Races of Stone

Races of Stone

Abbreviation: N/A Author: Jesse Decker, Michelle Lyons, David Noonan Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Item Code: 965670000 Release Date: August 2004 Format: Hardcover Page Count: 192 ISBN-10: 0-7869-3278-3 Price: $29.95 ; C$44.95

Product Blurb: Heroes Carved from the Earth From underground caverns to rolling canyons to mountain crags, bold adventurers emerge from among the hardiest people -- folk who possess an affinity with the earth itself. Drawing strength and security from their surroundings, along with the skills needed to survive, the champions of these races of stone have etched their names in legend. This supplement for the D&D game provides detailed information on the psychology, society, culture, behavior, religion, folklore, and other aspects of the races of stone: dwarves, gnomes, and goliaths -- a new race presented here. In addition to new subraces and monster races playable as characters, Races of Stone also provides new prestige classes, feats, spells, magic items, equipment, monsters, and rules for magic rune circles. This text is quoted from promotion material. Text and images are copyrighted by the original publisher.

Races

Name	Page	Description
Dwarves	5	Dwarves are naturally dense, compact creatures. They stand no taller than 4-1/2 feet, but they have the breadth and depth of creatures nearly twice their height. Their arms are long for their height, their hands reaching down nearly to their shins. Their torsos are in proportion to their height, though, as are their legs. Both males and females are heavily muscled, with thick, well-rounded limbs and broad shoulders and hips.
Gnomes	31	Gnomes are a short people, slightly built with thin, wiry frames. They typically stand from 3 to 3-1/2 feet tall and weigh 40 to 45 pounds. Gnome females and clean-shaven males are often mistaken for human children when they enter human lands. They are sturdy creatures, though not nearly as strong as dwarves due to their slight builds. Gnomes have dark skin, ranging from light tan to a deep, warm brown. They typically have blond, light brown, white, or silver hair. Their eye color is generally blue, although the shade and depth varies greatly. Also, many gnomes use illusion spells to change their coloration entirely.
Goliaths	53	Goliaths are massive creatures unafraid of throwing their weight around in a fight. Highly competitive, these strong nomads can prove to be powerful allies and welcome additions to any adventuring party.
Chaos Gnome	86	Infused with the spirit of chaos, these gnomes are energetic, flamboyant, and charismatic. They exude a restless, inspirational energy and seldom rest. They also possess uncanny luck and have great talent as sorcerers. Colorful cousins of standard gnomes, they are adventurous; even the most staid among them is prone to wander. Although commonly referred to as chaos gnomes, these precocious humanoids also call themselves “imago.”
Dream Dwarf	88	Dream dwarves feel the hills slumber beneath them. They see the world as a resting giant of inestimable power, and they are caught in the dreaming. While other dwarves shape metal and stone, dream dwarves contemplate and meditate. Wise and cautious, they understand nature in a way at once similar to and wholly alien to the understanding of druids and shamans of other races.
Feral Gargun	89	A small offshoot of the goliath race, feral garguns tear their livelihood out of the frigid northern regions with tooth and claw. Feral garguns derive from goliath and giant parentage. These large, savage humanoids fight in quick, furious bursts of energy. In the barren areas of the north, there is little room for mercy, and the feral garguns have had to learn to be aggressive just to survive.
Stonechild	92	Born of a union of mortal and elemental, a stonechild is a hardy entity grounded in soil and stone and gifted with incredible strength, fortitude, and a keen intellect. Although they are not the outcasts that half-orcs often are, stonechildren are rarely raised among others of their kind. Most stonechildren grow to maturity while living in dwarf or human communities, and those few who stay on the Material Plane often wander alone, taking up the mantle of adventurer.
Whisper Gnome	94	Whisper gnomes outwardly resemble common gnomes, but they lack the jovial nature and easy outlook on life that their more common relatives enjoy. Instead, whisper gnomes are creatures of stealth and suspicion. In profession and behavior, they range from dangerous spies to peaceful recluses. Few members of other races can match a whisper gnome’s powers of stealth, and whisper gnome scouts and rangers always stalk any creatures that come within a few miles of their hidden hillside communities.

