Use this page and the Race & Species Tables to determine intelligent beings for your realms.
RACES/SPECIES
In this section you will determine intelligent beings that occupy each realm. Such creatures are capable of being part of a society; be it as rulers, common folk or slaves.
Number of Major and Minor Races
Major races make up at least 20% of the population (2d4 x 10% split between the major races).
Minor races make up small pockets of the population. Minor races take up less than 20% of the population (typically between 1% and 10% each).
It is a good idea to leave leave 1-3% for races found in nearby regions and unique individuals or members of races from distant lands or planes.
| Major or Minor Race | Realm Level 1st - 6th | Realm Level 7th - 12th | Realm Level 13th - 17th | Realm Level 18th - 20th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major races | 1d2 | 1d2 | 1d3 | 1d4 |
| Minor races | 1d6+2 | 1d8+2 | 2d6+2 | 2d10+2 |
Specific Race Generation
Below are some massive charts including all intelligent races and creatures that could play a part in a society.
Use the Civilised column for areas where kingdoms, settlements or organisations are set up that are likely to contain more than one race. If a race has communities that are always isolated then they are represented by the Wilderness column, as are actual areas of wilderness.
If the same race comes up, do not disregard the roll. Following the population tables is a ‘Racial Variations’ table where you roll to see how the second group rolled differs from the first. (You may even apply a 10% chance to roll for variations for a singular race).
Major race might have an influence on a Realm’s modifiers. If for example, a highly magical race is rolled, you may wish to add +2 Arcane Attunement.
Roll on this table to generate the general type of race – then roll on the corresponding specific table. The groupings and corresponding tables are done by theme. The races listed first in a group's table are the more common members of that group, whilst the last ones are rare and or powerful individuals that are present mainly for the purposes of determining rules, not general populace. You may wish to select major races from the tables.
Race/Species Group
| Civilized d100 | Wilderness d100 | Aquatic d100 | Underground d100 | Race/Species/Monster |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01-03 | 01-03 | 01-03 | 01-05 | Aberrations & Monstrosities |
| 04-07 | 04-09 | 04-69 | 06-10 | Amphibian & Aquatic |
| 08-14 | 10-21 | 70 | 11-16 | Anthropomorphs & Furries |
| 15-18 | 22-25 | 71 | 17-18 | Avians & Feathered |
| 19-24 | 26 | 72 | 19 | Celestial - upper plane connection |
| 25-29 | 27-29 | 73 | 20-25 | Constructs & Undead |
| 30-37 | 30-39 | 74-76 | 26-35 | Draconic & Reptilian |
| 38-49 | 40-45 | 77 | 36-45 | Dwarves & Small Folk |
| 50-54 | 46-51 | 78-80 | 46-51 | Elementals & Plants |
| 55-64 | 52-61 | 81-86 | 52-61 | Elves & Fey |
| 65-70 | 62-64 | 87-88 | 62-66 | Fiendish - lower plane connection |
| 71-88 | 65-70 | 89-93 | 67-68 | Humans & Near Humans |
| 89-90 | 71-76 | 94-96 | 69-71 | Giants & Big Folk |
| 91-92 | 77-82 | 97 | 72-80 | Insectoids |
| 93-00 | 83-00 | 98-00 | 81-00 | Other Humanoids & Aliens |
Race/Species Variants
If the same race appears twice in the above charts, roll on this table to see what the differences are between the two groups. (Can also roll for singular races 20% of the time or to distinguish groups, such as goblin tribes).
Make a note of these differences under the ‘Appearance’ and ‘Outlook’ sections of the Racial entries. (If there are no variations and appearance and outlook are standard – remove these headings).
