Legends & Lairs: Mythic Races - Character Race Compendium (Dungeons & Dragons d20)

189 Pages·2001·71.93 MB·English

by  Fantasy Flight Games

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WELCOME!

Fantasy Flight Games is pleased to present
Mythic Races, the second volume in our
Legends & Lairs lie of soarcebooks for the
20 System, Mythic Races is the deFinitive
source for mew character races, cultures, and
clizations,

“The d20 System core rules offer a good selee-
tion of waditional fantasy races to choose from.
‘These at the staples of most fantasy campaign
sallings and roleplayers have been enjoying
then foe almost tree decades

pte Races provides a wealth of information
Toe those players who are looking for some-
thing new. The character reces in this bock
offer new abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and
foleplaying possibilities that should challenge
‘nd inspire even the most veteran gamers,

Mothi Races is also « very useful tool for
DMs. If you're planning to create a new cam
paign setting-—or add new material to an exist-

ng cme—the original cultures and civilizations
jn this hook will help you to create a tuly
Uinique world, The races can be used asi, of
fvurte, and the sheer variety of them will £0
‘dul inspire your own creations.

How +o Use THis Book

If you're a player looking for a new race for
your next character, you'll finda wide range of
exciting option in Mythic Races. The races in
this hook range from the familar, the exotic,
te the downright bizzare. Remember that you
should get your DM's approval befare choos-
ing one of these races, The races that exist in a
igeme world have a tremendous effect on the
‘makeup of the setting, and the DM always gets
the final eal to insur cohesion and continuity

If you're @ DM, you should find that it's rel
atively simple tak to integrate these races into
‘most fentasy campaign sctings. We've taken
care 10 avoid cumpaigr-speciticcctlls in the
‘descriptions of ths races. Where such details
far offered, consider them optional. They're
there (oad depth and new possibilities to your
‘campaign wold, but they should never inter-
Tere wih your own vision

For the most sur, the races presented here are
‘minor and often isolated cultures. This makes it
easy to introduce © new race in the form of @
iraveler, envoy, or adventurer from faraway,
unknowa lan. Even a minor NPC of an exo
ic race can lend your eampaign depth and real-
ism. Characters’ (end players!) who thought
they knew all there st know sbout yeur world
will realize they've only scratched the surface.

Be sure to check out she official Mythic Races
web enhancement at Fantasy’ Fight Games
website: www-fantasylightgames.com. This
free dowload offers thre additional charactor
races to enrich your campaign

Tue Oren Game License

Mythic Races is published under the terms of
the Open Game Lisense and d20 System
‘Trademark License. The OGL allows us i use
the d20 System core rules and to publish gat
ing material derived from those rules,

Jn fact, material that is strictly rules velated is
Open Content. You can use this material ia
your owa works, as long as you follow te un:
ditions of the Open Game License. You cat
copy the material te your website or even pul it
ina book that you publish and sel

[Not everything inthis book Is Open Content,
however. The names of races, prestige clases,
ews, skills, equipment, ang spells and the
game sutistcs, meckanics, and rules derived
fom the d20 SRD are designated as Open
Content. The descripcions ofthe races and pres-
lige clases are closed content and carinot be
republished, copied, or disibuted without the
‘consent of Fantasy Fight Games,

AA ittusratioas, pictures, ind dlag-ams i this
book are Product Identiy and the property of
Fantasy Fight Games, © 2001,

‘The Open Game License i printed ins entire-
ly at the end of this book. For further informa
‘ion, please visit the Open Gaming Feundation
‘website at www.opengamingfoundalion or,
ay with nature and natural. ereatures.

