Innistrad's population is mostly human, and player characters in an Innistrad campaign should be human in most circumstances. However, the humans of Kessig are different in many respects from those of Gavony, and Nephalia's urban culture is very distinct from the shadow-draped land of Stensia. Diversity among player characters comes not from race, but from each character's home province.
- Human (Innistrad)
- Human (Innistrad; Gavony)
- Human (Innistrad; Kessig)
- Human (Innistrad; Nephalia)
- Human (Innistrad; Stensia)
Classes Overview
Characters of any class can be found in Innistrad, though some classes are rarer than others. The organizations and character types noted below are described in more detail on the following pages.
Barbarians are not a common sight in Innistrad. Some cathars draw on the power of divine fury (see the Lightning Mauler card in Avacyn Restored). The remotest regions of the Somberwald, the Ulvenwald, and the Geier Reach might also be home to more traditional barbarians.
Bards are also rare on Innistrad. A springsage—an Avacynian archmage dedicated to healing and renewal—could conceivably be a bard.
Clerics populate the ranks of the church hierarchy and many cathar orders.
Druids can be found as springsages or as the "witches" known as forcemages, who make pacts with nature spirits.
Fighters fill all the usual roles on Innistrad, as soldiers, cathars, militia captains, town guards, and so on.
Monks are rare. A monk is probably a member of the church hierarchy, and in fact is most likely to be a monk in the church's definition—a wandering priest.
Paladins fill many of the cathar orders. As the angels' madness and Emrakul's rise change the face of Innistrad, the Order of Saint Traft becomes the home of many "heretic" cathars who choose to follow their own conscience rather than the increasingly insane dictates of the church.
Rangers are particularly common in Kessig, where they operate as hunters, trappers, or guides in the Ulvenwald, or as cathar members of the Quiver of Kessig.
Rogues are most common in Thraben and the cities of Nephalia, engaging in smuggling, thievery, corpse trading, and other unsavory lines of work.
Sorcerers are rare. A spearsage (one of the archmages of Goldnight) could be a sorcerer, especially if you use the favored soul variant presented in Unearthed Arcana. A sorcerer might also be a necro-alchemist or a cultist of some sort.
Warlocks are found primarily in cults of madness (with a Great Old One as patron), demon cults such as the Skirsdag, or witches' covens. A warlock who belongs to the Skirsdag might be a respected member of the church hierarchy, feigning the blessings of Avacynian clergy.
Wizards are often Avacynian archmages, but can also take up more sinister vocations—ghoulcallers, skaberen, necro-alchemists, mad scientists, and cultists.
Languages
Innistrad is not a world with a variety of languages, unlike most D&D settings. The people who inhabit the world all speak the same tongue, and the most common monsters—including vampires, werewolves, and geists—speak it as well, since they were once human.
Ordinarily, all humans learn an additional language, and many backgrounds give access to languages as well—so the easiest way to deal with these extra languages is to ignore them. Humans speak only Common. If a background gives access to a language, the character can choose a tool proficiency instead.
Alternatively, you can diversify the languages of Innistrad. Perhaps the Common tongue is the language of the church, used to facilitate communication among people in different provinces, even as each province has its own language or dialect. Characters might also be able to learn Demonic (spoken by demons and devils), Draconic (spoken by dragons), or Primordial (spoken by elementals).
The Church of Avacyn
The Avacynian faith is a complex system of beliefs and magical practices intended to protect the humans of Innistrad from the predations of the plane's monsters. Over the centuries, layers of belief and ritual have accreted to this basic core, but as long as Avacyn remained present and sane in the world, the wards of the church remained strong, preventing the utter extinction of the human race.
Player characters in an Innistrad campaign are likely to be associated with the Church of Avacyn in some capacity. Clerics, druids, fighters, paladins, rangers, and wizards might serve as cathars, inquisitors, or archmages within the broad organization of the church.
Church Hierarchy
The church is headed by the Lunarch Council. Consisting of bishops and cathars of the highest ranks, the council continues to struggle to come to terms with the madness of Avacyn and her angels.
