I
CHAPTER 2:RACES
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VISITTOONEOfTHEGREATCITIESINTHE
worlds of OUNGEONS&ORAGONS-
Walerdeep, the Free Cily of Greyhawk, or
even uncanny Sigil, the City of Ooors-
overwhelms lhe senses. Voices chatter in
counlless differenl languages. The smells
of cooking in dozens of differenl cuisines
mingle with lhe odors of crowded slreels and poor
sanitalion. Buildings in myriad architeclural styles
display lhe diverse origins of their inhabilants.
And lhe people lhemselves-people of varying size,
shape, and colorodressed in a dazzling speclrum
of slyles and hues-represenl many differenl races,
from diminulive halflings and stoul dwarves to
majeslically beauliful elves, mingling among a variety
of human ethnicities.
Scattered among lhe members of these more common
races are the lrue exolics: a hulking dragonborn here,
pushing his way lhrough lhe crowd, and a sly liefling
there, lurking in lhe shadows with mischief in her eyes.
Agroup of gnomes laughs as one of lhem activales a
clever wooden loy lhal moves of ils own accord. Half-
elves and half-orcs live and work alongside humans,
without fully belonging to lhe races of eilher of lheir
parenls. And lhere, well oul of lhe sunlighl, is a lone
drow-a fugilive from lhe sublerranean expanse of
the Underdark, trying to make his way in a world
thal fears his kind.
Choosing a Race
Humans are lhe most common people in lhe worlds of
0&0, bul they live and work alongside dwarves, elves,
halflings, and counlless olher fanlaslic species. Your
character belongs lo one of lhese peoples.
Nol every inlelligent race of lhe mulliverse is
appropriale for a player-conlrolled advenlurer. Owarves,
elves, halflings, and humans are the most common
races to produce the sorl of advenlurers who make up
lypical parlies. Oragonborn, gnomes, half-elves, half-
orcs, and lieflings are less common as adventurers.
Orow, a subrace of elves, are also uncommon.
Your choice of race affects many differenl aspecls of
your character. /t establishes fundamenlal qualities thal
exisl IhroughoUI your characler's adventuring career.
When making lhis decision, keep in mind lhe kind of
character you wanl lOplay. For example, a halfling could
be a good choice for a sneaky rogue, a dwarf makes a
lough warrior, and an elf can be a maSler ofarcane magic,
Your characler race nol only affecIs your abilily scores
and lrails bul also provides lhe cues for building your
characler's story. Each race's descriplion in lhis chapler
includes information to help you roleplay a characler of
lhal race, including personality, physical appearance,
features of sociely, and racial alignmenl lendencies.
These delails are suggeslions to help you think aboul
your characler; adventurers can deviate widely from lhe
norm for lheir race. /t's worthwhile to consider why your
character is differenl, as a helpful way to think aboul
your characler's background and personalily.
RACIAL TRAITS
The descriplion of each race includes racial traits lhal
are common to members of lhal race. The following
entries appear among lhe lrails of most races.
ABILITY SCORE INCREASE
Every race increases one or more of a characler's
abilily scores.
AGE
The age entry noles the age when a member of lhe race
is considered an adult, as well as the race's expected
lifespan. This informalion can help you decide how
old your characler is at lhe start of lhe game. Vou
can choose any age for your characler, which could
provide an explanation for some ofyour ability scores.
For example, ifyou play a young or very old character,
your age could explain a particularly low Strength or
Conslitulion score, while advanced age could accounl
for a high Inlelligence or Wisdom.
ALIGNMENT
Mosl races have tendencies loward cerlain alignments,
described in this entry. These are nol binding for player
characlers, bul considering why your dwarf is chaolic.
for example, in defiance of lawful dwarf society can help
you better define your characler,
SIZE
Characlers of mosl races are Medium, a size calegory
including creatures lhal are roughly 4 lo 8 feet la11.
Members of a few races are Small (belween 2 and 4 feel
la11),which means lhal cerlain rules of lhe game affecl
lhem differenlly. The mosl importanl of lhese rules
is lhal Small characters have lrouble wielding heavy
weapons, as explained in chapler 6.
SPEED
Your speed delermines how far you can move when
lraveling (chapler 8) and fighling (chapler 9).
LANGUAGES
By virtue ofyour race, your character can speak, read,
and wrlte cerlain languages. Chapler 4 lisls the mosl
common languages of lhe 0&0 multiverse.
SUBRACES
Some races have subraces. Members of a subrace
have lhe lrails of the parenl race in addition lo lhe
lrails specified for lheir subrace. Relationships among
subraces vary significantly from race lo race and
world to world. In the Oragonlance campaign setting,
for example, mountain dwarves and hill dwarves live
logelher as differenl clans of lhe same people, bul in
the Forgolten Realms, lhey live far aparl in separale
kingdoms and call lhemselves shield dwarves and
gold dwarves, respeclively.
PARTI I RACES
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