Page 27 - Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting

tal’dorei campaign guide

Should your character be born from the toil and history their home for a time as the rock gnome village of Witte-
of the Ravenite clans, make these adjustments in place of bak. Others traveled into the Dividing Plains and found
the base Dragonborn traits. Age, Alignment, and Size a home among the eastward-bound pioneers. Their short
remain the same as base dragonborn: stature has always proved a social hindrance in the lands
of the tall folk. While gnomes fight for respect within
• Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score
human communities, they can prove themselves through
increases by 1 and your Wisdom score increases by 1.
deeds, or humor, among their taller neighbors.
• Damage Resistance. You have resistance to non-magi-
cal slashing damage. rock gnomeS
• Speed. Your base walking speed is 35 feet. Rock gnomes prize cleverness over all other traits, and
their cultural desire to explain natural phenomena cul-
gnomes minated in the gnomish city of Wittebak—the most
technologically advanced city in Tal’Dorei. Yet it did not
last. Wittebak was destroyed by giants centuries ago, and
Gnomes and gnomish culture are relatively uncommon in the rock gnomes fled across the Cliffkeep Mountains
Tal’Dorei. Although humans and rock gnomes both hail in search of sanctuary. Many refugees found homes in
from Issylra, most gnomes never had the chance or desire Kraghammer, and are striving to recreate the centuries of
to leave their homeland. Some did migrate over during innovation lost in the destruction of Wittebak. Kymal has
the Age of Arcanum and endured the Calamity within also become a center of rock gnome population, and many
the deep caverns of the Cliffkeep Mountains, rebuilding enjoy figuring out clever ways to rig its many gambling
halls, or practice applying new pocket-picking techniques
on their occasional wealthy patrons.
foreSt gnomeS
Forest gnomes are not native to Tal’Dorei, but unlike rock
gnomes, they are believed to hail from the Feywild, much
like the elves. A half-dozen small forest gnome commu-
nities exist within the Verdant Expanse, hidden from the
prying eyes of elves and human explorers. Forest gnomes
are more than happy to help their rock gnomish kin in
their search to understand how nature works and how to
manipulate it. Knowledge is not as important as wisdom
in forest gnome culture, but they are keenly aware that
the rock gnomes’ science can protect the natural world in
ways that they could not.
Not all forest gnomes are as close to their fey identity as
those of the Verdant Expanse. Some more worldly clans
have spread to other forests across Tal’Dorei. Most
notably, the Trickfoot clan has made the the Bramble-
wood outside of Westruun their home for generations,
along with several other families. These distant clans are
more practical than their fey kin and less uptight than
their distant, rocky cousins, giving them a curious person-
ality perfect for the life of a traveling adventurer.
goliaths

Most folk of giant blood ignore the political nonsense of
the smaller folk. As the old goliath saying goes: “Only
people with little strength like to talk.” Goliaths
are of giant ancestry—however distantly—and
keep many of the old stone giant traditions. As
goliaths keep no written history, it’s unclear why
they are so small compared to their massive stone
giant cousins, but it is undeniable that the two
races are somehow related.
Living in small, solitary villages along the Cliffkeep and
Stormcrest mountain ranges, goliath communities maintain

26 chapter 1: campaigns in tal'dorei