Starsworn | PC Races

Starsworn is home to a totally revamped race library. It offers greater visual and lore customization in most cases, but greater restrictions and risks in others. In many cases I am using PHB and Volo's stats for base starting points for you to refer to, but make note that these references may change and you will be required to update any material you have built retroactively. For example, I may refer that a race is using the Half-Orc attributes, but change that as I establish Starsworn-specific rule concepts over time.

The following races those that may be chosen for Player Characters.

New Attributes -

Era - Pay specific attention to which Era your race sires from. Starsworn is influenced by three independent bodies of time - the Cosmic Era, the Dream Era, and the Modern Era, with vast spans of time amidst any of them. Refer to the Background section for more specific information about each Era and its relevance to your character's background.

Age - Starsworn's races vary from the immortal to the modern Human. That your character may have lived a long or short time is irrelevant for Starsworn, for reasons you may discover through the game. Should you desire to create a character at the dawn of an Era or at the end of it does not matter, nor are you required to determine if your character died or not in spite of this.

Starborn

Base D&D Race - Human

Starborn are somewhere between Human and Celestial, but they aren't angels or Gods. They are like you and me, though many of their fantastic powers that might regale them with the life of an adventurer in D&D are very commonplace in Starsworn, depending on the Era. To help create your Starborn character, you must choose what kind of Human you are.

Cosmic Starborn - Cosmic Era

The Starborn of the Cosmic Era were psuedo-immortal, living potentially indefinitely with the help of science. They were embroiled in an eternal war between superpowers ranging across vast regions of space. You may choose an era in which you lived - was it the superstitious dark ages, filled with deep gothic elements, fear of dimensional hunters known as Beastkin, or the Cosmic Era proper, fighting alongside legends such as Baku against the fearsome Iron Emperor or other superpowers? Were you a scientist or researcher involved in the development of advanced technology, such as the Starlight Driver that would lead to the death of everything around you?

Starborn of the Cosmic Era may not be easily distinguished from you or me at a glance, though they often times appear prouder, more beautiful, because of their refined evolutionary traits. They are not well-known for being psychic or supernatural, but it's not impossible.

Prime Starborn (Variant: Algaste) - Modern Era

Starborn born within Algaste prior to their exodus with Odin in the Modern Era. Were you one of the few that survived the shadow of Oshan, racking against demons in your mind and in the mists in a desparate bid to survive? Or were you consumed by the mysterious Starborn known as The Shogun, meeting your end to the infinite misty depths of Algaste's endless expanse?

Those born of Algaste have more significant celestial influences, almost like Aasimar. They are also truly immortal, never aging unless they so wish to (or are influenced by something like Oshan). Many of them have peculiar abilities, making Mystics, Wizards, and other mentalist classes commonplace.

A few of the Starborn to enter the Prime Realm went mad despite leaving the veil of Oshan. They couldn't handle Odin's heavyhanded way of doing things, especially when it came to the subjugation of humans. Only an extremely few of these individuals were not confronted by the Crusaders and subsequently confined. Others chose to hold their tongues, fearful of Odin's own growing desparation to re-open the Apex and return home to conquer Algaste.

Prime Starborn - Modern Era

Starborn born after the exodus of House Odin to the Prime Realm. Far more numerous than their forefathers, they are virtually indinstuishable from their ancestors. They are capable of reproducting the good old fashioned way (being born from the heart of a star, thanks to genetic memories in the elements) or through parents. Consider this detail carefully when designing your Modern Era Starborn.

Almost all Starborn to be born after the exodus are loyal to Odin.

Prime Humans - Modern Era

Humans existed in the Prime Realm prior to Odin's arrival. They were very similar to the Starborn of the Cosmic Era, but less advanced. Odin's Starborn used their supernatural abilities to assert themselves as Gods in human superstition, a road that eventually lead to all semblance of individuality being scrubbed from the Humans. Today, no Prime Human possesses a true sense of individuality - they are clones intended to shield the Starborn from the unknown horrors of the outside realms.

Countless in number, today's Prime Realm Humans hardly even resemble those that Sethis created in Adam's Realm. They are angelic and flamboyant in their appearances, and make exceptional use of the advanced Starborn technology to come of their endless years of toil. The original human technology left behind in the distant realms was either destroyed by the Fracture or plundered by demons, along with any memory of what their world was once like.

Was your Prime Human one of the fights to resist Odin's influence, or were you a faithful? Did you ever encounter Demonkind during your life? Did you live to see the Fracture tear apart everything you worked and lived for?

