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STRANGE
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LINEAGES
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Guild. 1
 Strange Lineages Dragon
4 Weird Ways to Walk the World Dragons are among the most powerful and majestic
creatures in the realms, towering over the rest of the
world from fantastical lairs and hoarding riches
“Someday, you’ll understand—something strange and unimaginable. Most believe that dragons can only be
seemingly impossible will happen to you, and it will change born, not made—but a few rare individuals come upon
you in ways you could never predict. Come find me then.” their draconic forms later in life. This transformation
—Myra Storm, werehyena paladin almost always has to do with treasure in some way, as

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hoards of treasure are the defining characteristic of
Everyone has the capacity for transformation, whether dragons and their magic. Dragons that come upon their
it’s a benign change like cutting your hair or a draconic hearts later in life invariably possess the ability
fantastical one like becoming a vampire. Many of these to shapechange into a humanoid.
changes are beneficial, granting you new abilities that
Coveted Treasures

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can help in the face of adversity; some are more akin to
curses, weighing you down on your hardest days and
longest nights. No matter the particular change, every While many dragons hoard gold, magic items, and
adventurer knows there’s a chance that one day, they’ll every valuable thing they encounter, they always have a
wake up and everything will be different. special treasure they covet more than any other. As a
Lineages, introduced in Van Richten’s Guide to dragon, you are bound by your nature to collect a
Ravenloft, are an excellent tool to represent a life- particular item or category of items. You go out of your
changing event in an adventurer’s story, be it the way to acquire these items, and find it difficult to resist
backstory or in play. This product presents more the temptation of chasing them.
lineage options for your adventurers. Many coveted treasures are related to a dragon’s

Ancestral Lineage
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Regardless of when you gain a lineage, you benefit from
this trait.
Ancestral Lineage. If you replace a race with this
origin in some way, but some are entirely random. Roll
or choose an option from the Coveted Treasures table
to determine what your character hoards.
Coveted Treasures
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lineage, you can keep the following elements of that d6 treasure
race: any skill proficiencies and any climbing, 1 Gems, especially one sort, like rubies or emeralds
swimming, or flying speed you gained from it. If you 2 Books and secret knowledge
don’t keep any of those elements or you choose this
3 Weapons, armor, and other war instruments of
lineage at character creation, you gain proficiency in
fine craft
two skills of your choice.
4 Body parts of rare creatures
Lineages
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5 Paintings and other works of art

The following lineages are presented in this product in
6 Trophies from creatures you kill
alphabetical order.
Dragon. You are a dragon that flits between your
humanoid and draconic forms with ease and grace. Dragon Origins
Fiend. Through a bargain or a malevolent life, you Dragons are typically born rather than made, but a rare
have become a fiendish denizen of the Lower Planes. few are the result of bargains, curses, and other magical
Lycanthrope. A beast is contained within you, and
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phenomena. The Dragon Origins table below provides

sometimes it takes control of you, transforming you. suggestions for how your character became a dragon.
Parasite. This body is not your own, and neither
will it be your last. You are an outsider that possesses Dragon Origins
hosts to survive. d8 origin
1 You stole from a dragon and were cursed with
uncontrollable greed.
2 You were born to a dragon in humanoid form,
and only learned of your origins later.
3 You bargained with a dagon, trading a priceless
treasure for power.

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 you haven’t fallen into the service of an archfiend,
Dragon Origins (cont.)
you’re almost certainly avoiding the eyes of one.
d8 origin
4 You worship a draogn god, and your form is a Mark of Sin
reward for your faith. When a sentient creature becomes a fiend, they are
5 You performed experiments on yourself with marked with a special trait that signifies their deepest
dragon blood, and are slowly becoming a dragon. flaw. For instance, a covetous person obsessed with
6 Your dragon form is an heirloom, passed from hoarding treasure might have eyes that look like coins
parent to child. or skin like tarnished gold. A wrathful person might be

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covered in spines or bone spurs; an envious one might
7 You killed a dragon and ate its heart, inheriting its have a barrage of eyes, all focused on the belongings of
awesome power. others. The possibilities are endless, each mark tuned to
8 You made a wish for wealth and power, and this its particular bearer.
was the result.
Fiendish Origins

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Dragon Traits Fiends are usually the result of bargains. When a
creature trades their soul for money, power, luck, or
You have the following lineage traits. some other prize, they are pulled into the Lower Planes
Creature Type. You are a Humanoid. upon death and transformed into a fiend. This
Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the transformation might even come earlier, depending on
size when you gain this lineage. the nature of the contract. However, fiends can
Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet. ultimately be created in a variety of ways. The Fiendish
Draconic Resistance. You have resistance to one of Origins table provides a few suggestions.

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the following damage types, chosen when you gain this
lineage: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison.
Dragonshape. As an action, you can shed your
humanoid form and become a dragon. Your equipment
Fiendish Origins
d8 origin
1 You made a bargain for something selfish and
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merges with your new form, and your natural woke up in the Lower Planes after you died.
weapons—claws, bite, or tail—bear the statistics of any
2 You wielded a weapon forged in the Lower
weapons you are wielding. You benefit from the
Planes, and it slowly changed you.
following traits until the transformation ends:
3 You researched ways to control fiendish power.
• Your creature type is Dragon.
Long-term exposure to it made you into this.
• Your size becomes Large. If there isn’t enough room
to become Large, the transformation fails. 4 A contract you don’t remember making is
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branded onto your skin, and violating its terms

• You gain a flying speed equal to your walking speed.
furthers your transformation.
• You can breathe destructive force, as if casting
burning hands at a spell level equal to your 5 As a child, you promised your soul to a devil to
proficiency bonus. The damage type of this breath keep your loved ones happy and safe.
weapon matches your Draconic Resistance. You can 6 You fought a fiendish bounty hunter and won.
make this attack twice per transformation. Corruption spreads from the scars of that fight.
The transformation lasts for a number of hours equal to
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7 You released a fiend that was trapped in a magic

your proficiency bonus, or until you are reduced to 0 circle, and it gave you a fragment of its power.
hit points. Once the transformation ends, you can’t use
it again until you finish a long rest. 8 You were a ruthless, ambitious person in life, and
you thrive as a fiend in the Lower Planes.
Fiend
In the Lower Planes, countless fiends toil away at the
machinations of their archfiend masters, cunning and
brutal. Some fiends are born, some created from the
dark energies generated by the Lower Planes—but most
were humanoids once, transformed into fiends by
bargains or lives of extraordinary malice. As a fiend,
you’re bound to the darkest realms of existence, and if