Prestige Classes

Name	Page	Description
Battlesmith	97	A battlesmith is a skilled dwarf armorer and weaponsmith who uses her experience in battle, as well as her masterful weaponsmithing and armorsmithing abilities, to create deadly items for her kinsmen to wield in defense of their homes. While typically only spellcasters can craft magic items, dwarven ingenuity has found a number of ways to make skill serve where nondwarves must rely on magic.
Blade Bravo	99	Younger gnomes consider it fashionable to engage in rapier duels for honor and glory. These duels are typically fought more for sport than anger, and after a few drubbings, most youths tire of the game and move on to less dangerous pursuits. A few, however, possess a real talent for fencing and develop a love of the blade and battle. They become addicted to the rush of combat and devote themselves to studying its many strategies. Their obsession transforms the sport, elevating the sometimes inelegant cut and thrust of battle into an art form that can leave observers breathless and opponents bloody. These blade bravos also specialize in techniques to battle creatures larger than they are a necessity for any gnome interested in pursuing the arts of war.
Cragtop Archer	101	In times of peace, the cragtop archer hunts across the deep mountain canyons, felling animals too canny for other hunters to approach. In times of war, the cragtop archer fights from a ridgeline, raining arrows down on her foes from hundreds of yards away and winning battles from seemingly impossible distances.
Dawncaller	103	Dawncallers are goliath bards responsible for guarding their tribe throughout the night. They patrol the darkness at the edge of a sleeping goliath camp, keeping the many monsters of the mountains away while the other goliaths rest. In the morning, they awaken the rest of the tribe with stirring songs of goliath bravery.
Deepwarden	105	While clanwardens guard dwarf cities and clanholds as a last line of defense, deepwardens serve as a living early warning system against threats from both the environment and other creatures. Deepwardens are typically adventurers or retired dwarf militia members who wish to explore the depths of the earth. They travel deep underground and survive on their own, far from civilization. There they search for new resources, threats, or other interesting findings, and send reports back to their city comrades.
Divine Prankster	107	While many gnome clerics follow the teachings of Garl Glitter gold, a few have such great devotion to the Prankster God that they stand apart from others among his clergy. These individuals embrace Garl’s methods of teaching through harmless object lessons and dedicate their lives to acting as his agents in the world. While some wonder whether devotion to the Prankster God or a wicked sense of humor actually drives these self-titled “pranksters,” none can deny the potent abilities they exercise in their quest for the perfect educational prank.
Earth Dreamer	110	Deep are the dreams of mountains, and the earth trembles with the power of their dreaming. Earth dreamers move within these ancient dreams, attuning themselves to their power and mastering strange abilities over the earth. Many other characters and creatures consider earth dreamers to be a strange lot, partly because these exotic spellcasters are liable to remain silent for years at a time, contemplating the power and beauty of the earth dream.
Goliath Liberator	112	Giants—especially frost and hill giants—sometimes kidnap and enslave goliaths, putting them to work performing menial labor in their mines or camps. Particularly evil giants might even capture goliaths for the cook-pot or the sacrificial altar. When goliaths don’t return to camp, the entire tribe mobilizes to find them. If the tribe is fortunate, it has one or more goliath liberators among its members to lead the rescue.
Iron Mind	114	Elite warriors trained to resist mental compulsions of all kinds, members of the iron mind prestige class defend dwarf and gnome kingdoms against intrusions by mind flayers, dark elf enchanters, and the like. An iron mind becomes one with her armor, and its presence protects her from mental assault as thoroughly as it wards against physical blows. Iron minds combine the protection and assurance that their armor provides with rigorous training to overcome physical injury through mental power into one seamless fighting technique.
Peregrine Runner	116	While goliath tribes are largely self-sufficient, they sometimes need to get a message to another tribe quickly, often because they’re under attack or in some other danger. When such a need arises, the goliaths send an elite, fleet-of-foot warrior known as a peregrine runner. Peregrine runners also serve as long-range scouts for their tribe, checking a far-off valley to see whether game is plentiful before the entire tribe breaks camp and travels there. When a goliath tribe needs to send an envoy to lowlanders far below their lofty camps, it often sends a peregrine runner.
Runesmith	118	While nearly any member of dwarf society can learn a little bit of arcane magic, becoming a runesmith requires a whole different level of dedication. Runesmiths are respected members of dwarf society, always in high demand before any sort of athletic competition, expedition, or battle. A runesmith has learned to harness the power of runes and can fling fireballs and other staple arcane spells even while encased in full plate armor. As his power increases, he can inscribe runes that even nonspellcasters can use. At the height of his powers, he can use himself as the surface for a powerful, permanent rune.
Shadowcraft Mage	120	Illusionist is one of the most popular spellcasting classes among gnomes due to their natural affi nity for illusions. Some gnomes have an even greater affinity for illusions than the average representative of their race, resulting in the prestige class known as the shadowcraft mage.
Stoneblessed	122	A stoneblessed bonds to the stone of the mountains, blending into a dwarf, gnome, or goliath community and making it her home. A stoneblessed character usually lives with her chosen race for several years, learning customs and building solid bonds of friendship and trust. At the end of this period, the potential stoneblessed is invited into the tribe, clan, or community and is forever after considered a member of her chosen people. Once this ceremony is fi nished, the members of the adopted community expect the stoneblessed to put her interests above even those of the individual’s native race— they consider their home to be the stoneblessed’s home, and they expect the stoneblessed to feel the same.
Stonedeath Assassin	124	For as long as the two ancient races have existed, dwarves and goblins have fought. They share an affinity for underground living, but dwarves live for honor and craft, while goblins and their kin practice brutality and spread strife. Through the many wars that the two races have waged against one another, their stone citadels and underground strongholds have given the stout and honorable dwarves a tremendous advantage. Although the goblinoids easily outnumber the dwarves, their swarming hordes cannot overcome strong stone walls and carefully trapped corridors. Through the years, the smartest and cruelest among the goblinkin began to train in earnest to overcome these strongholds, striving to turn the dwarves’ affinity for stone into a weakness rather than a strength. The best of these creatures developed their own affinity with stone, and they began to infiltrate dwarf strongholds, disarming traps, weakening gates, and assassinating dwarf leaders just as they were trying to organize their people to repel a goblin invasion.
Stonespeaker Guardian	127	The stonespeaker guardian taps into the divine power of the earth itself to defend her fellow stonespeakers, as well as other goliaths and friendly races, from their enemies. Equally adept at spellcasting and melee combat, the stonespeaker guardian is a terror to behold for the giant, orc, or other marauder who has aroused the stonespeaker’s ire.

