1

Playtest & Quickstart

version 2.0

Lead Designer:
Andrew M. Hartis

World Design:
Alexandru Negoita Andrew M. Hartis Robert Adducci

Writers:
Andrew M. Hartis Robert Adducci

Editing:
Andrew M. Hartis

Art and Layout:

Alexandru Negoita

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version 2.0
Scavenger and all content herein © Alexandru Negoita 2019, © Andrew M. Hartis 2019, © Robert Adducci 2019
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 Table of Contents

5 Introduction
6 Akara
7 Torn
8 5th Edition Rules Changes
9 Shardstones
11 Scavenger Paradigm
12 Mystics
13 Drifters
14 Warlords
14 Invokers
15 Akaran Backgrounds
17 Akaran Equipment
19 Patrons

Wondrous the stone of these ancient walls,

shattered by fate.
The buildings of the city have crumbled.
The work of giants of old lies decayed.
Roofs are long tumbled down,
The tall towers are now in ruins.
Empty are the streets,
Tiles weathered and fallen, undermined by age.

All the inhabitants succumbed to pestilence.

Swept away are the great warriors.
Their towers and walls are deserted,
the desolate city crumbles away.
Who could repair any of it,
for they are long dead.

- unknown poet

4
 INTRODUCTION IN BRIEF
There is a land: let us call her Akara.
It is a world where iron was never forged. City-states flourish, each the beginning of civ-
ilization in its own way. Metalworking is a technology new and bold; copper and gold and, yes,
bronze forged jewelry and blade litter the land. Limestone palaces call suspicious tribes from the
wilderness with promises of safety and pleasure. These tribes, though they listen, are wary none-
theless--many answer, many do not.
Yes, this is Akara. No. This was Akara.
Quake does the earth, violently, recklessly. Extinction seeps from canyons that swallow nations.
Creatures older than mankind die and their bones crumble alongside falling mountains. Witness
this end of days. But Akarans--those humans and kith and morg--are desperate enough for sal-
vation to go to places no life has ever been before. A World Torn Apart lies just beyond the ken
of Akara. Let us not mince words: it is a confusing and convoluted space in a dimension beyond
Akara’s own. But it is there that hope can be found frequent as death in war.
This is the world you inhabit, scavenger. You are a refugee or you were born in one of the
few remaining city-states and you know that if you stay as you are now, you will die. So you go out
into Akara, and you venture through the Monolith into Torn, and you seek, you search, you scav-
enge for some way to save what is precious to you. And in that process, you will change.
This is the end, and this is the beginning, and most of all, this is SCAVENGER.

WHAT THIS DOCUMENT IS

This document is a primer and quickstart for the SCAVENGER world. Built off of the D&D 5th
Edition SRD, SCAVENGER is a setting where characters that are explore a world dying and anoth-
er world weird are searching for hope, power, riches, or even just a way to save their loved ones.
It brings the 5th Edition’s exploration rules to the forefront and supplements them with in-depth
social conflicts.
For a greater exploration into the SCAVENGER world, the SCAVENGER corebook contains
in-depth information on Akara, Torn, scavengers, and the mechanics as a whole.
5
 AKARA - A BRUTAL & BRONZE WORLD
While Akara is the name given to the world as a whole, it refers in particular to a sub-continent
hemmed by mountains and ashen wastes to the northeast, an ocean to the west, and a smaller,
drier continent to the south. The Great Dying, also known as the Cataclysm, racks her with earth-
quakes and plagues and famines, all of which which spawn wars and swallow homes. There is no
king or queen ruling Akara--instead the land is ruled by a mixture of displaced tribes and the few
remaining city-states.

TRIBES: There are the Pua, the Odilord, the Yualat, and many more beyond. Most have
disappeared. Those left have joined in pilgrimage to city-states or been decimated by a rival tribe.
Though they are not city-dwellers, they are not uncivilized. Akaran tribes are rich in tradition and
artifice, proud too; above all, forever searching for a better place.

TARNAK: The most famous and, arguably, powerful of the remaining city-states, Tarnak has
become the glowing beacon of hope for much of the world’s refugees. At the city’s heart is the
Monolith: a massive and strange pillar that, when entered, serves as a gateway to the World Torn
Apart--Torn for short. There, alien shards of great power are mined and new lands are explored in
hopes of discovering a means of saving or escaping Akara. Tarnak is steeped in political and social
conflict; shards have created cults, factions, and artificers desperate to rise above the other.

