Pedresco orcs are by far the most common, and their features a bit closer to humans, with smaller tusks and gentler brows. Other Berans, as well as de Guerra orcs, used to use the slur ‘half-orc’ to insult the Pedresco orcs, and indeed the term might have some truth to it, as these lowland orcs were more likely to integrate with humans and perhaps even some elves. But after the founder of Ber, Vairday Bruse, hailed from among the Pedresco, the label has taken on a complicated role in orcish culture, co-opted to imply that the ‘other half’ is Beran, a national identity rather than a racial one. 

Today Berans of all heritages are drawn to the example of their nation’s founder: confident and powerful civility, with a humility that respects that others might have wisdom you lack, and an unrelenting refusal to give in to tyranny.

Cultural Studies. You are proficient in Culture.

Relentless Endurance. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest .

Wisdom of the Panoply. When an ally uses the Help action to aid you, you can reroll one of the dice you roll and use the new result. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest .

Languages. You know Common, Orc, and one Beran language such as Draconic, Gnoll, Goblin, or Minotaur.
 

This rare community of elves in Elfaivar were for centuries shunned because they were accused of accepting the blessing of a violent bestial god, which gave them features that shift between those of elf and tiger. The Harimau, however, believe they have been blessed by Hewanharimau, bringing them closer to the purity and strength of nature. 

Though their women did not perish with the death of Srasama, the Harimau were forced into hiding by Elfaivaran survivors who assumed they and their ‘curse’ were somehow to blame. Once the empire had collapsed, though, the Harimau would sometimes let outsiders join them, even Elfaivarans who longed for the power their god offered in blessing. Today the gulmohar matriarch Dhebisu has allied with them, promising them a role in restoring Elfaivar’s greatness.

Hidden Intentions. Because of long-standing slander against your people, you prefer social restraint and subterfuge. You can gain advantage when you make a check with a skill or tool against a creature that you are hidden from, or if you are successfully disguised, or if you have deceived that creature somehow. After you do, you cannot use this trait on that same creature until you complete a long rest .

Jungle Predator. You are proficient in either Stealth or Survival.

Tiger Visage. Whenever you attack, you can shift your appearance to grow claws, deadly teeth, and striped fur like a tiger. While so shifted, your unarmed strike can deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage, and deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier damage. Making this transformation requires no action, but once you do, you have to spend an action to revert back to your normal appearance.

Pounce. If you move at least 20 ft. straight toward a creature and then hit it with a melee attack on the same turn, that target must succeed on a Strength saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or Dexterity modifier) or be knocked prone . If the target is prone, you can make one unarmed attack against it as a bonus action, though you must use your tiger visage for this attack. You do not need a free hand to make this unarmed attack, since you could bite or perhaps use your feet to claw your enemy.

Languages. You can speak, read, write, and sign in Common, Elvish, and Abyssal (the blessed language of Hewanharimau).

The largest woodland in Lanjyr is Elfaivar, the eponymous empire of the region’s southeastern subcontinent. Elfaivar’s elves developed wondrous magic and learned to blur the borders of the Waking and the Dreaming. But their holy war with the Clergy ended with the death of Srasama, the Elfaivaran goddess of womanhood, and the backlash slew all but a few hundred Elfaivaran women. The surviving men fought over the ruins or fled in a diaspora.

But secretive enclaves run by matriarchs were committed to protecting the surviving women, preserving Elfaivaran culture, and rebuilding the civilization. In time these enclaves grew into secretive cities, where women were revered and given the finest training in martial arts, spellcraft, and statecraft, while men competed in grand competitions of art and athletics, hoping a woman might favor them and choose to have a child with them. 

The enclaves were sometimes aided by foreigners who felt a drive to help save a people from near death, and even sometimes sheltered those who were persecuted in the colonies that were slowly conquering the empire’s old land. Then twenty years ago the gulmohar’s return added millions of women, skewing the sex imbalance in the opposite direction and giving all Elfaivarans a hope for a new future.

Elfaivarans have a close connection to the Dreaming, which manifests whenever they use magic, causing their entire eyes to glow faintly with the color of their irises. Almost every Elfaivaran possesses the inherent power to step briefly into the Dreaming, allowing them to bypass enemies and difficult terrain before reappearing in the Waking.

Dreaming Native. Your time in the Dreaming has suffused your being with its very energy. In addition to being humanoid, you also have the fey creature type. Additionally, you are proficient in either History or Nature.

Elfaivaran Training. Elfaivarans must be able to defend their people, but art and beauty elevates life beyond mere survival. You are proficient in longswords, scimitars, and whips. You are also proficient in one tool or instrument of your choice.

Endure and Thrive. A story can only be a tragedy if we let it end. You can cast the cantrip spare the dying . In addition, at 3rd level you can cast heroism once per long rest . When you use either of these powers, you recite a verse from the Dirge of Vekesh or a similar mantra.

Fey Step. You know how to briefly slip between the Waking and Dreaming. You can cast misty step , but must take a short or long rest before you can do it again. If you aren’t on the Waking or Dreaming, this power still functions, and to an outside observer you appear to instantaneously teleport, but to you it feels like you spend long moments in a void between worlds before arriving at your destination.

Languages. You can speak, read, write, and sign in Common, Elvish, and Sylvan.
 

Drakran culture is steeped in philosophical debate, and those who study and devise their own philosophies are the main drivers of society.

Epistemological Breadth. You are proficient in Culture, and you gain an expertise die when you make a check with a skill to debate or know about philosophy.

Ethical Imperative. You can cast command once per long rest. At 3rd level you can cast suggestion once per long rest. The saving throw DC for either of these is 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Wisdom or Charisma modifier.

Hard to Sway. You have advantage on saving throws against illusions and to resist being charmed . Deception, Intimidation, and Persuasion checks against you have disadvantage .

Languages. You know Common, Dwarf, and Primordial, enough to study nearly all major philosophies.
 

De Guerra orcs are more common in the mountains and highlands of Ber, with their strongest core on the northeast coast, along the shore of the Marrajado del Oro, where orcish sailors long raided Risuri lands. They take their name from the de Guerra family, whose matriarch Corta Nariz de Guerra is the current Bruse and ruler of Ber. 

Since the establishment of modern Ber, many non-orcs have adopted de Guerra ways, especially those in the military, which often shuffles citizens around the country to train with those descended from other tribes, the better to foster national unity and pride in cultural heterogeneity.

Aggressive. As a bonus action, you can move your speed toward an enemy of your choice that you can see or hear. You must end this move closer to the enemy than you started.

Punch Above Your Weight. You are accustomed to dealing with peoples and creatures much larger than normal. Add half your proficiency bonus on damage rolls for attacks against creatures Large or larger.

Reliable and Vigilant. When you would make an ability or skill check or saving throw , you can ignore one source of disadvantage . After you use this ability, you cannot use it again until you complete a short rest .

Steady Legs. Whether climbing mountains or crewing a ship, you’ve learned how to keep yourself and your allies from becoming unbalanced. When you or an ally within reach would fall prone or be pushed, you can grant them an expertise die on the saving throw or check to resist. (An expertise die is an extra 1d4 that you roll and add to your main d20 roll.)

Languages. You know Common, Orc, and one Beran language such as Draconic, Gnoll, Goblin, or Minotaur.

Bloodmarked gnolls are by far the more likely to be seen in Beran society or elsewhere in the world. They still emphasize a feral menace, but form bonds with allies that are almost as fierce as with family.

These gnolls and others who reject modern Beran society live in a patchwork of unincorporated tribes which all share the adulthood tradition of “blooding.” To become an adult, one must kill an animal with one’s teeth, which once had to be done on a hunt. Today, though, all but the most severe tribes have made this into a formalized ceremony with domesticated animals, sometimes drugged, presented for youths to slay. 

Bond of Blood. You and allies within 5 feet of you have advantage on death saving throws .

Harrying Barks. When you deal damage to a creature you can bark, chortle, howl, or make other unnerving vocalizations. The target you damaged must make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma bonus). If it fails, it is frightened of you until the end of your next turn. After you use this ability, you must complete a short or long rest before you use it again.

Speak with Hunting Beasts. Through sounds and gestures, you can communicate with carnivorous mammalian hunting beasts, such as bears , hyenas , and wolves . These animals have no special fondness for you.

Unyielding. When you fail a saving throw , you may reroll it. After you use this ability, you cannot use it again until you complete a long rest .

Languages. You know Common, Gnoll, and one Beran language such as Draconic, Goblin, Minotaur, or Orc.

Doppelganger Traits

Characters with the doppelganger heritage share the following traits:

Age. Doppelgangers age much as humans do, typically living a century or less. Their apparent age is a matter of choice.

Size. In their true form, doppelgangers can stand anywhere from 3 to 6 feet tall, but they can adopt the size and build of any Small or Medium humanoid. Your true size is Small or Medium.

Speed. Your Speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light , and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Shapeshifter. As an action, you can change your form and your voice to that of any Small or Medium humanoid creature you have seen before, or back into your true form. Your clothing and equipment are not transformed. You revert to your true form if you die.

Doppelganger Gifts

Doppelgangers are keen observers, with eyes that are able to see through darkness and sometimes into the minds of others. In addition to the traits found in your doppelganger heritage, select one of the following gifts.

Mindsight

Your deceptions and manipulations are aided by your eerie ability to understand what people are thinking. You gain an expertise die on Deception and Insight checks.

Telepathy

You can speak telepathically to any creature within 30 feet of you that you can see. The creature understands you only if the two of you share a language. You can speak telepathically in this way to one creature at a time.

Doppelganger Paragon

When you reach 10th level, you are an exemplar of doppelganger-kind, and you gain the following paragon gift.

Read Thoughts

As an action, you can magically read the surface thoughts of one creature within 60 feet that you can see. Additionally, until the end of your next turn, you have advantage on attack rolls and Deception, Insight, Intimidation, and Persuasion checks against the creature. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain any expended uses when you finish a long rest .

Doppelganger Culture

Doppelgangers are widely distrusted. The existence of a creature with the ability to take another’s form, and perhaps even read minds, is a horror to anyone with even the most innocuous of secrets. Doppelgangers are targets of intense paranoia and are banned from many communities; when they are discovered, they are often imprisoned or executed on the spot.

Most doppelgangers live in hiding and have had to rely on their parents and immediate family to teach them who they are. Others come to terms with their powers without any help at all. There has never been a doppelganger census. Still, some manage to find each other, and many cities unknowingly host a loose society of doppelgangers who gather in secret for protection and support.

Doppelgangers know as little about their origins as they do their numbers. However, rumors tell of a place far underground where doppelgangers walk freely in their true forms. Many doppelgangers venture into caves and dungeons in search of this mythical land.

Suggested Cultures. While you can choose any culture for your doppelganger character, the following cultures are linked closely with this heritage: cosmopolitan, faceless, itinerant, kithbáin halfling, Underlander.

Lizardfolk Traits

Lizardfolk gain the following traits.

Age. Lizardfolk reach adulthood at age 14 and live up to 70 years.

Size. Medium. 

Bite. You can use your teeth as a natural weapon to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with it your bite, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier.

Coldly Calculating. You can resist unwise impulses. When you fail a Wisdom saving throw or would become frightened , you can delay that effect until the end of your next turn. You cannot use this trait again until you complete a short or long rest .

Speed. Your base Speed is 30 feet.

Lizardfolk Gifts

Lizardfolk have diverse combinations of abilities, so choose two of the following gifts.

Aquatic

You can hold your breath for up to 15 minutes at a time, and you have a swim speed of 30 feet.

Autotomous

As a reaction you can detach one of your limbs, typically a tail, to escape from a grab. At the Narrator’s discretion, this might also help you end other conditions as well. This detachment does no hit point damage to you. Without intervention, you can regrow a limb to full functionality after a week. However, if you receive 20 hit points worth of magical healing when you are already fully healed, your limb will regenerate during your next long rest .

Chameleon

You can change the patterns and colors on your scales, and with effort you can extend that ability to your equipment. You can spend an action to become invisible until the end of your next turn. This invisibility ends if you attack, cast a spell, or move more than 5 feet.

Climber

You have a climb speed of 30 feet.

Runner

You can Dash as a bonus action.

Spiky

When a creature grabs you it takes piercing damage equal to your proficiency bonus. Each turn it maintains the grab, it takes this damage again.

Tough-Scaled

When you aren’t wearing armor, your AC is 13 + your Dexterity modifier. A shield’s benefits apply as normal while you use your natural armor.

Venomous

When you deal damage with your bite, you can inject venom. The creature you bit takes poison damage equal to your proficiency bonus. At the end of each of that creature’s turns, it must make a Constitution saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier) or else takes that poison damage again. If it succeeds its save, the effect ends. 

After you use this ability, you cannot produce venom again until you complete a short or long rest . 

You can alternately spend a bonus action to release venom onto a weapon you’re wielding, which will have the same effect when it damages a creature.

Your venom loses potency within an hour once it leaves your fangs, but someone proficiency with a poisoner’s kit can use it as one of the ingredients needed to create a vial of basic poison . This reduces the cost of the vial of poison from 100 gold to 90 gold.

Lizardfolk Paragon

When you reach 10th level, choose one of the following paragon gifts.

