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1

Credits

Original Creation and Development

GREG BENAGE

Writing and Design

GREG BENAGE, MARK CHANCE, DAVID LYONS, DARRELL HARDY, ARI MARMELL, WIL UPCHURCH, ROSS WATSON, AND SAM WITT

Cover Illustration

MITCH COTIE

Color Illustrations

CHRIS DIEN

Black and White Illustrations

MITCH COTIE, WILLIAM EAKEN, COS KONIOTIS, JIM NELSON, SCOTT SCHOMBURG, MATTIAS SNYGG, TYLER WALPOLE

Color Cartography

WILLIAM MCAUSLAND

Adventure Cartography

ED BOURELLE

Graphic Design

BRIAN SCHOMBURG

Editing, Layout, and Art Direction

GREG BENAGE

Publisher

CHRISTIAN T. PETERSEN

‘d20 System’ and the d20 System logo are Trademarks owned

by Wizards of the Coast and are used with permission.

Dungeons & Dragons® and Wizards of the Coast® are

Registered Trademarks of Wizards of the Coast and are used

with permission.

Yuan-ti is copyright Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is used with

permission.

Dawnforge is © 2003 and TM Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc.

All right reserved.

FANTASY FLIGHT GAMES

1975 County Rd. B2 #1

Roseville, MN 55113

www.fantasyflightgames.com

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INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

CHAPTER ONE: RACES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Doppelganger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Dwarf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Elf, Dawn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Elf, Night . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Gnome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Halfling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Human, Highlander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

Human, Lowlander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Human, Saltblood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Human, Trueborn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Lizardfolk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Minotaur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Ogre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Orc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Tiefling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Yuan-ti, Thinblood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Racial Mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

CHAPTER TWO: CLASSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Disciple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Shaman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Shaper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

Spirit Adept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

Legendary Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

Legendary Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

CHAPTER THREE: NEW RULES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87

Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87

Racial Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88

Arcane Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93

Eldritch Wells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

Immortals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97

CHAPTER FOUR: HISTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106

CHAPTER FIVE: ANDERLAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116

People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

Settlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119

Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Trade and Craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Ways and Traditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

Personalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

Sites and Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126

CHAPTER SIX: THE KINGSMARCH AND THE HIGHLANDS . .128

The Kingsmarch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128

The Durning Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE MOUNTAIN KINGDOMS . . . . . . . . .149

Aradath . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149

Skyhome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157

The Icehammer Front . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164

CHAPTER EIGHT: SILDANYR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175

History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176

People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177

Settlements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179

Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180

Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180

Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181

Trade and Craft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182

Ways and Traditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183

Personalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185

Sites and Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186

CHAPTER NINE: VALHEDAR AND ZANGALA . . . . . . . . . . . .187

The Valhedar Dominion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .187

Zangala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .201

CHAPTER TEN: LANDS OF THE SUNSET REACH . . . . . . . . .208

The Dreaming Isles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208

Tamerland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215

CHAPTER ELEVEN: MONSTERS OF DAWNFORGE . . . . . . . .229

Traditional Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229

Unique Creatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230

New Creatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235

CHAPTER TWELVE: SAGA OF THE GIANT KINGS . . . . . . . .239

Contents

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Fantasy Flight Games is pleased to presentDAWNFORGE, a unique and exciting fantasy campaignsetting designed for use with the d20 System. This bookprovides all the rules you need to play in theDAWNFORGE setting, including new character races,classes, feats, magic rules, equipment, and much more.The DAWNFORGE campaign setting book also presents awealth of setting information and background materialto help DMs bring the world of DAWNFORGE to life fortheir players.

How To Use ThisBook

The DAWNFORGE campaign setting is a tool forboth players and DMs. It is designed as a supplement tothe d20 System core rules. This book builds andexpands upon those rules, and the more familiar andcomfortable you are with them, the more useful thisbook will be. This book should be used as a companionto the core rules and not a standalone game.

What’s New?DAWNFORGE is more than just a campaign

setting—it is also a toolbox that provides a broad rangeof new rules and mechanics designed for epic, high-powered fantasy adventure. The world of DAWNFORGE isa young one that is just entering its golden age, a worldwhere the great races and civilizations are reaching thepinnacle of their glory. It is a world where magic isstrong and immortal godlings walk the earth.

