The Races of Gaeleth

The racial modifiers for Gaeleth are considerably different than the listed abilities in the various Player's Handbooks. The desert elves for instance, are considerably larger and more powerful than their wood elven cousins; as such, the desert elves to not have the traditional elven -1 to Constitution. The tomanth barbarians are extremely feral, with a -1 to their Intelligence. Because of this, it behooves starting players to peruse the listings when choosing a race. It also aids PC's in knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the various races, especially as they travel from place to place. Just because one race may look tough and intimidating, doesn't mean it is; and the cute little harmless race might be the one to rip your head off.

Humans

Chillean: The most distinguishing feature of the Chillean heritage is the epicanthic fold of the eye. Usually shorter than the other races of man, their skin color ranges from porcelein white to a lusterous gold in certain nobility. The Chillean build has several diverse peoples within it, depending on the nationality. Some are more square-jawed, others' skin color leans towards a reddish tinge, and still others have slanted eyes. They almost universally have black to brown hair and dark eye pigmentation. Regardless of differences, all have a rich heritage, a venerable respect for their elders, and a great passion for the past.

Sholin: These are the water-folk of Gaeleth. Found in almost every tropical wet-weather or water environment, some spend their entire lives having never set foot on land. Their skin color ranges from lightly browned to swarthy gray, and is adapted to the sun. Their hair and eye color ranges from light browns and dark golds, to black. Several different locales have particularly large builds, with weights exceeding three-hundred pounds. They are thought to be kin of the Chillean peoples, and possibly spread from Chilleth millennia ago. All Sholin have a high respect for weather and nature, and a love of water.

Amaran: Their skin ranges from light chocolate to shadowy onyx. Their wider noses and larger gluteus muscles show a propensity for speed. Their black hair is rarely straight, and tends to be fairly light in terms of thickness. Heat-adapted, they do not tolerate the cold very well, and are perfectly at home in temperatures that would give other men heat stroke. Their sense of rhythm and competition is superior to most races, and they have perhaps the longest oral histories of any realm. Several subraces are among the tallest men on Gaeleth, and other subraces are among the shortest men.

Destanae: The red skin of these people mark them most quickly from other races. One subrace is unable to grow much body hair, save on their heads, while another subrace is extraordinarily hairy. Their hair color ranges from russet reds to browns to blacks, and their eye color ranges from greens to grays to browns. Wirey and hard, these people are well-suited to problems of endurance, though they are quick to anger.

Shales: Light skinned, they have adapted to the colder northern climes of much of Gaeleth. Their hair and eye color is the most varied of all races, ranging from golds to reds, browns to blacks, and greens to blues. Some few even have blue to blueish skin and eyes. Relatively hairy compared to the other subraces, their body size ranges from average to extraordinarily wide. Adept explorers and fierce warriors, they are spread over more of Gaeleth than any other, and thus fracturered into far more nationalities and subraces than any other.

Elven Races

Forest Elves: They are the traditional elves, as listed in the Player's Handbook. They receive a +1 bonus to their Dexterity that aids them in blending into forest around them, evading predators and hunters, and makes them a very nimble race. They are fairly strong for their size, and have the same proportional strength as humans, though they appear much more frail. They can tolerate the cold and the heat more than most other races, but at the same time, they are more succeptible to disease and poisons, and they have considerably less endurance than humans; therefore, they have a -1 penalty to their Constitutions.

Desert Elves: These dry land behemoths are the giants among the elves. The females, the shorter of the two, are generally 6'6". As a whole, they are stronger than the other elves only because of their proportional size; they are still built rather lightly, compared to equally tall humans. As a general rule, however, they are just as quick and nimble as the forest elves they derived from, and so have the racial +1 to Dexterity. They can take more punishment than forest elves, and have been subjected to intense survival tests; as such, they do not receive the same penalty to their Constitution as forest elves. Being reclusive and elusive, they tend to ignore the other races, shunning them for others of their own kind. Desert elves have a -1 penalty to their Charismas.

Dark Elves: Having been subjected to the horrors of the Storm Wars, and everything else under the sun, the drow race has suffered. Always strong fighters and mages, they have a +1 bonus to their Intelligence scores; no other such race could have survived the indignities they have suffered, especially if they had a penalty to their Constitution scores. However, the lack of involvement by the other races has made them wary of outsiders, and leery of compassion. As such, they have a -1 penalty to their Charisma scores.

Drow'Ari: There are those dark elves hidden throughout the Nabrolian lands that are the results of Nathelian General Roreth's experiments. Mutants, half-breeds, and strangely altered drow hide in the remnants of the dwarven lands, scurry through the sewers of cities, or flee through the inhospitable wildernesses of the Nabrolian lands. Some of the originally mutated dark elves still survive, though their progeny are more numerous. Dark elves with wings, normal appearing elves with drow abilities, half-elf and half-monster, and more strange creatures still persist, despite the Nabrolian hunts. Ability scores vary from creature to creature, but all are the descendants of the original dark elves to Gaeleth.

Dwarven Races

Mountain Dwarves: They believe themselves the epitomy of the dwarven kind, and they are the dwarves found in the Player's Handbook. They are a hardy lot, working and toiling in their mines and forges for days at a time. In addition, the underworld has many creatures that use poisons and biological toxins to capture prey and avoid capture. The dwarves also have a tendancy to drink substances that literally could kill other races. As such, the dwarves have a +1 bonus to their Constitutions. Their deep mountain residences place them out of the way of most other races, and their rigid thinking has locked them away from most other races. As such, they have a -1 penalty to their Charismas.

