In the world of Dungeons and Dragons there’s a lot of different races for you to pick. Of course, you can always just be a human fighter, but we literally have too much of those. In Baldur’s Gate 3, you get to pick which race you’ll be, from Elves to Dwarves and even Gnomes. At release of the game there will even be Dragonborn, and we’re not talking about the Skyrim guy.
In this guide, we’ll show you the different races you’ll be able to play as with a custom character in the game. We’ll also show you their different bonuses as well as some backstory on them. Now, let’s see what the different races are you can pick!
Which Race Should You Pick?
Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t out yet but it will soon be released fully with a bunch of new content. This includes new races for you to choose from, and we’ll cover them too briefly based on what we know and from the Dungeons and Dragons 5E rules the game is based on. Now let’s see what race you should pick!
Humans
We’re starting off with the most common race in the game and that’s the Human. They’re the race that a lot of people new to Dungeons and Dragons or Baldur’s Gate would probably pick. Larian Studios themselves said that the most common character made is a human fighter.
The Humans get no special feature like bonus spells or proficiencies, but they do have a +1 on all stats. This makes them a good pick for any class since you can easily build around each one of them. Be they a Warlock, a Barbarian or a Druid this race can be a good choice for any of them.
Humans do miss one thing that most other races have and that’s Darkvision. The ability to see well in the dark, this can be tough since you can’t target enemies you can’t see. So, remember to bring a torch or a light spell like dancing lights to see through dark places!
Elves
We can’t have a high fantasy setting without elves, it’s written in law. In Baldur’s Gate 3 there are two kinds of elves you can choose from, a High Elf or a Wood Elf.
All elves can get Keen Senses which makes them proficient in the Perception Skill. They also get +2 Dexterity as well as Longsword, Shortsword, Longbow, and Shortbow Proficiency. Like almost every race in the game they also get Darkvision. They also get Fey Ancestry which gives them advantage on saving throws when being charmed and they can’t be forced to sleep with magic.
The High Elf gets an additional +1 to their Intelligence as well as an extra cantrip to pick at the start. Cantrips are spells that you can cast without any limit. The Wood Elves meanwhile get +1 to Wisdom and get Mask of the Wild, which means they’re better at Stealth.
Elves are great for their bonus dexterity so they make great rogues, bards or monks. Depending on their subrace they can even become great wizards, druid or clerics. In the world of Faerun the elves are often admired by humans and despised by dwarves. Some things never change!
Dwarves
Despite their short stature dwarves are considered medium in terms of DnD. Halflings and Gnomes take the smaller size since dwarves are short-ish and stout. There’s two subraces for the dwarf and that’s the Gold and Shield Dwarves. They all get +2 Constitution as well as Dwarven Resilience which means you have resistance to poison damage and being poisoned.
Not only that but they also get Battleaxe, Handaxe, Light Hammer and Warhammer proficiency. They also get Darkvision because everyone get them.
The Gold Dwarves get Dwarven Toughness which increases your Max HP by 1 and an additional 1 each level. They also have +1 to Wisdom. The Shield Dwarves get +2 to Strength as well as additional proficiency to Light and Medium Armor.
We all have heard the jokes but it’s true in the lore. All dwarves grow facial hair, even the women. Most female dwarves prefer to shave theirs off though. They’re all well known for the unnatural affinity to see patterns in stonework as well as their talents in metalworking and crafting. What they excel the most though is their hatred for elves.
Dwarves make great Fighters and Barbarians but also Paladins or Clerics, anything that expects to be in the front line. Their additional weapon and armor proficiency can really add to the classes that don’t have them.
Halflings
They’re small, like actually small to the point where it’s a gameplay mechanic. Halflings get a +2 to their Dexterity as well as two other features. They’re Lucky which means when you roll a 1 on your attack roll, ability check or saving throw you automatically roll again and use the second roll! They also have Brave which means they have advantage against being frightened.
There’s two subraces for the Halflings, the Lightfoot and the Strongheart Halflings. The Lightfoot gets Naturally Stealthy which makes them better at stealth thus the name. They also get +1 to their Charisma stat. The Strongheart Halflings gets Strongheart Resilience which is basically Dwarven Resilience, you have poison resistance and advantage to saving throws when being poisoned. They also get +1 to their Constitution Stat.
