SRD - Races

CHITINES

The spiderlike chitines exemplify the unnatural changes that can be incorporated into a humanoid with the aid of evil-inspired magic. Once their ancestors were humanoid in form, but their enforced slavery to the drow entailed more than simple execution of duty. The drow of Ched Nasad selectively bred and magically meddled with their slaves, incorporating ghastly "improvements" as well as the results of fumbled experiments. Eventually these alterations became permanent, resulting in a race of spiderlike, four-armed humanoids that can build with webbing in the same way that humans employ stone or wood. Formerly found only in the northwest regions of Faerûn, chitines have spread throughout the Underdark in the course of their flight from their drow oppressors.

Personality: The chitines won their independence from their former drow masters in the Year of the Creeping Fang (1305 DR), although drow inattention and boredom played a larger role in their emancipation than active rebellion did. The most desperate and opportunistic chitines slipped away into unguarded passages and made their way to freedom. Those who did not seize the opportunity to escape met a variety of bad ends under the blades and whips of their drow masters.

The common chitine of Yathchol is a quiet craftsperson concerned primarily with building the next web-based home, tower, or fortification. But the legacy of the drow remains strong in the chitines, and betrayal is expected - nay, almost required - to survive. At best, chitines are opportunistic and self-serving creatures; at worst, they are scheming backstabbers. Chitines who don't find this way of life fulfilling often leave their villages and strike out on their own, in search of adventure.

Physical Description: A typical chitine stands just under 4 feet tall and weighs about 85 pounds. His four lean arms are long, and each has an extra joint, allowing a greater range of movement than most humanoids have. His face is humanlike, but his eyes are faceted, and mandibles jut from his mouth. A chitine has mottled gray skin, and his stringy black hair grows in a tangle from his head, extending down his back like the mane of a horse.

A chitine can spin various kinds of webbing through an aperture in his belly. In addition, he constantly secretes an oil that keeps him from becoming stuck in his own web and provides his body with a sheen under some light sources. His palms and feet are covered with hooks that allow him to climb up walls and across ceilings.

The typical chitine dresses in loose robes or a tunic. The thread for his clothing is usually spun from his own fine silk. Relations: Chitines distrust most Underdark races on general principles, and they absolutely refuse to work with drow except when planning a secret, nasty surprise for their former tormenters. A chitine is much more likely to trust upperworld races than Underdark ones, mostly out of ignorance.

Alignment: The chitines won their freedom from the drow through a strong streak of independence, and this trait has manifested itself in their descendents as a chaotic nature. But because they existed so long without values and a culture of their own, the chitines also picked up many of the evil behaviors of their former drow masters. For instance, chitines cull members of their own race who are judged too weak to survive. Those chitines who break with their villages may learn to temper their outlooks, becoming chaotic neutral or chaotic good.

Religion: Like their former drow masters, chitines venerate Lolth. But since they revere her mostly out of fear, clerics of Lolth are very rare in this race. Chitines generally leave the Spider Queen's worship to the choldriths - the priests of their kind. Even more spiderlike than chitines, choldriths are bloated abominations that rule over their lesser cousins (see Choldrith).

Language: Chitines speak Undercommon. Bonus languages most often include Abyssal, Common, and Terran.

Names: Chitine first names tend to be simple, with no more than two syllables. Surnames are often descriptive and related to spiders.

Male Names: Awa, Caullum, Cyten, Garlome, Kawa, Nullum, Vald.

Female Names: Caulwen, Garwen, Neulwen, Qid, Qod, Uelwen.

Surnames: Spinner, Lowweb, Shrouder, Backspeaker, Drowtaker.

Adventurers: Adventuring chitines are usually those who were exiled from their communities when sentiments such as goodness and justice began to replace the drow-inspired callousness that characterizes the majority of their race. Such renegade chitines are more comfortable as members of small bands than they are as residents of large communities. Most chitine adventurers are simple scouts, but some become accomplished footpads who sell their services to the highest bidder. A few rare chitines even join bold, justice-seeking companies of upperworlders.

Regions: Small numbers of chitines are found in the northern reaches of the Upperdark and Middledark, but the majority live in a cluster of villages collectively known as Yathchol, which is located beneath the Far Forest southeast of Hellgate Keep. Yathchol is composed of at least seven villages, each with a population of forty to sixty chitines. Virtually all chitines choose the chitine region.

CHITINE RACIAL TRAITS

+2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -4 Charisma. Chitines are quick, tough, and smart, but not particularly endearing.
Small size. A chitine has a +1 bonus to Armor Class, a +1 bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 bonus on Hide checks, but his lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
A chitine's base land speed is 30 feet, and his climb speed is 20 feet. He has a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks and can always choose to take 10 on Climb checks even if rushed or threatened. The hooks on his palms and feet enable him to climb up walls and across ceilings, as if under the effect of a spider climb spell.
Grappling Bonus (Ex): A chitine's four arms grant a +4 bonus on grapple checks, which makes him as good a grappler as a Medium creature.
Difficult to Disarm (Ex): Because of the hooks in a chitine's palm, he gains a +4 bonus on his opposed check to avoid being disarmed.
Sensitive to Sunlight (Ex): In sunlight or bright magical light (such as a daylight spell), chitines are dazzled.
Racial Hit Dice: A chitine character begins with two levels of monstrous humanoid, which provide 2d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +2, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +0, Ref +3, and Will +3.
Racial Skills: A chitine's monstrous humanoid levels give him skill points equal to 5 × (2 + Int modifier). His class skills are Balance, Climb, Craft (trapmaking), Hide, Jump, and Move Silently.
Racial Feats: A chitine character has Multiweapon Fighting as a bonus feat. In addition, his monstrous humanoid levels give him one feat.
Weapon Familiarity: A chitine may treat short swords as simple weapons rather than martial weapons.
Automatic Languages: Undercommon. Bonus Languages: By character region.
Favored Class: Rogue.
Level Adjustment: +2.

DEEP IMASKARI

Secret and few, the deep Imaskari are heirs to the lost empire of Imaskar. One of the earliest human empires, Imaskar rose in what is now the Dust Desert and Plains of Purple Dust. Wizard-kings of heady power, the Imaskari were destroyed by the slaves they had abducted from other worlds (who eventually became the folk of Mulhorand and Unther) and the machinations of unusual creatures of their own creation (the phaerimms). The Imaskari faded away into history as their empire crumbled, leaving behind nothing but mysterious ruins. A secret few, however, charged with epic wizardry, managed to preserve themselves and their kin. Fleeing deep into the bowels of the earth, they sealed themselves away from both the knowledge and the recriminations of the surface world.

The deepest fissures of the earth have long hidden an ancient secret: The descendents of the Imaskari still live. Thousands of years of isolation combined with purposeful magical modifications have transformed these deep Imaskari into a human subrace adapted to life underground. The deep Imaskari have long managed to conceal the existence of their hidden kingdom even from other Underdark races by enforcing complete separation.

