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4E in Cairn

This is very much a joke that got out of hand, and now I'm slowly clearing out my drafts folder. It's like, what if you took inspiration from the 4th edition of no game in particular and used that to make Cairn backgrounds. I am not sure if any of this is even playable.

Dragonlings

Starting gear:
3d6 gold pieces
Rations: 3 uses
Torch: 3 uses
A strange mask (see below)
a dagger (d6 damage)

Deep underground in an ancient ruin you found a leather mask, ornately carved into scales. When you put it on your head becomes that of a dragon. Your breath can kill. You are haunted by dreams of an ancient kingdom, older than anything anyone remembers.

Your mask acts like an artifact with one charge.

  1. fire: 1d6 damage. The targets take an additional 1d6 damage next round if they cannot put out the flame. Flammable items on their person have a 3 in 6 chance of being destroyed. To recharge, you must watch a candle flame for the entirety of a day.
  2. lighting: 1d6 damage. The damage is enhanced if the target is in water. To recharge, you must go without water for one full day (becoming deprived until the end of the day).
  3. poison: 1d6 damage to dex, bypassing armour. If not treated by being immersed in clean water, they fall unconscious within one hour, and die within 3 days. To recharge, you must go without food for one full day (becoming deprived until the end of the day).
  4. acid: 1d6 damage. All edged metal weapons do impaired damage until they can be re-sharpened. To recharge, you must spend a day with no metal items within ten paces.
  5. cold: 1d6 damage, and an additional 1d6 damage to dex, which can only be healed by spending an hour in front of a fire.To recharge, you must spend a day without fire: no torches, no campfire. If sleeping outside, you will become deprived.
  6. A cloud of blinding fog, obscuring the vision of everyone in sight.To recharge, you must place the mask under water for a full day. During this time, you cannot see beyond 5 feet

What did you find that you are sure is from this ancient kingdom?

  1. An ancient coin (petty) that nobody recognizes. Wherever you leave the coin, you always know if that direction lies to the north, south, east or west.
  2. A shield with a forgotten emblem on it.
  3. A sword (d8) with a snarling dragon's head.
  4. A pendant with strange writing on it (petty) that will gain you the interest of dragon cultists and certain types of academics.
  5. A map of the region on a bronze tablet, millenia out of date.
  6. A strange, fossilized egg. Perhaps there is some way to hatch it. 100 gp to the right buyer.

Demonspawn

Starting gear:
3d6 gold pieces
Rations: 3 uses
Torch: 3 uses
A ritual dagger (d6 damage)

In a strange ritual, you mingled your blood with that of a demon, taking on demonic characteristics yourself.

  1. What infernal appearance do you take on?
  2. You have horns: they act like a helmet.
  3. A barbed tail: you can hold a third object, but it's hard to manipulate. For instance, you cannot effectively use a weapon or shield, but you could hold a torch.
  4. Cloven hooves: you can climb rock cliffs and stone walls so long as they have a slight slope (exterior castle walls yes, interior walls generally no).
  5. A forked tongue: those who can understand your speech, who are not already hostile to you, have a positive impression of you as long as you are talking to them. This fades the moment you leave.
  6. Eyes of a snake: you can see warmth - warm-blooded creatures appear as a sort of reddish blob in the dark.
  7. Hands like talons: they act as a d6+d6 weapon as long as your hands are free.

What drove you to undertake this strange ritual?

  1. Knowledge. Throughout the game you can ask the GM three questions that might be found in a book somewhere in the world and get three correct answers.
  2. Revenge. You have a poisoned dagger. It deals d6 damage as usual, but if it does damage to strength, an hour later, the target must make a strength save to avoid falling dead.
  3. Love. You have a locket (petty) that, when you spend a quiet moment contemplating, reverses most negative mental effects.
  4. Power. You have a badge (petty ) that falsely marks you as a member of the nobility.
  5. Survival. You always find one extra ration when foraging.
  6. Religion. You have an amulet (petty) that may make cultists better disposed towards you.

