A Daggerheart game for the 2026 mountain cabin<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The small mountain nation of Hern is losing a war it didn’t want to start. Its monarch has negotiated a peace with its much larger neighbor, at a price. Their heir will marry a noble of their larger neighbor, and the querulous border nobles responsible for starting the conflict will be replaced. To seal the peace and secure the continued power of their family, the heir and trusted mercenaries must travel through the realms and armies with the most to lose from this peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You are the heir and their entourage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a Dangerous Journey through Interesting Times. Historical Turning Point. Dynastic Politics<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Putting the Nobility Back in Grimdark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Hobbit, Eye of the World, Game of Thrones<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All PCs start at level 2. In addition to the abilities of a starting character, level 2 characters have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All classes, ancestries and communities are allowed, however<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Up to one PC may play the heir to Hern, whose marriage will both buy peace and cement their family’s power in world where Hern loses this war. The heir will be a focus particularly of your enemies. Your defeat or capture becomes their win condition, and it will likely make you the defacto leader of the band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To compensate for this increased focus, the heir gets the following benefits:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rather than tracking time in hours and days or distances in miles, travel in Closer Enemies is tracked using a single abstract number called “Resources.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resources are a measure of the supplies and time characters spend moving through Hern. They replace coin, as, this being a desperate ploy of two wealthy nations, handfuls and bags of coin aren’t significant to the powers at play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every time characters jouney between points of interest on the map, they must spend 1 Racecourses to represent the time and supplies consumed. The GM will be keeping track of total resources spent, and this will be used by him to evaluate the movement of NPCs and their armies and schemes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resources are shared by the party; individual characters do not have independent Resource scores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The party starts with, and can carry up to a max of six Resources, but there will be opportunities to resupply along the way. Six Resources is not enough to travel from the keep of Fort Bear (where the royal family is encamped for safety) to one of the cities where the wedding can take place, cementing the peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each time the characters take a short rest, they must spend 1 additional Resources. Each time they take a long rest, they must spend 3 additional resources. If the party doesn’t have the Resources to spend, they cannot take a rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There will be a map of Hern, showing the path the party must take to reach the place where the heir can safely seal the peace with their wedding. There are multiple paths, and the paths intercept and overlap. It is possible to travel through unexpected routes. The map is TBD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Travel is measured between nodes. Nodes are more densely packed in areas that are more difficult to traverse, meaning two different paths between the same two points might cost vastly different amounts of Resources to travel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Each node may have an encounter but not all will. The GM may adjust on the fly which nodes have which encounters to ensure a well paced and timed game, although some are pretty fixed (e.g. Mad Dragon’s Pass has the dangerous mountain pass encounter).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nodes might have the following properties:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The map will have nodes that the best intelligence the PCs have for those places marked as such so the PCs can plan. However, they are traveling through an active war zone, and so the best intelligence they have is not necessarily correct.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to Resupply nodes, encounters may reward PCs with additional Resources<\/p>\n\n\n\n The GM will maintain the following records of resources spent for tracking progress: total Resources spent on the journey, total spent since the last short rest, and the total spent since the last long rest. All three of these are public information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every time the PCs take a short rest, the short rest counter resets to three, and the long rest counter increases by 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every time the PCs take a long rest, the short rest counter resets to 3 and the long rest counter resets to 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If either counter drops to zero, the PCs are considered to be forced marching. Each time the PCs spend a Resources to travel, each one marks 1 stress, and the GM gains a fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the party Resource Counter drops to 0, PCs can still travel, but they are forced marching. If one of the two counters is at zero and the the party Resources are at zero, the party marks both a stress and an HP each time they travel, and each time they do, each PC loses 1 Hope (if they have Hope to lose).