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The Main Races Humans Dwarves Elves Gnomes Half-Elves Halflings Half-Orcs Through their drive, voracity and ruthlessness in
their expansion, humans in the World of
Varna have become the most numerous of the civilised races. Unlike most
other civilised races, human cultures, beliefs and values vary considerably.
A further point that sets humans apart is their relative propensity for
disagreement and war among their own kind.
For a race so diverse and multi-faceted, humanity in general has poor
tolerance for those whose ways are different. Human settlements are spread far and wide over the World of Varna and humanity’s rapid
rate of expansion coupled with its desire for power and dominance is believed
to be slowly forcing the other races into decline. However there are others that believe that
like the lifespan of its individuals, the lifespan of the human race will be
fleeting. Game
Notes: Humans have the racial traits
and abilities as listed in the PHB.
During years of peace and prosperity many dwarves
neglected the art of warfare and defence.
As they lived their long, prosperous lives they became complacent to
the sudden, rapid and some say divinely influenced growth of the goblin and
orc races across The First Goblin Wars led to heavy losses for the
dwarves and set off a cycle of monstrous onslaught against the dwarf nations
that would continue and repeat over many, many millennia. The elves, whom the dwarves considered to
be friends refused to come to the aid of the dwarves who bitterly consider
this a betrayal of friendship to this day. Now dwarf numbers are much diminished; many ancient
cities lie abandoned and inhabited by monsters and the proud dwarf race as a
whole is deeply wounded and scarred by its history. The dwarves continue to live by their old
traditions, but they have learned painful lessons and for the thousands of
years that have followed the First Goblin Wars they have been careful to
ensure that they maintain their warrior tradition lest the goblins come
again. Dwarves are no longer a numerous race, their
remaining clans are found spread across the many mountain environments of The grey dwarf subrace is even fewer in
number. An evil and twisted race they
reside deep in The Underlands, cast out by their Stone Dwarf kin before
recorded time as a punishment for their evil.
Legend says that the grey dwarfs were corrupted from the slag waste of
Moradin’s forge. Game Notes: There are only two known races of dwarf on
The truth is somewhat more complex, the first elves
came to The elves are a secretive and aloof race with
little trust of anything or anyone not of their own kind. Elves tend also to be insular and private
with a reluctance to allow outsiders within their realms for fear of corruption.
Nevertheless most elf communities try to maintain at least tolerant
relationships with their neighbours for purposes of trade. Otherwise they prefer to be left alone. Adventuring elves are generally looked upon with
some suspicion by their kin and accordingly they tend to be a little less haughty than the rest of
their kind. Game
Notes: There are nine subraces of
elf that are listed in game terms below.
The key source for elves in ·
High Elves (Sylvanii):
Have all the racial abilities and traits as described in the PHB. ·
Dark Elves (Drow): Have
all the racial abilities and traits as described in the MM and SRD. ·
Grey Elves (Drenai): Have
all the racial abilities and traits as described in the MM and SRD. ·
Sea Elves (Aquani): Have
all the racial abilities and traits as described in the MM and SRD. ·
Wild Elves (Grugach): Have
all the racial abilities and traits as described in the MM and SRD. ·
Wood Elves (Sylvan): Have
all the racial abilities and traits as described in the MM and SRD. ·
Mist Elves (Daoine): See The Quintessential Elf page 76. ·
Sky Elves (Thorendil):
See The Quintessential Elf page 78. ·
Wanderer Elves (Khilasa): See The Quintessential Elf page 79.
Rock gnomes make their communities near the surface,
usually making small burrow towns around foothills or low mountains. While rock gnomes mix with other races they
try not to get involved in their troubles or politics, preferring to live
life to the full and satiate their spirited curiosity. Gnome communities can
often be found within human or other realms, but even in such circumstances
their communities tend to maintain their political and fiscal independence,
except where integrated into human cities. Gnomes have a reputation as skilled and imaginative
tinkerers, craftsmen, alchemists and inventors, often coming up with
ingenious devices for the most mundane of tasks. Their technical skills make them welcome in
most civilised communities. Rock gnomes are fond of amusement, songs, jokes and
pranks but are often as troublesome as they are entertaining. Deep gnomes share the same technical and
engineering expertise as their surface cousins, but seclusion in the depths
and dangers of The Underlands has made them reclusive, serious and wary of
outsiders. Svifneblin cities are often concealed by either magical illusion
or optical illusion created by ingenious engineering. Game
Notes: The key source for more
detailed notes on gnome society is the Races
of Stone supplement. Rock Gnomes have all the racial
abilities and traits as described in the PHB.
Deep Gnomes have the racial abilities and traits as described
in the MM. Half-Elves follow the flavour and have the racial abilities
and traits as described in the PHB. Half-Orcs follow the flavour and have the racial
abilities and traits as described in the PHB.
A useful additional source for the role playing of half-orc characters
in the World of Varna is The Slayer’s
Guide to Orcs by Mongoose Publishing.
Their homes tend to be burrows of many rooms built
into grassy hillsides, but they are also known to construct houses and other
buildings within their villages. Unconcerned with hustle and bustle, life within a
typical Halphkin village passes at a somewhat relaxed pace. Most folk work the
land or raise animals, either through farms or small-holdings, however they
also keep shops, inns and other industries necessary to maintain a village.
They value a quiet, simple life, based upon simple pleasures and family
values. Caring little for the quarrels, wars and adventures
of big folk, the Halphkin communities keep their noses out of business in the
outside world. But their own quiet
communities are often spiced up with gossip and intrigue. Every so often a young halfling will not share the
same homely satisfaction of her kin and be taken with the desire for
adventure. Halphkin stature makes them
ideal for stealthy pursuits, however some have fighting skills learned from
the borough militia and some even show an aptitude for magic. Halfling communities are often found in human
cities, but these are often the families and descendants of former travelling
halflings who have settled in human lands. Game
Notes: While there may have been
different subraces of halfling in the past, they have since mingled and
essentially become one race, although their build and complexion can vary
slightly depending on their location. Halflings have the racial traits and
abilities as listed in the PHB. |
