
I know when to let the small stuff slide.
I throw my weight around in any situation.
Nobody measures up to my standards.
I drink hard to forget what Ive seen.
I have no sense of humor.
Ideal
Compassion. Laws shield the weak. Bad laws should
be changed. (Good)
Obedience. Its not for me to decide which laws to
5
6
D4
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2
3
4
enforce or not enforce . (Lawful)

My Way. The law is what I say it is. (Chaotic)
Dominion. Laws keep the rabble in their place and
the strong on top. (Evil)
Truth. Hidden crimes and secret motives must be
brought to light. (Neutral)
Vigilance. Evil grows and criminals prosper when I
am lax in my duties.
Bond
I am pursuing a heinous murderer, and will follow
him or her to the ends of the world.
A thieves guild has sworn to see me dead.
My sister is a notorious outlaw, but I cannot believe
she is guilty of what she is accused of.
I exposed widespread corruption in my town watch.
Now my fellow lawkeepers distrust me.
My people made me a constable because I was the
most intimidating person in town.
Outlaws killed my spouse to get to me.
Flaw
If there isnt enough evidence to arrest someone I
know is bad, Ill fabricate it.
Ive been known to take a bribe to look the other
way.
No crime is too small to punish. I let nothing slide
nothing at all.
Im a bully, and I want criminals to fear me.
Beliard Marshal
People often think of the North as a lawless area. According
to tavern tales in the great cities of the Sword Coast or the
Heartlands, the Savage Frontier is a place where robbers
and murderers escape justice for their crimes by losing
themselves in remote settlements and isolated homesteads.
These are lands where people choose to live free, scorning the
oppressive laws of kings and haughty lords. No one protects
the frontier-folk from thieves and killers, but no one stops any
man or woman from taking the law into his or her own hands
when it must be doneor so the stories go. But you know
that frontier justice, or the lack of it, is only part of the story.
You are the constable or marshal of Beliard, a small village
in the area. (Westbridge or Womford would be acceptable,
too.) You may be inexperienced, but your natural fighting
ability, bravery, and honesty led your neighbors to choose you
for the job. However, you have learned that your town is
threatened by more than the occasional drunken brawl or
petty theftoutlaws and monsters are drawing closer to your
home. You have decided to set out into the neighboring towns
to find out what is going on and put a stop to it.
Although you are recognized as the law in your home town,
you are just a guest in others. Local authorities respect you
and are willing to work with you to solve this mystery, but
you cant just start cracking heads and jailing troublemakers
in every town you ride into. Youll have to be able to prove
your case to make your charges stick.
47
Waterdhavian Watch
You are a member of the city watch of Waterdeep. You are
experienced with keeping peace in the crowded alehouses of
the Dock Ward and patrolling the busy streets of the Trades
Ward. The city is your native element; the wild country of the
Dessarin Valley seems like a completely forgettable
backwater to you.
Its hard to believe that any serious trouble could get started
in such a remote spot but your superiors in the Watch are
worried about what theyre hearing from caravans and
travelers who pass through these parts. Have you been
ordered to come out to these frontier towns and reinforce
Waterdeeps influence over them? Or did you get tired of the
big city and strike out on your own in search of a more
peaceful and less crowded lifestyle?
Call to Action: The Lawkeeper

Lawkeepers naturally seek to protect the community against
forces that would undermine or sweep away peace and order.
Elemental cults are a clear example of such forces; it is the
clear duty of any lawkeeper to expose and destroy any hint of
elemental evil taking root in the community, and defend the
defenseless against the destruction these cults intend to
unleash. Choose one of the following calls to action, and tell
your DM which one you selected.
The Fugitive: A year ago, a sorcerer named Bastian
Thermandar passed through your home town. A young
woman named Dheera caught his eye and he tried to persuade
her to come with him, but Dheera declined, and her family
and neighbors made it clear to the sorcerer that no meant no.
That night, Bastian used his fire magic to burn down Dheeras
house, as well as the homes of all who had defied him.
Several people died, and many others lost everything. You
swore to bring the arsonist to justice, and you have been
tracking him for months. Now you have heard that Bastian
was seen at a keep in the Sumber Hills, speaking with the
druids of the Scarlet Moon. They may know where he has
goneor perhaps he is still there.
Undercover: Your superiors are growing concerned over a
rise in banditry in the Dessarin Vale. They suspect that the
river smugglers are working with these mysterious bandits,
helping them to sell their ill-gotten goods and ferrying them
up and down the river. You have been assigned to join the
river smugglers, gain the confidence of their leaders, and find
out who or what is behind the bandit raids. Informants suggest
that the mercenary captain Jolliver Grimjaw is secretly
involved with the smugglers; you are to seek him out and
show him the pass-signan X-like mark with the bottom
closed by a horizontal line. This should convince Grimjaw to
let you join up, but what comes after that is up to you.
its roots to a more primitive past, a time of want and need, a

time when the darkness was much closer than it is in the
relative safety of the cities. And though the urban folk have
long since left behind their savage past, not all the world has
been as quick to take a step out from savagery and leave the
wilderness behind.
You belong to a tribe that has by choice or circumstance not
moved beyond what others might deem primitive or
backward. Your people might be nomads, following the
herds, simple hunters and gatherers, or raiders preying on
wealthy neighbors. Living in the wilderness does not mean
your people are primitive. You might have chosen to live as
partners with nature rather than in spite of it. The crime,
corruption, and filth of civilization may revolt your people.
Perhaps your gods and ancestors bind you to certain traditions
that are directly opposed to the decadence of those huddled
behind walls.
Whatever reason you have for living in the wilderness, the
fact that you choose to live as part of nature rather than in
spite of it does not mean you are stupid, foolish, or have no
understanding of the wider world. Rather, it means you
choose to be free from the laws and rules of civilization and
instead abide by the customs of your forbearers and those
traditions that have shaped your peoples identity for
generations.
Tribe members in Faern may be members of the Uthgardt
tribes spread across the North or the savage peoples living in
the Icewind Dale. In Krynn, tribe members include the Que
Shu barbarians living on the plains of Ansalon and the
Kagonesti elves who pride themselves in their deep
connections to the wild place. This background also includes
the Talenta halflings in the world of Eberron, the Barbarians
of the Frost, Ice, and Snow tribes as well as the Tiger Nomads
and similar people in the World of Greyhawk.
Skill Proficiencies. Athletics, Survival
Tool Proficiencies. Herbalism Kit
Languages. One of your choice
Equipment. A spear, hunting trap, body paint or a fur cloak
from an animal you killed, a set of travelers clothes, and a
belt pouch containing 10 gp
Totem Animal
Many tribal peoples elevate an animal spirit to be their patron.
The totem animal figures prominently in the stories told
around the campfires and the myths most important to the
tribe. From these stories, the peoples determine their customs,
rites, and expected behaviors. When creating your tribe
member, choose one of the example totem animals or come
up with one of your own.
New Background: Tribe Member
D6
Totem Animal
Great nations dominate the worlds stage. Technological and

magical innovation, social advances, have allowed the cities
to grow wealthy and powerful, made stronger by their
diversity and their willingness to improve on what they have
already gained. Every advanced civilization, though, can trace
Bear
Elk
Horse
48
D6
Totem Animal
Lion
Raven
Wolf
Feature: Tribal Refuge

No matter how far you travel, no matter how long you stay
away, you will always be a member of your tribe. When you
return, the tribe welcomes you back into their fold. It is
almost as if you had never left.
Your tribe provides you and your adventuring companions
with food, water, and lodging for as long as you remain with
the tribe. The tribe also shares information they have learned
about the lands they inhabit plus any other information that
might be helpful to you or your mission. You also have access
to tribal leaders including the chieftain, shaman, and other
figures of import.
The hospitality you receive from your tribe depends on
maintaining good standing with your people. While with your
tribe, you are expected to contribute based on your talents.
You hunt, forage, tend the injured, scout, and perform other
useful tasks. Should you lose standing in the tribe such as by
offending tribal leaders, violating taboos, betraying or
harming your people, you might lose this feature.
Tribe members find the civilized world strange, almost alien,
filled with sites, sounds, and smells both unfamiliar and offputting. People living in the cities and towns might regard
tribe members as noble savages or filthy primitive, shackled
to superstition and weird beliefs. Tribe members, like
outlanders, value custom and tradition. They place the needs
of their tribe above their own.
D6
I never waste the animals I kill. I use every part of

the carcass.
I once managed to sneak up on a band of gnolls,

learn their battle plans, and slip away to warn my
tribe.
I am interested in other peoples and pick up their

styles of dress and manners of speech.
I strive to be honorable in everything I do. I will

never shame myself or bring shame to my people.
I always keep the customs of my people, even

when I find it difficult to do so.
I believe everything that happens serves some

greater purpose.
D6
I am superstitious and perform certain rites to

ward off bad luck.
I distrust people who use magic and may be rude

or even hostile to them.
I am intolerant of people who have different

beliefs from me.
I am unsettled in crowded cities.
I do not like people who worship foreign gods and

scoff at their beliefs.
I use violence to solve problems.
D6
Ideal
Unity. Survival depends on cooperation. So long as

we are divided, we are weak. (Lawful)
Plunder. It is right and proper for the strong to

take what they want from the weak. (Evil)
Freedom. No greater ideal exists than freedom.

(Chaotic)
Preservation. We must preserve our traditions.

Without them, we are nothing. (Neutral)
Survival. The tribes survival is the greatest good

and we must all work to protect the least of us.
(Good)
Pride. I represent my tribe in everything I do

reflects upon my people and ancestors.
D6
Bond
I will redeem myself in the eyes of my tribe,

proving I am worthy to the people who doubt me.
I will restore a great treasure that was lost to my

people.
I strive in all things to win the heart of the

chieftains son or daughter, so I can take my place
as heir.
I am destined for greatness. I set out to find my

fate.
My peoples totem spirit called for me to seek out

and defeat a terrible monster that, unless stopped,
will destroy my tribe.
49
D6
Bond
I hope to lead my people out of savagery and into a

brighter and more peaceful future.
D6
Flaw
I carry a secret shame for some crime or wrong I

committed against my people.
I act without thinking. I lack the patience to think

my action through before I take them.
I am slow to trust outsiders, suspecting the worst

from almost everyone I meet.
It does not take much for me to lose my temper. I

fly off the handle at any frustration or setback.
I like to boast about my capabilities to anyone who

will listen.
I refuse to use magic in any form and may even

resist people who try to help me with their magic.
Call to Action: The Tribe Member

There are several ways a tribe member might become
involved in the adventure. When you create your character,
you can pick one of the following options. Be sure to tell your
DM which one you chose.
Dream Visitation. A few nights ago, your totem animal
visited you in your dreams. You were in the forest, mist
curling around you, in early dawn hours. The spirit animal
called to you, but when you approached, it moved deeper into
the forest. You followed. The further you traveled, the more
the forest began to change. Trees were blackened, gnarled
things. Festering pools of mud bubbled noxious gases in the
air. Brackish water flooded the place, while the stench of
death hung heavy in the air.
When you awoke, you went to the shaman and explained all
you had seen and experienced. The shaman believes the spirit
was warning you that the delicate balance in nature was being
threatened. Since the spirit came to you, the shaman
instructed you to find out the truth of things, to travel the
lands and find the source of this threat.
Rescue your People. You belong to Tree Ghosts, one of the
Uthgardt peoples. Not long ago, masked killers swept through
your camp, clapping your people in chains and killing any
who resisted. Overwhelmed by fire magic, many fled, you
among them, for safety among one of the other tribes.
Ashamed by your fear, you have vowed to liberate your kin,
even if that means finding aid from the people of the towns
and cities.
50
4: Spells
Blazing Cloud
Abi-Dalzims Horrid Wilting
Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (a flame)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
4th-level conjuration (druid, wizard)
8th-level necromancy (wizard)

Range: 150 feet
Components: V, S, M (a bit of sponge)
Duration: Instantaneous
You draw the moisture from all creatures inside of a cube, 30
feet on each side, centered on a point you choose within
range. Each creature in the area must make a Constitution
saving throw. Constructs and undead are not affected. Plants
and water elementals make this saving throw with
disadvantage. A creature takes 10d8 necrotic damage on a
failed saving throw, or just half this damage on a successful
one. The cube then fills with mist that heavily obscures the
area until the end of your next turn. A strong wind (20 miles
per hour or faster) disperses the mist.
Absorb Elements
1st-level abjuration (druid, ranger, warlock)
Casting Time: 1 reaction, which you take when you would
take acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage
Range: Self
Components: S
Duration: 1 round
You take half the damage. The next time you hit with a melee
attack you make before the spell ends, your attack deals 1d6
extra damage of the type that triggered the casting of this
spell.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell
slot of 2nd level or higher, the extra damage increases by 1d6
for each level above 1st.
Aganazzars Scorcher
2nd-level evocation (sorcerer, wizard)
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a red dragons scale)
A line of roaring flame 30 feet long and 5 feet wide emanates
from you in a direction you choose. Each creature in the line
must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d8 fire
damage on a failed save, and half as much damage on a
successful one.
This spell was invented by the wizard Aganazzar who
scribed the spell on the first page of the Tome of the
Covenant. The wizard was known to give the spells to his
apprentices. Eventually, the Red Wizards discovered the spell
and it became a staple in their arsenals.
slot of 3rd level or higher, you increase the damage by 1d8 for
each level above 2nd.
An undulating cloud of flame fills a cube, 10 feet on each

side, in a space of your choice within range and lasts for the
duration. Any creature in the space where the cloud appears
must make a Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 3d8
fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a
successful one.
Any creature that enters or ends its turn within 10 feet of
the cloud must make a Dexterity saving throw. The creature
takes 2d8 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much
damage on a successful one. A creature only makes this
saving throw once per round, regardless of how many times it
enters the cloud.
As a bonus action, you can move the cloud up to 30 feet. If
the cloud passes through a space occupied by a creature, the
creature must make the saving throw against the clouds
damage. You may move the cloud in any direction to a spot
within range. If you move the cloud beyond the spells range,
the spell ends early. A wind of moderate or greater speed (at
least 10 miles per hour) disperses it.
slot of 5th level or higher, the damage increases by 1d8 for
each level above 4th.
Bones of the Earth

6th-level evocation (druid)
Range: 120 feet.
Components: V, S
When you cast this spell and as an action on each of your
turns for the duration, you cause a pillar of earth to burst out
from an earthen or surface you can see within range. The
pillar is 5 feet wide, 5 feet long, and grows until it reaches a
maximum height of 30 feet. The pillar is permanent. It has an
AC 5 and 30 hit points. Reducing a pillar to 0 hit points
causes it to crumble and create an area of difficult terrain that
spread out from it in a 5-foot radius and remains until cleared.
A creature standing on the pillar or is above it when the
pillar appears must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a
successful save, the pillar pushes the creature away from it
until the creature is no longer in the pillars space. On a failed
save, the creature travels with the pillar until it reaches
maximum height and then falls off, taking falling damage as
normal. If the pillar is prevented from reaching its full height
because of a ceiling or some other obstacle, any creature on
pillar takes 6d6 damage and becomes restrained, pinched
between the pillar and the obstacle. A creature restrained in
this way may use an action to make a Strength or Dexterity
check against the spells saving throw DC. On a success, the
creature is no longer restrained.
51
Burrowing Claws
resulting caused by earth, rubble, plants, and other natural

terrain features from its area.
4th-level transmutation (druid, ranger)

Range: Touch
Components: V, S, M (a badger claw)
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes
Condemnation
5th-level abjuration (cleric, paladin)
Touch a willing creature. The targets fingers length into thick

claws for the duration. The target gains a burrow speed equal
to one-half its speed for the duration. The creature can use this
speed to move through sand, earth, mud, or ice.
Castigation
4th-level enchantment (cleric or domain only)
Range: Self
Components: V
You speak with divine authority. When you cast the spell and
again as a bonus action on each of your turns for the duration,
you speak imprecations at a creature within 30 feet of you that
can hear you. The target must make a Wisdom saving throw.
On a failed save, the creature has a 10 penalty on attack rolls
and ability checks while it is within 30 feet of you until the
end of your next turn. On a successful save, the creature
becomes immune to this casting of castigation.
Catapult
1st-level transmutation (sorcerer, wizard)
Range: 60 feet
Components: S
Choose one object weighing 5 pounds or less within range. If
the object is being held, worn, or carried by a creature, you
must make a check with your spellcasting ability contested by
that creatures Strength check. On a failure, the spell ends
with no effect. On a success, you affect the object.
The spell causes the target to fly up to 90 feet in a direction
you choose. The target flies in a straight line until it impacts
against a solid surface or reaches the end of its movement, at
which point the object stops moving and falls to the ground.
Any creature in the objects path must make a Dexterity
saving throw. On a failed save, the object strikes the target,
stops moving, and deals 1d8 damage of a type appropriate for
the target object.
Clear a Path
1st-level transmutation (druid, ranger) (ritual)
Range: Self
Components: V, S
A line on the ground, 500 feet long and 10 feet wide,
emanates from you and instantly removes difficult terrain

Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute
You strip the defenses of one creature that you can see within
range. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving
throw. On a failed saving throw, the target cannot benefit
from damage resistance or magic resistance for the duration.
slot of 6th level or higher, you can target one additional
creature for each slot level above 5th. The creatures must be
within 30 feet of each other when you target them.
Control Flames
Transmutation cantrip (druid, sorcerer, wizard)
Range: 60 feet
Components: S
Choose one nonmagical flame within range that can fit inside
a cube, 5 feet on each side. You control the flame for the
duration. You may use a bonus action on each of your turns to
do any one of the following:
The flame expands 5 feet in all directions. Any creature
that enters or ends its turn in the area must succeed on a

Dexterity saving throw or take 1d6 fire damage.
The flame shrinks 5 feet in all directions. If the flame is
already inside a cube, 5 feet on a side, you instead extinguish the flame.
You double the area of bright light and dim light cast by
the flame.
You halve the area of bright light and dim light cast by
the flame.
Control Winds
5th-level transmutation (druid, sorcerer, wizard)
Range: 300 feet
Components: V, S
You take control of the air inside a 100-foot cube within
range for the duration. You choose one of the following
effects when you cast the spell. You may also create an area
of calm air in the center of the cube with a radius of up to 30
feet and creatures in the area of calm are unaffected by the
spells effects. As your action, you may alter the winds
direction by choosing a different effect.
Downdraft. You cause a sustained blast of strong wind
(over 20 miles per hour) air to rush out from the cube in all
52
directions for the duration.

