Although humans make up the vast majority of Ravenloft’s population, many civilised races can be found in some form or other.
The Land of the Mists is home to widely different and often isolated cultures. No Common language has arisen. Characters can substitute any domain language for Common to represent their native tongue, and take domain languages as bonus languages. Each language has its own alphabet.
Humans
Humans are the standard by which all other races must be measured. They form such a vast majority of Ravenloft’s population that many humans know the nonhuman races only through rumour and legend. Humans fill every niche in society and represent a wide spectrum of cultures and ethnic groups. They can be found in every settled domain; even the elven lands of Sithicus have some tiny human communities. Even some without permanent populations may be home to a few temporary encampments or nomadic tribes of humans.
Some sages have pondered why humans are so prevalent in the Land of the Mists. Are the Dark Powers drawn to some inherent spark in the human spirit that other races lack? If so, it may be this: every human holds the potential to perform great good or to commit great evil and can choose which path to follow. Humans are the masters of their own nature; it is both their greatest strength and their most fatal flaw.
Human Racial Traits
+2 to One Ability Score: Human characters get a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Medium: Humans are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Humans have a base speed of 30 feet.
Bonus Feat: Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.
Skilled: Humans gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level.
Languages: Humans begin play speaking the dominant language of their native domain. See below for details.
The Near Human
Several races are near enough to human to move among them with little comment, or are able to disguise their heritage with minimal effort. The majority are in fact the offspring of humanity, although they are typically treated as bastards everywhere are treated: acknowledged, but not welcome. These races include the deformed caliban, the fey half-elf, the mysterious giomorgo and the cursed changeling. Together, these races form a single subtype of humanoid, the crossbreed. Also reasonably accepted by the majority are halflings, seen as too small and too commonplace to be a threat.
Calibans
Thankfully rare, calibans are twisted humans exposed to curses or foul magic while still in the womb. The birth of a caliban in a community is seen as a sure sign of the presence of witchcraft—specifically, the corrupting aura of a hag. Most are killed or left to die of exposure by their parents within the first few days or weeks of life; very few survive until adulthood, and almost none are permitted to mingle with untainted humans. Some are raised by their ashamed families, some by religious orders (especially those of Hala), or other outcasts from society, or even by animals.
No two calibans look alike, but common deformities include twisted backs or limbs, asymmetrical features, bristly skin or tusklike teeth. Calibans are widely considered brutish, savage creatures; their name is a corruption of “cannibal.” In truth, many are simple-minded, petty brutes, but this is often the product of their upbringing. Rejected as monsters, most calibans spend their lives hidden in dank cellars or flee civilisation to roam the wilds. A caliban’s heart can be as pure and noble as that of any human’s. Because of their varied upbringings, not to mention the chaos that taints their flesh, they display a wide range of racial abilities.
Most calibans are born in lands where magic is relatively common, such as Darkon, Hazlan and Tepest.
Caliban Racial Traits
+2 to One Ability Score: Caliban characters get a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Medium: Calibans are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Calibans have a base speed of 30 feet.
Animalistic: Calibans gain darkvision 60 feet. Alternately, the caliban has low light vision and gains a +2 racial bonus to Climb checks.
Uncanny Resistance: Exposed to magic from before birth, calibans are often able to resist further mystical influence. They gain spell resistance 6 + character level.
Tarnished Spirits: Calibans can choose one of the following abilities:
Beastmaster: Some calibans have a spiritual kinship with fantastical beasts, capturing them for sport or living and hunting with them. A caliban with this trait treats whip and net as martial weapons and gains a +2 bonus on Handle Animal checks.
Bestial: The tainted blood of some calibans manifests in the form of particularly prominent features, exacerbating their bestial appearances but improving their already keen senses. They gain a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks. Alternately, their darkvision range increases by 30 feet.
Black Tongue: The caliban gains Voice of Wrath or Minor Magic as a bonus feat.
