A LitRPG World Reference
KATARRA
A World Remade by the Sundering
What “Remade” Means
A generation ago, the Sundering tore a scar across Katarra and rewrote what the world was made of. It broke the ground in one direction and the rules underneath reality in another — and everything below traces back to one or the other half of that break.
The Land
The cataclysm pushed survivors into whatever terrain would keep them alive — volcanic highlands, cliff-cities, river valleys, old-growth forest, stone holds, dry badlands, and the unstable ring of land around the Scar itself. Each of the eight playable races grew out of the homeland its ancestors fled to, and that homeland still shapes their bodies, culture, and politics today.
The System
The Sundering didn’t just break the land — it installed something new beneath reality: the System. It watches for deeds that matter and grants classes on the spot, rather than letting anyone choose one. It also crystallizes fragments of the magic it unleashed into Legacies, bindable pieces of whatever died carrying them — right up to Genesis, a fragment of the Sundering itself.
[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ]
Cataclysm logged. Origin: THE SUNDERING. Status: ongoing. All future deeds will be measured against this one.
Eight Peoples, Eight Homelands
No humans, no elves, no dwarves by name — every race here was shaped by where its ancestors sheltered when the world broke. The “plays like” note is just a quick gut-check, not the whole story.
Hearthborn
Plays like… HumanFlexible river-valley folk who make up the bulk of Katarra’s merchants and soldiers — the only race that can start lucky or sharp-eyed instead of anything more exotic.
Cinderkin
Plays like… Fire genasiForge-clan people with skin like banked coals: fire-resistant, cold-vulnerable, and prone to glowing faintly once a fight starts.
Tidewalkers
Plays like… TritonStilt-town river-folk who breathe air or water without thinking about it, and never lose their footing on wet stone.
Aerie-kin
Plays like… AarakocraCliff-city messengers who don’t fly, exactly — they just fall extremely well, for as far as the wind will carry them.
Deepstone Kin
Plays like… DwarfStone-cunning hold-folk who see in the dark and shrug off poison — the toughest race in the roster, and the slowest on foot.
Wychwood Sylvan
Plays like… Wood elfFey-touched forest folk from the one old-growth wood the Sundering never reached. Can’t be charmed. Can’t be put to sleep.
Duskkin
Plays like… Shadar-kaiBorn ringing the Scar itself, still touched by the death-magic leaking from the wound — an unsettling calm around dying, and a real weakness to direct sun.
Tuskari
Plays like… Half-orcBadlands warriors who judge a stranger by how they hold their ground, built entirely around the charge.
Earned, Not Chosen
Nobody picks a class off a list. The System watches, and when someone does something that matters — survives what should have killed them, bonds with something that had no reason to trust them — it hands them a name and a rule set that wasn’t there a moment before.
Wayfarer
“The System’s default answer to ‘what do I do with this one’ — and somehow the class that ends up saving the run.”
Quick Study — the first time you see any ability used, attempt a weakened copy of it before the System “logs” it as unavailable.
Berserker
“Damage stops being a debuff and starts being fuel.”
Thick Skin — every hit you take becomes Wrath, and Wrath becomes the temporary hit points that keep you standing.
Shadowblade
“Fortune favors whoever’s willing to gamble their own life on it.”
Cash Out — spend your entire Luck Dice pool at once for one major, randomly rolled boon. Or curse.
Battlemage
“Why cast one spell correctly when you can cast two spells wrong on purpose.”
Spell Fusion — combine two known spells into one unstable hybrid. Costs more mana, and might not go as planned.
Warden
“Every wound your party doesn’t have to feel, you carry instead.”
Shared Burden — a portion of every hit your allies take is banked into you automatically, ready to spend as healing.
Beastbonder
“You didn’t choose the monster. It chose you back.”
Empathic Link — sense your companion’s condition and perspective at will, no matter the distance between you.
Scrapwright
“Where everyone else sees junk, you see a turret that hasn’t been built yet.”
Field Rig — turn scavenged junk into a working gadget or construct, mid-scene, with whatever’s on hand.
Legacies of the System
When something dies with enough of itself intact, the System crystallizes a fragment of what made it dangerous into a Legacy — a small, stable token of power a person can bind to themselves, permanently, the way a scar becomes part of you.
A + B = C — The Fusion Rite
Two Wyrd-tier Legacies, pushed together at a Fusion Rite until they stop being two things. Steamheart: once per long rest, create a scalding steam cloud in a 15 ft. radius that obscures vision and damages every enemy caught inside it, each round.
What the World Calls You
Rank is separate from level and separate from class tier — it’s the read on how big a deal someone is to everyone who isn’t them: a bounty board, a rival faction, the tavern rumor mill.
Initiate
Fresh out of the System’s hands, still finding out what they can do.
Wanderer
Out in the world for real now — this is where most stories actually happen.
Vanguard
The ones a kingdom sends when the problem is too big for soldiers.
Luminary
Names parents use for their children. Or to ward off nightmares.
Ascendant
The System stopped having anything left to teach them a while ago.
Built for the Table
Every class kit scales three ways — what it does alone, what it does for one ally, and what it does for a whole party staring down something too big for one person. A few examples:
Berserker · Bulwark Call
Once per encounter, redirect an attack that would hit a nearby ally onto the Berserker instead — banking the redirected damage as Wrath.
Warden · Steady Hand
At Adept tier, Vessel overflow becomes a protective shield instead of backlash — letting a Warden cover the whole party at once instead of just one ally.
Wayfarer · Emergency Cover
If a teammate goes down, or their signature ability is on cooldown at the worst possible time, the Wayfarer can borrow it and use it for the rest of the encounter.
The Full Archive
Everything above is a taste. Six full references, in the order they were written — start with a race and a class, and the rest builds on top.
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01
Playable Races
Character Creation8 races — full lore, mechanics, and balance notes, each grown out of one corner of the Sundering’s aftermath.
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02
Classes of the System
Character Progression7 classes — earned, not chosen. Tiered from Novice to Legendary, with a hidden Secret Evolution behind each one.
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03
Core Attributes
Ability ScoresEight attributes — the standard six, plus Luck and Perception — wired directly into every race and class above.
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04
Legacies of the System
Bound Power6 ranks, Kindled to Genesis — bought, earned, or fused from something that used to be alive.
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05
Ranks of the System
Character Level Bands5 ranks, Initiate to Ascendant — what the world calls you, not what your class calls you.
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06
Party Synergy
Team PlayWhat each class brings to a team, scaled from Self to Ally to Team, for quests too big for one person.