Aetherborn

(Planeshift: Kaladesh)

Aetherborn come into being spontaneously as part of the aether refinement process. Their bodies and minds are apparently formed out of some interaction between the volatile elements of aether that are removed during refinement and the psychic impressions created by the people involved in the process. But each aetherborn is a unique individual, not a mere copy of some other person's mind and shape. This race is little understood, and few aetherborn are willing to waste any of their short lives allowing vedalken scholars to study their biological and psychological characteristics.

Aven

(Planeshift: Amonkhet)

Aven have humanlike bodies, arms, and legs, along with birdlike wings and heads... [They] delight in flying above their foes, using their superior mobility to confound and outpace their opponents. They love soaring through the sky as well, though the Hekma limits their altitude. Like all people of Naktamun, they are grateful for the Hekma's protective magic, of course. But they keenly anticipate the hour when the God-Pharaoh will return and dissolve the veil, letting them fly without limit in the afterlife.

Subraces

• Ibis-Headed
  
  Two distinct varieties of aven are found in Naktamun. One has the head of a hawk or similar bird of prey, with short wings allowing fast flight.
• Hawk-Headed
  
  The other variety has the head of an ibis atop a long neck, with wide, angular wings better suited to soaring.

Dwarf

(Planeshift: Kaladesh)

Dwarves don't understand laziness or shortcuts. Just as a machine must function smoothly at all times, so too an artisan should work steadily and with care. Dwarves take pride in their work ethic, and abhor any attitude or behavior that would undermine the quality of their work. They are more thorough than speedy, and although a dwarf's work might take longer to complete, its quality makes the time worthwhile. If a job must be done, a dwarf will see that it is done correctly. And when a dwarf repairs a machine, it will work as well as it did when it was first built, if not better — and it will last.

Elf

(Planeshift: Kaladesh)

The movement of aether through the world is visible and obvious where it courses in glowing rivers across the sky, sweeps across sculpted plains, or pours through great urban pipelines. But the elves of Kaladesh are uniquely in tune with the flow of aether throughout the plane, both seen and unseen, and with the subtle ways it suffuses and influences all life. They call this flow the Great Conduit, and they believe that the only way to truly grasp it is to be a part of it, simultaneously shaping it and being shaped in return. Thanks to this sensitivity, elves feel a deep connection to other living things. They engage deeply with the world around them, delighting in natural systems and social interactions alike. They revel in exploring the interconnectedness of nature and society, seeing the flow of aether from nature to invention, from person to person, from body to mind and heart. Elves live in harmony with both nature and technology.

Cultures

• Bishtahar
  
  Elves who dwell in the forest and countryside are known as the Bishtahar. Most live in isolated communities away from other races, though they still trade with them. In fact, much of Kaladesh's food supply is grown by elves. Bishtahar cultivators grow food, decorative flowers, wood for building, and elaborate living sculptures in their meandering gardens and fields. They use the plane's ubiquitous technology to foster the growth of plants and animals, utilizing automatons as gardeners and herders, and employing elaborate, nearly invisible systems controlling heat, water, and nutrients.
• Tirahar
  
  Elves who forsake technology entirely are called the Tirahar. Some elves with Tirahar sympathies live within cities or farms, but most simply withdraw to the wilder areas of Kaladesh. No more than one in a hundred elves is counted among the Tirahar, and many members of other races are unaware that these reclusive elves even exist.
• Vahadar
  
  The Vahadar are elves who dwell in the cities of Kaladesh. They are comfortable with technology, and work as planners, architects, aether-seers, or inventors. Some of them use the techniques of Bishtahar cultivators to grow food on rooftops, towers, and greenways. The Vahadar are generally integrated into the rest of society on Kaladesh, living in cities dominated by the other races (though, as in Ghirapur, many of them live in specific garden-like neighborhoods) and engaging in trade.

Elf

(Planeshift: Zendikar)

Elves are a fearless and adaptable people. They have fared better than most in the tumultuous environment of Zendikar, and many have reacted to the reappearance of the Eldrazi with resilience and courage. They remain the most prevalent race on Murasa, and have a strong presence in other regions as well. Their treetop villages seem to regrow almost as soon as they are destroyed — much like the Murasan jungles where they are found. Elves are strongly associated with green mana, the magic that flows through their forest homes. Their shamans and druids channel this magic of life and growth, communing with the land or the spirits of the departed. Striving to live in harmony with nature, they celebrate the ties between their communities and their connection with the broader world around them.

