The Land: Aiyana

Aiyana is a rich, beautiful and wonderous continent. Unlike most continents, it contains all imaginable climate zones such as arid deserts, humid jungles, blazing plains, wide grasslands, deep forests, and snowy mountains. Most of the area is, however, a mixture of jungle, grasslands & forest.

The People: Catori

The Catori, the spirit of Aiyana, are the native population of Aiyana, and elven by race. They have been living in harmony with nature, making sure not to offset the balance between Aiyana and Denali. To Catori people, they are the vessel through which Aiyana’s spirit travels. Life is precious, and the Catori are tasked with protecting all life native to Aiyana, no matter its size or nature. Take what you must, but cultivate balance, no matter the cost. As such, the Catori have been careful not to exploit nature, but kindle it. They have an uncanny way of communicating with all life-forms of nature, which has its perks. However, the desire to preserve has also led to a rather stagnant technological development.

The Faith: Aiyana & Denali

Aiyana, the eternal blossom, is the body. She stands for life, creation and light. Denali, the great one, is the mind. He stands for death, destruction and darkness. If the mind, body and spirit are in perfect harmony, then all is well and the Catori prosper. If one is offset, however, there will be terrible consequences. The undoing of one will ruin the others, and the Catori are the only ones who can restore the balance.

What Happened?

The broken man arrived from over seas and with his rocks falling from the sky your people turned the ground to liquid. You fought against the Empire and suffered a bitter defeat. Through impressive battle prowess, luck or cowardice, some of you survived and have now retreated all across the continent.

Who Are You?

You are a few surviving heroes of the many battles against the Empire. A dying breed... but this is not over until your heart stops beating.

What will you do?

As fugitives from the empire you want to avoid direct confrontation with Imperials, but many settlers may still take pity on you and offer you shelter.

From this moment on, you alone must lead your people to stand against the test of time. There is no telling where your path in life may lead you. Just remember - all actions have consequences.

GM's Notes

This is a campaign that is quite dark hardcore. As players you can expect to start off weak and worn and only through hard work and dedication may you rise above. In short, hit points is a valuable commodity and you shouldn't expect to be able to win every fight by rushing in head first.

The level of fantasy and technology varies greatly between various areas - as does the difficulty. However, there are also plenty of weird and wonderous boons and rewards to find in this mysterious plane of existence.

Character's may die or suffer other horrible afflictions which may or may not be irrevocable, but the campaign isn't designed to be a meat-grinder. Death and other horrible consequences may be the results of characters picking a fight above their capability, ignoring warning signs or walking blindly into a hostile atmosphere.

Furthermore, this campaign features a high level of home-brew and openness in terms of role-playing D&D. If your first reaction to reading this is to worry, then it is probably not for you.

Stat Line: Special Roll

You roll for stats in a very balanced and fun way. Like you normally would, you roll 4d6 and drop the lowest one.

However, you may increase one attribute score if your total score is less than 75. You may then increase one of your attributes up to a maximum of 18 - but your total must not be greater than 75. Please note that even if your total score is less than 75, you may not increase any more than one attribute.

For example, if you rolled 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 you got a total score of 60, which allows you to increase one score to 18 for a total of 68.

Class: WotC+

You may pick any official WotC class and subclass. As a GM, however, I am open to makings some minor changes to official classes and subclasses to better suit your image of a character. Some subclasses and classes are also a bit sub-par. If you want to play anything like that we can work together to make it on par with other combinations.

I prefer to stay away from full homebrew classes but I would be happy to alter a existing one to better suit your fantasy.

Race: Elven

Your continent is a continent of elves, so your tribesmen are mostly native elven people. That said, you can choose any official 5e race for mechanical purposes and we can simply change its flavor and looks to something more fitting.

If you want to customize your origin, that is also perfectly fine. Simply follow the rules outlined in Tasha's. Ever wanted to play an elf with +2 STR, now you can!

Additionally, I find that racial boons can play a bigger roll than it should during character creation so I'm open to minor changes in all races, especially the rarer and weaker ones.

Finally, if you really do not want to be an elf, you can be a settler who converted to the one true faith in Aiyana and Denali

Background: Profession

Your background will play a big role in your part in society and is better regarded as your profession than your background. Ability checks connected to your background will be easier to pull off and you will be considered to be somewhat of an expert in your profession.

• Pick any official background.
• Ask me if you want something not included in the official WotC material.

Backstory: Origin

Everyone has roots and so do you. Maybe you are a descendant of a great warrior or maybe a mystical power has gotten you this far. Only you know the true depth of your origin.

However, instead of writing a long backstory I want you to think about a few key points and let the rest of the story develop as we play.