BATAAR: In the northwestern swamps bordering the Old Sea is Bataar. The Assassin’s
House, as many call it, is the origin of both Akara’s many colorful dyes and those poisons that
are truly legendary. Frogs are sacred to the Batash, and in the main square is a great statue toad
statue that represents the city’s founding myth. The Batash are silver-tongued and clever beyond
reason. Thus, their city is a place of strange intrigues, stark assassinations, and wild festivals.

KANUMA: No city-state is as loathed as the constellation-worshipping Kanuma. Behind

their great walls, these slavers send out raiders to bring both shards and flesh back in hopes of
surviving the Cataclysm. As Akara continues to spiral, so too do Kanuma’s raids grow more fre-
quent. Travelers learn to recognize their strange star-spears as a warning to escape lest they be
taken and forced into the gladiatorial blood pits.

MUR: Atop a mountain unclimbable is the city-state of Mur. Outsiders are forbidden from
entering and trade is done miles away at the mountain’s base. The Murish produce overwhelming
amounts of gold and stonecraft unmatched in craft--it is rumored that something divine guides
their hands, and that every citizen is wealthy as a king. In reality those that are neither slave nor
noble are indoctrinated into a belief that their poverty is the best means of life available to them.

OTHER LOCATIONS: From the deific Serpent Pillars of the south to the crossroad-town of
Stig, Akara is a place where much is lost, waiting to be found, or waiting to kill whoever challenges
that which it holds dear.

THE GREAT DYING: Otherwise known as the Cataclysm, something is actively killing the
world of Akara. Her oldest and greatest creatures are going extinct, city-states are swallowed,
and strange radiations warp her lands. As Akara is torn apart, the many peoples that call this land
home are left with nothing but the promise of a pitiful death.

PEOPLES: Akara was home to many different peoples before the Cataclysm erupted. In ad-
dition to humanity, there were whispering men, pygmies, the bloodless--all types of human that,
now, have perished. Humanity is almost alone; only the kith--a short species intune with nature
and emotionally connected to one another--and the morg, a four-armed race of pragmatic no-
madic warriors, remain.
6
 TORN - AN ALIEN WORLD TORN APART
With the advent of the Great Dying, the strange Monolith in the center of Tarnak awoke. It opened
with a great rumble and the echo-song of shifting metal. Brave, though unprepared, souls ven-
tured in. Those unfortunate enough to return spoke of a strange world, one where shards of
blood-red crystal grew from the ground, where the sky was not always blue, where whatever laws
that bound Akara applied not in full. This place, dubbed the World Torn Apart for its mix-matched
horror, or Torn for short, has become the prime suspect in both the Great Dying and humanity’s
potential salvation. There is much to Torn. In this document, only a taste is offered.

THE PLAINS WHERE GLASS-TEARS WEEP FROM WOUNDED GRASS

A great grassland yawns horizon to horizon. The grass is red and smells of rain that never falls.
When touched, opaque tears flow out. Here, the blue sky fades into a crimson twilight and back
again, never turning night in full. The first scavengers to explore these plains believed the great
hills dotting these plains to be old mountains. On further inspection, they turned out to be bur-
rows, or perhaps long-dead nests, filled with strange bones, odd artefacts, and yes, shards too.
What truly births the name of these plains are the strange tears that spills from touched grass.
Cold to the finger and somehow sharp despite being liquid, these glass-tears have become a val-
ued resource for Akara’s many artificers. More importantly, white fountains of ivory and mysterious
bone appear and disappear on the horizon, and from these fountains spill in tears uncountable.
Rumor tells a tale that following the horizons will lead to an ocean upon which floats a city of bone
and glass where salvation (or riches) can be found in great hordes. Adding truth to these tall-tales
are shard-engraved maps discovered in opened burrows. Alas, until Torn is further explored, where
these maps truly lead no one knows.

d6 Adventure seed in Akara d4 Adventure seed in Torn

Seeking refuge in Tarnak, the scavengers are ambushed by
Kanuman star-raiders on the road. In their midst is a man A loved one is assaulted and nearly killed. The attack-
1 whose eyes are shards and who claims to have seen the er, afraid of retribution, flees into Torn with not only
1 their sin, but with something valuable of the scaven-
scavenger’s futures--they will die if they do not take him to
Dal Raka; a place he believes to be holy. gers’ as well.

The scavengers go to Bataar to find an antidote to a poison

contaminating and killing their loved one’s. There, they realize On the The Plains Where Glass-Tears Weep From
2 that the woman who made the poison died in an earthquake, Wounded Grass, the wind whispers the scavengers
and that her missing wife holds the antidote. 2 name as they approach a certain burrow. When
opened, the bones seem fresh and the glimmer of
Four mekards from Mur approach the scavengers. They offer shards in abundance shines bright as diamond.
more gold than the party has ever seen in return for them
3 coming to Mur and finding their Oracle, who is missing in the
city’s catacombs. A rival scavenger party appears, decimated down to 1
or 2 surviving members. They beg the party for succor
4
An akarok, the great furred sky-hunter, crashes dead, close by 3 and, if granted, will disappear while everyone is sleep-
the scavengers’ camp. When they arrive, they see the ing. The vscavengers will be missing most of their
star-spears of Kanuman raiders approaching from the horizon. shards, and a trail leads directly to an opened burrow.

An artificer of Tarnak believes that he has created a way to

bring dead creatures back to life. In exchange for killing and
5 bringing him the fossils of 5 extinct creatures, they will give the
On the horizon, a fountain spills great gallons of
glass-tears onto the ground. When approached, it
scavengers a shard per party member.
4 shimmers like a heat haze, and a nest is revealed to
A strange mist has been rolling in from the Sea of Songs. The be where it once stood. And inside that nest, sings
scavengers learn that this mist may originate from Torn, and running water and tinkling wind chimes.
6 others believe it may be a new way of entering Torn. On the
way to investigate, competing parties of scavengers seek to
sabotage the scavengers.

7
 5TH EDITION RULES CHANGES

The world of SCAVENGER has been designed for exploration using the 5th Edition Fantasy ruleset.
In addition to the core rules of the game, the following changes are offered to bring the feel of
Akara and Torn to the forefront.

Ability Score Proficiency

Scavengers have proficiency in ability scores instead of single skills. This means that if you were
to make a Wisdom (Perception) check, for example, you would instead make just a Wisdom abil-
ity check and add your proficiency to the roll. You decide what ability scores you are proficient in
when creating your scavenger, as dictated by your Scavenger Role. If a class feature would give
you proficiency in a skill, notate that on your character sheet. On ability checks where you can con-
vincingly use that skill, you add +1 to your roll.
If you have a feature allowing you to add double (or ½) your proficiency bonus to a skill,
you instead apply that to the ability score attached to the skill. For example, if you were a rogue
whose Expertise feature gave you double your proficiency bonus in the Dexterity (Stealth) skill,
you now add double your proficiency bonus to all Dexterity ability checks.

Note: Choosing an ability score proficiency for Expertise counts as two of your expertise
choices instead of one.

Battle Fatigue
Whenever you fall to 0 hit points, you suffer 1 level of exhaustion.

Extinction Saves
Death saving throws succeed only on a 15 or higher.

Encumbrance
You have an encumbrance threshold equal to your Strength ability score + your Intelligence
ability score. You can carry a number of items equal to or lower than your encumbrance threshold.
Items with the ammunition property take up 1/20th of a slot, while items with the light property
take up ½ of a slot. If an item has the heavy property or the two-handed property, it takes up two
slots, as do any armor sets. Lastly, small consumable items such as potions or drugs take up ½ of a
slot as well.
If your total number of items carried exceeds your encumbrance threshold, your movement
is reduced by half. If the number of items doubles your encumbrance threshold, your movement
falls to 5 and you have disadvantage on Dexterity ability checks and saving throws.

Mandatory Healing Kits

Whenever you would regain hit points during a short or long rest, you must expend 1 use of a
healing kit.

Weaker Magic
While adventuring in the world of Akara, you cannot cast spells of 3rd level or higher. Additionally,
spells you cast cannot be of the following schools: conjuration, necromancy, and transmutation.
Spells cast in Torn do not have these restrictions.

