Races

A visit to one of the great cities in the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons — Waterdeep, the Free City of Greyhawk, or even uncanny Sigil, the City of Doors — overwhelms the senses. Voices chatter in countless different languages. The smells of cooking in dozens of different cuisines mingle with the odors of crowded streets and poor sanitation. Buildings in myriad architectural styles display the diverse origins of their inhabitants.

And the people themselves — people of varying size, shape, and color, dressed in a dazzling spectrum of styles and hues — represent many different races, from diminutive halflings and stout dwarves to majestically beautiful elves, mingling among a variety of human ethnicities.

Scattered among the members of these more common races are the true exotics: a hulking dragonborn here, pushing his way through the crowd, and a sly tiefling there, lurking in the shadows with mischief in her eyes. A group of gnomes laughs as one of them activates a clever wooden toy that moves of its own accord. Half-elves and half-orcs live and work alongside humans, without fully belonging to the races of either of their parents. And there, well out of the sunlight, is a lone drow — a fugitive from the subterranean expanse of the Underdark, trying to make his way in a world that fears his kind.

Dwarf

Kingdoms rich in ancient grandeur, halls carved into the roots of mountains, the echoing of picks and hammers in deep mines and blazing forges, a commitment to clan and tradition, and a burning hatred of goblins and orcs — these common threads unite all dwarves.

Long Memory, Long Grudges

Dwarves can live to be more than 400 years old, so the oldest living dwarves often remember a very different world. For example, some of the oldest dwarves living in Citadel Felbarr (in the world of the Forgotten Realms) can recall the day, more than three centuries ago, when orcs conquered the fortress and drove them into an exile that lasted over 250 years. This longevity grants them a perspective on the world that shorter-lived races such as humans and halflings lack.

Dwarves are solid and enduring like the mountains they love, weathering the passage of centuries with stoic endurance and little change. They respect the traditions of their clans, tracing their ancestry back to the founding of their most ancient strongholds in the youth of the world, and don’t abandon those traditions lightly. Part of those traditions is devotion to the gods of the dwarves, who uphold the dwarven ideals of industrious labor, skill in battle, and devotion to the forge.

Individual dwarves are determined and loyal, true to their word and decisive in action, sometimes to the point of stubbornness. Many dwarves have a strong sense of justice, and they are slow to forget wrongs they have suffered. A wrong done to one dwarf is a wrong done to the dwarf’s entire clan, so what begins as one dwarf’s hunt for vengeance can become a full-blown clan feud.

Clans and Kingdoms

Dwarven kingdoms stretch deep beneath the mountains where the dwarves mine gems and precious metals and forge items of wonder. They love the beauty and artistry of precious metals and fine jewelry, and in some dwarves this love festers into avarice. Whatever wealth they can’t find in their mountains, they gain through trade. They dislike boats, so enterprising humans and halflings frequently handle trade in dwarven goods along water routes. Trustworthy members of other races are welcome in dwarf settlements, though some areas are off limits even to them.

The chief unit of dwarven society is the clan, and dwarves highly value social standing. Even dwarves who live far from their own kingdoms cherish their clan identities and affiliations, recognize related dwarves, and invoke their ancestors’ names in oaths and curses. To be clanless is the worst fate that can befall a dwarf.

Dwarves in other lands are typically artisans, especially weaponsmiths, armorers, and jewelers. Some become mercenaries or bodyguards, highly sought after for their courage and loyalty.

Gods, Gold, and Clan

Dwarves who take up the adventuring life might be motivated by a desire for treasure — for its own sake, for a specific purpose, or even out of an altruistic desire to help others. Other dwarves are driven by the command or inspiration of a deity, a direct calling or simply a desire to bring glory to one of the dwarf gods. Clan and ancestry are also important motivators. A dwarf might seek to restore a clan’s lost honor, avenge an ancient wrong the clan suffered, or earn a new place within the clan after having been exiled. Or a dwarf might search for the axe wielded by a mighty ancestor, lost on the field of battle centuries ago.

Common Races | Dwarf

Slow to Trust

Dwarves get along passably well with most other races. “The difference between an acquaintance and a friend is about a hundred years,” is a dwarf saying that might be hyperbole, but certainly points to how difficult it can be for a member of a short-lived race like humans to earn a dwarf’s trust.

Elves. “It’s not wise to depend on the elves. No telling what an elf will do next; when the hammer meets the orc’s head, they’re as apt to start singing as to pull out a sword. They’re flighty and frivolous. Two things to be said for them, though: They don’t have many smiths, but the ones they have do very fine work. And when orcs or goblins come streaming down out of the mountains, an elf’s good to have at your back. Not as good as a dwarf, maybe, but no doubt they hate the orcs as much as we do.”

Halflings. "Sure, they’re pleasant folk. But show me a halfling hero. An empire, a triumphant army. Even a treasure for the ages made by halfling hands. Nothing. How can you take them seriously?”

Humans. "You take the time to get to know a human, and by then the human’s on her deathbed. If you’re lucky, she’s got kin — a daughter or granddaughter, maybe — who’s got hands and heart as good as hers. That’s when you can make a human friend. And watch them go! They set their hearts on something, they’ll get it, whether it’s a dragon’s hoard or an empire’s throne. You have to admire that kind of dedication, even if it gets them in trouble more often than not.”

Dwarf Names

A dwarf’s name is granted by a clan elder, in accordance with tradition. Every proper dwarven name has been used and reused down through the generations. A dwarf’s name belongs to the clan, not to the individual. A dwarf who misuses or brings shame to a clan name is stripped of the name and forbidden by law to use any dwarven name in its place.

Male Names: Adrik, Alberich, Baern, Barendd, Brottor, Bruenor, Dain, Darrak, Delg, Eberk, Einkil, Fargrim, Flint, Gardain, Harbek, Kildrak, Morgran, Orsik, Oskar, Rangrim, Rurik, Taklinn, Thoradin, Thorin, Tordek, Traubon, Travok, Ulfgar, Veit, Vondal

Female Names: Amber, Artin, Audhild, Bardryn, Dagnal, Diesa, Eldeth, Falkrunn, Finellen, Gunnloda, Gurdis, Helja, Hlin, Kathra, Kristryd, Ilde, Liftrasa, Mardred, Riswynn, Sannl, Torbera, Torgga, Vistra

Clan Names: Balderk, Battlehammer, Brawnanvil, Dankil, Fireforge, Frostbeard, Gorunn, Holderhek, Ironfist, Loderr, Lutgehr, Rumnaheim, Strakeln, Torunn, Ungart

Dwarf Traits

Your dwarf character has an assortment of inborn abilities, part and parcel of dwarven nature.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Constitution score by 1 or choose your subrace's ASI.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 10.

Age. Dwarves mature at the same rate as humans, but they’re considered young until they reach the age of 50. On average, they live about 350 years.

Alignment. Most dwarves are lawful, believing firmly in the benefits of a well-ordered society. They tend toward good as well, with a strong sense of fair play and a belief that everyone deserves to share in the benefits of a just order.

Size Dwarves stand between 4 and 5 feet tall and average about 150 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed Your base walking speed is 25 feet. Your speed is not reduced by wearing heavy armor.

Darkvision. Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Dwarven Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.

Dwarven Combat Training. You have proficiency with the battleaxe, handaxe, light hammer, and warhammer.

Tool Proficiency. You gain proficiency with the artisan’s tools of your choice: smith’s tools, brewer’s supplies, or mason’s tools.

Stonecunning Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to the origin of stonework, you are considered proficient in the History skill and add double your proficiency bonus to the check, instead of your normal proficiency bonus.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Dwarvish. Dwarvish is full of hard consonants and guttural sounds, and those characteristics spill over into whatever other language a dwarf might speak.

Subrace. Two main subraces of dwarves populate the worlds of D&D: hill dwarves and mountain dwarves, with a third less common and often hostile subrace the Gray Dwarves also known as Duergar . Choose one of these subraces.