| d100 | Racial Variance | Descriptions/Ideas |
|---|---|---|
| 01-03 | Ability/Trait scores | Non-humans have different racial adjustments than normal. If human, maybe they have racial adjustments like other races. |
| 04-10 | Absent 'power' source | The race has no connection at all to a random power source (other than martial). Egs: Divine magic, arcane writings, primal connection. |
| 11-13 | Alignment/Outlook | This group have a very different outlook to others of their kind. Turn one of their key racial outlooks on its head or even a trait like rolling a random alignment. (See ‘Citizen Alignment’ in the ‘At A Glance’ document). |
| 14-15 | Altered | The race has been physically or mentally modified by magical experiments or from living in close proximity to another, undesired or exotic race, such as having undead grafts, fiendish bloodlines, or aberrant mutations. |
| 16-19 | Appearance | Hair, eye and/or skin colour is different. This could be normal, such as dark skin living alongside pale skinned humans or as radical as having green-skinned elves. |
| 20-22 | Connections | A strong connection with animals or beasts native to the realm. They may train them for mounts, guards, companions, familiars, pack animals or they may have unusual domesticated animals such as giant lizards or spiders. |
| 23-27 | Cultural | Completely different culture, such as a tribal American Indian group living in a realm of knights and wizards. They are likely to speak their own language too. (Use real world cultures for ideas or use a non-standard culture for the non-humans – see ‘At A Glance’ charts). May use a subrace to highlight this cultural difference or role a completely new race and use it for the culture only (so you may get goblins behaving like honorable dwarves for example). |
| 28-29 | Elemental connection | Has a connection to all or one of the elements or shows demonic traits. Could use a planetouched subrace or roll a random elemental race from above and combine as a bloodline. |
| 30-31 | Astral/Outer Planes connection | Race has a strong link with an immortal race. Could use a planetouched subrace or roll a random immortal race from above and combine as a type of bloodline. |
| 32-38 | Favoured 'power' source | These people have a strong connection to, or place great importance upon a particular power source, such as arcane magic, primal magic, psionics etc. |
| 39-40 | Flawed | Race has a flaw/weakness. Could be a vulnerability, a lowered defense, or a random one from our All Drawbacks page. |
| 41-46 | Habitat | Race prefers and has adapted to a different habitat to normal members of this race. |
| 47-48 | Planar | Race is actually from another plane. They may have gated in recently or arrived generations ago. |
| 49-53 | Religion | Race favours a different set of deities or may even follow a completely different belief system such as primal spirits, ancestor worship, philosophies, a monotheistic religion, non-religious, etc. |
| 54-58 | Subrace | members of the race have essentially become a new subrace. |
| 59-60 | Technologically advanced | Access to items and manufacturing methods beyond the standard for their race or the standard setting. |
| 61-62 | Technologically behind | Race is more primitive than usual. Most likely a savage stone age culture. |
| 63-79 | Template | Modify the secondary group by applying a random template to them. (Templates have been used in several editions of D&D for example to change a creature). |
| 80-95 | Theme or alternate trait | Apply a theme (as used in 4E D&D), or alternative trait features as presented in many books. |
| 96-00 | Travelers | This group travelled from a distant realm and settled here long ago. Choose another realm and use that as a guide. |
Race/Species Relationship to Ruler/Dominant Race
Roll on the table below for each race/species to determine their relationship with the dominant race or ruler of the realm.
Modifiers
- Same alignment as the dominant race: -10
- Race is evil alignment: +20
- Race is chaotic evil alignment: +30
- Alignment opposite on the good/evil axis to the dominant race: +30
| d100 | Relationship | Description |
|---|---|---|
| -30-01 | Reverence | This minority is actually looked up to by the dominant race. Other races aspire to be as good as this race in whatever it is they are known for. Clearly, the realm as a whole must value what this secondary race is known for. |
| 02-40 | Intermixed | This is often see as the default or standard set up. This race maintains its own cultural traditions and are considered equal members of the same society, though they may live apart, such as elves settling in the forest of a pastoral human realm. |
| 41-55 | Clients | This secondary race has its own rulers, but has sworn allegiance to the ruling realm. This situation is similar to a feudal set up where one swears loyalty to another further up the chain. The two cultures remain distinct, but still intermix to a degree. |
| 56-60 | Assimilation | This race has all but lost its traditions and customs. It shares the culture of the dominant race. (Some racial abilities that rely upon training and cultural exposure should be changed to reflect this). |
| 61-70 | Underclass | This group may have been conquered by the dominant race, could be refugees, or even freed slaves. In any case, there are laws and customs forbidding them to advance far in the society. Quite often, the underclass is looked down upon and they themselves may be a self-pitying group. |
| 71-75 | Ghetto | Members of this race are often confined to a particular neighbourhood, reservation or encampment. They may be allowed to come and go, have curfews, or be totally restricted in their movements. There is little interaction with the dominant race, allowing cultural traditions to remain strong and the word of racial leaders within the ghetto holds more influence than that of the ruling government. Often relations are strained between the ghetto race and the major race(s) of the realm, but this is not always the case. |
| 76-80 | Enslaved | This race has been taken as slaves by the dominant race. This could have happened through conquest or the relationships within a realm may have changed. Long-time enslavement may have changed the culture of the enslaved race. In any case, many of its traditions may have to be practiced in secret. |
| 81-90 | Autonomous | Whilst this race lives within the boundaries of the realm, they do not consider themselves part of it. This race gathers in pockets and resists the rule of the other race(s). The dominant race most likely does not recognize these pockets as separate from their realm, though sometimes treaties are signed to allow a minority to remain completely independent – in which case a separate realm could be created. |
| 91-95 | Persecution | Members of this race are openly persecuted and deliberately targeted. There may even be rewards for this. Perhaps this race was an enemy of the dominant race(s) and is now conquered, or they are the scapegoats for a curse or recent failing of the realm. |
| 96+ | Enemies | This race is the enemy of the ruling race(s), but the rulers have not yet been able to defeat them. They are often on the move or hide in the unwanted regions of the realm. They are too proud to leave their lands and fight the oppressors at any given chance. |
Idea Charts & Resources
| Names & Descriptions | Resource |
|---|---|
| Race Relations | 5E D&D Dungeon Master's Guide p112 |
Location (Settlement Patterns) of Each Racial Group
Roll to see where each race is mainly located within a realm. The dominant race typically lives throughout the region (though you can still roll to determine their main settlement pattern).
