Races (FiD)

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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.

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, sometimes indicating a sub-dialect.

Human

The basis of comparison for other races. Humans are the most common people, and the most widely adaptable.

• Language: Depends on Subrace.
• Action: Depends on Subrace.
• Special Ability—Adroit: Humans start with an additional advance, either an action or a special ability available to their playbook.

Common

Pseudo-English, Dutch, and German. This the emerging culture of the central Flaness, named Common from the language, but may refer to themselves as Cosmopolitan. A mixture of Flan and Oerdian, with traces of Suloise and Baklunish, the common people are hardy but otherwise varied, combining many of the best elements of earlier cultures. The are less magically talented, prospering in martial classes and as merchants. The first instance of the Cosmopolitan culture emerged in Keoland, a feudal country with an unusual mix of peoples living in relative peace. The Ulek states claim to have developed their own Comopolitan culture separate but compatible with that of Keoland. The Common that is growing and expanding today is the culture of commercial city states: Dyvers and Greyhawk and the cities of the Wild Coast. the Sea Princes and Sasserine, the Iron League, and even the Solonor Compact in the far west. The Shield Lands and Bandit Kingdoms are also de facto of the Common culture, but considered more rag-tag lands of immigrants than truly Cosmopolitan.

Appearance Common humans are a mix of races, and thus display very diverse traits. They have a wide range of eye, skin, and hair colors, from black to dark olive to fair skin and from black over sandy and ruddy to blond hair. Length and girth also vary a lot. Their ancestry can sometimes be traced in their appearance, but such stereotyping can be misleading, a black man from Greyhawk City may have little or no cultural connection to the Tuov.

Role Accepting, Pragmatic, Ambitious, Honest, Outgoing. Common man is homo economicus, always striving to better his own condition. While politics, ideals, and religion matter, they take second stand to having a good life and realizing oneself. It has been said that the common people is a people of shopkeepers.

Politics Common men would like to say that they ignore politics, only when they do so things usually end up badly. Greyhawk ignored the invasions from Iuz and Pomarj to the point they became a continental problem. Content to live under any political system as long as it does not interfere with their personal lives and pursuit of happiness, common men are so defensive about these things that their government is often in turmoil and revolution is an everyday possibility. But while the government may change, the structure of society and its institutions reman.

Integration Common men pretty much define integration. With enough tolerance to adapt quickly and absorb other cultures even more quickly, the common culture and its values can be insidious in how fast they spread. Likewise Common people easily integrate into other societies, but then change those societies, over time making them more like Cosmopolitan society.

Family Monogamous. Liaisons are tolerated. Lineage is by social standing; children inherit the name and identity of the most prosperous parent. Core family is very strong; extended family is weak. Though Common morals are often seen as lax by other peoples, there are taboos against public nudity and incest, while gender equality, prostitution, birth control, and marriage outside the culture are all accepted practices.

Vices The common culture is very dynamic; if it has a flaw, it might be failing to realize how shocking this can be to other people. This can make Common people seem cruel and rash to to others when they only consider themselves rational and efficient. For example, if a Common man has bought a piece of land, he might want to evict generations of tenants and start over with some other land use without regard for the customary rights of these people in their own culture.

• Language: No additional language, instead master Common to a high degree and easily match the dialect of the land.
• Action: Any.
• Special Ability—Adroit: Humans start with an additional advance, either an action or a special ability available to their playbook.

Baklunish

Fantasy Persians. The Baklunish once were a nomadic people that built a great empire to the north-west of the Flanaess, which was ruined by war with the ancient Suel. They have rebuilt themselves into an urban civilization and remain a homogeneous people, a distinction aided by their religion. Baklunish are militant and often at war with other cultures and with each other over religious divisions.

Appearance Baklunish have a sandy complexion. They are between 160 and 170 cm tall. Most have dark eyes and hair, tough a few have green eyes and brick-red hair.

Virtue Honor, Respect for Clan, Generosity, and Piety are Baklunish virtues. Wealth is honored and seen as a reward from the Lady of Fate. A wealthy man is expected to donate to charity, but the poor are held in contempt. Seeking a harmonious coexistence with nature, the Baklunish see the universe as an eternal balancing of opposing forces. Good vs. Evil, the elements against each other. Humanity can ally with these forces and be drawn into their conflicts, or seek to stand aside and look for peace. To seek allegiance is to seek conflict. The virtuous either seek to align themselves with what is lawful and good, or remain aloft and neutral.

Politics Baklunish politics are dominated by strife between city folk and the people of the hinterlands. The cities are rich and tend to grow soft, the nomads are poor but militarily strong. Most city nobility proudly trace their lineage to nomad families that seized power in a city, but are today typical soft city-dwellers. Still, it is the cities that can exert power and influence, build nations and empires.