Metamorphosis

Whenever you complete a long rest , you may choose one of the lizardfolk gifts you don’t normally possess. Your body shifts to gain that gift until you use this ability again.

Torpor

Your metabolism can slow enough to put you into stasis. You can intentionally enter torpor as an action. You become incapacitated and appear dead, but remain conscious, and you do not need to eat, drink, or breathe until you emerge from torpor, which requires no action. 

You may automatically enter torpor when reduced to 0 hit points. While in torpor and at 0 hit points, you do not normally need to make death saving throws on your turn. However, you still must make a death saving throw if you take damage while at 0 hit points.

Lizardfolk Culture

Most lizardfolk communities protected themselves from the old dragon tyrants by presenting themselves as methodical, quiet, and not driven by emotion - simultaneously not a threat to the dragons, but also an ineffective target of their oppression. After centuries, what was once an affectation became seen as a mark of distinction, and a restrained lizardfolk would be seen by their people as having the moral rectitude to resist temptation. Lizardfolk in Ber are often seen as trustworthy in matters of building effective bureaucracies.

Quiet doesn’t mean dull or heartless, though. Their art and culture are simply more focused on internal reactions, and their festivals focus on serenity or cooperation rather than celebratory outbursts. 

There are a few exceptions to this trend, as some lizardfolk tribes allied closely with one dragon tyrant or other, or lived in remote swamps that seemingly offered little of value to exploit. These communities have reflexively begun to revel in raucous behaviors, and make some of the loudest and most experimental music on the continent.

Suggested Cultures. While you can choose any culture for your lizardfolk character, the following cultures are linked closely with this heritage: cosmopolitan , Pedresco , villager .

Kobold Traits

Kobolds gain the following traits.

Age. Kobolds reach adulthood at age 16 and live up to 200 years.

Size. Small. 

Darkvision. You have 60-foot darkvision.

Speed. Your base Speed is 30 feet.

Easily Unseen. When a creature first comes within line of sight of you, you can use your reaction to Hide, even if you don’t have anything to hide behind. When you hide this way, you gain an expertise die on your Stealth check. (An expertise die is an extra 1d4 that you roll and add to your main d20 roll.)

Kobold Nimbleness. You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.

Kobold Gifts

Select one of the following gifts.

Close Quarters

You have advantage on melee attacks made against a creature whose space you are in. 

Also, your sensitive whiskers grant you blindsight with a range of 5 feet.

Draconian Wings

You have a flying speed of 30 feet. To use this speed you can’t be wearing medium or heavy armor. Whenever you spend 3 consecutive rounds airborne without landing, you gain a level of fatigue . Any fatigue gained in this way is removed upon finishing a short or long rest .

Kobold Paragon

When you reach 10th level, you gain the following paragon gift.

Preternatural Senses

With a twitch of your whiskers, you can extend your senses. You can cast one of the following spells: arcane eye , clairvoyance , detect magic , locate creature , or locate object . Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for this spell. After you use this ability, you cannot do so again until you complete a short or long rest.

Kobold Culture

Suggested Cultures. While you can choose any culture for your kobold character, the following cultures are linked closely with this heritage: itinerant , Pedresco , villager .

Goblin Traits

Goblins gain the following traits.

Age. Goblins reach adulthood at age 12 and live up to 60 years.

Size. Small. 

Darkvision. You have 60-foot darkvision.

Nimble Escape. You can Disengage or Hide as a bonus action.

Speed. Your base Speed is 30 feet.

Goblin Gifts

Select one of the following gifts.

Adaptive Fortitude

You gain an expertise die on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance to poison damage.

At 3rd level, you gain the ability to cast enhance ability  once per long rest . Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

Soothe the Beast

You can call upon instincts to calm a dangerous creature. Beasts and monstrosities with Intelligence 3 or less have disadvantage on attack rolls against you.

At 3rd level, you gain the ability to cast animal friendship  once per long rest , except it can also work on monstrosities with Intelligence 3 or less. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

Goblin Paragon

When you reach 10th level, you gain the following paragon gift.

Unbreakable

When you succeed a death saving throw you can spend one Hit Die to heal 1 hit point. You can’t use this feature again until you complete a short or long rest .

Goblin Culture

Goblins are integrating into society, but many still live on the fringes. Most goblins are seen with suspicion, even hunted.

Suggested Cultures. While you can choose any culture for your goblin character, the following cultures are linked closely with this heritage: De Guerra , stoneworthy , wildling .