Spells

Page	Class/Level	School	Name	Description
162	Cleric 5, Paladin 3	Transmutation	Earth Hammer	You infuse one melee weapon with the power of the earth.
162	Druid 8, Sorcerer/Wizard 8	Transmutation	Earth Glide	You give the subject the ability to glide through earth and stone as easily as an earth elemental does.
162	Sorcerer/Wizard 6	Divination (Scrying)	Eye of Stone	You create an invisible magical sensor that can move through solid stone and send you visual information.
162	Bard 2	Transmutation	Harmonize	You blend magic and music seamlessly.
162	Bard 4	Transmutation	Harmonize, Greater	You blend magic and music seamlessly.
163	Cleric 2,Paladin 2	Transmutation	Stone Fist	Your fists turn into menacing, rocky lumps capable of inflicting deadly wounds.
163	Druid 3, Sorcerer/Wizard 3	Transmutation	Walk the Mountain's Path	You infuse the subject with the strength and power of the earth, granting it great ability to climb, jump, and maneuver through mountain pathways.

Powers

Page	Class	Level	Name	Description
163	Psychic Warrior	6th	Blackstone Hammer	You alter the nature of one weapon and create a psychic conduit between it and the power of the terrible blackstone hammer.
164	Psion/Wilder, Psychic Warrior	2nd	Earth Walk	You create a perfect mental bond with stone, allowing you to move over it with uncanny ease.
164	Psion/Wilder	3rd	Heavy Earth	You create an area of strange, otherworldly gravity, causing the earth itself to seemingly pull creatures to it.
164	Psychic Warrior	3rd	Perfect Archery	While this power is manifested, you do not provoke attacks of opportunity for firing ranged weapons.
164	Psychic Warrior	5th	Perfect Riposte	You form a perfect bond with your melee weapon.
164	Psychic Warrior	2nd	Power Claws	You encase one of your natural weapons in telekinetic force.
165	Psychic Warrior	2nd	Power Weapon	This power functions like power claws.
165	Psion/Wilder, Psychic Warrior	1st	Stone Mind	When you manifest this power, your mind becomes as the earth, and the earth becomes your mind.