When you cast the spell and at the start of each of your
turns, you force each creature inside the cube and within 30
feet of it to make a Strength saving throw. A flying creature
has disadvantage on the saving throw. On a failed save, the
creature flies 1d10 [ts] 10 feet away from the area and lands
prone. The creature takes 1d4 damage for every 10 feet it
moves in this way.
Creatures treat the area inside the cube as well as the area
with 30 feet of it as difficult terrain. In addition, ranged
attacks have disadvantage against targets in the area or behind
it.
Updraft. You cause a sustained blast of strong wind to blow
from the outer edges in toward the center in equal strength
from all directions, veering upward before impinging on the
eye in the center.
When you cast the spell and at the start of each of your
turns, you force each creature inside the cube to make a
Strength saving throw. A flying creature has disadvantage on
the saving throw. On a failed save, the creature is pulled
toward the center and, if it reaches the center, flies up to a
height of 1d10 [ts] 5 feet and then falls an equal distance
away from the area, taking falling damage upon landing.
Creatures treat the area inside the cube as difficult terrain.
In addition, ranged attacks have disadvantage against targets
in the area or behind it.
Rotation. You cause gale force winds to circle the center of
the area in a clockwise or counterclockwise fashion for the
direction. Ranged attacks from Large or smaller creatures into
the area or behind it automatically miss, while ranged attacks
from Huge and larger creatures have disadvantage.
Any creature in the area or that enters it must make a
Strength saving throw. A flying creature has disadvantage on
the saving throw. On a failed saving throw, the character flies
in the direction the wind is blowing and then ejected, flying
1d10 [ts] 10 feet from the area in a randomly determined
direction. The creature takes 1d4 damage for every 10 feet it
moves in this way.
Blast. You cause up to a strong wind to blow in one
direction across the entire area from one side to the other for
the duration.
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute
Conviction
Dowsing Rod
1st-level abjuration (paladin)
1st-level divination (bard, druid, ranger) (ritual)

Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute
Casting Time: 1 minute

Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a stick)
Duration: 1 hour
You touch a creature. The target cannot be charmed or

frightened for the duration. If the target has the same
alignment as you, it also gains a +1 bonus to Armor Class and
saving throws.
Name a natural feature of the environment such as mountains,

rivers, forests, or caves, but is not a specific location or a
place thats magically concealed. The stick becomes a
dowsing rod. If not held or prevented from doing so, the stick
moves to point toward the nearest place that fits the
description for the duration.
Denunciation
You denounce your foes as enemies of your faith. Each

creature you choose within 5 feet of a point you can see
within range must make a Wisdom saving throw. A target
takes 2d6 psychic damage on a failed saving throw and
subtracts a d4 from the result of any attack rolls for the
duration. On a successful save, the target takes just takes half
the damage.
Dig
6th-level transmutation (druid, wizard)
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a miniature shovel and tiny bucket)
Choose a point on an earthen or sandy surface you can see
within range. A cube of earth or sand, 10 feet on each side,
centered on that point disappears. Each round you
concentrate, you may cause another cube of the same size to
disappear, but the cube must be within 100 feet of the point
you first chose.
Divine Retribution
3rd-level enchantment (cleric or domain only)
Range: 90 feet
Components: V
You bring down the wrath of your god upon the head of a
creature you choose within range. The target must make a
Wisdom saving throw. If the target has an Intelligence score
of 8 or less, it has advantage for this saving throw. On a failed
save, the target becomes cursed for the duration. While
cursed, whenever the target deals damage to another creature,
it takes half the damage as radiant damage. At the end of each
of its turns, the target can make a Wisdom saving throw. On a
success, the spell ends early.
1st-level enchantment (cleric or domain only)

53
Dust Devil
2nd-level conjuration (druid, sorcerer, wizard)
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a pinch of dust)
Choose a 5-foot-cube of air within range. A dust devil appears
inside the cube and lasts for the duration.
Any creature that starts its turn within 5 feet of the dust
devil must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save,
the creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage be pushed 10 feet
away from it. On a successful save, the creature takes just half
the damage.
As an action, you can move the dust devil up to 30 feet in
any direction. If the dust devil moves over sand, dust, loose
dirt, or small gravel, it sucks up the material and a cloud of
debris spreads out from it in a 10-foot radius until the start of
your next turn. The debris heavily obscures its area.
slot of 3rd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for
above it must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed

save, the creature falls into the opening, taking damage on
landing as normal. On a successful save, the creature moves
onto the nearest solid surface.
A creature inside the maw can climb out with a successful
Strength check against the spells saving throw DC.
At the end of each of your turns, the maw closes to grind up
creatures inside of it. Each creature inside the maw must
make a Strength saving throw. A creature takes 6d6
bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or just half the damage
on a successful one. After slamming shut, the maw opens.
Until the spell ends, you may use an action to move the
maw up to 30 feet. Any creatures inside the maw
automatically move with it. The maw can move along any
earthen or stone surface. So, a maw could slide across the
ground or up a wall and onto the ceiling. Any creature on a
surface across which the maw moves must make a Dexterity
saving throw. On a failed save, the creature falls into the
maw. On a successful save, the creature moves 5 feet so that it
is not under the maw.
Earth Passage
Earth Bind
3rd-level transmutation (druid, sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Range: 90 feet
Components: V
Duration: 1 minute
Choose one creature within range. The target must succeed on
a Strength saving throw or take 4d8 bludgeoning damage, fall
prone, and become restrained for the duration. If the target is
flying, it falls to the ground, even if it can hover, and takes
bludgeoning damage from the fall in addition to the damage
from the spell.
At the end of each of its turns, the affected target can make
another saving throw. On a success, the spell ends.
each level above 3rd.
Earth Maw
You can move through solid earth and stone. Until the spell
ends, you can move through spaces filled with earth, sand, or
stone as if those spaces were unoccupied. While inside a solid
space, you have tremorsense out to a range of 10 feet. If you
remain inside a solid space when the spell ends, you take 6d6
bludgeoning damage and you are forcibly expelled emerging
prone in the nearest open space.
Elemental Adaptation
5th-level abjuration (cleric, druid, ranger, sorcerer, wizard)
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
When you cast this spell, you inscribe an invisible magical
sigil somewhere on your person that remains dormant for the
duration until its triggered.
The first time you would take acid, cold, fire, lightning, or
thunder damage, the spell triggers and you gain immunity to
that damage type for the remaining duration.
7th-level conjuration (druid)

Range: 150 feet
Components: V, S, M (a geode)
Choose a point on an earthen or stone surface you can see
within range. An opening appears centered on that point and
lasts for the duration. You can choose the openings
dimensions: up to 10 feet wide, 10 feet long, and 20 feet deep.
Sharp protrusions extend out from the walls sides like teeth.
The opening creates no instability in the structure surrounding
it.
If the opening appears on the ground, any creature that was

Range: Self
Components: V, S
Elemental Aura
9th-level conjuration (sorcerer, warlock)
Range: Self
Components: V
Duration: 1 hour
You cause a field of elemental energy to surround you for the
54
duration. When you cast the spell, choose elemental air,

elemental earth, elemental fire, or elemental water.
Elemental Air. A hazy white field extends 3 inches out
from your body. For the duration, you have all of the
following benefits:
You are immune to gas and air-based attacks and spells
such as gust of wind.

Creatures from the Elemental Plane of Air have disad
vantage on attack rolls for attacks that target you.
Creatures have disadvantage on ranged weapon attacks
they make that target you.

You have a fly speed of 60 feet for the duration. When
the spell ends, you fall if you are still aloft, unless you
can stop the fall.
Elemental Earth. A dull gray field extends 3 inches out
following benefits:
You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slash
ing damage from weapons that are not magical.
Creatures from the Elemental Plane of Earth have disad
You can move across difficult terrain from earth or stone
surfaces without spending extra movement. You may

move through solid earth or stone as if it was air, but you
cannot end your movement in such an object. If you do
so, you are forcibly ejected from the material to the open
space nearest to you and you become stunned until the
start of your next turn.
You may cast wall of stone once without expending a
spell slot.
Elemental Fire. A flickering red field extends 3 inches out
following benefits:
You are immune to fire damage.
Creatures from the Elemental Plane of Fire have disad

You never gain levels of exhaustion from extreme heat.
You radiate extreme heat. At the end of each of your
turns, each creature within 5 feet of you must make a

Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the creature
takes 1d6 fire damage.
You may cast wall of fire once without expending a spell
slot.
Elemental Water. A shimmering blue field extends 3
inches out from your body. For the duration, you have all of
You are immune to cold damage.
Creatures from the Elemental Plane of Water have dis

advantage on attack rolls for attacks that target you.
You may breathe water as easily as you breathe air. You
also have a swim speed equal to your land speed.

You may cast wall of ice once without expending a spell
slot.
Elemental Bane
1st-level transmutation (druid, warlock, wizard)
Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute
Choose one creature within range. The target must make a
Constitution saving throw. If it fails the save, it gains
vulnerability to your choice of acid, cold, fire, lightning, or
thunder for the duration. If the target has immunity to the
damage type, the target loses immunity and instead has
resistance to the damage type for the duration. If the target has
resistance to the damage type, it loses resistance to that
damage type for the duration.
slot of 2nd level or higher, you can target one additional
creature for each slot level above 1st. The creatures must be
within 30 feet of each other when you target them.
Elemental Sigil
2nd-level evocation (paladin)
Casting Time: 1 bonus action
Range: Self
Components: V
Duration: 1 minute
You can cast this spell when you hit with a melee weapon
attack on your turn. When you cast the spell, choose acid,
cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. Your attack leaves behind a
glowing sigil somewhere on the targets body that remains for
the duration. Once per round, when the target takes damage, it
takes 2d6 extra damage of the type you chose when you cast
this spell.
Elemental Translation
2nd-level conjuration (druid, wizard)
Range: 30 feet
Components: V
You bore a hole to one of the Inner Planes to draw a quantity
of elemental substance to fill a cube, 15-feet on each side,
centered on a point on the ground within range. When you
cast the spell, choose one of the following effects. Any
creature in the area is pushed away from the center until it is
no longer in the area.
Air. Clean, fresh air sweeps through the area. The air
automatically extinguishes all flames in the area and disperses
all gas, smoke, mist, fog, or vapor in the area.
Earth. Compacted earth fills the area completely. A cube of
earth, 5 feet on each side, has AC 5 and 30 hit points.
Reducing a smaller cube to 0 hit points causes that section to
crumble away from the larger cube.
Fire. Burning cinders cover the ground in the area and burn
for 1 minute or until extinguished. Any creature that ends its
turn inside the area must make a Constitution saving throw. A
55
creature takes 1d6 fire damage on a failed save, or just half

the damage on a successful one. The heat from the cinders is
enough to melt snow and ice around it out to a range of 60
feet.
Water. A mass of water fills the area and then collapses into
a pool, 2-feet deep with a 20-foot radius centered on the point
until the end of your next turn, during which time the area is
difficult terrain. After this time, the water continues to spread
out until it reaches a 60-foot radius. The water conforms to
the space where it appears, however, and only spreads out if
not impeded in some way.
Eruption
2nd-level evocation (druid, sorcerer, wizard)
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a piece of obsidian)
Choose a point on the ground within range. The ground erupts
in a 5-foot radius, throwing rock, earth, and debris into the air.
Each creature in the area must make a Dexterity saving throw.
A creature takes 4d4 bludgeoning damage and is pushed 10
feet in a straight line away from the point on a failed save, or
just half of the damage on a successful one. The area of the
eruption and the ground within 20 feet of the leading edge of
it becomes difficult terrain until cleared away.
slot of 3rd level or higher, the radius increases by 5 feet for
Everlasting Flames Strength

2nd-level evocation (druid)
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute
You touch a willing creature. Until the spell ends, flames
wreathe the creature and emit bright light in a 10-foot radius
and dim light for an additional 10 feet. The spell ends early if
you dismiss it (no action required).
In addition, once per round, when the creature hits with a
melee attack, the attack deals 1d6 extra fire damage and each
creature within 5 feet of the target must make a Dexterity
saving throw. On a failed save, the creature takes half the
extra damage.
Fire Stride
3rd-level conjuration (druid, sorcerer)
Range: Self
Components: V, S
You become immune to fire damage from sources that are not
magical for the duration.
In addition, you gain the ability to step into fires and move
from one fire to another. When you move into a fire, you
become instantly aware of any other fire within 120 feet of
you. If you can continue moving, you can exit from the space
of another fire. The fire through which you stride must be
genuine flame; things that cause fire such as lava or are made
from fire such as a fire elemental dont count.
Fist of Stone
1st-level transmutation (druid, sorcerer)
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a pebble inscribed with a stylized fist
design)
Duration: 1 minute
One of your hands transforms into mighty fist of living
granite and remains that way for the duration. Until the spell
ends, you have several benefits.
You have advantage on Strength checks made to break
objects, grapple, and shove a creature.
Targets grappled by you have disadvantage on Strength
(Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks to escape the
grapple.
Finally, your unarmed strikes made using your transformed
hand deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d8 + 4 + your
Strength modifier.
Flame Arrows
2nd-level evocation (druid, ranger)
Range: Touch.
Components: V, S, M (a quiver containing at least one piece
of ammunition)
You infuse a quiver with elemental fire that lasts for the
duration. Whenever a creature hits with a ranged attack using
a piece of ammunition drawn from the quiver, the attack deals
2d6 extra fire damage.
If the quiver runs out of ammunition, the spell ends early.
Flashburst
3rd-level evocation (sorcerer, wizard)
Range: 150 feet
Components: V, S, M (a pinch of sulfur or phosphorus)
Choose a point within range. A dazzling flash of light erupts
from that point. Each sighted creature in a 20-foot-radius
sphere centered on that point must make a Wisdom saving
throw. A creature becomes blinded for 1 minute on a failed
save, or blinded until the end of your next turn on a successful
one.
In addition, each sighted creature within 120 feet of the
sphere and has an unobstructed view to it, but is not inside the
sphere, must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or have
disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks involving sight
56

At the end of each of its turns, a creature affected by this
spell makes another saving throw. On a success, the spell ends
on that creature.
Forests Fiery Constrictor

6th-level evocation (sorcerer, wizard)
Flash Freeze

Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a red dragons scale)
3rd-level evocation (druid, sorcerer, wizard)

Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S
You cause the temperature to plunge inside a cube 30 feet on
each side centered on a point you choose within range. Each
creature in the area must make a Strength saving throw. A
creature takes 3d6 cold damage and becomes restrained for 1
minute on a failed saving throw, or just half as much damage
on a successful one.
At the end of each of its turns, an affected creature can
make another saving throw. On a success, the creature is no
longer restrained.
The change in temperature is sufficient to freeze most
liquids. Water in the area becomes slippery ice until it thaws.
Fling
4th-level evocation (druid, sorcerer, wizard)
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Choose one flame, the size of a torch or larger, within range.

A serpent of fire emanates from flame. The serpent is
composed of twenty cubes, 5 feet on each side. Each cube
must be contiguous with at least one other cube. The serpent
can have any shape you desire. It lasts for the duration and it
heavily obscures creatures behind it.
When the serpent appears, each creature within its area
must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, it takes
3d10 fire damage and becomes restrained. On a success, the
creature takes half the damage and is not restrained.
At the end of each of its turns, an affected creature can
make another saving throw. On a success, the creature is no
longer restrained.
Until the spell ends, the serpent deals 3d10 fire damage to
each creature that ends its turn within 10 feet of the serpent or
inside it, and each creature that enters the serpents space on
its turn.
Grasping Wind
2nd-level evocation (druid, sorcerer)
You send a blast of gale force wind to hammer your

opponent. Choose a creature within range. The creature must
make a Strength saving throw. On a failed saving throw, the
target flies 100 feet away from you in a direction you choose
and then falls prone at the end of this movement. If the target
would be preventing the full distance by impacting against an
obstacle, it takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet
less than the full distance. On a successful save, the target
takes 5d6 bludgeoning damage.
slot of 5th level or higher, the distance by 10 feet for each
level above 4th.
Float

Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a small leaf)
Choose a creature you can see within range. You stir the air
around the target until it becomes a shrieking gale. The target
must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed saving throw,
the wind pulls the target up to 20 feet in a direction you
choose and the target becomes restrained for the duration.
At the end of each of the targets turns, it may repeat the
saving throw. On a failed save, the target is pulled another 20
feet in a direction you choose. On a successful save, the spell
ends.
Hail of Stone
Transmutation cantrip (sorcerer, wizard)

Range: Self
Components: S
Duration: 1 round
You rise vertically, up to 10 feet, and remain suspended there
for the duration. You can only move by pushing or pulling
against a fixed object or surface within reach (such as a wall
or a ceiling), which allows you to move at half speed as your

current altitude.

Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a small piece of jade)
Stones fall from the air in a vertical column. Each creature in
a 5-foot-radius, 40-foot-high cylinder centered on a point
within range must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature
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takes 6d4 bludgeoning damage on a failed, and half as much

damage on a successful one.
The ground under the cylinder becomes difficult terrain
until cleared away.
slot of 3rd level or higher, the bludgeoning damage increases
by 1d4 for each level above 2nd.
Ice Cage
4th-level evocation (wizard)
Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S, M (a piece of dry ice)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute.
An immobile cube-shaped prison composed of magical ice
springs into existence around an area you choose within
range. The cage is up to 10 feet on a side and is made from 1inch diameter bars spaces 12 inches apart.
When you cast the spell, any creature that is completely
inside the cages area is trapped. Creatures only partially
within the area, or those too large to fit inside the area, are
pushed away from the center of the area until they are
completely outside the area.
The cage is an object that can be damage and thus breached.
It has AC 5, 30 hit points per 10-foot section, and it is
vulnerable to fire damage. Reducing a 10-foot section of wall
to 0 hit points destroys it.
Whenever a creature starts its turn inside the cage, it must
make a Constitution saving throw. A creature takes 4d6 cold
damage on a failed save, or half of this damage on a
successful one.
slot of 5th level or higher, you may increase the size of the
cages sides by 5 feet for each level above 4th.
Ice Knife
1st-level conjuration (druid, sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Range: 60 feet
Components: S, M (a drop of water or piece of ice)
You create a shard of magical ice and fling it a creature within
range. Make a ranged attack roll. You have a bonus to the roll
equal to your spellcasting ability modifier + your proficiency
bonus. On a hit, the target takes 1d10 piercing damage. On a
miss, the shard explodes at a point within 5 feet of the target.
Each creature within 5 feet of the point where the ice
exploded must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take
1d4 cold damage.
slot of 2nd level or higher, the piercing damage increases by
1d10 and the cold damage increases by 1d4 for each level
above 1st.
Immolation
5th-level evocation (sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Range: 90 feet
Components: V
Flames wreathe a creature you can see within range. The
target takes 5d6 fire damage, and then must succeed on a
Dexterity saving throw or burn for the duration. A burning
target sheds bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for
an additional 30 feet. The target takes 2d6 fire damage at the
start of each of its turns and may repeat the saving throw. On
a success, the spell ends early. These magical flames cannot
be smothered or extinguished through normal means.
If damage from this spell reduces a target to 0 hit points, it
is turned to ashes.
Investiture of Flame
6th-level evocation (druid, sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Flames race across your body, giving off intense heat and
shedding bright light in a 30-foot radius and dim light for an
additional 30 feet for the duration. The flames do not harm
you. Until the spell ends, you gain the following benefits:
You are immune fire damage.
You have resistance to cold damage.
At the end of each of your turns, each creature within 5
feet of you must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or

take 1d10 fire damage.
As an action, you can hurl a bolt of fire at a creature
within 120 feet of you. Make a ranged spell attack

against the target. On a hit, the target takes 4d10 fire
damage.
Investiture of Ice
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Ice rimes your body until it completely encases you. For the
duration, you gain the following benefits:
You are immune to cold damage.
You have resistance to fire damage.
You may move across difficult terrain created by ice or
snow without spending extra movement.

At the end of each of your turns, each creature within 5
feet of you must succeed on a Constitution saving throw

or take 1d10 cold damage.
58
You may use a bonus action to cause ice to spread out

across the ground in a 10-foot radius turning the ground
in the area around you to difficult terrain until the end of
your next turn.
As an action, you let loose a blast of cold in a 15-foot
cone. Each creature in the area must make a Constitution

saving throw. A creature takes 4d6 cold damage on a
failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
Investiture of Stone
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Earth and bits of rock spread across your body until you are
completely encased. For the duration, you gain the following
benefits:
You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slash
ing damage.
You may use a bonus action to cause the ground in a 20
foot radius centered on you to shake and tremble until
the start of your next turn. The area moves with you to
remain centered on you. Creatures other than you treat
the ground in the area as difficult terrain. In addition, any
creature that ends its turn in the area must succeed on a
Dexterity saving throw or fall prone.
As an action, you can hurl a rock at a creature within 120
feet of you. Make a ranged spell attack against the target.

On a hit, the target takes 4d10 bludgeoning damage.
As an action, you can send a powerful gust to batter a

creature within 120 feet of you. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 3d8
bludgeoning damage, and is pushed up to 20 feet in a
straight line away from you.
Iron Body
8th-level transmutation (sorcerer, wizard)
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a small piece of iron taken from an
iron golem)
Your body transforms into living iron, which grants you
several benefits that last for the duration.
You are immune to poison damage, and to bludgeoning,
piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical weapons

or weapons that arent adamantine.
You are immune to the blinded, deafened, paralyzed,
petrified, and poisoned conditions.

You cannot gain levels of exhaustion and any levels of
exhaustion you had when you cast the spell drop to 0.

You do not need to breathe, eat, or drink. You cannot be
put to sleep by magic.

You have resistance to acid and fire damage.
You have advantage on all Strength-based attack rolls,
ability checks, and saving throws.

You have disadvantage on all Dexterity-based attack
rolls, ability checks, and saving throws.

Your speed is halved.
Your unarmed attacks deal 1d6 damage.
Your weigh increases by a factor of ten.
Lasting Breath
Investiture of Wind
1st-level transmutation (bard, druid, ranger, wizard)

Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 hour

Range: Self
Components: V, S
Swirling fog spreads across your body. For the duration, you
gain the following benefits:
You have a fly speed of 60 feet. If you are still flying
when the spell ends, you fall unless you can somehow
prevent it.
You can move through spaces occupied by other crea
tures regardless of their size.
Your movement never provokes opportunity attacks.
You may use a bonus action to cause the air in a 10-foot
radius centered on you to spin with tremendous speed

until the start of your next turn. Ranged attacks made
against you or targets in the area have disadvantage.
Choose one creature within range. The target does not need to
breathe for the duration.
Magic Stone
Transmutation cantrip (druid)
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute
Touch up to three pebbles. You imbue each pebble with
magical power that lasts for the duration. When a creature
throws a pebble as a thrown weapon (range 20/60) or fires it it
from a sling and the attack hits, the pebble deals 1d4 + 1
59
bludgeoning damage and the magic departs the pebble. If you

cast this spell again, the spell ends early for any pebbles still
affected by this spell. Attacks made using an affected pebble
count as if they were made using a magic weapon.
At Higher Levels. The spells damage increases by 1 when
you reach a caster level of 5th (1d4 + 2), 10th (1d4 + 3), 15th
(1d4 + 4), and 20th (1d4 + 5).
Maximilians Earthen Grasp

2nd-level transmutation (sorcerer, wizard)
Range: 30 feet
Components: V, S, M (a miniature hand sculpted from clay)
Choose a point on the ground you can see within range. An
arm made from compacted soil rises from that point and
attacks one creature within 5 feet of it. The creature must
make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature
becomes restrained for the duration. A creature restrained by
this spell can use an action on its turn to make a Strength
check against the spell saving throw DC. On a success, the
creature breaks free and is no longer restrained.
On a successful save, the hand sinks back in the ground. On
your next turn, you may cause a hand to rise from a point on
the ground within range and attack another creature.
You may only have one creature restrained by this spell at a
time.
Melfs Minute Meteors

3rd-level evocation (wizard)
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (nitre, sulfur, and pine tar formed into
a bead)
You create ten tiny meteors around you. They float in the air
and orbit your body for the duration. When you cast the spell
and as a bonus action on each of your turns thereafter, you
may expend up to two of the meteors by sending them
streaking toward points you choose within 120 feet of you.
Once a meteor reaches that point or impacts against a solid
surface, the meteor explodes. Each creature within 5 feet of
the point where the meteor exploded must make a Dexterity
saving throw. A creature takes 2d4 fire damage on a failed
save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
slot of 4th level or higher, you may create two additional
meteors for each level above 3rd.
Murky Depths
2nd-level conjuration (druid)
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Choose a point within range. You create a 20-foot-radius

sphere of thick fog centered on that spot. The fog spreads
around corners. The area is heavily obscured. The area of fog
counts as difficult terrain for all creatures except you and
creatures that have a swim speed. The fog lasts for the
duration or until a wind of strong or greater speed (20 miles
per hour) disperses it.
slot of 2nd level or higher, the radius of the fog increases by
10 feet for each level above 2nd.
Primordial Ward
5th-level abjuration (druid)
Range: Self
Components: V, S
You have resistance to acid, cold, fire, lightning, and thunder
damage for the duration.
Pyrotechnics
1st-level transmutation (bard, sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: Special (see text)
Choose one flame that can fit inside a 50 foot cube within
range. You extinguish the fire and create either fireworks or
smoke.
Fireworks. The target explodes with a dazzling display of
colors. Each sighted creature within 10 feet of the target must
succeed on a Constitution saving throw or become blinded
Smoke. Thick black smoke spreads out from the target in a
10-foot radius, moving around corners. The area is heavily
obscured and lasts for 1 minute or until a wind of strong or
stronger speed (at least 20 miles per hour) disperses it.
Ride the Wind

4th-level transmutation (ranger, warlock)
Range: Self
Components: V
You become almost weightless for the duration. While
weightless, you multiply your jump distance by 5 and you
never take damage as a result of falling. Finally, whenever
you take bludgeoning, force, piercing, or slashing damage,
you move in a straight line away from the source of the
damage equal to 1d6 [ts] 10 feet.
Rock Armor
2nd-level evocation (druid, ranger, sorcerer)
60
Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a lump of granite)
The ground in a 5-foot radius centered on you bursts upward.
Each creature in the area must make a Dexterity saving throw.
A creature takes 2d10 bludgeoning damage on a failed save,
or just half the damage on a successful one.
The ground in the area becomes difficult terrain until
cleared.
The earth then gathers to your body and clings there for the
duration. You take a 10 penalty to speed, but you gain
resistance to bludgeoning and slashing damage.
slot of 3rd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d10 for
Scattering Gale
Range: 300 feet
Components: S
Shackles of Justice
4th-level abjuration (paladin)
Range: 60 feet
Components: V
Choose a creature within range that you can see. The creature
must make a Charisma saving throw. If you are good or evil
and the target has the opposite alignment, it has disadvantage
for this save. It takes 6d6 psychic damage on a failed save,
and half as much damage on a successful one. In addition, a
target that fails its save cannot willingly move more than 30
feet away from you. The spell ends early if you end your turn
more than 30 feet away from the target.

Range: Self
Components: V
2nd-level transmutation (ritual) (bard, druid, wizard)

Range: Sight
Components: V, S
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 hour
Snillocs Snowball Swarm
Choose a point you can see within range. A howling zephyr

encircles any number of creatures within 20 feet of that point.
A creature must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed
save, the target takes 5d6 bludgeoning damage, becomes
deafened for 1 minute, and then flies up to 60 feet in a
direction you choose. On a successful save, the target takes
just half the damage.
1st-level evocation (bard, druid, sorcerer, wizard)
Skywrite
You cause up to ten words to appear in the sky centered on a

point you can see. The words are made from clouds and
remain in place for the duration. When the spell ends, the
words dissipate as normal clouds.
Shockwave
You must be on an earthen, stone, or sandy surface to cast this

spell. You stomp on the ground causing a shockwave to rip
through the earth in a 30-foot radius. The ground in the area
becomes difficult terrain until cleared. In addition, each
creature in the area must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw
or fall prone and take 1d6 bludgeoning damage.
slot of 2nd-level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for
each level above 1st.
2nd-level evocation (wizard)

Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S, M (a piece of ice or a small white rock
chip)
A flurry of magic snowballs erupts from a point you choose
within range. Each creature within a 5-foot-radius sphere
centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw. A
creature takes 3d6 cold damage on a failed save, or just half
the damage on a successful one.
A wizard named Snilloc created this spell and included it in
the tome named The Collected Wisdom of Snilloc. After the
tome was stolen, the spell spread quickly through the Realms.
slot of 3rd level or higher, you increase the damage by 1d6 for
Soar
2nd-level transmutation (sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Range: Self
Components: V
Duration: 1 round
You gain a fly speed of 60 feet for the duration. When the
spell ends, you fall at the end of your turn if you are still aloft
and have no means to stop the fall.
Stone Spike
3rd-level conjuration (druid, sorcerer, wizard)
Range: 90 feet
61
Components: V, S
Suffocate
A 10-foot tall, 5-foot-radius spike of stone erupts from a point

on an earthen or stone surface you can see within range. If
you cast this spell on a point on a ceiling or wall, the spike
falls from that surface onto a creature directly underneath it.
A creature in the spikes space or in its path when it falls
must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 5d10
piercing damage and becomes impaled by the spike on a
failed save, or takes just half the damage on a successful one.
A creature impaled on the spike has a speed of 0 feet until it
uses an action to make a Strength check again the spell saving
throw DC. On a success, the creature pulls itself free and
takes 1d10 extra piercing damage.
slot of 4th-level or higher, the damage increases by 1d10 for

Range: 150 feet
Components: V, S
Storm Sphere

Range: Self
Components: V, S, M (a small cymbal)
Duration: 10 minutes
7th-level transmutation (bard, warlock, wizard)
4th-level evocation (cleric, sorcerer, wizard)

Range: 150 feet
Components: V, S
A 20-foot-radius sphere of whirling air springs into existence
centered on a point you choose within range. The sphere
remains for the duration. Each creature in the sphere when it
appears or that enters it must succeed on a Strength saving
throw or take 1d8 bludgeoning damage. The spheres space is
difficult terrain and a creature only makes this saving throw
once per round.
You may use a bonus action on each of your turns for the
duration to cause a crackling bolt of lighting to leap from the
center of the sphere toward a creature you choose within 150
feet of it. Make a ranged spell attack. You have advantage for
this attack if the target is within the sphere. On a hit, the target
takes 3d8 lightning damage.
Until the spell ends, characters within 30 feet of the sphere
have disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made to
listen.
At Higher Levels. When you case this spell using a spell
slot of 5th level or higher, you increase the damage for each
of its effects by 1d8 for each level above 4th.
Strength from Stone

2nd-level transmutation (druid, ranger, sorcerer)
Range: Self
Components: V, S
Thunder Shield
4th-level evocation (bard, wizard)
The air shimmers around you for the duration and sounds to
you seem distorted and muted. The spell ends early if you
dismiss it (no action required). Until the spell ends, you have
resistance to thunder damage.
In addition, whenever a creature within 5 feet of you hits
you with a melee attack, the creature takes 2d8 thunder
damage and must make a Strength saving throw. The creature
is pushed 10 feet away from you and becomes deafened for 1
minute on a failed save.
Tidal Wave
3rd-level conjuration (druid, wizard)
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (a drop of water)
You cause a wall of water to appear at a point you choose
within range. The wall is up to 30 feet long, 30 feet high, and
10 feet thick. As soon as the wall appears, it topples either
toward you or away from you. Each creature under the wall
when it falls must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature
takes 3d10 bludgeoning damage and falls prone on a failed
save, or just half the damage on a successful one. The water
then spreads out across the ground in all directions. The
splashing water automatically extinguishes all unprotected
flames within 120 feet of the point where the wave appeared.
Transmute Rock
You draw power from earth and stone. While you remain in
contact with an earthen or stone surface, you have advantage
on Strength checks and saving throws. In addition, your melee
weapon attacks deal 1d8 extra damage.
Choose a point within range. Each creature within 10 feet of

that point must make a Constitution saving throw. Constructs
and undead are not affected. On a failed save, the creature
forcefully exhales its breath and begins suffocating (see
Chapter 8 in the Players Handbook for rules on suffocating).
At the end of each of an affected creatures turn, it can make
another saving throw. On a success, the spell ends for that
creature.

Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (clay and water)
Duration: Permanent
62
Choose an area of terrain no larger than 40 feet on a side

within range. Choose one of the following effects.
Transmute Rock to Mud. Natural, uncut, or unworked rock
of any sort in the area becomes an equal volume of mud that
remains for the duration. The depth of mud created cannot
exceed 10 feet. A creature standing on the terrain sinks until it
is hip- or chest-deep. While sunk in the mud, the creature has
disadvantage on attack rolls, Strength and Dexterity checks,
and Strength and Dexterity checks. Other creatures have
advantage on attack rolls against affected creatures. A
creature can move through the mud, but every 5 feet of
distance requires an expenditure of 20 feet of movement.
If you cast the spell on the ceiling of a cavern or tunnel, the
mud falls to the floor and spreads out in a pool at a depth of 5
feet. Any creature under the mud when it falls must make a
Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 6d8 bludgeoning
damage on a failed save, or just half the damage on a
successful one.
Evaporation turns the mud to normal dirt over a period of
days, with the act time depending on exposure to the sun,
wind, and normal drainage as determined by the Dungeon
Master.
Transmute Mud to Rock. Normal mud or quicksand in the
area of any depth transforms into soft stone for the duration.
Any creature in the mud when it transforms must succeed on
a Dexterity saving throw or become restrained by the rock. A
creature can break free by succeeding on a DC 20 Strength
check as an action or dealing 25 damage to the rock around it.
Unity
5th-level divination (cleric, paladin)
Range: Self (30-foot sphere)
Components: V
You emit an aura of unity that extends out from you in a 30foot-radius sphere. The sphere moves with you to remain
centered on you. For the duration, whenever you hit with an
attack, each friendly creature in the area has advantage on the
first attack he or she makes before the start of your next turn.
Whenever you succeed on a saving throw, each friendly
creature in the area has advantage on the first saving throw he
or she makes before the start of your next turn.
its turn in the area must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw

or fall prone.
Vitriolic Sphere
4th-level conjuration (sorcerer, wizard)
Range: 150 feet
Components: V, S, M (a drop of giant slug bile)
Choose a point within range. A glowing 1-foot ball of
emerald acid streaks toward that point and explodes in a 30foot radius. Each creature in the area must make a Dexterity
saving throw. A creature takes 10d4 acid damage on a failed
save and 5d4 acid damage at the end of its next turn, or just
half the initial damage on a successful one.
slot of 5th level or higher, the initial damage increases by 2d4
for each level above 4th.
Wall of Sand
3rd-level evocation (wizard)
Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S, M (a handful of sand)
You create a wall of swirling, opaque sand on a solid surface
within range. You may choose make the wall up to 30 feet
long, 10 feet high, and 10 feet thick. The wall lasts for the
duration, and it totally obscures creatures behind it. The wall
causes ranged attacks made through it to automatically miss
except for ranged attacks made by Huge or larger creatures.
When the wall appears, each creature within its area is
pushed away from the walls center until it is not in the walls
space.
A creature can move through the wall, albeit slowly. For
every 5 feet a creature would travel through the wall, it must
spend 15 feet of movement. While in the walls space, a
creature is blinded.
slot of a level higher than 3rd, the walls length increase by 10
feet or the size of its radius increases by 5 feet.
Wall of Water
Upheaval
2nd-level evocation (druid, sorcerer, wizard)
1st-level evocation (druid, sorcerer)

Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a drop of water)

Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S
Duration: 1 minute
Choose a point on the ground within range that you can see.
For the duration, the ground heaves and shakes within a 30foot radius centered on that point, turning the ground in the
area into difficult terrain.
A creature in the area when you cast the spell or that ends
You create a wall of water on a solid surface within range.

