Choosing Your Race and Class

The two most important choices you will make during character creation are selecting your character’s race and first class. The eleven basic classes of D&D (barbarian, bard, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, and wizard) are each designed to provide some, but not all, of the skills and ability scores needed to thrive and survive in a land of fantasy adventure. Likewise, the seven races (human, dwarf, elf, gnome, half-elf, half-orc, and halfling) each have advantages and disadvantages. These guidelines work best if you will be playing as a part of a group. Your character will have stalwart companions (the characters of your fellow players) who will work together to overcome obstacles, slay hideous monsters, and seek incredible treasure. If you are creating a character by yourself or you have no way of knowing what other kinds of heroes your character might meet during an adventure, you need to pay special attention to the areas where your character is strong and where your character is weak. Then you can make the best use of the opportunities you find as you adventure.
Disclaimer: Copied from 3.5e source material and may not be comprehensive for 5e but offers valuable role-playing inspiration to all players.

CHOOSING A RACE AND CLASS

The following sections provide advice for each race / class combination. Simply find the race you’re interested in, then choose a class. We’ll suggest where to put your ability scores and provide guidance for feat and skill selection. More importantly, we’ll explain how that sort of character might view the world - and variants that lead to different role-playing opportunities. Selecting a Race There are a host of things that will change about your character as time progresses. Ability scores will improve, your character might choose many different classes, and will master an arsenal of skills. But there is one thing that will never change: your character’s race. When you consider a race for your character, think about the way the various racial modifiers and special abilities combine to focus the character down those various paths.

STANDARD RACIAL TYPES RACE ARCHETYPE

Human	Flexible, social, curious, lucky
Dwarf	Dour, hearty, stalwart, focused
Elf	Graceful, carefree, timeless, magical
Gnome	Earthy, tricky, quiet, hardy
Halfling	Quick, sneaky, acquisitive, aware
Orc*	Savage, strong, wild, brutal

*The orc is provided above to make the chart complete. Orcs are a bestial and evil race and they don’t make for very good characters. But in a world of fantasy, they sometimes make for interesting parents!
Beyond the statistics and rules, there are social reasons that you may want to select a particular race. Talk to your DM about how the races are perceived in your campaign world. Find out about the races’ histories and current conflicts. You may find numerous roleplaying hooks in the epic story of your character’s race. Depending on current conditions in the game, and where the adventure begins, there may be more direct benefits. Perhaps you know the language of the locals, or you can call on family or clan for assistance. Aiming for 20 Right off the bat, you may notice a potential for something extraordinary. If you got lucky enough to roll an 18 for an ability score, you may end up with a final score that is higher than the normal range if you match it with the right racial modifier! There’s nothing wrong with that. There are always extraordinary individuals in any given population. While there are not too many halforcs with a 20 Strength (less than 2% of the total half-orc population), they are not totally unheard of. If you have a 20, that means you are the absolute pinnacle of your race. That might mean they’re expecting great things from you.

SELECTING A CLASS

Once you know what race you want to be – or even if you’ve narrowed it down to a few choices – turn to the corresponding section in this chapter to learn how your race interacts with each class in the D&D game.

HUMANS

Humans are the most varied race. They exist in almost every environment, and they explore the world with great enthusiasm. Human settlements and farms spring up quickly in the explorers’ wake. Humans excel in commerce, the study of the arcane arts, and military campaigns. They worship every god, follow every alignment, and have a thousand myths of their own origins and creation. Human characters are the standout members of their race. Successful humans often become vastly powerful, ruling entire nations or becoming the counselors of kings and generals. Human characters are drawn from many backgrounds. Some are raised for a life of adventure, while others find the path as escaped slaves, runaway apprentices, or simply farmers’ children who hear the call of their heroic hearts. Your human character can come from almost any background; the decision is up to you. The following class descriptions assume that your character is a young adult, with some very basic training in a common profession or craft.

Human Barbarian

There are three basic ways for a human to become a barbarian: Be born as one, be adopted into a group of them and follow their ways, or become isolated and survive by learning the harsh lessons of the wilderness. As a human barbarian, you are in tune with the wilderness and your own wild nature. You might be a member of a small tribe, a large clan, or none at all - a solitary hunter with ties to no one.

• Ability Score Advice: Your key ability scores are Strength and Constitution. The least useful are Intelligence and Charisma.
• Young Brave (Variant): You are a young warrior who seeks to gain fame and fortune, avenge a wrong, or defend the tribe against raids. You live off the land, making clothing from tanned hides, finding safe food and water, and creating weapons from wood, stone, and bone. Tattoos, colorful paint, feathers, and intricate hair braids show your individualism. You have a strong sense of honor, but you only obey the commands of the elders and the wise ones out of respect. Intricate rituals and tribal law don’t interest you.
• Castaway (Variant): Lost or left behind, you have survived against all odds by learning the ways of the land. Now hardened by experience and focused by solitude and danger, you have become a uniquely dangerous opponent while on familiar ground. If rescued or returned to civilized lands, you will have to relearn the basic rules of society and find a way to use the skills from one hostile world to thrive in another.

Human Bard

The human bard can be an entertainer, a teacher of social values and important history, a source of passion and pride - or some combination of all three. In some human cultures, bards are viewed as one of the lowest social classes; being a mere “entertainer” has little real value to society In others, bards are among the most respected members of the society, unique individuals who preserve and protect the cultural identity of the people. At some point, your human bard has become skilled in the performing arts: song, musicianship, the composition and reading of poetry, or storytelling. You should compose a short tale that describes how your character found this calling, then decide what types of performance you have a natural flair for.

• Ability Score Advice: The key attribute for you is Charisma. Intelligence and Dexterity enhance some of your special abilities and common bard skills. The least useful attributes for a human bard are Strength and Constitution.
• Jester (Variant): The jester survives by wit and witticism. Performing either in public or in the court of some noble, you find ways to exert a subtle influence on those around you. Those who recognize the power of that influence also recognize the value of a good relationship with the jester. You may become embroiled in plots and counterplots, so you’re always ready to flee if things go badly. The best defense against an enraged monarch is to be gone before the guards come pounding on the door.
• Skald (Variant): You are a lorekeeper, the living record of your people’s history and legends. The skald memorizes long poems and songs that recount the great deeds of years past and teach lessons about morals and ethics. You often provide counsel for a decision by those who understand the value of remembering the past. By adventuring, you ensure that the great deeds of today will never be forgotten.

Human Cleric

Everyone knows that there are many gods and goddesses. Interceding between the unseen powers of the universe and the common man is the job of the cleric. By explaining the desires and commandments of the gods, the cleric aids the people and shields them from the gods’ wrath. The cleric also heals the sick and stands firm against the unholy forces at work in the world.

• Ability Score Advice: You should focus on Wisdom and Charisma. If you have to put a low score somewhere, choose Dexterity.
• Village Priest (Variant): Every small community looks to a member of the clergy to attend to their spiritual needs. You are usually consulted in matters of moral or ethical conflict, and you may even serve as judge in minor disputes. Most importantly, you are a patient listener to confessions and provider of advice. Bandits and those intent on evil often take you for granted - until confronted by clerical magic and the unshakable knowledge of your divine support.
• Crusader (Variant): Called by and inner voice or exhortations of the church elders, the crusader leaves home to do battle in the name of a god or goddess. You’re crusading to right a wrong, recover a lost relic, or retake holy ground. You expect to see a lot of combat and to be on campaign for months or years.

Human Druid

Human communities tend to both shun and respect the druids in their midst. Abundant harvests and healthy crops are important, and the depredations of wild animals can be terrifying. But a person who has embraced the wildness of nature rather than the comforts of home is somewhat frightening. While you can expect a certain measure of respect, you will always be viewed as an outsider to your own people.

• Ability Score Advice: The key ability score for a human druid is Wisdom. Your least useful ability score is Intelligence.
• Hedge Druid (Variant): Living at the very edge of civilized lands, you provide healing potions, salves for insect stings, and other medicines. Nearby communities usually ignore you - except when someone is ill or a crop has become infested with parasites or disease. From time to time, a local will come to you for advice about planting or dealing with vermin or a large predator. Hedge Druids know the local farms, forests, streams and other territory well, so they try to keep development and erosion to a minimum. You’re always watching for signs of malevolent magic or evil monsters.

Human Fighter

The world is a dangerous place, and men-at-arms are ever in demand. Fighter may be the most basic calling for adventurers. One need only strap on sword, dagger, or bow and venture forth to find fame and for tune. Great generals, in fact, begin as simple soldiers with a basic competence in weapons and armor - and a long, dangerous road ahead. As the years pass and battles are won and lost, you will become a master of many weapons and a competent leader who can defeat a dragon or lay siege to a castle.

• Ability Score Advice: Strength and Constitution are your bread and butter. If you have to cut corners somewhere, choose Intelligence or Wisdom.
• Caravan Guard (Variant): There are many things in the world worth keeping safe. And from time to time those things need to be moved from place to place. From jewelry to princesses, when value is on the road there is always work for a ready sword arm like yours. You are willing to travel to far lands and risk life and limb for a hard day’s pay. This is a fantastic way to begin a life of adventure, because you’re comfortable as part of a larger group that can provide protection and instruction.

Human Monk

From time to time, a lonely wanderer from the nearly forgotten monasteries is seen taking shelter from the rain in the village inn. The common people know these sojourners to be calm and focused individuals of few words. Those who seek the way to enlightenment and self-discipline are directed to begin the journey of a thousand miles with a single perfect step. As a monk, you play an important role in human societies. From time to time, rulers try to control the population by forbidding the ownership or use of martial weapons. But you and the rest of your order, through training and ancient techniques, have learned to use the body itself as a weapon. Not a few forgotten despots have found their rule coming to an inglorious end through the whirling kicks and smashing fists from the local monastery.

• Ability Score Advice: Monks are demanding in terms of ability scores. Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom should be your top priorities, while the least useful are Intelligence and Charisma.
• Initiate (Variant): You are a low-ranking member of the monastic order who left the cloistered world inside the walls of the brotherhood or sisterhood to experience the world directly and increase your knowledge of all things under heaven. Part of your test is learning to resist the call of temptation. You must eat only simple meals, avoid intoxicants, and suppress the desires of the body. By mastering your own inner nature, you can earn great control and self-discipline. You seek out challenges to see how far your body and mind may be pushed.

Human Paladin

From time to time, the divine hand of one of the good gods stretches forth and marks a soul for greatness. Paladins are not simply fighters with some clerical skill. They are holy warriors imbued with divine power and asked to walk the world as both a physical manifestation of the god’s power and an agent of justice, honor, and respect. Everyone in the human lands respects the paladin, even those who are the paladin’s natural enemies. The common people love paladins because when the need is dire, a paladin will give selflessly to overcome oppression and evil intent. But with a paladin also comes great danger, for a paladin’s soul is a prize in the battle between good and evil, law and chaos. Ever the peacemaker, but rarely at peace, your lot is a lonely one. Only the most stalwart, courageous, and honorable are worthy of carrying the tremendous burden.