Integration Individual Baklunish have good relations with others and a reputation as fair traders, but they don't really integrate well. Cross-cultural marriage is rare, and when it happens the wife is expected to adopt her husband's culture and leave her own.

Family Polygamous, arranged marriages, patrilineal. Women are not seen as inferior, but are expected to take a different, more reserved role in society and a more active role in the home. A man will usually act as the spokesman for any given group, but a woman can very well be the real leader. The Baklunish do not practice incest, but their definition is very narrow; while sibling marriage is illegal, nephews and cousins are free to marry, which is commonly done to keep wealth in the clan. A common noble practice is for a younger brother to marry the daughter of an elder brother. The Baklunish practice circumcision, polygamy, and bride-price. They have strong taboos against nudity, pornography, and promiscuity.

Power Use The Baklunish have their own magic traditions. They commonly practice theurgy, wizardry and chi powers often labeled psionics, but have their own traditions and theoies of magic which is hard to integrate with eastern magic.

• Language: Baklun.
• Action: Consort.
• Special Ability—Adroit: Humans start with an additional advance, either an action or a special ability available to their playbook.

Flan

Fantasy natives, be they Celts, Amerindians, or Slavs. Though almost obsolete as a distinct people today, the Flan have had a great influence on present-day Oerdians and to a lesser extent on the Suel— more than those haughty peoples admit. The Common culture inherited these traits and also assimilated many Flan, making their culture and religion one of the more influential ones. The Flan also left many landmarks and ruins, and understanding Flan and their culture can be essential to surviving an exploration.

Appearance Varying tremendously in length, all Flan are reddish-brown of skin, going to pale in the north, with black hair and usually dark eyes. Some have startling eyes of bright color. They tend towards angular faces, with distinctive nose and chin.

Role Generous, boisterous, carefree, superstitious, brave. The Flan see alignment as secondary to survival. You do what you have to do and seek what allies you can find. Servitude under evil is better than the oblivion of death. The powers of light are more benevolent and to be served when you can afford to, but the powers of darkness give an advantage at critical times. A member of the tribe can sacrifice himself by turning to evil to save the tribe, only to be condemned and killed yet honored after death for his sacrifice.

Politics Flan are conservative to a fault, often adopting a siege mentality. Any change to their cultural pattern is seen as an invasion, and even speaking to outsiders can be taboo. Of course, this is what the few unassimilated remnants of pure Flan do, and a large part of the reason why they are still culturally distinct; historically the Flan were more open to outsiders.

Integration Flan do not integrate well as a group, but many, many Flan have been lured into the societies and cultures of others over the ages, seemingly adopting well but bringing elements of their own cultural heritage along.

Family Unassimilated Flan practice group marriage with a central female having many husbands and those having secondary wives, often the daughters of the matriarch. Flan are matrilineal, descent and inheritance is on the female line. Promiscuity, and extramarital liaisons encouraged, often in religious ceremonies. A great deal of Flan myth concerns how to manage the jealousy of multiple husbands.

Power Use Mainly druidic and sorcerous magic utilizing natural currents of magic. Protection and divining spells are used to avoid trouble rather than to confront it. Spells that manipulate and turn adversity into gain are popular, such as weather control, charm, geases, divination, and wards. When all else fails, Flan magicians turn to necromancy.

Ur-Flan The Ur-Flan were a proto-urban culture among the flan, where separate groups of Flan built temple cities and necropolises. They practiced necromancy and dark magic which led many of them to their doom, the last of them were conquered by the Oerdians. Never a large part of Flan society, they lorded over other Flan and today are bogeymen to frighten children.

• Language: Flan.
• Action: Prowl.
• Special Ability—Adroit: Humans start with an additional advance, either an action or a special ability available to their playbook.

Oerdians

Pseudo-French The ultimate in human pride, the Oerdians are lords among men, strong and confident to a fault. They build strong nations and dominate a wide stretch of the central Flaeness, from Nyrond to the Great Kingdom. Oerdians are divided into tribes that grew into nations, with the Aerdi of the Great Kingdom historically being the strongest and most well known, the Oerdian people as a whole is sometimes refereed to as Aerdi.

Appearance Oerdians are tall and muscular, sometimes even hulking, with olive or ruddy complexion matched by brown or reddish hair.

Alignment Accepting, Loyal, Warlike, Worldly, Practical. Oerdians lack the strong vices and virtues of other people; a worldly, earthy culture less concerned with high ideals. Good or evil, Oerdians generally look to results rather than ideals.

Politics Because Oerdians are dominant in such a large part of the Flaeness, human politics are generally the same as Oerdian politics. The conflicts within the Oerdian culture is between good and evil, as exemplified in the conflict between the divine brothers Hieroneous and Hextor. The Oerdians are accepting of differences on the Law— Chaos axis; a community can have both lawful and chaotic members living in harmony.