Humans - Adam's Realm

Humans born of Adam's Realm existed in two sub-eras, both encompassed in the Modern Era.

> Eden - Most relatable to those in D&D, Humans of Eden lived in a fantastical middle age that, although lacked the technology that would be seen in their offspring at the Earth, developed weapons and materials that even those born in the Cosmic Era would find unbelievable - Spirit Weapons and Sigils.

Eden's history is long enough I'll have to write out its own section.

Humans born of Eden were mostly mortal, living 100-200 years. Some, however, were Immortal - especially those born during the time of Olympus. This was really genetic memories from Starborn beginning to manifest. Almost all humans and Starborn present at Eden were consumed by the Echo of Sethis that travelled through the Apex structure that Olympus had created. Were you one such unfortunate individual? Or did you live during the era of the Estolan and Piridate Crusades? Did you hear about The Wanderer Who Became The Destroyer? The Red Legion? The Black King? The fall of the Dark Elves? The horrors of Jebrefekt? Or, earlier yet?

> Earth humans - Basically realworld humans that lived up to an era comparable to the Terrans in Starcraft. If you need more specific details, ask. I'll write out their information later.

Starborn - Adam's Realm - Modern Era

Starborn within Adam's Realm are mortal, living only around 8-15 thousand years, and were born exclusively through Stars created by Sethis. Most of them died before they ever awoke. Those that did survive went on to become legendary heroes... and terrifying villains.

Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Orcs, Halflings (Dream Era, Modern Era (Eden))

These races only existed within Eden and the Dream Era. The Dream Era is nebulous in design enough that if you can bullshit a good enough backstory to fit it probably will. I can possibly make them work in the Cosmic Era as well.

There are two kinds of Orcs - Greenskins, who were few in number following the Piridate Crusaders, and Deep Orcs, who were created by the Underworld after the destruction of Eden's surface world. They as a race served the Red Legion without question, a loyalty bred into their blood.

Tieflings, Dragonborn, Beastkin

In the world of Apex, Hybrids are insanely rare and tend to bring about enormous change and calamity with their immense power. One such example is Alkhazir, a hybrid of Fireborn and Earthborn blood. The most important thing about this is most parents just can't have hybrid children (despite many such attempts to produce Hybrid armies). However... it still happened.

Tieflings and Dragonborn are something you will have to ask me specifically about until I figure out details. Their backstory won't even be remotely similar to D&D's.

As demons and dragons only existed in the Dream Era and beyond, Cosmic Era hybrids cannot exist. However, there may be primordial demons in the Cosmic Era. If you have something you really want to play from the Cosmic Era you can ask and I'll see if it'll take sense to add it.

Dragonborn (Half-dragons in this case) get complicated extremely fast depending what kind of dragon you are looking for. Some are easy to justify, some aren't. Green Dragons, for example, are universally associated with the Greenborn - their hive-mind zerg kind of creatures. How would a hybrid Greenborn dragonkin work? Maybe that would make for one hell of a character concept. But it would be difficult.

As for the furry races, there are several Beastkin clans in the Cosmic Era regarded with fear and awe even despite their low numbers. Jebrefekt and the Silver Crusader originated from these clans. Their originations are somewhat nebulous, but many of them proved to produce a lot of trouble in later Eras. Catfolk and other potentials are treated universally as Beastkin, with details being mostly fluff. If you have interest in such a character let me know so I can hammer out actual mechanical details (not all stats would be the same).

Some Beastkin/hybrids are already established in the Lore. You may use them as a reference if you want something different.

> - Mooru

Puppymen. You can play as a puppyman if you want, but be forewarned - almost all current individuals are familiar with the Mooru exclusively through Jebrefekt, who was basically a werewolf monstrosity that raped and killed without relent. All humans of the Eden world during and after the Crusades not only know of him, many of them hate him and his ilk for the fact that Estolan and Piridate used him as an excuse for genocide in unrelated regions. The Red Legion imprisoned Jebrefekt for years until his intentional release to weaponize him against the Black Heir (resulting in his death). Demons fear Mooru, knowing their spawn, even Hybrids, can become terrifying forces of destruction.

Should you desire to be Mooru, you can be Mooru from the Cosmic Era, which is somewhat nebulous at the moment, or you can be from Eden. They will likely share stats with Orcs.

Mooru hybrids are possible. They're exclusively spawn of Jebrefekt.

Most Mooru can assume the form of a human, like a Lycan. This is unique to Mooru - no other Beastkin can accomplish this - and it takes an eternity of discipline. Shapeshifting is extremely rare in the world of Apex.

