Races

Before you are a fighter or a thief or a wizard, you are a member of a folk — human, dwarf, elf, gnome, halfling, half-elf, half-orc. Your race gives you a body, an inheritance of traits, and a set of natural aptitudes and limits. The Races compendium holds each folk in full; here is the shape of them and how to choose.

Human

Humans are the common folk of the world, and the only ones with no ceiling. They can become anything, rise to any level in any class, and — uniquely — dual-class. They gain no innate tricks beyond their own ambition, which is the point: everything a human becomes, they earn. If you want the widest open road and do not mind starting with nothing given, choose human.

Dwarf

Stout, dour, and unbreakable. Dwarves get a Constitution boon and pay a small price in charm; they see in the dark (infravision), resist poison, magic, and charming with remarkable hardiness, and count keen eyes for stone and secret doors as second nature. They move a little slower than the taller folk, and they respect the old limits — a dwarf rarely rises far as a wizard. Natural fighters and clerics, born to the deep places.

Elf

Grave, graceful, long-lived. Elves are swift and dextrous, resistant to sleep and charm, blessed with infravision, and preternaturally good with the bow and the long blade. Their high dexterity and keen senses make superlative rangers and thieves and wizards. They pay for this elegance with a lower Constitution and with level limits that cap their rise in the martial classes — an elf fighter becomes a legend quickly and then must branch out, often into magic. No folk multi-classes more naturally.

Gnome

Small, clever, and earthwise. Gnomes are resistant to illusions and magic in general, can speak with burrowing animals, and see in the dark. Their inclination is toward the illusionist's art and the thief's subtlety. Cheerful craftsmen of the hills, they bring a sharp mind and a light foot to any company.

Halfling

Small, brave, and effortlessly sneaky. Halflings are agile (a dexterity bonus) at the cost of raw strength, and they are astonishingly hard to hit — their small size makes them natural thieves. They are short, they love comfort and second breakfast, and they will surprise you with courage. Their level limits keep them out of the highest warrior ranks, but no one hides, slips, and survives like a halfling.

Half-Elf

The child of two worlds. Half-elves keep much of elven grace — infravision, resistance to sleep and charm — without the elven fragility, and they can multi-class more freely than most, often as druid, ranger, or fighter-mage. They are the diplomats of the party, at ease among humans and elves alike, and maybe fully at ease in neither.

Half-Orc

Strong and fierce, paying in presence. A half-orc's raw strength can rival a human's, with infravision to match, but their charm suffers and the high folk look askance. Excellent fighters and, in the right company, formidable. Yours is the story of earning a place in a world that doubts you from the start — which is a fine story indeed.

Choosing by class

Some pointers as you browse the Races compendium:

• Warrior bent — dwarf, human, half-orc for fighters; elf or half-elf for rangers; human (and only human) for paladins.
• Priest bent — dwarf or human clerics, half-elf or human druids.
• Wizard bent — elf, human, or gnome; gnomes incline toward the illusionist's art, and many elves make excellent mages.
• Rogue bent — halfling, half-elf, or human thieves; bards skew elven or human.

But these are tendencies in the rules, not verdicts on your character. The system's real delight lives in the surprising combinations — the dwarven thief, the gnomish bard, the half-orc cleric of a stern god. Play the person you want to be; let the race be the interesting cost of admission.

The level limits and aptitudes

Each race records, in the compendium, how far its members can rise in each class (the level limits), which classes its members may take up at all (the class restrictions), and the ability adjustments and special traits that make them who they are. Read them as the texture of a folk — the elf who can never be the mightiest warrior finds other glories; the dwarf who cannot work high magic finds power in the earth and the forge. The limits are not punishments; they are what give each people its character, and they are exactly why multi-classing exists: a demihuman does not hit a wall, they build a new road over it.