New OSRIC Races: Goliaths and Gnolls

I'm hitting up the wilderness for these two races: the deep forests and sandy deserts for the Gnolls, and the mountains for Goliaths. These Humanoids have been known as enemies (and allies) of the demi-human races in the past, but more and more of them have been entering the fringes of civilisation, looking to further their destinies as great heroes and vile villains.

Gnoll
Gnolls are fast, powerfully-muscled ambush predators, but lack the ability to communicate well outside their species. They tend to group together in loose "packs", which act as both extended family units and their own sub-cultures. While many Gnoll packs fall to chaos, evil, and the worship of Demons, some tread a more neutral line, trying to live in harmony with the forests and nature. Others abandon their packs, or are exiled or abandoned. Such Gnolls either live as bandits, chipping in their lot with criminals, or take up the mantle of adventuring to give their life some purpose.

Summary of Gnoll Racial Abilities
+1 Dexterity, +1 Strength, -2 Charisma

Gnolls have a very acute sense of smell - this lets a Gnoll character track as a Ranger, regardless of class, with a base 70% chance in natural and wooded areas, and a 50% chance in urban areas. Certain factors (such as a target's particularly distinctive smell, or a countermeasure such as peppermint oil) can raise or lower these values as the GM sees fit. Should the Gnoll advance as a Ranger, the chances are increased to 90% and 65% (as the Ranger Class Ability).

Languages: Gnoll, Common, Orcish, Troll, Hobgoblin.

Alignment Restrictions: Gnolls cannot be Lawful, but may be Good. NG, NE, CG, CN, and CE are all possible Alignments for a Gnoll Player Character.

Multi-Class Restrictions: For armour, the more restrictive of any two class requirements apply to a multi-classed Gnoll.

Class Options: Cleric (Evil Deity only), Fighter, Ranger (see below), Thief, Cleric/Thief, Fighter/Thief, Ranger/Thief

Gnolls may advance as Rangers, with the following rules:

• Gnolls may ignore the Good Alignment restriction, and be Rangers of Good or Neutral Alignment (but not Evil).
• A Gnoll Ranger's Damage Bonus vs Humanoids also includes Demi-Humans.
• Gnoll Rangers do not get access to M-U/Druid spells at 8th Level.
• A Gnoll Ranger's followers may not include Good creatures (such as Unicorns), regardless of the Gnoll Ranger's Alignment. They may, however, attract non-Evil Gnolls with class levels.

Low-Light Vision: 60ft

Starting age:
• Cleric 20+1d4
• Fighter 15+1d4
• Ranger 20+1d4
• Thief 13+2d4

Racial Limitations:
Minimum/Maximum ability scores (after adjustment for race); if the ability scores rolled do not fall within these limits, then the race of Gnoll is not a valid choice for the character:
• Strength 6/19
• Dexterity 6/19
• Constitution 3/18
• Intelligence 3/15
• Wisdom 3/17
• Charisma 3/12

Level Limitations:
• Assassin N/A
• Cleric 8
• Druid N/A
• Fighter 10
• Illusionist N/A
• Magic User N/A
• Paladin N/A
• Ranger 8
• Thief 7 (Dex 17), 6 (Dex 16 and below)

Thief Skill Adjustments:
Move Silently +10%
Hide in Shadows +5%
Climb Walls -5%
Hear Noise +5%

Goliath
Goliaths are known for their prodigious strength and hardiness, born as they are from the bloodlines of Stone Giants, but they suffer some of the slowness of mind that their Giantish ancestors also face, and their large frames make them somewhat clumsy. A largely nomadic race they tend to make their camps on or near mountains where Dwarves or Gnomes dwell, leading to lots of interactions with them as they use their superior muscle to help out their smaller neighbours. Competitive to the end, a Goliath will stop at very little to gain the upper hand in even the slightest conflict.

Summary of Goliath Racial Abilities:
+2 Strength, +1 Con, -2 Dex, -1 Int

Languages: Goliath, Common, Dwarven, Orc, Gnomish, Hobgoblin. A Goliath may learn a maximum of three languages, regardless of intelligence.

