2e AD&D Birthright Campaign Setting Review

This article is spoiler free, only providing specific information that the original books describe as safe to share with players as part of setting background.

Birthright is an interesting setting, and frankly not discussed much in my abet limited experience in the hobby. On ENWorld I've seen its fanbase called "small but vocal." It is small indeed, with much of the community residing on a fan website that has existed for roughly two decades and a more recently created discord server. For me personally, I didn't hear about Birthright until I heard it mentioned in passing in a video by Matt Colville. Appearing later in the life cycle of 2e AD&D, it seems as though Birthright never got as much attention as other settings like Planescape and Spelljammer. 

It's also of note that as older materials, the Birthright Campaign Setting and other supplements, available on DriveThruRPG, include the disclaimer that "Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today." Those interested in exploring this setting should keep this in mind and use player safety tools. 

The setting and rules of the original box set is laid out in three books. Let's take a look at them.

Atlas

Really interesting overview, providing the meat of the setting lore. It is written from an in-character perspective, by a chamberlain waiting for a wise emperor to rise and rule the fallen empire once more. I found the narrative style less annoying personally than when it was used for the Planescape 2e sources. The lore sets the continent of Cerilia up as a land that has been settled by humans, in a generally low magic setting. There still remain untamed frontiers to explore, which seems a major idea for some regions (there are some potentially problematic themes of colonialism as elves, dwarves, and orog peoples lived in Cerilia before the arrival of humans). 

The background of the setting is that a thousand years or longer before the present timeline there was a massive battle between the forces of evil and good, in which the gods also participated and destroyed one another. Their energy created new gods from some of the combatants and also diffused amongst those who survived on both sides, creating powerful magical bloodlines amongst the humanoids and also creating the dark antagonists, the awnsheghlien. These adversaries are functionally immortal and are natural bad guys for your adventures. 

There is a mystical element to the awnsheghlien, particularly as these are unique monsters, which I think is sometimes lost in D&D. So while normal versions of monster stat blocks might easily be used for some of them, it would also make sense to make modified or legendary versions of some (like a modified medusa stat block for the Gorgon).

Then the setting takes the bloodline theme and combines it with the divine right of kings to create a feudal system of rule. After the battle an empire arose that unified much of the continent, but it fell as the ruling bloodline weakened. The seeds of a plot that could be as radical as reuniting the empire, or as small as dealing with the local politics and the threat of nearby neighbors emerges. The rules presented in the rulebook then support this different style of gameplay. I like the fallen empire trope, and already planned to employ a similar theme in my own world. The world is distinct and interesting, and I’d definitely consider a campaign here.

The descriptions of the various lands are interesting, and I think you could do worse than using Cerilia without the domain system as an adventuring setting alternative to others like the Forgotten Realms.

Rulebook

Character Options

It’s always been interesting considering the class and character restrictions based upon ancestry which are included in older sourcebooks. Honestly seems rather silly at this point. However, I do appreciate the brief sections on each people that detail their culture and what makes them unique.

Domains

The domain system is what really makes this setting unique and cool. It will not be for everyone. There's a lot conceptually you need to take in and understand to effectively use the system. The GM really needs to be an expert, and it is more akin to a strategic simulation game than a roleplaying game. It's the intersection of these two styles of games that makes Birthright truly shine though.

First, you really need this beautiful stitched together map of Cerilia to understand this system. If you want to use another setting with this system, you'll need to figure out how to divide up the map according to provinces, which according to the book should be between 1,000 and 1,500 miles square, or about 30-40 miles per side if you are doing rough squares. The book notes the exact dimensions aren't important, but if you want to maintain some of the verisimilitude in ability to communicate and travel quickly within the area then this is a good rule of thumb. You don't need to do the entire map necessarily though, just the area you are interested in running your campaign. Then you can follow the principles of spiral campaign development as your players venture further afield, then detailing the provinces and new regions they are going to.

(Major aside: Khorvaire in Eberron, and Midgard are good settings to potentially look at for this. Khorvaire would function well if you wanted to play out the Last War, and Midgard has this type of intrigue and warfare baked into the setting already. The Forgotten Realms works less well because the Sword Coast is primarily city states, and the nobles aren't as tied to geographic holdings in the lore outside of those cities).

Provinces are assigned a level (the book essentially suggests these will primarily range from 0-9). The level assigned generally reflects the population, and through that the economic and political potential of the province (the book says importance and prosperity, but words from actual scholarship are much more descriptive and helpful to us in conceptualizing these). A major city of greater than 40,000 people is at least level 7 (i.e. a province containing Ptolus would be 7 or 8). 

Within a province you have four types of holdings:

• Guilds (Associated with the 2e Thief class)
• Law
• Sources (Sources of magical energy derived from the land itself)
• Temples (Centers of divine power and influence)

There are a number of slots for each of these holdings within a province equal to its level (except for sources, they have other rules later). There is also a limitation based on the size of the province for how many regents (rulers) those holding slots can be divided between (for instance, a level 3 province can only have one regent per type of holding. This is true even if the holding doesn't use all the available slots. Meaning this province can have a level 1 temple holding, but no other regents can take those slots.

Next the various types of assets that a regent can have are discussed, which is essentially anything other than a holding, including armies, money, and more. 

Reading this, it becomes very apparent that some sort of digital ability to manage data is necessary—those folks who did this by hand in the ‘90’s deserve a round of applause. A CSV file might suffice, with holdings nested under provinces and listed with their respective levels and regents. Regents' assets need to be tracked too. There's also the added wrinkle of tracking the interrelations of regents, scions, and their bloodlines. The type of hyperlinking available in Foundry or other non VTT document management tools also could be a way to provide lists of provinces, the holdings, and regents, along with their associated resource gain each turn.

