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One reason Arlinac Town is a unique location is that members of all eight intelligent races live within its walls—usually harmoniously. Yet Arlinac Town is a "salad bar", not a "melting pot", and its inhabitants are quite aware of their racial differences, special abilities, and cultural heritages.
Dweorgs and Kobalts come from large family-clan groups. They are sturdy, and can use morale to create magic.
Bergtrolls and Arzens are mountain trolls from caverns and caves, respectively. They revere art, although what they consider artistic differs greatly. They can turn wealth into magic.
Pixies and Unseemly are forest dwellers who value cooperation but have trouble actually living peacefully in large groups. They can use time to create magic.
Therions and Ogres thrive in towns and cities. They are shapechangers, who can turn energy into magic.
The word "person" can refer to someone of any race.
Why do most fantasy settings have multipe intelligent races? In real life we can make many reasonable guesses about a person's job and skills by their appearance. For example, age and clothing generally distinguish college students, lawyers, soldiers, and delivery men. But a fictional world lacks these social clues that provide helpful hints about NPCs. This handicaps the cooperative storytelling. A common replacement is to stereotype about make-believe races so that when a PC meets a new NPC the player then has at least a few informed guesses about what kind of person the PC is meeting, to take the place of the knowledge of appearances learned by someone who grew up in the setting.
What stereotyping is present? Most members of a fantasy setting's race share similar clothing, foods, building types, and family structures. Each race will favor certain arts and most have a distinct style as warriors. Each race uses different roles and responsibilities for gender and age. (In many fantasy settings each race has a distinct religion and/or patron diety, but this is not true in the NAME sample setting.)
In the NAME sample setting the eight magical abilities are used as special abilities of the eight intelligent races. (This can change if the GM and Player use a different setting.) Also, as an exception to the "new characters have no talents" rule, each race receives a bonus point in one or more talents. Members of that race always have a non-zero base skill rating in the corresponding skill (to preserve the rule "talent rating cannot exceed base skill rating").
Dweorgs are stout humanoids with phenomenal endurance who are skilled at mining and all kinds of metal use. Dweorgs are able to hike or march quickly without becoming fatigued, and can carry remarkably heavy loads.
Dweorgs believe there is an intrinsic and beautiful connection between delving and smithing. A Dweorg only feels complete after establishing a legacy in both (most Dweorgs are still working towards that goal). A Dweorg crafting a tool or weapon has the magical ability to sacrifice his or her own morale to imbue the object with extra sturdiness and keenness.
Dweorgs love the thrill of mild danger. They do not shun the unknown or unpredictable, and enjoy fun activities involving small risks.
Dweorg Characters: Rule Changes
Dweorgs receive a free point in the Wrestle/Disarm talent.
A Dweorg may carry twice the amount normally described by his or her Wrestle/Disarm skill without becoming encumbered.
When using a battlemat, Dweorgs ignore the usual rules for movement and skill use. No matter which skill he or she uses a Dweorg may always move up to 2 map squares, but no more than 2 map squares. However, a Dweorg must still stop moving if he or she enters a square of difficult terrain.
Dweorgs can use the magical racial ability called tempering.
Dweorgs live to be one hundred and sixty years old. They progress through four different forty-year lifecycle stages. They do not change much in size, but their skin becomes more wrinkled and their bones become denser.
The youngest Dweorgs are Youth and live deep underground in high-ceilinged cavern complexes. Dweorgs do not discuss with others what their early life is like, except that in involves both "sweatwork" (crafting, smithing, mining, warfare) and "smilework" (playing, solving problems, inventing). Since female Dweorgs are never seen, many suppose they either stay in these deep caverns and/or never age beyond the Youth stage.
On his fortieth birthday a Dweorg becomes a Raider. Raiders still live underground, but not as deep and in cavern complexes that include both vast halls and small rooms. The raiding Dweorgs are responsible for getting food for their own use and that of the deeper-dwelling Youth. Dweorgs do farm mushrooms underground but these are supplemented with fruit and meat raided from the orchards, poultry farms, and ranches of people who live aboveground. Yet raids are not only a means of acquiring food: raids are also a culturally important source of esteem for successful raiders. A Raider can gain important honor by fighting impressively or committing effective acts of precision theft. Similarly, being forced to flee or hide is a great source of shame. Raiders who are not directly part of a specific raid may involve themselves by betting on the successes of those who are directly participating or by helping prepare and equip those who directly participate. After a raid, the clan chief is responsible for archiving all the Raiders' heroic deeds so these will never be forgotten. A Raider who consistently fails to accrue honor becomes shunned and will no longer be invited to participate in raids; henceforth he only supports the clan by hunting small animals or by gathering wild fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
On his eightieth birthday, at his physical prime, a Dweorg becomes an Artist. Artists stop raiding and no longer live with their clan. They move aboveground and build a workshop-home, usually a free-standing cottage but sometimes a dwelling built inside a shallow cave or within the base of a large tree. A few move to a town or city: all the Dweorgs who live among the other races, including the Dweorgs of Arlinac Town, are of the Artist age. Artists begin to grow thick beards, which they wear proudly for the rest of their lives. Artists seek to perfect one or more metalworking skills and thus create works of art that will be treasured forever. Artists may study alone, join a commune, or participate in a city guild. Artists sometimes retain a bit of their former raiding mentality; city Dweorgs suffer from a stereotype of occasionally sabotaging or stealing from business rivals (including other Dweorgs). Although Dweorgs do not consider the role of a merchant to be "artistic" a few city Dweorgs give up metalworking for trade. Since Dweorgs may have large families, a group of brothers occasionally will immigrate to a city together after the youngest reaches Artist age.
On his one hundred and twentieth birthday a Dweorg becomes an Elder. Elders return to the deep caverns to raise the Youth. Elders are very rarely seen by non-Dweorgs. Elders are treated with great respect in Dweorg society, and although they have no special powers they do have a greater chance of owning or carrying interesting or powerful things. The oldest Dweorg in a clan is the clan chief who settles disputes, archives the historical records of that settlement, and authorizes warfare.
A Dweorg secret is that once or twice in a century an entire clan will go to war. Usually an army is formed to conquer a Kobalt settlement, but occasionally the attacked settlement is of another intelligent race, including but most rarely another Dweorg clan. A war begins when a clan chief declares that his clan has amassed enough honor. Fighting in a war is the highest possible honor among Dweorgs, and only those Raiders, Artists, and Elders with the most personal honor may participate in the fighting. The rest of the clan serves by supplying the warriors with food, weapons, and other resources.