Feats

Name	Page	Description
Ancestral Knowledge	136	You have a strong connection to the ancestors of your clan, giving you understanding and knowledge beyond the mortal realms.
Auspicious Marking	136	Your [goliath] skin patterns indicate that fate has marked you for greatness, and the patterns shift slowly to take new forms.
Axespike	137	You have mastered the art of fighting in spiked armor while wielding a greataxe. You blend greataxe blows and armor spike attacks into one constant, deadly attack form.
Battle Hardened	137	Your extensive battle experience has left you incredibly calm and composed, even in the heat of battle.
Burrow Friend	137	Your natural rapport with burrowing mammals improves.
Clan Prestige	137	Your actions have brought you some measure of fame and respect from your clan, whether from battle prowess or years of service to the clan.
Craft Rune Circle	137	You can create rune circles, stationary magic items that hold a variety of spells and effects.
Deep Vision	137	Your mental focus helps you see farther with darkvision.
Deflective Armor	137	Your armor shields you from touch attacks as well as regular blows.
Divine Damage Reduction	137	You can channel energy to give yourself a small amount of protection from weapons.
Divine Spellshield	137	You can channel energy to help your allies resist spells and spell-like effects.
Dwarven Armor Proficiency	138	You are familiar with exotic armor of dwarven manufacture and understand how to use it properly.
Earth Adept	138	You are in tune with the ground at your feet, making you more dangerous in the shifting conditions of combat.
Earth Fist	138	Your bond with the earth and martial training has imbued your fists with the qualities of cold iron.
Earth Master	138	You are in tune with the ground at your feet, helping you anticipate your opponent's movements in combat.
Earth Power	138	You draw psionic energy from raw stone.
Earth Sense	138	You are in tune with the earth beneath you.
Earth Spell	138	You draw magical power from the earth beneath your feet.
Earth's Warding	139	You can channel energy to infuse your skin with the strength of the earth.
Enchanting Song	139	You can channel the power of your bardic music to temporarily increase the power of your enchantment spells.
Energize Armor	139	You can charge your armor with psionic energy, making it resistant to energy damage.
Exotic Armor Proficiency	139	Choose a type of exotic armor. You understand how to wear that type of exotic armor properly.
Exotic Shield Proficiency	139	Choose an exotic shield. You are proficient with that type of exotic shield.
Extra Silence	139	You can generate a field of silence more often than other whisper gnomes can.
Fling Ally	139	You can launch your comrades into the air as if they were thrown weapons.
Fling Enemy	140	When you're wrestling a foe, you can lift him into the air and hurl him.
Focused Shield	140	Your mental focus makes you more adept at using your shield.
Gnome Foe Killer	140	Your battle techniques against your racial foes improve.
Goad	140	You are skilled at inducing opponents to attack you.
Greater Heavy Armor Optimization	141	You have mastered the use of heavy armor, maximizing its protective qualities while moving more easily in it.
Heavy Armor Optimization	141	You have trained extensively in heavy armor, and you have learned to take advantage of the protection it offers.
Heavy Lithoderms	141	You have stony growths on your skin that afford you protection against attacks.
Improved Rock Hurling	141	Your accuracy and effectiveness with thrown rocks improves.
Improved Weapon Familiarity	141	You are familiar with all exotic weapons common to your people.
Inspire Spellpower	141	You can use your bardic music to increase the power of your allies' spells.
Invest Armor	141	You can charge your armor with additional protective qualities.