Subraces

• Joraga
  
  The elves of the imperious Joraga nation of Bala Ged have little respect for any other race of Zendikar — or even for other elves. The survival of their nation and its traditions is the Joraga elves' only goal, and they view the influence of others as a weakness. The Joraga eschew the goods and habits of others, even avoiding the pathways blazed by the Tajuru when possible. Many view the nomadic Joraga clans as little more than bands of roving murderers, but a complex culture hides behind those clans' aggressive exterior.
• Mul Daya
  
  The Tajuru nation is the largest of the three main elven nations, concentrated in Murasa and spread across other parts of Zendikar as hundreds of far-flung clans. Tajuru elves are the most open to people of other races, seeing their skills and perspectives as valuable new tools for survival. The Tajuru are also more open to new lifestyles, be it living in a mountaintop citadel or roaming grassy plains.
• Tajuru
  
  Elves of the Mul Daya nation of Bala Ged are set apart from other elves by their relationship with the spirits of their elven ancestors. To the Mul Daya, the spirit world and the mortal realm are different only in terms of their tangibility. Death and the spirits of the dead are as much a part of the lives of the Mul Daya as is the natural world. This is not a macabre sentiment to the elves; they simply view it as the truest sense of the natural order. Mul Daya elves can often be recognized by their face painting and tattooing. Many Mul Daya decorate their skins with an enwrapping vine motif, and make use of poisons and acids collected at great cost from strange creatures and plants in the depths of Kazandu.

Goblin

(Planeshift: Ixalan)

Goblins stand about three feet tall, though they rarely stand upright. They prefer a crouched posture that lets them scramble quickly on all fours, aided by their long prehensile tails. Their hearing and eyesight make them excellent lookouts, and their agility serves them well as crew members on pirate ships. They climb, swing, and jump easily among a ship's ropes, and can get into tight spaces that humans can't. For better or worse, many goblins are also incorrigible pranksters, and they often have a hard time determining when a prank is inappropriate, is poorly timed, or has gone too far.

Goblin

(Planeshift: Zendikar)

Goblins are an inquisitive and adaptable race hampered by their small size, their natural cowardice, and a severe shortage of common sense. They eagerly explore areas that others hesitate to enter, and obsessively fiddle with magic that more sensible folk would take careful precautions with. They prize ancient artifacts not for their inherent value, but primarily as a mark of status — for a precious trophy proves that its owner survived a delve into a deep and dangerous ruin... Life to a goblin is an adventure full of new things to explore and experience.

Tribes

• Grotag
  
  Smaller and weaker than their cousins, and with larger hands and feet, goblins of the Grotag tribe attempt to live by their wits — though seldom with much success. When a Grotag goblin has the bright idea of trying to tame fleshpiercer mites, at least a few others will be willing to follow that goblin into a nest — usually to predictably horrible results. But though the Grotag seem to have a never-ending supply of bad ideas, and a horrible ratio of bad ideas to good, the Grotag likewise seem to have a never-ending supply of Grotag. As such, by trial and error (and more error), these goblins have stumbled across a great deal of knowledge useful for surviving the deep places of Zendikar, and for dealing with the creatures that live there. The Grotag imagine themselves to have a sort of empathy with beasts, and they lose hundreds of goblins each year to ill-advised attempts at monster taming. But, every now and again, one of these efforts is successful.
• Lavastep
  
  The Lavastep tribe is the most industrious of the goblin tribes, and possesses much hard-won knowledge of the geothermal activity in Akoum. More so than members of the other tribes, the Lavastep goblins build surprisingly effective equipment out of the crystal shards and veins of strange metals that occasionally boil up to the surface. The most warlike of their kind, Lavastep goblins frequently harass the kor, elves, and humans of Akoum.
• Tuktuk
  
  Among the goblins, the Tuktuk are most likely to hire themselves out as ruin guides to other races. Of course, their usual plan is to help find something of value, steal it, trigger a trap intentionally, and then run.

Human

(Planeshift: Amonkhet)

Note: Mechanically identical to Human (Player's Handbook) with Variant Human Traits

Of the five humanoid races of Amonkhet, humans are the most diverse and adaptable. Different humans train in a wide variety of fighting styles, including those particularly favored by other races. A human mage might use any of the five colors of mana, while mages of other races focus on one of only two colors. Human viziers serve all five gods, and different human initiates excel in different trials. Humans defy trends and categorization, and opponents who face a human in one-on-one combat can't know what kind of fight to expect — from the foresight and cunning often associated with Kefnet, to a ruthlessness that emulates Bontu. At the beginning of such a fight, this uncertainty can give an edge to the human combatant.

Human

(Planeshift: Innistrad)

Innistrad's population is mostly human, and player characters in an Innistrad campaign should be human in most circumstances. However, the humans of Kessig are different in many respects from those of Gavony, and Nephalia's urban culture is very distinct from the shadow-draped land of Stensia. Diversity among player characters comes not from race, but from each character's home province.

Provincial Origins

• Gavony
  
  Whether safe behind the walls of the High City of Thraben or out in the moors with little more than shuttered windows, barred doors, and grim determination to stand against the horrors of the night, the humans of Gavony are the most well-rounded people of Innistrad.
• Kessig
  
  For the Kessiger, life is work. Kessigers are farmers, millers, weavers, and stonemasons, living close to the land and working hard for every meal. This makes them self-reliant, pragmatic, and plainspoken.
• Nephalia
  
  Beneath an ever-present shroud of fog billowing in from the sea, the people of Nephalia maintain a semblance of normalcy, buying and selling goods from across Innistrad in their bustling markets, setting out to sea in tiny fishing boats, or tilling the soggy earth in waterlogged field.
• Stensia
  
  Countless generations of hardship and proximity to the vampire strongholds — leading to lost children and neighbors — have taught Stensians to guard their hearts. They are proud and fervent in their beliefs but seem brusque or even cold to the people of other provinces.

Khenra

(Planeshift: Amonkhet)

The khenra of Amonkhet are tall and lean, with graceful bodies and heads that strongly resemble jackals. Their snouts are long and sharp, and their angular ears rise straight above their heads. Their bodies are covered in dark, sleek hair that ranges from the brown of the desert sands to ebony black. Despite their sharp teeth, they consider biting to be an uncouth and unworthy combat tactic. Nearly every khenra is born a fraternal or identical twin, and a pair of khenra twins forms an extremely close emotional bond unknown to most other residents of Amonkhet.

Kor

(Planeshift: Zendikar)

Deeply reverent of the land and its sacred sites, the nomadic kor live a spare existence defined by their constant travels. Masters of ropes and hooks, they scale sheer cliffs and cross yawning chasms with such skill and agility that they sometimes seem almost to take flight... Kor are tall, slender humanoids with light hair and gray, blue-gray, or ivory skin. All kor have slightly pointed ears, and males have short, fleshy barbels on their chins. They paint softly glowing geometric patterns on their faces and bodies, suggestive of the shapes and design of the hedrons that appear across Zendikar.

Merfolk

(Planeshift: Ixalan)

The River Heralds are merfolk — a race of amphibious humanoids at home throughout the oceans, rivers, and rain forests of Ixalan. They stand between seven and eight feet tall, with skin that ranges from deep burgundy through many shades of violet and blue, to green, bright orange, and yellow. They are humanlike in shape, but have long fins extending from their shoulders, forearms, middle backs, and calves. Frills of fins also protrude from the backs of their heads. All merfolk can breathe air or filter oxygen from the water, and they can walk on land or swim with equal ease.

Subraces

• Blue
  
  Blue merfolk often have burgundy or magenta on their faces and chests, with lighter shades of blue and purple elsewhere. Their eyes are red, orange, or blue, and their long, thin, and elegant fins resemble scarves or veils of fine fabric. They swim easily, even upstream, and clamber over rocks and through rapids with ease. They prefer to dwell in shallow waters, but spend a fair amount of time on land as well.
• Green
  
  Green merfolk generally have yellow chests and pale green faces, shading to dark blues and purples on their backs and limbs. The patterns on their skin suggest the colors of the tree frogs common in the rain forest, as do their eyes of orange, lime green, or sky blue. Their fins are relatively short and thick. They climb trees with ease, move through undergrowth unhindered, and often wield magic to shape vines and branches to their will.

Merfolk

(Planeshift: Zendikar)

Curious, thoughtful, and analytical, the merfolk of Zendikar are natural scholars and explorers. In the past, merfolk society was organized around their belief in three deities. But in the wake of the reappearance of the Eldrazi, the merfolk have realized that their faith was a web of lies, built on a corrupted memory of the Eldrazi titans handed down from generation to generation. In peaceful times, the merfolk might have fought over the ultimate meaning of this revelation. But faced with the danger presented by the Eldrazi broods, the merfolk have largely set aside their differences and joined together in a united force. Old grudges still linger, but the well-being of the merfolk race — and the world — far outweigh any ancient conflicts between creeds... Merfolk are an amphibious race, born and at home in the water but comfortable on dry land. Humanoid in form, they have skin of ivory, silver, russet, blue, or deep purple. Long fins extend from the backs of their forearms and calves, and their fingers and toes are webbed.

Creeds

• Cosi
  
  No merfolk will openly admit to following the creed of the trickster, but those who do view Cosi as an ally who can grant them control over the chaotic forces of the world.
• Emeria
  
  Merfolk who followed Emeria's creed seek wisdom and truth in the Wind Realm, exploring the mystical forces - rather than natural causes - behind historical events. They are evasive and intentionally enigmatic in their interactions with others, and are often described as manipulative and deceptive.
• Ula
  
  Ula-creed merfolk emphasize intellectual pursuits, stressing hard evidence and reason over passion. They are analytical scholars, chroniclers, explorers, and navigators who pride themselves on being blunt and straightforward.

Minotaur

(Planeshift: Amonkhet)

Minotaurs are powerfully built, barrel-chested humanoids with heads resembling rams. Their horns curl tightly against the sides of their heads to encircle their ears, and manes of shaggy fur — shorter in females — fall over their broad shoulders. As their appearance suggests, they combine physical strength with stubbornness, bravado, and reckless bravery. They revel in combat, especially when the odds against them seem overwhelming. Minotaurs are rowdy, boisterous, and direct to the point of rudeness. They have no qualms about declaring what they want and defying others to keep it from them. In combat, they bellow loud challenges in defiance of their foes, and roar with laughter as they triumph.

Naga

(Planeshift: Amonkhet)

Naga resemble enormous snakes with shoulders, arms, and a torso that resembles a humanoid form. They typically hold their heads and torsos off the ground while moving, but they can increase their speed by lowering their bodies and using their hands for extra propulsion. They adorn their torsos with armor, jewelry, and a vague nod toward the clothing worn by other races... Naga believe in a principle called the Sweetest Harmony, which describes a perfect balance between the body and the mind. Finding that balance, as they understand it, is a sure path to glory in the trials, since a combination of physical and mental preparation will ensure success in every trial.

Orc

(Planeshift: Ixalan)

Orcs originally came from the same mountainous region where the kingdom of Torrezon was born, and they have been enemies of the Legion of Dusk since it was originally formed. The entire race has been declared anathema by the Church of Torrezon, and after centuries of fighting the Legion, the orcs have dwindled to only a few hundred in number. Some still live on remote islands near Torrezon, but many have joined the Brazen Coalition to serve on pirate ships - taking on any role that calls for an abundance of sheer muscle. Orcs are tall, standing head and shoulders above most humans, and are generally twice as broad. They often accentuate their bulging muscles by wearing tight-fitting bands and accessories around the thickest parts of their arms and necks. Their skin color ranges from light brown through gray to almost jet-black.

Siren

(Planeshift: Ixalan)

Sirens are at home along the waters of the Stormwreck Sea. They settle on rocky coasts and remote islands, and even on floating piles of kelp. Sirens are mercurial creatures who can turn in an instant from lonely to repulsed, from desirous to hateful, from welcoming to irritated, from loving to murderous — and then back again. They are fascinated with ships, and enjoy toying with them. One siren might call out to a passing crew for company, only to capriciously draw the ship into an entangling mass of kelp. Another might lure a vessel onto jagged rocks so as to study the wreckage and learn more about the strange contraption. But as the number of Brazen Coalition ships passing through siren-controlled waters has increased over the years, a growing number of sirens have decided to satisfy their curiosity by taking positions on ship crews — including, in at least one case, the position of captain.

Vampire

(Planeshift: Ixalan)

The Legion of Dusk is dominated by an aristocratic class made up of vampires. They are faster and stronger than most humans, and gifted with supernatural abilities that made them the most formidable force in their homeland. Now, as they push into the depths of Ixalan in search of the Immortal Sun, they bring this strength to bear against all who would resist their advance. For many vampires, the Rite of Redemption that transforms a human into a vampire is an act of personal sacrifice, paving the way for a promised glorious age. These vampires embody Torrezon's noble tradition in Ixalan. They are often guided by their dual loyalties to church and crown, believing that the monarch acts with righteous purpose. As such, these vampires carry themselves with a self-assurance that is both imposing and imperial... Other vampires view vampirism merely as a means to attain a powerful advantage over others.

Vampire

(Planeshift: Zendikar)

Born into ancient servitude and bred to a life of decadent corruption, the vampires of Zendikar feed on the energy in the blood of living creatures — an energy that is particularly strong in times of terror and pain. To members of the other races, vampires are a fearsome mystery and the stuff of nightmares, hunting their prey like beasts or reclining on thrones made of skulls in their moss-draped cities. But few understand how the vampires are locked in a brutal civil war. On one side are those who hold to their traditional ways, desperately battling to remain free. On the other side are those vampires whose legacy reaches back into the deepest recesses of history. Bound once more to the Eldrazi who were their ancient masters, those vampires hunt their kin in an effort to extinguish any dreams of freedom and rebellion.

Vedalken

(Planeshift: Kaladesh)

Note: Flavorfully identical to Vedalken (Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica), but mechanically different

Vedalken have an unusual view of progress. They believe that nothing is perfect, nor can it ever be perfect — and they rejoice in this. Every imperfection is a chance for improvement, and progress is an endless march toward a state of perfection that can never actually be reached. Thus, pointing out imperfection is hardly an insult — which leads vedalken to note flaws and problems with an enthusiasm that members of other races sometimes find exasperating... As a rule, vedalken are gregarious in conversation. However, they are quite circumspect concerning their personal lives, and they engage more with ideas than with people. They form close friendships based around mutual interests or compelling disagreements, and their interactions focus on their thoughts about those issues rather than their feelings about them.