In addition to all of this, there are the procedures for running domain turns and a skirmish battle game with cards for units (wait this sounds familiar). These rules provide some parameters that to me make them more usable that the more amorphous domain rules that Kingdoms & Warfare provided, certainly inspired by this previous product. Though you definitely need digital tools to keep track of everything, the procedures follow a certain logic, and some lists and flowcharts nicely demonstrate how everything ought to flow. The domain rules also explicitly are designed to work alongside adventures and guidance is given on how to advance time and interweave the domain turns with adventures—a degree of specificity that I find more helpful than the tired “make it up as you go” advice that I've also seen. The framework allows for deviation better than having to haphazardly create something on the fly.

Ruins of Empire

This book is densely packed, providing the domain data for a number of NPC regents and domains in Anuire, which is essentially a European fantasy themed portion of the setting. The level of detail included in this and other Birthright supplements (which we'll also take a look at in future posts) 

Final Thoughts

This setting offers a type of play not everyone is interested in. That’s okay, but I’m glad that people still continue to think about domain management and building kingdoms as part of the fantasy TTRPG hobby. This is an interesting setting from a historical point of view and offers one example of how to approach this problem. Various aspects of Birthright could be drawn from or combined with other systems—for example, division of a map up into regions is very similar to A5E’s exploration mechanics. If I were to run this setting, I might make use of the exploration encounters from A5E in this way to do pointcrawls with regional nodes.

You can also see how Birthright emphasized an ideal of generational play, with characters developing their holdings, perhaps gaining control of a province with regency, and passing on their power to a trusted heir. I like this idea in other works I've seen it in, like the much more recent Broken Weave. Similar mechanics from games like Pendragon could be adapted too.

There are also obvious different styles of play available in Birthright. For example, each player a ruler of a kingdom, which would focus significantly on the domain level game, and potentially include conflict between player domains. There's also the ability to place an NPC or a player in charge of a kingdom, with the others acting as vassals, promoting both cooperation, or providing a smaller scale for intrigue. There's also the option of simply adventuring in the setting with no players acting as scions or regents, but getting to interact with the politics and intrigue.

I would love to try out this campaign setting one day. For more reading and reflections from an older fan of the hobby than me, check out the blog post from Grognardia on the setting.

Mercenary Company Campaign: Big Bad Evil Folks Concepts & Ideas

Players, get out please…

So I’ve been thinking about this as a sandbox game, and as such I think it’s best that I come up with several big baddies of various challenge ratings so that no matter what direction they choose to go off in I can present them with dilemmas, choices, and challenging situations.

I’m going to list out a few ideas I have, which will then be fleshed out in their own articles detailing the respective villain using the universal NPC template, along with their lieutenants and organization.

Balaur, Beast of War

(See Legendary Dragons by Jetpack7)

Balaur is a great dragon, saved from near death by the duergar clans of the Sunless Horde. Now he is a great weapon for their combined armies, but it is unclear if they command him or he controls them. The clan chiefs include the great duegar chief Armgrim Ragespite (combine blackguard and warlord MPMM stat blocks). Bendek Silentcleaver, Nisglia Battlestriker are the other powerful chieftains.

Matron Maelora of House Gullion

(See Rise of the Drow from AAW Games)

Matron Maelora rules Holoth, the City of Spiders, with fear and intrigue. She expertly controls an already murderous upper class of evil Drow, controlling and directing their energy now towards expansion both in the Underworld and on the surface.

Gar Shatterkeel

(See Princes of the Apocalypse from WOTC)

The various prophets of elemental evil from Princes of the Apocalypse lend themselves to being ripped out and used in other ways really well. The added benefit of using Gar and his faction is that I can use material from the Sharkadia issue of Arcadia. So he once again leads a group or network of cultists worshiping forces of elemental evil. 

Jarl Godag of the Njomand Clan

The jarl of a clan of frost giants dwelling in icy holds upon the Plane of Ice. Jarl Godag's reavers and frost-blessed thralls sail forth through various portals to raid the many worlds. They retreat to their holds for the winters of these planes, feasting upon the spoils that they gathered during the raiding season. Jarl Godag harbours ambitions of seizing footholds on these many worlds to establish permanent outposts and bases of operations, bringing slaughter and destruction to more upon the material plane.

Kossedi the Silent

Dao ruler of Onyxvault, a settlement on the Plane of Earth. Her forces capture mortals from across the material plane to work in the endless dark mines of the infinite elemental plane and transport the gems and riches extracted to markets in the City of Brass and beyond.

She Who Sees Beyond (The White Necromancer) 

This is a sandbox campaign, so I can’t be disappointed if the players completely avoid this plot hook, but if I’m running a Black Company inspired game then I may as well lean in, right? The White Necromancer is an essentially immortal spellcaster, who has raised an army of both mortals and undead, including powerful champions who act as her generals. She seeks to control the lands of the faltering Imperium, acting as an outside contender. Her true nature is unknown. The company might be her enemy, or might find itself in her service.

Tremocephalid

An elder brain, bringing in a colony of mind flayers as a plot device, I think this one is pretty cool. They can easily be brought in as raiders on the Material Plane, or tossed into the Astral Sea or other scenarios.

Ziqed Flamebiter

An Efreeti lord who divides his time between his luxurious apartment in the City of Brass and his own citadel in a coterminus zone in a volcano's caldera between the material plane and the Plane of Fire. Ziqed is slowly gathering allies including fire giants dwelling upon the plane of fire, along with salamanders and other creatures. He plans to make a play for power both in the City of Brass to advance his position and gain greater favor with the Sultan. His scheme to do this is by taking control of the great cities of the Southern Deserts of the material plane, placing his genasi children and bound warlocks upon the thrones as Emirs and Pharaohs.

Mercenary Campaign: Session Zero Plan

1. Reinforce the Campaign Concept

You drive the story. Make good backgrounds that give you interesting motivations. If you hear about a place or thing you are interested in exploring you are welcome to pursue it.