What you need:

• 3 true rumors.
• 1 semi-true rumor.
• 1 false rumor.
• 1 contact.

Training Grounds

Barracks & Armory

Prerequisite: Training grounds

Settlement improvement

By including any capable individual in the settlement's militia you can accomplish impressive feats, simply through strength in numbers.

Player Character Perks

Stimulants? Nah, try shouting.

Battle Cry: Once per week when you are fighting attackers in your settlement you may lead your militia with such confidence that you gain the benefit from Foresight.

Settlement improvement

The tip of the spear will one get you so far. To master the art of war you must study battlefield tactics and weigh your options. Only by planning for every possible scenario can you be truly prepared for when the enemy strikes. To facilitate this you must also house books and scholars but you may find that it is well worth your effort when the moment arrives.

Player Character Perks

Understanding basic anatomy is as helpful in inflicting damage as it is in mending.

Pressure Points: When you deal critical damage, you maximize the result of your weapon die. (This does not include any potential enchantments associated with the weapon.)

Settlement improvement

Specialized trainers are expensive and will require some other accommodations but they will offer personalized training for all adventurers.

Player Character Perks

Bonus abilities for all classes

Fighter, Ranger & Paladin: Pick one more fighting style from your list.

Fullcasters: Pick one 1st level spell as your signature spell. You can cast it up to your proficiency modifier per long rest without expending a spell slot.

Rogue, Monk & Barbarian: Pick one fighting style from the Fighter’s “Fighting style” list.

Warlock: Gain one additional eldritch invocation.

Artificer: Either gain and additional artificer cantrip or infusion.

Gymnasium

Circuit Training Facilities

Prerequisite: Gymnasium

Sanitation & Waste management

Improved Housing

Prerequisite: Sanitation & waste management

Quality of Life Improvements

Prerequisite: Improved housing

Settlement improvement

Some fresh water and food goes a long way in making sure you stay healthy and happy. Leaving you to focus on bigger problems than not shitting yourself to death.

Player Character Perks

A happy stomach.

Purification Rituals: Your settlement can cast Purify Food and Drink once per week.

Ration: Receive a Goodberry upon leaving settlement.

Settlement improvement

No longer do you need to endure unsalted half-cooked rat for dinner. Enjoy the luxury of well balanced meals and tasty treats instead!

Player Character Perks

A healthy diet will help you on your travels.

Improved Long Rest: Receive an extra hit dice on LR when you rest in settlement.

Brain-foods: You may attempt to use a spell slot you have already exhausted. To do so, you roll a Constitution saving throw as a part of that action.

The DC is [10 + the spell's level]. If you succeed you may use it again. If you fail, the spell is lost and you suffer a number of levels of exhaustion equal to the spell's level.

Settlement improvement

Hot steaming baths and essential oils will make you forget all about your enemies, if even for a little while. The medicinal benefits are obvious and as a bonus your people will smell nice. You might find it a costly upgrade but how can you put a price on such a gem?

Player Character Perks

So fresh and so clean.

Improved Hygiene: DC 10 Con save to remove an extra level of exhaustion when you rest in settlement.

Library

Academy

Prerequisite: Library

Arcanist's Tower

Prerequisite: Library

Settlement improvement

Sometimes you just have to try... Experimental enchanting is very dangerous and it claims many lives each year. However, the curious mind of of these radicals is exactly what you need to be on the forefront of magic.

Player Character Perks

Helps you unlock deeper tricks of the arcane trade.

Sacrifice Magic Item: As a reaction upon taking damage you may sacrifice an attuned magical item to grant yourself resistance against that damage. Alternatively, you may sacrifice a magical item to drop to 1 hit points instead of 0 when you take damage. Once you have used this feature you must complete a long rest before you can do so again.

Multi-Attunement: You may attune to more than 3 items. When you do you must immediately roll an arcana ability check. The DC is equal to 10 + the amount of items you are attuned to. If you succeed you attune to all items successfully until you finish your next long rest, at which point you mush roll arcana again or unattune to some items.

If you fail the check you can attune to only 3 items and you suffer 1d4+1 force damage per rarity of the item per item (common, uncommon, rare, very rare, legendary, artifact).

Create or Alter Spell: Through trial and error your arcanists may bend magic to their will. Sometimes. Other times they die trying.

Settlement improvement

Gathers travel far and wide to supply your settlement with various roots, fruit, nuts, berries, vegetables and more! An invaluable asset for any settlement who desires good food or who wishes to concoct more advanced consumables.

Player Character Perks

The fruits of the land.

