Chapter 5 — Origins
“Your people is your blood. Your Calling is your gift. But your origin is the thing this city actually asks about first: whose lodge, whose House, whose level, whose oath. In Sulamir, where you’re from is nine-tenths of who they’ll let you be.” — a Steam-Worker’s counsel to a child leaving for the surface
Your Origin is where your character came from before the story began — the life and institution that shaped them. Mechanically, it is the other half of character creation from your people (Chapter 3): where a people grants traits, an origin grants the aptitudes you earned. In Sulamir, that almost always means an institution — one of the eighteen guilds, a great House, the Temple, the Steam-Workers’ deep, or the exposed frontier.
What an Origin gives you
Section titled “What an Origin gives you”Each Origin provides:
- Ability Scores. Three abilities are listed. Increase one by 2 and a different one by 1, or increase all three by 1. (This is where your people leaves the ability scores — your lineage is what you are; your origin is what you got good at.)
- An Origin Feat. One feat, listed below (Merretian origin feats follow; the standard SRD origin feats are also permitted at your GM’s discretion).
- Skill Proficiencies. Two.
- A Tool Proficiency. One tool, kit, or instrument.
- Equipment. A starting package, or a purse of 15 gold seals to outfit yourself (Chapter 8).
Merretian Origin Feats
Section titled “Merretian Origin Feats”These origin feats belong to this world. Each grants a small, lasting knack.
Oath-Sworn. You have sworn a formal oath into a lodge, House, Temple, or Stand. Increase one ability score of your choice by 1. You always know when someone knowingly lies to you about a matter your oath covers. Once per long rest, when you act in direct service of your sworn oath, you may give yourself advantage on one attack roll, ability check, or saving throw.
Grid-Wise. You were raised among buried-sun tech. Increase your Constitution or Intelligence by 1. You gain proficiency with tinker’s tools. You recharge buried-sun cells at half the normal cost and time, and once per long rest you can coax one emergency charge into a dead cell (enough for a few shots or an hour’s light) with a successful DC 13 Intelligence check.
Focus-Touched. A flicker of the disciplines runs in you. Increase your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma by 1. Choose one discipline; you learn one cantrip-tier Working of it, which you can cast at will at no cost (your eyes flash the discipline’s color when you do). If you later gain a Reaching into that discipline (Chapter 4), you count as already knowing this Working. This is the “a little magic in the blood” origin — never a full caster.
Faithful. Your unshaped Faith runs deep. Increase your Wisdom or Charisma by 1. Write a one-sentence Tenet (Chapter 6) for your character. Once per long rest, you may use the Unshaped Faith gift (grant an ally advantage or one extra Hit Die) without spending any track point — the lending simply costs you nothing that time.
Verge-Hardened. You survived the exposed frontier, where the grid ends and the Hollow thins the world. Increase your Constitution or Wisdom by 1. You gain proficiency in Survival. You ignore the movement penalty of your first level of exhaustion, and you have advantage on saving throws against natural environmental hazards (cold, heat, thirst, altitude).
Street-Read. You learned to read Sulamir’s three-layer politics from the pavement up. Increase your Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma by 1. You gain proficiency in Insight. In any settled place, you can reliably find the local fixer, black-market, or grid-tap; and once per day you may study a person for a moment to sense their likely guild or House allegiance and whether they mean you well.
Backgrounds
Section titled “Backgrounds”Each background lists its abilities, its origin feat, proficiencies, and gear. Where a background says “choose your lodge,” name a specific guild from the eighteen and let it colour the details.
Steam-Worker
Section titled “Steam-Worker”You came up in the deep — the steam tunnels, the buried-sun galleries, the sunless communities that keep Sulamir lit. Ability Scores: Constitution, Strength, Intelligence · Origin Feat: Grid-Wise · Skills: Athletics, and Investigation or Perception · Tool: tinker’s tools · Equipment: a grip-lamp, a satchel of tools, a spare buried-sun cell, work-clothes, and 5 seals — or 15 seals. You know the deep’s professional courtesies, and you know the Kardun are down there even if the surface pretends otherwise.
Guild Apprentice (choose your lodge)
Section titled “Guild Apprentice (choose your lodge)”You were bound as an apprentice to one of the eighteen guilds and swore the Universal Guild Oath. Ability Scores: any two, plus one, keyed to your lodge · Origin Feat: Oath-Sworn · Skills: two, keyed to your lodge (e.g., Iron Coin → Insight & Persuasion; Bavit-vita → Medicine & Nature; Red Dragons → Athletics & Intimidation; Abyssal Fires → Investigation & Stealth) · Tool: one of your trade · Equipment: your guild’s badge and work-kit, a letter of standing, and 10 seals — or 15 seals. Name your lodge; it is your first loyalty and your first debt.
House Retainer
Section titled “House Retainer”You served a great House — the fused lines that hold both a guild and a senate seat. Ability Scores: Charisma, Wisdom, Intelligence · Origin Feat: Oath-Sworn · Skills: Persuasion, History · Tool: calligrapher’s supplies or a gaming set · Equipment: fine livery, a House signet (minor), a sealed letter of introduction, and 10 seals — or 15 seals. You know how a House really works, and a House knows you.
Temple Acolyte
Section titled “Temple Acolyte”You trained under the Temple of the One, nearest of all the religions to a truth none of them fully hold. Ability Scores: Wisdom, Charisma, Intelligence · Origin Feat: Faithful · Skills: Religion, Insight · Tool: none (a devotional focus) · Equipment: vestments, a prayer-book, a gold-touched focus, and 5 seals — or 15 seals. You can find shelter at any Temple house, and you carry the doctrine’s certainties — and its quiet doubts.