The Company is everything. You are all sworn, like your troops, to put the wellbeing of the Company before all other bonds.

You joined the Company to leave your old life behind. You must pick a nickname which you are known by. Consider the following question as you build your character and backstories together: 

• What is your nickname?
• What is your true name? Who are your closest friends and comrades that you might have shared this knowledge with, and why did you share it? 
• Why did you leave your old life? Are you running from something? Were you out of options? Do you have a family somewhere else that you still send your money to? Have you made a new family or found a spouse in the company? 
• Who is an NPC from your past that is significant to you or has impacted your life?
• Are you related by blood to any of the others in the company? 
• What battles or wars have you fought in with your comrades? 
• Who was the previous officer that died so you could take your position? 
• What are your goals in life and as a leader of the company?
• What are your darkest secrets?
• What are your deepest fears?
• What are you interested in discovering, exploring, or doing in the world?
• What is a short term goal that you want to accomplish? (Pending GM approval, accomplishing this will earn you a free feat)

This campaign is designed to be a long term, player driven story. With downtime activities like recruiting troops, or long term contracts to guard a city or settlement years could pass in game. The details and ideas you come up with will help create opportunities and quests. You can always add additional details in coordination with the GM.

2. Design the Mercenary Company

The company existed long before your characters ever joined it. You will have a hand in creating it.

• What is the name of your mercenary company?
• What is your symbol? (You can draw something of your own or find something online for this)
• Which heroic organization type would you like to use to represent your company? (Kingdoms & Warfare, pg. 31-64. You can reskin an organization if you like certain powers or features better and make it a mercenary company that uses elements of the theme of the organization you picked)
• Where was your mercenary company formed? Did it originate on another world? (Your company is at least two thousand years old)
• Why was it formed? Or is this a secret lost to time or buried in the annals?
• What are the names of some recent commanders and officers that preceded you in leading the company?
• Your company will start as a size one domain with a number of veteran units equal to the number of players in our campaign. These units are comprised of approximately fifty troops (exact numbers don’t really matter for warfare because it is abstracted, but if you were to raid a settlement or enemy stronghold the raiding system we would use uses more exact numbers of troops), with stats provided by the GM.

Your company has spent much time in largely human dominated lands in the last few decades and so it is less diverse, although there are some interesting members from earlier days. If you want to recruit troops of different ancestries you must set up in a suitable settlement with sufficient population and recruit for six months, paying lifestyle expenses for yourselves and upkeep costs for lodging your troops during that period. It will be treated as downtime for you to do other activities, or you can go off adventuring on your own for brief periods, along with a cost to recruit, train, and equip new members (it will be an expensive undertaking). You can recruit units faster by engaging in Intrigue against other domains opposed to your goals. However, not every conflict will use the intrigue system.

Additionally, your company currently has a treasury of eight thousand gold pieces. Fifty percent of the money made via your contracts must go to pay the troops (but otherwise you only pay upkeep if you are stationary, lodged in a settlement). The treasury may be used for gear for your officers, but any major expenses (greater than a thousand gold pieces) are traditionally voted on as a group of the senior officers. 

Finally, you must vote on your leaders (captain and lieutenant) and additional characters must choose from the other available titles:

Captain. You have been elected by the senior officers to command. The fate of the company rests on your shoulders. You are sworn to place it before your own interests and give up your life rather than doom the company. You negotiate and must honor your contracts. You gain the following ability:

On Your Feet. When an ally within 30 feet of you that you can see drops to 0 hit points, you can use a bonus action to command them to stand. They regain 1d8 hit points plus your Charisma modifier and use no movement to stand up. If an enemy is within 5 feet of them they may make an attack as a reaction. You may use this ability a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and must complete a long rest before using it again. Additionally, any units you command have advantage on command tests during combat.

Lieutenant. You second and support the captain in all things. Your duty is to ensure the survival of the company and lead it should the captain be required to make the ultimate sacrifice. You must also honor the terms of every contract.

Into the Breach. As a bonus action you can command an ally within 30 feet to move up to its speed and make an attack as a reaction. You may do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and must complete a long rest before using it again. Additionally any units you command in battle have advantage on their morale tests against upon being diminished. 

Company Annalist. The long tradition of keepIng the records of your company has come down to you. You gain proficiency in the History and Religion skills. If you already have proficiency in one or both then you gain expertise in the respective skill. Your studies of the lore of the company also grant you advantage on History and Religion Checks that regard the company’s history. The annals are held in a massive chest, to which you hold the only key, carried on an iron chain around your neck. The chest is guarded by the most elite veterans of your company. On your belt you carry the current annals, which is a book connected by a larger iron chain to your belt. It never leaves your person until it is full and joins the larger collection, upon which you begin writing in a new book.

The Current Annals. This book contains your and recent annalist’s writings. The book is a mundane item, but contains great significance for the company. You should give your life before losing it or the other annals. While you maintain the book you may inspire your companions with a story from the company’s past, granting you and each of your companions one use of Inspiration each. Additionally, you can inspire one of the units you command in a warfare battle, granting them one extra attack on their first activation. These abilities can only be used again after you take an extended rest (one week conducting no other downtime activity other than recording recent events and studying the annals), and they may not be used more than once a month. Should you ever lose the annals your troops have disadvantage on all attacks during warfare battles until the annals are retrieved. If they are destroyed your company is broken and you lose all your units. You must undertake a great quest to restart the annals and the company in a new form.

