Legacy is a system for describing power you were born with, or otherwise come into as a birthright.

Rather than proscribing specific "races"--which is considered to be outside the scope of this sytem, and better implemented in individual settings or campaigns, if at all--this system provides broad categories of legacy which should be applicable to a wide variety of campaign settings.

Legacy Group	Magical Affinity	Description
Sylvans	Nature	Animal/plant/fey qualities, harmonious with nature
Elementals	Elemental	Of the world, but not of flesh (think djinn, efreet)
Deva	Radiant/Holy	The race of gods, but not gods themselves. They think they're all that. AKA Aetherkind
Automata	Artifice	Golems, androids, etc
Outsider	Outer Planes	True aliens, or those touched by those planes
Divergent	Abberation-y	Once human, warped by artifice (i.e. mutants)
Netherkind	Shadow/Necrotic	Vamps, ghouls, shades, the usual.
Dragon	tbd	You know, dragons? Mostly humanoid, a la Oathkeep. Supposed to have kept peace and order in the world.

Legacy must be crafted at character creation--although it possible to add more abilities afterward through Feats and Powers. Legacies use a point system, wherein:

• Every PC gets at least 4 Legacy Points.
  • This is a "0-level" legacy. If starting at levels higher than 1st, you can take a more powerful legacy:
  • Each level for which you do not receive a Feat and a Power as normal grants 4 more Legacy Points.
  • This option is not available when leveling up; Feats and Powers do exist to enhance your legacy after character creation.
• Abilities can cost any number of points, including zero or a negative number.
  • Negative points, naturally, decrease your Legacy Point total, allowing you to take more positive-cost abilities to reach the limit.
  • You cannot exceed a total of -4 with negative abilities, even if starting at a higher level than 1st.

General

General Advantages

• Strong/Dextrous/Tough/Smart/Wise/Charismatic (1): You gain a +2 racial bonus to the appropriate ability score.

General Penalties

• Hollow Bones (-1): Suffer -1 to Str and Con, reduce weight by 20%. You are rather lightweight as a result, suffering -1 per die of falling damage. Stackable, although the weight reduction is multiplicative (80%, 64%, 51%, 40%). Goes great with Avian builds.

Sylvan

General

• Wild Step (1): Ignore difficult terrain penalties from natural terrain of any sort.
• Scent (2): You gain the Scent ability. In a radius of 6 squares (12 downwind), you gain awareness of all creatures on the same plane regardless of concealment, and as an action you can pinpoint the square they occupy. You have the ability to identify and track scents as well as a bloodhound.

Plantoid

• Photosynthesis (0): You have green skin. You gain energy from sunlight, rather than from eating. You still need water, and occasional vitamins and minerals (about as often as a normal human would). You need at least 8 hours of sun exposure per day to feel "fed". Penalties include...whatever the fuck penalties exist for not eating enough, as if anyone even thought of that. TBI
• Underwater Native (0): You have a swim speed of 6, and you can breathe underwater. You can also breathe above water (because otherwise this ability would be terrible). However, you cannot stay out of the water indefinitely. You need at least 8 hours of "water time" per day. Outside of natural bodies of water, a bath or pool is ideal, but there are also conceivable magical or technological items to recirculate water over you, or even to provide a water-tight suit (sort of a reverse scuba gear) that keeps you hydrated 24/7.
• Glider (2): you have a pair of wings which you can use to glide and slow fall. You can improve your flight at later levels using feats/powers.
• Flier (5): You have a fly speed equal to your walking speed. You cannot hover.

Boreal

• Brachiation (1): gain a brachiation speed equal to your walking speed.

Essential Abilities

• Plantoid: You gain energy from sunlight, you don't need food to live (although you need vitamins and minerals occasionally). Abilities TBD
• Aquatic Native: Your native environment is underwater. You can breathe underwater and have a swim speed. You cannot stay out of water forever, although you can breathe in air for a short time. You need to be able to rest in water once per long rest or so. TBI
• Avian: Choose one phenotype:
  • Flier: you have wings instead of arms. You have a native fly speed, but suffer -4 to Str and Con due to hollow bones and a lightweight build. Your wings end in fingers nimble enough to cast spells, use weapons, etc.

