Racial Characteristics Table
Where appropriate, text was borrowed wholesale from the 5e SRD, the Pathfinder SRD, or Mythras. None of those are mine, and I don't claim any ownership.
Halflings of the Elsir Vale vary from nomadic dinosaur riding barbarians to wily urban merchants and professionals. With the broad expanse of the Thornwastes, the shelter of rural farmsteads, and the potency of House Kaal and the thieves guild, the halflings are as pervasive as any other racial group across the Vale.
Some Halflings have traded the nomadic lifestyle of the Thornwaste Halfling for a more urban approach living in major cities across the Vale. While many of these halflings are associated with one of the houses, some are simply independent halflings wanting something different for their lives. Some urban halflings have never seen their native homeland, while others switch between city clothes and nomadic traditions depending on where they find themselves.
The halflings of the Thornwastes maintain the same traditions that their ancestors of old participated in including tribal masks and dinosaur mounts. Though physically the same as urban halflings, the native Thornwasters strike a much more imposing figure. Rarely in one place for long the nomadic tribes traverse the Thornwastes moving with the herds they hunt for food. With only one permanent settlement in the whole of the Thornwastes (Gatherhold) these nomadic bands live in temporary camps of tents that are easily set up and broken down. The Thornwaste halflings carry few possessions both as a function of their nomadic lifestyle and as a function of their beliefs. Their tents are brightly painted, usually with depictions that tell the story of their tribe's ancestors. Most important among the halfling's possessions are their hunt-masks and their dinosaur mounts.
The hunt-mask represents the identity of the halfling, and when donning the mask the halfling believes his spirit combines with his bonded dinosaur. The dinosaur is wrangled as a rite of passage by the young halfling and forever remains linked to that halfling forming a special bond between them.
Skills and Cultural Passions
Choose either the Civilized or Nomadic culture (see Humans). In addition to Language (Common tongue), apply a static bonus of +40% to the Language (Halfling).
Special Rules
Movement: 6 metres (20 feet). This is different from the book
Magic Resistance: Like dwarves, halflings are highly resistant to Arcane magic with Willpower Checks being 1 grade easier when used to resist. This resistance has no effect on Divine magic. They may not use certain magic items not specifically designed for them or their class. This resistance to magic items applies to all Arcane items, including wands, staves, rods, rings, amulets, potions, horns, and jewels. Only magic weapons, shields, armour, gauntlets, and girdles are able to be used without restriction, as are magic items of a Divine nature, such as potions of healing. Because of this Arcane resistance, halflings may not be magic-users.
Poison Resistance: Halflings are also highly resistant to poi- son, with Endurance Rolls that relate to poisoning being 1 grade easier.
Stealthy: Halflings wearing nothing more restrictive than light armour find Stealth tests 1 grade easier.
Exposure Tolerance (Feet): Halflings suffer no adverse effects from exposure when going around barefoot, regardless of temperature. They do suffer from exposure normally as far as the rest of their body is concerned.
Simultaneously more and less than mortal, tieflings are the offspring of humans and fiends. With otherworldly blood and traits to match, tieflings are often shunned and despised out of reactionary fear. Most tieflings never know their fiendish sire, as the coupling that produced their curse occurred generations earlier. The taint is long-lasting and persistent, often manifesting at birth or sometimes later in life, as a powerful, though often unwanted, boon. Despite their fiendish appearance and netherworld origins, tieflings have a human’s capacity of choosing their fate, and while many embrace their dark heritage and side with fiendish powers, others reject their darker predilections. Though the power of their blood calls nearly every tiefling to fury, destruction, and wrath, even the spawn of a succubus can become a saint and the grandchild of a pit fiend an unsuspecting hero.
No two tieflings look alike; the fiendish blood running through their veins manifests inconsistently, granting them an array of fiendish traits. One tiefling might appear as a human with small horns, a barbed tail, and oddly colored eyes, while another might manifest a mouth of fangs, tiny wings, and claws, and yet another might possess the perpetual smell of blood, foul incenses, and brimstone. Typically, these qualities hearken back in some way to the manner of fiend that spawned the tiefling’s bloodline, but even then the admixture of human and fiendish blood is rarely ruled by sane, mortal laws, and the vast flexibility it produces in tieflings is a thing of wonder, running the gamut from oddly beautiful to utterly terrible.
Tieflings on the Material Plane rarely create their own settlements and holdings. Instead, they live on the fringes of the land where they were born or choose to settle. Most societies view tieflings as aberrations or curses, but in cultures where there are frequent interactions with summoned fiends, and especially where the worship of demons, devils, or other evil outsiders is legal or obligatory, tieflings might be much more populous and accepted, even cherished as blessings of their fiendish overlords. Tieflings seldom see another of their own kind, and thus they usually simply adopt the culture and mannerisms of their human parents. On other planes, tieflings form enclaves of their own kind. But often such enclaves are less than harmonious—the diversity of tiefling forms and philosophies is an inherent source of conflict between members of the race, and cliques and factions constantly form in an ever-shifting hierarchy where only the most opportunistic or devious gain advantage. Only those of common bloodlines or those who manage to divorce their worldview from the inherently selfish, devious, and evil nature of their birth manage to find true acceptance, camaraderie, and common ground among others of their kind.
Tieflings face a significant amount of prejudice from most other races, who view them as fiend-spawn, seeds of evil, monsters, and lingering curses placed upon the world. Far too often, civilized races shun or marginalize them, while more monstrous ones simply fear and reject them unless forced or cowed into acceptance. But half-elves, half-orcs, fetchlings and—most oddly—aasimars tend to view them as kindred spirits who are too often rejected or who don’t fit into most societies by virtue of their birth. The widespread assumption that tieflings are innately evil—ill-founded though it may be—prevents many from easily fitting into most cultures on the Material Plane except in exceedingly cosmopolitan or planar-influenced nations.
In addition to Language (Common tongue), apply a static bonus of +40% to Language (Infernal).
Standard Skills: Deceit, Influence, Insight, Locale, Perception, Stealth, Willpower
Professional Skills: Art (any), Commerce, Craft (any), Courtesy, Disguise, Language (any), Lore (any), Sleight, Survival.
Moral Philosophy: Despite their fiendish heritage and the insidious influence of prejudice, tieflings can be of any alignment. Many of them fall prey to the dark desires that haunt their psyches, and give in to the seduction of the whispering evil within, yet others steadfastly reject their origins and actively fight against evil lures and the negative assumptions they face from others by performing acts of good. Most, however, strive to simply find their own way in the world, though they tend to adopt a very amoral, neutral view when they do. Though many creatures just assume that tieflings worship devils and demons, their religious views are as varied as their physical forms. Individual tieflings worship all manner of deities, but they are just as likely to shun religion all together. Those who give in to the dark whispers that haunt the psyche of all tieflings serve all manner of powerful fiends.
From the chosen philosophy, select one or two Traits as desired.
In addition, choose one or two additional Passions from the following:
Loyalty to (friend, benefactor, or parentage)
Love (friend, sibling or romantic lover)
Hate (creature, rival, or parentage)
Or add an additional Trait to the chosen Moral Philosophy
Infravision: Tiefling infravision enables them to see up to 18 metres (60 feet) in darkness. Infravision is covered in more detail on page 96 under Visibility Underground.
Hellish Resistance: You have resistance to fire damage.
Infernal Legacy: You know the magic tricks cantrip.
For 4 xp rolls or 10 bonus points at character creation, tieflings can gain the Flying creature ability. The tiefling automatically succeeds in everyday moving and maneuvring whilst flying, and need not roll their Fly skill unless attempting an unusually difficult task, such as flying against a powerful wind, evading a ranged attack in the air, or out-maneuvring an aerial foe. A flyer may substitute the Fly skill (base STR+DEX) for Evade whilst fighting whilst aloft.
For 4 xp rolls or 10 bonus points at character creation, the tiefling gains the ability to cast the Darkness spell as an Action. The Intensity of this spell is always 1, costs 1 magic point, and the tiefling does not need to make a skill check. Only one instance of the tiefling's Darkness can be active at one time - casting it again makes the previous one go away.