8
 SHARDSTONES
Magic has never existed in Akara. The rituals of mystics, potions of alchemists, divinations of the
oracle--all have been false, induced by drug and belief and more than a little superstition. Fifty
years ago, when shards were first mined from the alien world of Torn, this basic fact changed.
Their sanguine light irradiated all who worked them--perhaps even the very fabric of Akara itself.
At the same time, the working of shards opened up new dimensions for Akarans.
You see, shardstones are things of Power. Each one serves as a battery or device that warps
the world around it in strange ways. Within them are complex, near-undetectable matrices, allow-
ing for wishes unheard of to be granted. This is done through a number of different and heavily
experimental methods. Each method has a mechanical representation found in the 5th Edition
basic rules. Below the methods, as well as their corresponding mechanics, are detailed.

SHARDWORK METHODS

Artifice. Artifice is the art of working shards into complex objects for a singular, albeit complex
goal. Artifice encompasses all forms of shardwork, and is considered the pinnacle of what the
craft can achieve. Mechanically, artifice is represented by magical items. Any and all magical items,
either created by invokers or scavenged for in Torn, have shards as a component, or have been
exposed to shards to gain their powers. When thinking about magical items to reward players,
consider reimagining their designs as being shard-studded or otherwise irradiated.

Blood Cutting. The cut of a shard matters. Different cuts draw forth different arrays of power. A
cut shard can be used by people with no training with shards, so long as the instructions for do-
ing so have been given. Blood cutting owes its name to the color of shards, as well as rumors that
blood must be used in order to properly forge them. Blood Cutting represent spell scrolls and cer-
tain other trinket-based magical items. Any character that creates a spell scroll is, in Akara, cutting
a shard and loading it with a spell that they know. Invoking a cut shard follows the same rules as
creating and using spell scrolls.

Shardcasting. By creating a network of shards arrayed in different devices, supernatural abilities

can be invoked. Many uneducated call these abilities spells, and in many ways, they are identical
to this. Shardcasting represents spellcasting. Mechanically, there are no differences to spellcasting.
Thematically, however, shardcasters either carry small shards on their bodies or have been thor-
oughly irradiated in shardlight.

Torn Drugs. Torn drugs are special drugs made from mixing crushed up shards with various sub-
stances, such as mushrooms, herbal roots, and other, stranger things. Their effects are dangerous,
and the public knows very little about these black market luxuries. Torn Drugs represent potions
and other magical consumables. Found only on the black market or from secretive invokers, these
drugs are some of the most valuable things one can get in Akara. Torn drugs, however, are dan-
gerous. They have a litany of side effects that can ruin the lives of those who abuse them.

THE FIFTH METHOD

There is a fifth shardwork method that boggles the mind of invokers the world round.
Prayer and ritual has allowed shards to manifest an Akaran mystics deepest desires. How much
one must believe in their religious philosophies and how much they must give to pull power from
shards is ill-understood. It is undeniable, however, that mystics, who once were seen as charlatans,
now have some form of proof for their esoteric beliefs.

9
 SHARDS BESTOW POWER

As there are no supernatural powers native to Akara, some class features, such as a paladin’s smite
or a rangers primeval awareness may stand out as being odd. In truth, these are powers grant-
ed by shards as well. Exposure to Torn, high radiation from shards, and taking illegal drugs made
from shards can all bestow a character with some amount of supernatural power.
This is a fact widely known and widely rumored. For fifty years have scavengers been enter-
ing Torn. The powers that they foster never grow that high, or that widely known, as most dis-
appear like a snuffed candle when the scavenger gets caught in some strange dimensional warp
hidden away in Torn’s depths. While a Tarnaki citizen may have seen a tribal screamer’s rage create
literal fire that pours from their muscles, such a sight will be so impossibly exaggerated by those
spreading the story that no one will know what to believe until they themselves see the wonder.
And, alas, that wonder will likely be dead before it can ever be seen in truth.

EXAMPLE SHARD ITEMS

Below, three example shard items are provided.

Bleed Dust
Torn Drug (snorted), rare
This sanguine powder is made from crushed shards and the bones of various now-extinct beasts.
When snorted through the nose, you take 1d4 poison damage and become hyper-aggressive,
confident, and filled with energy for 1 minute. For the drug’s duration, add your proficiency bonus
to any damage rolls that you add your Strength modifier to. Additionally, make a DC 13 Constitu-
tion saving throw. On a success, you can cast the thunderclap cantrip for the drug’s duration, using
Strength as your spellcasting ability. On a failure, you disassociate, forgetting who you are and
treating your comrades as enemies for the drug’s duration.

