Editing Shadowrun (section)

===Metatypes===
Biologically, most player characters are metahuman (i.e., part of the species ''homo sapiens''). After the Awakening, magic interacts with ill-understood bits of DNA to transform people into fantasy creatures in a process dubbed "Unexplained Genetic Expression." Elves and dwarfs change ''in utero''; a few years later, regular people started transforming into orks and trolls, usually quite painfully, a process informally called "Goblinization."

'''[[Human]]''' - Regular humans still exist and are still the majority metatype around the world.

'''[[Elf]]''' - Tall, pretty, and arrogant. Yep, that's an elf. Some have delusions of superiority, such that they've created entire nations for elfkind, Tír Tairngire (formerly Oregon) and Tír na nÓg (formerly Ireland). A few (notably Ehren the Scribe and Harlequin) claim to be immortal and lived during the Fourth World, a time thousands of years ago when magic last cycled into existence.

'''[[Dwarf]]''' - Short, stubborn, and resilient. Yep, that's a dwarf. They have an affinity for technology and dislike magic.

'''[[Orc|Ork]]''' - Big, tough, and strong, the average ork would be a successful NFL linebacker. Multiple births are far more common among orks than any other metatype; combined with their accelerated life cycle (orks become old geezers around forty), this creates a lot of tension between orks, who just want to be treated with dignity, and humans who see them as slightly above rats.

'''[[Troll]]''' - Really big, thick skin, and a bunch of horns. The average troll is around three meters tall. If you're a really tall guy, you know how hard it is to get by in a world designed for people around 5'10". Trolls experience that up to eleven (feet). Everything is child-sized to a troll. They have to get beer by the pitcher. It's not all bad, though. Most racists don't want to persecute the guy who can deadlift a car and tank a shotgun blast to the chest.

'''Metavariants''' - Think your snowflake isn't special enough? Well, other books brought out metavariants, "subspecies" of each metatype associated with various regions and cultures. Want to play a [[minotaur]], [[gnome]], [[hobgoblin]], or something else? You can now.  Ironically, this includes ''humans'', since there's an Indian metavariant that has extra arms and technicolored skin.

'''Changelings''' - What, ''still'' not special enough? When Halley's Comet made its latest pass through the solar system in 2061, mana levels spiked and a second wave of Goblinization hit the world, called "Sudden Unexplained Recessive Genetic Expression." Now you can live out your [[furry]] fetish and be an actual catgirl or dragonboi, or something even wilder thanks to the mix-and-match nature of the changeling metatype.

'''Drakes ''' - These guys got the short stick. Simply put, a drake is made by a dragon. You can think of them as half-dragon, half-metahuman. Why do they get the short stick ? Because daddy is an asshole. Dragons, even the kindest ones, see drakes not as people but as tools. If you're a drake, you'll be indoctrinated, abused and told to obey every whim of the dickish wizworm who made you. And if you manage to be a free drake, it sucks even more. Without the protection of daddy, every other dragon wants to put his claws on you because making a drake is HARD. On the plus side, you can transform into your draconic form and become even more badass.

'''Metasapients''' - They're not metahuman and never were, but are sapient and capable of interacting peacefully with metahuman civilization, in some cases even qualifying for citizenship. Things like sasquatches, [[centaur]]s, [[pixie]]s, [[naga]]s, and shapeshifters are viable character types, but all come with disadvantages like being uneducated (because of not living in metahuman society), incompatible with commercially-available augmentations, and even being incapable of human speech.

'''Artificial Intelligence''' - After Crash 2.0, AIs started appearing. They weren't as powerful as the three that fought during the Crash, but are as varied in personality as metahumanity. Being entirely software, they need to live in hardware, be it a beefed-up commlink or a drone. They make excellent riggers and hackers, but are crap at interacting with the real world.

'''The Infected''' - Not a metatype unto themselves, but when a person contracts Human-Metahuman Vampiric Virus (HMHVV) and doesn't either miraculously resist and/or die before it magically alters the poor sod's genetic structure, he becomes Infected. Depending on metatype and strain of HMHVV, you become some type of [[vampire]] or other 'undead' (Strain III HMHVV turns anyone into a [[ghoul]], a blind but dual-natured obligate cannibal, for instance.) All Infected have in common a hunger for either fresh metahuman blood or flesh that makes them go feral if not sated and this makes them pariahs with open "shoot-to-kill-on-sight" bounties in the majority of places. Oh, and to top it all, even if the initial infection doesn't kill the victim or drives them insane, and they manage to somehow find sustenance without going feral/crazy from what they're forced to do to survive; there is no post-change cure for HMHVV even after decades of research and experiment.