In the lore the Halflings are generally liked by all the races and are often great cooks and curious and affable creatures. They cherish being with families and friends and have a strong sense of community. Most of them don’t even see adventuring as a want as they prefer to stay put and live peaceful lives. Your Halfling though might go to an adventure whether they like it or not!
Halflings can be great rogues or even warriors, just remember that for the latter they can’t really use heavy weapons due to their size. Their most powerful aspect is their lucky feature which can help you a lot with any class.
Half-Elves
They’re Half Human and Half Elf so they show signs of both races. They all get +2 to Charisma as well as +1 to 2 Abilities of your choosing. They also get Darkvision because why not as well as Fey Ancestry like the elves.
The Half-elves also have subraces, with High, Wood and Drow Half-Elves. The High Half-Elves get a cantrip, the Wood Half-Elves get Mask of the Wild as well as Fleet of Foot which means they can move further per turn. The Drow Half-Elves get the Dancing Light Cantrip.
To regular Humans half-elves look like Elves while the elves see them as human which puts them in a weird place in society. Unlike the other races Half-elves don’t have lands of their own, they prefer to wander or be diplomats between the two races they’re in. They’re versatile though and can be great for most classes in the game.
Due to their Charisma modifier they can be great Paladins, Bards, Sorcerers or Warlocks which are all Charisma casters. The Paladin should be good as long as you put points to Strength and Constitution.
Gnomes
Another short race and this time I personally don’t trust them. I may be biased but when I saw that Gnome kick a dog in Arcanum of Steamworks and Magick Obscura it cemented my thoughts on the race. They all get a +2 to Intellignce making them a natural choice for wizards. They also have Gnome Cunning which makes them have advantage to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma Saving Throws.
There’s 3 types of Gnomes, Forest, Deep and Rock. Forest Gnomes get +1 Dexterity and Darkvision. Deep Gnomes get +1 Dexterity, Superior Dakvision and Stone Camouflage which gives them advantage to Stealth Checks. Rock Gnomes get +1 Constitution, Darkvision and Artificer’s Lore which gives them twice the proficiency bonus for History Checks.
Gnomes and Dwarves are actually distant cousins and share the love for glittering things like gold. Gnomes respect the environment more than Dwarves though, but they still live underground most of the time. They’re small little curious tricksters and like making jokes and most of them use their small size to make enemies underestimate their true potential.
Gnomes can be great wizards or rogues with the right builds and can even be great fighters with a bit more set-up. No one would expect a gnome fighter!
Drow
The Drow are technically a sub-race of Elves but are so different from normal elves that they become their own thing. They all get Superior Darkvision because they usually live in the Underdark, they also get Keen Senses. They all get +2 to Dexterity and +1 to Charisma. Along with those bonuses they also get proficiency in Rapiers, Shortswords and Hand Crossbows. They also get Fey Ancestry because again, they’re elves.
Unlike other races their Subrace is more like their side in the Drow Politics and war. They can either be part of the corrupt and merciless goddess Loloth’s Cult or the Seldarine Drow that hate the cult and wish to destroy them. They’re both drow though and thus selecting the subrace only effects the story and not the stats.
Most Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition players might notice that picking a Drow means they don’t have Sunlight Sensitivity. That was the main drawback of picking a Drow as they get weaker when in direct sunlight. Your character doesn’t have it in game though and there’s a story reason for that, which I won’t spoil!
The Drow make great Rogues or Charisma Spellcasters like Bards or Warlocks. Their additional weapon proficiencies can make for some interesting builds.
Tieflings
You’ve seen Half-Elves now let’s see the Half-devils. Tieflings are creatures that have had too much devil magic in their system making them grow horns and a tail. Not to be confused with Demons because Devils and Demons are different in the land of Dungeons and Dragons.
Tieflings all get Hellish Resistance which makes them resistance to fire damage, one of the most common types of damage in the game. They also get Darkvision because the ever-burning hells are quite dark.
