1. Notes

Dragonmarked Characters

Lore

Dragonmarks

A dragonmark is a magical symbol that manifests on the skin, but its color immediately differentiates it from any mundane tattoo. A dragonmark is etched in shades of blue, green, and purple so vivid that they appear to glow, though the mark provides no real illumination.

A dragonmark is associated with one or more magical abilities, and a person who carries a dragonmark can exercise these powers. When a bearer invokes the power of a dragonmark, its colors shimmer and flow, and the skin grows warm to the touch. The mark grows warmer each time its power is used over the course of a day; by the time the bearer has expended his full allotment of spell-like abilities, the mark is fever-hot and cannot be used again until it cools. Shapechanging ability and illusions can mimic a dragonmark’s appearance, but usually cannot make it warm to the touch.

In keeping with their magical nature, dragonmarks are not simply skin deep. If a mark is cut or scarred, it reappears as the skin that bears it magically heals. If a warrior loses the hand that bears his dragonmark, the mark will manifest elsewhere on his body. Creatures under the effect of polymorph, wild shape, and other shapechanging effects retain their dragonmarks unless they specifically will them to be hidden.

Nearly all dragonmarked heirs first manifest the least mark of their house. When a character increases her dragonmark’s power, the mark physically expands. A typical least dragonmark covers an area 2 inches square on the skin. Lesser marks are typically 3–5 inches across, while greater dragonmarks are 6–8 inches. Siberys dragonmarks are vast designs that often cover the bearer’s entire chest or torso.

Marked by Blood

Dragonmarks are tied to bloodlines. The dragonmarked houses are the descendants of the families that first manifested the marks, and a character with a dragonmark can always find a connection to a dragonmarked house somewhere in the roots of his family tree. Though the appearance of marks cannot be consistently predicted, approximately half the children born to dragonmarked parents eventually develop dragonmarks of their own. Common belief holds that parents with powerful marks are more likely to produce gifted children; likewise, children often develop the same powers as their parents. Within House Sivis, members of the Torralyn family typically manifest whispering wind, while Syrralans are more likely to possess the power of arcane mark. Houses often arrange marriages with marks in mind.

Despite these beliefs, dragonmarks are clearly about more than selective breeding. A child born to parents possessing least marks might later manifest the greater mark, or no mark at all. It is also known that the hybrid races cannot inherit the marks of their parents, so that a human cannot pass the Mark of Making to a half-elf child. A member of a dragonmarked house reincarnated as another race keeps his dragonmark, but children born to such transformed creatures never possess the dragonmark of the parent’s original race. Though legend states that Erandis d’Vol, the last known heir of the Mark of Death, was a half-dragon, only the Mark of Finding is known to cross racial barriers, manifesting on both humans and half-orcs.

The Test of Siberys

Children are not born with dragonmarks. Rather, a dragonmark most often appears in response to a stressful situation in which the powers of the mark could prove useful. A Jorasco heir feels her dragonmark flare to life as her best friend lies dying. A Medani scion instinctively realizes the meal he is about to eat is poisoned, and in an instant of burning pain, his mark appears.

The Test of Siberys—a rite of passage undertaken by the adolescent children of the dragonmarked houses—is rumored to induce the kind of extreme stress needed for dragonmarks to manifest. The test varies from house to house, and is based both on the powers of the mark and the traditions of the family. Outsiders, even those of dragonmarked houses, know little of what goes on in a particular house’s test. Though a person can fail the test and still manifest a mark at a later age (as shown by the fact that a player character can manifest a mark at -any time), this is rare. As a rule, it is assumed that those who fail will never develop a dragonmark.

The Test of Siberys shapes the future of a character. A successful child emerges as a dragonmarked lord with a vital role to play in his family’s future; one who fails still maintains the privileges of her bloodline, but must fight to prove her worth in the mundane offices of her house.