• Ability Score Advice: Paladin is another class that can take advantage of good scores in almost every ability Strength, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma are the most important; if there is an ability where you don’t need a good score, it is probably Intelligence.
• Knight Divine (Variant): When a crusade is called, paladins of many faiths sympathetic to the aims of the crusade may join the campaign for the duration. These knights divine serve their respective gods by assisting in the great work of the crusade and lending their visible support to the cause. As a knight divine, you are available to confront supernatural enemies and undertake missions of particular difficulty.

Human Ranger

Across the frontier lie lands of mystery and trackless wilderness. As the human lands expand, the ranger goes first into the unknown. In more civilized lands, the ranger is often an agent of justice sent to track down the criminal element and bring them home to face punishment for their deeds. The ranger is an individual warrior, relying more on personal ability than strength in numbers. As guide, scout, or skirmisher, the ranger can be a great asset to a military force. As a solitary hunter or tracker, the ranger can move farther and faster than others untrained in the ways of the wild. You are not a barbarian or druid, though you share some common ground with both. You are, at heart, a member of society, standing with it rather than apart from it - no matter how far from home the ranger’s trail takes you.

• Ability Score Advice: The human ranger’s most important ability scores are Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom. The least useful ability of a human ranger is Charisma.
• Skirmisher (Variant): The ability to move swiftly and strike with powerful force makes you an effective part of any army. Ranging far to the front and sides of the main force, or on detachment for reconnaissance, you can harry the enemy, scout his positions, and conduct hit-andrun raids on supplies or enemy command posts. You move with little trace and strike from the shadows without warning. Then you vanish into the night until the time is right for the next slashing attack.
• Bounty Hunter (Variant): Sometimes, all the forces of the authorities are unable to bring a criminal to justice. When that happens, rulers turn to you to track down these miscreants and return them to face justice, dead or alive. Most people respect you because you work for the betterment of society and the protection of all. A quick flash of an official writ or sigil can open many doors and loosen many lips.

Human Rogue

Once any civilized area grows large enough, it will attract those who make their living at the edges of society. Not just common thieves, rogues are also known as confidence men, cat burglars, spies, and blockade-runners. The greatest rogues are known throughout the land both for audacity and competence. Ordinary citizens rarely trust a rogue, so finding shelter, medical aid, or a way to fence goods can be a challenge. The law is always watchful, and the punishment for aiding and abetting crimes is steep. But among adventurers, the rogue is a necessary member of any adventuring group, especially when descending into lost ruins and forgotten mines where unseen danger lurks around every corner. As a rogue, you combine skill with confidence. Operating alone or in a group, you can penetrate defenses, sneak past guards, disarm traps, and escape with the prize unnoticed. And despite your somewhat unsavory activities, you are a boon companion. Common wisdom might say that there is no honor among thieves, but every good rogue knows the value of a trusted friend.

• Ability Score Advice: You should favor Dexterity above all other ability scores. Constitution is the least important ability score for you.
• Spy (Variant): Yours is a life of danger, for spies are usually executed swiftly when caught. You must be a master of disguise, appraise information quickly and accurately, and maintain a network of associates to uncover secrets and get them back home. You live a double life, keeping up the appearance of propriety but engaging in all manner of candlelit skullduggery out of the sight of curious eyes.
• Joat (Variant): The “jack of all trades” is a specializing nonspecialist. You have a hand in many areas of expertise, so you add a array of capabilities to any team - at the price of more extensive experience or skill. While you cannot match any expert in a given field, sometimes, having “just enough” knowledge or ability makes all the difference between success and failure. The variety of challenges you’ll face while adventuring means that you’ll have ample opportunity to let luck and chance carry the day. You might have to guess whether a plant is toxic, identify the cut of a noblewoman’s gown, or try “just one more thing” to open a stubborn lock. You are constantly trying to slip between the limits and find loopholes just in time to save the day.

Human Sorcerer

The magic-touched are both feared and respected in human lands. There are two main ways a human becomes a sorcerer. Some are “wild talent” known from childhood for their eerie ways, while others develop their powers as a result of a shocking, traumatic experience later in life. Most people are surprised and somewhat fearful to discover that they have an innate magical talent when others do not. The flow of magic is a strange and somewhat uncontrollable feeling; it is a reminder that there are forces in the universe vastly larger and more powerful than the free will of any single individual. You should prepare some notes about how you first tapped into innate magical powers, what you think about magic, and how you intend to treat those powers now that they have been revealed.

• Ability Score Advice: Charisma powers your spells, of course. Many of your skills use Intelligence or Wisdom. The least important ability scores for you are Strength and Dexterity.
• Wild One (Variant): Shunned by family and friends after manifesting sorcerous power, you now wander the earth in search of a place of refuge and acceptance. You use your powers for defense and protection, not for arcane study or personal gain. You might wear fetishes of bones and feathers, for you are trying to build an understanding of your own magical power from rumor, guesses, legends, and old wives’ tales.

Human Wizard

Potentially the most powerful individuals on the planet, wizards are feared, respected, distrusted and misunderstood by most people in human lands. The accumulation of power through dark pacts and secret research is thought to corrupt the soul of the practitioners of wizardry. Becoming a wizard takes courage; confronting the power of magic and the madness and destruction it can bring is not for the faint of heart. Many wizards die young in accidents or through experimentation with forces beyond their control. But the rewards are tremendous for those who persevere. Calling on the might of arcane powers, a wizard can rip the fabric of reality, summon creatures from the foulest pit and bind them to service, and more. Most wizards like you are apprenticed to a master prior to setting off on their own to seek adventure. You should spend some time creating information about your instructor, including the terms of your dismissal and any oaths you accepted as a part of your study. You may find your previous master a valuable resource for help, direction, or advice. Or you may find a rival who will brook no upstart apprentice seeking to usurp the master’s titled position in the social order.

• Ability Score Advice: Your most important ability score is Intelligence, because it affects your magic. Strength and Charisma are least important to human wizards.
• Professional (Variant): Using magic rather than mundane methods, you can be sneakier than a rogue and more deadly than an assassin. You use spells such as spider climb, invisibility, and knock to move quickly through any mission. You are paid well for your efforts, so only those patrons who are willing to pay a premium for excellence choose you.

DWARVES

Dwarves are the most stalwart race. They lead lives of duty and obligation, living in underground complexes mining ore, smithing a wide variety of metal goods, and defending themselves against the evil creatures that lurk deep in the earth. The center of every dwarven community is the hearth, the individual home of a dwarven family. The ties that bind each family together are strong and deep. Dwarves have few children, and those born to the stout folk are cherished but raised with strict discipline and a strong work ethic. Monarchs rule most dwarven settlements, often known as delves. Most monarchs pay homage to Moradin, the deity of the dwarves whom they call “Soulforger.” Each hearth swears allegiance to the monarch, and the monarch rules by divine right, counseled by the wise priests of Moradin. Martial training is common among the dwarves. Monsters such as beholders and mind flayers, and evil races like the drow are a constant threat from below. Every family has a defense plan, and every able-bodied dwarf is expected to stand firm in defense of the delve in times of trouble. The dwarves have an innate suspicion of arcane magic and rarely tolerate sorcerers or wizards. While they are willing to admit to the occasional practical application of spellcraft, dwarves will usually not voluntarily seek out its practitioners.

Dwarven Barbarian

There are two kinds of dwarven barbarians: dwarves who have lost their civilization due to some calamity, and dwarves who are berserk warriors raised in more normal surroundings. From time to time, a dwarven settlement will be overrun or will fail due to famine, disease, or natural disaster. Normally, any surviving dwarves will make their way to other delves. But from time to time a few families or maybe a child or two are lost to the wilderness. You are one such dwarf. It wasn’t easy to survive, but you became an incredibly tough, wild creature capable of surviving in lands inhospitable to any others.

• Ability Score Advice: The dwarven barbarian's most important ability scores are Strength and Constitution. Intelligence and Wisdom are least important.
• Lost One (Variant): Clothed in skins rather than mail, and wielding weapons made of wood, stone and bone rather than steel, others think you a pretty poor example of a dwarf. But if they look below the surface, they’ll find the same passionate, focused heart of all of dwarvenkind. You have no hearth and no delve; you pay homage to no king, and you may not even know the lore of Moradin. But as the ultimate survivor in lands deadly to most, you have proved your mettle to anyone’s satisfaction. Returning to civilized lands is hard for you. Rather than accept the confines of a delve, often you will return to the harsh lands of your birth, or seek adventure in the lands under the sun.
• Battlerager (Variant): Favoring spiked armor and weapons of blunt destruction, you are one of the elite shock troops of a dwarven army. When goaded into a rage, you throw your own body at an opponent and lash out with every ounce of energy, doing maximum damage in minimal time. Most battleragers prefer to live life with great passion, singing loud songs of victory, consuming massive amounts of ale, and carousing long into the night. Before entering the fray, battleragers are known to toast one another with a vile concoction known as “gutshaker” - a drink so potent that even the average dwarf will politely decline when offered a sip.

Dwarven Bard

The role of bard is well respected among the dwarves, though most bards also work at some other occupation and “moonlight” as performers. In battle, bards raise the spirits and morale of dwarven forces through songs of great victories and glorious deeds. Around the hearth, the bards tell softer tales of love and romance in times free of danger. You’ll often provide structure to official functions such as marriages and naming ceremonies, providing music, prose, and storytelling to frame the religious aspects handled by the clergy of Moradin. Perhaps you left the delve to find an audience in human lands.

• Ability Score Advice: Dwarves take a penalty to Charisma, so dwarven bards often have a good score in an ability other than Charisma. Minimizing the impact of a low Charisma is important; if necessary, just about any other ability should be assigned the lowest score.
• Heartbeat Drummer (Variant): You practice the dwarven art of the heartbeat drum. In the forge and in the mine, this deep, echoing instrument sets the pace for the work at hand, keeping the delve in rhythm. In combat, the heartbeat drum is used to set the tempo for advances and retreats, to signal certain types of action, and to inspire courage in the doughty fighters of the delve. A good heartbeat drummer sings a baritone chant at just the right frequency to create a sympathetic resonance with the heartbeat drum, making each beat sing as if the voice of a thousand dwarves were echoing the roll of the beat.

Dwarven Cleric

The blessed of Moradin are the stout heart of every dwarven community. Moradin is a simple deity. He demands respect and honor. In return, he offers the promise of eternal life in the Halls of Judgment in the afterlife. Clerics in dwarven society are involved in all the important rituals and ceremonies of the delve. They bless major new construction, provide solace to those who are injured or grieving, and oversee happier occasions such as weddings, naming ceremonies, and coronations. The keepers of the faith of the Soulforger are intolerant of evil, so you stand fast with the rest of the delve when combat is imminent. You are always ready to confront enemy spellcasters, undead, and extraplanar horrors, holding forth the holy sign of Moradin and calling down vast power in his name and by his will.

• Ability Score Advice: Wisdom is the most important ability for a dwarven cleric, followed closely by Strength. A dwarven cleric has little use for Dexterity.
• Runeweaver (Variant): Using auguries and other tools of fortune telling, you give the dwarves glimpses of the future and divine Moradin’s will regarding various plans and decisions. With a set of inscribed tiles marked with the dwarven script, you unravel the mystical and mysterious meanings of the runes. The common dwarf pays more heed to your predictions than more experienced leaders. But when times are dire and all hope has fled, even the most powerful member of the delve may turn to you.

