Information on Races and Subraces
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Taken from the Forgotten Realms Races of Faerun:
Regions: Damara, Dwarf (shield), Impiltur, the North, Silverymoon, Vassa, the Vast, and Western Heartlands.
Found largely in the northern reaches of western and central Faerun, shield dwarves are the dominant northern branch of the Stout Folk. Renowned for their smithwork and craftmenship, shield dwarves had endured a centuries-long decline in the face of never-ending wars with orcs, goblins, giants, and trolls.
Shield dwarves are descended from the founders of Shanatar, a legendary dwarven empire that once ruled the caverns beneath modern-day Amn, Tethyr, and Calimshan. After Shanatar fell, the shield dwarves migrated north, founding kingdoms such as Ammarindar, Delzoun, Gharraghaur, Haunghdamar, Oghrann, and Sarbreen. Although those kingdoms have also largely fallen, the Stout Folk of the North endure. The Thunder Blessing has served as a welcome reprieve for the beleaguered shield dwarves, giving hope that the descendants of ancient Shanatar may one day reclaim the glory of their forebears.
Taller by half a foot than their gold dwarf cousins, shield dwarves average 4 � feet tall and weigh as much as an adult human. The skin of a shield dwarf is fair or lightly tanned, and her eyes are usually green or silvered blue. Both genders wear their hair long, and males (and a very few females) have long, carefully groomed beards and mustaches. Hair color ranges from light brown to red, with all shades fading to silver or white as time progresses.
Shield dwarves keep their word, whatever the cost, and are incredibly stubborn, unwilling to concede an inch unless there is absolutely no alternative. Such intransigence has enabled dwindling shield dwarf populations to hold on to ancient strongholds with just a fraction of their original defenders. However, it has also led to clan feuds and long-standing misunderstandings with other races that have sapped the strength of the Stout Folk. Shield dwarves love worked beauty, seeing the world as raw material to be forged and shaped into something more than the original.
Shield dwarves have the life expectancy and age categories defined for dwarves in the Player's Handbook, but use the following random height and weight characteristics instead of those described:
Shield dwarf, male: 4'2"½, +2d4, 145 lb., X(2d6) lb.
Shield dwarf, female: 4'0"½, +2d4, 110 lb., X(2d4) lb.History
Shield dwarves trace their history back to Taark Shanat, third son of the great ruling clan of Bhaerynden. In the legendary times more than twelve thousand years ago, the Great Crusader and his eight sons led a great westward migration of dwarves from Bhaerynden in hopes of founding a new homeland. The Cloaker Wars pitted dwarves who followed Shanat against the mysterious inhabitants of Rringlor Noroth, who rose from the depths of a great chasm in a battle for control of the caverns of Alatorin. The Stout Folk eventually prevailed, after Taark slew four blue dragons who claimed the Rift of Dhalndar as their demesne. By the hand of one of the dwarven gods, probably Dumathoin, the skulls of the four wyrms cam together with a throne that emerged from the cavern floor to form the Wyrmskull Throne. Taark renamed the wyrms' lair Brightaxe Hall and founded of the kingdom of Alatorin. Shield dwarves mark the founding of Alatorin as the beginning of the First Great Age of Shanatar.
One Alatorin was established, the eight sons of Taark Shanat set off to found their own kingdoms in the caverns to the north (beneath modern-day Tethyr and Amn). Each son claimed one of the children of Moradin as his patron deity and so each of the subkingdoms they established became tightly linked with the church of that particular god or goddess. Around -9000 DR, skirmishing broke out between the eight northern kingdoms, as each fought to extend its borders at the expense of its neighbors. Over time, the skirmishes evolved into open warfare, pitting thousands of dwarves against one another.
While these wars raged, the drow of Guallidurth took advantage of the dwarves' distraction to attack the caverns of Alatorin, which were far removed from the frontlines of the fighting. The First Spider War was fought from -8170 DR to -8150 DR and ended with the capture of Brightaxe Hall and the collapse of Alatorin. Aghast at their folly, the eight reigning kings of that era forged an armistice, and turned their armies against the drow. The Second Spider War raged from -8145 DR to -8137 DR, and ended with the drow retreating from the caverns of Alatorin.
In triumph, the eight kings marched their armies back into Brightaxe Hall, pledging never again to fight on another. Seeking to reclaim the vision of Taark Shanat, the eight kings pleaded with their gods to pick one of them to sit on the Wyrmskull Throne. In response, the gods revealed the visage of the reigning king of Ultoksamrin, high priest of Dumathoin. Shield dwarves mark this event as the beginning of the Second Age of Shanatar and the elevation of Dumathoin as patron of their race.
Despite their newfound unity, dissension still lurked within the breasts of many of Shanatar's citizens. The kings of both Barakuir and Drakkalor both thought that they were entitled to sit on the Wyrmskull Throne, backed by the whisperings of their gods who had sought to have Moradin name them patron of the shield dwarves. Before such dissent could erupt into open strife, the illithids of Oryndoll attacked the eastern subkingdons in -8100 DR, beginning a conflict that came to be known as the Mindstalker Wars to the dwarves and the War of Cloven Thoughts to the mind flayers. The illithids were driven back by -8080 DR, but in their wake the surviving Stout Folk discovered that the caverns of Barakuir, which had been cut off in the early days of the fighting, lay empty, Clan Duergar had been carried back to the thralldom in the mind flayer's realm.
The Second Age of Shanatar lasted for nearly 1,800 years. Around -6150 DR, the drow of Guallidruth once again attacked the caverns of Alatorin. The Third Spider War lasted nearly thirty years but ended with the Stout Folk abandoning Brightaxe Hall to the drow. The dwarven refugees brought the Wyrmskull Throne with them, marking the end of the Second Age of Shanatar.
As the Third Age of Shanatar dawned, the emperor of Shanatar made plans to establish a new subkingdom in the Realms Above. Dwarven scouts were sent up to the surface around -6100 DR, where they allied with humans of the region to oust the remaining djinni despots. The alliance between the dwarves and the humans quickly foundered because the rulers in Coramshan turned to evil gods. In response, the dwarves claimed the surface lands north of the Marching Mountains as their won, establishing the kingdom of High Shanatar around -5960 DR.
High Shanatar flourished for centuries under the rule of House Axemarch, but the seeds of its destruction were planted within a century of its establishment. A conflict over a looted tomb led to skirmishing and eventually open warfare. The First Kingdom of Mir was established after Iltaker fell to Murabir Mir of Coramshan in -5330 DR, marking the beginning of the centuries-long expansion of Calimshan at the expense of High Shanatar. By -2600 DR, the last known dwarves of High Shanatar had fallen on the northern banks of the Sulduskoon River, and High Shanatar was no more.
As High Shanatar struggled to hold on to its territories in southwestern Faerun, Deep Shanatar struggled with challenges of its own. Successive waves of emigration led many young dwarves north to found new realms but also depleted the ranks of those who remained. Over time, the northern kingdoms of Drakkolor, Korolnor, Sondarr, Torglor, and Xothaerin slowly dwindled away as their inhabitants migrated north. The kingdom of Oghrann was established beneath the Plains of Tun in -5125 DR. The coastal realm of Haunghdannar was established in the northern Sword Mountains and along the northern Sword Coast in -4974 DR. Ammarindar was founded beneath the Graypeak Mountains around -4160 DR, and Delzoun, the Northkingdom, rose beneath what is now the Silver Marches around -3900 DR.
Unfortunately for the shield dwarves, their conquests in the North proved illusory, and the glory of Shanatar was never reborn. Oghrann fell in -3770 DR, and Haunghdannar in -3389 DR. Delzoun and Ammarindar lasted many more centuries, but the Northkingdom eventually succumbed in -100 DR, and Ammarindar was overrun in 882 DR by lingering horrors unleashed by the Netherese of Ascalhorn.
In the South, after centuries of decline, the final fall of Deep Shanatar was precipitated by the Stout Folk themselves. Impelled by centuries of bitter resentment, Clan Duergar invaded Ultoksamrin and Holorarar around -1800 DR in a series of conflicts know as the Kin Clashes. Only Iltkazar survived the gray dwarf invasion, leaving Shanatar fallen in all but name.
Outlook
Despite their centuries-long decline and deserved reputation for dourness and cynicism, shield dwarves have never succumbed to fatalism. Shield dwarves had traditionally been divided into two camps - the Hidden and the Wanderers - although such divisions have begun to fade since the Thunder Blessing. While members of the former group have literally hidden themselves away from the outside world, content to pursue their traditional way of life, members of the latter group have gone out into the world, unbowed by their face's relentless decline.
Shield dwarves are traditionally slow to trust and slow to forget slights, but a dawning realization of their race's plight has left many willing to seek out new ways of doing things unconstrained by traditional prejudices or practices. Shield dwarves have a long and proud tradition of adventuring, and many shield dwarves follow this route simply in hope of equaling or exceeding the deeds of those who have come before. Others seek to recover long-lost strongholds and treasures that have fallen to orcs or others beasts. Since the Thunder Blessing, the question for many young shield dwarves is not why they should become adventurers, but why they should not.
Shield Dwarf Characters
Constant warfare with orcs, goblins, trolls, and giants have imbued a strong martial tradition in shield dwarf culture. Most dwarves learn to defend their homes and clan, with fighters, paladins, and martial clerics being commonplace. Other shield dwarves focus on time-honored skills, following the path of the expert or rogue. Arcane spellcaster are quite rare, with few of sorcerous inclination. Common multiclass combinations include fighter/cleric, fighter/paladin, and fighter/expert.
Favored Class: A shield dwarf's favored class is fighter. For centuries shield dwarves have fought a war of genocidal destruction against orcs, goblins, trolls, and giants of the North. Fighters have always served at the core of shield dwarf armies, even defiant in the face of overwhelming odds.
Prestige Classes: Battleragers are legendary dwarven warriors who can enter a divine battle frenzy through ritualistic singing. Given to drinking, rowdy and boisterous singing, and drunken dancing, battleragers love to plunge into close quarters battle, heedless of any danger.
Shield dwarves of some accomplishment frequently adopt the dwarven defender prestige class, and many of their clerics become runecasters.
Shield Dwarf Society
Although clan and class divisions were once strong among shield dwarves, generations of decline have largely broken their once dominant influence. While shield dwarves are still incredibly proud of their bloodlines, individual accomplishments now count for more than longstanding tradition of the dictates of class elders. Shield dwarves life among the Hidden is still dominated by craft and forge, but increasing numbers of shield dwarves are making their own way in the world as adventurers or as craftsfolk dwelling in human-dominated communities.
Shield dwarves are raised in tight family units, with clan elders playing a diminishing role in overseeing their upbringing. Book learning is common, and most children are apprenticed to learn a trade as they near maturity. Adult shield dwarves are expected to support themselves and their family as well as bring honor and riches to the clan. While shield dwarves do not shy away from displays of wealth, they avoid ostentatious or decadent behavior. As shield dwarves age, they are honored for their wisdom and accorded respect for their past accomplishments. Families and clans are expected to honor their elders in death with solemn funeral rites and tombs befitting the deceased's reputation and accomplishments.
Generations of Wanderers have created large and thriving dwarven enclaves within most human settlements, with all shield dwarves welcome as posrt of the loosely knit dwarven �clan�. Shield dwarves occupy the roles of smith or craftsmen in many human communities and are well respected for their skill as artisans. Few shield dwarves turn away from the venerations of the Morndinsamman, but most are quick to learn the local trade tongue and make friends with other races.
Language and Literacy
Like all dwarves, shield dwarves speak Dwarven and employ the Dethek rune alphabet. They also speak Common. The primary shield dwarven dialect, Shanatan, dates back to the founding of Shanatar and is still spoken by dwarves along the Sword Coast from the Shinning Sea to the Spine of the World. To the east, in northcentral Faerun, most shield dwarves speak the Galenan dialect, strongly influenced by the Damaran human tongue.
Common secondary languages reflect the extensive trading contacts maintained by shield dwarves with their neighbors in the North and include Chondathan, Illuskan, and, to a lesser extent, Elven and Gnome. The shield dwarves of northcentral Faerun are more apt to learn Damaran than Illuskan as a secondary language. Many shield dwarves also learn the languages of their traditional foes, including Draconic, Giant, Goblin, and Orc.
All shield dwarf characters are literate except for barbarians.
Shield Dwarf Magic and Lore
Shield dwarves have been engaged in a perpetual war against goblinoids and giants for centuries, so their magic reflects a martial bent. Anything that helps slay more giants is a welcome addition to the shield dwarf arsenal.
Among the Hidden, magic from the Illusion and Abjuration schools are immensely important, because they guard a dwarf clan from discovery and attack. The Hidden create layer after layer of protective spells to guard entrance to their strongholds. Many an invading orc horde has been tricked into leaving or frustrated into exhaustion without even seeing the shield dwarves they're fighting.
Spells and Spellcasting
Shield dwarves have a strong diving spellcasting tradition, with many of the Stout Folk called to serve the Morndinsamman as clerics, paladins, runecaster, or runesmiths. Arcane spellcaster are much more rare, but increasing in number.Spellcasting Tradition: Shield dwarves often take the Shield Dwarf feat, which reflects their knack for creating armor and shields with magic.
Unique Spells: Shield dwarves have created many divine spells over the years, including mindless rage and shape metal.
Racial Magic Items
Shield dwarves favor magic items that aid in combat, whether offensively or defensively. Whether magic is best employed to protect of attack is a centuries-old argument among the shield dwarves. With Wanderers favoring magic weapons and the Hidden favoring magic armor. In any case, all shield dwarves revere any magic item that facilitates craftwork, because the urge to create flow strongly in dwarven blood.Axes and other blades are commonly crafted with keen, holy, lawful, flaming, flaming burst, mighty cleaving, sundering, and stunning special abilities. Hammers and maces are commonly crafted with holy, impact, lawful, returning, shock, shocking burst, stunning, sundering, and throwing special abilities. Armor is typically crafted with fire resistance, fortification, and invulnerability special abilities, reflecting a long tradition of battles against orcs, goblinoids, trolls, and giants, and a deep understanding of metalworking.
Common Magic Items: Common examples of items favored by shield dwarves include anvils of the blacksmith, belts of dwarvenkind (often given as gifts to nondwarves who help a dwarf clan), boots of the winterlands, forges of smithing, banners of the weaponsmith, tongs of the armorer, and whetstones of keen edge.
Iconic Magic Items: Shield dwarves have fabricated many unique magic items as well, such as doorbreakers, hammers of staggering blows_, and stonereavers. They are justly famous for foesplitter axes, which are +1 keen battleaxes.
Shield Dwarf Deities
Shield dwarves have venerated the dwarven deities of the Morndinsamman since the dawn of Shanatar, although their mythology has evolved significantly over the millennia. Taark Shanat and his followers in Alatorin venerated Moradin and Berronar, but worship of those deities receded as Taark's eight sons set out to found their own kingdoms, each choosing a patron deity of his won from among the eight children: Dumathoin, Laduguer, Abbathor, Clangeddin Silverbeard, Vergadain, Sharindlar, and the twins Diinkarazan and Diirinka.
When the eight kings came together to choose who would first sit on the Wyrmskull Throne, Moradin selected the king of Ultoksamrin, who was also the high priest of Dumathoin. This act cemented the Silent Keeper's position as patron deity of the shield dwarves but strongly disappointed Dumathoin's chief rivals, eventually leading to Laduguer's bitter exile and Abbathor's enduring corruption. By the fall of Shanatar, the shield dwarves had abandoned the worship of Laduguer, Diinkarazan, and Diirinka, while younger gods such as Thard Harr, Gorm Gulthyn, Marthammor Duin, Dugmaren Brightmantle, and Haela Brightaxe had arisen.
Dumathoin is considered the patron of shield dwarves, and his church has by far the most adherents among shield dwarves. Miners and smiths venerate the Silent Keeper, but he also has a small following among those good and neutral-aligned shield dwarves seeking secrets of arcane lore. The Mountain Shield is also considered the guardian of the dead and is propitiated by most shield dwarves during burials. Dumathoin's clerics take charge of all burials, inter the dead in secret vaults, and guard the funeral wealth of great shield dwarves.
Marthammor Duin, the Finder-of-Trails, is venerated be those shield dwarves who consider themselves Wanderers. He watches over good-aligned adventurers, craftsfolk, explorers, expatriates, travelers, and wanderers. Marthammor has a secondary aspect as the dwarven god of lightning, which curiously has attracted a small growing number of wizards and sorcerers who specialize in evocation magic.
Relations with Other Races
Shield dwarves get along with most other dwarven subraces, although they regard gold dwarves arrogance as naive and have little understanding for their barbaric wild and arctic dwarven kin. Shield dwarves have a longstanding enmity for the descendants of Clan Duergar, dating back to the Kin Clashes that marked Shanatar's final chapter, and they attack duergar on sight.
Despite centuries of squabbling with elves and half-elves, shield dwarves have always managed to put aside their differences with the Tel-quessir in the face of outside threats. Shield dwarves have always gotten along well with gnomes, particularly rock gnomes and deep gnomes. Colored by their experience with lightfoots, shield dwarves find halflings to be somewhat unreliable buy easy to get along with. Shield dwarves get along well with most humans, particularly Illuskans, Tethyrians, Chondathans, and Damarans.
