Racial Overview & Bonuses
There are many different races and cultures living in the world of Realms of Adventure. Players can choose from one of the many different options presented in this section, or they may come up with their own concept in conjunction with the staff. Players must follow the rules presented in this section when creating their character, but do have freedom to develop their character in unique ways that perhaps the game writers had not envisioned. That being said, there is no rule saying you could not be from a culture not listed here. Perhaps you are from a small clan of elves that lived until most recently in total seclusion and practiced a society similar to that of feudal Japan. Maybe you are a Pixie that was raised by Guari elves, causing you to be confused about your own identity and place in the world. The possibilities are endless.
Additionally since this is a fantasy game, we understand that players want to develop their characters to be different than they are in real life. In real life one has no real control over certain physical attributes such as height, build etc. For this reason there are no real world restrictions on what race or culture you can pick. You can be a 6 foot tall Dwarf or Halfling, or be a heavyset Elf. Does this affect roleplaying? Not really. We have tried this both ways, and if players adhere to the costuming requirements of their particular race/culture it is easy to recognize what race/culture they are playing. Dwarves have big woolly beards (in the case of a tall person wanting to play a Dwarf real facial hair usually won’t cut it, the prop beard is what will help others to identify you), Hobbits have furry hands and feet etc. When real life physical attributes determine the race one can play it often eliminates a possibility which someone really wants to play and that is not something we wish to do.
The real challenge in choosing what race to play is choosing one which you think will be enjoyable to role-play and hopefully be enjoyable for others to interact with. Do not select a race solely based on the advantages it bestows. In the long term you will not be happy, the role-playing will not be as much fun and it will become obvious to others why you selected that race in the first place. Pick something you think will make a great character that will bring many events worth of fun. Read through the description of the race/races you are interested in playing. Do you think you can make a believable character you will enjoy role-playing all weekend long? Pay special attention to the disadvantages. Are you willing to wear a Dwarf beard all weekend? Would applying and wearing makeup become a chore? Lastly think about the basic outline we have provided (full racial write ups are available once a race has been finally chosen, this includes hidden information and tips on playing that race) and see if you like their personality traits and mannerisms. These will help to define the character.
Racial Description
This gives a BASIC idea of how a particular race behaves, how they get along with others, and where they come from. There are also sometimes small bits of their history in the description. Every race will have a full detailed write-up that will be made available when the game begins. This should be considered information that your character has learned about his race over the years. Some of the information will be knowledge to help you roleplay with others and you can tell about the achievements and history of your race. Other items are secrets that only members of your race would have access to. Do not be careless about dispensing this information.
Advantages
For example dwarves get “Health +4, Free purchase of Burst of Strength, 1 Free Slay against a full-blooded goblinoid target.” This means that while the average starting character gets 1 point of health, a starting Dwarf character will begin with 5 points of health in addition to the other two Racial Bonuses. Sometimes, such as in the case of Guari elf, a Bonus is listed as “Health +2 OR Casting Resource +2.” This means the player may choose which Racial Bonus they would like to apply to their character.
Disadvantages
These are negative attributes pertaining to a given race. If you choose to play a given race these apply to you. Most often you will see a costuming requirement listed. This is NOT optional. If you want to play a specific race you must comply with the costuming so that others in-game will know what race you are portraying. Also it would not be fair for you to get free advantages without meeting the requirements. If requirements are not followed, you will be penalized or your right to play that race will be taken away.
Classes Available
At the bottom of the description of each race we have listed the classes available to members of that race. Not all races have all choices available, and some are more limited than others. Typically if the class is not listed here, you cannot play that class if you choose to be a member of a certain race.
Real World Languages Versus In-game Languages
Real world languages should in no cases be used to represent a foreign in-game language. (The general situations that have seen this occur before have been Spanish for Andalusian, Japanese for Ipponese, Irish for Highlander, and Latin for Solinaria.) This is mainly because not all players or cast members might know a second real world language out of game, even though their characters might know these languages in-game.
For example, if two people happened to be conversing in Japanese to represent Ipponese, and a bounty hunter secretly from Ippon happened to be listening in to their conversation, the bounty hunter should really be aware of exactly what it is that is being said, especially if they’re talking about sensitive information. That same Ipponese bounty hunter might even be talking to their target, who suspects the bounty hunter, and when the target’s Ipponese friend walks up, they say in Japanese “Help me,” with the assumption that the bounty hunter can’t understand what they’re saying. Meanwhile, if he was from Ippon, he WOULD be able to understand it. If the bounty hunter did not know Japanese out-of-game, this puts them at an unfair disadvantage.
Accents remain completely acceptable. It is understood that accents are usually the result of learning another language first, but in our game world setting, accents tend to be the results of a region rather than a previous language.
The New Racial and Societal Bonuses at character creation are as follows:
You may choose 1 Racial bonus and 1 Societal Bonus at character creation. Any increased health gained from these bonuses applies BEFORE purchasing any additional health.
Realms of Adventure: Racial Bonuses
Any increased health gained from these bonuses applies
BEFORE purchasing any additional health.
| Race | Benefits | |
|---|---|---|
| Agorian | • Health +3 • When first Diseased, become immune to Disease for 10 minutes 1x/period • Mend Limb 1x/period |
|
| Brownie | • Resist 1st Charm per period • 5 Free purchases of Craft: Merchant |
|
| Dream Elf | • Health +2 • Sleep 1x/period • Resist first Sleep effect per period • 1 free purchase of Courage • May choose to gain the benefits of any Society Bonus at character creation |
|
| Dwarf | • Health +4 • Free purchase of Burst of Strength • 1 Free Slay against a full-blooded goblinoid target |
|
| Gnome | • 4 free purchases of any Craft skill available to their class • Can reduce the time to create an item of Tier 3 or lower in half 1x/period |
|
| Grey Elf | • Casting Resource +4 OR 3 Purchases of Alchemy OR 3 Ranks of Craft: Merchant • Resist first Sleep effect per period |
|
| Guari Elf | • Health +2 OR Casting Resource +2 • Resist first Charm effect per period |
|
| Half-Elf | • As dominant parent | |
| Half-Goblin | • Charm as per spell 1x/period • 2 Free purchases of a Craft skill available to their class • 1 Free Poison Tolerance |
|
| Half-Orc | • Health +5 • 1 Free Weapon Skill • 1 Free Break Limb |
|
| Halfling | • Free Thrown Weapon Skill • 2 Free Purchases of Craft: Chef OR Craft: Brewer |
|
| Hiveborn | • Health +2 • 1 free Poison Tolerance • +4 Carapace Armor per period • Can buy one additional purchase of Sixth Sense |
|
| Human | • Health +2 OR Casting Resource +2 | |
| Kelonian | • Health +3 • Claws x2 • Resist first two Sweeps/Knockdowns per period • Dodge Thrown x1/period |
|
| Nikklari | • Health +1 • Featherfall 2x/period • Dodge Thrown 2x/period • Resist first Root per period |
|
| Pixie | • Resist 1st Charm effect/period • Resist 1st Sleep effect/period • Dodge: Thrown 1x/period OR Casting Resource +4 |
|
| Satyr | • Health +3 • Resist first Charm effect/period • 1 Free Purchase of any Gathering skill available to them |
|
| Sea Elf | • Health +3 • Endure Elements: Water 1x/period • Healing 1x/period (Restores 5 Health) |
|
| Wood Elf | • Resist first Root spell per period • Health +2 • First Purchase of Poison Tolerance is half price |
Realms of Adventure: Societal Bonuses
Any increased health gained from these bonuses applies
BEFORE purchasing any additional health.
| Society | Benefits | Available to |
|---|---|---|
| Agoria | • Free Purchase of Literacy • 1H Blunt Skill | Agorians |
| Al'Hazirian | • 2 free purchases of Craft: Merchant OR Free 1H Edged Skill | Any |
| Aldorin Empire | • 1 Free Weapon Skill (Available to class) | Human, Elf, Dwarf |
| Amazon | • Free Spear/Polearm skill OR Bow Skill OR Casting Resource +2 | Human (Amazon) |
| Andalusia | • Free 1H Edged Skill | Human, Elf, Dwarf |
| Barbarian | • 1 Free Hard to Kill 1x/period • 1 Free use of Armor Field Repair 1x/period | Human or Half-Orc |
| Calderan Free Isles | • One Free Small Weapon • 1 Free use of Backstab (Damage 4) 1x/period | Human, Elf, Dwarf, Kelonian, Half-Goblin, Nikklari |
| Caragmar | • 1 Free Weapon Skill (available to class) | Human, Elf, Dwarf, Kelonian, Nikklari |
| Collective of Krev | • Free 1H Edged OR Free purchase of a crafting skill OR free purchase of a gathering skill. | Any New World Race |
| Dwarven Society | • Free 1H edged OR Blunt Skill • 2 Purchases of any craft skill available to them. | Dwarf, Gnome |
| Fae Society | • One free use of Imbue Weapon 1x/period "I imbue this weapon with magic, one minute." | Any Fae Race |
| Grey Elven Society | • Literacy | Grey Elves |
| Half-Goblin Society | • Literacy • 1 Free use of Evade Trap 1x/period | Half-Goblin |
| Halfling | • Health +1 | Halfling, Gnome, Human |
| Highlander | • 2 Free Purchases of Brawling | Any |
| Hiveborn Society | • Casting Resources +2 OR Health +2 | Hiveborn |
| Ipponese | • Free 1H Edged Skill | Any |
| Kotal Forest | • Free purchase of Bow Skill OR 1H Blunt | Wood Elf Only |
| Manasarwati | • 2 Free purchases of Craft: Merchant | Any New World Race |
| Nikklari Empire | • Free purchase of Bow Skill • Free purchase of 1 Weapon Skill available to class | Nikklari And Human (Krevchee) |
| Orc Society | • 1 Free use of Burst of Strength 1x/period • 1 Free Hard to Kill | Half-Orc Only |
| Shavali Society | • 1 Elemental Ward 1x/period (Resist a single Fire OR Earth OR Water OR Air) | Human (Shavali) |
| Sea Elf Society | • 1 Free Melee Weapon Skill • 1 Free purchase of Burst of Strength | Sea Elf |
| Sekhemite | • 1 Free Weapon Skill available to class OR Casting Resources +2 | Human, Elf |
| Solinarian Society | • 1 Free Weapon Skill available to class OR Casting Resources +2 | Human, Guari Elf |
| Twin Kingdoms | • Free purchase of 1H Edged | Any |
| Volkmar | • Free purchase of 1H Edged | Human, Nikklari |
| Whispering Woods | • Free Purchase of Bow Skill OR 1H Blunt | Wood Elf or Human |