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the races that can be played as player characters, the so-called “playable races”: humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings (initially called hobbits), half-elves and half-orcs.It thus includes the Tolkienian archetypes, but the game makes a difference between: The races in Dungeons & Dragons are strongly inspired by the fantasy literature of the 1930s-1960s. The race is therefore a core notion present at the very beginning of the role-playing games. Chainmail was especially designed to include fantasy races. The first role-playing game, “original” Dungeons & Dragons ( 1974), stems from the wargame Chainmail ( 1971). For example, in Dungeons & Dragons, it is possible to play a half-elf (hybrid of a human and an elf) or a half-orc (hybrid of a human and an orc).

In some universes, it is possible to have hybrid characters which inherit traits from both parents.

In science-fiction games, especially space opera and cyberpunk, the races are humans, extraterrestrials, mutants, cyborgs, transhumans, robots, and artificial intelligences (AI). Some fantasy or steampunk games also involve "artificial creatures" (alchemical homunculus, golems and mechanical creatures). In the heroic fantasy games, in addition to humans, races are often humanoid and fey creatures of Myth such as elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins, immaterial being (spirits, ghosts), etc. Andre uses the term " kinship" the term Spezies ( species) is used in Das Schwarze Auge, and éthnie ( ethnicity) is used in EW-System 2.0. Not all works use the term "race": in Tunnels and Trolls 7th ed. the Middle Earth or the Star Wars universe. The transmediality is obvious in case of consistent universes, e.g. This notion began in fantasy or science-fiction works: novels, comics, video games (especially role-playing video game), board games, LARP, etc.

Artificials in Fantasy Craft or the Forgeborn/Dwarf-forged optional race in 13th Age ( 2013).

the Aldryami in Glorantha ( 1978), or the Sylvanians in Fantasy Craft ( 2010) and robots, e.g. The term “race” is even broader than the usual meaning, as it also includes extraterrestrial beings vegetal beings, e.g. It can be a fictitious species from a fictional universe, or a real people, especially in case of a history-based universe (even if it has a given level of fantasy), e.g.