Hearth Ancestries

25 Jun, 2025

Editor's Note: I've changed the name of the campaign setting from it's working title - Hearth - to Coderra. I've left the text alone, though, as I'm not going through and changing everything.

After tackling the general vibes of Hearth and its communities, now we get into Ancestries¹.

Once again, there are two layers here: Hearth in general, and each city in particular. I anticipate each city focusing on 3-4 ancestries, with any other ancestries present being somewhat unusual and notable. I want each ancestry to make sense in this city, with a unique history and lens for where it exists.

But let's start by talking about how each ancestry fits into the world as a whole.

I'm doing these in mostly numerical order of the cards, not alphabetical. Don't blame me blame Darrington.

Clank

You can't have cyberpunk without robots, and you can't have a capitalist dystopia without questions about ownership and identity.

Clanks in Hearth are almost universally created by the Gildcrowns as slave labor. This is probably the baseline, but requires many paths toward emancipation for PCs. There will probably be some "brands" or "models" of clanks, viewed as somewhat interchangeable and identical (unless a clank takes effort to make itself look distinct). Similar to questions about clones, this creates fun opportunities for players to explain how their character is different.

Drakona

Drakona are all about living the dream of being a dragon but also a PC. This is an option in Hearth. No notes.

Dwarf

Dwarves in Hearth lean more into the industrial stereotype than the deep below the earth stereotype, as there are few hidden undermountain kingdoms here.

With magic as debt and divinity as infrastructure, dwarves have a much higher profile as powerful wizards, diviners, and arcanists than in some other high fantasy campaigns. They can be the oppressing Nobleborne, mercantile Slyborne, or Skyborne explorers.

Elf

Elves are generally stereotyped as long-lived, graceful, and some combination of "in touch with nature" and "elitist". This all fits in Hearth just fine. No notes.

Faerie

I love bug races. I love Daggerheart's interpretation of Faerie as less "mystical fae" and more "lucky bugs". I'm into it.

Where they fit in this world takes thinking, as I'm not used to including Faeries in my campaigns.

I think their luck and somewhat unique morphology make them wonders for Wanderborne and Skyborne. When present in cities, they're probably often oppressed - Underborne or Slyborne, down at the bottom.

I'll have to make sure to incorporate Faeries into a city sooner rather than later so I can wrap my head around them. And then one day, subvert the trope and make them the Highborne oppressors.

Firbolg

Fuck yeah, Minotaurs. No notes.

Fungril

These fun guys are going to be everywhere. In a world where long distance travel is dangerous, instant communication is going to make them the heart of every information brokerage in the world.

That being said, the book's not super clear on how the fungril network works, so maybe it's not so secret. Maybe communicating with one fungril is communicating with all? Is this more of an "encrypted communication" network or an old school "bulletin board"? I like the idea of fungril asking questions in codes and cyphers so that most people think they're only asking about the best elven lamas bread in the city.

I think Fungril are going to be the ur-hackers of Hearth.

Faun

I have to admit, I'm a wee bit influenced by the Age of Umbra actual play over on Critical Role. I see fauns as natural travelers and couriers. Don't want to limit them to that, though. Nothing that needs to get folded into the campaign, just background info for NPCs.

Galapa

Turtles are cool. No notes.

Giant

I think there will be NPC Giants that are taller than 12 feet. I'm not quite sure how to map that to the PC/NPC split: why can't PCs be 50' tall if they want to be? My instinct is that I don't have to answer that question.

Giants in cramped cities will likely be oppressed, will likely be drawn to Wanderborne / Outerborne communities.

Goblins

Bats are cool. Goblins in popular fiction fit perfectly into a cyberpunk fantasy. No notes.

Halflings

These folks are going to be interesting. I see them in cities as community stewards. There aren't a lot of idyllic New Zealand hillsides in the world of Hearth, so the focus on home and people that stereotypes Halflings is going to play out very differently in a dystopian city.

And props to Anthony Jones - this is some of my favorite art in the book, and my favorite picture of a halfling ever.

Human

Probably the oppressors in a lot of cities. No notes.

Infernis

I'm not sure what to do with tieflings infernis. The world was fractured during a divine war, so I have strong feelings that they came out of that. These aren't an ancestry that's been around since the dawn of time. They're newer. They're a side effect of the war with the gods.

I think I need to lock down how the divine war played out before I commit to where the infernis fit in. TBD.

Katari

I've never had cat people at one of my tables before. I'll leave 'em alone and see what my players do with them.

Orcs

I like the idea of orcs coming out of the divine war. Darrington has clearly leaned into a lot of classic fantasy ancestries being expressed as "animal people" (goblins as bat, faeries as bugs, etc.), and I like that. But I think I want to do more with orcs than "boar people".

I've no budget for sensitivity readers and orcs are fraught, but I like the idea orcs being a new ancestry that was made. I'm thinking that orcs are an immune response from the environment. They bring stability in the face of chaos, and were created to help the world heal.

This wouldn't be reflect in any direct PC abilities / mechanics, but orcish communities are a little more resistant to the aftermath of the divine war.

Ribbet

Frogs are cool. No notes.

Simiah

My wife's first D&D race was an orangutan. Simiah are cool. No notes.

I see Hearth needing 2-4 ancestries of its own, something tied very deeply into the cyberpunk / divine war. But that's another post.

If you're still with me, thanks for reading. Until next time.

#coderra #daggerheart