The Peoples of the World

Twelve races

Race sets who you are before you have done a thing - your gifts, your limits, and the taboos the world expects you to keep. Attributes are fixed at creation on an 80-point model; nothing you find or learn will raise them. Choose well.

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

+Charisma, +1 any

Human

Short of years, fierce of ambition. The world bends to your urgency.

The most numerous and widespread of the civilized peoples, found in every corner of the world. What humans lack in specialized gifts they make up for in adaptability, ambition, and sheer determination. Their short lifespans breed urgency: a human must make their mark quickly or not at all. That restless drive has produced history's greatest heroes and its most terrible villains alike.

Appearance Diverse in height (1.6-1.9m) and complexion, from pale northerners to dark-skinned southerners. No single defining feature - adaptability is the look.

Racial Abilities: Adaptive Instinct · Steadfast Heart
Natural Paths: Any path equally - humans excel everywhere
Closed Paths: None
Relations: None - humans get on with nearly everyone.
Taboo: None

Reputation Lens

Ceaseless ambition pushes Presence and Traceability high; a human is rarely an unnoticed fixture for long.

+Agility, +Intelligence, -Constitution

Elf

Time forgets nothing, and neither do you.

Timeless beings of nature and memory who value patience and craft above haste. Elves measure their lives in centuries and their grudges in the same, carrying a long memory that steadies their reputation where shorter-lived races flare and fade. They move through the world with unhurried grace and a quiet disdain for those who would rush it.

Appearance Tall and slender (1.75-2.05m) with pointed ears and angular features, carrying the otherworldly grace of a being millennia old.

Racial Abilities: Sylvan Grace · Quiet Mind
Natural Paths: Mages, Rangers, Bards, Rogues
Closed Paths: None
Relations: A quiet disdain for dwarves and impatience with the haste of humans.
Taboo: Avoid harming nature

Reputation Lens

Centuries of mastery build deep Credibility, but their perceived aloofness raises the Scrutiny they draw.

+Constitution, +Strength, -Dexterity

Dwarf

Stone endures. So do you, and your grudges.

Enduring folk of stone and tradition, built low and broad and harder than the mountains they call home. Dwarves prize craft, loyalty, and the keeping of one's word; to them cowardice is the deepest shame a soul can carry. What a dwarf builds is built to last, and what a dwarf remembers is remembered for life.

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: Iron Frame · Depth Breath
Natural Paths: Warriors, Paladins, Clerics, Merchants
Closed Paths: None
Relations: Annoyance toward elves and frustration with humans.
Taboo: Cowardice is shameful

Reputation Lens

Ancestral honor codes project exceptional Hardiness and firm Credibility, though their love of isolation keeps Presence low.

+Intelligence, +Agility, -Strength

Pisca

Serene as still water, strongest where the tide runs.

Serene water-aligned beings guided by the rhythms of the sea. The Pisca think clearly and move quietly, drawing strength and swift recovery from open water and growing uneasy in polluted or poisoned places. They keep their bodies clean of toxins as a matter of faith, and their calm hides a sharp, flowing intelligence.

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: Tide Whisper · Flow Step
Natural Paths: Mages, Clerics, Healers
Closed Paths: None
Relations: Mild disdain for dwarves; held in contempt by the Scorpien, who read their calm as cowardice.
Taboo: Avoid toxins and alcohol

Reputation Lens

Rare intermediaries between surface and sea, they keep a moderate Presence and a low Threat Index through patient, diplomatic temperament.

+Wisdom, +Dexterity, -Charisma

Jackile

The desert taught you to smell a lie. Justice does the rest.

Desert-born judges and seekers of truth, the jackal-folk read deception the way others read weather. They hunt criminals with relentless focus and hold a single inviolable law above all others: never deceive the dying. Where a Jackiles walks with just cause, the world watches them less and trusts them more.

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: Distant Sniff · Aggressive Focus
Natural Paths: Rangers, Rogues, Thieves, Assassins, Bards
Closed Paths: None
Relations: Condescension toward humans; dryads are uneasy in their presence.
Taboo: Never deceive the dying

Reputation Lens

Pack instinct and a hunter's focus drive Threat and Traceability, while moral consistency earns Credibility when their cause is just.

+Agility, +Charisma, -Constitution

Catfolk

The room already belongs to you. You are only proving it.

Feline hunters who move through the world the way a cat moves through a room - certain it belongs to them, and unhurried in proving it. Where the Jackile hunt in packs bound by law, the Catfolk hunt alone, bound by nothing but curiosity and the promise of a clean strike. Extraordinary reflexes and night-born senses make them peerless ambushers; what they lack is the staying power to trade blow for blow, which is precisely why they so rarely have to.

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: Feline Grace · Night Prowl
Natural Paths: Rogues, Rangers, Assassins
Closed Paths: None
Relations: A wary, territorial rivalry with the pack-bound Jackile; quiet respect between hunters otherwise.
Taboo: Never be caged

Reputation Lens

Silent movement and a hunter's patience keep Traceability low, while an aloof, self-possessed nature makes Presence something they grant rather than seek.

+Agility, +Wisdom, -Constitution

Shade

You walk the seam between living and dead, and leave no trace.

Beings caught between life and death, shaped by memory and the echoes of past events. Shades move half-seen and leave little trace, their presence fading from a place almost as soon as they have left it. They shun open flame, and thrive in the quiet, dim seams of the world where the living rarely linger.

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: Flicker · Grave Stillness
Natural Paths: Thieves, Assassins, Rogues, Necromancers
Closed Paths: Paladins, Clerics, Diplomats
Relations: Discomfort around loud, vibrant races; surface folk distrust their shadow nature.
Taboo: Avoid open flame

Reputation Lens

Their shadow affinity spikes Threat and Scrutiny in vibrant places, while Traceability fades fast when they choose to vanish.

+Charisma, +Intelligence, -Constitution

Dryad

Spirit of the wood, keeper of the balance that holds it.

Forest-born spirits of balance, verdant and alluring, bound body and soul to the living wood. A Dryad heals quickly among the trees and can mesmerize the unwary, but turns fierce when forests are threatened. Their credibility is woven into their role as protectors; to harm a forest before one is to make an enemy for life.

Appearance Bark-grained skin and hair that flows like willow branches, with eyes holding a deep forest-green; slender and delicate, yet far more resilient than they appear.

Racial Abilities: Forest Whisper · Verdant Allure
Natural Paths: Healers, Rangers, Clerics
Closed Paths: Necromancers, Assassins (forbidden)
Relations: Unease around Jackiles and discomfort around Shades.
Taboo: Avoid harming forests

Reputation Lens

Deep nature-knowledge builds Credibility and Hardiness, but a life of wilderness solitude keeps Presence and Traceability minimal.

+Agility, +Intelligence, -Constitution

Fey

Caught between the mortal world and the Undying Lands, and at home in neither.

Ethereal beings of shimmer and starlight, touched by ancient faerie magic and the twilight realms. Beautiful, mischievous, and forever caught between the mortal world and the Undying Lands, the Fey wield glamour and illusion as naturally as breathing, slipping between moments and places to confound those who would pin them down. Some say they are reborn echoes of an older magic bleeding through the cracks of this world - and they do little to dispel the mystery.

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 Glamour · Fey Dance
Natural Paths: Mages, Bards, Rogues
Closed Paths: None
Relations: A kinship of magic with elves and dryads; mortals find their capricious, mischievous nature hard to trust.
Taboo: Never break a bargain

Reputation Lens

Otherworldly glamour and shifting presence keep Traceability low, while a reputation for capricious mischief means Credibility must be earned before it is given.

+Intelligence, +Dexterity, -Strength

Gnome

Curiosity is your craft, and the contraption is your answer.

Clever, inventive folk driven by curiosity and a restless need to experiment. Gnomes meet every problem with a contraption and every silence with a question. They hold the destruction of knowledge to be a genuine sin, and their tinkering, while it draws attention, just as often earns them credit for solving what no one else could.

Appearance Barely a metre tall, with large bright eyes, pointed ears, and a near-childlike look that hides a razor wit and boundless curiosity.

Racial Abilities: Ingenious Reflex · Flash Contraption
Natural Paths: Mages, Rogues, Bards
Closed Paths: None
Relations: Impatience with dwarves; uneasy around Shades, and dismissed by the Scorpien as reckless.
Taboo: Destroying knowledge is shameful

Reputation Lens

Small size and misdirection keep Threat and Scrutiny low, though larger races often underestimate them, costing Credibility until they prove themselves.

+Agility, +Charisma, -Strength

Halfling

Small folk, large feet, and a courage the world never sees coming.

A small folk known for merriment, courage, and unexpected luck. Halflings love good food, good drink, and good company, and would happily never leave their cozy villages - yet when darkness threatens home they fight with a ferocity that stuns larger foes. Fate seems to bend in their favour: a halfling survives what should be fatal, slips through gaps others cannot, and finds their courage exactly when the world most needs it.

Appearance Small, sturdy folk barely above three feet, with round friendly faces, rosy cheeks, bright good-humoured eyes, curly brown or auburn hair, and large tough-soled hairy feet.

Racial Abilities: Halfling Luck · Deft Fingers
Natural Paths: Rogues, Rangers, Bards
Closed Paths: None
Relations: Warm and welcoming to nearly everyone; their easy cheer disarms even the wary.
Taboo: Never abandon a friend

Reputation Lens

Small stature and a disarming manner keep Threat low, while a deep-rooted loyalty and unexpected courage build quiet Credibility with those who fight beside them.

+Constitution, +Strength, -Charisma

Scorpien

Armored in patience, crowned in the strike that ends it.

Hardened desert dwellers sheathed in chitinous armor, with the predatory patience to match. A Scorpien endures what would break others and strikes when the moment is certain, tail poised. To show weakness is dishonorable in their eyes, and their rising menace is a thing the realms learn to measure carefully.

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: Tail Slap · Tail Stab
Natural Paths: Warriors, Rangers, Thieves
Closed Paths: Paladins, Clerics, Diplomats
Relations: Contempt for the Pisca (seen as cowardly) and the Gnomes (seen as weak opportunists).
Taboo: Showing weakness is dishonorable

Reputation Lens

Predatory strength and territorial dominance spike Threat and Hardiness, while a culture that scorns weakness keeps Presence and Credibility hard-won.