Fantasy Player Races

Fantasy role-playing games are often referred to as human-centric games. Stories often revolve around
human protagonists with their dwarf and elven friends. They are most commonly good hearted characters
that are either trying to defeat evil or simply explore and gain riches. The game rules allow for us to do
whatever we want with them…and these races should be used in the spirit of that. Some of the reasons to
allow these races…

● You have a campaign where every player creates a monster race. These adventures not only focus
on the dungeons and crypts, but maybe also searching human inhabited castles and sewers.
Adventures can focus on an orc tribe that needs help with the murdering humans trying to settle the
area.

● You have a rich fantasy world where many races co-exist. This is a world where you would walk into
a tavern and see a lizard man talking with a human companion.

● A player wants to be the monster befriended by a group of adventurers. They quest together as
equals, but when in civilized areas…there is much disdain and paranoia towards the character. This
allows for good role-playing and adventure opportunities.

There are some things to keep in mind when using these races…

● They should be humanoid and sized right to fit in dungeon hallways, houses, castles, etc. This
helps the Game Master when creating adventures (or even using adventure modules) if everyone is on
the same scale. An ogre still must look up at a dragon, and they can still use a discovered magical
weapon or armor.

● Morality is a measure of the monster’s point of view. A goblin can play a good character, and still
slay humans. The goblin (named Muk in this example) is a Warrior that stumbles onto a mining
colony of goblins. They are just trying to mine some ore but a group of humans have come to the area
and are determined on wiping them out. Muk then stocks up on some supplies and sneaks into the
human camp…on a quest to rid the land of the evil human presence. The goblins were there before
the humans…and the humans are simply invading.

● Monsters do not automatically get along with similar monsters. If you have an orc that stumbles
across another group of orcs…they are not automatically friends. Maybe there is a better chance of
such things, but it is not guaranteed. Maybe the orcs simply don’t like the approaching character.
Maybe they are in a clan that tolerates no other orcs. There are many reasons why this could be true.
So don’t worry about using the classic monsters as encounters.

● Forget racial hatred. Although it exists for encounters, it does not need to be incorporated into the
group. You may want to role-play the fact that one race dislikes another, but it does not change the
fact that this is a group of misfit adventurers that seek the same things humans and elves do.

The descriptions for these monsters can be found in your game’s monster book.
Bugbear
Speak: Common, bugbear, goblin, and hobgoblin
Multi-Profession Limits: The less restrictive applies for armor and weapons
Professions: Barbarian, Priest, Warrior, Shaman, Thief, and Multi-Profession
Dark Sight: 60 ft
Move: 120 ft

Abilities:
● +1 Str, -1 Int and Per
● Are considered giant opponents
● Surprise bonus +1

Min/Max Attributes:
● Strength 8/19
● Agility 8/17
● Stamina 8/18
● Intellect 3/16
● Wisdom 3/18
● Personality 3/14

Profession Limits:
● Barbarian 12
● Priest 8
● Warrior 12
● Shaman 8
● Thief 9

Gnoll
Speak: Common, gnoll, troll, orc, and hobgoblin
Multi-Profession Limits: The less restrictive applies for armor and weapons
Professions: Barbarian, Warrior, Shaman, Thief, and Multi-Profession
Dark Sight: 60 ft
Move: 90 ft

Abilities:
● +1 Str, -1 Int and Per
● Are considered giant opponents
● Suffer -1 to attack rolls in sunlight

Min/Max Attributes:
● Strength 6/19
● Agility 5/18
● Stamina 5/18
● Intellect 3/14
● Wisdom 3/16
● Personality 3/14
Profession Limits:
● Barbarian 12
● Warrior 12
● Shaman 9
● Thief 10

Goblin
Speak: Common, goblin, kobold, orc, and hobgoblin
Multi-Profession Limits: The less restrictive applies for armor and weapons
Professions: Warrior, Shaman, Thief, and Multi-Profession
Dark Sight: 60 ft
Move: 60 ft

Abilities:
● -1 Str and Per
● Detect new/unusual underground construction on 1-2 on 1d8
● Suffer -1 to attack rolls in sunlight
● -4 to attack rolls by bugbears, giants, gnolls, ogres, ogre mages, titans, and trolls

Min/Max Attributes:
● Strength 4/15
● Agility 4/17
● Stamina 5/16
● Intellect 3/18
● Wisdom 3/18
● Personality 3/12

