Guide:Races Guide by Phantomsplit: Difference between revisions

The game Baldur's Gate 3 takes place around the Sword Coast on the continent of Faerun on a world known as Toril. But Toril used to be known as Abeir-Toril, until drastic events caused this world to be split in two. The problem is that chaotic and powerful creatures known as Primordials existed in the realm at first. They went to war with the group of gods that had come to try and foster life on the world, resulting in a conflict known as the Dawn War. As the war was drawing to an end and it seemed the Primordials were going to lose the war, they began to grow desperate. In frustration Io the greatest of the Primordials decided that if he could not have Abeir-Toril then he would instead destroy it, which he attempted to do by dropping a moon on the world. As this event was in the process of destroying the world, Io's counterpart named Ao and the greatest of the gods quickly intervened. He split the world Abeir-Toril into two different worlds named Abeir and Toril which are similar but distinctly unique. This event is known as Tearfall, and occurred about 33,000 years before BG3 takes place.

While the above history occurred an unknown thousands of years before BG3, it is noteworthy because Dragonborn are originally from Abeir while the game is set in Toril. In the aftermath of Tearfall, dragons were brought to Abeir with the Primordials. But Abeir did not have access to the Weave for casting magic, and as a result its inhabitants were unable to resist the dragons who came to conquer the planet Abeir. Dragonborn were created at some point after this, believed to be hatched from dragon eggs as a unique race (source 5e PHB). Regardless, they were slaves to the dragons for thousands of years, with the biggest exception being a group of Dargonborn in Tymanther who won their freedom against the dragons about 200 years before the events of BG3. However things radically changed due to an event known as the Spellplague about 100 years before BG3.

The goddess Shar sought control over magic in the year 1385 DR, and as a result she successfully plotted to have the goddess of magic Mystra killed. Mystra did die (though not permanently) and with this the Weave that constrains and controls magic fell apart in an event known as the Spellplague. This had many effects, but for this conversation it also caused parts of Toril to go to Abeir and parts of Abeir to go to Toril. This included the freed dragonborn region of Tymanther being brought to Toril, and that is how Dragonborn were introduced to the setting. The Spellplague ended 10 years later in 1395 Mystra returned, Ao once again started to separate the worlds of Toril and Abeir in a period known as the Second Sundering. But Tymanther was never brought back to Abeir, so it and its Dragonborn inhabitants remain on Toril. Notably all of this took place after the events of the first two games. Dragonborn did not exist on Faerun during the time of the first two Baldur's Gate games.

In D&D 5e tabletop the Dragonborn are normally seen as one of the weakest races overall. The breath weapon damage is very, very low and requires your full action to use. Originally all races had locked in ability score bonuses, and Dragonborn had +2 Strength and +1 Cha. This was their biggest selling point, making them good choices for [[Paladin|Paladin]] characters due to these bonuses at least. But with BG3 using the optional flexible Ability score rules, any race is able to select +2 Str and +1 Cha which also removes this advantage. If there is any build that gets particular synergy out of Dragonborn abilities, it would be one like a Circle of the Moon [[Druid]] or [[Barbarian]] which often have a high Constitution to make their breath weapon just a smidge better. I would argue that there are still much better choices out there from a mechanical standpoint. But in terms of appearance, lore, and culture Dragonborn are very interested and you can certainly play as one regardless of what class you use. There will almost always be another option which is a bit better is all.

In short summary, the elven gods were once all united and referred to as the Seldarine over 10,000 years before the events of Baldur's Gate 3. They were led by Corellon. His consort Araushnee craved Corellon's power and plotted against him, trying several times to get Corellon assassinated. Usually her plan consisted of causing an evil god and its forces to go to war with the Seldarine gods, and plotting for Corellon to "accidentally" die as a result of the battle. For the last of these plots Araushnee cursed Corellon's scabbard so that it would draw the arrows fired by their daughter Eilistraee and frame her for Corellon's death. This plan did somewhat work but it only wounded Corellon. Evenutally Araushnee and her son Vhaeraun who helped her with these plots would be caught and put on trial. Araushnee and her son were exiled from the elven pantheon, and Araushnee would later [https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/forgottenrealms/images/a/ae/Lolth_AFR_alt.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20220524084243 turn herself into spider like demonic creature] and take the name of Lolth. Meanwhile Eilistraee (the daughter of now Lolth who was framed for the attempted murder of her father Corellon) willingly exiled herself from the pantheon so that she may be there as a light to guide the dark elves who she feared were in danger from Lolth.

After her exile, Lolth went to the demon inhabited domain of the Abyss in a realm now known as the Demonweb Pits. From there she has plotted against Corellon and her former elven god kin by trying to steal the worship of the dark elves and have them go to war with Corellon's remaining elven worshippers. This primarily took the form of working behind the scenes to cause wars known as the Crown Wars between the dark elves of Illythiir and other elven groups, and then being there to shelter and aid the dark elves when they were in these dire times of war. After enough occurrences of this she became popular among the dark elves. As the dark elves then grew more powerful over time and became more violent under the influence of Lolth and other evil gods, the original elven Seldarine pantheon sought to stop these wars by cursing all dark elves; even those who were not involved in Lolth's wars. They were cursed to become Drow making it difficult for them to tolerate the sun's light on the surface and magically drawing them to the great underground network known as the Underdark. This did stop the conflicts so long as the surface elves stayed away from the underdark, but also drove many neutral or good Drow into the arms of Lolth who was there to care for them. As the Drow moved underground they conquered many locations including the Dwarven Kingdom of Bhaerynden, displacing the dwarves that remained and sending them into exile.

====The Lore====

The most important events in Dwarven lore revolve around the kingdom Bhaerynden. This was the greatest of the dwarven kingdoms on Faerun, located a fair bit South East of the Sword Coast where Baldur's Gate 3 is. Approximately 12,000 years before the events of BG3 one clan of dwarves had splintered off from the ruling dwarves at the time and set off west, founding a new kingdom of Shanatar just south of the Sword Coast (and actually pretty close to where Baldur's Gate II takes place). These dwarves would become known as the [[Dwarf#Shield_Dwarves|Shield Dwarves]]. Many dwarves still remained back in the kingdom of Bhaerynden after the Shield Dwarves splintered off however. But a few hundred years later the dark elves were cursed to become Drow and moved underground, conquering many lands in the process. Among these included the Dwarven kingdom of Bhaerynden. The refugee dwarves from this great empire fled far and wide and became nomadic, with some even going to live on the surface. These Bhaerynden refugees and their descendants became known as the [[Dwarf#Gold_Dwarves|Gold Dwarves]] or the Hill Dwarves. [https://youtu.be/Iw0GN75zZ_E More information on Duergar can be found in this 8 minute video by Spell&Shield].

Flipping back to the Shield Dwarves now and about 2,000 years after the fall of Bhaerynden, Clan Duergar of the Shield Dwarves would begin causing trouble. Clan Duergar sought to practice the teachings of the evil aligned god of magical crafting Laduguer who was xenophobic and encouraged his followers to exploit slavery to obtain their goals, but the Shield Dwarves would not have it. Clan Duergar would then splintered off from the Shield Dwarves to set up their own society where they could freely practice these evil ideals, but their isolation made them a target for [[Mind Flayer|Illithids (Mind Flayers)]] who would capture and conduct experiments on them, and turn them into their own slaves. These changes would ultimately change the physiology of the Clan Duergar dwarves, mutating them into the [[Dwarf#Duergar|Duergar]] we know today. The Duergar remained slaves to the Illithids for about 5,000 years before they won their freedom by allying themselves with dark powers. They went on to found their own society in the Underdark in the great city Gracklstugh where the Duergar toil towards mastering their craft at an unhealthy level and remain very xenophobic. Especially towards their once Shield Dwarf brethren and anything relating to Illithids.

* [[Dwarven Resilience]] which gives resistance to poison damage and advantage on saving throws against poison.

| Duergar resilience granting advantage on [[Saving Throw|saving throws]] against illusions as well as being [[Charmed (Condition)|Charmed]] or [[Paralysed (Condition)|Paralyzed]]. || - || -

Elves initially came to Toril about 30,000 years ago (relatively shortly after Tearfall as described in the [[Guide:Baldur's Gate 3 Races Guide#Dragonborn|Dragonborn Lore]] section) from the plane of the Feywild. This plane is known for harboring often mischievous magical creatures with attachment to nature such as satyrs, brownies, and sylphs. This helps explain the elves emotional and relaxed temperament. They include several subraces we will see in BG3 such as moon and sun elves (which are considered [[Elf#High_Elves|High Elves]]) and [[Elf#Wood_Elves|Wood Elves]] and dark elves which would later become [[Drow]] as described in the [[Guide:Baldur's Gate 3 Races Guide#Drow|Drow Lore]] section. They also included other subraces which we will likely not see in BG3 such as wild elves and sea elves as the more common options, and a good few additonal more rare elven subracees. With the exception of Drow, modern day elves still maintain their relaxed lifestyle with a focus on enjoying life and the world, maintaining nature's balance, and are known for their prowess and dance as well as the bow and sword. Elves were the first races to exist on Toril and had the time to build up their society, but as a race their were not inclined to building great cities with few exceptions. Events such as conflicts with the Drow, the rise of [[Human|Humans]], and catastrophes over the centuries have resulted in elven influence in the world diminishing in the world.

Most of the notable Elven history is covered in the [[Guide:Baldur's Gate 3 Races Guide#Drow|Drow Lore]] section. One detail I'll add here but may not ever get mentioned in BG3 is the First Sundering. After Araushnee (now Lolth) and her son Vhaeraun were exiled from the Elven pantheon but before the Crown Wars fully began, Lolth's and Vhaeraun's influence on the dark elves began spreading causing some minor conflicts. Around year -17,500 DR (about 19,000 years before BG3) many of the elves had enough of this and decided to pull a mass of land from the plane of Arborea full of enchanting magic and beautiful landscapes, and make it a remote island on this world of Toril. Then these peaceful elves could go live there away from all the war and strife of the dark elves. The good news is that the elves were successful and made their homeland island of Evermeet. The bad news is that with this came devastation across the continent of Faerun as the world reacted to this catastrophic change in geography and powerful magic. Many elven societies were flooded by the shifting seas and most would consider the event an overall disaster, save for the surviving elves who went off to live on Evermeet in peace.

* [[Fey Ancestry]] making them more difficult to [[Charmed (Condition)|charm]] and impossible to put to sleep magically