And some of them – like Aasimar, Dhampir, Geniekin, Tieflings, and Skinwalkers – have half a dozen subtypes included. For one thing, there is the basic mechanical information you’d need to play a member of every single one of the races mentioned above, even that list at the end that only got a couple of paragraphs each in the setting section.
Mechanics: There is an awful lot packed into these 60 pages of mechanics. There are also brief 1-3 paragraph write-ups of the following: Kasathas, Lashunta, Triaxians, Trox, Kitsune, Nagaji, Samsarans, Tengus, Wayangs, Aquatic Elves, Gathlains, Grippli, Merfolk, Skinwalkers, Vanaras, Vishkanyas, Wyrwoods, and Wyvarans. Although the varied page count obviously affects how in-depth the coverage is, the spread for common and uncommon races includes history, likely characteristics, opinions others may have about you, physiology, where in Golarion one is likely to find these folks, family, life cycle, society, faith, culture, relations with other races, how typical members of the race might take to the adventuring life, and a few themes specific to that race. The rare races (Androids, Catfolk, Changelings, Dhampirs, Fetchlings, Ghorans, Gillmen, Hobgoblins, Ratfolk, Strix) gets two pages. The uncommon races (Aasimar, Drow, Geniekin, Goblins, Kobolds, Orcs, Tieflings) gets a six page spread. Each of the non-human standard races (Dwarves, Elves, Gnomes, Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, Halflings) gets eight pages, and each of the twelve presented human ethnicities gets four pages. Setting: Inner Sea Races breaks the races up into three groups – common, uncommon, and rare – based on how likely they are to show up in the Inner Sea area of Golarion. Inner Sea Races is organized into two distinct chunks – 190 pages of pure setting material and the rest character options (I remember being on the fence when I first ran into an RPG supplement that shunted all of the mechanics away from the flavor like this, but I’ve found that it’s incredibly useful in practice to have all the mechanics in one section). The flavor section is loaded, but you’ll need to have a working knowledge of the Inner Sea area in order to maximize that aspect of the book.
The Quick Take: Lots of pretty sweet character options. Inner Sea Races is a 254-page, full-color hardcover, and retails for about $45. Inner Sea Races presents setting information and character options for over 20 races (most of them playable) and a dozen human ethnicities. Inner Sea Races is a setting and character option book for the Pathfinder RPG and for Golarion, the official Pathfinder Campaign Setting.