Shield dwarves see half-orcs as little better than their hated brethren, although exceptions do exist. The Stout Folk of the North associate most planetouched with the horrors of Hellgate Keep and view them with suspicion. Earth gensai are a notable exception and are commonly welcomed in dwarven delves across the North.
Shield Dwarf Equipment
Shield dwarves commonly employ equipment such as armor lubricant, mobile braces, rope climbers, thunderstones, and sunrods.
Arms and Armorer
Shield dwarves favor a wide range of weapons, including battleaxes, crossbows, gauntlets, handaxes, heavy picks, light hammers, light picks, longswords, half spear, short swords, mauls, throwing axes, and warhammers. More unusual weapons include dwarven urgroshes, dwarven waraxes, horned helmets, spiked chains, spiked gauntlets, spiked helmets, and spike shooters. Typical forms of armor include breastplates, chainmail, half-plate, full plate, large steel shields, and small steel shields. Less common forms of armor include dwarven plate, grasping shields, and large mithral shields.Whenever possible, shield dwarves fashion their armor from mithral; their love of the metal matches the gold dwarves' admiration for adamantine.
Animals and Pets
Shield dwarves favor bats (especially the common bat), canaries, and small lizards such as the spitting crawler as pets and familiars. They use pack lizards and mules as beasts of burden. Shield dwarves commonly employ ponies or war ponies as steeds, except in Iltkazar, where riding lizards are still the norm. Favored breeds include the Island pony, the Nether pony, and the Whiteshield (war pony). The shield dwarves of the Far Hills employ dire bats as steeds (fitted with exotic military saddles) to navigate the subterranean wells they call home. Shield dwarf barbarians and battleragers often employ boars as steeds.(Base Race- DWARF, Sub Race- leave blank or Shield Dwarf)
Stats: (neverwinter nights standard stats)
Racial Abilities: +2 Con, -2 Cha
Special Abilities: Stonecunning, Darkvision, Hardiness vs. Poisons, Hardiness vs. Spells, Offensive Training vs. Orcs and Goblinoids, Defensive Training vs. Giants, Skill Affinity (Lore)
Favored Class: Fighter_ -
Taken from the Forgotten Realms Races of Faerun:
Regions: By base humanoid race or region.
Lycanthropes aren't a race, so much as a group of people whom all suffer from a common curse. Lycanthropes have the ability to change into animals or hybrid forms, and the sometimes do so involuntarily. Any kind of giant or humanoid can suffer from lycanthropy. In Faerun, the following kinds of lycanthropes are common: Werebats, werebear, werecats, werecrocodile, wererat, wereshark, weretiger, werewolf, and the elven lythari, a special kind of werewolf. Each of these lycanthropes can transform from its normal humanoid form to that of a particular animal or a hybrid form that is a cross between the humanoid and the animal forms.
In their humanoid forms, lycanthropes are essentially the same as they ever were. While their chances to die a violent death have likely increased greatly, their natural life expectancy is the same as it was before they became lycanthropes. Their height, weight, and other physical features are unchanged as well. In their animal forms, lycanthropes appear to be of an age proportional to their human forms. In other words, an elderly human werewolf in her wolf form looks like an elderly wolf, despite the fact that a real wolf her age would have long been dead.
There are, in fact, two kinds of lycanthropes: those who have contracted the condition as a curse (afflicted lycanthropes), and those who were born with it (natural lycanthropes). The child of a natural lycanthrope is always a natural lycanthrope, but the child of an afflicted lycanthrope is a normal example of his or her race until puberty, at which point there is a 50% chance that the child manifests lycanthropy as a natural lycanthrope.
Lycanthropes have the same life expectancy and age categories as characters of their base race.
History
Lycanthropy appears to have been a plague on Faerun since its earliest days. Some say Malar, the Beastlord, created the first lycanthropes from barbaric human tribes thousands of years ago in order to infuse the race with the feral cunning and strength of the predatory animals they admired. Others believe that lycanthropy was a gift from the goddess Selune to human children orphaned in the dangerous wilds, a blessing to help them survive. From these ancient humans, old lycanthropic bloodlines have descended through the ages, few in number but scattered through all the wilderness of Faerun.
Lycanthropes have no racial history, since their story is the story of an individual here, a family there, or more rarely a pack of bloodthirsty marauders in another place. While evil lycanthropes have slaughtered whole villages on occasion, and good lycanthropes have valiantly defended the homes of the innocent against evil raiders, lycanthropes have never assembled in numbers greater than a few dozen, founded cities, or raised kingdoms.
Rumor has it that a number of new kinds of lycanthropes have been found in Faerun since the Time of Troubles. There have been scattered reports of werebison, weredogs, weredolphins, wereleopards, wereowls, and werepanthers.
Outlook
A lycanthrope's outlook is usually based upon its life in its humanoid form. However, there are some generalizations that can be made. Natural lycanthropes rarely have a problem with their lycanthropy. They view their "curse" as a gift. These folks realize that their lycanthropy makes them special, and many of them take up careers as adventurers. If lycanthropy is feared or reviled in their humanoid culture, they may feel some shame for being so different from those around them, but they rarely if ever wish to be "cured" of their condition. Natural lycanthropes of evil alignment revel in their feral nature, and view themselves as stronger and more fit than their normal fellows. Their strength gives them the right to murder, plunder, and terrorize any who are too weak to defend themselves.
Afflicted lycanthropes are often horrified to find that they have contracted the condition. Waking up covered with blood and a convenient case of amnesia is bad enough. To learn that this is a situation that is going to repeat itself three nights every month for the rest of your life can be nearly intolerable. Most such people try to find a cure as quickly as possible. Of course, not everyone has access to belladonna which must be taken within an hour of the attack anyhow or to a high-level spellcaster who can remove the condition.
The worst part for a cursed lycanthrope is that any voluntary change into an animal or hybrid form immediately changes the humanoid's alignment to that of the lycanthrope form. If this differs from the character's current alignment, it can be a jarring shift, and the larger the shift the worse it is on the character. It's hard for a paladin-werewolf to remain a paladin for long in the face of the seductive lure of giving to his feral side.
Once a character's alignment is in accord with that of her animal shape, though, the afflicted lycanthrope comes to terms with her curse. The battle between the two sides of her personality her humanoid and her animal selves is over.
Most lycanthrope adventurers are loners. They may join a band of like-minded adventurers and even work with them for several tendays at a time. Once that full moon rises, though, they disappear in search of a place to be by themselves. They know all too well that many people are not fond of lycanthropes, so they take great pains to conceal their true nature.
Lycanthrope Characters
A lycanthrope's humanoid form determines her class. Many cursed lycanthropes were adventurers to begin with, since these are the sorts of people most likely to have the kinds of encounters that lead to such troubles. If the lycanthrope wasn't an adventurer before, she is likely to become one now. Entire chapters of an adventurer's saga can be written about her quest to find some way to have the curse removed, even if the story's protagonist was once a simple commoner who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Lycanthrope Society
Natural lycanthropes often come from a family of lycanthropes who have passed the "curse" down through the generations. They are usually careful to conceal their true nature from people they don't know very well, since there are many non-lycanthropes who believe that the only good lycanthrope is a dead one. Children of natural lycanthropes can start to change form on the first full moon after their birth.
Afflicted lycanthropes rarely have any kind of society or family to support them. Unless they are found by the lycanthrope who bestowed the curse on them in the first place, many afflicted lycanthropes never meet another of their own kind. Evil lycanthropes have been known to carelessly spread their curse in order to create a pack of followers. Of course, if the new lycanthropes are less than thrilled about their affliction, this strategy can easily backfire.
Lycanthropes age, become adults, and die just like anyone else of their humanoid race. Their animal forms ages proportionally of with their humanoid forms. A young lycanthrope becomes a young animal. An elderly lycanthrope who can barely walk finds herself in the same situation as an animal.
Again, lythari are the exception. Lythari are almost always friends with each other to begin with. They often run in a pack together, and are usually revered by other elves as creatures of powerful magic.
Language and Literacy
A lycanthrope speaks whatever languages are common to her humanoid form. She also can communicate empathically with normal or dire animals of the same form as her lycanthropic animal shape.
A lycanthrope's literacy is determined by her humanoid form.
Lycanthropy as an Affliction
When a character contracts lycanthropy through a lycanthrope's bite, no symptoms appear until the first night of the next full moon. On that night, the afflicted character involuntarily assumes animal form and forgets his or her own identity, temporarily becoming an NPC under the DM's control. The character remains in animal form, assuming the appropriate alignment, until the next dawn.
The character's actions during this first episode are dictated by the alignment of its animal form. Good-aligned creatures seek to avoid settlements or travelers and non-natural environments, seeking out wilderness environs. They may hunt the natural prey of their kind, but avoid attacking non-evil intelligent creatures. Evil creatures seek to murder as many intelligent creatures as possible, often killing their own family members and friends. They generally seek out places where such victims may be found. Neutral creatures seek remote areas and avoid contact with civilization, but might attack travelers or other folk abroad in the wilderness out of natural ferocity and hunger, no malice. In any case, the character remembers nothing about the entire episode (or subsequent episodes) unless he succeeds at a Wisdom check (DC 15) on awaking, in which case he becomes aware of his lycanthropic condition.
Thereafter, the character is subject to involuntary transformation under the full moon and whenever damaged in combat. He or she feels as overwhelming rage building up and must succeed at a Control Shape check to resist changing into animal form. Any character not yet aware of his or her lycanthropic condition temporarily becomes and NPC under the DM's control during are involuntary change, and acts as described above.
A character with awareness of his condition retains his identity and does not lose control of his actions if he changes. However, each time he changes to his animal form, he must make a Will save (DC 15 + number of times he has been in animal form) or permanently assume the alignment of his animal form in all shapes. An evil lycanthrope who is aware of his actions in animal form is not compelled to murder and kill indiscriminately, but be delights in bloodshed and will certainly seek out opportunities to slaughter intelligent beings, preferably those of his own race.
Once the character becomes aware of the affliction, he can now voluntarily attempt to change to animal or hybrid form, using the appropriate Control Shape DC. AN attempt is a standard action and can be made each round. Any voluntary change to animal or hybrid form immediately and permanently changes the character's alignment to that of the appropriate lycanthrope.
Changing Forms
Changing form is a standard action. If the change is involuntary, the character performs the change on his next turn following the triggering event. Changing to animal or hybrid form ruins the characters armor and clothing (including any items worn) if the new form is larger than the character's natural form, carried items are simply dropped. Character can hastily doff clothing while changing, but not armor. Magic armor survives the change if it succeeds at a Fortitude save (DC 17). And afflicted character who is not aware of his condition remains in animal form until the next dawn. An afflicted character who is aware of his or her condition can try to resume humanoid form following a change (voluntary or involuntary) with a Control Shape check, but if he fails the check, he remains in animal (or hybrid) from until the following dawn.
Lycanthrope Deities
A lycanthrope's racial deities are determined by her base race. Born lycanthropes usually worship a nature god in their race's pantheon if there is such a deity. Selune and Malar are also the patron deities of good and evil lycanthropes respectively.
Relations with Other Races
A lycanthrope's relations with other races are mostly determined by her base race. However, since the alignments of most lycanthropes are fairly well known, most people assume that the lycanthrope has the same alignment in all of its forms. If they know of the lycanthrope, they often base their opinion on the lycanthrope by how close they are to each other in alignments.
Alignments:
Lythani Chaotic Good
Werebat Neutral Evil
Werebear Lawful Good
Wereboar Neutral
Werecrocodile Neutral Evil
Wererat Chaotic Evil
Wereshark Neutral Evil
Weretiger Neutral
Werewolf Chaotic EvilWerecat
Hybrid Form Bonuses: +2 Wisdom, Darkvision, Animal Empathy +4, , +2 Armor Class, Damage Reduction 10/+1, Hide +4, Listen +4, Move Silently +4, Spot +4
Damage: 1d6/1d6/1d8 (means 2/3 of the time 1d6 for the claws and 1/3 of the time 1d8 for the bite)
STR: +4
DEX: +6
CON: +2
Level Adjustment (ECL) +1Wererat
Hybrid Form Bonuses: +2 Wisdom, Darkvision, Animal Empathy +4, , +2 Armor Class, Damage Reduction 10/+1, Hide +8, Listen +4, Move Silently +8, Spot +4
Damage: 1d6/1d6/1d8 (means 2/3 of the time 1d6 for the claws and 1/3 of the time 1d8 for the bite)
STR: +2
DEX: +6
CON: +4
Level Adjustment (ECL) +1Werewolf
Hybrid Form Bonuses: +2 Wisdom, Darkvision, Animal Empathy +4, , +2 Armor Class, Damage Reduction 10/+1, Listen +4, Spot +4
Damage: 1d8/1d8/1d10 (means 2/3 of the time 1d6 for the claws and 1/3 of the time 1d8 for the bite)
STR: +6
DEX: +2
CON: +4
Level Adjustment (ECL) + 1 -
Taken from the Forgotten Realms Races of Faerun:
Regions: Chondalwood, Cormyr, Dalelands, Dragon Coast, Great Dale, Impiltur, Moonsea, Nelanther Isles, Sembia, Silverymoon, the Vast, Vilhon Reach, Western Heartlands, Waterdeep, Chondathan.
Chondathans are hardy folk, not afraid to take risks, travel, or settle new lands, and are always looking to better themselves and their families monetarily. As Chondathan culture has taken root in so many distant lands, Chondathans are comfortable in most human societies. Many Chondathans are merchants of one sort or another, selling their skills and the fruits of their labors for coin. Although Chondathans make skilled mercenaries and cunning rogues, Chondathan culture has not encouraged study of the Art of great religious fervor. Notable exceptions exist, particularly in the study of the Art among the Netherse-influenced Chondathan cultures that lie north and west of the Inner Sea.
From the cradle of Vilhon Reach, Chondathan emigrants have settled most of the western and central Inner Sea region as well as much of the Western Heartlands. Outside their homeland, Chondathans form the primary racial stock of Altumbel, Cormyr, the southern Dalelands, the Dragon Coast, the Great Dale, Hlondeth and the north shore of the Vilhon Reach, the Pirate Isles of the Inner Sea, Sembia, and Sespech. Thanks to for-wandering Chondathan traders, the Chondathan tongue is spoken even in regions where the number of pureblooded Chondathans is small or nearly nonexistent. Chondathan ancestry, language and culture form a significant portion of Damaran, Vassan, and Tehtyrian heritage.
Chondathans are slender, tawny-skinned folk with brown hair ranging from almost blond to almost black. Most Chondathans are tall and have green or brown eyes, but all builds and hair and eye hues may be seen. Those Chondathans who dwell north and west of the Sea of Fallen Stars (except in Sembia) are more likely to have blue eyes and have fairer complexions and darker hair than those born in the South, evidence of a significant Netherese heritage. In Chondath itself, particularly in the lands bordering Sespech, a significant Shaaran influx in recent centuries has given many natives of Chondath more of an olive-skinned hue.
Chondathans regard themselves as having come to dominate central Faerun almost by accident; they have “conquered” more land through trade and settlements than with armies. They show little arrogance and only a small amount of pride regarding the predominance of their language and culture. Likewise, Chondathans are more apt to identify themselves by their national origins (such as Cormyrean, Dalesfolk, or Sembian) than by their ethnic group. If Chondathans do have a common vice, it is perhaps their cultural focus on wealth and its acquisition. Among Chondathans, prestige and influence are often directly tied to wealth, and it is no accident that the merchant nobility plays a strong role in most societies influenced by Chondathan culture.
History
Chondathans trace their ancestry back to the Twelve Cities of Swords in ancient Jhaamdath, founded around -5800 DR by the great warrior-king Jhaam. Jhaamdath lay north of the Chondalwood along the south shore of the Vilhon Reach, with outposts stretching from the Dragon Coast to the Akanal. Only the armies and axes held at bay for many years by the wood elves of Nikerymath.
In -5032 DR, Jhaamdath clashed with the Kingdoms of Mir and Cormshan over control of the Lake of Steam, precipitating the unification of Calimshan. After several decades of fighting, Calimshan and Jhaamdath agreed to a truce in -5005 DR. In the millennial that followed, Jhaamdath sank into stagnation, its inhabitants becoming increasingly xenophobic and withdrawn. Jhaamdath even fell under the sway of Unther from roughly -1500 DR to -1069 DR. Not until -276 DR did Jhaamdath's inhabitants turn outward once again, after Jhaamdath's last warlord seized power and called for the building of a strong navy to sail out upon the Inner Sea and conquer new lands. Such ship-building required the felling of many trees, a move that reignited war between Jhaamdath and elven-ruled Nikerymath and led to the elven realm's destruction.
Seeking vengeance, four High Mages of Nikerymath unleashed a gargantuan tidal wave that roared up Jhaamdath's bay, smashing the Twelve Cities of Swords and reshaping the topography into what is known today as the Vilhon Reach. The actions of the High Mages were not without consequence, however, for their Art precipitated the fall of the sea elven empire of Aryselmalyr and unleashed an inexorable tide of humanity that eventually displaced most of the elven realms of northcentral Faerun.
Many of those who survived the Year of the Furious Waves (-255 DR) set out to colonize lands that would later become known as Impiltur, Thesk, and the Vast, in a vast tide of pragmatic prospectors, elf-hating soldiers, merchants, and a sprinkling of peaceful scholars and farmers. After occupying much of the northcentral Inner Sea region, the descendants of Jhaamdath began migrating westward from Impiltur in the year 1 DR, settling the Dalelands and the northern shore of the Dragonmere. The latter group founded the Forest Kingdom of Cormyr in 26 DR under the rule of House Obarskyr.
Back in the Vilhon Reach, those who remained established new cities around the year 50 DR, including Iljak, Musssam, Samra, and Arrabar. After suffering yet another plague and again incurring the wrath of the elves of Chondalwood, the cities united to form Chondath in 139 DR. Chondath existed ever since, although it was reduced to little more than a collection of city-states during the Elfblade Stand of 877 DR and the Rotting War of 900-902 DR.
A third wave of Chondathan migration occurred in the 380s DR, when settlers from Chondath established the colonies of Chancelgaunt (later Selgaunt) and Chondathan (later Saerloon) along the coast of what would later become the Merchant Kingdom of Sembia. Hostilities with the elves of Cormanthyr led to defeat at the Battle of Singing Arrows (844 DR) and led Chondath to renounce the governance of its far-flung colonies in the aftermath of the Rotting War. This in turn led to the founding of Sembia, the Land of the Silver Raven, in 913 DR.
Traders from Sembia and, to a lesser extent, Cormyr and the Dalelands continued west and northwest in smaller numbers in the centuries that followed, spreading Chondathan culture and language from Tethyr to the Savage Frontier. The rise of Silverymoon as a center of magical study in 659 DR precipitated the migration of a small, but influential, number of Chondathans to Silverymoon and established Chondathan culture and langauge in a land that had only been reached by a handful of Chondathan merchants until that time.
Today, Chondathan culture and language dominates much of central and western Caerun. Thorass, the alphabet that arose from interactions between Jhaamdath and the Old Kingdom of Calimshan, is commonly employed as the alphabet of most human tongues. Moreover, Common, the trade language of Faerun, is simply a modern version of Thorass ("Old Common"), which in turn was largely based on Jhaamdathan ("Old Chondathan") and Alzhedo, the language of Calishan. While the Calishites, the Imaskari, the Mulan, and the Metherse may have each forged the greatest human empires of Faerun in their day, it is the Chondathans whose culture now predominates, and empire spread by commerce and coin, not by sword or staff.
Outlook
Chondathans measure others by how much wealth and influence a person or family has acquired. To a Chondathan, all things are for sale, assuming one can agree upon a price. Intrigue and covert manipulation are simply means to an end, but unnecessary bloodshed is destructive and wasteful. Chondathans have found that power inevitably swings to whoever controls the purse strings, not whoever carries the biggest sword, and set their aspirations accordingly. Fierce competition in all walks of life is the guiding rule of Chondathan society, and those raised within its confines are used to seeing fortunes won or lost, with commensurate gains or losses in stature. Chondathans expect each individual to look out for himself or herself, and they are often surprised when others act selflessly.
Chondathans are drawn to adventuring for one of two reasons: Some take up arms and spells to defend that which they hold most dear, a tradition hearkening back to the early Chondathan settlers. Others are drawn to a life on the road by the same impulses that send Chondathan merchants into unfamiliar lands in search of trading opportunities, a hunger to search for wealth in the unknown. Most Chondathans who adopt adventuring as a career are drawn to the potential of acquiring great wealth by looting some long-forgotten tomb or recovering some fabulous treasure from an ancient ruin.
Chondathan Characters
Chondathans typically make good fighters drawing on their culture's long-standing mercenary tradition. Likewise, many Chondathans find their calling as rogues, a product of their culture's emphasis on the acquisition of wealth and the wide ranges of skills. The most common multiclass combination among Chondathans is fighter/rogue (But I doubt this is so that they can max out thier UMD and Tumble skills ~ Deadlock). Chondathans are rarely barbarians, sorcerers, or wizards, as no sizable group of Chondathans has reverted into barbarism; ancient Jhaamdath had relatively few relations with dragons, social or otherwise; and wizardry had long been associated with the unleashing of plagues in Chondathan folklore. Those Chondathan sorcerers who do exist usually hail from lands north and west of the Inner Sea and have one or more High Netherese ancestors in their heritage.
Prestige Classes: Chondathans often take up the study of the divinely inspired prestige classes, such as arcane devotee, divine champion, divine disciple, divine seeker, and heriophant. Chondathans worship evil deities as well as good, so blackguards are not unusual among evil-aligned members of this ethnic group. Many Harpers are of Chondathan heritage, so the Harper scout prestige class is also common. Similarly, the folk of Cormyr are largely Chondathan descent, so many Purple Dragon knights are Chondathans.
Society
Chondathan culture varies widely across Faerun. Compared to other cultures, particularly Calishite and Mulan, Chondathan societies have relatively weak class divisions. Hard work and good fortune have been enough to catapult more than one member of the lower classes into the merchant nobility. Commerce plays an important role in all Chondathan-dominated cultures, giving rise to the maxim that everything is for sale at some price. Chondathans honor their word, although not for moral reasons. One's reputation is like a purse with a fixed number of coins that, once squandered, is costly to repurchase.
As Chondathans place a high value on book learning, many receive some amount of schooling while growing up. Chondathan youths are apprenticed to a master by the age of 12 and are expected to learn a trade during their apprenticeship. Chondathans have little patience for able-bodied indigents, and all adults are expected to earn their own keep in whatever field they were trained. Wealthy persons are afforded great respect in Chondathan societies, and those who squander money foolishly are looked down upon. Chondathans are expected to work until no longer physically capable or until death. Even those too infirm to earn a living often pass their days at their former place of work, offering advice to those who have replaced them.
Outside Chondathan-dominated lands, Chondathans strive to integrate into the local culture, even if that means learning a new tongue or converting to the worship of the local gods. Of course, such integration strategies do not interfere with sharing Chondathan necessities and customs with the local populace, a practice that over time slowly subsumes the local culture. Chondathan minorities usually organize themselves into merchant houses or trading costers for protection and to maximize their opportunities for profit.
Language and Literacy
Chondathans speak Common and Chondathan, two closely related tongues. Chondathan, one of the root tongues of Common, is the modern form of Jhaamdathan ("Old Chondathan"), which was one of the two root tongues of Thorass ("Old Commonï"). Chondathan employs the Thorass alphabet, a set of characters used to represent the trade tongue that came into use thousands of years ago along the shores of the Lake of Steam.
As many Chondathans dwell amid other human cultures (or at least have extensive trade contacts with such societies), many individuals learn the local tongue or the language of their nearest neighbor. Commonly learned second languages include Illuskan if the individual in question lives in the Western Heartlands or the North, Damaran if she lives south of the Vilhon Reach, Turami if she lives along the shores of the Lake of Steam. Spellcasters, particularly those who dwell in Cormyr or the Dalelands, usually learn Netherse and Elven in order to acquire magic from old sources. Few Chondathans outside those area learn Elven, a legacy of generations of conflict and a likely contributor to future conflicts.
All Chondathan characters are literate except for barbarians.
Magic and Lore
Chondathans do not have a strong arcane spellcasting tradition, no do Chondathan bloodlines include the ancestry that gives rise to a great number of sorcerers. However, many Chondathans are drawn to the divine and become clerics or druids. In their great diaspora of a thousand years past, the Chondathans carried the worship of many of their gods to all corners of Faerun; it's sometimes said that Chondathans conquered a continent with their gold and their gods.
Spells and Spellcasting
Chondathans who study wizardry remain generalists, become transmutters for the wide spell selection, or learn the abjurer's art for the protection such spells afford.
Spellcasting Tradition: Chondathans have strong divine spell casting traditions, especially among those devoted to deities attuned to nature, including druids and rangers. Any spell that helps travel across the far-flung Chondathan lands is appreciated, whether it's a lowly rope trick for a safe evening's rest or a powerful wind walk spell. Also favored are divine spells that assist in commerce, such as zone of truth, sending, tongues, and mark of justice (to enforce contracts). Among Chondathan clerics charged with spreading the faith, the Chondathan Missionary feat is common.
Unique Spells: The widespread nature of Chondathan culture, combined with the lack of an arcane spellcasting tradition among Chondathans (except where introduced by Netherese refugees), has ensured that few spells are uniquely associated with Chondathan culture. The plague magics of ancient Jhaamdath, such as mass contagion and plague carrier, are much feared for their fell effects but are fortunately recorded only in long-hidden tomes.
Chondathan Magic Items
Chondathans favor magic items that provide personal protection or comfort, facilitate travel, guard against theft, and enable the surreptitious gathering of information. Swords and daggers are commonly crafted with defending, keen, and speed special abilities. Armor is typically crafted with arrow deflection, fortification, and spell resistance special abilities, reflecting Chondathan culture's long-standing fear of elves and rogues.
Common Magic Items: Hand of the mage, hat of disguise, Heward's handy haversack, gloves of arrow snaring, Murlynd's spoon, and periapt of proof against poison. Due to the prevalence of these items in Chondathan lands, they may be purchased at a 10% discount from the normal price in any large city in Cormyr, Sembia, the Dragon Coast, or the Vilhon Reach.
Iconic Magic Items: Again, thank to the influence of Chondathan merchants, there are few magic items unique to Chondathan culture that have not been widely disseminated across Faerun. One exception to this rule is the catseye brooch, a good luck charm worn by many well-to-do Chondathans, who view cats as good luck and defenders against the threat of disease.
Deities
Chondathans honor the deities of the Faerunian pantheon. Such is the magnitude of the Chondathan diaspora that no deity is particularly favored by the majority of Chondathans across Faerun. In fact, Chondathans have traditionally adopted the deities of other cultures, incorporating them into their sprawling pantheon. Gods and goddesses venerated in regions inhabited primarily by Chondathans include Azuth, Chanteua, Deneir, Eldath, Helm, Kelemvor, Lathander, Lliira, Loviatar, Malar, Mask, Mielikki, Milil, Mystra, Nobanion, Oghma, Selune, Silvanus, Sune, Talos, Tempus, Tymora, Tyr, Umberlee, and Waukeen.
Ancient Jhaamdath was one of the first human cultures to develop the written word, and, as such, literate Chondathans have long honored Deneir, the Lord of All Glyphs and Images. The church of Deneir has spread to other cultures as Chondathan traders spread the trade tongues of Common or its antecedent, Thorass, bringing with them the Thorass alphabet. At present, the church of Deneir has its greatest influence among those literate Chondathans who dwell in Cormyr and Sembia.
Similarly, ancient Jhaamdath's wars were fought with horrible magical plagues, so Talona has been part of Chondathan culture since the rise of that culture. The church of Talona is widely feared and reviled among moder-day Chondathans, despite the activities of other faiths that have wreaked far greater devastation across Faerun in recent years. Nevertheless, a small number of Chondathans turn to the Mother of All Plagues precisely because of the fear and misery she has engendered and in hopes of acquiring the ancient plague-spawing magic her cult is said to control.
Relations with Other Races
Chondathan history is replete with clashes with carious elven realms, and, as a result, few Chondathans (with the exception of some Cormyreans and most Dalesmen) have good relations with the Fair Folk or their half-elven brethren. Likewise, Chondathans have traditionally regarded the planetouched with a great deal of suspicion, as Chondathan culture has never had a great deal of interaction with outsiders and most planetouched they have encountered were representatives of rival cultures (such as air and fire genasi of Calimshan, or the aasimar and tieflings of Mulhorand and Unther). Half-orcs are considered little better than their full-blooded brethren by most Chondathans. They are seen as little more than raiding party scum intent only on disrupting the flow of trade and pillaging the farms of hardworking settlers.
Chondathans have good relations with dwarves, gnomes, and halflings, for all have proved to be good trading partners and have traditionally d welled in small enclaves within Chondathan societies. Among human cultures, Chondathans get along best with Calishites, Damarnas, Shaarans, Tethyrians, and Turami. Relations with the Mulan have never been warm, Illuskans are regarded as little better than orcs, and other cultures are largely unknown.
Equipment
Through centuries of commerce, Chondathan merchants have spread their culture's trade goods across Faerun, making their favored weapons, forms armor, and other equipment the norm throughout the region, not the exceptions. Similarly, Chondathans have adopted the most useful items of other cultures as their own, making them commonplace across Faerun. As such, the equipment lists found in the Player's Handbook can be seen as reflecting the Chondathan norm.
Arms and Armor
Chondathans do have distinct equipment preferences. Favored weapons include crossbows (except in the Dalelands where longbows are the norm) and all manner of blades, including the longsword, the short sword, and the dagger. Commonly employed forms of armor include leather armor, studded leather armor, chain shirts, chainmail, breastplates, half-plate, and shields of all kinds. Heavier forms of armor are more commonly employed in the cooler climes to the north of the Sea of Fallen Stars.
Common Items: Chainmail, chain shirts, longswords, and crossbow can all be purchased among the Chondathans for 10% less.
Unique Items: Somewhat broader in the blade than usual for a longsword, Chondathan steelswords are favored by mercenaries and merchant guards.
Animals and Pets
Chondathans favor small felines as pets and hunting companions, particularly in the Forest Kingdom of Cormyr. Tressyms are highly favored by those who can afford them, as are lynxes. Dogs are owned to a lesser extent and consist primarily of guard, herding, and hunting breeds. Horses play an important role in Chondathan society, but those who can afford them also employ hippogriffs, particularly along the shores of the Vilhon Reach and in the service of the War Wizards of Cormyr.
Associated Creature: In Hlondeth, serpents are the norm, with flying snakes imported from the Mhair Jungles achieving widespread popularity in recent years.
Human (Base Race- HUMAN, Sub Race- left empty)
Stats: (Neverwinter Nights standard stats)
Special Abilities: Quick to Master (1 extra feat at 1st level)
Favored Class: Any -
The Feytouched are Fey. They are generally several steps down from Half-Fey (which are the offspring of a human or giant crossbred with a Fey) and another human or giant (therefore, Feytouched are quarter-Fey although they may be even less than that).
The fey are known for their curiosity (some would say obsession) with humanoids and giants, and sometimes a fey falls in love with one of these creatures. A resulting offspring of a Fey and a human or giant is a Half-Fey. If such a Half-Fey mates again with another human or giant, the offspring is the slightly more removed from their Fey heritage creature described here.
Feytouched have no cohesive culture; either they become isolated loners, or they immerse themselves in cosmopolitan society, sampling everything life has to offer. They are also drawn to the same natural settings that other fey called home. Most fey respond favorably to Feytouched and consider them distant cousins.
Feytouched rarely think of combat as something serious. They enjoy toying with their opponent, but can become truly enraged when things turn against them. They are usually baffling and erratic in combat.
Feytouched like most fey first try to avoid combat by using their charm person ability. If that fails, they will fend off attacks until they can safely flee.
Feytouched retain several powers granted by their blood heritage; although not every feytouched has all these powers–as with everything fey--there is an element of random chaos.
Greencloak +10 Hide in natural environments.
Fairy Glamour Invisibility once per day as a fifth level spell.
Indistinct Form Ghostly Image once per day once per day as a fifth level spell.+2 CHA
+2 DEX
-2 CON
-2 STRFey-Touched gain a +4 racial bonus to the Hide, Listen, Move Silently, and Spot skills. The Fey-Touch template can be added to any standard race.
-
Githzerai look very human, though they are thinner and their skin tone is frequently gray or yellowish. They are, on average, six feet in height and about one hundred sixty pounds in weight. Most have a high natural resistance to magic. Most Githzerai roaming the Planes are either monks, mages, or rogues. Combinations thereof are also possible. They seldom become priests. Instead of worshipping a god—a form of slavery, in their opinion—they revere the memory of their ancient hero, Zerthimon. His followers call themselves zerth.
Unlike their relatives the githyanki, the githzerai do not normally fight with weapons, nor do they utilize long-distance psionic attacks against their enemies. Rather, the githzerai prefer to bring the "good fight" to their enemies—typically meaning the githyanki and the illithids. Their combat abilities—including their psionic powers—are geared more toward unarmed combat, hence the large number of githzerai who become warrior monks. Githzerai often organize war parties called rrakkma for the explicit purpose of hunting illithids. A rrakkma does not return from such an excursion until it has killed at least as many illithids as there are githzerai in the war party.
The ancestors of the githzerai (the "forerunners") were once slaves to the illithids, a race of powerful telepaths who mentally enslaved sentient humanoids to work as the backbone of their vast worlds-spanning empire. It is believed these slaves were originally humans transformed through selective breeding. Eventually, these slaves developed mental resistance to their masters' mind control and, under the guidance of their leader Gith, revolted. This led to the fall of the illithid empire.
Gith, however, was not satisfied with the destruction of the illithids alone, and sought to spread the war to any race that could potentially enslave her people again. She was opposed in this endeavor by the followers of Zerthimon, who believed that such a path would lead their people to corruption and ruin. Thus, at the Pronouncement of Two Skies, the gith race factionalized into the githyanki and the githzerai, the former of whom settled in the astral plane.
Zerthimon's teachings can be summarized as following.
1. Strength lies in knowing oneself; those who do not know themselves are lost and open to the manipulations of others.
2. A willingness to learn is a sign of strength.
3. Endure. In enduring, grow strong.
4. Learn to see the whole, or be blinded to the truth.
5. Many in unison can accomplish more than many alone.
6. Seek balance, or lose sight of your goal.
7. Patience is a virtue.
8. Focus and discipline are the key to strength; diversion is the key to weakness.They get Daze 1/day as an innate ability. They have +2 DEX and WIS, and a -2 INT. -
Taken from the Forgotten Realms Races of Faerun:
The aasimar bear the legacy of a celestial being or even a deity in their ancestry, and have incredible potential to do good in the world. At the same time, their heritage marks them as different and often leads to persecution, ridicule, or exile from superstitious or backward communities. It is not unknown for an aasimar to give in to bitterness in the face of adversity and turn to evil.