Common Botanical Trader: Buys, sells & creates common botanical ingredients.

Settlement improvement

Much like the lesser trained gatherers, herbalists also forage the land for its gifts. However, being highly trained in botanics they are able to find rare and valuable ingredients where others would not find it.

Player Character Perks

Next level ingredients.

Rare Botanical Trader: Buys, sells & creates rare botanical ingredients.

Settlement improvement

With an abundance of rare herbs your apothecaries can work wonders. The sour smell of their chemicals cloud their little hut as they brew potions day and night.

Player Character Perks

A wide range of consumables for you to peruse.

Consumable Trader: Buys, sells and creates potions and other consumables.

Settlement improvement

In dank alleys or dark dungeons your poisoners create deadly and sinister mixtures. Use with caution.

Player Character Perks

A niche product.

Poison Trader: Buys, sells & creates poisons.

House of Worship

Spiritual Wonder

Prerequisite: House of Worship

Ritual Area

Prerequisite: House of Worship

Settlement improvement

Through dedication and practice your hunters and trappers can learn to track and capture almost anything. In time, you can also learn to tame animals and use them for your advantage.

Player Character Perks

Supplies: Various animals and animal parts.

Settlement improvement

Animal husbandry and harnessing beasts for mounts will push your settlement to the next level. Sure, the shit and piss takes some getting used to but if you can feed them and care for them they will aid you time and time again.

Player Character Perks

You think two legs are good transport? Try four!

Supplies: Mounts & animal husbandry.

Settlement improvement

Your scouting parties can greatly expand your ability to detect other parties before they get a chance to act. Furthermore, your scouts can find and detect opportunities for you to act. Scout training usually begins in young age but the people in your settlement would not notice a big difference as they mainly reside in tents or outposts far away from your settlement.

Player Character Perks

Let them be your eyes and ears.

Opportunities: Offers you extra quests each week.

Taverns, Culture & Art

Market & Merchants

Artisans Guilds

Prerequisite: Market & Merchants

Settlement improvement

Nothing is like the sweet smell of pit fighting in the morning. A crude but surprisingly efficient way of making the people happy and content.

Player Character Perks

A pit.

Supplies: Pit fighting in settlement

Settlement improvement

Cards, dice, sports, war, marriage... What can not you bet on? A gambling den is a good way to attract tourists and locals alike with a taste for thrill.

Player Character Perks

Games and recreation.

Supplies: Gambling in settlement

Settlement improvement

With the rule of law there is consequences to wrong-doers. With the fear of consequences there is less wrong doing. To facilitate this you need some sort of court, lawmen and penal facilities.

Player Character Perks

Law and Order leaves you with more time to specialize as you do not need to deal with petty errands.

Specialize: Gain any one feat of your choice (you still have to meet its prerequisites, if any).

Settlement improvement

Take the foulest cutthroat you can find. Toss some fine clothes and perfume on him and you got yourself a perfect spy and/or diplomat. Everyone lies and conspires, it is all about not getting caught. These facilities usually also offer fine housing for other diplomats.

Player Character Perks

With subtlety they can achieve what you cannot with brawn.

Diplomat/Spying mission: Can be sent to gather intel and/or broker deals.

Arbiter

As an arbiter, it is your task to make decisions on what to do as a tribe. However, a wise leader always listens to his people and uses his power wisely. Although the arbiter has the power to make decisions, he/she does not have the power to command the people's treasury. That power is reserved to the treasurer.

Treasurer

As a treasure, it is your task to collect and distribute wealth and you alone wield the power of the party's earnings and spendings. Although the arbiter has the power to decide what will happen you still have the ultimate ability to veto the arbiter's spendings, forcing the arbiter to find funds elsewhere.

Spiritual Adjudicator

As a spiritual adjudicator it is your task to commune with the spirits and present their will before the arbiter so he or she may make the right decision. The Catori do not have any written laws, instead the spiritual adjudicator will rule each dispute in cohesion with spirits.

Controller

Any member without a major role such as Arbiter, Treasurer or Spiritual Adjudicator take the on role of Controller. While a controller do not have any specific power it is perhaps one of the most important roles. The controllers biggest purpose is to keep the major roles from abusing their power.

As a controller you must make sure that The Arbiter, Treasurer and Spiritual Adjudicator:

• Do not question each other once they have reached a verdict.
• Take their responsibility with fullest seriousness.
• Strive to cultivate balance between Aiyana & Denali.

Questioning The Arbiter, Treasurer or Spiritual Adjudicator: If you think that The Arbiter, Treasurer or Spiritual Adjudicator has abused their position then you may question them, speaking on the behalf of Aiyana and Denali. Roll a contested persuasion check against the The Arbiter, Treasurer or Spiritual Adjudicator. If you have the support of two more controllers then you may roll with advantage. The one who loses this check has misinterpreted the will of Aiyana and Denali which comes with great shame.

As a result, the one who lost must thank the people for proving them wrong in their moment of weakness. Thereafter the one who lost must also be buried in dirt, showing only their head. So they must stay until next morning, and they may not say a word before then. The ritual is believed to allow their spirit to be rekindled by Aiyana as to better understand her will.

Quick Skill Challenge

A quick skill challenge is quite simply one round of skill rolls against a DC. It is a quick and simple way for the characters to use their abilities in a flavorful manner. No two characters may roll the same skill, they must all be unique.

Multi-Round Skill Challenge

A multi round skill challenge is quite similar to a quick skill challenge but it does not end until success or failure have been determined. As such, it can continue over multiple rounds. The DC is still set by the GM but in a multi-round skill challenge the GM will also determine the amount of successes needed for the challenge to be completed.

For instance, if the GM says that you must complete a multi-round skill challenge 8, DC 15 then you bust roll 8 skill checks with a result of 15 or more to actually succeed. Much like in a quick challenge, the characters cannot pick the same skill twice, even if the challenge continues for more than one round.

Bonuses & Abilities

Generally speaking, you are not allowed to add any sort of bonuses or special abilities to your skill challenge results unless it is an ability that can be used over a long time without any difficulties. Enhanced ability, for instance, might work as it has a duration of one hour. Contrary, a cleric spamming guidance is not viable as that would require too many actions over the course of an hour or more.

3 Strikes and You Are Out.

No matter if it is a quick or multi-round skill challenge, you fail if three or more rolls do not meet the DC.

Degrees of Success & Failure

The amount of successes and/or failures determines how well (or horrible) the outcome will be. For instance, if all members succeed then it was a marvelous success, giving you a great advantage on your task. If you instead failed on all your rolls then you might have not only gotten yourselves caught behind enemy lines but maybe you are also outnumbered or threatened in some other catastrophic manner.

System Shock Table

The Natural 20: Battle Frenzy

Succesfully escaping system shock table by rolling a natural 20 on the Constitution saving throw triggers a rush of adrenaline which fills your veins with ferocity, you may immediately roll a hit dice and add it to your temporary hit points.

Duration

A creature may repeat the DC 15 Constitution saving throw at the end of its turn until it succeeds.

Help. A player may help another character to recover early. As an action they may administer remedy by attempting a DC 15 Medicine (Wis) ability to end the condition.

Equipment Sizes (PHB 145)

A common sense optional rule that basically says that armor and clothing that fits one character won’t necessarily fit someone else. Yes, I can’t believe this is a variant rule rather than a default assumption, but there you go. What this means in practice is that if you kill a 7’5″ bugbear and steal his full plate armor, you're going to need to employ a smith to do some considerable work resizing it for your dwarven paladin.

Multiclassing (PHB 163)

Multi classing is allowed but the GM has a final say if a specific combination is especially difficult to pull off. Multiclassing is allowed for flavor, not to break the game.

Feats (PHB 165)

Feats are fun and flavorful. Players may take any WotC feat instead of ASI, with some exceptions.

Alteration: Lucky & Elven Accuracy feats are banned. Talk to your GM if you want a specific feat that isn't covered by the list or if you want to change a feat.

Opportunity Attacks (PHB 165)

RAW any creature may take an AoO once a creature leaves it reach without taking the disengage action or is under a similar effect which denies AoO. These rules are simple enough to pickup and use but after some years with them I find them lacking. The one problem I have with this system is that a creature can run in circles around another creature without provoking attacks which doesn't make any sense to me. Therefore, I am expanding the triggers for an AoO. The standard rules still apply in addition to these rules, this just expands the criteria for allowing an attack of opportunity.

Alteration:

• If a creature of medium size or smaller moves 5 ft. or more within your melee reach it triggers an Attack of Opportunity. If a large or larger sized creature does this it only triggers an AoO if it moves 10 ft. or more directly adjacent to you.
• If a creature stands up from being prone, you may take an Attack of Opportunity (This happens after the prone condition ends).
• If a creature adjacent to you does anything else that would leave it vulnerable (such as fetching something from its pack) you may take an AoO.

Advantage and Disadvantage (PHB 173)

RAW you either have it or you don't, there is no progressiveness in this rule. Personally I like depth and I also find it strange that for instance double advantage is canceled by a single disadvantage. I don't like this static rule too much so I'm inclined to alter it somewhat to allow more depth.

Alteration: Advantage and Disadvantage only cancel each other out on a 1-1 basis. To determine the final outcome consider each instance of advantage as (+1) and each instance of Disadvantage as (-1). Two instances of Advantage, therefore, isn't canceled out by one instance of disadvantage, instead 2-1=1 (advantage).

Additionally, you may go beyond advantage if you have multiple effects that grants you advantage. This doesn't cause you to roll more dice, however, instead you add (+1) to the result for each instance of advantage after the first. The same is true for disadvantage except you would add (-1) to the roll instead for each instance of disadvantage beyond the first.

Resting (PHB 186)

Going pretty RAW here but just to clarify:

Alteration: Any kind of rest will increase the risk for a random encounter.

Ability Checks (PHB 174-179)

As a whole these rules are quite wide and very open for interpretation as to how exactly they would work in any given Campaign. I like the openness of these rules but I have found a couple of things that I wish to adjust over the years.

Alteration:

• You may only assist someone with an ability check if both of you are proficient in a specific skill.
• Generally speaking, outside of combat you cannot repeat an ability check if have already tried and failed. You will have to be creative and try another way.

Dropping to 0 Hit Points (PHB 197)

Dropping to 0 hit points is bad for you.

Alteration: You gain 1 level of exhaustion whenever you drop to 0 hit points.

Actions (PHB 189 ff.)

While I can see why WotC made a conscious choice to keep a strict balance for mechanical purposes I feel experienced enough with 5e to say that some more action freedom will not break the game in any disastrous way.

Alteration:

• You may use an action as either a bonus action or item interaction.
• You may use a bonus action as an item interaction.

Training to Gain Levels (DMG 131)

While these tules are not strictly adopted in this campaign they are sorta incorporated in the system as a whole by default.

Alteration: Your levels are technically tied to spending gold in this campaign but how you actually "level up" is left for you to decide. A few thematic pointers will suffice, did you hit the gym or were you blessed by a god?

More Difficult Magic Item Identification (DMG 136)

Under the normal rules you can identify any magic item by handling it and experimenting with it over the course of a short rest. By the end of the short rest, you know all these is to know about the item. I think that’s a bit dull. Magic items are, after all, supposed to be unique items of power in 5th edition.

Therefore you'll need to cast the Identify spell, or embark on some serious empirical research, to learn all there is to learn about a magic item. Some may give up their secrets easily, others may not.

Mixing Potions (DMG 140)

These rules are fun and chaotic so I intend to use them. Quaff a second potion while still under the effect of a first, or mix potions together and consume the results . . . and something unexpected may happen. Maybe one of the potions will become permanent, maybe you'll poison yourself, maybe you'll explode! The dice will decide.

Alteration: While I intend to use the concept - the option that makes potions permanent will only be used in very specific situations.

Scroll Mishaps (DMG 140)

Under this variant rule, if you have to make a roll to use a scroll (probably because the spell on it is too high a level for you) and you fail that roll then you have more to worry about that the spell not going off. You need to make a saving throw or a mishap occurs – this mishap might be annoying, debilitating or deadly. It’s a random die roll.

Vision and Light

Minor changes to Gaze effects as I found them to be a bit too vaguely explained RAW.

Gaze:

• A creature that is not surprised can avert its eyes to avoid the saving throw at the start of its turn. If it does so, the creature is effectively blinded until the start of its next turn (and therefore immune to gaze effects as long as it is averting its eyes).
• When a creature that can see the Gaze starts its turn within the gaze range, the Gazer can force it to make a saving throw against the gaze effect.
• During its turn, a creature with a Gaze effect can force any creatures within range of it that can see it to make a saving throw, suffering the effect from the gaze on a failed saving throw.

Conditions (PHB 289)

Minor additions to some conditions and added new conditions. See Appendix A.

Planar Effects (DMG 50-66)

The Dungeon Master’s Guide introduces a number optional effects to bedevil player characters when they visit other planes of existence. These are (take a deep breath): Feywild Magic, Shadowfell Despair, Psychic Dissonance, Blessed Beneficence, Pervasive Goodwill, Overwhelming Joy, Hunter’s Paradise, Beast Transformation, Immortal Wrath, Power of the Mind, Mad Winds, Abyssal Corruption, Prison Plane, Vile Transformation, Cruel Hindrance, Pervasive Evil, Blood Lust, Law of Averages, Imposing Order, and Planar Vitality.

So if the player characters happen to go on a jaunt to the Outer Planes, these are the rules I’ll be referring to in the first instance. Of course, some planes may not be covered by the DMG examples and some planar effect may be altered to better suit a specific campaign.