Profession Limits:
● Warrior 10
● Shaman 9
● Thief 12

Hobgoblin
Speak: Common, hobgoblin, goblin, and orc
Multi-Profession Limits: The less restrictive applies for armor and weapons
Professions: Barbarian, Warrior, Shaman, Thief, and Multi-Profession
Dark Sight: 60 ft
Move: 90 ft

Abilities:
● -1 Per
● Detect new/unusual underground construction, sloping passages, and shifting walls on 1-4 on 1d10
Min/Max Attributes:
● Strength 6/18
● Agility 6/18
● Stamina 5/18
● Intellect 3/18
● Wisdom 3/18
● Personality 3/14

Profession Limits:
● Barbarian 11
● Warrior 11
● Shaman 9
● Thief 12

Kobold
Speak: Common, kobold, goblin, and orc
Multi-Profession Limits: The less restrictive applies for armor and weapons
Professions: Warrior, Shaman, Thief, and Multi-Profession
Dark Sight: 60 ft
Move: 60 ft

Abilities:
● -1 Str and Sta
● -4 to attack rolls by bugbears, giants, gnolls, ogres, ogre mages, titans, and trolls
● Suffer -1 to attack rolls in sunlight

Min/Max Attributes:
● Strength 3/16
● Agility 4/18
● Stamina 4/15
● Intellect 3/17
● Wisdom 3/18
● Personality 3/14

Profession Limits:
● Warrior 8
● Shaman 9
● Thief 12

Lizard Man
Speak: Common and lizard man
Multi-Profession Limits: The less restrictive applies for armor and weapons
Professions: Warrior, Shaman, Thief, and Multi-Profession
Dark Sight: 60 ft
Move: 60 ft (120 ft in water)
Abilities:
● Armor class bonus +2
● No underwater attack penalties
● They must wet their skin once a day with at least a waterskin amount of water. Failure to perform this
will cause death from dehydration after an amount of hours equal to their Stamina.

Min/Max Attributes:
● Strength 8/18
● Agility 3/18
● Stamina 6/18
● Intellect 3/17
● Wisdom 3/18
● Personality 3/16

Profession Limits:
● Warrior 12
● Shaman 7
● Thief 9

Minotaur
Speak: Common and minotaur
Multi-Profession Limits: The less restrictive applies for armor and weapons
Professions: Barbarian, Warrior, Ranger, Shaman, Thief, and Multi-Profession
Dark Sight: 60 ft
Move: 120 ft

Abilities:
● +2 Str and Sta, -2 Wis and Per
● Armor class bonus +1
● Are considered giant opponents
● Surprise bonus +2
● Can track as a ranger
● Immune to maze type spells
● Cannot wear any hat, helm, or boots

Min/Max Attributes:
● Strength 12/19
● Agility 5/14
● Stamina 12/18
● Intellect 5/14
● Wisdom 3/16
● Personality 3/16

Profession Limits:
● Barbarian 12
● Warrior 12
● Ranger 8
● Shaman 7
● Thief 10
Ogre
Speak: Common, ogre, orc, troll, and stone giant
Multi-Profession Limits: The less restrictive applies for armor and weapons
Professions: Barbarian, Warrior, and Shaman
Dark Sight: 60 ft
Move: 90 ft

Abilities:
● +2 Str and Sta, -2 Int and Per
● Armor class bonus +1
● Are considered giant opponents
● 2 hit dice at 1st level
● May use two-handed swords with one hand

Min/Max Attributes:
● Strength 16/19
● Agility 2/8
● Stamina 14/18
● Intellect 2/8
● Wisdom 2/9
● Personality 2/8

Profession Limits:
● Barbarian 12
● Warrior 12
● Shaman 3

Orc
Speak: Common, orc, goblin, hobgoblin, and ogre
Multi-Profession Limits: The less restrictive applies for armor and weapons
Professions: Barbarian, Warrior, Shaman, and Thief
Dark Sight: 60 ft
Move: 90 ft

Abilities:
● +1 Str and Sta, -2 Per
● Suffer -1 to attack rolls in sunlight
● Detect new/unusual underground construction on 1-2 using 1d6
● Detect sloping passages on a 1 using 1d4

Min/Max Attributes:
● Strength 6/19
● Agility 3/17
● Stamina 8/18
● Intellect 3/16
● Wisdom 3/16
● Personality 3/12

Profession Limits:
● Barbarian 10
● Warrior 10
● Shaman 9
● Thief 9
Other Races
Although some races are of the monstrous variety, some are races of a fantastical nature. These are races
that one may encounter in the forest, living peacefully among the trees. Like the Monster Races, these races
are described in your game’s monster book. They can be incorporated with a similar methodology as the
Monster Races as well.

