Playable Races
How the Races Are Sorted
Firstborn races are the foundational peoples of Essentia, each with their own base statistics, culture, and place in the world. Every race listed at the top level is a Firstborn. Kinborn are variant populations descended from a Firstborn race, carrying the same cultural heritage but with different base statistics that reflect their unique ancestry and adaptation to different environments or circumstances. Bloodlines
Culture begins at Level 4 when a character chooses a Path, and is determined by the Path they select, not by their race. Every Path carries its own cultural traditions, forbidden armaments, and Higher Power. A character's race provides their innate traits and physical nature; their culture comes from the calling they choose.
Example, Bloodlines: The Imperials are a Firstborn race. Crimson Imperials, Onyx Imperials, and the other bloodlines are distinct only in their skin hue and affinity to different magical schools. All hold the same base Imperials statistics, differing only in what they favor culturally or magically, not in their raw stats.
Example, Kinborn: The Dwarf is a Standard Size Firstborn. The Ash Dwarf is a Kinborn, descended from Dwarves but adapted to different stone and terrain, carrying different base stats than their Firstborn cousins.
Example, neither: The Glimmerstone Dwarf is a Small Size Firstborn in its own right. It has no relation to the Standard Size Dwarf, carries no Bloodlines and no Kinborn. It is entirely independent.
Choosing a Race, Overview
Whether a Player wants to embody a mighty Ogre, a graceful Elf, a resilient Dwarf, or a clever Ratkin, SORC provides a rich tapestry of races to explore. Race diversity is just the first array of different ways of playing SORC that makes every journey Unique in developing a character.
The selection of playable races in SORC offer a vast and diverse array of options for adventurers, ranging from towering Goliaths to tiny, yet cunning, Small folk. Each race has its own Traits that they are either strong in, weak in or balanced to, its own cultural backgrounds, often shared with others, and physical characteristics, allowing Players to craft characters that fit their preferred playstyle and story. Each race individually has the same Statistics and Traits and cultures do not change this. Culture is determined by the background the Player chooses for their race.
For instance, every human, regardless of whether or not they're †Omnè or Nordian, begins with the same exact Traits and Stats. The only thing different here is their culture and that doesn't mean a Nordian cannot develop into an Omnè culture, and that is said for Omnè embracing Nordian cultures as well. The world of Essentia is not only diverse in culture, but globally communicates amongst its planets. However, that isn't to say items first developed on Omnè aren't more rare on Zail, they are and that rule applies both ways. A secret Nordian Recipe for "Nord Feast", would be less likely to be found on Omnè than it would Zailister (or even continents on Zailister other than the Nordian's native Glaciera). At the same time, Omnè Technologically Advanced Weapons (TAW) would be less likely to be found on Zailister than Omnè but the Characters Background allows them to choose TAW, unless the GM opposes this rule.
†The Omnè are further advanced in technology than any other human culture, not because they are the most inherently intelligent, but because they are the most ancient of all human cultures and their development further away from the main sun Adoria, hadn't allowed them to rely on magic.
‡The Fae predate every other race in Essentia, the oldest people in the world's history, present in the earliest myths of every culture that came after them. Their true homeworld is Tenue, a planet riding a similar orbital path to Zailister, just a bit closer to Adoria, shielded from that closeness by the same dense magical overgrowth that keeps its surface temperate. Fae are also native to Zailister itself, through the Veilwood, a hidden plane within Zailister's own forests that opens directly onto Tenue, grown from that same overgrowth. Veilwood is the heart of all magical and enchanted forest on Zailister, every enchanted grove and Fae-touched wood on the planet traces back to it, however distant, and Veilwood itself holds a direct magical path straight to Tenue. Fae are not yet available as a playable race in these rules. More on Tenue, and every other world, can be found in its own planetary volume and in Into the Uncharted Worlds of Essentia.
§The Primal of Ignis are the only other people whose lineage reaches back nearly as far as the Fae's, though theirs is the oldest continuously practiced way of life rather than the oldest race outright, see Primal, Playable Races from Afar below. Despite their close physical resemblance to humans, Primal are their own distinct race.
Ignis is home to two playable races so far: the Emberscale and the Primal (see Playable Races from Afar below).
Planet Two: Tenue
Tenue sits only barely closer to Adoria than Zailister, sharing a similar orbital path just nearer to the source, and that nearness is exactly where its magic comes from. By every measure of distance alone, Tenue should run hotter than Zailister. It doesn't. Tenue is cooler, its landscapes held temperate by the dense magical overgrowth blanketing the surface, foliage grown thick and old, fed by Adoria's raw magic at close range, and strong enough to turn back the sun's heat on its own.
Despite the cooler air, Tenue is never dim, unless underground, home of the Drow. It experiences blinding light during the day, and at night the skies stay bright, held that way by its neighboring third planet, which reflects Adoria's light back across Tenue's surface even after dark. Tenue has no moon of its own.
Tenue is the true homeworld of all Fae, and the source of the same magical overgrowth that protects it, overgrowth that reaches all the way to Zailister as the Veilwood, an enchanted forest holding a direct path between the two worlds.
Tenue isn't as hot as Zailister, even sitting closer to Adoria, because of the magical overgrowth protecting it.
- Excerpt from: Into the Uncharted Worlds of Essentia
Also see Species below (A link taking readers back to Goliath Races is at bottom of a description of all Species throughout Essentia).
Culture
Culture in SORC is not one thing, it is a set of them. A Character's Race sets their body; their Culture sets what that body was raised into, and it is drawn from several sources at once. None of them change a Character's Traits or Stats, two Humans have identical numbers whether one was raised Omnè and the other Nordian, what differs is what each was taught, what each has access to, and what each is expected to refuse.
The culture types recognised so far:
- Race Culture - the people a Character is born to, and the homeworld or region behind them (Omnè and Nordian Humans, Bridge and Mountain Trolls, the Primal of Ignis, the Fae of Tenue). See each race's own entry below.
- Background Culture - the upbringing chosen at creation, which can override birth entirely. Any Culture in Essentia may be taken by any race through Background, race sets no limit on it. A Dwarf raised among the Omnè counts as Omnè for cultural purposes, an Orcus raised Nordian counts as Nordian, and a Human raised among the Fae counts as Fae (see Backgrounds, above).
- Class Culture - a Path or Branch is itself a culture, with its own training, rites, tools, and taboos. This is the culture that decides which weapons a Character's Abilities are performed with, and which their tradition refuses outright (see below).
- Higher Power Culture - the patron a Character devotes to at LVL 4, which carries its own observances, its own foes, and its own list of traditions it will not share a Character with (see Higher Power, below).
- Regional Culture - where the campaign is set, which governs what is common to find, buy, or craft versus what is rare (see Cultural Armaments & Rarity, Appendix).
Human Cultures. Humans carry no bloodlines and no kinborns, every Human holds the same base stats, and what separates one from another is the culture they were raised in. The named Human cultures so far are the Nordian, the Eldrim, the Tanu'la, and the Xo'kajal, alongside the Humans raised among the Omnè. More are on the way.
Favored and Averse Classes. Every Race carries a list of Favored Classes, granting +5, and Averse Classes, taking -5 (see Favored and Averse Class Bonuses, below, and each Class's own entry, Basic Rules pg. 3). These are cultural, not biological: they reflect which traditions a people have long practiced and which sit at odds with how they live, not any limit on what a Character may become. A Race averse to a Class may still take it and excel, they simply start further back than someone raised to it.
Culture begins at LVL 4 and carries through. A Main Class Tier (Levels 1-3) carries no Culture of its own. A Class's three Paths have no cultural common ground to share, an Avenger's Cleric, Monk, and Priest hold only faith in common and nothing of how it is practiced, so nothing cultural can be stated at the Tier at all. Culture begins at LVL 4, when a Path is chosen, and that Path's Culture governs from there: its weapons, its armor, its forbidden armaments, its Higher Power. It carries through the Branch unchanged. A Branch is aligned to its own Path, not a fresh tradition, so it inherits that Path's Culture whole rather than starting one of its own. What a Branch may do is state exceptions, specific armaments its own practice permits or refuses where the Path does not, and those can loosen the Path's Culture as readily as tighten it. Anything a Branch does not name as an exception stays exactly as its Path set it (see each Class's Paths and Branches, Basic Rules pg. 3).
Background feeds Culture too. The Background chosen at creation is itself a cultural source and can override birth entirely. Any race may hold any Culture this way, there is no pairing a race is barred from: a Dwarf raised among the Omnè counts as Omnè for every cultural purpose, rarity and availability included, and the same holds for every other race and Culture in Essentia (see Backgrounds, above). Where a Background and a Path's Culture disagree, both apply, a Character raised to one tradition and trained into another carries the restrictions of each.
Class Culture and Armaments. Because a Class is a culture, its Abilities carry cultural restrictions on what performs them. Every Tier, Path, and Branch lists the weapons its Abilities are used with, and one must be readied to perform any Ability from that tree; weapons the tradition refuses are listed as Weapons Forbidden under that tree's Culture (see Required Weapons, Appendix). An Avenger is fully capable of swinging a TAW mace, their faith simply does not channel through manufactured technology, so no Avenger Ability comes of it. Basic ATTKs are never restricted this way, any Character may wield any weapon they can carry and attack with it normally (see Basic ATTKs and Ability ATTKs, Basic Rules pg. 5).
What a Culture governs. A Path's Culture speaks to four things, and a weapon or piece of armor has to clear all four to carry that Path's Abilities:
- Weapon Type and Style - what the tradition fights with, and which Types it refuses outright (see Required Weapons, Appendix).
- Material - what the thing is made of. Some traditions care more about this than about shape: an order that will touch nothing but wood refuses a steel mace and a bone club alike, however well either matches its Style.
- Variant - which Variants the tradition works with, and which it refuses outright (see Armament Variants, Basic Rules pg. 4).
- Armor - what may be worn while its Abilities are used. This is separate from the Armor Grade threshold and works differently, see below.
Armor: two rules, not one. A Path's Armor Grade threshold is about weight and mobility. Wearing heavier than the threshold never blocks an Ability, it costs a scaling Armament Penalty, and a high enough Trait score reduces that Penalty (see Armament Penalty, Appendix). A Path's Armor Forbidden list is about Culture instead, and no Trait touches it: armor a tradition refuses blocks its Abilities outright, the same way a forbidden weapon does, however light the piece happens to be. An order forbidden metal is barred from a light mail shirt as surely as from plate.
