Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 14:45:32 -0700 (PDT)
As with all racial discussions, PC's may violate the terms here entirely but the farther you deviate from the norm, the more likely there is to be severe in-game social consequences. Or to put it another way, a Lawful Good Red Dragon will have a hard time convincing anyone that he's not evil. Similar strictures apply here.
The "Shining Court" is made up primarily of what in AD&D are called Gnomes on the Seelie side, and Bugbears, Hobgoblins and Goblins on the Unseelie side. In fact it includes just about all of the "small" races such as Pixies (Seelie), Gremlin (Unseelie) etc, the four races mentioned above are just the ones that most often deal with outsiders and are the least alien in outlook.
The Monster Manual names are what Sea People call them, they call themselves The Singers for Gnomes, The Strong for Bugbears, The Masters for Hobgoblins and The Hands for Goblins. Other races have similar discriptive names.
While the Seelie and Unseelie overtly have very different motivations and ethos, their society is a near exact mirror image of each other. It is just that the Seelie official stance is altruistic and the Unseelie is selfish. As such, the Seelie will have more good than evil members, Unseelie more evil than good and both have a fair neutral population. While Ethos is defined by the Court to which you belong, Law and Chaos are personal choices, and society has maybe half in the "neutral" camp, the remaining half split evenly between Law and Chaos.
Shining Court society maps fairly well to European Renaissance or High Middle Ages, except that the power relationships are more personal. Land and titles are static, except if the Shining Court absorbs new territory. The "Warden of the Black Forest" will have a Seelie and Unseelie officeholder, and responsibilities and rights that go with the title are owned by both and their followers...but the Seelie own the rights during the day, the Unseelie by night. However none of the titles except possibly High King and High Queen are truly hereditary. Instead there is a pool of people of the Blood who are allowed to assume the title on its vacancy, and that person will be chosen from the best people of the Blood available at the time of the vacancy. As Seelie and Unseelie don't usually die simultaneously it ensures that each position normally has an experienced senior member until the new person learns the ropes. However as Seelie and Unseelie aren't exactly harmonious, that experienced person gets an opportunity to take advantage of his new "partner" for a while.
All Heroes are people of the Blood, and in theory only Heroes end up "settling down" and holding office. In practice that's not strictly true (see Aristocrats). Members of the Blood are only supposed to marry other members of the Blood. There are rare instances of a commoner taking up the mantle of Hero, but in such cases, if that individual is successful it usually turns out that he's a long lost prince separated at birth or she's a changeling switched by Goblins to try to prevent fulfillment of a prophecy or something. Other races may question the veracity of such stories, but the Shining Court officially believes that only the Blood can be Heroes, and the Shining Court is very very good at writing history to please itself.
Given the tastes of the various races, Shining Court settlements may be strictly Seelie or Unseelie. Urban areas are normally both, with the Unseelie coming out at night, the Seelie during the day, both living pretty much side-by-side (although in some areas where tensions run higher they may segregate into districts within the town). Settled areas tend to have the Seelie doing the agriculture and the Unseelie doing the mining, and Unseelie doing more of the crafts than the Seelie....but neither will let the other have a total monopoly in case tensions run high for a period. Wilder areas are typically "Hunting Reserves" and are jointly owned by both, with day or night "Hunting Rights". All the border lands around the Shining Court are considered fair game for Heroic (or Covert) destabilization, conquest or exploration. The Shining Court grows slowly but it has been steadily expanding for most of recorded memory. Resistance tends to cause a "two steps forward, one step back" kind of approach, giving ground now and returning later, generally decades later. Whether the invasion of the Sea People changes this or merely redirects it is yet to be seen. The more settled areas are far from the Shining Court borders. Most of what outsiders see are the "Wild" areas, leading to many misconceptions about the Shining Court, including that they're harmonious with the Wild (Dwarves) that they don't have a very sophisticated society (Earth People) and that they don't organize in large groups (Sea People...the older races know better).
All Nobility are trained to be Heroes and in theory any adult of the Blood who has not taken up a Title is a Hero, with all the Divine Attention that this implies.