Bishops are the leaders of the spiritual and temporal affairs of the church. Elders govern the parishes that make up each province, combining the administrative responsibilities of a mayor with the religious authority of a minor bishop. Priests attend to the needs of the people at parish churches, village chapels, and crossway altars. All priests have the ability to perform magic, though some are more powerful than others. Most of them focus on the protective blessings that make up the rituals of the church.
Monks are wandering priests, not connected to a specific location. Some feel called to minister to those isolated people living beyond the reach of a parish priest, but others take up the life of a monk because they disagree with their superiors in the hierarchy. Some are wild-eyed fanatics or heretical teachers, but many are quiet, peaceful souls with firm convictions that set them apart from the church.
A player character cleric is probably referred to as a monk in the church hierarchy, having the freedom to move around with no responsibility to any congregation. The acolyte background is ideal for such a character. A cleric's choice of domain might reflect a connection to one of the archangels subservient to Avacyn. The Knowledge domain is particularly associated with Bruna and Flight Alabaster, the Life domain is strongly connected to Sigarda and the Host of Herons, and the War domain is tied to Gisela and Flight Goldnight.
Cathars
Cathars are the soldiers of the Avacynian church, but "soldiers" is a broad term encompassing everything from crime-solving investigators to mounted paladins. Some cathar orders are so independent as to be virtually separate sects of the church, while others are tightly bound to the hierarchy of the faith:
- The elite cavalry of Innistrad, the Gavony Riders, are extensively trained in mounted combat with swords and lances.
- The mausoleum guards are the rank-and-file soldiers of the cathars, wielding little magic but making up for it with their numbers.
- Midnight duelists patrol the streets, particularly at night, on the lookout for thieves, vampires, and corpse traders.
- Moor chaplains are battlefield faithful who wield magic and weapons with equal skill. Their magic focuses on healing and protection, so they don't usually fight on the front lines.
- Cathars of the parish-blades serve as escorts along the crossways and protect the cathedral in Thraben. They are an elite military force that assembles at the bishops' command.
- The Quiver of Kessig is an order recently split off from the parish-blades. Its members specialize in archery and long-range defense, and often guard town walls and church roofs against spirits, vampires, specters, demons, and other flying attackers.
Cathar characters might be clerics (especially moor chaplains), fighters or paladins (especially Gavony Riders, mausoleum guards, midnight duelists, or parish-blades), or rangers (in the Quiver of Kessig). The soldier background works well for cathars.
Avacynian Archmages
The Avacynian archmages are gifted spellcasters with the inborn ability to channel some of the divine power of the archangels. Each lineage of the archmages practices unique techniques passed down from master to student for generations, ultimately tracing back to the archangels and Avacyn herself.
Spearsages, the archmages of Goldnight, use powerful and aggressive spells associated with the sun, channeling blinding rays of holy light and powerful prayers to bolster their allies' speed and courage.
Moonsages, the archmages of Alabaster, are concerned with preserving the Blessed Rest, preventing humans from returning as zombies. They use preventative and warding spells, banishing the undead to the void and making sure graves remain sealed.
Springsages, the archmages of Herons, are healers who use their magic to aid individuals, whole villages, and even the land itself. They act much like wandering priests or monks, traveling the remote reaches to minister to the people and heal the sick.
Avacynian archmages might be clerics, wizards, or (in the case of the springsages) druids. The favored soul sorcerer presented in Unearthed Arcana could also work for an archmage , and the sage background is ideal for such characters.
Inquisitor Background
Historically, inquisitors were cathar detectives who investigated crimes both mundane and supernatural. They were known for traveling to remote parishes plagued by unexplained murders, and for exposing werewolves living among normal humans. During Avacyn's absence, when the archangel was trapped within the demonic prison known as the Helvault, the inquisitors led a series of brutal forays into Kessig and the Gavony Moorland. They executed suspected lycanthropes with little or no proof, and punished accused heretics in unsanctioned trials. With Avacyn's madness, this savage form of inquisition has become the norm, and inquisitors who still pry into dark mysteries have become a minority.