The Blessed — Stonetop playbook
Danu, the Great Mother, provides. We need only learn her secrets: the names by which the trees call each other; the mark made with redberry juice to ward off impure spirits; the language of the wolves. A thousand such secrets Danu keeps, to share with only her true children. Her Blessed.
Damage die: d6 · Base HP: 18
| +2 | +1 | +1 | +0 | +0 | -1 |
Backgrounds
Initiate
Stonetop has long been home to a sacred order, keepers of the old ways and speakers for Danu. You are one such initiate, the most gifted in generations. You gain the Rites of the Land move.
There are other initiates in Stonetop, serving the goddess and the village. They aid you as followers—see the Initiates of Danu insert. Who are they? Choose 2 or 3.
Raised by Wolves
Maybe not by wolves, but you grew up in the wild. Beasts of land and air were your siblings. The sighing wind taught you language. The trees and rocks were your home. Were you one of the Forest Folk? Abandoned or orphaned? Lured into the Wood?
Regardless, you get the Trackless Step move (go mark it now). Also, when you Forage, you have advantage.
For some reason, you've made yourself known to Stonetop and perhaps you even call it home. But the ways of humans are still strange to you. Once per session, when your wild ways offend or alienate you from someone, mark XP.
Vessel
A seed of Danu's power has taken root in your soul. Perhaps it has always been there and only recently sprouted. Or maybe it was planted in you during some portentous event.
Regardless, your dreams have been haunted by strange markings and symbols. You feel the mystic power in plants, stones, and soil. And you've felt the growing wrath of the Earth Mother as foul things begin to move about. Take the Danu's Grasp move (go mark it now).
Danu's power flows through you, but at great cost. When you would spend 1 Stock from your sacred pouch, you may choose to lose 2d4 HP instead.
Instincts
- Delight. To find beauty, in even the most ugly thing.
- Detachment. To remain unmoved, to be cold as winter.
- Nurture. To help others grow, learn, or improve.
- Preservation. To protect the natural world.
- Reverence. To demand sacrifice to the spirits and Danu.
Special possessions
Choose two at the start of play.
Sacred pouch
Sacred pouch (magical). Your sacred pouch doesn't take up space in your inventory. It can hold up to 3 Stock (sacred herbs, powders, stones, pigments, chalks, clay, and so forth). Each time you gain an even-numbered level, your pouch can hold +1 Stock. When anyone but you looks inside your sacred pouch and touches the materials therein, the Stock is ruined.
When you have a few days of downtime in familiar terrain, you may replenish your Stock. When you Forage, you can produce Stock instead of provisions.
Apiary
Apiary: beeswax, candles (close, area, lasts ~1 hr), honey, bee smokers (1 load), hat & veils (1 load), etc.
Collected offerings
Collected offerings (3 uses): Expend a use to produce something valuable to a spirit of the wild. Restore 1 use each season.
Goat herd
Goat herd: milk, cheese, pelts, meat, blood, horn, wool, etc. Each season, 1 in 4 chance of having a bezoar (swallow it to cure poison).
Herb garden
Herb garden: shears, mortars & pestles, herbs, seeds, remedies, mild poisons, spades (1 load), etc. Each spring, d4 uses of bendis root (reach, area, burns ~1 hr, fumes repel perversions of nature).
Mastiffs
Mastiffs, 2-3 followers (alert, keen-nosed, fierce, overprotective); HP 6; Damage d6 (hand, grabby); Instinct to bark & threaten; Cost: affection.
Write-in
________ (discuss with GM)
Moves
You start with Spirit Tongue, Call the Spirits, 1 from your Background, and 1 of your choice.
Amulets & Talismans
When you craft a protective charm for someone, spend 1 Stock and name a source of harm (fire, stabbing, etc.). When they would suffer such harm while bearing your charm, roll +INT: on a 10+, they ignore the harm entirely; on a 7-9, they suffer only half the damage or effect; on a 6-, they suffer the harm normally. One can benefit from only 1 charm at a time, and it loses its potency after 1 use.
Barkskin
When you are touching the earth, you have 2 armor. When you mark another with 1 Stock, they gain this benefit so long as the mark remains.
Big Magic
Each time you take this move, choose an additional remarkable trait for your sacred pouch and increase your max Stock by 2.
Danu's Grasp
When you call on the world itself to bind a spirit or a perversion of nature, spend 1 Stock and roll +WIS: on a 7-9, roots, vines, and earth pull at them, and they pick 1; on a 10+, as a 7-9, but both apply.
