Options for Everyone

Illustration by Steve Argyle

Racial Ability Bonuses

Players Handbook 3 introduced a new option for player character races. Instead of receiving a +2 bonus to two ability scores, each race was given one constant ability bonus and a choice between two alternatives for the second bonus. That approach has been standard in all books published since then. Most of the races from previous books were updated in Heroes of the Fallen Lands TM and Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms TM, leaving just a handful untoucheduntil now. This article extends the option to the remaining six player character races. Now all characters can adopt those racial archetypes that are thematically fitting but which previously were less attractive choices.

Deva
For millennia, servants of the gods of good bound themselves to mortal forms so that they could directly battle the forces of darkness upon the world. Those remaining in the Astral Sea watched their fellows progress with pride and gratitude, mixed with a growing concern. The devas efforts against the followers of evil were noble and brave, but uncoordinated and often impulsive. Worse, the devas had trouble recruiting mortal allies to fight alongside
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Racial Ability Bonuses

them. A call reverberated through the Plane Above, summoning great leaders and evangelists to abandon their well-earned rests and cloak themselves in flesh once more. So it was that new devas began appearing in the world, dedicated to bringing light against darkness, gathering mortals to their righteous banners, and guiding their hosts to victory. secrets of the mind and of the arcane world. With their characteristic introspection and deliberateness of purpose, some kalashtar probe that darkness to fuel their studies into magic and psionics. warforged along with their more workmanlike fellows. Examples of these late-model designs tend to be slimmer and more graceful in appearance, and often wear a striking black, gold, or silver finish. They are extremely logical, as one might expect of thinking machines, with near-perfect memory and an insatiable hunger for knowledge and learning. They often pursue careers as wizards or artificers.

Shadar-kai
The goal of many shadar-kai is to be remembered in glory when life reaches its inevitable end. They test their own limits and then strive to push beyond them, to achieve the only immortality that matters: being counted among those heroes who are remembered in legend. To achieve that end, shadar-kai are willing to take extreme risks, to gamble everything on one throw of the dice. Some, however, take a longer view of life. They see the road to glory as a long and rugged slope rather than as a looming precipice. To them, the inward-directed life of the monk and the psion hold a special attraction. A select few, upon tasting the richness of life beyond the Shadowfell, lose themselves in the vibrance of the primal world. Like all shadar-kai, they will always be strangers to true joy, yet this sense of wonder sets them apart from their kin.

Genasi
Genasi have the wild souls of elemental beings, and their essentially supernatural nature is part of all that they do. Just as their souls manifest elemental power in different ways, genasi are varied beings. Almost all have keen minds, but their bodies show the effect of their heritage in different ways. Some are physically powerful like a storm, while others possess a capacity to endure like stone.

Ability Score bonuSeS

race
changeling Deva Dragonborn Drow Dwarf eladrin elf Genasi Githzerai Gnome Goliath Half-elf Halfling Half-orc Human Kalashtar Minotaur Mul revenant Shadar-kai Shardmind Shifter thri-kreen tiefling Warforged Wilden

Fixed bonus
cha Wis cha Dex con int Dex int Wis int Str con Dex Dex any cha Str con Dex Dex int Wis Dex cha con Wis

either/or
Dex/int int/cha Str/con Wis/cha Str/Wis Dex/cha int/Wis Str/con Dex/int Dex/cha con/Wis Wis/cha con/cha Str/con none int/Wis con/Wis Str/Wis cha/con int/Wis Wis/cha Str/Dex* Str/Wis con/int Str/int Dex/con

Goliath
These mountain-bred nomads forge powerful ties to the primal world during their alpine wanderings. The influence of their unforgiving environment is obvious in their culture, which emphasizes honesty, boldness, and reverence for nature. Goliaths learn from an early age to draw strength from the mountains that nurture them. Although most pursue the straightforward life of a warrior, their powerful links to the primal world also urge them toward the paths of the warden, the seeker, the shaman, and the druid.

Warforged
Most warforged designs, being intended for close combat, emphasized physical power and durability. The armorers and artificers of House Cannith, however, experimented with many different warforged patterns during the Last War, and smaller numbers of warforged were built for very different purposes. Some of the last warforged designs to emerge from the creation forges were given superior mental ability in order to quickly master various forms of arcane magic. House Cannith hoped to sell these warforged battlemages for a premium price, but the end of the Last War put a stop to the production of these new, more intelligent

Kalashtar
Those who know the kalashtar understand the conflict that roils beneath their serene exteriors. For a kalashtar, every hour is a struggle against the dark madness that lurks beyond the perimeter of sanitys light. But the madness that threatens also contains

*Determined by choice of longtooth or razorclaw

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