You can choose to make the wall up to 30 feet long, 10 feet
high, and 1 foot thick, or a ringed wall up to 20 feet in
diameter, 20 feet high, and 1 foot thick. The wall lasts for the
duration.
Creatures can freely move through the wall, though its
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space counts as difficult terrain and the wall soaks any

creature moving through it.
Ranged attacks against targets behind the wall have
disadvantage and ranged attacks from Large or smaller
creatures deal half damage.
Spells that deal cold and fire damage cannot reach through
the wall and thus have no effect. If you create a ringed wall,
the area inside the wall is excluded from the areas of spells
that deal fire damage.
If the wall blocks a spell that would deal cold damage, the
section of wall struck by the spell freezes solid for the
duration. It has AC 5 and 30 hp per 10-foot section. It is
vulnerable to fire damage. If reduced to 0 hit points, its
watery nature is restored.
Warding Wind
2nd-level evocation (druid, sorcerer)
Range: Self
Components: V
A strong wind (20 miles per hour) blows around you in a 10foot radius and moves with you, remaining centered on you
and hedging out fog, mist, and gas. The wind lasts for the
duration.
The wind deafens you and creatures in its area. The wind
extinguishes candles, torches, and similar unprotected flames
in its area. Creatures other than you treat the area as difficult
terrain. Finally, creatures have disadvantage on attack rolls for
ranged attacks against creatures inside the area of wind.
At any time before the spell ends, you may use an action to
end the spell early by directing the wind away from you so
that it blasts across a line 60 feet long and 10 feet wide. Each
creature in the line must succeed on a Strength saving throw
or be pushed 15 feet away from you in a direction following
the line and then fall prone. The line of wind also disperses
gas and vapor and automatically extinguishes candles,
torches, and similar unprotected flames in its area.
3rd-level conjuration (bard, wizard)

Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: Until dispelled
You touch a liquid surface and imbue it with magic that
remains for the duration or until triggered.
The first creature other than you whose reflection is cast on
the surface triggers the spell. Once triggered, this spell ends.
Upon triggering the spell, the liquid forms into a physical
duplicate of the reflected creature that remains for 1 minute or
until destroyed. If more than one creature casts a reflection at
the same time, only one duplicate forms of a randomly
determined creature.
The volume of liquid determines the size of the duplicate. If
the spell was cast upon a mug of ale, for example, the double
would form from the ale and would be no larger than the mug
that contained it when it crawls free. Regardless of the
liquids volume, the duplicate can attain a size equal to the
size of the creature it reflects.
When the duplicate appears, it rolls initiative and acts on its
turn. The duplicate uses the triggering creatures statistics,
though it cannot speak, cast spells, or use magic items the
creature possesses. The duplicate is immune to any effect that
would require a Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, or
Charisma saving throw. Reducing a duplicate to 0 hit points
destroys it and ends the spell early.
The duplicate moves with the creature it reflects to stay
within 5 feet of it. It can flow through cracks large enough to
permit the passage of water. Each round on its turn, the
duplicate uses its action to touch the creature it reflects, using
the creatures attack bonus. On a hit, the duplicate touches the
creature and flows over its body to invade its bodily openings,
which deals 2d6 bludgeoning damage.
Watery Fist
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (a vial of water)
Water to Ice
2nd-level transmutation (druid, wizard)
Range: 120 feet
Components: V, S, M (water)
Duration: Permanent
Choose an area of water no larger than 40 feet on a side
within range. You cause all water to instantly freeze in the
area. Mud and swampy terrain becomes normal terrain, while
wet floors become covered in slippery ice, becoming difficult
terrain. A creature that moves across ice must succeed on a
Dexterity saving throw or fall prone. The ice remains until it
melts naturally.
Watery Double
Choose an area of water that fills a 5-foot cube that you can
see within range. A pseudopod of water emerges from the
water and remains for the duration. When you cast the spell
and a bonus action on each of your turns, you can use the fist
to attack or grapple.
If you attack, make a melee attack against a creature within
10 feet of it. The fist has a bonus to hit equal to your
spellcasting ability modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a
hit, the target takes 1d12 bludgeoning damage.
If you grapple, make a check using your spellcasting ability
modifier + your proficiency bonus contested by the Strength
(Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check (the targets
choice) of one creature within 10 feet of the fist. If you
succeed, the target becomes grappled. While grappling a
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creature, you can use a bonus action to crush the target the fist
is grappling. The target must make a Strength saving throw. A
target takes 2d6 bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or just
half the damage on a successful one.
Finally, when you move, you can also move the fist up to
20 feet provided the fist remains within 10 feet of water that
can fill a 5-foot cube.
slot of 3rd level or higher, the damage increases by 1 for each
level above 2nd.
appears or that enters its space must make a Strength saving

throw. A creature takes 10d6 bludgeoning damage on a failed
save, or just half the damage on a successful one. In addition,
a creature that fails the save flies 3d6 [ts] 10 feet in a straight
line away from the whirlwind and lands prone at the end of
this movement.
The whirlwind heavily obscures the area within 10 feet of it
and everything behind it.
On each of your turns, you may use an action to move the
whirlwind up to 60 feet in a direction you choose.
Watery Sphere
Wild Fire
4th-level evocation (druid, wizard)

Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S, M (a droplet of water)

Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S, M (a lump of charcoal and a drop of oil)
A sphere of water with a 10-foot radius appears on a point

you can see within range and remains for the duration. Each
creature in the area must make a Strength saving throw. On a
failed save, the creature is restrained by the sphere. At the end
of each of its turns, the target can make another Strength
saving throw. On a successful save, the creature is pushed
away from the center until it is no longer inside the sphere.
As an action, you can move the sphere up to 30 feet in a
straight line. Any creature restrained by the sphere moves
with it. If you ram the sphere into a creature, that creature
must make a Strength saving throw. On a failed save, the
creature is pulled inside the sphere and is restrained by it. On
a successful save, the creature is pushed until it is outside of
the spheres path. A creature only makes this saving throw
once per round regardless of how many times the sphere
would ram it.
The sphere can hold a maximum of four Medium or smaller
creatures or one Large creature. If the sphere would restrain a
creature in excess of these numbers, a randomly determined
creature restrained by the sphere falls out of it and lands prone
in a space within 5 feet of the sphere.
When the spell ends, the sphere falls to the ground and
extinguishes all normal flames within 30 feet of it. Any
creatures inside the sphere land prone on the ground in the
space where it fell.
You cause the ground to catch fire in a 20-foot square starting

from a point within range. The flames burn for the duration
and ignite flammable objects in the area that are not being
worn or carried.
A creature in the area when you cast the spell or that enters
it must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 2d6
fire damage on a failed save, or half of the damage on a
successful one.
The flames create smoke that covers the area and extends
20 feet from the area. The area of smoke is heavily obscured
and lasts for the duration.
Wind of moderate or greater speed (at least 10 miles per
hour) disperses the smoke for as long as it blows but the
smoke returns on the start of your next turn after it ends. In
addition, the wind causes the flames to spread 1d6 [ts] 5 feet
in the direction the wind is blowing for each round it blows.
Whirlwind
7th-level evocation (cleric, druid, wizard)
Range: 300 feet
Components: V, M (a piece of straw)
You cause a whirlwind to appear centered on a point you can
see within range. The whirlwind is 270 feet tall, with a 15foot diameter at the top and a 5-foot diameter at the base. If
there is not enough room to accommodate the whirlwind, the
casting fails and the slot is expended.
Any creature or object inside the whirlwinds area when it
Wind Blade
4th-level evoke (druid, wizard)
Range: Self
Components: V, S
You evoke an invisible blade from one of your hands, similar
in size and shape to a longsword. The blade lasts for the
duration and you may use a bonus action to retract it or extend
it at will. While extended, it emits a sound of roaring wind.
The sound causes you and creatures within 10 feet of you to
be deafened for as long as the blade remains extended.
You can use your action to make a melee attack with the
wind blade, with a bonus to hit equal to your spellcasting
ability modifier + your proficiency bonus. On a hit, the target
takes 6d6 bludgeoning damage.
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Wind Dance
ceed on a Strength saving throw or be pushed 10 feet

away from you.
3rd-level transmutation (druid, ranger, sorcerer)

Range: Self
Components: V
You channel power of elemental air, letting it suffuse your
body. Until the spell ends, whenever you take damage, you
may use a bonus action to fly up to your speed. You must land
at the end of this movement or you fall unless you can
somehow prevent it.
Wrack Earth
3rd-level evocation (sorcerer, wizard)
Range: Self (60-foot line)
Components: V, S
Earth and stone blast 10 feet up from a line on the ground that
is 60 feet long and 10 feet wide. Each creature in the area
must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 5d8
bludgeoning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage
on a successful one.
The ground in the area as well as the ground within 5 feet
of the line becomes difficult terrain until cleared.
each slot level above 3rd.
Zeal
2nd-level divination (cleric, paladin)
Range: 60 feet
Components: V
Duration: 1 minute
Choose one creature you can see within range. Until the spell
ends, you have a +4 bonus to attack rolls and weapon damage
rolls against that target. In addition, whenever the target
moves more than 60 feet from you on its turn, you may use a
bonus action to move up to your speed toward the target. The
spell ends if the target is reduced to 0 hit points.
Zephyr
Transmutation cantrip (druid, sorcerer, wizard)
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S
You seize the air and compel it to create one of the following
effects within range:
You freshen the air inside a cube, 30 feet on each side,
within range, removing fog, gas, or other vapors from the

area.
One Medium or smaller creature within range must suc
66
5: Factions
Emerald Enclave: A widespread group of wilderness
survivalists who preserve the natural order while rooting out
unnatural threats.
Harpers: A scattered network of spellcasters and spies who
advocate equality and covertly oppose the abuse of power,
magical or otherwise.
Order of the Gauntlet: Faithful and vigilant seekers of
justice who protect others from the depredations of evildoers.
Lords Alliance: A shaky alliance of aggressive political
powers concerned with their mutual security and prosperity.
Zhentarim: An unscrupulous shadow network that seeks to
expand its influence and power base throughout Faern.
Harpers
Down with tyranny. Fairness and equality for all.
<<Symbol: A silver harp within the horns of a silver crescent
moon, its curved back to the left and its horns to the right, all
on a royal blue background.>>
The Harpers is a venerable organization that has risen and
fallen time and again for over a thousand years. Its roots reach
back through time to the Old Elven Court when great Myth
Drannor was yet in its prime. The Harpers consider that
gilded age the pinnacle of free civilization, and they strive to
return its light to all Faern. As Myth Drannor fell, so too
have the Harpers fallen, but each time they have fallen or
faded from historical record, they inevitably return when
injustice and tyranny threaten to smother the liberty of free
peoples throughout the Realms.
The Harpers have returned from death and obsolescence
even while great empires have remained in the dust. Their
longevity and resilience are largely due to the organizations
decentralized, grassroots, nature, the secretive orders of their
ranks, and the near-autonomy of many of its members.
Harper cells and individual agents operate throughout
Faern, sharing information with one another from time to
time as needs warrant.
The Harpers pride themselves on their integrity and
incorruptibility. They claim not to seek power or glory, but
only fair and equal treatment for all.
Mission
As a Harper you use covert means to gather information
throughout Faern. As a rogue, bard, or spy, you infiltrate
organizations and learn their secrets; as a Harper wizard, you
scry the agents of power groups and observe from afar the
activities of their minions, underlings, and even their leaders,
if you can.
Balance Power. The Harpers use the information you
gather to discern the political dynamics within each region of
Faern. A balance of power must exist between the leaders,
governments, and groups that hold power and the people that
are subject to that power. As a Harper, you believe that
fairness and equality are the standard by which every being
deserves to live, and you seek to protect the rights of
individuals at any cost.
Limit the Rights of Rulers. Harpers are not just freedom

fighter working to dethrone the tyrants of the world. You also
preemptively thwart leaders, governments, or groups that
begin to grow too powerful. The parameters by which your
fellow agents define too powerful are a matter of
perspective, however, and often lies within your individual
moral outlook or the decree of your cell.
Harpers are a threat to ambitious organizations, no matter
how good their intentions. If an individual Harper, or Harper
cell, decides that a leader or group will grow powerful enough
to create a potential imbalance or threaten the liberty of its
people, you take action to quell its burgeoning power. This
naturally leads to conflicts between the Harpers and any
individual or group with aspirations to rise, and is part of the
reason why you operate covertly.
Anonymous Ranks. The Harpers operate independently and
in secret. If your organization were to be revealed or its
members recognized, not only would your enemies attempt to
seek out and destroy you, but more importantly, your faction
would risk becoming the very thing it strives to keep in check.
A powerful, centralized Harper organization would need to
answer to its leadership, and that leadership would inevitably
struggle for mastery or submit to a leaders commands. A
leader, or assembly of leaders, with the power to control the
Harpers would make the Harpers into the very thing you seek
to thwart.
You therefore remain fragmented and anonymous,
informally organized, limited in poweryour sole intention
to aid the weak, the poor, and the oppressed. You only act
openly in times of the desperate need, when a combined force
is necessary to overcome so great a threat that no individual
or cell could hope to match it.
Harper Behavior and Beliefs

In the course of your career, you gain access to vast
knowledge. You learn of plots that could topple kingdoms,
intricate conspiracies that span the planes of existence, and
arcane lore that could imbue individuals with the powers of
demigods. Such immense resources are placed squarely in
your hands and those of your Harper allies.
It is up to you to decide how to use your knowledge. The
key virtue of an effective Harper is your wisdomfor indeed,
all the knowledge in the multiverse is nothing if it is put to ill
use. An effective Harper is not necessarily the most skillful
infiltrator, resource gatherer, or magician, but the Harper that
understands what to do with the resources you uncover.
Patience is secondary only to wisdom, though a patient
Harper must have the courage and will to act when the time is
right. Not every adventurer makes a great Harper, even those
with the proper skills and trainingyet there is always a place
among you for those of good heartso long as they have the
presence of mind to pass important decisions to other Harpers
whose wisdom exceeds their own.
An ideal Harper seeks the liberty of all people, freely
performs acts of kindness and benevolence, pursues
knowledge rather than power, and is content to live humbly
without public recognition for great deeds done, rather than
67
receive public fame, fortune, and glory for the actions of the
conscience.
Harpers share a common credo, intrinsic to every Harper
operative. No Harper is inducted into your secret ranks
without a fast and proven dedication to these guiding
principles. Only those that have worked tirelessly and
sacrificed selflessly to promote your ideals are asked to join
your society.
Harpers follow these guiding principles:
One can never have too much information or arcane
knowledge. As a Harper you are a living vault of secret
wisdom and forgotten lore. Nevertheless, there is a vast
difference between possessing information and arcane power
and using it. You relish the knowledge and arcane secrets you
gather, but are bound by duty and by conscience to relinquish
the substantial personal benefits such knowledge might yield.
Too much power leads to corruption. For over a thousand
years the Harpers have witnessed the corrupting influence of
power upon those who lack the willpower to control it. Far
worse, they have seen the devastation wreaked by the abuse
of magic. They have witnessed the fall of gods and the
Sundering of the Weave. Some Harpers of long-lived races or
possessing significant magic remember the founding of your
organization and all the events that have transpired in the past
millennium. Time and again history has demonstrated that
power will be abused if people are tricked into allowing it.
Aware of the frailty of the mortal will, you closely monitor
the powerful individuals of Faerneven benevolent
individualsand work to limit their influence.
No one should be powerless. While you work tirelessly to
limit power, you subsequently believe that every individual
should possess some amount of it. Having power amounts to
having choicethe power to choose ones path, ones mate,
ones occupation and direction in life. When choice is denied
and anothers values or orders are imposed, you fight to
liberate those that would be denied. You despise slavery
above all things, and will not endure a populace in shackles.
Harper Quests
Although individual Harper agents are highly capable and
skilled, you prefer to aid others with the rare and precious
knowledge you gather than with direct strength of arms or
magic, since such outward displays of action would, over
time, disrupt your cover and threaten to reveal you as a
Harper.
If an artifact was unearthed that threatened to upset the
balance of power in a region, you might be called to action to
secure that artifact and deliver it to a responsible and
trustworthy keeper.
In regions where political leaders or organizations rise to
prominence and hold significant sway over the inhabitants,
you might be sent on a mission to collect as much information
about the leader or organization as possible, so that your
Harper cell might work together to discover their ultimate
intentions.
When spellcasters come into their power and first learn the
secrets of scrying, raising the dead or undead, teleportation,
and summoning, you try to learn the individuals true

