On the Origin of Species

As of right now, there are eleventy-billion D&D lineages available to players. This page lists the ones that are available to players to use in Andórë, and available in the world. In the Andórë Encyclopedia changes to background stories of each lineage will be noted. Most of them are the same as in the classic D&D multiverse, some are very different.

Ancient Beings¶

In the world of Andórë, both true-Dragons (not dragonkin like Dragonborn, Kobolds, or Wyverns) and true-giants (not giantkin like Ettins, Trolls, Goliaths, or Firbolgs) are semi-immortal. Once they reach full adulthood they stop growing larger and their physical aging stops. They do take on an older appearance over the eons but a giant will never look older than the equivalent of a healthy 65-year-old Human. They can still be killed by poison, disease, or impalement.

Good vs Evil¶

Nobody in Andórë is born evil. Nobody in Andórë is born good. People are a product of their upbringing. This includes beings like dragons and giants. You cannot assume that a green dragon on Andórë is evil. Tiamat doesn't exist here and they are not filled with their mother's rage. Conversely, you cannot assume that a silver dragon is good.

The Lineages of Andórë¶

Broadly speaking, the lineage diversity of Andórë can be broken down into a few categories. For ease across this whole website, Goblin, Bugbear, and Hobgoblin will be referred to as Goblinoid, unless talking about a specific character. People who live outside of the eight great nations will be referred to as Wild Folk regardless of lineage. Those D&D lineages that are mostly half-animal/half-person (mintaur, centaur, harengon, etc) are broadly categorized as Beastfolk on Andórë. Some people look down on them as privative but that is the minority view. Across the mountains east of the Kingdom of Oreinerius there is a vast area known as the Beastlands, where many Beastfolk city states did just fine without any formal government.

Creation of Lineages¶

None of the lineages on the face of Andórë has a divine creation myth. With 6 exceptions, all native lineages are the product of evolution and arrived into the world at similar time periods.

The six exceptions are:
- Dragonborn
- Kobold
- Firbolg
- Goliath
- Simic Hybrid
- Warforged

Those first four mortal lineages represent the oldest known sentient, mortal lineages on Andórë. In the Age Of Monsters during the great wars between Dragon and Giant kind these ancient powers created what were essentially slave races (cannon fodder). Eventually they broke their shackles and found their place in the world... well mostly. Kobolds have a ridiculous devotion to true-dragons, but the dragons no longer enslave them and find the Kobolds' devotion more than a little annoying. Simic-Hybrids and Warforged were created by mortals during The Great War during the Age Of The Great Nations.

Special Notes on Tieflings¶

Because there is no connection between Andórë and the wider D&D multiverse Tieflings are not descended from a deal with Asmodeus, Lord of the Nine Hells. Tieflings, on Andórë, are essentially the same as an Aasimar. They are a gift from a God just happens to prefer a different form.

Custom Lineages¶

You'll note that Half-Elves and Half-Orcs don't appear in the playable lists below. There are absolutely half-elves and half-orcs in Andórë, but you would use the "Custom Lineage" rules in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything. You must follow the cross-lineage mating rules below.

Mating¶

Like many D&D worlds, inter-lineage romance is not unheard of on Andórë, however, inter-lineage mating does come with its own issues. Lineages within the same taxonomy (Amphibian, Avian, Mammalian, Piscine, Reptilian, Giant and Draconic) can successfully mate and the offspring will generally be of the mother's lineage with flashes of the father's lineage in appearance. In some rare cases the offspring is of the father's lineage.

Cross-lineage mating can be incredibly difficult on the mother during birth so some combinations are incredibly rare. When building a cross-lineage character, either choose the lineage of the mother or build a "Custom Lineage" rules in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.

If you want to play somebody who is part elf, dwarf, human, and orc, Custom Lineage is for you.

Planetouched Mating¶

If any of the plane-touched lineages decide to mate, they count as whatever lineage they would have been had they not been plane-touched. If an Tiefling's parents were elves, the Tiefling counts as an elf for the purposes of mating.

Character Creation¶

Character creation for Andórë will use whatever the most current for every race/lineage, class and sub-class in D&D. That means that the rules from Xanathar's Guide to Everything and Tasha's Cauldron of Everything both apply, so do the rules in the 2024 Player's Handbook.