Cursed Luck: Calibans with this racial trait gain a +1 luck bonus on all saving throws.
Deformed: The caliban gains a bite attack. This is a primary natural attack, dealing 1d4 points of piercing damage.
Ferocity: Once per day, when a caliban is brought below 0 hit points but not killed, he can fight on for one more round as if disabled. At the end of his next turn, unless brought to above 0 hit points, he immediately falls unconscious and begins dying.
Gatecrasher: Many calibans revel in acts of wanton destruction. Calibans with this racial trait gain a +2 bonus on Strength checks to break objects and a +2 bonus on sunder attempts.
Squalid: Calibans are sometimes forced to live on the rancid and unsanitary margins of society, becoming inured to all manner of sickness. Calibans with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease and becoming nauseated or sickened.
Skilled: The isolation most calibans face provides some compensation. Calibans can choose one of the following abilities:
Bound to the Land: The caliban gains a +2 dodge bonus to AC in one terrain type (selected from the ranger’s favoured terrain list).
Intimidating: Calibans receive a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate skill checks due to their fearsome nature.
Cavewight: Some calibans are forced to seek solace in winding cave complexes. Calibans with this racial trait gain a +1 bonus on Knowledge (dungeoneering) and Survival checks made underground.
Rock Climber: Calibans from mountainous regions are excellent climbers, gaining a +1 bonus on Acrobatics and Climb checks.
Scavenger: Some calibans eke out their lives picking over the garbage heaps of society, and must learn to separate rare finds from the inevitable dross. These calibans receive a +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks and on Perception checks to find hidden objects (including traps and secret doors), determine whether food is spoiled, or identify a potion by taste.
Tough: Only the most stalwart survive the years of harsh treatment that a caliban endures. The caliban gains Endurance as a bonus feat.
Unbroken: The caliban gains a +2 racial bonus to saves against fear and despair.
Languages: Calibans begin play speaking the dominant language of their native domain. See below for details.
Special: At the GM’s discretion, calibans may select racial feats that are otherwise restricted to half-orcs, catfolk, ratfolk, grippli and varana, or Aspect of the Beast, to reflect their bestial natures.
Changelings
Hags—terrible, cannibalistic creatures whose very existence is anathema to nature—reproduce by seducing (and often then devouring) human men. However, virtually no hag raises her own child. Instead, she switches her child for a newborn human baby immediately after birth, or uses foul magic to transfer her unborn baby into the womb of a human woman who is roughly as far along in her pregnancy. These changeling babies are therefore raised as normal humans by their unknowing foster parents. Most are ignorant of their monstrous origins and the cruel transition that awaits them in their fiftieth year.
Changelings are always female. They appear as normal, frequently beautiful, human women, although many have eyes of different colours. They are found in domains where hags are common, such as Tepest.
Most people are unaware of the existence of changelings. The matter of hag reproduction is not a consideration to any but the most obsessive monster hunter; most fairy tales maintain that any wicked woman, but especially witches, could become a hag as she ages. This ignorance protects changelings from exposure and destruction. However, some unnatural aspect to their features prevents them from being properly welcome in any society.
Changeling Racial Traits
+2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution: Changelings are frail, but possess a sharp wit and unnatural beauty.
Medium: Changelings are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Changelings have a base speed of 30 feet.
Darkvision: Changelings can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Claws: A changeling’s hands and fingernails tend to harden and become sharp as she reaches adolescence. This gives her the claw (1d4) natural attack.
Natural Armour: Hags and their offspring have uncommonly tough skin. A changeling begins play with a natural armour bonus of +1.
Hag Trait: A changeling possesses one of the following traits.
Hulking: The changeling is much more physically formidable than other changelings. You receive a +1 trait bonus on any damage you inflict with a melee attack.
Green Widow: You are naturally able to lure in potential mates and effectively trick them into pursuing her. You gain a +2 trait bonus on Bluff checks made against characters that might be sexually attracted to you.