Dweorgs that do not live in cities among the other intelligent races live in clan-sized groups of extended family. Clans usually relate peacefully, but may feud.
Dweorgs are equally comfortable living aboveground or underground. Most Dweorg clans live underground in sprawling cavern-complexes for optimal defense.
Dweorgs eat cultivated mushrooms, fruit and meat stolen in raids, and locally gathered fruit, vegetables, and nuts. Some Dweorg clans also employ many snares and traps near the entrances to their cavern-complex to catch small animals.
Dweorg Elders of underground settlements know a magic process that increases the security of their walls. Walls treated with this magic become too hard for most burrowing animals to dig through and also immune to transmutery. Since treating all of a settlement's important walls takes much time and effort, clans of Dwerogs seldom change where they live (as opposed to Kobalts, who often abandon one cavern-complex to live in another with a more strategic location).
Most Dweorgs dress similarly: shirt, knee-length pants, tall boots, thick belt, and either a tabard in clan colors or a heavy leather apron if the latter is appropriate for their work. Dweorgs do not wear hats, except when armored, in which case their metal helmets cover less than the helms worn by Kobalts and Bergtrolls.
As warriors, Dweorgs tend to wear scale or chain armor and use large hammers and picks as weapons.
Dweorg jewelry follows themes of jewels and carving on an iron background. Jewelry is the most culturally important Dweorgish art form. Associated with each Dweorg lineage and family is a unique pattern of color and inlay that identifies and establishes a pincipal virtue for that family. Dweorgs will speak of their jewelry "requiring" or "demanding" acts of bravery, generosity, loyalty, courtesy, or so forth. Although most Dweorgs attempt to behave virtuously by all of Dweorgish morality, a violation of their jewelry's principal virtue is completely unthinkable and would require ritual exile or suicide to atone for the deep loss of family honor. Also, these jewelry-determined virtues, unlike other Dweorgish moral rules, remain equally significant when dealing with members of the other intelligent races. For example, a Dweorg merchant who might normally depart from honesty or loyalty when relating to Therions or Bergtrolls might still be willing to give his life in battle to defend one because "selfless valor" is his jewelry-determined virtue.
Other Dweorg fine arts also focus on metalworking, continuing the theme of jewels and carving on an iron background. Dweorgs prize heavy yet finely wrought sculptures of precious metals, decorated with gems. Instead of painting they create intricate inlaid murals of precious metals and gems on a darker iron background. Their most valued pottery items are decorative metal containers rather than utilitarian.
Tool making is also considered an art form, although tools are usually not inlaid, gilded, or bejeweled.
Some clans of Dweorgs delight in flying and build all sorts of flying contraptions. Raiders from these clans are especially dangerous.
Dweorgs do not consider weaving an art form but are proficient at weaving and sewing for utilitarian purposes. Similarly, they make sturdy household pottery of clay or wood but never consider it artistic. They do very little theatre or dance but love ballads, and more than any other intelligent race enjoy chanting: they compose and memorize long, rhyming adventure stories set to a simple yet catchy melody.
The Dweorgs of Arlinac Town are famous for their sport of Park Running, which involves racing acrobatically along a predetermined route that connects two or more of the town's parks. Racers are allowed to throw or wield blunt objects to slow down competitors. The sport is tolerated by others, in part because the Dweorgs that participate always make generous financial compensation for any damage done to property. The Dweorgs avoid discussing the sport's history: some among the Sagacious hypothesize that the activity is an urban version of a traditional underground pasttime.
Most Dweorgs are devoted to Speleoth, expressing this by offering donations to his temples of cherished art: tools, weapons, murals, and containers finely wrought and exquisitely decorated. As Dweorgs age and travel they sometimes decide to worship other Powers, but always retain a sentimental fondness for Speleoth.
The world of Arlinac Town uses old sources in new ways. Traditional elements of fairy tales and folktales are (hopefully) used in a manner novel enough to be interesting and thought-provoking, yet still somewhat familiar.
Since the popularity of Narnia and Middle Earth, most fantasy dwarves have resembled the dwarves of one of those settings. But older folktales feature dweorgs (an Old English word from the Old Norse dvergar) that were competitve raiders.
The cultural importance of Dweorg jewelry is an idea stolen from the Emblem Men of Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure.
The sport of Park Running is a tribute to Parkour and free running.
Kobalts are an intelligent race of humanoids with blue, leathery skin, long pointy ears, dark eyes, and sharp teeth. They are smaller than Dweorgs, never more than a meter tall. They move quickly despite their small stature.
Kobalts prefer to live nocturnally. They have keen night vision.
In temperament, Kobalts naturally tend to alternate between annoyingly cheerful and depressingly gruff. Yet when a social situation requires politeness they try to mellow their demeanor and adopt social graces.
Because Kobalts are an argumentative race their extremities often bear the signs of many past scuffles: missing fingers, torn ears, broken noses, and scarred skin. The accumulation of those wounds and an increasingly dour countenance make them appear more grotesque as they age.
Unlike most other humanoids, Kobalts have four digits on their hands and feet. Their mathematics is based on eight instead of ten. For example, a Kobalt army is considered full when it has 512 (=83) members.
Kobalts have the magic ability to disrupt the morale of a nearby enemy.
Kobalt Characters: Rule Changes
Kobalts receive a free point in the Machinery talent.
A Kobalt can use Perception at night at his or her normal skill rating, without any situational disadvantage from having lesser lighting.
Kobalts suffer a 1-point situational disadvantage when using Etiquette with members of other races.
Kobalts can use the magical racial ability called sapping.
Kobalts can progress through five distinct social stages. Young Kobalts are a pale, almost pastel blue and are called Workers. Workers are given all the laborious jobs and are treated harshly even by their mothers. They are not allowed to leave their settlement or to use weapons or armor. They have short tempers but seem subdued and calm compared to older Kobalts.
Once they have grown larger and their color has darkened they become Hunters who hunt for food and join the military. The goal of a Hunter is to take a member of one of the other intelligent races prisoner, which promotes them socially to the role of Warrior.
Warriors of both genders acquire greater status in Kobalt society by taking more prisoners. Prisoners may be male or female: both genders are used for slave labor if not kept as the Warrior's unwilling concubines. The Warriors with the largest number of prisoners and thus the most social influence are Captains that command a platoon of 64 Warriors. Through successful intrigue a male Captain can attain the highest social rank by becoming the current Ancestor of his Superfamily.
Kobalts live both underground and above ground. Kobalts prefer to steal homes rather than dig or build homes themselves. Their most valued dwellings are abandoned or conquered cavern-complexes built by Dweorgs.
Kobalts do not care well for their dwellings. Since the damage done while capturing a site gets augmented by months or years of neglected maintenance, most Kobalts live in dirty, broken, worn dwellings.
Kobalts live in large groups called Superfamilies. Each Superfamily is strictly ruled by a monarch called the Ancestor, who is the only male in the group allowed to breed. All the Kobalts in a Superfamily consider their Ancestor to be their great-grandfather (irrelevant of the difference in ages) even when this is not literally true. When a new Kobalt becomes a Superfamily's Ancestor the rest of the group immediately modifies their family identity for all practical and emotional purposes.
Arlinac Town has a few dozen Kobalt residents, all exiles from their Superfamilies. Most are of Worker or Hunter age, eager to please their neighbors and forget their past lives.
The Kobalts of Arlinac Town are very territorial with respect to each other. They divide up all the land into plots, each considered the property of a certain Kobalt. Thus to a Kobalt's mind any piece of property has two owners: the legal resident that claims it in "Polite Society" and the Kobalt who actually owns it.
Kobalts are carnivores who usually only eat freshly hunted meat (or, in Arlinac Town, purchased meat from a recently slaughtered animal). Kobalts will hunt wild animals but prefer the ease of preying on stolen livestock. A popular (but false) rumor claims they cannibalize those they slay in combat. Another rumor says that anyone who feeds a Kobalt gains its obedience to every verbal command, but no one can recall ever meeting a person with a Kobalt slave.
Male Kobalts are skilled at woodworking, weapon crafting, and engineering. Female Kobalts also work at skinning, leatherworking, and making extra meat into jerky to save for days when no fresh meat is available. Kobalts are the only race to consider leatherworking an art: not only is almost all Kobalt clothing leather but most Kobalt clothing contains at least a few artistically decorated or woven leather components.
Kobalts excel at building machinery. They have more conflicts with Frosty Kostkey's armies and machines (because they are a populous race that switches homes comparatively often) and this has given them numerous opportunities to learn from captured machines built by Frosty Kostkey's servants and champions.
Kobalt machinery is easy to recognize, for Kobalts consider functional complexity especially beautiful and near-symmetry artistic. Their machines are compact and efficient despite having decorative gears spinning in many planes (some in pairs going in opposite directions) and pistons included only to harmonize the overall sound and center of gravity.
Kobalts adore hats. Most Kobalts own several and are always wearing one (if you want to deeply insult a Kobalt, damage his or her hat). When Kobalts are not wearing armor they usually dress lightly in what they call a "full set" of clothing: a jacket or vest over a tunic or shirt, drawstring pants, and a belt to hold pouches. Fancy dress for a Kobalt is of similar but of higher quality material, with many colors instead of the plain earth tones of everyday garb, and with either skirts of varying sizes (for the women) or pants with elaborate ruffles (for either gender).
As warriors, Kobalts tend to wear hard leather armor. For missile weapons they use crossbows or devices that launch harpoons using springs (either small hand-held versions or larger ones mounted on wheelbarrows). At melee range they fight with claws and teeth, or with a variety of weapons.
According to Kobalt history the race is in its third era. During the First Kobalt Era, all Kobalts lived in small clans led by leaders who ruled not by lineage but simply by amassing a following. These clans spent most of their time fighting each other. This era ended when an unusually powerful and charismatic Kobalt named Tirk Heavyhanded rallied together all of the clan leaders through a desire to create racial pride. A Kobalt legend states that Tirk had heard a Bergtroll call the Kobalt race "a despicable body that stabs its own hand", and he vowed to put and end to Kobalts fighting each other. Through the force of his personality and his skillful leadership he succeeded in structuring Kobalt society into Superfamilies that were large enough to successfully attack the settlements of other races.
The Second Kobalt Era stretched from the time of Tirk Heavyhanded to the Day of Undead. That year, on the night of the winter equinox, a very large number of dead Kobalts became Undead. If an explanation for this has been discovered, it is a Kobalt secret. The Day of Undead caused trouble to all peoples, but was of course especially traumatic for Kobalt settlements. Kobalt society was thrown into chaos until a new charismatic leader, Grackt Longfang, led the purification of Kobalt territory and again established the political balance of the Superfamilies.
In the current and third era of Kobalt society, Kobalts only war against the other intelligent races. Although Ancestors have lives of intrigue and corruption there is never war between Superfamilies. The largest remembered organized Kobalt military force fought sixty years ago, when two Superfamilies allied together and combined their armies in a nearly successful attempt to conquer Arlinac Mountain.
In early Medieval European mythology there was only one underground humanoid, dangerous to miners, whose name and nature varied from region to region but was based on the Greek koba'los (rogue) and the German kofewalt (room spirit). Modern concepts of kobold, goblin, hobgoblin, knocker, bluecap, coblynau and perhaps even pixy and brownie all branch from this one ancient root. The metal cobalt is named after these creatures, and the color "cobalt blue" is the reason that the Kobalts of Arlinac Town are blue.
Bergtrolls are humanoids with mouse-like tails who (outside of Arlinac Town) live under or above tall mountains.
Bergtrolls enter adulthood at a similar size to young adult Dweorgs, Arzens, Unseemly, Therions, and Ogres. Yet they grow to be much larger. They are quite similar to Therions in appearance, and many Therions tales tell of Bergtrolls who hide their tails and pass as Therions in Therion towns and cities.
Bergtrolls are unsurpassed at architectural theory. Often members of the other races hire a Bergtroll to design large structures such as a castle, guild hall, or important religious building.
Bergtrolls love beautiful artwork. They can imbue works of art with magical properties. They are fond of witty oration and are the only intelligent race that considers debating an art form.
Bergtroll Characters: Rule Changes
Bergtrolls receive a free point in the Bargain/Wonder talent.
When using a battlemat, a Bergtroll can use the Wonder skill once per combat simultaneously with using another skill or an item. (In other words, once per combat Wonder can be a free action that does not take its own turn.)
Bergtrolls can use the magical racial ability called musing.
