There are many varied races prevalent amongst the population. These include not only the different human races, but also the more esoteric ones such as elves, hobbits and dwarfs. Many races includes sub-species, but these often appear the same to humans or other races.
Most races gain additional points to spend on a limited selectioon of skills which reflect their upbringing. These points are allocated as if learning skills normally. Bonuses granted to races are due to their physical and emotional make up and are not counted towards any skill levels. A character with a bonus but no skill is still countedf as unskilled and therefore suffers the -5 skill attempts penalty.
The races are
The racial attribute modifiers applied whern creating the character are
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Barbarians are a hardy race of humans found up in the mountains. They have a hard life depending upon many skills for survival in a hostile environment. They are exceptionally hardy but slow witted. They detest magic and distrust all those who use it. Barbarians average 6'6"
Barbarians gain
+2 WP due to their stocky build
Permanent bonus +1 to three different weapons from a choice of :
Start with 4 skill points spread between (max of +2)
Dwarfs are short stocky people, about 4'6" tall yet weighing as much as 150lbs. They live in underground caverns or mines, preferring hilly or mountainous regions. They are loveless except for gold and gems, they are all bearded and use axes or hammers as preferred weapons. Dwarfs harbour an intense hatred of and are in continual warfare with goblins, orcs and giants.
It is inherent in their make up that dwarfs are tied to the prime material plane and are therfore extremely non magical as magic generally emanates from the alternate planes; hence they gain a +3 bonus on saves against wizard magic. This affects wizard magic only, not priestly.
And gain the following permanent bonuses / negatives
Their sworn enemies of, and gain +1 to hit and +1 to Parry against :
They gain +2 to their defence when attacked by
Dwarfs gain +1 WP due to their stocky build
Dwarfs start wih the following skills.
Elfs at first sight appear the closest to humans 6' tall but with a slighter build; however, they are in fact more different than most people imagine. Elfs have spirits but no soul; this makes them immortal (barring accident). They require no sleep; however; they recharge their bodies by entering a reverie which appears very similar. As they possess spirits they are reborn after death, in another body.
These differences give them little fear of death and almost total immunity to sleep magic. They are thus immune to the effects of attacks which rely on the fear of death, such as ghouls and ghasts, although such an attack will cause them to hesitate for a round during which they will take no action other than defend themselves. They gain a bonus against other fear attacks. Sleep magic won't send them to sleep; however, it will cause them to enter a reverie from they may be awakened as if they were asleep. .
Elfs are very self-willed, refusing to follow even their own leaders if the orders seem unreasonable. This gives them a +3 on saves against Mind Control magic (e.g. sleep). Their eyesight and hearing are far superior to normal, over long distances (50 yards).
Their long childhood enables them to learn several languages
Elfs gain the following permanent bonuses / negatives
The missile range bonus comes into play at the next missile range encountered, a target is not suddenly easier to hit at 51 yards compared to 49 yards. Thus a sling stone with short and medium ranges of 40 and 80 yards respectively only gets the +1 bonus once the shot is in Medium range at 80 yards.
Due to their long live Elfs live and learn more slowly than other races, They lose 10% of all HP gained (round loss normally)
These are the strongest and best fighters . These take the war to the Orcs leading the armies to victory. Elfen magical weapons and armour is made by the High elfs. From childhood they are taught the skills of war, specialising in the longsword and ambushes.
Start with 2 skill points spread between :
High Elfs gain a permanent bonus of
Grey elfs spend more time in deep contemplation of the mysteries. The most powerful magical items tend to be made by the grey elf mages.
They start with
and 1 point in three different specialisations chosen from :
These live deep in the woods achieving a oneness with the environment. They tend to be more insular than the others. They may allocate 4 skill points between the general skills (max +2)
Gnomes are smaller, humorous cousins of the dwarfs. They are about 3'6" tall, have white hair and large bulbous noses. Like dwarfs they love mines and enjoy gold and gems; however, they are often found living in rocky or wooded glens as well as the hills.
Like dwarfs they may consume phenomenal amounts of beverage without becoming intoxicated; instead, they become euphoric and start insulting anything larger than themselves (lets face it that's most things).
Gnomes gain the following permanent bonuses / negatives
All gnomes start with
Permanent bonus +1 to four different skills from a choice of :
They have 60' infravision
Their sworn enemies of, and gain +1 to hit and parry against:
They are generally less skilful miners than dwarfs; however they gain
Hobbits are like small and plump humans, standing a mere 3' tall and weighing only about 60lbs. They come in three families; Stout, Tallfellow and Hairfoot although all have the same ability modifiers. Despite their size they are extremely dextrous and can be annoying when using their favourite weapon, the sling.
As they are continually hiding from humans, hobbits have developed a very high ability to hide in scrub if stationary. Stationary and over 10' they are effectively invisible..
Hobbits gain the following permanent bonuses / negatives
Hobbits gain the following skills
These may appear, at first sight, to be the weakest of the races; their advantage is that they learn quicker and can turn their abilities to anything. This is worked by their gaining of 10% more hero points than other races from any adventure (round down but keep track of lost points).
As a jack of all trades they start with 12 skill points instead of 10.