Now, however, deep Imaskari isolation is coming to an end. The magical seal that so long protected the kingdom of Deep Imaskar has been breached, and a few deep Imaskari have begun to wander the deep ways of the world that their ancestors fled long ago.

Personality: Deep Imaskari are guarded and detached, keeping an unconscious watchfulness in all their interactions. Their one passion is magical experimentation - their enforced isolation did not change their basic fascination with magic and research in arcane lore, though they have lost much of the knowledge their race once possessed. They see all outcomes of magical research as mere data points, so they rarely get upset when a particular experiment turns out badly.

One sure way to gain a deep Imaskari's friendship is to gift her with a spell she doesn't know or some other secret of arcane lore. Deep Imaskari are fascinated with magic - how could they not be? Their very bodies were altered by an epic spell cast long ago to conceal their ancestors from their former slaves.

Physical Description: A deep Imaskari appears mostly human. Her skin looks pale and stonelike, as if expertly sculpted from the finest veined marble, though it is as soft as human skin to the touch. (This stonelike appearance is a remnant of the magical alteration that all the Imaskari underwent to survive in Deep Imaskar.) Otherwise, a deep Imaskari is tall and slender - a typical male stands between 5-3/4 and 6 feet high and weighs around 160 pounds, and a female is about half a foot shorter and 40 pounds lighter.

Deep Imaskari typically wear elaborate greatcoats, under which they sport elegant black shirts, trousers, and boots. They delight in dark rings, especially magic ones.

Relations: The deep Imaskari have taken pains to keep their existence secret from every other race of Faerûn, so they have little real experience with humans, dwarves, and other races. Deep Imaskari encountered outside Deep Imaskar are curious and excited to meet members of other races, though they tend to view humans from Unther or Mulhorand in a suspicious light.

Alignment: While the Imaskari of ancient times are generally regarded as evil, abomination-creating, devil-dealing people (which was probably true), the folk descended from the survivors in Deep Imaskar are mostly neutral. The Great Seal that kept Deep Imaskar separate from the rest of the Underdark was opened recently to begin the process of reengaging in commerce and communication with the world outside, not to enable any sort of deep Imaskari conquests.

Religion: In ancient times, the Imaskari wizard-kings deemed no gods worthy of their worship. Although the deep Imaskari have come to venerate the oldest and most fundamental of Faerûn's deities (including Chauntea, Grumbar, Kossuth, Mystra, and Shar), they still have few clerics and little religious tradition.

Language: Deep Imaskari speak an ancient language known as Roushoum, which uses the Imaskari script. Virtually no one outside Deep Imaskar comprehends this language anymore, so the modern deep Imaskari also study Common so that they can better observe and interact with the world around them. Since they don't often speak this language and have little opportunity to hear native speakers, their Common tends to be stilted and thickly accented. Those deep Imaskari who venture out of their hidden kingdom usually pick up two or three other Underdark languages, including Elven (the drow dialect), Terran, and Undercommon.

Names: The deep Imaskari have generally retained the naming traditions of their surface ancestors.

Male Names: Qari, Ghari, Machuruna, Anciano, Taita, Hijo, Hawachuri.

Female Names: Sipas, Sumaqsipas, Warmi, Ususi, Hawaususi, Nanay, Warmiwillka.

Surnames: Kinraysapa, Manaallin, Manaq'anra, Kusisqa, Erk'etamunay, Sonqosuwa.

Adventurers: The Deep Imaskari are finished with isolation and hiding. Having decided that they know far too little about the world from which their ancestors took refuge, they shattered the Great Seal that kept Deep Imaskar isolated for so long, and a bold few ventured forth into the deepest layers of the Underdark.

But those who choose the path of exploration do so at a cost: They must turn their backs forever on their homes behind the Great Seal. The location of Deep Imaskar is magically excised from the brain of any deep Imaskari who chooses to leave, so that even should she run afoul of mind-reading creatures (as many have), the race's final redoubt will remain safe.

Regions: Virtually all deep Imaskari grew up in the hidden realm of Deep Imaskar and choose that region.

DEEP IMASKARI RACIAL TRAITS

+2 Intelligence, -2 Dexterity. Deep Imaskari are bright and quick to learn arcane lore, but they lack the balance and agility of most other humanoid races.
Medium size. Deep Imaskari have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
A deep Imaskari's base land speed is 30 feet.
Low-Light Vision: A deep Imaskari can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, or similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
Spell Clutch (Su): Because the deep Imaskari have studied magic for ages on end, a certain facility with magic has seeped into their blood. Once per day, a deep Imaskari can recall any 1st-level spell that she has already prepared and then cast. The spell is then prepared again, just as if it hadn't been cast.
+4 bonus on Hide checks when underground: A deep Imaskari's marblelike skin helps her hide in underground terrain.
Automatic Languages: Common and Roushoum. Bonus Languages: Aquan, Dwarven, Elven, Terran, and Undercommon (or by character region).
Favored Class: Wizard.

DROW

Feared and reviled throughout the Lands Above, the drow (or dark elves) are perhaps the most numerous, powerful, and widespread of the Underdark's native peoples. The majority of the dark elves live in city-states ruled by various noble Houses. Each House commands its own small army of fearless drow soldiers, cunning wizards, and zealous priestesses, as well as large contingents of slave soldiers, such as bugbears, ogres, and minotaurs. In fact, half to two-thirds of any drow city's population consists of humanoid slaves and rabble, all of whom are subject to the cruelty and whims of any passing dark elf.

Dark elf city-states lie below dozens of surface realms, often unbeknownst to the upperworlders who live above them. The rulers of some drow cities prefer to leave the surface races alone and turn their attention toward gaining power through the endless scheming and feuding of the noble Houses. Others, however, view the surface lands as theirs to pillage and plunder whenever they choose.

Personality: Most drow are cruel, arrogant, and hedonistic. Their eternal game of advancement at the expense of others, which is encouraged by the spider goddess herself, has transformed the dark elves into a race of scheming backstabbers eager to increase their own stations by pulling down those ahead of them and crushing their inferiors underfoot. Drow trust no one and nothing, and most are incapable of compassion, kindness, or love. Many dark elves are actively murderous and delight in the giving of pain.

While dark elves neither honor their promises nor maintain personal loyalties once it becomes inconvenient to do so, their pride lends them a certain sense of style and an appreciation of subtlety. Drow can be courteous and urbane, even to deadly rivals. They enjoy surrounding themselves with things of beauty, giving hardly a thought to the cost. Any drow city features breathtaking architecture and elegant revels marked by dark and delicious entertainments, but only a fool would lower his guard in such an environment.

Physical Description: The skin of a drow can be any shade from dark gray to polished obsidian. His hair can be pale yellow, silver, or white, and his eyes can be almost any color, including blood red.

