Species

Controllers can come in a variety of shapes, sizes and species. While humans are both the most popular choice for characters and the most common species in the world itself, others listed here are available. To get another species added to this list, please consult one of the admins. We're pretty open to new ideas and we'll probably accept it, we just don't have it here yet.

We're currently specifically disallowing the following: Archangels, devils, creatures distinctly non-humanoid (except for certain slimes) or creatures significantly larger than humans.

The golden rule is that any species needs to be balanced relative to human controllers of the same skill level. So with the innate powers that come with your non-human species, they need to be given relevant weaknesses to balance it out. Most commonly, this is that their capability with their kinesis is lesser compared to that of a human. Other species with equal amounts of experience compared to a human still won't be as skilled.

If we forgot to add your character's species here, feel free to ping Ulysses.

"Species" here is a shorthand for a concept from a fantasy-media perspective. Angels and demons arguably aren't even animals due to how heavily supernatural their origins are, cyborgs aren't technically alive, and categories like faefolk and furries are umbrellas encompassing multiple different species.

**Regarding half-breeds:** You can be half-human and half-something else, but otherwise races can't be mixed and matched. For balancing purposes, your half-human half-X character will have the traits of their non-human half.

## Species by Alphabetical Order

### **Angels**

First created by archangels as extensions of their divine will and power, angels were the first of the playable races to come into being, and one of the first to make appearances on Earth following the evolution of humans. Archangels have long paid attention to humans, these creatures both mortal and sapient, whose worship could increase their own power. Angels have often served as agents of direct action, coming to the world to guide human societies in the direction of religious inspiration—as well as gifting them with tools for survival, to ensure that this new source of power for their archangel would remain for centuries to come. New anthropological evidence supports a theory that angels may have sparked the concepts for some of mankind's earliest technologies, including the discovery of fire in some areas and the invention of the bow in others (these theories remain controversial, however). As civilizations stabilized and more archangels began to compete for worship, deities started to favour a more subtle approach to guiding the course of history, and angels became more suited for the purpose of maintaining their heaven of origin, or acting as militia to guard it from invasion by other divine or diabolic forces.

When other inhuman races started emerging into modern society, many angels did the same. Now that the floodgates of the supernatural stand open, archangels can afford to be less subtle, and many have sent their angels to Earth to act as exemplary citizens of the world. As beacons of moral righteousness, their virtue may guide an increasingly unstable world to an idyllic future: a future that maintains faith in itself, in community, and most importantly, in the archangel whose angels go on to change the world.

People often have intense feelings about angels. Awe is a common reaction by commoners, and some may go out of their way to acquire your blessing, but many also bear a sort of hatred for angels; the religious may resent angels from a deity other than their own as something false, your very existence a threat to the beliefs and traditions that once helped to give their life meaning, and humanists may spit at the sort of existential hierarchy that a literal angel represents through its inherent "human-but-better"ness.

Different heavens have their own unique ranking systems for angels, some of which get quite confusing, especially when a given archangel's terminology doesn't mesh with the "objective" terminology. For instance, "archangel" is the highest order of divine being in most contemporary academic models, but many archangels decided to try to one-up each other by making "archangel" a rank of angel in their own Heaven, and referring to themselves as something higher, such as a god. Aside from these heaven-specific categorizations, scholars differentiate between two types of angels: *artificial* angels, beings created by an archangel that typically only have partial free will, and *natural* angels, the offspring of artificial angels (or other natural angels) who have a much greater degree of free will. Playable angels in CA will always be natural angels; they may have been born in their heaven of origin, they may have been born on Earth and sometimes return to their heaven, or they may have been Earthborn and have never seen their own heaven. This last possibility could be due to their own chosen separation, or it could be a result of their heaven's rules about who can and can't come and go, and under what circumstances.

In terms of strengths, weaknesses and aesthetics, angels are one of the most customizable races. For all the variety of deities out there, an even greater variety of angels exist, as different archangels create their spiritual servants for different purposes. In order to maximize the worship they can harvest, archangels both shape and are shaped by mortal belief systems. The spread of the Abrahamic religions had a large impact on how archangels present themselves (and even identify themselves), and as a result, most angels have a distinctly Abrahamic (Jewish/Christian/Islamic) flavour to their power and in-programmed morality. But this isn't all, and different sorts of holy beings in world mythologies can be played as angels. Like other races, angels usually don't have kineses; yours is special for having one, which itself may line up well with their heaven's general aesthetics, be intensely dissonant against it, or something in-between.