Bergtrolls only rarely have children. They age slowly and never die of old age. Bergtrolls tend to double in weight (and almost double in height) every 80 years. Thus, for practical reasons a Bergtroll settlement is home to only Bergtrolls differing by no more than 160 years in age. A Bergtroll who outgrows one settlement will move to a physically larger one. The largest known Bergtroll was 561 years old and almost 13 meters tall (having reached seven 80-year "doubling birthdays"). Bergtrolls of this stature are the probable source of stories of giants in the mountains.
No matter what their age, Bergtrolls strive to act as young adults. They try to remain young as long as possible. (Within Arlinac Town some respected adult Bergtrolls even continue to use the childhood versions of their names.)
Bergtrolls often remarry when they move to a new, larger-scale settlement. This is socially expected and happens peacefully, even if the old spouse also moves to the same new settlement. However, many Bergtroll love poems idolize couples who "remarry" after moving to a new home.
Bergtrolls always live under or on mountains. They believe living elsewhere would slowly and fatally weaken their constitutions.
An underground Bergtroll dwelling consists of a single passage down to an enormous cavern in which is built a castle of elaborate and fanciful architecture. Each such dwelling is called a "kingdom" since it is ruled by a monarch who swears no outside allegiance. An aboveground Bergtroll settlement is also centered around a castle (much smaller but even more elegant and airy than those underground) but will also include a small village and its surrounding farmland and pastureland. Aboveground settlements are usually part of the kingdom ruled from a nearby underground castle.
Bergtrolls are fond of domesticated livestock and raise both riding animals and food animals. Most Bergtroll families living aboveground raise poultry and own a few sheep and/or goats. Some Bergtrolls live on ranches and raise horses, cattle, llamas, camels, and/or small ornithopod dinosaurs. Around Arlinac Town members of other races have observed and copied Bergtroll habits of animal husbandry.
Bergtrolls live in harmony with Therions when Therions allow them into their settlements. In a few places Therions have built a town around an existing Bergtroll settlement. In either situation the Bergtrolls consider their district to be an oasis of high culture. They are proud of its art museums, sculpture gardens, and castle. The Bergtrolls of Arlinac Town similarly (and usually correctly) see themselves as the pillars of the town's artistic endeavors.
All Bergtrolls consider themselves artists. Most Bergtroll art is focused on what they call the "solid arts" of embroidery, painting, pottery, sculpture, architecture, candle making, metalworking, and weaving. All Bergtrolls value oration. Some are fond of the other "airborne arts" of poetry, music, theatre, and debate.
Bergtrolls value precious metals to make the famous gold, silver, or platinum threads that hilight their elegantly embroidered clothing and tapestries.
Bergtrolls have no typical equipment or style as warriors, except for always fighting with grace and finesse.
Religious activity in Bergtroll society is part of their artistic culture. Besides worshipping the Creator and the Powers, Bergtrolls have personified the "Muses" granting inspiration and skill of each art form and developed a rich tradition of meditative activities (involving thought, breathing, and movement) believed to help the artist imitate or identify with the appropriate Muse to optimally create each art form. Even though Bergtrolls do not believe these Muses are real creatures, Bergtrolls act so much as if the Muses are real that a casual observer would think the actions of artistic creation were genuine religious worship.
Bergtrolls tend to excel at whatever they attempt and often act with a confidence that members of the other intelligent races find haughty.
Bergtrolls are easily affected by fads and temptations. In Bergtroll society it is most honorable to be an "Outsider" who has perfected self-control, developed a unique artistic style, and demonstrated independent rationality of opinion. But many Bergtrolls succumb to their natures and become "Insiders" who act as part of a homogenous crowd. Insiders are believed to lose access to the Muses, becoming fit for only farm or ranch labor instead of creating art.
Bergtroll society is equally comfortable with violence as with luxury. Bergtrolls are known for their strict legal codes and unwavering senses of justice. When prompted, Bergtrolls will leave their settlements to fight as an army.
These Bergtrolls are loosely based on the huldra and bergtrolls of Scandinavian folklore. They look human (except for a tail), are expert crafters, and live elegantly in underground castles. A few, rarely met, are gigantic. Removed are the trolls' beguiling of captives (this has been altered into the Bergtrolls themselves being captivated by artistic fads) and the kidnapping or exchanging of infants (which is a theme more central to the Unseemly's literary sources).
The artistic skill and haughtiness of these Bergtrolls is also inspired by the Ska of Jack Vance's Lyonesse Trilogy.
One is clubs and two is force.
Smashing your skull is fun of course.
Three is hints and four is feared.
Would be a shame if your kids disappeared.
Five is tricks and six is secret things.
With codes and lies I pull your strings.
- Arzen proverb
Arzens are cave trolls whose long limbs help them be surprisingly strong and fast. Most adults are about the same size as adult Dweorgs, Unseemly, Therions, and Ogres. But Arzens have widely varying height and some are much shorter or taller. An individual Arzen's size can be difficult to esitmate because of their long limbs and hunched posture.
Arzens are immune to discomfort or harm caused by heat or cold. They do not die when drowning.
There are three types of Arzens.
All Arzens are born as Grey Arzens, also called Mobbies. Their warty grey skin is slightly stony in texture and dully metallic in hue. They are nimble but their hands and feet have six thick fingers or toes that are too stubby to be dextrous. Most Mobbies neglect hygiene and have mossy skin and dirty claws. In darkness Mobbies can calm themselves by storing all their body's adrenaline and then release it when needed for a fit of silent cunning or berserk fury.
Mobbie Characters: Rule Changes
Mobbies receive a free point in the Acrobatics/Climb talent.
When not in direct sunlight Mobbies can store their adrenaline, which causes them to move slowly. This gives their opponent a one-point situational advantage. However, when they release their adrenaline they receive a two-point situational advantage that lasts one turn for each earlier turn of that combat in which they moved slowly.
All Arzens can use the magical racial ability called fortunosity.
A Mobbie who is warmed by fire and then doused with cold water turns into a Yellow Arzen, also called a Pyrie. Its skin changes to become soft and waxy. Its body can now regenerate from wounds incredibly quickly. Hands and feet now have four lithe and crafty fingers or toes. Its breath changes to smell like bad garlic, and causes non-Arzens to hallucinate. Pyries love both fire and water, and with practice become expert arsonists and sailors.
Exposure to direct sunlight turns a Pyrie back into a Mobbie. This change is traumatic and often causes deformities such as huge tusks, twisted limbs, or multiple heads.
Pyrie Characters: Rule Changes
Pyries receive a free point in the Exit/Escape talent (and retain the prior free point in the Acrobatics/Climb talent).
