Now on D&D Beyond: Kobold Press Presents the Northlands

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Lands and Factions of the North

Tomasz Chistowski

Dive into 11 fully realized drop-in locations and a host of mysterious sites, dangerous denizens, and dread destinations. There frankly isn’t enough room in this article to go into detail on these amazing places, but the names alone give you a sense of the depth and flavor of the North.

• Agnalan. Headlands of the Giantkin
• Bjarmia. Flying Island of the Cloud Giants
• Bjornrike. Kingdom of Bears
• Blodejord. Halls of the Fire Giants
• Kaldrgard. Frost Giant Jarldoms
• Sengajordensblod. Land of the Jotun
• Skaldholm. Island of Bards
• Trollheim. Kingdom of Two Trees
• Thursrike. Frozen Expanse of the Hill Giants
• Vargrike. Kingdom of the Wolf
• Wolfheim. the Reaver’s Hold

Then there are the factions of the North. You’ll find 9 new groups, organizations, and cults. Some are benevolent and helpful, others only look to themselves, and still others have dark designs and seek to end the world.

• Blood Reckoning. A faction of giants who seek revenge on the gods for the death of the primordial first giant.
• Cult of Ragnarok. A common name for the dozens of individual cults or sects seeking to bring about the final battle of the gods and the end of the world.
• Fellowship of Wyrm Slayers. A guild of monster hunters and dragonslayers seeking blood, guts, and glory!
• Glorious Order of Giant Killers. Ostensibly a guild of protectors seeking to curtail giant attacks, the leader of this faction has dark designs to unify the North under his rule.
• Lodge of the Dancing Bear. A faction of guides, explorers, and scouts with chapterhouses across the North.
• Shield-Maidens of Sif. A female faction of clerics, paladins, and warriors devoted to the goddess of warriors and archers.
• Skaldic Brotherhood. A guild of bards, messengers, and performers who gather and spread information.
• Steadfast Company of Mile-Steppers. A faction of drovers, merchants, and mercenaries who transport cargo and protect travelers.
• Storm Reavers. A sect of pirates and reavers who hunt the seas of the North, attacking ships and pillaging coastal communities.

New Options for Epic Characters

We’ve included loads of new options for characters:

• 8 new subclasses
• 5 new species
• 9 new backgrounds
• 75 new feats
• and more!

New Subclasses

Tomasz Chistowski

• Path of the Titan Barbarian. Fuel your rage with the power of the mighty Jotun and assume their size to deliver giant-sized damage to your foes.
• Skald Bard. Manipulate and inspire with battle sagas and poetic provocations. Show everyone that words really do hurt.
• Nornbound Cleric. Do you want to alter fate itself? With this subclass, you can! Replace die rolls with pre-rolled results, connect two creatures so harm to one heals the other, and more!
• Circle of Fenris Druid. Draw upon the power of the Great Wolf. Create a giant spectral wolf head to chomp on your enemies and summon the deadly fenrikyn to aid you in battle.
• Viking Fighter. Time to sail and pillage! This subclass grants significant combat bonuses like Marauder’s Reprisal and Unstoppable Assault, and it also provides bonuses to numerous shipboard activities.
• Oath of Valhalla Paladin. Protect the spirits of those who perished honorably in battle. Dropping foes grants bonuses to your allies, and you can even call upon the gifts of the Valkyries to fly or resist spells.
• Spirit Caller Sorcerer. Create an aura of whirling spirits to aid you and your allies while hindering your enemies at the same time, or augment your die rolls with secrets whispered to you by the spirits.
• Trickster Warlock. Who doesn’t want to be more like Loki? Forcibly swap places with other creatures, exchange objects for one another at a distance, and fool minds into believing your version of reality is true!

New Species

Craig Maher

Immerse your characters in the rich tapestry of the North with a host of new species.

• Bearfolk. Mighty ursine humanoids of iron resolve and deep nobility. Will your bearfolk PC lean more toward harnessing the power of nature or learn the crushing embrace of the bear?
• Beastkin. Humanoids with animal features, the beastkin are as varied as the creatures of the woods, mountains, and seas. Choose which adaptation fits the vision for your PC, from Avian, Agile, Aquatic, or Sturdy.
• Giantkin. Descended from the giants, these humanoids embody the traits of their forebears to demonstrate unique abilities depending on their lineage.
• Trollkin. Those with the blood of trolls, ogres, or fey in their veins, the trollkin are powerful warriors and cunning mystics with regeneration among their variant traits.
• Werekin. The descendants of lycanthropes, werekin can change their aspects to gain one of the primal powers of their ancestors each time they transform.

New Backgrounds, Feats, and the Character Thread Option

Tomasz Chistowski

TheNorthlands Worldbook presents 9 new backgrounds for your PCs, including the Preordained Hero, Seer, Ice Nomad, and the tragic fate-cursed Doomed. There are also 75 new feats, such as Skirmisher, Trickster’s Toolbox, Lightning Mastery, and Giant Slayer.

Additionally, you can choose to pick up a Character Thread anytime during your character’s adventuring career. Threads are side-roles taken up by PCs, such as Bloodsworn, Explorer, Fatebound, and Legend Hunter. You get rewards for hitting milestones while pursuing and accomplishing your Thread. Then you can choose a new one if you wish.

