races

The human race is not the only race in the world of NERO. There are many mythical and unusual races, such as elves, dwarves, half-orcs, and other more exotic races. Some NERO chapters have additional races or variations of the listed races.   Below you will find individual information on each of the major races accepted for PC play at POLAR.

In order to give the game a multiracial feel, each race has been developed individually to add to everyone's enjoyment. To keep the balance of each particular race, there are certain fundamental requirements that each player of that race must observe. We do this so that you will be placing yourself into a real culture that provides the most interaction with other players.

Racial abilities help you to understand a race's outlook on life. You must understand the necessities of roleplaying your race based on the advantages and disadvantages of that race. You should purchase your particular racial abilities as soon as possible.

Playing your race means knowing and understanding your races' culture and society. Some races have their culture based on certain societies in our own world and other races are purely fantastic like the elves or hoblings. Others are based on popular mythology or folklore. Other races such as the biata have been time-consumingly created from scratch, creating a unique aspect to our game.

It is important to understand that you will be given a brief description of your race's society but that it is up to you to integrate yourself into it. Your local chapter will have a "race packet" which provides more roleplaying background.

If you wish to play one of these races, you must wear the appropriate makeup to distinguish yourself. All exposed skin must be covered with the appropriate makeup. Any props (such as elf ears) must be worn at all times.

Remember that you cannot wear makeup to disguise yourself to appear as a race you are not, nor can you act in such a way as to mislead others as to your race. If you are not playing a barbarian or a gypsy, you cannot dress, talk and act like one.

When choosing a race to play, consider how you will look as that race. Although NERO is a game that encourages you to "be all that you can't be," if you are 5' 5" and weigh 120 pounds, you probably shouldn't play a half ogre, and if you are 6' 6" and weigh 275, you probably wouldn't make a believable hobling. However, although it is discouraged, there is no rule stopping you from playing a character against your body type, so feel free to do what you want!

NERO expects you to play your character's race properly. Half orcs should be slow witted, barbarians should act uncouth, and drae should shun the sunlight. Even though we strongly encourage everyone to avoid clichés and stereotypes when creating their character histories, you must abide by your racial characteristics. You cannot write your history to be the "outsider" of your race and be the one barbarian who is a genius celestial caster, the one gypsy who is quiet and shy, or the one drae who likes to go sunbathing.

A player not acting as described for his or her character's race will not be allowed to continue playing that character and will have to start another one.

There is no such thing as a true "half" race for purposes of NERO rules. If your character history has your father as an elf and your mother as a gypsy, that is fine, but you can only take the attributes of one of those races. In-game you can tell everyone you're "half elf/half gypsy" but out-of-game, you are one race or the other. You must then take all the advantages, disadvantages and physical characteristics of that single race and none of the unique characteristics of the other. No character may have the powers, physical characteristics, or "mannerisms" of more than one race. It should always be very clear to everyone what race you are.

These roleplaying rules are put in place to allow players to make assumptions about the races. When you see someone wearing pointed ears, you know that they may have certain abilities such as Resist Sleep and that may change your strategy with dealing with them.

You can conclude that every biata you see will dislike celestial magic and every dwarf will appreciate and study well-made weapons. Every race must act like and be identifiable as that race by all other players. By adhering to racial characteristics, this fantasy world of ours becomes much more real.

The following lists the basic NERO races (other than human). This is a very short overview. If you play one of these races, you can ask for a longer handout for your particular race that will provide more background for your character.

The skills mentioned in the descriptions below are explained in greater detail in the "Skill Descriptions" section. When reference is made to "Scholarly Skills" or "Stealth Skills," it means only those skills listed under those categories in the Skill cost tables. ("Scholarly Skills" for example includes Read and Write and Read Magic.)

Note that if you are playing a nonhuman, you should buy your racial skills as soon as possible. After all, how can you possibly roleplay your race properly if you don't have the basic skills and abilities that help to define that race? If you reach 5th level or so and still haven't purchased your skills, other members of your race should treat you as inferior or look at you with pity because you cannot resist sleep or break a charm.

If playing a human, you are free to devise any sort of personality you wish without any benefits or disadvantages.

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