The rules of DAWNFORGE are designed to allowyou to create and play epic heroes in this world of magicand legend. Racial traits and transformations allow youto play a hulking minotaur warrior or an ageless elf lord.

New classes and rules for magic allow you to create andplay mythic characters with a unique and personal con-nection to the primal magic of the world. With leg-endary classes and legendary paths, your hero can winfame and renown that bards will sing of in ages to come.

The Open GameLicense

DAWNFORGE is published under the terms of theOpen Game License and the d20 System TrademarkLicense. The OGL allows us to use the d20 System corerules and to publish game products derived from andcompatible with those rules.

In fact, all rules-related material is designated asOpen Game Content. You can use this material in yourown works, as long as you follow the conditions of theOpen Game License. The introduction to each chapteror section identifies the rules material that is designatedas Open Game Content.

Not everything in this book is Open GameContent, however. In general, game rules, statistics, andmechanics are Open Game Content, but all background,story, and setting information is closed content and can-not be republished, copied, or distributed without theconsent of Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc.

The following are designated as Product Identitypursuant to section 1(e) of the Open Game License: theDAWNFORGE name, logo, and trademark, the graphicdesign and trade dress of this book, all graphics, illus-trations, maps, and diagrams in this book, and the fol-lowing names and terms: Eadar, Ambria, Zangala,Tamerland, the Storm King, Anlar Icefang, Thorngul,and the Wyrm of Winter.

The text of the introductory chapter is desginatedas closed content.

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Introduction

Introduction

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Welcome toDawnforge

DAWNFORGE beckons you to a mythic age of epicheroes, great empires, high magic, legendary beasts, andtitanic conflicts. In the world of DAWNFORGE, the vast,ancestral homeland of the elves has never known thebite of axe and flame. The great mountain kingdoms ofdwarves and giantkind watch each other warily underthe tattered banner of an uneasy truce. Newborn empiresreach the height of their glory, and wars and intriguesare spawned where their destinies collide. Intrepidadventurers explore a primeval and untamed land, butboth terrible danger and untold wealth await them in thewild places.

These are the first days of the world, and the landis still swollen with the arcane forces of creation.Legendary creatures of terrible might and foul purposestalk the fringes of civilization and lurk in the dark cor-ners of the earth. Archmages reach beyond the veil ofthe world to create spells and artifacts of awesomepower. The princes, warlords, and kings of countlessraces and nations struggle and scheme to control theeldritch wells that tap the magic flowing through theland. In DAWNFORGE, glory is not lost and the magic andwonder of a mythic world are priceless treasures to benurtured and protected.

The DAWNFORGE campaign setting invites role-players to explore a mythic world and an age of legendthrough the heroes they create and play. It is a world ofrising civilizations surrounded by vast wildlands thathave yet to be tamed. It is a world both familiar andexotic, a setting in which the players can identify withtheir characters and still explore new horizons and expe-rience the thrill of discovery. On an urgent mission toAvennar, the heroes are plunged into the chivalry andintrigue of the noble courts of the Kingsmarch. In theirsearch for a fabled elven oracle under the darkenedeaves of enchanted Sildanyr, they encounter fey magicand are caught in a bitter war. They must brave plane-touched sorcerers and a fiendish legacy to save animprisoned celestial from the summoning pits ofValhedar. In service to a merchant-prince of Ebernath,the heroes sail the Sunset Reach and hunt for dragoneggs in the rugged mountains of Tamerland.DAWNFORGE offers roleplayers a fantastic world ofbreathtaking beauty and epic challenge.

It is a time of endless possibilities, and heroes canchart their own courses and determine their own des-tinies. It is an age of wonder, and true heroes canbecome legends. A dwarven warrior forges a new clanand gives his name to a legacy that will endure for cen-turies. A trueborn lord wins a throne and changes thecourse of history. An elven wizard weaves the threads ofmagic into an intricate tapestry and transforms hisancient craft into an art. A halfling disciple builds achurch and gifts a new religion to her people.

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Introduction

Legends ofthe First

AgeI am a singer of forgotten songs. I am an

explorer of worlds lost to time, a chronicler ofpeople and places fallen to the march of years.I am a historian, and I will tell you now of atime when the world was young, a time whenthe great empires had not yet fallen and magicstill coursed through the earth like a ragingriver.