Company Banner-bearer. The company banner has the power to motivate your troops and officers to accomplish heroic feats. You gain the feature below:

Rally the Troops. As a bonus action you may inspire your one of your fellow officers of your choice by waving the flag, granting them an extra attack on your turn. You may do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, but must complete a long rest before doing so again. The banner is mounted on a pole which functions as a mundane spear, but it has the light property, allowing you to benefit from dual wielding if you choose to use another weapon in your other hand. The spear lacks the thrown property though, and cannot be used as a ranged weapon. Additionally, when you command troops in a warfare battle each unit you command is inspired by your example and the banner, granting them advantage on their first attack of their first activation of the battle. This benefit may only be used again after you complete an extended rest of one week, and may not be used more than once a month.

3. Considerations for Characters

Characters can be extremely diverse, but the themes mentioned above should be kept in mind so you don’t create a character that is incompatible with the campaign concept.

You should keep in mind that you will need a party balanced for all types of play including: combat, dungeon delving, social and political intrigue, warfare, exploration, and survival. Depending on your goals you could engage with all types of play, and your party should attempt to cover all these bases. The list of party roles from RPGBot may be helpful in making these choices; the author notes that not all of these can be covered by most parties, but that some members can cover multiple roles:

• Blaster - Area of effect abilities
• Controller - Control battlefield movement or crowds of enemies 
• Defender - Protects squishier party members
• Face - Social interactions 
• Healer - Provides healing
• Scholar - Provides knowledge skill proficiencies 
• Scout - Infiltrates and/or finds traps
• Striker - Powerful at single target damage or disabling 
• Support - Provides buffs and debugging capabilities to help other members
• Utility Caster - Provides non-combat aids to travel or knowledge, normally through spellcasting

Your characters are veteran warriors and adventurers. The characters and their retainers are the primary spellcasters in the company (other than a few NPCs from your ranks that the GM may introduce). Your characters will begin at fifth level for this campaign.

Don’t over-stress about these decisions. If you find your character unsatisfactory after a few sessions we can easily kill them off, or have them elect to leave their senior officer position to step back into the rank and file. One of your retainers or a totally new character can be promoted in their place.

3. Introduce the Character Options

Player’s first stop should be my list of default player options, which includes all approved class and subclass options. It also includes the basic ancestries. For this campaign only one player may choose an ancestry from my rare ancestries list.

4. Review Additional Systems that will Impact Character Choices

This campaign will use the rules from Uncharted Journeys for long travel, which assign specific roles to different party members on a journey. Certain character types fit certain roles better, so keep this in mind while creating your characters (GM will provide the book and rules for reference). Additionally, if you were to capture or purchase a ship we will use additional ship rules which similarly assign different roles to characters, and those will be provided for reference too. Finally, you will derive certain mechanical benefits from your company officer roles, which you should have in mind from step two.

5. Build Characters and Create Backstories

Based on your work above and answers to the questions, create your fifth level character and work with other players and the GM to integrate your backstories together. The GM can answer questions about the setting and might work with you to create new locations and details from your characters’ background. Every character will have the bond: You are sworn to the company, and will defend it and complete its contracts above all other concerns—even your own life.

Because we are starting at higher level, characters will have 500 gp plus 1d10 x 25 gp, one uncommon magic item, and normal starting equipment for your class and background. They can spend the gold on additional mundane equipment during character creation.

7. Pick Retainers and Create Backstories 

Your retainers are the junior officers of the company. Each player will pick two retainers who work for them. They will be roleplayed by the GM, but run by players in combat. Players can pick one of their retainers to accompany the party at a time on adventures. You can swap this retainer out whenever it makes sense narratively (normally when you return to wherever your company is bedded down to take a rest in safety. The same rule applies if the party gets into an encounter when with their troops, because the other retainers are occupied leading the rank and file in potentially fighting their own encounters too. Retainers are also intended to be an easily promoted replacement character should yours die, so keep this in mind when picking them.

Develop a background for your retainers, using the same questions that you did for your characters and put these details in the format of the universal NPC template from Justin Alexander.

Format:

Name: Self explanatory.

Appearance: A physical description of the retainer (in addition to this, find a piece of art work if you can for a token)

Roleplaying:

• This is two to three brief bullet points.
• They each describe different personality traits or attitudes.
• Maybe include one distinctive mannerism that they do.

Background: This is narrative and provides a brief description of the character’s past, answering the question posed above.

Key Info:

• These are bullet points of important information or roles the retainer has.
• Perhaps they are in charge of your spies.
• Or are in charge of your scouts.
• Or training your troops.
• Perhaps they are a surgeon or chaplain.
• Or a ritual healer.

The retainers available are found in Strongholds & Followers, Flee Mortals, and The Illrigger and they reflect the core game classes and subclasses from the Player’s Handbook, Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, and the Illrigger subclasses. Additional retainers made to represent other classes or the additional subclasses from the player options list will need to be custom made by the GM, so if you are interested in one in particular then just let the GM know what type of character you are interested in having as a retain let so they can build it.

8. Introduce the Scenario: Contract of Vraugate

Your current contract has brought you through the Desolation of Tsar and the Mountains of the Spine to the Northern Lands, where the stars dance alongside shimmering rainbow lights in the night. Your latest contract is to guard the small city of Vraugate from the predations of a clan of ice giant reavers and their ice goblin minions. The summer has been spent in indolence, but the attack has come on a cold night as the weather has begun to turn. It is the last chance of the season for the ice giants’ longships to raid the city before their passage is barred by the ice of winter. You need only repulse their assaults and you will at last have completed the contract and receive your final payment of fifteen thousand gold pieces, a massive boon to your treasury. What will your next moves be? You will decide if you can survive this battle.

The Contract of Vraugate is a challenging combat scenario with multiple dilemmas designed to demonstrate to you that you can’t solve all the problems in this campaign and that your choices have consequences. It will also allow you to synergize and develop your tactics as a group of powerful characters. Additionally it will provide several tutorial scenarios for the warfare system so that you can gain more familiarity with it.

