The ancestries in the Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands are optimized for the setting and are used in place of the ancestry rules in Shadowdark (and may differ from your expectations from other fantasy settings!).
Widely considered to be brave, dangerous, and stupid in equal measure by all those with more common sense.
Human Ambition - You gain one additional talent roll at 1st level.
Human Determination - You have advantage on checks to repeat an action you failed if you try the exact same action again on your next turn.
Despite their size and strength, a bugbear’s heightened sensory perception and long, flexible limbs make it a surprisingly swift, fleet footed fighter adept at dealing with unusual situations.
Ambush Predator - In the first combat turn against a new enemy or group of enemies, deal an extra weapon die of damage against your target if the target has not yet acted in combat.
Brutish Finesse - Hulking yet supple, you may wield even heavy weapons with finesse: you may backstab with any melee weapon and take no penalties against a faster weapon, or a weapon that would normally be ‘inside’ your effective range.
Everyone just loves having them in games so I’m not going to fight it.
Natural Weapons - The character has advantage on climbing surfaces one can grip on with claws as long as they are wearing leather armor or lighter. Their claws are effectively a dagger (1d4) that the character always has.
Cat Coloration - Different types of cats have different bonuses based on their fur color! Find out after you pick.
Accentless and precise speakers. Their food is highly spicy, lots of stewed meat, curries, and empanada-pastry sorts of things. We’re just trying to put a BIT of a spin on them here, otherwise it’s exactly what you expect.
Sturdy - Start with +2 HP and roll hit points per level with advantage.
Obsessive Zeal - Roll on the trades table. You have advantage on all checks related to this skill and near total expertise in it. This applies to any trades you learn (from backgrounds, training, etc).
Rockskin - purely cosmetic, but dwarven hair and skin tones match various shades of rock, which can include the colors of gemstones. Get creative!
The original elves, shapers of dreams, ascended to higher realms of existence eons ago. The high elves, their descendants, long ago moved to another time… or a lost continent… or the moon? The sea? The point is, you’re the leftovers of the leftovers, with a soul sensitive enough to yearn for the lost wonder you will never see.
Farsighted - gain a +1 to all ranged checks OR all spellcasting checks. Pick which at character creation.
Elven Precision - you can use a luck token to turn a hit into a critical hit. When using this, damage dice EXPLODE.
Contrary to popular belief, goblins are incredibly lawful; the thing is, they only follow GOBLIN LAW, and GOBLIN LAW only applies to other goblins.
Goblin Law - There’s a lot to GOBLIN LAW, but here are the important bits at the start. Allow none to bind or compel your service, even magically, unless freely given; Stolen property grants you XP, regardless of where it came from (though as a dungeoneer you have freely chosen loyalty to your guild/party under the goblin credo of friendship: DBAA).
Goblin Hype - At any time, you may choose to take disadvantage in a situation that puts you at risk of serious injury. If you succeed regardless, gain one luck token. These luck tokens can stack above the normal limit of one luck token per character. NPC goblins witnessing this display must make a wisdom check, or be swept up in the GOBLIN HYPE TRAIN.
Goblin Names - Goblins gain names by doing cool stuff. A level 1 player character starts with a one syllable name, which also happens to translate to a one syllable word for the sake of plot convenience. Further syllables are awarded at noteworthy milestones.
After centuries of occupation and industrial exploitation, the halflings gained autonomy after funding a brutal insurgency via a criminal narco-state.
Geurilla Tactics - If you choose to interrupt an opponent’s action, you automatically do so if you have a higher initiative card. If you have a lower initiative card, you can still attempt to interrupt their action, though you will have to roll for it.The Good Stuff - Carousing rolls made with a halfling PC count as one level higher than the amount of gold paid would indicate. This can stack multiple times with halfling PCs; NPCs will provide bonuses based on what they personally choose to contribute (which usually only happens if you did something for them recently).
With the cunning of goblins, ferocity of orcs, and learned erudition of the elves, hobgoblins have been on the edge of taking over the world for decades. Fortunately infighting, egotism, and treacherous backstabbing have kept a unified hob-empire at bay.
Self-Obsessed - You have advantage to resist mental and magical domination, trickery, and charm that downplays or hurts your ego, pride, etc. Conversely you have disadvantage in similar situations that use your confidence against you.
Bildungsroman - You know, deep down, you are destined for greatness; all suffering along the way is merely preparing you for eventual triumph. Whenever you roll a critical failure, gain one luck token if you have none, and gain 1d4 hitpoints at the start of your next turn.
At the edge of oblivion, the elves of river and clay sacrificed their greatest arts, their beauty and grace, on the war altar of demon-lord Shanak.
The Wardream - Get a +1 on all attack and damage rolls.
Reckless Abandon - After a successful attack, you may spend a luck token to choose a die type greater than your current HP, and less than your maximum HP. Roll the die, adding it to the damage of the attack and simultaneously subtracting it from your hitpoints. (To be clear, this power can only be used when using it puts you at risk of zero HP).
Relentless - Gain advantage on death saves. Roll 2d4+1 for your death timer. On a natural 20, you rise with 1d4 hitpoints, gain a luck token if you do not have one, and can act normally this turn.
Note: the above applies to Orcs regardless of how much orcish ancestry they have. If they hear the Wardream of Shanak, they are an Orc.