One of the unifying traits shared by all angels is qualifying as Holy, which is more often a weakness than a strength, leaving them open to additional damage or other harmful effects from Unholy attacks. Common abilities of angel characters include a minor boost to their kinetic healing abilities, a weak healing ability for those whose kineses aren't conducive to healing, flight and a degree of power to modify their own appearance. Other powers may be appropriate depending on the nature of the religious tradition they come from, and their rank's intended role in their heaven. But for the love of The Flame, keep it balanced. Because a kinesis draws from the same well of spiritual power as inhuman species' supernatural abilities, greater species-powers come at the expense of kinetic strength. Narratively, angels are awesome creatures with potential narratives ties through their heaven of origin, but they also carry a major flaw: their innate powers come from the fact that their spirits are intertwined with their physical body, while many other races have a spirit disconnected from their forms. This means that for an angel, when the physical body dies, the spirit dies with it. All characters can be resurrected if they've only been dead for a few minutes, but past this, an angel's spirit rots. No afterlife awaits them, and the soul is beyond resurrection.

Angels make good political figures, especially in places with a religious bent. This is the case even as angels are barred from holding political office in certain jurisdictions, their very existence viewed as threatening the separation of church and state.

### **Cyborgs**

Man's ambition to play God has culminated in the cyborg. Technically, a cyborg is a human being who has been modified with technology, while an android is a robotic entity which may or may not resemble a human. CA cyborgs are *actually* androids, but we use the technically improper terminology for the sake of audience understanding. I mean come on, the "archangels may or may not actually be archangels" thing is confusing enough.

The emergence of sapient cyborgs is largely unrelated to the emergence of the other supernatural races. Their development was inevitable whether or not you wound up having orcs on your research teams. But it would be a mistake to posit that sapient, cybernetic life is unrelated to the supernatural. As much as we like to compare brains and computers, there are fundamental mechanical differences that prevent a binary-based computer, no matter how advanced, from achieving sapience in the way that we as humans understand it. The secret to crossing that barrier is a soul: we've succeeded in creating sentient machines only by infusing them with pre-existing spirits, granting them a continuation of living awareness fostered by the biological mind. A cyborg doesn't necessarily inherit the personality of the spirit used to animate it, since the machine's actual programming has a much larger impact on its actions than any interference from a soul, but if that soul has a kinesis, the cyborg will inherit it too! In Cosmic Academy, all player character cyborgs are this sentient sort, and come with a kinesis. It may be worth thinking about the origin of this mechanical being, as well as the soul it's infused with. It's typically why cyborg characters need to be humanoid: the soul doesn't properly "sync" with the machine if its basic layout is too different from the human the spirit once was.

The benefits a cyborg receives are distinctly non-magical, but physical and to some extent mental. Mechanical bodies may be more durable than flesh, their stamina virtually endless, their information processing faster. Greater speed associated with the mechanical is impressive compared to ordinary humans, but kinetics tend to be noticeably faster than mundane people anyway, so they mostly just fit in with the rest on this front. Perhaps the greatest strength of a cyborg is their immunity to conditions that fleshlings may have trouble with: a robot has no blood, no bones, is effectively immune to conventional poisons, is difficult to forcibly put to sleep, is less susceptible to psionic manipulation due to the lack of a biological brain, and maintains an inhuman degree of physical stamina (until their battery runs out). Many designers also include design measures to minimize the intuitive weaknesses of water or lightning damage, though electromagnetic pulses will maintain some degree of effectiveness. Oddly enough, one of the main weaknesses of a cybernetic enemy will often be attacks on the soul: the soul is not bound as naturally to a mechanical body as to a fleshly one, making it easier to detach from its associated body.

Additional strengths or weaknesses may be appropriate for a given cyborg based on their design specs, but remember to keep it balanced. Strengths and resistances are counterbalanced by additional weaknesses (elemental in nature, or something more creative; potentially having a sort of "battery life" that's drained by the use of intense abilities, decreasing their potential in extended fights) or lower kinetic power.

For roleplay purposes, consider questions like the nature of your programming and the extent to which your actions are automatically determined by it. Perhaps there's even a conflict between your programming and your "actual personality." Did your creators program you with Asimov's laws of robotics in mind? Or on the opposite end, were you outright designed for the destruction of human life?

Even when benevolent, cyborgs are... intimidating. Some can pass as human more easily than others depending on how much metal they have showing, but the uncanny valley hasn't yet been fully crossed, and even the most "realistic" looking robot will be discernible as a close glance for what it is. Commoners may be as fascinated by you as they are scared. Some see you as a symbol of something to despise, that cyborgs represent a greater threat than any other species to humans' dominance. The pace of automation displacing human jobs hasn't slowed since 2020. While the legal status of most other species is some strange sort of grey area, cyborgs are defined by the law in most places as definitively *not* people, and there presently exists no distinction for those with sentience and a soul. If someone kills you, the worst charge they're getting is destruction of someone else's property. Be careful not to piss off people you can't threaten away from taking action; the law will give you no justice.

