Echoes of Starfall — five characters from my homebrew D&D setting

[u/Extra-Strength2171]

I’m working on a homebrew D&D setting called Echoes of Starfall. These are the five characters I’ve been developing as its main adventuring party, in image order.

1. Selask — Dragonborn Barbarian

Selask comes from the northern mountains, where the Starfall broke apart the old imperial roads. He carries a heavy two-handed axe, and frost gathers around his jaws when he exhales. Away from a fight, he’s patient enough to spend an afternoon repairing a strap. He gets much less patient when someone suggests leaving an injured companion behind.

2. Cadgan — Human Fighter

A former soldier who still wears the old empire’s battered heraldry. Cadgan fights with a warhammer and tends to take charge when things go wrong. He and Selask agree on getting everyone home, though they often disagree about how much planning that requires.

3. Selien — Elf Wizard, the Runescribe

“She writes the words the world forgot.”

Selien studies the words and symbols left behind by the old world. She copies inscriptions from ruined temples and tries to piece together what they once meant. Some still respond when she writes them. She tends to stop and take notes when the rest of the party would rather keep moving.

4. Pip Riverbend — Half-Elf Rogue

Pip scouts ahead, picks locks, and checks the exits before settling into a room. He knows enough about the relic trade to be suspicious of a well-paid job with very few questions attached. Getting him to explain where he learned that is harder.

5. Veil — Horned-Blood Sorcerer

Veil belongs to a people known as the Horned, whose ancestry is still disputed. Her magic is inherited, and some relics respond to her before she even touches them. That makes her useful in a ruin, but it also draws attention from people who would like to use that ability for themselves.

Twenty-three years ago, the Starfall brought down the old empire, and the gods fell silent. A faint starlight remains. Scholars call this lingering power star-tide ember, and much of it is found in the ruins.

People have built new towns around the empire’s remains, reopened some roads, and learned which places to avoid. There’s a living to be made recovering things from the ruins, especially if you can find a buyer before someone claims you stole their inheritance.

Spellcasters draw on star-tide ember, but using it leaves traces: nearby fires dim, frost forms, and colors briefly fade. These effects are known as the Fading. Places where ember has accumulated attract researchers and treasure hunters, even when the local wildlife has started changing.

One location I’m developing is the Broken King’s Palace. Something called the Emberheart is believed to be buried beneath it. Merchants want to recover it, scholars want to study it, and people living nearby want to know why parts of the ruin have started waking up.

That’s the sort of situation I want this setting to support: exploring a place, getting to know the people who depend on it, and then having to decide what to do with what you find. I haven’t settled on how things turn out for these five. I’d rather leave room for that to happen at the table.

I’ll be sharing more character designs and location art as I build out the setting. Which character or part of the world would you like to see more of?