Deep Dwarves: Long ago, they descended from the mountain dwarves. Their way of life has become more instinct than choice, and they have rapidly devolved into a harsh race. Their way of life is hard and cruel, and their world is even more dangerous to the body's insides than the world of the mountain dwarves. As such, they still have the +1 bonus to Constitution of the dwarves. Their wild and chaotic minds are far more willing to deal with strange things, and they are willing to deal with any race just to survive or get by. As such, they do not have the same penalties to Charisma as their mountain dwarven kin. Their intellect has suffered considerably, however. They are shrewd, but they are more animal than dwarf; as such, they have a -1 penalty to their Intelligence scores.

Hill Dwarves: The free thinkers among the dwarves, they feel that the rigid thinking of the mountain dwarves is as set in stone as the stone around them. These dwarves think more along the lines of humans, living in diverse stone habitats from the surface to the deep. Their mountain dwarven heritage shows in their robustness, and they have a +1 bonus to their Constitution scores. More trusting of outsiders and more willing to deal with the unknown, they do not share the tradition penalties to their Charisma as other dwarves, though they are still nowhere as wild in their thinking as humans. The hill dwarves have longer life spans than the other dwarven races, but pay for it with slower metabolisms and a more languid lifestyle. They have a -1 penalty to their Dexterity.

Tomanth Races

River Tomanths: Well adapted to freshwater living, they are the most common and the most typical of tomanths. Their green scales help them hide among the forests and algae of their temperate rivers, and so they remain aloof and detached from outsiders, observing without being seen. The fight to survive against natural enemies, to swim, and to leap among the trees from trunk to trunk, have given them a great natural strength, despite their short size, so they have a +1 bonus to their Strength scores. Quick and agile in the water, the river tomanths are not so quick on land, and their proportional strength actually slows them down, so they have a -1 penalty to their Dexterities. Of course, their freshwater adaptivity limits their stays in saltwater environments, and in dry climates.

Ocean Tomanths: Though the oceans are broader, few tomanths have adapted to saltwater. Though called 'ocean tomanths', they are not fully adapted to life on the high seas. These tomanths, with their brown and dark green scales, can live and work for long periods of time in saltwater environments. Like most tomanths, they have the race's relative endurance and power; they have +1 to their Strength scores. Greater selective pressures have made them a bit quicker than their kin, so they do not have the same penalty to their Dexterity scores. A bit hornier and heavier of scale, they also have thicker cranial plates -- and have a -1 penalty to their Intelligence scores. Though they pay for their physicality, it lets them survive for longer periods in various aquatic environments, and even for extended periods in drier climates, though they will always return to water.

Blood Tomanths: Rarely, very rarely, is a blood tomanth hatched. Their scales range from russet brown to blood red; in the reddish-orange light of Maroth, they appear black. They are not as heavily muscled as their kin, and are built more sleekly, moving faster than the river tomanths, thus they do not have their kind's bonus to Strength. Blood tomanths have scales even thicker and hornier than ocean tomanths, and cranial plates arranged differently; additionally, they have various internal differences that allow them to survive much longer than any other of their kin. These internal and external changes have both a boon, and a bane; they have an inherent +1 bonus to their Constitutions, and +1 to their Armor Class (bAC4). They pay for their endurance with a -1 penalty to their Wisdom.

Ogran Races

Orcs: Their green skins, prodigeous sweat, and porcine thick hides are perfectly suited for the deserts and drier climates they live in. Millennia of infighting, clan warfare, and savage competition have resulted in a strong warrior species in large numbers. They reproduce in litters, and have a +1 bonus to their overall Constitution scores. Because of their rage and their general distrust, they have a -1 penalty to their Charisma scores.

Ogres: Massive kin of the orcs, they range from eight to twelve feet in height and nearly half a ton. Their sallower skin and greater body mass have allowed them to dominate their orcish cousins, even though they are not as numerous as the orcs. Physically stronger, they have +1 bonus to their Strength scores. Their affinity for diseases of the skin negate the typical orcish bonus to Constitution, tying up their immune systems for vanity. Cunning and willful, they look upon every other species as potential prey; they suffer a -1 penalty to their Charisma scores.

Kobolds: Where the ogres are the more massive kin of the orcs, the kobolds are the the dimunitave kin. Averaging four feet tall and barely sixty pounds, these "walking dogs" have all the population pressure of the ogran races, and few of their strengths. What they lack in strength and intelligence, they make up for in speed and cunning. They have a +1 bonus to their Dexterity scores, because of their agility and small size. Preyed upon by both orcs and ogres, they fear almost every other race save their own, and so have a -1 penalty to their Charisma scores.

Ogremai: A small percentage of ogres have a natural ability to weave and invoke magics. Generally lighter and shorter than the other ogres, these ogremai (ogre magi) are far more cunning and intelligent than any of the other ogran races. They share the brute strength and enduring physiology of their kin, and have a +1 bonus to their Strength scores. Their empathic abilities make them dangerous leaders, and they do not suffer the ogre penalty to Charisma. Their natural magical abilities do have a trade off, in that they tend to make the ogremai capable of extreme rage; thus, they have a -1 penalty to their Wisdom scores.

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