Races (FiD)

Starfox's Blades in the Dark fan page

Common races implemented for Fox in the Dark set in Greyhawk. Not all of these are suited to be player characters in every campaign, consult with the group. Humans are on a separate page.

Beast Folk are notoriously absent from the image except for the most common, Catfolk, Kenku, and Orc.

Rules

If these rules are in play, each character selects a race at character creation and gains the corresponding special ability.

Action: One of the four "free" actions a starting character gets is supposed to reflect origin and another upbringing. The races here have a favored action listed, which members of that race admire and seek to master, making it suitable as an origin choice. This does not allow starting rating beyond the usual maximum of two.

Language: This is the native language of most people of this race, often indicating the language is a dialect of some more older language.

Half-Folk

These are hybrids of humans and other races. They are caught between their ancestral heritages, never fully belonging to either.

Half-Elf

Elves and humans are similar enough that children are sometimes born from their unions, but that is not the only way half-elves come into existence. Living in the Feywild or areas of the Prime under strong fey influence can turn humans into half-elves.

Appearance Half-elves have a mix of human and elf traits. They look like humans in their twenties, with slightly slimmer builds than humans but stockier frames than elves. Their ears are pointed but more subtle than those of elves.

Role Half-elves can interact well with both humans and elves, but they never feel completely at home with either. They are constantly adapting and accommodating, trying to find their place in two worlds that aren’t fully theirs.

Integration In human societies, half-elves often blend in during their early years, but as their slower aging becomes apparent, they feel out of place and are eventually pushed away. They frequently move to elven lands or start over in a new human community. Among elves, half-elves are considered unusually dour and remain outsiders until the end of their lives.

Family Growing up in families where one parent ages slowly and the other passes away far too soon often leads to difficult childhoods for half-elves. As adults, they gravitate toward others like themselves, forming relationships that contribute to the slow emergence of a distinct half-elf population. Those who are the children of humans or a half-elven couple have more regular childhoods but are often alienated by their slowed ageing.

Vices Half-elves can develop a tendency toward passive agreeableness, nodding and going along with decisions while avoiding making their own. Some half-elves have lived entire lives, married, and raised families without ever truly choosing their own paths.

• Language: Elvish.
• Action: Consort.
• Special Ability—Diplomatic: When cultural barriers would reduce the effect of your Resolve actions, you can negate this and act with normal effect.

Half-Ogre

Children of war and pillage, half-ogres are often viewed as monsters, but they can be socialized. The terms "Ogrillon" and "half-ogre" refer to the same being, differentiated only by culture and upbringing.

Appearance Significantly larger than humans, half-ogres are broad and powerful, with pale tan skin.

Integration Most Ogrillons live among ogres as second-class members of their society. Half-ogres raised by humans are often placed in military orphanages alongside other children of war. There, they are taught to integrate into human society and trained as shock troops, repaying society through service. Many half-ogres resent this treatment and attempt to escape, but they often struggle to survive independently. As a result, they frequently join adventuring parties or bandit groups.

• Language: Ogre, a dialect of Giant.
• Action: Wreck.
• Special Ability—Toughness: You are highly resistant to damage. When you take physical harm that is not potent, make a Wreck roll. 1-3: Nothing. - 4-5: Reduce level of harm by one. - 6: Reduce level of harm by two. - Crit: Negate all harm and recover 1 stress.

This stacks with the basic Skirmish ability of many powers to absorb damage when both are relevant.

Half-Orc

Half-orcs are often born from tragedy, children of war who grow up either as tribal warriors among orcs or in militaristic orphanages among humans.

Appearance Half-orcs are less bestial than full orcs, with a mix of human and orcish traits. They are slightly larger and heftier than humans, with features such as bristly hair, snout-like noses, hunched backs, fangs, pointed ears, claw-like nails, jowls, or greenish skin, though not all of these traits are present in every half-orc.

Role & Integration Half-orcs occupy a liminal space, neither fully accepted by humans nor orcs. They are often given the worst jobs, clothing, and equipment. In military service, they are sent in first to absorb losses. If they survive, they may earn respect, becoming champions among humans or leaders among orcs. Other races generally see them as human.

• Language: Orc, a dialect of Sylvan.
• Action: Wreck.
• Special Ability—Controlled Fury: Gain +1d when resisting Resolve consequences. If you choose not to resist, you may choose to manifest these consequences as rage instead of fear or doubt.

Demi-Humans

A collection of various races that are generally friendly to humans and participate in human society on an equal basis. Humaniform races that are not emancipated are called "humanoids," a term often considered derogatory. The main type of true humanoids are the Goblinoids. Gnolls and Orcs are often considered humanoids, but they are more accurately classified as Beast Folk.

Dwarf

Short and stout compared to humans, dwarves are stronger and more enduring but less agile in both mind and body. They prefer to live in mines or stone houses and are extraordinary craftsmen.

Dwarves are stubborn, conservative, and hardworking—the backbone of society. They are proud and industrious, slow to forgive insults, but steadfast allies to their friends. A typical dwarf is between 120 and 150 cm (4' to 5') tall and weighs 70 to 90 kilos (145 to 200 lbs). Male dwarves take great pride in their beards, although baldness is common. Females have abundant head hair and sometimes sideburns but generally lack beards. There is little difference in appearance, dress, or mannerisms between genders, which often leads outsiders to mistake female dwarves for dwarf youths—a misunderstanding that dwarves are happy to let persist. Gender roles and status are nearly identical within dwarven society.

Role Dwarves take immense pride in their work and excel in crafts such as brewing, stoneworking, jewelry, and metalworking. Not all dwarves have prestigious trades, but even lesser trades are all given a share of the deep respect dwarves have for hard work and craftsmanship. Dwarves are valued as skilled artisans, careful merchants, and reliable administrators. Once a dwarf commits to a task, they will not abandon it until they consider it complete.

Small Giants Dwarves may be closely related to giants, their ancestral enemies. Some stories—often suppressed by dwarves—suggest they are the final branch of the giant family tree. The similarities between the Dwarvish and Giant languages, both written using similar runes, lend weight to these tales.

Politics Dwarves prefer to establish their own kingdoms in mountain or hill terrain, with economies based on mining and craftsmanship. While they produce food through herding and gardening, dwarves prefer to trade metal and stone goods for organic products, especially grains for brewing. In a dwarven kingdom, every dwarf is expected to be both a craftsman and a warrior, creating strongholds that are formidable in defense but whose civilian life shut down when mobilized for war.

The dwarves of the Flanaess are divided into groups, the Markkadin, Dumderim, and Holgereth clans and the Lyrkerammi clanless dwarves.

• Markkadin the founding clan and has by far the highest status. They live far to the west, in the southernmost part of the Crystalmist mountains. They trade and ally with humans.
• Dumderim the second in status, living north of the Markkadin and deep underground.
• Holgereth had to flee their ancestral lands in the Hellfurnaces and today prosper in the Lortmils.
• Lyrkerammi once rebelled and lost their original name and their status as a clan. They later split into many groups and prospered, making them the most common dwarves of the Flanaess, building cities in the east. Lyrkerammi are not well regarded by other dwarves and many still feel guilt about their past rebellion, but they are the dwarves most adaptable to life among humans.
• Duergar Properly called Damgarath, these are dwarves that never accepted the dissolution of their clan. They are the enemies of all other dwarves, in particular the Lyrkerammi who accepted the loss of clan status.
• Derro Not recognized as dwarves at all, derro were mutated by the Suel into the insane psychics of the netherworld.

Dwarves obsess over their history, read more here.

Integration Lyrkerammi dwarves integrate well into human societies, often as skilled laborers. Larger human settlements commonly have dwarven quarters, areas designed for and dominated by dwarves, where other nonhumans are more welcome than elsewhere. Dwarves do not get along as well with other races, especially those they perceive as frivolous or unreliable, such as elves and beast folk.

Family Dwarves live about 200 years and mature at roughly the same rate as humans. Family life is intense, with dwarves marrying early and having several children during their first few decades of adulthood. Dwarves are not considered fully mature until they have completed this stage of life. A lone dwarf child is viewed as tragic but often believed to possess great heroic potential, carrying the destiny of an entire brood.

Vices Dwarves' materialism and pride in their thrift can sometimes lead to greed and hoarding of wealth, knowledge, and treasures. Their clannish nature fosters strong family bonds but can result in bitter feuds between clans. Dwarves are deeply honorable and will not break their word, but they are cautious about making commitments, often delaying until they are certain of the cause. Their children are heavily sheltered, reflecting the dwarves’ strong protective instincts.

• Language: Dwarvish, related to Giant and written in runes.
• Action: Tinker.
• Special Ability—Stonesense: Dwarves have a tactile sense that functions as sight within 10 meters when there is a connection of metal or stone. This can detect shape and composition but not color or pattern. This ability grants them +1d on Study, Survey, and Tinker rolls related to stone or metal.

Halfling

Slightly taller than gnomes and more solidly built, Halflings resemble humans in their early teens. Halflings rise to a humble height of 3 feet. They prefer to walk barefoot, leading the bottoms of their feet to become roughly calloused. Tufts of thick, curly hair warm the tops of their broad, tanned feet. Their skin tends toward a rich cinnamon color and their hair toward light shades of brown. A halfling’s ears are slightly pointed, but proportionately not much larger than those of a human.

Role Optimistic and cheerful by nature, blessed with uncanny luck, and driven by a powerful wanderlust, halflings make up for their short stature with an abundance of bravado and curiosity. Halflings are inveterate opportunists. They firmly believe they can turn any situation to their advantage, and sometimes gleefully leap into trouble without any solid plan to extricate themselves if things go awry. Often unable to physically defend themselves from the rigors of the world, they know when to bend with the wind and when to hide away. Yet halflings’ curiosity often overwhelms their good sense, leading to poor decisions and narrow escapes.

Politics Rather than place their faith in empires or great causes, many halflings prefer to focus on the simpler and humbler virtues of their families and local communities. Halflings claim no cultural homeland and control no settlements larger than rural towns.

Ancestries Halflings are divided into ancestries. These live together and don't differ much, but halflings love genealogies.

• Lightfoot The most common type of Halfling, interacts well with humans and is the most adventuresome. Follow the base rules.
• Stout Dwarf-friends and more militant, they speak Dwarvish instead of mastering Common.
• Tallfellow Elf-friends and often upper class, they speak Elvish instead of mastering Common.

Integration Most often, they dwell at the knees of their human cousins in human cities. Many halflings lead perfectly fulfilling lives in the shadow of their larger neighbors, while some prefer more nomadic lives, traveling the world and experiencing all it has to offer. Others integrate deeply into human families, living with their adopted humans and raising generation after generation. This can take a dark turn, in autocratic cultures humans often keep halflings as household slaves.

Home and Family Though their curiosity drives them to seek out new places and experiences, halflings possess a strong sense of hearth and home, often spending above their means to enhance the comforts of domestic life. Many halflings take a time-out from travelling to form a family, raising many children in a few decades, and then return to careers or wandering. Halflings enjoy luxury and comfort and derive status from showing off their dwellings to other halflings, preferably during feasts or tea parties. At the same time, a halfling home can easily be concealed; in just a few days, a cozy garden can appear as a patch of wild growth.

Vices A typical halfling prides himself on his ability to go unnoticed by other races—a trait that allows many halflings to excel at thievery and trickery. Even more socialized halflings enjoy disappearing now and then, to experience things friends and allies keep hidden. They are busybodies, and sometimes push their 'help' and 'advice' too far, using knowledge gained from spying.

• Language: Halflings lack a language of their own, instead they master Common to a high degree and easily match the dialect of the land wherever they go. Some halflings know elf or dwarf instead, see ancestries above.
• Action: Prowl.
• Special Ability—Lithe: Halflings have +1d on Prowl rolls.

Elf

Elves are magical creatures, otherworldly, not fully of the material plane. Although elves share many traits with other folk, they possess innate magic and lead enchanted lives. Elves are considered demi-humans, but are such a large category that they deserve a chapter of their own. Gnomes and the plane-touched races have been subsumed into elves, which mainly has a cosmetic effect, as they now have elfin features instead of how they looked before.

There are many sub-categories of elves:

1. Classic Elves: These include high elf, wood elf, gruach, eladrin, elandir, drow, and shadar-kai, native to Oerth, the Feywild, and the Shadowfell. They are the most widely recognized and influential among elvenkind.
2. Elemental Elves: Jann, jinn, kyra, oread, nerid, and xix. Drawing power from the inner planes, these elves are sometimes called genies or planetouched. They are rare on Oerth and viewed with a mix of awe and apprehension.
3. Gnomes: Forest and rock gnomes. Diminutive elves that enjoy practical tasks, gnomes often take on essential roles in maintaining the cities of the high elves and eladrin. Their industrious nature and ingenuity are highly valued.
4. Planetouched: Aeon, dis, gish, and teuflings. These elves draw power from the outer planes and many are born from humans exposed to planar energies, making them the least recognized as elves. Their mixed heritage often leads to struggles with identity and societal acceptance.

Common Traits

Except as noted, these traits apply to all elves.

Appearance Elves resemble humans around age 16, being shorter and slighter than men, usually about 150 cm (5') tall. Facial or body hair is rare and sparse. Head hair is fine and often plentiful. Some elves have distinctive physical features, such as extremely long hair, horns, vestigial fur, fangs, webbed hands and feet, claws, or unusual colors. Such traits are often associated with specific bloodlines or clans.

Some elves dwell in other worlds, such as the Feywild. As the barriers between worlds weaken, these elves are becoming more common on Oerth.

Role Elves are leisurely and avoid hard labor or physically demanding tasks. They cherish arts and crafts but view them as diversions. A typical adult elf dabbles in many professions, mastering none and switching careers as whims or markets dictate. Most have some experience as traders, artists, entertainers, or performers. Occasionally, an elf becomes obsessed with achieving mastery in a single pursuit, to the exclusion of all else, which other elves view as unhealthy. Typical player characters are in their youth, still on their first or second career.

Politics Elven kingdoms are loose collections of individuals living together, often led by a charismatic leader whose personality defines the realm. Civic duty is minimal but altruism and clan loyalty make such communities thrive. Shared ideals and the initiative of strong individuals can spur progress, but outsiders typically see no formal government. Magic makes sustaining life easier for elves, reducing their reliance on structured social systems.

Ascension Elves who attain great power—especially in the Feywild—may ascend to become archfey, ruling domains with immense magical influence. Certain subraces might undergo similar transformations on other planes. Though few elves do this, it is a common origin story for archfey. As archfey, they often grow callous and willful, treating others' lives as pawns in their games. Corruption in elven realms is frequently linked to a ruler's ascension.

Integration Elves are physically compatible with human living arrangements, sharing houses, food, and pastimes. High Elves and Eladrin frequently inhabit cities and travel widely. They are generally welcome in human lands but rarely achieve the trust of familiar humans or dwarves. It is said that an elf becomes your friend in the evening but forgets you by morning. More accurately, elves form bonds with children and maintain them through youth, but humans often outgrow these friendships in middle age. While some elves integrate well, many kinds of elf are more reserved and mix less with others, even other elves.

Family With long lifespans and few children, elves dedicate only a brief period of their lives to parenting. During this time, they lavish attention and care on both mother and child. As a result, elven children grow up pampered, becoming independent but emotionally delicate. Elves in mixed communities often adopt and care for children of other races.

Vices Elves' confidence and love of liberty can easily be bruised. Accustomed to favorable outcomes, they may become sullen or rash when faced with opposition, often failing to see other perspectives. They may struggle to finish tasks requiring sustained effort. Elves can also be vain or shy, occasionally lacking self-esteem. While rarely evil, their antisocial tendencies can lead to significant disruptions.

• Language: Elf, which has a myriad of dialects, mostly by subrace.
• Action: Depends on subrace.
• Special Ability—Natural Power You have an association with Power without needing a Power Playbook or the associated Trauma Condition. Using these powers comes naturally to you. You activate them by speaking Elvish and mimicking a mundane action. For example, to make a Hunt attack, you mimic a bowshot or use an actual bow to shoot an energy projectile instead of an arrow.

Almost all elves use Survey powers, reinforcing the belief in their sharp senses. Upon adopting a Power Playbook to learn additional powers Natural Power to remain independent of any trauma condition.

Classic Elves

These people are generally recognized as elves and a part of elven culture. History of the classic elves.

High Elf

Civilized elves living in settlements, sometimes as leaders among other elves. Elves have the physical appearance of a human in their late teens, along with long pointed ears and slightly oversize eyes. They sport human hair colors, turning metallic after a few centuries. Such ancient high elves are referred to as grey elves and highly honored. Eyes are often of bright gem colors like turquoise or sapphire. High elves integrate well and appear to be the most common type of elf to outsiders.

• Language: High Elf. This is considered the purest dialect of elvish, at least by high elves, and is usually the elvish other races learn.
• Action: Sway.
• Special Ability—Light: You can use Light Powers.