Multi-Class Restrictions: For armour, the less restrictive of any two class requirements apply to multi-classed Goliaths for the use of class abilities, except that thieving abilities can only be used when wearing armour useable by Thieves.

Class Options: Assassin, Cleric, Fighter, Thief, Assassin/Fighter, Cleric/Fighter, Fighter/Thief

Starting age:
• Assassin 20+1d6
• Cleric 18+1d4
• Fighter 12+2d6
• Thief 11+1d4

Racial Limitations:
Minimum/Maximum ability scores (after adjustment for race); if the ability scores rolled do not fall within these limits, then the race of Goliath is not a valid choice for the character:
• Strength 8/20
• Dexterity 3/16
• Constitution 8/19
• Intelligence 3/16
• Wisdom 3/18
• Charisma 3/18

Level Limitations:
• Assassin 10
• Cleric 8
• Druid N/A
• Fighter 10
• Illusionist N/A
• Magic User N/A
• Paladin N/A
• Ranger N/A
• Thief Unlimited

Thief Skill Adjustments:
Climb Walls +10%
Move Silently -5%
Hide in Shadows -10%

Y is for Yuan-Ti

Another of the frequently mentioned, but often overlooked races, the Yuan-Ti have great potential as villains - but much like the Drow, very little ability to do much more in a setting.

They're generic evil snakemen - they look like snakes, worship evil snake gods, etc. They're like serious versions of C.O.B.R.A.

So, I wanted to try my hand at a little reworking, for Delraith. We'll see how it goes.

The Yuan-Ti are a race of snake-like humanoids, hailing from the warmer Southern Climes - a land of hot, dense jungles and swamps. They stand roughly 6 feet in height, are bipedal, and have a distinctive scaled skin and serpentine features. Many have near-unique markings and colourations - no two are alike (and if they are, it's a sign of inbreeding or trickery). They have somewhat poor vision, and rely on reading ambient heat to "see" (although they are capable of true sight at close ranges). They are also adept at tracking via pheromones and scents, if need be. As such, they find it hard to identify outsiders at a glance - excluding massive differences (like the height difference between a Halfling and a Human, for example).
Originally, they claim to have came from 'another place' - some other dimension, perhaps, or another world. Their creation myths and the powers they worship are unlike many of the other Races of Delraith. They speak of this "other place", a paradisaical world of heat and water, where they are the only lifeform - almost like a "heaven". Some great cataclysm rocked this "Heaven", and the Yuan-Ti came to this world. How they managed it has been the Great Secret they keep, at the request of their God - a physical being, apparently, a huge Feathered Serpent who still resides on their world, waiting for the Yuan-Ti to release him from the cataclysm that imprisoned it.

They managed it via huge ships, powered by a mix of technology and arcane sciences. At the moment, these reside under their homes in the Southern Climes (each is roughly the size of a small town, and makes for a great high-level adventure/dungeon!). However, that was many generations ago - the Yuan-Ti have just about forgot how they managed it, but hold The Great Secret as a matter of course.

This Great Secret has informed a lot of Yuan-Ti culture - they are generally xenophobic, trying to keep themselves to themselves where possible. Outsiders are not tolerated within Yuan-Ti society - adventurers even less so. They have been known, however, to make deals with individuals of other races in exchange for information - sometimes mundane (like maps of the known world, or specific locales on the other side of the world), sometimes occult (like certain magical rituals, secrets of arcane might, etc.), and sometimes much deeper than most have the right to know (information about Dwarfholds, Dragons, and the nature of Elves). Such exchanges are done with great consideration, far from Yuan-Ti lands - normally in one of the neutral areas of the Climes, like the Elven settlement of Kust.

There are rumours that the Yuan-Ti have been experimenting with creating half-human hybrids, for espionage and to send out as scouts and spies into the other parts of the world. Most dismiss this as fanciful rumours - but there have been quite a few reported break-ins from large repositories of knowledge, like libraries and Wizard's towers...

K is for KOBOLDS!

Yeah, you really should have guessed...

Kobolds are one of my favourite little monsters from D&D.

