Grit & Gunsmoke’s default setting is alternate universe version of Earth. Earth history followed a very similar course to the one we are familiar with, with a few major caveats. Magic has always been real. It represents the incursion of the spirit world into the world of everyday life. In Europe the ways of magic were repressed when Christianity came along, and Islam did the same thing for the near east. When Europeans came to the Americas in the early 15th century they were shocked to find a continent populated by new races of savage humanoids, monsters and giants, many of whom wielded powerful magic. Stories of such creatures had always existed, but most “civilized” people from the Old World had considered them just that - stories. They named the land Terra Nova, for it seemed like a totally new world to them.
The discovery of Terra Nova galvanized a solidarity between the nations of men for a time, and alliances were formed that eventually lead to the conglomeration of humanity into several Great Powers during the 15th-18th centuries. They are the Anglo-Nordic Empire (England, Scandinavia, Germany), the Latinate Republics (France, Spain, Italy, Mediterranean states), the Caliphate (North Africa, Middle East, Turkey), The Orthodoxy (Greece, Eastern Europe, Russia), the Hindustani Raj (India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh), the Dragon Phoenix Empire (China, Korea, Japan, Southeast Asian states) and the Watu Confederation of Peoples (Sub-saharan Africa massive tribal alliance). The strongest of the seven Great Powers established colonies in Terra Nova through war, conquest and enslavement of the native humanoids. The Anglo-Nordic Empire colonized the east coast of North America, the Latinate Republica the southern part of North America, Central America and about half of California. The Orthodoxy had holdings in western Canada and Alaska. The Dragon Phoenix Empire took the northern half of California and most of the west coast of North America. The Watu Confederation controlled all the islands in the Caribbean and parts of South America. But the new lands to settle and the common enemy represented by the “inferior” humanoid races could only go so far to ease the tensions between the Great Powers. In the 1750s war began to break out all over the Old World. The conflict spread until all the Great Powers were fighting one another and their colonies were drawn into the war as well. So total and unprecedented was the conflict that it became known as the Great War.
During the Great War circumstances led the colonists to band together and turn on their rulers. A revolutionary movement occurred and the colonists of the North American Great Powers realized they had more in common with each other than they did with the Old World. They formed a new nation encompassing all the North American colonies. The Great War was for them the birthing pains of their new land. It would be called Nova Roma and was inspired by the model of the old Roman Republic. The Great War ended with several treaties culminating in the Bern Peace Accords of 1759. Over the next hundred years Nova Roma struggled to find the correct form of central government and had to contend with several rebellions and hostile native populations while it solidified its rule. The nation eventually united around the idea of uniting the former Dragon Phoenix colonies on the west coast with the Anglo-Nordic and Latinates in the East and South.
By 1860 Nova Roma was a constitutional republic with an elected legislature, judiciary and executive branch. It was further organized into states, who had their own miniature versions of the national government. There were 33 states (analogous to the 1860 US states). The northern states are more populous and industrial, while the southern states have agricultural economies based on the enslavement of goblinoids in a plantation economy. Railroads and telegraphs existed, but the rail lines didn’t stretch much further west than the Mississippi river. All the way across the Great Plains to the dwarven enclaves in the Rockies, the land was controlled by goblinoid tribes. The northern parts of the unsettled country were also home to giants and orcish lycanthropes. These occupants were less than eager to cede their lands to human invaders.
The westward expansion of Nova Roma was halted when tensions between the different ways of life in the north and the south came to a head. The main issues were states’ rights and the enslavement of goblinoids. The northerners believed in a strong central government, and that the goblinoids should be freed and incorporated into society. Southerners believed in a weak central government with strong states, and that goblinoids were inhuman monsters, only fit to be killed or used as chattel. War broke out in 1861 when eleven southern states seceded from the union, forming the Confederated States of New Rome. The war raged for four years, becoming the bloodiest in Nova Roman history. In 1863 President Jebidiah Lincoln wrote the Humanoid Proclamation stating that all intelligent humanoids were equal with men, free, and to be judged by their actions, not their race. Any humanoid who would pledge allegiance to Nova Roma would become a citizen and be subject to the law. The north badly outgunned and out supplied the south, and by the summer of 1865 all the Confederate generals had surrendered. Shortly thereafter President Lincoln was assassinated by a Confederate loyalist.