Tieflings get to choose which Devil they’re a part of with Asmodeus Tieflings having +1 to Intelligence and +2 to Charisma as well as the Thaumaturgy Cantrip. Mephistopheles Tieflings get the same stats but with the Mage Hand Cantrip and having trouble spelling their race in census forms. Zariel Tieflings get +1 Strength instead of Intelligence but still get the Thaumaturgy cantrip.
As they level Tieflings get more spells from the Devil Heritage, like Burning Hands, Hellish Rebuke or Searing Smite.
Tieflings are cursed to wander as they’re unnatural appearance makes people fear and despise them. They find it hard to blend into society and we can’t blame them, they have literal Devil Blood in them. Tieflings also get some story bits because of the current happenings in Faerun and how cities have a bad habit of transporting to the 9 Hells.
Tieflings are great bards or Charisma casters like Warlocks or Sorcerer. They can also strangely enough be good Paladins which is one of the more interesting choices given their race.
Githyanki
For Dungeons and Dragons players that haven’t seen any additional books but the Player Handbook the Githyanki might sound new. They’re actually a long-standing race in the world of Faerun. The Githyanki get a +1 to Intelligence as well as +2 to Strength. They also get Proficiency with Light and Medium Armor as well as Shortswords, Longswords and Greatswords.
The Githyanki don’t have a subrace because they themselves are a subrace of the Gith. They’re well connected to the story of the game because Baldur’s Gate 3 has Mind Flayers in them, and the two races weren’t exactly the best friends. In fact, the Gith were enslaved by the Mind Flayers before they broke their chains, rose up and divided into the Githyanki and the Githzerai.
The Githyanki were the subrace of the Gith that really hate the Mind Flayers. That’s why the first Githyanki you find in the game really wants them dead. Well, the Githzerai also hate the Mind Flayers but they’re more passive then their warlike siblings.
The Githyanki believe that they deserve to take whatever they wanted from the worlds they traveled. They raid other worlds, enslave other races and try to destroy as much of the Mind Flayers as possible. They also ride cool red dragons!
Githyanki can be great fighters or paladins with their bonus stats and proficiencies. They also can work as wizards or even a war wizard if you’re so inclined to jump into battle!
Dragonborn
The Dragonborn is one of the two races that will be added in the release. We’re not sure yet what they get in terms of features but since most races follow the features of the Tabletop RPG we can guess what they are.
The Dragonborn in Tabletop DnD 5E get +2 to Strength and +1 to Charisma. They also get to choose what their Draconic Ancestry is which changes what their Breath Weapon is. Yes, Dragonborn have breath weapons, whether it be fire for Red Dragonborn or Ice for Silver Dragonborns and so on. They also get resistance to the damage type of their breath weapon.
There’s also the Chromatic Dragonborn which are kin to the evil Chromatic Dragons. They can either have +2 to one Ability and +1 to another or choose 3 abilities to get +1. They can also have Chromatic Warding which gives them immunity to the type of damage of their breath attack.
All this information is in the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Tabletop RPG so in-game it might be different!
The Dragonborn can be great with any Martial class and also great charisma casters. My very first DnD character was a Dragonborn Bard, and you can do that too!
Half-Orc
This is another race that will be on release of the game. The Half-Orc as the name implies are Half Human and Half Orc. In DnD 5th Edition they get +2 to Strength and +1 to Constitution. They also get Menacing which gives them proficiency with Intimidation.
Half-Orcs also get Relentless Endurance which means when they go to 0HP they automatically go back to 1HP to stay in the fight. Of course once you go back to 0 HP again you’re downed. They also have Savage Attack which means when they score a critical hit with a weapon attack they roll one additional damage die of that weapon and add it to the damage.
With those stats you can see why there’s a lot of people that like playing Half-orc Barbarians. You don’t have to do that though and instead go for a Half-orc Wizard, no one will expect the Muscle Wizard.
Half-Orcs are treated the same way as tieflings but instead of Supernatural fear it’s primal fear. They’re generally more accepted though as soldiers due to their natural gifts to be warriors.
Those are all the races in Baldur’s Gate 3, that’s a lot of races! Now that you know all the races check out our guide on all the classes in the game!
ALSO READ: Baldur’s Gate 3: Everything You Need To Know About Origin Characters