Aasimar are the descendants of humans and some good outsider, such as a true celestial, a celestial creature, couatl, lillend, or even a servant or avatar of a good deity. (Some of these creatures must use magic to assume a form that is compatible with a human mate, of course.) While elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings with good outsider ancestry are reputed to exist, those crossbreeds are not true aasimar.
Aasimar look human except for one distinguishing feature related to their unusual ancestor. Some examples of these features (and the ancestors that cause them) are:
golden eyes
silver hair
emerald skin (planetar)
feathers at the shoulder (astral deva, avoral celestial, planetar,
solar, trumpet archon)
feathers in hair (avoral celestial)
pearly opalescent eyes (ghaele celestial)
powerful ringing voice (lillend, trumpet archon)
brilliant topaz eyes (solar)
silvery or golden skin (solar)
iridescent scales in small patches (couatl or lillend)Aasimar understand that they are special, even if they do not understand their true heritage. Many aasimar from a latent bloodline don't even know what creature engendered the line in the first place. Two aasimar from the same bloodline often have the same distinguishing feature. Aasimar have the same life expectancy and age categories as a human.
History
Most aasimar in Faerûn are derived from the deities of Mulhorand. When the mortal incarnations of the Mulhorandi pantheon defeated the Imaskari (see the FORGOTTEN REALMS Campaign Setting, page 185), they settled and took mortals as lovers and spouses. The half-celestial offspring of these unions became nobles of that country, and dilution of the divine essence through marriages to pureblooded humans created aasimar. Many of these aasimar left the country in search of a destiny not tied to their grandparents, and so the lands around Mulhorand have more aasimar than any other area.
Outlook
Most aasimar are wary of their human neighbors. Even those raised by parents who understand their heritage cannot escape the stares of other children and adults, for humans fear that which is different. Aasimar usually experience a great deal of prejudice, which is all the more painful to the goodinclined aasimar who truly wants to help others survive in a hostile world. Aasimar are often seen as aloof, when in many cases this is a protective measure born of years of misunderstandings. Aasimar often look upon true celestials and other good outsiders with a mixed envy and respect. The lucky ones receive occasional guidance and advice from their celestial ancestor, and these aasimar are more likely to exemplify the stereotypical celestial virtues.
Because an aasimar's favored class is paladin, a majority of them follow that path, at least for a time. The philosophy of the paladin class resonates in the aasimars' hearts, and they are innately suited for a career championing law and good. Some aasimar, particularly those descended from a nonlawful outsider, instead become clerics, since they are naturally wiser and more charismatic than most humans. Even aasimar who don't become divine spellcasters gravitate toward divine-related classes such as the divine champion, for the call of the light is very strong.
Not all aasimar live up to their potential. An aasimar blackguard or sorcerer of evil is a terrible opponent, and deities such as Shar and Set love to corrupt an aasimar, turning her into a bitter, angry creature nursing old grudges from unjust persecution.
Aasimar Characters
Because they feel the pull of deific power so keenly, aasimar are often clerics or paladins. Some aasimar bring their otherworldly sensibilities to the art of music, becoming accomplished bards. Rarer still are aasimar who fall in love with Faerûn's deep wilderness, becoming druids and rangers.
Favored Class: Paladin. Aasimars' very blood compels them to seek out and oppose evil wherever it may lurk.
Prestige Classes: Divine champions, divine disciples, and hierophants are the most common prestige classes for aasimar.
Society
Aasimar rarely have siblings who are other aasimar, for the heredity of the
supernatural is a chancy thing. Because of this, few aasimar get to know another of their kind. On the rare times they encounter another aasimar, there is a sort of unspoken understanding between them, and an aasimar is likely to take another aasimar's side in an argument, regardless of other affiliations, just for a taste of kinship.Aasimar, being more rare than even half-elves, have no true society of their own. Few have the opportunity to meet other aasimar or celestial beings, so they attempt to blend into the culture of their parents. If they had such a thing, aasimar would have a lawful good or neutral good society, focusing on charitable works, helping the needy, and campaigning to eradicate evil. In a few rare places, aasimar can find true acceptance and search for news of other aasimar born in other lands, hoping to make arrangements to have the child brought to the sanctuary and raised in an environment where he or she is cherished, not considered strange.
Language and Literacy
Aasimar have no cultural language, although those that realize their heritage usually learn Celestial. An aasimar usually learns the language of her parents and may pick up other languages appropriate to her region.
All aasimar are literate, except for barbarians.
Aasimar Magic and Lore
Aasimar have no spells unique to their race, but favor divine spells that enhance their innate powers or allow them to blast evil. Some are lucky enough to learn secret magic from a true Types of Aasimar celestial, and guard that knowledge carefully to show that the celestial's faith in them is not unfounded.
Aasimar Magic Items
Aasimar have no particular racial magic items, but some find ways to acquire weapons common to true celestials, such as magic greatswords (used by ghaeles, archons, planetars, and solars) or maces of disruption (used by astral devas)
Deities
Aasimar have no common racial deity but often worshp whatever deity their supernatural ancestor servers (or that being itself, if the ancestor is a deity). Because most aasimar in Faerûn are desceded from Mulhorandi powers, a large number of them serve those gods. An aasimar born outside the Old Empores, or whose travels have taken her far from those lands, might take a like-minded patron appropriate to her new country.
Because serral Mulhorandi deities are portrayed with animal heads or have strong ties to certain animals, aasimar descended from these deities or their supoernatural agents often have an affinity for that sort of animal, and sometimes have a faint resenblance to a creature of that type.
Relations with other Races
Although aasimar are mostly human, they rarely feel like they fit in among human society. Instead, they get along best with other halfbreeds - namely, half-elves and half-orcs - because they and aasimar usually share the same sort of semi-outcast blackground.
Dwarves, elves, gnomes, and halflings are neither embraced nor shunned by aasimar, for while these races have no history of persecuting the planetouched, they don't have a reputation for sheltering them either. Genasi of all tupes are too alien compared to an aasimar to elicit sympathy or a sense of kindship.
Tiefling are the one race that garners the most suspicion from an aasimar, for those touched by the holy understands its callking and therefore can guess what sort of temptation those with unholy blood must hear.
Equipment
Aasimar have no unsusual racial equipment, although in their armaments they favor weapons with the holy or evil outsider bane special abilities.
Animals and Pets
Because of their lack of a true society, aasimar as a whole don't raise any particular creature as a pet more often than any other kind. Because of their celestial bloodlines, however, they are more likely to gain the trust and acceptance of a celestial animal than a true human might. Also, aasimar of Mulhorandi descent have an affinity with the animal associated with their divine ancestor.
Aasimar (Base Race- HUMAN, Sub Race- Aasimar)
Stats: (Arabel custom)
Racial Abilities: +2 Wis, +2 Cha
Special Abilities: Acid, cold and electricity resistance 5, Light once per day, +2 Bonus on Listen and Spot checks, Darkvision, Outsider, Quick to Master
Favored Class: Paladin
ECL: 1 -
Air Genasi
Air genasi are fast and free-willed. Because the traits that identify
an air genasi are subtle, many go unrecognized for what they
are for many years and are sometimes mistaken for sorcerers.
Those who are overtly different quickly learn to disguise their
nature from common folk, at least until they are able to protect
themselves and strike out on their own.
Air genasi are descended from outsiders native to the Elemental
Plane of Air and humans. Most air genasi in Faerûn
come from bloodlines established over nine thousand years ago
by the djinn who founded what is now Calimshan. A few rare air
genasi derive from djinn summoned in other parts of the world,
and some are said to be born of a line founded by a powerful air
mephit sorcerer who lived on the Great Glacier hundreds of years
ago. The numbers descended from the servants of air deities such
as Akadi, Auril, and Shaundakul are unknown, but likely to be
very small. Legends tell of elves similar to air genasi, possibly
descended from followers of the elven goddess Aerdrie Faenya,
but it is likely that these legends are just confused reports of
the avariels.
Air genasi look human except for one or two distinguishing
features related to their elemental ancestor. Some examples of
these features are:
light blue skin
pale white skin
white hair
light blue hair
a constant slight breeze in their presence
flesh that is cool to the touch
voice that can be heard over any nonmagical wind
any sudden movement is accompanied by whistling wind
Air genasi revel in their unusual nature, although few ever try to
locate the being who founded their bloodline, since most are long
dead or banished back the Elemental Plane of Air. Because the
Calimshan djinn bloodlines are so old and have suffered many
crossbreedings, it is almost impossible to tell by normal means if
two air genasi are from the same bloodline. As a result, all air
genasi treat each other as “cousins,†-
Earth genasi are patient, stubborn, and contemplative in their
decision-making. Marked at birth with obvious traits reflecting
their heritage, earth genasi are often shunned by others, but
their physical gifts make them able to defend themselves against
most attackers. Their strength and girth means that they sometimes
become bullies, attracting sycophants out of fear and
respect for their power.
At least three-quarters of the earth genasi in Faerûn are
the descendants of outsiders native to the Elemental Plane of
Earth and humans. The rest are descended from earth deities
or servants thereof instead of elemental outsiders. Most of
the elemental bloodlines originate in the North, particularly
near the Spine of the World, as natural portals to the Elemental
Plane of Earth form there, allowing meetings between
natives of both planes. The bloodlines spring up wherever
worship of earth deities is common. It is thought that the
Ludwakazar clan of shield dwarves deep in the Earthspurs in
Impiltur and the Tobarin family of rock gnomes in the Great
Dale have elemental blood, but both are mute on the question
and neither would be a true earth genasi, but something
quite different.
Earth genasi are obviously not human, but have mostly
human features except for one or two distinguishing traits
related to their elemental ancestor. Some examples of these features
are:
earthlike skin
eyes like black pits
eyes like gems
gravelly voice
very large hands and feet
iron gray hair
sweats mud instead of water
metallic sheen to skin or hair
Earth genasi, like all elemental planetouched, are proud of
their nature and abilities, but their pride is a quiet, confident sort
rather than a boastful one. Earth genasi are pragmatic about
their parentage, usually not going out of their way to learn their
ancestry but not avoiding the topic either. Earth genasi have no
special relationship with others of their kind, although they seem
to prefer others who share their physical differences.
Earth genasi have the same life expectancy and age categories
as a human.Outlook
Proud of their heritage despite the opinions of others, earth
genasi know they are born of beings touched by the might of
the earth itself. Although they know the circumstances of their
outsider heritage are rare and mark them as unlike anyone they
might meet, each still feels a strong kinship to the earth itself.
Earth genasi feel most comfortable when their feet are on the
ground and prefer to go barefoot if appropriate for the
weather and environment (earth genasi develop
thick calluses easily and can even walk on gravel
without discomfort). They are used to being
treated differently, but have the strength to
defend themselves if harassed. Earth genasi
respect their earth elemental cousins for
their strength but are usually indifferent to
other earth elemental creatures.
Earth genasi like to stake out a piece
of land as their own and defend it,
which makes them particularly
valuable homesteaders in frontier
regions like the Silver Marches.
A few unusual ones come down
with a strange form of wanderlust, wishing
to plant their feet on every nation’s soil
before they die. Such a journey might take
thirty years, but with methodical determination
certain genasi have become famous for
their long-distance travels.EARTH GENASI
CHARACTERS
Most adventuring earth genasi are
combat-oriented, whether fighter, warrior,
ranger, or barbarian. They usually learn styles of combat that
rely on their gifts, so an earth genasi armsman is either capable
of incredible bloodshed or capable of enduring devastating
attacks and remaining unshaken. Earth genasi wizards are
uncommon, but those who do embrace arcane magic often learn
spells to enhance their fighting skills or become masters of earth
magic.
Favored Class: Fighter. Some earth genasi may opt for a
more specialized martial path, but the majority of earth genasi
characters prefer the many bonus feats that only the fighter
class offers.
Prestige Classes: Earth genasi favor any prestige class that
helps them fight better, particularly the divine champion.
Earth genasi clerics have an affinity for runes, and often
become runecasters.Earth Genasi (Base Race- HUMAN, Sub Race- leave blank, will be set IG)
Stats: (Arabel Custom)
Racial Abilities: +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Cha
Special Abilities: Acid resistance 5DR,
Favored Class: Fighter -
Fey'ri
The result of four noble houses of sun elves breeding with demons
in an attempt to strengthen their bloodline, fey’ri are a type of
planetouched that breeds true among their own kind. Marked by
their fiendish blood, fey’ri are unique among most planetouched
in that they have a self-sustaining community, so they are raised
among their own kind. Because of this, young fey’ri do not suffer the feelings of ostracism that other planetouched do despite
growing up among creatures with strong fiendish blood. Most
fey’ri are evil, but a few are able to shrug off the fiendish taint’s
influence on their behavior and emulate some small part of the
innate good nature of the elves.
Fey’ri are the descendants of sun elves and demons (usually
succubi in male or female form). Having bred with these demons
and among their own kind, fey’ri are a distinct race and share the
same common fiendish traits. In general form they resemble sun
elves, although all have large batlike wings. They all have one or
more unusual features reflecting their fiendish heritage, such as:
fiery red eyes
fine scales all over the skin
long pointed tails
batlike ears
deep red skin
Fey’ri are obviously different from normal elves and would
quickly be killed by most other elves if discovered. Luckily for
them, their demonic bloodline gives them several abilities,
including the ability to change their shape. Thus they can pass
freely among other creatures without causing an alarm.
There may be other fey’ri in Faerûn other than those allied
with House Dlardrageth, but since the likelihood of an elf breeding
with a demon is very small, such an individual would be
essentially unique outside these four elven houses. The rest of this
section assumes Dlardrageth fey’ri are the subject matter.
Fey’ri have the same life expectancy and age categories as a sun elf.History
Thousands of years ago, the sun elves of House Dlardrageth (in
what is now the forest of Cormanthor) secretly bred with succubi
to strengthen their bloodline. Although they were eventually discovered
and imprisoned in a series of caverns, before their confinement
they allied with three minor noble houses of the elven
nation of Siluvanede in the High Forest. These nobles acquired
caches of Dlardrageth magic items and bred with demons as well,
using these items and their fiendish powers to strike out at their
enemies. These nobles were defeated and magically imprisoned in
the Dlardrageth cache sites.
Three Dlardrageth half-fiends were accidentally released when
Hellgate Keep was destroyed in 1369 DR. When they broke
through the magical seals on their armories they were surprised
to find the descendants of their allies from Siluvanede within.
Now freed, the planetouched elves joined with their old allies and
began to enact their long-awaited plans.
The fey’ri associated with House Dlardrageth originally numbered
less than 60. Since their release, some of these fey’ri have
broken from their families, trying to find a place in the world
after centuries of magical imprisonment.Outlook
Most fey’ri live for revenge. They feel wronged by other elves,
particularly moon elves, and superior to all other races (as befits
their lineage, which ties them to the ancient elven kingdoms that
predate human civilization). While their plans for revenge unfold, they wish to restore the glory of the elven empires with
themselves at their head, not realizing that their fiendish taint
has corrupted the sun elf qualities that they prize the most. Individual
fey’ri comply with these goals, knowing that their halffiend
rulers are too powerful to challenge and feeling that they
themselves have been punished unfairly by the moon elves with
their too-long magical imprisonment. The fey’ri also suffer from
unfamiliarity with the changes to the world and are still learning
about its current state. A fey’ri is patient, calculating, and suspicious,
but her fiendish blood makes her prone to undeserved
acts of cruelty and rage.
Of special note are the fey’ri who have chosen to
leave the banner of House Dlardrageth. The
members of the house considered these
renegade fey’ri a great risk to their
plans, for the Dlardrageth nobles
know their numbers are too
small to survive a concerted
effort to eradicate them—they
must act in secrecy, or risk discovery
and death. This makes
any renegade fey’ri a creature
marked for death by
the entire house. Since
Countess Sarya Dlardrageth
(CE female half-fiend sun elf
Sor18) is a powerful spellcaster,
these renegades must
be even more cautious than
their isolated kin, or they could
be discovered and destroyed.
Fey’ri are usually chaotic
evil. Some hear an echo of their
elven heritage and are chaotic
neutral, and a few may be entirely
neutral. None have yet been found
who are lawful or good.
FEY’RI CHARACTERS
Fey’ri blood practically overflows with sorcerous power, so many
fey’ri characters become sorcerers. Those who don’t become
rogues or fighters, although a fair number are sorcerer/rogues or
sorcerer/fighters.
Favored Class: A fey’ri’s favored class is sorcerer. Their
demonic bloodline and the type of magical training they get
pushes fey’ri to develop as sorcerers instead of wizards (the typical
sort of magic a true sun elf practices).
Prestige Classes: Fey’ri sorcerers often aspire to become archmages,
while those of a more martial bent consider becoming
ranger/blackguards or rogue/assassins. Because fey’ri have elven
blood, the arcane archer prestige class is open to them as well.Fey’ri Society
Fey’ri society is very close-knit. They are all close relations, and
so each fey’ri has a very good idea how each of his or her family
members would react to a situation. Yet they have a subtle loathing for each other, both because their elven nature rejects
the taint of their kin and because their demonic ancestors are so
chaotic and rebellious that they find it difficult to work together.