Drow are short and slender compared to other Faerûnian elves, but they are strong for their size. Most dark elves - especially nobles - are strikingly handsome individuals; Lolth does not favor meek, plain, or unassuming worshipers.

Relations: Drow regard all other races as inferior. Some they view as potential slaves, others as deadly vermin to be exterminated. None, however, are considered truly equal to the dark elves. Drow maintain a grudging respect for duergar and mind flayers, since the gray dwarves and illithids also build powerful cities and have demonstrated the strength to stand up to repeated assaults from the dark elves. Though they despise humans and all other surface folk as weak creatures, the drow save their true venom for surface elves, particularly sun and moon elves. The dark elves hate their kinfolk with a blind passion and seize any chance to strike at their ancient enemies.

Alignment: The great majority of drow are evil through and through, and most tend toward the chaotic end of the lawful-chaotic spectrum. In general, drow believe in doing what they want to do, when they want to do it. Dark elves who turn to good are few and far between, but such can become powerful champions against tyranny and cruelty.

Religion: Most drow cities are dominated by priestesses of Lolth, the Spider Queen. As the special patron and protector of the dark elves, Lolth demands abject obedience and unflinching ruthlessness from her followers. But for several months now, Lolth has refused to grant any spells to her clerics and has not answered their prayers, creating a great deal of chaos and consternation within the drow cities.

Drow who have turned away from the Spider Queen are rare, but they do exist. Good-aligned drow often worship Eilistraee, the Dancing Maiden. Evil drow who choose not to subject themselves to Lolth's tyranny may worship one of the other deities of the drow pantheon, such as Vhaeraun or Ghaunadaur.

Languages: Drow speak Undercommon and a dialect of Elven that features many words and constructions borrowed from the languages of their Underdark neighbors. They also have a unique sign language (Drow Sign) that permits silent communication at a range of up to 120 feet. Drow Sign is not an automatic language for drow; a dark elf character must learn it either by designating it as one of his bonus languages or by acquiring it normally via the Speak Language skill.

Names: Drow names often feature double letters and are usually rather pleasing to the ear.

Male Names: Belgos, Bhintel, Elkantar, Houndaer, Kelnozz, Malaggar, Ryltar, Szordrin, Vorn.

Female Names: Alauniira, Charinida, Drisinil, Faeryl, Ilivarra, Irae, Myrymma, Pellanistra, Xune, Zarra.

Surnames: Dhuunyl, Filifar, Lhalabar, Pharn, Tlin'orzza, Xarann, Yvarragh.

Adventurers: The vicissitudes of House fortunes make adventuring an attractive profession for many drow. Some drow adventurers forswear their race's cruel ways and seek to do good in the world. Others remain evil, using adventuring as a means of accumulating the power and magic necessary to avenge themselves upon the rivals who brought them low.

Regions: Drow most often choose the drow elf region.

DROW RACIAL TRAITS

+2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma. These adjustments replace the high elf ability score modifiers.
Medium size. Drow have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
A drow's base land speed is 30 feet.
Immunities (Ex): A drow is immune to magic sleep spells and effects.
Racial Bonuses: A drow has a +2 racial bonus on saves against enchantment spells and effects, a +2 racial bonus on Will saves against spells and spell-like abilities, and a +2 racial bonus on Listen, Search, and Spot checks. A drow who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if he were actively looking for the door.
Darkvision: A drow has darkvision out to 120 feet.
Spell Resistance: A drow has spell resistance equal to 11 + class level.
Spell-Like Abilities: A drow with an Intelligence score of 13 or higher can use the following spell-like abilities. 1/day - dancing lights, darkness, faerie fire. Caster level equals drow's class level.
Light Blindness (Ex): Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds drow for 1 round. In subsequent rounds, the drow are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area.
Weapon Proficiency: A drow receives Martial Weapon Proficiency (rapier), Martial Weapon Proficiency (short sword), and Exotic Weapon Proficiency (hand crossbow) as bonus feats.
Automatic Languages: Common, Elven (drow dialect), and Undercommon. Bonus Languages: Abyssal, Aquan, Draconic, Drow Sign Language, Gnome, Goblin, and Kuo-Toan.
Favored Class: Cleric (female) or wizard (male).
Level Adjustment: +2.

DUERGAR

Grim and determined, the duergar (or gray dwarves) lead lives of neverending toil in the great foundry-cities they have built in the Underdark. The gray dwarves are nearly as widespread and numerous as the drow, and the typical duergar realm is every bit as strong, cruel, and wealthy as a great city of the dark elves. But while most drow cities exist to exalt the high nobility of the dark elves, duergar cities exist only for the manufacture of wealth through unending labor.

Duergar are sullen, insular, and industrious, but they tend to be better neighbors than drow and are less likely to raid surface lands or seek out victims to torment. They are the preeminent artisans and merchants of the Underdark, and duergar caravans cross every corner of Faerûn miles beneath the surface. The gray dwarves are all too willing to enslave any likely creatures that fall into their hands, but they don't waste slaves in the sort of cruel spectacles that the drow enjoy. Instead, the duergar simply work their captives to death.

Personality: Though gray dwarves do display the redeeming virtues of courage and determination, they are also avaricious, short-tempered, sullen, violent, and ungrateful. Duergar nurse grudges until they die and never stop counting the slights (real or imagined) that they've received. They are inclined to believe that might makes right, so most have no pity for those who are too weak to defend their property or themselves against a stronger foe. Duergar are not above launching fearsome raids to garner the gold they love so well from their weaker neighbors. On the positive side, duergar believe in minding their own business (so long as others don't have anything they want) and working hard to excel at their chosen crafts. No obstacle daunts a gray dwarf who has settled on a goal. Duergar may not display much loyalty to anyone other than themselves, but they never leave a job half done.

Physical Description: The typical gray dwarf stands about 4 to 4-1/2 feet tall, but her physique is lean and hard compared with those of her shield dwarf kin. Her skin is a dull, lifeless, gray color, and her eyes are black and cold. A male duergar doesn't have a wisp of hair above his ears, but he may boast a short, wiry beard of iron-gray or black hair. The typical female duergar is likewise bald, but a few have short-cropped hair of dull black.

Relations: Duergar are universally disliked by all other beings, including each other. They are churlish and hateful, and they want nothing to do with other races unless they stand to gain something from the encounter. Of the other Underdark races, duergar find the svirfneblin and the orogs the least irritating, since the deep gnomes and deep orcs are also outstanding artisans who value hard work. The gray dwarves can't stand the drow, probably because they can sense the condescension and mockery behind dark elf courtesy. Duergar absolutely loathe other dwarves (particularly shield dwarves) and mind flayers because the rest of dwarvenkind abandoned Clan Duergar to thralldom and misery under illithid rule thousands of years ago. (At least, that's how the gray dwarves view the incident.)