- They're restrained, unable to act freely until your focus slips or they tear their way free
- They take 2d4 damage (ignores armor)
If this brings them to 0 HP, they are pulled into the earth and bound in rune-etched stone.
Healer's Arts
When someone Recovers under your care, they recover (extra) HP equal to your WIS. If you also spend 1 Stock, they heal an extra 5 HP and their wounds/injuries are stabilized.
Heed My Words
When you Persuade by talking sense or warning against foolishness, you have advantage.
Improved Stat
Each time you take this move, increase one of your stats by 1 (to a max of +2).
Into the Lion's Den
When you approach a beast calmly and show no fear, it will not harm you (though it may threaten you and test your nerve). When you lay your hand gently upon a beast, it calms to your touch.
Lightning Rod
When you Defend while touching the earth, you can spend 1 Readiness to intercept a nearby magical attack and redirect it harmlessly into the ground.
Rites of the Land
Once per season, when you oversee the sacred rites, hold 1 Boon. If you also sacrifice 1 Surplus, hold 4 Boon instead. Spend Boon in lieu of Stock, 1-for-1.
When you publicly sacrifice something or someone much-loved, either clear a steading debility or gain advantage when the steading next rolls +Fortunes.
Spirit Tongue
You can speak with beasts and spirits. You can always ask the GM, “What spirits are active here?” and get an honest answer.
Borrow Power
When a spirit or beast loans you power, ask the GM for one of its tags or moves. Store it in your pouch in place of 1 Stock. When you use the borrowed tag or move, roll +WIS: on a 10+, you do it and can use the power again; on a 7-9, you do it, but lose the power.
Call the Spirits
When you spend 1 Stock and perform a short rite, the spirit(s) of a place or object manifest and hear you out. What they do next is up to them.
Trackless Step
When you move through nature with care and patience, you make no sound, leave no trace and can ignore any hindering or treacherous terrain (briars, mire, scree, etc.). When you spend 1 Stock and mark others, they each gain this benefit so long as the mark remains. 1 Stock can mark a number of individuals up to your level+INT.
Veil
When you wrap yourself or another in a subtle veil, spend 1 Stock and choose 1:
- A type of being you name (including “people”) will tend to ignore your presence
- People will perceive you as someone else, though you must wear something of an individual's in order to impersonate them
When your deception comes under scrutiny, roll +INT: on a 10+, the veil holds, and no one is the wiser; on a 7-9, the veil holds, but there is further scrutiny or a complication (GM's choice).
Wards & Bindings
When you mark a boundary with sacred signs, spend 1 Stock and describe who or what they affect (using no more words than your level). Also, choose whether the affected beings are repelled or trapped by the signs.
When your wards or bindings are first tested, roll +INT: on 10+, they will hold as long as the signs remain unmarred (and the affected creature can do nothing to affect them directly); on a 7-9, they hold for now but may be overcome through might or will.
Wild Soul
Requires level 2+.
Each time you take this move, gain a Ranger move of your choice for which you qualify. You can't pick Improved Stat or Superior Stat.
Nature's Wrath
Requires level 6+.
Danu's Grasp gains the area tag and can affect any creature. A mortal reduced to 0 HP is subdued or killed (your choice) rather than bound in stone.
Potent Workings
Requires level 6+.
When you craft a protective charm, you may spend 1 additional Stock to choose 1:
- Name an additional type of harm
- On a 10+, the charm retains its potency
Shared Souls
Requires level 6+.
When you mark a beast with 1 Stock, you can direct its actions and perceive through its senses no matter the distance between you. Treat it as a follower with 3 Loyalty; when you spend its last Loyalty, the effect ends.
Suck the Poison Out
Requires level 6+.
When you draw a malady from a patient's body, mind, or soul, spend 1 Stock and roll +WIS: on a 10+, you remove the malady and can safely discard it or store it in your sacred pouch (taking the space of 1 Stock) to study or inflict on another; on a 7-9, you remove it, but choose 1:
- Your patient suffers lingering harm or trauma
- You suffer some of the malady's effects
- It will be harmful and dangerous to discard
Superior Stat
Requires level 6+.
Increase one of your stats by +1 (to a max of +3).
Voice of the Earth Mother
Requires level 6+.
When you speak on behalf of Danu, natural beasts and spirits of the wild respect your authority. All but the most headstrong will do as you command, even against their instincts.
See also
The basic moves every character uses, the tags glossary for gear keywords, and the other playbooks.
Build The Blessed in the app
Backgrounds, moves and possessions become a live character sheet — HP, load and tracks included.