The nation was shattered by the long bloody war, and the loss of their leader. People turned their eyes to the struggle westward across the frontier as a project that could heal the nation, and more - elevate Nova Roma to the status of a Great Power itself. The government declared generous subsidies for any company that can build a railroad connecting New York to San Francisco.
As the great iron serpents began slithering westward across the continent, streams of wagons went ahead of them, flooding into boom towns that popped up around lucrative mining discoveries and then fade away when the riches dry up. The dwarves are investing major capital in their own rail system, intending to connect with the human transcontinental railway once it is close enough. Behind the rails come settlers, the first courageous homesteaders willing to brave unconquered goblinoids and worse for the chance at a better life and a piece of their own land. It is into this fantastic Wild West that the player characters are born. A land full of greed, violence, hypocrisy and savagery. An untamed frontier that snatches life away easily. A land where every day is a struggle for survival.
As in the majority of the occult traditions on Earth, magic in Terra Nova is the result of spirits being summoned into the world. Whenever a spell is cast, the magic user calls a spirit briefly into the material plane to work the effect of the magic.
Certain spell casters might attract a familiar spirit in the form of an animal. The spirit is a manifestation of their connection to the spirit realm, and acts as their aid and servant.
While there are plenty of religions on Earth, and even religious spellcasters, none of them are any more real or correct than the rest. On Earth, the gods don’t grant spells, or respond to mortals at all, though some may believe that they do.
Replace core Humans’ description with the following:
Humans possess exceptional drive and a great capacity to endure and expand, and as such are currently the dominant race in the world. Their empires and nations are vast, sprawling things, and the citizens of these societies carve names for themselves with the strength of their sword arms and the power of their technology. Humanity is best characterized by its tumultuousness and diversity, and human cultures run the gamut from savage but honorable tribes to decadent, noble families in the most cosmopolitan cities. Humans' curiosity and ambition often triumph over their predilection for a sedentary lifestyle, and many leave their homes to explore the innumerable forgotten corners of the world or lead mighty armies to conquer their neighbors, simply because they can. Humans come originally from the Old World. All the ethnicities of Asia, Africa and Europe exist as they do in the real world.
Human society is a strange amalgam of nostalgia and futurism, being enamored of past glories and wistfully remembered “golden ages,” yet at the same time quick to discard tradition and history and strike off into new ventures. Relics of the past are kept as prized antiques and museum pieces, as humans love to collect things—not only inanimate relics but also living creatures—to display for their amusement or to serve by their side. Other races suggest this behavior is due to a deep-rooted urge to dominate and assert power in the human psyche, an urge to take, till, or tame the wild things and places of the world. Those with a more charitable view believe humans are simply collectors of experiences, and the things they take and keep, whether living, dead, or never alive, are just tokens to remind themselves of the places they have gone, the things they have seen, and the deeds they have accomplished. Their present and future value is just a bonus; their real value is as an ongoing reminder of the inevitable progress of humanity.
Humans in Terra Nova are fascinated by older races and cultures, though at times they grow frustrated or even contemptuous of ancient and (to their mind) outmoded traditions. Their attitudes toward other races are thus a curious mix of exoticism and even fetishism, though usually with a very superficial level of understanding and appreciation of those cultures, alongside a deeply rooted arrogance that means most humans have a hard time regarding themselves as anything other than the default standard of society. Human scholars engaged in the study of other races—who might be assumed to be the most cosmopolitan and well versed in their nature and culture—have often proved no better than the less-learned members of their race when it comes to genuine closing of the social distance. Humans are gregarious, often friendly, and willing to mix and interact with others, but their sheer obliviousness to their off handed marginalization of others is what so chagrins other races when dealing with them.
Of course, well-meaning, blundering ignorance and numerical superiority are not the only things that make other races suspicious of humans. Entirely too many examples can be found throughout history wherein human xenophobia and intolerance has led to social isolationism, civil oppression, bloody purges, inquisitions, mob violence, and open war. Humans are not the only race to hate what is different among them, but they seem to have a susceptibility to fear-mongering and suspicion, whether about race, language, religion, class, gender, or another difference. More moderate human citizens often sit idly by while their more extreme compatriots dominate the political and cultural conversation, yet there are also many who stand in opposition to extremists and embody a spirit of unity across the bounds of difference, transcending barriers and forming alliances and relationships both large and small across every color, creed, country, or species.