Dwarven Druid

The dwarven druid is almost always an outcast, wandering the trackless caverns and lightless galleries of the underdark. Though few can sense it, the under ground world has an ecology, natural cycles, and seasons just like the surface world. Sometimes, a dwarf is drawn to the wilds below ground, finding a connection to the raw, untapped power of the rocks themselves. Placing the good of the regional environment above the needs of the delve puts the dwarven druid in opposition to the basic nature of dwarven society. As long as the druid takes no action other than argument and dissent, there will be no problems. But if the druid’s actions extend to sabotage or outright violence, the vengeance of the delve can be swift. That said, the elders of the delve recognize the value of information druids like you can impart. You know the movements of hostile races and dangerous monsters, and the need to take care to avoid pockets of gas, underground streams, or other dangers while mining - to say nothing of the stalwart defense that you lend to the delve when under attack.

• Ability Score Advice: You favor Wisdom, Strength, and Constitution, but you have little use for Intelligence.
• Mountain Druid (Variant): Dwarven druids are rare, and those who find a bond to the lands above the ground are even rarer. But many delves are located in rocky, mountainous lands far from other civilized areas, so dwarves are often the only inhabitants. You have adopted the mountains or hills surrounding the delve as your protected lands. You are seen so rarely that you have become a legend, but if the area comes under some evil influence, you may seek out the delve and petition for assistance.

Dwarven Fighter

The phrase “dwarven fighter” is almost a redundant term. Most dwarves receive some martial training and combat experience, so virtually every dwarf is a fighter of some greater or lesser skill Fighter is the favored class of dwarves, after all. The honor and glory of combat is central to the myths and rituals of dwarven life. Kings are known more for their prowess with armor and axe than they are for crown and scepter. Even clerics are martial in nature and often advance in skill as both cleric and fighter.

• Ability Score Advice: Dwarven fighters put high scores in Strength and Constitution to good use. The mental ability scores of Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma are less valuable.
• Dwarven Archer (Variant): The ability to use ranged attacks in the close and confined spaces underground requires a special set of talents and strategies. You have mastered this complex art and are an able component of any delve’s defenses. Your job is to deliver as much damage at as great a distance as possible under poor visibility of the underground battlefield. Whenever possible, you forges his or her own arrows from raw ore, believing that the sweat and blood imparted to the metal through the manufacturing process gives those weapons a taste of the dwarf’s own fortitude and courage.

Dwarven Monk

What would drive a dwarf to leave the delve behind and seek out a human monastery for training? Only the individual dwarves who do so know the reasons, though the discipline and focus of the monastic orders is appealing to the lawful nature of many dwarves. Perhaps in time dwarven monks like you will found their own, uniquely dwarven orders to expand the teachings of enlightenment and combine them with the faith of Moradin. But for now, most dwarven monks learn their skills in the human lands.

• Ability Score Advice: The most important ability scores for a dwarven monk are Wisdom and Dexterity. The least important is Charisma.
• Uniqueness: The very concept of a dwarven monk is so unusual that you should develop a unique story of how you came to the monastery, what your goals are, and why you have set out on the path of enlightenment.

Dwarven Paladin

In a society that reveres duty, honor, and responsibility, the occasional dwarven paladin is truly a paragon of virtue. Touched by Moradin and set on a perilous path to smite evil and defend the realms of the dwarves, the paladin owes allegiance to no king and all kings at the same time. Such a paladin is a servant of a higher power, always traveling into danger or rousing the dwarves to fight for their own safety and salvation. Your lot as a dwarven paladin is a lonely one. Rarely, if ever, do two or more dwarven paladins meet and adventure together. While you share a great kinship with your brethren, they are few in number and the tasks before them numerous.

• Ability Score Advice: Dwarven paladins need good Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom to thrive. The Charisma penalty is a factor in considering which ability scores should be lowest. If possible, put the lowest score in Dexterity or Intelligence.
• Champion of Heironeous (Variant): Virtually all dwarves revere Moradin the Soulforger, but Heironeous will call a dwarven paladin to his service once in a great while. Perhaps there is an arrangement between Moradin and Heironeous that is unknown to mortals; it is known that Moradin does not begrudge Heironeous the occasional dwarven champion. Champions like you are most often found in the armies of the surface kingdoms fighting against incursions of orcs or other evil monsters. When the campaign is over and the foes vanquished, Heironeous will often relinquish his call, usually with some unearthly boon or reward, and dwarves like you will return to the delve, wise in the ways of the surface world.

Dwarven Ranger

An able-bodied warrior in every sense of the word, the dwarven ranger serves as scout and skirmisher in the defense of the delve. Often, be is as comfortable in the wild lands above the ground as he is in the sun less depths of the earth. Dwarven society rarely produces criminals of the same nature as the human lands, but dwarven monarchs have been known to place a price on the heads of particularly vile and vicious orc or goblinoid chieftains. You or another dwarven ranger set forth to bring back the head or ears of these dangerous opponents both to gain stature and to serve the needs of the dwarven people.

• Ability Score Advice: Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom serve the dwarven ranger well. Less crucial are Intelligence and Charisma.
• Exotic Monster Slayer (Variant): You are a master at killing dangerous underdark monsters known to menace delves. When confronted with these creatures, the call will go out through the dwarven communities, and sooner rather than later, you appear to deal with the problem. At first, you’ll concentrate on common but dangerous opponents, but later you’ll face more deadly foes. Eventually, you may become so effective that merely appearing on the scene will drive an intelligent monster from the area, fearing for its life.

Dwarven Rogue

Organized crime is essentially unknown within the community of civilized dwarves. The actions of a criminal syndicate simply would not be tolerated, and in the close confines of a delve, it is nearly impossible to keep illicit activity secret. So most dwarven rogues live in human lands, follow human ways, and some times integrate completely with the surrounding human culture. As such an outsider, you rarely pay homage to Moradin, never recognize the divine right of dwarven monarchs, and have no love for mining or smithing. Instead, you put your racial heritage to work as a very focused thief and fence. Your long life and long memory make you a bad enemy to cross. Many a thieves’ guild has been slowly taken over by a small group of dwarven rogues who simply outlive and out last all the competition.

• Ability Score Advice: Dexterity is the be-all and end-all ability score for you. Your lowest ability score is probably Wisdom.
• Lurker (Variant): Strong dwarven leaders recognize the value of a few dwarves like you who do not bang hammer on shield and stand forth ready to engage in melee at the drop of a pick. Instead, you skulk about the caves surrounding the delve, quietly watching the movements of underdark creatures and evil races. Lurkers are an inclusive group, because most dwarves consider it an inglorious position. But you have unusual knowledge of the underdark and experience fighting and surviving many perils that average dwarves will never see.

Dwarven Sorcerer

The shock of discovering an innate magical ability renders a certain portion of dwarven sorcerers insane. Those who survive the experience often leave the delve simply from a deep sense of shame, even if they are not driven out. The dwarven prejudice against arcane spell use is deeply ingrained in the community. The spell-touched are looked on with some sympathy; the community generally acknowledges that sorcery is an unsought ability. Still, most dwarven sorcerers know that they are destined to leave home and find a new place in the wider world above. The distrust of magic may have caused you to hide your abilities. A few dwarves discover their sorcery as youths and cover it up, following another class path as soon as they are able to arrange training. In any event, if you try to remain in the delve, you’ll have to cope daily with a subtle, pervasive social pressure to leave and never return, a considerable stress to place on someone from a culture of regimented order and duty.

• Ability Score Advice: Compensating for the Charisma penalty by using the highest available score for Charisma is probably the best choice despite the obvious drawbacks. The least important ability scores for a sorcerer are Strength and Dexterity.
• Raver (Variant): The shock of innate sorcerous power was too much for you. Partially insane, you exhibit facial or body twitching, strange phobias, or uncontrollable laughter. But this madness offers some relief. Since you are an obviously ill member of the community, the delve is more willing to accept your eccentricities and allow you to remain at home with the comfort of family and hearth. And in time of need, even you may be called to defend the delve, for ravers are the only acceptable arcane magic spellcasters used by the dwarven forces. Yet if a raver chooses to leave home in spite of this consideration, the family often feels a guilty sense of relief.

Dwarven Wizard

Only the most unusually gifted, stubborn, and antisocial dwarves become wizards. Going against thousands of years of tradition and innate magical resistance is simply too much to ask. The dwarven elders usually treat interest in matters arcane as a form of mental illness, and no family would volunteer a child as a wizard’s apprentice. So the dwarven wizards who do master the craft of spells are some of the most focused, determined wizards on the planet. They have persevered against incredible odds and have successfully mastered their own inner natures, demonstrating a capacity for learning, insight, and commitment second to none. For those advantages, the permanent exile from home, the loss of ties to family, and the knowledge that your own peers consider you an abject failure and disgrace are a small price to pay. The shock of a spellcasting dwarf alone is some times enough to carry the day. The orc warband leader who laughs when the unarmored dwarf with the silly robes starts weaving her hands doesn’t laugh long when hit with a searing bolt of electrical power!

• Ability Score Advice: Your Intelligence will carry the day for you, but you don’t need a high Strength score.
• Uniqueness: Your choice to be a dwarven wizard is a choice to violate some of the most deep-seated assumptions in the game. Your character will be unique and will have a unique personal story and an ambiguous future. This is another race and class combination for experienced roleplayers.

ELVES

They are ancient. They are the living essence of magic itself They are elves. Unlike the other player character races, who begin the game with perhaps one or two decades of life experience, the long-lived elves consider their children to be too young to leave home for many decades, or perhaps even a hundred years. So you see life differently than most other characters. Knowing that you will live to see the trees grow tall and the bright sparks of most nonelven friends fade and die has a profound effect on your outlook and worldview. Compensating for this longevity is the elven tendency to chase various passions and pursuits with wild abandon. The elf is at one moment enraptured by the beauty of the landscape and the next distracted by a witty and scandalous bit of verse. Elves don’t have short attention spans, and they focus on the task at hand when required. But when left to their own desires, their quick minds and good humor lead to lives of entertainment and a search for positive experiences. A beginning elven character is schooled in the arts and literature of the elven people. All characters receive basic training in the favored weapons of the elves: the swords and bows of so many elven legends. As an elf, your imagination is fired with tales of great heroes of the past and the promise of a bright future.

Elven Barbarian

The concept of an elven barbarian is a bit of a reach. Where other cultures may rise and fall with time, the length of elven history is such that rarely has any group of elves been separated long enough to lose the rudiments of civilization. And among the civilized nations, a crazed, bloodlusting elven berserker is unheard of. But what if through some strange circumstance of abandonment or personal inclination you were able to attain that state? You would be so at home in the wilderness that you would almost become one with nature itself. You will move without sound, pass without trace, and strike without warning. A whirlwind of flashing swords, stabbing spears, and thrown daggers, you can create armor and weapons out of the materials at hand. Illiterate perhaps, you may have created an active mythology based on the patterns in the stars and the spirits of the land. You probably have wild hair, body adornments of every kind, and clothing made of feather, shell, antler, and hide. Yet you wear it with dignity, for the elven barbarian is an elf nonetheless.