Mist Child: When the changeling has concealment or total concealment, the miss chance of attacks against her increases by 5%.
Object of Desire: The changeling adds +1 to her caster level when casting charm person and charm monster.
Ocean’s Daughter: The changeling gains a +1 trait bonus on Swim checks. She automatically succeeds at Swim checks made to avoid nonlethal damage from swimming.
Sea Lungs: The changeling can survive underwater for longer than usual. You gain the ability to hold your breath for a number of rounds equal to three times your Constitution score instead of two.
Languages: Changelings begin play speaking the dominant language of their native domain. See below for details.
Dhampir
Similar to calibans, if even rarer, dhampirs are humans who have been influenced by the powers of undeath in the womb. They are typically the result of vampires feeding from pregnant women, although some are even fathered by vampires in rare and unnatural unions. Like calibans, they are cursed from birth, although their deformity is of the spirit rather than the flesh.
Although not driven to consume blood for survival as their undead progenitors are, dhampirs nonetheless know a lifelong desire for blood that nothing else can truly sate. Those who survive their early years face a life of fear and mistrust, their unnatural beauty and incredible reflexes marking them as scions of the night just as surely as their sensitivity to light. However, their ability to detect undead makes them prized when a community is beset by undead menaces. They tend to live itinerant lives, never truly welcome unless they are needed, and encouraged to move on as soon as their job is done. Legend has it that dhampirs are cursed to rise from the grave after death.
Dhampirs arise most frequently in domains where vampires are common, such as Barovia, Valachan, Darkon and Falkovnia.
Dhampir Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, –2 Constitution: Dhampirs are fast and seductive, but closer to death than most mortals.
Medium: Dhampirs are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Dhampirs have a base speed of 30 feet.
Senses: Low-light vision and darkvision 60 feet.
Light Sensitivity: Dhampirs are dazzled in areas of bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell. A dazzled creature takes a -1 penalty on attack rolls and sight-based Perception checks.
Manipulative: +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Perception. Alternately, the dhampir may gain a level of vampiric influence over baser creatures rather than humanoids, gaining the ability to communicate with bats, rats, and wolves as if under the effects of a speak with animals spell (caster level equal to 1/2 the dhampir’s Hit Dice). In addition, they gain a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy checks when dealing with these animals. Whenever these dhampirs initiate an exchange, animals begin with a starting attitude of indifferent. This is a supernatural ability.
Negative Energy Affinity: Dhampirs are alive, but react to positive and negative energy as if undead—positive energy harms them, negative energy heals them.
Resist Level Drain: A dhampir takes no penalties from energy draining effects, though he can still be killed if he accrues more negative levels then he has Hit Dice. After 24 hours, any negative levels a dhampir takes are removed without the need for an additional saving throw.
Undead Resistance: Dhampirs gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease and mind-affecting effects.
Befouled Heritage: The dhampir can select one of the following traits:
Spell-Like Ability: A dhampir can use detect undead three times per day as a spell-like ability. The caster level for this ability equals the dhampir’s class level.
Fangs: On occasion, a dhampir may inherit his father’s lengthy canines. Whenever the dhampir makes a grapple combat maneuver check to damage an opponent, he can choose to bite his opponent, dealing 1d3 points of damage as if using a natural bite attack. As a standard action, the dhampir can bite a creature that is bound, helpless, paralyzed, or similarly unable to defend itself.
Languages: Dhampirs begin play speaking the dominant language of their native domain. See below for details.
Half-Elf (Changelings, fey-born)
Half-elves are the product of the unions between humans and Darkonese elves. Although largely human in appearance, they retain faint elven traits: pointed ears, angular features, and green or violet eyes. They are inevitably raised by their human parents, or the families of their kidnapped or Mist-led human parents, or sometimes, whichever human family owned the doorstep the elves left the baby on. Although the elves never raise the half-breed themselves, they are said to keep a close eye on their development. Afraid of elf vengeance, humans rarely overtly mistreat half-elves.