Homebrew Campaign: Mercenary Company - Player Introduction

Your company has a long and storied history or always completing the contract—even if it’s not in the way expected. You’ve served many masters, across many worlds—if the annals are to be believed. 

All that has taken you to this moment. Your characters are the lead officers of your company. You are currently under contract to defend the city of Vraugate from a clan of ice giant reavers. What contract will you take next? What will come from the rumblings of war with the powerful, self styled She Who Sees Beyond and the falling empire? Will you serve good or evil—is there even a difference anymore? This is for you to decide.

Create the Story You Want

Players will have a heavy role in helping drive this campaign. It will be a complete sandbox, offering possibilities and adventure hooks, but ultimately it will be up to the players to follow them.

Players might get into the conflict referenced above, but could go in any number of other directions like capturing a ship and becoming pirates with their troops, or investigating the mysterious ancient origins of their company by traveling across the planes to places like the Hells and the Abyss, or even to the Heavens, or the Inner planes of elemental fire, water, air, and earth. The universe is yours to explore in an epic of your own creation.

Some Assembly Required

Players will help create their own mercenary company, creating a group name and a symbol for their banner alongside their own characters.

This campaign will use the organization rules from MCDM’s Kingdoms & Warfare supplement for 5e to simulate commanding a mercenary regiment. Kingdoms & Warfare uses a system called Intrigue to model conflict between the player organization and an opposing faction, ultimately culminating in Warfare battles. While not in intrigue you can use your organization to perform certain tasks (within reason!) However, you can only recruit new military units or improve your existing ones during intrigue. The defense of Vraugate mentioned above will serve as a tutorial on the warfare system. We will learn intrigue through play. It may seem complicated at first, but you will eventually master it, just like you have your characters.

Players may pick from the various organization types and subtypes available in the supplement, but we will reskin the organization as a mercenary company with different flavor depending upon the mechanics you choose. Every character must have a title from those available from their organization, but one must also take this custom title in place of one of the organization titles:

Company Annalist. The long tradition of keepIng the records of your company has come down to you. You gain proficiency in the History and Religion skills. If you already have proficiency in one or both then you gain expertise in the respective skill. Your studies of the lore of the company also grant you advantage on History and Religion Checks that regard the company’s history. The annals are held in a massive chest, to which you hold the only key, carried on an iron chain around your neck. The chest is guarded by the most elite veterans of your company. On your belt you carry the current annals, which is a book connected by a larger iron chain to your belt. It never leaves your person until it is full and joins the larger collection, upon which you begin writing in a new book.

The Current Annals. This book contains your and recent annalist’s writings. The book is a mundane item, but contains great significance for the company. You should give your life before losing it or the other annals. While you maintain the book you may inspire your companions with a story from the company’s past, granting you and each of your companions one use of Inspiration each. Additionally, you can inspire one of the units you command in a warfare battle, granting them one extra attack on their first activation. These abilities can only be used again after you take an extended rest (one week conducting no other downtime activity other than recording recent events and studying the annals), and they may not be used more than once a month. Should you ever lose the annals your troops have disadvantage on all attacks during warfare battles until the annals are retrieved. If they are destroyed your company is broken and you lose all your units. You must undertake a great quest to restart the annals and the company in a new form.

Junior Officers

We will also use retainers from MCDM’s Strongholds & Followers. The GM will provide a list of all the retainer types. Each character will get to choose two retainers, giving them names and a brief background. Your two retainers are the junior officers of the mercenary company under your command. You may pick one to accompany the party on quests or in combat (this is to make managing them reasonable and not unbalance the game). You may roleplay interactions with your retainers and send them to complete other tasks for you. For instance, you might order a retainer to take some of your troops and guard a place or position. Or you might dispatch one to obtain supplies for your company or to do research at a library or temple. Another might be a healer that can render aid to you as senior officers after a mission. Another might be your spymaster, providing you reports. 

Retainers also serve as backup characters. Each corresponds to a specific character class from the Player’s Handbook, so your retainer can become a replacement character should you so choose. If you want a custom retainer of another character type then coordinate with the GM to design an appropriate retainer together that can represent that character archetype in a balance manner.

Your Characters 

The most important element of this campaign are your characters—their motivations, secrets, and connections are what will drive the story of this campaign. 

We will build characters to start play at fifth level. All character options from the default list are approved. Regardless of what character you create consider the following guidance and themes that should guide you as you craft them and help tie them into the campaign:

• Everyone who joins your company leaves their old name behind and takes on a nickname. Create a name and a nickname for your character. Then consider if any of your companions are so close that you have shared your real name with them. 
• You have been in many battles together. You are veterans who have come up in the company together. Come up with some war stories that connect your characters—perhaps someone saved your life or soul! Or maybe you saved them and they decided to join the company.
• Consider why you left your old life to join the company. Were you running away from your old life? Were you leaving painful loss behind? Or did you just want adventure?
• Make up an NPC connected with your past before the company and write down one line describing them and your connection.
• Create a personal goal or quest for your character and share it with the GM (you can decide whether to keep it a secret from other players or left them know). It should be general enough that the GM can work with you to modify it if necessary and fit it into the story. Completing this goal or quest will earn you both a free feat (subject to GM approval) and the equivalent of a deadly encounter’s worth of XP for your party.

