Races in the Twilight Empire

Designer's Notes

Twilight Empire is a human-oriented campaign; dwarfs and elves are mysterious fey creatures, like goblins and trolls, and are not generally a part of human society. In addition, halflings and half-orcs and other common nonhuman races are not a part of the Twilight Empire campaign, which is based more on traditional folklore and mythology than on modern fantasy.

While players are prohibited from playing elves, dwarfs, or other faerie creatures, human characters are distinguished by their Background Package, which gives them skills and bonus items, and by their homeland, which determines their native language and alignment (general religious affiliation).

I have also included a few human/nonhuman crossbreeds as options for player characters; these characters can generally pass as human, but have one or more nonhuman ancestors, whether demon, elf, or troll.

Most of the skills are self-explanatory; the cambion's mentalism skill is a simplified version of psionics which will be covered in a later post.

Races

Race Statistics Table

Race	Ability Bonus	Race Powers	Race Skills	Social Level	Native Language
Cambion	charisma +1	dark vision (6”) enchanted magic save bonus (+2)	mentalism occult lore	3d6	Infernal
Elfborn	dexterity +1	dark vision (6”) detect secret bonus (+1) hear noise bonus (+1)	hide in wilderness move silently outdoor survival	3d6	Elfish
Human	varies by BP	background package homeland	varies by BP	varies by BP	varies by HL
Trollborn	strength +1	dark vision (6”) detect secret bonus (+1) magic save bonus (+2)	craft (any) mining underground lore	3d4	Trollish

Ability Bonus

The race ability bonus is added to the stated ability score once at 1st level. A human character’s ability bonus varies by background package (BP).

Race Powers

Unlike most skills, powers never require a skill roll to use successfully.

Race Skills

Race skills are in addition to a character’s class skills, training package skills, and elective skills. A human character’s race skills vary by background package.

Social Level

Social level is a measure of a character’s status in society. A human character’s social level varies based on his background package.

Native Language

A character begins play knowing his native language and one other language of his player’s choice. Generally, the second language should be Valish (the Common Tongue of the Twilight Empire), or whatever the local human language is for the campaign setting. A human character’s native language varies by homeland (HL).

Cambion

Ability Bonus:             charisma +1

Race Powers:               dark vision (6”); enchanted; magic save bonus (+2)

Race Skills:                  mentalism; occult lore

Social Level:                3d6

Native Language:         Infernal

Description

A cambion is a character of mixed human and demon blood—usually the product of sexual congress between a man and a succubus, or between a woman and an incubus. A cambion is always raised by humans; if born of a succubus, the infant is left at the doorstep of its human father (or his family).

A cambion is uncommonly attractive, magnetic, and seductive in appearance and demeanor. A cambion also always has a hidden “telltale” feature which indicates his demonic ancestry. The telltale is easy to conceal or downplay in daily life, but will not escape sustained scrutiny.

Cambion Telltale Table

Roll	Telltale
1	Ears: unusually pointed
2	Eyes: glow faintly in darkness
3	Horns: hidden beneath hair
4	Mole(s): oddly shaped, colored, or placed
5	Tail: hidden by normal clothing
6	Teeth: unusually pointed canines

Cambions have a natural affinity for magic and the supernatural. They are collectors of magical lore and are more knowledgeable than humans about the affairs of demons and other spirits.

Cambion Powers

Dark Vision

A cambion can see in the dark up to 60’ away.

Enchanted

A cambion is an enchanted creature, and is able to affect spirits and other incorporeal creatures using non-magical weapons and attack forms.

Magic Save Bonus

A cambion receives a +2 bonus to all saving throws against magical effects.

Elfborn

Ability Bonus:             dexterity +1

Race Powers:               dark vision (6”); detect secret bonus (+1); hear noise bonus (+1)

Race Skills:                  hide in wilderness; move silently; outdoor survival

Social Level:                3d6

Native Language:         Elfish

Description

An elfborn is a character of mixed human and elfish ancestry. Elves and humans occasionally marry, sometimes for love, more commonly to seal an alliance against a common foe. Depending on the situation, either the human will journey to the realm of Faerie to live with his spouse, or the elf will move to live in the human realm and pass himself off as a human from a distant land.

Many elfborns are born out of wedlock. Usually, the child of a human mother will be raised by humans, and the child of an elf mother by elves. Sometimes the elves will steal the child of a human mother and take him to the realm of Faerie, or else deposit the child of an elf mother at the doorstep of its human father.

An elfborn is typically tall, fair in complexion, and exceptionally lithe and agile. Elbloods have keen senses and are naturally at home in the wilderness.

