CHARACTER GUIDE
Every lineage, calling, and background a hero can be forged from — and what each grants in attributes, skills, gear, spells, and special abilities. 15 lineages · 15 callings · 12 backgrounds.
Lineage sets your attribute bonuses + a signature trait. Calling sets toughness, armor, 2 skills, gear, a power, and spells. Past adds 2 more skills, a keepsake, and a story hook. Abilities are bought with points.
Point-buy budget is 27 (raise stats from 8 to 15). Every lineage grants the same +6 total (max +2 in any one), so Human is the flexible generalist while specialists peak higher. HP = hit die + CON; AC = class base (+ DEX in light armor).
a specialty within an attribute; trained skills add your proficiency bonus
the only choice that raises your raw stats
Mortal Folk · the common peoples of the world — the anchor of the setting
Versatile: once per adventure, reroll any one failed check.
Ambitious, adaptable, and everywhere. No peaks and no weak spots — a human fits any path.
Keen Senses: advantage on Perception checks involving sight or sound.
Long-lived wanderers of moonlit forests, graceful and unhurried as the seasons.
Stonecunning: advantage on checks about stonework, tunnels, and forges.
Forge-born folk of the deep halls. Their grudges outlast their kingdoms.
Lucky: reroll any natural 1 on a d20 (must keep the second roll).
Small, cheerful, and impossibly hard to kill. Trouble slides off them like rain.
Tinker's Eye: advantage on checks to understand mechanisms, traps, and contraptions.
Curious sparks of folk, halfway between inventor and menace.
Relentless: the first time you drop to 0 HP each adventure, drop to 1 HP instead.
Storm-blooded warriors who believe a good death must be earned by a better life.
Slippery: advantage on checks and saves to escape grapples, ropes, and tight spots.
Fast, feral, and smarter than anyone gives them credit for. Mostly reformed. Mostly.
Bloodline-Touched · mortals carrying the spark of a greater power
Breath Weapon: once per encounter, exhale elemental fury (2d6 damage, DEX save halves).
Scaled heirs of dragonkind, carrying an ember of their ancestors in every breath.
Hellish Resistance: take half damage from fire.
Marked by an old infernal bargain they never signed. Distrusted, and used to it.
Healing Hands: once per adventure, touch a creature to restore 1d6 + level HP.
Touched by something celestial, they walk the world trailing faint, stubborn light.
Elemental Flux: at each dawn, attune to one element (fire, cold, lightning, or acid) — you resist that element until the next dawn, and once per encounter one of your hits deals an extra 1d4 of it.
The raw elements run in their veins, none ruling for long. Today they spark; tomorrow they smolder or freeze.
The Uncanny · rare and strange lineages that make folk look twice
Towering: extra melee reach and advantage on checks to shove, grapple, or carry; disadvantage squeezing through cramped spaces.
Descended from the world-shaping titans. They hold the line, hit like an avalanche, and stoop through every doorway.
Borrowed Faces: as an action, take on the exact appearance of any humanoid you've seen — flawless to the eye, but your voice is always a shade off (a Deception check covers the difference).
Born without a face of their own, they wear a thousand. Few changelings remember which one was first.
Verdant Body: advantage on saves against poison; once per adventure, root in soil during a rest to regrow 1d6 + level HP.
Folk grown rather than born, with sap in their veins and tempers that turn with the seasons.
Cold Flesh: immune to poison and disease, and you don't need to breathe; but healing magic restores only half as much on you.
The undying. They march on long after they should have stopped, dragging the grave behind them like a cloak.
the biggest single choice; sets your whole kit
⚔ Warriors · masters of weapon and body — no magic, just steel and grit
Second Wind: once per encounter, recover 1d10 + level HP as a quick breath.
Gear: Longsword, Shield, Chain mail, Adventurer's pack
A master of steel and stance. Where the fighter stands, the line holds.
Rage: once per encounter, +2 damage and take half damage for 3 rounds.
Gear: Greataxe, Javelins ×4, Adventurer's pack
Less a warrior than a weather event. Strategy is for people with time.
Flurry: after attacking, make one extra unarmed strike (1d4).
Gear: Staff, Meditation beads, Traveler's robes
A still pond that hits like a landslide. The body is the only weapon that never dulls.
Guardian's Pledge: when a creature within reach attacks an ally, you may redirect that attack onto yourself.
Gear: Halberd, Tower shield, Splint armor
The wall the party shelters behind. Where the guardian plants their feet, the line does not break.
✦ Mages · they bend reality through study, bloodline, or bargain
Arcane Recovery: regain one expended spell use on a short rest.
Spells: Fire Bolt (1d10) · Mage Hand · Light · Magic Missile (3×1d4+1) · Shield (+5 AC, 1 round)
Gear: Quarterstaff, Spellbook, Component pouch
A scholar who read the universe's source code and started filing patches.
Wild Surge: once per adventure, recast a spell for free — the DM adds a twist.
