The races in a role-playing game are easy to adjust for your game system. I am planning to use The Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Player's Handbook and Monster Manual as my chief sources for the game I am planning to run, because that is the system I am using. These ideas can be adapted and altered as you see fit, though. Add Goliaths. Combine the goblins with the kobolds. Decide gnomes and dragonborn don't exist. Add catfolk. Whatever suits your game matters.

My alignment notes use the Dungeons & Dragons alignment chart, but can likewise be omitted or altered. I intend to treat any racial alignments as more of a probability than a guarantee. Sure, most elves may be neutral, but Lawful Good and Chaotic Evil are not out of the question. Lawful Good goblins even exist. In my game, don't make assumptions based on stereotypes or even past in-game encounters!

Previous posts: Mage War History and The Present Day

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The Races of the Fractured Realms

Humans are by far the most common civilized race, and their farmlands and villages have been the fastest to grow in the aftermath of the Mage War. Most commoners in the Points of Light are humans, and human merchants are most likely to venture forth on dangerous trading expeditions. Human farmers are most common in agricultural areas as they are reclaimed from the wilderness. In general, humans are highly ambitious, and their alignment can be anything from pious clerics to barbaric raiders. Human goods tend to be relatively plain and functional, although some craftsmen strive for embellishments and decoration with patterns of triangles, spirals, knots, and other ancient traditional patterns. Ornate swords, goblets, and other status symbols are often encrusted with gemstones and inlayed with silver patterns.

Elves are fairly uncommon, as they suffered greatly in the Mage War and reproduce much more slowly than humans. They are longer lived though, reaching many hundreds of years in age unless war or accident cuts their life short. They tend to remain in the forests and hills, making cities that blend with the environment. Many are druids still trying to repair the wounds from the Mage War. Others are scholars seeking to rediscover lost archives and restore lost knowledge. Those who dwell with humans are often tutors to the wealthy or merchants trading in rare or costly items. Others work as scouts and rangers to keep monsters at bay. Elves trend toward neutral alignments. When elves work in manufacturing, their products are elegant and ornate, but surprisingly strong. Their work often incorporates organic forms, and leaf-shaped ornamentation is common.

Dwarves prefer to live in the hills and mountains. Some old Dwarf cities held strong against invasions from both above and below during the Mage War, but most were lost, so many dwarves seek out these fallen mountain holdfasts to reconquer them and drive out the interlopers. They tend to be lawful due to their stubborn adherence to tradition and clan hierarchy. Dwarves worship Moradin almost exclusively, and see him as their race’s patron. In their mountain strongholds, they mine minerals, quarry stone, forge metal, and manufacture inventive machines. They farm fungus fields in their deep caverns, and some hunt wildlife on the surface, but other foodstuffs are acquired by trade with others. Dwarves who dwell among humans are often smiths and artisans. Their work tends to be slow, but very methodical and precise. Patient customers are rewarded with durable, high-quality goods that last well with minimal maintenance. Dwarf ornamentation is precisely geometric, and often includes runic inscriptions in Dwarvish. While male dwarves to not always wear massive beards, they usually exhibit some form of facial hair in which they take great pride. Massive sideburns, moustaches, and other styles are also common. For the beardless female dwarf, ornate braid patterns are the norm.

Half-Elves and Half-Orcs can both be found from time to time, although they are uncommon and usually outcasts or otherwise marginalized. Even if their parentage was not the result of a criminal act, they still cannot fit well into either of the societies from which they descend. Half-Elves often seek religious orders or scholarly lives where their traits are more of an advantage, and many become respected bards or merchants since their lack of roots suits them to these professions. Half-orcs often find a place in martial pursuits, whether as soldiers, mercenaries, or bandits. Half-orc strength inclines them toward work of a physical nature such as smithing, mining, and timber cutting. Many simply earn enough to outfit themselves for exploring the wilderness and leave civilization behind.

Halflings, like humans, tend to be found in agricultural districts, but Halfling communities tend to be rare and somewhat insular. Halflings like visitors, but don’t usually like to live among “big people” due to their clumsiness and noise. Halflings prefer to mind their own business, and tend to be good folk who like a party or a chance to trade gossip. Those who do live among humans tend to be tavern keepers, grocers, or other merchants. Their craftsmanship tends to resemble human work scaled down to their physique, but rather than building homes above-ground, they tend to tunnel into hillsides so the only evidence of their dwelling is a row of gabled windows and a round doorway protruding toward the roads that run through their villages. Their craftsmanship tends to be simple and utilitarian, with only sparing ornamentation.

Gnome communities grow alongside those of humans, dwarves, and elves. Gnomes enjoy the hustle and bustle of urban life, and their innate skill in intricate work and gregarious nature means they are equally at home with Dwarf engineers, Elf scribes, or Human traders. Their inventions and creations tend to be intricate and precise, but much more whimsical in execution that those of the dwarves. They also like to manufacture mechanical toys and automata for sheer entertainment. While this is often perceived as a frivolous waste of time and resources, no one denies that their cleverness results in many unexpectedly useful innovations, too. Their outlook on life tends to be somewhat independent, and they are predominantly chaotic good or chaotic neutral.

