Shifuni are simple folks, hard working professionals and craftsmen defined by their unique journey through life. Most shifuni are content with a simple house with a warm stew on the hearth. Shifuni tend to follow in their parents footsteps, becoming apprentices in their parent’s profession. Shifuni take joy in simple work and are often the best barrel makers, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, and farmers in Almira.
Each shifuni is born with a blank mask of porcelain which grow and change as they do. As a shifuni grows and learns, its mask changes, augmenting itself with new designs to show the shifuni’s unique journey through life. A shifuni who works as an artificer may have a mask which takes on metallic qualities and filigree engravings, while a shifuni wheelwright's mask may become wooden with distinct spokes; each mask is as different as the shifuni it grows from. A shifuni has no control over the decorations which grow on their mask, it is as much as part of them as they are. Removing or a shifuni’s mask is like removing a limb.
Appearance: Shifuni are humanoids with skin ranging from frosty blue to night black. Most notably, all shifuni have a porcelain mask covering their face, which grows and changes as they do. A shifuni’s mask can grow arcane symbols, recede to reveal the mouth of forehead, grow to become plate or shield-like, or augment itself with horns, filigree, or any other type of ornamentation.
Location: Shifuni are found all over Almira, though the city state of Nixus, in the confederation of Persistence, is a primarily Shifuni society.
Names: Alastaire, Callum, Conal, Duncan, Giles, Ivan, Leo, Alice, Elizabeth, Gwendoline, Marjorie, Mary, Olivia
Alignment and Religion: Many shifuni are simple folks and devote themselves to Marco Von, god of craftsmen. However, the shifuni are a hugely varied people and their alignments and religions varying widely.
Relations: Shifuni are spread widely throughout the world of Almira, living in close knit communities or assimilating into large cities. Shifuni are simple working folks and have pleasant relations with most of Almira’s races.
Adventurers: Shifuni take up a number of different jobs and professions, their strong backgrounds assisting them in quickly learning self taught or trained professions. While human wizards or sages train for most of their lives, it is not uncommon to see a young shifuni excel in the same profession.
Lifespan: Adulthood 14 years | Intuitive +1 years (15 years) | Self-Taught +2 years (16 years) | Trained +3 years (17 years)
Height: 5 ft. 0 in. +2d8 in. (5 ft. 4 in. – 6 ft. 4 in.)
Weight: 100 lbs. +(2d8×3 lbs.) (106 – 148 lbs.)
Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Shifuni are as varied as their masks. They gain a +2 racial bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation.
Size: Shifuni are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Type: Shifuni are humanoids with the Shifuni subtype.
Base Speed: Shifuni have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Shifuni begin play speaking Common. Shifuni with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Undercommon, Paeori, Dwarven and Vaellu. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Darkvision: Shifuni can see perfectly in the dark for up to 60 feet.
Written All Over Your Face: A shifuni’s history is literally written all over their face. Anyone looking at a shifuni’s face knows each class they have levels in and the number of levels they have in that class. Additionally, a Knowledge (local) skill check made to identify the shifuni’s strengths and weaknesses has a chance of revealing information about the shifuni’s past as well (GM’s discretion).
Guarding Mask: Shifuni masks are resilient and provide defenses against both physical and magical attacks. They gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws to prevent being blinded and against gaze attacks and a +1 natural armor bonus to their armor class.
Strong Background: Shifuni treasure their journey through life, and their path through it. A shifuni chooses a single profession skill at first level. The shifuni treats that skill as a class skill and gains a +2 racial bonus to it. The shifuni may also make a skill check with their chosen profession skill in place of a single other related skill of their choice. This related skill is chosen at 1st level and cannot be changed. For example, a shifuni who chooses Profession (Sailor) could tie their profession to Swim checks, whereas a shifuni who chooses Profession (Barkeep) could tie their profession to Diplomacy checks.
Favored Weapon: A shifuni’s strong connecting to their personal journey is often reflected in their weapon choice. A shifuni gains proficiency with a single simple weapon of their choice at 1st level, and gains Weapon Focus in that weapon as a bonus feat. They need not meet the prerequisites of this feat. If the shifuni is proficient with all simple weapons at 1st level, they may choose a martial weapon. If the shifuni is proficient with all simple and martial weapons at 1st level, they may choose an exotic weapon.