intentions. You cannot control the path of every budding
mage that comes to power, but the Harpers can learn
everything they can about the individuals aims, motivation,
and psychology, so as to prepare yourselves for a potential
ally or enemy in the future.
If a Harper discovered that a powerful evil monster
encroached upon the borders of a small village, you would
learn what you could of the creature, including any hidden
reason for its presence near the village. Rather than face the
creature head on, you would pass what you had learned on to
a local agency capable of dealing with the threat. If at all
possible, you stay out of the way and avoid confrontation.
If you discovered a great treasure trove on the outskirts of
the same village, you would not take it for yourself or for the
Harpers, nor take steps to protect it. Instead, you would
closely observe the treasure and make sure it didnt fall into
the wrong hands.
Playing a Harper
If you choose to join the Harpers, youre choosing to play a
character that places greater value on the merits of
observation and intelligence gathering than on taking
immediate and direct action. This doesnt mean you play a
passive character, but the best Harpers look for clever,
indirect ways to resolve conflictsbreaking down the door
and rushing in isnt Harper style.
In the fiction of the game, youre highlighting the value
your character places upon knowledge; a selfless benefactor
to those in need, youre taking little or no credit for acts of
heroism or good deeds that you do.
Outside the game, youre communicating to the other
players and DM that you want your characters adventures to
involve secret missions where you can uncover intelligence
and occasionally have a solo scene to work in secret and
fulfill your aims.
Harper Classes. Harpers are recruited from the ranks of all
the classes, but bards and wizards are by far the most
prominent classes among the Harpers, as their arcane skills
and extensive learning grant them access to vast stores of
knowledgethe asset that the Harpers prize above all.
Harper Alignments.
CG (primary), NG, LG, LN, N, CN
Harpers tend to be individualists that overthrow established
order for the sake of the common good. Thus most see the
world through a Chaotic Good viewpoint, though various
Harpers place a higher value on order or total liberty, and
some dedicate themselves only to good, while others refuse to
embrace any set of core values or beliefs.
Evil Harpers?
There are no evil Harpers. Since the Harpers offer neither
fame nor power, and since they actively monitor and control
powerful individuals, their organization holds little appeal for
those that would seek such rewards. It is unlikely that a evil
creature would infiltrate the organization on purpose. Not
only must Harpers prove their steadfastness with deeds of
selfless good, but Harpers are skilled information gatherers
68
capable of knowing the innermost secrets of any that would

join them. Nevertheless, the Harpers cannot prevent an
individual from experiencing a change of heart that turns him
or her toward evil. Such as these are the most tragic and
dangerous of Harpersthose of a once clean heart, now
embittered toward the cause, and with all the knowledge and
identities of Harpers as hostage.
as Harpers cannot always act in accordance with the dictates

of their conscienceto overthrow the larger evils of the
world, they must learn what they can, practice patience, and
learn to wait for the right circumstances, knowledge, and
strength for a decisive victory.
Harper Duties. As a Harper, you are trained to act alone and

rely on your own resources. When you get into a scrape,
youre in it all by yourself and you cant count on your fellow
Harpers to rescue you're your fellow Harpers trust in your
competence to complete missions autonomously using the
means at your disposalso long as you dont break the
Harper code. You do your part for the greater good and trust
that your fellow Harpers will do likewise. If you know
another Harper to be in peril, you are not required to aid them,
especially if doing so would risk both of your lives and
identities. Better that knowledge of the event survive than be
lost. This is not to say that Harpers are unfriendly toward one
another. On the contrary, Harpers are dedicated to helping one
another in times of need, and friendships between Harpers are
nigh unbreakable. Masterful spies and infiltrators, you us
various guises and secret identities to form relationships,
cultivate your information networks, and manipulate others
into doing what needs to be done. Although most Harpers
prefer to operate in the shadows, there are exceptions.
Harper Benefits. As a Harper you have access to arcane
lore and secret caches of items stored in hidden locales for use
by agents of your organization.
You are privy to intelligence on secret or restricted places
unknown to the greater part of the world.
You know ways to locate, identify, and share information
with other Harper agents. These may take the form of secret
tokens, hand signals, trigger words, talismans, or phrases.
Membership Levels.
Ranks (highest to lowest)
High Harper
Wise Owl
Brightcandle
Harpshadow
Watcher
Remallia "Remi" Haventree is an elf noblewoman and

Harper agent from Silverymoon who married the merchantnoble Arthagast Ulbrinter of Waterdeep. When her husband,
an outspoken supporter of the Harpers, is kidnapped and
murdered by the Cult of the Dragon and its allies, Remi calls
in many favors and uses her influence and charisma to rally
Harper agents to her banner. She begins to gather information
on "the Enemy" and learns that the Cult of the Dragon is
plotting to raise a temple of Tiamat in the Well of Dragons.
She tries to unite the Harpers and destroy this threat to Sword
Coast, with mixed success.
Tam Zawad is a spymaster who leads the Harpers of
Waterdeep. Hes known as the Shepherd, and by extension
his subordinates are sometimes called the Flock (though
these arent names that Tam likes or uses). Formerly a priest
of Selne, this erudite Calishite man in his early fifties hasnt
lost his edge, and takes the Code of the Harpers very
seriously.
Leosin Erlanthar, a half-elf monk born in Berdusk, is one
of Remi Haventree's many ex-husbands. Their marriage lasted
only a year. She was admittedly too old for him (he was 60
years old, roughly half her age, and changing as a person), but
they remain close. Leosin never remarried, and has spent the
last several years securing funds to help rebuild Neverwinter,
and providing counsel to Lord Neverember on occasion. The
bearded half-elf also makes frequent pilgrimages to
Candlekeep and sponsors expeditions to far-flung places in an
effort to rescue lost artifacts and historical lore. He believes
that the past contains important lessons that must be learned if
civilized society is to survive in the present. Leosin helps his
ex-wife unite the Harpers against the Cult of the Dragon and
its allies. Like many great Harpers, he has a knack for putting
himself in harm's way.
Potential Conflicts. Because Harpers operate in secret and

favor observation and indirect influence over direct action,
those that most need their aid may suffer before true help
arrives. A Harper agent therefore must decide when the
secrecy of the mission takes precedence over the cost of the
lives it endangers. The moral dilemmas such circumstances
present are more than some Harper agents can handle.
A Harper posing as a courtier in the palace of an evil ruler
will not remain hidden long if he or she attempts to save every
creature the ruler tortures or oppresses, nor will the Harper
gather much intelligence from the mission. A Harper that
bears out the cruelties visited upon those people may learn
much indeed, but at the cost of how many lives, and how
much of the Harpers own conscience?
Joining the Harpers is not an endeavor to be taken lightly,
Harper cells in Triboar and Yartar work in secret to protect

the people of the Sumber Hills from threats and ensure the
stability of democratic rule. One small group of Harpers
supports the elected Lord Protector of Triboar, and another
operates out of Yartar, monitoring trade as it passes into
Yartar and out, down the Dessarin River to Waterdeep. As
usual, the Harpers do not interfere in politics or commerce,
but they learn what they can about troublesome activity and
pass the information on to those that can best impact the
situation for the better.
Another Harper cell in the Sumber Hills watches the ruined
Halls of the Hunting Axe, where it is rumored that the
legendary axe Orcsplitter was buried with its wielder, the
dwarven king Torhild Flametongue, 5,000 years ago. Though
they are reluctant to intervene in matters, the Harpers do not
Notable Harpers
Harpers in the Sumber Hills
69
wish to see the magical weapon fall into the wrong hands.
Other known bases. Moongleam Tower (in Everlund),
Twilight Hall (in Berdusk), and others
Harpers Outside the Realms

Harpers fulfill the romantic image of the errant knight that
wanders from place to place righting wrongs and rooting out
evil wherever it is found. Your group can use the Harpers in
other Dungeons & Dragons worlds simply by changing the
names of the places, or the name of the organization itself.
In the world of Dark Sun, for instance, the Harpers secrecy
would be of even greater import, as revealed Harpers would
be hunted and put to death by the minions of the Sorcerer
Kings, whose tyranny and oppression would be the reason for
the Harpers existence. Similarly, in the Ravenloft setting, the
Harpers would keep their identities secret while they plot to
overthrow the horrors that rule the Domains of Dread, such as
Lord Soth and Count Strahd von Zarovich. In the intrigue-rich
world of Eberron, the Harpers could be found across
Khorvaire, from the towers of Sharn to the Mournland,
working to keep the great powers in check in order to prevent
another great war from devastating the land. Imagine an
organization like the Harpers set among the backdrop of
Spelljammer or Planescape, gathering knowledge to use
against tyranny and oppression on a vast, cosmic scale.
The archetype of the solitary adventurer striving to defeat
oppression features prominently throughout science-fiction
and fantasy media, thus in any fantasy world where tyranny
and oppression exist, there is room for a secret society like the
Harpers to fight against them. They are like wandering ronin
or he gunfighters of the Old West; they are like the outlaws of
Sherwood Forest and secret agents. They dare to stand singly
against wicked regimes and evil powers for the benefit of
those that cannot fight for themselves.
Harper Membership Ranks

Watcher
Influence Required: 15
Watchers are the newest Harper recruits. Selected for their
keen memories and skills of observation, Watchers are the
eyes and ears of the Harper network.
Benefit: Harper Pin. All Harpers agents receive a silver
Harper pin that allows them to sense their proximity to other
Harpers in the region and to share information with Harpers in
close proximity by thought. Thoughts sent to other Harpers
cannot be detected or read by magic. If two Harpers hold a
coded conversation while sending thoughts to one another,
their words cannot be magically detected as lies.
Primary Duties. A Watcher keeps eyes and ears open for
potential threats, meticulously gathering information to be
passed along the proper channels.
Assist commoners without expectation of glory or re
ward.
Observe movements of evil and encroaching threats.
Report evil incursions to Harpers.
Advancement. After a Watcher has proven his or her ability

to observe and report with minimal direct intervention, the
Watcher may be promoted to the rank of Harpshadow. To do
this, the Watcher must do the following three things: establish
a new identity, move into new quarters for this identity,
establish three new relationships, including one person in
power.
Harpshadow
Harpshadows adopt an alternate identity that the Harper agent
uses to gain access to information that wouldnt normally be
accessible. This identity is the Harpshadows deep cover,
under which the Harper agent witnesses ill plots, conspiracies,
and injustices. The Harpshadow protects this alternate identity
at all costs.
Benefit: Dual Identity. A Harpshadows second identity is
an alternate life with different associates and resources. While
assuming the second identity the Harpshadow gains a second
false alignment belonging to the other identity. While
assuming the alternate identity, the Harpshadows words
cannot be detected as lies and the Harpshadows alignment
always reads as the alignment of the alternate identity.
Primary duties. When a Harpshadow assumes the new
identity, the Harper cultivates a useful inner circle in a second
life and uses it to gather information.
Keep the dual identity secret at virtually any cost.
Establish bonds with important contacts outside the Har

pers regular circles and learn what they know.
Use the dual identity to infiltrate power groups and evil
organizations to learn their secrets so that others may exploit them.

Advancement. A Harpshadow turns over some of the
magical items he or she obtains, contributing them to Harper
caches secreted throughout the Realms. A Harpshadow can
advance to the rank of Brightcandle after contributing at least
two common magic items and one uncommon magic item to
the Harpers caches.
Brightcandle
Brightcandles work to preserve knowledge and prevent the
abuse of magic. As they encounter various magical spells and
items on their missions, Brightcandles equip themselves with
select magic items from Harper caches that can best aid in the
mission at hand.
Benefit: Item Caches. Brightcandles learn the whereabouts
of the Harpers magic item caches. A Brightcandle that visits
a cache can exchange common and uncommon magic items
for other common and uncommon magic items in the cache.
The items exchanged must be of the same magic item type
(i.e. you can trade a weapon for another weapon, but cannot
trade a potion for a weapon). The DM can either determine
the items in the cache or allow you to choose from the tables
in the Dungeon Masters Guide.
Primary Duties. Brightcandles work to protect the integrity
of secret knowledge and magic.
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Preserve and protect powerful magic items and

knowledge.
Return powerful stolen magic items to their guardians.
Take away powerful items from those who abuse them.
Advancement. A Brightcandle can advance to the rank of

Wise Owl after saving a piece of critical information from
destruction, recovering a long lost secret of the ages, or
learning a secret from at least three evil creatures of genius
intelligence (and reporting this information to the Harpers).
Wise Owl
Wise Owls have risen through the ranks of the Harpers
listening, watching, and discovering secrets. By the time a
Harper becomes a Wise Owl, his or her access to information
is vast. It is the Wise Owls duty to decide how to distribute
the information to which the Harpers have access.
Benefit: Secret Lore. Once per day, Harpers with the rank
of Wise Owl gain advantage on any check made to obtain
knowledge or information. Alternatively, the Wise Owl can
grant another creature advantage if the Wise Owl confers with
that creature and shares his or her knowledge.
Primary Duties. Lower-ranking Harpers gather
information, but Wise Owls distribute that information to
those most capable of taking advantage of it.
Learn secrets
Put secrets in the right hands.
Obscure, confuse, or confound knowledge in the wrong
hands.
Advancement. Save a major civilization or realm, or defeat
a powerful tyrant without direct confrontation or personally
using violence or revealing your identity.
High Harper
High Harpers use their resources and their information
network to maintain the balance of power in the world. With
access to vast stores of knowledge and secret vaults of
powerful magic hidden across the Realms, a High Harper
remains behind the scenes working for the betterment of all.
Benefit. Magic Caches. A High Harper can exchange rare
and very rare magic items for other magic items of equal or
lesser rarity in a Harper cache. The items exchanged must be
of the same magic item type. The DM can either determine
the items in the cache or allow you to choose from the tables
in the Dungeon Masters Guide.
Primary Duties. High Harpers influence the peace and
prosperity of a region on a large scale. More than any other
Harper, it is a High Harpers job to:
Maintain the balance of power in the region.
Act invisibly to influence good and subdue evil.
Use knowledge to ensure peace, prevent war and blood

shed on large scale.
Order of the Gauntlet

The gods are with us. When evil strikes, we strike back.
<<Symbol: Right-handed human gauntlet (white) grasping a

white horizontal sword at midblade, on a steel gray
background.>>
In the wake of the Sundering the humble paladin Kleef Kenric
of Marsember called upon followers of Helm, Tyr, Torm, and
Hoarthe respective gods of protection, justice, law, and
retributionto unite their faiths toward common purpose.
The resulting union was dubbed the Order of the Gauntlet,
after the iconography of the gods holy symbols (three feature
gauntlets or gloves, and Tyr the Even-Handed has but a
single hand). The integration of these four separate faiths led
to the creation of an ideal order mightier than its individual
faiths could muster. Its purpose: to hold an everlasting vigil
against evil, to safeguard the innocent, to vanquish
wickedness, to administer justice and deliver retribution.
When evil entities break laws, agreements, or commonly
accepted codes of conduct, the Order of the Gauntlet strikes
like a swift and deadly sword, guided by its own counsel.
Always armed, ever prepared, the Order of the Gauntlet takes
initiative the instant that evil acts, quelling it before it can
cause greater harm. It does not stand idly by awaiting the
consent of rulers or the blessings of distant temples while evil
continues to spread.
Thanks to the vigilance of its creed, the Order is seldom
taken unawares. Its hawk-eyed agents watch for evil wherever
they travel, ready to bare their blades and strike definitively at
the first provocation.
Mission
As an agent of the Order, it falls to you to identify evil power
groups and inherently evil creatures and analyze the potential
threats they present. You keep constant vigil over the forces
of darkness, prepared to smite them if they should rise to
attack the world.
Justice, vigilance, order, and retribution are the fingers of
an iron gauntlet forged to crush the wicked; you are the thumb
that completes the fist that holds the blade that strikes against
the darkness. You came to the order dedicated to one of these
principles, but as an agent of the Order you are sworn to
uphold them all.
Be Armed, Remain Vigilant. Guided by the followers of
Helm, which serve as the Orders eyes and ears, you vow to
remain alert, ever watchful for the activities of evil creatures
and individuals. Fortified bastions of the Orders warriors
look out over the cities, towns, and wild borderlands where
evil incursions are prevalent. Where ordinary warriors fall or
flee before demonic terrors, you and your companions stand
fast to combat the wickedest forces of darkness.
Enforce Justice. Tyrs representatives often serve among
the leadership of your organization, as its conscience. For an
agent of the Order, it is not enough to persecute those branded
as wicked. You vow to wisely observe not just the actions, but
also the intentions of individuals, meting out punishment only
where it is due, and sparing the innocent the doom of the
guilty. Your capacity for compassion and fairness and your
ability to examine multiple perspectives helps keep the
Orders virtue a force for good, rather than a merciless army
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of militant crusaders.
Enact Retribution. The followers of Hoar the
Doombringer, god of Retribution, find their welcome place
among the Order. As an agent of the Order, you are honor
bound to punish evil for its fell deeds and to seek just
vengeance for the suffering it caused to others. On your oath
you swear never to let wicked acts or injustices go unpunished
for long.
Smite Evil. The Order of the Gauntlets vows of vigilance,
justice, and retribution would come to little more than airy
words if not for your steadfast commitment not just to
fighting evil but finding its source and eradicating it. As an
agent of the Order you swear to relentlessly pursue evil
adversaries and annihilate them so that duty, loyalty, and
righteousnessthe chief virtues of Tormmay flourish, and
that their opposite qualities may perish in the hearts of the
false, the traitorous, and the wicked.
Behavior and Beliefs

