More actions
Original Author: Phantomsplit Experiience/Credentials: 9 years as a player and GM for D&D 5e, mild experience with PF1E and PF2E Hobbies: I can fix her
^ The above is to try and get the wiki to rank via Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and I feel corny for including it.
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.
Flexible Ability Scores
In BG3's Early Access different races have fixed ability score increases. For example, Githyanki have a +2 bonus to Strength and a +1 bonus to Intelligence. This leads many to recommend Githyank 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 another ability score. So you may see builds saying that a Wood Elf is a bad choice for say a Paladin, while Dragonborn would be a bad choice for Monk. Those recommendations are going to be out of date however comes around and you will be able to put the ability scores wherever you want.
There are three races that lose out by this change however. Humans used to get a +1 to all ability scores. Half-elves used to get a +2 to Charisma and then a +1 they could put in any two other ability scores of their choosing. And a Shield Dwarf (a.k.a. Mountain Dwarf) would get a +2 to Strength as well as a +2 to Constitution. As of the time of writing we know that Larian intends to buff Humans and Half elves for this change, and this will likely include proficiency in spears, pikes, halberds, glaives, and shields as well as possible additional features. We so far have no indication on what if anything the Mountain
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
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
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).
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 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 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.
Drow occasionally return to the surface as raiding bands to fulfill some desire of Lolth or another, and these Drow leave disaster in their wake. 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 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 Deep Gnomes will be especially frightful of Drow, as they often make slaves of the Deep Gnomes. 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.
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. Warlocks with the Devil's Sight Eldritch Invocation may get further use of the Drow's Darkness Spell.
Dwarves
The Lore
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 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 humans, halflings, and especially gnomes.
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 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 Gold Dwarves or the Hill Dwarves. 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 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 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.
World Interactions
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 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 Illithids. And 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. 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 Gnomes as their cousins, so they may get along as well.
Mechanical Traits
All Dwarves have:
- A 25 ft movement speed (5 ft less than normal)
- Dwarven Resilience which gives resistance to poison damage and advantage on saving throws against poison.
- Proficiency with Battleaxes, Handaxes, Light Hammers, and Warhammers.
The Dwarven Subraces obtain:
| Duergar* | Gold Dwarves (Hill Dwarves) | Shield Dwarves (Mountain Dwarves) |
|---|---|---|
| Superior Darkvision out to 80 ft** | Darkvision out to 40 ft | Darkvision out to 40 ft |
| Duergar Magic granting the ability to cast Enlarge/Reduce on self once per Long Rest starting at 3rd Level, and Invisibility on self once per long rest | Dwarven Toughness granting one additional hit point per character level | Proficiency in Light and Medium Armor |
| Duergar resilience granting advantage on saving throws against illusions as well as being Charmed or Paralyzed. | - | - |
* Duergar are not in Early Access, these features are expected on launch. ** The original rules regarding Duergar in tabletop also grants Duergar Sunlight Sensitivity which is a major drawback for this race. However Larian will likely not implement this feature in BG3, whether that is due to the Illithid tadpole in our brains or following updated tabletop rules. *** The Shield Dwarves normally get a +2 bonus to their Strength Ability Score. However with the Flexible Ability Scores changes Larian is making to BG3, the Shield Dwarves may or may not get some form of this feature or something to replace it.
Build Synergy
Poison damage is very common, so dwarves getting resistance and being able to cut the damage in half is very nice. 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 or two-handed property. This means a dwarven monk could wield a warhammer with its d10 damage die when wielded as a 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 feat on a barbarian to make a super tank. The Shield Dwarves additional armor proficiencies go great on characters like squishy casters such as wizards, sorcerers, lore bards, and warlocks as it allows you to leave your Dexterity at 14 and wear medium armor for an overall armor class of 16 before accounting for magical bonuses. 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 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.