Shattered Haven (3.5e Campaign Setting)/Races

Basic Races

Humans

With how quickly they breed and their will to never give up, Humans are the dominant race of Tilroth. They serve as the main source of labor, each generation often saying that they will never make the mistakes of their forebears only to fall once more into the steady track that has been set for them. Sometimes living hard and fast, and other times at a slow and steady pace, humans fill both some of the highest offices in government and the lowest slums as both pushers and junkies. Diverse and versatile, humans come from a variety of different walks of life, each one different from all the others while still appearing to meld into the press of flesh that makes up their race.

• Roleplaying Merit: Resilient
• Roleplaying Flaw: Corruptable

Dwarves

Strong as the earth from which they often emerge, dwarves dwell within their dark mines unceasing in their labor. Generations past they were amongst the last still standing in their fight to stop the invasion of the Exalted. Bunkering down within their defenses of stone and rock they were the last to fall, their stubborness refusing to allow thems to bow their heads to the new self-appointed psionic overlords. Thus, to this day they continue to be untrusted, forced to dig and burrow deeper into the earth to find gems and other minerals, tearing into the world's heart and soul. Ever-watched, ever-monitored, sometimes a lone dwarf will find some way to break free of the surveillance placed on him and flee to join the resistance, one of the gangs above, or somewhere else relatively safe above the surface, prolonging his existance a little longer--or not.

• Roleplaying Merit: Tough
• Roleplaying Flaw: Stubborn

Elves

3rd Edition Elves and 4th Edition Eladrin

The elves of Tilroth are amongst the most trusted by the government. They were the first to surrender to the forces of the Exalted Ones, and quickly integrated into their enviornment. Many of other races say that elves are naturally evil, their fey-like nature being the most easily molded by the power of the Exalted Ones, but behind some doors it is whispered that the elves simply surrendered so that they might fight against the government from within--or because they saw some long-term plan that needed to be carried out that the more short-lived races were unable to fathom. Either way, elves are often looked upon with a strange mixture of suspician and adoration by many in the populace, on one hand having willingly been enslaved, while on the other being graceful and beautiful, so beyond the reach of the common man. With their long-term views, elves rarely become emotional or allow themselves to become embroiled in something personally dangerous, having far more years than others of different races. Thus, they often stay aloof and distant, except for the exceptionally passionate elf who is often disdained by his own kind.

• Roleplaying Merit: Graceful
• Roleplaying Flaw: Aloof

4th Edition Elves, 3rd Edition Wood/Wild Elves

The races with the strongest connection to the natural world are the wood and wild elves--and some also say that they are the most corrupt. They are the only ones who survive within the wastelands of arcane turmoil and twisted eldritch corruption that the land has undergone, and are a secretive lot. Covered from head to toe with clothes of uniform colors with only their eyes showing, elves are very xenophobic and tend to kill anyone who enters their "territory" without any questions asked. They're nomadic, travelling from place to place, and often raid towns for their needs. However, every elf journies into the cities, where they are often met with disdain and hate for their way of life and the way that their tribes take whatever they want. Their prejudices confirmed, most return home within a year. Those who do not are known as the "Lost", and are considered dead to the tribe. Even if they return after a year has passed, they are considered ghosts to their tribe, ones to be met with arrow and sword and killed just as any other outsider would be lest they bring the taint of the cities into the tribe's tents. The elves practice cannibalism, eating both their own dead and their enemies, believing that they will gain the wisdom of their ancestors or the strength of their enemies. Minor mutations are common amongst these elves, and many have an extra finger or toe, the magical taint of the land changing their very bodies in ways that most people see as unnatural.

• Roleplaying Merit: Aggressive
• Roleplaying Flaw: Xenophobic

Gnomes

Unlike their dwarvish cousins, the gnomes of Tilroth were unable to put up an organized resistance when the Exalted Ones took over and were quickly crushed within their halls of earth and stone. Rather than let their stores of knowledge and technological wonders be destroyed, the gnomes allowed the invaders in with minimal resistance after they had entered the city proper--though the battle to there had been savage and full of violence. Now the government has gnomes doing what they do best--inventing. The gnomish thirst for knowledge continues to drive them on in their endeavor, though no longer do their own morals dictate what they are and aren't willing to invent. However, gnomish equipment often breaks down or even explodes for no reason--perhaps with their heart no longer in their work, their inventions have lost their durability, or perhaps the gnomes are purposefully sabotaging their own creations to limit the extent of the damage caused by the government...

• Roleplaying Merit: Inquisitiveness
• Roleplaying Flaw: Inattentiveness

Half-Elves

Outcasts and pariahs, half-elves are often seen as mistakes that should have been aborted by their elvish ancestors, or as the progeny of monsters and fey by their human family. Often growing up bitter and angry at the world, half-elves can often be found leading gangs, their natural grace granting them a position of leadership while their rage at those who turned them away keeping those beneath them in line. One characteristic of many half-elves is their hedonistic tendencies, wanting to experience as much pleasure as possible where the world denied them it, and a number can be found prostituting themselves or others or dealing and taking drugs for a brief sense of ephemeral pleasure. Rarely they become diplomats, dealing between the elves and the rest of the world as an untrusted ambassador who might turn on one like a feral animal.

