What is a Fantastic Race?
If Epic Path is your first foray into Table-top Roleplaying Games, you might be a bit confused about all these weird 'races' that are listed here.
What is this all about? Aren't there enough races of humans to keep players happy?
In a nutshell, if you look back through hundreds of years of mythology and story-telling, the answer is 'No'.
Fantastic races have been a staple of myths and fables for many hundreds of years, and probably for thousands of years before that, all over the world. Everywhere that one person told a fantastic tale to another person, that tale often involved some fantastical creature from a fantastical race. It's like humans universally enjoy the fantastic, all over!
References to Elves and Dwarves, Huldras and Gnomes and Fairies, Kappa and Nymphs, and many dozens if not hundreds more, have been a staple of mythology and story-telling for many centuries before Epic Path came around.
So, in keeping with the age-old traditions of fantastic story-telling, we present tons of fantastic races for the players to roll up as their characters.
Sometimes it's nice to 'try something new', and as part of that, we have striven to make every fantastic race feel and play differently. A classic Human is going to play differently than a Sylph, even though both of those races are quite comparable and tons of fun. In Epic Path, there is no 'best race', there are merely, 'different and cool' races. Even more importantly, every race can be used to play equally well with any character class. There is no need to always be a Dwarf if you want to play the toughest Fighter. A Gnome Fighter can be as tough-as-nails as anybody else in these rules!
So the races are here to honor the age-old traditions of fantastic story-telling, and to give players the ability to play something cool and different, no matter how many times you've played a table-top RPG, whether that's a thousand sessions, or if this is your very first game.
In Epic Path, the many Fantastic Races are roughly divided up into various categories.
The first category are the 'Old Races', or 'First Races'. These are the species of intelligent, civilized player character races that have been around the longest. They include the Dwarves, the Elves, Gnomes, Halflings, and of course, Humans.
Old Races
| Race | Size | Movement Types | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dwarf | Medium | Walk 20 ft. | Mountain folk, renowned for their smiths and craftsmen |
| Elf | Medium | Walk 30 ft. | Graceful immortals from the First World |
| Gnome | Small | Walk 20 ft. | Endlessly curious explorers with manic personalities |
| Halfling | Small | Walk 20 ft. | Dauntless hill folk, brave and lucky |
| Human | Medium | Walk 30 ft. | Adaptable people who always yearn for more |
The second category are the 'Beast Races'. These are generally more recent species which have arisen over time, and include the Gata, the Grippli, the Kitsune, the Nagdyr, and the Tengu. There are the same number of Beast Races as Old Races, for 'reasons'.
Beast Races
Race Size Movement Types Notes Gata Medium Walk 30 ft. An impulsive race of aggresive warriors, aligned with cat spirits Grippli Small Walk 20 ft., Climb 20 ft. Fun, clever, and smiling, these quick folk are aligned with frog spirits Kitsune Medium Walk 30 ft. Lovely, clever, and sly, this race is aligned with fox spirits Nagdyr Small Walk 20 ft. A rodent-like people known for fast-talking and guile Tengu Medium Walk 30 ft. Hardy, brave, and brilliant, this race is aligned with raven spirits
The third category are the 'Spiritual Races'. These include the Arborians, Bru-Kin, Fey-kin, and Barani.
Spiritual Races
Race Size Movement Types Notes Arborian Medium Walk 30 ft. A matriarchal society made strong by the forest spirits Barani Medium Walk 30 ft. A bloodline forever altered by celestial interference Bru-Kin Medium Walk 30 ft.* Physically imposing, with one foot in tragedy and the other in nobility Fey-Kin Medium Walk 30 ft. Mixed-breed people who have trouble fitting in
The fourth category are the 'Elemental Races'. These include the Ifrits, Oreads, Sylphs, and Undines.
Elemental Races
| Elemental Race | Size | Movement Types | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ifrit | Medium | Walk 30 ft. | Fiery of appearance and temperament, a race aligned with fire |
| Oread | Medium | Walk 20 ft. | A race of the stone within, as strong and reliable as bedrock |
| Sylph | Medium | Walk 30 ft. | A race of the air above, as unpredictable and swift as the wind |
| Undine | Medium | Walk 30 ft., Swim 30 ft. | Gentle in their strength, a race aligned with flowing water |
The fifth and last category are the 'Sports', or 'Outsider Races'. These include the Changelings, the Mallori, the Tieflings, the Vanx, and the Vishkanya.
Outsider Races
| Race | Size | Movement Types | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Changeling | Medium | Walk 30 ft. | Too pretty for their own good, this race blends in like no other |
| Mallori | Medium | Walk 30 ft. | A race of humanoids touched by the demi-plane of shadow |
| Tiefling | Medium | Walk 30 ft. | A bloodline forever altered by Infernal experimentation |
| Vanx | Medium | Walk 30 ft., Swim 30 ft. | Amphibian builders of weirs and canals, as loud as they are kind |
| Vishkanya | Medium | Walk 30 ft. | Born of a curse, these serpentfolk make their way in a new world |
We encourage everyone to read as many or as few of these races as they want, see if there is anything that appeals to your personal interests.
Then, pick the race you think is cool, or even just pick something at random and see how you like it. We promise, every combination is different, and interesting, and fun.
After all, fun is the whole point, isn't it?