Rules Index | GM Screen

Step 1: Concept

Source Advanced Race Guide pg. 214
A race is more than just a group of individuals with similar qualities and traits. A race is a collection of people with a shared history and cultural identity. While the race builder presents many options for creating new races, and it may be tempting to treat each section as a buffet of options to help you ferret out the most optimal choices for your character, it is generally more beneficial for your campaign world to conceptualize your race first. Before choosing options, consider answering some questions about your race and its culture. Answering these questions can aid you in making reasonable choices about the qualities and traits of your race so that it can better fit in the game world—rather than just being a collection of seemingly random options. Such questions might include the following.

Where does your race tend to live and why?
What does your race look like? How does the members’ appearance help them adapt to their typical environment? What is your race’s history? Does it have a creation myth? Were there pivotal events in the race’s history?
What kinds of relationships does your race have with other races? Does it have allies? Competitors? Enemies? Hated foes?
What classes does your race tend to favor?

If you are using these rules and you are not the GM, make sure you work closely with your GM to create a race that fills a definite niche and need in her campaign world.

Archives of Nethys

Rules Index | GM Screen

Step 1: Concept