CYBER-PULP FANTASY CORE-Halfbreeds

CYBER-PULP FANTASY CORE

© Jerry Harris 2013

Published here as Open Game Content.

(This link will take you to the Fantasy Core Index.)

Overview Index

Background Index

HALFBREEDS

Humans alone are able to produce offspring with some of the other races (to this point).  The various half-breeds, Halflings, Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, Pixies, Gnomes, are still pretty rare and tend not to fit in anywhere completely.  Tieflings are lumped into this grouping by society, but they are actually fully Human.  Some try to hide their heritage to fit in.  A few, however, revel in their outsider status, especially if they’re famous.  (Some Humans even fake a half-breed appearance for truly vain reasons.) 

GNOMES

Gnomes were a major race of Humanity before they were nearly exterminated by a genetically engineered plague, the Gnome Extinction Event.  Radical Humanoids did the distribution, but no one knows who created it.  Their unique physiology made them easy to target in a mixed population.  Some Dwarves have speculated that the virus was either intended for them, or this was a test run for it.  Gnomes are related to Dwarves, but are male and female and reproduce sexually.  The original Gnomes were the product of female Dwarves and Humans, creating a unique race.  This is why Dwarves have long since banned the making of females of their kind.

HALFLINGS

Halflings were once a fairly common race.  Essentially, they were the product of a recurring Human trait indicating a Half-Elf or Pixie in one’s family history.  Much longer-lived than typical Humans, but still able to breed as often, their numbers multiplied.  Eventually however, the trait has mostly faded into standard Human form.  Much of the remaining Halfling community was destroyed in the Last War (which is going to be left completely undefined here).  Small communities still exist, scattered across the globe.  

HALF-ORCS

Orcs are the only Humanoid race that has been able to breed with another, and only with Humans.  Half-Orcs produce Half-Orc offspring with Orcs and Human partners.  They are bigger and stronger than either race.  However, they still only live to about 30 and are only just barely inherently smarter than the average Orc.  Most seem destined to live the same crappy lifestyle as other Humanoids.  Hopefully, the characters can do better than that.

TIEFLINGS

Perhaps worse off than all are the Tieflings.  They are cursed with a magical disfiguring genetic mutation, and are seen as literal living relics of the time of magic.  A Tiefling’s ancestor dabbled in Forbidden Magic and paid the price for it, down to their descendants.  Most are ashamed or embarrassed by their condition and use some sort of masking or cosmetic surgery to remove the taint if possible.  It’s all bad.  Many have inherent magical powers that give them an advantage.  Tiefling characters are the luckiest in that they very useful powers and only minor disfigurement.