If you are playing with class restrictions, the following are appropriate for tieflings
Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Magic-User, Thief, Thief-Acrobat, Fighter/Magic-User, Fighter/Thief, Fighter/Thief-Acrobat
Born of dragons, as their name proclaims, the dragonborn walk proudly through a world that greets them with fearful incomprehension. Shaped by draconic gods or the dragons themselves, dragonborn originally hatched from dragon eggs as a unique race, combining the best attributes of dragons and humanoids. Some dragonborn are faithful servants to true dragons, others form the ranks of soldiers in great wars, and still others find themselves adrift, with no clear calling in life.
Dragonborn look very much like dragons standing erect in humanoid form, though they lack wings or a tail. The first dragonborn had scales of vibrant hues matching the colors of their dragon kin, but generations of interbreeding have created a more uniform appearance. Their small, fine scales are usually brass or bronze in color, sometimes ranging to scarlet, rust, gold, or copper-green. They are tall and strongly built, often standing close to 6½ feet tall and weighing 300 pounds or more. Their hands and feet are strong, talonlike claws with three fingers and a thumb on each hand.
The blood of a particular type of dragon runs very strong through some dragonborn clans. These dragonborn often boast scales that more closely match those of their dragon ancestor—bright red, green, blue, or white, lustrous black, or gleaming metallic gold, silver, brass, copper, or bronze.
To any dragonborn, the clan is more important than life itself. Dragonborn owe their devotion and respect to their clan above all else, even the gods. Each dragonborn’s conduct reflects on the honor of his or her clan, and bringing dishonor to the clan can result in expulsion and exile. Each dragonborn knows his or her station and duties within the clan, and honor demands maintaining the bounds of that position.
A continual drive for self-improvement reflects the self-sufficiency of the race as a whole. Dragonborn value skill and excellence in all endeavors. They hate to fail, and they push themselves to extreme efforts before they give up on something. A dragonborn holds mastery of a particular skill as a lifetime goal. Members of other races who share the same commitment find it easy to earn the respect of a dragonborn.
Though all dragonborn strive to be self-sufficient, they recognize that help is sometimes needed in difficult situations. But the best source for such help is the clan, and when a clan needs help, it turns to another dragonborn clan before seeking aid from other races—or even from the gods.
In addition to Language (Common tongue), apply a static bonus of +40% to Language (Draconic).
Standard Skills: Athletics, Brawn, Customs, Endurance, Influence, Perception, Ride.
Professional Skills: Choose from a human culture skill list or the following orc skill list: Craft (any), Courtesy, Lore (any), Musicianship, Navigate, Oratory, Survival.
Moral Philosophy: Dragonborn tend to extremes, making a conscious choice for one side or the other in the cosmic war between good and evil. Most dragonborn are good, but those who side with evil can be terrible villains.
In addition, choose one or two Passions from the following:
Loyalty (Clan)
Loyalty (Friends)
Hate (Failure)
Self-sufficiency
Or add an additional Trait to the chosen Moral Philosophy
Draconic Heritage: You gain a resistance to damage based on your draconic heritage
Breath Weapon: Dragonborn breathe flame, lightning, gas, frost, or some other magical effect over an area as a Combat Action. A dragonborn can only use its breath weapon once per day. Further attempts to make a breath attack within this time require the dragon to pass Endurance rolls, with each roll becoming 1 grade harder or suffer a level of Fatigue.
Unlike dragons, dragonborn necks are not long and flexible, and thus can only use their breath weapon to their front and side facings. All dragonborn breath attacks have a 100% chance to hit those within the area of effect. This chance is not further modified by skill, range, visibility, etc.
Dragonborn breath weapons behave much like dragon breath weapons, with differing effects for Cones, Gas clouds, and Lines, but with the following modifications:
Cone
Dragonborn cones are 15' (5m) long and wide at it's widest point instead of being based on the CON of the dragonborn.
