Uldra

Small, blue, and ready to kick your ass.

In Dungeons & Dragons, Uldras are a race of diminutive fey native to arctic conditions, primarily tundras, permafrost mountains and alpine forests. There have been two different depictions of Uldras in D&D.

The first Uldra, released under the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ruleset, appeared in Dragon Magazine #119. They were essentially an arctic gnome, outright being called "kin to gnomes and dwarves", and basically looked like extremely pale, near snow-white, gnomes. They live a lifestyle not too dissimilar from their kinsfolk, forming clans that keep small mines and herds in their cold homes and living very close to the wilderness. They have a natural respect and empathy for the creatures of the wild, something that is reflected in their innate abilities, and love their homelands for the stark beauty and pristine wilderness.

These uldras had infravision to a range of 120 feet, could automatically identify any plant, animal or the purity of water on sight, were under a permanent Pass Without Trace effect, and could innately speak to any animal. Their sensitive hearing gives them a default 25% score in the Hear Noises skill, and PC uldras receive a +1 to Dexterity and Constitution at the cost of a -1 penalty to Charisma and Comeliness. Uldra thieves gain the same racial bonuses and penalties to their thieving skills as gnomes, except their Hear Noises score is boosted by +15% compared to a gnome's. Their classes are restricted to Fighter, Ranger, Cleric, Druid and Thief; unlike gnomes, they can't be Illusionists. This is explained by the fact that, like their dwarven kinsfolk at the time, uldras are naturally magic resistant, getting a +1 to their saves vs. Wand, Stave, Rod, Spell and Poison per 3 1/2 points of Constitution they possess. Also like dwarves, they have a certain knack for detecting abnormalities relating to stonework and caves: grades or slopes in passages with 60% accuracy; unsafe walls, ceilings, or floors with 50% accuracy; traps involving pits, falling blocks, or other stonework with 40% accuracy; and, approximate depth underground with 70% accuracy.

The second Uldra, released under the 3.5 ruleset, appeared in the Frostburn environmental sourcebook for D&D. No relation to gnomes or dwarves, these uldra look more like blue-skinned, halfling-sized elves, though with only four fingers to each hand. Being outright fey, they're unfortunately labelled with fairly standard and irritating fluff from the time period: they're a race of wild mood swingers, with passionate outbursts of emotion that can make them seem kind of unhinged at first, and they hate civilization as a blight on the wilderness. Your standard asshole druid fluff, with a dash of kender for bad luck. They even experience bouts of wanderlust, although they lack the instinctive drive to pickpocket people. These uldra have a patron goddess in the form of Hleid‎‎, a benevolent deity who was unfortunately murdered and usurped by the evil Iborighu‎.

The 3.5 uldra's stats look like this:

-2 Strength, -2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom

Small

Base land speed 20 feet

Darkvision 120 feet

Lowlight Vision

Nature Scholar (Ex): Knowledge (Nature) is always a class skill for uldras and they receive a +2 racial bonus to Knowledge (Nature) checks.

Cold Resistance (Ex): Uldras take no cold damage from freezing temperatured environments and have Resist Cold 5 against cold-damage inflicting attacks.

Frosty Touch (Su): As a free action, an uldra can superchill its hands, allowing both unarmed strikes and any weapon it is holding to deal +1 Cold damage on a successful hit.

Spell-like Abilities: 3/day - Ray of Frost, 1/day - Speak With Animals, Touch of Fatigue. Treat these spells as if cast by a caster of level equal to the uldra's hit dice. Saving DCs are 10 + Spell Level and key off of the uldra's Wisdom.

Fey Blood: Uldras are immune to effects that specifically target humanoids, and are affected by effects that specifically target fey. Uldras have no specific weakness to cold iron, although wielding it is discomforting - like holding a rotting fish in your bare hands.

Favored class: Druid

Level Adjustment: +1