• Ability Score Advice: A high Dexterity and Strength best serve the elven barbarian. The least useful ability scores are Intelligence and Charisma.
• Drowslayer (Variant): There is one part of elven society where the ability to rage without pause is considered valuable: The battles against the ebon skinned evil elves known as drow. The elves raised you from birth to hunt other elves. Careful to learn the ways of the deep caverns and twisting passages, you train endlessly for the day when you will be needed to confront the evil forces that lurk beneath the earth.

Elven Bard

The songs and epic poems of the elves are some of the most beautiful ever heard. Elven bards have started and ended wars, broken and sealed alliances, and wooed and lost great romances. All that is elven is music, poetry, song, and story. Among a talented people, the elven bard is a standout indeed. In court or the market, elven bards like you can negotiate a good deal, charm the locals, make the king laugh, and bear witness to great deeds and great heroes. When the mood is tense, a subtle jest or a minor prestidigitation can ease the moment. When the mood is lighthearted, a clever song or bit of verse can enhance the joy of all. And in times of peril, you are quick to stand with friends against danger.

• Ability Score Advice: The most important ability for elven bards is Charisma; a high Intelligence is a benefit as well. Strength does not matter much, nor does Constitution.
• Harper (Variant): You are an elven bard who seeks to gain influence in the political arena. Partially, this influence comes from the knowledge, rumors, and innuendo you gather in your travels. The rest of it comes from reputation as a deadly duelist and a worthy adversary, in games of wit and chance. You are a courier of messages, a keeper of secrets, and a witness to deeds that must be remembered, but not disclosed. You’re always on the move, and you’ve always got a plan.

Elven Cleric

Those elves who serve Corellon Larethian are indeed the blessed among the blessed. Corellon watches his people carefully and chooses from their number those with whom be is most pleased. Elven religion is both martial and peaceful, forbidding violence except as a last resort against tyranny, oppression, or evil. Corellon’s clerics minister to the spiritual needs of their long-lived brethren and keep careful watch on the drow and the hated orc tribes. The elves know that their creator set them on the earth as the First People, to nurture the beauty of the world, appreciate it, and to create beauty of their own. As a member of the elven clergy, you’ll help advance the protection of life, the natural world, and the arts.

• Ability Score Advice: Wisdom is your most important ability score, followed by Charisma. Your least important ability score is Dexterity.
• Swordfellow (Variant): You are a wandering cleric who works with a group of other characters to explore the world, fight evil, and slay vicious monsters. An expert healer, you practice the use of martial magic to improve your prowess in battle. Any party of adventurers would be glad to be joined by a swordfellow before tackling any great challenge.

Elven Druid

For those elves who long for the companionship of the trees more than the friendship of their brothers, the path of the druid beckons. Because they are so much a part of the natural world, the elves make exceptional druids - once they learn to temper their chaotic feelings and find a balance within themselves. The lands tended by elven druids like you are near paradises. Everything within is in harmony, and the natural cycles are gentle and rhythmic. When all is in balance, the natural symphony of the land is as beautiful as any bard’s song. You are known by names such as “Windrider” or “Riverking” throughout the land you reserve as your own. And as an elven druid, you work actively to protect your lands, using spell, weapon, ally, or natural force to defend the area.

• Ability Score Advice: Wisdom and Charisma are most important to you. The least useful ability score is Constitution.
• Treetender (Variant): Some elven communities are built into the branches of trees deep in the forest. You are an elven druid who takes such a grove as your protected land, working with the trees themselves to accommodate the elven settlement. In return, the elves who live there protect the forest and work in harmony with the natural world. Over time you learn to experience the world as a mighty tree does, through the slow passage of days, the turn of the seasons, and the warmth of the sun. You are a patient mediator and excellent diplomat; your inner calm smoothes difficult situations and engenders trust.

Elven Fighter

While a peaceful people, the elves have a long history of conflict with monsters, evil races, and schisms in their own lands. Perhaps it is their basic nature to seek resolution to conflicts by force of arms, or perhaps those battles are thrust on them unwillingly. In either case, martial power is so respected that every elven child is taught from birth to use the sword and the bow, and their stories are filled with tales of brave warriors and powerful mages fighting desperate battles against overwhelming odds. As an elven fighter, you are a graceful, deadly expert. You prefer an active style of combat involving many thrusts and lunges, and you favor lighter armor that allows free movement. Unlike dwarves who armor themselves from head to toe and stand in for brutal melee, you practice a more refined strike-and-dodge method of warfare.

• Ability Score Advice: The most important ability scores are Strength and Dexterity. Intelligence and Wisdom matter little to you.
• Rake (Variant): Something of a pejorative term, a rake is a master duelist who prefers the supple rapier to the stiff longsword. Sometimes quick to take offense to minor insults, you back up your attitude with whip-quick reflexes and incredible displays of swordplay. Most of your duels are to first blood, demonstrating who is superior with a blade. If pressed, however, you can bring home the attack and draw far more than just first blood. You pay attention to clothes, manners, and accoutrements to project a certain sophisticated image. Even in the wilderness, you are likely to produce a packet of delicate herbs for tea or wipe the blood from your blade with a blindingly white handkerchief.

Elven Monk

There are those rare exceptions to the elven character who seek focus, discipline, and the path of enlightenment. Those few some times find themselves standing before the gates of the monasteries in the human lands, seeking admission to the secret rites practiced within. Elven monks are a rarity, though over time their numbers will surely increase due to their long lives. Combining elven grace and fluidity with the teachings of the path of enlightenment, these monks nearly transcend the mortal plane in their delicate motions, effortless actions, and intense concentration. The standard practice of the monk is to simplify, simplify, and simplify some more. Thus you probably shaved your head bald and removed gaudy clothes and symbols when you became a monk. Over time, you may find your way back to your forest homes to found a uniquely elven monastery. The students in such a place might find cohesion between the elven ways and the mysterious path of the human monks. Only time will tell.

• Ability Score Advice: Wisdom is the most important ability score for all monks. A low Intelligence score won’t impede your progress too much.
• Uniqueness: The very concept of an elven monk is so unusual that you should develop a unique story of how you came to the monastery, what your goals are, and why you have set out on the path of enlightenment.

Elven Paladin

The world is a very, very dangerous place. Most commoners have no idea how many horrors lurk just on the other side of reality - hideous outsiders known as demons and devils. Against these terrors stands a line of shining, armored elven paladins that stretch back into the mists of history. Elves consider the decision to assume the duties of the paladin a tremendous step. Such a choice rejects the chaotic inclination of the elven people, accepts the burden of a lifetime of danger, and earns the elf the enmity of some of the most powerful evil gods in the cosmos. Corellon makes no call for paladins; those elves who step forward voluntarily are accepted so long as they remain pure of body, mind and spirit. Perhaps Corellon cannot force himself to do to his children that which they should accept as their own burdens. In any case, elven paladins like you are respected, honored and loved by all good people. And when that fateful day comes when the forces arrayed against you prove too much to overcome, you will walk into the afterlife followed by the prayers and memories of thousands.

• Ability Score Advice: You have a long list of ability scores that need to be high: Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, and Charisma. If you can be said to have a least important ability score, it is probably Intelligence.
• Gruumshbane (Variant): While many elven paladins hunt demons and oppose drow, Corellon has another sworn enemy who works always for the destruction of the elves: Gruumsh, deity of the orcs. You are a dedicated orc-slayer, focusing all your attention on driving back the hordes of orcs that menace the lands of the elves. You long to strike deep into their foul lands to destroy evil temples, strike fear into their hearts as you charge into battle, and engage their vile kings in solo combat. You bear the crest of the Punctured Eye, a reminder to all orcs that when Corellon and Gruumsh clashed long ago, the elven lord proved triumphant.

Elven Ranger

Perhaps the most respected of all elven heroes are the rangers. While others pursue epic challenges and otherworldly foes, the elven rangers are the champions of ordinary people. They seek to protect the settlements of the elves and are known to work for the betterment of the community as a whole. The elven ranger is the swift sword of justice along the frontier, and the guarantor of integrity and fairness in the settled lands. The stories of their deeds are so numerous that you learned the lore of the elven ranger as a child. You’re part of a long tradition; rangers have been active in the forests and hills of the elves since the dawn of elven history. It is whispered round the campfire that Corellon himself is a ranger, and the lands under his protection include all the world under the sky.

• Ability Score Advice: The most important ability scores for elven rangers are Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom. Charisma matters least to you.
• Silver Swords (Variant): Part of a group of elven rangers who have sworn to uphold peace among all elves, you ride hard to any sign of conflict among the First People. Few elven monarchs would take the field knowing that they face the wrath of the Silver Swords; the mere appearance of one or more of their number is often sufficient to bring both factions to the negotiating table. It is the secret, long-term hope of the Silver Swords that the elven people will someday find a way to reunite with the drow and heal the rift between the people of the surface world and the people of the underdark. However, until the drow abandon their evil ways, the Silver Swords will give them no quarter.

Elven Rogue

Elven rogues are not unknown among the First People. In the larger cities and the lands of the humans, some elves find that their dexterous fingers and quick wits allow them to survive and prosper in trades that are less than honorable. Some of the world’s best rogues are probably elves, gifted by their racial heritage with extraordinary Dexterity. That quickness and their long life span provide them with an incredible edge in the shadows. However, few elves turn to this path, so these extraordinary individuals are still few and far between.

• Ability Score Advice: Dexterity matters most. Charisma and Wisdom are good places to put low ability scores.
• Tombseeker (Variant): Much elven heritage is buried and forgotten in lost tombs and vanished ruins. You are a master at disarming traps, finding secret doors, and uncovering the locations of fabulous treasures. Sometimes you work for the betterment of the elven people, restoring what was lost, and making a record of histories long forgotten. Other times, you’re simply interested in the profit that various relics will bring on the open market.

Elven Sorcerer

Among a people imbued with a magical nature, discovering that you have the ability to channel raw magical power is a delight. Sorcery among the elves is a talent to be developed and cherished, so you will be asked many questions by other elves who would love to discover their own innate magical powers. Elven sorcerers rarely develop focused lists of spells, but instead seem to accumulate fairly random repertoires based on interesting things they observe, old texts they read, and suggestions from other arcane spellcasters. Flashy and exciting spells are usually more interesting to you than carefully developing a magical specialty.

• Ability Score Advice: The most important ability for the elven sorcerer is Charisma. Strength matters little.
• Uniqueness: Elven society has many wizards, but few sorcerers. Elves are so accustomed to learning arcane spells through careful study and preparation that an improvisational caster like you is unusual. You should develop your own story that explains how you came to learn your magic differently from everyone else.

Elven Wizard

The study of magic comes so easily to most elves that virtually all become at least some what familiar with wizardry as they age. Their magical nature and inherent ability scores allow elves to take wizard as a favored class, and many do so. The combination of wizard ability scores with other classes produces a wide range of elven characters. If you dedicate future experience to the study of the arcane arts, there is no telling how powerful you will eventually become. Certainly the legends of the elven people are filled with stories of the crafting of incredible magical gems, travels to unknown planes, and the founding of great kingdoms.

• Ability Score Advice: The most important ability is Intelligence, of course. Your Strength score will rarely come into play.
• Traveler Beyond (Variant): You seek to uncover the mysteries of the wider world, and you’re eager to wander beyond your forest home. Armed with spells that keep you safe and make travel easy, you seek out arcane mysteries wherever they may be hidden. Eventually, you hope to master spells that will take you beyond this plane of existence, where who knows what wonders and terrors you’ll find? Until that day, you wrest as many secrets as possible from forgotten cities, hidden libraries, and ancient treasure troves.

GNOMES

Beneath the wooded hills lie the burrows of the gnomes. Given to elaborate pranks and tricks, with a natural bent toward mechanical aptitude and a love of gems and jewelry, gnomes choose pleasant and beautiful (if cleverly hidden) homes. The gnomes present many aspects to the world. They are at times seen as slightly obtuse, interested in matters of cogs, wheels, and levers so arcane they verge on the magical. Then, in the blink of a dancing eye, they can strike up a quick tune on the instruments found in every gnome burrow - or produce as if from thin air a bounty of sweets and stout ale! They are a people of the surface world, though they dwell just below in snug holes between the roots of great trees. They are a small people; their homes, furniture, and various tools are scaled as though for human children. And they are a people of illusion. The natural talent for minor magic flows easily from their merry souls. If you’re a gnome, you may find the road not so pleasant when adventure calls, and the lands far from home might be mean and dark of spirit. Nevertheless, you always carry a bit of home with you no matter where the long road may go.

Gnome Barbarian

In some remote corners of the world where the land has rarely if ever felt the tread of the bigger races, there are gnomes of such an unusual temper and background that they can almost be considered a separate race from their more genteel cousins. These barbaric gnomes are truly a people of the land. Their constructions are of wood and vine, and their music heeds the beat of the drum and the earthy tones of the woodwinds. These people live in close touch with all the spirits of nature, serving and protecting the unspoiled beauty that surrounds them. Yet those who have seen these gnomes whisper tales of shrunken heads, pits of bone, and strange tribal totems made from the ears of their enemies. No civilized person would give credence to any such fantastic story! In times of great need, the barbaric gnome becomes as enraged as a thunderstorm, screaming defiance and capable of incredible feats of strength and endurance. When moving through the shadows of the trees, the barbaric gnome is fleet of foot and sure of every step. Able to pass through gaps and openings far too small for the larger races, the barbaric gnome seems to shift mysteriously from point to point, pausing only to sense the clues on the wind and watch for motion in the distance.

• Ability Score Advice: Constitution and Dexterity are valuable, and you don’t want your Strength too low, despite the racial penalty Intelligence is the least important ability score.
• Member of the Well Respected Order of the Badger (Variant): Even in the civilized lands, there are times when the gnomes require defense beyond the occasional crossbow or hatchet. You are part of small group trained in the Way of the Badger, taking as your guide the ferocious defense that creature makes of its den when cornered. Members of your order, though possessing all the standard barbarian ability scores, are generally indistinguishable from other members of gnome society, save for the badger paw tattoo on the palm of each hand. A battlescarred veteran leads the order in each community, speaking in gruff tones and tolerating no disobedience. Someday, that wily veteran may be you.

Gnome Bard

Among a people so filled with curiosity and natural talent, the bards are a much beloved and respected part of the community. Combining song, verse, minor illusions, and well-known call and repeat cadences, the gnome bard can perform a very complex performance with little in the way of staging or props. Gnome bards tend to focus their magical aptitude on illusions of sound and image, slowly developing a repertoire of signature images that distinguish the true talents from the merely artistically inclined. Though they are very long-lived, gnome bards don’t dwell overlong on matters of history, preferring instead to immortalize great tricks and jests - the really inspired mad genius of standout gnome humor. Needless to say, this makes the gnome bard a fairly interesting (if slightly hard to take) companion for the road.

• Ability Score Advice: Your highest ability scores should be Charisma, Intelligence, and Dexterity. Strength and Constitution are good places to put a low score.
• Member of the Piper Corps in Good Standing (Variant): The largest gnome communities practice the basics of defense, from time to time, usually for the pomp and ceremony of it all. During these times, your Piper Corps is called to set the beat for the marches and to stir the doughty spirits of the gnomes, especially if actual combat is in the offing. Playing an infernal contraption of tubes, various air bladders, valves, and an unimaginably complex multitiered keyboard, you create a cacophony of sound which, amazingly enough, is actually quite stirring once the whole corps really gets their wind up. With these instruments, you use the full range of your soundbased bard abilities to inspire the troops or counter sound-based attacks.

Gnome Cleric

Garl Glittergold is a benevolent protector of all things gnome. Of all the creator deities, he may have come closest to achieving his true objectives with his people. They are generally at peace and live lives of bounty and practical happiness. From time to time, they even amaze him with the ingenuity they show in devising one clever device after another. His trickster priests are some of the worst of the gnome mischief-makers. Gnome clerics like you have some itching dust, a buzzing handshaker, or some other minor trick, bauble, or distraction with you at all times. You’re also intimately connected with the wealth of the community You appraise gems, estimate the value of jewelry, convert currencies, and ensure that scales are accurate. The religious ceremonies you organize range from simple to incredibly complex. Most gnome churches are filled with a seemingly endless set of contraptions designed to pay homage to their creator. Even your holy symbol will have more clippers, tweezers, bolt-holders, pin-lockers, files, and plumb bobs than the average human carpenter’s building kit!

• Ability Score Advice: Wisdom and Charismahelp you do Carl Clittergold’s work. Dexterity and Intelligence don’t affect your cleric functions much.
• The Regretful Office of the Penitent (Variant): Even though your religion teaches that tricks, traps, and minor jokes are supposed to remind everyone to be humble, you are guilty of letting things get out of hand. Accordingly, you have lost your love of the jest and left the community Maybe you’ll wander until you recover your composure, or maybe you’ll be gone for good. In any case, you walk the world looking for the true nature of your faith in lands where things are not so easy and life is not always lived long and happily. Perhaps in time you’ll find your smile again.

Gnome Druid

In inner forest groves far from the bustle of the outside world, there are quiet homes occupied by wizened masters of woodlore and natural insight. Gnomes take to druid-hood late in life, often after tiring of farming the land or retiring from some other profession. Younger gnome druids are usually orphans or people who just can’t seem to fit in with the rest of the gnome population. With their advanced age and long memories, gnome druids can sense the changing of the seasons, remember the surrounding trees as seedlings, and tap the great power of the natural world for magic, healing, and protection. Older gnome druids leave their protected ground only when the situation is dire, and they usually do not travel far. But young gnomes who become druid “sprouts” wander far before finally choosing a place to settle. During those years of wandering, you’ll see much of the world and undertake your fair share of adventure.

• Ability Score Advice: The gnome druid’s most important ability scores are Wisdom and Charisma. Least important are Strength and Intelligence.
• Urban Druid (Variant): Unbelievably (at least to other druids), there are occasional gnomes who adopt bustling cities as their protected ground. Perhaps it was your natural bent towards complex machinery, or some great jest you are playing on the rest of the world, but you’re one of these druids tending to the urban environment. You care for flower boxes on many sills, the city’s parks and gardens, and an infinite number of mice, rats, pigeons, dogs, and cats.

Gnome Fighter

Some gnome communities live close enough to danger that they must maintain a standing militia. Other times, a young gnome seeking adventure will find work as a diminutive, but respectable warrior. Though gnomes are rarely violent, and few are well versed in the military arts, individual gnome fighters can be accomplished and capable members of any troop. Keeping with their love for contraptions and crazy devices, gnomes are often drawn to mechanical weapons: crossbows, swords with spring-loaded blades, etc. If given a choice, you will gravitate to the most complex and challenging weapon available.

• Ability Score Advice: Put your best scores in Strength and Constitution. Intelligence and Wisdom are good places to put low ability scores.
• Esteemed Member of the Siegemaster’s Society (Variant): From time to time, an army will encamp around a fortified position and lay siege. There are no better masters of the various siege engines and strategies for systematically reducing static defenses than gnome siegemasters like you. Your natural interest in mechanical devices gives you a unique knowledge of the principles of ballistics, weight and counterweight, and leverage. You know how to build catapults, rams, trebuchets, siege towers, and other large engines of war. You can manage small construction crews, draft plans, and explain strategy and tactics to generals and troops alike.

Gnome Monk

One of the most unusual members of any monastic order is the occasional gnome. Their natural inclination and lives far from human lands provide little opportunity for gnomes to become interested in the study of enlightenment. Those few who find themselves in monk’s robes face interesting challenges. Their small stature means that they are forced to alter the lessons of their larger brethren. A few of you have returned to your homelands and are spreading your teachings. Perhaps in a few generations gnome monks like you will band together and use your knowledge, accumulated over so many adventures, to found your own unique monastic orders.

• Ability Score Advice: Dexterity and Wisdom are your key ability scores. Intelligence is least important to you.
• Acolyte of the Unseen (Variant): You are part of a small group of gnome monks who have developed a regimen that combines the gnome talents for illusion with the monk’s fighting prowess. This system stresses the value of distraction, using the sounds, lights, and prestidigitation effects of gnome illusion to distract opponents and create opportunities. Your foes often don’t see you until it’s too late. And even when they do, they’re not sure just what they saw.

Gnome Paladin

The paladins from most other races are obvious at first sight. They are armed and armored in the finest equipment available. They command the respect and attention of all who travel with them. They bear the scars and other signs of a long, wearying battle against evil. But the average visitor to the gnome lands will probably never know that the friendly local constable or sheriff they met when entering the county was a paladin. Gnome paladins serve to keep the peace, head off trouble before it begins, ensure that disputes don’t get too far out of hand, and generally remind the community that gnome lands are not a place for troublemakers. Garl Glittergold calls his paladins quietly. There are no lavish investment ceremonies and no high-ranking court appointments. But if Glittergold finds you worthy, you’ll find yourself in situations where you can prove your dedication to his principles and to the long-term interests of his people. If you act accordingly, Glittergold infuses you with divine power and outlines your duties and responsibilities in a spiritual message. Many communities are so accustomed to these individuals establishing their authority through deeds rather than declarations that when a new paladin is made, the locals naturally start calling their new protector “Sheriff.”

• Ability Score Advice: Wisdom and Charisma matter most to you, and Intelligence is something you find little use for.
• Oathsworn Servant of the High One in Lands Most Distant (Variant): As a part of the unending battles between good and evil, you found it necessary to leave home and take a more direct hand in the world’s affairs. When word spread that the sheriff was leaving on a crusade, the community quietly assembled in a show of respect as you saddled up. You left home with bursting saddlebags and the promise of whatever further assistance your community could provide. But you know many of the villagers assume that you will not return, so your departure was as sad as it was festive.

