I is for Ixalan

el

This article is part of a series for both the April 2020 RPG Blog Carnival and the 2020 Blogging A to Z Challenge.

IxalanDeep in the heart of Ixalan’s verdant jungle lies a treasure beyond imagining. Secure in the ancient golden city of Orazca, the Immortal Sun is an artifact of mythic power that promises boundless wealth, the strength of empire, command over nature, and eternal life. For centuries it was only dimly remembered, veiled in legend, but now legend has become reality, and all the peoples of Ixalan seek the Immortal Sun and the power it promises. They will stop at nothing to claim it for their own.

The merfolk of the River Heralds and the humans of the Sun Empire have shared the continent of Ixalan for ages, sometimes warring, sometimes in an uneasy peace. But outsiders—first the treasure-hungry pirates of the Brazen Coalition and now the sinister fleets of the Legion of Dusk—have disrupted that delicate balance of power. And as the Legion of Dusk seeks to conquer Ixalan, all four peoples are catapulted into a desperate search for the golden city and the treasure it holds.

A whole world waits to be discovered. Ancient ruins from the Sun Empire’s heyday can now be found, overgrown and half-buried, in the depths of the jungle. Sacred springs infused with magical power well up from high mountainsides. Hidden coves hold pirate treasures stowed by captains long forgotten. Brave explorers from all four peoples uncover such sites as they scour Ixalan in search of the golden city.

Some of the lore elements of the plane have already converted into D&D elements in the Plane Shift: Ixalan supplement, along with a map of the main continent and a free official adventure.

«Brave the Unknown.»

bookart_XLN_Jacobson

For your campaign

Dinosaurs are the dominant animal life of Ixalan, including apex predators and enormous herbivores as well as small egg-eaters and seed-pickers. The people of the Sun Empire live alongside dinosaurs without training or domesticating them. Whenever a dinosaur moves through a Sun Empire city, it is under someone’s direct control, and this is part of the Sun Empire’s worldview: nature is a tool to be wielded, bent to human will, but it is a constant test of strength and resolve. Nature can’t be tamed, and when humans work alongside nature, both are made stronger.

New druid circle: Circle of the Feathers and Scales

Dinosaurs are important to the Sun Empire’s sense of national identity. The empire’s people use dinosaurs feathers as decorations and inspiration for design motifs in everything, from jewelry to architecture. They believe the Immortal Sun first gave their druids the ability to call and command dinosaurs, so maintaining this tradition is a way of clinging to their ancient heritage.

  • Tooth and nails: When you choose this circle at 2nd level, you learn how to craft simple weapons, medium armor and shields made of dinosaur scales. Crafting these items reduces their cost in half as long as you can find the materials to do it (most druids only use wild, aggressive dinosaurs and never one they shared a bond one).
  • Circle Forms: The rites of your circle grant you the ability to transform into dinosaurs with greater primal power than other animal forms. Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Wild Shape to transform into a dinosaur according to the following list:
    • 2nd level: Pteranodon
    • 4th level: Allosaurus, Plesiosaurus
    • 6th level: Ankylosaurus
    • 12th level: Triceratops
    • 16th level: Tyrannosaurus Rex
  • Enrage: Starting at 6th level, you can abandon your pacifist ways in a split second. Whenever you’re dealt damage, you can use a reaction to enter a rage similar to the barbarian’s except in the following: the damage bonus is 1/4 of your level, rounded down, and you can rage only once; to do so again you have to take a long rest. When your rage is over, you get one level of exhaustion.
  • Saurian Bond: Also from 6th level you have always prepared dominate beast, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. This version, though, can only be applied to dinosaurs and has a duration of concentration up to 10 minutes (and respectively longer with higher-level slots up to 24 hours). You can still prepare dominate beast as normal.
  • Deinian Summoner: At 10th level, dinosaurs that you conjure are more ferocious than normal. Any beast summoned or created by a spell that you cast gains two benefits: the creature appears with 2 extra hit points per Hit Die it has, and the damage from its natural weapons is considered magical for the purpose of overcoming immunity and resistance to nonmagical attacks and damage. Additionally, if you’re raging, the benefits apply to one creature you summoned that can see you and that you can see.

tumblr_inline_p47xp5gu601tb7y03_1280

  • Primal channeling: By 14th level, you have learned to channel the power of the Elder Dinosaurs of Ixalan. You can expend two uses of Wild Shape at the same time to roar while you transform. Each creature that is within 60 feet of you and can hear you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Additionally, you can choose one among the following benefits (the DC of these is based on your spellcasting ability):
    • Etali, Primal Storm: you are accompanied by a raging thunderstorm similar to the effect of a call lightning spell. A storm cloud in the shape of a cylinder that is 10 feet tall with a 60-foot radius instantly forms 100 feet in the air over you when you rage as long as you are outdoors. On each of your turns, as an action, you can choose a point you can see within 120 feet. A bolt of lightning flashes down from the cloud to that point. Each creature within 10 feet of that point must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 6d6 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
    • Ghalta, Primal Hunger: Your opportunity attack is composed of up to three attacks: one with your bite, one with your claw, and one with your tail. You can choose this feature only from 16th level.
    • Nezahal, Primal Tide: you get a swim speed of 60 ft. and you can hold your breath for 4 hours.
    • Tetzimoc, Primal Death: You get covered in an armored carapace bristling with thick, sharp spines. Any creature that hits or misses you with a melee attack takes 2d6 piercing damage.
    • Zacama, Primal Calamity: As an action you can make five attacks: three with your bite, one with your claw or stomp, and one with your tail. You can use Swallow instead of a bite if available. You can choose this feature only from 18th level.
    • Zetalpa, Primal Dawn: you get a fly speed of 60 ft. and resistance to radiant damage. You can choose this feature only from 16th level.

Do you like Jurassic World? I must admit I’m a huge fan of the old and new movies. If you are one too, now you can add some dinosaurs to your character!

4 Comentarios Agrega el tuyo

  1. Frédérique dice:

    Yes, I like Jurassic Park too 😉 And I would love to have a shield made of dinosaur scales ;D
    I is for Improv

  2. I like Jurassic Park though I’m wondering if a Druid in real life might not be a «game changer.»
    The Letter I

  3. juanrusso dice:

    Jurassic Park meets the Aztecs in King Kong´s Skull Island!

Leave a Reply