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hern is a small feudal mountain nation that is near impassible to the east, and to the west, boarders only the much larger–and growing–nation of Varth. All trade to Hern must pass through Varth, and Hern is a nation that needs trade to feed it’s population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a tradition in Hern, and to a lesser extent, Varth, where members of the aristocratic noble class go what is called “viking.” While viking, they lead a small band of of loyal soldiers and mercenaries to raid neighbors in order to gain experience in battle, combat, leadership, and familiarity with the places where they most likely will fight. The tradition does do that, as well as help keep defense forces honed, but at great suffering in the lives of commoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The war started when a group of young Hernish nobles were captured while viking and executed as bandits. Sources vary on weather the traditional ransom demand was sent along the lines one might expect. The families of the executed children immediately began mobilizing for war–not small bands of raiders, but masses of soldiers to loot and destroy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They did not consult the Hernish monarch before they began marching. They knew that their mobilization would trigger one from Varth, and once that happened the monarch would be forced to join the war in earnest lest the whole nation be overrun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As is often the case in war, commoners have born the brunt of the suffering on both sides. Hern has stockpiles, but it cannot hope to win against the much larger and much more self-sufficient Varth. This was obvious to all who had not lost children in violation of the tradition of viking. Thus, the monarch of Hern began quietly working for a peace before the fighting even began in earnest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An accord has been reached. Hern will be a kingdom no more. It shall be a duchy in Varth, its current monarch to become its new duke. The old borders will still hold. Two things will ensure integration and peace (at least with Varth). Firstly, the heir to the Hern throne shall marry an eligible child of the ducal family of the neighboring province–one who is known and had been considered a potential match even before the war. Secondly, no other titles of Hern shall carry over. The former monarch must nominate new holders for all titles. They may nominate the current holders if they wish, but all appointments are subject to approval of the Varth crown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While this will–in theory–bring an end to much suffering and bloodshed. It is also a power ploy. One that will let the liege of Hern dispose of troublesome nobles, and promote those who best served their family. In practice, this a defection of the monarch of Hern and their most loyal vassals to the side that was always going to win the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The heir of Hern just needs to sneak past the lines and armies of those with the most to lose from this “peace”, and secure the future of their family with their wedding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hern is a feudal nation, lands ruled by aristocratic families who have held titles for generations. Or who have taken over a neighbor for violations of a (somewhat flexible) code of honor that were recongnized by the king. It is a diverse place, having absorbed waves of refugees from the constant conflict and monsters that plague the lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the one hand, it is a diverse nation that settled by wave after wave of refugees of other wars. On the other hand, it is people where invasion and displacement loom large in cultural memory. It’s people tend to be suspicious of outsiders, while having trouble telling quickly who is and isn’t an insider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In many respects, it is a backwater mountain nation. Not poor, but having few great places of culture and learning that would draw visitors. Illiteracy and superstition is common, and learning is viewed with a degree of suspicion. Only the aristocracy can afford to educate their children, and what interest would such a person have in a place beyond their home? Ambitious younger children and title holders have shown this suspicion to often be justified. There are still corners where monsters dwell. Its largest towns have poor claim to the title of city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other respects, it is a fairly open nation. It is a significant exporter of metals and arms. Freedom of religion is enshrined it law (with the common sense exceptions for things like demonic cults). Travel on its roads and rivers is common, although not entirely safe. Foreigners and immigrants are common. Slavery and serfdom are banned in theory, although not strictly speaking in practice due to the nature of medical land lords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mostly, common people would rather live and let live. They generally have first-hand experience with the need for the warrior-aristocrat class, even if they are aware the thing that the aristocracy are most likely to protect them from are the other nobles of Hern and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hern lacks the centers of learning and arcane magic that are required to build large number of clanks. Hern has been welcoming to the clanks that have tried to make it home, as there have been prominent heroes of this ancestry over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most Drakona and Giants in Hern came from the east, over or through the mountains. Contact with the nations over there have tended to be short and violent, so there is significant prejudice against them. Similar biases hold for elves and goblins, although the roots of those grudges come from other lands and older conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What Drakona and Giants that have settled in Hern tended to find homes further east, closer to the capital. They often can trace their ancestors to defectors or turn-coats that have helped Hern defend itself from the eastern lands. These are often supporters of the Hern monarchy, and there is an assumption that their loyalties lie in that direction. As one might expect, there are plenty of rumors that the monarchy of Hern engages with sinster plots with the eastern nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Goblins and elves, mostly coming from the west face the opposite biases. They were less welcome higher in the peaks, and those who managed to find places for themselves often did so only after finding a way to be useful to the leaders of the border provinces, and they make up a disproportionate portion of the mobilized forces of the border lords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These are the ancestries that make up most of the Hern people, migrating in waves or groups driven east by fighting in lands that now fall under Varth’s banner. Dwarves, Fauns, and Human are more common, but most people will assume a Firbolg, Human, or Orc shares a similar story to other people in Hern, and are more likely to be hit with regional, rather