Guide:Races Guide by Phantomsplit: Difference between revisions

In BG3's Early Access different races have fixed [[Ability Scores|ability score]] increases. For example, [[Githyanki]] have a +2 bonus to [[Strength]] and a +1 bonus to [[Intelligence]]. This leads many to recommend Githyanki for character builds that use at least one if not both of these abilities, so they may be recommended for something like an [[Eldritch Knight]] [[Fighter]] or a [[Wizard]]. However at launch this is going to change and all races will have a floating +2 that they can put into any ability score, and a +1 they can put into a different ability score. So you may see builds saying that a [[Elf#Wood_Elf|Wood Elf]] is a bad choice for say a [[Paladin]], while [[Dragonborn]] would be a bad choice for [[Monk]] based off the ability score increases for these races vs. the ability scores that the respective classes focus in. However those recommendations are going to be out of date when launch comes around and you will be able to put the ability scores wherever you want.

This section applies to [[Elf#High_elves|High elves]], [[Drow]] a.k.a. Dark Elves, [[Half-Elf#High_Half-Elves|half high-elves]], [[Half-Elf#Drow_Half-Elves|drow half-elves]], [[Tiefling|Tieflings]], and ''possibly'' [[Githyanki]]. Rather than repeating the same information for each of these I will cover this aspect of racial spellcasting for all the above at once, and when I discuss those individual races I will refer back to this section when discussing their spellcasting.  

The [[Races|races]] that this section applies to all have racial features that allow them to cast spells which may require either an [[Attack Roll|attack roll]] or [[Saving Throw|saving throw]]. An [[Attack Roll|attack roll]] means that you will have to roll a 20 sided die (often referred to as a d20) and apply applicable bonuses and penalties to the result to see if the attack hits the target. A target rolling a [[Saving Throw|save]] means that the target will roll a d20 and apply relevant modifiers to try and avoid the effect of something like a spell, and how difficult this will be for your target to avoid for your target will depend on your character's relevant modifiers. For more information see the [[Die Rolls]] page.

So your character's relevant spellcasting modifier will have an effect on how useful these racial spells that require attack rolls and saving throws are. If say you are a Drow but have a low Charisma then enemies will be able to more easily avoid your racial [[Faerie Fire]] spell, or if you make a High Elf with a low Intelligence and select [[Fire Bolt]] as your racial cantrip, then you will miss more of your attacks. Spells which are affected by this mechanic and their relevant spellcasting ability modifier are:

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 {{FRWiki|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 {{FRWiki|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 {{FRWiki|Abeir}} while the game is set in {{FRWiki|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. {{FRWiki|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 {{FRWiki|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 {{FRWiki|Spellplague}} about 100 years before BG3.

The goddess {{FRWiki|Shar}} sought control over magic in the year 1385 DR, and as a result she successfully plotted to have the goddess of magic {{FRWiki|Mystra_(Midnight)|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.

We do not have Dragonborn in Early Access so this is entirely speculation based off the above lore. BG3 takes place in 1492 DR, about 100 years after the Dragonborn first arrived on Faerun. Tymanther landed on the opposite side of the continent from Baldur's Gate. So there may be people living in rural areas who have never seen or heard of Dragonborn. They are often viewed with uncertainty by those who have heard of them simply due to the strange circumstances of their arrival. Dragonborn tend to group together in clan like fashions due to the strife they experienced on Abeir, and the isolation they face on Toril. And above all, they hate evil dragons. They may hold suspicions or uncertainty towards good, metallic dragons. But evil chromatic (red, black, green, blue, white) dragons are despised by Dragonborn.

'''Draconic Ancestry''': Choose a dragon type. You gain a breath weapon which does damage of the type and shape shown in the below table, and also gain resistance to that damage type. The breath weapon initially does 2d6 damage damage on a failed [[Saving Throw|saving throw]], or half as much if the targets make a successful save. The DC is 8 + Constiution modifier + Proficiency bonus. The damage increases to 3d6 at 6th level and 4d6 at 11th level. Normally in 5e this recharges on a short or long [[Resting|rest]].

In D&D 5e tabletop the Dragonborn are normally seen as one of the weakest races overall. They don't have [[Darkvision (Passive Feature)|Darkvision]] which is very significant. 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.

Wizards of the Coast (the company that makes the tabletop rules) has since buffed Dragonborns in the tabletop rules, but it so far does not appear that Larian intends to use these rules. There are signs that Larian is changing some features of theirs but we don't have the details and from what is known these changes do not appear substantial.