### **Demons**

First created by devils as extensions of their diabolic will and power, demons have been around nearly as long as their holy counterparts, and were one of the first races to make an appearance on Earth following the evolution of humans. Devils have long paid attention to humans, these creatures both mortal and sapient, whose souls could increase their own power. Demons have often served as agents of manipulation, coming to the world to offer infernal bargains to great individuals. There is a body of evidence to suggest that the primitive accumulation of capital, the earliest material inequalities between people that formed the first hierarchies—and thus, arguably, the beginning of history itself—was the work of demonic influence. While magic was independently discovered by humans in a number of areas around the world, there are also theories that it was first introduced to certain cultures by demons as direct bestowals or through subtle influence. (Some even insist that kineses have a demonic origin, but given that humans are typically better with their kinesis than demons are, this seems unlikely to those who know what they're talking about.) Archangels have always been more appealing as deities to most societies than devils, due to the more optimistic promises by the former group than the latter, so devils have had to walk a careful line of manipulating history through the use of demons without going so far as to spark a discovery of any of their actions, lest a bout of witch hunting make the fulfillment of their agenda significantly harder.

When other inhuman races started emerging into modern society, many demons did the same. Fantastic secrets guarded by old cults, about kineses and inhuman species, were finally out of the bag. A chaotic situation that's harder to manage; more direct methods may be necessary. Many devils have sent their demons to Earth to advance their interests. This may or may not involve undermining the interests of other deific beings. Demonic beings may live up to their stereotypes as destructive beings, or they may play counter to this expectation. Some devils have found that a fruitful avenue is the subversion of tradition and the emphasizing of social freedoms that the other side has often neglected—a strategy that seems especially effective in winning the spiritual allegiance of the disillusioned youth—and their demons' personalities reflect this tactic. Charismatic demons can become thought leaders, but of a 3edgy5me bent compared to the other goody-two-shoes.

People often have intense feelings about demons. Fear is a common reaction by commoners, and some may go out of their way to avoid your attention or wrath, but many also bear a hatred for your kind. Even the irreligious know not to trust the embodiments of evil, a sentiment which may or may not be rightfully applied to you. Even still, some will have the opposite reaction, thinking you a source of power to bargain for—or take by force if they think they have it in them to overcome a being forged from hellfire.

Different hells have their own unique ranking systems for demons, some of which get quite confusing. Aside from hell-specific categorizations, scholars differentiate between two types of demons: *artificial* demons, beings created by a devil which typically only have partial free will, and *natural* demons, the offspring of artificial demons (or other natural demons) who have a much greater degree of free will. Playable demons in CA will always be natural ones; they may have been born in their hell of origin, they may have been born on Earth and sometimes return to their hell, or they may have been Earthborn and have never seen their own hell. This last possibility could be due to their own chosen separation, or it could be a result of their hell's rules about who can and can't come and go, and under what circumstances.

In terms of strengths, weaknesses and aesthetics, demons are probably the most customizable race. For all the variety of devils out there, an even greater variety of demons exist, as different devils create their spiritual servants for different purposes. In order to maximize the power they can harvest, devils both shape and are shaped by mortal superstitions and anxieties. The spread of the Abrahamic religions had a large impact on how unholy beings everywhere present themselves (and even identify themselves), and as a result, many demons have a distinctly Abrahamic (Jewish/Christian/Islamic) flavour to their power and in-programmed immorality. But this isn't all of them, and different sorts of unholy beings in world mythologies can be played as demons. (Even certain traditionally-holy ones can be flavoured as demons! What seems awesome to one culture may be monstrous to another.) Like other races, demons usually don't have kineses; yours is special for having one, which itself may line up well with their hell's general aesthetics, be intensely dissonant against it, or something in-between.

One of the unifying traits shared by all demons is qualifying as Unholy, which is more often a weakness than a strength, leaving them open to additional damage or other harmful effects from Holy attacks. Common abilities of demon characters include increased musculature, a curse to place on an opponent to decrease the effectiveness of healing on the target, flight and a degree of power to modify their own appearance. Other powers may be appropriate depending on the nature of the folk tradition they come from, and their intended role in their hell. But for the love of The Flame, keep it balanced. Because a kinesis draws from the same well of spiritual power as inhuman species' supernatural abilities, greater species-powers come at the expense of kinetic strength. Narratively, demons are awesome creatures with potential narratives ties through their hell of origin, but they also carry a major flaw: their innate powers come from the fact that their spirits are intertwined with their physical body, while many other races have a spirit disconnected from their forms. This means that for a demon, when the physical body dies, the spirit dies with it. All characters can be resurrected if they've only been dead for a few minutes, but past this, a demon's spirit rots. No afterlife awaits them, and the soul is beyond resurrection.

