Legacy of the Blood: Great Families of the Core (Ravenloft Accessory)

A Lineage of Darkness Just as every darklord bears a curse, their blood also carries the seeds of greatness or infamy. Some who share a common legacy with the ruling families of Ravenloft rise to virtue, while others succumb to the lure of corruption. What is it like to share the blood of the Boritsi, to bear the secrets of the Von Zaroviches, or to carry a vestige of the Drakov curse? This book explores the histories of Ravenloft’s most powerful families, providing information on how to create player characters and NPCs who bear the names of Mordenheim, Dilisnya, or Renier. New prestige classes, family feats and heirloom magic provide a wealth of choices for players and DMs who wish to walk in the shoes of the powerful and the damned.

Legacy Legacy of of the the Blood: Blood: Great Great Families Families of of the the Core Core

Great Families of the Core

Requires the use of the Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook, published by Wizards of the Coast®. This product utilizes updated material from the v.3.5 revision. The Ravenloft® campaign setting is an officially licensed Dungeons & Dragons® property.

ISBN 1-58846-089-4 WW15031 $22.99 U.S.

WW15031 WW15031

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Great Families of the Core A Ravenloft Campaign Setting Supplement ®

Legacy of the Blood

Great Families of the Core Credits Authors: Steve Miller, Anthony Pryor, Penny Williams and Skip Williams Developers:: Jackie Cassada and Nicky Rea Editor: Scott Holden-Jones Sword & Sorcery Managing Editor: Andrew Bates Art Director: Richard Thomas Layout and Typesetting: Ron Thompson Interior Artists: Talon Dunning, Brian LeBlanc, Jeremy McHugh and Claudio Pozas Front and Back Cover Designer: Ron Thompson

Additional Thanks Based on the Original Dungeons & Dragons ® rules created by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and the new Dungeons & Dragons game designed by Johnathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker and Peter Adkison. Special Acknowledgements Andria Hayday (1st ed. design) Bruce Nesmith (1st ed. design) Tracy & Laura Hickman (original concept)

© 2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. Ravenloft, Legacy of the Blood: Great Families of the Core, D&D, Dungeons & Dragons and its logo, the d20 System logo, and Wizards of the Coast and its logo are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc., in the USA and other countries, and are used by Arthaus under license. Arthaus and its logo are trademarks of Arthaus Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Sword and Sorcery and its logo are trademarks of White Wolf Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Introduction

Great Families of the Core

Table of Contents Introduction

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Chapter One: Blood and Poison — The Boritsi Family

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Chapter Two: Manipulators of the Mind — The d’Honaire Family

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Chapter Three: Spillers of Blood — The Dilisnya Family

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Chapter Four: Blood of the Mighty — The Drakov Family

48

Chapter Five: The Blood of the Haunted — The Godefroy Family

61

Chapter Six: Blood of Madness — The Hiregaard Family

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Chapter Seven: The Blood of Invention — The Mordenheim Family

87

Chapter Eight: Blood of the Rat — The Renier Family

104

Chapter Nine: Blood of Hunger — The Von Zarovich Family

118

Appendix: A Rogues’ Gallery

130

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Legacy of the Blood

Introduction

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Introduction elcome to a book that has been a long time coming… over a decade, in fact. Back in 1991, the Ravenloft: Realm of Terror boxed set featured a number of family trees, one for each of the most powerful noble families of the Core domains. A most intriguing and game-worthy feature of these trees was the inclusion of several blank spots in which birth dates were provided but no other information. The intent was to allow Dungeon Masters (DMs) to create new villains and heroes related to the central nonplayer characters (NPCs) in the setting, and even to allow particularly bold player characters (PCs) to get close to the darklords in every sense of the word. Individual gamers could make their own decisions of what to do with this information in their own campaigns — with the exception of the characters Laurie and Gennifer Weathermay-Foxgrove, who, like their uncle George Weathermay, have dedicated their lives to rooting out and destroying the creatures of the night. Legacy of the Blood returns to the family tree idea in a big way, not by filling the details out completely — although some of that will occur by way of sample NPCs — but instead by giving some definition to what distinguishes the so-called “great families” of the Domains of Dread from one another. There is more than just a surname to being a real Von Aubrecker, Drakov, or Renier. This is a book about skeletons in the closet, family strengths, weaknesses and peculiarities. It delves into traditional goals and attitudes of the various great families, as well as the responsibilities members are expected to fulfill in exchange for the power and prestige their name grants them.

material from supplements. Just because we print it doesn’t mean a DM will adopt it for his campaign.)

