1 Dungeons and Dragons Setting Better than Golarion Jeff Simpson Instructions: 1. Skim over the new races and race limitations. If there’s any questions, or if you want to play something that isn’t there, just ask. 2. Review changes to Paladins, Rangers, and Clerics outlined on pages 10-11. 3. Read ‘Skills’ page 16-19. 4. Read “Feats’ page 20. 5. Read ‘Other Rules’ page 23. 6. Read the history of the world page 26-31. There is a helpful timeline on page 25. 7. Skim cultural overviews page 27-52. I would recommend reading the culture that your character belongs to, the rest are just if you want. 8. Ignore everything that comes after; it’s still under construction. 9. Don’t read the monster section. Or I’ll make them all more difficult. 2 Contents Races 2 Classes 10 Skills 16 Feats 20 Equipment 21 Other Rules 23 Mythology of Terra 26 History of Mankind 29 Elements, the Stars, and Magic 32 Map 36 Cultures of Terra 37 Nations of Terra 53 Sample Names 71 Folklore of the Various Peoples 75 Bestiary 77 Character Sheet 90 To Do: Any new rules (check homebrew/3.5 converts) Mapwork Nation summaries folklore fix table of contents rewrite race section 3 Races Many of the standard Pathfinder races are not available, or available under certain circumstances. Please see the chart below for more information. Limitation refers to geographic regions where the race may be taken. Other races, or races in an area contrary to their limitation, may be allowed with DM approval. Table 1-1: Available Races Race Source Limitation Race Source Limitation Aasimar ARG Lizardfolk Document Caligni B5 Zalmoxis Merfolk ARG Aquatic Changeling ARG Mul Document Xen’drik Dhampir ARG Morozov Orc ARG Drow ARG Zalmoxis Oread ARG Duergar ARG Zalmoxis Ratfolk ARG Salo Dwarf CRB Samsaran ARG Quor Elf CRB Shabti B5 Xen’drik Gillmen ARG Aquatic Skinwalker B5 Half-Elf CRB Suli ARG Half-Giant Document Xen’drik Svirfneblin ARG Zalmoxis Half-Orc CRB Sylph ARG Halfling CRB Tengu ARG Salo Hobgoblin ARG Tiefling ARG Human CRB Undine ARG Ifrit ARG Warforged Document Kalashtar Document Quor Table 1-2: Height/Weight Race Height Mod Weight Mod Start Age Simple Med Comp Half-Giant 125/125 3d10 1500/1450 x10 20 1d6 1d8 2d8 Mul 65/65 2d6 220/180 x8 15 1d4 1d8 2d8 Kalashtar 64/61 2d6 135/105 x3 40 2d6 3d6 5d6 Warforged 70 2d6 270 x4 0 1d12 1d6 1d4 Lizardfolk 72 2d6 200 x5 12 1d4 1d6 2d6 4 Table 1-3: Age Race Middle Age1 Old2 Venerable3 Max Half-Giant 60 80 120 +d% Mul 40 50 80 +1d10 Kalashtar 75 110 150 +4d20 Warforged 150 600 1100 Unknown Lizardfolk 25 35 50 +1d10 1 - -1 Str, Dex, Con, +1 Int, Wis, Cha 2 - -2 Str, Dex, Con, +1 Int, Wis, Cha 3 - -3 Str, Dex, Con, +1 Int, Wis, Cha Kalashtar Physical Description Kalashtar appear very close to humans, although a clear examination shows them to have almost an alien grace and beauty. Standing slightly taller than humans and usually a little thinner, their hair colour, eye colour, and skin tone have all the same ranges as humans. The only definitive difference between a human and a Kalashtar is a complete lack of any natural blemish, regardless of the circumstances. Society While the Kalashtar can claim the arid wastelands of Quor on Khorvaire as their homeland, they tend to congregate in any area that has a large enough population to accommodate different ethnic districts. Relations Kalashtar appreciate all life and respect the harmony that comes when neighbours are there to help one another. That said, they don’t often understand most of the finer details of other cultures and come off as a little aloof or condescending when it comes to cultural matters that have no direct correlation to their own. Humans are by far the easiest for them to get along with, but as one moves into stranger cultures, the relationship becomes more formal and less personable. It’s important to note that most Kalashtar try very hard to never be rude or disrespectful, but the confusion caused by tradition for tradition’s sake often leads to a simmering sense of frustration. Racial Traits: +2 to any single ability score. Size: Medium Type: Humanoid Base Speed: 30 Automatic Languages: Common and Quori. Bonus Languages: Any except druidic. Dream Native: +2 racial bonus vs mind-affecting effects and are immune to dream-based spells. Naturally Social: +2 racial bonus on bluff, diplomacy, and intimidate. 