Gas
Dragonborn gas clouds fill an area 15' (5m) long and wide instead of being based on the CON of the dragonborn. The gas cloud dissipates in 1d2 rounds
All gas has a potency of CON x3
Chlorine has has no lingering effects, and only causes 1 point of damage per round of exposure
Paralysis gas instead causes a 1 level penalty to physical actions for POW/3 actions
Repulsion lasts for POW/3 actions
Slow lasts for POW/3 actions
Sleep lasts for POW/3 actions
Line
Line attacks are 1m wide and stretch for CON/2 meters
Acid does not produce a gaseous after effect
Lightning only inflicts damage on 1d2 random hit locations
Damage, where called for, is 1d6
Draconic Ancestry
For 4 xp rolls or 10 bonus points at character creation, the dragonborn can gain the Flying creature ability (Mythras, p216), gains a flying skill, and wings. Hit locations are recalculated to incorporate the new limbs
For 4 xp rolls or 10 bonus points at character creation, the dragonborn can gain 2 points of natural armor.
Changelings are subtle shapeshifters capable of disguising their appearance. They evolved through the union of doppelgangers and humans, eventually becoming a separate race distinct from either ancestral tree. Changelings do not possess the full shapechanging ability of doppelgangers, but they can create effective disguises at will. This ability makes them consummate spies and criminals, and many changelings live up to that potential.
Changelings do not build cities of their own, but live among humans, goblinoids, or other races, blending in among them and living in their shadow. They are most commonly found in large cities, where they form the backbone of the criminal underworld, though many find more respectable work as merchants, negotiators, entertainers, government agents, and sometimes adventurers. Even in large cities, they do not cluster into extremely large groups. A changeling “clan” is actually a voluntary association of changelings grouped together for mutual protection rather than a group of blood relatives. Clan heads govern by the consent of the clan, and this position tends to change hands frequently. Bosses maintain order and help organize the clan for common purposes.
A changeling clan includes 30% noncombatants, primarily children and the elderly, who are usually the primary reason for the clan’s existence. Changelings without dependents generally find little reason to associate with a clan and operate alone or in smaller gangs organized by a charismatic leader.
In general, changelings are prudent and cautious, preferring to take risks only when they feel that their chances are good or the payoff is worth it. They appreciate the finer things in life and take great pleasure in the comforts of a wealthy lifestyle when they can obtain it. They avoid direct confrontation, preferring stealthy strikes and hasty retreats whenever possible. In conversation, they are soft-spoken but have a gift for drawing out more information than the other party usually plans to reveal.
Changelings in their natural form appear frail with extremely fair skin, which can appear to have gray tints in moonlight. Changelings have large eyes which can be any color, but the most common is gray or silver. Their facial features are slight, their noses tend to be small and round, their lips are usually thin, but in rare cases they may be full and even pouty. Changelings have little to no facial hair and the hair on their heads is soft and fine and is also usually gray, silver or white (though in rare cases it can range in color from pink, to blue, or even green). Changelings are usually slender and their height ranges from 5'0" - 6'0", it is rare for females to be taller than 5'4". Many Changelings choose another form due to their social stigmas, though, and it is rare to see a Changeling in their natural form. Some Changelings have difficulty maintaining one form for too long and this can result in confusion for their companions.
Standard Skills: Conceal, Customs, Deceit, Influence, Insight, Locale, Willpower
Professional Skills: Commerce, Culture, Disguise, Courtesy, Language (any), Lore (any), Sleight, Streetwise.
Moral Philosophy: Typically Neutral. From the chosen philosophy, select one or two Traits as desired.
In addition, choose one or two Passions from the following:
Fear of being discovered
Love (friend, sibling, or romantic lover)
Hate (rival, gang, district, or city)
Or add an additional Trait to the chosen Moral Philosophy
Shapeshifter - As natural shapeshifters, Changelings may alter their appearance as the Change Appearance spell at will, with no magic point cost. In addition, this is not an illusion, as the physical body does change. Hair changes, but equipment and clothing do not. Size is restricted to +/-3, and does not change hit points or weapon statistics.
Create an alter ego and pick a professional skill that is not a career or culture skill that the alter ego is associated with Add 20% to it.
Linguist - you gain an additional 2 Language skills and add an additional 40% to them.
Languages often are elven, dragon, dwarven, giantish, gnoll, goblin, halfling, kobold, or orc.
If you are playing with class restrictions, the following are appropriate for changelings
Bard, Magic-User, Thief, Thief-Acrobat, magic-user/thief, magic-user/thief-acrobat
Bovine-headed and man-bodied, minotaurs are anthropomorphic hybrids of myth and legend. In the original Greek myth the minotaur was a single beast known also as Asterion, which dwelled in the labyrinth of Crete, beneath the palace of King Minos, where it received regular sacrifices.
Minotaurs are much larger than humans, though there is not much variation in their height. They are powerful and massively built, with a natural confidence and swagger amongst their own kind. Males are blessed with oversized horns, and proudly display battle scars as badges of honour. A few have the lower halves and the hoofed legs of bulls. Armour is rarely worn, more from the fact that until recently none amongst their culture knows the art of smithing and salvaged war trophies rarely fit, rather than any philosophical attitudes towards it.
Their favoured weapons are great axes or two handed clubs, with which they delight in smashing opponents about. There is no doubting that minotaurs are tenacious fighters and have little trouble rising to aggression when the need calls for it. They are brave but merciless fighters, and believe in putting a foe down as quickly and brutally as possible.
For thousands of years, minotaurs were an enslaved raced, as their stories say. Some scholars point to this and the very small height difference between all minotaurs that they are a purpose-created race, but they don't say that very loudly.
Then there was an event they call the Breaking of the Chains, and the minotaurs killed their captors and gained their freedom. It is unclear who this race was, but their descriptions are all undeniably evil, and it is forbidden for minotaurs to speak their names or gives descriptions to outsiders. Those who have spent time adventuring with them suspect that the race may be some kind of Aberration, as their hatred for them is near legendary.
What is clear, though, is that the minotaur race took multiple paths and flourished in the world
One branch of the race migrated to the coastal regions and spread all along it. They became excellent shipbuilders, navigators, and occasionally, pirates, though their codes and oaths make them less barbaric than many. They are unlikely to take you prisoner for long, and will likely leave you enough to survive. A deep-seated need for freedom guides this, as they understand captivity instinctively.
Another branch moved inland and developed a more agrarian society. Initially, there was some difficulty with human farmers being unwilling to have a "cow head" in the area, but a small number tolerated them, and were even willing to work with them. As soon as they saw how a minotaur can pound a post into the ground in three strikes with his maul or carrying twice as much as a man and for twice as long, no farmer is turning down a minotaur farmhand at harvest time. Soon after, the Hindu gods also took root, and minotaurs became viewed as good omens. Minotaurs and dwarves get along surprisingly well in the area, having pick up some smithing and have an appreciation for fine craftsmanship.
While seaborne minotaurs tend to be pescetarians and drink small kegs of ale, agrarian minotaurs are primarily vegetarians, consuming vast amounts of fruits and wild grains every day, supplementing their diet with milk and cheese from their herds. Some have moved to veganism, however, in alignment with the beliefs of their gods. A brisk trade of grain crops and metal goods betweens the minotaurs and dwarves exists, often both partaking in truly stupendous quantities of grain-based alcohols.
Standard Skills: Athletics, Brawn, Endurance, Influence, Locale, Perception, Unarmed
Professional Skills: Commerce, Craft (Animal Husbandry or Carpentry), Healing, Language (any), Lore (any), Navigation, Survival, Track
Moral Philosophy: Typically Good or Neutral. From the chosen philosophy, select one or two Traits as desired.
In addition, choose one or two additional Passions from the following:
Loyalty to Herd
Love (freedom)
Hate (abberations)
Or add an additional Trait to the chosen Moral Philosophy
Gore - Minotaur horns count as Stab weapons on the default natural weapons table, and do 1d6 damage with Size M and Reach S
If you are playing with class restrictions, the following are appropriate for minotaurs
Berserker, Cleric, Fighter, Thief, Fighter/Thief, Fighter/Thief-Acrobat, or Fighter/Cleric