In older editions, they represented the "lower rung" of the Savage Humanoid tree, much like Goblins. They were furry, dirty, dog-faced rat-tailed things, scavengers and general pests. They could be found in most dungeons (they had no true homes, and hid wherever they could), normally under the protection of bigger monsters, acting as skivvies and slaves in return.

They were an iconic beastie - as most parties started at level 1, and they were the standard adventure fodder.

By 3rd edition, they had changed to their current form - small, reptilian humanoids, possessed of great cunning and skill with traps, who normally served with Dragons (see that "find a bigger boy to hide behind" thing again?), worshipping them and doing everything in their power to serve them. Well, turns out, the thing they do best to serve them is die in their droves, but that's neither here nor there.

Their iconic status led to them receiving a lot of attention, from both third party sources (Green Ronin's Quintessential Kobold) and official ones (the Races of the Dragon book for 3.5), making them an oddly popular player race - despite their physical shortcomings, and total lack of respect. Partly, this may be because the additional rules within, like the Dragonwrought feat, which lets you take no penalties from ageing - so you can choose to start at Venerable, and gain +3 Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma, with no penalty, as well as extra goodies like qualifying for Dragon-only spells, feats and Prestige Classes, or the feat that gives you an extra level of sorcerer (So you're a 1st level Kobold who has two levels of Sorcerer... somehow) are fairly overpowered and oddly written.

3rd Edition also saw the rise of Pun-Pun - a character build that could have infinite stats and attain a Divine Rank (what makes Gods Gods) by 5th level. Of course, it can best be described as True Optimisation - to pull this off in a game you would need to cajole the DM, possibly offering money or sexual favours to pull of some of the stuff required (like meeting a member of a long-though-extinct race, the Sarrukh, and convincing them to use their ability to warp Scalykind to grant you infinite God-like power). On the Practical Optimisation side of things though, Kobold Sorcerers rock, especially with the extra goodies from the Kobold-focused books.

4th Edition changed their appearance somewhat, but otherwise left them unchanged. However, a recently announced book regarding underground/dungeon dwelling races looks to have them as a fully-supported PC Race - which should be interesting...

 Perhaps their appeal lies in their true underdog nature - they are the most kicked-around, beaten on, disrespected race around - but when they get their shit together, they can be a terrifyingly competent force. Their decent Intelligence scores, combined with a love of trapsmithing and a certain sadistic streak, mean that one should never underestimate a group of Kobolds with nothing to lose.

Take a look at Tucker's Kobolds for proof.

Those of you who've been following by blog for a while will know of the Kobold Ascension Campaign I've been trying to get off the ground for a while. The basic concept - you are Kobolds, Nature's Losers. Day to day survival, and servitude to your Draconic Mistress, are all you know. You protect Her from adventurers, thieves, and the beasts and creatures that roam the lands of Delraith. One day, however, you find out a terrible secret - your Mistress, Anathraxiis, Great Death Incarnate, Black Terror of the Land, was once a Kobold - like you. All the Dragons were, at some point. Some meditated for years, unlocking their true spiritual potential, and became the Great Metallic Dragons. Some cheated their way to the top, and became the Evil Chromatics. You've found part of the ancient, arcane ritual your Mistress used to Ascend - and now, it's your turn.

H is for Hardcore

As in, the classic "Meat Grinder" style of D&D - Tomb of Horrors being the ur-example. Your characters are expected to die, horribly, frequently, and entertainingly.

I find it makes it hard to actually care about your character - after all, they will die, maybe not in the fights with Kobolds and Goblins, but certainly when the touch a doorknob only to find out it's a miniaturised Sphere of Annihilation, or when they fight the Tarrasque at 5th-level. You'll have a backup folio of characters to choose from (though, in true Gygaxian style, you should roll to see which you'll play next!), none of whom are too fleshed out (after all, if Hollywood taught us anyhting, it's always the guy who's three days from retirement who gets shot first).