Wood Elf

The most commonly type of elf, practical and civilized people living in tune with their forest homes. As a people they are very self-sufficient and elusive. An entire wood elven kingdom might escape the notice of an adjacent human nation. Wood elves have skins of pale earth tones such as ochre, green, or brown, sometimes changing complexion with the seasons. Their hair has a contrasting and more saturated color from the same pattern. At home they may not wear clothing, instead adorning themselves with garlands, flowers, and body paint, but they know to dress in the outer world.

• Language: Wood elvish.
• Action: Hunt.
• Special Ability—Plant: You can use Plant Powers.

Gruach

Wild Elves, called Gruach in Greyhawk, are considered barbarians by other elves. They live rustic lives accompanied by the animals that taught them to survive in harsh environments. Wild elves are ruddy or swarthy of complexion with wild hair with colors from beasts. Many have the eyes, tails, ears, or other features of animals.

• Language: Gruach, a dialect of Elvish influenced by Sylvan.
• Action: Wreck.
• Special Ability—Animal: You can use Animal Powers.

Eladrin

Eladrin are otherworldly and live in great citadel-cities in fairy, located in strategic locations to guard a planar boundary or to defend against some primordial evil. They come out of their cities to trade, explore, and mingle with High Elves and occasionally other people. When seen in the mortal world, they live among and are often mistaken for High Elves. They share the High Elves' coloration.

• Language: Fey Elvish, an archaic variant of High Elvish.
• Action: Skirmish.
• Special Ability—Barrier: You can use Barrier Powers.

Elandir

The unruly country cousins of the Eladrin, Elandir are the rustic nobility of fairy. Wandering tribes or inhabitants of fairy glens, Elandir see themselves as the nobility and law-keepers. To outsiders the laws they keep to seem be their own whims, and even Eladrin consider them odd. Elandir are stately. From a distance they look large and regal, but up close they are similar to other elves. Some have human colors, others have saturated hues from the wild places they live, often changing with the seasons.

• Language: Fey Elvish heavily influenced by Sylvan.
• Action: Consort.
• Special Ability—Fey Step: You can use Space Powers.

Drow

The dark elves or drow are the antithesis of the high elves. Civilized yet cruel and depraved, they live in isolated communities in the Netherworld, far from the light of the sun, most often at war with other elves. With the Netherworld coming closer to the prime and social upheaval in Drow societies, some have left their ancestral homes and are exploring the outer world, challenging their own notion of Drow cultural superiority. Drow have shiny black or dark purple skins and long white hair. They are even more lithe than other elves, almost spidery.

• Language: Drow, a dialect of elvish.
• Action: Attune.
• Special Ability—Darkness: You can use Darkness Powers.

Shadar-Kai

Shadar-Kai or Shadow Fey are elves associated with the Shadowfell. These morbid creatures have pale skin and contrasting, dark or strongly colored physical details like hair, eyes, eye sockets, lips, and nails. They favor piercings, tattoos, wild hair and rich dark clothes, often torn or tattered. They are the elves of death and frequent old battlefields, graveyards and the shadowy forecourt of the land of death. Sometimes they can be met along the road, traveling from one such spot to another. Shadar-Kai are fascinated by death, but as immortals do not really grasp its meaning, making some seek death to finally experience it.

• Language: Shadar-kai speak an evolved dialect of elvish but can restrict themselves to something much like High Elvish.
• Action: Sway.
• Special Ability—Deathwatch: You can use Death Powers.

Forlorn

Not all elves fit neatly into tribes. Variously referred to as lost, forlorn, orphans, or prodigies, these elves either rebelled against their tribal traditions to grow into an unusual Power, or were brought up outside elven society and had magic find them. Always regarded as outsiders, the prodigies are usually welcome among other elves but not fully trusted until they prove themselves. Their lack of facility for the tribe's magic often means they are unable to share in the subtler aspects of tribal culture. On the other hand, their unusual gifts can make them very valuable and praised members of a tribe. Sometimes forlorn elves of the same Form band together in small groups, which could potentially grow into new tribes over the centuries.

Forlorn elves may have unique physical oddities such as weird color or patterns on the body or additional, variant, or dislocated body parts (an extra nose, horns, overlong arms, inverted right and left limbs, and similar weirdness). These oddities follow no set pattern, that one Space prodigy has checkered skin does not mean they all do.

• Language: A language from where they grew up.
• Action: Consort.
• Special Ability—Joker: You can select any one Power with the GM's permission.

Elemental Elves

Elves of the wildest places and elemental planes, these are considered spirit by most people. Sometimes called genies, elemental elves migrate from the elemental planes to spots on Oerth where their element is dominant in the environment.

Jann

Elves of the desert, Jann thrive on heat and dance in the midday desert when no other things move. They have brick-colored skin, black hair and red, amber, or yellow eyes and lips. Some Jann have hair matching their eye color, which is considered a mark of beauty

• Language: Jann, a dialect of elvish.
• Action: Skirmish.
• Special Ability—Fire: You can use Fire Powers.

Jinn

Also known as avariel, jinn are winged creatures of the air, living on clouds and inaccessible hilltops. Jinn are rarely seen except when their clouds come down to earth as mist. Jinn have flashing eyes of bright primary colors but are otherwise pale to the point of translucence. They have larger eyes than other elves, with blue, white, or black hair, and tend toward a far-off expression when their attention is not required. Their wings are most often white but can range in hue to blue or black. While not strong enough to fly in themselves, together with the Finesse Air: Cloud Cruiser ability they allow flight.

• Language: Jinn, a dialect of elvish.
• Action: Finesse.
• Special Ability—Air: You can use Air Powers.

Kyra

At homes on snow-shrouded mountain tops and glaciers, kyra are elusive creatures living in forbidding environments where few others could survive. They depend on their remote location for protection. Kyras are pale and translucent, with white or blue hair and eyes of varying shades of blue and green.

• Language: Archaic High Elf.
• Action: Prowl.
• Special Ability—Ice: You can use Ice Powers.

Oread

The elves of earth and stone look similar to gnomes but are more powerfully built. An oread may live in a gnomish community, or on mountainsides and deep in caves. Oread tribes in the Underdark are called swirfneblin. They are reclusive and defend their isolation with rockfalls and misleading paths. They may take a liking to a traveller who appreciate their lands for the sake of their natural beauty.

• Language: Oread, a mix of Elvish and Terram.
• Action: Attune.
• Special Ability—Earth: You can use Earth Powers.

Nerid

Nerids love water and live in shallow seas, marshes, rivers, and lakes. Nerids have pearly complexions in white or soft colors, with brown, green, or pale gray hair and dark eyes that shift towards blue or sea green in bright light.

• Language: Nerid, a dialect of elvish influenced by Aquam.
• Action: Finesse.
• Special Ability—Water: You can use Water Powers.

Xix

Native to clouds, xix sometimes come down to earth during lightning storms to dance in high places hit by lightning. Not really reclusive, xix are few and feared by most races including other elves, so they rarely interact outside their race.

• Language: Xix, a dialect of elvish influenced by Auram.
• Action: Hunt.
• Special Ability—Lightning: You can use Electricity Powers.

Gnomes

The elven equivalent of a working class, gnomes are about half the length of a typical elf and about a quarter of the mass, making them somewhat plumper than elves, with size and manners similar to humans around age twelve. They have pointed ears, slight but mature bodies, and males may have facial hair. Gnomes are generally not considered elves, just related. "True" elves look down on them fondly, but the rules treat them as full elves.

Unlike elves, gnomes appear to age, tough this does not always relate to actual chronological age. Males often have beards, sideburns and goatees are particularly popular.

Hill Gnome

The most common but reclusive kind of gnome, they live in hills, preferably those with forests. Many work for High Elves in their settlements, a few are gregarious and go out into the world to explore.

• Language: Gnome, a dialect of elvish elves understand but consider a separate language.
• Action: Sway.
• Special Ability—Illusion: You can use Illusion Powers.

Rock Gnome

Similar to Gnomes to the point that even elves get them mixed up, but bolder and more outgoing. Many are born to hill gnome parents and are generally believed to be the same kind of creature. They are gregarious and not shy about travel and dealing with other peoples, primarily other elves but also dwarves and humans, making them seem more common than they really are. Many rock gnomes have a talent for Artificing, earning the nickname sparkgnomes.

• Language: Gnome, using much jargon and loan word from other languages. Many elves do not understand this cant.
• Action: Tinker.
• Special Ability—Metal: You can use Metal Powers.

