98 CHAPTER 4 | THE MARK OF HANDLING
The Mark of Handling ..............................................
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The Mark of Handling gives its bearer a primal
connection to beasts and the natural world,
granting the power to calm and coax. This extends
beyond purely natural animals; the mark allows its
JMIZMZ\WO]QLMIPQXXWOZQٺI[MI[QTaI[IPWZ[MHOUSE VADALIS
House Vadalis plays an important role in daily
life. Vadalis ranches produce meat, mounts, and
more. Vadalis isn’t one of the most powerful
houses, but its barons are generally content;
they’re more interested in discovering new
monstrosities than engaging in the politics of the
dragonmarked houses.
House Vadalis breeds and trains beasts for a
wide range of purposes. While they maintain
vast cattle ranches and train horses and hounds,
the Mark of Handling allows Vadalis to work
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trained. Vadalis also works with more intelligent
beasts, such as giant owls, displacers beasts, and
pegasi. Even with the Mark of Handling, this is
dangerous work; there’s a lot of turnover at the
bullette ranch. But these exotic creatures aren’t
enough to satisfy the most innovative members
of the house, and this has led to the practice of
magebreeding. Using the Mark of Handling and
dragonshard focus items, Vadalis has found ways
to create magical creatures. Typically, this results
in a superior version of a mundane creature—an
animal that is stronger, faster, and smarter. But
rumors claim that Vadalis has crafted monsters
of its own. Some rumors even insist that Vadalis
has been trying to magebreed better P]UIV[...DRAGONMARKED CHARACTERS
Some characters with the Mark of Handling:
Noble Druid. Your family is one of the most
powerful in the house, and they’ve learned to use
its power to do amazing things: shapeshifting,
manipulating animals and the world. While you’re
mechanically a druid, you don’t share any druidic
beliefs; rather, you believe that your mark gives
you rightful dominion over the natural world.
Ranger House Agent. You’ve been trained
to track and handle the wildest monstrosities.
You’re still mastering your skills, but you want
to get out into the world and discover new beasts
that have never been harnessed—new creatures
that you can bring back to your house.
Outlander Druid. Your dragonmark gives
you a powerful connection to the natural world.
You hate what your house is doing with this
power—turning this gift into a J][QVM[[, exploiting
the creatures you’re connected to. You have
abandoned the house and loathe them all now.MARK OF HANDLING TRAITS
The Mark of Handling only manifests on
humans. If your character has the Mark of
Handing, these traits replace the human’s Ability
Score Increase trait given in the 8TIaMZ¼[0IVLJWWS.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity and
Wisdom scores both increase by 1. In addition,
one ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Wild Intuition. When you make a Wisdom
(Animal Handling) or Intelligence (Nature) check,
you can roll one Intuition die, a d4, and add the
number rolled to the ability check.
Expert Handling. You can use the Help
action to aid an ally animal companion or mount
within 30 feet of you, rather than 5 feet of you.
Primal Connection. You can cast IVQUIT
NZQMVL[PQXonce with this trait and regain the ability
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Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this spell.
The Bigger They Are. When you cast a spell
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with an Intelligence score of 3 or lower.