Puggins
Explorer
... well, who really knows for sure? But I've got a couple of guesses.
(1) Minotaurs
This is my pet guess. What little information we have lines up nicely. Minotaurs have this thing in D&D about being sailors (lining up with the fleet of the mystery race sailing in). They're a popular race from World of Warcraft. "A Fierce Minotaur Ranger" fits. If the race were as mundane as Orcs, Hobgoblins, Goblins or Kobolds they wouldn't be so coy about the whole thing. Neither the Forgotten Realms or Eberron would balk at including them as a race. Then again, neither is especially set up to handle them in numbers either, so even though I'm listing this as the top choice, I'm doing so more out of novelty than anything else.
My actual prediction would be:
(2) Orcs
No mention has been made of Half-Orcs yet. Why have Half-Orcs when full Orcs are even more fun? There's nothing especially wrong about them being sailors. They're also a playable race in World of Warcraft. "A fierce Orc Ranger" fits. The Forgotten Realms has just established a civilized nation of Orcs. Orcs in Eberron are remnants of a Druidic culture that battled an invasion from beyond during a previous age. In a sense, they're the keepers of nature. Everything just seems to line up well with them.
Then again, things line up fairly well for:
(3) Hobgoblins
Hobgoblins can be sailors. "A fierce Hobgoblin ranger" makes sense. They have both an ancient and emerging kingdom in Eberron. I can't recall the Forgotten Realms having an established homeland for them, but I could be wrong, and anyway they would integrate just fine. Only reason why I think Orcs are more likely to be the race is the convenience of the emerging Orc homeland in FR.
(4) Goblins
These could be a choice, yes, but I think we're definitely going to the second-tier here. They can be sailors. If you take the "Ooh, look, shiny!" statement literally (I don't- I'm betting it was meant to connote an attempted, witty distraction by the author, not a clue to the race), they make sense. But I don't think goblins have many players excited, and "fierce Goblin Ranger" makes sense, but nowhere near as much as the first three choices above.
(5) Kobolds
Other than their draconic nature (a definite plus, given the amount of draconic stuff published), they make less sense than Goblins. They don't even have any decent established homelands in either setting.
(6) Drow
"Fierce Drow Ranger?" Drow sailors? I don't think the Drow are going to make it. They'll be the selling point for PHB2, I'm betting. Both Eberron and Forgotten Realms figure them prominently, so they'll be added soon enough.
Two postscript comments:
#1 I wouldn't be disappointed with any of these races.
#2 Spare us the comments about how D&D is becoming World of Warcraft. I mentioned WoW with the orcs and minotaurs because WotC would naturally like to tap into some of the current trends in fantasy, and Orcs and Minotaurs both happen to be getting cast as heroes nowadays due in no small part to WoW. WotC borrowing from WoW (just like WoW borrowed from D&D in creating its universe) is natural and expected.
(1) Minotaurs
This is my pet guess. What little information we have lines up nicely. Minotaurs have this thing in D&D about being sailors (lining up with the fleet of the mystery race sailing in). They're a popular race from World of Warcraft. "A Fierce Minotaur Ranger" fits. If the race were as mundane as Orcs, Hobgoblins, Goblins or Kobolds they wouldn't be so coy about the whole thing. Neither the Forgotten Realms or Eberron would balk at including them as a race. Then again, neither is especially set up to handle them in numbers either, so even though I'm listing this as the top choice, I'm doing so more out of novelty than anything else.
My actual prediction would be:
(2) Orcs
No mention has been made of Half-Orcs yet. Why have Half-Orcs when full Orcs are even more fun? There's nothing especially wrong about them being sailors. They're also a playable race in World of Warcraft. "A fierce Orc Ranger" fits. The Forgotten Realms has just established a civilized nation of Orcs. Orcs in Eberron are remnants of a Druidic culture that battled an invasion from beyond during a previous age. In a sense, they're the keepers of nature. Everything just seems to line up well with them.
Then again, things line up fairly well for:
(3) Hobgoblins
Hobgoblins can be sailors. "A fierce Hobgoblin ranger" makes sense. They have both an ancient and emerging kingdom in Eberron. I can't recall the Forgotten Realms having an established homeland for them, but I could be wrong, and anyway they would integrate just fine. Only reason why I think Orcs are more likely to be the race is the convenience of the emerging Orc homeland in FR.
(4) Goblins
These could be a choice, yes, but I think we're definitely going to the second-tier here. They can be sailors. If you take the "Ooh, look, shiny!" statement literally (I don't- I'm betting it was meant to connote an attempted, witty distraction by the author, not a clue to the race), they make sense. But I don't think goblins have many players excited, and "fierce Goblin Ranger" makes sense, but nowhere near as much as the first three choices above.
(5) Kobolds
Other than their draconic nature (a definite plus, given the amount of draconic stuff published), they make less sense than Goblins. They don't even have any decent established homelands in either setting.
(6) Drow
"Fierce Drow Ranger?" Drow sailors? I don't think the Drow are going to make it. They'll be the selling point for PHB2, I'm betting. Both Eberron and Forgotten Realms figure them prominently, so they'll be added soon enough.
Two postscript comments:
#1 I wouldn't be disappointed with any of these races.
#2 Spare us the comments about how D&D is becoming World of Warcraft. I mentioned WoW with the orcs and minotaurs because WotC would naturally like to tap into some of the current trends in fantasy, and Orcs and Minotaurs both happen to be getting cast as heroes nowadays due in no small part to WoW. WotC borrowing from WoW (just like WoW borrowed from D&D in creating its universe) is natural and expected.
