There are seven Lineages that players can choose from for their characters:
Every Lineage except for Humans has one or more Roleplay Prompts associated with it. These are instincts that are present in the majority of people of that Lineage, caused by the magics that go into making them who they are. Like all instincts, they are present in stronger or weaker form depending on the individual — just as no two people think the same way, no two members of the same Lineage are guaranteed to feel their Lineage’s instincts in the same fashion or to the same degree.
These prompts are intended as suggestions for how to play your character, not as something that you Must Do Or Else. Nobody will be upset with you if you play a cautious Summer Fae, a bubbly Winter Fae, or an Elf who displays strong emotion. Your character might be considered a bit odd, for a member of their Lineage, but such things are still possible and won’t break the game. Let the prompt help shape your understanding of your character and the people they grew up around; don’t let it force your character into a shape that isn’t fun for you to play. On the flip side of that, don’t let a roleplay prompt push you into doing something that ruins someone else’s day — “that’s just what my character would do” is never an acceptable excuse for abusive or offensive behavior.
All non-humans, and Fae in particular, possess an inborn magic called “Glamour,” which allows them to shift the degree to which they display their natural non-human traits. They can use their Glamour to appear almost human, with only one betraying tell (their signature facial markings) showing them as something else, or go what is called as “full Fae” and appear very clearly nonhuman.
Anything that can be hidden by Glamour is inherently phantasmal, i.e. not entirely real, and dissolves into motes of aether if it is somehow separated from the person’s body. A Satyr’s horns will crumble away into nothing if cut off from the Satyr’s body, for instance, as will the sparkling crystalline growths of a Celestine or the metallic wires of a Dwarf’s ear filigree.
Glamour is most obvious in Fae, with their many non-human physical traits, but Dwarves and Elves can also make use of it to make their ears and eyes appear human.
Whatever your Lineage, none of the adaptations and modifications made to the human form by your Lineage will ever cover your face. If you are playing an Orc, for instance, your only prosthetics should be tusks and pointed ears, and not one of the latex “orc masks” that are used in many other LARPs. If you are a Beastfolk, your character will never have a face that looks like their bestial counterpart; they are primarily a human (albeit one with bestial features such as eyes, ears, feathers, or fangs), and not a half-human-half-beast creature.
You are allowed to wear a mask if you wish, either for medical reasons (such as an N95 or cloth mask) or for decoration. However, any mask you wear is a mask in the universe of Veilguard, not a part of your character’s body. It’s a thing that your character is wearing and can take off, not a magical part of them that they can Glamour away.
<aside> 🎭 We would prefer for players to avoid wearing a mask outside of combat; this is a preference on the part of the GM team, and not a hard rule, so if you really want to wear a mask we’re not going to tell you to take it off. There are two reasons for this: