The Peoples of the World

Thirteen races

Race supplies a character's base attributes, physical traits and racial abilities. Background adds one permanent attribute point; equipment and other effects can modify the values during play. Every race can enter any available class, subject to its guild requirements. The cultural notes below describe traditions within the setting; reputation develops through the character's actions.

Human Elf Dwarf Pisca Jackile Catfolk Shade Dryad Fey Gnome Halfling Scorpien Goblin

Str 13 · Agi 13 · Con 14 · Int 13 · Wis 13 · Cha 14 · Luck 13

Human

Humans live throughout the cities and their surrounding lands.

Human settlements range from small communities to the cities of the divine realms. Their inhabitants work in most of the established guilds and trades, with local customs varying between settlements. Humans have balanced starting attributes, leaving a broad choice of training open. Family, profession and place of origin distinguish communities that have no single shared craft or religious allegiance.

Appearance Usually 1.6-1.9m tall, with a wide range of builds, features and complexions.

Racial Abilities: Second Wind · Resolute Strike
Suggested Classes: Any class; balanced starting attributes
Closed Paths: None
Traditional Relations: Human communities have varied relations with the other peoples of the realms.
Cultural Taboo: None

Str 12 · Agi 17 · Con 10 · Int 16 · Wis 14 · Cha 11 · Luck 13

Elf

Long-lived folk with traditions of craft and woodland life.

Elves live for centuries. Their traditions favour patient craftsmanship and the care of woodland, with skills passed through relationships that can last longer than a human lifetime. That difference in lifespan has contributed to disputes with shorter-lived neighbours. Their histories also record an enduring rivalry with dwarves, particularly over the use of the natural world.

Appearance Usually 1.75-2.05m tall, with slender builds, pointed ears and angular features.

Racial Abilities: Digest · Moonlash
Suggested Classes: Mages, Rangers, Bards, Rogues
Closed Paths: None
Traditional Relations: A quiet disdain for dwarves and impatience with the haste of humans.
Cultural Taboo: Avoid harming nature

Str 16 · Agi 10 · Con 18 · Int 11 · Wis 14 · Cha 11 · Luck 10

Dwarf

A people known for stonework, durable craft and sworn obligations.

Dwarven halls preserve craft traditions and obligations passed between generations. Stonework and metalwork are established professions, and work is judged for its durability as well as its finish. Courage and the keeping of promises carry weight within the community. Family disagreements can concern an old debt or a disputed obligation as readily as ownership of a workshop.

Appearance Stocky and broad (1.3-1.5m) with dense, powerful frames, thick beards, and the prominent brow ridges of their stone-born heritage.

Racial Abilities: Stonefist
Suggested Classes: Warriors, Paladins, Clerics, Merchants
Closed Paths: None
Traditional Relations: Annoyance toward elves and frustration with humans.
Cultural Taboo: Cowardice is shameful

Str 10 · Agi 14 · Con 12 · Int 17 · Wis 15 · Cha 12 · Luck 12

Pisca

Aquatic people of the coastal waters and the deep.

Pisca communities extend from coastal waters into the deep. Gills and webbed limbs suit their aquatic homes, while trade brings them into contact with settlements on land. Clean water has a practical and cultural importance; toxins and alcohol are avoided. Relations with the Scorpien are strained by an old judgement that Pisca restraint amounts to cowardice.

Appearance Aquatic humanoids sheathed in iridescent scales of blue, green, silver, and pearl, with gills, webbed hands and feet, and large dark eyes adapted to the deep.

Racial Abilities: Tidal Pulse · Tidesurge
Suggested Classes: Mages, Clerics, Healers
Closed Paths: None
Traditional Relations: Mild disdain for dwarves; held in contempt by the Scorpien, who read their calm as cowardice.
Cultural Taboo: Avoid toxins and alcohol

Str 12 · Agi 15 · Con 13 · Int 13 · Wis 17 · Cha 10 · Luck 12

Jackile

Jackal-folk with desert origins and a tradition of seeking justice.