> - Natyr

Catgirls, Cosmic Era specifically, though a few showed up in the Modern Era. Less anime catgirly more like Charr. They are typically regarded as savages but their intelligence is betrayed by their hatred for the Starborn of the era. Since they had little contact with the other races besides through conflict, few know much about them. Unlike Mooru, they preferred to live in Limbo, hidden away from the many fleets and prying eyes of the various Starborn factions.

Several of them were reborn in the Dream Era and were forced to participate in the Outlands war to the death.

These same ones were reborn in the Modern Era, either as Mistborn or through other means.

Isabelle is a Natyr who existed in the Modern Era, and served as a mastercraft smith for Alkhazir and other Earthborn. She is rumored to be one of the most capable Spirit Weapon crafters of all time, a shining example of what the Natyr are really capable of if given the spotlight.

-> Xahili

Also catgirls, but born of the Modern Era, with very little physical resemblance to the Natyr (more waifu-like). Rather, they'd probably hate each other if they came across one another. Xahili are specifically spawn of Keljagor and are considered the huntresses and handmaidens of the Red Dragons. They despise Earthborn with a special passion because of the Red Brood they stole and absorbed with their Blood Magic. Speaking of Blood Magic, Xahili are amongst the only races that would have any knowledge of that for PC's. Otherwise, only specific Earthborn and Fireborn demons, as well as Red Dragons themselves, would be aware of its significance, unless a special event happens.

While most Beastkin are thought to be immortal, Xahili undergo reincarnation, much like Redborn and Iceborn, to attain psuedo-immortality.

-> Kitsune

Kitsune and similar creatures are demons, amongst the rarest of all demons. In this world they aren't called "Kitsune", they are simply one of the many "Primal" demonkin, though if you asked the Iron Emperor he might call them "Fox Devils". They are aberrations and don't follow traditional demonkin concept element laws. Again, you'll need to ask about this and give me an idea what you are looking to make. I probably won't post Cyreza's info since it's so critical to the campaign if I decide to run it, but as an idea she was an artificial life form created by the Iron Emperor in the Cosmic Era, and was only given life by the destruction of the Starlight Driver. Kitsune are traditionally regarded to have power equivalent to Gods, so this is where the details get messy. But we can figure it out, I'm sure!!!

Demons

I will allow you to create a Demon character, because Apex F/Segment 5-8 predominantly feature Demon protagonists. However, there are many special laws and rules you should know about Demons, and each lineage is different.

Blood Catalyst Vulnerability

Almost all demons, with the exception of Originals and Hybrids, are vulnerable to a dragon's pure blood, to the point that if a dragon's blood were to spill on them it may cause their bodies to cease functioning if not outright kill them. The more powerful the demon the greater the chance they have of resisting this reaction, but rarely would they survive direct contact. This is one reason why the Earthborn weaponized a dragon brood. Even demon-blooded dragons are weak to the effects of true Dragon's Blood, something they utilized to terrible effect in their Crusades.

-> Fireborn

When you think of balrogs and red-skinned devils with somewhat handsome faces and surging pects, you're thinking of Fireborn. Elementally attuned. Most likely you are a member of House Kalkatha (the legendary Fireborn warlord who slew Jhinheim during the Shadow War), but you could also possibly be a Lowkin (outsider). The Fireborn realm is known as the Ocean of Stars, and is revered by all Fireborn as a sort of benign deity despite having no discernable sentience. The Originals include Aukang, who is deceased. Lazarus is in possession of the Fireborn Manifold, earned through trial by combat over Esofar, the steward of the Throne of Fire.

Fireborn Blood - Fireborn have innate fire resistance and weakness to ice.

They have an extreme distrust of Earthborn, despite Kalkatha working alongside Alkhazir in recent times, because of past wars that lead to the deaths of many Fireborn. Since then their number is rather small, only in the few hundred.

Fireborn are most well-known for their Star Fortresses, including Abaddon who watched over the sleeping Shadow World. Fireborn Star Fortresses are like giant floating castles equipped with magic wielders and exotic weaponry, and excel in sieging surface worlds. Consider if your Fireborn character was present during the apocalyptic Shadow War, and lived to see the Fracture tear apart the world around you. Consider if your Fireborn was present during the Earthborn crusades prior, and suffered at their hands.