Hill Dwarf

As a hill dwarf, you have keen senses, deep intuition, and remarkable resilience. The gold dwarves of Faerûn in their mighty southern kingdom are hill dwarves, as are the exiled Neidar and the debased Klar of Krynn in the Dragonlance setting.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Wisdom score by 1 or choose the Dwarf's racial increase to Constitution.

Dwarven Toughness. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.

Elf

Elves are a magical people of otherworldly grace, living in the world but not entirely part of it. They live in places of ethereal beauty, in the midst of ancient forests or in silvery spires glittering with faerie light, where soft music drifts through the air and gentle fragrances waft on the breeze. Elves love nature and magic, art and artistry, music and poetry, and the good things of the world.

Elf Names

Elves are considered children until they declare themselves adults, some time after the hundredth birthday, and before this period they are called by child names.

On declaring adulthood, an elf selects an adult name, although those who knew him or her as a youngster might continue to use the child name. Each elf’s adult name is a unique creation, though it might reflect the names of respected individuals or other family members. Little distinction exists between male names and female names; the groupings here reflect only general tendencies. In addition, every elf bears a family name, typically a combination of other Elvish words. Some elves traveling among humans translate their family names into Common, but others retain the Elvish version.

Child Names: Ara, Bryn, Del, Eryn, Faen, Innil, Lael, Mella, Naill, Naeris, Phann, Rael, Rinn, Sai, Syllin, Thia, Vall

Male Adult Names: Adran, Aelar, Aramil, Arannis, Aust, Beiro, Berrian, Carric, Enialis, Erdan, Erevan, Galinndan, Hadarai, Heian, Himo, Immeral, Ivellios, Laucian, Mindartis, Paelias, Peren, Quarion, Riardon, Rolen, Soveliss, Thamior, Tharivol, Theren, Varis

Female Adult Names: Adrie, Althaea, Anastrianna, Andraste, Antinua, Bethrynna, Birel, Caelynn, Drusilia, Enna, Felosial, Ielenia, Jelenneth, Keyleth, Leshanna, Lia, Meriele, Mialee, Naivara, Quelenna, Quillathe, Sariel, Shanairra, Shava, Silaqui, Theirastra, Thia, Vadania, Valanthe, Xanaphia

Family Names (Common Translations): Amakiir (Gemflower), Amastacia (Starflower), Galanodel (Moonwhisper), Holimion (Diamonddew), Ilphelkiir (Gemblossom), Liadon (Silverfrond), Meliamne (Oakenheel), Naïlo (Nightbreeze), Siannodel (Moonbrook), Xiloscient (Goldpetal)

Elf Traits

Your elf character has a variety of natural abilities, the result of thousands of years of elven refinement.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Dexterity score by 1 or choose your subrace's ASI.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 6.

Age. Although elves reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, the elven understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience. An elf typically claims adulthood and an adult name around the age of 100 and can live to be 500 years old.

Alignment. Elves love freedom, variety, and self-expression, so they lean strongly toward the gentler aspects of chaos. They value and protect others’ freedom as well as their own, and they are more often good than not. The drow are an exception; their exile into the Underdark has made them vicious and dangerous. Drow are more often evil than not.

Size. Elves range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and have slender builds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Trance. Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 6 hours of sleep.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Elvish. Elvish is fluid, with subtle intonations and intricate grammar. Elven literature is rich and varied, and their songs and poems are famous among other races. Many bards learn their language so they can add Elvish ballads to their repertoires.

Subrace. Ancient divides among the elven people resulted in three main subraces: high elves, wood elves, and dark elves, who are commonly called drow. There are also subraces native to other planes or more exotic locales. Choose one of these subraces. In some worlds, these subraces are divided still further (such as the sun elves and moon elves of the Forgotten Realms), so if you wish, you can choose a narrower subrace.