Chapter Organization Each chapter in this book describes one or more leading families, starting with a brief bit of “in-world” text, followed by a more factual overview of the family and its recent history. Enough extended family history is also provided here to give a sense of why the family is currently important within the Domains of Dread. Thereafter, all of the chapters conform to the following format:

Fitting In This section discusses recommended behavior for characters who wish to fit into the family under discussion (or perhaps into another leading family with close ties to it). Here you’ll find unique habits, customs, or traits that set members of a particular family apart from other families, perhaps offering explanations for their importance in the land — or reasons for why they aren’t more important. This information is consistent with previous publications. For instance, if an earlier release stated flatly that no males are ever born to a particular family line but must instead be adopted, this circumstance is also discussed here.

Claiming Membership This section focuses primarily on mechanical issues that should be followed or at least considered during the character creation process. It’s not all rules-related, though, some roleplaying-oriented information is also included. Matters such as family blessings and curses, feuds with other families or other branches of the family, known enemies, notoriety, family holdings, alliances, affinities for particular skills or professions, and so on are detailed here as relevant.

How to Use This Book egacy of the Blood is a sourcebook for players and DMs alike. Its purpose is to provide tools to create interesting characters from the upper strata of society in the Ravenloft setting. To accomplish this, we provide rules but also general flavor and setting guidelines. DMs can use this book to create allies and enemies for PC heroes, or players can use it to create characters whose lives of power and privilege are at once both blessing and curse. (As always, players should consult with the DM before creating new characters, particularly if drawing

Family Feats This section describes typical feats that members of the family possess and feats that are exclusive to members of the bloodline. Be sure to consider these feats first when a character of a particular bloodline advances in levels.

Family Prestige Class Most of the chapters feature a specific prestige class that is either very common among or perhaps even unique to members of the lineage in question.

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Legacy of the Blood Family Magic

with being born into an aristocratic family may vary widely from domain to domain, depending on local culture, there are a few constants across cultural boundaries. In some domains, for example, it may be perfectly acceptable for young nobles to behave in risqué and roguish ways, while in others it may be utterly unacceptable for them to be anything but prim and proper in all things. The following list includes a number of details that players of high-born characters should keep in mind during character creation, as well as whenever they gain levels. These are not changes to the standard d20 System character creation rules; rather, they are suggestions regarding skills and feats that should aid in creating and developing characters of noble blood. Not every high-born PC needs to (or ought to) follow every suggestion, but if a player follows at least a couple of them, the character is sure to have more of that “Ravenloft noble feel.”

Some families have unique magic items and/or spells associated with them. Any mystical and arcane items of note are detailed in this section.

Story Hook This section contains adventure seeds involving the family described in the chapter. (Players reading this book, as with any supplemental gaming resource, should always make sure their DM isn’t planning on using the hooks in his campaign before reading this section. If the DM is amenable, they might contain useful ideas for the background for a character that you are in the process of creating.)

Sample Characters A character or two representative of each great family appears in the appendix of this book.

Bring Honor to the Family Name

References to Other Texts

While every family has its black sheep — and it is mostly among those black sheep that PCs can be found — few noble characters want to sully the reputation of their family. This principle applies to family members who are born out of wedlock, as well as “legitimate” children; it is not uncommon for nobility in Ravenloft to dally outside of marriage and then to recognize their byblows. In some households, such half-siblings even live side-byside. Nobles tend to shy away from skills associated with common thievery, such as Disable Device, Open Lock, and Sleight of Hand (although the latter in particular may be acceptable in domains where young nobles are expected to be rakish).