Drow have some of the most nuanced and fleshed out lore in the Forgotten Realms, largely due to the famous novels following the adventures of the legendary Drow ranger Drizzt Do'Urden. I am only going to give a very, very brief summary and for more details please see this [https://youtu.be/zcUk4kFNobQ 10 minute video by Spell&Shield] (which is still all things considered a brief summary of Drow lore).

In short summary, the elven gods were once all united and referred to as the {{FRWiki|Seldarine}} over 10,000 years before the events of Baldur's Gate 3. They were led by {{FRWiki|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 {{FRWiki|Eilistraee}} and frame her for Corellon's death. This plan did somewhat work but it only wounded Corellon. Evenutally Araushnee and her son {{FRWiki|Vhaeraun}} who helped her with these plots would be caught and put on trial. Araushnee and her son were exiled from the Seldarine pantheon, and Araushnee would later turn herself into spider like demonic creature and take the name of {{FRWiki|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 {{FRWiki|Demonweb_Pits|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 {{FRWiki|Ilythiir}} 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 {{FRWiki|Bhaerynden}}, displacing the dwarves that remained and sending them into exile.

For a surface dweller, seeing a Drow is perhaps one of the most terrifying things imaginable. There are many stories of their surface raiding parties devastating small villages, taking slaves and treating them despicably, and torturing their victims. If your character is a Lolth-sworn Drow then they may encourage this type of reaction as they try to frighten those who see them, or give folks further stories to tell of the horrible things Drow are capable of. In underdark society Drow are at the top with female Drow calling all the shots. They have a house system led by matriarchs which I am not going to get into or we'll be here for hours, and so far I have not seen much mention of this in BG3. However underdark dwelling races like [[Gnome#Deep_Gnomes|Deep Gnomes]] will be especially frightful of Drow, as they often make slaves of the Deep Gnomes. [[Dwarf#Duergar|Duergar]] and Drow respect but hate one another, being the two most powerful civilized races in the underdark. At times they are at war, and at times they are allies by circumstances.

[[Fey Ancestry]], [[Keen Senses]], and [[Superior Darkvision]] are great to have for any and all characters. The [[Darkness]] Spell can also be great to have on any character. For example say you have some enemy bad guys on a platform firing ranged attacks at your party, and you would have to spend 2 turns just to move and get into range with them. You can cast darkness on the platform they are on therefore blinding them and making them come down. You can use it out of combat to help sneak about.

The remaining abilities are a bit more situational. [[Dancing Lights|Dancing lights]] requires [[Concentration|concentration]], which can be a serious downside for casters because this means they cannot concentrate on other more powerful spells. But on a non-caster class this isn't really an issue. The Faerie Fire spell actually scales really well into mid game for a racial feature you get at level 1, but only if you have the high Charisma to use it effectively as discussed in the [[Guide:Baldur's Gate 3 Races Guide#Racial_Spellcasting|Racial Spellcasting]] section. The weapon proficiencies don't help many builds. The builds which could make good use of those proficiencies will already get them from their class. If D&D 5e cantrips like Booming Blade or Green-Flame Blade are added to BG3 then these proficiencies could become very helpful for [[Sorcerer|Sorcerers]] and [[Wizard|Wizards]], but that is unlikely to be present in BG3 without mods.  

Dwarves in the Forgotten Realms compare to the typical Dwarves in other conventional fantasy settings. They tend to develop underground kingdoms where they amass treasure and might, and develop clan like societies that respect their elders and gods such as the good aligned god of crafting [[Deities#Moradin|Moradin]]. Dwarven commerce largely revolves around mining and blacksmithing. They have great appreciation for finely crafted weapons, armor, and other objects such as chalices, jewelry, and architecture. They feel a natural draw towards the stone and have an intuitive understanding of it to an extent. The Dwarven disciplined structure causes them to come at odds with the elves who are seen as flippant and emotionally driven. However Dwarves tend to get along with [[human|humans]], [[halfling|halflings]], and especially [[Gnome|gnomes]].

The most important events in Dwarven lore revolve around the kingdom {{FRWiki|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, {{FRWiki|Clan_Duergar|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 {{FRWiki|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 {{FRWiki|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.

A Dwarf will likely have extra dialogue options when it comes to recognizing and identifying weapons and armor of unique make, unique masonry, or exploring underground areas as a result of their bond to the rock and stone. They may express some animosity or rivalry with [[elf|elves]], though I doubt it will be some quick quips rather than outright animosity in most situations. Perhaps much like Gimli and Legolas from Lord of the Rings. [[Duergar]] will likely have an outright loathing for anything related to [[Mind Flayer|Illithids]]. And [[Gnome#Deep_Gnomes|Deep Gnomes]] will likely react with fear to the sight of a Duergar.

