2nd Edition Kender by Kipper Snifferdoo

Kender - A Player Character Race for the Dragonlance World

Appearance
Kender's range in height from around 3' to up to 4'6". The males are usually taller than the females. They are small in stature, but tend to have muscular builds. Kender metabolism tends to run very high. This keeps most of them from becoming overweight until the reach their older years. A typical male kender weighs around 85 lbs. The females tend to weigh about ten pounds less.

Their hair color can range from light blond to deep brown. The general style for a kender to wear their hair is in a topknot. A topknot is made by allowing the hair to grow to a very long length and then tying it up on top of the kenders head. There are very many combinations of this style. Some will wear their topknot in one braid or many braids. Sometimes colored ribbons will be braided into the hair for decoration. In the kender city of Kendermore this is the norm. In the other major kender city of Hylo, the style of the hair is as variant as human's styles. One fashion among the noble class of kenders is to braid the sideburns or cheek hair.

The eye color of kender range as widely as humans, with no predominant color. Many kender have wrinkles at the corner of there eyes. The older a kender is the more complex the lines become. All kender find these wrinkles very attractive. Kender skin seems to change during the seasons, from a pale white in winter to a golden chestnut brown. Kender ears are pointed, giving them a slightly elfish look, (Although most elves would tend to disagree).

Kenders have a life span that is slightly longer than a humans. The few that do die of old age tend to live to around 100. Voice: Kender have a wide range of pitch ability. They tend to talk in relatively high tones, but their vocal chords allow them to speak in low tones as well. They can usually imitate animal sounds very well. Older kender will tend to have lower voices. When kender become excited, kender tend to speak very quickly and ramble at the same time, making it hard to follow what they're trying to say. One thing about kender is that they are very emotional and always tend to show it. They have intense facial expressions. A saying says that there is nothing as happy as a cheerful kender and nothing as sad as a crying one.

Curiosity
Kender have an overwhelming sense of curiosity. They have a natural drive that leads them to explore anything they can get into. This curiosity can sometimes even override common sense. They tend to examine everything and in their haste find that they have usually forgotten to give back something that they had picked up previously. Magic awes kender and they will usually go out of their way to handle it. This is a natural drive that was instilled in them during their creation. It is a fundamental drive that most other races take as being rude and or nosey.

Fearlessness
Kender are also totally fearless. They do not feel fear and thus they usually have a feeling of being invincible. When you combine this trait with their curiosity can land a kender (and his or her companions) in trouble rather quickly. There is nothing like telling a kender not to push a button on a gnomish invention and watching the result. This fearlessness however does not have to make the kender totally reckless. They do learn from their mistakes and although they can not feel fear, they do understand that other races have this "affliction" and will do their best to respect that.

Irrepressibility
Highly mobile may be the best way to describe a kender. They are very energetic and love to roam. During wanderlust a kender is always on the look out for excitement and entertainment. It's said that the worst punishment for a kender is to lock them up to keep them from wandering. (It is also said that the worst punishment one could inflict on any other race would be to lock them up with a kender.) It's also very hard to control a kender, because they do not normally take orders well. This is why there has rarely been a standing army of kender for any length of time.

Theft vs. Handling
Personal property is a vague notion to kender. They do not place the same emphasis on ownership that other races do. In kender society it's joked that a family heirloom is anything that remains in a house for longer than three weeks. There is never an evil intent when a kender walks away with something that is not their own. And when they are caught with something they almost always respond with an excuse, "You must have dropped it.", "I forgot I had it.", "You're lucky I found this for you." These are not lies, kender are often just as surprised as the owner that they have been found with an item. They are just so curious that they will take something with the full intention of returning it and wander off being distracted by something else. Calling a kender a thief is an insult that could result in the kender taunting the owner.

Taunting
Kender have a knack for reading peoples character. This allows them to be able to get under an individuals skin very quickly. An angry kender will harass an enemy with a cutting tongue that usually causes the offender to loose control and rush the kender. Which allows the kender to have a tactical advantage over their opponent.

Wanderlust *
Wanderlust is an affliction that is particular to kenders. Other races get it on occasion, but not as seriously as kender do. It is a phase in a kenders life that begins around their early twenties and last anywhere from twenty to thirty years. The kender's natural curiosity and desire for action is thrown into over drive. They need action - and they need it now! They thrive on the excitement of meeting new people and seeing new things. This intense need usually keeps kender on the move, and is responsible for the spread of kender across the continent Ansalon.

Despite the wanderlust societies do exist because the younger and older kender seem to loose the drive that causes the afflicted to wander as far as they can go. But this does not mean that kender who are not afflicted are any less curious about things around them. They just loose the drive to travel long distances at will, and tend to remain with friends. If any person were to travel into a town full of kender they would find themselves pelted by a constant barrage of questions and relived of most all of their possessions for a closer inspection.

Game Statistics

Racial Modifiers Abilities
STR Minimum 06 Maximum 16
DEX Minimum 08 Maximum 19
CON Minimum 10 Maximum 18
INT Minimum 06 Maximum 18
WIS Minimum 03 Maximum 16
CHA Minimum 06 Maximum 18

Racial Modifiers
-1 to STR and +2 to DEX

Class Limits

Racial Modifiers for Thief Skills
+10% Pick Pocket (Ties with half-elves)
+15% Open Locks (Beats all races)
+20% Find/Remove Traps (Beats all races)
+15% Move Silently (Beats all races)
+20% Hide in Shadows (Beats all races)
+10% Detect Noise (Same as Gnome)
-10% Climb Walls (same as Dwarf)
+10% Read Languages (More than any race!)

(Kender who are not "Handlers" have a base 5% chance plus Racial and Dexterity Modifiers to pick pockets, and a Base 40% to climb walls plus the same modifiers. )