Integration Oerdians are accepting of other cultures and their gods, at least when they have the upper hand. As the dominant race of the Flaness, the Oerdians are very accepting and open as a culture, which has let them assimilate large groups of Flan and Suel. As a result, there are today few "pure" Oerdians, their identity is cultural, not racial. Today the Oerdians themselves are being integrated into the expanding Common culture, one could almost say they are being infiltrated. The areas remaining culturally Oerdian are developing a defensive attitude to resist this integration.

Powers Pragmatic is the word; Oerdians see powers as tools. Most often used to create items for everyday use and to make day-to-day life easier. Magic users tend to focus on combat magic, each adopting a specialty of their own.

• Language: A specific dialect of Oerdian.
• Action: Skirmish.
• Special Ability—Adroit: Humans start with an additional advance, either an action or a special ability available to their playbook.

Olman

The culturally dominant people in northern Hepmonaland thousands of years ago, and more recently in the Amedio Jungle, in an age where gods where more inhuman and less good than today. The Olman eventually abandoned their empire and left their gods for shamanism. Today they live in semi-barbarism, often exploited by other peoples. It seems that Olman cannot have a civilization without their evil gods, which brings doom to them in an eternal cycle.

Appearance Olman have highly saturated skins ranging in tone from fair to dark brown. This makes them seem reddish to outsiders. They have chiseled faces with distinct noses, chins, and brows. Hair is universally black, with red hair being extremely rare and seen as a sign of the divine.

Alignment Fatalism, piety, grandiosity, and tradition are the cornerstones of the Olman culture. Many Olman think of themselves as enacting divinely inspired roles, actors in the grand play that is the world. It matters more that you live your life in a grandiose manner than what the consequences of your actions are.

Politics Olman gods are almost universally evil, and often chaotic. This makes even good Olman societies seem cruel and bloodthirsty to outsiders. Good Olman submit to the demands of these gods while trying to make the best they can of life. Evil Olman relish their gods' lust for blood and pain and often advance in their service, attaining high religious rank even in a society that is not otherwise evil. An Olman high temple can be very evil and cruel, yet administer a prosperous land where many people lead good lives.

Integration Olman have trouble integrating with others as a group, often continuing to live in their own villages or sections of cities. Partly, this is due to their issues with foreign gods; seeing them as aspects of their own gods in disguise, they are extremely distrusting of "good" foreign cults. This has led to Olman being treated poorly by others, often subjugated or even enslaved.

Family Conventional, group marriage, or theogamy (marriage to a god or goddess), strictly regulated by tradition. Matrilineal ; inheritance goes trough the mother's line, but the husband is the head of the family. Brother-sister marriage and other forms of incest is common. Nudity and religious practice of sadism and sadomasochism are encouraged. Promiscuity is taboo.

Barbarian tribes have simpler families and tend to conventional or group marriages.

Powers Olman power use is graphic and ceremonial, seeking to impress and terrorize as much as possible. Their gods rarely grant protective or healing powers. They lack wizards or bards, and their sorcerers find themselves gifted with destructive spells that affect large areas.

Family Monogamous and Patrilinear. Oerdians have large extended families based on heritage trough the male line. Oerdian women do not carry the family line and their status is based on ability or marriage. Surnames are inherited on the male line, a woman has her father's or husband's name. Relationships and marriage outside the culture and extra martial liaisons as well as prostitution are all tolerated. Public nudity is considered shameful and transvestism is not tolerated.

• Language:
• Action: Attune.
• Special Ability—Adroit: Humans start with an additional advance, either an action or a special ability available to their playbook.

Rhenne

Rhenne form a migrant population, some on the waterways of the Nyv Dyr, others on the roads of civilized lands. Nonmilitant yet not docile, they latch on to the civilizations of others.

Appearance Lithe yet strong, with dark hair and eyes and skin a wide range of olive tones, Rhenne are considered attractive by other humans.

History Rhenne were originally from another world called Ravenloft. Scholars disagree if this is an entirely different cosmos or a region in the Shadowfell. In either case it is a land dominated by dark forces, a place abandoned by the gods. This explains why Rhenne have a cultural phobia against formal worship; any Rhenne found worshiping a god is cast out.

Role Clannish, laid back, chauvinistic, and manipulative. Rhenne value freedom above all else and are chaotic to a fault. At the same time, they value friendships and clan loyalties very highly, but such loyalties can change quickly if honor is at stake. A stable society with well-defined laws is anathema to them, as is the stable servitude to a higher power, even one of chaos. Whatever the powers of their old homeworld were like, they have left deeps scars and an even deeper distrust among the Rhenne.

