"Strength is not proven by survival. Strength is proven by what survives you."
— Maxim of the Pyrestewards
Introduction
You were raised within the Obsidian Hegemony, the dominant military power of Drakthar: an authoritarian, conquest-driven realm shaped by volcanic wealth, fire rites, harsh discipline, and the rule of the Ashen Lord. Its people are taught that ambition is sacred, weakness is dangerous, and greatness must be hammered into existence by force.
Description
Life in the Hegemony is a crucible. Its cities rise from volcanic stone, its forges roar with sacred heat, and its soldiers are taught to see mercy as a luxury earned only after victory. The state commands mines, foundries, temples, and legions with brutal efficiency, exporting forged arms, enchanted tools, volcanic gemstones, and fear in nearly equal measure.
You may have served in the Flameborn Legions, labored under a forge-clan overseer, trained as a temple enforcer, guarded mineral caravans, hunted rebels, studied destructive fire magic, or acted as a functionary in the machinery of conquest. In the Hegemony, every talent is expected to serve dominion. Art becomes propaganda. Faith becomes obedience. Law becomes a chain glowing red from the forge.
You became an adventurer because something cracked. Perhaps you were sent abroad as an agent, deserter, scout, or collector of rare resources. Perhaps you fled after witnessing cruelty you could no longer excuse. Perhaps you still believe in the Hegemony and seek power to rise within it. Or perhaps you carry its discipline like a scar and intend to use what it taught you against the tyrants who made you.
Whatever your path, you know how power behaves when no one restrains it. That knowledge is ugly, useful, and hard to wash clean.
Ability Score Bonuses
The Hegemony rewards strength, endurance, ruthless presence, and tactical usefulness. Choose one:
- Strength +2, Constitution +1 for legionaries, enforcers, miners, and battlefield survivors
- Charisma +2, Strength +1 for officers, temple agents, interrogators, and political climbers
- Constitution +1, Intelligence +1, Charisma +1 for forge specialists, administrators, spies, and strategic operatives
Using This Background
This background is ideal for Fighters, Barbarians, Paladins, Rangers, Rogues, Clerics, Warlocks, Sorcerers, Artificers, and Monks who want ties to authoritarian power, conquest, volcanic survival, harsh military training, state religion, rebellion, or moral reckoning.
A Hegemony Ashbound might be:
- a former legionary seeking redemption;
- a loyal agent hunting enemies of the state;
- a forge-trained artificer haunted by what their weapons were used for;
- a rebel defector carrying military intelligence;
- a fire-priest questioning the theology of conquest;
- a mercenary shaped by imperial discipline but no longer bound by it;
- an escaped labor overseer trying to free someone still trapped inside the system.
This background works especially well in campaigns involving tyranny, rebellion, war crimes, volcanic ruins, military occupation, black-market weapons, escaped prisoners, dangerous relics, and the deliciously sharp question of whether discipline can be redeemed after serving cruelty.
"The forge made me hard. It did not decide what I would become."
— Words scratched into a broken legionary helm
- Ability Scores: Ability Score Bonuses
The Hegemony rewards strength, endurance, ruthless presence, and tactical usefulness. Choose one:
- Strength +2, Constitution +1 for legionaries, enforcers, miners, and battlefield survivors
- Charisma +2, Strength +1 for officers, temple agents, interrogators, and political climbers
- Constitution +1, Intelligence +1, Charisma +1 for forge specialists, administrators, spies, and strategic operatives
- Feat: Your background grants one of the following feat options:
- Tough
- Alert
At the DM’s discretion, Skilled, Crafter, or Magic Initiate may also fit forge-trained artisans, fire-magic initiates, or state agents.
- Skill Proficiencies: Your life emphasized endurance, command pressure, survival under harsh authority, and practical knowledge of war, forge, and fear.
Skill Proficiencies: Intimidation, Athletics, Survival
- Tool Proficiencies: Your life emphasized endurance, command pressure, survival under harsh authority, and practical knowledge of war, forge, and fear.
Tool Proficiencies: Smith’s Tools, one Gaming Set, and one of Mason’s Tools, Alchemist’s Supplies, Vehicles (Land), or Calligrapher’s Supplies
- Languages: Your life emphasized endurance, command pressure, survival under harsh authority, and practical knowledge of war, forge, and fear.
Languages: Common and two additional languages of your choice, often Ignan, Draconic, Giant, Infernal, or a regional tongue tied to conquest, trade, or rebellion.