Physical Description: The physical characteristics of humans are as varied as the world's climes. From the dark-skinned Watu tribesmen of Africa to the pale and barbaric former raiders of the Anglo-Nordic lands, to the almond-eyed yellow men of Asia, humans possess a wide variety of skin colors, body types, and facial features. Generally speaking, humans' skin color assumes a darker hue the closer to the equator they live. At the same time, bone structure, hair color and texture, eye color, and a host of facial and bodily phenotypic characteristics vary immensely from one locale to another. Cheekbones may be high or broad, noses aquiline or flat, and lips full or thin; eyes range wildly in hue, some deep set in their sockets, and others with full epicanthic folds. Appearance is hardly random, of course, and familial, tribal, or national commonalities often allow the knowledgeable to identify a human's place of origin on sight, or at least to hazard a good guess. Humans' origins are also indicated through their traditional styles of bodily decoration, not only in the clothing or jewelry worn, but also in elaborate hairstyles, piercing, tattooing, and even scarification.
Society: Human social history comprises a multitude of governments, attitudes, and lifestyles. Though the oldest human cultures trace their histories thousands of years into the past, when compared to the societies of other races like giants and dwarves, human society seems to be in a state of constant flux as empires fragment and new kingdoms subsume the old. In general, humans are known for their flexibility, ingenuity, and ambition. Other races sometimes envy humans their seemingly limitless adaptability, not so much biologically speaking but in their willingness to step beyond the known and press on to whatever might await them. While many or even most humans as individuals are content to stay within their comfortable routine, there is a dauntless spirit of discovery endemic to humans as a species that drives them in striving toward possibilities beyond every horizon.
Relations: Humans are fecund, and their drive and numbers often spur them into contact with other races during bouts of territorial expansion and colonization. In many cases, this tendency leads to violence and war, yet humans are also swift to forgive and forge alliances with races who do not try to match or exceed them in violence. Proud, sometimes to the point of arrogance, humans might look upon dwarves as miserly drunkards, giants as dangerous dullards, goblinoids as inferior savages, and skinwalkers and half-giants as embarrassments—but the race's diversity among its own members also makes many humans quite adept at accepting others for what they are. Humans may become so absorbed in their own affairs that they remain ignorant of the language and culture of others, and some take this ignorance to a hateful extreme of intolerance, oppression, and even extermination of others they perceive as dangerous, strange, or “impure.” Thankfully, while such incidents and movements may taint all of humanity in the eyes of some, they are more often the exception than the rule.
Goblinoids:
The races of bugbear, goblin, and hobgoblin are somewhat unique. They can be referred to as a group with the term goblinoid. Any of the three races can interbreed with any of the others. The union can potentially produce offspring of any of the three sub-races. Something in goblinoid DNA seems to produce a roughly correct balance of the races for each tribe’s needs. The three races typically live together in tribes mixed of all three types of goblinoids. Bugbears usually serve as hunters, goblins as labor and hobgoblins as warriors and leaders (though there are rare exceptions to these stereotypes).
Replace core Hobgoblin’s description with the following:
Hobgoblins are native to Terra Nova. Along with the other goblinoids they make up the thousands of tribes scattered across the new world. Hobgoblins survive by traditional methods of hunting, gathering, herding and horticulture. They exist at a primitive level of technology, with their entire society being constructed from naturally available materials. Before humans came to Terra Nova, the goblinoids had never seen worked metal. Naturally ambitious and envious, hobgoblins seek to better themselves at the expense of others of their kind, yet in battle they put aside petty differences and fight with discipline rivaling that of the finest soldiers. Hobgoblins have little love or trust for one another, and even less for outsiders. Life for them consists of duty to the tribal hierarchy, domination of those below, and the rare opportunities to seize personal glory and elevate their status.
Physical Description: Burly and muscled, hobgoblins stand a few inches shorter than the average human, and their long arms, thick torsos, and relatively short legs give them an almost apelike stature. Hobgoblins' skin is a sickly gray-green that darkens to mossy green after long exposure to the sun. Their eyes burn fiery orange or red, and their broad faces and sharply pointed ears give their features a somewhat feline cast. Hobgoblins lack facial hair, and even hobgoblin women are bald. Except for their size, hobgoblins bear a strong physical resemblance to their goblin cousins.
