The Eight Races
While there are an incredible number of species and monsters of sentience within the world of Erelest, including but not limited to, orcs, goblins, centaurs, giants, fae, trolls, mermen, sahuagin, kender, and more, there are only truly eight races that are considered to be true humanoids (or elvoid, dwarvoid, gnomoid, etc. depending on your culture and language). These eight races of Erelest are the Dracon, Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Halflings, Half-Orcs, Humans and Nephilim. It isn't possible to play as any race besides the eight playable races for a variety of reasons, but the main ones are the fact that non-humanoid characters are severely limited in their ability. They cannot grow stronger, they cannot learn new skills, they cannot change alignment or nature, and so forth. As such demi-human races are extremely limited and restricted while humanoid races have far greater potential for growth.
While there is a variety of Half-Races in the world, i.e. Half-Elves, Half-Dwarves, Gnolins, Elvlings, Gnarfs, and so forth, these are never considered a pure humanoid race by any of the races. They are no longer persecuted or discriminated, however with them being mixed bloods of various races it's agreed that they are merely the in-between of two races, but not a completely unique race in it of themselves. This plus the fact that if they were considered true races, there would be not eight races, but sixteen as there are eight potential combinations for the half-races. The only reason Half-Orcs were considered to be their own race, is that they share no blood from the other eight races other than humans, and even then that blood is heavily overshadowed by the potent blood of the orc. So strong an effect it has that only vague impressions of them being human exist, the most prominent of them being that they are taller than orcs.
Most of the eight races tend to follow certain stereotypes. This is due to three primary lore reasons, and one meta reason. The first lore reason is that most of the non-human races, especially the long-lived ones, are usually very stubborn and set in their ways. "If it works, don't fix it" sort of thing, and they will rarely see the other's opinion if it goes against their own in some way. The second lore reason is that most of the various races are extremely traditional, holding fast to their history, roots, culture and the like. This is either due to their dedication to said culture, wounds of the past, or in some cases a vow they made as a race that each of them carries on their shoulders. The third lore reason comes mostly from their pantheons, as aside from humans, their pantheons are always the same and lead them down the same path. The meta reason is that it makes worldbuilding easier when there is only one base-line to work with instead of many. Inventing human cultures for each kingdom and country is difficult enough, let alone eight races having different cultures each country.
There are two sub-races of the Dracon. The first is the Light Dracon, whose scales are bright and pretty colors of blues, reds, yellows, oranges, greens, whites and the like. Their ears appear as webbed fins and they do not have horns on their heads. The second is the Dark Dracon, whose scales are darker shades of blues, reds, yellows, oranges, greens, blacks and grays, etc. They do not have the finned ears of the light dracon, and all have horns upon their heads. Part of what confused the humanoid races on whether the dracon were demi-humans or humanoids was the fact that the light dracon are strongly tied to good alignments, while the dark dracon were strongly tied to evil alignments. However it later became clear that this is due to their Gods instilling loyalty.
The Dracon are by far the most religious race of all the eight races, and are fiercely loyal to their Gods and Clans. They each possess a breath weapon which grows in size and strength as they age in their lives (not through levels gained). They possess infravision as well, and in regards to attribute modifiers they gain a bonus for strength and wisdom, while receiving a penalty to dexterity and charisma. As a result, they are perfectly built for clerics and paladins, with fighters and knights being a close second.
Click here for more information on the Dracon Race.
While there is a variety of Half-Races in the world, i.e. Half-Elves, Half-Dwarves, Gnolins, Elvlings, Gnarfs, and so forth, these are never considered a pure humanoid race by any of the races. They are no longer persecuted or discriminated, however with them being mixed bloods of various races it's agreed that they are merely the in-between of two races, but not a completely unique race in it of themselves. This plus the fact that if they were considered true races, there would be not eight races, but sixteen as there are eight potential combinations for the half-races. The only reason Half-Orcs were considered to be their own race, is that they share no blood from the other eight races other than humans, and even then that blood is heavily overshadowed by the potent blood of the orc. So strong an effect it has that only vague impressions of them being human exist, the most prominent of them being that they are taller than orcs.
Most of the eight races tend to follow certain stereotypes. This is due to three primary lore reasons, and one meta reason. The first lore reason is that most of the non-human races, especially the long-lived ones, are usually very stubborn and set in their ways. "If it works, don't fix it" sort of thing, and they will rarely see the other's opinion if it goes against their own in some way. The second lore reason is that most of the various races are extremely traditional, holding fast to their history, roots, culture and the like. This is either due to their dedication to said culture, wounds of the past, or in some cases a vow they made as a race that each of them carries on their shoulders. The third lore reason comes mostly from their pantheons, as aside from humans, their pantheons are always the same and lead them down the same path. The meta reason is that it makes worldbuilding easier when there is only one base-line to work with instead of many. Inventing human cultures for each kingdom and country is difficult enough, let alone eight races having different cultures each country.
Dracon
Many in Erelest debated for a while whether the Dracon even were humanoids, as they are the closest to looking like a demi-human of all the eight races. They are after all lizard folk with tails, talons, fangs, and the dragon-like ability to breath various breath attacks. Hand-crafted by Bahamut and Tiamat, the Dracon are reptillian in nature and share certain characteristics with the dragons of Erelest. Many wonder why Dracon are the only humanoids that are reptilian, and while it's always a topic of debate, a fun/popular concept is that Bahamut and Tiamat, being the proud beings that they are, insisted they had a humanoid race of their own in addition to their dragon children.There are two sub-races of the Dracon. The first is the Light Dracon, whose scales are bright and pretty colors of blues, reds, yellows, oranges, greens, whites and the like. Their ears appear as webbed fins and they do not have horns on their heads. The second is the Dark Dracon, whose scales are darker shades of blues, reds, yellows, oranges, greens, blacks and grays, etc. They do not have the finned ears of the light dracon, and all have horns upon their heads. Part of what confused the humanoid races on whether the dracon were demi-humans or humanoids was the fact that the light dracon are strongly tied to good alignments, while the dark dracon were strongly tied to evil alignments. However it later became clear that this is due to their Gods instilling loyalty.
The Dracon are by far the most religious race of all the eight races, and are fiercely loyal to their Gods and Clans. They each possess a breath weapon which grows in size and strength as they age in their lives (not through levels gained). They possess infravision as well, and in regards to attribute modifiers they gain a bonus for strength and wisdom, while receiving a penalty to dexterity and charisma. As a result, they are perfectly built for clerics and paladins, with fighters and knights being a close second.
Click here for more information on the Dracon Race.