The Order of the Gauntlet views its mission not so much as a
revival of the antiquated values of a past golden age (the way
the Harpers hold fallen Myth Drannor as the pinnacle of
civilization), but as a new way for a new era. Unified under a
single banner, the four separate faiths of the Order conjoin to
accomplish the aims of each and to make the world a better
place. The Order of the Gauntlet keeps its own might in check
rather than furthering ambitious aims.
The Order of the Gauntlet follows these guiding principles:
Faith is the greatest weapon against evil.
By faith in your gods and the righteousness of your cause,
you cast aside all thought of defeat. Your faith empowers you
to achieve seemingly impossible tasks, fueled by the power of
belief.
Faith in your friends and companions is among the highest
of the Orders virtues. While evil quarrels within its own
ranks for position and power, agents of the order are bolstered
by their companions.
Faith in your own abilities grants you the presence of mind
to succeed. When you put faith in yourself, you become a
beacon to others, banishing their hopelessness and fear and
showing them how to be brave.
Battling evil is an extraordinary task that requires
extraordinary strength and bravery.
In a world where demons of unfathomable evil lurk in the
Abyss and malevolent entities plot for eons to dominate all
life, mortal hearts succumb to despair at the futility of
resistance. Yet despite the vast odds against you, you
overcome them by the power of belief. Your order is the
shining shield against the onslaught of wickedness and the
bright sword that strikes it down.
Punishing an evil act is just. Punishing an evil thought is
not. You strike when evil acts, never before. You punish
wicked deeds already done or in action, ever optimistic that
conscience will prevail in the hearts and minds of creatures
tempted toward evil, that they might spurn temptation for a
better path.
The shining agents of the Order that answer dedicate their
lives to vanquishing evil are the same flesh and blood mortals
that roil in conflict with their own emotions and inner
demons. As an agent of the Order you acknowledge that you
are prone to the same vanity, pride, hatred, and base desires as
the villains whose evil you fight to quell.
Just as you struggle to rise above your own flaws, you
allow others to master their own, and therefore do not
preemptively attack, judge, or seek retribution against a
perceived threat that has yet to commit an evil act.
Quests
The Order of the Gauntlet sends its members into the world
upon three types of tasksmissions of vigilance, missions of
justice, and missions of retributioneach corresponding to a
pillar of the faiths upon which the Order was founded.
Once motivated toward its mission, the Order strikes hard
and fast for a decisive victory. Your missions are mostly
about taking bold action against the wickedthe Order is not
renowned for subtlety or guile but for the iron fist of the
justice you mete out.
When evil cults prey upon the innocent, the Order of the
Gauntlet rallies its members to arms and sets forth on a
mission to eliminate the leaders so that charmed,
brainwashed, indoctrinated, or innocent members may be free
to choose their path.
When the presence of a dangerous monster poses a
potential threat to a defenseless settlement, the Order of the
Gauntlet calls upon a special force to keep a wary vigil over
the area, watching over the people, prepared to strike if the
need arises. If the populace is attacked, the Orders
representatives strike swiftly and decisively, hunting and
slaying the creature before it can do further harm.
When an elusive criminal or gang boss terrorizes the
populace, the Order of the Gauntlet sends a special force on a
mission to fight through the gangs thugs and track down the
boss in order to bring him or her to justice.
If a cache of magical power or wealth is discovered near a
sleepy settlement on the edge of the wilds, the Order of the
Gauntlet sends agents to watch over the settlement and make
certain they were not exploited by those drawn to the area by
the promise of wealth or power.
Missions of Vigilance
Although the greater part of the Order of the Gauntlet is

comprised of bold and holy warriors proficient in combating
the forces of evil, a quarter of the groups makeup consists of
those whose sacred duty it is to keep a close vigil over the
innocent and the movements of evil. This guardian branch of
the Order acts as a shield for the innocent, and acts as a
deterrent against evil before it strikes.
Where a faction like the Harpers or the Zhentarim might
send a covert operative to observe a situation or spy upon an
individual, the Order of the Gauntlet takes a more direct
approach. A mission of vigilance is one in which the Order
sends its agents specifically to watch or guard a person, place,
or object. The Order tends to send their representatives
openly, a statement to prospective evildoers and
troublemakers that the strength of the Order is involved.
72
When secrecy is keyfor example, if the princess of a

benevolent kingdom is targeted by an assassination plotthe
Order might send its agent as a covert operative or
bodyguard, eyes and ears open for the assassins to reveal
themselves.
Playing an Agent of the Order

If you choose to join the Order of the Gauntlet, youre
choosing to play a character whos expected to rise heroically
against evilthe archetype of the fearless knight in shining
armor that selflessly protects those in need and undertakes
quests against the vilest villains.
In the fiction of the game, youre highlighting your
characters sense of honor, protective instinct, or righteous
zeal.
involve heroic clashes between the forces of good and evil.
This is not to say that your character may not turn from the
faction in the future, or grow in a different direction as he or
she is changed by experiencebut at this point in your
characters career (and your investment as a player) these are
the kinds of adventures youre looking for.
Order of the Gauntlet Classes.
The Order of the Gauntlet is primarily made up of warriors of
steadfast faith and braverythose that would meet evil head
on and vanquish it. Its ranks typically include warrior clerics
and paladins. In many lands, monasteries of disciplined
monks affiliate with the Order of the Gauntlet.
The Order values arcane spellcasters, honorable rogues, and
other odd specialists that join its ranks motivated by a strong
personal sense of honor or dedication to use their abilities to
fight evil. Such specialists are uncommon among the order,
but the Order recruits them to expand its capacity for
observing and striking against evil.
Order of the Gauntlet Alignments.
LG (primary), LN, NG, CG, N
The Orders agentsespecially the followers of Torm
hold law and goodness above all other virtues, though some
of Tyrs and Hoars devoted place greater value on justice or
retribution than good. Helms quiet guardians tend toward law
or good, with some choosing not to follow any course but
simple guardianship beyond the whims of good or evil, law or
chaos.
Order of the Gauntlet Duties. As an agent of the Order,
you belong to a tightly-knit group of like-minded individuals
driven by religious zeal or a finely honed sense of justice and
honor.
Friendship and camaraderie are important to members of
the Order of the Gauntlet, as its members believe that faith in
ones companions is among the greatest of virtues, and they
share a trust and a bond normally reserved for siblings. Thus
there are few, if any, lone wolves in this organization. Like
highly motivated soldiers, members of the Order of the
Gauntlet seek to become the best at what they do and look
forward to testing their mettle.
Order of the Guardian Benefits.
As an agent of the Order of the Gauntlet, you hold favor with
no less than four mighty gods. When your eyes search out
injustice, when your shield protects the innocent, when your
command brings about justice, when your weapon strikes
down the wicked, you do so with the blessings of those gods.
The churches of those gods are second homes to your
Order, and they welcome and support you when you venture
through lands strange and friendly. When your mission
requires desperate aid or resources, the clerics, acolytes, and
holy warriors of temples and monasteries lend their support,
usually without question, for you are the blade of the gods.
You are an inspiration to those you protect, and the
common folk of the land revere and adore you. Those worn
bone thin from thankless lives of toil can look to you for
someone that values their lives and labor and will protect
them where their rulers would fail.
Membership Levels.
Righteous Hand
Vindicator
Whitehawk
Marcheon
Chevall
Potential Conflicts. Sometimes a situation may arise when
the just course is not clear. Sometimes evil destroys good not
with talon, fang, or blade, but by slow corruption over time,
wearing away the hearts armor of faith to reveal the doubts
and personal flaws inherent to all creatures. Sometimes even
angels may fall.
As a new organization, the Order of the Gauntlet is a
faction on the rise. With the exception of the embittered Kleef
Kenric its members embrace the ideals of honor and justice
and good; corruption and betrayal have never yet shaken
within the Order, but it is only a matter of time. How strong is
the faith of the Orders agents? How long will the zealous
fires burn in their hearts before the weariness of a neverending war with evil and the losses of friends and companions
overtake them? What happens to justice and righteous
retribution when evil pleads for mercy or renounces its former
ways?
The Order of the Gauntlet is made up of a union of four
faiths, but the tenets of those faiths may not always align. An
agent of the Order may be called upon to represent his or her
own faith in an internal dispute. Unresolved disputes weaken
the Order, making way for embitterment and corruption to
take hold.
Notable Members of the Order

Kleef Kenric is a humble, embittered paladin that sees
himself as a loyal sword, a brother of few words in a greater
organization, rather than a suitable leader. Although he is
inspired to create the Order of the Gauntlet as a unified front
against the rising tide of evil, Kleef quickly relinquishes
command the moment someone he deemed more suitable
comes forward. Even though he shuns the limelight, Kleef
remains a staunch supporter of the organization and a
reminder of the power of humility.
Ontharr Frume, the leader of the Order of the Gauntlet, is
73
a good-natured champion of Torm (god of heroics and

bravery) from Elturel. Although hes an unflinching force for
identifying and fighting evil, he is strikingly far from the grim
and humorless stereotype of the no-mercy, no-nonsense
paladin or local lawkeeper. Ontharr wants to do the right
thing, not sit around and wait for others to do what needs to
be done. He uses jokes and harmless pranks to keep spirits up,
he loves a stiff drink and a friendly brawl, and he uses more
old sayings than the wisest sage. Lawkeepers who serve with
or under Frume tend to love him, and have given him the
nickname Boldhelm; he inspires loyalty and epitomizes
zest.
The Order in the Sumber Hills

Atop of a high crest in the Sumber Hills stands Summit Hall,
home to the Knights of Samular. Founded in 954 DR in honor
of the paladin Samular Caradoon of Waterdeep, these
paladins of Tyr strive to promote justice in the savage North.
Though built upon the strong pillars of four faiths, the
Order of the Gauntlet is a young organization yet to
consolidate its strength and realize its true potential. The
Knights of Samular present an opportunity for the Order of
the Gauntlet to expand its influence and gain a brave and
venerable order to its unified cause.
Some of the Knights of Samular have joined the Order of
the Gauntlet of their own accord, but the Knights as a whole
have yet to declare official membership. It remains only for
the Knights to observe the actions of the Orders
representatives in action before they declare their allegiance.
Other known bases. Manyswords House (in Waterdeep)
The Order Outside the Realms

The Order of the Gauntlet fulfills the fantasy archtype of the
crusading knights for goodness and justice, like the Knights of
the Round Table. Your group can use the Order of the
Gauntlet in other Dungeons & Dragons worlds simply by
changing the names of the places, or the name of the
organization itself.
In the Forgotten Realms, the Order of the Gauntlet is a new
organization made up of the followers of old and powerful
warrior gods. Despite the organizations relative newness,
their strength and power are more significant for their union.
In another world (i.e. a world with distant or silent gods), the
Order of the Gauntlet might be more akin to a brave order of
knights like the Knights of Solamnia after the Cataclysm and
the departure of the gods from the land of Krynn. Their oath,
Est Sularus Oth Mithas, My honor is my life, is in keeping
with the values of the Order of the Gauntlet. Their various
ranks correspond as well, with knights advancing in rank from
squire to Order of the Crown, Order of the Sword, and at last
the Order of the Rose.
In even less hopeful settings like Dark Sun or Ravenloft,
the Order of the Gauntlet is almost certainly limited in
powerthough they defy darkness and evil, the Orders
numbers dwindle year after year. Yet as the only hope of the
people, the Order fights to the end.
In the world of Eberron, the Silver Flame focuses on the
eradication of evil, just like the Order of the Gauntlet in many

respects.
The Order of the Gauntlet may even be set against the farreaching backdrop of Planescape or Spelljammer, an order of
galactic warriors sworn to do watch for evil, enact justice, and
strike down the wickeda familiar theme in the space opera
genre.
In a homebrew campaign world, look for the resident
organization of knights and ask your DM how the Order of
the Gauntlet may be adjusted to the setting. If the setting has
few such groups or gods, the factions power may be limited
to a city-state or a town. If the campaign takes place in a
golden age, the Order of the Gauntlet may be associated with
the benevolent rulership, or perhaps instead of gods the order
is beholden to mortal kings, like King Arthur. The archetype
of the just and knightly order fills our cultural lexicon from
the Knights of the Round Table to the superhero teams of
modern times, and can be as far-reaching or as limited in
scope as the campaign requires. However your group chooses
to adapt them, the Order of the Gauntlet are the warriors that
protect the innocent, striking down evil wherever it treads.
Emerald Enclave
"We preserve the natural order.
<<Symbol: A leaf-shaped emerald (bright green) wrapped in
a thorny vine (brown). This symbol should appear on a pale
green background.>>
The Emerald Enclave is a widespread group of wilderness
survivalists that preserve the natural order while rooting out
unnatural threats.
When snow and ice threaten to block the trade roads and
the winter wind turns colder than white dragon breath, a lone
druid appears from the blizzard to help a small village
survive.
When marauding savages and tribes of orcs clamor on the
borderlands with a thirst for blood and plunder, a mysterious
witch or a grim barbarian emerge from the solitude of their
wilderness homes to help defend a town that awes and fears
them.
When a caravan of tender civilized folk seek passage
through the treacherous mountain pass or the frozen tundra of
Icewind Dale, a quiet ranger steps forth from those
inhospitable domains with a promise to guide the travelers
through in safety.
For over a millennium, agents of the Emerald Enclave have
dwelled in solitude in the wild, opposing threats to the natural
world while safeguarding the civilized folk that wander there.
They are subjects of two kingdomsof civilization and the
wildand they work to protect the one from the other.
Members of the Emerald Enclave know how to survive, and
more importantly, they want to help others do the same.
Mission
Agents of the Emerald Enclave operate in the solitude of the
wilds, convening in druidic circles or Enclave gatherings only
occasionally over time. Your numbers may be as great as
other factions in the Realms, but your fellow members are
74
scattered throughout the world, wandering its wilds or

protecting them against outside threats. You may seldom see
the others of your order, but you are not alone in the solitude
that your duty requires; your fellows eyes and ears guard the
wild passages of their own domains, each striving to fulfill
and maintain the tenets of the Enclave.
Restore and preserve the natural order. There are many
individuals that would exploit and subvert nature for their
own selfish purposes.
When kingdoms feud, armies clash and forests fall; spears,
carts, and siege engines are wrought of the wood, and bonfires
burn across the horizon day and night. Mines hollow the
mountains teeth as kings reach deep for the wealth to fund
their realms and their wars.
Refugee beasts and birds depart these ruined places but
seldom survive for long without a home. When habitats are
destroyed or creatures hunted to extinction, the great chain of
being is damaged and every link in the great chain is affected.
When outside forces overturn the natural order, it falls to you
as an agent of the Emerald Enclave to keep the great chain of
being from sundering by protecting the environment and the
creatures that rely upon it to survive. You do all you can to
heal the scars left by those that inflict them upon the world.
Destroy all that is unnatural. As an agent of the Emerald
Enclave, it is your duty to destroy such artifices, constructs,
magic, monstrous aberrations, undead, and all other
corruptors, disrupters, and destroyers of the natural world.
Some agents of the Enclave fight such battles through the
power of their influence and counsel, while others take a more
militant approach, demolishing the unnatural upon sight.
Keep the elemental forces of the world in check. Beyond
your world, raw elemental realms and strange dimensions
exist. In particular, the planes of Elemental Air, Earth, Fire,
and Water. The mighty creatures and energies of these places
can unleash massive devastation upon the natural world. So
long as these dimensions can be reached by magic, powerful
creatures will try to open their gates and unleash their pure
destructive power. Where pockets of powerful elemental
energy and elemental portals exist in the world it is your duty
to ensure that their energies or extraplanar inhabitants do not
imbalance or disturb the natural order.
Keep civilization and the wilderness from destroying one
another. In the distant past the wilderness was the birthplace
of all civilized creatures. Many have forgotten this, and their
races have forgotten the way to live free. They waste, pollute,
and destroy the wilds that were once their homes; in turn,
almighty nature freezes, drowns, starves, or annihilates its
wayward civilized children in furious storms. As an agent of
the Enclave, you seek a balance between both worlds, the first
step of which is to protect the wilderness from those that
would abuse it.
Help others survive the perils of the wilderness. Agents of
the Emerald Enclave recognize that civilization is likewise a
natural order of the world, and civilized creatures complete
the harmony of the natural cycle. A bear or wolf or hawk may
hunt the wilderness but only a sentient being stands awestruck
by their majesty; a forest may turn the horizon autumn-gold, a
mountain-ringed lake may stand crystal blue and placidand
meaningless until given meaning in a sentient creatures heart.

