Ways to use this list
- Character creation: spin a race first, then ask what someone of that people would find hardest about living in a busy human city.
- Worldbuilding: spin three races and decide where each lives on your map, what they trade with each other and the one thing they still argue about.
- Drawing club: spin a race and draw it in everyday clothes, like a centaur in a raincoat or a dwarf in striped pyjamas.
- Story class: press Original peoples and write a page from a Thornling's point of view, inventing their food, homes and songs.
Press Spin the wheel, tap the game or press the Space bar. Change the list in the box as you
like: add your own, delete what doesn't suit you, or write *2 after an entry to give it double the
chance. The game buttons switch the same list to a duck race, hat, claw machine and more.
The full list (41 entries)
- Human – adaptable, ambitious and found everywhere
- Elf – graceful, long-lived forest folk
- Dwarf – sturdy miners and smiths of the mountains
- Gnome – small, clever folk of the earth
- Giant – huge people of hills and peaks
- Troll – hulking dwellers of caves and bridges
- Ogre – big, hungry and not very subtle
- Goblin – small, sly and quick
- Orc – tough, proud warrior folk
- Fairy – tiny winged folk full of magic
- Pixie – mischievous sprites of the moors
- Brownie – helpful little house spirits
- Centaur – half human, half horse
- Merfolk – people of the sea with fish tails
- Selkie – seals who shed their skins to walk on land
- Faun – goat-legged woodland folk
- Dryad – spirits that live in trees
- Nymph – spirits of rivers and springs
- Harpy – bird-winged folk of the storm
- Minotaur – bull-headed folk of the labyrinths
- Werewolf – people who become wolves under the full moon
- Kitsune – fox spirits from Japanese folklore
- Tengu – bird-like mountain spirits from Japanese folklore
- Shapeshifter – people who can take any form
- Imp – small, playful tricksters
- Sprite – quick spirits of air and water
- Dragon – ancient, wise and winged
- Sphinx – riddling lion-folk
- Yeti – shaggy folk of the snowy peaks
- Gargoyle – stone creatures that wake at night
- Fire spirit – beings of living flame
- Glimmerkin – original: tiny cave folk who carry glowing moss
- Thornlings – original: hedge-dwellers with bramble hair
- Saltborn – original: island folk who can taste a storm coming
- Duskfolk – original: people who wake only at twilight
- Reedwalkers – original: tall, quiet marsh people who fish with woven traps
- Cinderkin – original: warm-skinned folk who live beside volcanoes
- Mossbacks – original: slow, wise folk with shells like tortoises
- Cloudrunners – original: winged messengers of the high cliffs
- Stonewhisperers – original: people who can hear what rocks remember
- Tidekin – original: people who change with the tide
Questions people ask
What are the main fantasy races?
Humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, giants, goblins, trolls and orcs appear in story after story, along with merfolk, centaurs and fairies. Press Classic fantasy to spin just those.
Where do elves and dwarves come from?
Both come from old Germanic and Norse folklore, centuries before modern fantasy books. In the Norse myths, dwarfs were master smiths who forged magical treasures.
Is it a fantasy race or a fantasy species?
Older books and games say race; many newer ones say species or peoples, since elves and humans are really different kinds of beings. Use whichever word fits your world.
Are the original peoples taken from a game?
No. Glimmerkin, Thornlings, Saltborn and the rest were invented for this page, with a one-line idea for each in the list below. Build on them however you like.