In practice, the young adults who seek out challenges and adventure are actually Heros. Some instead become cohorts of the Heroes, others opt-out and develop social skills (see Aristocrats). A true "commoner-hero" (not someone merely raised secretly to be a hero thinking he's a common sheep- herder yet somehow knowing how to sing Bardic songs and swing a sword) must take a level of a "commoner" class...(you can split 0/0 as apprentice) and thus if not a Bard (Gnome) or Rogue (Goblin) will suffer xp penalties for multiclassing. Usually Titles go to successful, active Heroes who have expressed a desire to "Settle Down" (thus retiring them from Divine Attention and rewarding them for their success). Politics, however, can foist an important title on an Aristocrat or even a "firstie" Hero (the latter is often a dangerous region and it is intended as a kick in the butt to get the Hero out doing mighty deeds. This may also be a ploy by the opposite court to get someone weak as a partner)
The State Religion in Seelie court is Day worshop, the State Religion for Unseelie is Night worshop. However any religion one alignment place away from NG or NE are tolerated within each society. The LN and CN religions have few followers and while allowed to practice tend to be treated like Jews (LN) or Gypsies (CN) within both societies...persecuted minorities but not destroyed out of hand.
Non-Gnome Shining Court members have different roles, but among the Seelie all Heroes are Gnomes.
Gnomic heroes are expected to be tough in adversity, to be able to sing about their accomplishments and to dazzle the opposition with deception and illusion before dropping the boom. Many non-heroic gnomes know a smattering of magic to emulate their betters and gain status in their own realm. Gnome heroes often begin with a level of Bard, both for the excellent skill and language choices and to be able to sing their own praises from the moment of their elevation into that career. In the gnomic armies, half of the warriors are capable of the minor Gnome cantrips and the level 1 corporals are often trained as level 0/0 bard/warriors, as per the DMG apprentice-dual class rules. This makes fighting a gnomish army a very strange experience indeed. Since the Heroes are the nobility, the tendency in large engagements is to parcel out the heroes to their own men-at-arms and scatter them throughout the army. This makes the warriors harder to crack with tight bands of heroes but also reduces the Gnomic ability to carry out raids of their own.
As with most favored class races, they will take bard as one of their early levels (using the 0/0 apprentice rules) unless there is a compelling reason why they would not (such as charisma under 10 or alignment restirctions)
All Heroes....Charisma under 10 is unusual for Gnomes, because of the popularity of dual-classing with Bard. A low charisma hero will often avoid the Bardic level...and as a hero who can't Sing or otherwise compensate will be considered tough but dangerous/odd by Gnomes
Popular among those who travel with other races for the movement ability. The extreme emotional style of this class fits well with Gnome ideas of heroism, as are the nature-oriented skills. A barbarian will typically dual with Barbarian as primary class/bard as secondary class when starting out.
Obviously a good choice. Most people with Sorcery aptitude end up as Bards instead. Most Bards stay as pure bards but some will mix a level or two of another class in, to make themselves distinct.
Day mostly, Sky sometimes, Night rarely. About as many LG, CG and LN put together as Sky, about as many of other alignments put together as Night. The Shining Court recognizes that relationship with a God is highly personal and will respect the "oath of fealty" given...but that does not mean they are comfortable with all priests. Most Clerics will take a level of Bard for the weapon proficiencies and the social skills, and will usually take it as the primary, with cleric as secondary when starting out. Hearth Clerics are quite often Neutral Good instead of Lawful good, just so they can use the Bardic style and abilities and fit in better in the Gnomic society. High charisma, highly lawful high wisdom gnomes tend to end up as paladins. Low charisma highly lawful high wisdom gnomes tend to be pure clerics, but considered odd. Many of the Non-Day clerics tend toward low charisma, as low charisma clerics are somewhat out of normal society bounds anyway.
In-betweeners are always slightly suspect and the Druids don't fit well into the nobility model of the Gnomes. However Gnomes have many smaller cousins who do fit into the natural scheme so they are tolerated on their home-ground. Druids rarely bother to take a level of Bard, as it doesn't really help their social standing. Many gnomic druids have low charisma. In most cases, Druids are treated as any other "priest of non-Day" although the LN and CN druids will have a harder time of it than the others, and the NG ones will have an easier time.
Fighters tend toward non-chaotic, and tend to specialize in flashy feats. They also tend to be the strongest Gnomes, although there are some who use ranged feats or weapon finesse combined with clever weapons. Exotic weapons are popular, especially whip (which is a bardic weapon choice) as tripping and disarming opponents is a common option. Fighters will typically take the level of bard as primary, for the social skills and fighter secondary when starting out.
