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This guide is to introduce players new to D&D 5e, the Forgotten Realms, or Baldur's Gate 3 to the races available for you to use for your custom character "Tav," Dark Urge, or hirelings and to understand the races of origin characters and companions. It will go over how the dialogue tag system may cause a character's race to play a role in conversation options and how the world reacts to your character. And it will cover the mechanical features of the races, and what classes or builds may go well with each race.
Racial Spellcasting
This section applies to High elves, Drow a.k.a. Dark Elves, half high-elves, drow half-elves, 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 that this section applies to all have racial features that allow them to cast spells which may require either an attack roll or saving throw. An 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 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:
| Race | Spellcasting Modifier | Affected Spells |
|---|---|---|
| Drow | Charisma | Faerie Fire |
| Drow Half-Elves | Charisma | Faerie Fire |
| High Elf | Intelligence | Acid Splash, Bone Chill (Chill Touch), Fire Bolt, Poison Spray, Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp, Mage Hand* |
| Half High-Elf | Intelligence | Acid Splash, Bone Chill (Chill Touch), Fire Bolt, Poison Spray, Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp, Mage Hand* |
| Githyanki | Intelligence | Mage Hand* |
| Asmodeous Tiefling | Charisma | Hellish Rebuke |
| Mephistopholes Tiefling | Charisma | Burning Hands, Flame Blade, Mage Hand* |
| Zariel Tiefling | Charisma | Searing Smite, Branding Smite |
Mage Hand should use your spellcasting ability modifiers for things such as trying to shove creatures, but I have not tested this to verify
Lately in the tabletop realm of D&D 5e the rules have begun shifting towards letting a player choose what the racial spellcasting ability modifier is. However there are no signs of these rules lateraling over to Baldur's Gate 3 at the time of writing.
Dragonborn
Lore
Dragonborn, Drow, and Githyanki have some of the most complex Lore, not every race will have this lengthy of a description.
The Dragonborn are beyond a doubt the most unique appearing races with a very strange history going back to the origin of the Forgotten Realms world. To understand the lore of Dragonborn in this setting, you need to first understand the lore of the world of Toril itself. A 10 minute video by Spell&Shield also summarizes these events.
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.
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.
World Interactions
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.
Mechanical Traits
Dragonborn are not in Early Access. The below is based on their mechanics in the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Player's Handbook:
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, 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 rest.
| Draconic Ancestor | Damage Type | Breath Weapon |
|---|---|---|
| Black | Acid | 5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save) |
| Blue | Lightning | 5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save) |
| Brass | Fire | 5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save) |
| Bronze | Lightning | 5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save) |
| Copper | Acid | 5 by 30 ft. line (Dex. save) |
| Gold | Fire | 15 ft. cone (Dex. save) |
| Green | Poison | 15 ft. cone (Dex. save) |
| Red | Fire | 15 ft. cone (Dex. save) |
| Silver | Cold | 15 ft. cone (Dex. save) |
| White | Cold | 15 ft. cone (Dex. save) |
Build Synergy
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 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
Lore
Dragonborn, Drow, and Githyanki have some of the most complex Lore, not every race will have this lengthy of a description.
Drow is pronounced like "cow"
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 10 minute video by Spell&Shield (which is still all things considered a brief summary of Drow lore).
To proivde a quick summary, the elven gods are led by Corellon. His consort Araushnee craved his power and plotted against him, trying several times to get Corellon. Usually her plan consisted of causing an evil god and its forces to go to war with the elven 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 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.
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. This primarily took the form of working behind the scenes to cause 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 defeated. After enough occurences 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 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 bear the sun's light on the surface and magically binding 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. This has been the state of things for over 10,000 years. Over this time Lolth's influence grew further to the point where most underdark dwelling drow are fanatically Lolth-Sworn.
There do remain some drow that try to mend relations and coexist with surface races, to separate themselves from Lolth's influence, and to redeem their evil kin. These are referred to in BG3 as Seldarine Drow, which is the name of the original elven pantheon of Gods led by Corellon. They will very likely worship Eilistraee for coming down from godhood to live among them and sharing her similar goals of redeeming the fallen drow taken by her mother Lolth.
World Interactions
For a surface dweller, seeing a Drow is perhaps one of the most terrifying things imaginable. There are many stories of their waging wars, 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 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 Deep Gnomes and Duergar may also fear Drow because their rage and evil tendencies are not just reserved for surface dwellers.
A Seldarine Drow will likely be met with similar reactions to most people, but in most cases BG3 allows the Seldarine to try and calm the person they are talking to and persuade them that they do not behave like their evil brethren.
Mechanical Traits
- Fey Ancestry making it more difficult to charm them and impossible to put them to sleep magically.
- Keen Senses which grants them proficiency in Perception.
- Proficiency with Rapiers, Shortswords, and Hand Crossbows
- Superior Darkvision allowing them to see in darkness out to 80 ft
- The ability to cast the following spells using Charisma as the spellcasting ability modifier:
- Dancing Lights (available at level 1)
- Faerie Fire (one free cast per long rest, available at level 3) For this spell see the Racial Spellcasting section.
- Darkness (one free cast per long rest, available at level 5)
Build Synergy
Normally in tabletop Drow have Sunlight Sensitivity which is a major, major downside to picking this race. However the tadpole in our brain seems to render our characters immune to these effects.
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 requires 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 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 Sorcerers and Wizards, but that is unlikely to be present in BG3 without mods.
Pretty much any class or build will get tremendous benefit from being a Drow. Charisma casting classes like Bard, Warlock, Paladin, and Sorcerer may get a bit more benefit than others thanks to the Faerie Fire spell but nothing too substantial.