Inquisitive by nature, aloear are often wander
rs, traveling the lands in search ofa new plea

sure or rare experience, Above al. the aaleear
Tove song, and their haunting, powerful Iyies
are famous throughout the world

But co not be fooled. The aleear are not paci-
fiss, War to san art painted in bloody strokes
both bold and cunning In their distant past, the
asleear fought a series of terible battles against
evil humanoids to secure the borders of their
forest kingdom, The memories of these con-
‘ots are preserved in song, poetry, and art

Personality: Tae asleear tend toward polite
cextoversion, They are endlessly curious aid
highly creative. Aaleear setements, Unough
Seldom sized for vistors, often weleoine wav
fers uonetieess, assuming these guests

thir manners. A would be wromg o say ualeear
donot value weal, but they are more ikely Wo
favor works of an or antiguties to coins al
ems. A profuund respect for the cathartic
Dower of art thecter, and music is central 1
‘asleear thought and cultue. This leads mary
tocar wo be sensilive and expressive. Other
become so enamored of the as they ose touch
with the needs and worles of the real world,
‘becoming aloof and somewhat condescending.

A

C
| Physical Description: ‘The aaleenr are a
<iminative but often plump people standing on
‘average only (wo feet high and weighing 20 10
30 pounds, Despite their charactristically
rounded faces and bellies, aaleoar have thin
farms and legs, delicate, artistic mands, and
Tong, narow fest, Aaleese are almost without
exception fair skinned and graced with fine
ellow or golden hair, Males often have actly
rimmed beards while the females grow their
hair Tong end weave it ito elaborate braids
‘Aaleeat love fine needlework, and their clothes
fare often richly embroidered, usually at great
xpense. They area long-lived people, each
ing maturity at about age 30 and living thee

centuries on average

Relations: Aaleear love most of all elves and
‘oller sylvan folk who share their passion for
Inusic,” Relations are often cordial with
hlfings. Dwarves are locked down upon in
auch the same way the well educated some:
limes pty the uneducated, fer aalecar widely
believe dwarves cannet eppreciate the fine ars
Gueoutes, with their penchant forjokes, are usu
ally seen as bothersome while half-ores are
barely tolerated. Humans who share the
aloes’ passion for music and nature can find
acceptance,

Alignment: Anistie and
aaleear have a strong inclination ward chaos.
‘They are generally @ henevolent people, and
‘mos tene toward good.

‘Aaleear Lands: The asleear build towns atop
platforms archorod to the boughs and trunks of
mighty tees. Plationms are connected by
bridges and ladders. The ground sround the
aalepar's toes is often cultivated with various
‘mushrooms and tubers. Orchards of frit and
rut trees are also common. Aalecar also
ddomestcate various tyoes of songbirds, squir-
rel, rabbits, as well as other animals valued for
theif pelts such as minks o: ermine, This
‘diminutive, artistic race trades with merchants
and nearby towns. Aaleear cloth and produce
fare almost always of high quality and ate in
‘good demand, The aaleear in tum acquire
‘weapons, amor, and other worked metal
ool

As mentioned above, the aaleear lve ina cen-
‘nalized forest kingdom. Within the forest are
several towns with the aleear capital Nocturne
4 thelr conter. Government is actualy a form,

‘of republic combined with a aereditary
‘monarch, Esch town, including the capital,

‘ad major guild clets a representative, These
aaleear serve as & kind of parliament and as
advisors to the king. The small but well-trained
aaleear military is also represented in parla-
ment, as are the ranking peiests from the three
major aaleear cuts

‘Public testivals are corumon in aaeear lands
Birthdays are celebrated once monthly as a
‘community wide event in which all aaeear
bom that monch are publicly honored with
‘ood, wine, and song, Fanerals ere handled in a
similar manner, Every new moon, all he recent
dead are remembered with a mournful proces-
sion thai followed by a eulogy banguet, Dead.
are interred inthe burial rounds, excep forthe
nobility, who are laid to rest within a mau-
soleum carved inside an exzeptionally lange,
ancient tee. Weddings are 2 somewhat more
private affair to which the bride-and groom
invite whom they choose. Typically, however,
‘wedding paresare exuberant ati wih age

