There are certain races that have to start out "good" (Qeynos)or "evil." (Freeport). They can later betray and switch to the other city, but they have to start out in that city. Likewise, there are certain classes you can only play if you belong to a particular city, and those you CAN'T take with you when you betray--when you betray, you become a new class if you belong to a city-specific class.
For example, under the scout archetype, there are a couple neutral classes (troubador and dirge) which can belong to either city, and then there are a couple city-specific classes. Rangers can only belong to Qeynos, and Assassins can only belong to Freeport. They are sorta like flip sides of the coin, however--they share a lot of abilities in common, and if you betray to the opposing city, your class becomes the class that is the counterpart of your original class. If you start out as a Ranger and betray to freeport, you become an Assassin. If you start out as an Assassin and betray to Q-town, you become a Ranger.
Here's the division:
Qeynos:
Conjuror (counterpart: necromancer)
Illusionist (counterpart: coercer?)
Monk (counterpart: bruiser)
Mystic (counterpart: defiler?)
Paladin (counterpart: shadowknight)
Ranger (counterpart: Assassin)
Swashbuckler (counterpart: Brigand)
Templar (counterpart: Inquisitor)
Freeport:
Assassin (counterpart: ranger)
Brigand (counterpart: swashbuckler)
Bruiser (counterpart: monk)
Coercer (counterpart: illusionist?)
Defiler (counterpart: mystic?)
Inquisitor (counterpart: templar)
Necromancer (counterpart: conjuror)
Shadowknight (counterpart: paladin)
Either:
Berserker
Dirge
Fury
Guardian
Troubador
Warden
Warlock
Wizard
The point of this? In answer to your question, yes, any race can be any class, so long as the character is alligned with the right city for that class. For example, a dark elf (initially alligned with Freeport) cannot be a Ranger (ranger being a Qeynos class) until he or she betrays and becomes a citizen of Qeynos. So if you wanted a Dark Elf Ranger, you would initially roll up a Dark Elf Assassin, and then betray to Qeynos, at which point you would become a ranger. If you wanted a Halfling Shadowknight, you would roll up a Halfling Paladin and then betray to Freeport. I believe DSD has a Dark Elf Monk, actually, for which she had roll a Dark Elf Bruiser and then betray to Qeynos.
Edited, Jan 8th 2007 2:01am by Ambrya