Building a Set. An Ability is performed with what is actually in hand and on the body. Both the weapon and the armor must be readied, and both must satisfy the Culture of whichever Path the Ability is drawn from, before that Ability can be performed at all. Characters therefore assemble Sets, a weapon and an armor loadout chosen together to keep one Path's Abilities available. A Character readies up to three weapons and one armor piece per game day (see Weapons Carried, Basic Rules pg. 4), so a Character drawing on more than one Path should build a Set that clears every Culture they intend to use that day. Where two Paths' Cultures cannot be satisfied at once, one tradition refusing metal while another requires it, that Character carries only one of them into the day and swaps at the next opportunity to change their Armament Set. Basic ATTKs are never part of this, they work with anything (see Basic ATTKs and Ability ATTKs, Basic Rules pg. 5).
Cultural Armaments. Every playable Race has Armaments tied to its own people, a Weapon Type, armor style, or technique unique to them. TAW (Technologically Advanced Weapons) and Chthonic are the two best known, but Troll-make weaponry and Ignis's Primal Armaments are equally cultural, and every Race carries its own whether written up yet or not. Each is rare outside that culture's reach and common only when the campaign sits within or near that culture's territory, or the Character belongs to it by Race or Background (see Cultural Armaments & Rarity, Appendix).
Why Omnè and Tredeki run oldest. The first cognitive, civilization-capable life in Essentia arose on Omnè Malum and Tredeki, before any other world, Zailister included (see the Age of Creation, Into the Uncharted Worlds of Essentia). That head start, not any innate edge, is why Omnè and Tredeki carry the oldest continuous manufacturing traditions on record, TAA and Techmat both trace back to it, and why every younger culture that copies them is doing exactly that, copying.
More to come... Culture is an expanding system. Religion, language, trade, kinship structures, and cultural Prestige are all planned to hang from this section in a later release, along with the full per-Race culture write-ups.
Innate Aptitude and Inaptitude
Aptitude and Inaptitude are Race and Kinborn Gifts or Burdens innately inherited by characters of that race. A Drow's darkvision is an Aptitude, as is a Gnome's ability to speak with burrowing Flora (like some fungi) and Fauna (like small animals). Each race carries innate passive Aptitudes and Inaptitudes, non-combat traits baked into their biology, heritage, and upbringing. These are always active and require no action to use. They cannot be removed, suppressed, or replaced by class choices, though some may be developed further through Talent Trees. Inaptitudes work the same way in reverse: they are permanent frictions that no amount of training fully eliminates, though their penalties can sometimes be offset by other bonuses. Aptitudes and Inaptitudes are separate from Trait scores and ATTR bonuses, they represent what a race simply is, not what a character has learned to do.
Neither side stays frozen at character creation. Every year of age lived, a character's Innate Aptitude advances on its own, following a fixed progression set per race, either deepening an Aptitude they already carry or manifesting an entirely new one at that stage, capped so no single Aptitude scales without limit. This advancement is tied directly to Growth progression. It isn't a choice the Player makes and it isn't random, every character of that race advances through the same set sequence, it just happens as a natural part of aging. Innate Inaptitude eases the same way but far more slowly: once every ten years of age lived, its penalty softens by a small, fixed amount, also following that race's set progression. It never fully disappears, a lifetime of living around it only takes the edge off.
Example, Drow:
- Dark Vision (Improved) - an early stage of natural growth deepens the Drow's existing Aptitude: sight in total darkness sharpens to pick out fine detail and faint color, and a sudden flare of bright light no longer briefly blinds and disorients them.
- Earth Mastery - a later stage of growth manifests an entirely new Aptitude instead: tunnels through loose earth or soil at 5 feet per turn; cannot burrow through solid stone or worked structures, and cannot attack while burrowing.
- Earth Mastery (Improved) - later still, Earth Mastery itself deepens further: burrow speed increases to 10 feet per turn, and while burrowing the Drow can sense footsteps and movement through the earth around them within 15 feet. This is as far as Earth Mastery grows.
Each starter race lists Favored affinities for Class Trees, Professions, Talent Trees, and Companions. Favored Professions grant bonus Experience (XP) toward proficiency LVLs (Apprentice, Journeyman, Expert, Artisan, Master, Grandmaster). Favored Talent Trees grant +1 to talent rolls in those trees. Favored Companion types bond in half the normal time at 25% reduced upkeep. Note: Innate Abilities can be developed further through Talent Trees, if a talent supersedes an innate inability, the talent takes precedence.
Favored Class Tree Bonuses
A race lists Favored Class Trees, and across its entire Favored list, only one Path may carry a deeper bonus, and only one Branch nested under that same Path may carry the deepest bonus. Every other Main Class Tree, Path, or Branch listed gets the flat bonus only.
A Favored Main Class Tree grants +5 to all Ability rolls made in that Class Tree. The single chosen Favored Path instead grants +7, total, replacing the flat +5 for that Path, and the single chosen Favored Branch instead grants +9, total, replacing the flat +5 for that Branch.
This bonus does not apply to Innate Aptitude or Miracles.
Each race's Innate Trait bonuses and penalties are listed below.
Innate Trait Alignment with Attributes
The Innate Trait bonus or penalty reflects the same score as its aligned ATTR. In the case there are more than one trait aligned with the same attribute, it is the highest score for bonuses or lowest score for penalties respectively. For instance, if a Race has Innate Trait bonus of STR +2 and AGI +1, both aligned with the ATTR Physique, that race's base ATTR SCR is +2 (the highest of the two). If the same Race has a Penalty of -3 in Wit and -2 in Intuition, both aligned to Vigilance (VIG), that Race's base ATTR SCR in VIG is -3 (the lower of the two).
Playable races are grouped below by size, the Zailister sizes first and the races from other planets after them. A race sets the body a character starts with: its Innate Trait adjustments, its starting ATTR floor, its Aptitude and Inaptitude, its lifespan, and the Classes and Companions it favors. Size decides reach and fit at the table, what a Goliath can put a hand on and where a Small race can go.
How the Races Are Sorted
Races are listed by Size first, Goliath, Standard, then Small. Within a Size they are listed by Firstborn, and a Firstborn may carry Bloodlines, Kinborn, or neither.
- Firstborn, the race itself. Every race has one.
- Bloodlines are their Firstborn in a different hue, each carrying bonuses that set it apart from the others. A Firstborn with Bloodlines has no default, and one is chosen at creation.
- Kinborn are sub races of their Firstborn, carrying different base stats. Not every Firstborn has them.
Example, Bloodlines. The Imperials are a Firstborn. Crimson, Onyx, Violet, Azure and Verdant are its Bloodlines, the same Imperial in a different hue, each with bonuses of its own. There is no plain Imperial to play, so a character is one of them. Drāco Blood runs the same way, six hues over the one Firstborn.
Example, Kinborn. The Dwarf is a Standard Size Firstborn. The Ash Dwarf is its Kinborn, carrying different base stats.
Example, neither. The Glimmerstone Dwarf is a Small Size Firstborn in its own right. It has no relation to the Standard Size Dwarf, and it carries no Bloodlines and no Kinborn.
Goliath Size Races
Goliaths are towering beings, typically standing between 7 to 9 feet tall, known for their impressive strength, endurance, and commanding presence.
Base Life: 60 | Base Mana: 24 | Base Stamina: 40 | Base Endurance: 35 | Base Speed: 40 ft. | Base Carry: 200 lbs | Size Bonus: +1 Strength, +1 Toughness | Size Penalty: -1 Agility, -1 Defense
Goliaths have the highest Stamina, Strength and Speed of any size tier, built for sustained physical dominance. Their Mana pool is lower than Standard and Small, while their mass favors physical strength and vigor over magical capacity.
Bast
Bast treat most encounters like a game they've already decided to win. Quick tongues and a knack for always landing on top, figuratively and otherwise, have earned them a reputation as charming liars and worse cardsharps. They're easy to underestimate and that's exactly how they prefer it; a Bast caught in a straight fight has usually already lost, but a Bast given an opening rarely needs a second one.
Bugbear
Bugbears are tall, broad-shouldered predators covered in coarse, bristled fur, built for both raw strength and the patience of a hunter. Despite their size, they move with surprising quiet through dense brush and rocky terrain, relying on ambush as often as brute force to bring down prey twice their size.
Centyr
Centyr, derived from the word "Center," a mythical race combining human-like features with various types of horns and matching animal lower bodies. Centyr beings possess a striking and unique appearance.
Firbolg
Firbolgs are gentle giants who carry themselves with a quiet, deliberate calm, more inclined to step around a conflict than start one. Their lives are spent deeply entwined with the natural world, tending to forests and wildlife with the same care others might reserve for family.
Of Fae lineage, however distant, descended from Tenue, through the Veilwood, into Zailister, same as Elves (see Fae, above).
Stories travelers tell of Firbolgs speaking with deer and trees aren't far off, a Firbolg can share simple thoughts with any animal or plant they can see, a quiet conversation that needs no words and no effort.
That same gentleness makes Firbolg slow to anger and slower still to act first, in a fight that demands a hard, fast decision, a Firbolg's instinct to step back can cost them the opening.
Race Culture
Firbolgs armor to end fights rather than start them. Broad, heavy and deliberately unthreatening in line, the work of a people who would rather absorb a blow and give the other side time to reconsider. Little ornament, and none of it martial. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 6 (+2 growth) | Apex Start 8 (+2 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+3 Intuition, +1 Piety | -2 Deceit, -2 Charisma, -1 Agility
Starting ATTR Floor
VIG 2, WIS 1
Innate Aptitude
Speak with Flora and Fauna | shares simple thoughts with any animal or plant within sight; passive, no roll required for basic exchanges.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to all rolls requiring a fast, aggressive first move; a Firbolg's instinct to step back costs them the opening in any sudden confrontation.
Lifespan: ~500 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 125 | Retirement Age: 165 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Druid +4 / Path: Hyborian +4 / Branch: Metamorpher +6
Favored Companions
1. Pet, a Small forest creature drawn to a Firbolg's quiet, gentle company. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Guardian, a Goliath-sized companion that watches over the woods a Firbolg tends. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Hawkbear
Hawkbears are imposing hybrids, a bear's dense frame and head, with a hawk's hooked beak and piercing, predatory eyes. They also feature loose folds of skin stretching from wrist to ankle that when stretched out allow them to glide, whether it's from a jumping start or off of a mountain's edge, far distances in the air.