As a result, fey’ri society is based on power and fear—power to
make your commands obeyed, fear that your superiors could
destroy you if you fail to comply. House Dlardrageth is a house
that cannot stand the test of time, and the only reason it has
lasted as long as it has is the magic that imprisoned its members
for centuries. In the next hundred years, it is likely that the fey’ri
will scatter across Faerûn, creating their own pockets of evil, possibly
accompanied by near-adult offspring. Until that time, this
group of evil-tainted but magically powerful
elves has the potential to incite a great
slaughter of their enemies.Fey’ri Deities
Because of their taint and their alignment change, most fey’ri
no longer worship the good elven deities of the Seldarine. However,
unlike tieflings, they rarely worship demons, preferring
true deities rather than powerful agents of their own fiendish
bloodlines.
The foul creature known as Ghaunadaur manifested to one of
the elders of House Floshin nearly a century ago, and since that
time the worship of Ghaunadaur has grown to encompass most
of the fey’ri associated with House Dlardrageth. The fact that
most of these sun elves now worship a drow deity is evidence of
how corrupt they have become.
Fenmarel Mestarine lives on the outskirts of the elven pantheon
and, as the god of elven outcasts and those who live
away from others, he appeals to the rare neutral fey’ri. A few
have started to worship him in secret, hoping to learn the
secrets of survival in modern Faerûn but not wishing to draw
the ire of their family members who worship Ghaunadaur.
Shevarash, an elven deity consumed by bitterness and a thirst
for revenge against the drow, also has some small appeal to the
fey’ri. While some fey’ri whisper his name in secret, he considers
them as vile as the drow and does not reward them for
their worship.Language
and Literacy
Fey’ri speak Common, Elven,
and Abyssal. Individuals
often learn Gnoll,
Goblin, and Sylvan because
of the creatures that did
and still do live in the High
Forest. Fey’ri spellcasters
usually learn Draconic to
acquire magic from old
sources.
All fey’ri are literate
(none of the demonfey are
barbarians).
Abilities
and Racial
Features
Fey’ri have the following racial traits:
• +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, –2 Constitution. Fey’ri are quick
and smart, but their inbreeding makes them weak.
• Medium-size.
• Fey’ri land speed is 30 feet. When in their winged form, they
may fly at a speed of 40 feet with a maneuverability rating
of Poor.
• Darkvision up to 60 feet.
• Low-light vision: Fey’ri can see twice as far as a human in
starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor
illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish color and
detail under these conditions.
• Immunity to magic sleep spells and effects.
• +2 racial bonus on Will saves against enchantment spells
and effects.
• Alter self (Sp): Fey’ri can use alter self at will to assume any
humanoid form, and can remain in that form indefinitely.
• +2 racial bonus on Bluff, Hide, Listen, Search, and
Spot checks. -
Fire Genasi
Fire genasi are usually thought of as
hot-blooded and quick to anger, and
they have earned that reputation.
Mercurial, proud, and often fearless,
they are not content to sit
and watch the world pass them
by. Fire genasi have obvious
physical traits that mark them as
different from humans, and they
are often the target of mistrust and
persecution. Some fire genasi are able to
use their quick wits to turn the tables on
their tormentors, while others find that
their barbed words only make their foes
more angry. Many fire genasi are destroyed
as infants by their own parents, who fear that
they are demonspawn.
Most fire genasi in Faerûn are descended from the efreet
that once ruled Calimshan. Planetouched of this derivation live
all over the Lands of Intrigue, and some have traveled away
from their ancestral homeland to escape the fear and prejudice
that Calishites bear for genies. Chult, the Lake of Steam, and
Unther also have a small number of fire genasi, for those lands
bear volcanoes that sometimes act as natural portals to the Elemental
Plane of Fire, allowing efreet and other fiery outsiders
to make contact with humans. A large family of fire genasilike
halflings was known to live in Unther, but the war with
Mulhorand has displaced them and their current whereabouts
are unknown.Fire genasi are obviously not fully human, having mostly
human features except for one or two exceptional traits related
to their elemental ancestor. Some examples of these features are:
charcoal gray skin
deep red skin
red or orange hair that waves like flames
eyes that glow when the genasi is angry
unusually warm skin
large red teeth
always smells like smoke
Fire genasi are proud of their ancestry and consider themselves
superior to normal humans, although the smarter ones
don’t make an issue of it. Because the efreet-descended genasi
of Calimshan have almost no chance of finding their original
elemental ancestor (who have long since been
slain, banished, or imprisoned
when their empire was overthrown),
they make no effort to
do so and enjoy the gifts that
ancestor’s blood has granted
them. Fire genasi enjoy the
company of their own kind and
have been known to form elite
groups of mages or fighters that
hire themselves out on the basis
of their skill and heritage. They
have been known to adopt the
fire genasi children of human
parents as well.
Fire genasi have the same life
expectancy and age categories as
a human.
History
Most fire genasi in Faerûn are
the result of human-efreeti
unions that occurred thousands
of years ago in Calimshan. These
efreet rulers took human lovers,
and their half-elemental offspring
served their outsider
parent as guards, advisors, or
diplomats, eventually having children
of their own, which as often
as not were fire genasi. The overthrow
of the genies resulted in a great
slaughter and scattering of all the planetouched
in that land, and since that time those
people carrying the bloodline of efreet have mixed with
humans in other lands. Now fire genasi of these bloodlines
might be of any human race, and many do not resemble the
people of Calimshan at all.
Fire genasi who originate in other lands have no common history,
as their bloodlines are rare and unassociated occurrences.Outlook
The fire genasi are a proud people, knowing that they are born
of great genies. They prefer to dress elegantly and flamboyantly, reveling in their differences and advertising their superior taste
and abilities. Fire genasi respect their pure elemental kin, and
most treat efreet and other large fire outsiders with a great deal
of courtesy and respect, both out of a sense of the creature’s
power and as a subtle gratitude for their own bloodline-granted
talents. Because of their high opinions of themselves, fire genasi
often elect themselves the leader and spokesperson of a group,
even if they have no particular talents in those areas.
Fire genasi are impatient and don’t take well to pursuits that
require a lot of time and study. They like to travel, if only to
escape the presence of their enemies or people who frustrate
them. Fire-genasi enjoy collecting treasure, preferring jewelry to
bags of coins.
FIRE GENASI CHARACTERS
Fire genasi make smart fighters, but many follow the barbarian’s
path instead, because it is easier and espouses the heat of bloodlust.
More fire genasi become sorcerers than wizards, even
though their natural talents would indicate otherwise. Fire genasi
would much rather talk about themselves than other people, and
that and their own short tempers make them poor bards. The
rare fire genasi who feels the call of the paladin is often the hotheaded,
take-no-prisoners sort who risks losing control.
Favored Class: Fighter. The mayhem of combat is easy for
someone born of fire to understand.
Prestige Classes: Fire genasi have no particular favorites
among the warfare-oriented prestige classes. Many become
arcane devotees of fire deities, especially Kossuth.Language and Literacy
Fire genasi share no racial language, although some learn Ignan
for the sake of cultivating an exotic air. A fire genasi usually
learns the language of her parents and other languages spoken in
her native region.
All fire genasi are literate, except for barbarians. -
Water genasi are patient and independent, used to solving
problems on their own and not afraid to take a lot of time
doing so. At times they are fierce and destructive like terrible
storms, but more often than not they present a tranquil
appearance, despite whatever emotions run underneath that
quiet surface. Because their elemental forebear usually has no
interest in them, water genasi are often abandoned by their
human parents and raised instead by aquatic creatures such as
aquatic elves, dolphins, locathah, merfolk, sahuagin, or even
aboleths. Water genasi usually leave their parents (real or
adoptive) upon reaching maturity, taking to the open sea in
order to explore, learn, and develop their own personality and
place in the world.
Most water genasi are descended from a water elemental
outsider such as a marid (water genie) or triton. A rare few are
born of outsider servants of the evil water goddess Umberlee
(although it is not known why these matings eventually produce water genasi instead of tieflings). Aquatic elves tell of
a lost line of sea-elf planetouched descended from minions of
Deep Sashelas, but these are not true water genasi, lacking a
genasi’s human heritage.
Water genasi look human except for one distinguishing feature
related to their elemental ancestor. Some examples of these
features are:
lightly scaled skin
clammy flesh
blue-green skin or hair
large blue-black eyes
webbed hands and feat
Water genasi feel that they are unique and superior to the
humans who bore them. They have little or no interest in others
of their kind—since they can wander both the land and the seas,
they feel there is room enough in the world that water genasi
need not crowd each other or even meet. Only in large communities
of aquatic elves are two or more water genasi likely to
spend much time together.
Water genasi have the same life expectancy and age categories
as a human.Outlook
Water genasi take pride in their special abilities and can be boastful
if in the right mood. Tougher than humans and able to
breathe water, these genasi sometimes view human sailors and
naval merchants as vulnerable fools who are as likely to drown
at sea as they are to get seasick. The people of the Sea of Fallen
Stars are familiar enough with the stories of water genasi to recognize
them and ignore their rude behavior.
Water genasi have the best of both worlds. They can walk on
land for an indefinite time (unlike aquatic elves, whom they
secretly pity) and can always retreat to the tranquil depths of
the ocean. Often loners, they sometimes establish a home in a
remote underwater cave, going for years without encountering
another intelligent being. They feel a kinship to other aquatic
creatures, particularly tritons and water elementals, who can
easily outswim the genasi.
Water genasi tend to be neutral and therefore avoid extremes
in politics, opinion, or career. Some find a quiet spot to call
home, others enjoy riding the currents for months, allowing the
water to take them places hundreds of miles away.WATER GENASI CHARACTERS
Water genasi often multiclass between fighter and another class,
keeping their levels relatively even.
Favored Class: Fighter. Water genasi prefer combat styles and
weapons that unbalance, bind, or disarm their opponents.
Prestige Classes: Water genasi have no particular prestige class
preferences.
Water Genasi Society
Water genasi have no society of their own, but often subconsciously
adopt traits of the people who raised them, so a water
genasi raised by aquatic elves is likely to believe in personal
freedoms and good behavior, while one raised by sahuagin will
be bloodthirsty and militaristic. Water genasi from different
cultures can be as radically different as a quiet spring and a
raging waterfall.
Water genasi do not prefer the company of other water
genasi. If anything, it makes them feel less special and unique in
the context of the other beings they live near. Accordingly, they
rarely live in the same communities and none have been known
to marry. This keeps the population of repeat-generation water
genasi low, with new genasi coming from new bloodlines or
from lines that skipped a generation.
Their self-contained nature makes water genasi unlikely leaders.
A water genasi is more likely to guard or support a person
he respects and admires than to be a person who attracts or welcomes
subordinates.
Language and Literacy
As most of them are born on the Sea of Fallen Stars, water
genasi learn Common because of all the mercantile traffic.
Many learn Aquan or Serusan in order to converse with other
aquatic creatures, and the ones who live with or near aquatic
elves usually learn Elven as well. Those raised by sahuagin
learn Sahuagin.
All water genasi are literate, except for barbarians, commoners,
and warriors.
Water Genasi Magic
and Lore
Water genasi prefer spells that produce cold, ice, snow, and
water. Water genasi spellcasters are usually clerics or druids, for
they rarely have the talent for sorcery and water ruins scrolls
and spellbooks (although at least one water genasi wizard has
developed a method for scribing “scrolls†-
Taken from the Forgotten Realms Races of Faerun:
Region: Dragon Coast, Dwarf (gold), Unther, Western Heartlands.
Found largely in the South in the immediate vicinity of the Great Rift, gold dwarves are the dominant southern branch of the Stout Folk. Renowned not only for their smithwork and craftsmanship but also for their military prowess and legendary wealth, gold dwarves have maintained their empire for millennia, unbowed by the passage of time.
For generations, the Deep Kingdom of the gold dwarves has stood unconquered, dominating the surface lands and subterranean caverns that surround the Great Rift. As their numbers never declined in the face of endless warfare like their northern cousins, the Thunder Blessing has actually filled the great caverns of the Deep Kingdom beyond their capacity. As a result, for the first time in many years, large numbers of gold dwarves are setting out to establish new strongholds across the South and the rest of Faerûn, including the Smoking Mountains of Unther and
the Giant's Run Mountains of the Shining Plains.Averaging 4 feet tall and weighing as much as an adult human, gold dwarves are stocky and muscular. The skin of a gold dwarf is light brown or deeply tanned, and her eyes are usually brown or hazel. Both genders wear their hair long, and males (and some females) have long, carefully groomed beards and mustaches. Hair color ranges from black to gray or brown, with all shades fading to light gray as time progresses.
Like their northern kin, gold dwarves harbor a great deal of pride, both in their own accomplishments and those of their ancestors. They also share the philosophy that anything worth doing is worth doing well, and that the natural world is but raw material to be worked into objects of great beauty. Unlike the long-beleaguered shield dwarves, gold dwarves have not faced a serious challenge to their way of life for thousands of years. Confident and secure in their isolated realm, gold dwarves do not share the pessimism or fatalism of their shield dwarven brethren. To the contrary, having seen the rise and fall of countless elven, human, and shield dwarven empires, their endurance has fostered a deep-seated belief that their traditions and culture are superior to those of all other races.
History
Founded more than sixteen thousand years ago, the original dwarven homeland of Bhaerynden occupied a vast cavern deep beneath the southern plains ruled by the elves of Ilythiir. Bhaerynden claimed great swaths of the Underdark, but remained largely unknown in the Realms Above. Little is known about the history of Bhaerynden except that a great exodus of dwarves led by Taark Shanat the Crusader left to found a new kingdom in the west about -11,000 DR. The end of the elven Crown Wars and the Descent of the Drow in the years after -10,000 DR directly precipitated the fall of Bhaerynden. The first drow civilizations arose in the southern Underdark around -9600 DR, but the drow quickly directed their anger against the Stout Folk. Within the space of six centuries, the Stout Folk had been scattered and the drow empire of Telantiwar ruled supreme in the dwarf-carved halls of fallen Bhaerynden.The collapse of the cavern of Bhaerynden destroyed Telantiwar and created the Great Rift, scattering the drow around -7600 DR. Gold dwarves believe Moradin destroyed Telantiwar with a blow of his axe, but scholars of other races have suggested that the drow weakened the cavern roof through excessive tunneling and reliance on magic to support the ceiling's weight. In the aftermath of Telantiwar's fall, there was a great scramble to claim new territory in the Underdark. The Stout Folk quickly returned to their ancestral home and established the Deep Realm, occupying lesser caverns and miles of tunnels spreading out under the Eastern Shaar. Drow refugees claimed lesser caverns to the north, south, and west of the Great Rift, establishing cities in nearby lands.
In the millennia that followed, the Stout Folk of the Deep Realm became known as gold dwarves. Once the borders of their realm were firmly established and defended, they set about building great subterranean cities and harvesting the bounty of the earth. While external threats from the drow and other Underdark races such as aboleths, cloakers, illithids, ixzans, and kuo-toa never entirely abated, no other race could match the unity of purpose evinced by the gold dwarves, and the sanctity of the Deep Realm was never challenged. The dwarves profited in trade with each successive human empire that reached their Great Rift, including ancient Jhaamdath, the folk of Mulhorand and Unther in their heyday, the Shoon Imperium at its height, and in more recent centuries the mercantile Chondathan nations of the Inner Sea.
In 1306 DR, the Thunder Blessing shook the gold dwarves out of their millennia-long quiescence. In the decades that followed, a burgeoning population forced the gold dwarves to seek out new caverns to claim and settle across the South, upsetting the longheld status quo of the southern Underdark. The largest exodus to date from the Deep Realm began in 1369 DR, when the Army of Gold set out on a great crusade to reclaim the caverns of Taark Shanat and restore the glory of Shanatar, the ancient kingdom of the shield dwarves. That expedition has become bogged down in warfare with the Army of Steel, dispatched by the gray dwarves of Underspires. Fierce battles rage in the tunnels beneath the Lake of Steam and the Cloven Mountains.
Outlook
Gold dwarves measure others by how much honor and wealth each individual garners as well as the status of his or her bloodline and clan. To gold dwarves, life is best lived through adherence to the ancient traditions of the Deep Realm. The very persistence of their own way of life indicates that other shortlived cultures are inherently flawed. As such, those who lack a meaningful cultural tradition or reject their elders' dictates are untrustworthy and possibly dangerous.From birth, gold dwarves are taught to conform to the traditional strictures of their society. Every important decision, from choice of profession to their mate, is dictated by the circumstances of their birth. Those who do not act honorably in their dealings are shunned from an early age, breeding a tremendous societal pressure to fit in.
Gold dwarves lack the longstanding tradition of adventuring found in their shield dwarf cousins in the north. However, population pressures induced by the Thunder Blessing have given birth to a new generation of gold dwarf adventurers. Most gold dwarves who wander beyond the familiar confines of the Deep Realm do so in order to found new strongholds of their own, but many find the lure of adventuring hard to ignore once it has entered into their blood.
Gold Dwarf Characters
Gold dwarves are painfully aware that many once-proud empires have been brought low, and they are therefore vigilant about maintaining their own. The keen awareness gold dwarves hold of the dangers to their eternal rule ensure that all gold dwarves are trained to fight from a young age. Most are trained as fighters, although clerics, paladins, rangers, rogues, and even the occasional arcane spellcaster play important roles in defending the Deep Realm. Gold dwarf sorcerers usually trace their ancestry back to a powerful dragon or some creature of elemental earth or fire. Common multiclass combinations include fighter/cleric, fighter/paladin, and fighter/expert.
