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In fantasy roleplaying games, race is fundamental. It both provides a starting point for character creation and sets the tone for a character as it progresses. Race mixes biology and culture, then translates those concepts into racial traits. Yet since both biology and culture are mutable—especially when one considers the powerful forces of magic—racial traits can be so diverse that two elves can be extremely different while still manifesting aspects of their shared heritage and culture. A race's traits, its history, its relations with other races, and the culture that all of these things imply—all of these frame your character. This is true whether you play to or against the stereotypes. A savage and bloodthirsty half-orc who lives only for battle is fun to play, but so is a stern and conflicted half-orc paladin constantly struggling to keep her bloodlust in check. Both fit comfortably within the theme of half-orc, but come off as very different characters around the game table. Race is an important part of what makes characters who they are, yet it's often all too easy to gloss over the details. After all, most people know the basics: dwarves are short, elves live a long time, and gnomes are dangerously curious. Half-orcs are ugly. Humans are—well, human. To some players, choosing a race is simply a matter of finding which racial modifiers best fit a character's class. Yet there's so much more to race than that. From their deep halls beneath craggy mountains, dwarves sing mournful ballads that teach children of the heroes of old, helping them dream of the day when they might give their own lives in the stronghold's defense. In the spires of their forest cities, elves find a kinship with nature, as the great trees are some of the few non-elven friends who won't grow old and wither before their eyes. By exploring the cultures and traditions of a character's race, we can better understand where she comes from and what makes her tick, thus immersing ourselves that much deeper in the campaign world.
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