Monks are rare, and tend to be pure monks. They have some of the fighter show-off nature and diplomacy tends to be a skill that gets a lot of use. Many monks have low charisma, the higher charisma lawful good heroes with fighter+wisdom tendencies usually end up as paladins (and LN and LE Gnome Heroes are rare)
If you are lawful good, a Hero and with all the attributes a Gnome values (combat attributes, wisdom, charisma) you are quite likely to end up as a Paladin of Hearth or Day. Of course that combination of qualities is rare, but Paladins fit well into the culture, as long as their Diplomacy skill gets some ranks.
A lot of rogues are true-neutral and will typically have excellent relations with both Goblins and Gnomes. Good aligned gnome rogues tend toward scouting or intellect related skills such as search/disable device, as the charismatic types tend to end up as bards. Most Rogues will have a level of Bard for the expanded weapon selection and the Singing ability. Gnome thieves tend toward very flashy and risky crimes, and some go the "Robin Hood" way, stealing from those they deem unworthy and giving to the poor.
Rangers work pretty much like Fighters in the Gnomic society except that instead of doing flashy-feats straight-up, Rangers tend toward cleverness and stealth....think Zorro instead of Conan. After sneaking in, kissing the maiden, and being discovered by the angry noble of the castle, he will fight a flashy duel up and down the stairs while his cohorts hustle the objective out. Unlike a rogue though, the ranger does like a good fight...he uses his skills to set it on his terms, but in the end he'll want a brawl. A ranger will tend to take ranger level as primary/bard as secondary when starting as her skill emphasis is toward stealth and alertness, not social skills.
Most sorcerers are Lawful, as the rest are strongly encouraged to be bards. Regardless of alignment, Sorcerers usually don't take the bard level, and as such are considered somewhat odd, unpredictable and dangerous, unless the Sorceror takes a heavy investment in cross-class diplomacy skill (and at least one rank in Perform) to smooth things over.
Wizards tend to take the bard level first, wizard second when starting out. (heroes who can't swing swords and sing just seem wrong). Wizard spells tend toward flashy, but a significant subsection goes the "ranger" route and adds in a lot of spells to get into position and sneak around before dropping the boom. Gnome wizards are not straight-up fighters, they prefer misdirection and ambush. That doesn't meant they won't have a fireball racked for when the fighting goes down.
As Heroes make up the nobility, most of the NPC classes represent commoners. Among Gnomes the tradition is more like the English Yeomanry than European Serfs. A Gnome commoner has a Lord but has a fair degree of independence as long as he performs the expected service/tax owed. He also has rights and among those rights is that of protection by the Lord and from the Lord. If a Lord mistreats a commoner, that commoner can appeal to any Lord higher rank. The ruling of the Royal Family (High King/Queen), however, is final.
Gnomish society is oriented toward Altruism, rather than selfishness, the degree of organization or independence varies from individual to individual, and from subrace to subrace.
Noncombatants put their feats into whatever pleases them. Skill focus is common, as are magical feats for races that have magic. Running (or flying really fast) is also somewhat popular, alertness less so. Most non-heroes have a rank or two in perform, otherwise they have a normal skill mix, suitable for their professon.
The main distinction of a Gnomish Commoner from other races is that he will usually have a performance skill of some kind so he can join in at parties. Otherwise he'll specialize in his profession and use other skill points on whatever interests him. There is a wide divergence in individuals, one expert Farmer may know everything about wild plants in the area, another may know how to mix animals (and their droppings) in, another may artistically arrange his fields. A high level commoner has a very deep understanding of his speciality and his other skills will all be related somehow. The key thing about Gnomes though is they want to be noticed, to be different. They do NOT have a driving desire to be the "Best".
A Gnomish expert is like a commoner, but has a wider range of interests. A 19th century "natural philosopher" is a good example of what an expert might be....rather than a narrow focus, he wants to know about plants, animals, medicine, natural processes and physical processes. As the social system is not terribly complex and personality based, the Expert skills tend to be oriented toward knowledge, craft and practical professions, not law. A high level Expert might know 20 or 30 different skills at "competence" level (effective skill 5) or he might know several at about 10 ranks but will never approach a commoner's depth of focus on one skill.
