Lineage¶

Blitz Eternal: Adventures Beyond the Mists — v0.3 Draft¶

Lineage is the heritage axis of character creation. It is deliberately light. A Lineage never touches Pool size, Hit Range, Hit Points, or any combat math. What it grants is one narrative permission and one narrow bonus, a flat +1d6, on a specific category of Check. Per the core rule, a Lineage never grants Advantage; that stays a situational, GM-granted swing (core-rules, Part Seventeen).

All four follow the same shape, so a player learns how Lineage works once and then applies it.

The Four Lineages¶

There are four. This list is closed.

Human
Elven. Includes Part-Elven Characters. A Character with elven ancestry but not purely elven blood takes this Lineage. There is no separate half-elf category.
Dwarven. Includes Part-Dwarven Characters, on the same logic.
Half-Fae. Further specified by one of six Heritage Courts.

Half-Mist and Mixed were both cut. Half-Mist was invented and has no basis in Hynafol canon; Mixed was a vague catch-all that did not survive contact with how precisely the canon draws these lines. See retired-mechanics.

Lineage Traits¶

Human — Adaptable¶

Flavor. Humans came late to Hynafol and learned it fastest. Nothing about this place fits them, and they manage anyway.

Effect. The first roll of any Extended Check a Human attempts begins with 1 Success already banked.

Example. A Human Character is picking apart a collapsed cellar wall, an Extended Check at Daunting (3 Successes). She begins with 1 Success already on the pile and rolls 3d6 needing 2 more.

Elven — Elders' Memory¶

Flavor. An elf does not remember the old wars personally. But someone did, and that memory did not go anywhere.

Effect. Once per session, an Elven Character may ask the GM one factual question about history or a long-past event. The GM answers honestly if the information plausibly exists somewhere in Hynafol's memory. In addition, +1d6 on Wits Checks concerning history, lore, or long-past events.

Example. Standing before a sealed barrow, the player asks whose barrow it is. The GM answers, because the name is the sort of thing that would still be known somewhere.

Dwarven — Stone-Bound¶

Flavor. Underground, a dwarf is never lost. Above it, they are as lost as anyone.

Effect. Always knows direction and rough depth while underground, no roll required. Can also identify terrain features on sight, with no Check: unstable ground, structural weaknesses, what qualifies as Difficult Terrain, and what each will mechanically do. This is passive knowledge, not a bonus to movement or combat. In addition, +1d6 on Checks related to stonework, structural integrity, or underground navigation.

Example. A Dwarven Character crossing a scree slope tells the party which line will hold. No roll. She simply knows. Crossing it still costs the same movement it would cost anyone.

Half-Fae — Glimmer¶

Flavor. You can put the fae away. It does not go far, and it does not go quietly, but it goes.

Effect. May suppress the outward signs of fae heritage at will, appearing as an ordinary member of whichever people (human, elven, or dwarven) they most resemble. +1d6 on any Check made specifically to avoid being identified as fae.

Heritage Courts (Half-Fae Only)¶

A Half-Fae Character belongs to one of six Courts, drawn directly from Hynafol canon (Solis Caligo). Each Court grants one touch on top of Glimmer, and opens two Court-gated Specialties purchasable through ordinary Advancement.

The six split visibly into a bright half (Day, Summer, Spring) and a dark half (Fall, Winter, Night). This most likely reflects Hynafol's two Fae houses holding three Courts each. That reading is a working theory and needs confirming against core lore; see open-questions.

Court Specialties require both Half-Fae Lineage and membership in that specific Court. They cost 1 or 2 Advancement Points, never the full 3 used elsewhere, because they are minor Court-flavored add-ons rather than major character choices.

Day Fey¶

Touch. +1d6 on Checks made to detect deception or uncover a hidden truth.

Specialties. Unquenched Light (1). Never suffers Disadvantage from darkness or poor lighting. Inspiring Radiance (2). +1d6 on Presence Checks made to inspire or rally others in a dark or hopeless moment.

Summer Fey¶

Touch. +1d6 on Might Checks made while defending an ally or a held position.

Specialties. Beastwise (1). +1d6 on Checks related to tracking or reading animal behavior. Primal Surge (2). Once per session, a burst of primal speed or strength on a non-combat physical feat.

Spring Fey¶

Touch. +1d6 on Checks related to art, performance, or hospitality.

Specialties. Blooming Presence (1). Flowers bloom unnaturally in their presence. Narrative flavor only, no mechanical effect. Warm Welcome (1). +1d6 on Presence Checks made on a first meeting.

Fall Fey¶

Touch. +1d6 on Checks related to identifying or understanding death, decay, or the passage of time on remains and objects.

Specialties. Harvest's Hand (1). +1d6 on Checks made while harvesting or preserving something. Unsettling Presence (2). Once per session, cause a brief moment of unease in a nearby target.

Winter Fey¶

Touch. +1d6 on Checks related to enduring or navigating cold and harsh winter conditions.

Specialties. Cold Ward (2). Reduced or negated penalty from cold-based Conditions specifically. Chilling Aspect (1). +1d6 on Checks made to unsettle or frighten others.

Night Fey¶

Touch. Can see in darkness without penalty. A passive permission, not a Check bonus.

Specialties. Creature of the Dark (2). +1d6 on any Check made at night or in darkness. Shadow's Favor (1). +1d6 on Stealth-related Checks after dark.

Design note. Night Fey's touch deliberately breaks the "+1d6 on a Check category" pattern the other five share. With four Lineage traits and six Court touches all in play, ten consecutive entries reading as the same kind of bonus would flatten the texture of the whole axis. Varying one is the point, not an oversight.

Open¶

The candidate 1-point trait list drafted alongside this work (Keen Senses, Fleet of Foot, Woodland Step, Starlight Eyes, Whispering Wind) has no confirmed home. It may gate to Elven Lineage, to the Ranger class, or to any Character. See open-questions.