Marshal
Section titled “Marshal”You wore the iron of the city watch, kept the gates, and enforced the protocol that governs all who pass the Dome. Ability Scores: Strength, Constitution, Wisdom · Origin Feat: Oath-Sworn · Skills: Athletics, Intimidation · Tool: one gaming set · Equipment: a Marshal-iron baton, a badge (former or current), manacles, and 10 seals — or 15 seals. You may invoke lawful authority in the city, and old comrades still answer a Marshal’s word.
Rhydin-Level Native
Section titled “Rhydin-Level Native”You were born in the still-open deep levels beneath Sulamir, older than the city above. Ability Scores: Constitution, Dexterity, Wisdom · Origin Feat: Verge-Hardened · Skills: Survival, Stealth · Tool: mason’s tools or thieves’ tools · Equipment: a grip-lamp, climbing gear, oath-cord, and 5 seals — or 15 seals. The dark holds no fear for you, and you know ways through the under-city no map records.
Frontier Scout
Section titled “Frontier Scout”You lived past the last recharge post, on the exposed continent where steel and powder still rule and the Hollow seeps close. Ability Scores: Dexterity, Wisdom, Constitution · Origin Feat: Verge-Hardened · Skills: Survival, Perception · Tool: cartographer’s tools or a herbalism kit · Equipment: a coilbow or a bow, a bedroll, off-grid gear, and 5 seals — or 15 seals. You have seen a wall breached and a Hollow-thing walk; the sheltered city folk have not, and it shows.
Iron Coin Clerk
Section titled “Iron Coin Clerk”You kept the ledgers of the guild that underwrites the continent’s credit. Ability Scores: Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma · Origin Feat: Street-Read · Skills: Insight, Persuasion · Tool: calligrapher’s supplies · Equipment: a ledger, a seal-stamp, fine clothes, and 10 seals — or 15 seals. You read a contract the way a duelist reads a stance, and you know exactly who owes whom by nightfall.
Magnerail Hand
Section titled “Magnerail Hand”You worked the arterial line that binds Sulamir to the continent — mag-lev freight, passage, and the coil-and-rail craft the arc-locks are cousins to. Ability Scores: Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence · Origin Feat: Grid-Wise · Skills: Athletics, Investigation · Tool: tinker’s tools · Equipment: a rail-pass wallet, a repair kit, a spare cell, and 5 seals — or 15 seals. You can ride the rail anywhere it runs, and you understand coil-craft in your hands.
Discipline Student
Section titled “Discipline Student”You studied the disciplines at an academy — the Core, the University, or a guild’s own school — whether or not the gift ever fully woke in you. Ability Scores: Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma · Origin Feat: Focus-Touched · Skills: Arcana, History · Tool: a scholar’s kit or a Knowing-lens · Equipment: a starter focus stone, a discipline primer, an eye-shroud, and 5 seals — or 15 seals. You can read the colour of a caster’s eye-flash and name the channel, and you know the academy’s politics as well as its lessons.
Covert Agent
Section titled “Covert Agent”You served in the quiet trades — Abyssal Fires’ archives-and-inquiry, or the Order of the Spider’s sanctioned work. Ability Scores: Dexterity, Intelligence, Charisma · Origin Feat: Street-Read · Skills: Stealth, Deception · Tool: thieves’ tools or a disguise kit · Equipment: dark clothes, a set of forged papers, a hidden blade, and 10 seals — or 15 seals. You have a handler you’d rather not name, and a knack for being where no one remembers you.
Legion Performer
Section titled “Legion Performer”You lived on the White Legion’s stages, where public affection is a currency the Council cannot directly contest. Ability Scores: Charisma, Dexterity, Wisdom · Origin Feat: Street-Read · Skills: Performance, Persuasion · Tool: one musical instrument · Equipment: a costume, an instrument, a token from an admirer, and 10 seals — or 15 seals. A crowd’s mood is an instrument you play, and a friendly stage exists in any city on the line.
Bavit-vita Physician
Section titled “Bavit-vita Physician”You trained in the guild of life sciences, medicine, and agriculture — the healers and growers of Sulamir. Ability Scores: Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity · Origin Feat: Healer (SRD) · Skills: Medicine, Nature · Tool: herbalism kit · Equipment: a physician’s bag, a Growing-primer, salves, and 5 seals — or 15 seals. You can keep a dying comrade breathing, and you know which draughts in Chapter 7 are worth their seals.
Caravaneer
Section titled “Caravaneer”You moved goods across the continent for The Hand or an independent train — trade, haggling, and the long road between provinces. Ability Scores: Constitution, Charisma, Strength · Origin Feat: Verge-Hardened · Skills: Persuasion, Animal Handling · Tool: navigator’s tools or a gaming set · Equipment: a riding beast or rail-pass, trade goods worth 10 seals, and 5 seals — or 15 seals. You know the road, the tolls, and which frontier towns still run on powder and a handshake.
Building a custom Origin
Section titled “Building a custom Origin”If none fits your character, build one with your GM: pick three abilities, any one origin feat, two skills, one tool, and a gear package or 15 seals. Anchor it to a real place in the world — a guild, a House, a province, the deep, or the Verge — so your origin is a door into Sulamir’s institutions, not a blank.