Character Creation in Destiny's Necklace

There are many sentient species with many different backgrounds across the continents and skies of Meara, and a wide variety of them are available as player characters. While Classes and Backgrounds for games set in Meara work just like the Fifth Edition Player's Handbook says, choosing a Race is almost entirely different, and breaks into four parts: Your character's Species, their Culture, their special Heritage, and their ability bonuses.

Species:

A character's species determines their special senses, unusual appendages or manners of movement, and other purely biological factors. All the following (will) have their own write-up in the encyclopedia, which lists these factors. Here are the species available to chose as player characters, broken down by place of primary origin:

Vuorikoht--the Western Continent: Dwarves, Wood Elves, Gnomes, Orcs, Halflings (referred to as a group as Hominids, or Bareskins) and Workers (A.K.A. Warforged)
Moltibek--the Eastern Continent: Bat Folk , Bird Folk, Cat Folk, Fox Folk, Lizard Folk, Rabbit Folk, Squirrel Folk, Goat Folk, Wolf Folk, Fur Folk. (known collectively as Anthropoids)
Avaria--the Southern Continent: Kobolds, Dragonborn, and Dragon Shifters, as well as hybrids and strays from all over.
The Aeries--flying islands: Sky Elves, Goblins, Hobgoblins.
The Oceans: Sea Elves, Turtle Folk.

Crossbreeds:
While most players will find this plenty of options to choose from, there are other possibilities as well. Almost any of the above species can cross-breed with various others, following just one rule: egg-layers or mammals, not both. So Bird Folk, Lizard Folk, Kobolds, Dragonborn, Dragon Shifters, and Turtle Folk can be crossed with one another, but not with any of the other races above. And all of the other races above can be crossed with each other, the only exception being Workers (A.K.A. Warforged) who are incapable of reproducing. Fur Folk are already a hybrid group, consisting of those whose ancestry is made up of enough different Anthropoid species that the particulars have become indistinguishable, but a new character could be created by crossing a Fur Folk design with some other mammalian species.

To create a crossbreed character, take age, size, and speed the same as one or the other of your chosen parent species. (If you choose to be Small, you must take the slower of the two speeds.) If either parent has Darkvision, you may take it as well. Then choose one (1) ancestral trait from each of your chosen parent species.

Culture:

The culture a character grew up in determines what sort of skills they were taught to prize, their expectations for interaction with others, and can have a strong influence on their alignment. Some of the cultures in the following list are associated with a particular nation, which will determine geographically where your character is from too, but others are instead categories, and examples of these culture types can be found in many places around the world. Once you've chosen a species for your PC, pick the culture they grew up in. The following list mentions which species are most likely to be members of each culture type, and the species pages mention the one or two cultures most common to each, but you can choose any option from the following list for your individual character.

National Cultures:
The Halls of Civilization--underground Dwarven nation, spans the Rautamakia mountain range-- (Dwarves, Workers)
Remnants of Na'akahere--civilization currently occupying the western portion of Moltibek--(Rabbit, Squirrel, Fox, Goat, Cat, Fur folk, smaller proportions of all the other Anthro-Folk)
At Home in the Sky--settlements on the Aeries; flying islands that circle the world--(sky elves, goblins, hobgoblins, and a smattering of fearless others)
In the Heart of Avaria--The lands of the southern continent ruled by the Kobold monarchy--(Kobolds, Dragonborn, Dragon Shifters, and a large motley collection of others)
Ministry of the Wetlands--the Lizard folk nation in the eastern parts of Moltibek--(Lizard folk, various other Anthropoids)

Culture Categories:
Traveling People (the Orc steppe clans, Turtle Folk, and various small "traveling folk" groups.)
Wild Mountain Rovers (Wolf groups, Birds, Goats, above-ground Dwarves)
Lurkers In the Woods (Wood elves, gnomes, some halflings)
Small Farming Settlements (many)
City Dwellers (many)
Walled Townsfolk (many)

Heritage (Optional):

A Heritage is an unusual source of special abilities, whether a magical tradition passed down through a family, power bestowed by a supernatural ancestor, the beneficial effects of unusual life events or just an unusual talent or training. Most folk in Meara do not have a Heritage, but player characters may. This should be a group decision, as "...like onions or cigars, either the entire party does, or the entire party does not." If Heritage is being used, each player should choose one from the following options and add those abilities to their PC.
Ancestral Heritages: Aasimar, Entropian, Shifter (only available to certain species), Tick-Tock, Tiefling.
Traditional Heritages: Each Tradition lists a cantrip known, a spell gained at 3rd level, and a spell gained at 5th level, each of the latter two usable once per long rest without material components. Choose one of Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma to be your spellcasting trait for these three spells.
Tradition of Disguise (Minor Illusion, Disguise Self, Invisibility)
Tradition of Earth (Mold Earth or Magic Stone, Earth Tremor, Maximilian's Earthen Grasp)
Tradition of Fire (Produce Flame, Burning Hands, Scorching Ray)
Tradition of the Arcane (Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, Nystul's Magical Aura)
Tradition of the Fey (Druidcraft, Faerie Fire, Moonbeam)
Tradition of the Hidden (Mending, Expeditious Retreat, Pass without Trace)
Tradition of the Mind (Message, Jump, Blur)
Tradition of the Peaks (Ray of Frost, Fog Cloud [looks like snow], Snilloc's Snowball Swarm)
Tradition of the Trickster (Mage Hand, Disguise Self, Detect Thoughts)
Tradition of Rainbows (Minor Illusion, Color Spray, Enthrall)
Tradition of Stillness (Spare the Dying, Sleep, Silence)
Tradition of Warriors (Blade Ward, Shield, Magic Weapon)
Tradition of Water (Shape Water, Create or Destroy Water, Tidal Wave)
Tradition of Wind (Gust, Featherfall, Levitate)
Acquired Heritages:
A Feat--Choose one Feat for which you qualify at 1st level.
Magical Tattoos--Through family or clan tradition, you've recieved the gift of enchanted ink. Gain one tattoo at 1st level, a second at 4th level and a third at 7th level.
Awakened Undead--You had more than a brush with death, but through highly unusual circumstances emerged with your mind intact though your life force was gone.
Re-Forged--You lost parts of your original body at some point, but an artisan skilled in the ways of Worker creation replaced them for you, with improvements!

Ability Scores:

Rather than linking Ability Score bonuses to any other aspect of character generation, once you've rolled or assigned your ability scores according to your group's preferred method, give your character either +1 to each of three different Ability Scores of your choice, or +1 to a single Ability Score and +2 to a different Score.

Where the stats you roll represent the result of your character's biology, the environment they were raised in, and random chance, these bonuses represent the areas of ability your character specifically worked to improve in their life up to this point: lifting heavy objects, practicing dance, running long distances, reading lots of books, quietly observing the world and the people around you, working to affect your relationships with other people, and so on. It's worth taking a moment as you apply these bonus points to think about what sort of activities or life choices they represent.

Languages of Meara