Planetouched

These are people of the planes beyond the shell and not recognized as elves by almost anyone. Sometimes humans exposed to planar energies have planetouched offspring. These are grow enough that humans think of them as changelings and often have to fend for themselves or are raised in orphanages.

Aeon

Enigmatic creatures of the Netherworld and liminal spaces, aeons step out of time seemingly at will. Reclusive students of time and causality, they use both as weapons for their alien purposes. Aeons that can be communicated with usually follow some specific line of events of interest to them, and as long as this task lasts, they can be sociable and cooperate.

• Language: Archaic High Elf mixed with Celestial.
• Action: Study.
• Special Ability—Betweener: You can use Time Powers.

Dis

Also known as asimaar, dis are perhaps the most enigmatic of all elves, creatures of physical perfection, slim and stately. Most had pupil-less pale white, gray, or golden eyes and silver hair, but variations based on heritage are common. Most have human skin colors but more extreme, white, golden-brown, mahogany, but light blue and green is also common and seen as a sign of distinction. Dis tribes live reclusive lives at spiritual places; even others who live there might only have perceived them through the choral music they love to sing. When about in the world, it is to experience fate at work or to work for justice and order. However, Dis are not incorruptible, and in the Celestial Empire where they make up the powerful Mandarin caste, it is not unusual that power goes to their heads.

• Language: Archaic High Elf mixed with Celestial.
• Action: Study.
• Special Ability—Order: You can use Order Powers.

Gith

Gith are the elves of the deep astral plane, where they have castles and outposts as bases in their eternal wars. Gith share the form of other elves, but not their beauty, having brown, patterned, parchment-like skin stretched over an extremely emaciated body, almost living skeletons. They stand a head taller than most elves and slightly taller than humans. In times of legend, the gith were enslaved by mind flayers and transformed by them into their current form to be perfect slaves to their illithid masters. But the progenitors of the gith rebelled. After successfully breaking free of the illithids, the gith split into two factions, the warlike githyanki and the monastic gihzerai, who are in eternal conflict in the astral plane.

• Action: Skirmish.
• Special Ability—Psionics: You can use Mind Powers.

Teuflings

Often the result of mixed influence from many other planes, the chaotic teuflings show demonic traits; horns, pointed tails, tiny hooves. They are the least trusted of all elves. In turn, many teuflings take their demonic reputation to heart and become rogues or tricksters. Previously rare to the point of being considered Forlorn, the planar invasions in the Shield Lands and Great Kingdom have created more teuflings born to human parents. Considered changelings, these babies are often exposed or sent to orphanages.

• Language: Many teuflings speak Infernal instead of elvish.
• Action: Survey.
• Special Ability—Flux: You can use Flux Powers.

Beast Folk

Humanoids with traits or parts of animals are called beast folk. Uncommon in the Flanaess, such creatures dominate in Nippon and Wrang. Each species talks their separate dialect of Sylvan. Nipponese and Wrang there are languages common to civilized beast folk of these two countries, effectively the Common of these lands.

Catfolk

Stealthy killers with kittenish charm; it is hard to place catfolk.

Greyhawk There are two main groups of catfolk. The rakasta of Nippon and the tabaxi of the Amedio Jungle. Rakasta are civilized, but often on the edge of society—merchants, rogues, spies, even ninja. Tabaxi live in reclusive tribes deep in the Amedio and possibly Hepmonaland jungles. Making their homes in treetops, even neighbors are often unaware of their presence.

Appearance A catfolk is slightly smaller than a human. Appearance varies widely, from neko, who are basically human with cat tails and ears to full furries who are furred, tailed, digitigrade, and with the head of a cat of some kind. Many are a mix of these extremes. Details of pattern and face vary greatly; some catfolk take after house cats, others are more feral. Members of a family tend to resemble the same kind of cat. Rakasta tend toward neko and tabaxi to furries, but either can appear in both groups, and catfolk don't consider the difference important.

Tabaxi Catfolk are proud and individualistic creatures. They don't take orders well but have good initiative and carry their own weight. They have no formal leaders; their hierarchy is fluid, and they follow whoever has the highest respect for the task at hand. They form tight relationships with a pecking order based on respect garnered by prowess and the ability to provide for the clan. They do respect physical prowess, tribal catfolk may have a physically powerful leader who dictates policy and keeps underlings in line through physical charisma.

In wider society, they tend to be hangers-on rather than true members of any group, rarely bothering to discuss group policy, instead slipping away quietly if things are not to their liking.

Rakasta These catfolk integrate well with most other races but may live in their own clans or family groups, sometimes making up warrior or ninja clans. They have trouble with the excessively hidebound, like dwarfs, but are otherwise charming and clever enough to be tolerated almost everywhere, though they remain strangers at heart. This is good enough for them; catfolk don't generally want to be fully integrated.

Family Catfolk don't make strong families. Females mate with whoever they choose, usually preferring strong toms. They give birth to litters of very small kittens that grow quickly; a catfolk is capable of caring for itself by age six, though they take the same time as humans to fully mature. Kittens are adorable and are often adopted by someone other than the mother early in life.

• Language: Sylvan.
• Action: Prowl.
• Special Ability—Nightstalkers: Catfolk see well in conditions of low light, especially to spot movement. They gain a +1d on Prowl rolls as long as they have a light load.

Centaur (Alseid, Bariaur)

Smallish horses with humanoid torsos instead of an equine head and neck. Some have equine ears as well. Centaurs are half-horse, half-men, with the hindquarters of horses and the forequarters of men. They are unusually handsome in their equine parts, often smaller than horses and slimmer than ponies. Their human parts are often coarse and ungraceful, though some are as charming and beautiful as any human.

This can also cover other quadruped people like alseid (deer-gnome centaurs) and bariaur (dwarf-ram centaurs).

Role Their tastes, appetites, and desires are much more human than horse, though they still have a craving for running free under open skies. Centaurs are rarely city-dwellers, preferring to roam the countryside. They are omnivores much like humans and make excellent warriors and herdsmen, messengers, and scouts. They can master the crafts needed of nomads quite readily but detest crafts that require a permanent shop or heavy equipment. Too large to ride a horse themselves, centaurs do have an affinity for horses, and some are consummate horse-breeders.

Politics Centaurs live on plains and in woods, hills, and wetlands. They avoid swamps, mountains, or dense forests where their speed would be less telling or rocky ground that can hurt their hooves. They are territorial and often nomadic, returning to periodically claim their lands and pastures for their sheep. This leads to conflict with others who have occupied the seemingly empty land when the centaurs were away.

Integration Most lands have seen few centaurs, and these are still curiosities who find employment quite readily as guardsmen, couriers, or bodyguards, especially if they master the nuances of civilization. Centaurs in civilized lands accept being shod in iron to protect their hooves on roads and hard ground. Most centaurs are not as large and powerful as modern horses, they avoid work as mounts and laborers but excel as messengers and porters.

Family Though mated pairs of centaurs exist, often living outside the tribal structure, most centaurs have open relationships. Commonly, a male becomes an alpha and the preferred mate for all females of a tribe, usually only for a short time as the position is both dangerous and demanding. The alpha position has little political clout except in war; it is more of an idol and champion than a king. Centaur mares live in flocks or tribes, led by a council of the wisest and fastest females. Tribe is really only relevant for mares, who usually stay with the herd they were born into. Young stallions ride alone or form all-male warbands. As they mature, stallions become more competitive as they seek to become an alpha, generally of a different flock than the one they were born in.

• Language: Sylvan.
• Action: Finesse. Bariaurs use Wreck. Alseid use Survey.
• Special Ability—Quadruped: Centaurs are faster than humans and better sprinters. You can run with the speed of a horse and engage in other activities with your humanoid torso, much as a horse and rider can. You can carry two additional items based on your load. Your Prowl suffers; you are less able to navigate terrain too high to jump and find it hard to hide, giving you a -1d penalty on most Prowl checks and you may have to roll in normally routine situations, such as using a ladder.

Faun

Gregarious fey creatures of woods and meadows, some fauns are curious enough to explore the world. Barbaric fauns are known as satyrs and tend to be larger and more heavily built and sport heavier horns, but are the same species. Fauns are humanoid with the lower body of a goat and the upper body of a human. Their heads bear ram's or goat's horns. Ears are slightly pointed but not elongated, though a few fauns have animal ears. The humanoid torso is very human-like; fauns can easily disguise themselves as humans if they cover their legs and horns. Males tend toward bigger horns and often sport curly sideburns or a goatee. Their body hair sometimes makes the transition from man-torso to goat-abdomen blurred. Females often hide their smaller horns in their profuse head hair.