Dream-Pleasure Shard
Wondrous item (shard, blood cut), rare (requires attunement)
This shard has a curious purple tint to it, and has been cut in such a way as to cover the eyes while
sleeping. When attuned to this shard, you experience vivid, lucid dreams whenever you sleep.
While exploring these dreams, you are the architect of all that happens, and can create what you
wish. If done during a long rest, you gain 15 temporary hit points when the long rest finishes, as
well as 1 point of inspiration.

Raw Shard
Wondrous item (shard), common
This uncut shard burns with a fierce sanguine light. It has been broken off of a larger crystal node.
A character with proficiency in the Arcana skill and with either alchemist’s tools or jeweler’s tools
can use raw shards to create a shard artifact.

10
 SCAVENGER PARADIGM

In the world of Akara, scavengers are well-known to the general public. They are seen sometimes
as heroes who bring great treasure back from Torn, and other times uncertain dangers, changed
by the alien world that they so thoroughly explore. However, not all scavengers are the same. A
suite of different skills and talents can make up an expedition, and no scavenger party destined for
success exists without a variety of talents. Thus, came to be: Scavenger Paradigms.

In a game of SCAVENGER, you don’t pick a class when you make your character, but instead
one of four Scavenger Paradigms. Each paradigm offers three 5th Edition classes that can repre-
sent it. When you choose your paradigm, you choose your class.
However, unlike when you choose a class normally, you don’t receive skill and saving throw
proficiencies. Instead, you receive ability score and saving throw proficiencies as per your Scaven-
ger Paradigm. Additionally, you receive the equipment covered in the Tools of the Trade section
instead of what your class would normally give you. All other class features, such as hit points, hit
dice, tool proficiencies, and so on remain the same.

The Scavenger Paradigm table below names the four paradigms and also shows which the
classes which mechanically represented the paradigm.

Scavenger Paradigms

Paradigm Included Classes Synopsis

Invoker Artificer, Sorcerer, and Warlock Scientist-Magicians who methodically explore the powers of shards.

`
Drifter Bard, Ranger, and Rogue Wanderers who learn from the many peoples they meet and travel with.

Mystic Cleric, Druid, Monk Cultists and shamans who use shards to make reality their esoteric beliefs.

Warlord Barbarian, Fighter, Paladin Raiders and warriors who rely on martial prowess to survive.

11
 MYSTICS

Included Classes: Cleric – Druid – Monk

Ability Score Proficiency: Wisdom
Saving Throw Proficiencies: Choose two from Strength, Dexterity, or Wisdom

This is the sacred work of a mystic. Unlike invokers, who carefully try and figure out the powers of
shards, mystics use their faith in their mysticisms to change the world to into what they believe it
should be. Such power has given deep vindication to Akara’s spiritual wanderers. Now, many of
them ply their talents as scavengers, seeking to use their faith to heal their dying world. Below, a
mystic representative of an Akaran religion is presented, though in a world pushed to the edge,
new beliefs are born every day and thus new mystics to represent them.

Shard Cultists
In Tarnak, the advent of shards 50 years ago has sewn the city with cults without number. Each cult
is wholly unique to itself, creating idols that represent their philosophies and blessing the zealous
with shards. If it were not for the sheer number of cults, the combined powers of the believers
would be enough to challenge the authority of Tarnak’s council. However, the cults are doomed to
endless infighting. Their reality is a tapestry of beliefs uncompromising. Some worship the Great
Dying itself while others seek to learn the secrets of all flying creatures or to somehow ascend to
the skies. A shard cultist can always be recognized by the outlandish idols they carry with them,
which serve as the focuses for their shardcasting.

Channel Divinity: Miracle Worker

Replaces a cleric’s Channel Divinity: Turn Undead
As an action, you present your holy symbol along with a shard before a gathered group of crea-
tures and work a miracle before them. Each creature within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom
saving throw. If the creature fails the saving throw, its attitude becomes friendly towards you, and
if the creature was already friendly, it is instead charmed for 1 hour or until it receives damage
from any source.

Banish Aberration
Replaces a cleric’s Destroy Undead
Starting at 5th level, when an aberration fails its saving throw against your Miracle Worker, the
creature is banished to the World Torn Apart if its challenge rating is at or below a certain thresh-
old, as shown on the Banish Aberration table below. If you are already in Torn, the creature is
transported 500 miles away from its current location.