Commander

Starting gear:
3d6 gold pieces
Rations: 3 uses
Torch: 3 uses
An arming sword (d6)
A mail coat (1 armour)

You carry a banner into battle. This takes up one hand. The banner is ancient and storied and motivates all your allies who see it. Effects of the banner:

  1. So long as you spend your turn motivating your companions without fighting, they all add +1 damage to their damage rolls.
  2. Fighting retreat: designate one person who can flee the battle without making a roll, so long as you spend your turn coordinating that strategy.
  3. If someone takes critical damage and survives, and the nature of the critical damage does not prevent this, they can stay on their feet for one more round.
  4. You can spend one action to survey the battlefield and then come up with a plan for the party to manoever into much more advantageous position (e.g. reach something on the β‰ˆfar side of the enemy, cut off their escape route, etc)
  5. Formation: If your party stands roughly together and you spend your action instructing them, they can each gain +1 to AC.
  6. When you and at least one of your companions rolls to attack the same enemy and your die roll is higher, their next attack is enhanced, at the cost of you taking fatigue.

What item do you always bring with you into the wilderness?

  1. a blessed stewpot. Eating food from the stewpot at the end of the day restores 1d6 will.
  2. a small bag with 3 bandages, a splint, a sling, and needle and thread.
  3. herbs that, when chewed, allow you to ignore the effects of deprivation at the cost of one fatigue. 3 uses.
  4. a roll of parchment and a charcoal pencil.
  5. a compass (petty) that always points west.
  6. a wheelbarrow (bulky, +4 slots) that can carefully be carried up and down stairs by two people.

What item have you carried into every battle?

  1. A chipped longsword. d10 damage.
  2. A sturdy shield with the emblem of an army that no longer exists. A spike on the front deals d6 damage.
  3. A gambeson (1 armour, goes under the mail coat), quilted by a relative. Stained but functional.
  4. A helmet with a very impressive, noticeable crest (the crest is removable).
  5. Spiked boots that give you firm footing on any surface and make you very hard to push or knock over.
  6. A horn that can be heard from six miles away as though it were next to you.

Warlock

Starting gear:
3d6 gold pieces
Rations: 3 uses
Torch: 3 uses
An engraved metal rod (d6 damage)

You have a patron who requests that you harvest souls. They may be human or animal; alive or dead, but they must be a reasonable challenge to kill (rats don't count unless they're giant rats. Chickens don't count unless they are demonic chickens.) Each such creature that you kill gives you 1 point. You can use a point to do the following:

  1. Your patron has power over fire, ash, and wastelands. You summon a pillar of fire. It cannot be put out and burns for 1 hour. It does 1d6 damage to STR to anyone who touches it.
  2. Your patron comes from somewhere deep, deep in the woods. You stare at one creature. As long as you stare at the creature uninterrupted, it cannot see you.
  3. Your patron comes to you in dreams with a star of ill omen is in the sky. You ask the GM one question which has a yes or no answer. The GM answers the question (rolling the die of fate if necessary).
  4. Your patron comes to you from the land of the dead. You can turn into a ghostly form which damages WIL instead of STR, bypassing HP. Attacks from non-magical steel are impaired, holy water and similar things do 1d12 damage. You turn back if sunlight falls upon you.
  5. Your patron speaks to you from a tiny statue of an ancient king, older than any kingdom you know. You utter a command up to three words in length which a target must make a WIL save or be forced to obey.
  6. Your patron is unknown but sent a messenger to you in the form of an immortal imp. You can ask the imp to perform one task. The imp cannot be harmed and does not feel pain, but has the strength and physical abilities of a small child.

At the GM's discretion, killing a particularly powerful enemy gives you access to greater power.

What price did you pay for power?

  1. Your memories. You remember nothing from before meeting your patron. You have a mysterious signet ring (petty).
  2. Your eye. You have a replacement glass eye that you can see out of so long as you are touching it.
  3. Your name. After three days, nobody who has seen you remembers you.
  4. Your heart. You are immune to any effects that might affect emotions, positive or negative. Reduce your maximum strength by 2.
  5. Your hand. You have a mechanical hand instead. Actions using the hand are impaired, but the hand is impervious to most damage. If it is free, it acts as a shield.
  6. Your voice. You sound like whoever you last talked to.

Fighter

Starting gear:
3d6 gold pieces
Rations: 3 uses
Torch: 3 uses

Instead of attacking, you can spend your turn being the biggest threat on the battlefield and drawing the attention of your enemies.

When you roll the highest damage on your damage die and are not impaired:

When you roll the highest damage on your damage die and are not impaired:

  1. You can push the enemy away from you about 10 feet. You start with a shield and spear (d8).
  2. You do blast damage instead. You start with an arming sword (d8)
  3. You instead trip or entangle the enemy, making their attacks impaired and their movement slow until they spend their turn getting up. You start with a polearm (d10, bulky)
  4. You instead disarm the enemy. If they aren't armed, they're impaired for a round. You start with an axe (d10, bulky)
  5. You also grapple the enemy, if you have an empty hand. You start with a flail (d8).
  6. You ignore their armour. You start with a mace (d8).

d6 table of what armour you have

  1. You have a shield with the emblem of an ox on it. It is exceptionally difficult to make you move.
  2. You have a helmet with the antlers of a deer on it. You can run twice as fast as most people.
  3. You have mail made of a strange and unfamiliar metal. If a weapon rolls 1 damage against it, it breaks.
  4. You have steel, spiked gloves, perfectly molded to your hands. They each deal 1d6 damage when empty, up to 1d6 + 1d6 damage.
  5. You have a shield with the emblem of a lion on it. You can dramatically throw it away before doing enhanced damage that round, at the cost of one fatigue. You cannot pick it up again until you have had a moment to rest.
  6. You have mail made from the skin of a snake. It is impossible for you to be grabbed or otherwise restrained as long as you wear the armour, unless you take critical damage.

Bladewizard

Starting gear:
3d6 gold pieces
Rations: 3 uses
Torch: 3 uses

You count as having a shield so long as one hand is empty and unused.

When you meditate for a minute, you can create a sword which does d8 damage, which you can then deliberately destroy to unleash its power. Destroying the sword is done by releasing your focus at the right moment.

  1. You pick up a rock and create a sword of obsidian. It shatters when it leaves your hand. Shatter the sword into fragments of obsidian to turn this into a blast attack that deals d8 damage.
  2. You light a spark and create a sword in the shape of a flame. It extinguishes when it leaves your hand. Release the sword to have it set the enemy on fire, doing d8 damage directly to Strength.
  3. You blow onto a mirror. Out of the congealed steam you draw a sword of silvery mist. It dissipates when it leaves your hand, turning to mist and enveloping you. As long as you don't attack, attacks against you are impaired.
  4. You rub together some dry cloth in a sealed container. You draw from it a sword of lightning. It makes a loud, crackling noise, preventing you from being at all stealthy. It vanishes when it leaves your hand, turning into a bolt of lightning that strikes everything in its path for d8 damage.
  5. You pick up a stick and it sharpens into something alive and vital. It turns back into a stick when it leaves your hand. Throw it at an enemy, and vines will spring forth from your hand and pull them next to you, slowing them down until they can disentangle themselves.
  6. You pour a cup of water into your hand and create a sword which is an impossibly sharp shard of ice. It shatters when it leaves your hand, or shatter it against a creature to create a pillar of ice rises from the ground and freezes the creature in place. They must make a Strength save to escape. Attacking the pillar also frees them. They otherwise cannot attack or be attacked.

Written July 13 2026