Every adventurer has a history before their first journey begins. Where they come from, the people who shaped them, and the experiences they carry all influence how they interact with the world of Eclura.
In Risen Kings, Bloodlines and Backgrounds help define that history. Together, they connect your character to the world’s cultures, forgotten places, ancient legacies, and everyday experiences.
Bloodlines
Your Bloodline describes your ancestry, inherited appearance, family stories, and connection to the history of Eclura. It does not determine your personality, morality, culture, or destiny.
Bloodlines do not provide automatic Ability Score increases or combat abilities. Instead, they offer connections to the world through ancient relics, forgotten histories, hidden places, and unresolved mysteries that may become important during your adventures.
Every character also begins with a Bloodline Memento, a small object tied to their ancestry or family history. A Memento provides no automatic bonus, but its significance may emerge through exploration and roleplaying.
The Core Rulebook includes ten Bloodlines: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Gnome, Half-Elf, Orc, Goblin, Lizardfolk, and Infernal.
Explore Bloodlines and Bloodline Mementos →
Backgrounds
Your Background describes the profession, training, and experiences that shaped your life before becoming an adventurer. It represents the knowledge and practical abilities you developed through your earlier life.
When your Background directly applies to an Ability Check, it grants one Boon. If the task lies at the heart of your Background’s expertise, the Game Master may grant two Boons instead.
Backgrounds are not fixed lists of skills. Players explain how their experience applies to a situation, and the Game Master determines whether it provides an advantage. A relevant Background may also change what a character knows, what they can attempt, or whether a roll is needed at all.
Choose from ordinary professions and life experiences or explore Rare Backgrounds connected to Eclura’s regions, organizations, divine history, and supernatural mysteries.
Languages
Every character can speak, read, and write Common and one additional Language. Your choice may reflect your upbringing, homeland, family, Background, faith, education, or travels.
The Backgrounds section includes the Common and Rare Languages of Eclura. Rare Languages generally require unusual education, supernatural contact, or discovery during play.
Building Your Character’s Story
Your Bloodline and Background are starting points, not restrictions. Two adventurers of the same Bloodline may have completely different lives, while characters from different peoples may share a profession, homeland, or common purpose.
Consider where your character was raised, what they learned before adventuring, which traditions matter to them, and what unanswered questions they carry into the world.
These choices may influence more than your character’s past. They can provide reasons to explore forgotten places, seek ancient relics, form alliances, and uncover secrets that connect your personal history to the wider world of Eclura.
Who you are is shaped by where you came from. What you become is decided through play.