Many feats, classes, magic (or scientific) items, skills, and so on referenced in this book can be found in various Ravenloft releases. Since it isn’t feasible to include full text on each one, where appropriate, notations indicate the Ravenloft title in which you can find the relevant listing. The notations are listed as follows: * Found elsewhere in this book. R Ravenloft Player’s Handbook. M Ravenloft Dungeon Master’s Guide. C Champions of Darkness. H Heroes of Light. G1 Ravenloft Gazetteer, Volume I. G2 Ravenloft Gazetteer, Volume II. G3 Ravenloft Gazetteer, Volume III. G4 Ravenloft Gazetteer, Volume IV. G5 Ravenloft Gazetteer, Volume V. V Van Richten’s Arsenal.

Knowledge is Power Most of the great families in Ravenloft consider this simple statement to be a truism. Knowing friend from enemy or knowing what others might want to keep secret from the rest of the world can give a person just the advantage she needs to stay at the helm of power. Despite what some may claim, noble blood alone is rarely enough to carry a person through life successfully; more often than not, the true advantage of the noble lies with the chance he has to receive a better education than mere peasants or laborers. The noble also finds advantage in the broader, more informed perspective he can gain by traveling the realms and thus

The Aristocrat as Player Character layer characters can come from all walks of life, so it stands to reason that some may be high-born. Such characters may have a very different mindset than the son or daughter of a tinker who decides to take up arms against the creatures of the night. While the duties and responsibilities that come

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Introduction learning about the cultures and creatures that exist there. Noble characters should have at least one rank in any two of the following skills: Decipher Script, Gather Inform a t i o n , Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Knowledge (religion). In addition, the DM is justified in making the noble character’s player select one or more of the following feats: Investigator, DabblerH, KnowledgeableH, LibraryH, LiteracyH, Sharp Ears*, Skill Focus (any Knowledge skill), and University EducationH. The feat may be taken at 1st level, or at any time thereafter, as agreed upon by the player and DM; the character must meet all prerequisites for each feat, as usual.

the following feats may also be mandatory for noble characters, as each enhances the character’s verbal acuity, perspicacity, and/or glibness: Leadership, MesmerizingC, Negotiator, Sharp Wit*, Skill Focus (Diplomacy or Intimidate), or Voice of Wrath R . The character must meet all prerequisites for each feat, as usual; these feats may be required at 1st level or at any time thereafter, as agreed upon by the player and DM.

Say What You Mean — But Don’t Necessarily Mean What You Say Being able to carry on witty repartee and utter clever but ambiguous phrases, whether in trade negotiations or in social settings, is a hallmark of courtiers and the intelligentsia. For the noble who wishes to distance himself from earlier comments or to deliver veiled insults or threats, the ability to “doublespeak” — that is, use words that carry a variety of meanings dependent upon the listener’s context or frame of reference — is a very useful talent. Note that if doublespeak is used too often to deliver insults or to humiliate others (such as seeming to offer them a compliment that more educated or careful listeners recognize as an insult), or if the noble comes to be viewed as deceitful because he always equivocates, he may soon find that no one trusts him and that shame is starting to accumulate around the family. The noble character should take at least one rank in Bluff for every two character levels. The DM might also insist that the character acquire the feat(s) Persuasive and/or Skill Focus (Bluff) at some point in his career; the character must meet all prerequisites for each feat, as usual.

Words Carry Weight When leaders speak, people listen. As a member of a noble family, the PC automatically carries the mantle of leadership upon his shoulders; he should be able to wield words the way a common warrior might use a mace or a sword. He should be able to turn others’ wills his way through negotiation or threats, but he should rarely have to resort to violence. Silver-tongued nobles face a potential weakness in that they often need to be as truthful as possible, or at least able to break agreements (or fail to follow through on threats) in such ways that minimize the public exposure of such lapses. This is out of concern for their family reputation and for their words to be ones that others heed and trust. A noble character should have at least one rank in each of Diplomacy and Intimidate. Any of

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The Boritsi Family

Chapter One: Blood and Poi