Awf Hornjaw et Loragwyn, a gold dwarf battleaxe wielding wizard, left his homes because he heard of a goblin threat near Neverwinter. In Neverwinter Awf met some industrious souls in the city.
Karkom Hammerstone, that wonderful axe and hammer dwarf, knows how to share an ale and those massive arms look like they’d be strong along his side. Rowan Evenwood, the lucky priest, keeps winning at cards, but she cannot match Awf’s skill at dragonchess. She’s a solid companion.
Favoring the bow, Norran Galanodel reminds Awf of his Loragwyn family. Norran is a bit of a sneak, but his aim is true. Like Awf, Ambrose is prone to The Violence. The dual-axe man has a bit of hate in him — that’s familiar.
Together we were hired by Gundren to meet he and his guard, Sildar, in a small mining town. Our ox-drawn wagon is slow. The big, dumb oxs are dragging along chests of mining supplies towards the town of Pandelver so that Gundren can profit and our group can earn a few gold.
Spoilers for the D&D Starter Set adventure Lost Mines of Phandelver follow.
This campaign is set five years after the Lorebook Hunters. With the call of magic strong in the Western Wildes, the kingdoms of the Everflow are stressed by magic. The New Peoples (Ken and Kon), the Offspring of Chorl, the elementals in The Ferments, the Haunting of the High Hills, truce at the River Crinth between the Crinth Confederation and Empire of Azsel, the Sundering of the Church of Quar, and the beacon of the Free City of Sheljar are all plaguing the Kingdoms of Daoud and Kirtin.
Campaign Premise
You are common people living in and around Kirtin-on-the-Lake who are inspired to free the city from under the rule of Daoud. You may want it to once again be part of Kirtin, or you may want to copy the Free City of Sheljar. The City Guard, a unit of Daoud’s military, and even dragons, who see Kirtin-on-the-Lake as their ancestral home, stand in your way.
Background
The Lorebook Hunters secured several of the Lorebooks, returning magic to the Land of the Everflow. In doing so they drew the attention of the Ken (dragons, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and other fey creatures). At the same time the goblins returned to the Land of the Everflow, with their smog-punk teknology.
Grand Conflicts
The Proctors of Grace and their other allies want to control access to magic. Certain dragons also want to repopulate Kirtin-on-the-Lake as the Ward of Mighty Trees is the ancestral home of certain types of dragons (at least a Red as that first DragonTree has regrown).
Daoud will not allow their winnings (Kirtin-on-the-Lake and the Slope) to leave their control after centuries. The rebellion has taken control of the Dock District. What will they free next? While the mayor may be willing to have the rebels help repel the Proctors, he serves at the whim of an empire that refuses to recognize Kirtin-on-the-Lake as anything but its own territory.
The Way of the Frayed Knot is a Monk subclass that attempts to feature some Western fantasy tropes. The most common of these is Friar Tuck from Robin Hood, but there are other studious, religious types that fought alongside rogues and pirates.
Some ignored their ideals. Others felt that the ideals of the gang or troop were more in common with their religious beliefs. In the magical settings of most versions of D&D the Way of the Frayed Knot will have some amount of overlap with a Cleric. While these Monks commonly use bludgeoning weapons, it is not required mechanically, though I’m tempted to make it so.
This is a work in progress for a subclass of Monk. Language still needs adjustments to meet 5e. My purpose in sharing is to garner feedback about the concept as it fits the description and entertainment within most 5e paradigms. A lot of the power is wrapped up in Cleric spells as rituals.
Cloistered Student
The Drunken Monk, Mansion House, Cardiff by Michael Gwyther-Jones (CC BY 2.0)
At 3rd level, when selecting this Monastic Tradition, you gain proficiency in Religion (or another Intelligence skill if you already have Religion) as well as a proficiency in one of the following artisan tools — Brewer’s Supplies, Calligrapher’s Supplies, Mason’s Tools, Painter’s Supplies, or Woodcarver’s Tools.
Circle of Life
At 3rd level you gain access to the ability to Channel Divinity. You have one use per short or long rest at this level. At 8th and 18th level you gain an additional use of this ability.
Some Channel Divinity effects require saving throws. When you use such an effect from this class, the DC equals your spell save DC (8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom modifier).
The Channel Divinity options available are Preserve Life and Sacred Weapon (with Wisdom being the attribute connected to that Paladin ability). You may also use 3 Ki Points towards a Channel Divinity. This cost replaces the per rest cost for that specific usage.
You may pay 1 Ki Point to cast the following Cleric spells as Rituals at 3rd level;
Ceremony (XGtE)
Detect Magic
Detect Poison and Disease
Purify Food and Drink
At 5th level you gain access to the following Rituals, at the cost of 1 2 Ki Points;
Gentle Repose
Silence
At 9th level you gain access to the following spells as a Ritual, at the cost of 1 4 Ki Points;
Feign Death
Water Walk
At 13th level you gain access to the following spell as a Ritual, at the cost of 1 7 Ki Points;
Divination
At 17th level you gain access to the following spell as a Ritual, at the cost of 1 11 Ki Points;
Commune
Live to Fight
Monk by Vladimer Shioshvili (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Starting at 6th level you are able to cast Prayer of Healing at the cost of 2 Ki Points. Your spellcasting ability modifier for this Prayer is Wisdom.
The use of an additional Ki Point increases the spell level by 1, granting an additional 1d8 of healing to the spell.
