Campaign Setting: Races

Okay, I've built some rules for the swashbuckler game that I'm mostly happy with. Now, it's time to start building the campaign setting.

The first things I always do when building a setting are to determine the following: what are the intelligent (PC) races? What is the role of religion? What is the role of magic? Between these three, I usually have a pretty decent view of the setting, certainly as far as modifying rules go. From there, I layer on things like societies, urban centres, and so on. However, these are purely flavour matters, and so beyond the scope of this blog. (Besides, my settings usually run to 100 pages or so. Which is why I never get them finished.)

So, without further ado, on with the races...

PC races in a setting should not be the default 'enemy' race. If the focus of the campaign is going to be on warring with Orcs, you don't want to be allowing Orcs as PCs in most instances. Exceptions occur, of course, but it's generally easier to allow a set of races, and then add unusual characters of other types than to allow lots of races, and then try to talk players out of having three 'enemy' characters in a group of four.

That is, if you set the PC races as Human, Elf and Dwarf, and one player really wants an outcast Orc, you can do that without changing the focus of your campaign. However, if you set them to be Human, Elf, Dwarf and Orc, and three players choose to be Orcs, you're in trouble in an 'against the Orcs' campaign.

The other factor that affects the choice of PC races is the uniqueness of the races. If you allow both Orcs and Half-orcs, you'll find that no-one plays a Half-orc. The two races are so close that there's no point in doing otherwise, and the mechanics favour Orcs over Half-orcs. (This same logic applies to Elves and Half-elves, incidentally. It's just that Half-elves are a long-standing PC race, and so remain.)

Anyway, for the swashbuckler game, I'm thinking of allowing the following races: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Half-orc, Halfling. I've removed Half-elf for reasons of uniqueness, and Gnomes because I don't really like them. I was going to add Hobgoblin, but I couldn't justify the race for reasons of uniqueness. I'm intending to have a fairly cosmopolitan game, so don't have a designated 'enemy' race as such.

All the races have two key changes to make, as regards languages and favoured classes. I'm planning on relying heavily on regional languages, rather than racial languages. Therefore, all characters will start with their regional language and Common, and may select any language as bonus languages. The list of languages is altered, but the details of this will follow. As regards favoured classes, since I'm allowing free multiclassing, these are meaningless.

Now, a little bit about the races themselves:

Human: For now, Humans are the dominant race on the planet. They are the most cosmopolitan, the most technologically advanced, and the most numerous. Their ambition is such that they are a squabbling, fractious race, however. There are no rules changes associated with humans, except those for all races, above.

Dwarf: The dwarves of this world are sea-dwellers. Pirates, privateers, merchants and fishermen, they dwell in the isolation of the oceans, not under the earth. Dwarves are lovers of technology, and so make extensive use of firearms. Dwarven cuisine is considered a delicacy amongst some human cultures, but is also outlawed as poisonous in many other lands.

Dwarves have the following racial traits:

• +2 Con, -2 Cha
  
• Medium size
  
• Base speed 20 feet
  
• Darkvision, 60 feet
  
• +2 racial bonus to saves versus poison
  
• +2 racial bonus to saves versus spells and spell-like effects
  
• +1 racial bonus to attack rolls against Orcs and Goblinoids
  
• +4 dodge bonus to AC versus Giants
  
• Sailcraft: Sailcraft grants dwarves a +2 racial bonus to notice shipboard features, such as hidden weapons and arrow slits in ships, hidden smuggling compartments, and the like. This applies to any sea- or river-going vessel or dwelling. A dwarf who merely passed within 10 feet of unusual sailcraft can make a check as if he were actively searching.
  
• +2 racial bonus on Appraise and Profession: Sailor checks
  
• +2 racial bonus to Balance checks made at sea
  
• Dwarves are capable of drinking sea-salt water without becoming dehydrated. Thus, dwarves never become dehydrated while at sea
  

Elf: Elves are not a dying race. They are an ancient, proud race, but one that is horrified at the human rush to destroy themselves. The elves of this world scorn technology, preferring the elegance of the bow to the noise and bombast of a firearm. Elven fencers are regarded as the finest in the world, and some say it was they that founded the oldest fencing schools in human cities. There are no rules changes associated with elves, except for those that apply to all races, above. Half-orc: Considered uncouth and foul in the cities, Half-orcs are the unfortunate children of the barbaric orcish hordes that plague the edges of human civilisation. Half-orcs form a labourer caste in most cities. There are no rules changes associated with half-orcs, except for those that apply to all races, above. Halfling: Embittered survivors of a war of extermination propogated mere decades ago by orcs, the halfling people are now a race without a culture of their own. They have become integrated with human society, where they are widely regarded as vagabonds, thieves and freeloaders. Indeed, many halflings have turned to crime to survive in a world that cares nothing for their plight. There are no rules changes associated with halflings, except for those that apply to all races, above.

And there it is. A couple of rules changes, but mostly the races are the same except for attitude. Normally, I'd expand this a lot to provide a better feel for each race, but that's not appropriate here. Next up is the role of religion, which is going to hit alignment as well.

Normally, I'd assign a secret to each race, to be discovered by PCs during play. However, as I might actually run this setting at some point, I'm not publishing those here.