Leshy
Massive, emerald-eyed beings from the frontiers of Tredeki, with bark-textured hide and vine-entwined hair-crests. They govern themselves under a strict tribal code of wilderness supremacy, the land is sacred, and those who cannot survive it have no authority over it.
Leshy measure status by survival, not lineage or wealth, a Leshy who has weathered the harshest seasons of Tredeki commands more respect in their tribe than one born into any title.
A Leshy steps off Tredeki without a currency anyone else recognizes, and the same directness that commands respect in the wild reads as outright hostility in a city, no Leshy holds rank or title once they've left their tribe's land behind.
Race Culture
A Leshy is already armored, bark hide granting protection before anything is strapped over it, so Leshy work is cut away rather than built up, leaving hide and vine-crests exposed and working. They wear Imperial Techmat when they wear anything manufactured at all, and they cut it down to suit, which Imperials consider vandalism. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Toughness, +2 Intuition, +1 Constitution, +1 Piety | -2 Charisma, -2 Deceit, -2 Knowledge
Starting ATTR Floor
VIG 2, PHY 2, Wisdom (WIS) 1
Innate Aptitude
Bark hide grants +3 natural Armor Scr. before armor is applied.
+2 to all wilderness survival, tracking, and foraging rolls.
Immune to natural poisons and toxins native to Tredeki.
Vine-crests allow passive communication with plant life, detect growth patterns, recent disturbance, or hidden paths.
Innate Inaptitude
Laser-credit systems only, Leshy do not recognize or use universal coin currency. Transactions off Tredeki require an intermediary.
-3 to all social rolls in urban or heavily structured environments, their tribal directness reads as aggression.
Cannot hold civic, political, or legal titles outside of Tredeki.
Lifespan: ~800 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 200 | Retirement Age: 240 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Druid +4 / Path: Hyborian +4 / Branch: Metamorpher +6
Shaman +5
Barbarian +5
Favored Companions
1. Pet, a Standard-sized companion drawn from Tredeki's wilderness alongside a Leshy. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Guardian, a Goliath-sized companion that helps a Leshy hold their tribe's land. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Ogre
Towering and muscular, ogres are known for their immense strength and ferocity in battle.
Troll
The Common Troll is a highly adaptable and versatile race, known for their exceptional resilience and resourcefulness. They possess a sturdy build with thick, leathery skin that provides natural protection.
Continue to full Troll Race Card
| Troll - Firstborn | Jack of all trades; Trait +2 Toughness, +1 Constitution |
| Bridge Troll - Kinborn | Riddle-wise; Trait +2 Wit, +1 Deceit | Perfect in cramped dark; edgy in open spaces. Full Card |
| Mountain Troll - Kinborn | Sure-footed climber; Trait +2 Toughness, +1 Warded | Scales cliffs with ease; poor at diplomacy. Full Card |
| Sand Troll - Kinborn | Dune walker; Trait +2 Constitution, +1 Deceit | Desert master; sluggish in cold. Full Card |
| Village Troll - Kinborn | Community guardian; chose civilization over solitary instincts; protective and dedicated. Full Card |
Standard Sized Races
Standard-sized races stand between 5 to 7 feet tall, offering a versatile and balanced physique suitable for a wide range of roles and Abilities.
Base Life: 50 | Base Mana: 32 | Base Stamina: 32 | Base Endurance: 35 | Base Speed: 30 ft. | Base Carry: 100 lbs | Size Bonus: None | Size Penalty: None
Standard races are the most balanced of the three size tiers, equal Mana and Stamina pools with no size-LVL strengths or weaknesses. What they lack in extremes they make up for in flexibility. Endurance is shared across all sizes at 30 and resets daily. Each race within this tier has its own innate trait bonuses and penalties, Innate Aptitude and Inaptitude, Favored Class Trees, companion affinities, Profession bonuses, Talent Tree preferences, and lifespan. These stack on top of the size base above.
Caelen
Remade by Astral Cabal experimentation, Caelen are cyborg beings of precision and calculation. They run on machine logic where flesh once guided them, and do not tire, do not err, and do not forget.
Continue to full Caelen Race Card
| Caelen - Firstborn | Cybernetic; Trait +2 Dexterity, +2 Knowledge, +1 Toughness, +1 Focus. Full Card |
Drâco Blood (Not Playable in Starter Set)
Dragon-blooded humans carrying lineage from one of six ancient bloodlines, chosen at character creation. Draco Blood characters bear innate charisma and draconic resilience, capable of wielding powerful draconic magic. Their bloodline determines their Elemental Aptitude and Favored Classes.
Continue to full Draco Blood Race Card
| Draco Blood - Firstborn | Draconic bloodline; Trait +2 Charisma, +1 Intuition, +1 Defense. Full Card |
| Red Draco - Kinborn | Fire-blooded; Favors Sorcerer; weak to ice. Full Card |
| Blue Draco - Kinborn | Ice-blooded; Favors Witch; weak to fire. Full Card |
| Black Draco - Kinborn | Shadow-blooded; Favors Strategist; weak to lightning. Full Card |
| White Draco - Kinborn | Arcane-blooded; Favors Magic User; weak to shadow. Full Card |
| Green Draco - Kinborn | Poison-blooded; Favors Witch; weak to nature. Full Card |
| Gold Draco - Kinborn | Nature-blooded; Favors Druid; weak to poison. Full Card |
Dwarf
Sturdy and resilient, Common Dwarves are known for their craftsmanship, endurance, and hearty nature. They thrive in mountain halls and underground cities, with a mastery of forging, stonework, and deep-earth navigation. Their tough physiques and unwavering determination make them formidable allies and resilient foes.
Continue to full Dwarf Race Card
| Dwarf - Firstborn | Master crafter; Trait +1 Toughness, +1 Dexterity, +1 Constitution, +1 Strength | Stone Sense, Dark Vision, Treasure Sense. Full Card |
| Arctic Dwarf - Kinborn | Frost-hardened; Trait +2 Constitution, +1 Warded | Immune to frostbite; wilt in heat. Full Card |
| Ash Dwarf - Kinborn | Forge-born; Trait +2 Warded, +1 Strength | Heat resistant; sluggish in cold and damp. Full Card |
| Red Dwarf - Kinborn | Fire alchemist; Fire magic and jewel crafting master; manipulates fire and its elements. Full Card |
Elf
Graceful forest dwellers skilled in archery and nature magic, living in harmony with their woodland environment. Of Fae lineage, descended from Tenue, through the Veilwood, into Zailister.
Continue to full Elf Race Card
| Elf - Firstborn | Forest archer; Trait +2 Agility, +1 Wit | Nature Sense, Forest Navigation, Immortal. Full Card |
| Arch Elf - Kinborn | Eldest line; Trait +2 Wit, +1 Piety | First Tongue; reads ancient work and magic; distrusts recent methods. Full Card |
Elf (High) (Not Playable in Starter Set)
Descendants of the Arch Elves, High Elves are versatile spellcasters and ranged combatants with a deep appreciation for knowledge and tradition.
Like all Elves, of Fae lineage, descended from Tenue, through the Veilwood, into Zailister (see Fae, above).
High Elves carry themselves with the unhurried confidence of a people who measure time in centuries rather than years. They are said to never forget a face, a name, or a slight, recalling decades-old detail comes to them as easily as recalling yesterday.
Centuries of memory cut both ways, a High Elf rarely lets go of an old slight, and grudges that should've faded generations ago still color how they treat certain names and bloodlines.
Race Culture
Mithril is High Elf work, and for it Mould, Grade and Type collapse into a single thing that appears at no other Grade. Their other sets, robes and light ceremonial plate, are made to carry knowledge and rank as much as protection. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 2 (+1 growth) | Apex Start 8 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Agility, +1 Wit | -2 Strength, -2 Constitution, -1 Deceit
Starting ATTR Floor
INT 1, PHY 2
Innate Aptitude
Unfading Memory | never forgets a face, name, or slight; +2 to Knowledge rolls made to recall decades-old detail.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to social rolls with names or bloodlines tied to an old grudge; a High Elf rarely lets go of a slight, however ancient.
Lifespan: Immortal, begins adventuring later and retires later than most races (see Starting Age and Retirement Age below, and Time, pg. 4)
Starting Age: 100 | Retirement Age: 140 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Sorcerer +4 / Path: Seer +4 / Branch: Mystic +6
Bard +5
Favored Companions
1. Fellowship, a Standard humanoid companion who shares a High Elf's long memory and tradition. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Pet, a Small companion kept for centuries of quiet company. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Drow (Not Playable in Starter Set)
Solitary and feared, Drow wield black magic drawn from the earth itself, associated with death, darkness, and hidden power, known to bring disease and nightmares upon those who cross their path. The Underhold runs beneath Nivis and answers to them. Rarely seen by surface-dwellers without intent, an encounter with a Drow is seldom a fortunate one. Descendants of the formidable, spider-blood infused Ancient Drow, a pact broke away thousands of years ago, shedding that lineage over the millennia and becoming what is known today simply as Drow.
Distantly of Fae lineage, the Ancient Drow they descend from broke from that origin generations ago through the pact that reshaped their bloodline, leaving little of it recognizable today.
Drow are said to see perfectly in total darkness, treating the deepest cave or moonless night as no obstacle at all, light, when it comes, is the only thing that ever truly inconveniences them.
Centuries spent avoiding the surface and its light have left Drow with a reputation that precedes them everywhere they go, most surface-dwellers respond to a Drow with suspicion or open hostility long before they've done anything to earn it.
Race Culture
Drow armament is built to defeat sight and sound before it defeats a blade, matte, jointed, and silent underground. The black magic they work is bound into the material itself as often as cast from it, which is why Drow sets are rarely worn comfortably by anyone else. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 3 (+1 growth) | Apex Start 8 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Agility, +1 Wit | -2 Strength, -2 Piety, -1 Charisma
Starting ATTR Floor
Intellect (INT) 1, PHY 2
Innate Aptitude
Dark Vision | sees perfectly in total darkness, treating the deepest cave or moonless night as no obstacle at all.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to all rolls made in direct sunlight; light is the only thing that ever truly inconveniences a Drow.
-2 to social rolls with surface-dwellers who respond to a Drow with suspicion or open hostility on sight.