Pyries recover from non-fatal wounds in mere seconds. After a combat is over a "defeated" Pyries will not stay "defeated" unless it is tied up securely or killed.
All Arzens can use the magical racial ability called fortunosity.
If a Mobbie or Pyrie breathes too much water it does not drown but instead forever changes into a Black Arzen, also called a Ninnie. These breathe both air and water. Ninnies have glassy, black skin that helps them sneak in dark places. Their bones are brittle. Their hands and feet have two fingers or toes. Their breath and saliva is poisonous. They otherwise retain the size and shape they had before drowning.
Ninnie Characters: Rule Changes
Ninnie receive a free point in the Stealth/Track talent (and retain the prior free point(s) in the Acrobatics/Climb and/or Exit/Escape talents).
A Ninnie's breath causes any non-Arzen within ten meters (five map squares) to suffer a 1-point disadvantage to all skill use.
Ninnies lick their weapons to make them poisoned. Their attacks all cause one extra loss.
All Arzens can use the magical racial ability called fortunosity.
Arzens apparently do not die of old age, and do not progress through life stages by aging (but change type with fire or water). Other information about Arzen aging or life changes is not trustworthy. Even the Sagacious have learned little about Arzen family life or social customs. Arzens can act dull-witted or amazingly crafty; those few that have been captured have not provided reliable information about their race.
Arzens are omnivorous. Their favorite food is fish and many excel at net fishing. They also eat mushrooms, nuts, roots, and any animals they can catch.
Arzens do no mining. They make little use of precious metals, but love gems. They can identify gems by smell, and smell them from hundreds of meters away.
Mobbies live and travel in large groups. They practice using bows and crossbows with tactical teamwork. When not out causing havok most groups of Mobbies live in a four room cave. One room is for cooking and sitting, a second is the dormitory for sleeping, a third is for animals and captives, and the fourth is for storing food and keeping treasure. The location of a cave is unimportant, as long as there is food nearby. Mobbies often hunt with trained animals (usually dogs or wolves, but sometimes large lizards or cats—perhaps these Arzen's own pack-like nature aids in working with these animals? Mobbies also use fences and nets to cage off part of a pond or stream to farm fish.
Pyries are nomadic. They also travel in a goup, but their "home" is a large wagon or ship they use as a base of operations for conquest on land or sea. This large vehicle always has a large covered area to protect the Pyries from exposure to sunlight during the day. Many Pyries learn to skillfully use nimble chariots or boats armed with multiple large crossbows. At night these smaller vehicles surround and protect the "home base" large vehicle. Traveling groups of Pyries do not make purposeful raids: they simply travel about, gleefully attacking any travelers or settlements they meet.
Ninnies usually live and travel alone. At least that is what they want you to think.
Mobbies value fancy and trendy clothing. They cannot make it themselves but always try to steal or buy some. Ironically, they become so fond of their favorite outfits that if possible they save them after becoming Pyries in case they become Mobbies again. Since the change back to being Mobbies often changes their size and gives them deformities their formerly classy outfits are often ill-fitting and sloppily altered with extra sleeves or neck holes.
Even more than fine clothing, Mobbies value singing. All Mobbies consider themselves beautiful singers even though most cannot even carry a tune. Those few Mobbies that do have pleasant singing voices are venerated by their peers. Mobbies sing whenever they are happy, to the great distress of their captives. They often carry instrument cases even though their violent lives often lead to their instruments being destroyed—afterwards they use the case to store extra clothes or weapons.
Pyries prefer flamboyant outfits with bright colors and many layers of thin fabric. They believe firework displays are the most exciting and dramatic type of art (and those few non-Arzens who have witnessed a Pyrie firework display begrudgingly agree). Pyries venerate the their expert firework crafters.
Ninnies either wear black clothing or no clothes at all. They consider plotting artistic and praise well-designed and time-tested black operations, especially steganography, sabotage, and tricking others into fighting their battles. Ninnies venerate legendary and shadowy ancestors to whom stories attribute amazing acts of stealth and duplicity. Rumors describe the oldest Ninnies using stealth and illusion to compete with each other in games that use members the other intelligent races as pawns: the rules of these games are not known but victory seems to arise by working from the shadows to sow confusion and discord.
All Arzens prefer using crossbows in combat. Mobbies use big crossbows, Pyries light their bolts on fire, and Ninnies use poisoned bolts. For melee weapons Mobbies prefer maces, Pyries use a cutlass or other slashing one-handed blade, and Ninnies use various tricky weapons that consist of fearsome combinations of rods, chains, and blades.
Fortunosity makes Arzens fearsome opponents even when unarmed.
Arzens bred very quickly. They believe the world has troubles because everyone is competing to fill it.
Arzens are named after the metal arsenic. The three types of Arzens refer to the metal's three allotropes (as well as mobsters, pirates, and ninjas). Arsenic is a huge part of what makes mining dangerous: when ores contain arsenic then smelting them creates dangerous arsenic oxide.
Arzens also pay homage to the traditional Advanced Dungeons & Dragons trolls, which are tall, thin humanoids known for green, bumpy skin and rapid regeneration.
Pixies are tiny humanoids who change appearance and gender as they mature. Most live symbiotically in the settlements of Therions.
Pixies love children, will play with a child for hours, and are very distracted by seeing or meeting an unfamiliar child.
Pixies are naturally nocturnal, but if they live near children will become diurnal to be awake when the children are playing. This change takes several weeks, so there are many stories of homes with a new Pixie enduring hardship because the Pixie wakes up the children (or sometimes only the youngest child) frequently during the night with music, sing-song, or tossing toys into the crib.
Pixies of all ages and genders love to play darts. Females usually play Grass-Stickers, a game similar to both golf and lawn darts using large, heavy darts. Males usually play Embed-Em, a drinking game involving three dartboards and five colors of darts.
Pixie Characters: Rule Changes
Pixies receive a free point in the Shoot/Throw talent.
When using a battlemat, Pixies ignore any penalties from difficult terrain. Female Pixies have wings that are not powerful enough to allow them to fly high enough to be out of reach, but do allow them to fly and glide over thornbushes, mud pools, rocks, rubble, etc.. Male Pixies just move through such hazards without slowing, using both their remarkable strength and their attunement with nature.
Pixies can use the magical racial ability called laboritry.
Newly "born" Pixies hatch from a nut from a special nut tree. All Pixies are born as tiny females, about a centimeter tall, with long hair and butterfly-like wings.