Roles within the Houses

Not all people who bear dragonmarks have the same relationship with their house. Some are deeply immersed in their heritage as agents, while others have barely formed a relationship as foundlings.

The Agent

As an agent of a dragonmarked house, you have close ties to a house and its leaders. Depending on your status and accomplishments, you can draw on the authority and resources of the house—limited at first when you’ve yet to prove yourself, but increasing with your accomplishments. The flip side of this is that you have responsibilities and you’re accountable to the house. Your actions reflect upon it and you’ll be expected to follow its rules and regulations. In short, your ties to the house are a constant factor in your life, and will likely come up in every adventure—whether it’s because the house has given you a specific mission, or simply because your ties to the house affect your interactions with others. One topic that’s worth discussing with your DM is whether you want to be proud of your house and if you’d like it to be shown primarily in a positive light in the campaign… or if you like the idea of your house taking actions that force you to question your loyalty, and if you might uncover secrets you wish you didn’t know.

Your influence as an agent is based on your actions, so this is something you have to earn over time. However, there’s two backgrounds that make sense if you want this to be a long-term part of your character. House Agent from the Wayfinder’s Guide to Eberron reflects an ongoing role as an operative and troubleshooter for your house. You may not be close to the leadership, but you’re a recognized agent. Alternately, Noblereflects the idea that you are tied to one of the most powerful and influential families within the house… reflecting the idea that in Eberron, a dragonmarked baron has power to rival a prince or duke. Your Position of Power has a different flavor than that of an aristocrat, but you are still heir to wealth and power. Nobles may see you as new money, but they will respect your family’s influence.

The Scion

As a scion you’re an heir in good standing with your house, but you aren’t actively working for a branch of the house, and you have little recognition or responsibility. At some point in your career you worked for one of the house guilds, but you’re currently out on your own. Effectively, if the houses were nations, you’d be a citizen: you have certain rights based on your citizenship, but the house will only pay attention to you if you draw attention to yourself. This is the simplest approach if you like the idea of being part of one of these powerful families, but don’t want to have a lot of responsibilities. As with the agent, it’s good to talk with your DM and discuss the role you’d prefer to see the house play in your story. Would you prefer to stay at a distance? Would you be interested in being drawn more deeply in over time as your reputation grows? The house could definitely take an interest in you as you gain influence and power. There could be intrigues with your family, or you could have prophetic significance you don’t know about. You could discover corruption within the house and have to decide whether to fight it or whether to simply break ties with it. You begin as a largely free agent, but there’s many ways your story could go.

While a scion could have any background, there are a few that could reflect your ties to your house. Guild Artisan is an obvious one, with your guild being the house guild that covers your particular trade; your Guild Membership feature means that you can call on the support of the house, even if it’s on a more practical level than the Noble or House Agent. If you’re Phiarlan or Thuranni, a background as an Entertainer may be a reflection of a career that began with the House Guilds, while if you’re a Spy you could be a former agent who’s still maintained a few contacts and covers. Soldier is a fine choice for House Deneith, and your Military Rank represents your honorable service within the Blademark mercenary corps. Lyrandar Sailors, Sivis Scholars, Tharashk Urban Bounty Hunters… all of these reflect the idea that you had an honest career within the house, but currently you don’t have any responsibilities to it.

The Orphan

As an orphan, you’ve chosen to break your ties with your house. This often happens when an heir wants to engage in actions forbidden by the Korth Edicts, such as marrying into a noble family. But it can also be driven by a matter of principle: a Jorasco heir wants to devote their life to charitable healing, or a Deneith soldier wants to fight for a particular cause instead of for gold. The main point is that you chose to cut yourself off. You’re not allow to wear the house insignia or to present yourself as an heir, but you’re not an excoriate. If your circumstances change, you could even potentially return to it. The main question to answer in creating your character is why did you leave? Was it driven by the Edicts? Was it a matter of principle? Was it tied to love, or to prevent a scandal?