As an agent of the Enclave you know that despite the vast
spread of civilization it stands weak in comparison with
nature. You pledge to aid those imperiled in the wild, which
stand at the mercy of natures endless might.
Behavior and Beliefs

The hardy survivalists of the Emerald Enclave live their lives
in sacred wilderness, far removed from other creatures of their
race. Here you quietly observe natures magnificence painted
in the subdued dawn and the stark sunset and you listen to the
song of wind and leaf, wolfs howl and birdsong. Yet this is
not the totality of what you are, for you know the tongues of
sentient creatures and admire the natural cleverness and
industry of your own race. Despite their many flaws, civilized
creatures belong in natures vast realm no less than any other
being, even if they sometimes find cause to destroy the world
that gives themand all other creatureslife. As an agent of
the Enclave you tread the boundary of two worlds,
maintaining the delicate balance between them.
The Emerald Enclave believes most strongly in the
following principles.
The natural order must be respected and preserved. The
Emerald Enclave holds that reality is governed by physical
laws in which death and rebirth form conjoining links in a
great chain of being. The worldthe universeis an ever
changing, constantly adapting thing, always thriving, always
dying; it is larger than the gods and the grandest imaginations
of sentient creatures. Yet there are some that would subvert
natures order, hunting creatures to extinction, polluting the
environment with the waste of industry, decimating forests
and creating barren wasteland with magic and technology. As
an agent of the Enclave you are a guardian of the natural
order, sworn to protect and preserve the natural world against
forces that would corrupt, destroy, or consume its resources
for wasteful use or selfish gain.
Forces that upset the natural order must be destroyed.
When fell necromancy withers the land, when abyssal portals
vomit forth demons to possess wild beasts with their fury,
when wild elemental energies are loosed upon the world, it is
up to the Emerald Enclave to destroy them before they can
cause further harm.
Civilization and the wilderness must learn to coexist
peacefully. You act as representative for the civilized folk of
the world, helping preserve their lives against dangerous
predators and the ravages of the inhospitable wilds. In turn
you act as natures representative in the civilized world,
warning commoners and lords alike in regard to the dangers
they face by an abuse of nature. You belong to neither world
but to both, aiding both in times of need, fighting both on
behalf of the other.
Quests
The Emerald Enclave cares little for the politics of civilized
kingdoms. The internal events, struggles, and wars of such
places are of as little more importance to the Enclave as
wolves struggling for dominance over a pack; the dramas of
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humanoid creatures are a part of the natural cycle, repeating

their patterns over and over again throughout time. Only when
the outcome of such struggles threaten to extend beyond
civilization does the Enclave become involved. The eyes of
the Enclaves agents remain fixed on the natural order and all
that would threaten the balance.
When rifts to the Far Realm infect the face of the world like
postulant sores, the Emerald Enclave sends its agents to cut
down the aberrant monstrosities that slither from the gap
and put to rest those unfortunate creatures warped and
rendered insane by the Far Realms touch.
Portals to the elemental planes threaten to destroy the
delicate balance between civilization and nature when the
powers of air, earth, fire, or water are unleashed to ravage the
world, laying waste to towns and cities, burning forests, or
drowning thousands. The Emerald Enclave monitors known
elemental portals and keeps a wary eye open for evil creatures
that tap the elemental planes for their sheer destructive power.
Because its agents live among the wild borderlands and
frontier where deadly monsters like ankhegs, bullettes, and
owlbears dwell, the Emerald Enclave remains ever aware of
the growing populations of such creatures. In instances where
monster populations breed to numbers that threaten
civilization, the Emerald Enclave sends its agents to thin their
numbers or drive them forth into distant lands. The Emerald
Enclave leaves dangerous solitary monsters alone, however,
unless those creatures in some way threaten to disrupt the
natural order.
When dealing with the powers of civilization the Emerald
Enclave takes a similar approach in defense of nature. When
humanoids populate the frontier the Emerald Enclave helps to
defend their caravans while simultaneously discouraging
expansion and rapid population growth, and punishes
careless, evil, or irresponsible creatures that defile the land.
Playing an Agent of the Enclave

If you choose to play an agent of the Emerald Enclave,
youre choosing to play a character that braves and safeguards
the wild environments of the world where few civilized
creatures can survive. Such realms are boundless by their very
nature; they have no true kings or rulers, though many would
stake their claim. You are the true guardian of those
unbounded wilds, for the land itself is your sovereign.
In the fiction of the game, youre highlighting your
characters independent nature, a reclusive streak, or hardy
survivors spirit.
involve destructive threats to the natural world, or a natural
world so hostile that only your character understands it and
can capably help others to survive.
Emerald Enclave Classes. The Emerald Enclave recruits its
agents from wilderness-dwellers devoted to maintaining the
balance between civilization and nature. Barbarians that look
beyond their distrust of civilization, druids that regard the
balance of enough importance to emerge from solitude, and
always the rangers that roam the breadth of the world from
settlement through wilderness to settlement again.

The Enclave sometimes draws in benevolent witches that
dwell in the wild borderlands, cunning in the use of herbs, and
sometimes bards that note the beauty of the natural world and
compose works of art in praise of its glory.
Emerald Enclave Alignments.
NG (primary), CG, CN, N, LN
Most of the Enclaves agents hold goodness as the most
redeeming of traits, independent of law or chaos. In order to
maintain the balance, most of the Enclave aligns with
neutrality or goodness.
Emerald Enclave Duties. As a member of the Emerald
Enclave, you operate in isolation, usually very far from other
members of your order, thus it is important that you learn to
depend on yourself more than others. Like the wild animals
and deadly monsters that share your harsh domain, you must
learn to survive. An agent of the Enclave builds up great
fortitude and resilience to bear out the rigors of the
environment, from blizzard to sandstorm. Combat mastery is
essential for survival in the wilds.
Agents of the Enclave are used to solitude, although those
that dedicate themselves to helping others survive the perils of
the wilderness are more social than those charged with
defending sacred glades and preserving the natural balance.
Emerald Enclave Benefits. As an agent of the Emerald
Enclave, you know the whereabouts of sacred pools hidden
throughout the wilderness. Through such pools you can scry
faraway places, view the movements of natures enemies, and
communicate with other members of the Enclave.
Animals regard agents of the Emerald Enclave with
cautious trust, and in many cases react to them as they would
to members of their own species. They may guide an agent of
the Enclave to safety, food, or water, or even help defend the
Enclaves agent as family.
The Enclaves agents are also viewed as brethren by many
barbarian tribes, elf tribes, and druid circles, which respect the
Enclaves agents as outsiders that understand and sympathize
with their culture and values.
Though the Enclaves agents live in comparative isolation,
they establish firm bonds with others that share their wild
world.
Membership Levels.
Master of the Wild
Winterstalker
Autumnreaver
Summerstrider
Springwarden
Potential Conflicts. Agents of the Emerald Enclave spend a
significant amount of time in the wild. Your senses are
attuned to the fluctuations in weather patterns and the
presence of predators; your daily companions are the beasts
and birds that share your environment. The civilized worlds
petty quarrels, its current events, and prominent figures
become less important the less they affect your life. This
gradual disconnection from civilization can make your own
peopleeven family membersseem strange to you, their
76
priorities, their motivations, goals, and dreams a list of petty

things.
As an agent of the Enclave, you will sometimes be forced to
choose sides between civilization and nature. You may need
to thin overpopulating herds or packs of predators,
slaughtering large numbers of animals. You may be ordered
to slaughter hordes of intelligent beings that encroach upon
your territory and threaten to devour its natural resources for
their latest industrial project.
These tasks become easier for the remotest agents of the
Enclave that spend so much time in isolation as to forget what
it is to be a part of civilization. With isolation sometimes
comes a kind of madness, or the abandonment of social mores
upon which civilized society operates. If you retreat too far
from personal individuality, living as a beast for too long, you
begin to lose your connection to friends and allies and your
ability to distinguish between right and wrong.
Notable Members of the Enclave

Delaan Winterhound (pronounced Del-LANE) spends
most of his time wandering the wilderlands around the Crags,
the Lurkwood, the Frost Hills, and the Evermoors. He has
friends in Nesm that he visits once a year, but otherwise he
shies away from large settlements. He lives with the land, and
is acutely aware of changes in it. He patrols the North with an
enormous talking winter wolf named Loska; Delaan rescued
her when she was orphaned very young. Together, they help
others in need. Delaans oldest friend and mentor is a mighty
treant named Turlang, who resides in the High Forest.
Turlang, an ancient treant, is most often found in the
northwestern High Forest, where he acts as a wise sage and a
go-between among his kind and all good-aligned sentient
woodland beings. Members of the Emerald Enclave rarely
convene in large numbers, but when a member requires
assistance, he or she can travel to the Shadowtop Cathedral
and find guidance and sanctuary. This location within the
High Forest is actually a grove of 100-foot-tall shadowtop
trees whose trunks and canopies form the pillars and ceiling
of a structure that looks remarkably cathedral-like from
within, with sunlight or moonlight shining down upon
sculpted wooden statues of cowled, half-forgotten druid
deities (the Elder Circle). Turlang is the custodian and
protector of the Shadowtop Cathedral, as well as the
Enclaves ancient historian.
not overrun its bounds, even as they protect its people as they
wander the dangerous areas between civilization.
The Enclave Outside the Realms

The archetypal Emerald Enclave is easily translatable to any
number of settings, and with some imagination you might
alter the organization to suit even stranger worlds.
In the world of Eberron, the Wardens of the Wood and the
Gatekeepers fulfill the same basic goals as the Emerald
Enclave. The Wardens of the Wood the strive to maintain the
balance between civilization and nature, and the Gatekeepers
focus on eliminating otherworldly threats that corrupt or
destroy the natural order. Other related sects exist in Eberron
(the Ashbound, the Children of Winter, and the
Greensingers), but each of these is far more extreme and
specific in its goals.
In the world of Greyhawk, the druids of the Old Faith are
an ancient order that precedes written history. Though far
older than the Emerald Enclave, their goals are similar, and
their association with the Rangers of the Gnarley Forest and
the bards of the Old Lore fill the majority of the roles of the
Enclaves agents in the Forgotten Realms. The trees of Oerth
are especially sacred to their order. Neither the druids of the
Old faith nor their allies among the Rangers of the Gnarley
Forest concern themselves with the conflicts of the outside
world. Like the Emerald Enclave, they believe the balance
between civilization and nature must be maintained and their
enemies (in particular the cults of Elemental Evil) must be
destroyed.
Dark Suns Athas is a world in which the Emerald
Enclaves greatest fears have already come to pass: the world
is a scorched, barren place where the very use of magic
destroys life in all but the most careful of users. In Dark Sun,
the Emerald Enclave would work as a loose group of isolated
outlaws, former slaves, and rebels against the Sorcerer Kings,
living in the desert wastes and protecting travelers from the
inhospitable climes and deadly psychic beasts that lurk
beneath the hot sand and rock.
In vast settings like Planescape and Spelljammer, the
Enclaves solitary members might be spread throughout the
planes or upon various alien moons, emerging only rarely to
aid those lost in the multiverse or shipwrecked among the
stars.
The Enclave in the Sumber Hills

Goldenfields, a fortified abbey surrounded by wide swaths of
fertile farmland, is called the Granary of the North by
travelers. The secret to its bounty lies not just within its soil,
but because its monks are priests of Chauntea and its abbot,
Ellardin Darovik, an agent of the Emerald Enclave.
Shadowtop Cathedral, the Enclaves meeting place in the
High Forest, stands near enough to the Sumber Hills that the
Enclaves influence in the region remains strong.
The Emerald Enclaves agents roam the wilds and roads
between the cities of the North. Waterdeeps influence in the
region is vast, and the Enclave watches to ensure that it does
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Dessarin Valley Gazetteer

The valley of the River Dessarin (or Dessarin Vale) has
been a principal route into the Sword Coast North for
centuries, and still offers timber, livestock, draft animals, food
crops, quarried building stone, and pelts for use in the North
and to feed the endless wants of Waterdeep and more
southerly trade through the City of Splendors. Often
sarcastically dismissed in the streets of Waterdeep as a few
farmers interspersed with the hunting lodges of our dear
nobles, the Dessarin valley is far more than that, as an
adventurer can learn just by finding the right garrulous local
to talk with.
Bargewright Inn
This ramshackle inn and cluster of travel-related supply shops
and businesses covers a muddy hill just west of Womford. It
reeks of manure and mud, but dont let the looks fool you; for
high but not steep prices, one can buy or sell mounts and draft
animals, have them reshoed or doctored, and have wagons
repaired, custom crates and barrels made (or buy standard
sizes off the shelves), and beasts stabled or wagons and
their cargoes securely stored. Everything is protected inside
two concentric ring walls, the outermost given over to the
stabling and caravan paddocks (offering secure overnight
camping), and short of outright war, this is the most secure
stopover in the entire valley. Its also the place to go if youre
looking to hire on as a caravan guard, or join a caravan for
your own traveling safety.
Its also a Zhentarim base, and the Zhents spy on everyone
who comes near the place. The Senior Sword (master of the
gateguards, and a cold-eyed veteran warrior who goes about
well-armed and with little patience for backtalk) rules inside
the walls, but nigh every business owner is a Zhent of some
rank or other, and the keeper of The Old Bargewright (the inn
atop the hill that started it all), name of Nalaskur Thaelond,
may well carry more weight in Zhent circles than the Senior
Sword. Thaelonds inn is where important Zhents meet in
secret with other important Zhents or underlings they want to
give orders toand where Zhents meet merchants to deal in
such best-kept-secret things as slaves, poisons, and unsavory
magics.
Theres something darker in Bargewright, too, undead or
some such. By night, its not considered healthy to be out of
doors within sight of the walls. Those who dare to camp
outside to save coins tend to go missingone a night, at least.
They say theres lots of treasure in Bargewright Inncoins
hidden inside room doors, in sacks under floorboards, or
glued to cloth sheets tacked to the walls behind removable
panelswhere the Zhents have stored it. The only problem is
getting any of it out past their noses.
Beliard
A pretty little village with more shade than most, that stands
where the Dessarin Road meets the east-west road from the
Stone Bridge. A market for local cattle ranchers, it has the
usual stables, horse-dealers, and the like.
Theres one good inn, the Watchful Knightlarge and cozy
and now run by a cheerful family that includes more than a
dozen burly, less than lovely, but kind and hard-working
daughters; the Settletrees, theyre called, and Old Father
Marask Settletree rules the roostand a handful of so-so
inns: Byndles Beds, the Weary Drover, and Burgraths
Shelterhearth.
It seems every second cottage in Beliard is home to a
retired adventurer or sellsword or Waterdhavian nobles
bodyguard, so theres little crime in the place and plentiful
weapons to be bought, though you cant sell one there for love
or money unless its truly a standout (when you may find
yourself facing fierce competing bids). This is yet another
place alive with tales of treasure hidden everywhere, though
nothing much has ever been found. One unusual tale: there
used to be a well out behind one of the cottages (no one can
quite agree where) until some bandits murdered an elderly
retired adventurer, Naressa Graeles. Her grieving husband
buried her in the well, covering her with about sixty wyvern
scales shed kept as trophies before heaping dirt over it all.
Then he went off hunting the murderers and never came back,
though word did come that he got most of them, one by one.
This would have been thirty summers back, or a little more.
Goldenfields
The biggest and best-kept farm youll ever see, twenty square
miles of crops and barns and hothouses that feeds the North,
all enclosed inside a wall as good as many castles can boast.
The Granary of the North, they call it, and the whole things
an abbey to Chauntea, as well as food storage that just might
keep most of Waterdeep alive in the worst sort of winter. Any
fruit bigger than a berry you eat east and north of Yartar
probably came from Goldenfields. The Abbot, Ellardin
Derovik, makes sure clergy of Chauntea and Emerald Enclave
members are welcome, because hes both, but this no place
for idlers; the folkfive thousand of them!inside those
walls work, from endless digging and watering to picking tiny
insects off plants by hand, one by one.
They hire adventurers to patrol the walls and the land
around, but Emerald Enclave members are preferred, and they
watch their own guardians, too, to make sure no one is there
to despoil. They do feed all guests well, though, and give you
food for the road.
Halls of the Hunting Axe

These ruins were once a great dwarf cityand they were all
just one huge, sprawling building, if you can believe it! Its all
roofless and fallen down and overgrown now, of course, and
all most folk in the Dessarin valley ever see of it is shards
from the stained glass windows the dwarves made, that now
get melted into bottles of all colors.
If you want to fight monsters, this is the place; the ruins are
78
crawling with them. Have been for centuries, and it seems

they include generations of doppelgangers who take the shape
of your sword-comrades and mimic their voices, and try to
trick you until they can get you alone in the ruinsand
pounce. Whats really chilling is that some of these
shapechangers obviously lurk around adventurers campfires
by night, eavesdropping to learn their names and how they
talk and what theyre interested in, so as to make their acting
very believable.
So persistent and numerous are these monstersnot just
shapeshifters, theres a regular menagerie of all sorts of
themthat the entire Dessarin valley thinks of the Halls of
the Hunting Axe whenever talk turns to dungeons full of
monsters. There are kings buried under it all, dwarf kings,
with their armor and their weapons and all, and one of those
weapons is the Hunting Axethough if you meet with it,
youll wish you hadnt unless youre a dwarf that knows the
right words to turn it aside. The Hunting Axe, you see, flies
through the air, slow and wary and silent like a hunter, and
when it finds someone it wants to kill (and no one can quite
agree on how it decides that, though being an orc or a troll is a
pretty sure bet), it flies at you, blade-first. Fleeing the ruins is
one way to escape it, for it wont go beyond whats left of the
outermost wall, but youd better be fast.
Theres also some sort of magic at work in the ruins
recent, the rumors say, not ancient dwarf-workthat can play
bad dice with your own castings, but no one seems to know
what this magic is, or what caused it, or what it does.
Haunted Keeps
Near the southwestern edge of the Sumber Hills, closest to
Red Larch, there are four keeps built by adventurers centuries
back, that have since been taken as homes by any number of
bandits, monsters, adventurers wanting to be lords of
somewhere, and even a wealthy Waterdhavian merchant or
two trying to play at being a noble lord, without the title but
with a country hunting lodge if he can get it. For the last
twenty-odd years or so they were haunted by ghosts and
worse, that so frightened the monsters that wanted to lair in
them that the beasts prowled around outside, not daring to try
to go in.
Now, it seems, all four of them have been occupied by groups
of people whove somehow dealt with the undead. Or have
they? There are fresh stories of small bands of hulking men
if they were mentrudging through the Sumber Hills wearing
armor that looked as if it was made of rock, not metal; owlheaded riders on the backs of giant vultures flapping low over
the Hills; warbands of humans hairless and heavily scarred as
if they survived immolation in large, hot fires; and men
bearing shields of giant horseshoe crab shells, and wielding
swords with teeth, that looked like they were fashioned from
the bills of large swordfish. Such strange sights are seen often
enough from the edges of the Hills that even a dullard must
conclude that something is going on. Fell wizards snatching
weird monsters and folk from elsewhere to here with their
spells is the usual explanation, but folk of the Dessarin know
theyre resorting to something utterly unproven when they say
it. And of course, anyone who ventures too deep into the Hills
to investigate just doesnt come back.
Nor is this all. Old tales about the Haunted Keeps abound,
and new ones arise to crowd them out. Prospectors have
seenand foughtthe screaming severed heads of
longhaired, wild-eyed women that flew about, swooping at
them and seeking to bite. Horn-headed devils have been seen
fighting many-armed demons to gory death, great fireballs
have come roaring out of nowhere at shepherds and herbgatherers, and theres talk of whatever crawling horror the
builders of the keeps discovered and were trying to keep
under the earth by standing guard over the hills between their
fortresses is finally getting out, erupting from subterranean
caverns to slither through the Hills by night, seeking easy
prey.
Something is stirring in the Sumber Hills, and it seems to be
centered on the four Haunted Keeps.
Feathergale Tower
The defenders of Waterdeep have always flown aerial steeds
from high on Mount Waterdeep as well as manning the walls
and riding road patrols out to Amphail and sometimes even
farther. Yet it now seems some wealthier and noble citizens
with more coin and leisure than sober sense have formed the
Feathergale Society, an elite flying club of Waterdeep whose
members ride hippogriffsand they fly from the city to the
tallest of the four Keeps, a tower surmounting one of the
highest of the Sumber Hills. This keep can be seen from afar,
and although the Feathergale Knights are seldom seen on the
ground anywhere in the Dessarin, those whove seen them in
Waterdeep say theyre merry revelers awash in expensive
wine and fine height-of-fashion clothing, dashing heroes of
the air (or foppish poseurs, depending on how one sees them).
Their Tower in the Sumber Hills is where they go on
retreat, and train novice members and young hippogriffs in
mastery of the air. Or perhaps indulge in drunken debauchery,
as some folk of the Dessarin openly suspect.
Sacred Stone Monastery