Half-elves are not reviled like calibans and other half-breeds, but still live the life of the outsider. They are generally objects of pity, not suspicion. They are cursed to outlive all those they love in the human world, and so find it difficult to maintain long-term relationships.
Half-elf Racial Traits
+2 to One Ability Score: Half-elf characters get a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Medium: Half-elves are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Half-elves have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Half-elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Elf Blood: Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Elven Immunities: Half-elves are immune to magic sleep effects and get a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
Keen Senses: Half-elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
Multitalented: Half-elves choose two favoured classes at first level and gain +1 hit point or +1 skill point whenever they take a level in either one of those classes.
The half-elf can also choose one of the following traits:
Adaptability: Half-elves receive Skill Focus as a bonus feat at 1st level. Alternately, the character can gain proficiency with a single type of Martial or Exotic Weapon (in addition to proficiencies received from class levels) as a bonus feat at 1st level.
Dual Minded: The mixed ancestry of some half-elves makes them resistant to mental attacks. Half-elves with this racial trait get a +2 bonus on all Will saving throws.
Integrated: Many half-elves are skilled in the art of ingratiating themselves into a community as if they were natives. Half-elves with this racial trait gain a +1 bonus on Bluff, Disguise, and Knowledge (local) checks. The starting disposition of humans towards these half-elves is indifferent, unless modified by other abilities (such as different nationality or an aura of menace).
Sociable: Half-elves are skilled at charming others and recovering from faux pas. If half-elves with this racial trait attempt to change a creature’s attitude with a Diplomacy check and fail by 5 or more, they can try to influence the creature a second time even if 24 hours have not passed.
Languages: Half-elves begin play speaking the dominant language of their native domain (typically Darkonese). See below for details.
Halflings
Halflings are tiny humanoids, easily mistaken at first glance for human children. Their small size and lack of supernatural powers allow halflings to avoid most of the animosity that other non-human races face. In some domains, humans treat halflings with good-natured condescension, believing that they are as innocent and harmless as the children they resemble. In others, they are regarded with vague suspicion for the same resemblance. Wherever humans go, they can be found, although they dominate in some areas of Darkon.
Physically, halflings typically resemble the ethnicity of the local humans, although they do tend slightly towards paler skins and darker hair. They tend to dress simply, for comfort, and avoid ostentation. They are seen as industrious (perhaps with the riders, “for their size” or “when properly motivated”) and are generally polite and cheerful, although this good nature may simply be an act to avoid offending the bigger races. They do have a reputation for greed or opportunism, however.
In many places, halflings are seen as the property of the local lords. Although this provides some measure of protection for them, it can also result in oppressive taxation and restricted movement. Halfling districts in towns and cities are frequently ghettos; in rural areas, they cluster slightly away from human residences.
The public perception of halflings, however, is not entirely consistent with their private personas. Among their own kind, they are extremely clannish; human justice is not for them, and they care little for the fates of the humans they live near if no halflings are threatened. For this reason, if they can get away with it, they are opportunistic thieves and poachers. They can be as hard-nosed to strangers as they are generous to friends and other halflings. They pride themselves on going unnoticed by the bigger races; “twice the size and half the brains” is a common halfling sentiment. However, any halfling is welcome in any halfling settlement.
Halfling Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, –2 Strength: Halflings are nimble and strong-willed, but their small stature makes them weaker than other races.
Small: Halflings are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Slow Speed: Halflings have a base speed of 20 feet.
Fearless: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws against fear. This bonus stacks with the bonus granted by halfling luck.
Halfling Luck: Halflings receive a +1 racial bonus on all saving throws.
Keen Senses: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
Sure-Footed: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics and Climb skill checks.
Welcome Anywhere: The starting disposition of humans towards halflings is indifferent, unless modified by other abilities (such as an aura of menace).
