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As you may have noticed from the discussions and the first racial write-ups and drafts, I'm following a direction of variability and dynamics for the main races of Zendikar.

First of all, which are the main races? Well, many or possibly any race can be "main", but I think there are a few ones that need a special mention in the world of Zendikar because of their roles in the story and in the land. And they are clearly the following:

• Vampires (black)
  
• Merfolk (blue)
  
• Kor (white)
  
• Elves (green)
  
• Goblins (red)

Note that the colors are just there for convenience, and nothing in the D&D adaption will actually refer to them, as they're a Magic concept. They surely have possible translations in the form of power sources, but since Zendikar in D&D should be DM-customizable just as any other setting, the associations of mana colors with power sources will just be "guidelines". So if it will be true that vampires will be good Warlocks and Assassins (concepts tied to Black mana), and Merfolk copuld be good Psions and Wizards (concepts tied to Blue mana), nothing will stop any player from playing a vampire Cleric, a merfolk Fighter and so on.

So the topic is the variable and dynamic nature I'd like to give to these races. This is how I'm doing it or planning to do it:

• Vampires: 3 different families.
  • Different (but similar) bonuses to ability scores.
  • Different skill bonuses.
  • A minor distinguishing feature.
• Merfolk: strong individual differences:
  • A third swappable at-will
  • Choice of one bonus skill
  • A power that has different options depending on the available power sources. (So going with dual power source-classes or hybrid/multiclassing is "rewarded")
• Kor: variable proficiencies in tools/weapons (each tool will also double as a weapon, an example is the grapnel hook)
  • Bonus proficiency in grapnel hook, plus another tool/weapon of choice
  • Each tool/weapon will have a special power available to Kor only. And it might acquire new uses through feats.
  • The graonel hook power "Skyhooking" may become the basic power since all Kor are proficient with it.
  • Each of the powers or varaints of the same power should be/include an at-will, which will be Utility mostly, with a focus on movement
• Elves: 3 different clans.
  • I still don't know how to differentiate them, but I'd like something similar but different from the Vampires and a focus on skills. Using Drow/Eladrin/Elves, although tempting, is not the right way, IMO, since Eladrin and Drow have feats and powers that are too far from Zendikar's elven clans.
• Goblins: 3 different tribes.
  • Different use of the "Grit" mineral.
  • No differences on ability score bonus, since I plan to give the Human "+2 to Any" to every Goblin, to represent their not homogeneous nature as a race.
  • Most of the differences will be related to damage resistance and effects when taking damage of that type: goblins should be good at doing stunts when taking damage, to represent their recklessness and risk-taker nature.

There is another point that should characterize all the main races (plus the Surrakar, who are another main race, but just not so big as to be varied and internally differentiated). And the point is adaption to Zendikar's fantastic and often vertical terrain. In other words, ways of flying or climbing!

• Vampires: Nirkana vampires, and others through feats, will have some sort of flying/gliding, starting with a boost to their jumps.
• Merfolk: they're nearly the masters of flying. Arcane, psionic, divine, and primal merfolk will all have means to fly and most importantly grant flying to others. Arcane and psionic will focus on telekinesis for flying, using levitating objects mostly. While divine and primal will simply be able to tap on the energy of Zendikar's Roil and start flying.
• Kor: if Merfolk are the masters of flying magically, Kor are the masters of flying without any magic. They will have limited at-will flying since level 1 by the means of their grapnel hook (requires a climbable surface). As Merfolk, they will also be able to grant short flights to allies by the means of complex uses of their ropes. They could also have a trait of Air Superiority granting them a bonus to flying speed and attacks while flying or suspended.
• Elves: they should be all good at climbing, with the Tajuru having a true climbing speed and able to perform nearly impossible climbs. The shamanic Mul-Daya elves could also have means of teleporting and/or phasing, while the Joraga would have different bonsues to balance their partial lack of movement-based powers (same as Kalastria and Ghet vampires compared to Nirkana).
• Goblins: their light weight should enhance their jumps, and I also see them adding to forced movement applied to them, with or without control (possibly gaining control through feats). They should be those who "bounce around", especially when blasts and explosions abound...
  Oh, and they'll also be the ones that ride strange beasts. With a diverse range of control degrees of course!!
• Surrakar: they're not so good with vertcality, but they should be masters of difficult terrain. They're amphibious to begin with (like Merfolk), and will have swampwalk as standard. Through feats, they could be able to overcome any difficult terrain, and ultimately even be resistant to magical forms of constriciton and such, making them the "inexorable all terrain tanks" of the situation. Something good for defenders (able to reach their targets always) and leaders (able to reach their allies always), and Surrakar will be good at both roles.

So, what do YOU think?

Well Gamma, you're going to "think in D&D" very soon!
This is very helpful, mostly because of the names you gave to the power.

You also gave me a great idea. While it's true that backgrounds can't give benefits comparable to those of a (good) feat, there are already cases of feats that build up on top of specific backgrounds. And that will be the case with Elves.

A special rule, if needed would be that of granting Elves two backgrounds: a clan background and a regular one. A character can always take more than one background, but should always choose one among them for the mechanical benefit. Elves (or better yet, Elven Clan Backgrounds) could have the special rule to allow two different mechanical background benefits at once.
Then, with a series of feats, they would get the proficiencies and even the "clan powers", as feat powers (which do not have to swap any existing power of the character, they're minor so they just count as extra).

Elves are solved!