Warden Domain
Warden Domain characters are journey-mobile: where Skirmish dances around a fight, a Warden gets the party through the wilderness alive. They read tracks and weather, find the safe ford, and keep watch while others sleep. A Warden might be a ranger of the border woods, a trail guide over mountain passes, or a shepherd who knows every hill and hollow.
Tier 1 Base Card: Warden Initiate
Warden Aspect: Choose Resilience (patient, weathered, hard to wear down) or Fortitude (strong back, long legs). This Aspect powers your Warden Features.
Core Feature: Pathfinder
When you lead the party on a journey, the group cannot become lost in terrain you have traveled before, and travel hazards are rolled with Advantage. In new terrain, roll your Warden Aspect against the GM’s DC once per day; on a success the same benefit applies.
Choose two Domain Feature Cards from Tier 1.
Requirements to Advance to Tier 2 (complete 3):
- Guide the party through a dangerous journey
- Track a creature to its lair or camp
- Keep camp safe through a threatening night
- Find food and water in a harsh place
- Help a lost or stranded traveler home
- Any one Shared Milestone (see Domains)
Tier 1 Feature Cards
Tracker (Exploration – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
When you follow tracks, roll your Warden Aspect with Advantage. On a success you learn how many creatures passed, how long ago, what kind, and whether they were hurrying.
Forager (Exploration – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
In any wilderness that has life in it, you find enough food and water for yourself and two others each day without a roll (more with a Warden Aspect roll vs. the GM’s DC).
Watchful Camp (Team Action – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
The party cannot be surprised while you are on watch, and when danger arrives every ally may act in the first round as if they had been awake.
Snare Shot (Combat – Active)
Action Load: 1
Make a ranged weapon attack. On a hit, the target is also Slowed until the end of its next turn.
Lay of the Land (Combat – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
At the start of an outdoor combat, you and one ally may each move 10 feet before anyone acts, and you know where the nearest cover, high ground, and difficult terrain are.
Old Ways (Exploration – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
You learn the hedge-magic of the wild. You gain access to Nature Spells: you know 1 + your Warden Tier Nature spells of a Tier no higher than your Warden Tier, and you cast them with your Warden Aspect (see Spells).
Voice of the Wild (Roleplay – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
You roll with Advantage when speaking with rural folk, hunters, herders, and wilderness peoples, and they treat you as one of their own unless you give them a reason not to.
⚡ Parting Shot (Combat – Reactive)
Action Load: as a normal weapon attack
When a creature within your reach, or within 30 feet if you use a ranged weapon, moves away from you, you may make one weapon attack against it.
- A ranged Parting Shot has Disadvantage if an enemy is within 5 feet of you.
Tier 2 Base Card: Warden Adept
Core Feature: Swift Travel
When you lead, the party travels one step faster (cover half again as much ground in a day) without gaining Exhaustion from the pace.
Choose two Domain Feature Cards from Tier 2.
Requirements to Advance to Tier 3 (complete 4):
- Survive a storm, blizzard, or flood with your whole party
- Track something across rock, water, or a busy town
- Make an ally of a wilderness creature or community
- Hunt a dangerous beast
- Map a region no one in your party knew
- Any one Shared Milestone
Tier 2 Feature Cards
Hunter’s Mark (Combat – Active)
Action Load: 1
Mark a creature you can see. Until the end of the scene, your weapon attacks against it deal +1d4 damage, and you always know which direction it is while it is within a mile. Only one mark at a time.
Shelter (Exploration – Active)
Action Load: — (out of combat; takes an hour)
Build a shelter from what’s at hand. The party’s rest there counts as a safe rest (as if at an inn): no Exhaustion from weather, and rests can’t be interrupted by ordinary weather.
⚡ Guide’s Warning (Team Action – Reactive)
Action Load: 1
When a trap or hazard triggers, one ally within 30 feet rolls to avoid it with Advantage.
Weather Eye (Exploration – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
You know the weather for the next day. When bad weather comes, you can find the party a place to wait it out, and you roll weather-related hazards with Advantage.
Keeper of Trails (Roleplay – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
Travelers you meet on the road share news, trade, or warnings freely. Once per journey, the GM tells you one useful thing about the road ahead (a toll, a bandit camp, a washed-out bridge).
Tier 3 Base Card: Warden Expert
Core Feature: At Home Anywhere
You and allies suffer no penalties from difficult terrain or harsh weather while you lead, and you can’t be Slowed by natural terrain.
Choose three Domain Feature Cards from Tier 3.
Requirements to Advance to Tier 4 (complete 4):
- Cross a land no one in your party has crossed
- Defend a village or camp from a wilderness threat
- Teach someone your trailcraft so they can guide without you
- Find a lost place, road, or people
- Endure the wilds alone for days and return
- Any one Shared Milestone
Tier 3 Feature Cards
Ambush Master (Combat – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
When your party ambushes enemies who are unaware of you, every ally gets one bonus action before the first round (move, attack, or ready a Feature). These actions cost 0 Action Load. Enemies that were surprised are Distracted in the first round.
Volley (Combat – Active)
Action Load: 2
Make one ranged weapon attack roll and compare it against up to three creatures within 10 feet of each other. Roll your weapon die once and apply the same damage to each one you hit.
Wilderness Sense (Exploration – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
In the wilds, you know when a creature hostile to you is within a mile and roughly which direction it is (but not what it is). You can’t be surprised outdoors.
Trail Secrets (Exploration – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
In any region you have visited, you know a hidden path: the party can move unseen by patrols, or bypass one obstacle (a toll, a ford, a camp) per journey.
Warden’s Word (Roleplay – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
Frontier communities trust you. They offer shelter, a guide, or supplies for a night, and they tell you the truth about local dangers.
Tier 4 Base Card: Warden Master
Core Feature: Land’s Champion
Once per adventure, call on the land. For one scene choose one: a river rises to block pursuers, a storm gives the party cover (enemies are Sightless beyond 30 feet), the forest closes behind you (enemies can’t follow for an hour), or stone and root give allies +2 Evasion against ranged attacks.
Choose three Domain Feature Cards from Tier 4.
Tier 4 Feature Cards
Unerring Shot (Combat – Active)
Action Load: 2 (once per scene)
Make a ranged weapon attack that ignores cover and the Hidden condition. On a hit, your weapon damage dice count as maximum.
Hidden Road (Exploration – Active)
Action Load: — (out of combat; once per adventure)
Lead your party along a secret road known to few. A journey of up to a week takes a single day, and no ordinary pursuer can follow.
Wild Allies (Team Action – Active)
Action Load: 2 (once per adventure)
Wild creatures answer your call and fight beside the party for one scene. Treat them as a swarm with HP equal to 3 × your Tier and Evasion 10, that attacks once per round using your Warden Aspect dice + 2d6 against every enemy you choose within 10 feet of it.
Guardian of the Wilds (Roleplay – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
Wilderness creatures and spirits treat you as a friend. Non-magical beasts won’t attack you unless commanded, and wild spirits will parley before acting against you.
Iron Endurance (Exploration – Passive)
Action Load: — (Passive)
You never gain Exhaustion from travel, hunger, thirst, or weather, and once per day you may remove 1 level of Exhaustion from an ally by tending to them during a Quick Rest.