Demons don't have it easy getting by in society. Discrimination against demons is rampant, which forces many demons to resort to the very underhanded, manipulative or criminal actions which are used to justify the very discrimination that compels them to such behaviour. Demons' mere existence raises difficult philosophical questions about the origin and nature of evil, simultaneously validating and throwing off many of the traditional religious framings of morality. Some in influential positions think the easiest solution to the issues surrounding demons is... the simplest solution.

### **Faefolk**

The fae are a difficult category to properly nail down and define. Their origins are diverse and scattered through time and space, but since all of them are humanoids with a low-to-moderate holy bent, they have a number of physical and cultural aspects in common. Examples of faefolk (in CA) include elves, dwarves, pixies, halflings, gnomes, leprechauns, yuuneri, and others. Despite the flair of ancient mysticism that surrounds them, the faefolk are younger than humanity itself. The progenitors of many of these species were originally humans themselves, whose experimentation with holy magics transformed them into something other than human. Even when the result of such change was an increased sense of compassion and benevolence, this difference was frightening to early humans, who cast these mutants out. With nobody to rely on but each other, they founded their own societies, remaining ever on the fringes of the human world for their own survival.

This isolation wasn't always easy. Though the fae had magic spells with which to avert the mortal gaze, or assimilate the occasional human who got too curious, glimpses were always caught. Rumours and folktales were inevitable; usually unwittingly, the faefolk were the inspiration for a great deal of myths across the world. These rumours were enough to spark a fascination with the fae among those who grew up on their stories, and it was only a matter of time before they were discovered. Once the cat was out of the bag, there was no longer any point in hiding, and numerous fae species emerged into the human world, where the problems with assimilating them have been more on the side of the humans than the fae themselves.

Of all the species options, the umbrella of the faefolk holds the races that are most consistently looked upon with mild positivity. Sure, those who are more familiar with folk traditions about the fae will be more skeptical of any creatures falling under that category, but most people just think that they're the best example of how the world is being turned upside down nowadays. A lot of people just think they're neat! Fae are sometimes discriminated against in settings where non-humans in general are excluded, but there are few places that will accept anyone *except* for fae, as other groups might experience. If the fae lack social power at the moment, it's mostly because people find it hard to take leprechauns, tooth fairies and rabbit-people seriously in political debates. But in time, some element of natural charm will surely bring them to success in the public arena—they already make great YouTube personalities, from pixie makeup artists to dwarvish pranksters, leprechaun game streamers and elvish ASMR creators. The fae aren't threatening on their face, but there still remains a magical power beneath the surface, and they will always be dangerous by virtue of being *different.*

Fae tend to be pretty close to humans in terms of strengths and weaknesses. One is typically looking at the same susceptibility to unholy attacks as other holy races, as well as slightly weaker kinetic power, but receiving in turn a better evasion chance (the fae are notoriously difficult to capture) and some minor holy magic that fits the species; flight for pixies, minor light-shaping for yuuneri, additional inherent toughness for dwarves. The amount of variation in legends about the fae can be indicative of the differences between fae cultures and races, allowing you to choose a preferred folktale tradition (or your own reasonable modification of such a tradition) to base your character on. Just remember, as with all others, keeping the character's power level balanced with others of a similar experience level.

### **Furries**

*Cringe.*

Even the label of "furries" is somewhat contentious in-universe, but we'll be using it on this page for the sake of simplicity. For our purposes, it refers to a category of blended humanoid-animals that are neither holy nor unholy. Examples include the sorts of anthropomorphic animals we think of as furries, but it also includes creatures such as nekos, kitsunes, dragonborn and centaurs. The earliest furries of each variety were results of magical experimentation, of ancient spellcasters repeatedly casting spells on another person (usually a willing one, with the transformation being part of a rite) until they ultimately became a hybrid of man and beast. Such entities would inevitably be cast out from human societies, forced to fend for themselves with their new abilities. While it's hard to say that any furry species *thrived,* they survived in places where humans couldn't find them. Relics of a less rational time. Similar to fae, furries have benefited from remaining as folklore legends for most of history. Even into the digital era, footage of elusive anthropomorphic animal creatures was written off as equivalent to Bigfoot footage, and to the credit of the deniers, they had every reason to suspect such footage was fake. Too bad it often wasn't.

