Riftguard For the Players

The adventure begins with a group of travelers meeting in the city of Portaland in the land of Renna. A town that lies in between 4 mountains. Each of these mountains is home to a tear in the veil of dimensions. These tears in the veil act as portals to other realms. There is typically one portal active at a time; Which brings over dozens of strange creatures and monsters every year. 

These creatures are nearly a match for the local guard and they struggle to keep the land safe even in the quietest of times. However, the magic and riches carried through the portals and the fertile valley between the mountains outweigh the dangers for those that live here. 

Once every ten to twenty-five years there is a dimensional event called the “Melding” which causes the veil between dimensions to thin; In turn causing each of the four portals to be active for a matter of days. During this time hundreds of monsters, often called “Riftspawn” exit the portals into the surrounding lands. They then wreak havoc on everything they come across. 

The Melding is more than the city guard is equipped to handle and many people flee when things look dire. It has often been left up to local lords and heroes to mount a proper defense against the onslaught of monsters trundling down the surrounding mountains, until the Melding ends, and Portaland is once again deemed “safe”. These heroes and lords often earn themselves tremendous renown and a place in history for their part in defending the people of Portaland during the Melding. In times past these valiant heroes have themselves the title of Riftguard, a noble title and badge of honor that marks them as protectors of the realm.

For various reasons your characters have gathered in Portaland. Perhaps in search of work as a monster hunter or a mercenary. Perhaps as a traveling bard or court mage. Whatever the reasons, your character finds themselves in this city on the worst night possible; the first night of the melding. From what you’ve heard, if you want to live, it’s already too late to leave town. With the portals open, monsters will be wandering through the forests seeking an easy meal. As long as they don’t make it to the city, your best bet is to hole up in the tavern until this all blows over. 

Players should create characters that will be effective in combat against foes both human and monstrous. This module will feature a series of battle encounters that will increase in difficulty as they progress. While roleplaying can benefit the y between encounters, the primary focus of this campaign will be monster hunting. 

This story takes place in the land of Renna. A place inhabited by humans that has long had magic seeping into the land. This magic has been attributed to the strange portals that dot the landscape of one of Renna’s regions. In the center of that region is a self-sustaining city nestled in the valley on a lake between 4 mountains, a city called Portaland. This place is blessed with abundance and cursed with strange monsters and magics. While magic practitioners are becoming more common in this day in age, their practices and magic originate from this land. Monsters have spread from here to every corner of the world, but they are most abundant here in the region surrounding portaland. The land is unnaturally fertile here and produces more food than any other region in Renna. This makes Portaland an important hub in Renna despite its many dangers. 

Renna was a difficult and unforgiving region of the world even before the Veil-Tear. Now in addition to struggling to provide food for their families, people must strive to protect themselves from the many monsters that have now made their home here.

This story takes place in the year 1478 of Renna’s recorded history. Humanity’s last 300 years have been spent attempting to recover and adapt to the struggles that the supernatural event known as the “Veil-Tear” brought about. A collision of dimensions that threw the world into turmoil in the year 1177. Since then, there has been a dimensional event known as the melding every ten to twenty-five years. Each Melding in history since the Veil-Tear has brought more monsters and strange creatures with it. Most people refer to all creatures from across the veil as “Riftspawn”, a name that is whispered in fear or spat out in hate.

The riftspawn have spread throughout the world, making life more challenging for its human inhabitants. With the appearance of monsters, there has arisen a need for steeled warriors to combat them and protect innocents from harm. Many skilled warriors in this time find ways of making a living by defeating monsters that most refuse to fight.

This time in history is filled with strife and micro-wars between the 4 kingdoms; these 2-3 day wars have been lovingly dubbed as “Weekend Wars” by the kingdom's subjects. There are few peasants alive today who haven’t taken part in one battle or defended themselves from a monster attack. 

Renna is a harsh and unforgiving place, but it is our home and most of its inhabitants are willing to fight tooth and nail to protect it from invaders from both sides of the veil. 

The players will start out at level 2. This will grant them: 

• Their Level 0 HP and 2 Level Up HP increases.
• 14 XP with which to build their characters 
• They may earn 2 additional XP through Quirks for a total of 16 XP. 

Players should be encouraged to build characters that will be effective in combat, especially if the difficulty has been increased over the standard.

Characters in this module should be motivated by power, money, fame, renown or protecting the lives of innocents. Anything else that would embolden them to fight monsters will also suffice.

Players are encouraged to integrate the characters they build into the setting. Use the map of Renna and the writeups on the various regions to find a location of origin that suits your character.

Characters are granted 2d10x10(roll or take the average of 100) Silver and may purchase Common or Uncommon Items from the Feudal Age Buyers Guide.

All players must choose one Subspecies option of the Human Species for their character.

No other species are permitted unless expressly stated by the Narrator. 

• Permitted Mage Archetypes: Arcane Bard, Wizard, Runewrite, Sorcerer, Chosen, Battlemage and Spellsword. 
• Permitted Warrior Archetypes: Soldier, Brawler, Ranger, Fencer, Berserker and Scout.
• Permitted Rogue Archetypes: Assassin, Burglar, Spy, Smuggler and Thief.
• Permitted Invoker Archetypes: Cleric, Priest, Dark Priest, Heretic and Warrior Monk.
• Permitted Druid Archetypes: All Druid Archetypes are permitted.
• Permitted Witch Archetypes: All Witch Archetypes are permitted.
• Permitted Elementalist Archetypes: All Elementalist Archetypes are permitted.
• All archetypes not listed above are restricted in this module unless expressly stated by the Narrator.

Special: The narrator may choose to omit any above archetypes from the player choices prior to character creation. Please check with your Narrator before finalizing your character.