Knockback	142	By putting your bulk behind a blow, you can push your enemy backward.
Markings of the Blessed	142	Your skin markings shift into a pattern that resists a wide array of harmful effects in times of trouble.
Markings of the Hunter	142	Your skin markings shift into a pattern that makes you hard to get the drop on.
Markings of the Magi	142	Your skin markings shift into a pattern that denotes you as having strong magical talent.
Markings of the Maker	142	Your skin markings shift into a pattern that gives you fate's edge when using skills.
Markings of the Warrior	142	Your skin markings have shifted over time into a pattern that gives you fate's deathly accuracy in times of trouble.
Metamagic Song	142	You can channel the power of your bardic music into your magic, allowing you to pay the cost of metamagic feats by spending uses of your bardic music ability.
Misleading Song	142	You can channel the power of your bardic music to temporarily increase the power of your illusion spells.
Moradin's Smile	142	Through the favor of Moradin, you are skilled at interacting with others.
Mountain Warrior	142	You are adept at fighting on the uneven ground of mountainous terrain.
Natural Trickster	143	You have greater natural access to your race's powers of illusion.
Pierce the Darkness	143	You can channel positive energy to temporarily increase the range of your darkvision.
Piercing Sight	143	Your fundamental familiarity with illusion allows you to better recognize them.
Powerful Wild Shape	143	You retain your powerful build while in wild shape form.
Rampaging Bull Rush	143	You can use brute force to slam into and knock down your enemies.
Reckless Rage	143	You are considered extreme even among other barbaric warriors, and you enter a deeper state of rage than others.
Rock Hurling	143	You can throw rocks like a giant can.
Roots of the Mountain	143	You can channel energy to make yourself immovable.
Shielded Axe	144	You have mastered the style of fighting with a dwarven waraxe and a handaxe while keeping a buckler strapped to your offhand, and you have learned to use this unusual combination of weapons and buckler to protect yourself while wielding both axes effectively.
Shielded Casting	144	You are skilled at covering yourself with your shield when casting spells in combat.
Shielded Manifesting	144	You are skilled at covering yourself with your shield when manifesting psionic powers in combat.
Silencing Strike	144	You can infuse your sneak attacks with the magical essence of silence.
Spellrazor	144	You have mastered the style of combining a gnome quickrazor with spellcasting.
Steady Concentration	144	You are an expert at avoiding distractions and focusing your mind, and you can concentrate clearly even in the most stressful conditions.
Steady Mountaineer	144	You are so good at climbing cliffs and leaping across crevasses that distractions don't affect you.
Stone Form	144	You can use wild shape to assume a rocklike form.
Stone Rage	144	Your bond with the earth and tough hide makes it easier for you to shrug off blows while you are raging.
Stoneback	144	You have studied the techniques of fighting underground, and you can protect yourself from the dangers of multiple attackers whenever you can put your back to a solid wall.
Titan Fighting	145	You have been trained to fight larger creatures, and you are adept at dodging their attacks.
Trivial Knowledge	145	You have the ability to dredge up obscure knowledge in appropriate situations.
Tunnel Fighting	145	You are adept at maneuvering and fighting in tight spaces and underground passages.
Tunnel Riding	145	You are particularly adept at maneuvering mounts through tight spaces and underground passages.
Turtle Dart	145	You have mastered the style of fighting with a short sword while wearing extremely heavy armor and carrying a large shield.

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