Before you touch a character sheet, spend some time here. The best characters come from thinking through who they are before locking in the mechanics. Use this page alongside Character Sheet Setup - go back and forth as ideas take shape.
Browse Your Options
Don’t know what you want to play yet? Start here:
- Ancestries List - The many peoples of the world. Each ancestry gives you a passive trait.
- Classes List - Your role in the party. This shapes your abilities, your fighting style, and your place in the group.
- Backgrounds List - Your history before Hearth. Each background gives a passive ability based on who you were.
- Spell List - If your class uses magic, see here what’s available.
All of the above is also browsable directly on Nimbound — the platform where your character sheet lives. You can explore ancestries, classes, backgrounds, and spells there as you build.
Why Did You Join the Guild?
You’ve signed on with the Relic Hunters’ Guild. That wasn’t a casual decision. The work is dangerous, the Wastes are lethal, and not everyone who goes out comes back. Something brought you to Shrike’s door and put your name on that contract.
Pick one of the following - or work out something different with the GM.
I owe a life debt (to a character or another player)
Someone saved your life - getting you to Hearth, pulling you out of the cold, or vouching for you when you had nothing. They’re in the Guild, or they were. You repay your debts, and this is how.
Who was it? Do they know you’re here because of them?
I owe money to someone (or something) dangerous
The Guild finds relics, and relics mean money. Better than anything else in Hearth. Whatever you owe - and to whoever you owe it - this is the fastest way to clear it before the situation gets worse.
What did you do with the money? Does whoever you owe know where you are?
I need to grow stronger
Something wronged you. Someone wronged you. What happened demands a response, and right now you’re not capable of it. The Wastes are the only place that will make you capable. And who knows - maybe what you’re looking for is out there somewhere.
What are you building toward? Does anyone know?
I’m searching for something specific
There’s a relic out there - or a place, or a person - that matters to you personally. You’ve heard enough to know it exists. The Guild gives you access to the Wastes in a way that going alone never would.
What is it? What happens if you find it?
I’m trying to find my way back
Home is somewhere out in the cold. Maybe the Frost swallowed it. Maybe the people you’re looking for moved on when everything fell apart. Either way, the answers aren’t in Hearth. The Wastes are the only direction left, but it’ll take time and the support of the Guild to find it.
What are you hoping to find - a place, a person, something else? What if it’s gone?
I was betrayed
By someone you trusted. Maybe they’re in the Guild. Maybe they’re somewhere in the Wastes. Either way, this is where you need to be to find them - or to become the kind of person who can face them when you do.
Do you want them back, or do you want something else?
Duty. I serve.
Hearth needs the Engine fed. The Engine needs relics. Someone has to go and get them, and you were raised to be that kind of person. It’s not complicated - it just has to be done.
Who or what instilled that in you? Does it ever feel like enough?
I’m lost
The world ended. Your old life ended with it. You’re not sure who you are on the other side of that, and staying still feels worse than moving. Walking into dangerous places at least makes you feel something.
What did you lose? What would it take to feel found?
The Wastes call to me
You’ve always wanted to know what’s out there - beyond the walls, beyond the maps, in the ruins of ages you can barely imagine. The Frost didn’t kill that instinct. If anything, it sharpened it. The Guild is the most legitimate way to go looking.
What do you hope to find? What are you prepared for if the answer is nothing?
Everything I had is already gone
Home. Family. Whatever you were building before the Frost. Hearth is what’s left, and the Engine is what keeps Hearth alive. You’ve decided, quietly or loudly, that protecting it is worth something. That it’s enough.
When did you make that decision? Does it feel like a choice or just what’s left?
I want to know the truth
About the Frost. About the relics. About what happened to the world and why the Ages ended the way they did. The answers are buried in the Wastes, in ruins from civilizations nobody alive fully understands. The Guild gets you inside those ruins.
What specifically do you want to know? What will you do with the answer?
I have something to prove
To someone specific. To Hearth. To yourself. Maybe you were underestimated - by your family, your peers, your old life. The Guild’s expeditions are where that gets decided. Nobody can argue with results.
Who are you proving it to? What would “enough” look like?
A prophecy brought me here
Something pointed you to Hearth. An ancient text, an oral tradition passed down through your people, something Thalorin Vex’s recorded message implied that nobody else seemed to notice. You don’t know exactly what it means, but you know it means this.
Do you believe it? What happens if it’s wrong?
Mix & Match
The best motivations have threads that connect to other characters, to the world, and to the people you’ll meet in Hearth. Talk with the GM - they have hooks ready to tie into whatever you bring. You can also hold two motivations at once; people are complicated.
Your Story in Hearth
Answer these in writing - as much or as little as you like. Bullet points are fine. The GM needs these before Session 1, and they’ll inform your opening scene.
1. How did you arrive in Hearth, and when?
Hearth is the last warm place in a frozen world. Some people find it deliberately - following rumors, guided by someone who knew the way. Others stumble in half-frozen, following the warmth because it was the only direction that felt survivable. Either way, you made it here. How?
Some starting points:
- Were you already a resident, born or settled here before the Frost deepened?
- Did you come with a caravan, a faction, or a desperate group of refugees?
- Did someone guide you here - and do you still owe them?
- Did you arrive recently, or have you been here for years?
2. What drives you to sign up for your first expedition?
The Relic Hunters Guild takes in new blood for a reason: the work is dangerous, and not everyone comes back. Why are you walking into that? Why now?
Some starting points:
- Money - the Guild pays well, and you need it.
- The Engine - you understand what happens if the relics stop coming, and the grim implication.
- A specific relic - you’ve heard rumors of something out there that matters to you personally.
- Someone you trust vouched for the Guild, or someone you owe is already in it.
- You’ve got nothing left to lose - or nothing left to stay for.
For the rare few players who write a very long backstory
You’re an awesome player and we’re lucky to have someone so enthusiastic - but here are some tips I stole from the internet on keeping it collaborative:
- Write all you like! Then respect the GM’s time by providing a very brief summary up front.
- Do not regard anything outside of that summary as canon until it hits the table, and be ready to negotiate what you’ve written.
- Ask before providing more, and don’t assume they will read further - and don’t take it personally; GMing is so much work already!
- Be more emotionally invested in the present and myriad possible futures of your character than in their past.
- Consider becoming the primary notetaker of your groups or your Division - you’re clearly high effort and detail oriented. ;)
The Heroic Vignette
Before your first session begins, every player gets a short opening scene - just you and me, a cinematic moment that establishes who you are before the party forms. It’s one of the best parts of kicking off a campaign.
Full details here: Heroic Vignette.
Ready to build the sheet? Head to Character Sheet Setup.