The kami are one of the more alien races of Reverie. Their bodies stand slightly shorter than the aquan or the children of Destiny when straight, but their most natural stance is hunched over and acrobatic. Their skin is lightly furred in various colours, which can in some specimens be described as scintillating, and their feline ears have the same. Their eyes are always of a single, pure colour, and emit a dim bioluminescence. As they walk, they leave images of themselves suspended in the air for fractions of a second.
Kami are defined by their extreme adaptation to the presence of brio. Unlike the draconic and the sheltered ones, who are merely empowered by brio, the kami are fundamentally powered by brio in the same manner as the bodies of all Complete races rely on vim. Their blood pumps through their veins due to the power of the Arbiters; their muscles twitch at brio's behest. Rapid and intense, the kami move in instants with twitch reflexes, their unerringly precise movements guided by the Arbiters' gift.
Early in their history, they became responsible for the atrocities of the Great Devouring, in which the kami and the sheltered ones warred. With this long shadow cast behind them, the kami are a threatening presence to all they encounter; working forward, they seek to rejoin society, trying to cast off the memories kept ever recent by the aquan. By slowly finding places in ever more visible positions, many now work not to be known, but to be forgotten - to blend in, to become everyday.
The kami are alternately distrusted for their behaviour in the Great Devouring, maligned for their unusual biology, and feared for their mysterious power. With the muttered curses of the sheltered ones at their back, the decadence of the draconic pressing upon them, and the wild invention of the isle dwellers before them, the kami are increasingly pushed to the sidelines in a world that wishes it was greater than them.Â
Personality
Age and Weight
Traits
Size. Kami are Medium sized, although exceptions exist. Kami are found in many shapes and sizes.
Racial type. Kami have the humanoid (feline) racial type.
Basic Features
+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution. The kami are nimble and have intense personalities, but their diminished vim makes them frail.
Special Features
Darkvision (Su). The kami are gifted with a vision powered by the world's essence, and gain the darkvision 60 feet racial trait.
Echoing Truth (Ex). Kami move with graceful inimitable power, their precise movements granting them a +2 dodge bonus to AC.
Foreign Mind (Ex). Kami take a -2 penalty to Diplomacy checks when interacting with members of other races.
Magnificence (Su). Once per day as a standard action, a kami can enter a shining state of magnificence. While in magnificence, for one minute, they gain a +2 racial bonus to all attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and spell and power DCs.
Keen Senses (Ex). Kami gain a +2 racial bonus to Perception checks.
Unusual Anatomy (Ex). Kami automatically ignore their character level in precision damage from the first attack which deals precision damage to them each round.
Kami vary by more than skin colour. Defined especially by their mysterious relation of brio to vim, their bodies contort wildly according to their training.
Heartless
Some kami go so far in their use of their infusion of brio that their ability to use vim begins to degrade. Their organs become vestigial, and their breath becomes a formality; they only rely on their body by technicality. These kami have the following modifications:
Ability score modifiers change to +2 Constitution, +2 Charisma, -2 Strength.
Heartless kami lose the keen senses, darkvision, and echoing truth racial traits.
Heartless kami gain the heartless racial trait, as follows.
Heartless (Su). Heartless kami gain 1 temporary hit point per minute, to a maximum of their character level. While they have at least 1 such temporary hit point, they gain a +2 racial bonus to attack rolls.
Harbinger
A rare few kami exist who, rather than unifying brio with vim, instead subjugate it to their desires. Most of these are amongst the earliest kami, although they're often still found among the Loyalists due to their great familiarity with the essence of the Arbiters. These kami have the following modifications:
Ability score modifiers change to +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma.
Harbinger kami lose the magnificence racial trait.
Harbinger kami gain the subjugation racial trait, as follows.
Subjugation (Su). Once per day, a harbinger kami can enter a dark subjugation state for up to one minute. While in subjugation, all spells the kami casts and all damage the kami deals inflicts the shaken condition for one round on their targets unless they make a Will save (spell DC, or for attacks, 10 + 1/2 character level + any mental attribute modifier) or, if it offers one, the spell's save (do not roll both). If the target is already shaken, they instead gain the staggered condition for one round. This is a fear effect.
Broadmind
There exist many kami whose minds become bent, rather than brilliant like their bodies. They see the world in entirely new ways - piercing the veil of the Tapestry. These kami have the following modifications:
Ability score modifiers change to +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Constitution.
Broadmind kami lose the foreign mind and magnificence racial traits.
Broadmind kami gain the broad mind and aberrant echo racial traits, as follows.
Broad Mind (Ex). Broadmind kami gain a +2 racial bonus to Sense Motive and Perception skill checks, but take a -4 racial penalty to all Charisma-based skill checks except Disguise, Handle Animal, and Use Magic Device.
Aberrant Echo (Su). Once per day, a broadmind kami can instantly move to a new angle on a problem. As a free action, the broadmind kami chooses an open location within 20', then moves to that location as if it were 5' away (for miscellaneous purposes), but without consuming a 5' step, and ignoring intervening squares (they do not move through these squares).