Blood & Rust - D&D Setting Supplement

"Red archipelago that has been abandoned by the Aspect of magic.
The scarred veil feels like it has an anger of its own.
Each moment here feels like being judged, hunted, and yet...
People live here, cultures form and fall, gods are born here and die.
The East is stained red with blood both mortal and divine."
— Jaque Luen, Book of Blood and Iron

Blood & Rust is a D&D 5e setting guide for the Sabi Islands — a blood-red archipelago where ancient magic has torn the veil between the living world and an incorporeal realm.

Navigate a culture shaped by yokai, kami, and scarred reality. Survive the Chaos Lands.

---

The World

Chaos Lands
Unmanaged territory ruled by the fickle desires of yokai. Behind every tree might be a trap. Stay too long and you might gather attention of its denizens or find a tavern in the middle of all the chaos. 

Shrines
Domains of kami, gods who have carved order from corruption. They protect the surrounding fields and tame yokai into servants. Respect the shrine. Don't break the seal.

Fields
The green lands of the oni — the only place you can sleep without one eye open. If you're lucky enough to be welcomed in.

---

The Folk

Oni
The warped descendants of a lost civilization, their skin ranging from steel-grey to deep red. Hardened by history and tradition, they are the most likely thing on these islands to not immediately try to kill you.

Kijin
Oni who wandered into the chaos long enough for it to change them. Their skin hardens into steel and wood grain. They travel the scarred lands hunting yokai, chasing legends, trying to become gods.

Shishi
Oni children taken by curious yokai and raised in the chaos. They emerged knowing things mortals shouldn't. Unpredictable. Dangerous. Possibly carrying a nice drink to share with you... possibly drugged. 

---

What's Inside

World lore covering the history, factions, and people of Sabi — enough to run sessions without guessing. Culture, traditions, and festivals that double as mechanical tools, not just flavour (thought they gave a nice unique vibe to some sessions during playtest). Additional exploration mechanics built around distinct chaos biomes, and environmental rules. Locations where your players can actually stop and breathe. A lot of items — consumables, survival tools, weapons, biome-specific gear. Some monsters too.

---

Modular Exploration

No fixed map. No predetermined path. Put a fork in the road and let your players choose — the zone they walk into changes , the environment, and the items they'll need to survive. The chaos builds itself around their decisions and shifts all the time. When journey is quiet literally shifting beyond horizon, a goal might help in traveling.

A Note

This is part of an ongoing worldbuilding project that's been running for a while now. More small books like this one are planned around the mainland — there's a fair bit already in the works.

To be honest, putting this out here is mostly an attempt to rekindle some passion for it. To make it visible to someone other than me and my ttrpg group.

If you downloaded it, thank you for the disk space. If you read it, thank you for your time. If you dropped a comment, thank you for showing yourself — it means more than you'd think. And if you plan to run it — I wish you a lot of red-stained adventures.

---

Credits & Art

All artwork belongs to its respective creators. This is a free, non-commercial fan project. If you are an artist whose work appears here and wish it removed or credited differently, please contact me at ulatowskijonathan@gmail.com.

The Itch.io Blood & Rust page uses Connor Sheehan's and Andrew Maleski's amazing work. 

This supplement uses content from the D&D 5e SRD under Creative Commons. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast.