The vast majority of Krevborna’s population are human; they are a people of mixed ethnic origins who share a common culture of folk tales and superstitions. Krevbornites tend to face the horrors of their land stoically, for they know the nights are long and that terrors lurk in every shadow. They work hard, protect their own, and pray for protection against evil. Because Krevborna is a dangerous place, it is not unusual for even the civilized populace to arm themselves. Pockets of barbarians, outlaws, and tribal folk persist in the most forsaken mountains, swamps, and woods.
Lycanthropy can be passed down in a minor form as an inherited familial curse. Those who bear the curse frequently have animalistic characteristics; the accursed are known as varcolaks. Wolf-like features are most common, but other bestial aspects are also found among their number—their forms are dependent on the nature of their family’s particular curse.
CalibansCalibans are not truly born; they are constructed creatures crafted from inanimate matter and given life through miraculous means. Some calibans are created in vats or cauldrons by alchemists or witches who combine rotting human corpses, animal viscera, and fungal matter to create servitors. Others are stitched together from corpses or built of metal and clockwork mechanisms by artificers before given the gift—or curse—of life.
Pomenysh are descendants of the immortal fey. Their appearances vary wildly; some are tall and ethereally beautiful, others are squat and gnarled of spine and limb, and some pomenysh have bestial features such as ram-like horns or furry pelts. Pomenysh may be the emergent result of a sexual dalliance with a fey creature within a bloodline or changelings left behind when a fey abducts a human child from their cradle.
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Director's Commentary
One of the most frequently asked questions I get from people about to run a Krevborna campaign is "What races from (game X) do you think fit in the setting?" The question is common enough that I should have covered it in the book, I guess! This is the first post of three that give some "ancestry" details that I would use.
That said, I also believe in trying to fit whatever a player wants to play if we can tweak it to fit the setting. Talking over expectations pretty much always rules.
Varcolaks are a no-brainer for a Gothic setting. Minor key werewolves feel very much in genre. In 5e, I'd use the stats for shifters or tabaxi to represent them.
Caliban are a gothed-up take on the idea of "manufactured" races. In 5e, I'd use the stats for half-orcs or the orcs in the Eberron book to represent the "biological" versions and warforged for calibans on the "robotic" side.
Pomenysh, on the other hand, is a place I'm melding folklore about the fey and the "playable doppelganger" stuff that's already in D&D. Since the creatures in this category are widely variable, there's a long list of stats that would work: elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, firbolgs, goblinoids, kobolds, changelings, etc.