The world we know is built upon thebones of a legendary past. As we wander inour mind’s eye through the ruins of once-greatkingdoms, we dream of what they must havebeen like at the height of their majesty. We areoffered glimpses of forgotten lore and power,and we wonder what might have been possiblebefore the magic receded from the land. Weexplore ancient sylvan groves, and we imaginetheir stunning beauty when the trees wereyoung and the primeval forests spanned wholecontinents. We venture into subterranean citieslost to darkness, and we listen for the soundsthat echoed in the galleries and vaults beforethe night closed in.

Journey with me now to a lost goldenage and a world that is still young, a worldoverflowing with magic and wonder. This is aworld where the first great empires arewrought from conquest, trade, and sorcery. It isa world where the elder races build gloriouscivilizations and forge the legacies that we,their children, would inherit in ages to come. Itis a world where legends are born and the fateof a world rests on the shoulders of epicheroes. It is a world full of unbounded promisethat we have always known but never visited,a world we have often glimpsed but couldnever reach.

Explore with me this lost, mythic ageand discover in it the ancient roots of our ownworld. Wander with me down the darkeninghalls of time and find at their beginning theplace where legends were born. Read with methe pages of our tattered history and mournwith me the fleeting glimpse of our faded gloryand lost promise.

— Fiadan the Sage, in the Year 2664 of the Deluene Calendar

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Introduction

Heroes in the DAWNFORGE campaign setting donot just retrace the path of legends—they have a chanceto create new ones. They do not just unearth the glory ofthe past—they can help to define their world and shapeits future. In this mythic age, even fledgling heroes areguided by the heavy hand of fate. They may begin asnovice sellswords, landless knights, apprentices oracolytes, but an epic destiny awaits those special fewwith the courage and fortune to seize it.

The Worldof Eadar

The DAWNFORGE settingfocuses on three major land-masses clustered in onehemisphere of a mythicworld. The heart of civi-lization, Ambria, stretch-es from the frozenwastes of the north tothe subtropics of theSummer Sea. At itswidest point, from thewestern coast of theKingsmarch to theeastern forests beyondthe MorningstarMountains, the conti-nent spans some twothousand miles.

The northernreaches of the conti-nent are dominated bythe ice-sheathedFrostfells in the west andthe frigid Winter Sea thatbounds the central andeastern regions of the farnorth. The ruggedIcehammer Front shields thecentral plains of Anderland andthe western fringes of Sildanyrfrom the worst of the arctic windsthat howl across the Winter Sea. Theyare also home to the goblinoids, wildgiantkind, and other fell beasts that threaten thefrontiers of these settled regions with never-ending raidsand isolated attacks.

The great Stormfells run south from the shadow ofthe Pale Forest across the western heart of the continent,giving way to foothills and then flatlands as theyapproach the Emerlyn peninsula. The DurningHighlands, a land of rugged hills and pristine lakes, arebordered by the slopes of the Stormfells to the east andthe great sea cliffs of the Sunset Reach to the west.

To the south, the highlands surrender to the broad

coastal plain known as the Kingsmarch. This fertile low-land is bisected and irrigated by two great rivers that runwest from the Stormfells to the sea. These rivers—theHorn and the Hound—are the foundation of the often-chaotic politics and economics of the Kingsmarch. Theyare the lifeblood of the agriculture that supports theregion’s feudal land holdings, but they are also animposing obstacle to any king who would unite theregion under a single banner. The countless river forts

and stone bridges that dot the banks of the Hornand the Hound have been razed and rebuilt

more times than anyone can remember.These great waterways have broken

so many armies and shattered somany dreams of empire that

they have inspired a popularsaying among the common

folk: “The Horn and theHound are the only truekings in the Kingsmarch.”