It's certainly an entertaining concept - surviving purely by wits, luck, and out-of-character knowledge - but it strikes me as a little bit too gamey for my tastes. Like, it's not a test of your character - it's a test of your system-fu, and how well you remember the previous traps you fell to. It's less a story, and far more like a boardgame - which is fine, in its place.

In fact, I have a feeling that I could have a lot fo fun puzzling my way through a Hardcore Dungeon Crawl, should I get myself into the mindset before it. But it's not something I would want to run - not right now, at least.

Maybe when the irst o the Delraith players get to a Dragon's Lair, however...

G is for Gnomes

A much maligned race, Gnomes have a somewhat checkered history throughout the history of gaming.

Mythologically speaking, Gnomes are meant to be small, mischevious creatures - redcaps, brownies, sprites, that kind of thing. Little trickster spirits (or fairies) who lurked in the woods and either lured unsuspecting travellers to their doom, or otherwise hinder people unless placated with gifts and offerings.

"Classic" D&D made them similar to Dwarves - sturdy little buggers, who were miners by trade (most likely a nod to the original Kobolds - spirits of mines and caves). They were naturally talented with magic - again, a nod to their Fae origins. Due to their interations with other minings monsters (like Kobolds), they also gain a bonus when fighting them - leading to a great rivalry between Gnomes and Kobolds (apparently kick-started when the Gnomish God was a total prick to the Kobold God).

One of the defining representations of Gnomes was in the Dragonlance setting, with its Tinker Gnomes - obsessed with mechanical contraptions, a little bit crazy, and fairly annoying. This led to a surge in the amount of "crazy" Gnomes seen in games - annoying little pests, who played tricks on other party members and generally caused trouble with their "loveable" antics. Strangely, while a much-hated representation, it's pretty close to the myth!

I find that their amin problem is that they step on the toes of three of the Big Races - Dwarves, Halflings and Elves. Dwarves, because they live in/on/under mountains, and are fans of mining and smithing; Elves, due to their love of the arts and finer things, and their natural aptitude for magic; and Halflings, because of their fun-loving personality and general "sneakiness" that comes with being Small. They just don't have the deoth to really step out of the shadow of the Big Three of D&D.

For Delraith, I might take a leaf out of 4th Editions book - they're not really a player race. They are essentially servitors to the Elves, Fae creatures either created or charmed into their service. They are naturally talented with magic (as are the Elves), though more with minor trickery and practical things - not the powerful, almost technological magic of other Races. They may act as spies, go-betweens with other races, servants, jesters, or any other function their Lord may desire. They are rarely spotted outside of Elf-held territories, and are considered legendary (or just dishevelled-looking Halflings).

F is for Faith

Pardon the delay there, had a well-needed lazy weekend...

Religion is always a sensitive subject in real life. It has caused arguments, wars, and all manner of other bullshit.

In fantasy gaming, however, it's normally fairly simple. You pick a God, one of many, and you worship them. If you worship them really hard, they give you magical powers. Sometimes they're Good, sometimes they're Evil (and Lawful, and Chaotic, or Neutral) but it's generally similar packages, with maybe a little bit of flavour (followers of this God are kind, followers of this Goddess seek justice at all costs, followers of this God eat nothing but babies, etc).

Weirdly, despite the fact that Gods are known to exist (and much proof of this can be found), people stick to worshipping one God - there are no Priests of entire Pantheons, and there are temples dedicated to each God, but not a lot of polytheism in an ostensibly polytheistic world.

Weirder still are those (specifically in D&D, though it crops up elsewhere) who worship certain ideas - like Justice, or Law, or Fire. These self-made Clerics fuel their abilities to channel the Divine with their own belief, casting a lot of strange questions onto the Gods and aspersions onto their nature as divine beings.

I always find creating a pantheon of Gods for a new setting to be one of the hardest, yet most rewarding things one can do. There are a few standard Gods that most settings include (such as racial Gods for the many non-human sentients, though rarely a God of Humans; gods of Death, War, occasionally the Elements, etc) and a few stranger ones (Vecna being a favourite of mine - Magic and Secrets, what a combo!). Many take inspiration, or are directly lifted, from real-world religious beliefs (like D&D co-opting the Norse Pantheon for many settings), and still some are their own creation (literally, in the case of Vecna - he achieved Godhood through a very convoluted scheme, published as Die, Vecna, Die! - the last official 2e adventure, and is the semi-official reason for the change from 2nd Edition AD&D to 3rd Edition. He won godhood so hard he broke the universe).