In many ways being an orphan is the simplest way to play a dragonmarked character, if all you want is the abilities of the mark. You have no responsibilities, no access to house resources, and you can’t even use the house name… but you’re also not burdened by the infamy of excoriation. The main question is if you want the house to play a role in your life. If you left to avoid a scandal, do you want it to come back up? If you were driven away by love gone wrong, do you want to cross paths with your lover or your rival? If you left because of a principle, do you want that to be a theme as your story evolves? Or do you just want to focus on a career as an adventurer with a dragonmark, without getting into any of that?

An orphan can follow almost any background. The main point is that the benefits of your background will not reflect an active tie to your house. If you’re a Soldier and a Deneith orphan, you should either drop Military Rank, or say that it reflects your rank in a different military organization; you’ve broken all ties to the Blademark. If you’re a Noble, you don’t have a Position of Privilege within the house; instead, you or one of your parents could have married into the aristocracy. Of course, you could take the Noble background with the Retainers option, suggesting that you turned your back on your life of privilege but a few loyal retainers remain by your side.

The Excoriate

An Excoriate has committed a crime against the house and been formally cast out of it. This is far more severe than being an orphan. Your likeness is circulated; heirs of the house are forbidden from providing you with any sort of aid or assistance, and even members of other houses will usually shun excoriates. This punishment is reserved for serious offenses, and carries the weight of infamy, so the immediate question is what did you do? Did you actually commit treason or make an attack against your house? Did you deserve your excoriation, or is it the result of political maneuvering—you uncovered corruption or some other secret the house needed to keep hidden? If it was possible, would you want to find a way to return to your house, or do you despise your family and everything it stands for?

An excoriate is an orphan with an extra serving of drama. You aren’t simply ignored by the house, you will actively have to deal with the consequences of your infamy. If the adventure requires interaction with a house, you may have to disguise yourself or make yourself scare. On the other hand, perhaps you still have friends or contacts in the family… but are you willing to place them at risk by asking for their help?

While an excoriate can follow any background with the same limitations as the orphan, this is also a logical path for a Criminal; it could be that your criminal activities are what got you excoriated, or it could be that you were forced into a life of crime after being thrown from the house. It’s also a good match for a Folk Hero, especially if you were excoriated for doing something that hurt your house but helped the common people. A more unusual option would be Hermit or Haunted One; you have seen or discovered something the house doesn’t want known.

The Foundling

As a foundling you never had a connection to a house. You’re presumably descended from an orphan or excoriate… or you might be the illegitimate child of a member of a house. You’ve grown up without any guidance from the house and you don’t know any of its traditions; you’ve learned to use the mark entirely on your own. As a general rule, the houses are quite happy to bring foundlings back into the family, so you COULD become a scion or agent if you ever wanted to… so the question is, why haven’t you? Is it that you’ve never had contact with a house—that you’re an Urchin, Hermit, or Outlander who has never been to a house enclave? Have you been recruited by some other organization keen to make use of your powers… so you might be a Spy or a Criminal, or an Acolyte who’s chosen your faith over your house? Or are you AFRAID of the houses… either because you know a terrible secret about them, or for purely irrational reasons?

A foundling has no immediate responsibilities; typically, the house doesn’t know you exist. Generally, the reason to play a foundling character is because you want to explore a relationship with the houses… or to play the idea of being a dragonmarked agent of another organization. If your reputation grows and your mark is revealed, your house may pressure you to join—is that a story that you want to explore? If not, you might be better off as an orphan.

Dragonmarked

A fighter decides to take the Mark of Passage. What does this mean? What social obligations do the dragonmarked have, and what impact does a dragonmark have on the life of a player character?

To answer this question, dragonmarked characters need to define their roles within their house. To bear a dragonmark, characters must have a blood connection to a dragonmarked family, but this connection can take many forms.

