The twenty playable peoples
You could breathe at the slow pace of the mountains, like the Lithari. Keep engraved in your crystal everything the world believes lost, like the Verreans. Or be only half there, present until the eye drifts elsewhere, like the Eclipsed. Alongside the eight founding lineages, twelve brand-new peoples you will meet at no other table. Which one will carry your next story?
Two faces out of twenty. Every people arrives with its game traits, its relationship to the Vestiges and what the others say about it.
A single tavern might bring together a descendant of the first empires, a being born of a hostile environment, a creature of stone or metal inherited from a vanished Cycle, and a traveler whose very presence in reality seems uncertain.
The twenty playable peoples.
Frequently asked questions about the peoples
How many peoples can I play, and which are brand-new?
Twenty playable peoples: the eight classic lineages (Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Halflings, Orcs, Goblins, and the Colossi) and twelve peoples unique to Vestiges, from the Aeris of the high currents to the Morphids of the Metamorphoses. Each has a complete write-up in the Player's Book; the grid above presents them all.
What are the four families of peoples?
The Founders, who arrived in the first Cycle; the Ancients, survivors of earlier Cycles (Aeris, Felyrs, Khepras, Nereans, Saurians); the Peoples of the Vestiges, born in contact with the ruins (Ferrans, Lithari, Sylvans, Verreans); and the Peoples of the Strata, emanations of the Cosmos (Mnesics, Eclipsed, Morphids). The family tells you where your people comes from, and what the world expects of it.
Are the brand-new peoples balanced against the SRD ones?
Yes. The traits of all twenty peoples were recalibrated against the SRD 5.2.1 species chassis: same number of traits, same magnitude of effect, no species that outclasses the rest. A Mnesic and a Human remain comparable choices, high levels included.
Can I play these peoples in a campaign other than Sylkaen?
Yes, with no conversion. Each people carries a trait block built to SRD 5.2.1, usable as it stands at any 5e table. The 3.5 edition provides the same peoples converted for that system. Only the lore is specific to Sylkaen, and nothing forces you to bring it along with the rules. At a homebrew table, the twelve brand-new peoples slot in like homebrew races, with no conversion.
Are the peoples the playable races of 5e?
Yes, under another name: the twenty peoples are what the 5e rules call species, and older editions called playable races. Each arrives with its full game traits, ready for the table.
Does a people lock you into a class or a role?
No. No people locks a class, and the traits do not push towards a single archetype: a Colossus wizard or a Gnome fighter remain viable choices. The affinities live in the fiction, in what others expect of you, not in the numbers.
Where do I find the full traits for each people?
In the Player's Book, which gives each one a complete entry: appearance, society, relationship to the Vestiges, then the game trait block with type, size, speed, species traits and languages. The book comes in the Complete Bundle, which includes both rules editions.