Planescape, with its overarching theme that belief shapes reality, poses that all Gods exist, even as the slightest changes on belief spawning new Powers from old ones, or changing the face of a Power right under his nose. Gods may have made people, but people shape Gods - whether they want them to or not.

For Delraith, the setting I am currently working on, the Gods are a little bit less "out and about" - regular lay priests are the norm, while those granted Clerical ability are seen as Saints and venerated as such. Even the lowest Cleric can expect to find himself the object of much affection (or scorn, depending on the God that empowered them). Many Gods will have a variety of Aspects, with some overlap (so, the old Human Gods and the Halfling Gods are similar, as they have lived together for many generations, while the Dwarven Gods will be very different), and the possibility that they may be the same entities - so, the Human God of the Earth might be the Dwarven God of Nature, and the Elven Lesser God of Stone, etc. While most of these Gods are the creation of belief, there is one race created by their God - the Dwarves. They wield Divine energies like other races breathe - it's truly second nature to them, due to having such a strong link to their deity. No-one is quite sure why that should be, but they know that Dwarves are inherently magical - and as such, shouldn't be tussled with lightly.

Dwarves of Delraith: Planning

I wanted to give Dwarves, one of the most static fantasy races, a new spin for the Delraith setting. They'll keep some of the traditional flavour, but I wanted to pull a few tweaks here and there. I've got a few rough ideas:

• Dwarves are rare - their civilisation has been in decline for centuries, and the last remaining groups rarely leave their great Fortresses (Stonehalls, in the Dwarven tongue). Many refuse to believe they exist, even though there are some encounters with them.
• Dwarves are magical - none of this old-school "Gimli never cast a spell, so Dwarves hate magic" bullshit - mythological Dwarves weaved magic and engineering, and Delraith's Dwarves do the same.
• Dwarves are varied - no two Stonehalls are alike - not any more. After many generations of privacy and exclusion, the cultures within have diverged and changed from "baseline" Dwarven culture - so much so that such a concept is now a thing of the past.
• Dwarves are powerful - the few remaining Dwarven clans have mastered their mixing of technology and magic to heights only imaginable to other races. Your average Dwarf is armed with bewildering contraptions that could kill a lesser humanoid in seconds, and they wield the terrifying sorceries of the Gods themselves.
• Dwarves are unusual - in that they are one of the few races directly created by a God. Most other life was seeded on the world by Gods, sure, but Dwarves have had a guiding hand from The Earth Spirit - possibly a Dragon, possibly something else.

More to come...

Playstyles in Delraith

So, as I posited in previous posts, there are several "levels" of play that you might wish to run using the Delraith setting. Some of these might need their own system, somewhere down the line, but for now, I'll suggest what I would run them with.

First is the one it was designed for - the Kobold Ascension Campaign. Starting as the lowest of the low, level 1 Kobolds, and sneaking and cheating your way to Godhood while avoiding the attention of the other Dragons. Runs sorta like D&D meets Paranoia. I would suggest Old D&D or GURPS, if you want to run it as a serious, deadly game - or Risus, if you'd rather it be about PvP banter and situational comedy. I see both as equally valid ways to play this one out (and I'd personally lean towards Risus).

Second would be your Standard Fantasy Adventure - there are old civilisations, ancient ruins of bygone eras, terrible Powers and Dark Secrets to be unveiled by those brave enough to look. Runs quite well as your usual D&D-esque Adventure Time, with plenty of stuff to find and things to kill. I'd use something like "new" D&D, Microlite20, maybe Savage Worlds, to maintain a feel of "high adventure". FATE could also be a good suggestion, for less combat-oriented games.

