They are working on adding race abilities now.
Right now there are only subtle race bonuses such as undead breathing underwater and resistant to charm type spells. But more is to come in the next patch or two.
Ordinn 9/27/04 wrote:
The development team plans on addressing racial abilities in the (very?) near future. Exactly when they will be implemented hasn’t been determined.
These minor traits will give some flavor to each race, but the team is going to make sure they don’t overpower any races.
If you have any more questions on racial abilities post them in this thread and I will do my best to answer them for you.