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Humans
Humans are the most adaptable, flexible and ambitious people among the planes. They
are diverse in their tastes, morals, customs and habits. Others accuse them of having
little respect for history, but it's only natural that humans, with their relatively
short life spans and constantly changing cultures, would have a shorter collective
memory than dwarves, elves, gnomes or halflings.
As ubiquitous as their kin on the Prime, planar humans can simply be found everywhere,
in any environment. Humans have carved out civilizations everywhere from the
howling caves of Pandemonium to the depths of the plane of Fire. Lacking special
racial gifts and abilities, they compensate with determination and the will to
achieve and succeed, regardless of circumstances or obstacles.
Humans tend toward no particular alignment, not event neutrality. The best and the
worst of the planes are found among them. Human adventurers are the most audacious,
daring, and ambitious members of an audacious, daring, and ambitious race. A human
can earn glory in the eyes of her fellows by amassing power, wealth, and fame. Humans,
more than any other people, champion causes rather than territories or groups.
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Half-Orcs, Oerth
In the wild frontiers, tribes of human and orc barbarians live in uneasy balance,
fighting in times of war and trading in times of peace. Half-orcs who are born in
the frontier may live with either human or orc parents, but they are nevertheless
exposed to both cultures. Some, for whatever reason, leave their homeland and travel
to civilized lands, bringing with them the tenacity, courage, and combat prowess
that they developed in the wilds.
Half-orcs inherit a tendency toward chaos from their orc parent, but, like their
human parents, they favor good and evil in equal proportions. Half-orcs that are
raised among orcs, and continue to live with them, are usually evil.
Half-orcs stand between 6' and 7'0" tall and usually weigh between 180 and 250lbs.
A half-orc's grayish pigmentation, sloping forhead, jutting jaw, prominent teeth,
coarse body hair make his lineage plain for all to see. Orcs like scars, and regard
battle scars as tokens of pride and ornamental scars as things of beauty. Any half-
orc who has live amog or near orcs has scars, whether they are markings of shame
indicating servitude, or marks of pride recounting conquests and high status.
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Half-Orcs, Faerun
Half-orcs are fairly common throughout Faerun. They have no true homeland to call
their own and as a result most spend their lives wandering the world in search of
a purpose. Most half-orcs are surly individuals who endured horrible childhoods.
They are too coarse and savage to fit in well with humans, and too fragile and
thoughtful to fit in with orcs. As a result, the majority of half-orcs grow up
alone and without any influence from either culture. They are nomads, loners,
and hermits at best, and murderers and savages at worst.
A half-orc is usually about as tall as a human and a little heavier. Their skin tends
to be gray with green or even purple undertones, and their faces feature sloping
brows, jutting jaws with prominent teeth, and flat, squashed noses. This and their
coarse body hair makes their lineage plain for all to see.
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Racial Traits
- +2 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma
- Darkvision: Half-Orcs can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black
and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and half-orcs function just
fine wtih no light at all.
- Automatic Languages: Planar Trade, Orc
- Bonus Languages: Draconic, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, Abyssal
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