5 Naturally Telepathic: 3 times per day, a Kalashtar may cast any of the following spells: Mind Link, Mind Thrust I, or Psychic Reading (OA 177, OA 177, OA 183). The DC for these spells is equal to 10+ the Kalashtar’s HD Bonus Feat: Kalashtar receive the Psychic Sensitivity feat (OA 138) for free at first level. Warforged Physical Description Warforged are living constructs made from a special combination of magic, steel, stone, and fibrous materials, given life, and made to serve in the Great War as soldiers. Physically, warforged are humanoids with plates of steel covering most of the surfaces of their bodies. Their eyes are usually faceted gemstones of any number of colours and while there is a mouth join, providing warforged the capability of speech, there is no visible nose or ears (although warforged can smell, taste, and hear just fine). Their solid, reinforced arms end in hands with only two fingers and a thumb. Likewise, their feet end in only two toes. When standing still, warforged can easily pass for metal statues. It is only at their joints that one can find evidence of their true nature. The muscular structure that lies underneath their metal plates is made of thousands of tightly woven fibrous strands that flex and stretch, much in the same way organic muscle tissue does. This requires the mechanisms within a warforged to rely on some form of slightly viscous liquid to power these strands, and massive damage can cause ‘fluid loss,’ which is just as dangerous as blood loss to living beings. It is important to note that while warforged do not truly have a gender, their creators did and thus all warforged are crafted under the guise of either a male or female persona. As time goes on, this artificial emotional imprint may wear off, but for the foreseeable future, all warforged refer to themselves as himself or herself. While warforged often show dents, dings, and other signs of battle on their frame, the only universal sing of identification is their ghulra, or mark of life. Each one is unique and thus can be used to identify one warforged form another. Given that a ghulra is always located on the forehead, it is very rare for a warforged to cover this and serves as a sign among other warforged that something is very wrong with that individual. Society Warforged were made for the Great War and were, first and foremost, soldiers. Raised from the moment of their creation to follow orders and perfect military tactics, warforged fit better, culturally, in a wartime barracks than in a peacetime tavern. Given their youth and lack of common social norms, it is typical for a warforged to refer to things, people and ideas with military equivalents rather than regular expressions. Living children are often referred to as cadets, shop owners and employers as commanders and what should be friendly competitions can easily be seen as enemy engagements if warforged are not specifically told it is is a training exercise. The freedom granted to all warforged since the end of the war has not escaped their mind; it is a concept so new, so alien, that many are having a hard time understanding what to do with it. It is from this confusion that many warforged become adventurers, seeking danger and combat that is more familiar, more comfortable, than spending days on end, doing the same job, following strange laws that everyone except the warforged seem to automatically know. Relations Warforged are often solitary and extremely patient, which leads for very lonely existences for most. Occasionally, warforged will form strong friendships with members of other races, but that is on a case- by-case basis. Far more important than how warforged feel about others is how the outside world feels about them. Given that their very presence is a reminder of a conflict many are trying to forget, most people do not like the warforged. Worse still, while the end of the Great War did declare warforged 6 free, many lands subsequently ruled that warforged are indentured servants until the cost of their manufacture is paid for with hard labour. Racial Traits +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma Size: Medium Type: Humanoid (Living Construct [See below]) Base Speed: 30 Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Orc, Haflling. Living Construct: Warforged have the following qualities despite being a construct: -Warforged to not need to eat, breathe, or sleep, but do need to rest for 8 hours to regain spells or other abilities. -Warforged do not heal hitpoints or attribute damage naturally, but can be repaired with the use of the Craft skill or with effects that repair constructs. Repairs made with the craft skill take 8 hours and a warforged repair kit. The amount of hitpoint damage repaired per check is the result of the craft check- 15. Ability damage requires 8 hours and a DC 25 craft check. These can be done in the same 8 hours, but require different checks.