Fireborn

I've been running a game of Fireborn for my tabletop gaming group since November 2009. Fireborn is about dragons who have reincarnated in human bodies in the modern world, who are now beginning to recover not only their past-life memories but also the powers they wielded in the Mythic Age. (Needless to say, it's a premise that holds a lot of appeal for me.)

If you're new to Fireborn, I've written up evaluations of its rulebook and character creation process; its gameplay and combat; and its official introductory adventure. Short version: It's a fantastic system with a lot of unique features, if you're willing to put up with its learning curve.

Although the books went out of print in ~2006, Fantasy Flight Games has recently made them available again in PDF form via DriveThruRPG.com -- please support them by buying the game!

I've been posting about Fireborn semi-regularly in my journal, but here's a one-stop place for the various add-ons and gaming aids that have made our campaign so memorable.

All of the works in the "Baxil-Created" sections are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Other items are provided as a courtesy to fellow Fireborn players, and to the best of my knowledge are freely available for noncommercial use. Contact their original creator for usage/licensing terms.

Baxil-Created: Game Utilities

Nonhuman Introduction Etiquette (PNG image, 250kb) — Perfect for adding courtly intrigue to your Mythic Age or secret societies to your Modern Age. There are some societies in which it is unwise to reveal to the public that you're not the human you appear to be. This conversational flowchart allows two nonhumans to safely introduce themselves in mixed company — while also sparring for social dominance.

Scion Dice Mat (PDF, 200kb) Dragon Dice Mat (PDF, 200kb) — With these attractive accessories, your players can track their dice pools, mark their karma expenditures, AND claim their table space! Invaluable! Print both out back-to-back and your group will always be prepared for flashbacks. If you want to customize the mats, download my source InDesign file and images (archive, 3 Mb). Send me a copy of your results! (NOTE: Mats contain some images © Fantasy Flight Games, which are included under fair use and NOT licensed for redistribution. Respect their copyright accordingly.)

Character Initiative Cards — Strips of paper to hang over your GM screen to track initiative order in combat (and a few other things). See this write-up for full details, and tomorrowlands.org/gaming for downloads (including NPC cards, status hangers, etc).

General Gaming Resources: See my gaming page for links to essays, GM tips, etc., that aren't written specifically for Fireborn but still apply to it.

Baxil-Created: Campaign Multimedia

Extensible (Easy to integrate into your own Fireborn campaign)

Father Shane's Answering Machine (MP3, 5 Mb) — While searching the office of a London priest, the players discover that a bum named George is gearing up to reclaim his dragonslayer heritage ...

The Open Way's Web Page — After some time researching where to find one of their oldest and most bitter foes, modern technology turns up a promising lead. NOTE: CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR "THE FIRE WITHIN."

Specific (Tied to the characters and themes of my current campaign)

Project Cadmus: Summary file (PDF, 250kb) — A shadowy government organization's evaluation of the characters' actions, two weeks in.

Campaign Website (offsite link) — With adventure write-ups, NPC lists, plot tracker, game quotes, and more!

Other Resources

Scion Character Sheet (PDF, 1 Mb)

Dragon Character Sheet (PDF, 1.1 Mb) — These three-page sheets (from the Fireborn forums) are far superior to the ones in the Player's Handbook, offering room to list equipment and fighting style moves; track supernatural ability scores; and more. Suggestion: Print these out back-to-back, with your dragon's Page 3 against your scion's Page 1, and vice versa; this way, when a flashback hits, you can simply flip your entire stack of papers over and be immediately ready and organized.

Color Scion Character Sheet (PDF, 4.1 Mb)

Color Dragon Character Sheet (PDF, 4.2 Mb) — As above, but with a brilliant and attractive background best suited for full-color printing, to help you tell your two sheets apart at a glance.

Official London Tube Line Map (GIF image, 300kb)

Central London Tube Lines (PNG image, 500kb) — Two printable handouts to help your players get the lay of the land. The official map contains all of the stops and their relative distance from the town center (via the "fare zones"); the Central London map more usefully shows the lines as they actually correspond to London geography. (Source: Wikipedia)

Fireborn Forums (offsite link) — A fantastic collection of player-made material and rule discussion.

Urban-Fantasy Dragon Book List (offsite link) — For a little inspiration as you're plotting the actions of your dragons in the modern age.