Common Races | Elf

High Elf

As a high elf, you have a keen mind and a mastery of at least the basics of magic. In many of the worlds of D&D, there are two kinds of high elves. One type (which includes the gray elves and valley elves of Greyhawk, the Silvanesti of Dragonlance, and the sun elves of the Forgotten Realms) is haughty and reclusive, believing themselves to be superior to non-elves and even other elves. The other type (including the high elves of Greyhawk, the Qualinesti of Dragonlance, and the moon elves of the Forgotten Realms) are more common and more friendly, and often encountered among humans and other races.

The sun elves of Faerûn (also called gold elves or sunrise elves) have bronze skin and hair of copper, black, or golden blond. Their eyes are golden, silver, or black. Moon elves (also called silver elves or gray elves) are much paler, with alabaster skin sometimes tinged with blue. They often have hair of silver-white, black, or blue, but various shades of blond, brown, and red are not uncommon. Their eyes are blue or green and flecked with gold.

Ability Score Increase You can increase your Intelligence score by 1 or choose the Elf's racial increase to Dexterity.

Elf Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.

Cantrip. You know one cantrip of your choice from the wizard spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.

Extra Language. You can speak, read, and write one extra language of your choice.

Wood Elf

As a wood elf, you have keen senses and intuition, and your fleet feet carry you quickly and stealthily through your native forests. This category includes the wild elves (grugach) of Greyhawk and the Kagonesti of Dragonlance, as well as the races called wood elves in Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms. In Faerûn, wood elves (also called wild elves, green elves, or forest elves) are reclusive and distrusting of non-elves.

Wood elves’ skin tends to be copperish in hue, sometimes with traces of green. Their hair tends toward browns and blacks, but it is occasionally blond or copper-colored. Their eyes are green, brown, or hazel.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Wisdom score by 1 or choose the Elf's racial increase to Dexterity.

Elf Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.

Fleet of Foot. Your base walking speed increases to 35 feet.

Mask of the Wild. You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.

Dark Elf (Drow)

Descended from an earlier subrace of elves, the drow were banished from the surface world for following the goddess Lolth down the path of evil. Now they have built their own civilization in the depths of the Underdark, patterned after the Way of Lolth. Were it not for a large clan of Drow that left the underdark and set up in the nation of Sil'Cal several hundred years ago Drow would be treated as hostile in most of the surface world. Also called dark elves, the drow have skin that resembles charcoal or obsidian, as well as stark white or pale yellow hair. They commonly have very pale eyes (so pale as to be mistaken for white) in shades of lilac, silver, pink, red, and blue. While most dark elves have eyes adjusted to the darkness of the Underdark those that typically become advendurers have spent considerable time in the sun to adjust to the bright light that their kin are so sensitive to. They tend to be smaller and thinner than most elves.

Drow adventurers are rare. Check with your Dungeon Master to see if you can play one.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Charisma score by 1 or choose the Elf's racial increase to Dexterity.

Superior Darkvision. Your darkvision has a radius of 120 feet.

Drow Magic. You know the dancing lights cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the faerie fire spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the darkness spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Drow Weapon Training. You have proficiency with rapiers, shortswords, and hand crossbows.

Sunlight Sensitivity. You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in overly bright sunlight such as the daylight spell.

Common Races | Elf

Eladrin

Eladrin are elves native to the Feywild, a realm of beauty, unpredictable emotion, and boundless magic. An eladrin is associated with the current season and has coloration reminiscent of that season, which can also affect the eladrin’s mood:

Autumn is the season of peace and goodwill, when summer’s harvest is shared with all.

Winter is the season of contemplation and dolor, when the vibrant energy of the world slumbers.

Spring is the season of cheerfulness and celebration, marked by merriment as winter’s sorrow passes.

Summer is the season of boldness and aggression, a time of unfettered energy.

The following tables offer personality suggestions for eladrin of each season. You can roll on the tables or use them as inspiration for characteristics of your own.

Summer

d4	Spring Personality Trait
1	You believe that direct confrontation is the best way to solve problems.
2	Overwhelming force can accomplish almost anything. The tougher the problem, the more force you apply.
3	You stand tall and strong so that others can lean on you.
4	You maintain an intimidating front. It’s better to prevent fights with a show of force than to harm others.

d4	Spring Flaw
1	You are stubborn. Let others change.
2	The best option is one that is swift, unexpected, and overwhelming.
3	Punch first. Talk later.
4	Your fury can carry you through anything.