The Jackile trace their origins to the desert. Hunting and the pursuit of wrongdoing occupy related places in their traditions, and deceiving a dying person is a serious taboo. Their jackal-like features include pointed ears, marked faces and digitigrade legs. Territorial rivalries with Catfolk and difficult relations with Dryads form part of their dealings beyond their own communities.

Appearance Canine humanoids (1.65-1.9m) with digitigrade legs, pointed ears, and vulpine features; fur ranges sandy tan to dark brown, with distinctive markings around the eyes and ears.

Racial Abilities: Feral Bite
Suggested Classes: Rangers, Rogues, Thieves, Assassins, Bards
Closed Paths: None
Traditional Relations: Condescension toward humans; dryads are uneasy in their presence.
Cultural Taboo: Never deceive the dying

Str 11 · Agi 18 · Con 10 · Int 13 · Wis 16 · Cha 12 · Luck 16

Catfolk

Feline hunters with keen senses and agile movement.

Catfolk are agile hunters with retractable claws, swivelling ears and tails that aid balance. Independence is strongly valued, and captivity is a particular cultural fear. Territorial competition has brought them into conflict with the Jackile, though the two peoples also share hunting knowledge. Their keen senses and quick movement suit tracking, scouting and approaches made under cover.

Appearance Lithe feline humanoids (1.5-1.8m) sheathed in sleek fur - black, tawny-spotted, silver-striped or cream - with tufted swivelling ears, a long balancing tail, retractable claws, and slit-pupilled eyes made for the dark.

Racial Abilities: Pounce
Suggested Classes: Rogues, Rangers, Assassins
Closed Paths: None
Traditional Relations: A wary, territorial rivalry with the pack-bound Jackile; quiet respect between hunters otherwise.
Cultural Taboo: Never be caged

Str 10 · Agi 17 · Con 10 · Int 14 · Wis 15 · Cha 14 · Luck 9

Shade

People whose existence crosses the boundary of life and death.

Shades exist across the boundary between life and death, shaped by memory and the remains of past events. Shadows visibly accompany their movements, and their eyes are dark or faintly luminous. They favour quiet, dim places and avoid open flame. Surface communities often regard them with suspicion, complicating trade and travel beyond their accustomed company.

Appearance Dusky grey to deep purple-black skin and eyes like pools of darkness or faintly luminescent orbs; shadows visibly cling to their every movement.

Racial Abilities: Mistwalk · Voidlash
Suggested Classes: Thieves, Assassins, Rogues, Necromancers
Closed Paths: None
Traditional Relations: Discomfort around loud, vibrant races; surface folk distrust their shadow nature.
Cultural Taboo: Avoid open flame

Str 10 · Agi 12 · Con 13 · Int 12 · Wis 16 · Cha 17 · Luck 14

Dryad

Forest-born people with bark-grained skin and close ties to living wood.

Dryads are born of the forests and retain close ties to living wood. Their skin is grained like bark, with branchlike hair and green eyes. Care for woodland occupies much of their cultural life; deliberate harm to a forest is taboo. Clearing land can therefore cause disputes with neighbouring settlements, bringing them into the wider affairs of the realms.

Appearance Bark-grained skin, slender builds and branchlike hair, with deep green eyes.

Racial Abilities: Rootbind · Thornlash
Suggested Classes: Healers, Rangers, Clerics
Closed Paths: None
Traditional Relations: Unease around Jackiles and discomfort around Shades.
Cultural Taboo: Avoid harming forests

Str 9 · Agi 16 · Con 10 · Int 16 · Wis 13 · Cha 16 · Luck 17

Fey

People touched by faerie magic and the Undying Lands.

Fey carry visible traces of faerie magic in iridescent skin, luminous eyes and shifting hair colours; some bear delicate wings. Glamour and the exact terms of a bargain are prominent in their traditions. Their origins are disputed. One account associates them with older magic entering through fractures in the world, while others place their beginnings in the Undying Lands.

