Bommyknocker Press

Silvered Scion - Cairn 2e Background for Wildendrem

I love the backgrounds from Cairn 2e. They do a great job of tying new characters directly into the implied setting, and give players the opportunity to get to grips with the world during character creation.

Unfortunately that's a double-edged sword - I'm looking to run a Wildendrem campaign in the near future, and most of the included backgrounds are pulling in a different direction to what I'm after.

So I'm writing up some Wildendrem-specific backgrounds. It's been a good exercise - reading the book more closely has made me appreciate the terrific prose and ideas, and hopefully prepared me better for running a campaign in the setting.

I'm not sure I was quite able to capture the level to which the nobles in this setting are cruel twits, hopefully this comes out more during play.

Silvered Scion

You descend from a minor line of Silvered Nobles and the decadent, capricious world they inhabit. Your sudden disappearance from their ranks momentarily left a wave of gossip in its wake.

Note: See also VF p. 138 for details on noble houses and silvering.

Starting Gear

Double Exposure Double Exposure - Dorothy Norman, 1932

d6 What did you steal in your flight from Cimbrine?
1 A pair of Probity Rings (petty, each ring chimes softly when the wearer of its partner spends a coin). Your arranged marriage was a promise of lifelong malaise.
2 The Telepathy Spellbook. The last owner was an absent-minded Mystagogue named Bellix Arno. When Conclave Inquisitors stormed your family’s tower, you didn’t stop to see if anyone else made it out.

Telepathy: Two creatures can hear each other’s thoughts, no matter how far apart. The holder can hear (but not respond) to the thoughts of whoever last possessed it, and vice versa.

3 A Duelling Rapier (d8) and the Poisoned Rose (petty, 4 DEX damage, 3 uses) that was delivered with it. Famed duellist Godefroy Croaz provoked you into a challenge; you fled before the duel.
4 Your brother’s Oneiric Pyjamas (petty, guarantee a good night’s sleep. Have a 1-in-6 chance of dreaming a minor prophecy). He should have seen it coming.
5 A Singing Goblet (petty, will compose a rhyming couplet about whatever liquid is poured inside. Recharge: tell it a saga. It won’t listen to the same one twice), and a Riverkeeper League mission (VF p. 54). Your critiques of the nobility reached further than you expected.
6 A Recursive Egg (petty. Contains itself. Somehow lightens your load - take additional inventory slot while carried. 1-in-2 chance to burst any time you take STR damage, releasing 30 cubic feet of yolk.) Your cousin cursed your name away.
d6 How do you hide the part of you that is silvered?
1 Boarskin Gloves Covered in coarse bristles. The wearer has vicelike grip strength.
2 Walk-a-Mile Boots Any blisters, carbuncles, impacted toenails, chafing, cracked heels, stubbed toes or other podiatric discomfort will be transferred by the wearer’s handshake. (WIL save to hide the fact.)
3 Steelsilk Scarf Petty when worn. Long, thin, and tough - doubles as 20 ft of rope. Uncomfortably warm on hot days.
4 Blackness Cowl While pulled up, all that can be seen from outside is absolute blackness.
5 Dark Glasses (Petty). Your Silvered Eyes can see no colour. The movements of the stars are visible to you, day and night.
6 Avoid Daylight You have a Silvered Shadow. Your shadow gleams silver by daylight. It may detach from you and act at your command (2 charges). If free for more than an hour, must be coerced to return. Communicates by sign language. Recharge: Snip the shadow free with silver scissors, which turn to lead on use.

#cairn #classes #wildendrem