Spells: Chaos Bolt (2d8, random element) · Prestidigitation · Burning Hands (3d6 cone) · Misty Step
Gear: Twin daggers ×2, Arcane focus crystal
Magic doesn't come from their books. It comes from their blood, and it's impatient.
Raise Thrall: once per encounter, reanimate a fallen foe as a weak minion for 3 rounds.
Spells: Chill Touch (1d8) · Spare the Dying · Inflict Wounds (3d6) · False Life (+1d4+4 HP)
Gear: Bone wand, Tome of the Dead, Component pouch
A scholar of the last door. To the necromancer, death is not an end — just a poorly kept ledger.
Elemental Attunement: each dawn choose Fire, Frost, or Storm; your damaging spells deal that type and gain a rider (burn / slow / shock).
Spells: Elemental Bolt (1d10) · Mold Earth · Shape Flame · Gust
Gear: Elemental focus orb, Quarterstaff, Component pouch
Why read about fire when you can simply ask it? The elementalist commands raw nature, not bookish theory.
✚ The Devout · power borrowed from gods and the old wild
Divine Favor: your god is watching. It helps, usually.
Spells: Sacred Flame (1d8) · Guidance (+1d4 to a check) · Cure Wounds (1d8+WIS) · Bless (3 allies, +1d4)
Gear: Mace, Scale mail, Holy symbol, Healer's kit
Faith with a mace. Equally good at mending the wounded and making more of them.
Lay on Hands: a pool of 5 × level HP to heal by touch, split as needed.
Gear: Warhammer, Shield, Plate-and-chain, Sacred oath scroll
An oath given armor and a heartbeat. The light they carry is not metaphorical.
Wild Shape: once per adventure, take a beast's form for a scene.
Spells: Thorn Whip (1d6, pull) · Druidcraft · Entangle (area restrain) · Goodberry (10×1 HP)
Gear: Sickle, Wooden shield, Herbalism kit
The forest's memory wearing a person. Civilization is a rumor they tolerate.
➶ Wanderers · the crossovers, thriving where the lines blur
Sneak Attack: +1d6 damage when striking with advantage or beside an ally.
Gear: Twin daggers ×2, Shortbow, Thieves' tools, Leather armor
A shadow with opinions. Locks, pockets, and secrets all open the same way.
Bardic Inspiration: 3/adventure, gift an ally +1d6 on any roll.
Spells: Vicious Mockery (1d4 + insult) · Minor Illusion · Healing Word (1d4+CHA) · Charm Person
Gear: Rapier, Lute, Leather armor
Every story needs a narrator. Preferably one with a sword and excellent hair.
Favored Quarry: mark a foe; +2 to hit it and advantage tracking it.
Gear: Longbow, Shortsword, Leather armor, Trail rations ×5
The wilderness keeps no secrets from one who has learned to listen.
Bonded Companion: a loyal beast (a hawk or hound) fights at your side — command it to attack, defend, or scout. If it falls, bond a new beast after an adventure.
Call of the Wild: once per adventure, summon 1d4 local beasts to aid you for one encounter.
Gear: Hunting spear, Hooked net, Hide armor
Where others see prey or predator, the beastmaster sees kin. The wild answers when they call.
2 more skills, a keepsake, and a hook for the Dungeon Master
Hardened Paths · lives shaped by war, the wild, and hard roads
Trinket: A campaign medal from a war nobody won
“Someone from your old unit owes you their life — or you owe them yours.”
Trinket: A map of a place that isn't on any other map
“Something followed you out of the wilds. It is patient.”
Trinket: An iron pot the whole village swears is lucky
“The people who sing about you expect you to live up to the song.”
Trinket: A contract with the final clause deliberately torn off
“Your last employer wants the advance back — with interest, and a name to collect it.”
Learned Paths · lives shaped by study, faith, and high halls
Trinket: A letter from a colleague containing a question you cannot answer
“There is a book you have been hunting for half your life.”
Trinket: A prayer book with one page deliberately torn out
“Your order taught you everything — except why your mentor vanished.”
Trinket: A signet ring of a house that may no longer welcome you
“A family scandal follows your name into every court you enter.”
Trinket: A journal recording a discovery you've told no one
“A secret from your years alone is something powerful people would kill to bury.”
Shadowed Paths · lives shaped by the street, the con, and the crowd
Trinket: A standing ovation, pressed and dried, in locket form (a rose, technically)
“A rival performer is spreading a story about you. The worst part: some of it is true.”
Trinket: A battered lockbox of the trade: a crowbar, a set of weighted dice, and a city key to a door you've never found
“The streets that raised you, the crew you ran with, and a cargo you lost all want something from you — and none of them take 'no.'”
Trinket: A splintered practice sword and a crowd that still chants your name
“The arena master who 'owns' your contract wants you back in the sand.”
Trinket: A deck of marked cards and a pair of dice that always know which way to land
“A high roller you cleaned out swears the game was rigged. He's right, and he's looking for you.”