The Excorciate

The dragonmarked houses have their own laws, some older than Galifar. An heir who violates the laws of a house is made an excoriate: stripped of the house name and forbidden from drawing on house resources. In its original form, this punishment typically involved true excoriation, or the cutting away of the skin bearing the outcast’s dragonmark. Despite a dragonmark’s ability to reform in time, this process (especially for elite heirs with a greater dragonmark) was often intentionally lethal. Today, an excoriate must simply surrender her signet ring, any other property that can be claimed as a gift of the house, and the name of both house and family. Her likeness is circulated through the major enclaves of the house.

Heirs of her house are forbidden to provide her with aid or succor, and the other houses typically shun excoriates of any line. Excoriation is a rare punishment, but is often a fate worse than prison for a dragonmarked heir.

In the past, the dragonmarked were excoriated for mingling bloodlines with members of other houses. Today, such dalliances are no longer a crime, but relationships between house heirs remain a dark and unspoken taboo (see the Mixed Marks sidebar, page 156). Excoriation is reserved for serious acts of treason, or for those who violate the fundamental principles of a house and bring shame to its name. Excoriation can be decreed only by a council of viceroys, and only a patriarch can rescind it.

The excoriate is a strange role for a player character to choose from the start, since it closes many doors. At the same time, it does create a certain dark romance, especially if the punishment was undeserved. Alternatively, a scion or an agent of a house (see below) could become an excoriate through her actions over the course of a campaign. This is the dark underside of the power wielded by the dragonmarked houses, and it is up to the Dungeon Master to make an excoriate feel the pressure of living as an exile.

The following text translates the excoriate concept into the character flaw rules presented in Unearthed Arcana. Even for campaigns that do not use the flaw system, the description outlines the game effects that accompany excoriation.

The Orphan

The Korth Edicts prevent members of a dragonmarked house from holding land, noble title, or rank in a national military. Over the centuries, a number of dragonmarked heirs have chosen to give up their birthright to be freed from the edicts. During the Last War, a number of idealistic heirs left their houses to fight for one of the Five Nations. Others have married into noble families, whether for love or greed. An orphan’s relationship with the members of his house depends on the circumstances under which he left. An heir who breaks from one of the prominent branches of a family, throws away an important arranged marriage, or publicly denounces the traditions of his house will have bad blood to deal with. On the other hand, an heir might leave his house with the blessing of his family. The Korth Edicts have come under attack in recent years, and a house might see the advantage of seeding capable heirs in influential positions.

Being an orphan is a good choice for a player character who wants to have a dragonmark without the baggage of house membership. Depending on his backstory, an orphan could have a specific set of enemies within his house or might have had a perfectly amicable parting of the ways (even retaining use of the Favored in House feat). However, an orphan is restricted from using his family or house name. He might not be an outcast, but he has surrendered his birthright just the same.

The Foundling

Characters can develop dragonmarks only by virtue of blood ties to a dragonmarked house, and many dragonmarked discover their lineage only after the mark appears. Some are the descendants of excoriates, while others are the product of a doomed romance. Whatever their stories, these foundlings carry dragonmarks but have no connection to their houses.

All the dragonmarked houses seek to identify and recruit foundlings. A house might occasionally refuse to accept a foundling, typically in cases involving descendants of truly infamous excoriates. As a rule, though, the houses all want to expand their ranks. Foundlings can be treated as scions or agents (see below), depending on how closely they wish to work with their houses.

Some foundlings have no interest in working with the dragonmarked families. A foundling’s desire for independence is typically respected, but those who gain a significant amount of notoriety often find themselves pressured to join their house. Foundlings who come to be seen as a threat to the house will discover how formidable an enemy family can be.

The path of the foundling is the obvious choice for a player character who decides to develop a dragonmark late in her adventuring career. All that is required is the appropriate dragonmarked race and a certain flexibility with the family tree. Foundlings are similar to orphans from a roleplaying perspective, but a foundling has no connection to a house: no allies, no enemies, and no intrinsic knowledge of house traditions. Opportunities to join the house provide an interesting option for future character development.

A foundling cannot use the house name unless she is formally inducted into her house. It would be unusual (though not impossible) for a foundling to gain the Favored in House feat without first joining the house.

The Scion

The scion is a member of a dragonmarked house who embraces his heritage but keeps his distance from the administration of the house. This is the most common background for dragonmarked adventurers. Orphans and excoriates are quite rare, but young heirs often wish to see the world before settling down in one of the house guilds. Some scions are carefree wanderers with no interest in politics and economics. Some are independents, seeking to establish their own personal businesses instead of joining one of the major bound house arms. Some have a deep interest in gaining power in their house, but believe that building powerful allies in the outside world is the best means to do so.

A dragonmarked scion bears the name of his house and, if he carries a dragon mark, can use the honorary title of lord. A scion can obtain room and board at any house enclave, though he is expected to put in a few hours of work in exchange. The scion does not have access to any special resources, but can usually find temporary work at a guild business.

The scion is a good choice for a character who wants the potential to be involved with a dragonmarked house without letting it dominate his life. A player of a scion character can control the degree to which the character’s house affects the game. Scions are free to travel the world and indulge in whatever adventures strike their fancy; when they decide to settle down, the house will be waiting.

The drawback to being a scion is a lack of influence. A local enclave might help a scion find work, but the viceroy won’t take her word as seriously as that of an agent of the house. A scion can earn the respect of her house through her actions and adventures, and will probably be encouraged to become an agent when she does so.

The Agent

Every dragonmarked house is involved in dozens of schemes and plots. Some of these are deep secrets that could threaten the existence of the house if exposed; others are practical quests designed to turn a profit. House Medani might infiltrate a group of anti-monarchist rebels in Breland. House Cannith is always working to recover lost treasures from its holdings in the Mournland, or to uncover ancient secrets from Xen’drik. The assassins of House Phiarlan and House Thuranni spar with one another in the shadows. Assignments such as these are the work of house agents: adventurers who dedicate their lives to expanding the power and influence of their dragonmarked families.

The choice to play an agent has a significant impact on a campaign, and should be made only with the approval of the Dungeon Master. An agent can be called into the service of her house at any time, but how this servitude affects the rest of the party is an important question. The simplest solution is for an entire party to embrace the agent’s path. Whether adventurers have blood ties to the house or not, they can choose to serve as elite troubleshooters, going wherever the patriarch sends them. If the party includes characters with different dragonmarks, they could represent an alliance between their respective houses, possibly on the cutting edge of espionage or exploration.

Another approach is for a dragonmarked character to be a secret agent: an independent operative whose actions cannot be traced back to her house. She might assume the role of an orphan or excoriate, even as she takes her orders from house superiors. The question is whether her companions are aware of her loyalties—or whether subterfuge will be required to convince her friends to follow her.

A house agent and her companions can always find free room and board at any house enclave. At the DM’s discretion, a trusted agent might be paid a regular salary by her house, or receive information, transportation, and supplies as necessary to complete an assignment. Likewise, house officers might provide an agent with magic weapons or other items—but will expect them back at the conclusion of the mission.

An agent in good standing should receive a +2 bonus on all favor checks made with the Favored in House feat. A favored agent has considerable leeway when it comes to requesting special equipment or services, though this still counts toward regular use of the feat.

Being an agent has both advantages and drawbacks. An agent cannot choose her assignments, and refusing to follow the orders of superiors within the house can result in reprimand, excoriation, or (depending on what secrets the PC knows) a contract on her life. An agent will acquire powerful enemies through her work, whether the agents of other houses, groups such as the King’s Citadel of Breland and the Royal Eyes of Aundair, or the hidden hands of the Dreaming Dark or the Lords of Dust. It is a dangerous life, and one that shapes the tone of a campaign. Both DM and player should be certain before a character chooses this path.