Page 23 - Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting

tal’dorei campaign guide

The Races of Tal’Dorei

Over the past thousand years of civilization, eleven major peoples have left their mark on Tal’Dorei. Humans are the most
populous, and their continent-spanning republic is viewed as a testament to their power and influence—though many
nonhumans argue that their contributions should not be erased from the history of the Republic of Tal’Dorei. Dwarves,
elves, and goliaths have lived on this continent since time immemorial, and while humans may have been the first people
to publicly colonize and openly trade in Tal’Dorei, countless others have come before and more will follow in their foot-
steps. Today, people come from all reaches of the world to escape hardships in their home country, whether the iron rule of
Wildemount, the religious imposition of Issylra, or the brutal heat of Marquet.
This section stands as a resource to help inspire you in deciding how your character’s racial background fits within the
existing realm of Tal’Dorei. The game statistics of each race are identical to those in the PH.
dwarves to the immigrant culture of Tal’Dorei may find this outlook
distressingly xenophobic, and even cruel.
The stout and proud dwarves of Exandria build insular
hill dwarves
societies, and most every dwarf in Tal’Dorei hails from
Kraghammer or is descended from those who did. The Some dwarves felt confined within their subterranean halls,
mountainous stronghold still stands as the central heart of and sought to move their families into the open lands of
dwarven society, and many of the most celebrated heroes the Dividing Plains. These people of the foothills aban-
(and villains) of dwarvenkind hail from these fire-warmed doned their elders’ teachings of caution and worry, and in
halls. Mountain and hill dwarves alike can be found in exchange found new friends, new business opportunities,
the many cities and locales of Tal’Dorei, but only hill spiritual enlightenment, and even arcane knowledge within
dwarves make a habit of staying out long, let alone making the human-majority cities of Emon, Kymal, and Westruun.
aboveground settlements of their own. If drawn to more Very few ever set foot within the Verdant Expanse, how-
dangerous pursuits, many dwarves turn to mercenary ever, knowing the animosity that the elves of Syngorn hold
work, wandering the southern end of the Bladeshimmer for those born beneath the mountain. Even so, the rare
Shoreline to scavenge lost treasures, or even beyond the expatriate dwarf has found kinship within elven home-
Stormcrest Mountains to mark a new life outside the poli- steads, though they are never fully trusted by the Wardens.
tics of the realm within the Mornset Countryside.
duergar
mountain dwarves Fires flare from the darkness and hammers ring in the
More than any other trait, mountain dwarves are known deep, alerting wary travelers of the underworld to the
for their stubbornness. As the saying goes, “the dwarves are presence of the duergar. The lightless depths
as unmoving as the mountain they sit under.” Beyond the beneath the Cliffkeep Mountains are the
simple stereotypes of brusqueness, arrogance, and pighead- tyrannical realm of the gray dwarves,
edness, mountain dwarves are complex driven by a burning hatred for
people. As the majority culture in their kin of the mountains.
Kraghammer, mountain dwarves One question plagues the
are shaped by a long history of
suspicion. For centuries, new
peoples and new ideas in Kra-
ghammer meant danger.
They spelled the death of
monarchs and incursion
by dark, subterranean
agents. The only time
dwarves proudly opened
their arms to a new people,
Warren Drassig led all
Tal’Dorei into the
greatest war since the
Age of Arcanum. In
the mind of a dwarf,
this suspicion is
perfectly justi-
fied—though
people used

22 chapter 1: campaigns in tal'dorei