Society: Hobgoblins live in tribal hierarchies, each community under the absolute rule of a hobgoblin chieftain. Every hobgoblin in a tribe receives military training, with those who excel serving as the tribe’s leaders. The rest are left to serve as the tribe’s protectors. Menial labor is provided by their smaller goblin brethren, while the hulking bugbears hunt for the tribe. Despite this, hobgoblin society is egalitarian after a fashion. Gender and birth offer no barrier to advancement, which is determined almost solely by each individual's personal merit. Hobgoblins eschew strong attachments, even to their young (after all they could just as easily give birth to a goblin or bugbear). Matings are matters of convenience. Any resulting baby is taken from its mother and forcibly weaned after 3 weeks of age. Young mature quickly—most take no more than 6 months to learn to talk and care for themselves. Hobgoblins' childhoods last a scant 14 years, a mirthless span filled with brutal training in the art of war.
Many former hobgoblin slaves, or members of tribes that were conquered generations ago are now integrated into Nova Roman society. They still face heavy prejudice, even in the North, but are treated the same as everyone else under the law (in theory).
Relations: Hobgoblins view non-goblinoids with extreme caution. Nearly every contact goblinoids have with outsiders ends in violence. Not surprisingly, hobgoblin communities count no other races as their friends, and none but their goblinoid brethren as allies. They are typically on neutral terms with the lycanthropes and giants. Dwarves earn special enmity, and are viewed as devils in goblinoid society. Hobgoblins are not above taking enemies of other races as slaves, and forcing them to labor alongside the goblins in their camps and villages. Hobgoblins see themselves as the rightful masters of the rest of goblinkind, and relish their position on the top of the goblinoid hierarchy.
Replace core Goblin’s description with the following:
Goblins live intermixed with other goblinoids, acting as labor for goblinoid society in exchange for protection and food. Goblins are a race of childlike creatures with a penchant for mischief. Weak and cowardly, goblins are frequently manipulated by stronger goblinoids into doing their drudge work. Those goblins that rely on their own wits to survive are under constant threat from larger goblinoids who resent them for not knowing their place.
Goblins can eat nearly anything, but prefer a diet of meat and consider the flesh of humans and dwarves a rare and difficult-to-obtain delicacy. While they fear the bigger races, goblins' short memories and bottomless appetites mean they don’t dare rebel against the other goblinoids.
Physical Description: Goblins are short, ugly humanoids that stand just over 3 feet tall. Their scrawny bodies are topped with over-sized and usually hairless heads with massive ears and beady red or occasionally yellow eyes. Goblins' skin tone varies based on the surrounding environment; common skin tones include green, gray, and blue, though black and even pale white goblins have been sighted. Their voracious appetites are served well by their huge mouths filled with jagged teeth.
Society: Violent but fecund, goblins exist on the lowest rung of the primitive tribal structures of goblinoid culture. Rarely able to sustain their own needs through farming or hunting and gathering, goblins rely on hobgoblins and bugbears to feed them. Goblins are however, good with tools. The rare items of any value that they possess are usually cast-off implements from their larger brethren, or tokens scavenged from the tribes’ defeated foes after a battle. Goblins' appetites and poor planning lead to them being dominated by the hobgoblins and bugbears. Even the hardiest goblin leaders quickly find out that their survival depends on the larger goblinoids. Both goblin men and women are ugly and vicious, and both sexes perform the same labor in the tribe. Goblin babies are almost completely self-sufficient not long after birth, and such infants are treated almost like pets. Most tribes raise their children communally in cages or pens where adults can largely ignore them. Mortality is high among young goblins, and when the adults fail to feed them or food runs low, youths learn at an early age that cannibalism is sometimes the best means of survival in a goblinoid tribe.
Goblins born into human society were usually killed before the Civil War. Things are changing slowly now, and a few communities have small goblin ghettos of goblins who are trying to integrate into Nova Roman society. They face even more distrust than their larger cousins though, and are second class citizens at best, despite what the law says.