Polygamy is not unknown among the aaleear,
‘but multiple wives aze a sign of social stats.
Only the wealthy or pretentious take more than
‘one bride. In polygamous households, the frst
wife is usually the matiarc, but this is not @
rule. first wife who Toses favor with her hus-
bund may find her position as head of house-
hold turned over to a junior wife. The practice
‘of polygamy is losing some of its atraction,
largely due to presse ftom the priestesses of
the Tanglea Woran,

Other races wo verture into aaleear lands wil
likely find themselves welcome visitors but
also inconvenienced by size, Te aaleear are &
tiny people, and their towns are not built t0
‘azcommedate larger races. More prosperous
aileear communities, including Nocturne, hive
8 visitor's quarter built at ground level. A visi-
{or's quar typically inclnces an ina, a stable,
small marke:, and a central park. Ort, the
amenities inthe quarter are managed by non-
‘lear,

‘Aaleear living in human lands seem invariably
to be aniss who work by commission or else
enjoy the patronage of some rich family.
‘Among the best and brightest poets, painters,
playwrights, and composers are found aaleear
emigrants,

Religion: ‘The chief deity of the aslecar is
‘Limpang-Lahai goddess of art and music. Her
clerics stive for aesthetic excellence in all of
their endzavors and are often great patrons of
art and Teaming. Many aaleear practice devo-
tion tothe gods and forces of nature as wel
‘The Tangled Wornan i also an importat figure
in the aaleear pantheon. She governs mature,
smimals, and agriculture. The cult of the
‘angled Woman is matriarchal, und it actively
seeks io better the lot of aalecar females, The
smallest aaleear religion is devoted to Hollos
te Archer, od of war. The cult of Hollos dom
‘nates the aaleear's military. The three cults are
senerally cooperative with each other, but cis-
putes can and do arse, especially between the
ranking clergy who hold positions inthe parla-
rent

Deity jament Domains
Limpang-Labsi Chose good Air. Good,
Knowledge
Tangled Woman Neutral good Animal,
Nature,
Plant
Holos the Archer Lawful ood Destruction
Law, War

Language: As would be expected, the asleeat
have a complicated, musical language.
‘Meanings of words rely as much on inflection
tard tone as they do comtext nd pronunciation.
‘Weitien aclear is a owing sexipc that closely
resembles Elven. The sheer quay of aaleat
Tierature, poetry, musi, and history is uly
prodigious, Books themselves, que apart from
‘contents, age Works of art, Even cook
‘book may be fligreed or otherwise decorated

‘Names: All aaleear have a birth name, usually
‘given by the grandmother, as well as a family
Dame passed though the father's line. Most
‘cull dalezat also adopt some som of scrip
five nickname, such as “Turesmith” or
“tiredancer”

Male Names: Citsn, Tadorfy, Jared
Female Names: Wilamiea, Aladina, Amie

Adventurers: Aaleear adventurers are rare.
‘Those who do travel in seagch of danger and
lory also prize most highly kaowledge in all
its forms. Many aaleear adventurers: would
approach the “rescue of some work of art of
rare book with the same zeal a paladin would
approach the rescue of « maiden.

AALEFAR RACIAL TRAITS.

+42 Widom, +2 Charisma, -2. Strength:
Auleear are & sensitive, likeable people, but
their size means redused muscle power.

‘+ Tiny: As Tiny creatures, aalecar gain a +2
size bonus to Armor Class, 42 size bonus
fon attack rolls, and a +8 bonus on Hide
checks, but they must use smatler weapoas
than humans use, and their ling and earry-
‘ng limits are oae-alf ofthese of Medium-
size characters

+ Adleear base speed is 20 fet

+ Fey: The aaleeur are fey creatures, relatives,
‘of sprites, This renders ‘hem immcne to cer
tains spells such as charm person and hold
person

few-light Vision: Aaleear can sce twice as
far as human in stalight, moonlight torl-
light, and other conditions of poor ilumina-
tion, They rein the abiity to distinguish
detail und coloe unser these conditions
+ Proficient with fey bow. All aalecar axe
trained inthe use of ths remarkable weapon,
Despite ls tiny size, tis a6 powerful as a
shonbow. An aaleear must. of course, pur.
chase his own fey bow. Other races desiting
proficiency with the fey bow must use the
Exotic Weapon Proficiency leat do $0,

+ 42 racial bonus on Listen, Move Silently, and
Senie Motive checks,

+ Automatic Languages: Common and
‘Aaleear. Honus Languages: Avan, Gnoll,
Gnome, Goblin, Ore, and Sylvan,
Additionally, once per day asa Ist-level cast:
an ealeear can use speak with animals asa
spell-like ability to communicate with any
ort of bind.