- Equipment: You begin with the following equipment:
- Heat-scarred traveler’s clothes, military leathers, or forge-worker attire
- A blackened iron token, legion brand, temple mark, broken chain link, or volcanic-glass charm
- Smith’s Tools or Alchemist’s Supplies
- A whetstone, firestarter kit, and small vial of forge ash
- A folded map of a mine road, military route, or contested border
- A simple weapon, utility blade, or worn legion sidearm
- A sealed order, discharge tablet, forged travel writ, or rebel warning note
- A pouch containing 15 gp
| d8 | Hegemony Origin |
|---|---|
| 1 | You served in the Flameborn Legions and survived a campaign no one expected to return from. |
| 2 | You worked in a state forge where weapons were made for conquest, not defense. |
| 3 | You were trained by the Pyrestewards and learned how faith can become a weapon. |
| 4 | You guarded prisoners, rebels, or forced laborers and saw something that changed you. |
| 5 | You were sent abroad to recover a relic, rare mineral, runaway asset, or enemy defector. |
| 6 | You deserted after refusing an order that crossed the last line you still had. |
| 7 | You still serve the Hegemony, openly or secretly, and seek power to rise higher. |
| 8 | A rebel, slave, prisoner, or conquered citizen spared your life, and you now owe a debt you cannot explain. |
Your upbringing taught you how authoritarian systems function: command hierarchies, intimidation, military logistics, forced labor structures, temple enforcement, and fear-based obedience.
In military camps, harsh frontier settlements, mining towns, occupied territories, forge-cities, mercenary companies, and authoritarian courts, you can usually identify:
- who truly holds coercive power;
- which officials are feared, bribable, zealous, or ambitious;
- where supplies, prisoners, weapons, or records are kept;
- whether obedience is driven by loyalty, fear, profit, faith, or exhaustion.
When observing a command dispute, punishment ritual, military inspection, forced labor operation, or political intimidation, you can usually determine one useful truth: who is vulnerable, who is pretending confidence, where resistance might form, or what act would make the system respond violently.
You may also secure temporary aid from Hegemony veterans, forge contacts, smugglers, defectors, fire-priests, mercenary quartermasters, or frightened officials. Such aid often comes with suspicion. Few people from the Hegemony give freely; most are counting the cost before you finish speaking.
Suggested Characteristics
| d6 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | I assess every room by exits, weapons, ranks, and who flinches first. |
| 2 | I speak bluntly; soft language was not useful where I was raised. |
| 3 | I respect strength, but I no longer assume strength deserves obedience. |
| 4 | I keep my gear clean, my fire ready, and my doubts quieter than they should be. |
| 5 | I can endure heat, hunger, and command voices without visibly reacting. |
| 6 | I distrust easy kindness because I was taught to look for the hook inside it. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Power: The weak are protected only when the strong choose restraint. |
| 2 | Survival: Endurance is the first virtue. Everything else comes after breath. |
| 3 | Freedom: No empire has the right to own a soul. |
| 4 | Ambition: I will rise higher than those who tried to use me. |
| 5 | Justice: Cruel systems must be broken with the same discipline that built them. |
| 6 | Order: Chaos feeds tyrants and rebels alike; someone must hold the line. |
| d5 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | I owe loyalty to a former comrade, commander, prisoner, or forge-master. |
| 2 | Someone I left behind is still trapped in the Hegemony’s machinery. |
| 3 | I seek a weapon, relic, mine, or secret tied to Drakthar’s volcanic heart. |
| 4 | A rebel cell, escaped laborer, or conquered village knows my true name. |
| 5 | I must decide whether my homeland is worth redeeming or only worth surviving. |
| d6 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | Someone I left behind is still trapped in the Hegemony’s machinery. |
| 2 | I sometimes admire ruthless efficiency even when I hate its purpose. |
| 3 | I struggle to disobey clear authority, even when it is wrong. |
| 4 | I assume mercy will be exploited. |
| 5 | I hide guilt behind discipline. |
| 6 | I fear becoming exactly what I escaped. |
Contacts
Your contacts may include former legionaries, forge overseers, Pyresteward attendants, caravan guards, smugglers, arms dealers, escaped laborers, rebel informants, mine clerks, mercenary captains, or state agents who still think you are useful. These contacts can provide weapons, forged documents, military rumors, access to supply chains, information about Drakthari politics, or leads on volcanic relics and hidden mines. Every contact is a live coal: useful in the hand only if you understand how badly it can burn.
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