Dragonborn are rare. Never a populous group in the first place, they were often on the front lines of the Mage War, and suffered severe casualties. The destruction of their clans and scattering of their people has been a devastating loss. Those that remain tend to be lawful, and often associate themselves with temples as clerics to Bahamut, or serve as arbitrators and judges in courts. Descended from dragons, they tend to be a proud race who strive to exhibit the nobility of their ancestry. This can lead to conflict with kobolds, although some of their tribes view the Dragonborn with a sort of kindred respect instead. Dragonborn scales can exhibit any metallic or chromatic hue.

Tieflings were little more than legends before the Mage War, but that changed when numerous devotees of Asmodeus made dark pacts during the conflict to gain more power, and this permanently altered their appearance and that of their descendants with the marks of their pact. This includes horns of various shapes, tails, sharp teeth, strange eyes, and skin that ranges from orange through red and into purple. This mark of shame leads to much prejudice, and the few who strive for good retools are simple and unadornemain outcasts marked by suspicion. Most live as solitary hermits, or join new cults to Asmodeus and other evil gods. They commonly swear pacts to otherworldly beings to become warlocks, since they see themselves as already marked by evil and thus find comparatively little risk in such bargains compared to members of other races.

Non-Playable Races

Orcs are not usually friendly to outsiders, but not necessarily openly hostile either. One unexpected side effect of the Mage War was the virtual elimination of the settlements that once served as prey for warlike Orcs, and the more aggressive tribes then nearly wiped one another out as they fell to squabbling among themselves in the aftermath. Old memories mean Orcs are still usually viewed with deep suspicion as just green monsters, but the Orcs that remain are nomadic tribal people, largely living as hunter-gatherers. Orcs tend to worship Gruumsh or Kord. They do not like settled life, but occasionally temporarily camp near a town to trade hides and herbs for the few manufactured goods they value. They also bring news of monsters to be hunted or places to be explored to the adventurer who earns their trust and respect. They are pragmatic about matters other races view as "good" or "evil," and worry less about morality than expedience.

Goblins are a chaotic species of reckless warriors and adventurers despite their small stature and lack of natural strength or armor. Some have managed to integrate themselves into civilized society by showing a marked instinct for invention and innovation with technology, although such experiments often turn out quite poorly the first time around and can be harmful to the inventor and bystanders alike. Others explore the wilderness to discover artifacts, mainly for the bragging rights, and those few who survive this life can be useful scouts and guides. Others still prefer a life of plundering and pillaging, and such tribes are a constant threat to settlements. Goblins are also sometimes found as slaves or camp followers among Orc tribes. Their societies are usually built around a loose tribal structure with little formal organization, and they worship their own pantheon of deities.

Kobold tribes prefer to keep to themselves. They dislike sunlight, and often they live in the depths of forests or dig warrens into the rock, but abandoned castles and villages have also become their homes since the mage war. They tend to be territorial, and their warrens are filled with traps and prepared ambushes. Kobolds are scaled lizardfolk with red to brown coats of natural armor, and they believe that they are descended from dragons. If kobolds find a dragon to serve, their viciousness is magnified by their religious veneration, and they will fight to the death in defense of their living god. Long ago, some Kobold tribes offered their tunneling services to dig city sewers. Their industrious and efforts and instinctive tunneling knowledge meant the “big people” above could then instead devote their efforts toward other projects aboveground, and the cities above protect the kobold tribes from more dangerous threats. In some Points of Light, there is still a peaceful relationship with the Kobolds who dwell beneath. Although they still tend to be lawful evil, urban Kobolds are also pragmatic and rarely risk drawing attention. When they do emerge to the upper street levels, they often scavenge refuse for items they can repurpose before hastily retreating again to their tunneled homes below. Rarely do they seek open trade. Their clothing tends to be little more than belts and harnesses with pouches and loops for interesting trinkets or food they find.

Dragons are rare and powerful creatures. Those with metallic scales (e.g. gold, silver, & bronze) tend to good and venerate Bahamut, while those with chromatic scales (e.g. red, black, & green) lean toward evil and worship Tiamat. Little is known of dragons, although many legends abound. It is said that they can be found guarding vast treasures in the most remote reaches of the wilderness, but there are even rumors that metallic dragons in humanoid guise work behind the scenes to maintain peace and guard against the re-emergence of an evil like the Cult of Vecna.

Rumors & Legends

These are intended primarily as flavor for a world where knowledge has been lost, although they can certainly be something that actually exists in your game.

Pixies, sprites, and treefolk were rumored to inhabit the Forests of Amanth before the Mage War destroyed it. Whether any survived is unknown.

Sailors tell tales of merfolk on distant islands, and claim to have glimpsed the lights and spires of underwater cities.

Sphinxes and Djinn fill the tales that come from the eastern reaches of known lands.

Among the warnings against reckless exploration of magic, there are stories of demons and beings made from the pure elements destroying the foolhardy dabblers in the arcane.

Explorers tell of delving deep into ruins only to find the piles of rubble standing up and forming into massive golems, guarding unknown further depths. Those who return from such adventures say that all attempts to pass these silent guardians result in swift and brutal death.

For decades, there have been rumors of dwarven and gnomish tinkerers building automata infused with magic that exhibit self-awareness, although no evidence is yet forthcoming.

The Underdark is home to many strange things. Some of these denizens of the unknown caverns are said to be malevolently intelligent, and even able to devour the minds of those they do not enslave and torture for sport.

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Next: Gods and Worship