Lifespan: Immortal, begins adventuring later and retires later than most races (see Starting Age and Retirement Age below, and Time, pg. 4)
Starting Age: 100 | Retirement Age: 140 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Warlock +4 / Path: Bloodlock +4 / Branch: Vampire +6
Strategist +5
Witch +5
Favored Companions
1. Guardian | Mount: Theowarg, a Standard-sized wolf-boar hybrid bred for war, fighting fiercely at a Drow's side and carrying them swiftly through total darkness. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Pet | Nightcrawler, a Small spider-kin companion descended from the Ancient Drow's bloodline, moving silently through the dark alongside its Drow. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Vila (Not Playable in Starter Set)
Vila keep to high meadows and the ridges that sit in cloud, and they are most often met dancing, a ring worn into the grass that is still there long after they are not.
A Vila's strength is in her hair. Loose, she rides the wind and shoots from it. Bound, cut or covered, she is as ordinary as anyone standing in a field.
They heal as readily as they kill, and hold to a sworn sisterhood more strictly than most peoples hold to law. A Vila who has sworn to a mortal will cross a war to reach them.
Like all Elves, of Fae lineage, descended from Tenue, through the Veilwood, into Zailister (see Fae, above).
Race Culture
Vila work is made to be worn in wind and never to be worn heavy, layered cloth cut long and a bow that is theirs before it is a weapon. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 3 (+1 growth) | Apex Start 7 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+3 Agility, +1 Intuition | -2 Strength, -2 Toughness
Starting ATTR Floor
PHY 2, ART 1
Innate Aptitude
Windstep | moves with the wind rather than through it; +2 to rolls made on open high ground and against airborne targets.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to all rolls while her hair is bound, cut or covered; a Vila carries her strength in it and knows the moment it is taken.
Lifespan: Immortal, begins adventuring later and retires later than most races (see Starting Age and Retirement Age below, and Time, pg. 4)
Starting Age: 100 | Retirement Age: 140 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Marksman +4 / Path: Bowman +4 / Branch: Archer +6
Bard +5
Favored Companions
1. Pet, a Small swan or falcon that keeps to a Vila's ridge. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Guardian, a Standard-sized companion that holds the ring while a Vila dances. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Haugfolk (Not Playable in Starter Set)
Fae-descended folk dwelling within ancient mounds, unseen unless they choose to be seen. Masters of hidden places and the magic that dwells underground.
Continue to full Haugfolk Race Card
| Haugfolk - Firstborn | Mound-dweller; Trait +2 Toughness, +1 Knowledge; Mound-Hidden, immortal. Full Card |
Emberscale
Cold-blooded reptilian humanoids native to Ignis's ash fields and lava-carved caverns, their scaled hide drinking in heat rather than suffering it. Lean and broad-shouldered, standing a head taller than a Human on average, an Emberscale's scales run in deep ember-red or ash-black, veined with thin seams that glow dull orange when they've basked recently. Their eyes burn a solid, pupil-less amber, and a low ridge of hardened scale runs from brow to the base of a short, blunt tail. They live scattered between the world's wandering fire elementals and golems, and many Emberscale tribes venerate them as kin rather than fear them.
An Emberscale resting near an open flame or lava flow doesn't just tolerate the heat, they draw strength from it, recovering faster than they would anywhere cooler.
That same body turns sluggish fast the moment the temperature drops, an Emberscale caught in snow or deep cold moves and thinks like someone twice their age.
Race Culture
Emberscale hide drinks heat rather than suffering it, so their tradition is the thinnest on Ignis, worked to shed weight and let the scales do the work. What they do build is heat-forged where Primal work is hand-bound, the two traditions have shared the same ash fields for as long as either remembers, and each has taken from the other. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 8 (+5 growth) | Apex Start 2 (+2 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Toughness, +2 Resistance, +1 Constitution | -2 Agility, -1 Wit, -1 Charisma
Starting ATTR Floor
PHY 2, RES 2
Innate Aptitude
Sunbasked | resting within 10 ft. of open flame, lava, or intense heat restores Vitality at double the normal Spirit rate.
+2 to Resistance rolls against fire and heat-based hazards; immune to non-magical fire damage from natural heat sources such as lava or open flame.
Natural claws deal +1 unarmed damage.
Innate Inaptitude
-3 to all rolls in cold or freezing environments; movement speed halved below freezing temperatures unless magically warmed.
-2 to social rolls with races unaccustomed to reptilian features.
Lifespan: ~120 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 30 | Retirement Age: 70 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Barbarian +4 / Path: Cimmerian +4 / Branch: Bloodrager +6
Shaman +5
Favored Companions
1. Guardian, a Standard-sized companion that helps an Emberscale hold their ground near the flows. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Pet, a Small companion drawn from Ignis's ash fields alongside an Emberscale. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Gnoll
Gnolls live and fight as a pack first, individual second, a lone Gnoll is rare, and rarer still is a happy one. Tribal hierarchy is settled through strength and is rarely questioned once decided.
Human
The most versatile of all races, humans are natural communicators, traders, and survivors. Their adaptability has allowed them to establish cultures across every corner of Essentia. Humans carry no separate sub-race, every human shares the same Traits and Stats regardless of upbringing, see Culture, above, for how Omnè, Nordian, and every other human culture differ in practice rather than in body.
No two human settlements look quite alike, and that's the point, whatever the terrain, climate, or culture demands, humans bend to fit it faster than almost any other race, picking up new trades, gods, and customs within a generation or two.
Humans carry no innate edge in any one craft or fighting style, leaning instead on raw adaptability, and a human who goes too long without picking up something new starts to lose standing fast, restlessness being as core to them as versatility.
That versatility is why Humans are the one race Favored across every single Main Class in the book, no other race carries a bonus this wide, reflecting a Human's ability to pick up any calling and hold their own in it.
Human Cultures. The named Human cultures are the Nordian, the Tanu'la, the Xo'kajal, and the Eldrim, alongside the Humans raised among the Omnè. More are on the way. A culture is not a kinborn, every Human holds the same base Traits and Stats whichever one raised them. A Human may also be raised into any culture in Essentia, Human or otherwise, through their Background, and any race may be raised into a Human culture the same way (see Culture, above).
Race Culture
Tactical Armor and Tactical Gear are Human work, invented on Zailister and traded everywhere. Modular panels and mounts reconfigured for the job rather than committed at the forge. Humans invented little of it outright, it is dwarven plate cut into panels and Omnè hardware copied badly and then copied well. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 5 (+2 growth) | Apex Start 5 (+2 growth) (Only race with equal values - baseline for balance)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+1 Courage, +1 Charisma, +1 Deceit | -1 Toughness, -1 Intuition, -1 Piety
Starting ATTR Floor
ART 1, FRT 1
Innate Aptitude
Begin with 2 additional spoken languages. +2 to all language rolls except Demonic, Draconic, and Ancient Primordial (requires a talent or cultural background to learn).
+2 to social rolls (negotiation, persuasion, de-escalation).
Can learn the first ability in any new Class Tree without seeking a trainer.
Once per session, after a failed non-combat roll, may immediately attempt it again with +2 added to the result.
Innate Profession: Body Artist. Begins with Apprentice-LVL expertise.
Innate Inaptitude
No race-based bonus to any single Profession, Talent Tree, or armament type.
3+ sessions without progressing a Class Tree or Profession: -1 to Prestige rolls until they do.
Lifespan: ~80 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 20 | Retirement Age: 60 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Fighter +4 / Path: Hero +4 / Branch: Combatant +6
Overseer +5
Marksman +5
Doom Knight +5
Warlock +5
Shaman +5
Tyrant +5
Warrior +5
Favored Companions
1. Fellowship, a Standard humanoid companion who travels and trades alongside a Human. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Draft, a Standard-sized working animal suited to a Human's adaptable lifestyle. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Imperial (Not Playable in Starter Set)
Humans carrying the lineage of one of five ancient bloodlines, chosen at character creation. Imperials bear innate charisma and a body that shifts its own coloring at will, capable of wielding powerful mind-magic. Imperials favor spells over martial combat, their frail build turning them toward the mind rather than the blade, and every bloodline carries this the same way, only the School it's spent on differs. Their bloodline determines their Favored School, granting a bonus to rolls, damage, and resistance involving their aligned School, and a penalty against its opposite where applicable. The main Imperial bloodline favors Psychic, the future-telling School; every other bloodline favors one face of Psionic instead, Telekinesis, Clairvoyance, Metacreativity, and Psychometabolism each a named discipline within it, alongside Psionic itself, unfocused and general.
Every Imperial Bloodline is penalised in the Psychic School, the one none of them answers to.
Crimson (Telekinesis | penalty: Psychic), Onyx (Clairvoyance | penalty: Psychic), Violet (Metacreativity | penalty: Psychic), Azure (Psionic | penalty: Psychic), Verdant (Psychometabolism | penalty: Psychic).
All five share the same random gene pool for hair and eye color, ranging across the full spectrum. During the day, lighter bloodlines blend into their surroundings, and during the night, Onyx does the same. Their native planet is Tredeki, where they are the dominant race. Imperials are chaotic neutral by default, though their alignment is shaped by their culture and where on Tredeki they're from.
Imperials can shift the intensity of their natural coloring at will, fading into shadow or blending into a crowd until someone's looking right at them, most outsiders write it off as a trick of the light.
That same shifting unpredictability that lets Imperials blend in works against them just as often, few outsiders fully trust someone whose loyalties and appearance are both known to change at will.
| Bloodline | Favored School | Weakness | Favored Class (Tier) / Path / Branch | Averse Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crimson | Telekinesis | Psychic | Warlock (Tier) +3 / Path: (TBA) +5 / Branch: (TBA) +7 | (Averse Class TBA) |
| Onyx | Clairvoyance | Psychic | Witch (Tier) +3 / Path: (TBA) +5 / Branch: (TBA) +7 | (Averse Class TBA) |
| Violet | Metacreativity | Psychic | Bard (Tier) +3 / Path: (TBA) +5 / Branch: (TBA) +7 | (Averse Class TBA) |
| Azure | Psionic | Psychic | Sorcerer (Tier) +3 / Path: (TBA) +5 / Branch: (TBA) +7 | (Averse Class TBA) |
| Verdant | Psychometabolism | Psychic | Druid (Tier) +3 / Path: (TBA) +5 / Branch: (TBA) +7 | (Averse Class TBA) |
Race Culture
Techmat is Imperial work. Frail by build, with no natural protection and an eye for making, the Imperials answered Omnè's manufactured armor with a laminated psi-conductive mat pressed in plies, tuned to carry psionics the way no other TABA does. It is the dominant armament of Tredeki and it stops at Heavy Grade by nature. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 3 (+2 growth) | Apex Start 9 (+2 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Charisma, +1 Wit | -2 Constitution, -2 Toughness, -1 Courage
Starting ATTR Floor
Artistry (ART) 2, Intellect (INT) 1
Innate Aptitude
Chromatic Shift | shifts the intensity of natural coloring at will, fading into shadow or blending into a crowd; +2 to Stealth and Deceit rolls made to avoid notice.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to social rolls building lasting trust; the same shifting unpredictability that lets an Imperial blend in leaves outsiders unsure their loyalties and appearance won't change too.