Gnome Ranger

The lands between gnome communities are generally left wild and unmonitored. These swaths of natural forest and wilderness are often home to various predators such as bears, wolves, and more dangerous monsters. Travel between the various gnome groups is thus somewhat dangerous. As an aid to travelers and a check on any threat from these wild tracts, the gnomes have a rich tradition of people like you becoming rangers. You are responsible for knowing the lay of the land, monitoring the creatures that live within it, and ensuring the safety of those traveling through it. The sight of a ranger striding confidently up the trail with a merry “How do you do” comforts children playing in the woods and adults trying their luck fly-fishing. And when a gnome criminal is not swiftly apprehended and brought to justice, the gnomes will send a ranger to track the miscreant across hill and dale to ensure that the lawbreaker is caught and punished appropriately.

• Ability Score Advice: Most important on the trail are Wisdom and Dexterity. You spend enough time alone that Charisma gets little use.
• Skystrider (Variant): Though you grew up in a tree-root burrow, the massive trees over your head have always fascinated you, as have the glimpses of blue sky through the forest canopy. You guard your community from threats from above, climbing and leaping from branch to branch as you patrol your various lookouts. Eventually, you hope to befriend a giant owl or other forest flyer, tame it, and guard your home from the sky itself.

Gnome Rogue

No civilized gnome would ever want to be associated with a profession as unsavory as “thief,” and even the slightly more acceptable “rogue” is pushing a boundary that makes them uncomfortable. Because “the shady side of town” in a gnome community usually refers to those homes under the largest trees, gnome communities rarely worry about organized crime, and thieves’ guilds are unknown in their lands. But gnomes make excellent “locksmiths” or “security device installers,” and anyone involved in such a civic-minded trade will certainly have to occasionally disarm, disable, remove, or otherwise circumvent such devices!

• Ability Score Advice: Dexterity and Intelligence are the ability scores you should focus on. The least important ability scores for a gnome rogue are Wisdom and Constitution.
• A Professional in the Science of Protective Locks and Theft Deterrents (Variant): Imagine yourself wearing a vest covered with picks, files, mirrors, clamps, and hundreds of other devices designed to facilitate the installation, removal, and safe disposal of every imaginable type of lock and trap. You’re an incredibly valuable member of any adventuring party seeking to probe ruins, wizards’ keeps, or other areas known to be protected by methods more mechanical than monstrous. One day a motley band of humans, elves, halflings, and others showed up unexpectedly at the door of your locksmith shop with an outrageous proposition involving a long, uncomfortable journey filled with mortal danger and high risk. You’re still not sure why you took the job, but the large sack of gold you brought back might have something to do with it.

Gnome Sorcerer

In gnome society, sorcerers are simply those gnomes who have developed their innate magical ability scores beyond the norm without formal training. All gnomes have some sorcerous abilities: their innate racial capacity to cast minor illusions. Those with a more highly developed skill are not considered especially unusual or abnormal. The day when you manifested a spell beyond the basic racial repertoire, it surprised you a little, but delighted you a lot. Famous for adding spice and fun to parties and community gatherings, most of your kind become traveling entertainers, developing in some cases very complex “acts” of illusion, enchantment, charming, etc. These gnomes take the natural predisposition toward flashy clothing and jewelry to an extreme. The average gnome sorcerer would never be caught without a flowing supple cape, sparkling rings, wide silver buckles, and, of course, a delightful number of odd fetishes, baubles, and glowing bits - anything to add to the general effect.

• Ability Score Advice: Like all sorcerers, you’ll want to put your best score into Charisma. Strength is the safest place for a low ability score.
• The Powerful and Mysterious Congregation of the Moon, Stars, and Sky (Variant): The night after you first showed sorcerous ability, a mysterious stranger dressed all in black, paid you a private visit. Her questions were probing and strange, but you must have answered correctly, for she offered to let you join the “Mysterious Congregation.” You were excited enough to say yes before you even knew what the Mysterious Congregation did, and the stranger departed. Life was normal until a group of blackrobed gnomes showed up on your doorstep a week later and inducted you during a strange ceremony under the full moon. Since then you’ve been protecting the civilization of the gnomes from demons and their evil minions who seek to corrupt all that is right or proper. The Mysterious Congregation is ever vigilant for the signs of possession or use of the Dark Arts, and you’re quietly honored to be a member.

Gnome Wizard

The profession of wizard is as well respected among gnome society as anywhere in the civilized lands. With their arsenal of arcane spell, devices, potions, and all manner of delightfully complex contraptions, Gnome wizards tinker with the very fabric of reality. If you’re a gnome wizard, you’re probably a member of a college or guild located safely outside the main community in case an experiment goes awry. Gnome families often offer their children to wizards as apprentices. Unlike most, you were quickwitted enough to avoid being sent right back home.

• Ability Score Advice: Intelligence determines how many spells you can cast, and how realistic your illusions are. Tasks requiring Strength are best left to others.
• Esteemed Practitioner of the Animate Arts (Variant): A popular wizard specialty is the creation of animated constructs. The combination of magical power and intricate clockworks results in a whole range of devices from simple toys to amuse the children at birthdays to very complex devices designed to perform any number of repetitive or dangerous tasks. You’re an expert in the field of animating and controlling such constructs. Animators like you are sometimes asked to join an adventuring group that expects to encounter golems, automatons, or other similar challenges. Your specialized knowledge may be the difference between success and catastrophic failure.

HALF-ELVES

Half-elves primarily live in either the community of their human or elven parent. Though they struggle and sometimes feel like outsiders, such characters usually follow the cultural norms of the community in which they are raised. The half-elves and humans share much in common. Humans get more feats and skills than half-elves, but half-elves have racial advantages that humans do not. On a case-by-case basis, half-elven characters can choose to seek a heroic path similar to their human or their elven parent. For that reason, no specific class suggestions are provided for halfelves. If you’re looking for guidance, simply browse the section for the race that raised you.

HALF-ORCS

On the frontier, the lines between the civilized races and the savage races are blurred. From time to time a child is born of mixed heritage, carrying some of the traits of the savage orcs and some of the traits of the civilized humans. These children live a difficult and challenging life. From birth they are subjected to racism, hatred, and prejudice. Those who survive infancy grow swiftly to maturity. The signs of their parents’ legacies are visible: the orc facial features and great strength, the dexterity and intelligence of the human. In the human lands, half-orcs find that they can dominate by strength and toughness. In the wilds of the orc lands, halforcs are usually smarter than those who oppose them. In either case, they are driven to survive against all odds, and those who do make formidable heroes.

Half-Orc Barbarian

The barbaric halforc is the classic example of type. Prone to rages, focused on physical prowess, illiterate, and more at home in the wilderness than in the streets of any city, the half-orc barbarian defines this role unlike any other race. The half-orc barbarian’s physical attributes don’t necessarily mean the character is an unthinking brute, however. If you’re a half-orc barbarian, you’ve had to survive in the wilderness matching your wits against any number of cunning predators. You might only lack sophistication, not smarts. But you probably can’t read or write, and you’re ignorant of the ways of city folk. So you might rely on others to take care of the confusing rules of civilization for you, offering your might and wilderness skills in exchange.

• Ability Score Advice: Your Strength and Constitution made you who you are today. Charisma is less important to you, and Intelligence least important of all.
• Barbaric Ambassador (Variant): Unbelievably, half-orc barbarians like you are suited to one delicate role: liaison with the savage people of the wilderness. You have the strength and prowess to stand up to any petty chieftain, and you can succeed at any test of arms or courage to establish authority. On a quest with other adventurers, you can extract information, establish the boundaries of various tribes, request assistance, and learn of the movements and abilities of significant monsters in the area.

Half-Orc Bard

Forget everything you have ever imagined about how a bard should appear or behave. For the halforc, flowery lyrics, delicate instruments, and quick-witted double entendres are effete and pointless. When the half-orc bard chooses to perform, onlookers will see the raw forces of nature tamed, beat into servitude, and bent to the bard’s will. Imagine a towering, hirsute, gray-skinned bard rising to full stature in the ale-hall. Grabbing two immense metal tankards, the bard begins to hammer out a rhythmic beat on the table, drowning all other conversation in the room. Using the tankards like blunt drumsticks, the bard proceeds to assemble a cacophony of sounds by smashing them against floor, walls, fixtures, plates, and the occasional dwarven helmet. Moving faster and faster, the bard picks up the tempo until it becomes a throbbing incessant beat that all present feel in the very marrow of their bones. It is primal. It speaks to their most basic instincts. Without conscious thought, all assembled begin to follow the beat themselves until the room is filled with awe of the performance. Without words, the song speaks of tests of courage, of mighty deeds, and of triumph over all challenges. Then, as suddenly as it began, the song ends and the bard, drenched in sweat, collapses into his seat and calls for a fresh round of ale.

• Ability Score Advice: You’ll need to put your highest scores in Intelligence and Charisma, despite the penalties. The least important ability scores for the half-orc bard are Strength and Constitution, although you’ll frequently be fortunate to have your Strength bonus.
• Zhack-Tar (Variant): As a Zhack-Tar, you are a caller for the dead, the person responsible for alerting the spirits in the afterlife that a new soul will soon be joining them. The chants you use are ancient and are passed down to each new student of the burial rituals of the orc tribes. When a member of the tribe has died, you stand by the side of the bier or funeral pyre. With drum and chant, you call out to the ancestors of the dead, telling them of the deeds of the one soon to join them, and warning them not to test the patience of one so powerful. Your objective is to establish the credentials for the dead so that their deeds in life will have some value in the afterlife. Because you were smarter than the tribe’s fullblooded orcs, you were recruited into the study of the Tar at a young age, and this calling protected you when you were young and weak.

Half-Orc Cleric

There are two kinds of half-orc clerics: those who venerate Gruumsh, and those who do not. Gruumsh is an evil deity and his wishes involve the destruction of the elves, among other goals. Clerics of Gruumsh are rarely neutral, though he does permit this from time to time. Therefore, a “heroic” cleric of Gruumsh is a great rarity. The half-orcs raised in civilized lands often venerate the deities of their human families or communities. Though they face great prejudice from the world around them, the gods can see into the hearts of the penitent and know whether those intentions are for good or ill. And the choice of deity does help in human society; a half-orc cleric of a good or lawful deity will be looked on more favorably than other half-orcs. In the wilderness, other orcs see a nonGruumsh cleric as worse than a heretic. In fact, they view such individuals as a direct challenge to the primacy of Gruumsh himself. If a wild orc tribe becomes aware of such a person in the vicinity, the cleric will be hunted mercilessly until killed or beyond the limits of the tribe’s trackers.

• Ability Score Advice: Wisdom and Strength help you worship your deity and stay alive in such a dangerous world. It’s easy to survive with a less than stellar Intelligence.
• Cleric Seeking Corellon Larethian (Variant): Corellon is the god of the elves and Gruumsh’s most hated enemy. In the time before history, Corellon fought a great battle with Gruumsh and blinded him in one eye. In that battle, Corellon took more than just Gruumsh’s vision; he took a tenuous hold on the orc people as well. That link cannot reach an orc of full blood, but a child of mixed ancestry may feel the ancient connection. Everyone knows that half-orcs cannot become clerics of Corellon Larethian. But for some reason you don’t understand, you’re compelled to try. You’ve chosen two domains typical of Corellon’s clerics, and you venerate him whenever you can. He doesn’t answer your prayers directly, but you hope that some day your great deeds will draw his attention. Elves ignore your worship. Orcs consider you an abomination and go to great lengths to exterminate you. But whatever others think, you’ve dedicated your life to accomplishing this goal, no matter what the challenge involved.

