D is for Dark Folk

An eternal, violent struggle for survival rages among the alien creatures dwelling in the sunless caverns deep beneath the world’s surface. The dark folk are neither the strongest, most industrious, cruelest, cleverest, nor the vilest of subterranean races. None-the-less they thrive. Living shadow swathed in stealth and patience, their society and origins are as mysterious as their realm. What little is known of the dark folk arrives from lucky souls who have escaped their clutches.

Dark folk organize their tribes in castes. The most common dark folk and the lowest caste are known as dark creepers. The ruling class – tall and lithe – are the dark stalkers. Dark slayers wield the most power, but hold a place below the ruling class. Slayers provide the tribe with magic ability. Other castes exist, but have only limited interaction outside the tribe.

The dark creeper presented in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary as well as the other dark folk races, are not intended to be PC races. The below stats represent a dark folk that is balanced with the other core races, but still retains the same feel as the standard dark creeper, dark stalker, and dark slayer.

But that doesn't mean we don't love them here at Purple Duck Games. Way back in July of 2011 we published Monstrous Races: Second Horde which allow for playable dark folk, forlarren, living ghouls, lizardfolk, saguaghin and skulks. Obviously, with the release of the Advanced Race Guide its a good time to review our proposed statistics.

Dark Folk Racial Characteristics

+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -2 to One Ability Score: Dark folk are agile and bewitching, but maleable, suited to their caste roles.
Small: Dark folk are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Normal Speed: Dark creeper have a base speed of 30 feet.
See in Darkness: Dark folk can see perfectly in darkness of any kind, including that created by the deeper darkness spell.
Light Blindness: Dark folk are blinded for 1 round if exposed to bright light, such as sunlight or the daylight spell. Such creatures are dazzled as long as they remain in areas of bright light.
Bold-Footed: Dark folk receive a +2 racial bonus on Climb and Stealth checks.
Dark Folk Magic: Dark folk add +1 to the caster level of spells that they cast with the darkness descriptor. Dark folk with a Charisma of 11 or higher also gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—darkness and detect magic. The caster level for these effects is equal to the dark folk's level. The DC for these spells is equal to 10 + the spell's level + the dark folk's Charisma modifier.
Death Throes: When a dark folk is slain, its body combusts in a flash of white-hot flame. This acts like a fireball that deals 3d6 points of fire damage to all creatures within a 20-foot-radius burst. A DC (10 + 1/2 Hit Dice + Con Modifier) Reflex save halves this damage. A dark folk's gear and treasure are unaffected by this explosion. This save is Constitution-based.
Keen Senses: Dark folk receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Languages: Dark folk begin play speaking Common and Dark Folk. Dark folk with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Drow, Dwarven, Terran, and Undercommon.

Again we are going to try for a RP count of somewhere around 10-12 RPs for races in Porphyra.

0 - Type - Humanoid (dark folk)

0 - Size - Small

0 - Speed - Normal Speed

0 - Ability Scores - More or less Standard; it is slightly more powerful than standard but less powerful than Specialized that is worth 1 RP.

0 - Languages - Standard

4 - Bold-Footed - 2 Skill Bonuses

2 - Keen Senses - Skill Bonus

2 - Spell-Like Ability, Lesser - Darkness (2nd), Detect Magic (0th)

4 - See in Darkness

-2 - Light Blindness

So not considering Death Throes he comes out to about 10 RP. Since Death Throes cannot be actively used by the character it is not really a benefit or a weakness just a reality of their expiration. I'm tempted to consider it a 0 RP ability as the explosion although damage causing also makes it more difficult to raise the dark folk.

Dark folk druid by Ryan Rhodes

Kelos the Hermit

Male dark folk druid (cave druid) 3

NE Medium humanoid (dark folk)

Init +2; Senses see in darkness; Perception +4

Defenses

AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12

(+2 armor, +2 Dex)

hp 23 (3d8+6) 

Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +5

Weakness light blindness

Offense

Speed 30 ft.

Melee mwk dagger +4 (1d4/19-20)

Special Attacks death throes

Dark Folk Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +0)

   1/day - detect magic, darkness

Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 3rd; concentration +5)

   5/day - touch of darkness

Druid Spells Prepared (CL 3rd; concentration +5)

   2nd - aspect of the bear, blindness/deafness(D) (DC 15), heat metal

   1st - cure light wounds, expeditious excavation, obscuring mist(D), summon nature's ally I

   0th (at-will) - detect poison, guidance, read magic, resistance

D domain spell; Domain Darkness

Statistics

Str 10, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 10

Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 13

Feats Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (necromancy)

Skills Craft (alchemy) +6, Climb +8, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +8, Perception +4, Stealth +14, Survival +4; Racial Modifiers +2 Climb, +2 Perception, +2 Stealth

Languages Common, Dark Folk, Druidic

SQ cavernsense, lightfoot, nature bond (Darkness domain), tunnel runner, wild empathy +5 (+1 with oozes)

Combat Gear charmbreaker, potion of cure light wounds (2), vial of black fester; Gear climber kit, divine focus (phosphorescent fungus), poisoner's kit, rag armor, spell component pouch, 179 gp worth of additional gear

Demographic

Deity Ferrakus

Homeland The Underdeep

Kelos lurks in the Underdeep, far from the Creeper's Rift and past the Howling Tunnels. Within the darkness of the underdeep he can work on perfecting his poison without the intrusion of his kin. He is known to craft many of the worlds deadliest poisons and can tailor them to affect specific races or people.