Depending on how deep Larian goes with the lore you may see additional reactions based on the above lore. [[Dwarf#Gold_Dwarves|Gold Dwarves]] (Hill Dwarves) may hold a grudge against the [[Drow]] for their conquering of Bhaerynden. Duergar often blame the Shield Dwarves for their abandonment to the hands of the Mind Flayers, so there could be animosity between Duergar and Shield Dwarves. And Hill Dwarves and Mountain Dwarves also often view [[Gnome|Gnomes]] as their cousins, so they may get along as well.

Poison damage is very common, so dwarves getting resistance and being able to cut the damage in half is very nice. And  [[Darkvision (Passive Feature)|Darkvision]] can be immensely beneficial to any character as well. The Dwarves' movement speed reductions slightly hampers their melee combat ability, as you may not be able to close range with bad guys quite as quickly. But it doesn't have as great of an impact on characters able to make attacks from a distance. Additionally melee classes that can mitigate this movement speed penalty such as [[Monk]] and [[Barbarian]] may be able to offset it somewhat. Their additional weapon proficiencies are not going to be too beneficial on their own as most builds which want these proficiencies will get them from their class. But [[Monk]] is once again the standout winner from this feature. There is speculation that monks will be able to use their Martial Arts features like unarmed strikes with any weapon that they are [[proficient]] with but lacks the [[Heavy (weapon property)|heavy]] or [[Weapons#Properties|two-handed]] property. This means a dwarven monk could wield a [[warhammer]] with its d10 damage die when wielded as a [[Weapons#Properties|versatile]] weapon, which is much better than the next best option monks get with the shortsword's d6 damage.

The Gold Dwarves' additional HP per level goes great with classes that get up close in melee. Combine this with the tough [[Feats|feat]] on a [[Barbarian|barbarian]] to make a super tank. The Shield Dwarves' additional armor proficiencies go great on characters like squishy casters such as [[wizard|wizards]], [[sorcerer|sorcerers]], lore [[bard|bards]], and [[warlock|warlocks]] as it allows you to leave your [[Dexterity]] at 14 and wear medium armor for an overall [[Armour Class|armor class]] of 16 before accounting for magical bonuses. This combined with dwarven weapon proficiencies makes it feasible (but far from ideal) to make a melee [[Sorcerer|sorcerer]] or [[Wizard|wizard]] character. And lastly the Duergar's Enlarge ability goes great with a melee class that gets multiple attacks such as a monk. Normally in tabletop the bonus damage from [[Enlarge|enlarge]] does not apply to unarmed strikes but in BG3 you are able to apply this additional damage. While the Duergar's [[invisibility]] spell could be very nice for a sneaky type of character including [[rogue]] as well as many other classes if they build themselves this way.

| Learn one [[Cantrip]] from the [[Wizard]] Spell list*|| Movement Speed is increased by 5 ft to a total of 35 ft

Elves' [[Darkvision (Passive Feature)|Darkvision]] is great for any character, and [[Perception]] is often seen as one of the most valuable skills in BG3 so having proficiency is great and the elf is already off to a good start. [[Fey Ancestry|Fey ancestry]] is a bit situational but by no means a bad thing to have. And like with [[Drow]] and [[Dwarf|Dwarves]] above, the racial proficiencies are not that great unless you are going for a melee [[Wizard|wizard]] or [[Sorcerer|sorcerer]] build which will be difficult to pull of in BG3. But the [[Longswords|longsword]] proficiency could be nice for a [[Monk|monk]] character if you can in-fact use a longsword as a monk weapon. The [[longbow]] proficiency can also be nice on a [[rogue]] as they are a build that can make good use of a Longbow but are not proficient with it normally.

Humans and orcs have been known to exist peacefully together in some scenarios, as stated in the Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition Players Handbook which states, "Humans and orcs have been known to exist peacefully together in some scenarios besides looking at Many Arrows." One popular example of this cooperation is {{FRWiki|Many-Arrows|Kingdom of Many Arrows}} located near the northern end of the Sword Coast. Many-Arrows was established just over 100 years before the events in BG3 and is a peaceful settlement of orcs that has generated bonds and relationships with their neighbors and in-fact their neighbors have even come to the aid of Many-Arrows. From these kinds of relationships between humans and orcs, half-orcs can be born.