Modifiers - based upon relationship to dominant race
- Intermixed: -10%
- Assimilated: -20%
- Underclass: -10%
- Enslaved: -20%
- Autonomous: +20%
- Persecution: +20%
- Enemies: +20%
| d100 | Settlement Location |
|---|---|
| 01-10 | Found throughout the realm alongside the dominant populace. |
| 11-20 | Found throughout the region with one exception: (roll again, ignoring results of 30 or less). |
| 21-25 | Centrally located within the region. |
| 26-30 | Mostly found in the north. |
| 31-35 | Mostly found in the northwest. |
| 36-40 | Mostly found in the northeast. |
| 41-45 | Mostly found in the south. |
| 46-50 | Mostly found in the southwest. |
| 51-55 | Mostly found in the southeast. |
| 56-60 | Mostly found in the west. |
| 61-65 | Mostly found in the east. |
| 66-75 | Roll twice and combine the locations. If you roll this again, add a third location. |
| 76-95 | Located mostly within the terrain that suits the race. Egs: Dwarves - mountains & hills; Elves - forests. |
| 96+ | Located in many isolated pockets throughout the region. These pockets are usually cut off from each other, so there may not be racial unity with this group. |
Names
Does the realm have any naming conventions, such as using nicknames or a model culture? Write some example names and use this convention for naming NPCs or even places.
You may have already rolled a model culture previously for the realm. Otherwise choose one of the following as a guide. Below is a list of resources for names. (Of course there are many on the Internet too, and in time I plan to add links to good ones. I am putting these here so my books get some use ;)).
| Naming Convention/Culture | Resource |
|---|---|
| African - east | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p364 |
| African - Egyptian | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p365 |
| African - south | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p373 |
| African - west | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p375 |
| American - first people | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p370 |
| American - Aztec | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p362 |
| Asian - Chinese | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p363 |
| Asian - Indian | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p368 |
| Asian - Japanese | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p368 |
| Asian - Korean | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p369 |
| Arabia - Arabic | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p361 |
| Arabia - Herbrew | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p367 |
| Arabia - Persian | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p371 |
| Celestial / Angelic | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p382 |
| Dwarven | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p380 |
| Elven | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p381 |
| European - east - Bulgarian | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p362 |
| European - east - Romanian | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p371 |
| European - east - Russian | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p372 |
| European - east - Turkish | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p374 |
| European - east - Ukranian | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p374 |
| European - north - Dutch | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p364 |
| European - north - Finnish | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p365 |
| European - north - Germanic | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p366 |
| European - north - Norse | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p370 |
| European - north - Saxon | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p361 |
| European - south - Greek | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p367 |
| European - south - Itallian | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p368 |
| European - south - Latin | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p369 |
| European - west - Basque | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p362 |
| European - west - French | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p365 |
| European - west - Gaelic | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p366 |
| European - west - Scottish | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p372 |
| European - west - Spanish | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p373 |
| European - west - Welsh | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p374 |
| Fantasy/standard | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p376; Sly Flourish The Lazy DM's Workbook p10 |
| Fantasy surnames - descriptive | Sly Flourish The Lazy DM's Workbook p10 |
| Fey / Sylvan | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p381 |
| Fiendish / Infernal | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p382 |
| Tribal Fantasy | AEG's Ultimate Toolbox p381 |
Languages
State the dominant language of the realm.
List other languages that are commonly known. This makes it easy for players to choose languages for their characters.
Also list any secret or rare languages and what groups of people they are known to.