Third, a "middle ground" where the players control powerful Nobles of one of the more auspacious Houses of Valerian's Reach - their hand can be seen across the continent. Runs like a smaller-scale Rogue Trader, and hell, you might be able to alter the system enough to use a lot of it as-is. I'd use FATE, and maybe port over some of the Rogue Trader mechanics, where I could (like Profit Factor - much better than counting every gold piece...). Or Birthright/AD&D, but the system wasn't a good fit (though some of the large-scale rules could be useful). The outlier is REIGN, by Greg Stolze - a lot of people rave about it, but I've never tried it. It's got Company Rules that could be pretty useful...

For a more high-powered game, there are the Dwarven Reclamators - squads of Dwarves, clad in the finest armour, weilding terrifying weapons, on a mission from God Himself to reclaim the ancient relics of their kind, to remove threats to their fortress homes, and to generally be fucking terrifying. Plays out much like a fantasy counterpart to Deathwatch. And, indeed, you could try and hack the DW system to fit, but I'd use something like high-level (and equipment) D&D, or maybe Mutants and Masterminds, to represent the weird technology the Dwarves are using, and to allow a lot of variance in the characters despite a common race.

Finally, Dragons. Any of the Serious Risus hacks would be perfect to represent the god-like power level without ridiculous stat inflation, as would FATE. However, check out the old Council of Wyrms campaign setting for D&D - lots of useful goodies to be nabbed from there (even if you'd be playing high-level dragons...)

I'll post up more about each level as it comes to me.

Delraith: More Races

The nomadic Goliath tribes are the only beings with whom the Dwarves will trade on anything approaching a regular basis. Huge, powerfully built, and dotted with small, bony growths ("lithoderms", to be precise), they are about as hardy as they come. In wider society, they can gain some notoriety as soldiers and bodyguards, though most see them as "wild men", barbarians, etc. and their general representaion suffers for it. Some of the less tolerant cities lump them together with Orcs as "savages" - and, while there is little emnity between the two races, aside from the occasional scrap over territory and land, the Goliaths are certainly their own group.

Another rare sight on the continent (like Gnolls), Yuan-Ti are seen as savage, cruel warriors, and rarely tolerated for too long in human society. Those who do come to Delraith, however, are on a mission - they serve their God of Knowledge and Secrets, and look to collect as much information about the greater world as they can. Many take on a scholarly caste, but mix their natural strength and prowess in battle to become terrifyingly competent warriors, as well as masterful tacticians and living repositories of knowledge. Voted Race Most Likely To Accidentaly Unleash An Unspeakable Evil Upon The World.

Halflings are pretty much wee Humans - they're adaptable, they live in mostly the same places, and suffer little prejudice from the other races. While they're known to make great thieves, most keep on the right side of the law. Many come from agricultural backgrounds, like farmers or fishermen, and, while they rarely serve in the Guard or other armed forces, the odd few are seen - like Guard-Captain Tanis Dis, known for her shrewd cunning and great organisational skills. There are several myths regarding their origin, but most agree that they're just a smaller breed of human.

No Gnomes. Never liked 'em, and they tend to have a lot of crossover with Dwarves, Halflings, and Elves, depending on their angle. There might be one or two as NPCs, but they'll be servants of the Fey creatures of other worlds, or perhaps advisors to powerful Elves, but nothing more.

Then you have your monster races - not really PC options, but they'll show up.

Half-Dragons are the result of breeding between the god-like Dragons and lesser races. Dragons can reproduce with most creatures (note that they are never the parent who bears the child - Dragons do not breed with each other, and need to take the form of other races and help things along with magic to achieve conception).

The most common Half-Dragons are experiments, and are often malformed - but those who are sucessful can run the gamut from miniature Dragons, to full-blooded members of other races with the ability to shapechange, to those who have some Draconic characteristics (like claws, scales, or wings).

Valkrith, Red Terror of the East, is known to frequently breed with the Kobolds under his command, and most of the military leaders of his warriors are his own Half-Dragon spawn. They stand a full foot taller than most Kobolds, and have a build closer to a human than the spindly form of a Kobold. They possess a variety of traits from him (from wings, full claws, to one or two even being able to breathe fire), though only two have so far inherited his sorcerous ways - K'Lis, his second-in-command, and Va'Krin, his daughter, who has begun amassing her own army to overthrow Valkrith.

