Races of Teredahar: Dwarves

Happy Halloween! Now back to your regularly scheduled campaign setting. 

Like Dragons, Dwarves are endemic to Prime and have lived there since long before the coming of the Elves. They were never encountered by the surface-dwelling races at that time, though. For most of their existence the Dwarven race have lived deep below ground in the cavernous depths underneath Prime's Shallow Ocean. It wasn't until the Elves' world-altering conjuration of the Teredahar continent directly above their heads that they finally took notice of the surface-dwellers. As the Elves of Tan'Rar sent forth their ships to begin settling the new land, the Dwarves sent their settlers upwards into the light.

The First Settlers - Mountain Dwarves

The first wave of Dwarven settlers emerged upon the surface of Teredahar from caverns in the continent's Northeast. From there they expanded to other mountainous regions on the continent. Presently Mountain Dwarves can be found living in all parts of Teredahar, mostly in clan-centered communities fortified deep inside mountains. Mountain Dwarves are often pale-skinned, around 4 feet tall, and with a broad, tough build. In certain clans there is a strong tradition of elaborate beardage, but that rule is not universal and beardless Dwarves can often be found living among other races.

Stats: These are the standard, unmodified Pathfinder Dwarves.

The Second Settlers - Plains Dwarves

The second wave of Dwarven settlers to emerge from the underground came up in the vast plains of central Teredahar. They have migrated less than their mountain-dwelling cousins, building large towns and cities upon the plains using stone quarried from underground. A diet of grains and meat of surface-animals has helped the Plains Dwarves to grow taller than Mountain Dwarves. They're 5' tall on average, almost as tall as Humans, often with tanned skin and light-coloured hair. Beards continue to be a matter of tradition, and are more common among farmers than city-dwellers. Plains Dwarves are better adapted to the light and have lost their darkvision almost entirely.

Stats: (compared to Mountain Dwarves)

• Replace racial ability score mods with +2 DEX, +2 INT, -2 WIS. Generations of interacting with other surface-dwelling races and eating surface-grown foods have had profound changes on the minds, bodies, and cultural attitudes of Plains Dwarves.
• Replace Darkvision with Low-Light Vision
• Base speed is 30'. Still not encumbered by heavy loads
• Remove Stonecunning

The Ancestors - Deep Dwarves

There haven't been any major migrant waves since the second settlers came, but occasionally an individual or small group will make their way up into the light. These are Deep Dwarves, who most closely resemble to original settlers but have developed quite a bit on their own path. They have white skin, and loose, shaggy hair and beards. Their eyes are larger than other Dwarves, often dark-coloured with over-sized pupils. They're seen as strange outsiders and savages by many other societies and often live in small communes among Mountain Dwarves or traveling the shadowy parts of the world as nomads.

Stats: (compared to Mountain Dwarves)

• Racial ability score mods are +2 CON, +2 WIS, -4 CHA. Their odd appearance and alien culture makes them even harder to deal with than Mountain Dwarves.
• Darkvision increase from 60 to 120 ft.
• Light Blindness - Dazzled while exposed to bright light (such as direct sunlight)
• Replace Hardy with immunity to poison, paralysis, and phantasms

Duergar

Deep Dwarves are often mistaken for Duergar by uneducated people. Duergar are a distinct off-shoot from the Deep Dwarves who inhabit much of the same underground territory but have a distinct culture that often puts them at odds with their neighbours. Duergar are less common than Deep Dwarves.

Stats: See Duergar in your Bestiary.

Next Time

More maps! Think I'll do the northern regions next.

"Red Potato" Now Has a Storyline!

...or at least the bones of one. I took the story outline developed in last week's stream, filled in a few bits, and it's now online for anyone to view over here: http://stonedice.blogspot.com/p/story-arc.html

Be sure to watch and participate in the setting's ongoing development, Wednesdays at 9PM Pacific on http://twitch.tv/Too_Many_Knives

Teredahar Locales: Tefalas, the Western Woods

Location

Tefalas is a broad strip of land comprising much of Teredahar's west coast. It's an almost perfect natural fortress, bordered by mountains to the North, East, and South and with steep cliffs guarding much of its coastline. Its only true border is with Kurudar on the Southern side of the Walls of Tefalas mountains. Across the Northern Torran Spine is the vast, lawless Shifting Desert and further north the frozen, cursed former Kingdom of Tannock. The ocean to Teredahar's west is called the Soran Ocean by those who dare to cross it. Across it lie the Human's kingdoms of Nahydra, Drakuga, and Whitereach.

Landscape

The terrain of Tefalas is generally very rough: craggy foot-hills give way to boulder-strewn forests which in turn give way to the steep Iron Cliffs of the coastline. The coastal forests are rainy year-round and dominated by massive redwood trees that grow hundreds of feet tall. In the highlands it only rains in the wintertime, and snow is not unheard of. Here the thin soil makes the trees smaller but no less dense. Two large rivers course from the highlands to the ocean: the Lore River in the North, and Trell River in the middle.

People & Commerce

Tefalas is claimed in its entirety by a small population of Elves who call themselves Reddin. The Reddin broke off from Tan'Rar during the Age of Settlers and were drawn by the region's natural beauty to choose Tefalas as their homeland. They believe that living amongst nature brings them closer to their fey ancestry and live in small villages often high amongst the most massive of redwoods. Their 'cities' may house fewer than a thousand individuals and are built from living branches shaped over decades. The forests of the region are dotted with small villages so well-hidden they have eluded even the best cartographers.

The reddin are hostile to all outsiders and, while they normally don't gather in large numbers, are capable of amassing an army to defend their domain if necessary. When settlers from Nahydra landed on their shores, they were subject to repeated vicious attacks by Reddin raiding parties. Eventually the settlers were driven off or massacred by a combined force of Reddin and their allies from Kurudar. The remains of their settlements still stand on the coast as a reminder of Reddin ferocity.

Given their hostility to outsiders, trade with the Reddin is unheard of. They merely tolerate the presence of Sandrock Clan dwarven traders out of North Point permitted to pass through their lands in exchange for artifacts that would be otherwise unavailable.

Government

The Reddin villages all pay duty to local lords, who in turn support the capitol and high priestess seated at Greatwood. The small population and large area of Tefalas makes conflict between lords extremely rare. The pacifistic teachings of the Reddin faith further ensures that conflicts between Reddin are solved without arms most of the time.

Next Time

The next Races of Teredahar article will talk about the origin and subraces of Dwarves. 

Races of Teredahar: Elves

During the Age of Settlers much of the newly-summoned land in Teredahar was claimed and settled by the Elvish Empire of Tan'Rar. Different ethnic groups within Tan'Rar set out from Tan'Rar on the southern continent Loraida to found homelands for their people on the new continent. The differences in these settlements and the distance between them have caused ethnic differences to only grow between the populations.

Common (Syldarri) Elf

Syldarri elves are descended from the general bulk of settlers from Tan'Rar and show the widest variety of traits within a single population. They're on average between 5 and 6 feet tall, slender of build and have lightly tanned to pale skin. Their natural affinity for magic means they tend to settle in large cities around magical sites such as universities and fixed portals. The largest population of these Elves is in the nation of Syldar in north-central Teredahar. They are also found all over the continent as traders, magic instructors, craftsmen and businesspeople.

Stats: These are standard, unmodified Pathfinder Elves. 
* As Elvish is the common language of Teredahar, Elves begin play speaking Common(Elvish) and Human

Reddin Elf

The Reddin were a distinct religious and cultural group that broke off from Tan'Rar during the Age of Settlers. They landed on the west coast amidst a rainforest of immense redwoods and made it their home. Reddin shun arcane magic and technology and believe in living among nature rather than conquering it. They live in small settlements deep in the forest where they believe they are closer to their fey ancestry. Several physical traits differentiate them from Syldarri elves. They are shorter in stature (usually under 5'5"), but also more muscular. Their skin has a distinct reddish hue (which some wrongly assume gave them their name) and they most commonly have black hair and brown eyes. They are insular and do not welcome outsiders, nor do they travel much beyond their lands.

Stat changes (compared to Syldarri):

• Remove Human as a free starting language.
• Replace racial ability score traits with +2 STR, +2 WIS, -2 CHA
• Replace Elven Magic with new ability: Woodcraft - +1 on Knowledge(nature) and Survival. Bonus increases to +2 in forest terrain. 

Mountain Elf (aka Drow)

Mountain-dwelling elves have lived from some time within Tan'Rar. They were often seen as outcasts living on the fringes of civilization and hiding in shadowy mountain valleys. During the Age of Settlers small groups of Mountain Elves braved crossing the ocean in search of lands to call their own. There they encountered Mountain Dwarves and many found living underground to be more pleasant than mountain valleys. Whether from the valleys or below, members of this sub-race share the same traits, but valley-dwelling Mountain Elves consider being called "Drow" a racist insult, so traveler beware. Moutnain Elves are roughly the same size and build as their lowland-dwelling cousins. What sets them apart is their dark, almost purple skin-tone and predominantly silver hair. Many also have red or white-coloured eyes with almost invisible pupils.

Stats: See Drow; lose the "always evil" nonsense. They do tend to be chaotic, though.
* Undercommon is only spoken by subterranean-dwelling members of this subrace. Substitute for another language if you grew up on the surface.

Grey Elf (aka Highborn Elf)

The oldest bloodlines in Elvish society can be traced back to the noble houses of Tan'Rar itself. Though the Empire is long-since dead many old families still carry the blood of emperors in their line. Once every few generations of Syldarri, a child will be born with exceptionally pale, almost white skin, silver hair, and above-average affinity for magic. Many highborn elves go on to become great leaders of mage schools or rulers of nations.

Stat changes (compared to Syldarri):

• Replace Weapon Familiarity with new ability: Arcane Focus - +2 on concentration checks to cast arcane spells
• Replace racial ability score traits with +2 DEX, -2 CON, +2 CHA
• +1 on caster level checks (such as to defeat spell resistance)
• Increase racial saving throw bonus against enchantment to +3

Next Time

Didn't I say this was going to be shorter than normal? Next week's article will continue exploring the map of Teredahar.

Birth of a World - The Vault Golem

Original artwork by chillier17: http://chillier17.deviantart.com/art/Vault-Golem-486381896

Before you stands a hulking behemoth of metal. A large crank-handle and keyhole protrude from the front of its speherical safe of body.

• Built by someone to protect valuable objects
• Instead of protection location they're kept, it moves with them.
• Recognizes a master to let him/her get close enough to unlock safe

CR          10
Size        Large
Initiative  +2
Senses      Low-light vision, Darkvision 60', +0 Perception

--Defense--
AC          26, touch 12, flat-footed 23 (+3 dex, +13 natural, -1 size)
HP          110 (13d10 +30)
Fortitude   +4, immune to anything that wants it, unless it works on objects
Reflex      +7
Will        +4
DR          10/adamantine and bludgeoning
Construct immunities
Magic immunity (see below)

--Offense--
Speed       30ft
Melee       2 slams +21 (2d8+8 bludgeoning)
Space/Reach 10' / 10'

--Statistics--
Str 26 (+8), Dex 16 (+3), Con -, Int -, Wis 10 (0), Cha 1 (LOL)
Base Atk  +13
CMB       +21
CMD       35

--Special Abilities--
Magic Immunity:
  A Valut Golem is immune to any spell that allows Spell Resistance, except as noted:
  - A lightning bolt spell removes effects of overheating and causes a Vault Golem to gain Haste for 2 rounds. 
  - Any effect that causes the Vault Golem to heat gives it the Overheat condition described below. 
  - Spells that cause metal to rust affect a Vault Golem normally
  
Overheat:
  If exposed to extreme temperatures such as a furnace or a Heat Metal spell, a Vault Golem will begin to overheat, slowing its movement. 
  - -6 penalty to dex 
  - movement penalty
  - Lasts 2 rounds after heat is removed

Cargo:
  If a Vault Golem is destroyed by massive damage, fire, or explosion there is a 75% chance that its contents are destroyed. 
  If the Vault Golem is immobilized or otherwise disabled, you can attempt to pick the lock. DC is 36 to pick the lock.

Teredahar Locales: Ashdar & The Broken Teeth

Location

Ashdar is a region running along Teredahar's eastern coastline. It is bounded to the west and south by a succession of rivers and small inland seas that mark the borders of neighbouring realms. To the north is the Kingdom of Rime. South of Ashdar is the Republic of Din. Northwest is Syldar and southwest is Koldar. These borders are generally agreed upon by all of the states within despite the lack of a central governing body.

Landscape

Ashdar is primarily rugged, rocky, forested hills broken intermittently by a chain of mountains that have come to be called The Broken Teeth. These mountains are volcanic in nature, caused by a hotspot that drifted southward through the region for millennia and now fuels the Thunderperch volcano in Din. The volcanic nature of the mountains means the area around them is littered with hundreds of small, weathered cinder cones and lava-tube caverns. The oldest and most weathered peaks are at the region's northern end and the youngest are at the south.

People & Commerce

The region's extensive cavern systems have become home to several clans of Mountain Dwarves, who colonized them to exploit gemstone deposits forged in the hearts of volcanoes. The Dwarves have settled nearly every peak of any significance, building fortified mountain-homes of both grand and humble scale. The rough terrain above-ground has limited surface colonization to a few outposts along the rivers and coastline, which exist primarily to trade with the below-ground settlements.The mountain-homes export mostly gemstones (amethyst and quartz in greatest quantities), as well as processed metal where ore is found and lumber from the region's extensive forests. Imports are primarily food and finished goods. The region's volcanic soil is well-suited to cultivation, but the terrain makes access difficult and the Dwarves do not care for toiling under the sun.

Government

Ashdar was originally claimed by The Elvish Empire of Tan'Rar over 4000 years ago. They gave the region its name ("Stormland" in Ancient Elvish) but made little attempt to settle it. In present day there are a few Elvish settlements but neither they or the Dwarves who have colonized Ashdar's mountains recognize any central government. At various points in their history the mountain-home clans have forged alliances and federations but these tend to be short-lived treaties of convenience that simply last until parties are ready to fight over claims again. Nearly every clan is ruled by a patriarch who leads for life. Large families make succession an often-messy affair.

Constant strife between the Dwarven clans has taken a huge toll on the mountain-homes. Fortresses are built, armed, conquered and abandoned by successive generations giving the mountains their name The Broken Teeth. Many of the Mountain Dwarves found elsewhere in Teredahar are refugees or survivors from these generational clan wars. Disposessed, homeless, and bereft of clan or country they wander the bright surface world looking for a new place to call home.

Next Time

I'm going to take a break from history and mythology and start a series about the various races and sub-races that live on Teredahar. These will be a bit shorter than usual but will include stat blocks for Pathfinder character creation.

Races of Teredahar & Beyond - Pyren

Bonus article! This week's Birth of a World talked a bit about the Pyren so I figured I'd better put their info up for the curious to see. Stat blocks are for Pathfinder, although I've started on a 5E conversion you can find over here.

The Pyren

Pyren by chillier17.deviantart.com

The Pyren aren't technically from Teredahar the continent. They're not even from Prime. The Pyren are a race of beings from one of the Shard worlds, a world they call Terfeu. The Pyren homeworld is a Shard much closer to the Plane of Fire. It's a world of dry heat, long days, and strange plant life. There the Pyren formed a militaristic society that greatly values physical and mental strength, personal fortitude, and discipline.

Pyren females are rare, comprising as little as a quarter of the population. Pyren all have some magical aptitude, but females' raw power often exceeds that of males. Their abilities place them above Pyren men in the social order. Females are often the nucleus of households, rulers of nations, and leaders of armies. Men on the other hand are often foot-soldiers, labourers, and artificers.

Stats

Since these were created as enemies and not as a player race, they're presented here in stat-block format:

Pyren Footsoldier

This tall humanoid has ashen skin, a bald head, and eyes that glow like embers. The falling rain steams off its skin and half-plate. The longsword in its hand glows as though fresh from the forge.

Male Pyren Fighter Level 3,
Medium Humanoid [Fire] [Extraplanar]
HD 3d10+3,  (15-33 avg 26hp)
Initiative +5
Speed 30’
AC 21 (Half-plate +8, Large Steel Shield +2, DEX +1), 11 touch, 20 flat-footed
Attacks
Longsword – 1d6+2, crit 19-20/x2, melee +5
Power Attack with Longsword -  1d6+4, crit 19-20/x2, melee +4
Searing Touch – Anything hit by longsword, or touching it, 1d6 fire damage, no save, no sr
Space/Reach 5' / 5'
Saves +4 Fort, +2 Reflex (Scatter and Dive for Cover), +0 Will (+1 vs Fear, Rally)
CMD 16 (BAB (+3), STR (+2), DEX (+1)
CMB +5 (BAB (+3), STR(+2))
Ability Scores STR 14 (+2), DEX 12 (+1), CON 12 (+1), INT 7 (-2), WIS 9 (-1), CHA 9 (-1)
Class Features Bravery, Armor Training 1
Feats Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Infantry Tactics*(Dive for Cover, Scatter, Shield Wall)
Skills Stealth +4, Perception +2


Pyren Warmage

This tall, ashen-skinned humanoid glares at you with eyes that burn like hot coals. It's bare to the waist and wearing a kilt made of overlapping metal plates. Crimson motes of energy dance around its fingertips as it points them at you.

Male Pyren Warmage** Level 6
Medium Humanoid [Fire] [Extraplanar]
HD 6d6 (11-36, avg 22)
Initiative +5
Speed 40'
AC 17 (Plate Kilt (+2), DEX (+1), Shield Spell (+4), 11 touch, 17 flat-footed
 +Shield spell protects from magic missiles
Attacks
Spells per day (6/7/5/3):
Level 0:
Acid Splash – 1d3 acid damage, no save, no sr
Level 1:
Burning Hands – 15’ cone, 5d4+3 fire damage, reflex DC 14 half
Magic Missile – 3 missiles, 1 missile does 1d4+4, the rest do 1d4+1, no save, no sr
Orb of Fire, Lesser – 3d8+3 fire damage, ranged touch +5, no sr
Shocking Grasp – 5d6+3 electricity damage, melee touch +2, no sr
Level 2:
Fireburst – 5’ burst, 5d8+3 fire damage, reflex DC 15 half
Scorching Ray – 1 ray, 4d6+3 fire damage, ranged touch +5, no sr
Level 3:
Fireball – 20’ blast within 640’, 6d6+3 fire damage, reflex DC 16 half
Lightning Bolt – 120’ line, 6d6+3 lightning damage, reflex DC 16 half

Searing Touch – Anything hit in melee or toughing it, 1d6 fire damage, no save, no sr
Saves +1 Fort, +3 Reflex, +4 Will
CMD 12 (BAB (+3), STR (-2), DEX (+1)
CMB +4 (BAB (+3), DEX (+1)
Ability Scores STR 7 (-2), DEX 12 (+1), CON 9 (-1), INT 12 (+1), WIS 9 (-1), CHA 14 (+2)
Class Features Armored Mage (light), Warmage Edge +1+2, Advanced Learning [Fire Burst]
Feats Improved Initiative, Combat Casting, Spell Focus (Evocation), Extra Edge
Skills Spellcraft +9, Disable Device +6, Stealth +6, Perception -1

*Infantry Tactics are a set of abilities granted at the cost of a Fighter feat that represent soldiers being trained in basic medieval infantry tactics as well as to survive combat with mages who could otherwise just AoE them to bits. These were adapted from the 3.5 Complete Warrior.