Fauns in the wild wear jewelry if they have it, garlands of flowers otherwise, but not much in the way of clothes; possible exceptions are a vest, jacket, tie, or cravat. Fauns living close to other folk adopt clothing to not raise their ire, even wearing long skirts or pantaloons that conceal their legs and robes and hoods as a disguise. Other fauns go the other way and make a display of their exotic appearance—neighbors often accept things from a faun they would not accept among themselves. Fauns don't need or wear shoes, even on rocky ground.

Role Fauns are hedonistic and wild, living for the moment and in the main refusing social restrictions and barriers. They enjoy brawling, wine, dancing, music, and lovemaking above all else. Female fauns are sometimes called maenads, and most prefer to provoke others into fighting rather than to fight themselves. While they can see far-reaching goals, they have trouble planning for tomorrow, and their companions often have to remind them of the urgency of their task. But once in motion, they work with great vigor.

Politics Fauns in the wild are generally apolitical as they have few cares for the day after tomorrow. Their political impact is either as rowdy neighbors or as cultists in fertility cults. Humans who show respect to their faun neighbors might find mother nature rewarding them with a bounty of both food and children, some of which will show faun ancestry.

Integration Individual fauns can integrate reasonably well with humans, elves, and other Light-minded creatures. It is rare to find a group of fauns living among humans, and if they do, they are surely in some cult, gang, troupe, or other communal activity where their wild nature can prosper.

Family Faun males greatly outnumber females, but they are very unprejudiced. They breed with animals or with any race caught in their orgiastic rites. Mixed-breed fauns tend to favor their non-faun ancestry as children, some growing to be fauns at puberty, others just having some faun-like traits. Fauns have lifespans comparable to humans.

• Language: Sylvan.
• Action: Sway.
• Special Ability—Frolic: You are very nimble and gain a +1d bonus on all Prowl actions not involving stealth. Add this to your inventory of items: Jug of Wine ☐: Lots of good drink. You get +1d on Resolve rolls against creatures who have drunk your wine.

Gnoll

Often considered Humanoids, Gnolls are more properly Beast Folk.

This is a work in progress.

Greyhawk

Role

Integration

Vices

• Language: Sylvan.
• Action: Skirmish.
• Special Ability—XXX:

Harengon

Harengons originated in the Feywild, where they spoke Sylvan and embodied the spirit of freedom and travel. In time, these rabbitfolk hopped into other worlds, bringing the fey realm's exuberance with them and learning new languages as they went.

Harengons are bipedal, with the characteristic long feet of the rabbits they resemble and fur in a variety of colors. They share the keen senses and powerful legs of leporine creatures and are full of energy, like a wound-up spring. Harengons are blessed with a little fey luck, and they often find themselves a few fortunate feet away from death.

Greyhawk In their native Nippon, they are considered serious and duty-bound, but those who travel into the wider world are generally the oddballs.

Role Intensely social, harengon try to mingle into the societies of others and are not above assuming the role of a servant or even pet to be accepted, but also like to keep an air of mystery.

Integration Elves and halflings get along well with harengon, but others may find them too odd, something the harengon is willing to play to. It is better to be accepted as an oddity than to be regarded as a pest.

Vices Harengon can overplay either their cuteness or mysterious air to annoyance and can be clingy if denied social contact. They can be idiosyncratic to a fault, and individual harengon may create a persona that is extreme in some unexpected way.

• Language: Sylvan.
• Action: Finesse.
• Special Ability—Leap: You can take great leaps from a standing start. You can leap the range of your tier (p 221), and only the Reflexes ability or similar skills are quick enough to react to your leap.

Inukin

The inukin, 犬群, anthropomorphic dogs, are humanoids with the heads and often tails of dogs. There is a great range of appearance, similar to different dog breeds, and also in the degree of fur on the body, starting with shoulders and arms, with some inukin being entirely furred.

Role The inukin’s adaptability has made them integral to both Nippon’s structured society and Wrang’s chaotic resistance. Their dual reputation as disciplined warriors and independent agents ensures their place as a significant and versatile part of society.

Inukin are one of the most common anthropic species in Nippon and play a significant role in its structured society. Known for their loyalty, discipline, and martial prowess, inukin often embody the ideals of Nippon’s hierarchical culture. They serve in a variety of roles, from samurai and temple guardians to artisans and scholars.

In Wrang, the inukin have a different reputation. Here, they are seen as steadfast allies in the fight for independence, often forming the backbone of resistance groups. Wrang’s inukin are more individualistic than their Nipponese counterparts, shaped by the fragmented and decentralized culture of their homeland. They value personal honor and the bonds of their immediate clan or group above all else, reflecting Wrang’s spirit of defiance.

Integration Beyond Nippon and Wrang, the inukin are rare but not unheard of. Many adopt roles as emissaries, mercenaries, or wandering monks, their canine traits often lending them an air of wonder. There is a common confusion between inukin and kobolds. They sound somewhat similar with barks and yapping noises, and their silhouettes are similar enough that they can be mistaken in the dark. Inukin are furred and larger than kobolds, who are scaled, so at a close range there is no mistaking them, but the confusion still proliferates among people who have only heard of them.

Vices Inukin seem perfect at first, but their conformist nature can become conservative and hidebound or overly loyal to bad or evil leaders or sticking to bad partners past the point of tolerance.

• Language: Sylvan.
• Action: Survey.
• Special Ability—Steadfast: Roll an additional die when resisting a consequence.

Kenku

Kenku or Tengu are birdlike humanoids of great pride native to Nippon.

Appearance Bird-like humanoids, Kengu have a coat of black feathers, long black, red, or yellow beaks, and clawlike legs. Their arms are humanoid but might be feathered. Their movement patterns resemble that of cranes, making them superlative swordsmen.

There is a more humanlike variant, tengu, with a general humanoid form, pale or reddish skin, spindly limbs, large dark eyes, and long beaklike noses that vary in color. Their profuse hair is black in youth but grows white early in life, they often have full beards and long hair.

The humanoid tengu are more common in Nippon and the birdlike ones more common in the Pearl Sea. Tengu themselves don't seem to see this difference as significant. Instead they are clannish, and clans tend to conform to either pattern. Kenku and tengu clans are just as likely to fight or ally regardless of type. There are also hybrids between these two, and possibly tengu can change from one form to the other over time.

Role Tengu are brave and stoic, but not hard workers. They can give their all in pursuit of their own goals, but are not good at serving a routine or waiting on others. Tengu in the wild live as recluses, philosopher-warriors each in their own mountainous domain. Assimilated tengu often live in squalor in the cities, mixing with unsavory elements. A few urban tengu manage to stay reclusive mystics, others become gang bosses, enforcers, or assassins, but many exist in the gutter as sanitation workers, urban foragers, and day laborers.

Integration Tengu are native to Nippon, but travel the world as pirates and mercenaries. They are regarded with suspicion in the Flanaess and need a patron or ally to vouch for them to be let into civilized settlements.

• Language: Tengu, a dialect of Sylvan.
• Action: Finesse.
• Special Ability—Mimicry: You can accurately mimic any sound you have heard, including a specific voice speaking a specific phrase. Using Finesse you gain detailed control of the exact use of sounds you may not even comprehend. You also have an iron stomach, able to safely digest spoiled food.

Kitsune

A Kitsune, 狐, is a humanoid with the head and tail or a fox, a curious meddler in Japanese folklore.

Greyhawk Native to the lands of Nippon, and even there considered tricksters, kitsune often try their luck in foreign lands after trespassing once too often.

Appearance Slightly shorter and lighter of build than a human, a Kitsune is an anthropomorphic animal. They take heavily after their animal forebears, and their rich fur gives them quite an inhuman appearance, though they are bipedal and upright.

Role A Kitsune is curious and enjoys banter, tricks, and enigmas. They are great peddlers, entertainers, and thieves. They are too weak and physically lazy to make good labor, but they can do exacting intellectual work or crafts with their clever paws.

Politics Kitsunes frequently become advisers to rulers, but their own nations are generally too busy with intrigue to be much of a threat to their neighbors.

Integration Kitsune often hide their true identity and live out their lives as whatever race they are living among, but often fail to achieve a deeper understanding of the context they are in, causing trouble for them.

Vices Kitsune are much too fond of their own games and play the same trick again and again in slight variations.

