Limbs

In a race's description, the number of limbs affects spellcasting and
combat abilities.  A "limb" in game terms represents an arm or other
appendage that can wield a weapon or cast a spell.  A large number of races
have 2 limbs, some however have as many as 4 or as few as none.  A race
with more than 2 limbs has additional arms or a prehensile tail to wield
items or weapons in.  A race with zero limbs lacks hands (Argus, Unicorn)
or the ability to grasp or wield held items or weapons properly (Suula).


Wielding and Limbs:

A weapon or held item must be "wielded" with the WIELD command to be used.
Wielding requires an open limb to wield the weapon or held item in. If a
race has no limbs, no items can be wielded at all. (see HELP WIELD).

Guilds that require specific weapons to be wielded (like Paladin or Fallen)
or consist mainly of weapon or martial arts skills (Fighter, Monk,
Sentinel, Assassin) rather than spells are usually very poor choices for
races with zero limbs.

Weapon fighting in the Retroverse is taught by and for races with 2 limbs.
In other words, weapons in the third or fourth limb aren't going to hit, as
the attack skill only covers the first two limbs.  This goes for martial
arts as well.  There is a tertiary guild that does teach this, and will
allow one attack per extra limb WITH weapons or martial arts: the Dervish
guild (see HELP SKILL WHIRLING).

Without the whirling skill, weapons in the third and fourth limbs aren't
very useful and will simply fail to connect in combat.  However, it is
possible to wield a two-handed weapon in one's left and third hands, thus
granting a slight advantage even without having the whirling skill trained.

Spellcasting and Limbs:

Any spell that requires a somatic component (see HELP SOMATIC COMPONENT)
requires hand gestures in order to cast. This means that casting a spell
with a somatic component requires two free limbs, without anything
wielded in them. It is possible to cast anyways, with a one round casting
penalty per limb filled. Normally this means a spellcaster wielding a pair
of daggers will add two rounds to all spellcasting times, making for slower
casting.

A race with more than 2 limbs does NOT get a bonus to casting time for
having MORE than 2 limbs open to cast with.

Races with zero limbs learn to cast without gestures.  They can cast
without penalty.

Guilds that require a wielded item in order to cast spells (Fallen
Fellblade, Paladin Shield, Bard Lute) cannot be used at all by races with
zero limbs, and therefore no-limbed races are very ill-suited to those
particular
guilds.

Skills and Limbs:

Limbless races suffer a penalty for using skills requiring manual dexterity
such as gem cutting, equipment repair, etc. The Suula and Argus races use
racial telekinesis (see HELP TELEKINESIS) to manipulate objects in the
world around them. This intense use of mental focus to overcome their
handicap requires these two races to expend four times, in spell points,
the cost of endurance a skill requires. Unicorns simply try harder to
overcome their limbless state and spend double the endurance cost required
to perform a manual skill.

All other races, regardless of any number of extra limbs, use skills at the
normal cost of endurance.

Casting and Wielding in Combat:

It's entirely possible for a three limbed race to wield a one-handed weapon
like a whip or a four limbed race to wield a two handed weapon such as a
polearm or ranged weapon like a bow and still use the other two limbs to
cast spells normally. It's also possible for a race with more than 2 limbs
to fill those extra limbs with held items for additional stats in combat,
and use the other 2 limbs to cast normally.

This is the main advantage of multi-limbed races.  Likewise, the inability
to wield weapons or held items is a disadvantage of no-limbed races.  Be
aware that the number of limbs does affect your character whether you
prefer a melee combat oriented guild or a spellcasting one.

Races with Four Limbs
=====================
  Mortals:
Treant
Kreen
Illex
Myconoid
Pudding

  Remortals:
Ahrimazda
Poltergeist
Tianlong
Xlakun'ah

Races with Three Limbs (prehensile tails)
=========================================
  Mortals:
Arakun
Muridan

  Remortals:
Chimaera

Races with No Limbs
===================
  Mortals:
Argus
Suula
Unicorn

  Remortals:
Naga

All other races have the normal two limbs.