The most common race. Humans are short-lived, so they tend to want to "see the world" before they go, which leads to many of them settling all across Feredas. Their longer-lived counterparts generally like to stay where they are, since they have put down very deep roots. Humans short life span is directly counteracted by the rapidity of their breeding, allowing them to quickly populate many areas. These factors combine to make humans a common sight all across Feredas.
Normal and "Variant" humans are allowed in game.
These cheerful folk primarily live in the secluded Bright Valley, aka Beerwater Pass. This idyllic, hilly area rests between the two main mountain ranges on Feredas, connecting the Dune Kingdom to the Dwarven lands and beyond. The area receives frequent but gentle storms, most of their power being wasted on the Fractured Cliffs on the way inland. The halflings are renowned for their Halfling Stout, a unique beer with a rich and bold taste resulting from their rich soil.
Stout, Lightfoot, and Hairfoots allowed.
Hairfoots: Wisdom +1, Naturally Stealthy, speaks Common and Halfling.
Elves were once the proud rulers of all of civilization, at least as they knew it. Thousands of years ago, when Feredas was filled with disparate city-states with no real cohesion, Elves long lives allowed them to amass wealth and knowledge, lending them great power. Elves treated all other races as second-class or lower, believing themselves to be the natural ruling class. This status quo remained for millenia, until the Unification under King Gaius. Harithma became a single nation, but elves retained much of their previous power and privilege. When Emperor Tretarian rose to power, he did so in part to stop the mistreatment of other races by the elves. Now, under the Emperor's rule, elves are treated as second class citizens while every other race receives fair, equitable treatment. Most elves are crammed into ghettoes and rarely afforded any luxuries or government assistance, treated with mistrust and suspicion, and have to struggle with very little upward mobility. Many of these elves abandoned the city life, choosing to make their way in the Ironbark Woods, a massive, ancient forest bordering the Empire and the semi-neutral arctic north. Those elves have become one with the forest, altering their magical abilities and changing them into Wild Elves.
Wood Elves have been replaced by Wild Elves and High Elves by Purebloods. Dark Elves unchanged.
See Elf Types.
Dwarves live primarily in their massive underground cities in the primary, mid mountain range on Feredas (the one between Harithma and Brightvalley). They have long lifespans (though not as long as elves) and a decent birthrate, but their population is kept in check through the constant fighting with Goblins and occasional accidents such as cave-ins. Dwarves live a life of constant battle, fighting the Goblins on their borders day after day. Dwarves, as a result, have a very disciplined and experienced corps of soldiers that earn their scars in daily struggles with the rapidly-breeding, vicious Goblins. Dwarven culture is relatively homogenous, though there have been a few schisms over the years. Each of these separate societies allow the others to live in peace, realizing the much more pressing threat is the hordes of Goblins.
Hill and Mountain allowed, Dark Dwarves are further down this page.
Half-elves pop up anywhere humans and elves have contact with each other. Elves sometimes seek out humans if they cannot wait years for a child, as Elves have a comparatively long fertility cycle. Half-breeds are met with mixed emotions, humans usually with scorn due to their parents being "lessers", elves with contempt due to half-breeds "diluting" the bloodline that has remained pure for so long. Regardless, many half-elves feel that they are not welcome anywhere and thus take to adventuring, exploring, trading, or providing some other service that allows them to escape their heritage. Their age can run anywhere from as long-lived to as a dwarf to just a decade longer than an average human, depending on how many generations removed they are from elves.
Orcs in Sarella are more of a discarded and forgotten weapon than a true independently evolved race. Most theories point to the Precursors as the creators of the original orcs, but no one is exactly sure. Orcs are covered in their own section, but the important things to know as a Half-Orc are:
1) Full Orcs generally have little interest in parenting, beyond providing the essentials to their children.
2) Most races, barring the beastial or Small races, can breed with Orcs. Their attributes are always highly recessive, however, so aside from height or hair growth it is usually very difficult to tell what other race you were mixed with. As a result, even dwarvish and elvish half-orcs are nigh-indistinguishable, aside from height.
3) Your skin is green and you have a large, muscled build. Rarely there are other skin colors, however over time as the Orc heritage becomes more distant, your skin color can lighten to something closer to your less dominant genes.
Orc genes are unusually dominant, so even after several generations without any additional orc blood, children can still be born as predominantly orcish, granting them the Half-Orc traits. Consequently, Half-Orc is a bit misleading, as even being 15% Orc can grant the exact same traits as a 75% Orc. Half-Orc is still the common name, however.
Stats are same as in PHB.
Gnomes are very rare, being almost entirely isolated to their tropical island off the west coast of Feredas. The island is reputed to be full of technological marvels, and the only visitors allowed are those in extreme high standing with Gnome-kind, or those few natives that return from abroad.
