Races

There are a great variety of Races that can be found in the Forgotten Realms and played in Baldur's Gate 3, both civilized and savage. A creature's race determines its lineage and innate powers and abilities.

All races have their own strengths and many possess unique abilities and powers. Sometimes creatures can even cast spells as a result of their racial heritage.

Race affects NPC reactions and available interactions during conversations. Each race also has unique attack animations (while spellcasting animations are based on class).

See below for a list of races.

Overview of Playable Races

There are 11 playable races in Baldur's Gate 3. Many playable races are divided into subraces, which further defines a character's strengths, abilities, and appearance.

Refer to individual Race pages for further details.

Unless otherwise noted, spells gained from race may only be cast once per Long Rest.

In Baldur's Gate 3, each race has the following ability score bonuses:

+2 to any Ability Score
+1 to any other Ability Score

Race and Subraces		Base Speed	Proficiencies		Features
Race and Subraces		Base Speed	From Race	From Subrace	From Race	From Subrace
Human		Standard 9 m / 30 ft	Weapons Spears Pikes Halberds Glaives Armour Light armour Shields Skills 1 Skill of choice		Increased Carrying Capacity
Elf	High Elf	Standard 9 m / 30 ft	Weapons Shortswords Longswords Shortbows Longbows Skills Perception	High Elf -	Keen Senses Perception proficiency Fey Ancestry Advantage against Charm Immune to magical Sleep Darkvision	High Elf High Elf Cantrip 1 Cantrip from the Wizard spell list
Elf	Wood Elf	Fast 10.5 m / 35 ft		Wood Elf Skills Stealth		Wood Elf Mask of the Wild Stealth proficiency Fleet of Foot Increased Base Speed
Drow	Lolth-Sworn Drow	Standard 9 m / 30 ft	Weapons Rapiers Shortswords Hand Crossbows Skills Perception		Keen Senses Perception proficiency Fey Ancestry Advantage against Charm Immune to magical Sleep Superior Darkvision Doubled range compared to standard Darkvision Drow Magic Additional Drow Cantrip, level 1 and 2 Spells	The only difference between Drow subraces lies in their available dialogue options.
Drow	Seldarine Drow	Standard 9 m / 30 ft
Half-Elf	High Half-Elf	Standard 9 m / 30 ft	Weapons Spears Pikes Halberds Glaives Armour Light armour Shields	High Half-Elf -	Fey Ancestry Advantage against Charm Immune to magical Sleep Darkvision	High Half-Elf High Elf Cantrip 1 Cantrip from the Wizard spell list
	Wood Half-Elf	Fast 10.5 m / 35 ft		Wood Half-Elf-		Wood Half-Elf Fleet of Foot Increased Base Speed
	Drow Half-Elf	Standard 9 m / 30 ft		Drow Half-Elf -		Drow Half-Elf Drow Magic Additional Drow Cantrip, level 1 and 2 Spells
Half-Orc		Standard 9 m / 30 ft	-		Darkvision Savage Attacks Critical damage with melee weapons is tripled Relentless Endurance Drop to 1 hit point instead of being downed, once per long rest
Halfling	Lightfoot Halfling	Slow 7.5 m / 25 ft	-	Lightfoot Halfling Skills Stealth	Lucky Single reroll on a 1 for certain rolls Brave Advantage against Frightened	Lightfoot Halfling Naturally Stealthy Stealth proficiency
Halfling	Strongheart Halfling	Slow 7.5 m / 25 ft	-	Strongheart Halfling -		Strongheart Halfling Strongheart Resilience Advantage and Resistance against Poisoned / Poison damage
Dwarf	Gold Dwarf	Slow 7.5 m / 25 ft	Weapons Battleaxes Handaxes Light Hammers Warhammers	Gold Dwarf -	Dwarven Resilience Advantage and Resistance against Poisoned / Poison damage Darkvision	Gold Dwarf Dwarven Toughness Maximum Hit Point increased by 1 per level
	Shield Dwarf			Shield Dwarf Armour Medium armour Light armour		Shield Dwarf Shield Dwarf Proficiencies Medium and light armour proficiency
	Duergar			Duergar -		Duergar TBA Superior Darkvision Doubled range
Gnome	Forest Gnome	Slow 7.5 m / 25 ft	-	Forest Gnome -	Gnome Cunning Advantage on Intelligence, Wisdon, Charisma Saves Darkvision	Forest Gnome Additional Spell Speak with Animals (at will)
	Deep Gnome			Deep Gnome -		Deep Gnome Superior Darkvision Doubled range Stone Camouflage Advantage on Stealth checks
	Rock Gnome			Rock Gnome Skills History (Expertise)		Rock Gnome Artificer's Lore History expertise
Tiefling	Asmodeus Tiefling	Standard 9 m / 30 ft	-		Hellish Resistance Resistance to Fire Darkvision	Tiefling Magic Additional Tiefling Cantrip, level 1 and 2 Spells, differing based on Subrace
	Mephistopheles Tiefling
	Zariel Tiefling
Githyanki		Standard 9 m / 30 ft	Weapons Shortswords Longswords Greatswords Armour Light armour Medium armour		Githyanki Psionics Additional Githyanki Cantrip, level 1 and 2 Spells
Dragonborn	Black Dragonborn	Standard 9 m / 30 ft	-		TBA
	Blue Dragonborn
	Brass Dragonborn
	Bronze Dragonborn
	Copper Dragonborn
	Gold Dragonborn
	Green Dragonborn
	Red Dragonborn
	Silver Dragonborn
	White Dragonborn

Non-Playable Races

There are many more non-playable races, many of which are extremely dangerous and monstrous. See below for a list of all non-playable races and their abilities.

List of all Non-Playable Races

Trivia

See D&D 5e Race Changes for a summary of all changes to races in Baldur's Gate 3 from the 5e ruleset.

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