Cleric Level Banish Aberration of Creature

5th ½ or lower

8th 1 or lower

11th 2 or lower

14th 3 or lower

17th 4 or lower

12
 DRIFTERS

Included Classes: Bard – Ranger – Rogue

Ability Score Proficiencies: Dexterity and one more ability score proficiency of your choice
Saving Throw Proficiency: Dexterity

Few scavengers are as equipped as the rumored and mysterious drifters. They are far-strid-
ers who have heard a thousand tales from just as many campfires. During their travels it is likely
that they’ve traveled beyond Akara’s horizon and back again many a time. This has blessed them
with talents, skills, and an overall competence that makes them perfect for taking on the disas-
ter-racked world and the unfathomably unfathomable Torn. Many drifters are specialists in one
thing or another. Below, a unique profession is offered to help you figure out what your scavenger
has mastered.

Bloodsingers
Storytelling is how much of Akara’s history is recorded. Drifters who’ve collected these stories have
learned to put faith in them. They share the tales of tribes and city-states forgotten to bolster the
resolve of their comrades, to provide guidance to those who need it. With the advent of shards,
this faith has become a very real weapon. Bloodsingers have earned their names from the strange
performances they give. Shard-fueled and dramatic, they allow for weird powers to manifest, each
of which owes their origin to some tale the Bloodsinger has learned. Many have shard-studded
cheeks or throats through which they channel this power. Others create bizarre shardstone instru-
ments that do much the same.

DRIFTER REPLACEMENT CLASS FEATURES

Additional Natural Terrain

For a ranger’s Natural Terrain
Instead of the Underdark option, you have the option to choose Alien. Alien terrains are those in
Torn, or that have been heavily influenced by shardstones.

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 WARLORDS

Included Classes: Barbarian – Fighter – Paladin

Ability Score Proficiency: Strength and Dexterity
Saving Throw Proficiencies: Choose two from Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution

To be a warlord is to be someone born to violence. They are people who have trained most of
their lives to use their skill at arms to rip destiny from Akara’s cruel, unyielding grip. Many scaven-
gers have found their warwork appreciated by their companions. Both across Akara’s red savan-
nahs and in Torn’s nightmare ruins is their swordplay, their battle tact, appreciated by those who
cannot defend themselves. Offered below are just a few of the many war traditions that warlords
may hail from.

Starfallers
Patrons are quick to buy mercenaries who fight well. Starfallers, however, are a special breed, tak-
en from Kanuma’s infamous Pit of the Fallen Heavens. There, where the greatest gladiators fight
for freedom amongst the cheers of star worshippers many, the infamous Starfallers are born—
champions who have proven themselves against man, against beast, and against aberration. Star-
fallers as scavengers are quick to violence and know that their lives have been bought by someone
more powerful than they themselves. Perhaps it is the promise of freedom that keeps them put-
ting such leal force behind their sword strokes. Regardless of why they fight, Starfallers are quick
to recognize by their tattooed faces and their unusually brutal armaments.

INVOKERS

Included Classes: Artificer – Sorcerer – Warlock

Ability Score Proficiency: Intelligence
Saving Throw Proficiencies: Choose two from Constitution, Intelligence, or Charisma.

Invokers are individuals much like the above who study shards through a scientific lens. They seek
to work the powers of these stones into new crafts. Their hope is that by doing so, they will further
make sense of Torn, of the Great Dying, and find an answer to the doom-riddle looming over Aka-
ra. However, not all invokers are of the same cloth. Whereas one may be methodical in their work,
another may use their force of personality, and another still may combine their shard science with
some other craft. Below, a type of invoker practice is named and described. This does not repre-
sent all invokers, nor all the different branches, styles, sciences, and purposes invokers may have.
However, it is a guide stone that show what you can do with the power of shards.

Colorbinders
Colorbinding is the Bataash art of creating colored dyes, horrific poisons and, in the tallest of tales,
turning mud into gold or water into wine. Though these supernatural feats have long since been
known to be impossible, the advent of shards has changed this. Bataash scavengers have learned
to use powdered shardstone in their colorbindings, creating strange concoctions that transmute
reality itself. Though only truly usable in Torn, this science has led to the creation of Torn Drugs,
which have flooded Tarnak’s black market in recent years. Many colorbinders are addicted to their
own drugs, which in turn give them abilities warped and weird. Colorbinders are known for the
beautiful armor dyes and their painted weapons.

