Races of the Wild is all about people who prefer the grandeur of the wilderness to the comforts of urban life. Its pages are just packed with material that can add depth to your campaign, especially when your PCs get the urge to venture beyond city gates and dungeon corridors. Below are ten reasons why Races of the Wild is a great resource for DMs.

10. Get a Taste of the Wild: Races of the Wild examines the cultures of three different races: the elves, the winged raptorans, and the restless halflings. It also provides additional information on the societies of other intelligent woodland beings, such as centaurs. Once you come to know these creatures, you'll have a better sense of what life in the wild is really like. In addition, the book provides numerous handy aids for wilderness campaigning, from adventure ideas to demographic information for communities in the wild.

9. Worship in the Wild: Everyone knows Corellon Larethian and the other nonhuman deities from the Player's Handbook. Now, however, you can introduce some new deities to your campaign, including Alobal Lorfiril (also known as the Reveler, from the elf pantheon), Dallah Thaun (the Lady of Mystery from the halfling pantheon), and Tuilviel Glithien (the Queen of Air and Night, from the raptoran pantheon). These deities will breathe new life into your NPC clerics and make you think differently about the beings who worship them, too.

8. Take a Walk on the Wild Side: Let your PCs meet the killoren -- an all-new fey race. After a few encounters with these living embodiments of the wilderness, your PCs may begin to treat places of ancient power with more respect.

7. See Old Friends in New Ways: You'll keep your players guessing with the catfolk, who first appeared in the Miniatures Handbook. These tribal wanderers have been fully updated for use in your campaign, along with centaurs and gnolls. All these races are ready to flesh out your wilderness encounters and your collection of memorable NPCs.

6. Lots of NPCs: Races of the Wild is loaded with fully detailed NPCs just waiting to meet your party. Some might help your PCs when they find themselves lost, and others might resent their activities.

5. Get Skillful: Ever wonder what it takes to run along the branches of a tree, make trail signs, or train a rescued animal? Wonder no more! The skill section covers these and other skill uses that can be vital for getting along in the wild.

4. New Weapons and Armor: An array of exotic weaponry offers new options for both PCs and NPCs. The elvencraft bow is just the thing for the archer who can't count on the enemy staying comfortably far away, and wildwood armor is light, easy to wear, and self-repairing too.

3. Make Mine Magic: What game book would be complete without new magic items to keep the players guessing? This book offers the blurstrike weapon quality (just the thing for sneaky halfling rogues), resplendent hawkfeather armor (which lets a character fly and look good doing it), the ever-useful belt of hidden pouches, and much more.

2. Spells of the Wild: Races of the Wild offers plenty of new spells for wilderness spellcasters, from aerial alacrity (just the thing for those pesky flying mages) to woodland veil (a great asset in setting up outdoor ambushes).

1. Meet the Raptorans: The book introduces a fully developed race of winged creatures known as the raptorans. These simple folk live wisely and well, but they nevertheless have a few customs that can drive impatient players crazy. For example, some of them are contraries -- individuals trained to say the opposite of what they really mean. The cautious raptorans often send these members of their tribe to meet strangers because belligerent and hasty folks tend to find contraries absolutely maddening.