Centaur
Speak: Common, centaur, and elvish
Multi-Profession Limits: The less restrictive applies for armor and weapons
Professions: Bard, Druid, Warrior, Ranger, Wizard, and Multi-Profession
Move: 180 ft (90ft underground)

Abilities:
● +1 Sta and Wis, -2 Agi
● Able to perform a hoof attack for 1d6 damage
● Armor class bonus +1
● Are considered giant opponents
● Damage x2 when charging with a lance
● Gain +1 when attacking with a bow

Min/Max Attributes:
● Strength 11/18
● Agility 3/16
● Stamina 11/18
● Intellect 3/16
● Wisdom 4/18
● Personality 3/18

Profession Limits:
● Bard 12
● Druid 10
● Warrior 12
● Ranger 10
● Wizard 9

Pixie
The pixie can be a powerful option for a player to choose when you reference
your rules about their abilities. This pixie has been scaled down to be used
as a player race. Pixies gain their abilities as they age (which in these
terms…gain levels). Pixies are also about 2’ tall. This should be strongly
considered when playing such a race. They should be limited to armor and
clothing that would fit a gnome. They should also only be allowed to use
the smaller weapons (short bow, dagger, sling, etc).

Speak: Common, pixie, and sprite

Multi-Profession Limits: The most restrictive applies for armor and
weapons
Professions: Warrior, Thief, and Multi-Profession
Move: 60 ft (120ft flying)
Abilities:
● +1 Agi and Per, -1 Str and Sta
● Armor class bonus +1
● -4 to attack rolls by bugbears, giants, gnolls, ogres, ogre mages, titans, and trolls
● Requires x2 experience to gain levels
● They can fly with maneuverability of B
● Ranged weapons only reach half the normal distance
● They have lower health dice (Thief d4…Warrior d8)
● At 1st level, they may know morality (priest) once per day
● At 2nd level, they may cause confusion (wizard) once per day, and by touch only
● At 3rd level, they may self polymorph (wizard) once per day
● At 4th level, they may cause shimmering lights (wizard) once per day
● At 5th level, they may use ESP (wizard) once per day
● At 6th level, they may create an audial/visual illusion (without concentrating) once per day. The illusion
will last for a number of turns equal to their level, unless it is dispelled
● At 7th level, they may cause an forcing dance (wizard) once per day
● At 8th level, they may remove magic (wizard) once per day
● They can turn invisible once per day for a number of turns equal to their level. If they are damaged by
any means, they become visible again
● When they achieve 3rd level, they can detect evil or good once per day. The distance is dependent on their
current level…
DETECT EVIL OR GOOD RANGE
Lvl 3-4 Lvl 5-6 Lvl 7-8 Lvl 9-10 Lvl 11-12
10’ 20’ 30’ 40’ 50’

Min/Max Attributes:
● Strength 3/14
● Agility 8/18
● Stamina 7/16
● Intellect 6/18
● Wisdom 3/16
● Personality 3/18

Profession Limits:
● Warrior 8
● Thief 12

Satyr
Speak: Common, satyr, dryad, elvish, and centaur
Multi-Profession Limits: The less restrictive applies for armor and weapons
Professions: Bard, Druid, Warrior, Ranger, and Thief
Dark Sight: 60 ft
Move: 180 ft

Abilities:
● +1 Agi and Sta, -1 Int and Per
● Cannot wear any boots
● Surprise bonus +2
● Can hide in the forest at 90% (can be detected by those that see
hidden/invisible things)
● Able to perform a head butt attack for 2d8 damage
 ● If a satyr bard has pipes for an instrument, they may attempt to cause others to be charmed, fall asleep,
or flee in fear. At 1st level, they may do this once per day. At 5th level, they may perform this twice per
day. At 10th level they may do this three times per day. Unlike other bard abilities, this is a magical
ability that satyrs have. This means that any victim that can save versus magical spell will be
unaffected by the songs.

Min/Max Attributes:
● Strength 6/18
● Agility 8/18
● Stamina 7/18
● Intellect 3/17
● Wisdom 3/18
● Personality 3/17

Profession Limits:
● Bard 14
● Druid 7
● Warrior 12
● Ranger 9
● Thief 11