Careless Whisper Lodestar

Whatever form their training takes, all lodestars possess a fractured soul. Lodestars in combat are poetry in motion, but to keep themselves from unraveling into madness they must train and hone their skills, becoming masters of both body and mind.

Fractured Soul

Just as the body and mind can be broken so too can the soul be fractured. Some individuals are born with their soul in pieces or wounded by great trauma, an internal conflict that can lead towards insanity. To save themselves the desperate perform the ritual of the lodestones, containing spiritual fragments coalesced into physical form and psychically tethered to the soul’s core. What follows is a life of constant training for lodestars, an unending struggle to keep their tenuous grasp on the pieces of their soul and maintain a unified identity.

Locus of Power

Lodestones are the soul given physical form, about the size of its creator’s fist with the consistency of stone, metal, or a supernatural energy depending on the personality of the lodestar, each a reflection of their soul and truly unique. The lodestar is the core of the soul still contained within their body, their lodestones always nearby in celestial orbit. Living with a fractured soul is difficult however and lodestars require intense training to figuratively and literally keep themselves together. They must all find their own way to remain centered—becoming unstable is a fear forever looming at the back of every lodestar’s mind.

Creating a Lodestar

As you make your lodestar character, consider first how your soul fractured. Were you born with this damage or was there some dramatic event that sent you tumbling towards madness? What kind of person is your character, and what centers them and makes them feel whole? Perhaps you were born in this condition and have bound your soul through vigorous mental training regimens, or an event in your past was so horrible that you cling to creative expression as your bastion of tranquility, using frivolity and humor to stay grounded in this world.

Next determine what attracts your lodestar to an adventuring lifestyle — most have an ideal, person, or pursuit that remains at the core of their identity and keeps them stable. Maybe you’re seeking restitution and revenge for the trauma that shattered your soul in the first place, your stability comes through the obsessive study of ancient ruins or a love of scriptures from a local faith, or a loved one is an adventurer and you’d follow them to the ends of the world.

Class Features

• Hit Dice: 1d8 + your Constitution modifier per Lodestar level
• Proficiencies
  • Armor: Light armor
  • Weapons: Simple weapons, lodestones
  • Saving Throws: Intelligence, Wisdom
  • Skills: Insight and choose two from Acrobatics, Arcana, Investigation, Perception, Performance, and Sleight of Hand

• More: A Touch of Class Codex, page 147