Alignment: Most gray dwarves are evil, placing little value on the lives and property of others. They are consumed by envy of anyone better off than themselves, and they display not a trace of pity for those who are not as fortunate. A fair number of duergar, wanting nothing more than to be left alone, lean toward hardhearted neutrality, but few ever become truly good.

Religion: The patron deity of the gray dwarves is Laduguer, the dwarven deity of toil. Duergar spend little time or effort on any sort of religious observances because they feel that the best way to venerate their grim god is to work. Some gray dwarves also venerate Deep Duerra, the dwarven deity of the Invisible Art (psionics).

Language: Gray dwarves speak Dwarven and Undercommon. They also make use of Dethek, the rune alphabet of the dwarves.

Names: Duergar favor surnames that describe the work of which they are so justly proud. Their given names tend to be simple and somewhat gutteral.

Male Names: Bruthwol, Horgar, Ivar, Murgol, Thangardt.

Female Names: Brilmara, Dorthis, Olga, Ulara, Weltha.

Surnames: Coalhewer, Firehand, Goldcrown, Hammerhead, Ironthew, Steelshadow.

Adventurers: Few gray dwarves have time for such nonsense as adventuring. However, occasionally an individual with no stomach for a life of unceasing toil appears in duergar society. These rare gray dwarves often find it expedient to seek out less hostile surroundings before their fellows decide that they're not pulling their weight. A few gray dwarf adventurers are exiles or fugitives who were driven out of their home cities by vicious feuds between rival clans.

Regions: Duergar rarely stray far from the cities and forges of their youth. Therefore, most take the gray dwarf region.

DUERGAR RACIAL TRAITS

+2 Constitution, -4 Charisma. These adjustments replace the hill dwarf ability score modifiers.
Medium size. Duergar have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
A duergar's base land speed is 20 feet. Gray dwarves can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load.
Immunities (Ex): Gray dwarves are immune to paralysis, phantasms, and poison.
Racial Bonuses: A duergar has a +2 racial bonus on saves against spells and spell-like abilities, a +4 racial bonus on Move Silently checks, and a +1 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks. She receives a +2 bonus on Appraise and Craft checks that are related to stone or metal and a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against orcs (including half-orcs) and goblinoids.
Darkvision: A duergar has darkvision out to 120 feet.
Stability: A duergar gains a +4 bonus on ability checks made to resist being bull rushed or tripped when standing on the ground.
Stonecunning: This ability grants a duergar a +2 racial bonus on Search checks made to notice unusual stonework. A gray dwarf who merely comes within 10 feet of unusual stonework is entitled to a Search check as if she were actively searching, and she can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. A duergar can also intuit depth, sensing her approximate depth underground.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day - enlarge person, invisibility. Caster level equals twice the duergar's class level (minimum 3rd level). These abilities affect only the duergar and whatever she carries.
+4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against giants.
Light Sensitivity (Ex): Duergar are dazzled in bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell).
Automatic Languages: Common, Dwarven, and Undercommon. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Giant, Goblin, Orc, and Terran.
Favored Class: Fighter.
Level Adjustment: +1.

GLOAMINGS

Gloamings are planetouched beings descended from natives of Toril and the Plane of Shadow. These unusual creatures are quite uncommon in the Underdark and extremely rare in the surface world. Most observers can easily recognize that a gloaming is planetouched in some fashion, but few know exactly how. Members of other races often mistake a gloaming for some sort of tiefling.

Gloamings are compulsive travelers, so they usually remain strangers among other races. Their curiosity often manifests as wanderlust, and indeed most gloamings display a great drive to explore. Different gloamings pursue different interests and goals, so finding more than four or five of them together for a long time is atypical.

Personality: Gloamings are curious beings who pride themselves on their individualism. The difficult conditions in the Underdark quickly teach them caution and the merits of working with others. While their inquisitiveness may lead them to choose the adventuring life, it does not make them completely foolish risk-takers. In a similar manner, their individuality tends to express itself in ways that do not interfere with working with other gloamings or members of other races.

Physical Description: A gloaming is a pale-skinned humanoid with catlike eyes and dark, furry wings. Her skin is naturally luminescent, and she can control its glow, choosing a degree of illumination from none to as bright as a torch. A typical gloaming has one or more tattoos that create interesting shading effects when her skin glows. Her eyes have slightly oval pupils and reflect light like a cat's. This property makes them seem almost metallic in dim light, though in ordinary light they appear gray, green-gray, blue-gray, or violet-gray. A gloaming's wings may be black or any deep shade of brown or gray.

Relations: Though gloamings are rampant individualists, almost all share similar attitudes toward a few other races - in particular the drow, the mind flayers, and the planetouched. Gloamings harbor a deep-seated, racial hatred of the drow. One legend holds that the drow learned how to cast the cloak of dark power spell only after capturing, torturing, and experimenting on many unfortunate gloamings, and the attitude of the latter toward dark elves tends to lend credence to this tale. Interestingly, mind flayers often leave gloamings unmolested unless provoked. Illithids find gloaming brains unpalatable, and experience has shown that the luminescent, winged humanoids make poor slaves.

Gloamings are fascinated with other planetouched races, especially genasi and tieflings. They view such beings as kindred spirits of interplanar descent and sometimes even call them cousins. Aside from drow, mind flayers, and planetouched, gloamings have no universally held opinions of other races. Likewise, no other race has had enough contact with gloamings to form widespread opinions or prejudices.

Alignment: Gloaming philosophies and behavior run the gamut of possibilities, but they are usually contrary to the dominant alignment of the area. For instance, chaotic evil communities rarely include chaotic evil gloamings, but they might have gloamings of any other alignment. Likewise, the gloamings who live among mostly neutral beings are generally inclined toward extremes of behavior on both the lawful-chaotic and the good-evil axis.

Religion: Gloamings usually spurn organized religion or any predetermined philosophy that dictates behavior and norms. Thus, gloaming clerics are almost nonexistent.

Language: Gloamings speak Undercommon. Most also speak several other languages that they have learned in their travels.

Names: Like human names, gloaming names vary greatly, and none are truly typical. Further complicating matters is the fact that a gloaming is called one name by his parents when he is a child, then chooses another name for himself as an adult. It's not unusual for gloaming names to be drawn from completely disparate cultures.

Adventurers: Adventuring gloamings are the norm rather than the exception. The curiosity of these creatures and their general inability to settle in any one place for long compel many of them to take up the adventuring life. The discoveries an adventurer makes and the uncertainty of the profession greatly appeal to them. Though gloamings are naturally long-lived, the urge to travel and explore comes early, so few of them live to reach old age.

Regions: Virtually all gloamings choose the gloaming region regardless of where they actually live. Gloamings who have gained knowledge and experience in Toril often turn their attention to the planes and travel there as well.

GLOAMING RACIAL TRAITS

-2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Wisdom, +2 Charisma. Gloamings are lithe but not very strong. Their exotic appearance is appealing to many, but their curiosity sometimes makes them choose courses of action that are less than wise.
Outsider (Native): Gloamings are native outsiders.
Small size. A gloaming has a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but her lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
A gloaming's base land speed is 20 feet. A gloaming also has a fly speed of 40 feet with average maneuverability.
Light Blindness (Ex): Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds a gloaming for 1 round. In addition, she takes a -1 circumstance penalty on all attack rolls, saves, and checks while operating in bright light. Gloamings are eligible to take the Daylight Adaptation feat.
Shadow Spells: Gloamings have a racial predilection for shadow-based spells. They cast illusion (shadow) spells at +1 caster level.
Racial Bonuses: A gloaming has a +2 racial bonus on saves against illusion (shadow) spells or effects and a +4 racial bonus on saves against psionic abilities, such as those possessed by mind flayers or yuan-ti. She also gains a +4 racial bonus on Move Silently checks.
Low-Light Vision: A gloaming can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, or similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
Luminescence (Ex): As a standard action, a gloaming can make her skin provide illumination equal to that produced by any light source up to and including a torch, or she can mute the glow altogether. A gloaming's luminescence lasts until she chooses to change it. When a gloaming dies, her luminescence fades to nothing over the course of 10 minutes.
A gloaming has Portal Sensitive as a bonus feat.
Automatic Language: Undercommon. Bonus Languages: By character region.
Favored Class: Sorcerer.
Level Adjustment: +2.

GRIMLOCKS

Once grimlocks were much like other humanoid races and could see the world around them. But after millennia of living in total darkness, they lost their sight and found other, blunter methods for sensing their environment. Blind but not unseeing, evil but not unfeeling, grimlocks understand the world in a way that other humanoids cannot.

Although grimlocks prefer to keep to themselves, their isolation is often broken when mind flayers raid their packs for slave fodder or, as more often happens, their mushroom fields are razed and their water cisterns are drained by drow. Starving and desperate, the grimlocks are then forced to raid upperworld communities for the means to survive.

Personality: Grimlocks are direct in all their dealings, never beating around the bush. They are deeply suspicious of other races - sometimes violently so. But while grimlocks are prone to snap judgments, most can change their minds readily enough if presented with situations that warrant reconsideration, even in matters of racial enmity. Grimlocks care more for their own skins than they do for any principle, cause, or individual, except for those with whom they have hunt-bonded. A hunt-bond is a vow of mutual respect and protection. Every grimlock forms such a bond with at least one other creature (usually another grimlock). A grimlock considers a huntbonded companion a close friend, and she protects that individual's life as if it were her own.

Grimlocks appreciate beauty, but not the visual beauty that other creatures can sense. A grimlock's heightened senses allow him to appreciate forms, subtle vibrations in the earth, and poetry. Like their personalities, the sculpture, music, and poetry created by grimlocks tend to seem blunt, immediate, and raw.

Physical Description: A grimlock appears human in silhouette, but full light reveals him as a subterranean creature whose ancestors have been accustomed to darkness for generations uncounted. His skin is gray, slightly scaled, and usually scarred from unending hunts through constricted passages. A grimlock who has been afforded special status by his pack may also have decorative designs scarred into his hide. The single most startling grimlock feature is the complete absence of eyes and eye sockets. Blank skin stretches across a grimlock's upper face, giving him a shadowed, masked visage. A muscular grimlock male or female stands between 5 and 5-1/2 feet in height and weighs around 180 pounds.

Grimlocks wear little in the way of clothing or armor - their skins are protection enough. However, they do sport tanned leather belts, harnesses, and decorative bracers.

Relations: Grimlocks harbor intense distrust and hostility toward any race other than their own. Fed on by mind flayers, forced into slavery by both drow and illithids, and subjected to aboleth plots of exceptional depravity, grimlocks quite reasonably react xenophobically to other races. However, any grimlock who wishes to venture away from his pack must overcome these xenophobic leanings and learn to see each individual as a potential pack member, as opposed to a racial enemy that must be slain. A few adventuring grimlocks have achieved such mental equilibrium, though it must be reinforced through daily meditation to prevent instinct from taking over.

Alignment: Although upperworlders regard all grimlocks as evil, many are actually neutral, concerned mostly with themselves and their own survival. They see themselves and their people as desperate survivors on the run, so they rationalize any evils they do as necessary for their own continued existence.

Religion: Certain groups of grimlocks venerate individual medusas as if the latter were minor deities. The gaze power of such creatures is beyond the grimlock's ability to understand, so it seems divine to them. More enlightened grimlocks tend to worship Shar.

Language: Grimlocks speak a dialect of Terran and Undercommon. Those who venture beyond their immediate packs often choose to learn other languages of the Underdark as well. Some learn Abyssal and other evil tongues to gain power for themselves by making sinister deals.

Names: Grimlocks prefer to name their young after natural elements of the underground environment. Each grimlock has a personal name and a pack name.

Male Names: Hard Stone, Jagged Rock, Cliff Face, Cold Water, Tunnel Runner, Heat Bringer, Stone Biter.

Female Names: Diamond Hand, Silk Cry, Smooth Pebble, Lake Wader, Life Tender, Sigh Minder.

Pack Names: Runners, Singers, Leapers, Scalers, Climbers.

Adventurers: Grimlocks are intimately familiar with their bounded world of rock, deep pools, chasms, and fissures. Adventuring grimlocks often find considerable profit in waylaying Underdark trade caravans, looting the ruins of civilizations past, and taking on assignments for drow or mind flayer patrons. Grimlocks who choose to move beyond the confines of their own packs usually find the cultural shock overwhelming at first, but still oddly gratifying in its strangeness.

Regions: Many wild grimlocks are born in an extended series of caves that they call Fingerhome. These caverns extend throughout the upper, middle, and lower Underdark. Most grimlocks choose the grimlock region, but a scant few choose to live among surface races, so they choose the regions in which their comrades live instead.

GRIMLOCK RACIAL TRAITS

+4 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, -2 Wisdom, -4 Charisma. Grimlocks are strong, quick, and tough, but they tend to be weak on interaction and leadership.
Medium size. Grimlocks have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
A grimlock's base land speed is 30 feet.
Immunities (Ex): Grimlocks are immune to gaze attacks, visual effects, illusions, and other attack forms that rely on sight.
Blindsight (Ex): A grimlock can ascertain all foes within 40 feet as a sighted creature would. Beyond that range, it treats all targets as totally concealed (see Concealment in the Player's Handbook). Grimlocks are susceptible to sound- and scent-based attacks, and they are affected normally by loud noises, sonic spells (such as ghost sound or silence), and overpowering odors (such as stinking cloud or incense-heavy air).