• Language: Sylvan.
• Action: Consort.
• Special Ability—Mimic: You can change your form to that of any other humanoid or to that of a fox. This is a physical change, but the result is always you; certain aspects of appearance and manner remain through each transformation, allowing people who know your appearance to use Consort or Study to penetrate your disguise.

Nezukin

A nezukin, ネズキン, is a humanoid with the features of a rat or mouse, also known as ratfolk. Some might call them Rat or Mouse (capitalized). Vesk is another name, used in the context of war and clan politics. Skaven are nezukin from city-states and cults, xenophobic and hostile to everyone they encounter.

Greyhawk They might be called ratfolk in the Flanaess, but are so rare that most people are likely to mistake them for wererats. Native to the lands of Nippon, nezukin are furtive tinkerers, often living in clans in burrows or mines. Individual nezukin do leave the nest but usually stay within the rough stereotype. Larger than kobolds and with the same habitats, they still rarely meet, living in different parts of the world.

Appearance Nezukin display animal characteristics to a varying degree. Some look mostly human, with human proportions, rodent ears, and tails, often adding whiskers and claws instead of nails. Others are more rodent-like, with short and stout bodies, spindly clawed limbs, animal heads, and fur either down the back or across the body. As with catfolk, human-like nezukin are common in Nippon, with the more animal-like type common in the wild, but there are many exceptions and mid-stages, which the nezukin themselves don't find important.

Role Somewhat reclusive, nezukin tend to be underclass and take on roles of laborers, scouts, and craftsmen. Nezukin make good dungeon-delvers; they don't mind narrow underground passages and love tinkering with things they find and recycle. Magic is uncommon, but they use it when available. Spiritually, they either conform to local traditions or follow animism and ancestor-worship.

Integration Nezukin have little problem living with other races but are usually looked down on. They prefer city living, but people of the wild, like wood elves and pastoral humans, are often more tolerant, creating a strange conundrum.

Vices Nezukin love to salvage and may be seen as thieves when they assume something is abandoned when it really is not. Being largely immune to health hazards, they are often lax about hygiene, though they do enjoy grooming each other.

• Language: Sylvan.
• Action: Tinker.
• Special Ability—Healthy: Nezukin gain +1d on healing checks and Prowess resistance checks.

Orc

Orcs are big, sturdy folk with powerful muscles. Large and brutish, orcs are boar-folk and called by a number of derogatory names, such as 'snouter' or 'pork-face'. They may have hog bristle instead of hair and down their back, others are no more bristly than humans are hairy. Their faces are coarse, with pronounced snouts and piglike ears, giving them a bestial appearance. Few are beautiful, though not so few are impressive or even majestic. They have an affinity for earth, and have a variety of earth-tones for skin. Brown and brick red are common, as is pink among urban orcs.

Role Orcs are steadfast, proud, and honest but rude and demanding. They respect comrades, but this respect has to be earned. Actions speak louder than words; many orcs find discussion and debate tedious. They respect strong leaders who take initiative and lead from the front. You do not have to be a warrior to earn respect; a good healer, scout, or craftsman is valued, but a leader of orcs has to be powerful in battle.

Politics Orcs tend to be clannish, honoring local authority and leaders over centralized government. Respect is earned in action; proven leaders can expect to have their words obeyed as law. This means ork leaders often have more brawn than brain. Strong leaders attract many followers, and strong ork tribes make really bad relations. Orcs can accept a leader who is not an orc, as long as the leader is powerful. Neighbors often try to kill ork leaders to scatter the tribes, sending adventurers and assassins for this task. It has happened more than once that such a foreign challenger has won leadership of the tribe and turned on his employer.

Integration Orcs are hard workers and take orders readily. Unfortunately, many orcs are not so bright and self-confident, so they often fare poorly in society. This fuels the orcish tendency towards provincialism, as well as a general feeling of discontent. Orcs often find themselves on the fringes of society, as warriors, herdsmen, menial laborers, or bandits.

Nipponese Orcs In their native Nippon, orcs are often of the eta caste of outcasts, restricted to the meanest jobs such as leatherworking and undertaking. Even orcs that are not eta are at best laborers, though lucky ones might work as bouncers or enforcers for merchants and the yakuza. As farmers, they also get the worst jobs, rooting around in fields and paddies after harvest or working manure. Hardly surprisingly, many orcs choose lives on the fringes of society, as spearmen mercenaries, bandits, bounty hunters, and similar rough jobs.

Family Orcs grow up quickly and are raised by the tribe. They can eat meat right away, walk after a week, by age three they can mostly fend for themselves, and by twelve they are adults. Orc pregnancies are painful but short; the mother carries the child for five months without handicap, then is almost incapacitated for a month before giving birth. Most children are adopted by other orcs during this time and hardly know their closest kin. Loyalty is to the tribe, not family. Orcs lead short, violent lives, few reaching age 30 and dying of old age before age 50.

• Language: Orc, an unusually coarse dialect of Sylvan with lots of squeals.
• Action: Wreck.
• Special Ability—Scent: Your sense of scent is sufficient to let you track like a dog and to identify your surroundings by scent alone, allowing rough navigation in dark earthen tunnels. You also find it easy to get along with animals with a keen sense of smell, boars and pigs in particular.

Shibaten

Shibaten or duck-folk are small humanoids with the physical characteristics of ducks, much like tengu have the features of crows. They mostly live sedentary lives, but have a fierce temper and can be very competitive. Their tempers fade as quickly as they flare and rarely get them into serious trouble.

Duck-folk are small, about 3'6 (110 cm) tall, with duck-like feathered bodies, large beaked heads, oversize eyes, and yellow or orange bird legs with finned feet. Their plumage varies wildly in color; white, black, grey, speckled brown with a blue or green head, or even motley with bright colors like blue, green, red, and orange. Plumage color is inherited, varies by gender, and sometimes related to social class and occupation. White shibaten are considered aggressive, black shibaten sly, brown and grey ones shy, and motley ones vain. Shibaten are surprisingly strong and make excellent wrestlers and fighters despite their small size. Their compact, water-repellent body and finned feet make them excellent swimmers.

Alignment: Duck-folk are self-centered and boisterous and tend towards the chaotic in their personal habits. But they are rarely anarchists — they like to have a stable society to fall back on. They are drawn to boisterous, brave-faced gods much like themselves, patrons that see the value of a quick wit and a good laugh. They rarely pay more than lip service to religion.

Adventurers: More aggressive shibaten adventure to express their exuberance, while others are forced into a life of adventure because they have been kicked out of their homes by stronger or more organized creatures. They make surprisingly good warriors despite their small size, and many are fine archers and hunters. A good number of them display magical powers, especially as sorcerers or bards. Despite their size, they are too impatient and noisy to make truly good sneaks, but can do well as con-men.

Integration Shibaten make better neighbors than you would expect from such an aggressive race—they make lots of noise but it is rare that something comes of it. Humans find them humorous, and they thrive in wet conditions humans don't really like, such as rice paddies. They get along famously with Kappa and Gnomes.

Vices Kitsune are much too fond of their own games, and play the same trick again and again in slight variations.

Male Names: Ahiru, Akio, Arata, Atsushi, Haruo, Hiro, Hiroki, Isamu, Katsu, Ken, Kichirou, Masa, Orochi, Ryuu, Sadao, Sho, Takayuki, Takeo, Takeshi, Tatsuya, Tsuyoshi, Yasuo.

Female Names: Ahiru, Akane, Asami, Aya, Ayano, Chiharu, Etsuko, Hitomi, Kameyo, Kasumi, Kei, Kohaku, Mari, Mayumi, Nana, Natsuko, Ren, Sango, Takara, Toshiko, Yoshie.

• Language: Duckspeak, a dialect of Tengu, itself a dialect of Sylvan.
• Action: Command.
• Special Ability—Float: Shibaten swim as safely on the water's surface as humans walk on land. Even high waves don't bother them more than rough terrain worries a human. They can dive, but are no better at this than most races.

Tanuki

Tanuki are unlike other beast-folk in that they are actually not humanoids, they are animals with the ability to assume a wide variety of forms. It is said that a kitsune will shape-change for plot, a tanuki will shape-change for the joy of it.

Alignment: You can act lawful and be a dutiful member of society in your human form, but the very act of changing shape is chaotic and disturbs the tranquility of established social norms. Most of you embrace this and are inveterate jokesters, not out of malice, though your tricks often cause confusion. Add to this that you are fond of sake, and you have a recipe for chaos.

Weakness: Your shapeshifting is subject to circumstance. If you are grappled, trapped, cornered, or otherwise unable to hide or escape, you revert to your animal shape. Additionally, each tanuki has a specific weakness that triggers your return to your animal form when exposed to it. This can be a particular type of person, weather, time of day, specific weapon or tool, type of building or business, and so on—highly idiosyncratic to each tanuki. You also revert to your animal form when you fail to assume a shape.

Animal Form: In your animal form you are a perfectly normal tanuki. You keep your intelligence but you cannot speak, use tools, or do anything a mundane animal could not do. This is the same shape each time you assume it, you cannot assume the shape of other tanuki.

Adventurers: You make less useful an adventurer than one might expect; your lack of focus and special weakness forces your team to cover for you. Still, your willingness to accept humble roles makes you useful emergency resources. You can become a literal bridge over troubled water and save the day—as long as your weakness doesn’t trigger.

Integration: You make better neighbors than people might think, despite your chaotic nature—you make lots of noise, but it rarely results in serious trouble. Humans find you humorous. You get along famously with other pranksters kitsune and halflings.

• Language: Sylvan.
• Action: Consort.
• Special Ability—Shapeshift: As a tanuki, you can change into anything, much like the Advanced Consort abilities of Powers. This includes clothes and kit appropriate to each form. You can also change into any single material object a Tinker power can create, with the same difficulty, but you roll Consort. Changing into a machine or vehicle allows you to operate that machine or vehicle. The consequences from shapeshifting are usually tanuki features in your assumed form: a tail, ears, nose, or face are all common transmutation errors.
  You have a number of forms you are comfortable in equal to your ranks in Consort. Choose these as you use them, up to the limit. Changing into one of these favored forms requires no effort or Consort roll and risks no stress cost, but you must successfully adopt a shape at least once to make it a favorite. Most tanuki pick a human form as their first favorite form to blend into society.

Goblinoids

Goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears are actually one race. Only goblins breed, hobgoblins and bugbears are born to goblin parents. When goblin tribes thrive, large batches of goblin children grow up to be hobgoblins. When goblins are truly desperate, what few children they have tend to be bugbears. Hobgoblins and bugbears are neuter and lack gender expression or sex drive, but most outsiders assume them all to be male. A generation of hobgoblins or bugbears can be a terror and even establish empires, but there is no continuity, there is almost always only one generation. Hobgoblins take goblins as slaves and quickly deprive them of the wealth that made them breed hobgoblins in the first place.

Goblin

Similar to gnomes, kobolds, and halflings, goblins are fey creatures with undersize torsos, spindly 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.

Role Goblins are curious, cowardly in the face of other creatures, but brave and inquisitive with things. They like to steal and to imitate the devices of other creatures, making them skilled but reckless craftsmen, willing to take crazy risks. Fire, gunpowder, smelly things, and any kind of flight particularly amuse them, and they are known to ride catapults to their doom. Their clumsy inquisitiveness with craft earn them the moniker gremlins.

Integration Goblin bands in the wild are reclusive hunter-gatherers, but opportunistically steal and rob when they can. Goblins are often slaves to other brutal creatures, sometimes even to humans. They gladly take on jobs nobody else wants, minding sewers and middens. In such a position they may be forgotten over time but still continue to serve their original purpose.

Family Goblins give birth often and easily, with goblin children regarded as pests even by other goblins. Young goblins resemble rats in intelligence. Raised as pets or surviving as scavengers, their heads grow and become intelligent around age three.

• Language: Goblin, a dialect of Elvish.
• Action: Hunt.
• Special Ability—Echolocation: With titters and high-pitched squeals, you get a sense of the landscape, especially hard materials like stone and metal. This allows you to navigate among stone as under moonlight, not quite as good among earth, and poorly in overgrown areas. Living creatures are like confusing shadows, but this is still better than being blind.

Hobgoblin

A larger and more organized variant of goblin, hobgoblins can be born to goblins and quickly outgrow them in size and ferocity to achieve control of a goblin tribe. Tribes of hobgoblins are more like companies, with a strict hierarchy and chain of command, often with regular goblins as camp followers.

Role Superlative soldiers, bands of hobgoblins take well to discipline from leaders they respect. Individual hobgoblins don't do so well, they might join the militia of other races but are often used as just laborers.

Integration Hobgoblins are too bossy to integrate well. It is possible to enlist hobgoblins as mercenaries working under a strong commander of another race, but these are still haughty bullies in most cases.

• Language: Goblin, a dialect of Elvish.
• Action: Command.
• Special Ability—Hierarchy: You gain +1d on Command rolls to intimidate and on resistance rolls when you protect an ally (p 135).

Bugbear

A larger kin to goblins and hobgoblins, bugbears are ruder in appearance and hairier than their cousins. Famous for their stealth, bugbears operate alone or in small bands and make excellent scouts and ambushers.

Role Bugbears are born bullies and bogeymen. They like nothing as much as pouncing on an unsuspecting victim, but might settle for just scaring a victim. They have been known to hide under beds only to emerge in the night.

Integration If you can bully a bugbear into obedience, they actually make very good scouts.

• Language: Goblin, a dialect of Elvish.
• Action: Prowl.
• Special Ability—Boogieman: You gain +1d on Prowl rolls for stealth and Command rolls to intimidate when emerging from stealth. The command bonus is in addition to the situational advantage.

Draconians

Said to once have been the rulers of Oerth, reptile humanoids are many and varied. They come in several subgroups, wildly different from each other, and there is little love between the different kinds, or even different tribes of the same kind. In the Flanaess, draconians are different enough that they are rarely accepted among demi-humans unless in the company of some well-known leader. In the Celestial Empire far to the west draconians are well known and accepted.

Dragonborn

The draconians with the highest status are dragonborn, the ones most similar to humans. These differ significantly in appearance and biology to the dragonborn of D&D.

Appearance Dragonborn are humans with certain draconic features, such as fine scales on parts of their body, a serpentine tongue, eyes, and even a draconic head. Most have clawed fingers and toes, no body hair, and many even lack head hair. They are often digitigrade, though this may be an affectation, as their feet are only somewhat longer than human feet. Despite their draconic features, they are fully mammalian and commonly form families with humans.

Biology Dragonborn are not a race in themselves; they are a genetic remnant in certain humans. In the Celestial Empire, this remnant is common enough that dragonborn are regularly born to human parents—still one in a thousand, but an accepted occurrence. In other parts of the world, this inheritance is extremely rare except among people socializing with dragons or delving into dragon lore. It is said that dragons can turn worthy humans into dragonborn. Many dragonborn pursue draconic sorcery, which makes them even more reptilian, and legends claim that dragonborn sorcerers can mature into true dragons.

Integration In the Flanaess, dragonborn are alien and exotic, but they are still more easily accepted than most draconians because of the physical similarity. Educated Flanaessi know about draconic sorcery, and dragonborn just seem like an extreme case of that. That dragonborn are not all magicians might surprise some people.

Politics in the Celestial Empire In the draconic empire, dragonborn and aasimar have a complex relationship as conflicting elites. Like aasimar, dragonborn are automatically recognized as nobles, but of a military bent more similar to the samurai of Japan than to most Chinese warriors. They have a love-hate relationship with the aasimar of the celestial bureaucracy. Think of the dragonborn as eunuchs and the aasimar as mandarins from Chinese historical drama.

Family Dragonborn are too few and too haughty to commonly form families with each other; they are more likely to mate with humans and live in human-like relationships. Even so, the dragonborn are distant partners, consumed by other interests and often absent parents.

• Language: They are usually taught Draconic and have the physique to speak it properly, but their native language is Common. Dragonborn seek status by perfecting Draconic.
• Action: Skirmish.
• Special Ability—Draconic Energy: As a dragonborn, you are attuned to a type of energy, commonly related to a Power. You can use this energy to attack like a potent weapon. You ignore environmental dangers of this type and take less damage from such attacks. Roll Skirmish when subject to harm from such energies. This is your inherent resistance and does not require any activity on your part. Reduce the level of harm inflicted based on the level of success: 1-3: Nothing. - 4-5: Reduce level of harm by one. - 6: Reduce level of harm by two. - Crit: Negate all harm and recover 1 stress.

Kobold

Small reptilian humanoids with a muzzle shape similar to that of dogs, kobolds make yipping sounds much like small dogs. Kobolds are warm-blooded and consider themselves kin to dragons and speak Draconic with their distinct yipping accent. Kobold scales are rust-colored, although some sport scale colors more akin to those of true dragons. These "throwbacks" are often sorcerers, some of considerable power.