Mechanics & Miscellany

Here are a last few things to keep in mind:

• We will use XP-based leveling. 
• Because we are starting at higher level, characters will have 500 gp plus 1d10 x 25 gp, one uncommon magic item, and normal starting equipment for your class and background. They can spend the gold on additional mundane equipment during character creation.
• We will use my modified exhaustion rules.
• We will use enhanced healing rules: All healing spells and potions double the type of die used. Additionally, if you use a potion during combat you may expend a full action to get max healing, while using a bonus action requires a die roll, using the doubled dice mentioned above.
• We will use the rules from Uncharted Journeys by Cubicle7 for long distance travel. The GM may modify encounters due to the presence of your army. Monster encounters may occur while you are riding or exploring ahead of your main force (it’s not very cool if you come across a monster and instead of getting to defeat it and gain experience your troops charge in and stab it to death—while having a few of them get killed or crushed!) Additionally, traveling through some areas will be easier with an army, while traveling in certain environments might be impossible with a large force.
• Your army may be used for some tasks like clearing out dungeons—but keep in mind that even if such checks are successful there may be negative consequences. You could loose a unit even if your troops successfully clear a dungeon, or have your organization stats permanently decreased due to the strain of the operation.
• We will use a modified version of the “Last Stand” rule from page 125 of Cubicle7’s Broken Weave supplement. This rule in essence allows a character who is critically injured and doing death saves to elect to die after taking a final turn with certain buffs to their actions. This allows them to sacrifice themselves in combat for their comrades while expending their most powerful abilities.

Northlands Campaign Concept: Tailored Player Options

For the Northlands campaign idea that I had for the Midgard setting I wanted to flesh it out further by creating a list of options for player characters. To reinforce the themes of the campaign this involves some restrictions on the content available to them. The books allowed will be the Player's Handbook, Midgard Heroes Handbook, Tome of Heroes, and Grimhollow: Raider's Guide to Valika (maybe one or two thematically appropriate subclasses from others). To emphasize some of the wildness and primordial nature of the setting some flavoring and material will also be used from the Star-Shaman's Song of Planegea. 

Content Warning

Another note on content: Kobold Press' Midgard setting deals with mature topics including some that relate to the real world including political intrigue, religious conflict, violence, war, refugees, racism, and slavery. Many of these also come up when looking at vikings in our real world history, and may come up when flavoring or using the character options below. You should have a discussion with your players about their comfort with these themes and make adjustments where necessary to ensure that everyone has a positive experience at the game table.

Ancestries

Some player ancestries are better suited to a Northlands campaign in Midgard due to the setting's established demographic distribution. 

The following ancestries have roots in the Northlands and could make up one clan village that includes multiple ancestries. Other clans might be less heterogeneous in composition and more antagonistic towards the players because of their village's make-up due to their past history with certain groups. For example, many groups are antagonistic towards trollkin due to their shared kinship with trolls and other lesser giants that have attacked their communities in the past. 

• Alseid (Tome of Heroes)
• Bearfolk (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Northland Dwarf (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Spindrift Dwarf (Tome of Heroes)
• Frostfell Elf (Tome of Heroes)
• Firbolg (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Goliath (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Winterfolk Halfling (Tome of Heroes)
• Half-Orc (Player's Handbook)
• Human (Player's Handbook)
• Human (Variant) (Player's Handbook)
• Orc (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Ravenfolk (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Shifter--no weretigers, but all others approved (Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse)
• Trollkin (Midgard Heroes Handbook)

Additionally, if you so choose you may swap out up to two of the traits derived from your ancestry for traits from the list of clan traits in Raider's Guide to Valika to reflect your experiences in the Northlands. These changes are subject to GM approval.

Classes

Approved classes include (see approved subclass section for further restrictions):

• Barbarian 
• Bard
• Beastheart (MCDM)
• Cleric
• Druid
• Fighter
• Monk
• Occultist (KibblesTasty)
• Paladin
• Ranger
• Rogue
• Sorcerer
• Warlock
• Warlord (KibblesTasty)
• Wizard

Subclasses

Barbarian Subclasses

Barbarians are quintessential vikings in many respects, and these characters are great additions to a reaver clan like the one the players will be members of. Berserker ragers fighting at the battlefront or manning the shield wall will prove powerful members of any Northlands party.

• Ancestors (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Berserker (Player's Handbook)
• Carrion Raven (Raider's Guide to Valika)
• Dragon (Tome of Heroes)
• Farstriker (Planegea)
• Giant (Bigby’s Glory of the Giants)
• Herald (Tome of Heroes)
• Inner Eye (Tome of Heroes)
• Mistwood (Tome of Heroes)
• Thorns (Tome of Heroes)
• Totem Warrior (Player's Handbook)

Bard Subclasses

Bards are better known as skalds or chanters in the Northlands. They are the keepers of lore, passing on oral traditions through the epics in both song and poem of the great heroes of ancient days, and the tales of the gods and the future in prophesy. Any party benefits greatly with a skald in the Northlands, able to charm and gain welcome in strange feast halls they might otherwise be rejected from.

• Entropy (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Lore (Player's Handbook)
• Shadows (Tome of Heroes)
• Tactics (Tome of Heroes)
• Valor (Player's Handbook)

Beastheart Subclasses

Beasthearts are warriors closely tied to their animal companions. They are rare amongst the Northerners for having tamed a powerful beast, but exceptionally tied to Midgard and the forces of nature. 

• Ferocious Bond
• Hunter Bond
• Primordial Bond
• Protector Bond

Approved beast companions (talk to your GM about creating one if you have another beast that you are interested in):

• Basilisk
• Bear
• Blood Hawk
• Bulette
• Chimera
• Earth Elemental
• Giant Spider
• Giant Toad
• Griffon
• Manticore
• Mohler
• Owlbear
• Otyugh
• Shambling Mound
• Skitterling
• Stirge
• Wildcat
• Worg

Cleric Subclasses

Clerics in the North are known as druids or shaman, deriving their powers from the gods and seeking to navigate the relationship between mortal and the fickle deities. The shaman, with the exception of the pantheists, focus their worship on a particular god, but they make sure to show deference to all, even the dark gods when required. One does not lightly challenge a god in Midgard, for they all have great power, and as masked deities one could actually also be another.