A broad peninsulacalled Emerlyn thrustsinto the Summer Sea tothe south and east ofthe Kingsmarch.Emerlyn is dominatedby coastal wetlands,moors, and marshes,and its sultry, subtrop-ical climate is stiflingduring the height ofthe summer. The mildwinters are warmed bypleasant breezes fromthe Summer Sea, but

heavy rainfall and fiercebut short-lived storms are

an almost daily occur-rence. Emerlyn’s eastern

boundary is marked by theParthian Sea, an arm of the

Summer Sea that is flanked bythe headlands of Emerlyn and

southern Sildanyr. A wide, marshyisland in the northern coastal margins

of this sea is home to Ebernath, anancient city-state known for its twisting

canals and lush, exotic gardens.The fertile grasslands, rolling hills, and deciduous

woods of Anderland stretch north from the shores of theParthian Sea to the headwater of the mighty ImilbarRiver. This temperate region is fed by the great river andits many tributaries and is home to the Seven Cities,small farming communities, and bustling trading towns.The roads that crisscross this region are often little morethan poorly patrolled wagon tracks, but Anderland ben-efits from vigorous trade with the great kingdoms andempires that border it on the east, west, and south.

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The eastern region of Ambria is dominated bySildanyr, the ancestral forest home of the elves. Sildanyrstretches for hundreds of miles from the frozen shores ofthe Winter Sea to the warm, sunlit woods along the coastof the Summer Sea. Ersevor, the ancient and magnifi-cent capital of Sildanyr, stands at the base of the

Morningstar Mountains where the NetherynRiver courses down from the peaks. The

vast interior of the primeval forest isknown only to the elves, and they

guard its secrets jealously. A fewsmall communities are scatteredalong the forest’s western fringesand they serve as the commercialgateways that open Sildanyr to tradewith Anderland and the rest of the

civilized world. The WatchingWall, a line of fortified

towers running alongthe coast of the

Summer Sea,was built cen-turies ago when

the dark lords of Valhedar first began to look northward.The warm, shallow Summer Sea divides the con-

tinents of Ambria and Zangala and somewhat gentlesthe climates of the equatorial regions. A large volcanicisland in the middle of the Summer Sea is home to theancient city of Valhedar and the great empire it hasspawned. The Valhedar Dominion has spread from itsisland cradle to claim all of the Emerlyn peninsula andthe great Azran Desert of northern Zangala. The tieflinglords of Valhedar long to conquer the fertile watershedsof the Kingsmarch, and the plains of Dor Erlon in north-ern Emerlyn have become one of the world’s great bat-tlegrounds. Long-standing treaties with the merchant-princes of Ebernath have thus far restrained Valhedarfrom expanding north and east into Anderland.

South of the Azran Desert and the BlackscaleMountains lie the windswept savannas and impenetrablejungles of shadowed Zangala. This mysterious land ishome to the great empire of the yuan-ti, the most ancientcivilization of the known world. It is said that the firstmonstrous stone temples of the serpent people wereraised when the races of Ambria were still living incaves and hunting mammoths in the shadows of gla-ciers. Less is known of this ancient empire than of anyplace in the world, even newly discovered Tamerland.The few explorers and adventurers who have braved thedark jungles of Zangala have vanished as quietly as awhisper on the wind.

The Dreaming Isles are a subtropical archipelagooff the western coast of Ambria. The islands are hometo a handful of wealthy city-states, and the oldest andgreatest of them is called Seagarden. Settled by mer-chant seamen and freebooters from Ebernath, theshining city-states of the Dreaming Isles are a mar-itime commercial hub that opens the Sunset Reachto the great civilizations of Ambria. The craft andmagic of the shipwrights of Seagarden created thedeep-draft vessels capable of surviving the deadlystorms of the Sunset Reach and reaching the vastcontinent of Tamerland in the farthest west.

Landsgate, a bustling port town on the deltaof the Caracasa River, is the only major settlementin Tamerland. Indifferently ruled by a colonialgovernor from Seagarden, Landsgate is little morethan a staging point for the explorers and adven-turers who mount expeditions into the interior.Most of the world’s nations, both great and small,have representatives and agents in Landsgate. Fewof these aspiring empires have the political will oreconomic resources to mount and sustain a majorcampaign in Tamerland, and they charter independ-ent adventurers to plant their flags and stake theirclaims. There is no accepted rule or custom guidingthe exploration and colonization of Tamerland, andits reputation as a lawless and unruly frontier is notundeserved. Most of the expeditions into the heart ofTamerland have been restricted to the Caracasa riverbasin. A few companies have struck north toward the

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Introduction

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