Lizardmen (or Scalefolk, as they are known) are a race of nomads and traders. Due to the only-just warm climate of Delraith, those who have come from warmer climes tend to spend their days lazing in the sun, attempting to regulate their body temperature as best they can. During the winter, many enter a state of suspended animation (called The Long Sleep, or the Half-Year Death). A few have been seen to be a lot more active, carrying mysterious stones that provide them with warmth (most often embedded in their chests). Many claim they have some secret link with the mighty Dragons, but so far nothing conclusive has been proven.

Draconic Creatures are the bizarre result of experiments by would-be Dragons (and some of the younger Dragons) into the Draconic Ascension process. They come in many wide and varied forms, with most bearing traits from the Dragon who spawned them. Anathraxiis' experiments are often black, sleek creatures with an affinity for water, while Sheelis, Green Horror of The Dire Woods, tends to spawn lithe, powerful near-human (or demi-human) creatures. A good source for ideas for these creatures is the D&D 3.5 Monster Manual IV, which deals with the "Spawn of Tiamat" - draconic creatures made from the corruption of dragon eggs, with their own particular habitats and tactics. Some are of animal intelligence (such as the Blackspawn Lurker), and some are weak (the Greenspawn Skirmisher), while others are formidible, intelligent foes (the Redspawn Arcaniss). Or, take another creature and add unusual abilities and Draconic traits to season (fire-breathing, magic-shooting, winged T-Rex, anyone?)

Each Draconic Creature should be unique - they are one-of-a-kind bendings of the rules of nature. They make great "minibosses" for dungeons, and it seems like a very Draconic plot to send a crack team of Kobolds out to some God-forsaken dungeon to clean up their Master's mess.

And the usual mess of Devils, Demons, and Undead that populate any good D&D setting. I like the idea that the Undead maybe come from one mythological event - say, an ancient Wizard, whose name was lost to time, who tried to cheat death - not just through ressurection, but by actively killing the God of Death. Well, as you might guess, the paradox inherent in that act led to a small break in reality - the Shattered Veil, or something similar, a overspill of Death into the world, which can result in naturally reanimated creatures. Many are made by evil Magic-Users, of course, but they tend more towards the "construct" feel and theme rather than beings like Vampires and Ghouls.

And there'll always be "edge cases" - a player who wants to play something weird, or a specific subrace of on of the existing races. I'm not a huge fan of 3.5's "We've got an Elf for that" ethos, but I might consider something like allowing Elves to have different stats and such according to their Court (to pluck from every other Fey-based Elf) - like, Summer to sub in for Sun Elves, Winter for Grey/High, Spring for Wood Elves, and Autumn for... something.

Delraith: New Takes on Old Races

So, as part of preparations for the Kobold Ascension Fight campaign, I'm looking at the races which would mostly be present in the setting (the Land of Delraith).

I'm not a huge fan of the "change something for the sake of it" feel that a lot of settings go for, so I'll keep some races as they "normally" are, and switch a few about where it suits.

Kobolds I have already covered - they're not the most populous, or the most powerful race in the setting - but they have the potential for power beyond the dreams of most. Aside from the whole Ascension thing, they're pretty standard Kobolds - sneaky, organised, love trap-making, follow Dragons, etc. About the only difference would be that they almost exclusively serve Dragons - there are no Kobold cities/encampments which don't have a Draconic leader. Those who lose their leader (through exile, the Dragon's death, etc.) will be picked up by other Dragons to serve - mostly so they can convince them to spill the beans on their previous employers. There might be the odd camp of Kobolds who voluntarily left the service of their Masters, but they are very rare - and most are hunted down to prevent them from telling too much to rival Dragons.

In Player Character terms, PC groups should be made up of Kobolds who serve the same Master (the suggested one is Anathraxiis). There can be Kobolds from other Dragons included, but remember - they'd be traitors to their old families, hunted down, and most likely killed if spotted fraternising with other Kobolds. Or, the PCs could be Masterless Kobolds, grouped together for safety - but then you lack a lot of the driving force not to murder each other at any given chance.