• Apocalypse (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Beer (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Darkness (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Death (Dungeon Master's Guide)
• Forge (Xanathar’s Guide to Everything)
• Hunt (Tome of Heroes)
• Knowledge (Player's Handbook)
• Life (Player's Handbook)
• Light (Player's Handbook)
• Mercy (Tome of Heroes)
• Moon (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Nature (Player's Handbook)
• Ocean (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Pantheist (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Portal (Tome of Heroes)
• Serpent (Tome of Heroes)
• Shadow (Tome of Heroes)
• Tempest (Player's Handbook)
• Trickery (Player's Handbook)
• Void (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• War (Player's Handbook)
• Willing Vessel (Raider's Guide to Valika) - Applies for any deity
• Wind (Tome of Heroes)
• Winter (Raider's Guide to Valika)

Deities of the North and their Domains:

• Baldur: Life, Light, Mercy
• Freyr: Life, Mercy, Nature
• Freyja: Tempest, War
• Loki: Apocalypse, Knowledge, Travel, Trickery, Portal, Serpent, Winter
• Sif: Beer, Hunting, Speed, War
• Thor: Mercy, Mountain, Ocean, Tempest, War, Wind, Winter
• Tyr (Horus): Justice, Light, Tempest 
• Volund: Knowledge, Mountain, Travel, Forge
• Wotan: Justice, Knowledge, Moon, Mountain, Prophesy, War

Dark and lesser known deities:

• Boreas: Mountain, Tempest, Travel, Wind, Winter
• Chernobog: Darkness, Death, Shadow
• Goat of the Woods: Apocalypse, Prophesy, Void
• Jormungandr (the World Serpent): Apocalypse, Dragon, Hunger, Nature, Ocean, Prophesy, Knowledge, Serpent, Tempest
• Forseti (The Hunter): Death, Hunting, Moon
• Hel (Vardesain): Darkness, Death, Hunger, Life, Void
• Mara (Marena): Darkness, Death, Shadow
• Njord (Seggotan): Tempest, Ocean
• The White Goddess: Apocalypse, Darkness, Death, Hunger, Shadow 

Druid Subclasses

Druids are religious leaders in the Northlands, communing with nature and the power of the gods manifest through it. They are often found amongst the fjords, mountains, and darkened forests of the Northlands, or building their mysterious circles of standing stones to gain power from Midgard.

• Ash (Tome of Heroes)
• Green (Tome of Heroes)
• Land (Player's Handbook)
• Moon (Player's Handbook)
• Stones (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Stoneraisers (Raider's Guide to Valika)
• Wind (Tome of Heroes)

Fighter Subclasses

Fighters are hardened warriors, more controlled than barbarians. They specialize in taking the fight to the enemy and surviving in the harsh environments of the Northlands. They make strong and disciplined raiders, well suited to combat from their longships and in the wildlands.

• Battlemaster (Player's Handbook)
• Blade Breaker (Raider's Guide to Valika)
• Champion (Player's Handbook)
• Eldritch Knight (Player's Handbook)
• Legionary (Tome of Heroes)
• Mammoth Hunter (Raider's Guide to Valika)
• Pugilist (Tome of Heroes)
• Rune Knight (Tasha's Cauldron of Everything)
• Shieldbearer (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Timeblade (Tome of Heroes)
• Tunnel Watcher (Tome of Heroes)

Monk Subclasses 

Monks are known as ascetics in the Northlands. They are deeply focused, trying themselves and testing their resolve. They are deeply spiritual beings, respecting the land and gods, but not necessarily religious, rather guided by their own personal beliefs on the world. They are also fierce fighters.

• Abnegation (Planegea)
• Wildcat (Tome of Heroes)

Occultist Subclasses

Spellcasters linked to occult powers of nature, occultists are often druids, or derive their power from the natural or arcane magic of the world around them. In Midgard arcane magic flows through the earth and over it in the form of ley lines, leading many into their own self-taught studies of the arcane. Other occultists might be influenced by the hags of the Northlands or Giants, or any number of magical influences.

• Witch
• Hedge Mage
• Oracle
• Shaman

Paladin Subclasses

In the reaver clans a paladin is flavored a bit differently than normal. They are called Guardians, and while they remain great warriors tied by oaths to their deities, they are less of the shining knight in armor than highly powerful raiders, focused on cleaving down foes while supporting their allies with the divine gifts they have received from the deity or the force of nature that is the focus of their devotion.

• Ancients (Player's Handbook)
• Devotion (Player's Handbook)
• Elements (Tome of Heroes)
• Giving Grave (See Antipaladin in Midgard Worldbook)
• Guardian (Tome of Heroes)
• Hearth (Tome of Heroes)
• Justice (Tome of Heroes)
• Safeguarding (Tome of Heroes)
• Thunder (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Undying Flame (Raider's Guide to Valika)
• Vengeance (Player's Handbook)

Ranger Subclasses

In the harsh environs of the Northlands, rangers are the great navigators, sailing and traveling by the moon and stars, the hunters of might beasts and monsters, and the guides for those traveling the lands where the skies dance with arcane fire.

• Beastmaster (Player's Handbook)
• Beast Trainer (Tome of Heroes)
• Haunted Warden (Tome of Heroes)
• Hunter (Player's Handbook)
• North Wind (Raider's Guide to Valika)

Rogue Subclasses

Cunning is a great asset for warriors of the North, enshrined in their faith by the wily trickster god Loki. Rogues are often his devotees and excel at striking when least expected. They are masters of sneaking and skirmishing. Rogues are often those who are not strong enough to man the shieldwall, but who still make a dramatic impact upon the fight with their daggers or barbed arrows.

• Arcane Trickster (Player's Handbook)
• Assassin (Player's Handbook)
• Cat Burglar (Tome of Heroes)
• Duelist (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Fixer (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Sapper (Tome of Heroes)
• Smuggler (Tome of Heroes)
• Soulspy (Tome of Heroes)
• Thief (Player's Handbook)
• Whisper (Midgard Heroes Handbook)

Sorcerer Subclasses

Magic flows through the Northlands, derived from many sources. Sometimes it awakens powers within mortals, who are born with mysterious gifts. Magical powers given them from their heritage or exposure to the magic of Midgard during their life.