than racial stereotypes. Unless, of course, one dresses like a foriegner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The migration that brought the populations of Fungril, Galapa, and Katari to what is now Hern happened in smaller number than other groups. Communities of these peoples are rare, but can be found here and there throughout Hern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There have been few, if any, significant migrations of people with this ancestry arriving in Hern. Most people will assume you are a forigener, or part of some sort of traveling band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An important decision you will have to make is “are you part of Hern, part of the heir’s Varthian escort, or a foreign mercenary hired by one crown or the other. There are no mechanical affects, but it will color your interaction with NPCs quite heavily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Foreigners can easily come from any background that makes sense for your typical DnD world, and so little text will be spent on the text them here. This addresses how <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are from one of these communities, you are likely a member of the warrior aristocracy, likely a child, sibling or cousin of one of the petty manor lords who own the productive parcels of land, or herd lords who own the more migratory herds that form the basis of your family’s generational wealth There is an expectation that you have (or want to have) political connections to the various aristocratic families of Hern, and will participate in its governance and defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hern has a suspicion of the celestial clergies of the high heavens. They’ve played a role in several of the wars that sent communities fleeing that ended up in Hern, and are much more prominent in Varth, whose warrior nobility have been a source of fear and pain for the people of Hern for generations. There are temples in Hern, but they are more likely to focus on small gods of local geography. You might also be a member of the warrior class who takes the unwritten chivalric codes of conduct significantly more seriously than is standard for the aristocracy of Hern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are a commoner, it is likely you come from one of these backgrounds. There communities of miners who can go days without seeing the sun if they wish or need the money. There are communities that migrate from high to low pastures with the weather to thrive in the Hern highlands. Even the farmland tends to be be rugged, often terraced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Being a landlocked nation, seaborn people are rare in Hern. There are two very large lakes with populations who make their living on boats in the water who have a sensitivity to ebb and flow, even if not exactly tides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hern lacks the large urban centers to really cement the sort of streetwise criminal underclass that one normally associates with this communities. It has some of those in larger towns, of course, and its political class is certainly underhanded enough to qualify. Statistically, it’s much more likely the slyborn community you hale from is one of a network of highwayman or bandits that make their home along dangerous wildernesses that dot Hern, or from a family that owns businesses catering to (and ripping off) travelers and merchants to the land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hern has its wilderness, although some semblance of civilization is never too far away. Places that have remained wild over the centuries tend to be very dangerous and sparsely populated. There may be disputes between weather or not people from these areas are Hernish or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Daggerheart game for the 2026 mountain cabin Pitch The small mountain nation of Hern is losing a war it didn’t want to start. Its monarch has negotiated a peace with its much larger neighbor, at a price. Their heir will marry a noble of their larger neighbor, and the querulous border nobles responsible for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drbeece-109b875.ingress-daribow.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drbeece-109b875.ingress-daribow.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drbeece-109b875.ingress-daribow.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drbeece-109b875.ingress-daribow.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drbeece-109b875.ingress-daribow.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=127"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/drbeece-109b875.ingress-daribow.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132,"href":"https:\/\/drbeece-109b875.ingress-daribow.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127\/revisions\/132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drbeece-109b875.ingress-daribow.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drbeece-109b875.ingress-daribow.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drbeece-109b875.ingress-daribow.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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The Heir<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Custom Rules<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Resources for the Road<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Resources and Resting<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Travel and the Map<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Countdowns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Setting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ancestries<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Clanks<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Drakona, Elves, Giants, and Goblins<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Dwarf, Faun, Firbolg, Halfling, Human and Orc<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Fungril, Galapa, and Katari<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Infernis, Ribbit, and Simiah<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Communities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Highborn, Loreborn<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Orderborn<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Ridgeborn, Underborn, Wanderborn<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Seaborn<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Slyborn<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Wildborn<\/h4>\n\n\n\n