Humans are, well, Humans. Enough said. The tend to be somewhat more advanced, as far as magic and technology goes, and I imagine they'd be doing a lot of mixing of the two. Think Eberron's "Magitech" feel and you're not that far off - magic is a part of daily life, and permeates through both official business channels (divinations, magically binding contracts, healing, etc) and criminal aspects (illusions for fraud, escaping detection, etc).

Elves are a little less... majestic, if you like. Nicking a bit from 4e's default cosmology, Elves are the descendants of once-powerful Fae who were exiled to the mortal realm - losing their immortality, but retaining some amount of power. By this point, though, they've bred themselves out to a stable equilibrium - slightly magical humanoids, and nothing more. Sort of like Tieflings/Aasimar, but with Fae in the bloodline instead of Angels and Demons. Of course, they try and protect that secret, to give themselves some measure of "power", but most of the civilised peoples of the land know the truth. So, they're kinda creepy, long-lived but not immortal, and talented with magic.

Drow aren't all backstabbing crazy people. Don't get me wrong, there'll still be a contingent who live in great city-states in foreign lands, descendants of those Elves exiled for worshipping forbidden Gods - but they tend to keep themselves to themselves. The ones you're most likely to see are pirates, explorers, and adventurers. Not that they're nice, but they won't be the Always Chaotic Evil of other settings.

Dwarves... I dunno. I like the idea that they're rare, hardly seen at all outside of their mountain fortresses, almost mythological craftsmen of the Gods themselves. Some few Kings of old had Dwarf-made weapons and armour, and some are now heirlooms to the Kings of the present - though forged centuries ago, each sword holds just as much sharpness, shields and armour barely scratched through hundreds of battles, buildings which might outlast races. That kind of thing. If you see a Dwarf, it'll either be for the rarest of trade excursions, or because you've trespassed in their domain. If it's the second one, I advise running. Wielding arcane weapons and terrifying mechanical contraptions, clad in the toughest armour around, they're like miniature juggernauts of "fuck you up".

Orcs and Goblinoids are pretty standard - tribal societies, raiding other civilised peoples, etc. I do see them as having their own agriculture, spiritual beliefs that extend past "MURDERDEATHKILL", and a decent attempt at magic use, however.

Orcs are your standard "savage humanoids". They raid, they kill, they're the boogeymen of many a city-dweller's bedtime stories. They are capable survivalists, trackers, etc, and no small amount of them have managed to become part of wider society - especially in areas such as Valerian's Reach. They mostly come as "dumb" muscle and wilderness guides. Half-Orcs, however, are well accepted into Human lands - their brawn and reliability is legendary. Many become guardsmen, private bodyguards, and soldiers.
Hobgoblins are especially prevalent - they run their own cities, based very loosely on Spartan ideals. Everyone is a warrior, and if you can't fight, you teach combat and warfare. Hobs will also trade and maintain decent relations with other races, so they aren't as "warlike" as normal. Just... don't mess with them, or the toll will be worse than you could imagine. Their use of magic tends towards the more practical - straightforward offensive magic, occasional defensive and tactical uses, and healing.

Goblins are somewhat more integrated into "normal" society - taking roles as traders, with a shrewd eye for a deal, menial workers, thieves, and generally "lower class" occupations. Sort of like angry Gnomes.

Gnolls are somewhat rare, but still enough of a problem to be known and feared throughout the land. Some have made attempts to integrate themselves into society, taking roles as hunters and tamers of beasts. The rest are nomadic, originating from a desert-continent some way away, where they live as tribal hunter-gatherers, worshipping Old Gods who are seen as somewhat... barbaric (and might be a front for/the original version of current Demon Lords).

Changelings are rare - as in, one or two to a city, if that. Most people see them as monsters, instinctively untrustworthy, and they will most often find themselves at the end of a noose or tip of a sword if found out. Most sell their services to more powerful individuals, like Noble Houses or Dragons, in return for safety.

These are just a few quick notes - I'll get more up when I'm off for Xmas.