Half-Orc Druid

The half-orc’s affinity for the wild lands is a useful heritage to those who follow the path of the druid. Half-orcs who become druids often seek out the remote, harsh lands where few others can thrive and survive. They can be found in the lands of the permafrost in the far north, and on the glaciers high in the mountains. They tend to the needs of the environment in the rocky crags of the wastelands where water is more precious than gold. As a half-orc druid, your connection with nature is of a savage sort. You have a great appreciation for the way of the wild and are unsympathetic to calls for mercy or compassion. You favor companions who are also able to survive in the rugged and difficult climates and lands. In the lands of the half-orc druid, only the strong survive, and that is only right and proper.

• Ability Score Advice: Wisdom and Constitution help you survive in the most forbidding climes. Strength and Intelligence are the best places to put low ability scores.
• Shaman (Variant): Each major orc tribe has a shaman like you, a wild spirit who can be called when needed for divinations, healings, and other feats of divine power. You wander over a sizable territory, guiding and protecting several tribes of orcs. They protect you in turn, concealing your presence and ensuring that no outsiders trouble you.

Half-Orc Fighter

As a half-orc fighter, you have accepted the idea that training and practice can harness your innate Strength and fury Instead of a wild berserker, half-orc fighters like you are disciplined killing machines. In large battles, your half-orc comrades are often used as shock troops, sent into the heart of raging melee to swing the tide of battle by sheer power and presence. A tightly knit group of you working together can cause an immense amount of carnage in a very short and very bloody time. You usually disdain the more delicate fighting styles, concentrating on delivering massive blows with extreme power in hand-to-hand combat.

• Ability Score Advice: The most important ability scores for half-orc fighters are Strength and Constitution. Intelligence and Wisdom don’t help you survive in the thick of melee.
• Commander (Variant): As you grew to adulthood in the wild, you rose to dominate the local orc tribe. This led inevitably to battle, and you earned a swift education in the skills of command. But you survived, and you hope to become an excellent battlefield leader. When you leave home in search of adventure, you’ll easily find a place with mercenary companies or caravan guards.

Half-Orc Monk

When the first halforc appeared before the gates of a monastery, those within were certainly unsure what to make of the supplicant. Since that time, several half-orcs have demonstrated that even the most savage heart can be disciplined and that the Way can be followed by anyone with iron determination and focus. The half-orc monk is a fearsome opponent. Their massive physical strength coupled with the willpower required to rise above so much prejudice and hatred make a powerful combination. The word is spreading now, especially as the tales spread of half-orc monks smashing immense stone blocks with effortless grace or throwing opponents across the combat circle and in some cases through the adjoining walls. And as those legends spread, the number of half-orcs like you seeking entrance at the monastery doors begins to grow.

• Ability Score Advice: As a monk, you’ll be judged by your Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom. The least important ability score is Intelligence.
• Fists of Gruumsh (Variant): The savage lands have produced their own orders that seek to replicate the flying fists and spinning kicks of the human monks. There is something appealing to the savage heart of half-orcs like you about warriors who fight only with their own bodies, disdaining the use of weapons, armor, and shields. This primal fighting style, while less refined than that of some of the human orders, is still quite effective. Like most half-orc monks raised in this tradition, you’ve reached a point where no further progress can be made without wider experience or a more structured course of instruction. Accordingly, the road to adventure beckons, as does an attempt to gain entrance to a more civilized monastery.

Half-Orc Paladin

The potential is implicit in their human heritage. The half-orc need not be a brutal savage. The potential for ultimate dedication and commitment exists. And across time, a very few have found within themselves the requisite combination of loyalty, devotion, honor, courage, and an abiding love for all that is good and right. Half-orc paladins are truly a sight to behold. They are towering figures with the breadth of two average sized men, brutish figures transformed by the holy light that infuses their souls. Armed with weapons of such size and weight that none save their owner can lift, let alone wield them, they bear the symbols of good and law proudly on shield, pennant, and armor. Those who have never seen one scoff. They claim the legends mere tales and silly fiction. On reputation alone they might slander such heroes, disparage their true nature, and claim them to be twisted parodies. But when confronted, in the flesh, with a half-orc paladin like you, these doubters fall back and become silent. On the frontier, where the war between good and evil, law and chaos is an everyday battle, the names of these heroes are known to all. When one appears, usually on the move from one catastrophe to the next, the people gather to pay homage and to see this obvious symbol from the gods that greatness, heroism, and potential exists inside each and every person.

• Ability Score Advice: Strength, Constitution, and Charisma (despite the penalty) should get your high scores, and try not to skimp on Wisdom either. If you have to cut corners somewhere, make it Intelligence.
• Uniqueness: Becoming a half-orc paladin means breaking the bonds of your society your heritage, and perhaps even the blood in your veins. Every half-orc who earns the title paladin has a unique story to tell.

Half-Orc Ranger

The frontier tests those who travel with environmental hazards and the clash of arms. The half-orc ranger relies on strength and skill to overcome these challenges. In the savage lands, the half-orc ranger may have contact with the various tribes of orcs and other monsters; over time, a grudging understanding may evolve between the ranger and the various tribes. In the civilized lands just inside the frontier, the ranger is viewed as a strong protector of homesteads and developing outposts. But whichever side of the border you frequent, you’re more at home hunting game and tracking foes than living among those you choose to protect.

• Ability Score Advice: Put your best scores in Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom. Intelligence and Charisma can suffer, if need be.
• Deerstalker (Variant): Either as a part of a savage tribe of orcs, or working with a small group of frontier settlers, you provide a necessary resource to the community: food. You are master of the ways of local wildlife, able to set traps and snares, track game, and bring the meat back to the community in quantities large enough to provide sustenance. Yet you are away from the hearth-fire for weeks on end, so you’re seen as a mysterious figure even by those you’re closest to.

Half-Orc Rogue

Some rogues are masters of the shadows or specialists in lock picking. You’re just not that subtle. Why pick a delicate lock when the lid can be ripped off a chest? Who needs to bypass a door latch when the whole door can simply be bashed off its hinges? Some rogues steal through subterfuge and nimble hands. You pick people up, turn them upside-down, and shake them until all their valuables clatter to the floor. Other rogues may scoff at your methods, but there is one area where they agree you outshine your peers of other races: the sneak attack. Being stabbed by a baffling is a painful surprise. Being stabbed by a half-orc may be the last sensation one ever feels.

• Ability Score Advice: Despite your straightforward techniques, Dexterity should still be your best ability score. Constitution and Wisdom are the least important.
• Enforcer (Variant): You are the fellow who shows up when someone welshes on a debt, gets rowdy at the bar, or splashes mud on the local guildmaster without apology. You’re big. You’re not subtle. And your methods are simple. Of course, in this shady line of work, even you sometimes need to slink off in the shadows.

Half-Orc Sorcerer

Perhaps it is a manifestation of the wild spirit of the half-orc or perhaps there are other, darker reasons. In any case, a small number of half-orc children manifest arcane power. Rarely is this ability nurtured, and few half-orcs ever master these powers to any significant degree. The occasional individual who develops sorcerous abilities tends to lead a lonely life far from home with little contact with kith or kin. Half-orcs are superstitious by nature, and if you’re a sorcerer, you’re the most superstitious of the lot. You may be crisscrossed by scars, tattoos, body piercings, and brands, wearing a mishmash of skins and furs, and carrying bundles of sticks, bags of bones, and other implements of your trade.

• Ability Score Advice: Charisma is what matters, and you’ve got to overcome that penalty with your highest score. Conversely, you get a bonus to Strength, your least important attribute!
• Uniqueness: Why are you well liked when every one of your heritage is despised? Why have you ignored all the obvious choices for a profession, choosing one where you have little chance of surviving, let alone excelling? The answers to these questions make you a unique character, probably the only half-orc sorcerer your friends have ever heard of.

Half-Orc Wizard

If the occasional half-orc sorcerer is rare, the halforc wizard is a rarity among rarities. Most sages will tell you they simply don’t exist, though the most learned may point to evidence that one existed long ago in a far-off land. In order to follow this difficult path, you must find someone to instruct you in the mysteries of arcane magic. Few will accept as a student one who will have such obvious challenges putting that teaching to full use. Nevertheless, you have managed to overcome these challenges and gain some mastery over the arcane arts. One day you may be a truly imposing figure in the conclave of a wizardly order. But until then, others assume that you’ll fall short, despite your occasional flashes of brilliance.

• Ability Score Advice: Despite your racial penalty, put your highest score in Intelligence. Strength can safely take your lowest score.
• Summoner (Variant): Dealing with the dark forces of the Outer Planes demands more than just careful research and preparation. From time to time, such experiments also require you to take more physical action to impose your will on the summoned creatures. Accordingly, you are on a dark, dangerous path. Each contact with extraplanar creatures risks an insidious corruption of the soul - if their teeth and claws don’t get you first.

HALFLINGS

The call to settle and reside in place is strong in the hearts of most of the civilized races. The lands of the humans, elves, dwarves, and gnomes are static. A change in borders requires a disruption on an epic scale. In and between these peoples there is a place for another lifestyle, a life of the road, of change, of wandering. The journey of the halflings began in the distant past, and it shows absolutely no signs of ever ending. In a world filled with adventure, halflings may be the most natural adventurers. They are adept at avoiding trouble, but they often seek it out anyway. Halflings are eager to hit the trail in quest of a great story or personal reward. They are fast, quick-witted, and resilient - ideal virtues for the adventurer’s life.

Halfling Barbarian

Some halflings leave home early - and often without any interest in schooling or discipline. Raising a halfling child who is strong of spirit and feels the call of the road is a challenge beyond even the patience of a loving parent. Perhaps you’re one of these children who have learned to survive on their wits, speed, and disregard for property values. Maybe you formed a gang with intricate rituals to establish territory, an impenetrable slang of your own, and a social order based on strength and bravery to the point of foolishness.

• Ability Score Advice: Strength and Dexterity are key to a barbarian lifestyle. Intelligence is a good place to park a low ability score.
• Lone Wolf (Variant): Determined to find your own way in the world, you are self-taught, self-reliant, and very rough around the edges. Your surroundings were your classroom; if you grew up in the wilder ness, you are wild and may clothe yourself in the skins of animals, living like a wolf or bear. In the cities, you exist outside the normal framework of life, making nests on high roofs out of sight. Eventually, you will feel the call of the road and will leave your childhood haunts behind.

Halfling Bard

The stories of the halflings are outrageous. Who would believe these tales of foul villainy, lastminute escapes, treasure in huge glittering heaps, and diminutive heroes delivering withering insults and scorn at fearsome monsters like dragons and evil outsiders? Your favorite tales include romance and adventure under the stars, with an endless road leading from one unbelievable, world-shaking adventure to the next. When the Big People laugh and clap, and call for more “fairy tales,” you just look at your fellow halflings in amusement. Who’s to say where the fantasy lies: in the musty books written by those who have never seen the wonders of the world, or in the songs and legends of the people who have walked from horizon to horizon just to see the other side? A halfling likes nothing better than to be observed by a good bard, for reputation is very important to halflings. A great tale filled with much derring-do is a great reputation-builder. And who wants to face life-and-death situations without a background of stirring beats and pulsequickening lyrics?

• Ability Score Advice: Most important to you are Intelligence, Dexterity, and Charisma. Strength and Wisdom won’t figure prominently in your tales.
• Roadsinger (Variant): Keeping the pace of the clan on the road is a delicate art. But you know how to pick up the pace of your music to reach a suitable camp before nightfall, or slow the pace when hunger and thirst debilitate the old and the young. You are tasked with moving the group forward, regulating the speed of the caravan, and keeping spirits high. Over long hours of travel many songs are sung, so you have a nearly limitless ability to compose lyrics on the fly, singing of the surrounding country, retelling old legends, and making fun of your fellow travelers.

Halfling Cleric

The deity of the halflings, Yondalla, is a benevolent creator and protector. Her priests don’t get involved with matters of law or justice that don’t involve halflings, being far more interested in the spiritual and emotional health of their fellows. Accordingly, a halfling cleric will always do whatever can be done to keep other halflings safe. As a cleric, you emulate Yondalla as best you can, watching over the halfling people to ensure they’re healthy, happy, and free to wander. But your flock is a moving target, so you spend a lot of time on the road yourself.

• Ability Score Advice: Your Wisdom and Charisma caught Yondalla’s attention in the first place, so put your good scores there. Dexterity and Intelligence are least important.
• Knives of the Mother (Variant): The halflings have known great oppression in the past. They have been enslaved and forced to stop their wanderings and serve one overlord or another. Knives of the Mother like you take the view that when it comes to protecting the halfling population, the best defense is a good offense. Not quite an assassin, you are not above taking a quick strike at an unprotected back or dropping a vial of poison into the occasional tankard of ale. You listen carefully to the tales of the road, always watchful for the rise of another potential tyrant. When a clan of halflings doesn’t reach a meeting point, or when a tyrant closes his borders, you will set out on the trail to see whether you are needed.

Halfling Druid

Halfling druids are often the first members of the "civilized races” to settle in lands beyond the frontier. The perpetual halfling migration often takes the clans close to the edge of the unexplored wilderness, where the call of the wild can become too much to resist. The halfling druids maintain a loose communications network, meeting egularly with one or two of their fellows just to ensure that all are healthy and that no major danger threatens. So far from the assistance of others, halfling druids know that they must work to aid and support one another.

• Ability Score Advice: Wisdom keeps you in touch with your wilderness home. Your instincts can make up for a low Intelligence.
• World Walker (Variant): Unlike most druids, you take the entire world as your protected ground and seek to see as much of it as you can. You often join halfling clans on migration, tending to the livestock, finding edible plants and roots, and otherwise earning your keep based on your wilderness lore. You have little time for settlements, and won’t bother to stop in any civilized area. Instead, you bid the clan good-bye at trail’s end and continue your journey. Very occasionally, a young halfling will feel the call and strike out after you; in this way, the World Walkers’ numbers are replenished and a new generation raised in the druidic traditions.

Halfling Fighter

Halflings who become fighters have to compensate for their small size. Halflings have a natural bonus when using thrown weapons, so they often become accomplished at the use of spear and dagger, providing intermediate-distance ranged attacks to back up front line melee fighters. But even in melee, halfling fighters can be fierce. They’re quick enough to dart around, and small enough to present a difficult target. And from the halfling perspective, most other races are clumsy, huge opponents more than twice their height - easy targets indeed.

• Ability Score Advice: Halfling fighters favor Dexterity and Constitution. They eschew Wisdom.
• Marchguard (Variant): You are trained to ride quickly ahead of a clan on the move to scout for danger and return. You are sneaky and strive to remain unseen, if possible. If you spot some menace that threatens the main body, you direct the clan to a new course, then form up and prepare to skirmish with the threat while the rest of the clan escapes. Therefore, you are adept at working with your team mates using a complex series of hand gestures and banner movements to coordinate your attacks and defenses over the din of battle.

Halfling Monk

Of all the races that move through the human lands, the halflings are most likely to pursue the teachings of the monasteries. Though focusing their attention and accepting the rigorous The halfling monk discipline of the monk can be hard, those who persevere find it rewarding. Many orders have to cajole their initiates into leaving the monastery to learn the ways of the outside world, but halfling monks take to their journeys with relish. In fact, the opposite problem emerges: halfling monks enjoy the life of the wandering monk so much they may never return.

• Ability Score Advice: Dexterity and Wisdom are your prime ability scores. A low score should go to Intelligence.
• Street Tough (Variant): Unbelievably, there are some thriving monk orders inside some of the largest human cities. Halflings pass through these areas frequently, and they sometimes conflict with more-settled locals. When this friction explodes into violence without warning, your secret order of halfling monks intercedes on behalf of other halflings, leaping and kicking until the travelers are safe. You learned the way of the monk from a more experienced halfling willing to teach you the basics of self-defense. The streets are your monastery, and the big people see your contests of strength, balance, and hand-to-hand fighting as mere entertainment. But when halflings are in trouble, your skills are serious indeed.

Halfling Paladin

There are many roads one may follow in life. One is a narrow, poorly marked, and rarely used trail walked by those hardy few who accept their role as halfling paladins. Halfling migrations often take the clans near the borders of the civilized lands, and therefore they are often the target of raids and attacks by monstrous creatures and those intent on doing evil. When the level of danger escalates beyond what the clan can handle, their last, best hope is often a halfling paladin like you who patrols these roads, watching over your fellows. Yondalla’s chosen paladins rarely join the crusades or knightly orders of other races. You typically travel in small groups, using a lonely watchtower as your base and riding in long patrols over the area you guard. You tend to be somber and solitary, but your tales are astonishing (and because you are a paladin, the bards know that every word is true). Occasionally a bard will take up residence with you to hear and record these stories. From these bards and the deeds they witness, the halflings know that they are being protected and watched.

• Ability Score Advice: Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma are all important to you. Intelligence is probably the only ability you’d accept a low score in.
• Clan Protectors (Variant): When the halfling population in a civilized area grows to include several clans and many individuals, Yondalla may call an exceptional member of their number to paladinhood. You and your fellow Protectors live in cities and are considered upstanding members of the population (in contrast to many other halflings!), and the civil authorities fully cooperate with your quests. In turn, you work to keep the halfling rogue population at a manageable level, investigate reports of crimes in the community, and generally serve Yondalla’s needs wherever she requires them.

Halfling Ranger

As you can imagine, the halfling ranger is a much-admired figure in halfling society. Breaking new trails, finding new lands to explore, and living a life of constant travel and adventure seems like a happy halfling ideal. When you became a ranger, you learned the truth: The life of the ranger is a difficult one for a halfling. Unlike most other halflings, you are often a solitary figure disconnected from the rest of halfling society, denied the comfort of clan and family. For those reasons, very few halflings remain rangers for long.

• Ability Score Advice: The most important ability scores for a halfling ranger are Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom. Intelligence and Charisma are less important.
• Pathfinder (Variant): When the halfling clans begin to explore a new area, you precede them to set markers, find sources of water, leave warnings of dragon lairs and other important dangers, and connect with the network of halfling druids to learn about the area. You’ve learned a series of runes that you etch into rocks, trees, and other surfaces to communicate important information to the halfling travelers who will follow. In this role, you are greatly appreciated, if seldom seen. Many clans leave you small tokens of friendship as they move through a rangermarked area, including sweets, worked metal goods, medicine, and other things you cannot easily make for yourself in the wilderness.

Halfling Rogue

The people of the far north have a hundred words for “snow.” The halflings have a hundred different classifications of “rogue,” and you will rarely hear a halfling even use the term. The application of a rogue’s skills takes all forms, from the benevolent to the out right criminal. Every halfling under the sun has been a rogue. Their natural abilities make them excellent sneaks, very capable thieves, wonderful lockpicks, and in general contribute to their shady racial reputation. So the halfling like you who actually works at being a rogue is destined for greatness.

• Ability Score Advice: Dexterity is the key to most of your favorite skills. Constitution doesn’t affect what you do very much.
• Treasure Hunter (Variant): You’re trained to provide support adventurers in combat, but really your job is to overcome tricks, traps, locks, and other obstructions. An experienced operator underground, you’re wary, but calm and collected. Unlike many of your fellow halfling rogues, you spend little time on the road or in the city. You crave the musty smell of a dungeon, the first glint from a treasure chest when it’s opened, and above all else, anything underground that has a lock attached to it.

Halfling Sorcerer

The halfling people are appreciative and somewhat envious of the sorcerer’s power. Without having to bother with the discipline of the wizard or the religious commitment of the cleric, you are able to channel magical effects by your very nature. The halflings see sorcerous power as another skill (and usually another skill that makes them better rogues). Sorcerers are often called on to settle disputes between the halflings and other races, as the halflings feel that the sorcerer’s innate powers can offset the size differences that sometimes cause other races to treat them like children.

• Ability Score Advice: Charisma is the connection to your spellcasting, so put your best score there. Strength matters little to you.
• Speaker for the People (Variant): Because sorcerers often have a high Charisma, they are also often the most adept diplomats and negotiators. When a halfling clan reaches a new area or approaches a settled area for the first time, it sends you forward to introduce the clan and establish communication between the two groups. In this role, you use your powers and personality to ensure that halflings are not subject to unfair restrictions or prohibitions. A display of power in the form of a flashy spell is usually sufficient to establish your credibility. And if a problem develops that you cannot resolve, it’s your job to help the clan continue its journey safely.

Halfling Wizard

The halflings have two wizardly traditions. The first is an echo of the other civilized races; a certain number of halfling youths with aptitude are apprenticed to wizards for training. The second is a unique halfling tradition. There are a small group of fortunetellers and diviners who travel with every large halfling group, providing prophecy and soothsaying for the clan and for outsiders who seek their visions. In any event, most halflings have as little to do with wizards as they can, finding their strange passions and intense focus somewhat disconcerting. Children raised in apprenticeships who fail to become practicing wizards have a hard time readjusting to halfling society. But halflings’ naturally high Dexterity and other racial benefits make them excellent adventuring wizards, and there is a rich tradition of such halflings returning to their clan with great wealth and power, earning a place of honor in the clan and the tales they tell.

• Ability Score Advice: To cast the most powerful spells, a high Intelligence is critical. Strength offers little to wizards of any race.
• Clan Fortuneteller (Variant): Essentially a specialist diviner, you have an uncanny ability to foretell the future and to predict certain important events in a person’s life. Before important decisions are made, the clan leaders ask you to employ the various components of your soothsaying arsenal: casting the bones, consulting an oracle, etc. From time to time you leave the clan on “vision quests” driven by the things you see in your foretellings and dreams. You’re often gone for months or years, and when you return you bring totems and fetishes to mark your successful quests.