Politics Rhenne very rarely act with any political cohesion. While individual Rhenne defend their rights and might even pursue a vendetta, the people as a whole is very peaceful.

Integration Exiles from another world, the Rhenne are so paranoid that there is limited contact even with next-door neighbors. Rhenne are friendly and gregarious enough, but very rarely truly open themselves up to outsiders. It is speculated that they fled from some oppressive force or that they simply outstayed their welcome on their previous world, and that persecution there created the defensive mindset.

Family Clan. Couples often live as married, but arrangements are casual and the responsibility for children is shared in the clan. It is rare that the father of a Rhenne child is from the same clan as the mother. Many Rhenne live as stable couples, perhaps even with siblings, but these have no legal status and birth control is commonly used to avoid breeding within the clan. Clan elders keep track of lineages and enforce the incest taboo, which is very deeply and subtly ingrained in the culture. Adoption (even to the point of kidnapping), breeding outside the culture, and inter-clan transfer are seen as healthy ways to avoid inbreeding. The child of an inter-clan out outside-culture liaison is the responsibility of the mother and her clan, tough a gift from a potential father is appropriate. Procreative sex has nothing to do with marriage and relationships, and is sort of a civic duty. These customs translate very easily into prostitution when in contact with other cultures.

Powers Rhenne refuse to use god-inspired powers and are very careful with magic. Their preferred "powers" are fooling the unwary with sleight-of-hand and legerdemain. Only women commonly have genuine magical gifts; they are shamans, psychics, or sorcerers and focus on the arts of divination, enhancement, and illusion. What few male power-users the Rhenne have tend to be powerful and destructive sorcerers. It is rumored that the Rhenne have rituals that allow them to 'travel the mists' to quickly reach distant places and perhaps even back to their origin in Ravenloft, but if so this has never been properly documented.

• Language:
• Action: Sway.
• Special Ability—Adroit: Humans start with an additional advance, either an action or a special ability available to their playbook.

Suel

50s Hollywood villains, romans and nazi. Suel, or gormally Sueloise, are descended from refugees of their ancestral homeland that is now the Sea of Dust, the Suel are a far-reining folk. Most Suel have merged with Oerdian and Flan to form the mixed Common people of the central Flaeness; the groups that remain culturally Suel have done so because of isolation or xenophobia.

Appearance Suel are tall and tend towards light frames. Their coloration is fair, with pale pinkish skin. Hair color ranges from platinum blonde to golden blond, with some individuals having sand-colored or black hair. Red hair is seen as an undesirable Oerdian trait.

Alignment The Suel are traditionally tolerant about good-evil variations. Instead, the conflicts within the Suel are between Law and Chaos. and tend to go to extremes in alignment, neutrality is frowned upon as spineless. Even in the lawful evil Scarlet Brotherhood, good members are tolerated as long as they contribute, but chaotic alignment is not accepted.

There is a constant conflict between lawful loyalty and chaotic pride within each Suel. Few Suel are ever neutral on the Law— Chaos axle; it is not uncommon to have a crisis of faith, where the individual changes his past allegiance and decides to either roam free or adhere to order. Even seemingly lawful Suel often have some hidden vice, while the most freedom-loving and proud can accept great trials to uphold an oath or some tie of loyalty.

The Suel are a race of contrasts, and their traits can manifest in very different ways, often in pairs of virtues and vices. Thrifty/Selfish, Competitive/Domineering, Honest/Blunt, Self-assured/Opinionated, Ambitious/Proud are typical such pairs.

Politics Suel are amazing society builders, but also pursue clan feuds ranging across centuries. This makes it hard for different Suel nations to cooperate. This is a large part of why the Suel were driven off by Oerdians throughout most of the Flaness, they simply were not pragmatic enough.

Integration Suel do not integrate well, but they are able to live as a distinct cultural group in settlements with other peoples, notably the Olman and Tuov. Suel often end up leading such mixed societies, their familiarity with their own people's clannishness makes them able to adapt to the idiosyncrasies of subjects of other peoples. Suel that allow themselves to be integrated in another culture quickly adopt the Common culture.

Family Conventional monogamy, divorce is possible but seen as a sign of "turning to chaos" and resigning your post in society. Descent is traced separately on the male and female line. A boy is a member of his father's family, a girl a member of her mother's family. A bastard boy is cast out or killed unless he is adopted or the biological father assumes responsibility. Combine this with an incest taboo that extends to second cousins of both genders, and Suel family trees become fnatastically complex. The nuclear family is very strong, the extended family too complex and interwoven to function.

Each family has a local head, separate heads on the male and female lines. It is the duty of the head of the family to see that each newborn infant is fit, pure Suel, and has a recognized parent. If found wanting, children are exposed to the elements, leading to much death and a few spontaneous druids of great power who are usually hostile to their ancestry.

Vices Suel tend to egomania and chauvinism for themselves, their people , and their clan, in this order. They can spend inordinate amounts of time mapping their own family tree and trying to arrange the best mates for themselves and their children. They look down on other races of human, tolerating them if they accommodate to the Suels' needs, warring with them if they don't.

Powers Suel have an deep attraction to magic and use it to change the world around them with transmutation spells or to summon and bind supernatural servants with conjuration spells. Great theorists, the Sueloise prefer wizardry. Theurgy is often focused on means rather than ends; Suel classify miracles by domain rather than ethos.

• Language:
• Action: Command.
• Special Ability—Adroit: Humans start with an additional advance, either an action or a special ability available to their playbook.

Tuov

Sub-Saharan African, notably Ethiopians. Tall and dark of skin, Tuov are superlative hunters on the plains of their native Hepmonaland.

Appearance Tuov are tall and tend towards light frames. Their coloration ranges from bluish black to dark chestnut, with black hair with brownish or reddish tint that is compact and often curly. They have long legs and pronounced buttocks, making them superlative runners.

Role Tuov embody the archetype of both the noble savage, the tenacious but suffering oppressed, and the sinister native. Tribal Tuov are proud, independent people able to deal with outsiders as respected equals. Civilized Tuov, on the other hand often form sinister kingdoms or theocracies, oppressing and enslaving their neighbors. Enslaved Tuov are resolute and determined to first survive and then win their freedom.

Politics Tuov societies are often temporary and chaotic. Hepmonaland is full of the ruins of Tuov cities. New kingdoms are funded by charismatic individuals, who persuade others to join their great mission and quickly form complex and unique societies, but these rarely last more than a few generations.

Integration Tuov look startlingly different to humans unfamiliar with them, but once the initial reaction is overcome, they get along with most other people. The relationship problems they do have are often grounded in the Touv being a slave and having to be emancipated to have a functioning relation.

Family In tribal Tuov societies, monogamy is the norm. Among civilized Tuov, the practice and traditions of slavery creates unequal and unstable relationships where those in power can force polygamy on the Tuov.

Vices Tuov love boasting and competing, and this passion can go overboard. Team sports can degenerate into brawls, and personal competition, such as rivalry in courtship, can turn ugly and violent.

Powers Tribal Tuov have many Animists and Chosen , often working together with fey and spirits. Civilized Tuov practice organized religion, including dark religion such as demon worship. Noble families often have Sorcerous bloodlines, and use these powers to show their right to rule. Wizardry is practiced among both tribal and civilized Tuov, but tend to live apart from society, as hermits or monks.

=* Language: Tuov.

• Action: Finesse
• Special Ability—Adroit: Humans start with an additional advance, either an action or a special ability available to their playbook.

Demi-Human

A collection of various races that are generally friendly to humans and partake of human society on an equal basis.

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.

Dwarfs are short, stubborn, conservative, hard workers and tend the backbone of society. Proud and industrious folk, slow to forgive insults but staunch allies to their friends. A typical dwarf is between 120 and 150 cm long (4' to 5') and weigh about as much as a human at 50 to 90 kilos (110 to 200 lbs). Male dwarfs are very proud of their beards but baldness is common among them. Females have great mops of head hair and sometimes sideburns, but as a rule no beards. There is not much difference in appearance, dress, and mannerisms between the genders, it is common for dwarven females to be seen as dwarf youths by outsiders. Dwarves like this just fine as adult dwarves have very few gender differences in role and standing.

Role All dwarfs love work, and love to see the produce of their own work. They usually excel at some worldly craft, such as brewing, stonecraft, jewelry or metalworking. Not all dwarfs can work in such prestigious fields, however, and they do have their share of coopers, cobblers, tailors and even gardeners. All dwarfs show great respect for what has been brought about through sweat and toil. They are considered good craftsmen and workers, careful merchants, conscientious administrators and predictable, somewhat boorish nobles. A dwarf will never let go of a task until he considers it finished.

Small Giants: Dwarves may be closely related to orks and giants, their ancestral enemies. In some stories dwarves try to supress, they are the final branch on the giant family tree. There are also similiarities between Dwarvish and Giant, and both use runes.

Politics Dwarfs prefer to live in their own kingdoms in mountain or hill terrain. The dwarf economy is based on mining and crafts. Dwarfs can produce food by herding and farming, but they prefer to acquire foodstuffs by trade, exporting metal and stoneware in exchange for organic produce of all kinds. In a dwarven kingdom, each dwarf is supposed to be both a craftsman and a warrior. This makes a dwarf-hold very strong in arms, but at great cost to civilian life.

Integration Dwarfs integrate well with humans as skilled labor. There is often a dwarven quarter in larger human settlements, an area dominated by and scaled to dwarfs where nonhumans are more welcome that otherwise. They get along less well with other races, particularly ones they consider less serious and dependable, like elves and beast folk.

Family Dwarfs have lifespans of about 150 years, and mature in about the same time humans d. Family life is intense; dwarfs marry early and couples have several children in a few decades up to their fifties, but dwarves are not considered fully adult until they have passed this stage in life. A lone dwarf child is seen as tragic, but also with great heroic potential; the destiny of a whole brood compressed into one individual.

Vices There is a backside to all the dwarven thrift. All dwarfs are materialistic and worldly, some are greedy and avaricious, hoarding wealth, knowledge and all things precious. They live in close-knit family groups, and dwarf children are heavily sheltered. Dwarfs take great pride in their word and will not break it for anything, but they know this trait in themselves. This means they are unwilling to commit to something without great cause. Dwarfs are also clannish, and feuds between clans can turn ugly.

• Language: Dwarf, related to Ork and Giant. Written using runes.
• Action: Tinker
• Special Ability—Stonesense: Dwarves have a sonic sense that works as sight out to 10 meters as long as there is a connection of stone, but can detect only shape and composition not color or pattern. This also gives them a +1d bonus on Study, Survey, and Tinker rolls relating 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 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 assemblies of free towns.

Integration Most often, they dwell at the knees of their human cousins in human cities, eking out livings as they can from the scraps of larger societies. 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. Without a doubt, halflings enjoy luxury and comfort, but they have equally strong reasons to make their homes a showcase. 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. Many halflings take a time-out to form a family, raising many children in a few decades, and then return to careers or wandering.

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 from them. 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.
• Action: Prowl.
• Special Ability—Lithe: Halflings have +1d on Prowl rolls.

Elf

Elves are fey creatures, otherworldly, not fully of the material plane. While they have many things in common with other folk, they are magical and lead enchanted lives. Elves are also considered demi-humans, but are such a large category that they deserve a special chapter of their own.

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

Some elves live in other worlds, such as the Feywild. As the barriers between the worlds weaken, these elves become more common.

Role Elves are quite leisurely, and don't really enjoy hard work or physical labor. They cherish arts and crafts, but tend to regard them as diversions. A typical elf knows a little of many professions, being a master of none and changing profession as whims or markets dictate. Most have at least some experience as traders, artists, entertainers or performers. Sometimes, an elf becomes obsessed with a particular occupation or task, seeking absolute excellence in it to the exclusion of all else, but this is seen as quite unhealthy by other elves.

Politics Elven kingdoms are collections of individuals living together, often led by a charismatic leader with a cult of personality as the guiding force of the realm. There is no real sense of civic duty. Shared ideals and the initiative of charismatic individuals can get things done, but outsiders usually see nothing in the way of government. Magic makes it easy for elves to gain sustenance, so it is not as important as it is for other races.

Ascension Elves who become very powerful—especially in the Feywild—might ascent to become archfey, powerful monsters that rule domains in the Feywild. Certain subraces might do the same on other planes. This happens to just a few exceptional elves, but it is a common origin story for archfey. As archfey they become callous and willful, playing games with others' lives and sanity. When an elven realm becomes corrupt the reason might be that the ruler ascended.

Integration Elves are physically similar to humans, can live in the same houses, and enjoy the same food and the same diversions. High Elves and Runesparks are common in cities, and move about quite a bit over the course of their lives. They are usually welcome in human lands, but not as trusted as a well-known human or dwarf. It is said that an elf becomes your friend in the evening and forgets you when the sun rises. More true is that elves become friends with children and stay friends with youths, but humans often grow apart from their elven friends in middle age. Other elves are more reserved and mix less even with other elves.

Family With long life spans and few children, elves spend just a tiny part of their lives as parents. Most take to this unusual situation with sensual devotion, doting on both mother and child. Thus elves grow up pampered, which make them independent but somewhat emotionally vulnerable. Elves from mixed communities usually take to the children of other races.

Vices Elven self-confidence and demand for liberty easily gets bruised. Having had things go their way, elves can get sullen and rash when faced with opposition, unable to see the other side of an issue or have enough wherewithal to pursue a matter to the finish. They can also be vain and proud or lacking in confidence and self esteem. Tough rarely evil, they can be antisocial to a catastrophic degree.

• 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 having to have a Power Playbook and the associated Trauma Condition. Using powers of this type is natural to you.

Almost all elves use Survey powers, giving credence to the notion of sharp elven senses. As soon as you pick up a Power Playbook to be able to learn additional powers, your Natural Power becomes subject to all the rules of that Power Playbook, including its Trauma Condition.