Lifespan: Immortal, begins adventuring later and retires later than most races (see Starting Age and Retirement Age below, and Time, pg. 4)
Starting Age: 100 | Retirement Age: 140 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes (by Bloodline)
See Imperials Bloodlines table above. Each bloodline favors a specific Class Tree aligned with its Favored School.
Favored Companions
1. Fellowship, a Standard humanoid companion who blends into a crowd alongside an Imperial. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Pet, a Standard-sized companion that shifts its coloring to match an Imperial's surroundings. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Orcus
The Orcus dwell deep beneath the heights of the Tantalizing Mountains in the Grimhold region of Nivis, Zailister's largest continent. Subterranean dwellers who long ago retreated from the sun into deep cavern kingdoms, the Orcus trace their name and lineage to old funerary rites and broken oaths, said to be the cursed inheritors of those who swore false vows over the dead. Generations underground have left their skin pale and sunken, and they carry an old, instinctive hatred of bards and everything they stand for. Humans, Elves, and Dwarves call them "Orcus" | a slanderous outsider's term with no root in Orcus history, used to lump them in with savage stock; no Orcus answers to it without taking offense.
Humans, both settlers and of Noble forces, have claimed and fortified the land east of the range and work the mountains as miners, making expeditions there extremely dangerous | miners are frequent targets of Orcus ambushes and raids. Because the humans and nobility in the area are heavily fortified, the Orcus spend most of their time deep under the range, surfacing mainly at the northernmost and highest peaks, where the cliffs are battered by the waves of the Umbra Ocean. Deadtooth Pass is the road both sides need and neither holds for long. War has broken out between the Orcus and the human settlers before, and it will again, once both sides have licked their wounds and resupplied.
An Orcus moving through pitch-black tunnels reads the stone the way a sighted creature reads a room, and that same old curse leaves them with an unsettling knack for knowing the moment someone's spoken word becomes a lie | a broken oath rings as loud to an Orcus as a shout in an empty cave.
Drag an Orcus out under open sky for too long and that pale, sunken skin starts working against them fast, while the mere sound of a lute or a bard's voice raised in song is enough to set their temper instantly and dangerously short.
Race Culture
Orcus armament is grave-iron and salvaged human steel, hooded against a sun their skin cannot take and deliberately open at the ear so Stonesense is never sealed away. That opening is the culture's trade-off, and against a bard it costs them dearly. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 7 (+3 growth) | Apex Start 3 (+2 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Strength, +2 Constitution | -2 Charisma, -2 Piety
Starting ATTR Floor
PHY 2
Innate Aptitude
Stonesense | navigate and sense movement through solid rock and tunnels without light; immune to underground darkness penalties.
Oathsense | instinctively senses when a sworn vow or promise has just been broken nearby; +2 to Insight rolls involving lies tied to oaths or promises.
+2 to all rolls made in enclosed, underground, or mining environments.
Innate Inaptitude
Sunlight sensitivity | -2 to all rolls during extended exposure to direct sunlight; Stonesense bonuses do not function outdoors.
Cannot resist provoked aggression toward Bards | must pass a Composure check to avoid attacking a Bard on sight.
-2 to all social rolls with parties aware of the Orcus's cursed lineage.
Lifespan: ~180 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 45 | Retirement Age: 85 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Tyrant +4 / Path: Berserker +4 / Branch: Fury +6
Doom Knight +5
Shaman +5
Warlock +5
Favored Companions
1. Theowarg, a Standard-sized wolf-boar hybrid draft/mount bred for war. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Tunnelmole, a Small burrowing pet that sniffs out ore veins and tunnel collapses before they happen. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Ossein
The Ossein died and kept going, and they will tell you the second part is the only part that matters. Skin still covers them, drawn so tight to the frame that every joint reads through it, but it never rotted and it never sloughed, which is the line they draw between themselves and everything else walking Hexagonum. They are not wraiths. They will correct you on that.
Continue to full Ossein (Hexagonum, Standard Size, Undead) Race Card
Primal
A prehistoric, tribal people who never adopted metal tools or written language, relying instead on stone, bone, and instinct passed down hunter to hunter across generations on Ignis's ash fields. Tall and lean, built with wiry, corded muscle rather than bulk, with nutmeg-toned skin and coarse, ash-grayed hair worn in tight braids or shaved close to keep it out of a fight, a Primal is easy to pick out of a crowd by their tattoos alone, ash-ink worked into deep charcoal-black lines across the arms, chest, and scalp. They live in scattered bands between the wandering fire elementals and golems that call the world home, reading omens in their movements rather than fearing them. Every scar and kill earns a tattoo, worked into the skin with ash-ink and a bone needle, the most sacred marks are placed where the wearer will never see them, on the back of the skull, meant only for whoever stands behind them.
Skrath
Wiry, fast-moving reptilian humanoids native to the frontiers of Tredeki, sharing the planet with the Leshy but operating nothing like them. Where the Leshy govern through structure and reverence for the land, the Skrath run in loose packs with no formal hierarchy, leadership is earned in the moment and changes fast. Their defining trait is rapid cellular regeneration, wounds that would sideline most races close on a Skrath within minutes. They live short, violent lives and seem fine with it. The Leshy consider them reckless. The Skrath consider the Leshy insufferably slow.
A Skrath's wounds rarely slow them down for more than a few minutes, and the pack rarely waits around for the slow ones to catch up.
Outside Tredeki, a Skrath's lack of formal rank or title leaves most strangers unsure how to treat them, and a Skrath who tries to claim authority somewhere structured rarely finds anyone willing to recognize it.
Race Culture
Skrath armament is almost nothing, and deliberately. Wounds close on a Skrath within minutes, so weight and coverage cost more than they return, and a pack that does not wait for the slow does not wait for the armored either. Claws serve where a weapon would, and what little they wear is scavenged, rarely matched, and never mended. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Agility, +2 Constitution, +1 Toughness | -2 Knowledge, -2 Charisma, -2 Piety
Starting ATTR Floor
PHY 2
Innate Aptitude
Rapid regeneration, recover 2 Vitality per round in and out of combat.
Natural weapons (claws, bite) deal +2 unarmed damage.
+2 to all tracking, ambush, and close-quarters combat rolls.
Pack instinct, +1 to all rolls when at least two allies are within melee range.
Innate Inaptitude
Cannot hold titles, ranks, or civic roles, no structured authority is recognized.
-3 to all social rolls outside of Tredeki.
Cannot use heavy armor, too restrictive for their movement style.
No affinity for magic study or formal learning.
Lifespan: ~40 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 10 | Retirement Age: 50 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Barbarian +5 | Cimmerian +7 | Berserker +9
Shaman +5
Marksman +5
Favored Companions
1. Stormstrider, a Goliath-sized giant feathered plains runner, storm-sensing and built for Tredeki's frontiers. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Guardian, a Standard-sized companion that runs with a Skrath's pack. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Small Size Races
Small races are typically between 3 to 5 feet tall, characterized by their agility, stealth, and dexterity, making them excellent at sneaking and navigating tight spaces.
Base Life: 40 | Base Mana: 40 | Base Stamina: 24 | Base Endurance: 35 | Base Speed: 25 ft. | Base Carry: 50 lbs | Size Bonus: +1 Agility, +1 Defense | Size Penalty: -1 Strength, -1 Toughness
Quicker Feet: Small races move at 25 ft. base speed and can change direction at every 5 ft. square without penalty, cutting corners, reversing course mid-stride, and slipping through gaps in ways larger bodies simply can't follow. When a Small race is on the move, predicting where they're going is half the problem.
Small races have the highest Mana pool of any size tier and are the quickest on their feet thanks to Quicker Feet. Their Stamina is lower than Goliath and Standard, and their Life is the lowest, they are not built for prolonged physical punishment. Each race within this tier has its own innate trait bonuses and penalties, Innate Aptitude and Inaptitude, Favored Class Trees, companion affinities, Profession bonuses, Talent Tree preferences, and lifespan. These stack on top of the size base above.
Brownling
Charming smallfolk born of Halfling blood and the Brownie Fae race of the wilderness, Brownlings carry slightly pointed ears and an earthy, luminescent complexion that bestows their dual heritage. With deep cultural roots and a gift for artistic expression, they excel in Fae and nature magic, weaving gentle enchantments with ease. Brownlings are also elusive and keen characters making for good rogue and thief roles.
Of Fae lineage through their Brownie Fae parentage, tracing back to Tenue, through the Veilwood, into Zailister, same as Elves (see Fae, above).
Although adventurous, Brownlings are naturally reclusive and like being home, and with a touch of magic, tending a woodland or upkeeping a household comes naturally to them. Masters of craftsmanship, upkeep and stealth, little escapes their notice or their hands.
That homebound streak runs deep, a Brownling pulled too far or too long from their household or woodland grows visibly anxious, and their craftsmanship suffers the longer they're away from a proper hearth.
Race Culture
Brownling work is Fae-touched smallfolk craft, earthy, light and quietly enchanted more often than not. Little of it is made for war, and what is tends to have been a gift rather than a purchase. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 3 (+1 growth) | Apex Start 7 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Charisma, +1 Knowledge | -2 Strength, -2 Toughness, -1 Intuition
Starting ATTR Floor
Artistry (ART) 2, Wisdom (WIS) 1
Innate Aptitude
Hearthcraft | gentle Fae-touched skill with craftsmanship, upkeep, and stealth; +2 to rolls made tending a woodland or household.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to all rolls made far or long from home; a Brownling pulled away from their household or woodland grows visibly anxious.
Lifespan: ~150 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 38 | Retirement Age: 78 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Bard +4 / Path: Strumalong +4 / Branch: Stroller +6
Marksman +5
Favored Companions
1. Pet, a Tiny woodland companion that keeps close to a Brownling's hearth. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Fellowship, a Small humanoid companion who shares a Brownling's household and craft. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Drevane
The original inhabitants of planet Omne Malum, older than any recorded history on the planet and deeply tied to its ecosystem. When Tawdry Dwarf began its long death and the atmosphere of Omnè shifted into something hostile, the Drevane did not build around it. They adapted to it. Over generations their bodies absorbed the pressure, hardened against the toxins, and evolved to thrive in conditions that drove the Omnè settlers into suits. They are watchers and keepers, they remember what Omnè was before Tawdry started dying and they do not share that knowledge freely. They do not oppose the Omnè's construction projects, but they do not help either.
A Drevane doesn't need to roll to catch a shift in pressure or a whiff of corrupted air, they simply notice, no test required, where anyone else might roll and miss it entirely.
A Drevane's hands were never made for circuitry or machinery, and what they know of Omnè's past, they keep close, walk one into a city of steel and glass and watch them grow visibly uneasy, trusting the feel of open ground over anything built.
Race Culture
Drevane armament predates every factory on their own world. As Omnè's original inhabitants they built from the ecosystem they are tied to, fibre, resin and shell, and they were wearing it long before TABA existed. Most Drevane now wear Omnè tech like everyone else, and a Drevane who still works the old organic patterns is making a point about who was there first. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 1 (+0 growth) | Apex Start 4 (+0 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Constitution, +2 Toughness, +1 Intuition | -2 Charisma, -1 Agility, -1 Knowledge
Starting ATTR Floor
Vigilance (VIG) 1, Physique (PHY) 2
Innate Aptitude
Immune to gas, toxin, and atmospheric hazards native to Omnè.
Thick, hardened skin grants +2 natural Armor Scr. before armor is applied.
+2 to all survival and endurance rolls.
Passive environmental awareness, can detect atmospheric changes, pressure shifts, and incoming hazards before others register them.
Innate Inaptitude
No affinity for technology or engineered solutions. -2 to all technology and crafting rolls.
Do not share knowledge freely, -2 to social rolls involving information exchange with outsiders.
Deeply distrustful of artificial structures, -2 in heavily urban or industrial environments.
Lifespan: ~900 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 225 | Retirement Age: 265 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Shaman +4 / Path: Primordial +4 / Branch: Whisperer +6
Barbarian +5
Druid +5
Favored Companions
1. Draft, a Standard-sized working animal hardened against Omnè's hostile atmosphere alongside a Drevane. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Guardian, a Standard-sized companion that helps a Drevane keep watch over Omnè's old ecosystem. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Dwarf
Glimmerstone Dwarves are renowned as Master miners and treasure hunters, with an exceptional talent for uncovering hidden gems and enchanted materials deep within the earth. Their keen senses and innate connection to the mineral veins allow them to detect valuable deposits that others might overlook. They possess an Aptitude called "Mineral Instincts," which enables them to sense the origins and true potential of the materials around them.
Glimmerstone blood runs part dwarf, part Fae, a lineage struck generations back somewhere in the deepest veins they still mine today. That Fae inheritance shows in short, uncanny bursts of speed, a Glimmerstone Dwarf vanishing from one spot for a heartbeat before reappearing already standing in another.
Additionally, they have a skill called "Greed," which involves marking a target so that as it is defeated, it yields increased chances of Rare treasures and enchanted loot. While they excel at hunting for materials, these Dwarves prefer the thrill of discovery over crafting, focusing their skills on unearthing the most valuable resources. This combination of instincts and the active "Greed" effect gives them a significant edge in exploration and resource gathering, helping them uncover the game's most coveted treasures with ease.
That instinct for treasure cuts both ways, a Glimmerstone Dwarf finds it almost physically difficult to walk past unclaimed valuables, even when doing so is clearly the smarter call. Their greed is not subtle, and it does not stop at outsiders, Glimmerstone Dwarves haggle, needle, and undercut one another over a single gem with the same unattractive hunger they'd show a stranger, kinship counts for little once coin or treasure is on the table. What keeps that hunger from costing them everything is the charm to back it up, Glimmerstone Dwarves are natural schmoozers and superb barterers, talking a fair price down to a steal with a smile the other party doesn't realize they should distrust. It helps that they're cute, round faces and bright eyes that put strangers at ease, and that cuteness is deceptive, underneath it Glimmerstone Dwarves are mean, calculating people who've learned to perform charm rather than feel it, all the better to close a deal.
Glimmerstone Dwarves favor light or delicate armor over their kin's heavier plates, trading protection for the speed and reach their treasure-hunting demands. On their feet they wear only cobblers of their own making, wooden shoes carved rather than stitched, shaped with the same sculpting tools they turn to art and ornament. A well-made pair never wears out, and a Glimmerstone Dwarf takes more pride in their cobblers than in almost anything else they own, save perhaps whatever treasure they haven't found yet.
Race Culture
Glimmerstone Dwarves draw ring and wire finer than any other people, and chain in all its forms is their work. Master miners fund master metallurgy, and what they do not wear they trade, which is why mail is everywhere and plate is not. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 7 (+2 growth) | Apex Start 3 (+2 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Intuition, +3 Deceit, +2 Charisma | -2 Piety, -1 Agility, -1 Defense
Starting ATTR Floor
ART 3, VIG 1
Innate Aptitude
Mineral Instincts | senses the origins and true potential of nearby materials; +2 to rolls made to locate hidden gems or enchanted materials underground.
Greed | marks a defeated target, yielding increased chances of Rare treasure and enchanted loot.
Glimmer Step | Fae-blooded burst of speed, vanishing for a moment before reappearing several feet away at any spot within sight, once per encounter.
Innate Inaptitude
Cannot pass unclaimed valuables without attempting to investigate or claim them, even against better judgment.
Lifespan: ~400 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 100 | Retirement Age: 140 (see Time, pg. 4)
Starting Gold: 150 (see Starting Equipment, pg. 2)
Favored Classes
Strategist +4 / Path: Rogue +4 / Branch: Recon +6
Magic User +5 | Trickster +7
Favored Companions
1. Pet, a Small companion with a knack for sniffing out hidden gems alongside its Glimmerstone Dwarf owner. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Draft, a Standard-sized working animal that hauls a Glimmerstone Dwarf's mining hauls. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Gnome
Gnomes treat every locked door, broken machine, or half-finished contraption as a personal challenge, rarely able to walk past one without stopping to tinker. Their burrows honeycomb the Rooted Hollows. Their small, wrinkled faces carry an almost mole-like look, a soft, blunted snout and squinted, light-sensitive eyes suited to long hours spent tinkering underground.
A Gnome can take apart and reassemble most mechanical devices on sight, often improving on the original design without meaning to, though just as often leaving it rigged with an unplanned side effect.
A Gnome can't walk past a broken lock or stalled contraption without stopping to fix it, no matter the timing, and their hands were never built to swing anything heavier than a wrench, subtlety in conversation fares about as well, since they tend to interrupt to explain how something works.
Race Culture
Gnomish armament is a contraption before it is a defence, hinged, catch-fitted and full of ideas that mostly work. No two sets are alike because no Gnome has ever finished improving one. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 2 (+2 growth) | Apex Start 9 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+3 Wit, +1 Deceit | -5 Strength
Starting ATTR Floor
ART 1, Intellect (INT) 3
Innate Aptitude
Speak with burrowing Flora (such as fungi) and Fauna (such as small burrowing animals). Passive, no roll required for basic communication; complex exchanges may require a Wit check at GM discretion.
Flora and Fauna Handling: naturally adept at caring for, calming, and handling plants and animals. No roll required for non-hostile creatures in calm conditions; reduces handling difficulty for agitated or exotic creatures.
Artist: gifted in all articulate arts, intricate craftsmanship, music, and illusionary expression. +2 to rolls involving fine art, performance, and illusion-based magic or trickery.
Engineering Prowess: +1 to all mechanical interactions, devices, traps, constructs, locks, and engineered systems.
Innate Inaptitude
Compulsive tinkering, cannot leave a broken device, lock, or mechanism alone without attempting to fix it, even mid-mission.
-2 to all Strength-based rolls; cannot wield Standard or larger 2h weapons.
-2 to social rolls requiring patience or subtlety, Gnomes tend to interrupt to explain how something works.
Lifespan: ~400 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 100 | Retirement Age: 140 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Bard +4 / Path: Strumalong +4 / Branch: Plucker +6
Magic User +5
Favored Companions
1. Mechanical, a Small constructed companion a Gnome tinkers with constantly. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Pet, a Tiny burrowing companion drawn to a Gnome's mole-like senses. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Goblorc
Goblorcs combine a goblin's quick mind with an orc's brute frame, building war camps that run on cleverness as much as muscle, the smartest goblorc in a camp usually outranks the strongest.
A Goblorc can read a battlefield or a building's layout in moments, instinctively spotting where a trap, ambush, or shortcut would work best, often before they've even finished walking it.
A Goblorc's cleverness rarely earns trust from either side of their bloodline, orcs see them as too small and sly to lead from the front, while goblins see them as too brutish to out-think a real plan, leaving most Goblorcs without a clear place in either society's hierarchy.
Race Culture
Goblorc war camps run on cleverness as much as muscle, and their armament shows both, orcish bulk assembled to a goblin's plan. Scavenged, cleverly re-fitted, and better than it has any right to be. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 3 (+1 growth) | Apex Start 7 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Deceit, +1 Knowledge | -2 Courage, -2 Charisma
Starting ATTR Floor
ART 2, WIS 1
Innate Aptitude
Tactical Eye | reads a battlefield or building's layout in moments, spotting where a trap, ambush, or shortcut would work best; +2 to Tactician-style planning rolls.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to social rolls with both Goblins and Orcus; a Goblorc's cleverness rarely earns trust from either side of their bloodline.
Lifespan: ~80 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 20 | Retirement Age: 60 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Strategist +4 / Path: Rogue +4 / Branch: Assassin +6
Witch +5
Favored Companions
1. Guardian, a Small companion that fights alongside a Goblorc in the war camp. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Pet, a Tiny companion that helps a Goblorc scout a layout before a raid. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Halfling
Halflings build their lives around comfort, community, and staying just out of the way of bigger trouble, their hidden burrows and villages are easy to walk past without ever noticing they're there.
Halflings seem to have an uncanny knack for things simply working out in their favor, a missed step, a lucky find, a fight avoided by seconds, more often than chance alone would explain.
A Halfling's small frame keeps anything built for bigger hands out of reach, and the same size means they carry less before it starts to weigh them down, trying to command respect from someone twice their height rarely lands the way they'd hoped.
Race Culture
Halflings build for comfort and for staying out of the way, so their armament is light, quiet and easy to live in for a long day. What protection there is has been argued into the design rather than the other way around. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 7 (+1 growth) | Apex Start 2 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+1 Agility | -2 Strength, -2 Toughness, -1 Intuition
Starting ATTR Floor
Vigilance (VIG) 2, PHY 1
Innate Aptitude
Reroll one failed non-combat roll per session. Result stands. Additional rerolls available through the Luck talent in the Leprechaun Talent Tree.
+2 Stealth (outdoors, rural). Leaves minimal tracks passively.
Locate food and water in the wild. No roll in abundant areas; reduced Perception check in harsh terrain.
+2 Courage (fear, intimidation, panic).
Innate Profession: Tinker. Begins with Apprentice-LVL expertise.
Innate Inaptitude
Cannot use 2h weapons designed for Standard or larger races without specific class abilities.
Carry limit at half standard weight before encumbrance.
-1 Intuition when projecting authority to Standard or larger races who don't know them.
Lifespan: ~130 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 32 | Retirement Age: 72 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Strategist +4 / Path: Rogue +4 / Branch: Shroud +6
Bard +5
Favored Companions
1. Pet, a Tiny companion that finds food and shelter alongside a Halfling. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Fellowship, a Small humanoid companion who shares a Halfling's burrow and community. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Helf
Adaptable hybrids inheriting Traits from both humans and elves, excelling in magic, diplomacy, and versatile pursuits.
Half-Elves carry Fae lineage through their Elf parentage, descended from Tenue, through the Veilwood, into Zailister (see Fae, above).
Growing up reading two cultures at once has left Helf with a sharp read on people generally, they tend to pick up on a stranger's mood and intent within moments of meeting them, faster than most races raised within a single, familiar culture ever learn to.
Belonging fully to neither culture leaves a Helf without a true home in either, they're skilled at reading a room of strangers, but struggle to find one where they're not, on some LVL, still the outsider.
Race Culture
Hybrid gear is Helf work, and the name is not incidental. Two traditions spliced into one kit, elven cut over human hardware or the reverse, made by a people who inherit from both and are fully claimed by neither. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 6 (+1 growth) | Apex Start 2 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Agility, +1 Wit | -2 Strength, -2 Toughness, -1 Courage
Starting ATTR Floor
INT 1, PHY 2
Innate Aptitude
Dual Reading | reads a stranger's mood and intent within moments of meeting them; +2 to Insight rolls made on first impressions.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to social rolls seeking full acceptance into either human or elf society; a Helf is skilled at reading a room but always remains, on some LVL, an outsider.
Lifespan: ~300 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 75 | Retirement Age: 115 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Strategist +4 / Path: Spellblade +4 / Branch: Shadowblade +6
Sorcerer +5
Favored Companions
1. Fellowship, a Standard humanoid companion who shares a Helf's footing between two cultures. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Pet, a Small companion that adapts as easily as its Helf owner. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Hobbling
Hobblings carry a hobgoblin's discipline and a halfling's nerve, training from a young age to fight in tight coordination rather than relying on size or strength alone.
A Hobbling moves and strikes with an economy other races spend years drilling for, slipping past a guard's reach and landing a hit in the same motion, then vanishing back out of range before retaliation comes.
Hobblings train constantly for coordinated combat and little else, left without allies to fight alongside, or facing a problem that isn't solved by a fight, a Hobbling is often at a genuine loss.
Race Culture
Hobbling gear is issued rather than chosen, matched across a unit and made to be fought in shoulder to shoulder. Hobgoblin discipline in a halfling frame, and the only smallfolk tradition that looks like an army's. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Agility, +1 Dexterity | -2 Strength, -2 Charisma, -1 Intuition
Starting ATTR Floor
ART 1, PHY 2
Innate Aptitude
Drilled Coordination | strikes and withdraws in a single fluid motion alongside allies; +2 to combat rolls made while fighting in coordination with at least one ally.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to all rolls made when fighting alone or facing a problem that isn't solved by combat.
Lifespan: ~80 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 20 | Retirement Age: 60 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Fighter +4 / Path: Brawler +4 / Branch: Unarmed +6
Favored Companions
1. Fellowship, a Small humanoid companion who fights in coordination alongside a Hobbling. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Pet, a Tiny companion that keeps a Hobbling steady between fights. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Miceling
Micelings are natural contortionists, twisting and folding themselves through gaps and crawlspaces no bigger than a fist, spaces built to keep every other race out.
Micelings have sharp senses both above and below ground, rarely losing their way, they have an uncanny knack for finding the way out of a maze, ruin, or collapsed tunnel, and even seem to puzzle out riddles and traps faster than expected (ask the GM for a hint). They have Dark Vision and speak both Common and Burrowing Animal, their native tongue.
Built to fold through gaps no bigger than a fist, Micelings are fragile in the open, a solid hit lands harder on them than it would most other races, and there's nowhere to wedge themselves out of the way in a straight fight.
Race Culture
Micelings need to fold through gaps no bigger than a fist, which rules out almost everything. Their armament is soft-jointed and shed-able, built to be abandoned in a crawlspace and recovered later rather than to be fought in. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 2 (+0 growth) | Apex Start 3 (+0 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+3 Willpower, +2 Dexterity, +1 Wit
Starting ATTR Floor
ART 2, INT 3
Innate Aptitude
Fistgap Squeeze | folds and twists through gaps and crawlspaces no bigger than a fist; +2 to escape and infiltration rolls in tight spaces.
Tunnelwise | rarely loses their way below or above ground; +2 to rolls made finding a path out of a maze, ruin, or collapsed tunnel, and to solving riddles and traps.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to Toughness-based rolls absorbing a solid hit; a Miceling's small frame takes harder damage than most other races from the same blow.
-2 to all rolls made in a straight, open fight with nowhere to wedge out of the way.
Lifespan: ~60 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 15 | Retirement Age: 55 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Strategist +4 / Path: Rogue +4 / Branch: Shroud +6
Magic User +5
Marksman +5
Favored Companions
1. Pet, a Tiny burrowing companion that fits the same fist-sized gaps a Miceling does. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Fellowship, a Small humanoid companion who navigates tunnels and ruins alongside a Miceling. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Neanderthal
Neanderthals are built for endurance over speed, heavy-boned, broad-shouldered, and built to take a hit rather than dodge one. Generations surviving Glaciera's brutal mountain cold left them practical and plainspoken, more interested in what works than what's clever.
Cold that would drop another race in their tracks barely slows a Neanderthal down, and that same hardiness holds against nearly anything else thrown at them, fire, frost, acid, lightning barely faze a Neanderthal where they'd stagger someone else outright.
All that raw endurance comes at the cost of finesse, Neanderthals are slow to pick up anything that calls for precision or subtlety, and a delicate task takes them noticeably longer than it would almost any other race.
Race Culture
Neanderthal work is heavy-boned like its wearers, built to take a hit rather than avoid one, hide and bone over a frame that hardly needs the help. Close cousin to Primal work, and old enough that the resemblance may not be coincidence. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 8 (+2 growth) | Apex Start 3 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Strength, +2 Toughness, +1 Constitution | -2 Agility, -1 Charisma, -1 Wit
Starting ATTR Floor
PHY 2
Innate Aptitude
Cold-Forged | cold that would drop another race in their tracks barely slows a Neanderthal down; +2 to resist fire, frost, acid, and lightning hazards that would stagger most other races outright.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to all rolls requiring precision or subtlety; a delicate task takes a Neanderthal noticeably longer than it would almost any other race.
Lifespan: ~60 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 15 | Retirement Age: 55 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Barbarian +4 / Path: Mountaineer +4 / Branch: Predator +6
Warrior +5
Favored Companions
1. Guardian, a Small companion that fights alongside a Neanderthal in Glaciera's cold. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Draft, a Small working animal bred to endure the same mountain cold. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Omnè
The oldest known human development in Essentia, an ancient sub-human civilization that settled on planet Omne Malum, Omnè in short, long before recorded history. Although part Human, the Omnè are a race on their own, they share human blood. So far from Adoria that magic never took root, they built their survival entirely through technology. As the dying star Tawdry Dwarf deteriorates, the conditions it once sustained across planets 8 through 13 have collapsed into hostile atmospheres and environmental decay. On Omnè, this forced the population into sealed pressure suits outside pressurized habitats, and accelerated a desperate technological arms race, including the construction of a synthetic planet and surrounding protection barrier designed to shield Omnè from Tawdry's fall and filter the encroaching gases. It is this slow extinction that drove the Omnè into the invasion of Zailister. See Tawdry Dwarf & Beyond for more.
Omnè troubleshooting starts and ends with hard data, faced with a sealed door or a failing system, they'll run a diagnostic before they'd ever think to pray.
Magic simply never took root in an Omnè, not a spark of it, suit or no suit, and step outside a pressurized habitat without that suit sealed and their body starts failing fast; put them anywhere wild and unbuilt and they're badly out of their depth.
Race Culture
The TAA family, TABA, TAW and TAG, is Omnè work and the oldest continuous manufacturing tradition in Essentia. A world that developed without magic had to build every advantage it has, and every other culture has since tried to copy the result. It carries a cost premium wherever it is sold. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Knowledge, +1 Wit | -2 Piety, -1 Strength, -2 Intuition
Starting ATTR Floor
INT 1, WIS 2
Innate Aptitude
+3 to all technology, engineering, and crafting rolls.
Pressure suit grants passive resistance to environmental hazards (gas, toxin, extreme temperature).
+2 to Knowledge-based skill checks.
Innate Inaptitude
Cannot cast magic, no affinity whatsoever. Magic items can still be used.
Pressure suit must be equipped in all non-pressurized environments or Constitution drops by 2 per turn.
-3 to all nature, wilderness, and foraging rolls.
Lifespan: Varies (Mortal or Immortal depending on subtype)
Starting Age and Retirement Age vary by subtype (see Time, pg. 4).
Favored Classes
Tyrant +4 / Path: Demolisher +4 / Branch: Rampager +6
Marksman +5
Magic User +5
Warrior +5
Witch +5
Favored Companions
1. Mechanical, a Standard-sized constructed companion built by Omnè engineering. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Fellowship, a Standard humanoid companion who shares a sealed habitat alongside an Omnè. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Pinkling
Pinklings are unmistakable for their pink-hued skin and an even harder to mistake reputation, wherever something has gone missing or someone's been fooled, a Pinkling is usually involved, and rarely caught.
A Pinkling can talk their way past nearly anyone once, spinning a lie convincing enough that even a suspicious mark tends to believe it the first time around.
A Pinkling's reputation eventually catches up with them, word travels, and once a town's heard enough stories, even their best lie struggles to land with anyone who's heard the name before.
Race Culture
Pinkling armament is whatever was not being watched closely enough. Rarely matched, frequently someone else's, and worn with a confidence that discourages questions about the provenance. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 7 (+1 growth) | Apex Start 3 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Deceit, +1 Agility | -1 Strength, -4 Toughness, -3 Piety
Starting ATTR Floor
ART 2, PHY 1
Innate Aptitude
First Mark | talks their way past nearly anyone the first time; +2 to Deceit rolls made spinning a lie on a mark with no prior reputation against them.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to social rolls in any town or with any mark who has already heard a Pinkling's name; their reputation for trickery follows and undercuts even their best lie.
Lifespan: ~120 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 30 | Retirement Age: 70 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Warlock +4 / Path: Grimlock +4 / Branch: Changeling +6
Favored Companions
1. Pet, a Tiny companion that slips through town unnoticed alongside a Pinkling. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Fellowship, a Small humanoid companion who helps a Pinkling work a con. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Ratkin
Ratkin are good back-stabbers, both literally and figuratively, sneaking past a guard or sneaking into someone's confidence come just as naturally to them, and either one usually ends the same way for whoever let them get close. Dead Man's Wharf and Pirate's Bay run on their trade.
Ratkin see clearly in total darkness and move with practiced ease through sewers, tunnels, and crypts, their senses sharpening underground, making them some of the best dungeon crawlers around. They have Dark Vision and speak both Common and Rodent, their native tongue.
Ratkin earn deep distrust everywhere they go before they've said a word, their reputation for treachery follows them into every new town, and it takes real effort to convince anyone otherwise.
Race Culture
Ratkin gear is built for the approach and the exit, not the middle, soft-soled, low-profile, and shed fast if the exit needs to be faster. A Ratkin in heavy plate has misjudged the job. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 2 (+1 growth) | Apex Start 7 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Agility, +2 Dexterity, +1 Wit | -3 Willpower, -3 Charisma
Starting ATTR Floor
ART 2, INT 1, PHY 2
Innate Aptitude
Dark Vision | sees clearly in total darkness; moves with practiced ease through sewers, tunnels, and crypts. +2 to Stealth rolls made underground.
+2 to Deceit rolls made sneaking into someone's confidence.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to all social rolls on first meeting; a Ratkin's reputation for treachery follows them into every new town before they've said a word.
Lifespan: ~50 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 12 | Retirement Age: 52 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Witch +4 / Path: BrewMaster +4 / Branch: Shrew +6
Marksman +5
Favored Companions
1. Pet, a Tiny rodent companion at home in sewers and tunnels alongside Ratkin. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Guardian, a Small companion that watches a Ratkin's back in the dungeon dark. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Snow Dwarf
Snow Dwarves carved their halls into the same icy peaks as their Arctic cousins, but lean harder into raw endurance than magic or craft, content to outlast a storm rather than out-think it.
A Snow Dwarf can march or labor through blizzard conditions that would exhaust or injure other races, shrugging off cold and fatigue that should slow them down.
Snow Dwarves lean so hard on raw endurance that magic and fine craft never really took root for them, spellwork and delicate trades come slower and harder to a Snow Dwarf than to nearly any other race.
Race Culture
Snow Dwarves lean on endurance where their Arctic cousins lean on craft, so their armament is plainer, heavier and worn longer between repairs. Function to the point of severity. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 7 (+2 growth) | Apex Start 3 (+2 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+1 Constitution, +1 Resistance (cold), +1 Toughness | -2 Charisma, -2 Agility, -1 Intuition
Starting ATTR Floor
Physique (PHY) 1, RES 1
Innate Aptitude
Endure the Storm | marches or labors through blizzard conditions without exhaustion or injury; +2 to Endurance rolls in extreme cold.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to all rolls involving spellwork or delicate trades; magic and fine craft come slower and harder to a Snow Dwarf than to nearly any other race.
Lifespan: ~400 years (Mortal)
Starting Age: 100 | Retirement Age: 140 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Barbarian +5 | Mountaineer +7 | Amazon +9
Witch +5
Favored Companions
1. Draft, a Small working animal that hauls supplies through blizzard conditions. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Guardian, a Small companion that helps a Snow Dwarf outlast a storm. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Sylvan
Sylvan Elves live deeper in the wild than their Common Elf kin, rarely settling anywhere long enough to be called a town, their dwellings are little more than the trees and hollows they pass through on a given season.
Like all Elves, of Fae lineage, descended from Tenue, through the Veilwood, into Zailister (see Fae, above).
A Sylvan Elf can hold a quiet conversation with the forest itself, sensing the mood of nearby plants and animals and reading subtle warnings, a storm coming, a predator near, long before anyone else notices.
A Sylvan Elf's whole life is tuned to the wild, open forest, long stretches indoors or in built-up cities leave them restless and noticeably duller in their senses than they are under open sky.
Race Culture
Sylvan Elves live too far out to resupply, so their armament is cured hide worked quiet and repaired from the forest itself. Leather and studded work is theirs, and it travels better than anything a settled people makes. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 2 (+1 growth) | Apex Start 8 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+3 Agility | -3 Strength, -1 Toughness, -1 Deceit
Starting ATTR Floor
PHY 3
Innate Aptitude
Wildtouch | senses the mood of nearby plants and animals, reading subtle warnings of storms or predators before anyone else notices.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to all rolls made indoors or in built-up cities; a Sylvan Elf grows restless and noticeably duller in their senses away from open sky.
Lifespan: Immortal, begins adventuring later and retires later than most races (see Starting Age and Retirement Age below, and Time, pg. 4)
Starting Age: 100 | Retirement Age: 140 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Druid +4 / Path: Hyborian +4 / Branch: Rager +6
Barbarian +5
Witch +5
Favored Companions
1. Pet, a Small songbird at home under the open sky a Sylvan Elf needs. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Guardian, a Standard-sized companion that watches over a Sylvan Elf's open forest. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Wood Elf
Wood Elves keep to the deep canopy and undergrowth, smaller and quieter than their Common Elf kin, content to let a forest hide them rather than relying on open confrontation.
Like all Elves, of Fae lineage, descended from Tenue, through the Veilwood, into Zailister (see Fae, above).
A Wood Elf moves through dense brush and forest canopy without snagging a branch or breaking a twig, vanishing into foliage that would slow or expose anyone else.
A Wood Elf's whole skillset assumes cover and canopy, caught in open ground or built-up city streets with nowhere to disappear into, they're noticeably less sure-footed and far easier to spot than they're used to.
Race Culture
Wood Elves let the forest do the hiding, so their armament is lighter and quieter even than Sylvan work, mottled to the canopy and made from it. The smallest and least martial of the elven traditions. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 6 (+1 growth) | Apex Start 3 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Agility, +1 Wit | -2 Strength, -2 Toughness, -1 Constitution
Starting ATTR Floor
INT 1, PHY 2
Innate Aptitude
Canopy Step | moves through dense brush and forest canopy without snagging a branch or breaking a twig; +2 to Stealth rolls made in foliage and undergrowth.
Innate Inaptitude
-2 to all rolls made in open ground or built-up city streets; a Wood Elf's whole skillset assumes cover and canopy that isn't there.
Lifespan: Immortal, begins adventuring later and retires later than most races (see Starting Age and Retirement Age below, and Time, pg. 4)
Starting Age: 100 | Retirement Age: 140 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Marksman +4 / Path: Ranger +4 / Branch: Wood Warden +6
Favored Companions
1. Pet, a Tiny songbird that nests in the deep canopy alongside a Wood Elf. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Fellowship, a Small humanoid companion who moves through the undergrowth alongside a Wood Elf. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
Yawnie
Yawnies move and speak slowly by nature, but mistaking that for weakness comes at a cost, their patience runs deep, and little seems to rattle or hurry them once they've settled into stillness.
A Yawnie can hold absolute stillness for hours at a stretch, becoming nearly impossible to spot by sight or motion alike as long as they don't choose to move.
A Yawnie simply doesn't have another gear to shift into, no spell, talent, or emergency ever makes them move faster than a walk, and anything that demands a snap decision under pressure tends to catch them flat-footed.
Race Culture
Yawnie work is slow-made and made once, heavy, patient and unhurried in every line, by a people who see no reason to rush a thing that has to last. Little rattles a Yawnie, and their armament is built on the same assumption. See Cultural Armaments, and refer to the Tomes of Essentia for the full history.
Spirit & Apex
Spirit Start 2 (+1 growth) | Apex Start 8 (+1 growth)
Innate Trait Adjustments
+2 Focus | -2 Agility, -2 Strength, -1 Knowledge
Starting ATTR Floor
INT 2
Innate Aptitude
Crawl speed: 5 ft. (flat, ignores standard 1/4x penalty).
Climb speed: 5 ft. (flat, ignores standard 1/2x penalty).
Swing: +10 ft. bonus on top of standard swing speed.
Innate Inaptitude
Cannot Sprint, Run/Dash, or otherwise exceed normal Walk speed under any circumstance, no ability, talent, or magic overrides this cap.
-2 to all rolls requiring urgency or quick reaction under time pressure.
Lifespan: 300+ years (Mortal, slow metabolism)
Starting Age: 75 | Retirement Age: 115 (see Time, pg. 4)
Favored Classes
Druid +4 / Path: Dreamcryer +4 / Branch: Lorekeeper +6
Marksman +5
Favored Companions
1. Pet, a Tiny companion as unhurried and patient as a Yawnie. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
2. Draft, a Small working animal that matches a Yawnie's slow, steady pace. Bond in half the time, -25% upkeep.
Refer to Specific Companion Cards for default Races they dislike.
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