Character Races :: Oath-Bound PHB/Overlay

Character Races (p.13)

The PHB presents race as a package of mechanical adjustments, class restrictions, level limits, and ability score modifiers. In Oath-Bound, classes do not exist in the PHB sense — characters are defined by their Competency Profile rather than a discrete class selection. Race/class combinations, class restrictions by race, and level limits by race are therefore not applicable. There is no table to consult and no ceiling to observe. A character of any race may develop any competency their background and play establish.

Race in Oath-Bound is additionally a cultural and cosmological category — each race has a distinct relationship to the oath economy, to the Foundations, and to the communities they inhabit. These fictional considerations are not mechanical modifiers. They are the texture of the world the character moves through.

Alignment restrictions on race are not used. Alignment does not exist in Oath-Bound.

Dwarves (p.15)

Dwarves in Oath-Bound are a people with a strong tradition of sworn obligation — their craft guilds, clan structures, and trade relationships are built on oaths that run across generations. A Dwarf character arrives with a cultural background that treats the covenant model seriously, which the player may engage with or treat as background flavour as suits their character.

Infravision, detect construction and stonework abilities, and saving throw bonuses apply as written, but expressed as Competencies. Ability score adjustments do not apply as written. Level limits do not apply in Oath-Bound.

Elves (p.15)

Elves in Oath-Bound are long-lived enough that their relationship to the oath economy is complicated. An oath sworn by an Elf carries the same weight as any other, but the Elf’s perspective on what constitutes a reasonable term for a commitment may differ from a human’s. This is a fictional consideration for roleplay, not a mechanical one.

Infravision, and the suite of Elf special abilities — detection of secret and concealed doors, immunity to ghoul paralysis, resistance to charm and sleep spells — apply as written, but are expressed as Competencies. Ability score adjustments do not apply as written. Level limits do not apply in Oath-Bound.

Gnomes (p.16)

Gnomes are not available as a player character race in Oath-Bound.

Half-Elves (p.16)

Half-Elves are not available as a player character race in Oath-Bound.

Halflings (p.16)

This section applies in Oath-Bound as written in the PHB. Ability score adjustments do not apply as written. Level limits do not apply in Oath-Bound.

Half-Orcs (p.17)

Half-Orcs are not available as a player character race in Oath-Bound.

Humans (p.17)

This section applies in Oath-Bound as written in the PHB.

Racial Preferences (p.18)

The PHB’s racial preferences section describes enmities and affinities between races — Dwarves and Orcs, Elves and Orcs, and so on — framed as inherent racial dispositions. Oath-Bound does not use innate racial enmity as a mechanical or narrative construct. Conflict between peoples in Oath-Bound has historical, economic, and political causes, not cosmological ones.

Racial tensions where they exist in the setting are a matter of campaign context, not a table in the PHB. The GM establishes the relevant relationships for their campaign at Session Zero.