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 pointed ears and slightly oversize eyes. They sport human hair colors, turning metallic as the elf ages. Such ancient high elves are referred to as grey elves and highly honored. Eyes are often of bright gem colors like turquoise or sapphire.

• Language: 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 seen 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 greens or browns, sometimes changing complexion with the seasons. Their hair has similar colors in brighter patterns. They may not wear clothing, instead adorning themselves with garlands and flowers, and often use body paint.

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

Gnome

Gnomes are small compared to other 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. Most are shy and live in forests and hills or work for High Elves elves in their settlements, but a few are gregarious and go out into the world to explore. Gnomes are generally not considered elves, just related.

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

Sparkgnome

Similar to Gnomes to the point that even elves get them mixed up, but bolder and more outgoing. Sparkgnomes are sometimes born to gnome parents and many think they are 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 sparkgnomes have a talent for Artificing.

• Language: Gnome, using much jargon and loan words. Many elves do not understand this cant.
• Action: Tinker.
• Special Ability—Metal: You can use Metal 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 the environment or from beats. 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' human skin tones.

• Language: Elvis, close to High Elvish.
• Action: Skirmish.
• Special Ability—Space: You can use Space Powers.

Feyniel

The unruly country cousins of the Eladrin, Feyniel are the rustic nobility of faerie. Wandering tribes or inhabitants of fairy glens, Feyniel see themselves as the nobility and law-keepers of fairy. To outsiders the laws they keep to seem very much their own whims, and even Eladrin consider them odd. Feyniel 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.

• Language: High Elvish with many odd additions and archaisms.
• Action: Consort.
• Special Ability—Time: You can use Time 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 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 do not really grasp its meaning.

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

Nerids

Nerids love water and live in shallow seas, marshes, rivers, and lakes. Some tribes are amphibian, others mariners. 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.
• Action: Finesse.
• Special Ability—Water: You can use Water Powers.

Kryas

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

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

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. 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

Creatures of the air, living on clouds, 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.

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

Teuflings

Often the result of mixed influence from many other planes, the chaotic teuflings often show demonic traits; horns, pointed tails, tiny hooves. They are the least trusted of 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.

Dis

Perhaps the most enigmatic of all elves, and also the most human-looking, the Dis are creatures of physical perfection, slim and stately. They live reclusive lives at spiritual places; even others who live there might only have perceived them trough the choral music they love to sing. When about in the world, it is to experience fate at work; they accompany heroes who live out a great destiny, good or bad.

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

Forlorn

Not all elves fit neatly into the tribes. Variously refereed 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 the 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 GMs permission.

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Beast Folk

Humanoids with traits or parts of animals are called beast folk. Uncommon in the Flanaess, such creatures dominate in Nippon.

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 tretops, even neighbours are often unaware of their presence.

Appearance A catfolk is slightly smaller than a human. Appearance varies widely, from neko, that are basically human with cat tails, ears, and sometimes retracible claws, to full furries which are furred, tailed, digigrade, and with the head of a house cat. There are also mixed forms. Details of pattern and face vary greatly; some catfolk take after house cats, other are more feral. Rakasta tend toward neko and tabaxi to furries, but either can appear in both groups and catfolk don't consider the difference important.

Role Catfolk are proud and individualistic creatures. They don't take orders well, but have good initiative and carry their own weight. They respect physical prowess, and a group made up mainly of catfolk generally has a physically powerful leader that dictates policy and keep underlings in line through physical charisma.

In groups of their own they form tight relationships with a pecking order based on respect garned by prowess and the ability to provide for the clan. They have no formal leaders, they have a fluid hierarchy and follow whover has the highest respect with the task at hand.

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.

Integration Individual catfolk integrate well with most other races. They have trouble with the excessively hidebound, like dwarfs, but are otherwise charming enough and clever enough to be tolerated almost everywhere, but remain strangers at heart. That is good enough for them; cats 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 tough 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 torso 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-halfling 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, 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 swamp, mountain, 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. This leads to conflict with others who have occupied the seemingly empty land.

Integration Most lands has seen few centaurs, and these are still curiosities and find employment quite readily as guardsmen, couriers or bodyguards, especially if they master the nuisances of civilization. Centaurs in civilized lands often accept to be 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 exists, 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 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 the seek to become an alpha, generally of a different flock than the one they were born in.

• Language: Sylvan.
• Action: Finesse.
• Special Ability—Quadruped: Centaurs are faster than humans and better sprinters. You can run with the speed or a horse and engage in other activities with your humanoid torse, 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 to high to jump which may give you a 1d penalty and force you 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. 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, tough 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 towards 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 sometimes 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 meneads, 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 are 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 organismic rites. Mixed breed fauns tend to favor their non-faun ancestry as children, some growing to be fauns at puberty, other just having some faun-like trait. 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. You can turn mash and must into an alcoholic beverage overnight and get +1d on Resolve rolls against creatures who have imbibed your drink.