Appearance Ethereal beings of near-human height whose iridescent skin shimmers with inner light, eyes glowing luminous violet or silver, prismatic hair shifting colour in the light, some bearing gossamer-thin wings.

Racial Abilities: Fey Lash
Suggested Classes: Mages, Bards, Rogues
Closed Paths: None
Traditional Relations: Shared magical traditions connect them with elves and dryads; their bargains often draw suspicion from mortals.
Cultural Taboo: Never break a bargain

Str 9 · Agi 15 · Con 11 · Int 18 · Wis 14 · Cha 13 · Luck 17

Gnome

Small folk with established traditions of study and invention.

Gnomish communities value experimentation and the preservation of knowledge. Workshops and scholarly trades are familiar occupations, with failed attempts kept alongside successful designs as useful records. Destroying knowledge is considered shameful. Their relations with dwarves are often impatient, while Scorpien criticism centres on the risks of their experiments.

Appearance Roughly a metre tall, with large eyes and pointed ears.

Racial Abilities: Sparkblast
Suggested Classes: Mages, Rogues, Bards
Closed Paths: None
Traditional Relations: Impatience with dwarves; uneasy around Shades, and dismissed by the Scorpien as reckless.
Cultural Taboo: Destroying knowledge is shameful

Str 10 · Agi 16 · Con 14 · Int 12 · Wis 13 · Cha 15 · Luck 18

Halfling

Small, sturdy people whose traditions prize hospitality and friendship.

Hospitality and loyalty to friends are central to halfling customs. Their small, sturdy frames, curly hair and broad, tough-soled feet are familiar features in the settlements where they live and trade. Halflings have high starting Luck and Agility, with Sling Shot as their racial attack. Abandoning a friend is a serious breach of their cultural obligations.

Appearance Small, sturdy people roughly three feet tall, with curly hair, rounded features and broad, hairy feet with tough soles.

Racial Abilities: Sling Shot
Suggested Classes: Rogues, Rangers, Bards
Closed Paths: None
Traditional Relations: A tradition of hospitality supports friendships with many other peoples.
Cultural Taboo: Never abandon a friend

Str 17 · Agi 12 · Con 17 · Int 10 · Wis 14 · Cha 10 · Luck 9

Scorpien

Chitin-armoured desert people with venomous tails.

Scorpien come from the desert, with layered chitin protecting broad frames and a venomous barb at the end of each segmented tail. Endurance and territorial defence feature strongly in their traditions. Showing weakness carries a stigma within the community. Their disputes with Pisca and gnomes reflect different judgements about restraint, risk and the proper use of strength.

Appearance Hardened desert predators (1.7-2.0m) sheathed in layered chitin from dark amber to obsidian black, with a segmented, venom-barbed tail and a broad, powerful build.

Racial Abilities: Venomsting
Suggested Classes: Warriors, Rangers, Thieves
Closed Paths: None
Traditional Relations: Contempt for the Pisca (seen as cowardly) and the Gnomes (seen as weak opportunists).
Cultural Taboo: Showing weakness is dishonorable

Str 12 · Agi 18 · Con 17 · Int 11 · Wis 10 · Cha 12 · Luck 17

Goblin

Wiry, resilient people with quick movement and unusual luck.

Goblins are small, long-armed and resilient, with mottled green or grey skin and eyes that catch yellow, red or amber in the light. Their communities occupy warrens and other difficult places, and they encounter widespread distrust outside them. High Agility and Constitution support physical training. Their racial abilities are Ankle Biter and Dumb Luck; no common cultural taboo is specified.

Appearance About waist-high to a human, wiry and bow-legged, with long arms that reach further than they look. Mottled green-to-grey skin, pointed ears, and eyes that catch the light in yellow, red or amber.

Racial Abilities: Ankle Biter · Dumb Luck
Suggested Classes: Rogues, Thieves, Rangers
Closed Paths: None
Traditional Relations: Goblins encounter widespread distrust outside their communities.
Cultural Taboo: No common taboo specified