Role Kobolds live in mines, caverns, and underground locations such as tombs and sewers. Some are sorcerers, while many are inventive tinkerers and trapmakers. Kobolds love causing what seem like natural mishaps, such as floods, cave-ins, gas pockets, or even simulating earthquakes. Using methods like these, they try to chase miners away without revealing their presence. They avoid physical confrontations whenever they can.

Politics Kobolds emphasize their supposed draconic heritage. Legends tell of the first kobolds emerging from the Underdark near the lairs of the earliest dragons. Some kobolds serve dragons—even worshiping them as divine beings. They try to avoid drawing attention from other races, aware of their physical fragility. Humans may tolerate kobolds taking over old tunnels and sewers as they keep them in repair, but dwarves—and even more so gnomes—detest kobolds as pests and try to exterminate them.

Family and Clan Kobolds breed in large colonies, structured similarly to ant hives. Eggs are nursed and raised communally. A newly hatched kobold is ravenous and can eat almost anything. Since eggs benefit from warmth, some kobolds lay their eggs near a living but helpless victim, providing both warmth and food for their offspring. More commonly, kobolds use their own body heat, a hearth, sorcery, or volcanic heat to keep the eggs warm and feed the hatchlings once they emerge. A kobold hive is hierarchical, usually a sorcerer at the top, followed by craftsmen, warriors, and workers in descending order. Many kobolds find this structure confining and run off to form new communities, which in turn grow hive-like when successful.

• Language: Draconic.
• Action: Tinker.
• Special Ability—Tremorsense: You are highly sensitive to vibrations in the ground, particularly through stone. This allows you to predict earthquakes and rockfalls, sense hollow spaces in the rock nearby, and detect the movements of creatures on rock. It’s not as good as sight, but better than nothing.

Lizardfolk

Also called saurians, this is the best-known kind of draconian. Kobolds are more numerous, but less liked.

Appearance Saurians have a stature slightly shorter than a human when standing, but their digitigrade legs mean they are actually quite a bit taller when stretching out. They have tails that are approximately half as long as they stand tall. Their bodies are covered in scales, usually green, though saurians can change the color of their scales to match the terrain over time. All saurians have a ridge of bony projections along the spine that they extend when they want to threaten or impress. These ridges are brightly colored, and saurians are very proud of them. Saurian emotions are hard for others to read. When emotionally engaged, they raise their spine ridge, but this can indicate anything from mild curiosity to rage.

Role Concerned mainly with survival, saurians have few ideals besides preservation. A saurian could find a taste for the larger world or leave home to fight a far-ranging threat to the saurian way of life. Another typical reason is separation from the tribe, because it has been destroyed, displaced, or they have been cast you out from the tribe.

Politics Saurian tribes in the wild are self-sufficient and isolationist, regarding outsiders with idle curiosity. Their social patterns are hard for outsiders to understand. When challenged, they may meekly migrate or wage fierce war, its hard to predict. Occasionally, saurians gather in great migrations or crusades that threaten civilization at large.

Integration Saurians sometimes lose the patterns of tribal life and seek to live among humans. Because of their alien appearance and manners, they generally end up as menial laborers in agriculture or construction, though a few make a living as boatmen or travel guides. Besides their alien manners, they make good neighbors, content to live in conditions where humans would rot.

Family Family is nonexistent, replaced by tribe, as children are reared by the community. There are no gender roles among lizardfolk. Female lizardfolk produce eggs under certain favorable conditions and are not handicapped by bearing eggs. The eggs are deposited in breeding pools and fertilized outside the body, with no sexual acts as others understand it. There are no external gender differences, making it very hard for outsiders to tell male and female lizardfolk apart. Lizardfolk consider the distinction pointless.

• Language: Draconic.
• Action: Command.
• Special Ability—Crest: You can extend your crest to appear larger when threatened. You gain additional effect when you use the crest with Command to intimidate or manifest dominance. You also have adaptations to the terrain where you grew up, typically marshland or sandy desert, and move and act in such areas as if you had the appropriate survival gear.

Living Constructs

Recent developments in the World of Greyhawk, these are constructs imbued with a soul. The dwarves claim their souls are a gift from Moradin the Soul-Forger, while gnomes claim a soul is an emergent quality of sufficient intelligence. Whichever is the case, living constructs can make moral decisions and work magic, usually recognized as signs of having a soul.

Autognome

Created by sparkgnomes with the help of dwarves, autognomes are living constructs. There is a great debate about what to call them, with clockfolk, tick-tocs, and tickers being the more polite suggestions. Sparkgnomes are not particularly concerned with whether their creations have souls, but autognomes do pass the customary tests of ethics and magic, albeit in a distinctly gnomic fashion.

Physique Autognomes resemble mechanical versions of gnomes, often exaggerated with toon-like gnomic features. They are built with a rounded body and head, paired with thin limbs that often expose their clockwork mechanisms. Their eyes are lenses, and looking an autognome in the eye reveals a distorted reflection of yourself.

Autognomes don't need to eat, drink, or breathe. As clockwork creatures, they require winding, but their springs are magically amplified, so they only need a few minutes of winding each day. Frequent lubrication is essential. Sand and water, especially if salty, impair their function unless they are properly clothed or heavily greased. Instead of a heartbeat, they emit soft whirring and ticking sounds.

Autognomes generally lack gender expression and often go naked without concerns for modesty. However, as they become socialized, they tend to imitate the dress of those around them. They are otherwise designed to use typical gnomic tools and weapons.

Role Autognomes are created primarily to repair and service Soulforged. By their own or their creator's whim, they may take on other roles. Lacking a childhood, they start life fully formed, equipped with the basic skills for their purpose but possessing only a simple impish personality.

Integration Rock gnomes and dwarves accept autognomes and see them as useful if occasionally annoying, often adopting a parental attitude toward them. Humans view autognomes as trouble, frequently attempting (and generally failing) to keep them on a short leash. Elves and others with a strong connection to magic, including forest gnomes, are often repulsed by or outright hostile toward autognomes.

Names From the start, gnomes gave autognomes comedic names, and this tradition continues when they name one another. No autognome takes offense at a silly or even degrading appellation.

Brassbeep, Clankerton, Cogclog, Coggleshaft, Gearwhistle, Gizmo, Hurbetron IV, Inkprint, Keeys, McWindersnap, Sprocket von Click, Tick, Tinker, Tockington, Toyball, Whirry.

• Language: Gnome, a dialect of Elvish.
• Action: Tinker.
• Special Ability—Hyperactive: You can remain active without a need for rest or sleep. This allows you an additional downtime action during each downtime phase.

Soulforged

Soulforged are living constructs made by dwarves and named after Moradin the Soul-Forger. They are also called warforged, or sometimes insulted with names like tin man or clanker. Human-shaped soulforged may be called manikins.

Physique Soulforged look like mechanical versions of dwarves, and some later models look like humans. Their design often shows what they were made for. Fighting soulforged look harsh and functional. Social soulforged are smoother, and magical ones have runes and glyphs on their bodies.

Soulforged have crystals or gems for eyes, a warm body, and a low rumbling instead of a heartbeat. They eat coal and excrete ash, but they also need to breathe and drink water. Drinking things other than water clogs their systems, making them behave as a drunk human or dwarf. Strong spirits give them energy but make them reckless.

Soulforged usually don’t express gender and don’t worry about modesty. Over time, they tend to copy the clothing of people around them and may take on a gender role. They are built to use normal tools and weapons.

Role Soulforged were made to be soldiers. They are serious and usually enjoy their purpose. They don’t have a childhood. They start life with skills for their job, but little personality.

Integration Rock gnomes and dwarves welcome soulforged as heroes, though they may treat them like children. Humans see soulforged as tools and leave them alone if they do their job. Elves, forest gnomes, and others with strong ties to magic or nature often dislike or fear them.

Names Early soulforged were named by their creators. Later, mass-produced ones got unit names. Over time, they made their own names or got nicknames from others, often based on actions or events. Some avoid common names from other races, but they might use altered versions.

Angeraxe, Ashfall, Axebolt, Brassflame, Chainstrike, Cinder, Clockspire, Coalface, Cog, Cogwhisper, Druich, Emberforge, Flintstrike, Forgeheart, Gearspark, Grindersoul, Hammerturn, Ironclad, Mikeloft, Mogrug, Red Knight Six, Rivet, Rustblade, Shadowcrank, Shard, Sparkwheel, Steelshade.

• Language: Dwarf.
• Action: Skirmish.
• Special Ability—Dutiful: You don’t need rest or sleep. This gives you an extra downtime action each downtime phase.