Races of the Realm
Every character that you make belongs to a race, one of the many humaniod species in the D&D world. The most common player races are dwarves, elves, halflings and humans. However, there are more than just those four. There are dragonborn, gnomes, half-orcs, half-elves, and teiflings as well. Some races even have subraces. The race you choose starts the building blocks of your character. Each race has there own benefits and ablities. Some can see in the dark, some are really good with certain tools, and even some are just plain lucky. But we won't get into that. For this tutorial, I am focusing on getting the bareneeds met to start a character.
To learn more about each race, hover over the picture.
A short and stout race. They tend to hold long grudges since their memories last centuries. They also tend to hold to their clans and kingdoms in the highest regard. To be clanless is worse than death to a dwarf.
Subraces include Hill Dwarves and Mountain Dwarves.
Ability scores improvement: +2 Con (+1 Wis or +2 Str depending on subrace)
The slender and grace of the elves is what gives them their unearthly beauty. They are slightly shorter than humans, but live a timeless life. Living to be well over 700 years, they have a broader perspective on what is important. They mainly stay in their woodland realms, hidden from the sight most of the time.
Subraces include High elf, Wood elf, or Dark elf(drow).
Ability scores improvement: +2 Dex (+1 Int, +1 Wis, or +1 Cha depending on subrace)
The slender and grace of the elves is what gives them their unearthly beauty. They are slightly shorter than humans, but live a timeless life. Living to be well over 700 years, they have a broader perspective on what is important. They mainly stay in their woodland realms, hidden from the sight most of the time.
Subraces include Lightfoot and Stout.
Ability scores improvement: +2 Dex (+1 Cha or +1 Con depending on subrace)
The most adaptable of all the races. We humans come in all shapes and sizes. Sure, our lives are much shorter than the elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, and more; but we are pioneers. We explore, innovate, and achieve as much as we can.
Humans do not have subraces, but ethnicities. They do not affect anything other than your characters look.
Ability scores improvement: +1 to all scores
A human dragon. They stand to be six and half feet tall and weigh 300 pounds. Depending on the color of their scales, they seem more like monsters than people. Like the dwarves, dragonborns also have clans. To them, the clan is always the most important, even more important than life itself.
Dragonborn do not have subraces, but Draconic Ancestry. Which affects what color of dragonborn you are.
Ability scores improvement: +2 Str and +1 Cha
Enjoyment! Gnomes will squeeze every ounce of enjoyment they can out of their 350 to 500-year life. Although, they only stand three feet tall. Gnomes talk as if they can’t get their ideas out fast enough, but also enjoy listening to others. They are known to be pranksters, due to their love of jokes, but they are also known as inventors, engineers, tinkers, and alchemists.
Subraces include Forest gnome and Rock Gnome.
Ability scores improvement: +2 Int (+1 Dex or +1 Con depending on subrace)
Being the cross between elves and humans, half-elves have traits from both. They often live more than 180 years, and are only slightly shorter than humans. They make great diplomats or wanderers, because they have no lands to call home. Humans say they look like elves, and elves say they look human. However, they can just put their social skills to use and find their own place in society or the wilds.
Like humans, half-elves have no subrace.
Ability scores improvement: +2 Cha and +1 to two other scores
Mainly tribal in nature, Half-Orcs usually come to lead their tribe. Strong and proud, they stand five to seven feet tall, and have grayish pigmentation in their skin. Half-Orcs get by with their physical might, endurance, and the sheer determination that they get from their human ancestry.
Like humans, half-orcs have no subrace.
Ability scores improvement: +2 Str and +1 Con
The infernal bloodline of the Teiflings make them a prime target of mistrust from almost everyone. But that mistrust works in their favor as well. They are naturally mistrusting of others. Teiflings look human, in the broadest possible sense. They have demonic horns that adorn they head, a tail that trails behind them, and their skin varies from red to purple. They only live a few years longer than humans, even with the infernal blood coursing through them.
Teiflings do not have subraces in the original setting. However, subraces have been coming out with the new books.
Ability scores improvement: +2 Cha and +1 Int
With new books coming out, the number of races keep growing. At this moment there are 31 playable races to use within D&D. All you need to do to play them is either buy the books or borrow a friends, or your dungeon master's. Take your time choosing a race. Once you are ready, let's move onto the classes.