Usual disclamer that DmG Adepts aren't in this world. Seelie Court adepts are "Healer" clerics with a stripped down spell list, access to only one domain, no armor/shield proficiencies and no turn/rebuke abilities. They are really "lay" members of the religion, and their purpose is to handle day-to-day healing and community support needs to the nearest Hero Cleric or Lord doesn't have to be constantly pestered. A Druidic adept has a different spell list and no domain, has the usual druid weapon restrictions, no armor proficiencies and no Druid powers beyond his spell list.
A gnome Warrior is a commoner whose primary profession is weapons, although they can be very eccentric about how they do it. A gnomish "army" is a polyglot of races and warriors with unconnected styles, lead by Heroes that they have sworn fealty to. Given that over half the warriors will have the Gnomish cantrips, the ability of such a group to signal and perform deceptions is quite high. How effective the group is depends on the quality of its nobility. Some Heroes are very effective battle leaders, others are horrible. Still, the good ones are good enough that the Shining Court's territory has slowly expanded over the centuries. Gnome warriors mostly practice with their Unseelie counterparts, and while direct Gnomish military actions are rare, a Warrior gets a lot of experience in skirmish and raids. Blindfighting is a common Warrior feat, as Unseelie mostly operate at night.
Gnome Aristocrats are people of Noble blood, who in the proper course of things should have been Heroes but just didn't have the "right stuff" to do their "Hero Years". A Gnomish hero is expected to a have a few years of glory and then settle down to rule. In those years he earns most of his levels. An Aristocrat is someone who is not untried (those are the level 1 Heroes), but rather someone who has the noble blood but opted out. Their martial training is largely wasted and their social skills are mostly used to get a good marriage with a real Hero. On the plus side Gnome Aristocrats serve well for maiden/young prince in distress and kidnap victims to provide a Hero a chance for proper heroism. They also serve an important role in smoothing over social difficulties with egotistical Heroes that in theory rule the land. Gnome Aristocrats are three times as common as usual, (1.5% instead of .5%) and that extra percent comes out of the Commoner pool.
Heroes that never "Settle down" either get killed in high level adventures or vanish for long periods of time only to reappear in times of greatest need (outer planes? Just exploring the rest of the world? Only the songs they sing might give a clue).
This applies to Goblins, Hobgoblins and Bugbears. The official Unseelie position tends to be Night worshop, which means the bulk of Goblin culture will at least on the surface appear to be Evil, where Good is Altruism and Evil is Selfishness. Law and chaos are more of a personal choice.
Hobgoblins and Bugbears quite frankly don't work well as a PC race due to having all the advantages and none of the disadvantages of goblins. If the GM allows an Unseelie player, it should probably be a goblin. A Hobgoblin is pretty much a "Big goblin" with no charisma penalty. A strong, high con, high charisma "Goblin" PC might be allowed to be "size-Medium" and be a Hobgoblin at GM choice (but he still has to subtract two from str/cha and does not get +2 con...he has to have the good attributes AFTER those penalties). Culturally also Hobgoblins tend to get their "levels" in internal politics and raids, it is the job of the Hands (goblins) to interact with new environments and outsiders.
Bugbears are CR2 and as such will be a level behind for their CR in all "Hero" skills. Bugbear Heroes serve as Champions for Hobgoblins and like Hobgoblins are rarely seen outside of Shining Court lands, they're too busy with internal politics, or rather keeping their Masters alive in the normal course of those politics.
That said, all the stuff for "Goblin" Heroes applies to other Unseelie Heroes, as the cultural values are quite similar. The Non-Goblins just tend to be a touch more direct in conflicts.
A goblin PC would have -2 str, -2 cha +2 dex, darkvision and a racial +4 to move silently. He or she would also be small. Hobgoblins tend toward Law, Bugbears to Chaos, and both have stronger Evil tendencies than their smaller Goblin fellows, who tend to be bullied more by the stronger Unseelie races and therefore have more incentive to adapt themselves to other cultures and races.
The favored class is Rogue, and it is favored for much the same reasons Bards are favored among Gnomes. Rogues have all the skills that are valued in the culture (Stealth, Cleverness, Deception socially and physically) and a Hero without these skills seems just wrong. Non-heroic goblins tend to be alert and stealthy, to emulate their betters, and this is reflected in their racial abilities.
