The Setting
Dawn breaks, the orange sun slowly filtering through the hazy sky.
Shadows sullenly retreat behind stone walls and towers,
revealing the detritus of a growing farming town.
In the distance, a tower bell gently tolls the hour
as guards are changed at the gates.
Several gothic-style stone buildings loom over the smaller buildings
of the town, their worn ramparts and towers
standing lonely watch over
Welcome to Ashton, the center of Enlightenment, and the starting town for your characters.
Magic
An Ashen Dawn is a relatively low magic
"homebrew" campaign setting,
with rare magical items from the Ancients
(no one who knows how to make new ones),
no Rituals (as far as anyone knows, at least),
and the existence of any gods is as uncertain as in
There is magic of sorts,
however it is more of an internal power, rather than external.
For example, healers can heal themselves, but in order to heal others,
they need to acquire the skills to take the patient's damage into themselves,
and then heal it,
or perhaps some form of "sharing the pain".
Powers such as Eyebite or Burning Hands
could still work with the right race and bloodline,
while powers such as Flame Strike
or Mordenkainen's Mansion
Races
Humans are the dominant race by far,
although the populations of the Godstouched races are growing rapidly.
Some Godstouched have magic-like abilities, including healing.
Races, Bloodlines, and expanded feat selections
will replace
"classes" in the traditional sense,
and advancement will be continuous
(purchase the features as you have XP,
rather than distinct "levels").
Most feats, and many non-magical powers, will still be available,
as long as they
Humans and some Weirdlings (altered humans) can use Ancient items,
but few Awakened (altered animals) or Spriggans (altered plants) can.
However, many members of the Godstouched races
(weirdlings, awakened, and spriggans) can wield magical powers,
while humans can wield little or no
World / Story
After an introductory battle sequence, the characters will likely initially spend their time on artifact and information delves for the town. The world is not entirely PC-dependent, and various story arcs will be occurring, regardless of PC involvement (involvement will affect how things play out, for better or for worse). However, the PCs are still intended to be the pivotal heroes of the campaign.
NOTE: These pages should all print out nicely. If they don't (e.g. text is invisible, or stuff is blacked out), please let me know. It probably means I forgot to tag something.
New recruit? Shiny!
We're using 4th Edition D&D combat and skill mechanics,
with some custom modifications to character creation.
Don't worry, I'll go over stuff with you
before you have to
We are currently reaching the end of our group's current campaign, and expect to begin "An Ashen Dawn" in early September. I would ideally like to get at least 1-2 more core gamers.
We game Sundays from 10am until 7pm in the Alderwood Manor area (Lynnwood).