Relations: Goblins tend to view other beings as sources of food, which makes for poor relations with the civilized humans and dwarves. Goblins survive on the fringes of goblinoid society, cooking, building and repairing and working in exchange for food to fuel their voracious appetites. They have a special animosity toward dwarves, and celebrate the capturing or killing of such slaves with a feast. Of the most non-goblinoid races, half-giants are the most tolerant of goblins, due to experiencing the same level of hatred within society. Goblins are mostly unaware of half-gaints' sympathy, however, and avoid them because they are larger, meaner, and less flavorful than other humanoids.
Replace core Dwarf’s description with the following:
Dwarves are a stoic but stern race, ensconced in cities carved from the hearts of the World’s End mountains and fiercely determined to repel the depredations of savage races like giants and goblinoids. More than any other race, dwarves have acquired a reputation as dour and humorless artisans of the earth. It could be said that their history shapes the dark disposition of many dwarves, for they reside in high mountains and dangerous realms below the earth, constantly at war with giants, goblins, and horrific monsters.
Dwarves are lovers of history and tradition, and their long lifespan leads to far less in the way of generational shifts in attitudes, styles, fashions, and trends than shorter-lived races exhibit. If a thing is not broken, they do not fix it or change it; and if it is broken, they fix it rather than replace it. Thrifty as a rule, dwarves are loath to discard anything unless it is truly ruined and unable to be fixed. At the same time, dwarves' meticulous, near-obsessive attention to detail and durability in their craftsmanship makes that a rare occurrence, as the things they make are built to last. As a result, buildings, artwork, tools, housewares, garments, weapons, and virtually everything else made by dwarves still sees regular use at an age when such items would be relegated to museum pieces, dusty antique shelves, or junkyard fodder by other races. Taken together, these traits create the impression that dwarves are a race frozen in time.
They are also a race typified by stubborn courage and dedication to seeing tasks through to completion, whatever the risks. These traits have led dwarves to explore and settle in extreme environments that would cause other races to quail and retreat. From the darkest depths of the underworld to the highest mountain peaks, from rusting iron citadels along desolate rocky coasts to alpine valleys, dwarves have established their enclaves and redoubts, holding them against all comers or perishing to the last and leaving only their enduring monuments to stand as their legacy. While it is said that dwarves are not venturesome or inventive, it would be more accurate to say that they maintain a focus on and dedication to each task they undertake and every change they adopt, vetting such changes thoroughly before adopting them wholeheartedly. When faced with new circumstances and new needs, they react by applying tried and true tools and techniques systematically, using existing methods whenever possible rather than trying to invent novel solutions for every situation. If necessity requires, however, they throw themselves with equal vigor into developing the next perfect procedure for demolishing the obstacles that get in their way. Once their desired goal is obtained, they focus on consolidating each new piece of territory or conceptual advance. Dwarves thus rarely overextend themselves, but they also may miss opportunities to seize the initiative and maximize the advantages they create.
Currently the dwarves of Terra Nova are united into one feudal kingdom, under High King Bronnir Stonespine. The Kingdom of Glanderhemm has been allied with Nova Roma since its birth as a nation. King Bronnir spent years on establishing a transcontinental infrastructure for trade between dwarves and men. The attempt for a transcontinental railroad is being co-sponsored by Glanderhemm. The dwarves have fully adopted the human technology, and in fact have become the leading producers of many goods. While they lack the inventiveness of humans, dwarven craftsmanship is second to none.
Physical Description: Dwarves are a short and stocky race, and stand about a foot shorter than most humans, with wide, compact bodies that account for their burly appearance. Male and female dwarves pride themselves on the long length of their hair, and men often decorate their beards with a variety of clasps and intricate braids. Clean-shavenness on a male dwarf is a sign that they are an adept and in communion with the spirits.
Society: Dwarves throughout the world are characterized by their love of stonework, their passion for stone- and metal-based craftsmanship and architecture, and their fierce hatred of giants, lycanthropes, and goblinoids. While they are not precisely militaristic, they learned long ago that those without axes can be hewn apart by them (and now that those without guns will be shot!), and thus dwarves everywhere are schooled to be ready to enforce their rights and claims by force of arms. When their patience with diplomacy is exhausted, dwarves do not hesitate to adopt what they call “aggressive negotiations.” The Kingdom of Glanderheim is very egalitarian. Every citizen is tested and placed into an appropriate career path of their choice. Dwarven society is very socialistic, and does an excellent job of utilizing the maximum potential of all its citizens.
