I'll probably have more as I progress in the game, so might as well keep everything in one thread.

Playing the Keepers campaign, what difference does it make what I race I choose for my Leader?? I know it affects your relations with other races, but does a leader get different skills depending on the race?

The default is Elf, but when I click on him I see Elric of the Halflings... So what is my race, Halflings or Elves?

Is there a "canon" race for the story? Also is the Elric guy canon too?

Your starting race for the leader only affects what abilities you have. Lizard gets swimming, Elf gets forestry, etc. It does not affect your race relations at all.

In the Keeper campaign you always start as the Halflings. At one point in the campaign you will get the choice between two other races to support. The halflings will still like you though, even if you don't selct the "good" race at that point.


SPOILERS:



The canon victory is Halfing -> Dwarf -> Elf. Some heroes like Ham Binger and Bormac Orcbane from this branch are found in the later games as well. Elric is never mentioned again, so feel free to pick whatever leader you want.

There are 6 different endings. My personal favorite is Goblin - Lizard - Highmen

Thanks. I already learned about the 6 endings; as in I learned that there are 6 of them and what paths lead to each, but not the endings themselves (so please don't spoil me!).

So my race, the one that affects relations, is Halflings and later it changes to whatever choice I make...

Is there a list of what leader races get what abilities? I looked at the manual but can't find anything.

Could be wrong, but from memory:

Halfling - ?
Elf - Forestry
Dwarf - Mountaineering
Highman - Unplayable
Human - Unplayable
Lizard - Swimming
Azrac - Fire resistance
Frostling - Cold resistance
Goblin - Cave Crawling
Dark Elf - Night Vision
Orc - Increase hit points?
Undead - Undead

Thanks. I see what you mean now. The stats and skills on the left change depending on the race.

Halfings seem to get an extremely bad deal. All they get is +1 to Res. Dwarves get the +1 Res too and in addition to that they get +1 Dam, Mountaineering and Cave Crawling.

In the campaign, you'll always have friendly race relations with the races you ally, and you'll have good relations with any races that share an alignment that is the same as your current race's alignment. You'll have decent relations with any race that is one step removed from your current race's alignment.

So, if you go Halfings -> Lizards -> Undead, then...
-As Halfings, you'll have friendly relations with Halfings (your race), good relations with Elves and Dwarves (good aligned), and you'll have decent relations with High Men (Pure Good, one step removed) and the four neutral races (Neutral, one step removed). Dark Elves, Goblins, and Orcs won't like you, and Undead will hate you more than the Evil races.

-As Lizards, you'll have friendly relations with Halflings (allies) and Lizards (current race), good relations with Humans, Frostlings, and Azracs (also neutral), decent relations with the five other races that are good/evil, and uncertain relations with High Men and Undead (two steps removed).

-As Undead, you'll have friendly relations with Halflings and Lizards (allied) and Undead (current race), good relations with Dark Elves, Orcs, and Goblins (one step removed), and poor relations with everyone else (especially High Men).

The morale of a stack is affected by the alignment of the units within it. Mixing units that don't like each other (ex. Elves and Dark Elves) will lower the morale of the stack. If there are powerful units that like you mixed in, they can keep the ones that don't like you from rebelling, but watch your race relations. Units with no alignment will work with anyone, but be aware that No Alignment is NOT the same thing as Neutral alignment!

The race of your leader determines your starting stat values, and it also determines your leader's alignment. That said, your leader will always be cheerful (highest morale), and your leader will usually be strong enough to keep everyone else in his stack from rebelling. So the biggest difference between leader races is their starting required stats and abilities (you can't have a Lizardman leader that doesn't have swimming, but he'll initially have lower resist than some other races). Check whether they have more points to spend on abilities. I seem to recall that some races have more points pre-spent, and so have fewer points available for user selected spending.

Hmmm.. doesn't seem like it. All have 25/25.

Huh. I wouldn't have expected such a big difference between races. I'm assuming their movespeed is the same, since both races tend to be slower.

I guess Halflings do get a raw deal, then.

I mean here it is. Unless I'm missing something major.

You're sure there are no advantages to being a Halfling in the game itself?

Huh. Yeah, sucks to be a halfling, then. Based on level up values on stats and skills, the Dwarf gets an extra 20 points to spend.

I think I haven't bothered changing my leader's race, so I've only ever been Elf/Dark Elf. That said, I've seen nothing to suggest being one race over another would make any difference. Your side's race is determined by your campaign choices, not by your choice of leader.

I mean, even their portraits are worse.

There is that. XD

So I read somewhere some skills can only be taken at character creation?

Is there a list? I can't find anything in manual or in game.

Found this:
[url=https://ageofwonders.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Create-Only_Hero_Abilities]https://ageofwonders.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Create-Only_Hero_Abilities[/url]

It's so difficult to google for AoW info because Google seems to assume that if you're looking for Age of Wonders information you must mean Age of Wonders 3.