-> Earthborn

A member of the Red Legion, you serve the Red Council, including Asmodaeus and Alkhazir, without question. Earthborn are more gaudy and lithe than Fireborn and tend to wear more armor despite leaning heavily towards magic and psychic use. Until recent times Earthborn were regarded to be mediocre in both technology and magic capability, but Alkhazir and Asmodaeus have changed this since they came into power. The Underworld resided in Adam's Realm prior to the Unveiling, but Alkhazir is known to have had confrontations with the Shogun several times, so it's likely he has prepared the realm to move at a moment's notice.

Earthborn deal heavily in Runes, enchanting their weapons and armor like a Wizard would a scroll. Earthborn have Earthblooded descendants, including Deep Orcs. They far outnumber most other demonkin, what constitutes as an Earthborn is muddier, and only true Earthborn have the potential to tap into the mage lineage of their ancestors. They employ many beasts, monstrosities, and machines to shore up the lack of pureblood warriors, and all of these machinations are forged into a formidable war engine by Alkhazir's strategies.

In the past, when Alkhazir first united the Underworld (the Earthborn realm), they launched Crusades across the Prime Realm, hunting down those he believed to be threats. Countless demons and Starborn were slain by these expeditions, but the Crusades lost steam thanks to the involvement of the Stormborn. Since then, Alkhazir has never shown his hand again, perhaps aware of the eternal threat of the Stormborn.

The Earthborn Originals are long dead or missing, including Yu`Lee, Alkhazir's mother.

-> Stormborn

Stormborn appear almost like lithe half-dragons, with exceptional beauty, grace, and stature. They may not look the part of intimidation like other demons strike up, but they are scarier than any other demon with the exception of the Nightborn for what their presence represents alone.

The Stormborn are believed to be the most technologically advanced of all civilizations. Previously thought to be destroyed by the fracture, their reappearance towards the opening of the Prime Apex brought tension to the Prime Realm even greater than the mobilization of the Adam's Realm humans and the fiascos of Lazarus and co. For good reason - the Stormborn are known to send expeditions to the Prime realm solely for sport. When their council believes a time of war is assembling heroes amidst the other races they elect a War King by various trials. The War King then assembles their finest warriors, and a fleet, and commits to the battles between the other forces with the simple goal of defeating those heroes and legends. Stormborn are superficially simple-minded, enjoying the flow of combat merely for what it is. This conclusion is only made by the fact they've never communicated to the other demons before. Typically, they view Starborn as too weak to produce heroes that are worth their attention.

The current War King is Elysah, who won the crown by Trial of Mind. She had dealings with the Fireborn and nearly destroyed their realm in recent times, but for some reason was deterred from pressing her siege. It is believed her fleet is the most dangerous single fighting force in all the Prime Realm at this time, and her personal abilities are entirely unknown.

The Stormborn Original, Farynya, is alive and well, but keeps herself distant from the meanderings of her kin. It is known to the Stormborn she temporarily entrusted the Stormborn Manifold to Lazarus for some reason.

Stormborn Blood - Stormborn have Enhanced Psionic Sensitivity. All psionic effects on you have Advantage. You'd require a mastercrafted circlet like that Elysah has to suppress this effect.

Exotic Arts - Stormborn may have proficiency in two Prime Realm Exotic Demonforged equipment or weapon types, and may choose those types for their starting equipment.

Stormborn can reincarnate like Dragons, but it requires the assistance of the council.

Those born of the mists were dreamed into existence. They didn't live real lives on their own, they are extensions of Concept Elements given life by the power of the Veil of Oshan - potentially without the Shogun even being aware. Mistborn are very similar to Humans statistically, with the exception that everything that defines you was someone else's imagination. You are flesh and blood, but that flesh and blood wasn't grown or created by anything besides impulses given life in the weird wacky muck that is the Veil. Perhaps you are a creature composed of many legends and myths, or a nightmare that was so profound that it manifested into a living creature.

You genuinely believe you are what you are, that you are alive and your past has meaning. But you can't escape the knowledge that this past is an illusion. It's a conflict that drives you to find an identity to cling to, to cement in the realworld, and therefore give purpose to whatever it was that created you.

Technically speaking, Starborn of Algaste are Mistborn, but their concepts are from the genetic memories influenced heavily by superstition and historic events in the Cosmic Era. PC Mistborn are universally created during the Modern Era, but they are very unlikely to have actually escaped Algaste and therefore have very little personal knowledge on the events within the Prime Realm - other whan that created them to begin with.

While there are no true Deities in Starsworn, it is possible for the manifestations of Deities to occur through the Veil. These may be considered Concept Mistborn manifestations. In some repects that may be indistinguishable from a genuine artifact, but such a thing is not likely to escape the Shogun's anime eye.