Races
The race of your character has no in game effect other than starting languages. Every race starts knowing common and their racial language. You may choose to have your character not understand one that is available to them, or to have them only barely know it. Your race should matter when it comes to roleplaying it and may have other roleplay effects in game.
Dwarf:
Description: Dwarves stand about four feet tall but with a thick enough build that they commonly weigh around the same as humans. Both sexes grow facial hair and are almost impossible to tell apart. They commonly live underground in large cities carved out of the stone. They are very wary of arcana and have been generally less able to replicate the results of the other races. They are best known for their ability to withstand physical punishment and for their craftsmanship with stone, metal, and jewels.
Culture: Every dwarf is treated as a family member. Inside a dwarven city it is not uncommon for a there to be no private property, but rather all communal. In the outside world, a traveling dwarf might show up at a complete strangers house without warning and be received by a dwarven family as if they were all family. Dwarves tend not to have life partners, but rather choose how intimate they want to be and with who at whatever point in their life. In addition, a child is brought up by the entire community and by those who want to do it rather than the biological parents. When a dwarf comes of age, they are expected to leave for at least a year to learn about the outside world. Most return, a few choose to stay above.
Lifespan: Up to 200 years.
Costuming: All dwarves must have beards.
Languages: Common, Dwarven
Elf:
Description: Elves stand about five feet tall with a very skinny build. It is not uncommon for an elf to weigh half a human. Neither sex can grow facial hair, and all head hair is kept long and straight. They generally live in forests in houses built as part of the trees. They were the first race able to capture the natural magic in the world and manipulate it for their own purposes. They are known for their agility, light-footedness and their carpentry, from bows to ships.
Culture: Elves see each other as equals. From the day they’re born, they are on a quest for knowledge. Every person in the community is a source for everyone else. Some elves will go to live by themselves to try and learn what they can from nature while others leave their communities to learn from others. Elves to not partner for life, nor do they generally partner at all. It would seem to them as it would dating your sister does to us. When one wants to have a child, they search for another who does, have sex and start the process of rearing the child. Elves see childrearing as a communal responsibility and opportunity to learn.
Lifespan: Up to 300 years.
Costuming: All elves must have pointy ears.
Advantages: Common, Elven
Human:
Description: Humans stand between five and six feet tall. They tend to live in small villages surrounded by farms. The better off live in cities that have a keep and walls to defend itself against attack. Most of them are farmers or craftsmen from birth and don’t tend to advance in the societal rung at all. They are known for their arrogance and their love of war.
Culture: Human culture varies distinctly from region to region, but all of them have a distinct hierarchy. Generally there is little to no chance of climbing the social rung, partly due to the lack of mingling between the classes. Those in the upper classes tend to look at those in the lower classes more as tools to get jobs done rather than people with lives and consciouses. The lower classes look at the upper classes as arrogant pricks and often just want to be left alone to live their lives without dealing with the upper class’ constant conflicts and politicking.
Lifespan: Up to 80 years.
Costuming: None.
Advantages: Common
Orc:
Description: Orcs tend to stand a little over six feet with a huge build. Both sexes tend to be extremely hairy and muscular. Females tend to be taller and lankier than males, who tend to be almost all muscle. Orcs easily mistaken for the opposite sex by the untrained eye as they do not dress differently or have any big outward differences.
Culture: Orcs are clan based creatures, and each clan operates differently, commonly with either a patriarch or a matriarch. Each orc wears a bone from everything it has killed, and is considered of age when it kills its first prey. Until an orc is of age, it has no rights in the clan and is considered the lowest on the social ladder, even below captured orcs from other clans. Once an orc makes its first kill, it then is considered an equal of all the other members of the clan, save the head and will be watched out for by the clan. Orcs are shunned by most other sentient beings, and so tend to be forced into areas that are unwanted, primarily swamps.
Lifespan: Up to 40 years.
Costuming: Bone jewelry.
Advantages: Common, Orc
Dwarf:
Description: Dwarves stand about four feet tall but with a thick enough build that they commonly weigh around the same as humans. Both sexes grow facial hair and are almost impossible to tell apart. They commonly live underground in large cities carved out of the stone. They are very wary of arcana and have been generally less able to replicate the results of the other races. They are best known for their ability to withstand physical punishment and for their craftsmanship with stone, metal, and jewels.
Culture: Every dwarf is treated as a family member. Inside a dwarven city it is not uncommon for a there to be no private property, but rather all communal. In the outside world, a traveling dwarf might show up at a complete strangers house without warning and be received by a dwarven family as if they were all family. Dwarves tend not to have life partners, but rather choose how intimate they want to be and with who at whatever point in their life. In addition, a child is brought up by the entire community and by those who want to do it rather than the biological parents. When a dwarf comes of age, they are expected to leave for at least a year to learn about the outside world. Most return, a few choose to stay above.
Lifespan: Up to 200 years.
Costuming: All dwarves must have beards.
Languages: Common, Dwarven
Elf:
Description: Elves stand about five feet tall with a very skinny build. It is not uncommon for an elf to weigh half a human. Neither sex can grow facial hair, and all head hair is kept long and straight. They generally live in forests in houses built as part of the trees. They were the first race able to capture the natural magic in the world and manipulate it for their own purposes. They are known for their agility, light-footedness and their carpentry, from bows to ships.
Culture: Elves see each other as equals. From the day they’re born, they are on a quest for knowledge. Every person in the community is a source for everyone else. Some elves will go to live by themselves to try and learn what they can from nature while others leave their communities to learn from others. Elves to not partner for life, nor do they generally partner at all. It would seem to them as it would dating your sister does to us. When one wants to have a child, they search for another who does, have sex and start the process of rearing the child. Elves see childrearing as a communal responsibility and opportunity to learn.
Lifespan: Up to 300 years.
Costuming: All elves must have pointy ears.
Advantages: Common, Elven
Human:
Description: Humans stand between five and six feet tall. They tend to live in small villages surrounded by farms. The better off live in cities that have a keep and walls to defend itself against attack. Most of them are farmers or craftsmen from birth and don’t tend to advance in the societal rung at all. They are known for their arrogance and their love of war.
Culture: Human culture varies distinctly from region to region, but all of them have a distinct hierarchy. Generally there is little to no chance of climbing the social rung, partly due to the lack of mingling between the classes. Those in the upper classes tend to look at those in the lower classes more as tools to get jobs done rather than people with lives and consciouses. The lower classes look at the upper classes as arrogant pricks and often just want to be left alone to live their lives without dealing with the upper class’ constant conflicts and politicking.
Lifespan: Up to 80 years.
Costuming: None.
Advantages: Common
Orc:
Description: Orcs tend to stand a little over six feet with a huge build. Both sexes tend to be extremely hairy and muscular. Females tend to be taller and lankier than males, who tend to be almost all muscle. Orcs easily mistaken for the opposite sex by the untrained eye as they do not dress differently or have any big outward differences.
Culture: Orcs are clan based creatures, and each clan operates differently, commonly with either a patriarch or a matriarch. Each orc wears a bone from everything it has killed, and is considered of age when it kills its first prey. Until an orc is of age, it has no rights in the clan and is considered the lowest on the social ladder, even below captured orcs from other clans. Once an orc makes its first kill, it then is considered an equal of all the other members of the clan, save the head and will be watched out for by the clan. Orcs are shunned by most other sentient beings, and so tend to be forced into areas that are unwanted, primarily swamps.
Lifespan: Up to 40 years.
Costuming: Bone jewelry.
Advantages: Common, Orc