''Races of Destiny'' is a supplement for the 3.5 edition of the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

roleplaying game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, eith ...

This book deals with races that live primarily in urban settings, specifically

humans Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

, half-orcs, and a new race called the Illumian, whose most notable features are the

sigil A sigil () is a type of symbol used in magic. The term usually refers to a pictorial signature of a spirit (such as an angel, demon, or deity). In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, a sigil refers to a symbolic represen ...

s that constantly orbit their heads. This book is centered on races, their human blood and the effects of this. Many of the resources in ''Races of Destiny'' deal specifically with urban settings and nearly all have racial requirements.

Publication history

''Races of Destiny'' was written by David Noonan, Eric Cagle, and

Aaron Rosenberg Aaron "Rosy" Rosenberg (August 26, 1912 – September 1, 1979) was a two-time All-American college football player, and a film and television producer with more than 60 credits.Robert Slater (2000)''Great Jews in Sports''/ref> He received a nom ...

, and was published in December 2004. Cover art was by

Adam Rex Adam Michael Rex (born May 16, 1973) is an American illustrator and author of Children's literature, children's books from Tucson, Arizona. Career Adam Rex received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona. He has contributed illu ...

, with interior art by Ed Cox,

Wayne England Wayne England (d. 9 February 2016) was an English artist whose work regularly appeared in role-playing games, wargaming rulebooks and magazines and was used on cards for collectible card games such as '' Magic: The Gathering''. He died on 9 Feb ...

David Hudnut David Hudnut is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Career David Hudnut worked on ''Dungeons & Dragons'' including the cover art for '' Heroes of Battle'' (2005), '' Heroes of Horror'' (2005), and the adventures '' Red Hand ...

Chuck Lukacs Chuck Lukacs is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Career His first published ''Dungeons & Dragons'' work was in ''Dragon'' magazine while Paizo was its publisher. His ''Dungeons & Dragons'' work includes interior art for ' ...

Jeff Miracola Jeff Miracola (born October 10, 1971)Jeff Miracola: Artist and Illustrator: Biography

Monte Moore Monte Moore (born July 26, 1930) is an American former radio and television broadcaster for the Kansas City Athletics and Oakland Athletics baseball teams. Voice of the Athletics An Oklahoma native, with a folksy, down-home style, Moore became ...

, Jim Nelson,

Michael Phillippi Michael Phillippi (born ) is an American artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Education Michael Phillippi started his illustration career in 1997 after graduating from the Savannah College of Art & Design. Career His ''Dungeons ...

Eric Polak Eric Polak is an artist whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Career His ''Dungeons & Dragons'' work includes the cover art for '' Tome of Battle'' (2006), '' Dragon Magic'' (2006), and '' Complete Champion'' (2007), and interior art fo ...

Richard Sardinha Richard Sardinha is an American artist based in Providence, Rhode Island, whose work has appeared in role-playing games. Works Richard Sardinha has been illustrating books since the 1980s. He provided the art work for ''At Lovecraft's Grave'' (ref ...

, and

Ron Spencer Ron Spencer is an American illustrator whose most famous work has been for the collectible card game '' Magic: The Gathering''.Felt, Kevin (December 17, 2007). "Painter of 'Magic' cards inspiring random acts of kindness", ''San Gabriel Valley Tri ...

. Dave Noonan explains how the designers approached the subject matter in initial discussions and design: "A lot of our early discussions included the question, ". . . and then what?" In other words, it's one thing to notice that humans tend to be more broadly multicultural than elves or dwarves. But when you look at how broad that canvas of culture is in the real world, it's simply staggering. So then what? What does that incredible cultural diversity lead you to? In the case of the humans, one possible answer is that human cultures are effectively each a race in their own right, as different from one another (in everything but physiology) as elves are from dwarves."

Reprints and revisions

Races of Stone ''Races of Stone'' (sometimes abbreviated to RoS) is an optional sourcebook for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Contents ''Races of Stone'' focuses on gnomes, dwarves, and a new race, called goliaths, ...

'', ''Races of Destiny'' and ''

Races of the Wild ''Races of the Wild'' is an optional supplemental source book for the 3.5 edition of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' roleplaying game. Contents ''Races of the Wild'' contains background information on the elves and halflings, introduces a race of ...

'' in the ''Dungeons & Dragons Races Gift Set'', released in 2005.

Reception

Reviews

*'' Black Gate'' #8 (Summer 2005) *''Backstab'' #51

References

Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks Role-playing game supplements introduced in 2004 {{D&D-stub