Negating a grimlock's sense of smell or hearing negates his blindsight, but he functions as though he had the Blind-Fight feat. If both smell and hearing are negated, the grimlock is effectively blinded.
Scent (Ex): Grimlocks can detect opponents within 30 feet by scent. Exact location is not revealed unless the opponent is within 5 feet. A grimlock can take a move action to note the general direction of an opponent he has detected by scent.
Natural Armor Bonus (Ex): A grimlock has a +4 natural armor bonus to Armor Class because of his thick and scaly skin.
Racial Bonuses: A grimlock gains a +10 racial bonus on Hide checks when in the mountains or underground. His dull gray skin helps him hide in his native terrain.
Racial Hit Dice: A grimlock character begins with two levels of monstrous humanoid, which provide 2d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +2, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +0, Ref +3, and Will +3.
Racial Skills: A grimlock's monstrous humanoid levels give him skill points equal to 5 × (2 + Int modifier). His class skills are Climb, Hide, Listen, and Spot.
Racial Feats: A grimlock character has Martial Weapon Proficiency (battleaxe) as a bonus feat. In addition, his monstrous humanoid levels give him one feat.
Automatic Languages: Common and Undercommon. Bonus Languages: By character region.
Favored Class: Barbarian.
Level Adjustment: +2.

KUO-TOAS

Kuo-toas are theocratic fishfolk who dwell in the deep seas and lakes of the Underdark. The clerics of Blibdoolpoolp, called whips, exercise iron control over the population. Second in status to the clerics are the monks, who are known as monitors. Much of kuo-toan life and society focuses on religion. The church forms the center of every community, both physically and metaphysically. Each kuo-toa city is ruled by a Sunken Council - a group of nine high-level clerics who direct the citizens in their religious observances. Larger kuo-toa settlements usually have ornate churches that sponsor frequent celebrations in honor of their mad deity, whom they call the Sea Mother. A smaller enclave might have only a simple shrine and periodic visits from a low-level priest.

Kuo-toas spend much of their leisure time in the spawning pools. Young kuo-toa hatch in these sheltered pools and spend their first year of life there. Only after their amphibian qualities fully develop can they leave the pools to become full-fledged members of kuo-toan society.

Personality: Kuo-toas view everyone with suspicion; in fact, they often report real or alleged transgressions of even their own family members to the community cleric. Justice (or at least trial, sentencing, and punishment) follows swiftly. Kuo-toas have a well-deserved reputation for dealing duplicitously with other races, though the drow are a notable exception to this rule. The typical kuo-toa has no scruples about betraying a trust if he feels that doing so is in his best interests and not apt to produce unwanted repercussions.

Physical Description: A kuo-toa sports fine scales of varying pigmentation. The color varies with his mood, ranging from dark red when he is angry to white when he is frightened. A kuo-toa's body is shaped like that of a short, pudgy human, but his slender arms and legs end in broad hands and distended feet that resemble flippers. The air around a kuo-toa carries a faint odor of rotting fish. This scent is natural but can be enhanced by piscine perfumes of kuo-toan manufacture.

Relations: The kuo-toas maintain friendly relations with the drow. Sometime in the far past, after the conflict of Sorath-Nu-Sum, the kuo-toan clergy issued edicts naming all drow as honorary kuo-toas and welcoming them into kuo-toan settlements. The only portions of a kuo-toan settlement where drow are forbidden are the church and the spawning pools. The kuo-toas also tolerate the servants, slaves, and allies of the drow, giving them the same level of access as they do the dark elves. Exactly what prompted this expansive gesture remains a mystery, but many drow and kuo-toa communities have since established mutually beneficial trading practices, and mixed settlements are not unusual.

Kuo-toas and drow share a common hatred of the svirfneblin, and the two races frequently band together to hunt deep gnomes. Victorious raiding parties offer svirfneblin prisoners to the kuo-toan church for sacrifice.

Alignment: Upperworlders generally perceive kuo-toas as evil and loathsome, and this assessment is not an unfair representation of the Sea Mother's bloodthirsty clerics and monks. Common kuo-toas, however, generally lack the cruelty and zeal of the theocratic and noble classes. Such kuo-toas often follow neutral (and occasionally even good) philosophies, forming a nonvocal majority in most kuo-toan settlements. Because of the repressive theocracy under which they live, nonevil kuo-toas usually remain silent, lest their attitudes get them sacrificed to the Sea Mother.

Religion: Kuo-toa clergy are quick to root out and censure anyone or anything they perceive as a threat. Because of the swift and arbitrary punishments meted out by the whips, the average kuo-toa follows the rituals of Blibdoolpoolp and fulfills the expectations of the clergy, whether or not he feels especially pious. The current edicts of the high priests state that Blibdoolpoolp demands frequent sacrifices, which must be drowned in special sacrificial pools. If the clergy feel especially benevolent, they use prisoners or slaves (often svirfneblin) to fulfill this requirement. If the clerics perceive their flock as less than fervent in devotion, however, each sacrifice includes one or more kuo-toa parishioners. Drow are never sacrificed to Blibdoolpoolp, and the servants and slaves of the drow are usually spared as well.

Language: Kuo-toas speak Kuo-Toan, Undercommon, and Aquan. Those who live in mixed communities with drow often speak Elven as well.

Names: Kuo-toan given names usually mimic rushing or dripping water in sound. Surnames are descriptive words or phrases, often religious in nature.

Male Names: Drapood, Jopaarg, Oomkaan, Moolowik, Nilbool, Poolidib, Poolp, Prin, Pripp, Prirr, Rripp, Rropp, Urlurg, Vuoor.

Female Names: Bibble, Bilpl, Bilpli, Blipool, Lill, Lilli, Pliil, Pliili, Uustra.

Surnames: Chosen, Devout, Goddessgifted, Goodhunter, Holy, Motherblessed, Seachild, Seakin, Undrowned.

Adventurers: Kuo-toan society provides ample reasons for any nonconformist kuo-toa to adopt the adventuring life and travel far away from the areas controlled by the Sea Mother's clergy. Unfortunately, kuo-toas typically face prejudice from every other race except drow. As a result, they often join mixed-race adventuring groups, hoping that the diversity will encourage acceptance. Adventuring kuo-toas often make pilgrimages back home on an annual basis to partake of the spawning pools.

Regions: Kuo-toas live in the upper and middle Underdark. Virtually all of them choose the kuo-toa region, though the few kuo-toas who venture to the surface are free to choose the regions in which they dwell.

