Sentient Races in Narth

Player character options for non-humans

(As with other pages for Narth 2000, this one is written for use with GURPS Third Edition, Revised. As the campaign is moribund, there are no plans to update this material to Fourth Edition.)

There are a wide variety of sentient races inhabiting Narth. On the Jadiwan continent, where the action of the game takes place, the most common races are humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, goblins, orcs, centaurs and ogres. There are also half-elves, but they are not considered a separate race by many. In the oceans near the shores are also many colonies of merfolk.

All of the above are available for player except for merfolk, centaurs and ogres; the latter two are unavailable more because of the point totals required than for any other reason, the former because of mobility problems.

Merfolk, centaurs, ogres, orcs, dwarves and gnomes are as described in GURPS Fantasy Folk. The only significant differences are: One, dwarves are suspicious of humans rather than elves. Two, merfolk are physically more half-dolphin than half-fish, although popular culture portrays them as the latter. And three, orcs can be divided into two groups -- nomadic bands who fit the stereotype of the orcish "barbarian" to a "T", and the orcs of the nation of Arakund, who have built a sophisticated civilization.

Elves

Elves and half-elves in Narth are slightly different from the standard GURPS versions. Please use the following packages for characters of these races:

Elves (Sidhai)

ST -1 (-10 points)
DX +1 (10 points)
IQ +1 (10 points)

Attractive (5 points)
Combat Reflexes (15 points)
Musical Ability +2 (2 points)
Unaging (Special, see below; 15 points)

Code of Honor (see description in text below, -10 points)
Sense of Duty to Forest and Forest Ecosystem (-15 points)

+1 to Bard (2 points)
+1 to Savoir-Faire (1 point)
Genealogy at IQ-1 (1 point)

Racial Quirk: Obsessed with families and lineages. (-1 point)

Total cost to be an elf: 25 pts.

The Sidhai average 2 inches shorter than humans of the same ST, and 15 pounds lighter than humans of the same height. They have a lifespan that averages about 2000 years (this is bought as Unaging to prevent excessive costs). They reach maturity at age 250 and begin making aging rolls at 1390. They are very protective of children, as they have a low reproductive rate and a gestation period of almost 2 years, and the death of a child at the hands of a non-elf (even accidentally) is often grounds for a vengeance-quest by aggrieved relatives and friends. They live by a code of honor that can be summed up as: "Avoid violence where possible. Protect children and other living things. Serve the clan over yourself, the forest over the clan, and Lindelona over the forest."

While the elven Genealogy skill requires a specialization, no specific one is required of an elf. Most elves, though, will specialize in their own clans.

Elves have suffered at the hands of humanity in recent centuries, and are still regarded with suspicion by mankind. The elves return the favor, reacting at -1 to humans. Because in the aftermath of Devastor, the elves found themselves allied against humankind with their traditional enemies, the dwarves, that old enmity has faded surprisingly quickly.

In order to hold out against the more numerous and fecund humans, the Sidhai have had to develop a higher technology. The Sylvan Confederation abounds with magitech and pure tech, from revolvers to steamships to paramagical telegraphy and more.

They are light-skinned, and their hair color can range from midnight black to platinum blonde. Eye color covers the normal human range, and extends into inhuman shades such as lavender and gold.

Dark Elves (Yadhai)

ST -1 (-10 points)
DX +1 (10 points)
IQ +1 (10 points)

Attractive (5 points)
Combat Reflexes (15 points)
Dark Vision (25 points)
Unaging (Special, see below; 15 points)

Intolerance of everyone (-10 points)
Sense of Duty to other Dark Elves (-15 points)

Suffer -2 to DX/IQ & skills in light brighter than twilight (alleviated by sunglasses or goggles) (-10 points)
Weakness: lose 1 HT/day from bright sunlight (-5 points)

Total cost to be a Dark Elf: 30 points.

The Yadhai are an offshoot of the Sidhai, composed of those elves who carried the taint of Ntono. Driven from the Sidhas homeland by their brothers in the early days of the world, they took refuge in the caverns and spaces they found deep beneath the earth. Over the millenia they have adapted (and modified themselves) to this dark land, and until recently were content to remain there and only occasionally harry the dwellers of the world above. However, after Devastor, the Sidhai were driven from their homeland by humans; discovering this, a large number of Yadhai emerged from their isolation to reclaim the land from which they themselves were driven millennia ago. However, their adaptation to life underground has left them at a disadvantage aboveground. Still, they have managed to carve out a large nation for themselves, and are attempting to catch up with their northern brethren when it comes to technology.

Yadhai are not particularly distinguishable from their cousins the Sidhai, except that they have paler skin that is more susceptible to sunburn, and have vision problems in full sunlight.

Note: It is extraordinarily rare to find a Sidhai or Yadhai over 500 years of age who has any level of Eidetic Memory. In such a long-lived race as the elves, Eidetic Memory is a handicap that frequently leads to suicide; unable to forget anything, such an elf would grow despondent as he runs out of new experiences.

Half-elf

IQ +1 (10 points)

Unaging (Special, see below; 15 points)

Total cost to be a half-elf: 25 points (special; see below)

Half-elves are rare these days, or at least young ones are, except in those nations bordering on the Sylvan Confederation. They have a 500-year lifespan, reaching maturity at 100 and beginning aging at around age 312. They may resemble either parent, and do not necessarily have to combine both human and elven features; some have the appearance of full-blooded members of either race.

Half-elves raised by elves will have the Code of Honor and Sense of Duty possessed by Sidhai, along with the Genealogy skill at IQ-1, for a total racial cost of 1 point.


This page was created on October 16, 1997.
Last modified August 14, 2019.