You also gain proficiency in Healer’s Tools if you do not have this proficiency. If you do have this proficiency, you are granted double your proficiency bonus on checks for this tool.
Submission
At 11th level your blows are now so potent that Stunning Strike no longer costs a point of Ki.
Kneel Before the Gods
At 17th level when you Stun a creature they fall Prone. You also gain an additional two blows from Flurry of Blows. Those blows can be against any target within your reach.
In most fantasy worlds dragons are hoarders of treasure. In some they are (also?) destroyers of worlds. There are worlds where dragons founded existence. On Krynn the chromatic and metallic dragons battle each other sometimes interfering in the lives of Man.
In establishing the World of the Everflow I wanted a slightly different take upon how dragons (as well as other dragonkin) exist within the World.
Dragons are part of the People of Ken. They are knowers of things, especially of magic. They, and all of the Ken, control access to magic of all kinds. For millennia of millennia they prevented the People of Kin (companionship and love) from knowing magic. Through the Scholars and the Proctors of Grace the Dragons and their followers (Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes) kept their thumb on magic, eliminating all but love and the healing power of the Everflow.
Rather than piles of gold, a dragon’s home back on Ken (the continent) is full of scrolls, books, and tomes. The long lives of all Ken mean that their minds are full of mighty spells well beyond the standards of Dungeons & Dragons.
Dragon breath by Nicklas Lundqvist (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Their immense powers are legendary, the same way that our modern world views dragons — a story so fictional it is not even legend. Statues and tales about dragons are created for artistic reasons.
Within the current campaign the dragons are returning to Kirtin-on-the-Lake seeking an ancestral homeland in the Ward of Mighty Trees. These trees are essential to the Dragons life in ways that the group has yet to discover.
Those Dragons, from the Ale Dragon Brewst Griselle to a mighty Red waiting on the southern plains of Kalst’s Field, are now quite real. Some fit in well. Brewst is small enough to fit inside buildings. He drinks and cavorts. His study of brewing, distilling, and vintning is familiar to the Kin. Yes, he’s different, but there is also familiarity.
Other drakes do not cause fear, initially. They remind most in Kirtin and Daoud about the lizards of Mehmd, a Kin-ish kingdom that bonds with lizards more frequently than mammals.
KOMODO DRAGON by NAPARAZZI (CC BY-SA 2.0)
But, when those drakes fought they taught fear. Their breath of fire, or poisoned stingers, killed in ways that nature should not. The drakes are not as intelligent as a person. Unlike Brewst they do not speak. They consume. Negotiation is not possible.
Brewst, and his companion gnome Oolia, are talkers. They also use the power of illusion and charm to work their way towards their goals. The governor and the group do not know these goals. They only know that the influence of the two continues to grow.
They worked as advanced scouts for the Proctors of Grace. Their goals could be called fey-like as all of the magical Ken work in ways that are not familiar to Kin (Goliaths, Halflings, Humans). The plans of Ken take centuries or even millenia.
When life lasts at least a few hundred years the approach to the world is incomprehensible to races that live to 100 at most.
Now, our heroes have to discover how these plans impact life in Kirtin-on-the-Lake, and the two kingdoms. This process of discovery could be deadly, it will be challenging. In the end, life in Kirtin and Daoud will change. Our heroes will determine how much it changes and how the Dragons will be included, punished, or rewarded.
The Society of Veil and Shadows are a group of rogues dedicated to obscuring and protecting their guild from spies — both arcane and mundane. While able to contribute to the uprising’s success via sneak attacks and other clandestine abilities their true power is their ability to cast a few spells, most of which help keep the rebellion secret.
This is a work in progress for a subclass of Rogue. Language still needs adjustments to meet 5e. My purpose in sharing is to garner feedback about the concept as it fits the description and entertainment within most 5e paradigms.
Spellcasting (3rd Level)
Similar to what is described for the Arcane Trickster, but the two schools allowed are Abjuration and Conjuration. Every member of the Society learns the spell “Block.” This spell is one of the cantrips learned at third level.
Block (3rd Level)
cantrip abjuration
Casting Time: 1 reaction
Range: touch
Components: V S M (steel ring)
Duration: until next turn
Classes: Wizard, Cleric
When an Enchantment, Divination, Illusion, Transmutation spell is cast targeting yourself or an ally you can touch, you grant the target advantage on saving throws versus that spell and on any saves versus spells until your next turn.
Safehouse (9th Level)
You have learned certain rites and patterns in order to cast any ritual from the following schools of magic – Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Illusion. The spells must be on the Wizard spell list. To cast such a ritual you must have a spellbook, or similar, in your possession. These rituals may only be cast once per long rest, each.
Cloud of Doubt (13th Level)
You may create a 30′ by 30′ cloud of patchy fog. Any target within the Cloud of Doubt is partially obscured. In addition, any creature entering the the cloud must make a Charisma saving throw or shift its demeanor towards the positive (hostile become indifferent, indifferent become friendly). The cloud is centered on a space up to 60′ from yourself. You must maintain concentration on the Cloud of Doubt, or it dissipates in 8 hours.
You may create a Cloud of Doubt a number of times equal to your Intelligence bonus (minimum 1) per Long Rest.
Unchained (17th Level)
When in shackles, handcuffs, jail, and the like, while conscious and able to speak, you are able to cast Misty Step without using a spell slot. If you cast using a spell slot you may take a number of allies with you equal to the level of spell slot used.
Misty Step no longer counts as a known spell for you.