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 dangers during adventures.

Role In their native Nippon, they are considered serious and duty-bound, but those who travel into the wider world are generally the oddballs. 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, 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 ideosyncratic 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 abilityand the like is quick enough to act before you leap.

Kitsune

A Kitsune is 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 apparent race to that of any other humanoid. This is a physical change, but the result is always you, certain aspects of appearance and manners remains through each transformation, allowing Consort or Study to penetrate your disguise.

Humanoids

In the Flanaess, the humanoid creatures not accepted in human society are called humanoids, as opposed to the sociable ones who are called demi-humans.

Ork

Large and brutish, orks are the smallest of the giant races and speak the giant tunge, which is quite similar to Dwarvish. Orks are big, sturdy folk with powerful muscles. Their faces are coarse, with pronounced lips, chins and pointy ears. This, along with sharp fangs and claw-like nails, gives 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, green and a dull brick red are all common.

Role Orks 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 orks 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 orks has to be powerful in battle.

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

Family Orks 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. Ork 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 orks during this time and hardly know their closest kin. Loyalty is to the tribe. Not faimily. Orks lead short, violent lives, few reaching age 30 and dying of old age before age 50.

• Language: Ork, a dialect of Giant.
• Action: Wreck.
• 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

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—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 a keen sense of smell, wolves in particular. Dogs on the other hand instinctively hate goblins.

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.

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 means 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 tough saurians can change the color of their scales to match the color of 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. The obvious sign that a saurians becomes emotionally engaged is when they raise their spine ridge, but that can mean anything from mild curiosity to rage. In action, they wheeze and huff, forcing air trough their elaborate lugs as a high pace makes them sound like humans with a cold.

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 has cast you out.

Tropical Lizards Saurians prefer tropical climate and are well adapted to heat. They can live in temperate areas, but prefer not to. Snow is as forbidding to them as deep desert is to humans.

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 will sometimes meekly migrate, sometimes wage war fiercely. 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, tough 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. Female lizardfolk produce eggs only under certain favorable conditions and are not handicapped by bearing eggs. There are no gender roles among lizardfolk and they are only sexually active in mating season. It is very hard for outsiders to tell male and female lizardfolk apart, there are no outside gender differences. Even lizardfolk can have issues with this except during mating season, and consider the distinction pointless anyway.

Names Lizardfolk native names are in their own language and relate to various spirits, scents, and scale patterns incomprehensible to other species. Their names among outsiders are either approximations of the sound of their real names, or nicknames given to them by others. Lizardfolk do not mind odd or simple nicknames. Males and females share the same names.

Names: Dude, Kroowoosh, Scaly, Ssss'kree, Tailee, Tsk'slaaah, Wayfinder.

• 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.

Kobolds

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 their yipping accent. Whatever their relationship to dragons, kobold scales tend to be rust colored, although the occasional kobold sports a scale color more akin to that of a true dragon. These throwbacks are often sorcerers, some of considerable power.

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

Politics Kobolds like to play on their supposed draconic heritage. Legends tell of the first kobolds emerging from the Underdark near the lairs of the earliest dragons. In some lands, kobolds serve dragons—even worshiping them as divine beings. They try to keep away from the attention of other races as they are aware of their own physical fragility. Humans may accept that kobolds take over old tunnels and especially sewers as they keep them in repair, but dwarves detest kobolds as pests and try to exterminate them

Family and Clan Kobolds breed in large colonies, in structure similar to ant hives. Eggs are nursed and raised communally. Such a hive is hierarchical, usually with sorcerers on top, followed by craftsmen, warriors, and workers in descending order. Many kobolds find this confining and run off to make new communities, who in turn may grow large and hivelike when successful.

• Language: Draconic.
• Action: Tinker.
• 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.

Dragonborn

The draconians with the highest status are dragonborn, but they are also 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 tunge, eyes, and even head. Most have clawed fingers and toes, no body hair, and many even lack head hair. They are often digitigrade, tough this may be an affectation, their feet are only somewhat longer than human feet. Despite their draconic features, they are fully mammalian and 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 ten 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 pursue draconic sorcery, which makes them even more reptilian, and legends claim that dragonborn sorcerer can mature into true dragons.

Integration In the Flanaess dragonborn are alien and exotic, but are more easily accepted than most draconians. The educated in the Flanaess 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.

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 clearly, but it is not their native language, that 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 ignore environmental dangers of this type and actually take less damage from such attacks. Roll Skirmish when subject to harm from such energies. This is your inherent resistance, it 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. You can also use this with Skirmish as a potent weapon.