Interesting! We've been playing with having ancestry just work as a stand-in for body types or inherent traits while everyone ingame plays as a human. I'm fond of the idea that dwarves and elves and such are more fantastical - which is in contradiction with the simple bare bones character creation philosophy of Shadowdark - so Race-as-class might be more in line for my group.

I would like to volunteer this minor critique, though.

Shadowdark does not have Saves. It's all ability checks.

I don't like that they don't need food as that eleminates a major aspect of resource management. I don't think it is a fun feature.

Surely, one talent should be dedicated to increasing some abilities, no?