Relations: Dwarves and goblinoids have long dwelt in proximity to one another, and share a history of violence as old as both races. Dwarves generally distrust and shun anyone non-dwarven. It is with humans that dwarves share the strongest link, for humans' industrious nature and hearty appetites come closest to matching those of the dwarven ideal. From a human perspective, dwarven society reminds them of some of their own cultures of generations ago.
Replace core Skinwalker’s description with the following:
Skinwalker shamans say they are chosen by nature or the gods to be a bridge between the world of humanity and the animal world. Indeed, skinwalkers are those with a lycanthrope crouching somewhere in the branches of their family tree. These distant progeny of the monstrous orcish lycanthropes of the taiga have special talents unlike those of most civilized peoples. They arise randomly among remote human populations as well as within their own secretive sects. A pair of humans may give birth to a skinwalker—the dormant lycanthropic ancestry making itself known in a child neither beast nor human—or a pair of skinwalker parents may produce a skinwalker child, though these couplings can sometimes produce human children as well.
Skinwalkers resemble slightly feral-looking humans much of the time, but they possess the uncanny ability to transform into bestial humanoids who combine the most fearsome aspects of flesh and fur.
Physical Description: Outwardly human, skinwalkers are virtually indistinguishable from others of the ethnic group into which they are born. Those rare skinwalkers who have bred true for generations tend to have dark eyes, straight dark hair, and richly colored skin. Skinwalkers' features vary greatly when they shapechange. They gain a bestial visage evoking the creatures they emulate; the snout elongates, teeth become more prominent, claws emerge from fingertips, and skin toughens into hide. Despite their shapechanging abilities, they are not immune to infection from full lycanthropes.
Society: Skinwalkers sometimes weave themselves into human society, hoping their peculiar talents go unnoticed. Others try to join the lyncathropic orc tribes. They may also be nomads found in lands with wide-open spaces. Groups of skinwalkers hidden among a larger community of non-skinwalkers may regularly gather for lunar rituals or nocturnal pack hunting.
Most humans in Nova Roma consider skinwalkers to be monsters just as much as their lyncathropic parents. If discovered, they are often hanged or otherwise publicly killed.
Relations: Skinwalkers mostly populate human settlements and communities. They tend to get along with half-giants and goblinoids, and are comfortable taking their animalistic forms in the company of these fellows. However, many natural lycanthropes see skinwalkers as weaker, inferior versions of their own kind, and some lycanthropes even take to infecting or even hunting their distant kin.
Type:Humanoid (0 RP)
Size:Medium (0 RP)
Speed: Normal Speed (0 RP)
Ability Scores: Specialized (1 RP) +2 str, +2 con, -2 int
Language: Standard (0 RP)
Racial Traits:
Hardy (3 RP)
Prerequisites: The race has at least a +2 racial bonus to Constitution.
Benefit: Members of this race gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells, and spell-like abilities.
Healthy (2 RP)
Prerequisites: The race has at least a +2 racial bonus to Constitution.
Benefit: Members of this race gain a +4 bonus on Fortitude saves against disease and poison, including magical diseases.
Lifebound (2 RP)
Prerequisites: A Constitution score.
Benefit: Members of this race gain a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws made to resist death effects, saving throws against negative energy effects, Fortitude saves made to remove negative levels, and Constitution checks made to stabilize if reduced to negative hit points.
Powerful Build (2 RP)
Prerequisites: Humanoid
Benefit: The physical stature of half-giants lets them function in many ways as if they were one size category larger. Whenever a half-giant is subject to a size modifier or special size modifier for a Combat Maneuver Bonus or Combat Maneuver Defense (such as during grapple checks, bull rush attempts, and trip attempts), the half-giant is treated as one size larger if doing so is advantageous to him. A half-giant is also considered to be one size larger when determining whether a creature's special attacks based on size (such as grab or swallow whole) can affect him. A half-giant can use weapons designed for a creature one size larger without penalty. However, his space and reach remain those of a creature of his actual size. The benefits of this racial trait stack with the effects of powers, abilities, and spells that change the subject's size category.
Total RP:10
Half-giants are the offspring of humans and giants. Regardless of the subspecies of the parent giant, they all basically come out the same. They are large, strong, and extremely hardy but tend to lack keen wits compared to their smaller relatives. Many half-giants are the products of violence, but some result from a willing union. Due to their heritage they are despised by most humans, and pitied by most giants. But humans prize them for their ability to work and fight, so half-giants usually find themselves pigeonholed into those niches.
Physical Description: Half giants tower over their human brethren, most of them standing between eight and nine feet tall. In many ways they resemble dwarves blown up to roughly double their normal size. They have wide, compact bodies and thick burly limbs. Half-giants are as hirsute as dwarves as well, but tend to exhibit a much more human variety in their choices of hairstyles. Their eyes and skin can be of any of the colors exhibited by human or giant kind, making a wide variety of combinations possible. Half-giants breed true - two half-giant parents will give birth to a half-giant.
Society: Half-giants sometimes weave themselves into human society, using their great strength and durability to their advantage. Others go to join the nomadic tribes of giants who follow the herds across the northern plains and taiga. Groups of half-giants often congregate within human society, living in ghettos where things are more appropriately sized for them. Many half-giants find themselves pidgeon-holed into careers of violence or manual labor, and they are almost universally looked down upon by their human kin. Due to this prejudice half-giants are treated as second class citizens wherever they go amongst humans. Whereas half-giants living amongst true giants are seen as permanent children, and pitied more often than not.
Relations: Dwarves and hobgoblins are suspicious of half-giants. Humans see them as useful but stupid brutes. Giants see them as handicapped. Of all the other races goblins who have lived amongst humans come the closest to relating with half-giants. Yet, it is only amongst their own kind that half-giants can truly live without judgement.
Ranger (Trapper and Skirmisher archetypes only)
Characters start with 175 gold pieces. Nova Roman currency is denominated in golden eagles, silver stags, and copper corns (small corn-like bits of copper).
Characters should be built using a 15 point buy.
Characters may choose one trait, and one of the following campaign traits (Copied or adapted from the Kingmaker adventure path):
One of your parents was a member of a great family. Yet you have no substantive proof of your parentage, and you’ve learned that claiming to be the son of the elite without evidence makes you as good as a liar. While you might own a piece of jewelry, a scrap of once-rich fabric, or an aged confession of love, none of this directly supports your claim. Thus, you’ve lived your life in the shadow of power, knowing that you deserve the comforts and esteem of the elite, even though the contempt of fate brings you nothing but their scorn. Whether a recent attempt to prove your heritage has brought down the wrath of a notable family’s henchmen or you merely seek to prove the worth of the blood in your veins, you’ve joined an expedition, hoping to make a name all your own.
Benefit You take a –1 penalty on all Charisma-based skill checks made when dealing with members of the upper class but gain a +1 trait bonus on Will saves as a result of your stubbornness and individuality. (The penalty aspect of this trait is removed if you ever manage to establish yourself as an elected official or earn 50,000 GP.)
You know how to ambush travelers, bully traders, avoid the law, and camp where no one might find you. Recently, you’ve run into some trouble, either with the law or with other bandits, and you’re looking to get away to somewhere no one would ever think to look for you. An expedition into the rugged wilderness seems like a perfect way to lie low until the trouble blows over.
Benefit You begin with an extra 100 gp in ill-gotten gains. You also gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive checks when dealing with brigands, thieves, bandits, and their ilk.
You have long lived in the shadow of wilderness. Life has been hard, but through hunting, trapping, trading, and coaxing crops from the freezing earth, you’ve learned how to survive on the rugged frontier. With the wilderness ever at your door, you’ve also learned much about its denizens and the wild creatures that lurk in that unwholesome land. Your family might even claim holdings, with elders telling stories of being driven from or robbed of a lost ancestral homestead, fertile farmlands, bountiful orchards, or a hidden mining claim. Whether because of your personal expertise and familiarity with the borderlands or in order to reclaim your family’s land, you’ve joined the expedition.
Benefit You begin play with a horse. Also, choose one of the following skills: Climb, Handle Animal, Knowledge (nature), Perception, Ride, Survival, or Swim—you gain a +1 trait bonus on this skill.
You were raised in a land of dense forests and rolling plains, of crystalline rivers and endless sapphire skies. You come from hearty stock and were raised with simple sensibilities of hard work winning well-deserved gains, the importance of charity and compassion, and the value of personal and familial honor. Yours is the country of the free men and the heroes who refused to bend before the armies of the old world. You care little for matters of politics or of deception and schemes. You simply live free.