Elfborn Powers

Dark Vision

An elfborn can see in the dark up to 60’ away.

Detect Secret Bonus

An elfborn receives a +1 bonus on rolls to detect secret doors or hidden objects.

Hear Noise Bonus

An elfborn receives a +1 bonus on rolls to hear faint noises.

Human

Ability Bonus:             varies by background package

Race Powers:               background package; homeland

Race Skills:                  varies by background package

Social Level:                varies by background package

Native Language:         varies by homeland

Description

A human character is of pure human ancestry, rather than being of mixed human and demon, elf, or troll ancestry. However, a character of mixed ancestry counts as fully human if more than 75% of his ancestors are human.

Human Powers

Background Package

Every human has a background package, which determines his ability bonus, race skills, and social level.

A background package represents a human character’s upbringing and education. In general, a male is trained in the occupation of his father and a female in the occupation of her mother. Most exceptions occur due to the custom of fostering, in which a boy or girl is sent to another family to work as a servant or apprentice, and to learn skills relevant to his or her intended profession or station in society.

The ability score bonus gives a character a +1 bonus to one ability score, but each background package permits a player to choose from two abilities when assigning the bonus. No ability score may be raised above 18 as a result of this bonus.

Background Package Table

#	Background Package	Ability Bonus (Choose One)	Skills	Social Level
1	Craftsman	dexterity +1 intelligence +1	appraisal craft teamster	1d4+6
2	Fisherman	constitution +1 dexterity +1	fishing rowing or sailing weather sense	1d6+4
3	Forester	dexterity +1 wisdom +1	direction sense outdoor survival tracking	1d6+4
4	Herdsman	constitution +1 wisdom +1	animal husbandry musical instrument weather sense	1d6+4
5	Merchant	charisma +1 intelligence +1	appraisal merchant scribe or teamster	1d6+4
6	Mountaineer	constitution +1 strength +1	climbing tracking weather sense	1d6+4
7	Noble	charisma +1 strength +1	courtesy riding scholarship or tracking	1d4+12
8	Nomad	constitution +1 dexterity +1	animal husbandry riding tracking	1d6+4
9	Pauper	charisma +1 dexterity +1	appraisal begging bluffing	1d2+2
10	Peasant	constitution +1 wisdom +1	farming teamster tracking	1d4+6
11	Scholar	intelligence +1 wisdom +1	divinity, juristry, or medicine scholarship scribe	1d4+6
12	Seaman	constitution +1 strength +1	rowing or sailing swimming weather sense	1d6+4

Homeland

A human character’s homeland indicates his general cultural background, including native language, default alignment, and permitted selection of background packages. Homeland can also influence the reactions of monsters and NPCs, at the referee’s discretion.

The default starting point for the Twilight Empire campaign is the city of Greymouth; it is thus assumed that most player characters are native to that city or to the surrounding regions of Val (the land of the Twilight Empire). However, people of many homelands can be found in Greymouth, whether they have arrived as merchants, mariners, mercenaries, slaves, or captives.

Homeland Table

#	Home Land	Native Language	Typical Alignment	Background Packages
1	Albu	Valish	lawful	all
2	Burath	Burathish	neutral	craftsman, fisherman, forester, herdsman, peasant, seaman
3	Rham	Rhamish	lawful	all
4	Don	Donish	neutral	craftsman, fisherman, forester, herdsman, peasant, seaman
5	Dul	Dulish	lawful	all
6	Hur	Hurish	lawful neutral	all
7	Hux	Huxish	neutral	craftsman, fisherman, forester, mountaineer, peasant, seaman
8	Let	Letish	lawful	all
9	Tur	Turish	lawful	all
10	Val	Valish	lawful	all
11	Zargoz	Zargozish	lawful	all
12	Zun	Zunish	neutral	craftsman, fisherman, forester, herdsman, mountaineer

Trollborn

Ability Bonus:             strength +1

Race Powers:               dark vision (6”); detect secret bonus (+1); magic save bonus (+2)

Race Skills:                  craft (any); mining; underworld lore

Social Level:                3d4

Native Language:         Trollish

Description

A trollborn character is of mixed human and troll ancestry. Trolls sometimes mix with humans in remote or borderlands areas.

A trollborn is unusually tall, stout, and sturdy of limb. They may be dark of complexion or noticeably hirsute. Throllborn are skilled craftsmen and warriors, and are at home in mines and under the earth.

Trollborn Powers

Dark Vision

A trollborn can see in the dark up to 60’ away.

Detect Secret Bonus

A trollborn receives a +1 bonus on rolls to detect secret doors or objects.

Magic Save Bonus

A trollborn receives a +2 bonus to all saving throws against magical effects.