This old stone temple stands in a rocky vale at the southern
edge of the Sumber Hills; it stood empty and haunted, but was
recently taken over by monks dedicated to the way of the
Sacred Stone. They are reclusive and secretive; even their
guests refuse to discuss which deities the Sacred Stone order
is dedicated to. Those guests of the monks guard the gates
of the monastery for the monks, in return for room and board
as they scour the Sumber Hills for rare gemstones on behalf
of the rich Waterdhavian jeweler Presmros Ilander of Sea
Ward.
Scarlet Moon Hall

Few Dessarine have ever seen this most remote of the four
Haunted Keeps; it stands in the wild, monster-roamed heart of
the Hills. Prospectors who dared to venture that far reported
meeting men in robes who called themselves druids of the
Circle of the Scarlet Moon. These druids were busily
building a gigantic open-work wooden figure, a man-giant
79
surrounded by the stacked fuel of a future bonfire. The fuel

was stacked in a precise pattern, and the construction of the
large wooden manalready fifty feet high and not yet
completed beyond the waistseemed to be proceeding very
slowly, with each piece shaped by hand and then blessed in its
own ritual. The figure was entirely of wood, each piece being
held in place by wooden pegs that were watered to make them
swell and hold fast.
Many Dessarine are suspicious
of these druids, having never heard of a Scarlet Moon circle
before. To hunters, a scarlet moon means a sacrifice, human
or beastand theres widespread speculation that the druids
may be controlling some monsters, to patrol and fight for
them and keep away other monsters.
Rivergard Keep
This small but stout castle stands on the very banks of the
Dessarin, a stone keep and gatehouse atop a bluff, linked by
an oval castle wall to a riverside tower and a dock. The castle
is being swiftly and energetically repaired, by hardy men who
say theyre mercenaries, under the command of Lord of the
Castle Jolliver Grimjaw. They intend Rivergard to be their
home, and from it they will protect barge traffic on the river
from monsters and bandits (who have been a perfect plague of
late).
While the mercenaries work, the castle gates are guarded
for them by a dozen or more people who describe themselves
as honest riverfolk, taken in by Grimjaws men after their
boat was attacked and sunk by scrags upriver. When the right
hardy traveling grouphardy as in warlikecomes along,
the riverfolk will try to join them so as to travel back to
Yartar, and beyond in relative safety.
Helvenblade House
West of Westbridge, on the northeasternmost edge of
Kryptgarden Forest, stands one of the few Waterdhavian
noble house country estates to survive so far out from the City
of Splendors (most such estates flourishing today are between
the ever-expanding city and Amphail). Helvenblade House is
a neatly kept hunting preserve with a live-in staff of servants
who spend most of their time gardening. The owners, the
Silmerhelve noble family, rarely visit, and the estate is quiet.
Local lore says Helvenblade has never been plundered by
bandits or so much as visited by orcsto say nothing of the
dragons that now seem to be spilling hungrily out of the
neighboring forest. The servants say this is because
Helvenblade House is protected by the Family Ghost of the
Silmerhelves. Intruders who mean illstrangers who try to
set fires, for examplejust . . . disappear. In a hurry.
High Forest
The largest and wildest unbroken woodland of Faern, the
High Forest is a great green wilderland larger than most
realms, so large it has mountains rising out of its trackless
heart. It is home to gigantic treants, huge stags and bears, and
any monster one can think of that doesnt need the ocean
deeps to live in. The presence of a river called the Unicorn
Run reminds everyone that the southern High Forest is home

to many of those wondrous creatures, and foresters warn that
the High Forest is so large, deep, and dangerous that it can
spawn endless monsters, replenishing any horrors anyone may
think have been eradicated. Woodcutters, bold hunters, and
even outlaws on the run dare only enter the outermost verges
of the High, fleetingly; those who do otherwise all too often
vanish.
So perhaps more than any place on the surface of Faern,
the High is the cauldron of monsters.
Members of the Emerald Enclave know that the
northwesternmost High Forest is home to Shadowtop
Cathedral, a stand of towering shadowtop trees that serves as
both an important meeting-place for the Enclave, and a temple
to a dwarf godso the ways to this refuge are guarded by
both Enclave members and dwarves.
Kryptgarden Forest
Much smaller than the High Forest but just as wild and
thickly tangled is the Kryptgarden, on the eastern flanks of the
Sword Mountains. Of old, dwarves had a kingdom here, and
left many ruins behindall of them overgrown by the forest
and hard to find. Kryptgarden has always had a reputation for
teeming with dangerous monsters, and hosts a monsterhaunted and treasure-filled underground city known to
adventurers as Southkrypt, but recently the monsters that
hitherto prowled out of Kryptgarden have been seen no more,
in favor of just one sort of hungry flying hunteryoung green
dragons.
Many young green dragons, who are now winging farther
and farther afield in search of prey to devour, endangering
caravans and small bands of travelers alike on the Long Road
and ranging across the Dessarin valley. Where did they come
from, in such numbers and boldness?
Hunters dare approach the Kryptgarden no more, for fear of
being swiftly devoured. It seems no place for adventurers who
cannot handle multiple dragonsand that would, in all
honesty, seem to be a small minority of those who go
adventuring.
Neverwinter
The City of Skilled Hands is a wealthy trading city known for
the superb workmanship of its mechanical items, tools, and
weaponry; for adventurers, a supply center as useful as
Waterdeep or Silverymoon. However, its farther from the
heart of the Dessarin, in days of travel, than Waterdeep, being
about twenty days of overland travel distant (thanks to the
lack of good roads all the way, typically unforgiving local
weather, and both bandits and monsters that depend on
travelers attempting the journey, as their usual prey). Fast
riders, traveling light and hard, can make the trip from
Neverwinter to the Sumber Hills in just under sixteen days
if they can elude monsters and bandits without delays.
Natural heat from under the earth keeps Neverwinter warm
in deep winter when inland, the Dessarin is frozen and buried
beneath deep snowhence the citys name. This keeps it a
80
working port and a hive of craftwork and commerce yearround, but its a better place to visit than to live for most
adventurers, unless they love intrigueNeverwinter is rife
with it.
Red Larch
Red Larch is a waystop on the Long Road seven days north of
Waterdeep, and a handy base for forays into the Sumber Hills.
Three trails meet in Red Larch: the north-south Long Road,
the east-west Iron Road linking Kheldell and the coast
through Red Larch with Bargewright Inn and the Dessarin
Road, and a trail to now-abandoned quarries in the heart of
the Sumber Hills. Red Larch is known for its harness makers,
and caters to the needs of overland wagon merchants.
Rundreth Manor
On a hill on the east side of the Long Road under a days
travel north from Amphail stands ruined Rundreth Manor. A
large stone mansion, roofless and overgrown, it was a
longtime bandit haunt before the Dark Lady came. Harpers
warn everyone to steer clear of Rundreth, for the Dark
Ladya beautiful female drowis, in their words, more
than she seems. Those who dared approach the ruin used to
just disappear, but recently, travelers on the Long Road
started finding bodies where the overgrown trail leading up to
the manor met the Long Roadhumans torn apart by large
claws and teeth.
Harpers have been telling other Harpers that the Dark Lady
is really some sort of dragon; a dragon that loves to kill.
Rundreth Manor is now her lair. Other tales whisper of
extensive caverns beneath the ruined mansion, of strange
magic at work on Rundreth Hill, and even of a necromantic
cult that kidnaps people to make them undead. And perhaps
inevitably, there are tales of lost Rundreth wealth, a vast
treasure of copperonly copper, but thousands upon
thousands of coins of it, plus tradebars beyond counting,
and even a jointed, movable copper statue as tall as a long
wagon stood on end, hidden somewhere under the manor, in
Rundreth Hill.
This ruin is also said to have been where young Halasmeira
Cragsmere, a daughter of the noble Cragsmeres of Waterdeep,
fled to when she and her older brothers were beset in their
coaches on the road by bandits, a decade ago. Halasmeira was
seen several times hiding in the ruins or in the scrub woods
around Rundreth Hill, living alone and frightened of
strangers, but thereafter vanished. She has never been found,
though so large was the reward offered for her safe return that
her noble parents hired wizards to be part of their household
just to test all the false Halasmeiras put forward by
enterprising persons eager to claim the gold (three hundred
thousand gold pieces, in the most recent notices posted up and
down the Dessarin valley).
The Stone Bridge

An awesome sight is the Stone Bridge, a smooth arch of
granite, seemingly all of one piece, two miles long and four
hundred feet high at its center, that spans the River Dessarin.
It has no side-railings, is about six paces wide, and is sacred
to dwarves because their god Moradin appeared atop it in time
of need, long ago, to rally dwarves against an orc horde. The
dwarves built to link the halves of their long-vanished
kingdom of Besilmer that were divided by the river, and the
first king of that realm, Flametongue or some such, died
fighting a giant atop the bridge.
There are legends of a hidden dwarf stronghold under the
Stone Bridge, a refuge made to be defended by a few against
manybut more than many have searched for it, without ever
finding it. Some dwarves have confirmed its existence, but if
any have shown it to a non-dwarf, neither they nor the one
they showed it to are talking. A now-dead seer of Waterdeep
often claimed the Bridge was built from the bodies of stone
giants killed by the dwarves and fused together into a smooth
arch by the magic of a dragon who owed the dwarves a
favorand that anyone who somehow undoes the magic and
causes the bridge to collapse back into many stone giant
corpses will discover a fabulous dwarf treasure in gems, that
the dwarves stuffed into the innards of the giants after gutting
them.
Sumber Hills
Grassy, windswept hills with many rock facesand of old,
more than a few granite quarries that yielded up the stones for
many buildings in Waterdeep and throughout the lower
Dessarin valleythe Sumber Hills have never been counted,
but must number in the hundreds, most of them small but
steep hillocks with narrow, winding vales between. Drinkable
springs are plentiful, so most of these valleys have a tiny
stream burbling along them, that eventually find their ways
down to the Dessarin; the river cuts through the heart of the
Sumber Hills.
These hills have always held plentiful wildlife, both birds
and monsters; Waterdhavian nobles maintained quite a few
hunting lodges in the Sumbers, though most of them were
modest structures that soon disappeared as they fell into
disrepair and enterprising locals repurposed their stones.
Bandits and monsters marauding out of the Hills to menace
nearby settlements and travelers on the Long Road and the
Dessarin Road have always been a problem, and although the
recent reoccupation of the four notorious Haunted Keeps in
the western Sumbers has cut down on the bandits, it seems to
have spurred more monsters to appear in the vicinity.
There have always been tales of rich veins of ore and
deposits of gemstones in the Sumber Hills, but no one seems
to really know anyone who got rich from such finds. In
Westbridge, they talk of a Haunted Opal that came from the
Sumber Hills, that vanishes after it is worn seven times, only
to reappear somewhere else, usually in suspicious
circumstances.
In both Beliard and Red Larch, decades ago, stories arose of
the Follower, a ghost that comes out of the Sumbers,
following someone who has done something shady in the
Hills (from murder to burying a body to hiding something
81
they stole). Its a dark, silent robed and hooded figure with
burning eyes that glow by night, that just stands and
watchesbut pursues the person anywhere, all over Faern if
they happen to travel, and can pass through any locked door
to end up standing over them, silently watching. It never
speaks or does anything but watch, and fades away if
attackedonly to reappear, tirelessly, until the person
confesses what they did or makes amends. Only certain
individuals get followed, and no one knows why some are
so afflicted while others are not. There must be multiple
Followers, but they all look identical, and no one knows
where they come from, or why.
Summit Hall
This is a small stone castle built and inhabited by the Knights
of Samular, an order of paladins dedicated to Tyr that also has
a base in Waterdeep. Built around the collapsed tower of a
lich, Summit Hall is the headquarters of the Knights, and is
where novices of the order are trained. It is run on an alert
military footing, with sentinels and frequent sorties by
Knights patrolling fully armed and armored. This is not the
sort of knightly order that has any treasure worth seeking
though Summit Hall is a valuable armory.
Triboar
This is a fast-growing, bustling walled town of nearly five
thousand, ruled by an elected Lord Protector whose banner is
three black boars on a crimson field. The Long Road meets
the Evermoor Way in Triboar, and the town has often been
the mustering-place for armies gathering to resist orc hordes
streaming down out of the mountains of the North.
The town is orderly and well defended by The Twelve, a
dozen mounted patrols; it can ready a militia of seventy wellequipped defenders in a few hours, and muster four hundred
in a full day.
Triboar is a horsemarket, has many businesses catering to
caravan merchants, and is home to many good guides to the
North, most of them retired veteran adventurers.
Triboar is said to be the resting place of the god Gwaeron
Windstrom, the Tracker Who Never Goes Astray, who sleeps
in Gwaerons Slumber, a stand of mixed trees covering a hill
just west of town. Rangers often pray to Mielikki there, or
sleep there in hopes of receiving her guidance in their dreams.
If youre not a ranger and sleep over, you might be granted
the gift of tracking like a ranger, for just a day (you can
choose the day). The Lord Protectors laws forbid felling trees
or hunting in the woods west of town.
If someone talks about the Home of the Boars, they mean
Triboar (citizens of Yartar to the east, Triboars rival, say its
the Home of Many Bores). Every faction you can think of has
spies in the town, but the Harpers almost have an undercover
local garrison. Triboar is a place of wild gossip and get-richquick schemes, but a lot of people have landed there that have
real leads on lost mines, dungeons in the mountains that
may still hold treasure, and where gems were hidden by
unfortunates fleeing orcs.
Vale of Dancing Waters

This is a tiny, well-hidden gorge where three creeks cascade
down to the River Dessarin. Dwarves worship their gods
there, and tales say there was once a dwarf palace here, so a
royal treasury crammed with treasure may still be somewhere
under or around the gorgewhich is why well-armed
dwarves lurk around the vale, guarding it against intruders.
Its said that dwarf tunnels reachable from the gorge run all
over the Dessarin valley, not far under the ground rather than
plunging down into the Underdark. No wonder dwarves are so
rich, if they use them for smuggling and getting fresh fruit to
snowbound villages and towns in the depths of winter! There
are tales of monters taking over some of these underways, so
watch out!
Waterdeep
The City of Splendors is one of the largest, busiest, and
richest cities in the world. Seven days ride from Red Larch,
its the home of all the investors and suppliers an adventurer
could ever need. Expert hirelings abound (and lots of bad
ones, too) and you can literally get anything if you know who
to ask and have coin enough. Its also full of spies eager to
find out anything they can turn to their advantage, and
causing the wrong rumor to spread could have the Dessarin
valley full of greedy adventurers hired to bring back anything
they can seize, so beware!
Westbridge
A village on the Long Road where it meets the wagon road
from the Stone Bridge, notable mainly for The Harvest Inn, a
cozy place run by a halfling friendly to all. Weavers, dyers,
and farm produce here; not much else of interest.
Westwood
A small but thick forest hard against the Sword Mountains
where woodcutters work unless the everpresent bandits get
too bad. Rumors are spreading of silent, murderous wild men
lurking in these woods. They use antlered elk skulls on poles
as markers and sometimes talk to them, and smear themselves
with the blood of the beastsand peoplethey kill. They spy
on everyone near the Westwood, and no one knows where
they came from, why theyre in the forest, or what they want.
Womford
This tiny village just east of the Ironford bridge has been
called Ironford, then Wyrm Ford because a dragon was killed
there. Its really just a mill with a dock on the Dessarin and
storage granaries, plus a few cottages. The place lives in terror
of the Womford Bat, a stealthy monster that makes anyone
who goes out after dark disappear. Rumor has it that the
Zhents are up to something in Womford that hasnt happened
yetbut what?
82
Yartar
A fortified city where the best bridge over the Dessarin carries
the Evermoor Way across, Yartar is as crowded and wealthy
as a slice of middling Waterdeep, with new and taller
buildings going up constantly. Its the center for the barge
trade up and down the Dessarin, and is ruled by a Waterbaron
who serves for life. The one they have right now is no fool,
but things are getting restless; the place is alive with intrigue,
and everyone knows therell be trouble soon. A century ago
Yartar was a town, so its proud of belonging to the Lords
Alliance now, though all the factions are active here, the
Harpers and Zhents especially.
Rumor has it this cooper and that cheese shop owner are
planning coups; everyone thinks the Waterbaron must be
rolling in coins, and whoever controls this gateway to the
North cant help but make it really rich.
And all that coin is luring wizards here, most

of them wanting power but some of them pursuing crazy schemes for crafting spells to make all orcs their
perfect slaves, or call down dragons out of the mountains. The trouble with crazy wizards is that some of
them are crazy enough to be really dangerous
83

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