Native to the rolling hills and woods of Ysgard, the centaur-like bariaurs wander the lands in search of evil. When a vile foe is located, the bariaurs charge into glorious battle.
Personality: To those unfamiliar with them, bariaurs appear carefree or even irresponsible, but this behaviour is merely the outward sign of their wanderlust. They rarely remain in one place for long, preferring a life of travel to sedentary existence. When evil rears its ugly head, this carefree demeanour disappears, replaced by single-minded pursuit of that which endangers good folk of the area.
Physical Description: Standing roughly half a foot taller than a human, a bariaur resembles a centaur. Its lower body is that of a ram, with sleek brown or golden fur and cloven hooves. Its upper body is human-like, powerfully muscled and sporting a pair of ram-like horns atop its head. The skin of a bariaur ranges in colour from pale tan to deep nut-brown.
The typical male weighs nearly 300 pounds, with females about 40 pounds lighter. The average bariaur reaches adulthood at about the same age as a half-elf, and the eldest members of the race live to well over 200 years of age.
Relations: Bariaurs are social and outgoing, though not foolishly trusting. They get along well with elves, gnomes, halflings and wildren, as well as aasimars who aren’t too strict in their outlook. They grudgingly accept dwarves as allies against evil. Half-breeds, such as half-elves and half-orcs, are objects of curiosity to bariaurs. They are moderately suspicious of races with heritages tied to planes of evil or shadow, including tieflings and shadowswyfts, but they prefer to take a positive outlook about individuals until proven wrong.
Alignment: As creatures who value freedom, most bariaurs are chaotic good in alignment. Some more settled bariaurs tend toward neutrality in their approach to good, while a few stray from pure good toward neutrality. Evil bariaurs are extremely rare and always shunned from the flock.
Religion: Bariaurs revere Ehlonna, deity of the woodlands, more than most other deities. Some venerate Kord, god of strength or Pelor, god of the sun.
Language: Bariaurs have no racial language, using Celestial for most conversations. They also speak Common to allow them to converse with other races.
Names: A bariaur’s name is given to him by his parents. It is usually a simple, one- or two-syllable name (the easier to be shouted across the hills of Ysgard). Within the flock, he denotes his parentage by adding “buck of” his father’s name (or “doe of” the mother’s name, if female); outside the flock, he relies instead on a flock name to indicate the extended family to which he belongs. Flock names typically describe the environments favoured by the flock, and can change over time.
Male Names: Bex, Hul, Jek, Menok, Ril, Wyk.
Female Names: Daeth, Hysh, Saph, Tyth, Vash.
Flock Names: Cloverfield, Dalewatcher, Hillwalker, Woodstrider.
Adventurers: The bariaur’s wanderlust makes him an ideal adventurer. Though leaving the flock can be a difficult decision, a young bariaur who seeks to take the fight to the evil creatures of the multiverse fits in well with most adventuring groups. Bariaurs frequently follow the path of the ranger, though bariaur fighters and barbarians are also common.
Source: Planar Handbook (Page 7)
Your character can be either male or female.
Every player character starts as an adult. You can choose or randomly generate your character’s age. If you choose it, it must be at least the minimum age for the character’s race and class (see Table: Starting Ages). Your character’s minimum starting age is the adulthood age of his or her race plus the number of dice indicated in the entry corresponding to the character’s race and class on Table: Starting Ages.
Alternatively, refer to Table: Starting Ages and roll dice to determine how old your character is.
| Adulthood | Intuitive1 | Self-Taught2 | Trained3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 years | +1d6 (21—26) years | +2d6 (22—32) years | +3d6 (23—38) years |
1 This category includes barbarians, rogues and sorcerers.
2 This category includes bards, fighters, paladins and rangers.
3 This category includes clerics, druids, monks and wizards.
With age, a character’s physical ability scores decrease and his or her mental ability scores increase (see Table: Aging Effects). The effects of each aging step are cumulative. However, none of a character’s ability scores can be reduced below 1 in this way.
| Middle Age1 | Old Age2 | Venerable3 | Maximum Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62 years | 93 years | 125 years | +5d20 years |
1 -1 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
2 -2 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
3 -3 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
When a character reaches venerable age, the DM secretly rolls his or her maximum age, which is the number from the Venerable column on Table: Aging Effects plus the result of the dice roll indicated on the Maximum Age column on that table, and records the result, which the player does not know. A character who reaches his or her maximum age dies of old age at some time during the following year, as determined by the DM.
The maximum ages are for player characters. Most people in the world at large die from pestilence, accidents, infections or violence before getting to venerable age.
Choose your character’s height and weight from the ranges mentioned in the appropriate race description or from the ranges found on Table: Height and Weight. Think about what your character’s abilities might say about his or her height and weight. A weak but agile character may be thin. A strong and tough character may be tall or just heavy.
Alternatively, roll randomly for your character’s height and weight on Table: Height and Weight. The dice roll given in the Height Modifier column determines the character’s extra height beyond the base height. That same number multiplied by the dice roll or quantity given in the Weight Modifier column determines the character’s extra weight beyond the base weight.
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 5’ 6" | +2d8 (5’ 8"—6’ 10") | 240 lbs. | ×2d4 (244—368 lbs.) |
| Female | 5’ 2" | +2d8 (5’ 4"—6’ 6") | 200 lbs. | ×2d4 (204—328 lbs.) |
Source: Planar Handbook (Page 18)