Hobling Race Packet
“Quick as a spring. Sturdy as steel. Complex Contraptions. Elaborate Meals.
Hoblings are a group who seek to improve Fortannis through craft, discovery, and trade. Through their efforts there is a hope that all lives may be made more comfortable, their own most of all. Hoblings believe that the world is a complex system of interlocking parts, much like the devices they are so fond of crafting. Hoblings assess the material world by finding the value and use in all things, whether its purpose is to harm or to heal, to provide hard defense or soft respite. Kingdoms and commerce, politics and people, they are all just cogs and gears whirring away, and to be a Hobling is to sit in the center and watch the rest of the world turn.
Make Up, Prosthetics, and Role Play
Hoblings must have prosthetic side-burns that are attached to the skin or worn with clips/straps. A player that has full or partial sideburns must still wear a prosthesis to make it recognizable as Hobling sideburns at roleplay distance.
Racial Benefits
Hoblings may purchase Tinkering at reduced cost. Many Hoblings find the intricate work involved in Tinkering to be very rewarding. Like their own personal goals and ideas, they enjoy putting the parts together and seeing how it all works in the end.
Hoblings may purchase the Racial Evade and Resist Poison abilities. Sometimes a project doesn’t end up working out the way you had intended, and Hoblings learn to quickly get out of the way when danger is coming. Their resistance to poison is as much a result of the dangers of excess as it is a method of survival during meager times.
Racial Drawbacks
While Hoblings do not suffer a specific mechanical weakness, there is a cultural expectation that a Hobling always has an elaborate strategy or idea to fall back on. Whether it be the fine print on a business deal or an intricate strategy on the battlefield, the complex logic of Hoblings come across as confusing at best, and at worst untrustworthy.
Lifespan and Family
Hoblings have an average lifespan living roughly 70 to 80 years, though those who do not choose adventuring as their career can live somewhat longer. Hoblings place a great deal of value on family as they are their first source of comfort and relaxation. A Hobling family is one where everyone finds meaningful work, with older members helping the younger generations get their first job or invest in their first business. This cycle of working and finding work for others is an elaborate one that is celebrated as mutual success for the entire family. In truth, the elaborate dance of a Hobling’s family dealings is a scaled down version of the large political dance of Fortannis as a whole.
The Peril of the Priceless
A Hobling’s view of the world is that everything has its purpose, and through its purpose it can find value. Yet how can a Hobling determine the value of something truly priceless? Life, Freedom, Virtue: these are the things that build society and make heroes, but such high concepts cannot be traded for a bushel of apples or a sack of potatoes. To view such ideals as worthless may drive a Hobling to disregard the life and liberty of others in the pursuit of personal wealth. On the other hand, to view life as having near infinite value may drive a Hobling to darker things to find ways to extend their life beyond the natural lifespan. More life means more value.
An Appraising Eye For Future Innovations
With so much focus put on quality and efficiency, many Hoblings end up struggling to determine the value of something they’ve created. Afterall, if it is one of a kind, unique, and uncopiable, it is priceless.
However, if someone is willing to provide for all your comforts and necessities in exchange, then how can you pass up such an offer?
Even more maddeningly, if the thing that you’ve created has a set value then it must be something that could be improved upon, made more efficient, made of a higher quality, have more options and refinements; and thus the Hobling may accept payment only to begin the project again.
The Cost of Giving Up
More than one Hobling has fallen into the trap of attempting an impossible feat. The lure of creating something better than the current design can lead them down a rabbit hole where the cost of even attempting their project vastly outpaces their means. Often they are so set on accomplishing the project that they will overextend themselves to see it done. As much as every Hobling wants to innovate the next best thing, it is a wise Hobling that knows when they already have the best and don’t lose themselves to a pipe dream.
The Trappings of Power
More than a few Hoblings have pursued positions of authority as a means of gathering the resources necessary to obtain or create the next best creation. They reason that the privileges they’ll be afforded can be translated into more access and resources for themselves. However, most Hoblings find that the added responsibilities of these positions add more conflict to their lives, rather than ease. If the Hobling lacks the leadership skills necessary to be in a position of authority, they will find only frustration rather than excitement.