Dive for Cover - As an immediate action following a failed Reflex save against an area-effect, a soldier with this ability can drop prone to re-roll the Reflex save. He must take the second result. This does not provoke attacks of opportunity, and why are you standing in friendly fire anyways?

Scatter - As an immediate action while standing in a formation with other soldiers, all members of the formation who have not spent their swift/immediate action this round may take a 5' step away from the formation's centre. This does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Shield Wall - Two or more soldiers with this ability standing next to each other in formation and using the Full Defense action provide concealment equivalent to a Tower Shield to soldiers directly behind them, as well as gaining a +2 circumstance bonus to AC and +8 CMD bonus to resist a Bull Rush, Grapple, Pounce, or other action that would enter their space.

**Using Pathfinder conversion of Warmage found here: http://www.pathfinderdb.com/character-options/classes/full-class-list/1453-warmage

Teredahar History & Mythology - Spellweavers & Building a Continent

The previous history entry talked about how the Elves had to adapt to using magic without power from their God. After generations of learning about the world they settled upon, explorers charting the world's great ocean found a massive fount of magical energy: a crack in the world itself where power was spilling in from the Void. This place was called the Mana Well. Through studying the power spilling from the mana well the Elves rediscovered cosmic or divine magic, but they did not stop there.

The Spellweavers

What the Elves found at the Mana Well was a window into the Void. The power they learned to tap came directly from the great currents of raw magical energy that flow through it. Beyond just learning to harness that power, researchers at the Mana Well began to learn to  control its flow and shape it. The art of shaping the inflow of cosmic energy became a third kind of magic altogether. Its practitioners named themselves "Spellweavers".

The art of spell-weaving gave rise to many new technologies that helped the Elves thrive. Spellstones imbued with power from the Mana Well were brought back to Tan'Rar to fuel magical artifice the world had never before seen. Shifting the flow of energy could create fierce storms or extend a growing season by months. The power of the Spellweavers allowed the Elves of Tan'Rar to conquer their own continent and threaten the Dragons for supremacy over the world.

The Mother of Invention

After generations of unbridled prosperity and growth, the Elves were faced with a dilemma: their numbers would soon outstrip what the lands of Tan'Rar could produce. Would they face famine or be finally forced to make war upon the Dragons for territory? The grand-master Spellweaver Alderast Concellarii proposed a solution: make new land.

Grand Spellweaver Concellarii proposed using the power of the Mana Well to pull one of the Shards near Prime off its course and cause it to merge with Prime itself, bringing with it land-mass that could be used to fill in part of the great ocean around the Mana Well. The plan was ambitious. Great anchors containing immense spellstones would need to be placed on the ocean floor to help steer, "grab" and old on to the colliding plane and prevent it from crashing into Tan'Rar territory.

It took almost eighty years for the preparations to be complete. When the day finally came, ships were bursting with settlers ready to claim new land. Meanwhile, spellweavers at the Mana Well had been carefully guiding their chosen Shard closer to Prime for years.

The actual event was almost anti-climactic. One minute there was a vast ocean a few hours' sail north of Tan'Rar's continent, the next there were several-hundred square miles of alien landscape to conquer. Over the next several years the spellweavers would pull through more and more land. The newly-created continent was named "Teredahar" which means "glorious discovery" in archaic elvish. With two continents under their control, the leaders of Tan'Rar named their main continent "Loraida", which means "harbour" in the same archaic dialect.

The New World

The Elves weren't the only ones to notice the appearance of an entire continent where once there was ocean. Dragons, early Humans, and even the then-purely-subterranean Dwarvish ancestors raced to claim lands on the new continent before the Elves could. They would find that creatures living on the Shards had also been brought through. Magical beasts plagued the would-be conquers while utterly bewildered Gnomes and Halflings struggled to come to terms with what the Elves had done.

Battles over territory quickly escalated into the first all-out war between Elves and Dragons, one of the things Concellarii sought to prevent. The new land would be fought over by various races many times over the following millennia and to present day.

Next Time

The next article will continue the series of Teredahar locales.