Player Handbook
in NovendragosA Word to the Ambitious & The Damned
So, you’ve decided to cast your lot in Novendragos. You likely heard tales of gilded cities, of skies filled with vessels of polished brass, of magic that can reshape the very bones of the world. You were told the truth, but not all of it.
This is a world forged in myth and molten pact, a land that still suffers the echoes of its own violent creation. Here, magic is not a gentle art; it is architecture, infrastructure, and currency. A miscalculated spell can twist a city block into a predatory jungle. The gods are real, but their favor is as much a civic hazard as a blessing. And dragons... dragons do not hide on mountains of gold. They rule. They are potentates, landlords, and the ultimate arbiters of mortal fate.
In Novendragos, every invention is a negotiation with the primordial, every act of progress a wager against peril. Power always has a price, paid in coin, in sanity, or in years shaved from your life. The world does not care whether you succeed—only whether you are interesting when you fail.
This book is your guide. Use it to forge your legend. Novendragos beckons.
A Hero's People
The world is home to a vast array of peoples, each shaped by their history, their environment, and the will of their draconic patrons.
- Humans: The most numerous and ambitious of the mortal races, their cultures are as varied as the lands they inhabit, from the ordered, magi-tech society of Kendron to the proud, memory-haunted nobles of Shal Manzir.
- Balpura: Massive, elephantine humanoids from the Nakashima archipelago, revered for their deep emotional wisdom and their role as living mediators.
- Chiryu: Enigmatic, dragon-kin technocrats from an isolationist empire beyond the western mountains, masters of discipline, subtlety, and their own unique form of magi-tech.
- Dream Fae: Ethereal, psionic beings from the hidden realm of Nelamdra, their minds constantly attuned to the cosmic dreamscape and the perilous currents of fate.
- Jen'mahadim: The living manifestations of the world's six primordial elements, each lineage with its own unique culture and connection to the raw forces of creation.
- Flameborn: Forged in the world's heart-fires, masters of heat and purification.
- Tideborn: Synchronized with the chaotic pull of the three moons and the memory of the sea.
- Galeborn: Children of the sky's chaotic currents, their civilization a dance with the wind.
- Stoneborn: The patient, resilient memory of the earth itself, their forms as unyielding as bedrock.
- Lightborn: Conduits of pure energy and logic, manifestations of the brilliant, unfiltered light of the Ah Star.
- Voidborn: Watchers on the threshold, their perspective shaped by the silence and infinite potential between the stars.
- Shiira: Nimble, inquisitive, and irrepressibly curious, the Shiira are the trickster-bards and improbable survivors of the world, moving with the chaotic currents of fate.
World Codex
A Hero's Calling
Your character is more than their lineage; they are defined by the skills they have mastered and the path they have chosen to walk. In Novendragos, these paths are often perilous, granting immense power at a significant cost.
- Barbarian, Path of the Dragonbound: Your rage is the remembered fury of an ancient dragon, granting you elemental power.
- Bard, College of Echoes: You are an Echo-Weaver, plucking the strings of time to give voice to forgotten truths and ancient songs.
- Cleric, Moonbound Domain: You are a prophet of the three moons, channeling their perilous, fate-bending power.
- Druid, Circle of the Elemental Confluence: You are a conductor of the world's six primordial elements, walking a razor's edge between harmony and chaos.
- Fighter, Dragoon of the Ninefold Path: You are an elite warrior trained in the draconic martial arts, blending precision with devastating elemental force.
- Gunsage: You are a pioneer of elemental-firearms, a master of volatile magi-tech who treats every shot as a calculated, dangerous gamble.
- Monk, Way of the Threefold Path: You seek harmony through the disciplined mastery of Body, Mind, and Spirit, a perilous path in a world saturated with chaotic energy.
- Paladin, Oath of the Avenger: You are a divine adjudicator, the sworn sword of a metallic dragon, tasked with hunting down those who defy the sacred order.
- Ranger, Skyblade Sentinel: You are an elite Chiryu-trained Ranger, riding a mythical sky-beast into battle as a master of aerial combat.
- Rogue, Veilpiercer: You are a psionic infiltrator, your mind a key that can unlock any secret, but every lock has its defenses.
- Sorcerer, Scion of the Shapers: Your blood carries the echo of the ancient Jen'mahadim, your magic not learned, but remembered.
- Sorcerer, Siphoner: You are an elemental conduit who extracts raw power directly from the world's dragocite veins and leylines.
- Warlock, The Azhra: You have forged a pact with a corrupt elemental horror, wielding its chaotic power at a terrible cost to your own body and soul.
- Wizard, Draconic Archivist: You are a scholar of draconic lore, transcribing the truths of the world's most ancient beings, even if the knowledge shatters your mind.
- Wizard, Dragocite Artisan: You are a master of arcane engineering, the architect of the magi-tech wonders that power the modern age.
A Hero's Origin
Before you were an adventurer, you were someone else. Your background defines your place in the world, the skills you learned before your journey began, and the connections—and enemies—you made along the way.
- Azhra-Touched Escapee: You bear the indelible mark of a corrupting horror. You escaped a cult or a horrific experiment, and now you are hunted, your life a desperate struggle for freedom and normalcy.
- Cho'den Operative: You were trained in the subtle arts of information gathering and strategic intelligence for the Cho'den, the secretive organization that safeguards the Chiryu Sovereignty.
- Dragocite Salvager: You grew up in the hazardous ruins and leyline fracture zones, scavenging the world's most valuable and dangerous mineral. You are a reckless but vital figure in the world's perilous resource economy.
- Dragon-Touched Orphan: You were abandoned near a place of immense draconic power and survived. You bear a strange affinity or a subtle physical mark that makes you a figure of both awe and suspicion.
- Dreamscape Initiate: You were trained in the mystery cults of Nelamdra, learning to navigate the astral currents and interpret psychic phenomena. You are a reluctant cartographer of the world's subconscious.
- Hamurkian Frostbound: You are a survivor of the frozen wilds, your life a testament to resilience in the face of Novendragos's most unforgiving northern reaches.
- Jen'mahadim Pilgrim: You are on a sacred pilgrimage for elemental balance, sent from your enclave to investigate or restore a site of ancient power, driven by a profound sense of duty.
- Kendroni Machinist: You apprenticed in Kendron’s innovation guilds, mastering the arcane machinery and elemental circuitry that fuels your nation's progress.
- Kratakahn Drifter: You hail from the wild, untamed grasslands beyond the established nations. You are a skilled tracker and resourceful survivor who carries knowledge of lost places and monstrous threats.
- Node Attendant: You were raised as a caretaker at a dragocite node, learning to attune to its energies. You are a living map to the world's hidden magical arteries.
- Platinus Bureaucrat: You served in the labyrinthine administration of Kendron's capital. You understand that true order is built through meticulous design and the subtle manipulation of regulations.
- Shadow Broker: You served a shadowy criminal organization that thrives on illicit dragocite and black market magi-tech. Your life is a constant game of cat and mouse in the high-stakes underworld.
- Shal Manziri Diplomat: You were trained in the cutthroat courts of a fallen empire. You learned that trade, subterfuge, and negotiation are weapons as deadly as any sword.
- Vanguard Cadet: You trained with Kendron's elite Drakemetal Vanguard, mastering elemental-firearms and the rigid discipline required to maintain order in a volatile world.
- Void-Scoured Scholar: You delved too deep into forbidden knowledge, and your mind or body bears the scars of the Void's influence. You are now driven by a quest for truth or a desperate search for a cure.