Furries have a great deal of variance, to the point that it's highly reductionist to call all sorts of different animal/human hybrids furries. Since many of them also lack traditional lore, you have a lot of leeway in terms of making up a particular society's history. Strengths and weaknesses usually write themselves: start with "lower starting kinetic power" as a baseline, and weigh things against that. Heightened animal-senses are an intuitive benefit, as are reflexes or increased durability depending on the feel of a given animal. A creature's claw attacks might be just slightly less effective than actual kinesis attacks, letting the character still be effective on the offense even if an effect silences them (disabling kinesis + magic) for a turn. Centaurs are highly specialized fighters, with greater footspeed than other kinetics of the same type, and a large build lending strength and durability. The main problem is how big of a target you are, meaning you don't gain an evasion benefit for that higher speed, and the fact your legs are so vulnerable. Dragonborn have a particular set of advantages and disadvantages: hard scales could give them innate flat damage reduction, flight from wings, and heightened physical prowess—but they don't gain a breath weapon (unless they use their kinesis to do it; why not do a pyrokinetic dragonborn?), they have lower skill with their kinesis and noticeably less HP. That symptom is a result of both their soft flesh underneath the scales (they only appear invincible so far as attacks fail to pierce their hide), and their low stamina reflected as lower HP. It's in a dragon's nature; there's a reason they sleep on piles of gold for centuries at a time. Creatures like nekos or wolfkin are more straightforward, for which you can often just slap on heightened senses and reflexes (plus strength for wolfkin), and scale kinesis ability down accordingly (moreso for wolfkin to account for said strength).

But through all of this, we shouldn't ignore the anthropomorphic elephant in the room: furries the species versus furries the hobbyists. It's really not hard to imagine people having fetishes for any of the other species entries here, but furries are especially susceptible to hypersexualization. This has tarnished their reputation and established a stereotype of furries as perverted, always-horny deviants, even though it's not actually their own behaviour which earned this—just the people who are into them. The result is that most people feel slightly uneasy around furries for that concern about sudden sexual activity, which is itself another layer on top of a furry potentially being derived from an intimidating race like a wolf or dragon. It's extremely easy to dehumanize furries given how obviously non-human they are, and they tend to be on the lower end of the "seen as worthy of human rights" spectrum. This is especially true for those who come from more """primitive""" backgrounds, and who haven't yet fully adjusted to the manners and hygiene standards of modern civilization. At least that's something the species has in common with the hobbyists.

Furries pursuing healthy relationships often find chasers, hobbyists who fetishize their animal aspects without caring about the actual person who has them, disturbing.

### **Goblinoids**

Goblinoids are a difficult category to properly nail down and define. Their origins are diverse and scattered through time and space, but since all of them are humanoids with a low-to-moderate unholy bent, they have a number of physical and cultural aspects in common. Examples of goblinoids (in CA) include goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, orcs, kobolds, ogres, trolls and others. Despite the sense of ancient savagery that surrounds them, the goblinoid races are younger than humanity itself. The progenitors of many of these species were originally humans themselves, tribespeople who incurred the wrath of shamans, who used unholy magics to transform the targets of their ire into something other than human. Such beasts were frightening to early humans, who cast these mutants out. With nobody to rely on but each other, they founded their own societies, remaining ever on the fringes of the human world for their own survival.

This isolation was rarely easy. Goblinoids aren't the most talented spellcasters, so without the aid of magic, they've had to rely on sheer stealth and seclusion to avoid being hunted down by humans. Even still, glimpses were always caught, so rumours and folktales were inevitable. Goblinoids are the inspiration for evil mythological creatures the world over, and this vilification by humans has created a similar dislike flowing the other way. They're certainly not a fan of how they've been set up as stupid fodder-enemies in fantasy media. As inconsequential as that detail might seem, it translates into a genuine lower regard for goblinoid life. Who gets mad when a cop kills a kobold without just cause? All good heroes kill kobolds by the dozens, because killing kobolds is its own just cause.

It was the discovery and capture of a careless goblin which first broke the truth of inhuman sapient races to the world, so even other fantasy races can have a sense of disdain against goblinoids for ruining their ability to hide and maintain a pleasant existence beyond the interference of humans and their governments. Goblinoids themselves are uncharismatic, and don't tend to have aesthetics on their side either. They're in a precarious situation where their beastliness results in ill treatment by many, but it also doesn't come with sufficient power and threat to be able to take advantage of this trait. Goblinoids who try to merge into human society often feel backed into a corner, and this makes them fierce beyond measure. In rot and ruin they have always survived, *and they're sure as hell not folding to this.*

Goblinoids tend to be pretty close to humans in terms of strengths and weaknesses. One is typically looking at the same susceptibility to holy attacks as other unholy races, as well as slightly weaker kinetic power, but receiving in turn a better physical toughness (goblinoids are notoriously hard to exterminate) and some minor benefits fitting the species; regeneration for trolls, strength for orcs, sheer force of will for goblins, a small percentage of lifesteal for hobgoblins to represent their glee in the suffering of others. The amount of variation in legends and media about goblinoids can be indicative of the differences between goblinoid cultures and races, allowing you to choose a preferred folktale tradition (or your own reasonable modification of such a tradition) to base your character on. Just remember, as with all others, keeping the character's power level balanced with others of a similar experience level.