Benefit Your hardy nature grants you a +1 trait bonus on all Fortitude saves.
You have lived all your life in and around the city, growing up on tales of the exploits of the frontier’s heroic and legendary gunslingers. Perhaps one of your family members was a soldier in the Civil War, maybe your uncle was a cowboy, or you have just dreamed since childhood of slinging lead in the wilderness. Regardless, you idolize the heroes, styles, and philosophies of the frontiersman and have sought to mimic their vaunted art. Before you can join their ranks, however, you must test your mettle. Joining an expedition seems like a perfect way to improve your skills and begin your own legend.
Benefit You begin play with a revolver or pepperbox rifle and gain a +1 trait bonus on all attacks and combat maneuvers made with such weapons.
You have lived through some hard stretches. Whether it was the loss of family, a long imprisonment, illness, or a horrible injury, you have known true pain and suffering. While some people break under the pressure, you came out the other side stronger. It takes a lot to shake you.
Benefit You gain a +2 trait bonus on all Will saves made to resist mind-affecting effects.
No combat maneuvers provoke attacks of opportunity. The improved (X maneuver) feat lines still exist, but are not necessary to prevent AOOs provoked from performing combat maneuvers.
Guns are commonplace. Early firearms are seen as antiques, and advanced firearms are widespread. Firearms are simple weapons. The Gunslinger loses the gunsmith class feature and instead gains the gun training class feature at 1st level. Use the following prices:
Advanced Firearms | ||||||||||
(Advanced) One-Handed Firearms | Cost | Dmg (S) | Dmg (M) | Critical | Range | Misfire | Capacity | Weight1 | Type2 | Special |
40 gp | 1d6 | 1d8 | ×4 | 20 ft. | 1 | 6 | 4 lbs. | B and P | — | |
(Advanced) Two-Handed Firearms | Cost | Dmg (S) | Dmg (M) | Critical | Range | Misfire | Capacity | Weight1 | Type2 | Special |
50 gp | 1d8 | 1d10 | ×4 | 80 ft. | 1 | 1 | 12 lbs. | B and P | — | |
70 gp | 1d8 | 1d10 | ×4 | 80 ft. | 1–2 | 4 | 15 lbs. | B and P | — | |
50 gp | 1d6 | 1d8 | ×2 | 20 ft. | 1–2 | 1 | 12 lbs. | B and P | scatter | |
70 gp | 1d6 | 1d8 | ×2 | 20 ft. | 1–2 | 2 | 15 lbs. | B and P | scatter | |
Firearm Ammunition | ||||||||||
Metal cartridge/Shotgun Shell | 1 SP | - | - | - | - | - | - | .05 lbs. |
Certain situations will require their characters to escape a certain situation by relying on their character’s skills rather than their wits or brawn. In these scenarios the game master will lay out the scene, whether it be a rooftop chase or a stampede of aurochs bearing down on you. They will then detail which skills will be applicable to this challenge. For the chase example, they might say acrobatics, climb, perception, and knowledge (local) are all acceptable skills. The players will then roll initiative to set an order of actions. The GM will lay out a number of successes needed to pass the challenge, and a number of failures needed to fail the challenge. They then set a DC for the challenge (without revealing it to the players).
Each player then acts in initiative order, rolling one of the appropriate skills and describing their action with some creative narrative. The GM will then tell them whether they succeeded or failed, and move on to the next player. The following player cannot use the same skill that the player before them in the initiative order used. Otherwise they act in the same way as the first player. This continues on for all players until the challenge is either passed or failed. The GM may choose to allow certain spells or class abilities to be used to provide a bonus to skill checks during a challenge at their discretion (usually for a bonus of +1 per spell level).
Monster Lore Knowledge Checks
Part of the shiny newness of this campaign is not necessarily knowing what the horrors you come up against are. In normal Pathfinder play it’s expected the PCs will be able to make knowledge checks to identify a monster’s strengths and weaknesses. In this game the DC for any such monster lore Knowledge checks is 10 higher than normal. This represents a general lack of knowledge about what is out there in in the wild. Only the most specialized and esoterically expert of scholars will be able to regularly identify monsters.