Elemental

Earth

• Earthen Skin (2): Gain an armor bonus equal to your Con bonus plus half your level, and a Fortification bonus of the same amount.
• Earthen Body (4): You are entirely made of stone. You are immune to disease and poison, and Resist 50% (critical damage). You do not have to eat organic food to live (although you do not have to take Lithovore--you can if you desire).
• Lithovore (1): You do not eat organic material. Instead, you eat metal and stone. An amount of stone equal to about 1% of your weight will satisfy you for a day. If you eat a sufficient quantity of extraordinary or magical materials (e.g. magic weapons or armor), you gain powerful bonuses. TBI
• Stone Fist (1): Your unarmed attacks inflict heavy kinetic damage (two-handed) or medium kinetic damage (one-handed). They can be used to parry.
• Minor Stonemorph (2): You can change your body in minor ways. Examples: turn your hand into a weapon or shield, turn your legs into a turret, retract your head into your body, etc. TBI
• Major Stonemorph (5): You can completely modify your form, as long as you aren't changing your overall volume or mass. Example: turn into a wall of stone, a stone staircase, a (somewhat ineffienct) boat, etc. TBI

Water

• Aquamorph:

Netherkin

A widely varying category, what ties Netherkin together is that they are separated from the universe of "positive energy", i.e. energy coming from sunlight, organic digestion, elemental convection, etc. Instead, they subsist on "negative energy", which is a popular misnomer, although the alternatives are not much better (e.g. "parasite"). Netherkin consume energy from "positive energy" beings in order to survive. There are as many ways to do this as their are phenotypes--some drink blood, some drain souls, some sap mental energy, some devour memories--that's just the tip of the iceberg.

They should not be described as "undead", as, more so than any other factor, that word has lost all meaning. They are animate, they are conscious, they have minds, they have bodies (except the incorporeal ones, but even so), they can cease to exist, they can even be restored to function after ceasing to exist, given the right magic. In what way are they not "alive"? Nobody has defined the term well. The fact that they subsist on positive energy, and cannot generate it on their own, is a much clearer delination than any other. It is unique to their kind.

Every Netherkin must take an ability that explains how they get their energy (although feel free to take more than one). It is simply not possible for them to survive by eating and drinking, or soaking up sunlight, or bathing in elemental energy. If that were possible, they wouldn't be Netherkin, they'd be any of the other many Legacy options.

There is something inherently magical about devouring positive energy. It is not something that simple physics and chemistry can explain. The energy a human can get from drinking another human's blood is pretty miniscule--the energy a Hemovore gets from just a few second's feeding is vastly more than a normal human can absorb in the largest feast after hours of digestion. Apart from explanations involving nuclear decay or mass-energy conversion--which this Legacy type does not use--it is clearly not the physical energy of their "food" that is being absorbed.

Consequently, Netherkin generally have very powerful physical abilities derived from the excess energy they consume. Their forms are able to store and utilize more energy than a human possibly could. Thus, their essential abilities tend to come with many advantages, countered by a great many disadvantages. An effort is made to keep both to a minimum, so the PC can customize beyond that minimum, but certain advantages are considered essential. For example: a vampire must be able to drink blood, and must be vulnerable to sunlight and holy energy. They don't all have to summon wolves, turn into mist, resurrect themselves in a coffin, etc etc.

Hemovore (4 points)

• Drain Blood (0)
  • Drink Blood
  • Blood score
  • Feeding frenzy (when low on blood, become stronger, but it's hard to resist feeding indiscriminately; when critically low, you lose control entirely)
  • Opt-in digestive system (2): no need to eat/drink, but you can do so without harm (doesn't actually sustain you). Because of this, you are immune to biological damage.
• Positive energy vulnerability
  • Vulnerable 100% (holy) (-2)
  • Immune (necrotic) (2)
  • Warded by thresholds and holy sanctum (-2)
  • Damaged by sunlight (-4)
  • Warded by running water (-1)
• Vampiric power
  • +8 Str (4)
  • +4 Dex (2)
  • +4 Con (2)
  • +4 Cha (2)

Flesh-eater (ghouls)

Distinct from ordinary carnivores, both by their incredible ability to consume their own bodyweight or more, and by their preference for flesh of the same phenotype (i.e. human).

Brain-eater

Animavore

Consumes spiritual energy, usually in the form of negative levels.

Chronovore