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 AKARAN BACKGROUNDS
A scavenger’s background is important. It tells the brief story of how they ended up in Tarnak,
what twist of destiny saw them taking on a job precious few others are desperate enough to do.
Below, one of the many new Akaran Backgrounds that can be found in the SCAVENGER
corebook is given.

CATACLYSM SOJOURNER
The Cataclysm, the Great Dying, the End of the World—whatever it is, it has taken everything from
you. Your home was swallowed up by sand, or maybe scren beasts swarmed up in the dead of
night and consumed everyone, everything. You carry with you the memories of a life lost. They are
burning fuel for your life as a scavenger.

Background Benefits
You gain the following benefits from this background.

Ability Score Proficiency

You are proficient in either Constitution or Wisdom ability checks.

Tool Proficiency
You are proficient in vehicles (either land or sea) and a language of your choice.

Refugee Trinket
Roll for your trinket below. It is something you carry to remind you of a home lost.

d6 Refugee Trinket
1 The cracked, dirty sigil of your homeland.

2 A small toy, one handed down to you by your parents.

3 A savage scar that serves as a reminder of what happened to you.

4 Polished ivory horns—trophies that your people would have been proud of.

5 A ceremonial artifact invaluable, one that represented your now lost customs.

6 A music instrument unique to your lost kin.

Feature: Fated Survivor

Tragedy surrounds you, but you are fated to always survive. You have a sixth sense that alerts you
to horrific storms, scren swarms, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.

CHARACTERISTICS
Roll or choose characteristics from the following tables of personality traits, hopes, and flaws.

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 PERSONALITY TRAITS, HOPES and FLAWS
d6 Trait
1 How can I rest easy when I know everything can be taken away in the blink of an eye?

2 I don’t get attached to anyone or anything. Its pointless, with the world ending.
If you don’t know anything about my culture, I’m more excited to tell you about it than to do anything
3
else.
4 Wherever I go, I make sure to warn those I meet to be prepared for the coming doom.

5 Those who fail to fear the Great Dying scare me more than anything else.

6 I survived the greatest disaster of them all. I’ll survive whatever comes to finish the job, too.

d6 Hope
1 Someone else had to survive. I’ll find them, no matter what..

2 I may have lost everything, but one day I’ll find a way to build it all again.

3 Our culture may have lost its home, but I’ll see to it that the world remembers us.

4 I need to find a safe place. I can’t endure that kind of tragedy again.

5 There has to be a way to save others from the horrors I’ve experienced. There has to be.

6 They may not understand me, but please, I beg that they accept me, whoever my new family is.

d6 Flaw
1 I’m not afraid to tell you how your culture is less civilized then my own.

2 No matter how much I try, I can’t get used to this place and all of its…rules.

3 No one helped me when I needed it. Why should I help any of you?

4 At night, I relive the disaster, and it shakes me to my core.

I’m not pessimistic. I’m just letting you know know that no matter what we do, it’s pointless; death
5
comes, and there’s no stopping it.
6 I couldn’t save them. Any of them. And now I don’t think I can even save myself.

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 AKARAN EQUIPMENT
Because of SCAVENGER’S unique setting, a number of weapons and armor types have been
changed to fit the setting. If your Scavenger Paradigm and class choice gave you proficiency in a
type of armor or weapon that has been replaced, you are proficient in the item’s replacement.

Armor
Armor being replaced Armor replacement Cost Armor Class (AC) Strength Stealth

Studded leather Ceramic-cloth 45 gp 12 + dex modifier - -

13 + dex modifier
Chain shirt Chitinous hide 50 gp - -
(max 2)
14 + dex modifier
Scale mail Ancient bones 50 gp - Disadvantage
(max 2)
15 + dex modifier
Half plate Bronze wargarb 750 gp - Disadvantage
(max 2)
Interlocking
Ring mail 100 gp 14 - Disadvantage
exoskeleton
Chain mail Copper wardress 200 gp 16 Str 13 Disadvantage

Full plate Reinforced Chitin 1,500 gp 18 Str 15 Disadvantage

Ceramic-cloth: Ceramic plates are interwoven with cloth robes to provide protection. The plates
break when struck, but replacing them is easy for any scavenger, even on the fly.

Chitinous hide: Many of Akara’s beast and those found in Torn have hides strong enough to turn
bronze and rebuke hammers. These hides are taken, cured, and cut into wearable armor.

