It’s Midgard Monday! Each week, we visit a corner of the wide world of Midgard. Look for standalone content you can drop into your campaign—whether it’s in Midgard or your own homebrew. Find new inspiration each Midgard Monday!
Midgard is vast and filled with different peoples. Wildly different cultures can exist just a few miles apart, each one a potential heritage for your character. Consider this your invitation to raise a tankard, call out praise to Ninkash, and embrace your inner dwarven adventurer!
A stout drink and a bold heart help you claim this achievement: a full set of Ironcrag heritages, drawn from the many cantons of the Crossroads region of the Midlands. Drink deep, leave a comment, and maybe, just maybe we’ll crush some foes along the way.
The first two cantons sit on the edge of the lands controlled by bloodsucking aristocrats on one side and undead vampires on the other. The grand halls of Wintersheim and Grisal offer excellent opportunities for your dwarven characters’ homelands.
Wintersheim
Wintersheim is renowned for its close diplomatic relations with Stannasgard in the Northlands. Wintersheim has a population of about 18,000, perched at the southern end of the Nordheim Pass.
Its resident white dragon ally, Hrothvengr, lounges on a hoard of copper baubles, and the canton’s libraries stand replete with a great collection of ancient Ironcrag and Northlander dwarven sagas. The mercenary companies have recently seen more action supporting the Whelp of the Wolfmark in Johzt against the Blood Kingdom’s levies and converts than joining musters in the south and participating in the Septime season of war.
Wintersheim Canton Heritage
As someone who spent a long time in the northernmost Ironcrag canton, you are accustomed to sights other dwarves only know from tales– tales you have heard spun in halls, feasts, and celebrations since your youth. The gruff Northlands dwarves and their boasts of vast, open water or cold, winter raids are a common sight, and dragons are not simply a fearful whispered warning, but a treasured community ally.
Your perspective is broader and more appreciative of the grand scope of dwarven history, and you know the value of shared, unusual alliances. You’ve heard countless sagas, listened to the many tales of old, perhaps even spent hours recopying faded manuscripts in a scriptorium. There is strength in understanding the past, and endeavoring to make a better future. As the local saying goes, “After winter arrives, spring is not far behind.”
Common backgrounds for this Heritage include Border Raider, Maker, Rustic, Scholar, and Soldier.
Dragon Calm. You spent significant time around the dragon of your canton. You have advantage on saves against dragons’ Frightful Presence traits and attempts to charm you.
Think Like a Dragon. Add your PB to any Charisma (Deception or Persuasion) or Wisdom (Insight) check made against a Dragon.
History Maven. You have proficiency in the History skill. In addition, double your PB when making ability checks regarding events involving dwarven heroes, giants, or the Northlands.
Languages. You know Draconic, Dwarven and one additional language of your choice. Typical Wintersheim heritage characters choose Common or Giant.
Grisal
Bordering the Argent river, on the edge of the Zombie Wood of Zwargau, and within sight of the Great Temple of the Red Goddess, is the Black Canton of Grisal. Grisal hosts the third-largest population of 22,000, daring the ghouls to attempt a sortie against them. The canton’s population is slightly larger than Zobeck itself.
Fully a tenth of the population consists of clercs, paladins, and other direct servants of Volund, Khors’, Grajava the Shieldmaiden, Wotan, and Thor-Perun. A fervently pious and hardbitten land, the dwarves, goblins, and humans who live here share an all-consuming hate for the zombies and skeletons roaming the forest. They regularly raid the Blood Kingdom, sometimes just to kill undead. Whatever their reason for going, warriors rarely return empty handed.
Grisal Canton Heritage
Those raised in Grisal tend to be dour, severe, and disciplined. While exceptions exist, the regular state of heightened alert here often leaves residents tense and accustomed to a loss of fellow residents. They celebrate their victories with enthusiasm, and then return to a regimented lifestyle the next morning.
The increased aggression of the Blood Kingdom only accentuates their dark demeanors. But it also hones a sense of pride. These dwarves know that they are the front line defending the rest of the cantons from the menace on the horizon.
Common backgrounds for this Heritage include Adherent, Border Raider, Homesteader, Rustic, and Soldier.
Mountain Devout. You have proficiency in the Religion skill. In addition, double your PB when making ability checks regarding Volund, Khors, Grajava, Wotun, or Perun.
Undead Stalker. Given your regular interaction with the undead forces of the Blood Kingdom, you have advantage on Stealth and Survival checks.
Undead Slayer. Add your PB to weapon damage rolls made against mindless undead creatures. This bonus is doubled for a critical hit.
Languages. You know Dwarven and one additional language of your choice. Typical Grisal heritage characters choose Common or Darakhul.
New Background: Border Raider
You spent your previous life with a band of local irregular warriors, hunting into the Blood Kingdom to brawl against the undead forces, raid their communities, and bring back some loot.
This wasn’t a past wasted as a glorified thief, though. You stared at a foe across the river, in the woods, or standing on the opposite shore and understood the threat to your community lurking in those shadows. You learned their ways, you memorized the paths, redoubts, and tactics to strike fast and hard and then melt away. While you may have looted after your raids, the focus was always on what would weaken the enemy most. Living easier was an added benefit for those who returned.
Skill Proficiencies: Choose two from Athletics, Intimidation, Investigation, or Survival.
Additional Proficiencies: You gain proficiency with one of the following: shields, a martial weapon, or herbalist tools.
Equipment: A backpack, a bed roll, a mess kit, a set of common clothes, and a pouch containing 10 gp.
Talent
Frequent sorties into the Blood Kingdom prepared you for a dangerous life in the field, facing a foe who never rests and always presses onwards. Choose a talent from this list to represent your experience: Aware, Covert, or Focus (War).
Adventuring Motivation
| d8 | Motivation |
| 1 | I betrayed a former companion. I don’t think they survived, so I disappeared to make it look like neither of us made it. |
| 2 | I got tired of the constant possibility of my corpse being turned against my companions, so I turned to adventuring. |
| 3 | My family’s homestead was destroyed in an ambush. I had nothing else, so I left to adventure. |
| 4 | I had an argument over distribution of loot, so I took my share and then some and headed for less cutthroat destinations. |
| 5 | One of my family or companions was captured. I’m looking for them when I travel abroad |
| 6 | I want to see more of the world than just a zombie-filled forest. |
| 7 | There has to be another answer to stopping the Blood Kingdom, and I’m going to find it adventuring. |
| 8 | The gods called me to expand my horizons through adventuring. |
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