### **Humans**

The undisputed masters of the world for most of civilization's history, the dominance of humans is reflected both in their technological excellence and their present population exceeding that of all other sapient species combined. Through the combination of cooperation, creativity and conquest, humans took the world by storm in such a short time that the lifestyles of other races were forced into orbit around them.

On an individual level, other races in fantasy media essentially come off as superior versions of humans. When we think of elves, we think of their powers that humans lack, but rarely do we consider what humans have that elves lack. The easy answer is technology, because human societies are ridiculously overpowered, but that's still speaking on the level of societies, not individuals. With the emergence of fantasy races into ordinary life, humans have been facing something of an existential crisis. What is the place of a human in a world with species that seem like strictly better versions of themselves in whatever specific aspect one is currently considering? Sure, humans are often typecast as versatile, which has been a large part of why their societies often flourish (can't build societies entirely on the back of effective crafters, farmers or casters), but rarely is human the optimal choice for specialization on the level of a single person. The emergence of kineses alongside fantasy species has helped to combat climate change, but this new kind of anxiety surrounding an inability to compete with the supernatural has seized many mundane humans. What they have in common is a certain sense of doom and lack of meaningful future identity. So when reading of human discrimination against other races, don't think only of "wow humans are so racist." That's not being fair to us. Think of the anxieties that humans face in a world that was once theirs and theirs alone, now being turned on its head, leaving so many feeling as though they're being replaced with superior versions of themselves. Humans are angry, sure, but that anger is just an outgrowth from the primal fear of Loss of Identity. While that anxiety manifests in many cases as hatred of those perceived as a threat, effective individuals instead see this as a challenge, and strive to overcome their human limitations to maintain their place in a world where the less ambitious and competent people risk being left behind.

While mundane humans can feel threatened by fantasy races, human kinetics tend to get on well with inhuman kinetics, as well as each other. Humans are as likely as any other race to possess kineses, but because the human population is greater than the others, human kinetics outnumber them. Crucially, there isn't the same individual power difference among kinetics of various species as there can be among non-kinetic versions. At the wider scale, humans are mediocre in many respects, but excel in matters of innovation—without enhanced toughness, agility or magical talent, they've had no other choice than to master their own minds. But among kinetics, humans' advantage is a stronger intuitive grasp of their kinesis than what other races experience. When other races are noted as having a weakness of lower kinetic power compared to humans, that's mostly just a rephrased way of saying that all the other races are just normal, and the advantage of humans is *greater* comparative power. It's kind of like if we said that the weakness of humans compared to angels is lacking the inherent ability to fly, instead of saying that angels' ability to fly a strength.

So that's the main way that humans are balanced relative to others: other races' power essentially "comes out" of their kinesis in order to keep them balanced, which means that humans aren't so much the all-rounders of species as they are the specialists, forgoing all the other cool racial powers in return for unrivalled kinetic power. Note that in terms of mechanics, this doesn't translate into humans gaining power with their kinesis faster than others, but it does mean they *start off* stronger with it to offset their lack of innate powers that inhumans also begin with.

Humans are the cultural default of what a "person" is, and since humans are still the ones by-and-large running society, it means they have easy access to places. Some establishments are created either for one race in particular, or as a space for everyone *except* humans, to appeal to the more skittish inhumans who may feel unsafe with humans. But apart from these places, humans are accepted pretty much everywhere. Some humans have noticed how the other races become insular with their own kind, forming their own separate cultures within the larger human society, and feel a similar need to "stick together," resulting in humans bonding more readily with each other than with the other races.

I don't think a ton more flavour text is necessary here, you probably have a good idea of what humans are like. The main worldbuilding question to consider for your own human character is their relation to their changing society. While others are often struggling with breaking into an unfamiliar society, humans grapple with how their own familiar society is becoming alien, how the world is changing, their place within it, their views on the other races. Accepting of them all? Dismissive or suspicious of them all? Picking and choosing based on feeling or past encounters? Some might not have ever been encountered before coming to CA. The other races are more used to dealing with humans than humans are with dealing with them, so coming to CA is an especially strange experience for humans. How your character reacts to these new, strange circumstances is likely to be a feature of their personality and influence how their story arc plays out.

### **Lycanthropes**

Lycanthropes aren't so much a species as the bearers of a curse, one mostly exclusive to humans and historically present only among the peasants and nomads. Different lycanthropic curses have different origins. The most infamous, the original werewolves, has its earliest origins in the central Siberian taiga, from which a small number of individual travellers at different times inherited the curse and took it back to their own regions, where individual packs were able to form. Much of your kind has never lived apart from humanity; like vampires, you've always found ways to blend in with the masses. This territoriality has been part of the historical conflict between vampires and your kind.

Different lycanthropes have different conditions under which they may enter their beastial form (henceforth referred to as werewolves, though other animal forms are acceptable), so it's largely up to an individual player. The curse sustains itself on the spiritual energy of its host, bestowing an unholy nature (and subsequent vulnerability to holy attacks, as well as potential weaknesses to silver, etc.) and reducing the power of one's kinesis. Most lycanthropes have the ability to change back and forth between their forms whenever they want, with the exception of particular environmental conditions locking them into one mode or the other. The classic choice is full moon nights locking werewolves into their beast forms.

A truth of lycanthrope life that you usually don't hear about in stories is the intense bone pain from the physical warping of their transformations. Within the stat system, transforming will usually take time (often a full turn for entering the beast form, or one action for reverting to human) and deal damage to the lycanthrope for the stamina it consumes, but leaves the character with enhanced speed and strength. In some fights remaining a human may be the best option, while transforming is best in others. Or if you don't like tactical decisions, maybe transforming is almost always best; just keep your character balanced, m'kay?

The varying folktales surrounding lycanthropes are indicative of the different werewolf families, with their own histories, strengths and vulnerabilities. Feel free to run with your favoured interpretation of werewolves. While prone to aggressive mood swings, werewolves can often blend into ordinary human events just fine, but are pretty terrifying for normal people when the beastial form is entered. The main distinguishment between furries and lycanthropes in their beastial form is the additional power fuelled from the soul and the unholy aura that those sensitive to the un/holy spectrum can pick up even when a lycanthrope is in human form.

Consider your character's relationship to their curse. Were they born to a werewolf pack, or did their curse come from an outside source, including another werewolf? Do they wish to be rid of it, do they relish in this power, or is the relationship more complicated? Do they stay "themselves" while transformed, do they become subsumed in base savagery, or does the transformed side have its own entirely separate personality and consciousness? If the latter, does it *v i b e* with the human side, or are the two in conflict regarding morals and motivations?

Since lycanthropes tend to pass pretty damn well as humans, actual humans can sometimes be suspicious of each other in areas known to possess werewolves.

### **Slimes**

Why are you picking this race? What?

Slimes are weird, and are the only race here with completely unclear origins. It may even be the case that different slime subgroups have radically different origins, and all just happen to be made of protoplasmic goop. Slime societies in North and Central America had their own written and oral traditions, but these have been lost following their being subject to conquest. Slimes are named for the slimey substance that comprises their bodies, holding an approximately humanoid appearance by default (in most, but not all, specimens). It can be reshaped to slight extents, but those with full mastery of their own bodies have to possess an appropriate kinesis such as water, blood or chocolate (IT'S PUDDING SLIME TIME).

Cultural genocide on the part of the Church of The Flame left its mark on extant slime peoples, who don't even have much to recover. Many wound up folding into the religious cultures that subsumed them, resulting in a large percentage of slimes having roles in monasteries, nunneries and other traditional religious functions. Their inherent holy nature surely also played a role in this. Slime population across the world is low but sustainable; they might have gone extinct if not for their asexual reproductive capabilities. Slimes tend to adopt a gender role of the culture into which they're born and even roughly shape their bodies to match it, meaning it's still appropriate to refer to slimes as gendered, even if they lack sexes.

Anatomy is still under study. Slimes usually don't appreciate being vivisected, and mainstream science hasn't known of their existence long enough to have a suitable number of specimens willing to volunteer their corpses for experimentation. Their biggest ingredient is water, though the same thing can be said of most lifeforms. Similar to angels and demons, slimes also have their souls intertwined with their bodies, with said magical energy playing a vital role in their bodily function and resistance to pathogens. Regenerative capabilities make slimes difficult to kill, as does their possession of only a single fully-solid discernible vital organ as a vulnerable point (their "core"). If one does manage to fully slay a slime and it's not resurrected within minutes, the spirit dies with the body and post-death resurrection ceases to be possible altogether. The soul rots with the body, and no afterlife awaits the slimey suckers. Unlike angels and demons, who share similar fates, slimes have no connection to any heaven or hell, making them unaware of this grim fate. It certainly hasn't dissuaded the slime priests, monks and nuns, who have faith in The Flame's promise that \**everyone\** will have a place in its true afterlife, beyond the illusions of all other "heavens" and "hells" that have come to light in recent years.

Slimes might get the most weird looks of any race due to how obviously non-human, or even really humanoid, they are. For all the intimidating features of other races, at least they're clearly the same state of matter as humans. At the same time, slimes are sticky in more ways than the literal, often becoming quite clingy with those that do accept them, as well as with other slimes. It's surprisingly common for slimes to have never met another of their own kind in person. Low populations and forced relocation to remote regions will do that. At the same time, it's made slimes themselves comfortable interacting with a wide variety of peoples and species. Slimes are obscure, but with all that hits them, they manage to bounce back like the rubber balls they essentially are.

### **Spirits**

Manifestations of spiritual energy associated with aspects of the wild. Products of occult experiments, like incorporeal homunculi. Souls of the dead that reapers have missed, whether by luck or by active meddling. Whatever your cause, you are the effect: a ghostly humanoid that seems to only half-exist.

Spirits can't be said to have cultures. They don't congregate in large numbers and live together, since they can't be said to live at all. The nature of a spirit is foremost the product of the circumstances that birthed it. The dead will maintain the personalities they had in life, save for the influence of profound changes brought by post-death living. Wild spirits are uncontrollable, disregarding the rules of a society from which they are fundamentally alien. Spiritual constructs depend on what created them, and for what purpose.

Of all the species options, people seem to have the hardest time accepting that you're even real. This might be a consequence of being the rarest "species" on this list, but people can assume you're a hallucination, and in most places there aren't even specific laws governing your kind. However, this doesn't mean you can just do whatever you like; it means others can put a stop to whatever obnoxious stuff you're getting up to, without trial. But maybe that statement is being too presumptive that others will catch you.

Spirits of humans will have the same power with their kinesis as humans do. They're even capable of flight, and have the ability to temporarily become fully incorporeal, allowing them to pass through many solid materials and avoid weapon attacks by allowing them to pass through the body—this trait can manifest either in higher dodge chance or a non-spammable active ability to enter this incorporeal form for a certain time. The chief thing that spirits lose is HP, and a lot at that: a disembodied spirit, lacking a body and already close to actual nonexistence, can take substantially fewer hits before being knocked unconscious, leaving them fully vulnerable from there to permanent death. Spirits are what are supposed to be experiencing afterlives, so killing them leaves no post-death experience, so a "dead" spirit must be resurrected within minutes of its fall before it decays beyond recovery.

Other powers may be appropriate for your spirit character, but as always, keep it balanced. You typically *do* count as undead, even though you're holy by default.

### **Vampires**

The vampire curse originates from what is now central Romania, but individual vampires often had the means to travel the world and start their own clans elsewhere. While lycanthropy is by and large a peasant's disease, vampirism is a distinctly upper class phenomenon. While lycanthropy is connected with tribal rituals passed by oral tradition predating literacy itself, vampirism was born from unholy rituals read from occult texts and diabolically-inspired hieroglyphic runes. Your kind has never lived apart from humanity; like werewolves, you've always found ways to blend in with the masses. This territoriality has been part of the historical conflict between lycanthropes and your kind.

Vampires really aren't as complicated as most lore makes it out to be. This is because vampirism is a curse that's particularly susceptible to mutation, resulting in a large number of strains that each contribute something to an overall legend. Really the only consistent bit is the undead/unholy nature (making them vulnerable to holy attacks), the pale skin, the sharp fangs and the requirement to drink blood for sustenance. One family of vampires might possess the ability to turn into bats, while another might have the power to charm others with a bite; one family might be weak to silver, another to garlic; one might have a tradition of sleeping in buried coffins, another might have an honour code of not entering others' homes without permission. All of these different qualities, varying across bloodlines, contribute to a complex mythos surrounding the Wampyr that only a small number of vampires inherit in its full spectrum.

This gives you a great degree of freedom to run with your own interpretation of the vampire myth and build a character from its disparate elements, balancing strengths and weaknesses. Vampires aren't as good with their kinesis as humans are, but other weaknesses are best selected from the traditional ones. In addition to the above, consider how varied vampire stories are. Running water? Enhanced speed? Strength? Fire? Direct sunlight? A mist form? Does your vampire maintain their civilized composure when bloodthirst sets in, or do they turn savage?

Vampires are not trusted by human society. Even though many vampires refuse to drink someone's blood without consent, vampire media and traditional tales maintain their image as wicked predators who lack all morals. While fresh blood is always the ideal, your character may need to procure some other source of blood to sate their tastes, such as purchasing it through the black market channels that have opened specifically to cater to the needs of vampires. Depicted as traditionally wealthy, businessmen will greet you in their establishments, even as they feel the need to always keep an eye on you.

Whether or not you have a reflection is up to you, but for the purposes of CA, you do indeed show up in photographs and video recordings.