Favored Class: A gold dwarf's favored class is fighter. Only a strong and fierce military tradition has kept the Deep Realm secure from its enemies above and below, a result of generations of gold dwarves training as fighters.
Prestige Classes: Battleragers are legendary dwarven warriors who can enter a battle frenzy through ritual singing. Given to drinking, rowdy and boisterous singing, and drunken dancing, battleragers love to plunge into close-quarters battle, heedless of any danger. Most battleragers are shield dwarves, but a small number of gold dwarves rebelling against the discipline and tradition of their society have joined the ranks of the berserkers. More disciplined gold dwarves lean toward the dwarven defender or divine champion classes.
Gold Dwarf Society
Gold dwarf culture does not exhibit a great deal of variability, the result of generations of gold dwarves insulated from outside influences. Class and clan divisions are strong among gold dwarves, and great importance is attributed to bloodlines when ascribing social status. However, the Deep Realm is so swamped with petty, decadent royals and nobles that little real power is invested in anyone but the governing council of clan elders. Commerce and craftsmanship both play an important role in gold dwarf society, as does the never-satiated grasping for more riches. Pride and honor play an important role in all aspects of daily life, for disgrace applies not only to oneself, but also to kin, clan, and long-dead ancestors.
Gold dwarves are raised in tight family units, but the clan elders play an important oversight role in the upbringing of every child. Book learning is common, as is an apprenticeship to learn a trade. All adults are expected to support themselves and their family as well as bring honor and riches to the clan. Ostentatious displays of wealth are important for maintaining one's prestige, so poorer gold dwarves often scrimp and save to keep up appearances. As gold dwarves age, they are accorded increasing respect for their wisdom. Clan elders form a ruling gerontocracy that strongly enforces traditional practices. Families' and clans are expected to honor their elders in death with elaborate funereal rites and tombs befitting the deceased's reputation.
Outside the Deep Realm, gold dwarves hold themselves apart, forming small, insular enclaves that attempt to replicate traditional clan life. Few gold dwarves have any interest in adopting local practices except where it furthers their ability to hawk their wares.
Language and Literacy
Like all dwarves, gold dwarves speak a dialect of Dwarven and employ the Dethek rune alphabet. They also speak Common, the trade language of the Realms Above. The primary gold dwarven dialect (sometimes referred to as Riftspeak) has changed little since the glory days of Bhaerynden. Gold dwarves dwelling in the colonies in Unther and the Giant's Run often learn the languages of the nearby lands.
Common secondary languages reflect the extensive trading contacts maintained by gold dwarves with their neighbors in the South and include Shaaran, Untheric, and, to a lesser extent, Durpari, Dambrathan, Mulhorandi, Halfling, and Halruaan. Gold dwarves who have extensive contact with other subterranean races often learn Terran, Gnome, or Undercommon.
All gold dwarf characters are literate except barbarians (who are very unusual among the folk of this ancient civilization).
Gold Dwarf Magic and Lore
Gold dwarves have a strong divine spellcasting tradition, with many of the Stout Folk called to serve the Morndinsamman as clerics, paladins, runecasters, or runesmiths. Arcane spellcasters are much rarer, but they do exist.
Spells and Spellcasting
Gold dwarves favor spells that aid their abilities in combat or assist in craftwork of mining. Most are divine spellscasters, but the gold dwarves' millennia-old civilization has ensured both ancient libraries of wizardry and strange, sorcerous bloodlines.
Spellcasting Tradition: Many gold dwarves take the Gold Dwarf Dweomersmith feat, which grant them advantages when creating or enhancing weapons with magic.
Unique Spells: Gold dwarves have created many spells over the years, many of which are now employed by the Stout Folk across Faerûn. One such example is detect metals and minerals.
Gold Dwarf Magic Items
Gold dwarves favor magic items that aid in combat, facilitate craftwrok, provide personal protection or comfort, guard against theft, ore are adorned with keen, holy, lawful, mighty cleaving, sundering, and stunning special abilities. Hammers and maces are commontly crafted with holy, impact, lawful, returning, stunning, sundering, and throwing special abilities. Armor is typically crafted with fortification, invulnerability, reflection, and spells resistance special abilities, reflecting a long tradition of battles against the drow and other creatures of the Underdark.
Common Magic Items: Magic items particularly prevalent in the Great Rift and the trade cities at its edgef includes anvil of the blacksmith, belt of dwarvenkind, forge of smithing, hammer of the weaponsmith, and tongs of the armorer. These items can be purchased at a 10% discount in the Great Rift.
Iconic Magic Items: Gold dwarves have fabricated many unique magic items, but they are best known for the stonereaver greataxes.
Deities
Gold dwarves have venerated the dwarven deities of the Morndinsamman since the founding of Bhaerynden, but centuries of relative isolation and security have made their culture far less religious in nature than their shield dwarven kin. Among gold dwarves, the churches of Moradin and Berronar are so predominant and have been for so long that many lesser dwarven deities enjoy little more than token obeisance. High-ranking clerics of both faiths command a great amount of institutional authority in gold dwarf society. The clerics of Berronar's faith are responsible for preserving records of the extraordinarily ancient genealogy of the noble families and serve as the guardians of tradition in the home and comminuty.
all gold dwarves revere the Soul Forger as the founder of the dwarven race and his church is the predominant faith of the Deep Realm, centered in the monastic city of Thuulurn. Moradin's clerics sponsor many craftfolk, particularly armorers and weaponsmiths, and serve as the principal judges and magistrates of gold dwarf society. The Soul forger's faithful are drawn promarily from those who labor as smiths, craftsfolk, or engineers, but he is also seen as the protector of the entre dwarven race and is thus worshiped by many lawful good dwarves regardless of profession.
Relations with other races
Confident and secure in their remote home, gold dwarves have a well-deserved reputation for haughtiness and pride. They look down on all other dwarves, even shield dwarves and gray dwarves whose achievements and kingdoms have matched the glory of their own. Gold dwarves regard elves and half-elves with suspicious after generations spent battling their deep-dwelling cousins. Gnomes, particularly deep gnomes, are well regarded and welcomed as trading partners. Their impression of halflings is shaped by the strongheart inhabitants of Luiren, whom gold dwarves find to be suitably industrious and forthright.
Gold dwarves know little of half-orcs, but usually lump them in with the rest of orc and goblinoid scum. Gold dwarves are very cautious in their dealings with humans, having found great variability in their dealings with Chondathans, the folk of Damabrath, Dupari, Mulan, Shaarans, and Halruaans. Planetouched are almost unknown but are usually viewed in the same light as the Mulan, since most planetouched the gold dwarves encounter are either Mula aasimar or earth genasi followers of Geb.
Gold Dwarf Equipment
The gold dwarf craft guilds have had centuries to master their artisanship, so almost any finished good has some filigree, runic mark, or other decoration that marks it as unmistakably the work of the gold dwarves. Even a simple bucket will have carefully marked gradations along the inside, graven runes identifying its owner, and a curved handle shaped to fit a thick dwarven hand.
Commong Items: Sunrods, thunderstones.
Unique Items: Gold dwarves commonly employ well-engineered equipment such as mobile braces and rope climbers. The hippogriff-mounted skiyriders of the Great Rift are known to employ drogue wings and exotic military saddles.Arms and Armor
Gold dwarves favor a wide range of weapons, incliding battleaxes, crossbow, gauntlets, handaxes, heavy picks, light hammers, light picks, mauls, throwing axes, and warhammers. More unusual wepoans include dwarven urgroshes abd dwarven waraxes. Typical forms of armor include breatplates, half-plates, full plate, scale mail, large steel shields, and small steel shields.
Common Items: Battleaxes, light crossbow, heavy pick, dwarven urgrosh, scale mail, full plate armor. The gold dwarves manufacture adamantine heavy picks and battleaxes for those who can afford suck things; adamantine weapons are svailable at 10% discount in the Great Rift.
Animals and Pets
Gold dwarves favor small lizards such as the spitting crawler and shocker lizard for pets and familiars. Deep rothe are the prefered type of livestock. They employ pack lizards and mules as beast of burden, usually breeding the latter from Lhesperan or Meth horses crossed with donkeys. Gold dwarves commonly use riding lizards as steeds in subterranean locales, and war ponies for travel in the surface lands. The gold dwarf skyriders of the Great Rift employ hippygriffs as aerial mounts.
(Base Race- DWARF, Sub Race- Gold Dwarf)
Stats: (Arabel custom)
Racial Abilities: +2 Con, -2 Dex
Special Abilities: Stonecunning, Darkvision, Hardiness vs. Poisons, Hardiness vs. Spells, Offensive Training vs. Abberations, Defensive Training vs. Giants, Skill Affinity (Lore)
Favored Class: Fighter -
Of the various elven subraces, none are more notorious than the
drow. Descended from the original dark-skinned elven subrace
called the Ssri-tel-quessir, the drow were cursed into their present
appearance by the good elven deities for following the goddess
Lolth down the path to evil and corruption.
Also called dark elves, the drow have black skin that resembles
polished obsidian and stark white or pale yellow hair. They commonly
have blood-red eyes, although pale eyes (so pale as to be
often mistaken for white) in shades of pale lilac, silver, pink, and
blue are not unknown. They also tend to be smaller and thinner
than most Faerûnian elves. Most drow on the surface are evil
and worship Vhaeraun, but some outcasts and renegades have a
more neutral attitude, and there are even groups of good drow
who worship Eilistraee or other deities not of the traditional
drow pantheon.
Though divided by endless feuds and schisms, the drow are
united in one terrible desire: they seethe with a hatred for the
surface elves. By their way of reckoning, they proved themselves
the superior race in the Fourth Crown War, and the fact that
the Seldarine (and Corellon in particular) punished them for
their success is a poison that churns in their hearts and minds
eternally. They burn with hatred for the Seldarine and their coddled
children, and want nothing more than to return to the surface
and bring to the elves there suffering a thousand times
greater than that which the drow have been forced to endure
over the past ten thousand years.History
In the beginning, the Ssri-tel-quessir were the most successful
of the elven colonists to the new world of Faerûn. The nation
of Ilythiir quickly became one of the most powerful of the
early elven nations. But the Ssri-tel-quessir were not only the
most successful of the elves of their time, they were also the
most cruel and jealous. Despite their own accomplishments,
they envied those of their neighbors all the same. While the
First Crown War raged to the north, the dark elves waged their
own war against their neighbors, seeking to dominate the elven
realms of southern Faerûn.
Unsuccessful in three attempts to subjugate the neighboring
realms, the dark elves of Ilythiir turned to a new and secret
patron at the opening of the Fourth Crown War. The dark elves
pledged their loyalties to the outcast Seldarine of the Demonweb
Pits, and to Lolth in particular. The Spider Queen and her fellow
exiles (with the notable exception of Eilistraee) granted the dark
elves of Ilythiir great magical powers, fiendish allies, and support
in return for their allegiance, and the Ilythiiri wreaked great
havoc among the other elven realms.
But their success and victory were short-lived, for Corellon was
shocked and deeply enraged by the traitorous acts of the dark
elves. By his decree, the Ilythiiri elves were cursed, transformed
into drow and banished from the surface world into the Underdark.
They became known as the dhaeraow (the elven word for
traitor), and over the centuries this word has since given them
the name by which they are known: drow.
After their exile below ground, the drow lived as nomads, scavengers,
and feral beasts. Eventually, through the guidance of
Lolth, they drew themselves together as a race and began to
make the best of their situation, colonizing large portions of the
Underdark. The first underground drow civilizations were established
in southern Faerûn around –9600 DR. In –9000 DR, the
drow seized the great cavern of Bhaerynden from the gold
dwarves and established the first great drow kingdom, Telantiwar.
Unfortunately, the drow of Telantiwar quickly fell into terrible
civil wars, the eventual result of which were several massive
magical explosions that collapsed the caverns of their nation and
formed the Great Rift in southern Faerûn.
The few drow survivors of this cataclysm scattered throughout
the Underdark, slowly settling regions farther and farther
away from their original homelands in the South. In time, the
drow built dozens of magnificent, terrifying cities deep underground,
quite an achievement for a people so predisposed toward
treachery, infighting, and civil war. Sshamath, the City of Dark
Weavings, was founded beneath the Far Hills in –4973 DR.
Menzoberra the Kinless, a high priestess of Lolth, established the
city of Menzoberranzan in –3917 DR. House Nasadra, exiled
from Menzoberranzan, founded Ched Nasad in –3843 DR.
Many other cities lie beneath other parts of Faerûn, sometimes
exerting their baleful influence on the lands above, such as the
conquest of the human realm of Dambrath by the drow of
T’lindhet in 804 DR, or the centuries-long rule of Maerimydra
over Shadowdale hundreds of years ago.
Recently, the drow have begun to extend their influence to
the surface in greater numbers than ever before, moving into
abandoned elven cities and homes. They have begun training
and conditioning to allow them to function in the brilliant surface
world. Much to their surprise and delight, they have found
that due to the Elven Retreat the presence of surface elves is
much smaller and more poorly organized than they anticipated.
Small bands of drow opposed to this return to the surface have
made efforts to alert the surface world of this new threat, but
so far no organized resistance to the drow invasion of the surface
world has appeared.
Outlook
Drow are, on the whole, sadistic, destructive, and treacherous.
They view themselves as the rightful heirs to Faerûn and still
remember the perceived injustice of their exile to the Underdark.
They hate other races and either wish to make war upon them or
view those others with contempt and tolerate them only as necessary
for trade or temporary military alliances. Even among
their own kind, drow are cruel and suspicious. There is little room
for love and friendship in drow society. They may value alliances
with other family members or acquaintances, but no drow truly
trusts another. Drow forge alliances only when they are more
powerful than an “ally,†-
Taken from the Forgotten Realms Races of Faerun:
The most common of the elven subraces on Faerûn are the moon elves. They have fair skin, sometimes tinged with blue, and hair of silver-white, black, or blue; humanlike colors are somewhat rare. Their eyes are blue or green, with gold flecks. As far as the elves of Faerûn go, moon elves are most like the elves presented in the Player's Handbook.
Moon elves prefer to dress in rustic clothes of simple cuts and fashions that are nevertheless of fine and exquisite make. They adorn their dress with embroidered patterns, beads, and similar trappings, preferring earthen colors for everyday wear, hues that make it easy to conceal themselves in foliage. In places of safety or in times of revelry, moon elves enjoy dressing in bold color - the more brightly colored, the better. Hair is worn in braids or ponytails, twined with wires or beads. Moon elves sometimes wear body paint or tattoos in mystic patterns, although not to extent the wild elves do.
History
Although the moon elves were not the first elves to migrate to Faerûn, they comprised the largest migration. Even in the ancient past their joy for travel seems to have been present, for they came to Faerûn in great numbers indeed. The moon elves wanted to explore this new world rather than settle down, and so did not establish nations of their own for some time, preferring to settle in other elven nations, such as Othreier and Keltormir. The only one of the ancient elven nations that the moon elves could truly call their own was Orishaar, which was defeated in -11,200 DR by the Ilythiiri.
Following the Crown Wars, moon elves helped to raise many of the nations of the second generation of elven realms. Survivors of Orishaar, in conjunction with clans from other realms that had been destroyed during the Crown Wars, founded the secret refuge of Evereska in -8600 DR, and many moon elves populated the glorious realm of Cormanthyr, founded in -3983 DR in the woods of the Elven Court. One by one the old elven realms faded away, until the fall of Myth Drannor in 714 DR left Evereska as the last moon elf city in Faerûn. Many nomadic moon elf bands still roamed the great forests of northern Faerûn, but no new elven kingdoms rose after the fall of the second-generation realms.
Despite the fact that only a single realm of moon elves has survived the ages since the Crown Wars, the moon elves have
fared well compared to many of their elven kin. Content to gather in small, secretive, and relatively short-lived settlements or to simply wander across the wild lands of Faerûn as their hearts call them, the moon elves have built few places worth destroying. When the Elven Retreat began, the moon elves were slow to heed its call, and even then answered the call in much smaller numbers than did the sun elves and other elven races.Outlook
Moon elves are more impulsive than the other elves, and dislike remaining in one place for any significant amount of time. Most moon elves are happiest when traveling, especially across the expanses of untrodden wilderness that still survive in Faerûn. This is probably the single greatest reason why they are so much more friendly and accommodating to other races than many other elves: They do not isolate themselves from the human lands behind impervious defenses. Moon elves have watched humankind for much longer than their sun or wood elf kin, and they know that nonelves aren't as foolish and unimportant as most other elves think. They feel that engaging promising human realms such as Silverymoon and instilling elven values and culture in these young lands is a better way for the elven race to survive and thrive than hiding away and avoiding all contact with ambitious, grasping humans.Moon elves are drawn to adventure through sheer wanderlust. They desire to see and do everything possible during their long lives. Like their allies the Harpers, moon elves believe that a single person of good heart who stands up to injustice or evil can make a big difference. The typical moon elf adventurer tends to be a wandering protector of the common folk, not a dungeonplundering slayer of monsters.