• Roleplaying Merit: Guileful
• Roleplaying Flaw: Hedonistic

Half-Orcs

Power. In society, power is what is respected, and many half-orcs have this in plenty in the form of their strength. When careful negotiations don't get you what you want, a fist through someone's sternum is a good alternative in the mind of most half-orcs. It is a sign of some note amongst many politicians and nobles to have half-orc bodyguards, and these often stay true to their employers since they get the opportunity to look threatening and are able to look forward to steady pay. Still, others find a place within the gangs that wander the seedier streets, roughing up or even mugging a passerby for whatever they might have in their pocket. Sometimes when a group of half-orcs has done something so heinous that they must leave the city completely they might band together and become raiders, living in the Wasteland and preying upon the fringes of the city.

• Roleplaying Merit: Intimidating
• Roleplaying Flaw: Violent

Halflings

Universally hated and despised for their skill, halflings are second-class citizens and sometimes even slaves of some of the more despicable fetishes that politicians indulge at times. Their skills at burglary and sneaking about undetected allow many halflings to live in the only way that society allows them--through crime, which creates a vicious cycle, perpetuating the stereotype that all halflings are to be despised for their treachery. Many of the largest crime syndicates are run or operated by halflings, and there is even talk of an underground system that offers safe haven for halflings on the run.

• Roleplaying Merit: Cunning
• Roleplaying Flaw: Iniquitous

Other Races

Centaurs

Most horses died out when the arcane corruption spread through the land, unable to defend themselves against the taint. While some still survive and are used by the rich and wealthy to drag around carriages, much of the menial work that they once fulfilled is done by centaurs. Their stability and ability to carry more than other races shoehorns most of the centaurs to the farms on the edge of the city, where they often suffer from raids from which they can do little to defend themselves. However, the centaur knows that his lot in life is to work and suffer, and so they continue to do their jobs without complaint, knowing that they could be in a much worse situation if they were forced out of the city completely. Stolid, most centaurs are born and die on the farms, accepting their duty, though a few are adventurous enough to forge deeper into the city to find work, and most of those are often conned into even worse jobs where they become simple beasts of burden once more, though for nobles who are less wealthy. Due to their gentle nature, most of the inhabitants of the city assume that centaurs are as stupid as horses are, and the biggest difference between the two is that horses can't speak; from there came the oft-used phrase, "As stupid as a centaur."

• Roleplaying Merit: Placid
• Roleplaying Flaw: Acquiescent

Drow

When their God-Queen was struck from their minds, as all the gods were from the minds of morals, the drow knew that they must keep faithful and turned their fury and fright at her disappearance upon their own society. Implementing strict restrictions and regulations, they turned to their children, beginning a society-wide indoctrination that many opposed. Those who fought against the changes were killed, by poison and shadow or out in the open. Slowly becoming unopposed, drow society warped into what it is today; a militant theocracy ruled by the former priestesses of the god. All newborns are taken from their mothers and led through a gauntlet of traditions that have lost much of their meaning over the centuries. They are told that females are superior to males, that everyone who is not drow is an enemy, and that they must die for their race and will be rewarded by joining their Goddess, though no one knows the truth. At night beneath the cover of darkness and their own abilities they sabotage key areas and lay traps, and at times during the day they go into crowded areas and sacrifice themselves by igniting massive black-powder explosives kept beneath billowing cloaks. Leading a constant guerrilla war against most factions, the drow are usually reviled and hated wherever they go, if not attacked on sight, though some whisper of a tenuous alliance between the Resistance and the drow--after all, the enemy of one's enemy can be used...

• Roleplaying Merit: Ambitious
• Roleplaying Flaw: Vengeful

Shifters

There aren't many shifters out there, but they usually live in their own small communities; yet most of the shifters don't come from shifter parents, but instead are born to one of the other races. Some say that it's a throwback to a more primal time, while others say it's a punishment levied upon families by the world for the corruption that fills it. Either way, it's a fact that shifters are born to every race. For the most part they appear as normal children until they hit puberty when the... change begins. Some time during puberty, they undergo the Change, one which makes them more feral. The Change doesn't usually last long, but its effects are irreversible, turning the person into a fully-fledged shifter, able to call upon his powers at any time. The Change is a horrifying process that appears different for each person, yet each carries the corruption of the world in their Changed appearance. Soon after the Change, most parents disown their children if they cannot hide the Change from the world, and the shifter goes to live with his own kind, much of the time an outcast from the rest of society. Shifters often participate in crime, and while they aren't as despised as halflings are (people fear them more than they despise them), they often fight with them for territory and access to criminal goods, the Change helping them commit criminal acts where a halfling's small size and quickness would help them. Shifters themselves are often sterile, meaning that their numbers are often replenished by the children of other races, and each shifter has something that marks them in some small way as one who has been tainted by the corruption of the land, though this can be anything from a vestigial tail to protruding teeth to a need to shave heavily on a daily basis.

• Roleplaying Merit: Aggressive
• Roleplaying Flaw: Feral

Tieflings

No one is sure if the Tieflings were warped by the corruption of the wastes, if they made pacts with things unimaginable in order to help them fight the otherworldly invaders, or if the gods decided to punish them for some long-forgotten sin as they departed the world. The thing that is for sure, however, is that Tieflings are twisted beings, their bodies appearing demonic and evil without a doubt. They are often ignored, but sometimes attacked should a scapegoat be needed for some reason, and thus often move from area to area in a nomad fashion. Their skill with fire and flames allows them to become great blacksmiths, and often they sell their services when they come to a new area. They are known for their great artisans, but also are believed to steal everything that isn't nailed down, though this is often untrue. Generally easy-going, they often open up shops and booths to cater to townsfolk, moving on when they wish to--or run out by angered townfolk who use them as scapegoats.

• Roleplaying Merit: Easygoing
• Roleplaying Flaw: Unassuming