Races (FiD)

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

Human

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

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

Dwarf

Short and stout compared to humans, dwarves are strong and more enduring but not as agile in mind or body. Dwarfs prefer to live in mines or burrows and are craftsmen extraordinaire.

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.

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 their kingdoms generally 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; the militia tradition is very strong with them. This makes a dwarf-hold very strong in arms, but able to mount offensives only 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, such as elves.

Family Dwarfs have lifespans of about 150 years, and mature in about the same time humans do, but are not considered fully adult until they have passed their family age at around fifty years. Family life is intense; dwarfs marry early and couples have several children in a few decades up to age 50. 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.

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.

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.

Appearance Elves are shorter and slighter than men, usually about 150 cm (5') tall. They resemble human adolescents, and 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Special Ability—Light: You can use Illusion Powers.

Runesparks

Similar to Gnomes to the point that even elves get them mixed up, they are still thinner than a grown human. Many Runesparks have a talent for Artificing. 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.

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.

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.

Special Ability—Space: You can use Space Powers.

Feyniel

The unruly 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.

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.

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.

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.

Special Ability—Water: You can use Water Powers.

Ice Elves

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

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

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.

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 discarded or sent to orphanages.

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.

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.

Special Ability—Joker: You can select any one Power with the GMs permission.

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.

Special Ability—Lithe: Halflings have +1d on Prowl rolls.

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.

Politics Centaurs live on plains and in woods, hills, and marshes. 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 but 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.

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 use Hunt instead of Finesse for running and in a chase, competing with vehicles. You can carry two additional items based on your load.

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.

Special Ability—Frolic: Fauns are very nimble and gain a +1d bonus on all Prowl actions not involving stealth. They also have the ability to turn juice into wine, with better materials making for better vintage. Fauns gain +1d on Resolve rolls against creatures who have drunk their wine.

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.

Special Ability—Leap: You can take great leaps from a standing start. You can leap the range of your tier (p 221), and other creatures rarely have the reaction to react to this leap.

Ork

Large and brutish, orks are the smallest of the giants 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.

Special Ability—Echolocation: By making hoarse shouts, you get a sense of the landscape, especially hard materials like stone and metal. This allows you to navigate among stone as in daylight, not quite as good among earth, and poorly in overgrown areas. Living creatures are confusing like shadows, but still better than nothing.

Goblin

Kin to gnomes and halflings, goblins are fey creatures with undersize torsos, 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.

Special Ability—Scent: Your sense of scent is sufficient to let you track like a dog and to identify your surrounding by scent alone, which allows rough navigation in dark earthen tunnels. You also find it easy to get along with animals with keen senses, wolves in particular.

Kobold

Small reptilian humanoids with a muzzle shape similar to dogs, kobolds make yipping sounds much like small dogs do. Kobolds consider themselves kin to dragons and speak draconic with a particular yipping accent. Kobolds are find of mining and mechanisms, especially traps.

Special Ability—Tremorsense: You are highly sensitive to vibrations in the ground, particularly through stone. This lets you predict earthquakes and rockfalls, get a sense for hollow rock spaces nearby, and the motions of creatures on rock. Not as good as sight, but better than nothing.