• Draconic Bloodline (Player's Handbook)
• Dream (Planegea)
• Hungering (Tome of Heroes)
• Living Blade (Raider's Guide to Valika)
• Resonant Body (Tome of Heroes)
• Rifthopper (Tome of Heroes)
• Shadow (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Wild Magic (Player's Handbook)

Warlock Subclasses

Warlocks of the North come by their powers through a pact with a powerful being, often accepted and bound through a ritual presided over by the druids, calling upon the greater powers. The exact identity of your patron will be determined by the GM and revealed to you at a time they determine appropriate, probably dictated by the story (unless it their identity is already included in the subclass).

• Ancient Dragons (Tome of Heroes)
• Archfey (Player's Handbook)
• Dark Forest (Planegea)
• Gormadraug -changed to Jormungandr (Raider's Guide to Valika)
• Light Eater (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Old Wood (Tome of Heroes)
• Primordial (Tome of Heroes)
• Wyrdweaver (Tome of Heroes)

Warlord Subclasses

The great leaders of the Northlands are warlords; future jarls or kings, leading their huscarls and companions on raids that take rich treasures and conquering new lands.

• Commander
• Chieftain
• Noble
• Packleader
• Paragon
• Tactician

Wizard Subclasses

Wizards in the Northlands come in the normal varieties, but those of the remote clans like yours do not keep spellbooks. Instead they wear their spells as tattoos, detailing complex diagrams across their body to remind them of the steps and ways to cast spells. They also are known to record their spells in runes on tablets and standing stones. Instead of inks and a spell book, you have tattoo inks and tools to record your spells on your body.

• Abjuration (Player's Handbook)
• Burning Mind (Raider's Guide to Valika)
• Cantrip Adept (Tome of Heroes)
• Conjuration (Player's Handbook)
• Courser Mage (Tome of Heroes)
• Divination (Player's Handbook)
• Doom Croaker (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Elementalist (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Enchantment (Player's Handbook)
• Entropy (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Evocation (Player's Handbook)
• Familiar Master (Tome of Heroes)
• Geomancy (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Gravebinding (Tome of Heroes)
• Illusion (Player's Handbook)
• Liminality (Tome of Heroes)
• Necromancy (Player's Handbook)
• Ring Warden (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Spellsmith (Tome of Heroes)
• Transmutation (Player's Handbook)

Backgrounds 

The following backgrounds are approved for this campaign due to their theming and the campaign concept grounding the characters in a village which they are familiar with, having either been born there or lived there for several years. The guidelines for customized backgrounds from Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything may be used to swap skill proficiencies to fit your desired character concept. Work with the GM to alter the flavor details of your background to fit the Northlands of Midgard if necessary (Sidenote: the backgrounds in Planegea make really good fits for this type of campaign set in a more remote and non-cosmopolitan community).

• Acolyte (Player's Handbook)
• Apprentice (Planegea)
• Captive (Planegea)
• Caretaker (Planegea)
• Charlatan (Player's Handbook)
• Chieftain’s Kin (Planegea)
• Crafter (Planegea)
• Criminal (Player's Handbook)
• Dancing Bear Guide (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Entertainer (Player's Handbook)
• Fisher (Ghosts of Saltmarsh)
• Folk Hero (Player's Handbook)
• Forest Dweller (Tome of Heroes)
• Former Adventurer (Tome of Heroes)
• Gamekeeper (Tome of Heroes)
• Gatherer (Planegea)
• Hermit (Player's Handbook)
• Hunter (Planegea)
• Inn Keeper (Tome of Heroes)
• Keeper of Beasts (Planegea)
• Marine (Ghosts of Saltmarsh)
• Monstrous Adoptee (Tome of Heroes)
• Mysterious Origins (Tome of Heroes)
• Noble (Player's Handbook)
• Northlands Reaver (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Northern Minstrel (Tome of Heroes)
• Occultist (Tome of Heroes)
• Outcast (Planegea)
• Outlander (Player's Handbook)
• Prophet (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Raider (Planegea)
• Sage (Player's Handbook)
• Sailor (Player's Handbook)
• Savant (Planegea)
• Seer (Midgard Heroes Handbook)
• Soldier (Player's Handbook)
• Scoundrel (Tome of Heroes)
• Sentry (Tome of Heroes)
• Shipwright (Ghosts of Saltmarsh)
• Storyteller (Planegea)
• Trader (Planegea)
• Trophy Hunter (Tome of Heroes)
• Urchin (Player's Handbook)

Languages

In this campaign all the characters speak the Northern Tongue (see Midgard Worldbook), replacing common when referenced during character creation. They can choose common as one of their additional languages if they desire. Additionally, unless they have a background, subclass, or other feature that the GM approves as allowing it, all characters cannot read nor write. However, all druids, shaman, skalds, and wizards can read and write runes in a basic form. Characters must use a language proficiency selection to learn to read and write in a language they already speak. They may learn new languages through downtime but must first learn to speak the language, then learn to read and write that language by repeating the downtime learning process.

Ring & Rune Magic

Both ring and rune magic are forms of magic practiced by the magic wielders of the Northlands in Midgard, particularly the reavers. They are appropriate for spellcasters in this campaign, and to promote their use, they will be provided to spellcasting classes as option for first level feats (see below).

First Level Feats

Characters in this campaign have been changed by their experiences surviving in the far North. Characters without the ability to cast spells can choose from the following two feats:

• Skilled
• Tough

Spellcasters can choose from the above as well as the following feats:

• Circle Spellcaster
• Ring-Bound
• Rune Knowledge