Dungeons & Dragons 5E
en
English
Vael'Karn'Ath
Vael’Karn’Ath is an unforgiving world of wind, earth, fire, and water — forces older than memory. The land is vast, cold, and alive with danger, where survival is not a triumph but a daily challenge.
Here, people do not measure life in years, but in winters endured. A new year is heralded by the first thaw. Some years are longer, and some are shorter.
The northern reaches are ruled by snow and endless sky. Wind scours the land clean, carrying the memory of those who’ve walked its ice covered tundra, their bones lost to cold and time. Stone rises where the world has broken itself open, separating the freezing north from what lies beyond.
This is a land where fire is life. Where minutes exposed to the elements can mean a frozen and forgotten unmarked grave.
The people who live here do not speak of destiny, or of chosen heroes. There is no grand prophecy, no singular source of evil waiting for "The Chosen" to defeat it. There is daily life. There is the hunt. There are the seasonal migrations. There is mending tents, clothing, tools, feeding your kin.
There are no great cities here, no written histories, no records of the past. There are tales of valor, of survival, legend of those who once walked the tundra. Knowledge is carried by voices and stories, tales passed from elders to children beside the communal fire. What is forgotten is lost forever.
The tribe's survival is everyone's responsibility. Every choice carries weight, and every mistake is costly.
This is a world where you are not special — not yet. Where coming of age means being tested by the elements, by how you can contribute to the continued survival of the tribe. Where what you become is decided not by birth, but by the sacrifices you are willing to make.
The world does not promise fairness.
It only offers challenges.
There are lessons to be learned in the north, and those who learn them may live long enough to pass them on.
This is a survival-focused, character-driven campaign set in a harsh and indifferent world. The early game emphasizes preparation, scarcity, and consequence over heroics. You will battle weather, hunger, exhaustion, and cold. The land itself is often the greatest threat you will face.
You begin not as seasoned adventurers, but as people coming of age within a tight-knit culture that values endurance, cunning, and communal survival. Prestige in the clan is earned slowly, knowledge is hard-won, and mistakes can be deadly.
Combat is dangerous and not always the best answer. Clever planning, cooperation, and knowing when not to fight are often the difference between life and death. Exploration is more than just finding new places.
Morality in this world is not simple. People make hard choices to survive, and those choices are not always clean or noble. You are not asked to be heroes — only to endure, adapt, and decide who you become when the road forward looks impossible.
As the campaign progresses, the scope will widen. New peoples, ideas, and forces will challenge everything your characters believe they understand about the world. Survival will remain central — but what it means to survive may change.
You don't win against Vael'Karn'Ath.
You just refuse to fail.