A’Erth

A’Erth

The homebrew world of the Crimson Twilight campaign — a Curse of Strahd reskin with distinctive lunar cosmology, house-rules on divine and arcane mechanics, and a Concord of Dawn and Dusk overlaying Barovia.

The Four Moons

Luna — The Silver Moon

The Silver Moon of oaths, remembrance, and shelter. Priests of Lathander mark the ecclesiastical week to Luna. Sailors trust her. She is what the world would be without the other three.

FULL: Buffed schools cast at +1 caster level for slot purposes (max 9). Abjurations extend duration ×1.5. Divinations penetrate one layer of ordinary obfuscation without extra cost. Healing Conjurations regain max on any die that rolls 1–2.

WAXING: Abjuration & healing gain +1 to the roll (spell attack, cure amount, save DC to strip a curse). Oaths sworn under waxing Luna gain narrative weight — GM may grant Inspiration on first honoring.

WANING: Divinations reveal what is *ending* rather than what is beginning. Straightforward but colored by decline.

NEW: No bonus. Abjurations still function normally; the shelter is simply not amplified.

In Barovia: Luna full still functions in Barovia — the mist thins slightly and the wolves keep more distance. Ireena reports she slept without nightmares. Villagers plant, marry, and bury by Luna.

Ignis — The Crimson Moon

The Crimson Moon of appetite, forge-fire, and blood. Ignis blesses combat and craft equally. Smiths and duelists alike watch her. Wild Magic sorcerers double their surge chance under her full face.

FULL: Evocation & Transmutation add +1 damage die (of the spell’s type). Wild Magic surge range doubles (typically 1–2 instead of 1). Non-magical fires burn hotter and are harder to extinguish (disadvantage on Dex saves to smother).

WAXING: +1 to the highest damage die of any Evocation. Forge work speeds by 25%. Tempers run short — Insight to defuse a quarrel is at disadvantage.

WANING: Damage boost fades. Wounds bleed longer: creatures below 0 HP fail one extra death save unless stabilized within 1 minute.

NEW: No bonus. Evocations still function normally; the crimson simply gives no lift.

In Barovia: Barovia’s wolves grow bolder under waxing Ignis; the Vistani say Strahd himself walks the perimeter on the full. Blacksmith Bildrath still won’t fire the forge on Ignis nights — a habit older than his memory of the reason.

Umbra — The Obsidian Moon

The Obsidian Moon of shadow, memory-eating, and the quiet dead. Umbra is not evil — but the things drawn to her often are. Necromancers align rites to her cycle whether they claim to or not. Ancient Barovia keeps its most important vigils on her full.

FULL: Necrotic damage +1 per die, range +50%. Enchantments impose disadvantage on the first save. Illusions persist 1 round after concentration ends. Ordinary healing recovers half rolled amount within 1 mile of a corpse. TURN UNDEAD triggers Corruption of the Dawn table.

WAXING: Necromancy DCs +1. Enchantments last one interval longer than normal. Dead speak clearer to *speak with dead* (extra question or evasion loses one word).

WANING: Old debts surface. Ghosts, echoes, and lingering enchantments try to end themselves — some by resolution, some by violence.

NEW: No bonus. The Obsidian Moon “sleeps.” Necromancy still works but without the whispered aid.

In Barovia: This is the moon Barovia was made under. Full Umbra Vigil is in effect on every Umbra full — even without a full conjunction. The Cathedral doubles its wards. The Ledger of Dusk was written on an Umbra full. CT02’s opening trigger.

Nyxvasha — The Veiled Moon

The Veiled Moon of prophecy, time-slippage, and dreams that outlive their dreamers. The oldest and slowest. Rarely full in a given year. When she is, Divination trebles in range and halves in reliability. The elves stop speaking on her full and their reason is not shared.

FULL: Divinations reach farther but arrive tilted — GM adds one true detail and one false. Wild Magic surge range doubles. Time-related effects (haste, slow, time stop, Simulacrum re-formation) last 1 round longer. Long rests grant a prophetic dream on a d20 ≥ 15.

WAXING: Divinations gain range but not accuracy. Dreams become more vivid; NPCs may report the same dream unprompted.

WANING: Prophecies made under waxing Nyxvasha “come due” during her wane. NPCs quote things they said months ago as if just remembered.

NEW: No bonus. The Veiled Moon is invisible entirely — she is not observing.

In Barovia: Nyxvasha full is when Madam Eva’s readings are least reliable and most feared. Vistani say a card drawn under Nyxvasha “is more true than the reader can bear.” The Night of Four Moons — the campaign’s catastrophic apex — requires all four full, so Nyxvasha’s 88-day cycle is what gates it.

Night of Four Moons

All four moons full at once. Every buffed school triggers simultaneously. Wild Magic surges automatic on any spell. Divinations lie AND reach forever. Necromantic seals across the continent test; those that fail, fail loudly. Historically once per 25 years, correlating to major continental events. The next occurrence anchors CT02’s endgame clock.

Next: 3462 (in-world) · 2029-01-01 (calendar) · Last: 3437 (Steward of Old Barovia died that year)

Notes

0 notes on this entry