In all of the discussion below, it applies to Hobgoblin and Bugbear as well, although toleration of non-traditional religions and classes is a lot lower. Hobgoblin barbarians and Bugbear monks are both rare, due to typical alignment issues. The larger races are less averse to a straight-up fight as well, but the tendency toward valuing stealth and ambush is very strong among all three races.
Goblin heroes are expected to be clever, quick and nimble, and to keep their true face hidden from their enemies but be able to secretly enjoy their exploits in the company of their peers. Where a Seelie Hero's reputation is known to all, a Goblin hero's reputation is known to his peers and his Gods. Military orgnization is quite similar to that of the Seelie, with the major exception that their Warriors tend to be unusually alert and expert at spotting and setting ambushes, and their corporals are usually full level 1 rogues, with all the skills and feats that that implies.
Having no special alignment or skill restrictions, a Goblin Hero who begins with anything other than Rogue as his initial level (often 0/0 dual-classed with his intended primary skill) is quite rare. This single class usually involves getting skills in Tumble, Sneak, Hide, Spot and Listen in addition to whatever skills they intend to emphasize as an actual hero. It is also extremely common to get a second level of rogue later on (usually about level 4 when they've established their main career) in order to access the Evasion feat. Mid-High level Goblin Hero groups tend to be very hard to defeat with reflex oriented attacks. Unlike with Gnomes, however, a Goblin Hero without the Rogue level will be accepted in society. Among his peers, however, he'd better not be so clumsy as to constantly alert the enemy, or he will soon be working alone.
This class is quite common among Goblins who interact with taller races, so they can keep up with them movementwise. The Rage helps counteract the lower Goblin strength, and this is one of the rare classes where it is typical to take Barbarian primary instead of Rogue, as they have some useful skills such as Listen and Intimidate, and starting out twice as durable as your usual beginning hero is quite handy.
Goblin bards are rare, as it is culturally a Seelie Court talent and also because the skill overlap with the more socially acceptable Rogue class is high. A Goblin Bard is not quite as rare as a Goblin Paladin, but his reputation will spread unusually fast....a state of affairs that is NOT valued among the Goblin Heroic Tradition (fame among your heroic Peers is valued, fame among commoners just gives away your tricks and secrets).
Usually Night, sometimes Sky, rarely Day. Goblins who worshop other gods are considered mildly odd, but anything is possible. Hobgoblins and Bugbears are almost never non-Night, and it is pretty much political suicide for them so such a priest would be an outcast. Goblins get considerably more freedom, as the Hands are expected to deal with outsiders of all kinds, including outsider Gods. Clerics without the Trickey domain are well advised to get a Rogue level or two to achieve the stealth minimums required by a typical goblin party. (Trickery clerics can be invisible and silent at level 3, so they get cut some slack in the early levels by their peers in exchange for their later competence).
These are treated quite similar to the "Clerics of other gods" except that their ability to move effortlessly though natural environments, use animals as scouts and change shape get them considerable respect among their Goblin Hero peers if they exploit these talents effectively within the Goblin Heroic Style. Druids usually won't take Rogue levels unless they desire Evasion. They tend to just cast elemental resistance spells instead.
1-4 levels of fighter may be mixed with a Rogue to give them better straight fighting ability or to get a useful feat mix. Full fledged fighters are relatively rare and would certainly need a Rogue level or two in order to work well with the rest of the Goblin team. When starting out, the Rogue skill would be primary, Fighter secondary. Rogue fighters often get 5 ranks of "jump" quickly to help their tumble skill. Fighters are considerably more common among Hobgoblins and Bugbears.
Monks are rare and tend to be pure monks, as their skills match the Rogue list very well. They will often take Spot as a cross-class skill however, or be the butt of jokes from their comrades on how unobservant they are.
There's nothing stopping a Goblin from being one, and a Paladin with Evasion is a scary thing, although that means a shift from Rogue to Paladin in mid-career. A Goblin Paladin NPC is pretty much unheard of or legendary perhaps....they should be unusual enough that a Goblin Paladin PC would be unique and special and probably the result of a religious conversion in mid-career.