[[Half-Orc|Half-orcs]] are well known for their strength and endurance. Almost all surface races will be uncomfortable around a half-orc they are not familiar with due to the reputation of the swarming hordes of orcs. Some half-orcs may be tolerant of this, others may be offended or angered by such presumptions. They are often accustomed to being viewed as outsiders. [[Elf|Elves}} and Orcs have the most bad blood between them, so they may be the single race to react most strongly to the sight of a half-orc. Some of Gruumsh's impression on orcs often carries over to the half-orc offspring calling them to battle. Many half-orcs take on mercenary work to fulfill their own needs and desires. And they are known for settling disputes with a brawl rather than an argument. They often wish to revel in their victories and are known to have celebrations including viking like behaviors such as wrestling, feats, and of course drinking.  

* Relentless Endurance which means when a half-orc would normally be [[Downed (Condition)|downed]] they instead are left with 1 hit point instead (recharges on a long rest).

Darkvision is always great to have. Relentless Endurance goes great with any melee character that you will have getting up into the thick of things and is especially desired on tanky characters like [[Barbarian|Barbarians]], [[Circle_of_the_Moon|Moon]] [[Druid|Druids]], [[Fighter|Fighters]], and [[Paladin|Paladins]]. Meanwhile Savage Attacks goes great with anyone making melee weapon attacks which goes great with tons of characters. We'll have to see if Larian includes a Monk's unarmed strikes or a wildshaped Druid's natural attacks with this. It isn't a massive damage increase but can become more notable on Champion [[Fighter]] characters or any melee character where parties can guarantee crits such as if you have casters who can consistently land [[Hold Person]]. The proficiency in intimidation is a nice tassle on the end, but could become more significant for classes with a high [[Charisma]] like a [[College of Valour|Valor]] [[Bard]] or Swords Bard or [[Paladin]] or Pact of the Blade [[Warlock]].

Overall the Half-Orc is one of the best races for melee combat characters with a heavy emphasis on the combat part. But they offer a little bit of something for any character if implemented as expected.

{{FRWiki|Halfling}} Lore is extremely sparse. There is no information on when or where the first halflings appeared. They tend to have a sense of wanderlust and exploration and exploration than the elves, as well as a tendency towards finding mishchief whether wittingly or not. They are known for their clan like social structure with an emphasis on family bonds. Some bands may settled down and make a small isolated village for a while before getting bored of it and packing up to leave with little worry or concern. Others will roam about and never settle down at all. The only major halfling settlement of {{FRWiki|Luiren}} was flooded as a result of the world shaking Spellplague as described in the [[Guide:Baldur's Gate 3 Races Guide#Dragonborn|Dragonborn Lore]] section and this further emphasizes the modern day halfling tendency to roam.

Besides the flooding of Luiren, the only other major Halfling lore event (which I doubt will be brought up in BG3) is the {{FRWiki|Hin_Ghostwar|Hin Ghostwar}}. "Hin" is another name for Halfling, and the Ghostwar is so named because the {{FRWiki|Strongheart_halfling|Strongheart Tribe}} and {{FRWiki|Lightfoot_halfling|Lightfoot Tribe}} teamed up and went to war with their {{FRWiki|Ghostwise_Halfling|Ghostwise Tribe}} brethren. Around year -100 DR (about 1,600 years before BG3) the druidic Ghostwise halflings were led by a cleric who came to worship the evil god of primal savagery and stalking, {{FRWiki|Malar}}. The cleric led her tribe to ruthlessly attack wild creatures and halflings of the Lightfoot and Strongheart Tribes. The Lightfoot and Strongheart tribes teamed together in the Hin Ghostwar to push the Ghostwise halflings back and killed their evil cleric. The surviving Ghostwise tribe members exiled themselves in shame for their actions under the clerics influence. While the [[Halfling#Strongheart_Halflings|Strongheart halflings]] were happy to continue living in and around Luiren, the [http://Halfling#Lightfoot_Halflings Lightfoot halflings] were horrified by the bloody events that had taken place at the hands of both the Ghostwise and the Strongheart tribes. They instead decided to set off and explore the continent of Faerun rather than stay with the awful memories of what had occurred.  

While I do say that Larian may not really include the above lore info, they did go out of their way to refer to Strongheart Halflings as such, rather than simply saying Stout halflings as they are known in the D&D 5e Player Handbook Rules.