Each shifuni is born with a blank mask of porcelain which grow and change as they do. As a shifuni grows and learns, its mask changes, augmenting itself with new designs to show the shifuni’s unique journey through life. A shifuni who works as an artificer may have a mask which takes on metallic qualities and filigree engravings, while a shifuni wheelwright's mask may become wooden with distinct spokes; each mask is as different as the shifuni it grows from. A shifuni has no control over the decorations which grow on their mask, it is as much as part of them as they are. Removing or a shifuni’s mask is like removing a limb.
Appearance: Shifuni are humanoids with skin ranging from frosty blue to night black. Most notably, all shifuni have a porcelain mask covering their face, which grows and changes as they do. A shifuni’s mask can grow arcane symbols, recede to reveal the mouth of forehead, grow to become plate or shield-like, or augment itself with horns, filigree, or any other type of ornamentation.
Location: Shifuni are found all over Almira, though the city state of Nixus, in the confederation of Persistence, is a primarily Shifuni society.
Names: Alastaire, Callum, Conal, Duncan, Giles, Ivan, Leo, Alice, Elizabeth, Gwendoline, Marjorie, Mary, Olivia
Alignment and Religion: Many shifuni are simple folks and devote themselves to Marco Von, god of craftsmen. However, the shifuni are a hugely varied people and their alignments and religions varying widely.
Relations: Shifuni are spread widely throughout the world of Almira, living in close knit communities or assimilating into large cities. Shifuni are simple working folks and have pleasant relations with most of Almira’s races.
Adventurers: Shifuni take up a number of different jobs and professions, their strong backgrounds assisting them in quickly learning self taught or trained professions. While human wizards or sages train for most of their lives, it is not uncommon to see a young shifuni excel in the same profession.
Lifespan: Adulthood 14 years | Intuitive +1 years (15 years) | Self-Taught +2 years (16 years) | Trained +3 years (17 years)
Height: 5 ft. 0 in. +2d8 in. (5 ft. 4 in. – 6 ft. 4 in.)
Weight: 100 lbs. +(2d8×3 lbs.) (106 – 148 lbs.)
Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Shifuni are as varied as their masks. They gain a +2 racial bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation.
Size: Shifuni are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Type: Shifuni are humanoids with the Shifuni subtype.
Base Speed: Shifuni have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Shifuni begin play speaking Common. Shifuni with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Undercommon, Paeori, Dwarven and Vaellu. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.
Darkvision: Shifuni can see perfectly in the dark for up to 60 feet.
Written All Over Your Face: A shifuni’s history is literally written all over their face. Anyone looking at a shifuni’s face knows each class they have levels in and the number of levels they have in that class. Additionally, a Knowledge (local) skill check made to identify the shifuni’s strengths and weaknesses has a chance of revealing information about the shifuni’s past as well (GM’s discretion).
Guarding Mask: Shifuni masks are resilient and provide defenses against both physical and magical attacks. They gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws to prevent being blinded and against gaze attacks and a +1 natural armor bonus to their armor class.
Strong Background: Shifuni treasure their journey through life, and their path through it. A shifuni chooses a single profession skill at first level. The shifuni treats that skill as a class skill and gains a +2 racial bonus to it. The shifuni may also make a skill check with their chosen profession skill in place of a single other related skill of their choice. This related skill is chosen at 1st level and cannot be changed. For example, a shifuni who chooses Profession (Sailor) could tie their profession to Swim checks, whereas a shifuni who chooses Profession (Barkeep) could tie their profession to Diplomacy checks.
Favored Weapon: A shifuni’s strong connecting to their personal journey is often reflected in their weapon choice. A shifuni gains proficiency with a single simple weapon of their choice at 1st level, and gains Weapon Focus in that weapon as a bonus feat. They need not meet the prerequisites of this feat. If the shifuni is proficient with all simple weapons at 1st level, they may choose a martial weapon. If the shifuni is proficient with all simple and martial weapons at 1st level, they may choose an exotic weapon.
Alternate Racial Traits
History of Magic: Some shifuni who follow a road of magic use the evolution of their mask to their advantage. They do not gain a natural armor bonus to their AC and instead gain a +2 racial bonus on on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance.
Recessive Mask: Some shifuni’s masks grow so small that they cannot be used to identify a shifuni's history. These shifuni do not gain the Written All Over Your Face or Guarding Mask class features.
History of Magic: Some shifuni who follow a road of magic use the evolution of their mask to their advantage. They do not gain a natural armor bonus to their AC and instead gain a +2 racial bonus on on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance.
Recessive Mask: Some shifuni’s masks grow so small that they cannot be used to identify a shifuni's history. These shifuni do not gain the Written All Over Your Face or Guarding Mask class features.