Saturday, June 26, 2010

Races: Humans of the Tirin Peninsula

There are three major ethnicities among the humans of the Tirin Peninsula.  

The Tirins are, as one might guess, descendants of the original indigenous human population. They are most commonly of medium height and build, with light brown skin. Their hair is usually black, and their eyes brown; however, the descendants of one tribe tend towards blue-eyed redheads.  Tirin body art often involves body piercing and polychromatic tattooing.

The Velakhurs were formerly a nomadic southern tribe. They are tall, large-framed, pale-skinned and pale-eyed, with hair that ranges from blond to dark brown. Velakhur body art is seen in the form of body-painting and monochromatic tattoos; piercing (apart from earlobes) is a fairly new phenomenon.

The Aldyrins' ancestors hail from a continent to the north. They are small, wiry, and dark-skinned.  Their taste in body art runs to elaborate hairstyles, body piercing, and decorative scarring; tattooing (introduced by paler folk) is less common.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Races: The Feiyin

The feiyin, hybrids of human and ahvaiyru, resemble both parent races. They are tall, with strong, lithe builds and slightly elongated ears that come to blunt points. Their skin is generally paler than that of their human lineage, and their eyes have oval pupils.
  • +2 to one ability score.
  • Medium: Feiyin are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
  • Fey Blood: Feiyin count as both fey and humans for any effect related to race.
  • Low-light vision: Feiyin can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
  • Observant: Feiyin receive a +2 racial bonus to Perception skill checks.
  • Magic-Resistant:  Feiyin receive a +2 bonus to saving throws versus spells and spell-like abilities.
  • Damage Reduction: Feiyin have damage reduction 2/cold iron.
  • Automatic Languages: Feiyin begin play speaking Draconic. 
Question for the readers:  Ahvaiyru treat certain exotic weapons as martial weapons.  Should feiyin—who are often raised as slave-janissaries for the fey nobles—receive this benefit as well?