Weapon Familiarity: Halflings are proficient with slings and treat any weapon with the word “halfling” in its name as a martial weapon.
Languages: Halflings begin play speaking Halfling and the dominant language of their native domain. See below for details.
Giomorgo (Half-Vistani)
Giomorgo are the result of a union between a Vistana and a giorgio (a Vistani word meaning “one not of the blood”—any non-Vistani human). Unlike the other special races of Ravenloft, giomorgo are entirely human, but the traits they inherit from their Vistani blood separate them from normal men.
Love affairs between Vistani and giorgios are torrid and brief. The cultural rift cuts deeply, so few giomorgo ever grow up knowing both parents. Most often, the Vistana parent moves on in the night, abandoning the child to the giorgio. It is rare for a Vistana to raise a giomorgo. In either case, the child may be cared for but never truly accepted. A giorgio family may fear that the child will develop the peculiar talents of the Vistani, while a giomorgo is not truly “of the blood” and is unable to share entire worlds of Vistani experience.
Most giomorgo are passionate and pessimistic, haunted by unhappy childhoods. They often physically favour their Vistani parent, inheriting their angular, aquiline features, dark hair and eyes, and sallow skin.
Giomorgo Racial Traits
+2 to One Ability Score: Giomorgo characters get a +2 bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Medium: Giomorgo are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Giomorgo have a base speed of 30 feet.
Not of the Blood: Giomorgo do not possess the Vistani subtype.
Evil Eye: Giomorgo with a Charisma of 11 or higher gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—daze and ill omen. If the character has a Charisma of 12 or higher, she also gains 1/day—hold person. The caster level for these effects is equal to the giomorgo’s level. The DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spell’s level + the giomorgo’s Charisma modifier.
Survivor: Giomorgo have a +2 racial bonus to Survival checks.
Moon Madness: During the period of the full moon each month (3 days out of every 28 in the Core, although isolated domains may have more or less frequent full moons), the giomorgo suffers a -2 morale penalty to Wisdom. If indoors at night during this period, the giomorgo is shaken. The moon does not have to be visible for a giomorgo to suffer from moon madness.
Tasque Abilities: Depending on the giomorgo’s heritage, the character receives other skill bonuses. See below for more detailed descriptions of the tasques.
Canjar: +2 Spellcraft
Corvara: +2 Disable Device
Equar: +2 Handle Animal
Kamii: +2 Craft (any involving metalworking)
Naiat: +2 Perform (any)
Vatraska: +2 Heal and Craft (alchemy) rolls to create poisons and antitoxins.
Zarovan: +2 to Initiative checks. The character must make a new Initiative check every round of combat, however, to represent time’s loose grip on them.
Languages: Giomorgo raised by normal humans begin play speaking the dominant language of their native domain. Those raised by the Vistani speak Patterna, and can learn as many extra languages as their Intelligence bonus allows. See below for details.
The Nonhuman
Races that are obviously not human are much rarer in the Land of the Mists—or at least, not commonly encountered by the humans that form the majority of its society. They are typically objects of curiosity and fear. Tales are told of the sorcerous dwarven craftsmen, mad, fey elves and the philosophers and hoplites of the gnomes. Few, however, will have ever seen these creatures in the flesh, or even the direct products of their work. Even in Darkon and Sithicus (homelands of the nonhumans), they attract wonder and dread in equal measure.
Demihumans from outlander worlds use the normal Pathfinder and Advanced Player’s Guide racial abilities, subject to the GM’s discretion. Those native to the Land of the Mists use the rules below.
Dwarf
Dwarves are a stout race, built as solidly as the mountains they call home. Their skin is typically coarse and appears to be rubbed with dust, ash or soot, although this is a natural cast to their complexions that matches the rock of their homelands. Hair and eye colour ranges from rust red to browns to black to silver or slate grey. They prefer the same sombre, earthen tones in their clothing, often adorned with precious metals.