Many civilized races give a bit of pause when a [[halfling]] is in their midst, as their tendency to get into often innocent mischief is well known. On the other hand, halflings imagine that they are getting along with pretty much everyone. Since halflings lack their own large settlements and tend to roam about, they often come to settle for short times in the settlements developed by other races doing odds and end jobs. Especially [[human|humans]] and [[gnome|gnomes]], while strongheart halflings tend to also relate well with [[dwarf|dwarves]]. One common theme among all these races is that they tend to view a halfling's typical lack of interest in combat and warfare as the inability to fight. But when backed into a corner a halfling will fight ferociously, claws out, no tactic is too cheap, I didn't hear no bell, and with an indomitable instinct to survive. I personally doubt there will be many if any interractions specific to Lightfoot Halflings meeting Strongheart Halflings in BG3 regarding the Hin Ghostwars, but I could be mistaken. Besides Ghostwise Halflings (which are not character options in BG3 and we have seen no sign of any NPC Ghostwise in the games) halflings mostly all get along now given their friendly attitudes.

As with [[dwarf]] and [[gnome]], the halfling's movement speed penalty mostly hurts them when it comes to melee combat builds because this may make it more difficult to close the distance with their target, though this is not as important for ranged builds and can be somewhat offset by builds that get a movement speed bonus like [[Barbarian]] and [[Monk]]. Not having darkvision is a pretty significant detriment to this class which is something you'll have to keep in mind while playing in dark areas. Brave giving them [[advantage]] on saving throws against being [[Frightened (Condition)|frightened]] can be very helpful at high levels when creatures start having powerful effects that apply fear, but until then it is very situational. Their best ability is by far [[Lucky]], as it gives you a chance to succeed on checks you would have otherwise failed. Lucky is moderately buffed in BG3 however. Larian has implemented a controversial [[D&D_5e_Rule_Changes#Fundamental_Changes|rule change]] where a natural 1 on an [[Ability Check|ability check]] results in an automatic failure, even if your modifiers, proficiency bonus, [[Guidance|guidance]], etc. would put you over the DC of the check. This can cause you to fail a check which by the D&D 5e books you should have succeeded just because you rolled a 1. A halfling's ability to reroll natural ones reduces the likelihood of this Larian houserule hurting your character. This makes halfling a more tempting race for skill monkey classes like [[Rogue|rogue]], [[Bard|bard]], [[Ranger|ranger]], or knowledge domain [[Cleric|cleric]].

The lightfoot halfling's naturally stealthy could be nice on a character who is doing some sneaking about and allow them to focus proficiencies they get from their class and/or background in other areas. While a strongheart halfling's may help them resist the common poison damage and associated effects in combat.  

== Humans ==

Like with [[Elf|Elves]] and [[Dwarf|Dwarves]], the {{FRWiki|Human}} history also tends to meet typical fantasy expectation.  For thousands of years the dwarves ruled the depths while the elves roamed far and wide and were the greatest power on the surface. But as a result of human ingenuity, dedication, perseverence, and a fast rate of reproduction they established large settlements at critical locations for trade allowing them to prosper commercially over time. The human kingdoms would fight among one another which certainly did not help their rise to dominance. But these wars were nothing compared to the devastation the elves suffered in the First Sundering (as discussed in the [[Guide:Baldur's Gate 3 Races Guide#Elves|Elven Lore]] section) and the {{FRWiki|Crown_Wars|Crown Wars}} and persistent conflicts with the [[Drow]], and the devastation that the Dwarves experienced when the [[Drow]] moved underground as described in the [[Guide:Baldur's Gate 3 Races Guide#Dwarves|Dwarven Lore]] section. As a result the Humans have grown to dominate much of Faerun, including the Sword Coast region where Baldur's Gate is located.  

The second notable human Kingdom to look into is {{FRWiki|Thay}}. In short starting around 100 years ago this nation far to the East of Baldur's Gate came under the influence of a necromancer wizard named {{FRWiki|Szass_Tam|Szass Tam}}. Since then he and his {{FRWiki|Red_Wizards_of_Thay|Red Wizards of Thay}} have attempted to take over foreign kingdoms across Faerun using discrete tactics with years of planning, usually wrecking absolute chaos when their plans come to fruition. There are some notable references to Thay in BG3 but it is difficult to tell how related they will be to the main plot if at all. The Red Wizards of Thay and Szass Tam are covered more in the D&D Honor Among Thieves movie.

Humans are certainly the most vanilla race. They are the most populous and common race in the Sword Coast where BG3 takes place. They do not have any major disputes with other races. While different kingdoms will have skirmishes, it is almost never a kill-on-sight type of reaction to a rival human unless they are something like a Red Wizard of Thay (which our characters in BG3 are not). Humans are known for their perseverence and lack for learning and applying new skills, but otherwise they are rather plain.

[[Human|Humans]] in BG3 are one of the races that are hampered by Larian's [[Guide:Baldur's_Gate_3_Races_Guide#Racial_Spellcasting|Racial Spellcasting]] changes. It is ''speculated'' based off some launch build footage from content creators that Humans will get: