Humans are by the far the most populous sentient species on Numinith. They procreate quickly and in great numbers, are clever, aggressive, and powerful when organized.
Said to be descendants of the Mortal Spirit that Ynera created before the War of the Heavens, Humans have formed wildly different cultures, societies, and values over the eras. As generations grew distant from one another, stories were lost, lies became truth, and what was once a singular people has since grown into warring factions. The gift from the Trinity is dimmest in the Races of Men, but is not yet fully extinguished.
Below are some of the more notable Human civilizations and cultures:
The Races of Men all share the same characteristic block, as they are all the same species, with only minor variances in appearance.
| STR | CON | SIZ | DEX | INT | POW | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3d6 (11) | 3d6 (11) | 2d6+6 (12) | 3d6 (11) | 2d6+6 (12) | 3d6 (11) | 3d6 (11) |
Assadian
Assadians are a dark to olive-skinned people from the deserts of Khar. Technically, there are two distinct groups, (the Khar-Assad and the Khar-Assar) but many outside of their society are not familiar with the intricacies of Assadian ways, and often group them together.
The Assadian peoples are worshippers of the New gods of time and magic, but most still worship the Divine Trinity, namely Hekata. The major difference between the Khar-Assad and the Khar-Assar is the ways in which they practice their sorceries. The Khar-Assad focus primarily on using the Runes that Ynera provided to mortals, while the Khar-Assar rely on the innate magical energies within themselves (derived from their Mortal Spirit) instead. The two factions of Assadians are deeply competitive with each other, but have never gone out to open war with one another. Instead, they rely on politics, religion, and magical theory to let out their frustrations on one another.
The Khar Desert is a brutal environment, filled with dangerous desert creatures, unforgiving bandits, and mysterious sorcery.
Standard Skills: Conceal, Deceit, Drive, Influence, Insight, Locale, Willpower
Professional Skills: Art (any), Commerce, Craft (any), Courtesy, Language (any), Lore (any), Musicianship, Streetwise
Playing a Khar-Assad
The Khar-Assad are a very literate culture. Much of their population has the ability to read at least at a basic level, and because of that, Folk Magic is not as uncommon among even the middle-class of Khar-Assad society. Many Khar-Assad take up clerical and scribal work and are known outside of the Khar deserts to be intelligent and beguiling. Khar-Assad sorcerers study the runes in order to activate their powers when casting spells. This understanding of the runes allows many Khar-Assad sorcerers to more efficiently call upon the Runes to cast spells.
Runic Efficiency
This character has an understanding of Runic magic that allows them to avoid wasting their energies on unnecessary runic pathways when casting spells. Once per day, this character can reduce the cost of a successfully cast spell by 1 Magic Point.
Playing a Khar-Assar
Khar-Assar are an industrious culture that use magic and sorcery for much of their daily chores and activities. Their ability to regenerate Magic quickly has made them famous among other regions as innate sorcerers and witches. Their weakness lies in their internal power source, however. Their inherent connection with the Runes is not clearly understood, but their deep connection with the Runes allows even the most mundane among them to quickly generate runic affinity.
Innate Recovery
Recover Magic Points simply by nature of being in tune with their own Mortal Spirit. Recover +2 Magic Points per day (in addition to the default 2 Point Recovery). However, if a Khar-Assar is ever to run out of Magic Points, they immediately fall unconscious for 1 hour and cannot recover Magic Points for a number of days equal to 5 minus their Healing Rate.
Heldorian
Heldorians are a tough folk from the frozen lands of Heldor. They are generally fair-skinned with light-colored hair, although their appearance may vary slightly from clan to clan. They are known among other human cultures as being abnormally large and brutish, as their size and cultural appetite for battle are in contrast with many other human cultures. Generally, Heldorians worship the old god Reylin the Creator.
The lands of Heldor are loosely united, as each clan elects a representative to the Clan Council, which essentially runs the larger scope deals that Heldor has with the outside world. Independently, Heldorian clans are significantly smaller in population than even moderate sized cities in other human cultures, but together, the Heldorians have repelled a number of fearsome invaders over the years. Their armies may be smaller than others, but their warriors are trained with such devotion and ferocity they can compete with armies many times larger than their own.
Standard Skills: Athletics, Brawn, Endurance, Locale, Perception; Boating OR Ride; Sing OR Dance
Professional Skills: Craft (any), Healing, Lore (any), Navigate, Seamanship, Survival, Track
Heldorian War Paint
Heldorian clans each have their own unique symbol and style of painting their faces either temporarily or permanently in preparation for a battle. Heldorians with a Passion for their Clan at 75% or higher may prepare for battle by painting their bodies or weapons. War-Painted Heldorians test Willpower/Endurance/Brawn Opposed rolls at 1 Difficulty Grade easier than normal for the battle they have prepared for.
Sudorite
Sudorites share a common ancestor with the Heldorian people. They are an industrious people with light to brown skin with dark hair and features, although there is quite some variation in appearance between them, as many are mixed heritage with the other various peoples across Numinith. They have a Roman-eque type aesthetic, including their architecture and clothing. The horse is also deeply ingrained in their culture, originating from the pivotal role they played in the defeat of the Scale-Kin and ultimately the foundation of The Republic of Delmond.
Sudorites are at the pinnacle of civilization, having founded The Republic of Delmond, one of the largest human empires in the known world. However, they have quite humble beginnings. They fled south to escape the northern tundra, as they cold plains were teeming with man-eating were-beasts. Led by Harmon Delmond, they escaped through The Frozen Pass and into the relative safety of the The Azure Coast.
Standard Skills: First Aid, Deceit, Ride, Influence, Insight, Locale, Willpower
Professional Skills: Art (any), Commerce, Craft (any), Courtesy, Lore (any), Musicianship, Streetwise
Rally
Sudorites have banded together over their long history to claim their territories and fight off beasts and barbarians alike. A Sudorite can rally their allies to overcome overwhelming challenged. A Sudorite can test Influence/Oratory or any other relevant persuasive skill to decrease the Difficulty Grade of the next Willpower/Endurance tests made by any allies within earshot by 1 grade. This ability can only be used once per day and only applies to the current turn in combat or that particular scene if out of combat.
Someshi
The Someshi are a group of tribal people that live in the Someshi Plains. Their culture worships the Trinity, as well as a collection of The New Gods. They span a vast swathe of land, traveling nomadically with the rains. Their culture highly values cats, especially the larger predatory cats that can be found throughout the savanna. They believe that cats are vessels of the spirits of great warriors who have yet to be called to Hekata the Caretaker.
They are several groups of people that share a similar culture, and many of the tribes are led by spiritual Shaman (or councils of Shaman) that communicate with the land, the predators, and even the weather itself. Individual tribes of Someshi may occasionally war with one another over land, resources, or even access to sacred land or the spirits themselves.
Standard Skills: Athletics, Brawn, Dance, Evade, First Aid, Insight, Locale
Professional Skills: Craft (any), Survival (Savanna), Lore (any), Musicianship, Navigate, Track
Windspeak
Once per day, this character can ask for information or guidance from the nature spirits in their immediate surroundings. They can only ask simple, brief questions and the spirits can only respond in vague ways using natural phenomena such as a sudden gust of wind, a crack of lightning, or sparks in a fire.
Jekkarene
The Jekkarene are a deeply isolated people, ruled by an immortal god-empress, Empress Ihara. Their culture is that of service to their queen and her council of sorceresses. The Jekkarene empire is a matriarchy, where only women are allowed to practice sorcery and magic, and men follow either a martial or a production role that fuels the empire’s growth and sustenance.
Empress Ihara is famously paranoid, and rightfully so. Many other sorceresses within her council have attempted to usurp her throne in the past, and many continue to do so even to this day. But Ihara has always outwitted them and punished them brutally and publicly. Still, many continue to work in the shadows to take her place on the throne and rule with immortality as she does.
Due to their geographic and cultural isolation, the Jekkarene people are generally xenophobic, and many cultures outside of Jekkara refuse to deal with them, fearing their god-empress Ihara.
Standard Skills: Conceal, Deceit, Perception, Insight, Stealth, Willpower, Evade
Professional Skills: Craft (Any), Streetwise, Lore (Any), Courtesy, Musicianship, Commerce, Art (Any)
Burden of Birth
This ability can only be used by Male Jekkarene characters. This character has had to bear the burden of toiling in absolute service to their Empress. Once per day, this character can re-roll any non-wound Endurance test.
Burden of Conspiracy
This ability can only be used by Female Jekkarene characters. This character was born into a world of deceit, schemes, and conspiracy. Once per day, this character can test Insight at one difficulty grade easier when trying to determine if someone is being deceitful.
Swords & Stones 