The dwarven mindset focuses on work. They are foul-tempered, and loathe the intruders who disturb the sacred tasks of mining, smelting, and forging. They are often joyless; their only pleasure in life seems to be the creation and acquisition of fine objects. They particularly love magic items. They have little time for frivolity; their songs are either dirges or work songs. Their greed is legendary; even hostile dwarves may stop to negotiate for a rare treasure. Equally legendary is their dedication to keeping their word (although they may keep the word, but not the spirit of their vows), a dedication they expect from all they deal with. A dwarf who is cheated will never forgive or forget, and may come to blame an entire community for producing or sheltering the thief. They are sometime slavers, capturing thieves, oathbreakers and intruders and putting them to work in their mines. However, those who leave the dwarves alone will usually be left alone in turn.
Despite their dour and humourless natures, other races are eager to trade with dwarves. Their craftsmanship is second to none, and, bathed in the magical radiations below the surface, their items are frequently magical. A dwarf makes no differentiation between craftsmanship and magic.
Dwarves are native to the Mountains of Misery in Darkon, although they have burrowed like worms through to other mountain ranges like the Balinoks and the Sleeping Beast.
Dwarf Racial Traits
+2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom, –2 Charisma: Dwarves are both tough and wise, but also a bit gruff.
Medium: Dwarves are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Slow and Steady: Dwarves have a base speed of 20 feet, but their speed is never modified by armour or encumbrance.
Darkvision: Dwarves can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Defensive Training: Dwarves get a +4 dodge bonus to AC against monsters of the giant subtype.
Hatred: Dwarves receive a +1 bonus on attack rolls against humanoid creatures of the elf and goblinoid subtypes due to special training against these hated foes.
Hardy: Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells, and spell-like abilities.
Stability: Dwarves receive a +4 racial bonus to their Combat Maneuver Defense when resisting a bull rush or trip attempt while standing on the ground.
Stonecunning: Dwarves receive a +2 bonus on Perception checks to potentially notice unusual stonework, such as traps and hidden doors located in stone walls or floors. They receive a check to notice such features whenever they pass within 10 feet of them, whether or not they are actively looking.
Weapon Familiarity: Dwarves are proficient with battleaxes, heavy picks, and warhammers, and treat any weapon with the word “dwarven” in its name as a martial weapon.
Dwarves can also choose one of the following abilities:
Greed: Dwarves receive a +2 racial bonus on Appraise skill checks.
Craftsman: Dwarves are known for their superior craftsmanship when it comes to metal and stone works. Dwarves with this racial trait receive a +2 racial bonus on all Craft or Profession checks that create objects from metal or stone.
Lorekeeper: Dwarves keep extensive records about their history and the world around them. Dwarves with this racial trait receive a +2 racial bonus on Knowledge (history) skill checks that pertain to dwarves or their enemies. They can make such skill checks untrained.
Languages: Dwarves begin play speaking Dwarven and the dominant language of their native domain (typically Darkonese). See below for details.
Elf
Two seemingly unrelated elven societies exist in Ravenloft. Both are wild and fey races, objects of mystery and terror for those who live nearby.
The elves of Darkon live barbarous, nomadic lives in the Mistlands of northern and eastern Darkon, prowling their hidden realms and forests wherever their whims take them. They live off the bounty of the forests, hunting and gathering fruit. When that runs short, or when they desire more varied meals, they steal it from their neighbours by stealth or in terrifying raids. However, they can be generous too: a farmer who leaves bread and milk out for the elves may find his crops produce double the harvest of his neighbours, or gold or silk left in exchange. If anything can be said about Darkonese elves, it is that they are unpredictable.
In fact, Darkonese elves seem utterly mad to those of the other races. They are hedonistic, loving feasting and music, and very curious. Things that take their fancy, whether objects or people, are stolen away for their entertainment. They may keep these captives for decades, Mist-led in the elf realms, or grow tired of them after only a few hours. They are notoriously prickly towards trivial insults, but may forgive grievous crimes in a moment, or flip flop randomly between forgiveness and hurt.
Elves do not appear to have attention spans or memories as other races do; memory comes and goes fleetingly. They do not appear to understand death—which perhaps suggests their reputation for cruelty is founded in ignorance rather than malice. They may hold a grudge for centuries against local farmers, seemingly unaware that the current inhabitants are not the originals. They are as capricious and as changeable as the wind.
Darkonese elves tend to have rufous or dark hair and bright eyes of gold, green, violet and grey. They dress in stolen clothes and scraps of lace, hide and satin.
Very little is known about Sithican elves. Unlike their northern cousins, they live in permanent settlements, hidden away in the forest, but very few humans have ever seen them and lived to speak of it. Sithican elves hold their privacy dear; while they may trade with humans, it is typically done through messages delivered by ensorcelled animals, or a rare elven caravan, rather than humans being invited to their cities. The elves are powerful wizards, and use their magic to seal themselves away from the world. They clearly hold the other races in contempt as little more than beasts, and want as little contact with them as possible.
Sithican elves have silvery hair and amber eyes, and prefer to wear robes of drab colours. Despite their veneer of civilisation, they are as alien in their mindsets as the Darkonese elves; their fey natures are just better concealed. Some scholars believe that Darkonese elves are a branch of Sithican elves that have degenerated or gone mad due to their proximity to the Misty Border, a theory perhaps lent credence by the wild elves of Sithicus, whose raids plague their more civilised cousins.
Darkonese Elf Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, –2 Constitution: Elves are nimble, both in body and mind, but their form is frail.
Medium: Elves are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Elves have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Elven Immunities: Elves are immune to magic sleep effects and get a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
Keen Senses: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
Weapon Familiarity: Elves are proficient with longbows (including composite longbows), longswords, rapiers, and shortbows (including composite shortbows), and treat any weapon with the word “elven” in its name as a martial weapon.
Darkonese elf characters can choose one of the following traits:
Runner: Elves with this racial trait receive a +4 racial bonus on Constitution checks and Fortitude saves to avoid fatigue, exhaustion, or ill effects from running, forced marches, starvation, thirst, or hot or cold environments.
Silent Hunter: Elves are renowned for their subtlety and skill. Elves with this racial trait reduce the penalty for using Stealth while moving by 5 and can make Stealth checks while running at a –20 penalty (this number includes the penalty reduction from this racial trait).
Woodcraft: Elves know the deep secrets of the wild like no others, especially those of the forests. Elves with this racial trait gain a +1 bonus on Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks. In forest terrain, these bonuses improve to +2.
Languages: Darkonese elves begin play speaking Elvish and Darkonese. See below for details.
Sithican Elf Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, –2 Constitution: Elves are nimble, both in body and mind, but their form is frail.
Medium: Elves are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Elves have a base speed of 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Elven Immunities: Elves are immune to magic sleep effects and get a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
Elven Magic: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance. In addition, elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Spellcraft skill checks made to identify the properties of magic items.
Keen Senses: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
Weapon Familiarity: Elves are proficient with longbows (including composite longbows), longswords, rapiers, and shortbows (including composite shortbows), and treat any weapon with the word “elven” in its name as a martial weapon.
Languages: Sithican elvess begin play speaking Sithican. Those with high Intelligence scores may also learn Vaasi, Balok or Mordentish. See below for details.
Gnome
Gnomes are said to be the offspring of dwarves and elves (albeit not within earshot of a dwarf). Able to breed true, they have formed their own communities, independent of both parent races.