Moon Elf Characters
More so than other elves, moon elves are drawn to a variety of paths. They have a great love of music and make excellent bards. Moon elves do not possess the depth of reverence for the Seldarine the sun elves do, nor the bond with nature of the wood elves, but clerics and druids are not uncommon among the subrace. Many moon elves are skilled warriors and have at least some levels in the fighter class, as they have long made up the bulk of the elven armies. But moon elves prefer stealth over strength, and often choose to become rangers or rogues instead. Finally, like all elves, moon elves are enamored of magic, and a great number take up the wizard's arts.
Favored Class: Moon elves share a natural affinity for arcane magic with the sun elves, although they tend to be more impulsive with their spells. Unlike their more disciplined kin, moon elves frequently pursue two or more paths at the same time, combining the study of magic with the arts of the swordmaster or the rogue. Their favored class is wizard.
Prestige Classes: The moon elves were the first to develop the bladesinger prestige class, and they have the most bladesingers of any the elven subraces. Moon elves often become arcane archers, as one might expect. Any moon elf adventurer of good heart who has a little experience under her belt is likely to become a Harper and often chooses to advance as a Harper scout. Moon elves also make very good spellsingers.
Moon Elf Society
Moon elves are nomadic spirits who rarely settle down for long in one place. They are comfortable living among sun elves and wood elves, but just as often they live in areas dominated by humans, halflings, or even gnomes. Their homes tend to be simple, unassuming, and comfortable.
Moon elves are much less solemn and serious in their ways and actions than sun elves. Their songs and poems are lighter and often quite humorous; tragedies have their place but the moon elves prefer to balance such things with light-hearted and often bawdy tales and songs. They also enjoy a wide variety of art styles, including paintings and sculpture. Moon elves are fond of games of chance and gambling. Drinking, feasting, and reveling are all a strong part of their society.
A more serious side to the moon elves emerges in times of trouble. Moon elves are just as skilled with weapons and magic as their fellow elven subraces, and do not hesitate to act if a situation calls for violence as a solution. Even in warfare, they try to find hope and humor, for it is during these dark times that levity and joy are most valuable.
Moon elves gather in loose bands, composed of a dozen or so extended families. Leadership is democratic; all elves of the band have a say in important decisions, although the voices of one or two of the wiser and more experienced family heads tend to carry the day. In times of danger, the band chooses an elder or warleader to see them through the peril. Moon elves travel light and travel often, rarely staying in the same place for more than a season or two before moving on.
Language and Literacy
All moon elves speak Elven, Common, and the human language of their home region. Their nomadic nature encourages them to pick up additional languages as they travel as well, and most moon elves can speak at least one or two additional languages beyond these. Common choices include Auran, Chondathan, Gnoll, Gnome, Halfling, Illuskan, and Sylvan.All moon elf characters are literate, except for barbarians.
(Base Race- ELF, Sub Race- leave blank or Moon Elf)
Stats: (neverwinter nights standard stats)
Racial Abilities: +2 Dex, -2 Con
Special Abilities: Immunity to Sleep, Hardiness vs. Enchantments, Bonus Proficiencies (Longsword, Rapier, Shortbow, Longbow), Skill Affinity (Listen, Search, Spot), Keen Senses, Low-light Vision
Favored Class: Wizard -
Taken from the Forgotten Realms Races of Faerun:
The majority of Faerûn's sun elves live on Evermeet, having abandoned what remained of their ancient realms during the centuries following the falls of Illefarn and Cormanthyr. They are only now returning to the mainland to reestablish their presence there. The sun elves are famed for their command of both arcane and divine magic, which exceeds that of any other living race. Works of elven high magic thousands of years old still survive in the hidden refuges of the sun elves.
Sun elves are responsible for the majority of the great elven cities of legend, although other elven subraces aided the construction of many of these cities. Myth Drannor is perhaps their most famous creation, although probably not their most magnificent. Sun elf realms are the stuff legends are made of, an integral part of the history of Faerûn for thousands of years. The sun elves certainly know this, for they distance themselves from nonelf races and often won't let such "lesser beings" into their lands.
(Base Race- ELF, Sub Race- Sun Elf)
Stats: (Arabel custom)
Racial Abilities: +2 Int, -2 Con
Special Abilities: Immunity to Sleep, Hardiness vs. Enchantments, Bonus Proficiencies (Longsword, Rapier, Shortbow, Longbow), Skill Affinity (Listen, Search, Spot), Keen Senses, Low-light Vision
Favored Class: Wizard -
Taken from the Forgotten Realms Races of Faerun:
The wild elves of Faerûn are insular and savage, and as a result are rarely seen outside their
forest homes. In ages past the wild elves (or green elves, as they were more commonly known) raised great kingdoms in the forests and fielded armies to defend their homes, but with the march of time they have abandoned the trappings of civilization, becoming a furtive, reclusive race. The wild elves were always close to nature, even more so than other elves, but they have forgotten many of the high arts and lore of their people, choosing stealth and survival over building and book learning.Wild elves are stocky and strongly built for elves. Their skin tends to be dark brown, and their hair ranges from black to light brown, lightening to silvery white with age. They are quiet around anyone except their own kind, and quickly become hostile in these uncomfortable situations. Clothing is kept to a minimum among the wild elves, although they make up for this with body decoration of all sorts—tattoos, war paint, feathers, and beaded jewelry that shows a surprising streak of complex and beautiful artistry.
History
The wild elves were not always the feral creatures they have become today. Ages ago the green elves, as they were then known, were the first elven explorers (along with the lythari and the avariels) to discover Abeir-Toril, and they quickly became entranced with the wondrous young world. Of this first migration of elves, the green elves were easily the most successful, and they established several territories destined to become great nations: Thearnytaar, Eiellûr, Syòpiir, Miyeritar, and Keltormir.
Unfortunately, with the coming of the Crown Wars, these nations were among the first to fall. Eiellûr fell to the Ilythiiri (the dark elves) in -11,400 DR, and Thearnytaar in -11,200 DR. The realm of Miyeritar, located where the High Moor now lies, was utterly consumed by the Dark Disaster in -10,500 DR, and the other green elf realms fared little better. The peaceful green elves proved to be relatively easy prey for the cruel dark elves, and by the time the Crown Wars ended in -9000 DR, the idyllic world of the green elves had been shattered. Their great nations razed in centuries of relentless warfare, the green elves began a time they refer to as the Wandering. They never recovered fully from the setbacks of twelve thousand years ago, and raised no more great cities in Faerûn.
The Wandering of the green elves lasted for many long elven generations. Forced to live for centuries as fugitives, slaves, or rootless vagabonds, the surviving green elves receded further and further from elven society, withdrawing to the deepest forests and mountains of Faerûn. While the other subraces races raised the second generation of elven realms in places like Evermeet and Cormanthyr, the green elves placed their trust in secrecy and stealth instead of walls and might, remaining hidden within their forest homes. By the time of Jhaamdath's rise around -5800 DR, the green elves had settled into several of the places that are still their ancient homelands: the Chondalwood, the Forest of Amtar, and other great old woodlands of southern Faerûn.
Over the course of many years, the green elves forgot more and more of their ancient lore and skill, focusing on the only skills that mattered: stealth, survival, hunting, and hiding. They became first a clannish folk, then a tribal culture, and finally a primitive people. They remained elves, of course, creatures of nobility and magic, but they lost the arts of crafting mighty spells and forging magic weapons. Their fleeting contacts with the rising human empires of the day reinforced the green elf reclusiveness, driving them deeper into the wilds and further from their old ways.
Today, the green elves are more widely known as the wild elves, a race lost in time in the sweltering forests of southern Faerûn.Outlook
The tragic history of the wild elves has left them untrusting of outsiders. Their tactics for dealing with intruders vary from tribe to tribe. Some simply hide and allow the trespassers to go by unknowing, while others attack to capture such interlopers. They rarely kill those they capture, preferring to use magic to alter their memories and carry them far away before releasing them. They make friends slowly, and most nonelves simply don't have the lifespans required to gain the trust of a tribe of green elves. They excel in combat and often revel in its chaos and primal fury. Little can match the fury of an enraged tribe of green elves.
Wild Elf Character
More so than any other elves, wild elves value the martial skills. Barbarians and rangers are very common among the wild elves. The wild elves do not feel close to the Seldarine and do not often become clerics, instead venerating nature itself as druids of Mielikki, Silvanus, or Rillifane Rallathil. Wild elves have no written tradition and little patience for hours of study in any event and so rarely become wizards. Unlike other elves, they prefer the sorcerer's arts.
Favored Class: Despite their lack of learning and skill, wild elves are just as naturally talented at arcane magic as most other elves. Their favored class is sorcerer, a path of power that rewards spontaneity and creative energy instead of hours of dry study in ancient, moldering tomes.
Prestige Classes: A small number of wild elf fighter/sorcerers follow the path of the arcane archer, but the most common prestige class among the green elves is the hierophant. Wild elves can become very powerful druids, and their leaders often turn to druids for guidance and support.
(Base Race- ELF, Sub Race- Wild Elf)
Stats: (Arabel custom)
Racial Abilities: +2 Dex, -2 Int
Special Abilities: Immunity to Sleep, Hardiness vs. Enchantments, Bonus Proficiencies (Longsword, Rapier, Shortbow, Longbow), Skill Affinity (Listen, Search, Spot), Keen Senses, Low-light Vision
Favored Class: Sorcerer -
Taken from the Forgotten Realms Races of Faerun:
The wood elves are among the most numerous of Faerûn's elven people, a young and confident folk who hold the old elven forest homelands in strength. Heirs to the second generation of elven nations, the wood elves see their realms as the natural successors to lands such as Eaerlann and Cormanthyr. Where the old empires expanded with strength and pride, the realms of the wood elves hope to grow with compassion and humility. The wood elves do not view their homelands as a land apart from Faerûn; they understand better than their kindred that for better or worse, their fates are bound up with the fates of the humans, dwarves, and halflings around them.
Also known as copper elves or sylvan elves, these people have coppery skin tinged with green, and brown, green, or hazel eyes. Hair is usually brown or black, occasionally blond or copperyred. Wood elves prefer to dress in simple clothing, similar to the moon elves but not quite so colorful. They favor a simple cut to tunic or dress, set off by common embroidery in natural designs. They are particularly fond of leather armor, and they often wear lovingly tooled and well-crafted suits even when they do not feel endangered. Their clothing, leather armor or not, is usually in dark shades of green and earth tones to better blend with their natural surroundings. They are a humble race and only rarely do they enhance their appearance with jewelry or similar accessories.
History
The wood elves are the most recent addition to the various elven subraces of Faerûn, although the history of their civilization still exceeds that of many other races of Toril. They also have the unusual distinction (often thought of as an honor by copper elves) of being the only subrace of elves to be actual natives to Faerûn. The first copper elves did not appear at once; their race coalesced slowly over the course of several centuries after the last Crown War, blending several of the older elven kindreds.The Crown Wars brought down most of the great nations of the First Flowering. In the wake of these terrible wars, thousands of elves were left bereaved and homeless. Families were torn apart, and for many centuries (a time known to the elves as the Wandering Years) these elves simply led the lives of nomads. Some of Faerûn's elves retreated to their ancestral homes and started to build anew, but on a smaller scale, raising the second generation of elven nations. But a significant portion of elves never felt the need to do so. These elves (mostly moon, sun, and green elves), vowed never again to let internal strife tear their kind apart, retreating to the deepest woodlands to seek shelter from the madness of the world.
Unlike the green elves, these self-imposed exiles did not slip into barbarism. Rather, they formed tightly knit societies that stayed in touch with other like-minded elven communities hidden away in other forests. Over time, these secluded elves grew closer to the natural world and further apart from the high magic and ancient lore the elves had brought from their first home, and became a new subrace of elves apart from their kin: the wood elves.
While the sun elves and moon elves founded realms such as Evermeet and Evereska after the Crown Wars, the great realm of the wood elves was ancient Eaerlann, a realm founded in the eastern High Forest around -4700 DR. The elves of Eaerlann engaged other young empires of the North in peaceful trade and diplomacy, befriending the dwarven realm of Delzoun soon after its establishment in -3900 DR, and tutoring the early Netherese in magic around -3830 DR.
The human empire of Netheril soon eclipsed its elven neighbors, growing in martial and magical might at an alarming pace. In -3533 DR the Netherese uncovered the Nether Scrolls in the ruins of Aryvandaar, eagerly exploiting magic so powerful and terrible that even the sun elves of the First Flowering had not dared to employ it. For centuries the wood elves of Eaerlann sought to quietly check Netheril's pride and expansionism, but in -339 DR, the Netherese destroyed themselves as Karsus sought godhood and instead brought cataclysmic destruction down on his people. The elves of Eaerlann took in many Netherese survivors, allowing them to settle in the city of Ascalhorn.
The elves and humans of the North lived in peace for a time, but Ascalhorn too was doomed to fall through the folly of mages. Careless summoning of powerful fiends led to a sudden, terrible assault by an army of devils who overthrew the proud city in 882 DR. This time, Eaerlann did not survive the destruction of the neighboring human realm. Already gravely weakened by a year of battling against ferocious orc hordes, Eaerlann fell soon after Ascalhorn became Hellgate Keep.
In the years since the fall of Eaerlann, the wood elves have not raised any more great realms, choosing to put their trust in stealth and vigilance instead of castles and cities. Although they felt the call of the Elven Retreat, the wood elves did not respond. With the end of the Retreat, the wood elves have emerged from their secret homes in the depths of Faerûn's woodlands as a strong and confident people whose wariness is tempered by compassion. The wood elves of the High Forest dream of reestablishing old Eaerlann, but this time their realm will be a realm of reclusive villages and watchful foresters, not walled cities and proud warriors.
Outlook
Wood elves are calm, serene, and difficult to surprise. Their patience is legendary. They are at one with the world of nature, and are not comfortable in areas of heavy civilization. They have lost the urge to build and replace nature with walls and palaces; even the cities built by their elven kin seem to be foolish to the wood elves. They have come to believe that buildings of stone are transitory in nature, and that in time, the forest returns to overgrow the greatest of cities. Other races interpret this attitude as fatalistic or condescending, and as a result wood elves find it hard to understand anyone who isn't a wood elf.Wood Elf Characters
Of all the elven subraces, the copper elves have the least fascination with arcane magic. They understand its power and a number of their folk study its ways, but ultimately the artifice of arcane lore is simply one more way of expressing dominion over the natural order of things, and the wood elves view it in that light. Wood elves make excellent fighters, rangers, and rogues, relying on their natural strength and quickness to meet challenges. Wood elves from particularly remote forests sometimes become barbarians. Clerics are somewhat rare among this people, but druids are very common and are the most prominent spellcasters of the race.
Favored Class: Wood elves are master hunters, and most train enough to possess at least one level of ranger. Favored enemies usually include orcs, gnolls, outsiders (planetouched), and other savage races that dwell near the traditional homelands of the wood elves.
Prestige Classes: When wood elves choose to take up a prestige class, they are usually drawn to the arcane archer or hierophant classes. Like the moon elves, wood elves are friendly toward the Harpers and all they represent, so they are commonly Harper scouts. Few wood elves become spellsingers or bladesingers.
Society
Wood elves live at ease with nature, using what naturally occurs in the world to shelter or defend themselves. They are not nomadic, and claim large territories in the deepest woodlands of Faerûn. Some wood elves choose to do without houses, furnishings, and any possessions they can't carry, using the high branches of great trees or natural caves in their roots for shelter and storage. Most wood elves instead prefer to dwell in small villages of permanent homes of natural fieldstone and lovingly carved wood, so carefully concealed among the surrounding wilderness that a human hunter might walk through the center of a wood elf village and not even notice that he had done so.Wood elves adhere to a tradition of leadership by their oldest and most experienced druids, although most villages form a council of elders selected from the wisest and most experienced elves of each family to handle day-to-day affairs. The druidical hierarchy serves to unite wood elves of different villages and weld all the wood elves of a particular forest into a common realm. The druids do not presume to tell the elders how to run a village, but the elders generally give great weight to anything a druid chooses to say.
Wood elves excel in the hunt. They spend much of their time stalking their chosen territory on the search for food or intruders into their realm. The rest of their time is spent frolicking among the branches; in this regard, they are quite similar to moon and wild elves. With the end of the Retreat, wood elves are quickly coming back into contact with the civilized world. Although they are reluctant to allow others into their lands, wood elves understand that times are changing. If they are to survive as a people, it may be time to change for the copper elves to change as well.
Wood Elves (Base Race- ELF, Sub Race- Wood Elf)
Stats: (Arabel custom)
Racial Abilities: +2 Str, +2 Dex, - 2 Con, -2 Int, -2 Cha
Special Abilities: Immunity to Sleep, Hardiness vs. Enchantments, Bonus Proficiencies (Longsword, Rapier, Shortbow, Longbow), Skill Affinity (Listen, Search, Spot), Keen Senses, Low-light Vision
Favored Class: Ranger -
Deep Gnome (Svirfneblin)
The deep gnomes are closest thing the gnome family has to black sheep. Many surface dwellers count the deep gnomes along with their evil neighbors, the drows and the duergars, believing them to be little more than dark reflections of the friendly rock gnomes with whom they are more familiar. In fact, the svirfneblin are just as good-hearted as their sunnier kin However, after centuries of dealing with the everyday perils of living in the Underdark, they have become understandably distrustful of all outsiders.
