Little Folk (Race)

## Introduction

Little folk are a mysterious people. They’ve been roaming the world for as long as there have been humans. However, their small size and the aggressive expansion of humankind eventually led them to hide themselves away, often underground, in caves or under mounds. For thousands of years, their existence has been something of an open secret, and the little people have kept to themselves. But in recent years, with the purge in Europe and the colonization of the New World by foreign powers, many little folk communities have come out of hiding, either to help the humans or to fight them.

## Description

**Personality** Little folk vary in personality widely, depending on type, culture, and personal inclination. There are a few common threads among them, however. Their small size can make them somewhat jumpy or nervous. They demand to be treated with respect and can be dangerous to offend. And finally, they are somewhat… strange, by human standards. Even if they share the same culture as a human, they may have strange taboos or rules to follow, or odd sensibilities. No matter how human they may look, they are a different sort of creature entirely, and those who deal with them would do well to remember that.
Physical Description: Little folk are just that. Tiny humanoid creatures. They range in size widely, depending on their type and area, but they are between one foot and two feet tall, around knee-high to an adult human. Mostly look very close to human, though they may have unusual features, and some may just be completely bizarre to look at. Little folk live about as long as humans, though they may age differently than humans in some cases.

**Relations** For ages, the little folk and the humans have been willfully separate neighbors, the two groups living in close proximity, though they only rarely made any sort of close contact. In the chaos of the last few hundred years, increasing numbers of little folk communities have been coming out to their human neighbors more openly, forming stronger bonds and being more closely connected.

**Alignment** Little folk are as widely spread as humans on the alignment grid. Some are highly lawful, some are pure chaos, some are compassionate and kind, others cruel and spiteful.
Little Folk Lands: Little folk live all around the world in many different environments. Many communities are situated underground, either in natural caves or in constructed mounds, but others just live in nature, disappearing from sight when humans get too close. Even with the closer bonds the little folk are forging with their humans neighbors, many communities still remain hidden and secretive, some out of trepidation, other merely by architecture. After all, a human can’t easily fit into a room designed for denizens less than two feet tall. In the new world, little folk are respected and even honored, but in the old world the church actively hunts down little folk communities, prompting many to flee across the sea to the new lands however they can.

**Religion** Little folk religion is often similar to their human neighbors’ in many of the superficial aspects, but at its core it’s quite distinct. Many little folk religions center around a mother-goddess figure, a leader of some sort who created all the little people of their various forms. Different groups depict this goddess differently, with different names, different appearances, and different messages for her children.

**Language** Little folk are mystically tied together, despite thousands of miles and thousands of years of separation. They all speak a common language, known as Fae, in addition to any languages known from a culture. The language is instinctive to the little folk, and they can speak and understand it as native speakers as soon as their brains are developed enough to speak at all. Almost all little folk learn the languages of the human cultures nearby their homes, even if they never actually make contact with these neighbors.

**Names** Little folk have many different naming conventions and ways to identify themselves. Some don’t even have ‘official’ names, simply responding to pseudonyms they’ve picked up over time. It’s believed in some places that little folk have a ‘true name’ they keep secret at all costs, and that to know the true name of one of the little folk had strange effects. Some say it lets the use command the individual, or summon them to your side, others believe that to speak such a name invites their wrath, or deeply offends them.

## Adventurers

Little folk adventurers are not hard to find. Before the little folk began to more freely interact with humans, the only ones who left the communities were adventurers of one kind or another. The tradition of becoming an adventurer to better the community is still strong and vibrant, even with the increased intermingling.

* **+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution** Little folk are nimble, highly likeable, and surprisingly strong for their size, but their small bodies just can’t take the sort of punishment larger creatures can.
* **Fey Type:** Little folk are fey creatures.
* **Tiny Size:** Little folk are tiny-sized, and as such, they gain a +2 size bonus to their AC, a +2 size bonus on attack rolls, but take a –2 penalty on combat maneuver checks and to their CMD, and gain a +8 size bonus on Stealth checks. Little folk take up a space of 2-1/2 feet by 2-1/2 feet, so up to four can fit into a single square. Little folk have a natural reach of 0 feet, meaning they can't reach into adjacent squares. They must enter an opponent's square to attack it in melee. This provokes an attack of opportunity from the opponent. Since they have no natural reach, they do not threaten the squares around them. Other creatures can move through those squares without provoking attacks of opportunity. Little folk cannot flank an enemy.
* **Slow Speed**: Little folk have a base speed of 20 feet.
* **Low-Light Vision:** Little folk can see twice as far as normal in conditions of low light
* **Walk Unseen:** Little folk are highly secretive and well-practiced at avoiding notice. Little folk can use Stealth in any sort of natural terrain, even if it doesn’t offer cover or concealment.
* **Might of the Little Folk:** Little folk are astoundingly strong for their tiny size. They are treated as large creatures for determining their carrying capacity.
* **Bonus Language:** All little folk speak Fae as native speakers, in addition to any languages gained from cultures they possess.
* **All Kinds of Folks:** Little folk are very diverse, and their ways of life can be dramatically different around the world, but they generally fall into one of the following groups.

## All Kinds of Folks

* [Earth Folk]
* [Healer Folk]
* [Helper Folk]
* [Maker Folk]
* [Trickster Folk]
* [Warrior Folk]
* [Water Folk]
* [Wild Folk]

## Feats

* [Evasive War Dance]
* [Deadly War Dance]
* [Fae War Dance]