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| There is no such thing as a great race. Certain races dominate certain areas, but any race has the potential to do very well in the hands of the right player. For any race, you will have the best results by playing their strengths. Choosing a race based on their advantages is fine, but I recommend picking race based on your personality, or the personality you would like to develop in a char.
[ Evolved Races ]
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 Dark Elves, or "Drow", are ebon-skinned relatives of the High Elves, a relationships both parties would like to forget. "Dark" describes them well, considering their evil disposition, obsidian-tone flesh, and their deep subterranean homes, untouched by the light of day. Despite their chaotic natures, Dark Elven society is rigidly structured, though leadership can change frequently as rival noble houses scheme and backstab in bids for power. Allies would be advised to be wary: though they may be satisfied simply being a member of a powerful clan, they will not hesitate to wrest power for themselves, given an opportunity.
The Dark Elves' greatest strength lies in their thieves and assassins, though their superiority in those professions as been eclipsed with the appearance of the Quicklings in the Forgotten World. Instead of being embittered, Dark Elves are more than content to take advantage of the Quicklings' skills and use them as pawns. Their own thieves are still to be feared, however, as their Dark Elven ambition and impatience (perhaps owing to their shorter lifespan with respect to their High Elven cousins), and their below average scholars, drives them to seek a faster path to knowledge than the arduous road of diligent research.
While not a warrior race, Drow fighters are bold in their arrogance, and cunning as well, giving them an edge over the average fighter, and certainly superior to those of the surface elves.
Although they live in the caverns of the Underdark, the Dark Elven love of beauty and craftsmanship, and an arrogance that will not allow them to live within the earth as rodents in a burrow, compels them to construct elaborate structures within the underworld that is their home. The difficulty of building in this environment, combined with their attention to detail, gives the Dark Elves a disadvantage in the area of construction.
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 Of all the new races in our world, the origin of the Dire Wolves is perhaps the most mysterious. They strongly resemble the huge, fearless beasts, also known as dire wolves, which have long terrorized and decimated livestock in any area that a pack has marked as their territory.
Sages are much divided on this issue. Many can't help but theorize that some powerful force caused the accelerated evolution of these creatures. The more accusatory supporters of this theory lays the blame on the hands of mages and the recently discovered evolutionary magic; that magical fields generated by these powerful spells are the direct cause of the Dire Wolves' existence. They warn that other and potentially even more dangerous races will appear if the use of these spells continues. Other schools surmise that a natural and particularly tenacious mutation in members of one pack is responsible, spreading rapidly through dire wolf populations as they reproduce. A third group insists that the unprecedented appearance of four hitherto unknown sapient species cannot possibly be a coincidence and that a singular phenomenon is responsible for all four races. These scholars hold that the newcomers are extraworldly in origin.
Dire Wolves are nothing less than pure killing machines, usurping the Dwarven claim to military dominance. Their appearance has angered the Ogres, displeased in the knowledge that another race is stronger than they.
Though Dires are weak researchers, engineers, and spellcasters, and less than proficient at covert ops, their fighting abilities are more than adequate compensation. |
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Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu! ("Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!")
The Dwarves are an honorable people, fiercely loyal to their individual clans and to their race as a whole. Though they tend to be on the stoic side, Dwarves are inordinately fond of ale and spirits, and have a tolerance for alcohol that far outweighs their diminutive stature. Their love of precious metals and gems is legendary, and largely misinterpreted for avarice. They revere the earth and all of the beautiful minerals that grow within, an attitude akin to the Wood Elves love of the forests. Dwarven jewelers are renowned for their ability to turn these raw materials into unparalleled works of art.
Dwarven engineers are unsurpassed in skill, capable of feats of construction unrivaled in speed or quality and producing warmachines of great power. No enemy could withstand the Dwarven onslaught before the arrival of the Dire Wolves. The Dwarves are watching this unprecedented new threat uneasily.
Though Dwarves greatly enjoy combat, they tend to be peaceful unless attacked or threatened, in which case their powerful warmachines and mighty axemen will rise to boldly face their aggressors.
Dwarven priests are unequaled in their piety, and Dwarven magic is primarily clerical in nature, as their mages are perhaps their greatest weakness, and they tend to regard magic as being beneath them. In addition, thought covert acts are contrary to their nature, Dwarves are above average thieves and assassins, due to their small size.
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| Gurth gothrim Tel'Quessir! ("Death to the foes of the Elves!")
Ancient and long-lived, High Elves predate all other races in the Forgotten World—a fact which is accepted by all but the most racially chauvinistic of sages—and are the parent stock of the other Elven peoples. High Elves, or Tel'Quessir ("The People"), as they are called in their own tongue, are a proud race with strong feelings of superiority over the younger races, which they view as upstarts. The more brutal races are particularly despised, especially their ancient enemy, the orcs.
Respect for members of other races is generally reserved for individuals, though certain human kingdoms are appreciated for their long association with the High Elves. Dwarves are also afforded a degree of respect as the eldest of the junior races, though they are not without misgivings due to ancient conflicts with the Longbeards still fresh in their long racial memory.
Attitudes towards their Elven cousins vary in the extreme. Wood Elves, or Taur'Quessir in the language of the High Elves, are admired for their harmony with natural, but are viewed as being somewhat unsophisticated. Wood Elven wisdom counters that High Elven sophistication prevents them from truly being at peace with the environment. Dark Elves are viewed almost without exception with nothing but disdain. They commonly referred to as simply Tel'Gothrim, "the Enemy", though the somewhat more respectful Mori'Quessir, "Dark Elf", is used on occasion.
The High Elves' strength lies primarily in their proficiency with magic and their intelligence, which makes them able researchers and excellent mages, powerful in their spellcasting abilities.
Militarily, High Elves are below average at best, though their efficient researchers may give their fighters and/or rangers a momentary advantage over the other races through timely development of military tactics. Despite their weak fighters, caution is advised to anyone considering attacking a High Elves, as their magical abilities allow for potentially devastating retaliations.
Due to the vast Elven resources available on the web, thanks largely to J.R.R. Tolkien’s rich development of the race in his works, High Elves have tremendous roleplaying potential. |
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| Humans are perhaps the most difficult race to deal with, as their attitudes vary widely from individual to individual. Their relationships with other races are equally varied. A majority of humans favor Dwarves and Elves, but all races have their admirers among the Humans.
Humans are among the more versatile races and they are capable of flourishing in any environment. Many consider their lack of any particular strength a weakness by many, but "average" actually ranks fairly high in most areas. A Human's strong points depend on the specific skills on which the kingdom in question as devoted its energies. An attacker must consider the possibility that a Human target as put all of his efforts into the development of warmachines; in the case of a thief, rangers; either must be wary of a kingdom that has aggressively pursued the magical arts. |
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| Ogres are almost universally considered to be a stupid and brutal race utterly devoid of culture, and indeed they are. Strength and military prowess are the only qualities respected in a leader. Their hatred for the smaller, more beautiful races is absolute and may only be alleviated through the constant shedding of blood. Their greatest enemies are the Dwarves, hated and feared for their powerful warmachines, and elves, despised for their great beauty. The appearance of Dire Wolves, Demons, and Dragons, and their superior armies, has been a tremendous blow to their fragile egos and the Ogres are enraged by their very existence. The only race with which an Ogre will generally associate is the Orcs. Strong and equally brutal, but weaker than they and, thus, no threat to their egos. The Orcs in turn greatly admire and respect the Ogres for their size and strength.
Ogres are of course a primarily militaristic race, but their rangers are second only to those of the Wood Elves, though their philosophies differ greatly. Whereas Wood Elven rangers view themselves as stewards of the environment, those of Ogres are rapacious hunters, likely as not to completely wipe out all game in an area before moving on to new hunting grounds. A rare band of Ogres will rely mainly on their rangers for acquiring territory, but these generally dwell in sparsely populated areas and will revert to their more aggressive ways when the opportunity arises.
Their size and strength that makes Ogres able warriors also gives them excellent construction speed, though their structures tend to be crude and their semi-nomadic existence often results in large tracts of barren land.
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| Orcs are very similar to Ogres in their fierce disposition, violent tendencies, and fierce warrior ways. Where Ogres their tremendous strength to their advantage on the battlefield, Orcs, with their weaker fighters with respect to the Ogres, though still much better than average, rely on sheer numbers to overwhelm their opposition. Orcs worship both Ogres and Dire Wolves for their incredible strength and happily serve either race when given an opportunity. Large bands of Orcish mercenaries in the employ of evil humans are not uncommon. Though mutual antipathy exists between Orcs and the majority of other races, nothing rivals the ill will between the Orcs and High Elves, which has spanned millennia. The normally restrained High Elves have been known to fly into a blind rage at the very sight of an Orc.
