Character Races

The only race found around the world are humans. Those round-eared, five-fingered, hairless, fur-less, single-classed, over-populating, level-unrestricted critters exist on all continents and on all five of the Known Worlds (and even alot more according to various plane hoppers!). For other races, choose your settings and see what you can find...

Common races are immediately recognized by the general populous and found in or around most communities. Races which are Uncommon are usually recognized and found in many, known locations. Rare races are generally recognized, although precise information is limited to heresy and speculation; the general populous knows very little about them. Very Rare races are basically unknown or so infrequently seen that they may be mistaken for other creatures; even adveturers know nothing about these beings. Races with a BLACK background are generally viewed as enemies of humanity and its allies. Members of these races are generally attacked or avoided when encountered.

Alternative Character Races

There are numerous other races which have been played as "regular" player characters. Some of these races probably should be mentioned in the above lists, however, I've reserved these lists only for species that are generally found in the indicated region. If you wish to play a race found in another region and/or setting, please contact me and we'll discuss it.

Examples of alternative PC races? Tasolai, Aarokrocra, Crystal Elf, Half-Imbrian, Gilvan, Half-Avoreen Elf, Sapphiran Naamar (Crat), Giant Eagle, Silicon-based Rock-Guy, Klingon, Wookie, Kender, Arachnae, Part-Devil (long before anyone ever called them Tieflings), Rogue-Modron, etc. In fact, many of the races, above, were originally considered "alternative" until some player championed them.

Monster Characters

In addition, for nearly twenty years, we've had monster characters. These are PCs who are of such non-standard races that the character really doesn't have a class, but rather is an immature example of a given race. The character begins play at an early age (how young depends upon the ultimate abilities of the race), gaining experience to reflect aging and developing native powers. The rules of thumb for such characters are:

• racial abilities will initially be watered-down and/or balanced with defects so as not to dominate game play
• races are restricted to natives to the Prime Material which are born and mature with time
• all characters must ultimately have some means of effectively interacting with other party members

Some examples of monster characters include: kenku (Fingle aka Saberelle II), ogre magi (Kiro aka Benji), doppleganger (Su), life essence (Alef Thau), beholder, lammasu (Taephyr), naga, blink dog (Chip), stone giant (Rickory Rockblood), storm giant (Donnel and Manneus), crystal dragon (Shaa, scourge of the Drow and Phasia), gold dragon (Gond aka Benjamin and Lucky), bronze dragon (Gallavor), emerald dragon (Ahzmodeä the All-Power-in-Training), sabrecat (Kaarlak), tiger (Ashtabular, Gilgamesh, and Bethsheba), jaguar (Nikaris), and grizzly bear (Ramu).

Three things about playing a monster:

1. play it cuz the creature is interesting, not cuz it's powerful. This should be an opportunity for some really cool role-play!
2. don't be surprised if life is much tougher than expected -- often monsters are hunted and have to adopt multiple identities.
3. talk with the DM in detail about your character long before springing it on an unsuspecting scenario.

Questions? Comments? Funny stories? Lemme know...

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