KUO-TOA RACIAL TRAITS

+2 Strength, +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, -2 Charisma. Kuo-toas are strong, hardy, and wise, but they have a sinister reputation.
Medium size. Kuo-toas have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
A Kuo-toa's base land speed is 20 feet. A kuo-toa also has a swim speed of 50 feet.
Lightning Bolt (Su): Two or more kuo-toa clerics (whips) operating together can generate a stroke of lightning every 1d4 rounds. The whips must join hands to launch the bolt but need only remain within 30 feet of one another while it builds. The resulting lightning bolt deals 1d6 points of damage per whip, but a successful Reflex save halves this amount (DC 11 + highest Wisdom modifier among the participating whips + number of whips).
Adhesive (Ex): A kuo-toa uses his own body oil and other materials to give his shield a finish almost like flypaper, capable of holding fast any creatures or items that touch it. Any creature that makes an unsuccessful melee attack against a kuo-toa must succeed on a Reflex save (DC 11 + kuo-toa's Con modifier), or the weapon sticks to the shield and is yanked out of its wielder's grip. A creature using a natural weapon is automatically grappled if it gets stuck. A kuo-toa requires one hour and special materials costing 20 gp to coat a shield with adhesive, but the secretion remains sticky for up to three days, or until it actually catches something or someone, whichever comes first. Successfully trapping a creature or item uses up the adhesive, so the shield can trap no further creatures or items until its coating is replenished. Pulling a stuck weapon or limb from a shield requires a DC 20 Strength check.
Electricity Resistance 10 (Ex): Kuo-toas are naturally resistant to electricity.
Immunities (Ex): A kuo-toa is immune to poison and paralysis.
Keen Sight (Ex): A kuo-toa has excellent vision, thanks to his two independently focusing eyes. His eyesight is so keen that he can spot a moving object or creature even if it is invisible or ethereal. Only by remaining perfectly still can such objects or creatures avoid a kuo-toa's notice.
Slippery (Ex): A kuo-toa secretes an oily film that makes him difficult to grapple or snare. Webs (magic or otherwise) don't affect kuo-toas, and they usually can wriggle free from most other forms of confinement.
Light Blindness (Ex): Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds a kuo-toa for 1 round. In addition, he takes a -1 circumstance penalty on all attack rolls, saves, and checks while operating in bright light.
Amphibious (Ex): Kuo-toas can breathe both air and water without difficulty and are capable of surviving indefinitely in either environment.
Natural Armor Bonus (Ex): A kuo-toa has a +6 natural armor bonus to Armor Class because of his scaly skin.
Racial Bonuses: A kuo-toa has a +8 racial bonus on Escape Artist checks and a +4 racial bonus on Search and Spot checks.
Weapon Familiarity: A kuo-toa may treat pincer staffs as martial weapons rather than exotic weapons.
Racial Hit Dice: A kuo-toa character begins with two levels of monstrous humanoid, which provide 2d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +2, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +0, Ref +3, and Will +3.
Racial Skills: A kuo-toa's monstrous humanoid levels give him skill points equal to 5 × (2 + Int modifier). His class skills are Craft (any), Escape Artist, Knowledge (any), Listen, Move Silently, Search, and Spot.
Racial Feats: A kuo-toa's monstrous humanoid levels give him one feat.
Automatic Languages: Kuo-Toan, Undercommon, and Aquan. Bonus Languages: Common, Dwarven, Elven, and Serusan (or by character region).
Favored Class: Rogue.
Level Adjustment: +3.

SLYTHS

Thought by some to be genasi descended from human pairings with earth and water elementals, slyths are humanoid shapechangers found in small numbers throughout the Underdark. Another theory traces their origin to aboleth experimentation with humans and derro, while one ancient legend holds that slyths were actually created by Shar, who shaped a gelatinous cube into a humanoid and then breathed life into it. Still another myth tells the same tale but maintains that Chauntea created the slyths to tend the deep places of the earth.

Although their origins remain a mystery, slyths care deeply for the world of the Underdark and work to ensure that the many races and species that occupy it do not defile it. Slyths are few in number but strong in influence. They live long and make their presence felt in many ways.

Personality: Slyths view themselves as the custodians and caretakers of the Underdark. At peace with the natural world, they consider it their duty to help others interact harmoniously with the environment.

Because they maintain amicable relationships with most races, slyths are welcome almost anywhere. In peaceful communities, they offer advice on animal husbandry, food cultivation, or foraging. In conflict-threatened areas, they often act as arbiters. When feuding and raiding erupt into actual warfare, however, the slyths refuse to take sides - they simply leave. In times of open conflict, the slyths retreat to faraway niches that are difficult, if not impossible, for anyone without their alternate form to find.

Physical Description: In her humanoid form, a slyth appears as a bald human, slightly taller than average, with softer and more rounded features. Her skin tones can vary in color, but brown hues are the most common. The slyth's real form is that of an amorphous, oozelike creature whose body is midway between a solid and a liquid. In this shape, she resembles a puddle of syrup, mud, or oil.

Relations: In general, slyths get along well with almost all the humanoid and monstrous humanoid races, especially svirfneblin and orogs. Aboleths and illithids raise the ire of the slyths; in fact, the latter have been known to go out of their way to avoid mind flayer settlements.

Alignment: Slyths unequivocally favor neutrality. No member of any other race has ever encountered a slyth that wasn't neutral. Perhaps this predilection for neutrality indicates that slyths are somehow part of nature's own essence, or perhaps it results from their breeding or environment. Darker rumors speculate that slyth children who incline toward obdurate alignment extremes are abandoned, and few, if any, survive.

Religion: The deep spirituality of the slyths usually manifests itself in the worship of one of Faerûn's gods. Chauntea, the Earth Mother, is popular among slyths with good tendencies, and Shar is the deity of choice for those with evil tendencies.

Language: Slyths speak Common and Undercommon. Most speak at least one other elemental, humanoid, or monstrous humanoid language, although many powerful slyths supplement their linguistic expertise with magic, such as a helm of comprehend languages or potions of tongues.

Names: Slyth names reflect their interest in nature. First names are often onomatopoeic, resembling natural sounds of the Underdark. A typical surname is a compound word that unifies two aspects of the natural world.

Male Names: Drypp, Garock, Glythum, Ploawp, Rumble.

Female Names: Ffflla, Mrrwa, Ploosh, Scritch, Shooh.

Surnames: Deepflight, Glowstone, Mushroomlake, Rockridge, Rockriver, Silentcave, Swiftlight.

Adventurers: Because slyth families typically settle in an area and become its keepers, slyths who take up classes usually become druids or rangers. Even slyth commoners or warriors devote themselves to the study of animal husbandry and try to learn more about nature. Eventually, these classed slyths leave the community, seeking other areas that have greater need. Sometimes a slyth travels and explores for many years before finding a place that seems suited to her.

Regions: The slyths live in all levels of the Underdark, though only in the lower Underdark is the population large enough to warrant permanent settlements. Virtually all slyths choose the slyth region.

SLYTH RACIAL TRAITS

-2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom. Slyths are wise in the ways of nature and reasonably agile, but their amorphous forms are not especially strong.
Medium size. Slyths have no bonuses or penalties due to size.
A slyth's base land speed is 30 feet. A slyth in amorphous form (see below) has a swim speed of 30 feet.
Alternate Form (Su): As a standard action, a slyth can change shape, assuming an amorphous form. Any equipment the slyth is wearing or carrying transforms to become part of this new form. Material armor (including natural armor) becomes worthless, though the slyth's Dexterity bonus, deflection bonus, and any armor bonuses from force effects (for example, from the mage armor spell) still apply. In her amorphous form, she cannot be flanked or stunned and she is immune to critical hits, but she can't attack or cast spells with verbal, somatic, material, or focus components. (This limitation does not rule out spells that the slyth may have prepared using the metamagic feats Eschew Materials, Silent Spell, and Still Spell.) The slyth loses all other supernatural abilities while in amorphous form, and her magic items cease functioning. Her amorphous form is nearly fluid and boneless, enabling her to pass through holes or narrow openings as small as 2 inches in diameter. Resuming her normal form is a full-round action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. A slyth can remain in amorphous form for up to 10 minutes per class level, but after resuming her normal form she cannot change again for as long as she spent in amorphous form.
Water Breathing (Ex): A slyth can breathe underwater indefinitely.
Immunities (Ex): Because of their shapechanging abilities, slyths are immune to polymorphing and poison.
Resistances (Ex): A slyth has sonic resistance 5.
Racial Bonuses: A slyth has a +4 racial bonus on Disguise, Escape Artist, and Survival checks.
Weapon Familiarity: A slyth may treat flutter blades as martial weapons rather than exotic weapons.
Automatic Languages: Common and Undercommon. Bonus Languages: Aquan, Elven, Gnome, and Terran (or by character region).
Favored Class: Druid.
Level Adjustment: +2.

SVIRFNEBLIN

Silent and wary, the svirfneblin (or deep gnomes) dwell in mines and caverns far beneath the surface of the world. While the rock gnomes of the Lands Above are known for their boundless optimism and cheerful mischief, the deep gnomes are suspicious and serious creatures. Their holdings are hidden from the predatory races that share the Underdark with them because only caution, stealth, and cooperation with others of their kind stand between the svirfneblin and a terrible end.

Svirfneblin are master artisans, miners, and gemcutters. Their handiwork is prized throughout the Realms Below, and the boldest deep gnomes are welcomed as neutral merchants among many Underdark races. They make superior guides, scouts, and foragers because they often know passages and portals long lost to other races, and few can match the stealth or cunning of svirfneblin rangers watching over their own territory.

Personality: Deep gnomes are suspicious and slow to give their trust. They have little desire to meet new people, so most deep gnomes appear grim, sullen, and pessimistic to others. Anyone who takes the considerable trouble to befriend a svirfneblin, however, usually finds him to be a loyal and unflinching comrade whose pragmatic outlook is balanced by a wry, self-deprecating wit.

Svirfneblin admire well-wrought metalwork and weapons, but they love the beauty of gemstones with a passion that seems impossible for creatures with such dour personalities. They are diligent, industrious, and tireless in the pursuit of excellence. Deep gnomes believe that anything worth doing is worth doing well, no matter how long it takes or how difficult it turns out to be.

Physical Description: A deep gnome stands between 3 and 3-1/2 feet tall and weighs between 40 and 45 pounds. He is wiry and lean, with a body as hard as a slab of stone. His skin may be either mottled gray or dun-colored (a good match for the rock around his home), and his eyes are either dark gray or black. A female svirfneblin has hair the same color as her eyes, but a male is entirely bald and beardless.

Relations: Deep gnomes are deeply suspicious of all other races, particularly drow and kuo-toas. To a svirfneblin, a stranger is an enemy, and the best way to deal with enemies is to avoid them completely. Deep gnomes are most accepting of gloamings and slyths, since these folk rarely threaten them. But they deal very cautiously with grimlocks and orogs, having learned that members of these races are all too willing to plunder others who are too weak to defend themselves. Svirfneblin traders take care to meet with merchants of other races in neutral caverns that feature plenty of potential exits, in case a deal goes sour.

Alignment: Svirfneblin believe that their survival depends on avoiding entanglements with other races, so they strongly favor neutral alignments. While they rarely wish others ill, neither are they especially willing to take risks on behalf of others.

Religion: Like most other gnomes, the svirfneblin venerate the gnome pantheon. Their special patron is Callarduran Smoothhands, the Master of Stone.

Language: Svirfneblin speak Gnome and Undercommon. Those who have reason to deal with outsiders often learn Aquan, Common, Dwarven, Elven, or Kuo-Toan as well.

Names: Svirfneblin given names sound somewhat gutteral but are much simpler than the names adopted by their cousins in the Lands Above. Svirfneblin surnames are descriptive and often have to do with gems or stonework.

Male Names: Belwar, Kronthud, Durthmeck, Schneltheck, Thulwar, Walschud.

Female Names: Beliss, Durthee, Ivridda, Lulthiss, Schnella, Thulmarra.

Surnames: Gemcutter, Ironfoot, Rockhewer, Seamfinder, Stonecutter.

Adventurers: While most svirfneblin have little use for adventuring, they are without a doubt the best guides, scouts, and pathfinders in the Underdark. Quick, clever, and stealthy, svirfneblin have an uncanny knack for finding their way through the bleak maze of the Underdark and avoiding dangerous encounters along the way. A few svirfneblin find their way into the adventuring life by serving as guides for parties composed of other races.

Regions: Svirfneblin normally choose the deep gnome region.

SVIRFNEBLIN RACIAL TRAITS

-2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -4 Charisma. These adjustments replace the rock gnome ability score modifiers.
Small size. A svirfneblin has a +1 bonus to Armor Class, a +1 bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 bonus on Hide checks, but his lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
A svirfneblin's base land speed is 20 feet.
Darkvision: A svirfneblin has darkvision out to 120 feet.
Racial Bonuses: A svirfneblin has a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws, a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions, a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds and goblinoids, and a +2 racial bonus on Craft (alchemy) and Listen checks. He also receives a +2 racial bonus on Hide checks, which improves to +4 in underground environments.
+4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against all creatures.
Spell Resistance: A svirfneblin has spell resistance equal to 11 + class level.
Stonecunning: This ability grants a svirfneblin a +2 racial bonus on Search checks made to notice unusual stonework. A deep gnome who merely comes within 10 feet of unusual stonework is entitled to a Search check as if he were actively searching, and he can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. A svirfneblin can also intuit depth, sensing her approximate depth underground.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day - blindness/deafness, blur, disguise self. Caster level equals the svirfneblin's class level. The save DC is Charisma-based but includes a +4 racial modifier.
Nondetection (Su): A svirfneblin continuously radiates a nondetection effect as the spell (caster level equals the svirfneblin's class level).
Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against illusion spells cast by svirfneblin.
Weapon Familiarity: Svirfneblin may treat gnome hooked hammers as martial weapons rather than exotic weapons.
Automatic Languages: Common, Gnome, Undercommon. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Orc, and Terran. In addition, a svirfneblin can use speak with animals as a spell-like ability once per day to speak with a burrowing mammal (caster level 1st, regardless of the svirfneblin's actual character level).
Favored Class: Rogue.
Level Adjustment: +3.