Ancient bones: Creatures long since extinct have had their bones, harder than copper, taken and
cut into plates, pauldrons, and other pieces of armor to wear. Many of these bones are of strange
colors, though few can say why.

Bronze wargarb: A chest-plate of bronze, grieves, bracers, and a skirt of bronze are worn by many
scavengers across Akara. Cultural differences often sees these plates taking on strange, but effec-
tive, shapes.

Interlocking exoskeleton: Some massive beetles and other insects have exoskeletons that, if kept
in tact but rearranged, provide a set of armor nigh-impenetrable. These suits are expensive to
make but lightweight and easy to clean.

Copper wardress: Long dresses of copper plates are taken and bound with straps of leather,
creating a loud suit of armor with all the defensive strength of a fortress wall. Warlords wearing
wardresses paint them with terrifying visages.

Reinforced chitin: The chitin from the most dangerous of creatures is taken and reinforced with
bronze, creating a set of armor prized by all but too expensive and rare to be worn by all save the
few.

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 Weapons
Weapon being replaced Weapon replacement Cost Damage Weight Properties
Finesse, light, thrown
Crossbow, light Bola 1 gp 1d4 1 lb.
(20/40), special
Morningstar Katar 15 gp 1d8 piercing 5 lb. -

Rapier Wrist blade 5 gp 1d8 piercing - Finesse

Finesse, light, thrown
Crossbow, hand Bladed boomerang 1 sp 1d6 slashing ½ lb.
(30/120), special
Crossbow, heavy Dart-thrower 30 gp 1d8 5 lb. Ammunition (60/200) heavy,
loading, two-handed

Bola: Leather chords weighted with stones are used to disable prey by ensnaring their legs. Critical
hits on creatures within are grappled, requiring a DC 20 Strength check to break free.

Katar: By taking a bone or bronze blade and affixing it to a horizontal H-shaped hilt, a push-dag-
ger such as a katar can be created.

Wrist blade: A 2 ½’ foot-long piece of metal or bone attached to a wooden contraption to the
wrist. With a flick, it explodes from its holder. Lowering the hand over the wrist retracts it.

Bladed boomerang: Wooden or bone boomerangs have blades inserted or tied to them to make
them all the deadlier. Returns to your hand on a missed attack roll. You have to wear special
gloves to use it properly, especially for the bladed one.

Dart-thrower: A contraption of slendered, cut wood that rests alongside the arm when not in
used. Requires 2-foot long bladed darts for ammunition, which are launched with a swinging mo-
tion of the arm.
Ammunition
Ammunition being replaced Ammunition replacement Cost
Crossbow bolts (20) Bladed darts (10) 1 gp

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 PATRONS
Scavengers live for the expedition. They travel across Akara or venture into Torn for the sole pur-
pose of finding lost relics, unassuming treasure, safe places, and the resources humanity needs to
survive. Because of this, scavengers don’t gain experience like normal 5th Edition characters do.
While combat is expected in any scavenger’s life, it is the things they bring back to civilization that
marks their progress
However, finding precious goods on expeditions isn’t thing they need to do. Scavengers
have to find themselves patrons, or uniquely influential people and organizations, to work for.
A scavenger may have one patron throughout their career or could serve a dozen. This depends
purely on the scavenger’s own interest, as well as what their patron needs.

FINDING A PATRON
Patrons exist throughout Akara. Every major city-state has numerous. Most, however, dwell in Tar-
nak, where they have access to the legendary Monolith.
To find a patron, a group of scavengers must approach the various powers that be who
reside in one of the city-states. An audience can usually be arranged for and held, and if the scav-
engers somehow impress their would-be employer then they earn patronage.

THE CONTRACT
Historically, patrons hire scribes to record their contracts with scavengers in stone tablets. Tribal
patrons are more like to create songs as record. The contract is created through negotiation with
the patron in question and the approaching group of scavengers. Whilst every contract is different,
they must all include the following details:

• The names of all involved.

• Goals the patron wants the scavengers to complete.
• Goals the scavengers want to achieve while working for their patron.
• Description of payment, usually including what percentage of scavenged treasure can be kept
by the scavengers.
• Terms for renewing the contract.
• Terms for canceling the contract, including penalties for breaking it.

Once the contract has been established, it is signed with blood in the witness of others over
a raw shardstone.

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