Another class with good enough stealth skills to dispense with the Rogue level and still work well with a Goblin Hero team and in the Goblin Heroic Tradition. However several levels of Rogue are often taken at some point, both for the evasion and sneak attack abilities, which mesh well with the Ranger's other talents.
A goblin rogue will max out his stealth and alertness skills, keeping them maxed even if she mixes in some multiclass levels. Unlike with most favored classes, a Goblin Rogue is going to be more reluctant to weaken the emphasis by mixing in other classes. The sneak attack and resistance to the same hinges on the rogue levels and lowering your effective level in those areas is only done with careful consideration of the consequences. The diplomatic aspects of the Hand aren't the job of the Hero Band Rogue. Her job is to be never surprised and never seen or heard, and when she gets the drop on her enemy, that enemy is defeated.
Feats that multiply or support sneak attacks are highly valued (such as two weapon fighting, rapid shot, improved unarmed+stunning fist, improved initiative, improved crit). The Stealthy or Alertness feats are also taken, especially on Rogues that are extreme in one way or the other on dex or wisdom (if weak, they take it to make up the weakness, if strong, to push it to ungodly levels)
Normally a Sorceror will take a level of Rogue early, but some will coast on high Dex and Wisdom scores plus cross-class skills. Unlike Clerics they can't really be silent so they tend to have strong social pressures to get the Rogue level in spite of the hit to their power early on. A Sorceror who evades the social pressures may later take the Rogue levels just for the evasion, once he has a good solid mix of spells available. Some Sorcerors though just max their cross-class move silently skill and invest in a variety of spells that help out with the other missing skills (change/alter/polymorf self, fly/spider climb, invisibility, clairvoyance, etc)
A wizard without a level or two of rogue is highly unusual, and such a wizard will know and rack spells to make up for his deficiencies. As a rule Goblin wizards and sorcerers advance a bit slower than their peers of other races, often being one spell level behind (due to the desire for evasion and better skills) in the power they can cast.
Much like the Gnomes, the Hero classes form the Nobility of the Unseelie Court. However there is a major difference, the overt leaders of the Unseelie are generally Hobgoblins, their Champions are Bugbears. The Unseelie Goblin Heroes are more of the Shadow court, when ascendent they are "power behind the throne" when not, they are the tools of the mighty.
Noncombatants will typically have the Alertness feat first, and then choose feats that help their profession.
Unseelie Commoners are serfs, doing the dirty work that their betters won't touch. Those with higher skills will get better treatment and food, but being unmartial will never gain status better than that of a favored pet.
Unseelie Experts are mostly Knowledge experts and clerks, their job to do administrative tasks beneath the dignity of the true warriors. They are treated better than commoners and some can wield considerable influence. For the status of these, think Eunuch in Turkish or Chinese court....while there is no physical emasculation, these individuals have chosen to be a noncombatant in a society that gives status mainly to those who fight and are unlikely to marry, and even if they do, they won't marry well.
Adepts are not the DMG class but clerics with restricted spell list and only one domain. They are even less common than usual, only 0.1% instead of .5%, as the Seelie don't value healing much outside of Heroic deeds, and don't therefore have the usual underclass of commoners who need to be serviced. Make the rest of the Adepts into Warriors although at GM option a more "Neutral" society might have the percentage rise to more normal levels.
Unseelie warriors are the commoners with some status, as they perform important support roles to the Heroes, and also hold ground and do guard duty and other boring things that a Hero couldn't be expected to do long-term. They tend to emulate whatever Hero they swore fealty to, imitating him in fighting style, feats, skills, etc.
Unseelie aristocrats are much like their Seelie counterparts, except that they are far more likely to use their martial talents in a pinch. They will often pretend to be some other kind of commoner to get the "drop" on a bad guy, they make decent spies and such, but their main purpose is to provide an outlet for people of Noble blood who just don't have what it takes to be a Hero. Like Seelie Aristocrats they can and do marry Heroes, and their main skill focus is oriented toward making a good match. Given that they must sometimes impress their intended mate with prowess, they are more likely to take martial feats. They are not averse to setting up a situation with paid warriors to make them look tougher than they are ("Ok, you 6 jump me and take a fall when I swing at you..."). Any deception is considered fair game and marriage vows are final. As with the Seelie, they are 3x as common (1.5% instead of .5%) as usual with that extra percentage taken from the Commoners.