New Gear, Magic Items, and Spells

There are over 80 new pieces of equipment, spells, and magic items in the Northlands. Everything from skis and snow-goggles to new longships, magical ales, rings of legend, and even Fabled Items (magical objects that improve as you grow in power).

Fell Monsters of the North

Brian Joseph P Valeza

Kobold Press is known for our monsters, and this book is no different. The Northlands Worldbook brings you 55 new monsters to throw at your players, many drawn from Norse mythology. Battle Fafnir, the deadly shapeshifted dragon. Take on the spawn of the fabled Grindel or the world-serpent Jormungandr. Adventures in the North would not be complete without giants and trolls, and we’ve got an array of new ones for you. In these pages, you’ll find Wind Trolls, shapeshifting Gilitrutt Trolls, or rime-bound Glacial Trolls. And let’s not forget the giants! The six-headed Thrudgelmir giant or the crackling power of the Lightning Giant are deadly enough, but they pale in the face of the awesome might of the gargantuan Jotun.

In addition to the new monsters, we’ve also included 19 New NPCs across a wide variety of CRs: Apprentice Witches, Merchants, Jarls, Warlords, Vikings, Raiders, Skalds, and more!

Viking Rap Battles, Raiding Rules, and Other New Mechanics

Fajri Muhammad

The Northlands Worldbook presents an entire chapter on new rules to use while running games in the far North.

• Reputation. Track deeds and failures to accumulate a reputation score, and spend that score to enact a Reputation Challenge and take narrative control of the game for a short time.
• Holmganga, Formal Martial Duels. Challenge others to ritual duels to settle matters of law or honor with blood.
• Flyting Battles. For a less dangerous confrontation, face off in a poetic battle of words, and test your cunning in a duel of insults judged by the audience.
• Prophecies and Omens. Our prophecy generator makes it easy to quickly create flavorful prognostications and reward (or punish) the PCs for fulfilling their prophecies (or failing to do so).
• Ships and Sea Combat. Take your battles to the waves with our sea combat rules covering ship-to-ship and ship-to-monster conflicts.
• Raiding. Our raiding system allows you to conduct voyages of pillage in between your regular adventures as a downtime activity, or you can run them as actual encounters or even mix the two!
• Northland Weather. Throw blizzards and ice storms at the PCs!

Northlands Sagas: Loki Needs You!

Fajri Muhammad

Northlands Sagas is a connected adventure path with a host of recurring characters and epic stakes that culminates in a battle in the streets of Asgard to prevent Ragnarok. You can run the adventures as a single narrative storyline, but they also work perfectly well as individual stand-alone adventures.

The trickster god Loki himself recruits the PCs to help him save the world, an act that even he admits is wildly counterintuitive for him. But being a helpful deity (sometimes) and a friendly one (nuance), Loki doesn’t just push the characters into the action without any sort of aid. . . .

Runestones: Leveled Items for Epic Heroes

Tomasz Chistowski

Given to the PCs by Loki, these unique magical items require no attunement, and each is linked to one of the gods of the North. Over the course of the adventure path, the PCs can unlock three levels of powers in their individual runestones.

Saga-Worthy Adventures Against Fearsome Foes

Craig Maher

The adventures in Northlands Sagas bring the PCs from level 1 to level 12 and pit the players against the machinations of cunning gods, dread cults, and the weave of Fate itself.

• Down the Wolf Barrow. The harrowing danger of entering the twisting halls of the barrow is only matched by trying to leave again.
• Ogre’s Run. A thrilling rescue mission into the land of ogres and hill giants results in a madcap race down a frozen river.
• Among the Norns. Climb the World Tree and survive the frosts of Jotunheim to question the Mistresses of Fate.
• Assault on Hvalfell. Rally a town to defend against an army of giants and cultists.
• Trials of the Lost Skald. Challenge the island of bards to a contest of wit, bravery, and prowess to gain vital support for the PCs’ cause.
• Descent of Cloud Castle. Survive a falling cloud giant castle and the attack of the cultists who wish to bring it crashing down.
• The Redspear Trail. Venture to the Isle of Loki to confront the dragon Fafnir.
• Murder at the Moot. Solve the murder of an important giant leader to prove the PCs’ innocence and (perhaps) gain important allies.
• Attack on Birgkrona. Join the assault on the stronghold of the Cult of Ragnarok and lead a daring stealth mission to thwart the defenses from inside.
• Storming the Den of Fenris. Race against the cult’s leadership to stop them from releasing the dread wolf.
• Ashes of Asgard. Rescue the gods themselves in the siege-torn streets of the divine city and face off against Fenris to save the world.

All of this and more can be found within the pages of the Northlands Worldbook and Northlands Sagas. Now that these amazing tomes are available on D&D Beyond, you can have everything you need at your fingertips to run adventures in the North.

Thanks for your interest in the Northlands, and keep an eye out for more goodies from Kobold Press on D&D Beyond, koboldpress.com, and our own crowdfunding projects.

Epic Adventure Awaits

And remember. . . .

No matter how far you roam across glaciers and snowfields or among ice-choked seas, there is always more to discover. The Northlands cry out for heroes with a sharp blade, a strong voice, a steady heart, or a hand raising a rune-marked stone in defiance of fate.

So, gather your warband, ready your longship, and call upon your shield-maidens and reavers. Step into the sagas and marvels of the Northlands and see what glories await you.