Suel (Greyhawk 4E)

Greyhawk for 4E

Humans are the dominant race of Greyhawk, even after the resurge of the fey. This means humans need to be treated in greater detail than in most D&D campaigns. These variants of the basic human differ in details, but follow the general humans on humans as outlined in the Player’s Handbook, including the bonus feat and extra at-will power. There are three differences besides purely cultural traits. Attributes are specified, with a +2 bonus to two different attributes. Bonus skills are specified to one of a short list – not to class skills. In some cases the second language is specified as well.

Racial Traits

Pseudo-Ariyans
Heirs to a long-lost empire, the Suel are now scattered far and wide. Their culture is proud and assimilates poorly with others, which has forced them to run from Oerdians for centuries.

• Attribute bonuses: +2 Str, +2 Int
• Recommended classes: Fighter, Warlord
• Cultural classes: Fighter, Warlord, Wizard, (Monk, Barbarian)
• Languages: Common, Suel.
• Bonus Skill: Any one of Arcana, Athletics, History, Intimidate.

Cultural Traits

Descended from refugees of the homeland that is now the Sea of Dust, the Suel are a fair-skinned folk. Most Suel have merged with Oerdian and Flan to form a mixed population in the central Flaeness; the groups that remain culturally Suel have done so because of isolation or xenophobia.

The Suel are a race of contrasts, and their traits can manifest in very different ways, often in pairs of virtues and vices. Suel tend to go to extremes in alignment.

Thrifty/Selfish, Competitive/Domineering, Honest/Blunt, Self-assured/Opinionated, Ambitious/Proud.

Alignment: The Suel are traditionally tolerant about good-evil variations. Even in the Scarlet Brotherhood, good members can be tolerated as long as they contribute to the power of the order. Instead, the conflicts within the Suel are between Law and Chaos. There is a constant conflict between loyalty and 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.

Marriage: Conventional. The nuclear family is very strong, the extended family too complex and interwoven to function. Men can have children out of wedlock, women cannot. Decent is traced through the same gender, females having matrilineal descent, males patrilinear descent, leading to incredibly complex family trees. This is further complicated by strict rules against incest of second cousins, which means keeping track of family trees is very important.

Sexual Practices: Birth control (often post-natal), Monogamy.

Sexual Taboos: Breeding outside race, Incest.

Magic: Suel have a deep attraction to magic and use it to change the world around them or to summon and bind supernatural servants. Great theorists, the Sueloise prefer wizards to sorcerers or bards. Divine magic is often focused on means rather than ends; Suel classify miracles by effect rather than ethos.

Pantheon

Suel gods tend to be impersonal manifestations of ideas. They are very lawful or very chaotic and examples of skill and ability rather than great leaders with a personal agenda. There was a great turnover of Suel gods after the twin cataclysms; Lendor, the leader of the pantheon, withdrew from daily affairs and is hardly known today which left a power vacuum that still exists today.

Lendor

Lawful Neutral

The lord of time and of tedium, Lendor is a scholarly deity not much involved in the everyday affairs of the world or his pantheon. He is an avatar of Rao.

Kord

Chaotic Neutral

Kord is sometimes a hero, sometimes a bumbling fool, always willing to take on any challenge - he is the god of sports and challenges. In civilized settlements his cult provides an outlet, in barbarian ones he can be the focus of the entire community.

Wee Jas

Chaotic Neutral

The Suel goddess of beauty, death, and magic, she is the most important lawful Suel god today. Wee Jas has had flirtations with evil over the ages, which is not a big thing the way the Suel see it. She is an exarch of Sehanine.

Bahamut

Lawful Good

In the oldest Suel legends, Bahamut is the teacher and exemplar of the Suel people. He succeeded in teaching them the strength in order, but not quite the importance of benevolence. He has been a constant good influence throughout history, often intervening subtly to check the machinations of Tiamat.

Tiamat

Lawful Evil

Tiamat has been subtly influencing the Suel since the dawn of history, often as a respected goddess, sometimes as a tempting voice in the darkness. She is worshipped both openly and secretly.

Llerg

Chaotic Neutral

Llerg is the wild man of the Suel pantheon, the savage force of nature. He is often an adventure companion to Kord, he mostly takes a support role in fights and among people, but is the unquestioned master in the wilderness. He is an avatar of Beory.

Phaukon

Chaotic Good

The father of Kord and an impressive hero in his own right, Phaukon is a god of the air and archery. He brings people hope and teaches them to hunt and support themselves; he had an instrumental role in saving Some of the Suel after the Invoked Devastation. He is an avatar of Ehlonna.

Vatun

Chaotic Evil

The patron of the barbarians of the North-East, Vatun the one-eyed is a harsh and unforgiving master that sends longships south to plunder and sets tribe against tribe in trials of strength and valor. He is an avatar of Gruumsh.

Beltar

Chaotic Evil

The hag goddess and mother of monsters is rarely worshipped by humans. She is an avatar of Tiamat.

Jascar

Lawful Good

The god of hills and mountains is a barely-concealed avatar of Moradin in his aspect as fighter against evil.

Lydia

Neutral Good

A wise and benevolent goddess seeks to instruct trough music and to recover old lore and separate fact from fiction. She is an exarch of Corellon.

Bralm

Lawful Neutral

The goddess of industry and insects, Bralm seeks to create a perfectly lawful society where everything has its assigned role. She is an exarch of Istus.

Syrul

Neutral Evil

A goddess of deceit and trickery and patron of the Scarlet Brotherhood, Syrul is rarely worshipped openly. She likes to hide the truth under layers of illusion. She is an exarch of Lolth.

Dalt

Chaotic Good

The somewhat obsessed god of locks and lock picking, and by extension of craft, science, and perfection at any cost appears as an old man with ragged white hair. One moment he is designing the perfect lock to bind all power in the world, the next he is martyring himself to free prisoners and the oppressed. He is an exarch of Moradin.

Fortubo

Lawful Good

Fortubo was once a Suel god, but forsook them for their many sins. He is still included in lists of traditional Suel gods, but has no temples of his own in their lands; among dwarves he is an honored adopted god. He is an exarch of Moradin.

Norebo

Chaotic Neutral

The god of luck and gambling, Norebo has had a "secret" affair with Wee Jas for the last thousand years. This has made his cult something of a good of freedom under order, a safety valve of social pressure. He is an exarch of Olidarma.

Joramy

Chaotic Good

Joramy is the power of righteous rage and fiery temper. She is also a goddess of flame and volcanoes. Her rage is generally just, but tends to burn everything in its way. She is an exarch of Pelor.

Phyton

Lawful Good

The god of agriculture was once a power of the wilderness, but allowed himself to be tamed and turned into a civilized farmer. He is also a god of beauty and physical perfection and an exarch of Beory.

Cyndor

Lawful Neutral

A servant of Lendor and charged by him to rule over time, Cyndor is too obscure for the modern world and barely remembered. He is an avatar of Istus.

Osprem

Lawful Neutral

The goddess of sea travel, Osprem is a civilizing influence on the sea lanes. She is an exarch of Yondalla.

Tharizdun

Chaotic Evil

The god of madness is not worshipped per se, but over time he has had a fundamental influence over Suel culture, manly their wizardry. He inspired the invoked devastation, his greatest triumph to date.

Xerbo

Chaotic Neutral

A god of monsters and the ocean depths, mainly worshipped in conjunction with his wife Osprem. He is an exarch of Tiamat.

Pyremius

Lawful Evil

The god of fire and assassins is a patron of the Scarlett Brotherhood. He is an exarch of Lolth.