Gnomes inherit the slender build of the elves and the short height of the dwarves, giving them a spindly appearance. They typically have tan skins, fair hair and sparkling blue eyes. Their personalities are similarly intermediate: they are often eccentric and intensely curious like elves, but have the intellectual rigour and dedication to craft of dwarves. They are fascinated by intricate details, be they riddles or clockwork, and love to solve difficult puzzles. Gnome towns are filled with philosophers, alchemists, engineers and clockmakers. No town is complete without some forum for lecturing and debate. They often possess a wicked, morbid sense of humour, passing the time with macabre jokes laced with irony. The interaction between elf and dwarf heritage, both magical races, results in the gnomes’ innate magic.
Like their elven forebears, gnomes are disciplined warriors when roused, as the foully distorted creatures and overgrown vermin plaguing the area around Mayvin in Darkon have discovered to their cost. They treat war like they treat anything: as a difficult problem to be mastered. They are famous for their hoplites, who fight with shield and polearm in disciplined, defensive phalanxes. Those who underestimate the little philosophers do so at their own risk.
Gnome Racial Traits
+2 Constitution, +2 Charisma, –2 Strength: Gnomes are physically weak but surprisingly hardy, and their attitude makes them naturally agreeable.
Small: Gnomes are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Slow Speed: Gnomes have a base speed of 20 feet.
Low-Light Vision: Gnomes can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
Warden of Nature: Gnomes must often protect their homes against unnatural or pestilential infestations. Gnomes with this racial trait get a +2 dodge bonus to AC against aberrations, oozes, and vermin, and a +1 bonus on attack rolls against them because of their special training.
Keen Senses: Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception skill checks.
Obsessive: Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on a Craft, Knowledge or Profession skill of their choice.
Weapon Familiarity: Gnomes treat any weapon with the word “gnome” in its name as a martial weapon.
Gnomes can choose one of the following traits:
Illusions: Gnomes add +1 to the DC of any saving throws against illusion spells that they cast. Gnomes with a Charisma of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, and speak with animals. The caster level for these effects is equal to the gnome’s level. The DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spell’s level + the gnome’s Charisma modifier. Gnomes also get a +2 racial saving throw bonus against illusion spells or effects.
Magical Linguist: Gnomes study languages in both their mundane and supernatural manifestations. Gnomes with this racial trait add +1 to the DC of spells they cast with the language-dependent descriptor or those that create glyphs, symbols, or other magical writings. They gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against such spells. Gnomes with a Charisma of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—arcane mark, comprehend languages, message, read magic. The caster level for these effects is equal to the gnome’s level.
Pyromaniac: Gnomes with this racial trait are treated as one level higher when casting spells with the fire descriptor, using granted powers of the Fire domain, using the bloodline powers of the fire elemental bloodline or the revelations of the oracle’s flame mystery, and when determining the damage of alchemist bombs that deal fire damage (this ability does not give gnomes early access to level-based powers, only affecting the powers they could use without this ability). Gnomes with Charisma of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, flare, prestidigitation, produce flame. The caster level for these effects is equal to the gnome’s level; the DCs are Charisma-based.
Languages: Gnomes begin play speaking Gnomish and the dominant language of their native domain (typically Darkonese). See below for details.
The Inhuman
Other, even more inhuman races can be found in the wild parts of Ravenloft. Goblins and their kin, even the degenerate ogres, are found across the Mountains of Misery and through the haunted woods of Tepest. Fetchlings sometimes escape from the twisted world of the Plane of Shadows to lurk in the lightless places of the world. Kobolds breed in warrens beneath the hills of Falkovnia. Strange creatures, part men, part fish, have been seen rising from the seas. Broken ones or animal men are released from failed magical experiments. Still more powerful are horrors ranging from hags to golems to lycanthropes to eldritch aberrations and the undead. Even the rare outlander drow or orc, which are otherwise unknown in Ravenloft, can be drawn in by the Mists.
While these creatures are potentially available as player character races (following the rules for monsters as PCs where necessary), the GM and player should think carefully before allowing them. In a world where people are so insular that those who simply come from a different realm are treated with suspicion, creatures that are obviously inhuman or have terrible and cruel reputations will be greeted with outright hostility.