Race Category - Halfbreeds

Halfbreeds came into the world often as a result of powerful arcane magics. A few are thought also to be magical accidents, and several others may have been the workings of divine intervention. In most cases, halfbreeds will have the blood of humanity flowing in their veins, and in some it is the blood of another other humanoid or demi-human race. We list six races in this category: centaurs, cherubim, lizardmen, minotaurs, skaven and wulfen.

Centaurs

These powerful and noble creatures have the torso and the upper body of a human and the lower body of a horse. They are a strong and proud race, easily offended and impulsive. Centaurs can make use of any human weapon, but they are especially fond of maces and lances, the latter of which they can wield in the same fashion as a human rider on a warhorse. Centaur society is generally pastoral and peaceful, but they can be fierce warriors when the need arises. Like many woodland creatures, they have a great respect for nature's balance, and try not to disturb the world they live in. Centaurs are on good terms with elves, gnomes and halflings, but are suspicious of humans and dwarves.

Cherubim

Cherubim are a race of intelligent bird-men, looking almost like normal humans with large wings on their back. They have a pale skin, with a skin tone varying from bright blue to white. Their feathers can be of nearly any color and pattern, as they often paint them with a special tint that can last for life, similar to tattooing. Cherubim live between the highest mountain peaks. The average cherubim stands about five and a half feet tall, with a wingspan of nearly 20 feet. Like all true avians, cherubim have hollow bones, and most weigh no more than 80 to 90 pounds and on that account they are vulnerable to bashing attacks. They are strong and swift flyers, allowing them to travel great distances without tiring. As a race cherubim are very claustrophobic, and dislike being indoors or underground. As there are some renegade cherubim, who have turned their energy towards evil, cherubim can be of any align or ethos.

Lizardmen

A lizardman is a reptilian humanoid standing between six and seven feet tall. They weigh between 200 and 250 pounds, and their hides are covered with tough scales of dark green to brown color. Lizardmen have long, dangerous claws and thick, powerful tails up to four feet in length. They are exeptional swimmers and can hold their breath twice as long as most air-breathing creatures, but they are slow and somewhat clumsy on land. They live in the deeper regions of natural cave systems, sometimes emerging to raid and take captives where the lower levels of Dwarven or Goblin holds break into these formations. They are almost exclusively a subterran race, and rarely seen out in the open exept sometimes at night. The only recorded lizardman settlements have been small communities of fifty or fewer individuals, with crude drystone huts in larger caverns, but on the whole they seem to move from place to place in semi-nomadic hunting parties. Lizardmen are socially primitive, but quite capable of organising themselves to fight or to produce the few material items they need. By the way, they are coldblooded...

Minotaurs

Most Minotaurs are cursed humans, or the offspring of minotaurs and humans. Minotaurs are powerfully built and tower more than seven feet in height, with the head of a bull and the body of a human male. Minotaurs revere physical strength above all else, and they believe that the strong should naturally rule the weak. Minotaurs view surrender as an admission of weakness, and are likely to fight to death regardless of the circumstances. Many minotaurs are brutal savages, but they are not always mindless killers. They are ruthless, harsh, and stubborn, but they can be surprisingly intelligent and introspective.Every now and then, a minotaur's horns allow him to stun an opponent in combat.

Skaven

Skaven are a race of beastman combining the natures of man and rat. They came into being among the ruins of the Old Slann civilization, when giant rats were mutated by their exposure to a mighty source of raw magic, imbued with all the corrupting power of chaos. This material is known as 'Warpstone' and in its unrefined form it is very dangerous - prolonged exposure to it producing severe mutations or death. Skaven strongholds are scattered beneath ancient ruins all over the known world from which a spider web of tunnels and warrens connects them to the sewers and drains beneath living cities. They worship a chaos god known as 'The Horned Rat' whose high priests go by the name of the Thirteen Lords of Decay. The direct servants of these priests are an order of shamans called the Grey Seers, while the bulk of Skaven society is organised into clans. Skaven wear dark, ragged clothing over whatever assorted armour they posses. This is usually made from animal hides augmented with metal plates, studs, and tattered bits of mail scavenged from battlefields. Clan symbols are prominently displayed on clothing and shield, and sometimes dyed or even branded into fur. Favourite weapons are long knives with notched or serrated blades. Skaven take the form of giant rats in a twisted parody of human form, between four and six feet tall. Except for their ear and tail, they are covered in close-growing fur. Most are either brown or piebald, but some are black, white, or grey. As Skaven are rendered chaotic and anarchist beings, they are not protected by the law.

Wulfen

Wulven measure approx. 5' at full stance, 4' in normal crouch, weight about 170 pounds. They have thick body fur, golden-brown to black to silver/white. They are humanoid, capable of a bipedal crouching stance but preferring quadrupedal stance for movement, and wolflike in facial appearance (extended snout and muzzle, pointed ears). Their front paws are wide and three-toed capable of holding items, but not designed for manipulating tools. They have retractile claws. Wulven are carnivores, with strong hunting instincts. They are agile, and have extremely acute hearing and olfaction, though their vision is poorer than human. Most Wulven are instinctive fighters; formal combat training is rare. Similarly, there seems to be an instinctive pattern of dominance/submission behavior that results in heirarchical social structures throughout all Wulven communities. Wulven are found all over the world in small packs and villages. In general, the Wulven do not consider other races their equals - the Wulven term translates into something between "servant" and "resource."