While the Orcs' mental abilities surpass those of the larger Ogres, and they are capable of research, intelligence is not respected among Orcs, unless it manifests itself in the form of military tactics. Magic is generally held in contempt, save for the meager abilities of their shamans.
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 The origin of Quicklings is shrouded in mystery. They are similar in appearance to brownies, a race of faerie folk who inhabit the distant forests of the Forgotten World far removed from the lands of man and elf. Many sages speculate that Quicklings were originally a degenerate population of brownies who played with dark and powerful magic not to be trifled with. Others insist that their origins are extraworldly. The incredible quickness from which the Quicklings name derives is matched only by their equally mercurial temperament.
The Quicklings' natural swiftness and small stature has made them masters of stealth, and the skills of their thieves and ninjas are unparalleled.
Despite their great speed, the Quicklings small size and poor concentration skills greatly limit their construction abilities.
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 Vampires have long existed in the folklore of peasants, but there was never any real evidence for their existence. This fact changed almost overnight as Vampires came out of the woodwork, establishing kingdoms throughout the Forgotten World. Many Vampires were well known members of other races, walking boldly in the open while the sun reigned in the sky with no ill effects. These examples were afflicted with the condition very recently. The real mystery involves the other, older Vampires previously unknown in our world. Many of these arrogant creatures freely discuss their origins, but their stories vary greatly, ranging from alternate planes of existence, where Vampires and other supernatural creatures reign, to alternate worlds much like our own. What force could possibly draw so many of these powerful, mysterious beings from such a variety of worlds and deposit them in our own?
Vampires are superior to humans in virtually every way. No other race combines such a variety of advantages, including superhuman strength and intelligence, above average stealth, skilled researchers, and potent magical abilities. Their only real disadvantages are greatly reduced construction speed and, of course, their greatest weakness, their susceptibility to sunlight.
[Note: night and day refers to server time - CST/GMT-6]
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 Werewolves are another new arrival in the Forgotten World in this time of flux. The appearance of lycanthropy coincided with that of barbarians fleeing rampaging bulettes in the Ungoverned Lands to the west of the mountains of Moria, leading most sages to agree that these barbarians carried the affliction with them in their movements. There is still much debate over whether the disease is a natural mutation, as the development of intelligence among the Dire Wolves as believed by some, or if it originated outside our world as many sages theorize that Vampires and Quicklings did. Regardless of its origin, one thing is certain: the disease is spreading.
Werewolves' primary characteristic is their great strength, far superior to that of ordinary humans, giving them correspondingly more powerful fighters. The moon is the stimulus that triggers their transformation of these creatures from man to beast, an obvious result being that they are stronger at night. In addition, the Werewolf's power waxes and wanes during the lunar cycle, peaking on the night of the full moon and dwindling during the new moon.
Owing to their magical nature, Werewolves are also somewhat better spellcasters than humans, and better researchers and engineers as well.
[Note: night and day refers to server time - CST/GMT-6]
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| Wood Elves are a wild, but pacifistic offshoot of the High Elves. As their name implies, they make their home in forests. Wood Elves tend towards isolationism with respect to the other races, shunning contact with the peoples of the plains and hills. While highly protective of their sylvan lands, their weak fighters are no match for the more militant races.
Wood Elves, or "Woodies" as they are known in the human vernacular, or the pejorative "Food Elves" as they have been disparagingly dubbed in some circles, are virtually synonymous with rangers, in which profession they are without peer. All but the best Quickling, Demon, and Dark Elf thieves and assassins would be hard pressed to compete with Wood Elf Rangers in their natural environment.
Sylvan Elves are also skilled woodsmen and carpenters, professions seemingly at odds with their love of the forest. In fact, their selective felling of trees in moderation clears the way for new seedlings to take root, allowing a woodland tended by Wood Elves to flourish like no other. These skills give them a slight edge in construction over most other races.
As their close cousins, Wood Elves share some of the High Elves' talents for magic and research, but due to adaptation to their forest environment and preference for the great outdoors, their abilities pale compared to those of the High Elves.
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