Rumored to be the descendants of a human woman and a polymorphed dragon, these scaled folk live in the frozen north and are more reminiscent of scaled humans than the bulky, musclebound bruisers they are typically portrayed as. That reputation is not unearned, however, as they seem to be much stronger than their frame would indicate, possessing much more physical strength than even some orcs. Coloration is typically blue or red, as blues are resistant to the cold of their homeland and reds produce a heat from within that is warm enough to melt snow they stand in. Other colors are born rarely, but the vast majority are red or blue due to the environmental pressure.
All colors allowed. No difference between metallic or chromatic, aside from aesthetics.
A tiefling is a half-breed of a devil or demon and a mortal. They are, for obvious reasons, extremely rare. Most people see them as demons, not as half-breeds, so they are met with fear and at best, mistrust.
Only default, PHB version allowed. Variants are discussed on case-by-case basis.
These half-elemental beings were brought into the world relatively recently, the Martyr using his last dying light to shape the Firsts out of the raw elements. Very little is known, as the Firsts are quite reclusive. Legend goes that they were implanted with the gathered knowledge of their creator, Kuru the Redeemed, and brought fully formed into the world to atone for the innocents he had killed.
The rest of the Genasi are now brought into the world when a sentient being has a baby who is blessed or imbued with the elements. These beings will grow physically at the same rate as their parents, though there have been reports of some growing significantly faster.
Contrary to what some believe, a Genasi does not "replace" a normal child. The parents have the same child they would have normally, except for their child being imbued by the elements and gaining the appropriate abilities. This CAN influence their personality, though typically it just enhances some of the quirks the child would have anyway.
All Genasi keep the same stats as written in the books, except for their aging which is determined by their parents.
Each element has various personality traits associated with them, though it is not known if the element itself causes these tendencies, or these elements naturally choose to bless people who already have these traits.
-Fire: Brash, impulsive, brave
-Earth: Stubborn, calm, pragmatic
-Water: Generous, selfless, quick to laugh
-Air: Easily distracted, energetic, curious
As with all intelligent races, these traits are not so much hard rules as simple inclinations.
See Lizardfolk
See Hobgoblins
See Forged
No one is really sure how long the reclusive Firbolgs have been denizens of Sarella, but the Wild Elves claim they have always been in the vast and unforgiving depths of the Ironbark Forest. During the Purge, when the Wild Elves first retreated to the ancient wood, the Firbolgs met them and taught them how to survive. No one had reported seeing one of the enigmatic creatures before this, but now there are frequent reports of weary or lost travelers being rescued by Firbolg groups.
The Firbolgs seem to be mostly pacifistic and selfless, but share very little information regarding their culture with outsiders. This doesn't stop wild speculation, thought, so there are many rumors and theories about their true natures. What can be confirmed as factual, however, is their undeniable connection to the Ironbarks they inhabit and their utter absence in any other region.
Uses standard Firbolg stats.
These dwarves are the result of Precursor testing, having been brought to Outerworld untold millenia ago. They have adapted to the magic that permeates the planet, as well as the persistent darkness. The Dark Dwarves have mastered Arcanium usage in construction, allowing them to hold incredibly resilient fortress-cities on Outerworld. Most choose to stay on Outerworld, maintaining their defenses for the eventual and inevitable assaults by the other Dark races.
Uses standard Duergar/Dark Dwarf player stats.
The Dark Gnomes are an oddity among Outerworld, choosing to make their homes in the mountains and engineer intricate defenses for their homes. Additionally, they do not share their cousins sensitivity to light, a result of their electing to use arcanium-powered lights in all of their cities. This is also their first line of defense, lining their cities with incredibly bright magical lights that can be activated at a moments notice, blinding any of their Outerworld cousins. The Dark Gnomes specialize in engineering, and have the most intricate Arcanium devices on either planet. Many come to Sarella with a sense of amazement and wonder at the sunlight there. Those that do stay in Sarella are often happier than their cousins on Outerworld, feeling as though the sunlight is the ultimate defense against their enemies.
Uses standard Svirfneblin stats.
Goliaths are isolated mostly to a few small villages on mountaintops in the frigid north of Feredas. Their villages are clustered around some natural hot springs that create mountain oases, lending heat and fresh, liquid water to large areas. These people were mostly unknown until a Goliath explorer broke their code of isolation and set out to explore the world, heading south towards the green lands.
Unfortunately, that explorer ran in to the Bloodrager Orc tribes first, who immediately brutally interrogated him and found the location of his home. After the first Orc raid burned a Goliath village to the ground, the remaining villages had all the justification they needed to deepen their isolation and fortify their mountaintop homes. Now, they still have to repel the occasional savage raid from the orc tribes who think they will find riches in the ancient, undisturbed villages, but remain relatively unknown. Goliaths are extremely rare in the world, as only the outcasts or the occasional adventurous tribe members set out into the world. Before they do, however, they are instructed to never reveal the locations of their homes, under penalty of eternal exile from Paradise by their god, Mehikel-Elek, Soul of the Mountains.
Stats are as printed.