Race

Adventuring in the Forgotten Realm follows the rules of the 5e Player's Handbook. You create a Player Character with a race, a class and a backstory. This "PC" then meets the other player's characters at the start of your adventure, and you play from there.

Race

Traditionally, an adventurer is human or demihuman, a category sometimes referred to as humankin. Usually they are Human, Elf or Dwarf, with rarer cases of Halfling, Gnome and Dragonborn along with beings of mixed-human heritage, the Half-Elves, Half-Orcs and Tieflings (humankin with clear fiendish heritage). In recent times, other races have begun to adventure and mix with humankin.

Human

Called the 'younger race' by elves and dwarves, humans are a comparatively short-lived race that have spread over face of Faerun in recent millennia. The race is actually as old as any other, but for a long time known only as slaves to the primordial creator races, particularly the Sarrukh (precursors to lizard folk and Yuan-ti) and the Dragons. Since throwing off their chains, they have become know for adapting quickly to almost anything, and for pursuing their own, individual goals with such fervor as to occasionally shake the very foundations of the world. Immortal undead enslavers of worlds, ascendant gods, wizards who touch and unravel the very weave of magic. These are all legends rooted in the human pursuit of more.

Elf

The elves were originally a race of fey shapeshifters led by their progenitor and primary god, Corellon. In the establishing of his pantheon, the elf race settled on the lithe humanoid form with pointed ears that is their standard and ideal. As much magic as material, elves have a deep connection to the weave, the feywild and the natural world.
In years past, much of the elven race planned to leave the material plane, establishing a final home on a semi-heavenly island called Evermeet. However, plans change, and the migration has since reversed, with various elven nations growing in power in Faerun once again.

Dwarf

Dwarves have such a connection to the material world, the earth and the underground that many believe they were originally hewn from the rock of the world by their deity. None can say if this origin myth is anything more than myth, as the race has been around as long as any other.
Their race tends to be traditional and private, often appearing as inflexible and secretive to other cultures. This secrecy is made more pronounced by the dwarf being much more at home below the earth than above it. Many an abandoned dwarven citadel has been made unfindable by a simple rockslide blocking a few tunnels. For a long time, the race was afflicted by a low birthrate and slowly dwindling populations. After the mysterious events of the 'Year of Thunder', thought to have more than a little influence from adventurers, Moradin's blessing caused a resurgence in both the populations and the political influence of the dwarven kingdoms, particularly with other humankin.

Halfling

Halflings are small folk who find the joys in day-to-day life in a way that seems to outsiders as both frivolous and profound. Thought to be a distant cousin to dwarfkind, halflings keep no unifying traditions or racial history, and rarely write or record more than songs and entertaining poems. The small folk revere Yondalla, a nature goddess said to be their progenitor, who is also heavily identified as an aspect of Chauntea, the earth mother. They are happy-go-lucky, and famed for their luck, as well as being down to earth and capable of resisting the effects of negative emotion such as fear, anger and greed.

Gnome

Gnomes are a short, fey race with a dozen different supposed origin stories. Some claim they came from the feywild, like elves, while others that the race were a dwarf-like subrace of escaped slaves from the underdark. Other myths say that they were literally spiritual creatures from the elemental plane of earth, or that they sailed to faerun from other worlds on huge arcane airships. Whatever the actual truth or truths, gnomes are -on the whole- inquisitive, lively, and quick thinking people who see the value in secrets and plans.

Dragonborn

The majority of the Dragonborn race on Toril originated from it's twin world of Abeir. In that world, Dragons rule nations and are served by armies of Dragonborn warriors. In Abeir's ultimate separation from Toril, a large number of Dragonborn were stranded in the wrong world and have since started to live new lives here.
Two myths surround the origin of the dragonborn. One, that draconic bloodlines in humans were artificially activated, leading to steel claw

Half-Elf

Half-Orc

The Orcs were originally humanoid invaders from another world, an alternate material plane. Bred as a race of conquering footsoldiers, their original overlords were defeated, leaving them stranded in the realms in huge numbers. With no place to call their own, they built a culture of their own centred around their outcast status and their need to plunder what they didn't have from others.
In the ages since, Orcs and humans have fought, coexisted and even blended bloodlines, enough that the mixed heritage has become a recognised heritage of its own. Some half-orcs may be first generational offspring of the two different cultures, while others may have generations of mixed blood. They all share the flexibility and drive towards their chosen goals that marks the human heritage, while the intensity of emotions and direct thinking of the orcs expresses that more honestly, often with frenzied violence.

Tiefling

When a mortal bargain's it's firstborn to an infernal contract, the child is bonded with the blood of the demon or devil. On discovery of this bond, usually in early adulthood, the child's skin changes to show their infernal parentage and they grow horns, tails, sometimes wings to match. If the contract is not broken or ended, descendants of the original tiefling will be born showing these traits.
More rarely, the mating of a humankin and a fiend will produce a half-fiend 'cambion'. Cambions are generally as evil as the fiends that spawn them, but their mortal descendants will be born as tieflings.

New races

Aasimar - as with tieflings, mortals with celestial blood may be identified as Aasimar, often showing incredible beauty and radiant aura, with glowing eyes and a peaceful presence. Mostly they will be driven to do good, but an Aasimar corrupted to evil is a fearsome thing indeed. Genasi - Elemental spirits can sometimes take human form, and will rarely produce children with mortals. Those with elemental heritage show their ancestry in their personalities: fiery, placid, sturdy or flighty. Those who work at harnessing their innate energy can call that elemental energy in their magic or abilities. Sometimes entire cultures, like the Sea-Elf sub-race have long ago adapted to an element and location. Other humanoid races are native to other planes. The Triton come from the Plane of Water and have abilites in that medium. The fey exist in the feywild. Fairy, Satyr or Haregon individuals might journey to the Material plane for their own purposes and choose to adventure here. Eladrin are elves long native to the Feywild, and attuned to the seasons in that realm. Shadar-Kai corrupted by the Shadowfell. Other elves were milennia ago enslaved and modified by the horrific Ilithid, then rebelled and escaped to become natives of the Astral plane. These Githyanki and Githzerai have opposing philosophical viewpoints, but will band together against their shared enemy if needed.
Still others might have been considered monsters in years past. Humankin changed by the deep magic of the underdark: Duergar, Drow and Svirneblin (deep gnome). Goblinoids learning to work with civilization: Goblin, Bugbear, Hobgoblin and Orc. Or other monstrous and fey creatures: Centaur, Changeling, Kenku, Kobold, Minotaur, Tabaxi and Tortle, giant-kin Goliath and Firbolg, and descendants of the once powerful creator races Aarakocra, Lizardfolk, Yuan-ti, (but no Bullywug yet). Races connected to nature spirits and animal forms, might have shapechanging abilities, like the Shifter.