Compared to their better-known kin, the rock gnomes, the deep gnomes are as gray and lifeless as the subterranean caverns in whick they choose to make their homes. They keep to themselves out of fear of outsiders - a fear born from numerous poor experience with such people. To a deep gnome, the only people you can trust are other deep gnomes from your village, and preferably from your family. All other are best avoided.
With strangers, most deep gnomes are sullen, reversed and suspicious, almost to a fault. However, when they are alone with their own kind, they are froendly and respectful to each other. Few people from outside a svirfneblins community have ever seen this more pleasant side of the deep gnomes. For their part, the deep gnomes would be horrified to find themselves observed by outsiders, and they find suck a person staring at them - or even looking directly at them - quite rude.
Deep gnomes are gnarled and callused folk, with little fat at all on their wiry bodies. Their skin is the color of the rocks among which they live, almost as if they sprang directly from the stones themselves. They have dark gray eyes, tending toward black, their hair is of a similar color, although it's only seen on the woman, as the men are entirely bald and beardless.Deep gnomes are short-lived for gnomes and reach adulthood at an age of 20 years. Like their lives, svirfneblin are also short and hard. They stand between 3 and 3 1/2 feet tall on average. They are thinner than their surface cousins, bt they weight just as much - about 40 to 45 pounds - due to the density of their muscles. They are little more than wiry sinews and rocklike bones.
History
While most gnomes have little use for history, tending to prefer living in the moment, deep gnomes are the worst of the lot. They do not have a formal calenday or any way to tell the turning of the day. Living far from the light of the sun, the very idea of night or day is foreign to them. Dozens of svirfneblin cities lie scattered throughout the Underdark of Faerûn, and dozens of more have surely risen and been abandoned over the years, but of all these settlements and reguges, the story of only one is widely known to non-deep gnomes: Blingdenstone.
Blingdenstone was founded in =690 DR b several clans of deep gnomes felling west from the Underdark beneath Netheril, which had fallen into the power of the dreadful phaerimms. Despite the procimity of a powerful drow city (Menzoherranzan) and an equally strong duergar city (Gracklstugh), the deep gnomes established their city at ots site because of the rich veins of arandur and other exotic metals and minerals. From almost two thousand years, the deep gnomes carried on their mining and smithing, avoiding their evil neighbors and strenthening Blingdenstone's defences against the day their enemies would come against them.
That day came in 1338 DR, although King Schnicktick and Queen Fricknarti could not have anticipated how it would come about. Drizzt So'Urden, a renegade drow noble, arrived at Blingdenstone's doorstep after years of exile in the Underdark, and received sanctuary among the deep gnomes. Although Drizzt remained among the deem gnomes for only a short time, the events of his exile eventually led to a full-scale drow attack against the dwarven citadel of Mithral Hall in 1358 DR. The invason route passed close to Blingdenstone, and the deep gnomes chose to abandon their city. After the drow army passed, Belwar Dissengulp and other deep gnomes wardens convinced King Schnicktick to join their forces to those of the defenders of Mithral Hall. The deep gnomes and their allies inflicted a great defeat on Menzoberranzan in the Keeper's Dale, and the Menzoberranyr never forgot that the svirfneblin had contributed to their humiliation.
In Marpenoth of 1270 DR, the Matron Mothers of Menzoberranzan exacted their vengeance. Calling up dozens of powerful demons and bebiliths, they unleased a plague of murderous fiends that overran Blingdenstone. Thousands of gnomes died in the fall of the city, and thousands more were captured by the drow slavers waiting outside the city gates. A small number of the deep gnomes managed to escape to Mithral Hall and Silverymoon as refugees. Driven from their old homes, the svrifneblin have found a warm welcome among their fermer allies, but the prospect for returning to their old home looks bleak at best.Outlook
Dour and cinical, deep gnomes are resigned to their lot in life. They spend their days scratching out a living in the subterranean passages near their home. The males mostly mine for precious gems, while the females - who are rarely seen outside their villages - gather food, care for the children, and keep house. Few aspire to do anything other than live out their lives quietly focusing on doing their jobs the best that they can.
The svirfneblin literally have little or no light in their lives. To avoid detection by others in the Underdark, they often refuse to use fire for cooking or warmth whenever possible. Instead, they rely on their darkvision wheneverp ossible, seeing the world only in black and white. The deep gnomes live and work in the eternal darkness out o their overwhelming love for gems. Most makes spend almost their entirely lives trying to chip precious stones out of the earth. They favor rubies most of all.
Outsiders often think of the deep gnomes as irredeemably sullen and suspicious. While there is some basis for this, they are the outward results of survvival techniques that these gnomes have had to adopt to endure their harsh and unforgiving environnement. Sounds of any kind - especially voices - travel in strange ways in the Underdark, and they have a tendency to attract visitors. In the experience of most deep gnomes, such outsiders have only the worst of intentions, so when a svirfneblin encounters a stranger who is actually friendly, she normally is too suspicious to even consider responding in a like manner. She may eventually warm to a svirfneblin from another town, but even this can take time.
While deep gnomes adventurers are rare, some deep gnomes succumb to gnomish curiosity about the world outside the caverns and mine shafts of their daily lives. This is especcially true for those deep gnome illusionists who crave to learn more about the nature of their chosen school of maigc, but who lack for instruction in the insular villages in which they live. Svirfneblins prospectors are also occasionally encountered in the Underdark far from their homes, questing for promising new veins to mine for their beloved rubies.Deep Gnome Characters
Svirfneblin are rarely found outside their own society. When this does happen, it's usually a lone prospector, a solitary illusionist, or a group of warriors who have strict out from their towns for one reason or another. Typically, deep gnomes only leave their homes out of a deep and abiding curiosity about the outside world, a burning desire to find more riboes, or the need to find help for dealign with some creature or event the svirfneblin don't feel they can handle on their own. Svirfneblin adventurers are most commonly fighters, rangers, rogues or wizards (particularly illusionists). Naturally stealthy, they find that the skills honed in surviving the dangers of the Underdark also serve an adventuring ranger or rogue well.
Favored Class: Like all gnomes, svirfneblins are talented wizards, especially illusionists. With and illusionist's powers, the deep gnomes can keep out of sight of others until she decides to reveal herself. She can remains concealed, hide her home and friends, and deceive or misdirect enemies. Svirfneblins have learned that an enemy that can't locate them can't hurt them.
Prestige Classes: Some of the burlier deep gnomes excel in fighting in the tight spaces found in and around a svirfneblin town and aspire to become breackgnomes, fighters charged wth the defense of their cavern homes. In a properly sized tunnel, a breachgnome can hold off an invading force almost indefinitely. -
Taken from the Forgotten Realms Races of Faerun:
Rock gnomes are the gnomes that most people are familiar with, so much so that when someone says "a gnome," he or she is almost always speaking of a rock gnome. Unlike their reclusive cousins, the deep gnomes and the forest gnomes, the rock gnomes are an inquisitive and loquacious people. They are renowed throughout Faerûn as technicians, alchemists and inventors, as well as illusionists of the highest order. They do not care much for living in larger cities, where their tallents are in high demand, and prefer the rolling hills of the countryside. But anywhere they find themselves, they display an amazing zest for life and all the pleasures it holds.
Rock gnomes are far friendlier and moer outgoing than the other gnome kindreds. They are well known for their love of jokes and pranks, as well as their fondness for finely made things. As with all gnomes, they adore gems of all kinds, but rock gnomes have a particular passion for the purity and perfection of the diamond.
Rock gnomes average between 3 and 3 1/2 feet tall, and weigh between 40 and 45 pounds. heir skin come in many different shades of brown, but is unaffected by exposure to the sun. The hair of young gnomes can vary greatly in color, but in adulthood, they all tend toward gray or white. The males wear their beards neatly trimmed.
From a rock gnome's point of view, life is meant to be enjoyed in all its facets: work, play, and otherwise. Again, it's the process that's important, not the goal, even if those goals - like, say, finely cut gems - do end up being valuable on their own. This shows in just about everything a rock gnome does, from making a meal to working a mine to playing a practical joke. The care they put into their actions always shines through.
Young rock gnomes have carefree childhoods. During their adolescence, rock gnomes are expected to learn the basics of a useful trade and to master the basics of self-defense. They are encouraged to dabble in all sorts of pastimes until they find something that pefectly fits their temperaments. They come of age at 40, an occasion for the largest party of their lives. From there, the average life expectancy is about 350 years, although some have been known to reach 500 years in age.
History
The rock gnomes are counted as one of the mahor races of Faerûn. Although they may not be as populous or influential as some of the other races, there are gnomes scattered throughout the continent. Gnomes have played a large part in the development of firearms in Faerûn, and they are acknowledged as the masters of these tricky items.There have never been such a thing as a gnome empire or even a country. If gnomes can be said to have a homeland, it would have to be the islands of Lantan, far to the southwest of the main continent. Of course, few gnomes have ever been to Lantan or know more about it than what they've heard in the legends passed down to them by their ancestors.
Outlook
Rock gnomes are generally optimistic. They view the wrokd as a puzzle that the gods - in their infinite wisdom - have laid out before them as the ultimate challenge, one that cannnot ever be fully met. It is their greatest joy to be involved in the unraveling of the mysteries of creation an act they feel brings them closer to the gods with each passing day.In their adolescence, rock gnomes are ecouraged to dabble in as many different things as possible. Eventually, they find something that truly intrigues them, fires their imaginations, and sets them on the path of a career that may last them the rest of their lives. Almost every rock gnome enhoys what she does for a living, whick is one of the reasons that they have such positive dispositions.
Of course, rock gnimes enhoy their leisure time at least as much as their work. They are known for hosting wild celebrations on the thinnest of pretenses. When they really have a reason for cheer, the parties have been known to last for tendays.
While most gnomes are homebodies at heart, a number simply can't resist the urge to go out into the world to explore. Inquisitive by nature, gnomes often find themselves almost complelled to do everything they can to learn about anything they want. Others, the greedier ones, set off in search of fame and fortune. Sadly, these are fleeting dreams, as even the most famous of gnomes is usually just another member of her community when she returns home.
Rock Gnome Characters
Rock gnomes characters with close ties to their comminuties are often clerics, wizards, or rangers (although their low Strength score means that they'll likely favor ranged combat). Rock gnomes infected with wanderlist almost always become bards )often supplementing their performances with their extra gnome spells) and rogues.
Favored class: The rock gnome's favored class is the illusionist, for whick there are two reason. First, an illusionist can do a great deal to help hide the homes of his people, granting them the privacy they crave and the safety they require. Gnomes are not the match of most other races on an open battlefield and they know this. They're smart enough to take every edge they can get.
Second, illusionists have the most entertaining of magics at their disposal. The finest ones can actually tell visual stories with their illusions, creating a new kind of art form that is exclusive to illusionists and favored by gnome practitioners of that arcane art.Prestige Classes: Some of the breaver and stronger rock gnomes excel in fighting in the tight spaces in the tunnels in their underground homes. In such spaces, a breachgnome can hold off an invading force almost indefinately.
Society
Rock gnome life is filled with long days of work that stretch on for tendays at a time, punctuated by jubilant celevrationgs in which these hard-driven workers finally get to blow off some steam. This is the kind of life that most gnomes prize, and they fell blessed by the gods that they are mostly able to manage it.
Once a gnome reaches adulthood, she is expected to take up a career and work at it tirelessly to become the best at it that she can be. Some gnomes switch vocation later in life - some do it several times, in fact - but this is relatively rare. The vast majority of gnomes find something they like to do and then stick with it for as long as they can.
Even on the job, though, gnomes are usually friendly and fun-loving people. They are constrantly telling jokes throughout their days, many of which leave their coworkers in stitches. Practical jokes are fine too, as long as they don't disrupt the work environment too much. Every gnome loves a good prank, but they all insist on getting their jobs done too.
Many gnomes work as miners. While they may not be as agressive at it as dwarves, they're actually much better at getting the most possible out of a vein of ore. Others practice stonecutting or gemwork. Their metalworkers prefer to work with softer metals - gold, silver, and so on - although they do a fine job with harder materials like steel too. They also make excellent woodworkers and carpenters. Faerûnian rock gnomes are among the finest artisans working in the fields of toymaking, clockwork engineering, and gunsmithing. It's common for rock gnomes to be armed with smokepowder pistols.
Gnome cooking is not much of a draw to outsiders. It tends to be bland and overcooked or overcooked and over-salted; reliable gnomes-friends claim to have tasted some that was bland and over-salted, though no one knows quite how the gomes cooks managed this. Their (salty) bread is unleavened. All gnomes are very fond of rock candy, and some eat rock salt with equal relish.
Gnomes do, however, make excellent brewers and vintners. Many of them are talented musicians as well. These two facts contribute greatly to the reputation of gnomes as wonderful party guests and even better hosts.
Most rock gnome settlements are small. It's rare to find one with more than five hundred adults in a widely scattered area. However, these comminuties are usually found clustered close together, usually withing a few days' or tendays' travel of each other.
Rock gnomes burrows are usually small but tidy. Any married couple have rooms to themselves, but the children usually share a single room. Adelescents are segregated by gender, each sex having its own room. Each vurrow usually cnnexts to those of the same clan by tunnels, meaning that many gnomes rarely if ever have to go outside during a day. This is one reason why their comminities can go unnoticed by the larger peoples for so long.
When traveling or adventuring, gnomes appear both singly and in small groups. These groups are usually composed of a number of close friends or family members or both.
Language and Literacy
Rock gnomes normally speak Gnome and Commonm as well as whatever language is predominant in their home region. They often pick up Dwarven and Sylvan because they live in areas faveored by these races. Additionally, they regularly come into contact with those who speak Chondathan, Draconic, Goblin, Illuskan, and Terran, although this isn't always under the best of circumstances.
all rock gnomes are literate, except for barbarians.
Magic and Lore
Like all gnome wizards, rock gnomes prefer illusions to any other schoold of magic. They like to use their illusions in clever ways to fool or misdirect foes or to entertain friends.
Rock gnomes all hve the spell-like ability to speak with animals, and many rock gnome characters eventually asquire the Animal Friends feat to improve this ability.
Spellcasting Traditions: A panoply of illusions available to rock gomes make them incorrigible tricksters. They often take the Rock Gnome Trickster feat.
Deities
Rock gnomes are not particularly devout in practice, although they are forever talking about their gods in conversation. They attend services about once a tenday, but not with any kind of fervor. They believe that the gods are with them everywhere, so it's not always so necessary to make the trip to a temple to see them.
Garl Glittergold is the patriarch of the gnome gods, and patron of the rock gnomes in particular. To look at them, one migt think that most rock gnomes model their lives on Garl's behavior, including the constant tricks he plays on the other gods. Many gnomes do the same to their friends whether they are gnomes or not. Clerics of Garl Glittergold keep themselves endlessly busy with the planning of revels, feats, and celebrations to bring good cheer, sustenance, and wisdom to their fellows.
Rock gnomes also venerate Baervan Wildwanderer. The protector of the forests and glades that rock gnomes call home, Baervan is also the patron of gnomish rogues. If there's anyone who could possibly outdo Garl in the prank department, it's Baervan. The two have been trying to top each other since the dawn of the gods, and the friendly rivalry is still going on.
Relations with other races
Rock gnomes get along famously with almost all the standard character races. They are particularly fond of dwarves of all kinds, with whom they share a love of finely wrought jewelry and mechanical devices. They also have a great love for halflings who can take a joke. Their common style of housing and their similar size would be bonds enough but their share of joy for living is what really brings them together.
Rock gnomes are a bit more cautious around the larger peoples, but these reservations usually quickly give way to enthusiasm when someone shows any sort of interest in or knowledge about the gnome's work or other passions.
Orcs, kobolds, and goblinoids find an especially cold place in a rock gnome's heart. Although most rock gnomes find it hard to hate anyone, long experience with these races has told them that it's better to never cut them any break.Besides, none of them can take a joke.
Equipment
Rock gnomes have no unusual racial equipment, but they are outstanding gunsmiths.
Common Items: smokepowder and firearms are available amongs the rock gnomes for 10% less than the standard price.Animal and Pets
Rock gnomes befriend many sorts of burrowing animals, such as moles, weasels, badgers and wolverines. These small creatures serve as watchdogs (and, in the case of the badgers or worlverines, guardians) for gnomes households.
Rock Gnome (Base Race- GNOME, Sub Race- left empty or Rock Gnome)
Stats: (Neverwinter Nights standard stats)
Racial Abilities: +2 Con, -2 Str
Special Abilities: Small Stature, Hardiness vs. Illusions, Offensive Training vs. Reptilians and Goblinoids, Defensive Training vs. Giants, Skill Affinity (Listen, Concentration, Illusion), Low-light Vision
Favored Class: Illusionist -
The jann (singular janni) are the weakest of the genies. Jann are formed out of all four elements and must therefore spend most of their time on the Material Plane.
Jann are physically strong and courageous, and do not take kindly to insult or injury. If they meet a foe they cannot defeat in a stand-up fight, they use invisibility to regroup and maneuver to a more advantageous position.
The Jann are nomadic people, showing great deference to their elders and to storytellers. They travel the elemental planes, using the Prime Material as a place to relax between the harrowing extremes their travels take them along.
Jann culture then is quite similar to that of the real Bedouin tribes.
Invisibility 1/day +10 rounds of underwater breathing Endure Elements 1/day +4 STR, +2 DEX, +2 INT, +2 WIS Darkvision +1 natural armor bonus.