+ All anlear have certain splt-ike abilities.
‘They can utlize the O-eve spells cantrps)
detect magic, ghost sound, and. mending
teach once peda Treat the aalearas& St
level caster forall anti spell effets depen-
dent on level. An aaleear can also cas the
Tstevel arcane magic spell enlarge, but it
affect only his person an belongings. Treat
the salvar as a sthlvel caster for enlarge
spel efets dependent on level

‘An aaleecr with « Chavisma of 12 ot higher
has addtional spel-ike abies. in ll cases,
those abilities are usable once per day. Caster
level is equal tothe aaleears class levels.

Charisma Gained at Spel-like
Modifier Level Ability

4H 2nd Giarm person

2 4h Invisibility

# Th Charm monster

4 10 Improved invsibiley
45 13h Dominate person
6 ath Mase suggestion

+ Favored Class: Bard, A muliclass aaleea's
‘ard class does not count when determining
‘whether or not he sufers an XP penalty.

+ Level Equivalent Class levels + 2

AALEEAR ENCHANtER

“he chur an alee who bas teamed
‘curry ibe nonsaeea objects wih
le magia power, Se dest by means
of spec hams that ate he em Mh the
Spel being enchanted int theresa cera
atnoot of ante alent rege to some an
Seas No aca can ea monte of

is resige clas. Enchaters ae rood ito
Graf pulls tha provide ivhouse Tang fo
tepingalcar at wel as proving gods and
‘eit othe communi ara whee

Bards and sorcerers most often become
cenchanters. The particular abilities ofthis pres-
ige cless augment nicely thee somewhat lit
ed spellcasting abilities. Aéventuring
fenchanters find. themselves occupying an
important position in any group. Their ability
to temporarily enchant items enables them to
provide uselul spells to thet alles, thus great
Iy increasing the magical capabilities of the
adventuring party

‘it Die: dt

ReQuinenents

‘To quulify 10 become an aaleear enchuner, a
‘character must Fulfil all the Following criteria,

Perform (chant): 9 ranks,
Spelleasting: Ability W vast Is¢level arcane
spells

Chass Bis

The enchant lass kil (a the key bi
ty fer each ski) are Alchemy (Int), Appraise
(Ino, “Concentration (Con), Craft nt),
Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Perform (Cha),
Profession (Wis). Sery (Int. exclusive skills),
ard Spellerat a.

Skill Points at Fach Level: 4+ Int modifier
pug

Chass Features:

All of the following are class features of the
asleear enchanter prestige clas,

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: An
cnckanter is. proficient with all simple
\weapors. Enchanters are proficient with light,
arm, bu not shield,

Gulld Membership: All enchaaters ate
expected 10 be members in goad standing of a
craft guild. They pay dues and accept certain
duties in exchange ‘or certain beneits. Dues
‘are paid monthly in the amount of 1S gp. A
‘uild members duties include two weeks ser-
‘ice per year in the guildhall This service typ-
ically involves work-ior-profit and tutoring
junior members. In addition, the enchanter
tus! accept any special commissions given to
fhm by senior guild members. An enchanter
‘who does not pay his dues for more than four
‘months, ails to put in his two weeks service, or
refuses’ a special commission will find his
iembership revoked. It is possible for mem
bership to be reinstated, but this requires the
approval ofthe senior guild members who are
fee to sot whatover requirements they desice.
‘An ex-member can progress in level us an
feachanter ut loses access to bonus Teats as
Aescrited below.

A member in good standing enjoys certain ben-
efits, All guildhalls provide lodging and three
imeals a day for members forthe modest fee of
‘3 spper day. The enchanter can avail himself of
the guilds craft teos free of charge. He can opt
{o use masterwork craft tools for 5 sp per day.
Exc guildhall also includes a laboratory for
creating minor of medium magic items. The
cenchanter can utilize these facilites for 1 gp
per day nal cases the enchanter must pay his
town materials costs, Free servioes include a
aud boand” on which roices are posted
tnverising such things as special joh offers or
the sale of items hath mundane ane mepical

Finally, guid members are often available to
cast sells for each other a6 well a6 non-mem-
ters. Gil members can aequire such services
at one-half agemal cost See the guidelines and
cost for NPC spalleasting (DMG 149),

Enchant Normal Item: As the erchanter gains
levels, he bacomes jncreasing'y more capable
in bes.owing 2 single magical effect upon any
‘normal iter. Magical tems cannot be enchant.

‘ed. No item can hold more than one enchan:-
ment at me. To enchant an item, the charac
fer must hold the stem and cast the spel to be
Impressed into it.The spell does not take effect
as normal; instead, it Eecomes imbued in the
item, Only arcane spells can be imbued.

‘An enchants can imbos magisl power ito a
limi number of Hems pe cay The max
to nun Hens he a ear nt

aay seul ths case lev Inala
Erctanier “olus his Charsme modifier
Frthermore an ala encanercamot have
ference at any given tines numberof
ftchamed tems el to more tha wie is
Charisma moder plas Hs encase evel.
Tem ein ter ehanrests ut destoyed
OF tsed For example, Hofaa is axel
echamer wit a 13 Chrisa. He cn enchant
five tems ina single day. Hecan have as mary
seven enchanted lems i eisence at 9
tven time

‘A Istevel enchanter can only imbue an item
‘with a. spell whose range is “You” or
“Touch.” Furthermore, the enchanler him-
self is the oaly one who can viiize the
1
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Te ah cae:
408 Eee
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[At Sr level the enchanter becomes able to
imbue spells whose range is "You" forthe use
‘of other people. For example, the enchante
‘ould imbue acral ring with bling that could
then be used by another person, Furtiermore;
the erchinler Cun imbue ranged spells for use
by himself lene.

At Sth level, the enchaner acyuires the power
fo imbue “Touch” range spells for the ase 0:
others. He could, for example, enchant a gaunt

2

8
3
Bs

4
cc
+6
6

‘Bonus feat

Bonus feat

Jet with shocking grasp for another @ member
of his party to use in combs

Finally, at TU level, the enchanter is able to
Jmbue any spel he ean cast info an item for
anyone to use. In al! case, all spell eflects are
ddsiermined by the enchanter’s actual caser
Tevel, not by his level as an enchantet

Enchanted items are activated by a command
‘word chosen by the enchanter atthe time he
‘imbued the item with magic. Activating an
enchanted item is a standard action that des
not provoke an atack of opportuni. Once &
spell hasbeen expended from an sem, the item
loses its enchantment

Bonus Feats: A: the levels indicatec in the
table below, an enchanter receives a boms feat.
‘This feat must be chosen fom the fallowing
Uist: Combat Casting, Spell Focus, Spell
‘Mastery, Spell Penettstion, any item creation
feat, o© any metemagic fea. In all cases, the
enchanter must meet applicable prerequisites,

‘Recognize Enchantments: Enchanters have
an. intuitive understanding of » magical
‘dwveomers tht is honed by careful practice, He
can use Spellra to identity a glyph of ward
ing or a symbol without using read magie, For
other Spelleraft uses, the asleear enchanter
enjoys a ~2 competence bonus,

Resist Magic: As an enchant increases in
level, he is beser able to resist the effets of
harmful magic. His resistance bonus t0 saves
against mage is shown on the clas ‘able