Female Pixies mature because of selfishness. Every minute they spend nurturing or enjoying a selfish thought or desire ages them greatly. They grow larger and compared to their size their hair shortens and their wings shrink. Their features also become more masculine. Eventually, after many cummulative hours of selfishness, the female Pixie changes into a male Pixie.
Most female Pixies find the idea of becoming a male repulsive. Both to minimize selfishness and because life has extra challenges for someone so tiny, they seek work as a domestic servant in the home of a Therion.
Male Pixies no longer physically change in size or facial bone structure as they mature. Usually this means male Pixies are about two feet tall and have somewhat androgynous faces. Male Pixies age as they travel by foot. To stay young, most male Pixies are lazy and sit around all day. However, male Pixies will travel a reasonable distance (especially if they can pay a merchant caravan to carry them) to be near one or more female Pixies. The tolerance and affection female Pixies show towards these freeloading and often rude males is enigmatic to non-Pixies, especially considering how female Pixies always speak of masculinity as inferior.
As male Pixies age they become gnarled and even stronger. Their skin becomes slightly wood-like. They grow long, white beards and hair. Male Pixies are incredibly strong for their size, and will fight fiercely if attacked. They will even shed their reluctance to travel by foot and organize into an army if such behavior is required to defend the settlement in which they live.
When a male Pixie has aged so much that his beard touches the ground, he dies. From where he is buried (a Pixie would say "planted") a nut tree quickly grows in a single year. The tree's first crop of nuts (typically in the tree's second year) yields only a few nuts, all of which hatch into newborn Pixies; afterwards it is a normal nut tree. Most male Pixies want to be planted in a yard or park near where they lived, but some desire to be a tree far away by the seashore or a waterfall or high in the mountains.
Pixies avoid showing affection except in extreme circumstances. Female and male Pixies never show affection to each other; non-Pixies are unsure if Pixie reproduction even involves physical contact between females and males. But a few stories share that a very aged male Pixie might give a farewell kiss to the Therion(s) whose home or yard he has lived in, to express a lifetime of thanks for kind hospitality. Other stories say a female Pixie might kiss a Therion who saves her life.
Most female Pixies live in a Therion home. Usually the Pixie helps with domestic chores in exchange for food and clothing, and occasional respectful gifts of a special dessert or some brightly colored ribbon. Some Therion families pay the Pixie by giving her time to play with the family's children.
But these arrangements vary from place to place, based upon what a female Pixie has heard from other Pixies about how such arrangements are properly made. In some locations female Pixies only help with gardening, and in certain places giving a special gift to a Pixie is perceived as a serious insult and would cause the Pixie to seek a new home. The female Pixies in Arlinac Town believe they should each have a small "room" of their own; they are quite proud of their rooms even if most are a windowless subdivision of an attic or a prettily decorate large box in a basement.
Female Pixies are faithful helpers and industrious housekeepers, and can be very picky when choosing a home. Female Pixies approach their domestic work by breaking down tasks into small pieces: they enjoy setting small goals and crossing items off a to-do list. A few female Pixies chose the home of a non-Therion who lives above ground, having a similar relationship with their host family.
Most people who enjoy the domestic or gardening help of having a female Pixie in the home also suffer the imposition of one or more male Pixies loafing about in the dwelling or yard. Usually the help of the female Pixie, gifts of wine from the male Pixies, and the future promise of a nut tree are enough to make Pixies welcomed in any Therion settlement.
Legends tell of some Pixies living in the forest in settlements comprised only of Pixies. These "Tree Folk" wear little or no clothing and use laboritry much less than their urban cousins.
Pixie clothing styles vary greatly from place to place, depending upon what local Pixie culture considers appropriate.
Pixies of both genders value Transmutery, and view it as the highest form of art. Male Pixies also consider brewing and distilling to be arts. Pixies are especially famous for their mushroom wines.
Male Pixies have invented many games and mental puzzles to occupy their time while sedentary. Aside from darts, the most widely played game is called Board of Battle Hammer Craft and involves storytelling using brass miniatures, hand-drawn maps, and dice.
When fighting, Pixies normally wear soft leather armor and fight with darts and slim swords. Pixie blades are feared because many male Pixies brew poisons as adeptly as they do alcoholic drink.
Pixies memorize and exchange many sing-song chants with morals about wise living. These are called "nursery rhymes" and sung to children even though the social advice and philosophical impact are lost on children.
Most female Pixies show respect to Little Humble, even if they devote themselve more to another Power. A few times each year all the female Pixies in an area will travel to a nearby forest as a group pilgrimage to one of Little Humble's water-rock shrines.
A few non-Pixie legends describe wars between Pixies and Unseemly, and tell of an entire of grove of nut trees flowing into battle on behalf of the "Tree Folk" Pixies.
Everyone knows that male Pixies are fearless warriors. Very often the act of going to war has enough travel to age them mortally: they perceive it far more honorable to die in combat than to survive the war with only a few days or weeks of steps remaining.
The game Board of Battle Hammer Craft is an obvious play on words honoring Warhammer, World of Warcraft, and generic pencil-and-paper role-playing games.
The Unseemly are humanoids with the heads of mammals. Many of them have other features of the animal such as a tail or paws. The Unseemly are mischievous and superstitious: dealing with them requires caution and precaution.
The Unseemly are immune to poison and disease. They are hurt by contact with iron. Their sweet voices help them fast-talk members of the other intelligent races. They are notably more lively and alert at dusk and dawn, and try to do most of their work then. They have a phobic dislike of stale food.
All Unseemly love collecting. Each collects a certain kind of thing in a drawstring treasure bag— always a small thing others have difficulty understanding as so fascinating. Examples of collections include acorn caps, dried corn kernles, rose petals, rodent teeth, and rattlesnake rattles. The treasure bag is often safely hidden somewhere instead of carried on the person.
For most of history the Unseemly were considered a minor nuisance avoidable by anyone with experience in their capricious ways. They were approached cautiously but known a fair folk who valued love and honor, protected beauty, cheerfully showed off their collections to the merchants they traded with, and proudly wore their animal features. They were given the nicknames "The Bag People" because of their treasure bags and "The Seemly Ones" because of how they used chronistry to appear physically tall and radiant of face.
Then a change spread through their society. No one knows why: a powerful and mischievous invidivual might slowly become malicious and cruel over time, but what could quickly change an entire race? The mischief grew cruel and deadly. Illusions no longer created elegance but were used for disguise and entrapment. Love and honor were abandoned for passion and chaos. Beauty was targeted for destruction. The trade with merchants of other races ended. They saw their own animal features as ugly and shameful, and hid them with illusion. They were given the new nickname of The Unseemly.
Unseemly Characters: Rule Changes
Unseemly receive a free point in the Intuition/Provoke talent.
When using a battlemat, an Unseemly may use Intuition while moving 1 map square. Furthermore, its use of Intuition is especially broad and long-lasting: if successful the Unseemly receives a two-point situational advantage against all visible foes that remains available for each foe until used or the combat ends.
Unseemly can use the magical racial ability called chronistry.
Unseemly have few children. Most births are twins. Children develop quickly compared to the other intelligent races: an Unseemly is fully mature at a dozen years of age.
Once mature, the passage of time does not age an Unseemly. Instead, it physically ages as more and more lies are believed about it. These lies must be "facts" someone else cares about and for which no one knows the truth. With physical aging it becomes ugly, bent, and physically frail—but also develops impressive strength of mind that includes resistance to distraction, interruption, and hypnosis.
Historically the Seemly Ones enjoyed eternal youth by kept nothing secret: with no truths hidden, they could remain young forever. However, the Unseemly now desire old age more than youth, because they value strength and quickness of mind more than strength or quickness of body. They use illusion and guile to create lies whenever possible.
Historically the Seemly Ones lived in large settlements under barrows, mounds, and small hills, often deep inside large forests. The interiors of these settlements were decorated by illusion as well as crafted items. Those who visited these places were shown a few faniciful and illusionary hours of splendid entertainment before being tricked into a drugged sleep as victims of chronistry. When the visitor awakened, outside and outdoors, he or she would be shocked to discover the rest of the world has experienced the passing of one or more years.
Since the Unseemly are now secretive and avoided, visitors are rare. The Unseemly have a new habit of stealing babies to use as fuel for chronistry for decades, slowly aging the captives all the way to adulthood. When finally freed from chronistry these "tall babes" would be mature in body but still a newborn in mind. They are not released outside, but kept in the Unseemly settlement as coddled servants given the easiest of daily tasks.
The Unseemly now hide their dwellings. Many live alone. Others still live in the traditional large settlements under small hills, but far away from members of the other intelligent races. Underground Unseemly settlements, whether occupied or abandoned, invigorate nearby wild animals but sicken nearby domesticated animals.
A few Unseemly somehow shed their race's wicked tendencies and live productive and peaceful lives in Therion towns or cities, or Bergtroll kingdoms. These are almost always honest merchants who sell the colorful pearls made with chronistry to customers willing to sleep for a week to gain better use of a magical item.
Unseemly art is enignmatic because the Unseemly enhance their appearance and dwellings with illusion.
As warriors, the Unseemly tend to use blunt melee weapons disguised by illusion to look like graceful and jeweled rapiers and daggers. They wear any type of armor.
Since all Unseemly are collectors all give at least token worship to Big Blackie. Many Unseemly serve other Powers as well.
The word Unseemly is a word-play on the traditional division between Seelie and Unseelie fairies. The name Bag People is a word-play on Fir Bolg, a displaced fairy race.
Become a bird and what do you see?
Fiddle-dee-dee my lassie.
Become a hound and what do you smell?
Fiddle-dee-dee my lad.
Become a bat and what do you hear?
Fiddle-dee-dee my dear.
Become a snake and what do you taste?
Fiddle-dee-dee my friend.
Smell what's near and smell what's far.
See the ground and see a star.
Listen low and listen high.
No one loves you as much as I.
- Therion song
Most of the inhabitants of Arlinac Town are Therions, humanoids who can take the form of an animal. They always live above ground and are very social. Therions are the majority population in all the aboveground cities, towns, and village of the continent. Their apperance is unremarkable, and believed by the Sagacious to be unchanged from the original humanoid race of Oids.
Therions generally live their lives with little desire for excitement or heroics. They value peace and quiet more than any other intelligent race. Most have no desire to amass wealth or social influence, seeing these as distractions from the peaceful contentment and addictive delight of caring for family and pets. (However, in a settlement as large as Arlinac Town there are quite a few exceptions who do covet wealth and power.)
Therions use tattoos to identify clan and family, and on formal occasions wear piercings (primarily earrings and nose rings) to identify meritorious deeds. Piercings are decorated with short ribbons whose colors describe the meritorious deeds in more detail.
Not all Therions can use therianthropy to copy an animal's form. About one-half never develop the ability. The Sagacious debate whether these Therions lack therianthropy or simply have not yet found which type of animal they are able to work with.
Therion Characters: Rule Changes
Therions receive a free point in the Animals/Wilderness talent.
When using a battlemat, Therions may combine the use of Acrobatics with an attack skill. The Therion may move up to 3 map squares that turn. Both its own attack and all enemy attacks against it suffer a 1-point situational disadvantage. This ability can be used often but not on two consective turns.
Therions can use the magical racial ability called therianthropy.
Therions can live 80 to 100 years and slowly gain vitality as they age. They normally form lifelong monogamous marriages and have several children.
The decade of a Therion's age is important in Therion society: individuals are expected to socialize with members of their own decade and defer to "elders" of older decades.
Therions are gregarious and prefer to live in large villages or towns. Many of these are deep inside forests, but Therions live equally well in settlements outside of forests along rivers or roads.
Nearly all Therion settlements are walled for protection from invading Kobalts and other dangers. A walled Therion settlement is quite resistant to being beseiged since many of its inhabitants can bring in food and harass the attackers by assuming the forms of birds or other flying animals. Those few Therion settlements without walls are built up in the trees and a set of caged animals at ground level allow only Therions to travel up to the trees' heights.
Therions are the race who keep the most farm animals. Most only raise food animals, especially chickens, sheep, and goats. The Therions of Arlinac Town have learned from Bergtrolls about raising pack and riding animals. Near Arlinac Town many ranches have Therions raising mules, oxen, cattle, llamas, small sauropod dinosaurs, and sometimes horses.
Therions consider animal breeding and training to be an artistic endeavor far more worthy than workmanship with unloving materials. Therions also enjoy storytelling, theatre, poetry, music, and dance.
Therions dress simply. Most seldom wear jewelry aside from the ribboned piercings worn on formal occasions. However, in Arlinac Town the influences of Bergtrolls and Dweorgs have made jewelry more commonplace.
In their fondness for pets, some Therions have learned how to breed fierce animals and even monsters. Those who do so consider it an art, but most other Therions view this activity with distrust or abhorrence.
When Thereons wear armor they favor Hard Leather on the torso, either Hard or Soft Leather on the limbs, and a Soft Leather hat. Metal armor is normally avoided because of its bulk and the care it takes to prevent it from rusting when worn outside extensively.
Therions have no typical style as warriors, except for training with bows and crossbows in time of war. They tend to be proficient with spears and nets but often this skill is used to capture animals rather than in combat against humanoid opponents.
Therions believe that this world has troubles so that individuals can build and leave behind a significant legacy. Usually this legacy is measured in heroic deeds of monster-conquest, civic aid, or scholarship.
Therion literary traditions emphasize memorizing and retelling "wisdom stories". There are many such stories, most of which describe the world before the creation of the eight intelligent races. Some of these stories are believed to be historically accurate, while others are recognized as fiction. The general theme of the stories is how the Oids increased in wisdom and how it is now the duty of Therions to gather this wisdom together and preserve what was learned in those earliest years.
A common type of character in folklore are people able to turn into animals. Therions are a new version of that theme. They get their name from the Greek word therion, the root of the word therianthropy.
Hush stolen baby, don't you cry.
Listen to my lullaby.
Quiet now and show some fear
Or I will eat you to gain a year.
- Ogre rhyme
Ogres are cunning predators who live to eat and prefer the flesh of other intelligent creatures. Many Ogres are unable to control this desire to eat members of the intelligent races, which is known as the Ogre's Hunger.
Ogres are intelligent manipulators as well as devourers. The classic Ogre in a campfire story is a well-disguised assassin or kidnapper. But real Ogres are just as often hiding as apparently helpful advisors or friends to influential people, subtly encouraging a community's elders and leaders to develop faulty morality and greater ruthlessness.
Many Ogres are skilled alchemists, using potions to both aid their schemes and fuel their semblancy.
Ogre Characters: Rule Changes
Ogres receive a free point in the Block/Dodge talent.
Ogres have studied combat so extensively they have become master tacticians. An Ogre can make superior use of situational advantages. The maximum situational advantage bonus for Ogres is 3 points (not the usual 2 points).
Ogres can use the magical racial ability called semblancy.
Nothing is known about female Ogres. Ogres very seldom have children and do not die of old age.
Ogres progress through four different lifecycle categories as they age. Ogres believe they age more quickly if they kill intelligent creatures and eat them.
Young Ogres are Tusked Ogres. They cannot disguise themselves effectively since any humanoid form they adopt retains the large tusks they have instead of lower cuspid teeth. They are normally outcasts from Ogre society who must survive on their own in the Wilder-ness until adulthood. When Tusked Ogres meet they may temporarily partner together, but even then will consider the other a threat and a potential meal (and source of coveted age). Tusked Ogres spend much time practicing their combat skills: unarmed, with a few favorite melee weapons, and with ranged weapons. They also develop an uncanny battlefield awareness. Unknown to non-Ogres, if a Tusked Ogre is fed by an intelligent creature then the Tusked Ogre must obey that creature's commands until the next full moon; this is the source of the similar false rumor about Kobalts. Tusked Ogres grow to a size of roughly 50 kilograms.
When an Ogre is mature it loses its tusks and grows horns, which also are retained when using semblancy. The Horned Ogre often tries to blend in to town or city life. Horned Ogres have developed numerous tricks for hiding their horns, ranging from finding jobs that allow hats or helmets (guards, tavern bouncers, etc.) or using semblancy to hide horns under curly hair. Some Horned Ogres even work in partnership with evil members of the other intelligent races: the partner befriends people while clearly not an Ogre to visual or magical detection, then the Ogre wears the appearance of the partner but with a hat or helmet as he or she waits for the right moment to attack the partner's new "friends", and finally the Ogre and his or her partner share the spoils. Horned Ogres grow to a size of roughly 200 kilograms.
The third stage is the Plain Ogre, which lacks tusts and horns and can better use semblancy. Their natural size can be up to 300 kilograms. Plain Ogres can enjoy living in small villages as well as towns or cities. Some enjoy staying in a settlement for years, secretly preying on travelers to feed their Ogre's hunger, occasionally framing innocent locals for their murders. Other Plain Ogres enjoy being a wanderer, visiting many places and leaving a wake of wrecked lives.
When an Ogre is old enough it changes into the final stage, a Wizened Ogre. Wizened Ogres are rare. They still lack tusks and horns, and their natural size can be up to 400 kilograms. Their wrinkled skin remains when they use semblancy. Some Wizened Ogres maintain a staff of Tusked Ogres they control by feeding. As a group, the Wizened Ogres try to keep secret this ability to control Tusked Ogres so only they can make use of it. Some legends claim that a few Wizened Ogres are very old, peaceful, and the enlightened keepers of an ancient wisdom. But all well-known encounters with Wizened Ogres were quite the opposite of peaceful or enlightening.
Ogres are thought to be almost always solitary, with no known natural habitat. Some live alone in the Wilder-ness. Most of the Ogres so far discovered were hidden among the population of large towns and cities, often disguised as their previous victims while preying off other local inhabitants.
Ogres make many potions. If legends are even partly true then the oldest of Ogres have alchemy expertise far beyond any other people. Certainly alchemy and weapon use are the most notable Ogre arts.
The Ogrish interest in alchemy arises from alchemy's ability to cure the Ogre's Hunger. But the recipe that does this differs for each Ogre, motivating many Ogres to pursue a personal and intense study of alchemy. Those Ogres who have cured their Ogres Hunger call themselves the Sagacious. They usually choose to live in a Therion or Bergtroll settlement as the resident alchemy expert, enjoying a quiet life dedicated to scholarship.
Ogres usually own many sets of clothing and wear little or no armor, to allow the most freedom in disguising themselves. When expecting violence, Ogres will wear as much armor as their disguise allows—or as much armor as possible if they are no longer in disguise.
As warriors, Ogres prefer a combination of a blunt melee weapon and a ranged weapon. Ogres are usually expert with many kinds of weapons, even those which the Ogres never plan to use in combat.
Most Ogres worship Gnash. They listen for reports of greedy and ruthless individuals, whom they sacrifice on special altars so that Gnash can "feed" upon the victim's ruthlessness.
These rules are purposefully vague about what Ogres look like in their natural form. Do they look like normal people (Therions and Bergtrolls)? Are they burly humanoids with huge muscles, green skin, and wide necks? Are they an abominable mass of tentacles, eyes, and mouths?