Races (FiD)

Starfox's Blades in the Dark fan page

These are fantasy races for use with Blades in the Dark. If these rules are in play, each character selects a race at character creation and gains the corresponding special ability.

• Human: The basis of comparison for other races. Humans are the most common people, and the most widely adaptable.
  Special Ability—Adroit: Humans start with an additional advance, either an action or a special ability available to their playbook.

• Dwarf: Short and stout compared to humans, dwarves are strong and more enduring but not as agile in mind or body. Dwarfs prefer to live in mines or burrows and are craftsmen extraordinaire.
  Special Ability—Miner: Dwarves have a sonic sense that works as sight out to 10 meters, but can detect only shape and composition not color or pattern. They gain a +1d bonus on tinker rolls relating to brewing, stone, or metal.

• High Elf: Civilized elves living in settlements, sometimes as leaders among gnomes or other elves. Elves have the physical appearance of a human in their late teens, along with pointed ears and slightly oversize eyes. They sport human hair colors, turning metallic as the elf ages. Eyes are often of bright gem colors like turquoise or sapphire.
  Special Ability—Star Lover: See as well outdoors at night as a human under the same cloud conditions.

• Wood Elf: Forest elves that prefer their own company. Elves have the physical appearance of a human in their late teens, along with pointed ears and slightly oversize eyes. Brown or green hair and eyes, some with such a tinge on their skin.
  Special Ability—Forest Lover: See a hundred meters or so in starlight and through leaf cover.

• Other Elves: There are wild elves that live in broken terrain, snow elves, sea elves, and various other elves. Use wood elves as a model, adapting look and abilities for their chosen terrain.

• Gnome: Intelligent people, with size and manners similar to humans around age ten. They have pointed ears, mature bodies, and males may have facial hair. Most are shy and live in forests and hills or work for elves in their settlements, but a few are gregarious and go out into the world to explore. They have a talent for artificing and wizardry, especially illusion.
  Special Ability—Minuit Vision: Gnomes see very well at short ranges. They can see 10 meters in almost complete darkness. At a range under 1 meter, their sight is truly exceptional, as if they were using a fine looking-glass. They gain a +1d bonus on Survey and Tinker rolls relating to jewelry, precision mechanics, and similar very fine tasks.

• Halfling: Slightly taller than gnomes and more solidly built, Halflings resemble humans in their early teens, but with facial and foot hair.
  Special Ability—Lithe: Halflings have +1d on Prowl rolls.

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• Centaur: Smallish horses with humanoid torso instead of an equine head and neck. Some have horse ears as well. This can also cover other quadruped people like alseid and bariaur.
  Special Ability—Quadruped: Centaurs are faster than humans and better sprinters. You can run with the speed or a horse. You can use Hunt instead of Prowl for running and Hunt instead of Finesse in a chase. You can carry two additional items based on your load. A rider with a size matching your torso counts as two items.

• Faun: Gregarious fey creatures of woods and meadows, some fauns are curious enough to explore the world. Humanoids with the lower body and some characteristics such as horns and ears of a goat.
  Special Ability—Frolic: Fauns are very nimble and gain a +1d bonus on all Prowl actions not involving stealth. They also have the ability to turn water and fruit juice into wine, with better materials making for better vintage. Fauns gain +1d on Resolve rolls against creatures who are drunk on their wine.

• Haregon: Hare-like furred humanoids with the build of 14-year old humans with rabbit ears, nose, and legs, Haregon are fey and carry the joy of the feywild with them. Intensely social, they try to mingle into the societies of others and are not above assuming the role of a servant or even pet to be accepted.
  Special Ability—Leap: You can take great leaps from a standing start. You can leap the range of your tier (p 221), and other creatures rarely have the reaction to react to this leap. You need a few minutes of rest before you can leap again.

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• Orc: Large and brutish, orcs are the smallest of the giants and speak the giant tunge, which is quite similar to Dwarvish.
  Special Ability—Echolocation: By making hoarse shouts, you get a sense of the landscape, especially hard materials like stone and metal. This allows you to navigate among stone as in daylight, not quite as good among earth, and poorly in overgrown areas. Living creatures are confusing like shadows, but still better than nothing.

• Goblin: Kin to gnomes and halflings, goblins are fey creatures with undersize torsos, sindly arms and legs, and oversize heads, ears, and nose. Green is the most common skin color but others exist—goblins of different skin color are likely to not get along.
  Special Ability—Scent: Your sense of scent is sufficient to let you track like a dog and to identify your surrounding by scent alone, which allows rough navigation in dark earthen tunnels. You also find it easy to get along with animals with keen senses, wolves in particular.

• Kobold: Small reptilian humanoids with a muzzle shape similar to dogs, kobolds make yipping sounds much like small dogs do. Kobolds consider themselves kin to dragons and speak draconic with a particular yipping accent. Kobolds are find of mining and mechanisms, especially traps.
  Special Ability—Tremorsense: You are highly sensitive to vibrations in the ground, particularly through stone. This lets you predict earthquakes and rockfalls, get a sense for hollow rock spaces nearby, and the motions of creatures on rock. Not as good as sight, but better than nothing.