Common Races | Elf

Halfling

The comforts of home are the goals of most halflings’ lives: a place to settle in peace and quiet, far from marauding monsters and clashing armies; a blazing fire and a generous meal; fine drink and fine conversation. Though some halflings live out their days in remote agricultural communities, others form nomadic bands that travel constantly, lured by the open road and the wide horizon to discover the wonders of new lands and peoples. But even these wanderers love peace, food, hearth, and home, though home might be a wagon jostling along an dirt road or a raft floating downriver.

Small and Practical

The diminutive halflings survive in a world full of larger creatures by avoiding notice or, barring that, avoiding offense. Standing about 3 feet tall, they appear relatively harmless and so have managed to survive for centuries in the shadow of empires and on the edges of wars and political strife. They are inclined to be stout, weighing between 40 and 45 pounds.

Halflings’ skin ranges from tan to pale with a ruddy cast, and their hair is usually brown or sandy brown and wavy. They have brown or hazel eyes. Halfling men often sport long sideburns, but beards are rare among them and mustaches even more so. They like to wear simple, comfortable, and practical clothes, favoring bright colors.

Halfling practicality extends beyond their clothing. They’re concerned with basic needs and simple pleasures and have little use for ostentation. Even the wealthiest of halflings keep their treasures locked in a cellar rather than on display for all to see. They have a knack for finding the most straightforward solution to a problem, and have little patience for dithering.

Kind and Curious

Halflings are an affable and cheerful people. They cherish the bonds of family and friendship as well as the comforts of hearth and home, harboring few dreams of gold or glory. Even adventurers among them usually venture into the world for reasons of community, friendship, wanderlust, or curiosity. They love discovering new things, even simple things, such as an exotic food or an unfamiliar style of clothing.

Halflings are easily moved to pity and hate to see any living thing suffer. They are generous, happily sharing what they have even in lean times.

Blend into the Crowd

Halflings are adept at fitting into a community of humans, dwarves, or elves, making themselves valuable and welcome. The combination of their inherent stealth and their unassuming nature helps halflings to avoid unwanted attention.

Halflings work readily with others, and they are loyal to their friends, whether halfling or otherwise. They can display remarkable ferocity when their friends, families, or communities are threatened.

Pastoral Pleasantries

Most halflings live in small, peaceful communities with large farms and well-kept groves. They rarely build kingdoms of their own or even hold much land beyond their quiet shires. They typically don’t recognize any sort of halfling nobility or royalty, instead looking to family elders to guide them. Families preserve their traditional ways despite the rise and fall of empires.

Many halflings live among other races, where the halflings’ hard work and loyal outlook offer them abundant rewards and creature comforts. Some halfling communities travel as a way of life, driving wagons or guiding boats from place to place and maintaining no permanent home.

Exploring Opportunities

Halflings usually set out on the adventurer’s path to defend their communities, support their friends, or explore a wide and wonder-filled world. For them, adventuring is less a career than an opportunity or sometimes a necessity.

Affable and Positive

Halflings try to get along with everyone else and are loath to make sweeping generalizations — especially negative ones.

Dwarves. “Dwarves make loyal friends, and you can count on them to keep their word. But would it hurt them to smile once in a while?”

Elves. “They’re so beautiful! Their faces, their music, their grace and all. It’s like they stepped out of a wonderful dream. But there’s no telling what’s going on behind their smiling faces — surely more than they ever let on.”

Humans. “Humans are a lot like us, really. At least some of them are. Step out of the castles and keeps, go talk to the farmers and herders and you’ll find good, solid folk. Not that there’s anything wrong with the barons and soldiers — you have to admire their conviction. And by protecting their own lands, they protect us as well.”

Common Races | Halfling

Halfling Names

A halfling has a given name, a family name, and possibly a nickname. Family names are often nicknames that stuck so tenaciously they have been passed down through the generations.

Male Names: Alton, Ander, Cade, Corrin, Eldon, Errich, Finnan, Garret, Lindal, Lyle, Merric, Milo, Osborn, Perrin, Reed, Roscoe, Wellby

Female Names: Andry, Bree, Callie, Cora, Euphemia, Jillian, Kithri, Lavinia, Lidda, Merla, Nedda, Paela, Portia, Seraphina, Shaena, Trym, Vani, Verna

Family Names: Brushgather, Goodbarrel, Greenbottle, High-hill, Hilltopple, Leagallow, Tealeaf, Thorngage, Tosscobble, Underbough

Halfling Traits

Your halfling character has a number of traits in common with all other halflings.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Dexterity score increases by 1 or choose your subrace's ASI.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 6.

Age. A halfling reaches adulthood at the age of 20 and generally lives into the middle of his or her second century.

Alignment. Most halflings are lawful good. As a rule, they are good-hearted and kind, hate to see others in pain, and have no tolerance for oppression. They are also very orderly and traditional, leaning heavily on the support of their community and the comfort of their old ways.

Size. Halflings average about 3 feet tall and weigh about 40 pounds. Your size is Small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Lucky. When you roll a 1 on the d20 for an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll.

Brave. You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.

Halfling Nimbleness. You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Halfling. The Halfling language isn’t secret, but halflings are loath to share it with others. They write very little, so they don’t have a rich body of literature. Their oral tradition, however, is very strong. Almost all halflings speak Common to converse with the people in whose lands they dwell or through which they are traveling.

Subrace. The two main kinds of halfling, lightfoot and stout, are more like closely related families than true subraces. There are also the less common subreaces of ghostwise and lotusden. Choose one of these subraces.

Lightfoot

As a lightfoot halfling, you can easily hide from notice, even using other people as cover. You’re inclined to be affable and get along well with others. In the Forgotten Realms, lightfoot halflings have spread the farthest and thus are the most common variety.

 Lightfoots are more prone to wanderlust than other halflings, and often dwell alongside other races or take up a nomadic life.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Charisma score by 1 or choose the Halfling's racial increase to Dexterity.

Naturally Stealthy. You can attempt to hide even when you are obscured only by a creature that is at least one size larger than you.

Stout

As a stout halfling, you’re hardier than average and have some resistance to poison. Some say that stouts have dwarven blood. In the Forgotten Realms, these halflings are called stronghearts, and they’re most common in the south.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Constitution score by 1 or choose the Halfling's racial increase to Dexterity.

Stout Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.

Ghostwise

Ghostwise halflings are the rarest of the hin, found only in a few other isolated forests, clustered in tight-knit clans.

Many ghostwise clans select a natural landmark as the center of their territory, and members carry a piece of that landmark with them at all times. Clan warriors known as nightgliders bond with and ride giant owls as mounts.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Wisdom score by 1 or choose the Halfling's racial increase to Dexterity.

Silent Speech. You can speak telepathically to any creature within 30 feet of you. The creature understands you only if the two of you share a language. You can speak telepathically in this way to one creature at a time.

Lotusden

Long tied to the natural heart of the forest, these halflings have adapted to live synergistically with the chaotic laws of the wilds.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Wisdom score by 1 or choose the Halfling's racial increase to Dexterity.

Child of the Wood. You know the druidcraft cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the entangle spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the spike growth spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Casting these spells with this trait doesn’t require material components. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Timberwalk. Ability checks made to track you have disadvantage, and you can move across difficult terrain made of nonmagical plants and undergrowth without expending extra movement.

Human

Sshort-lived in comparison to dwarves, elves, and dragons, perhaps it is because of their shorter lives that they strive to achieve as much as they can in the years they are given. Or maybe they feel they have something to prove to the elder races, and that’s why they build their mighty empires on the foundation of conquest and trade. Whatever drives them, humans are the innovators, the achievers, and the pioneers of the worlds.

Variety in All Things

Humans are the most adaptable and ambitious people among the common races. They have widely varying tastes, morals, and customs in the many different lands where they have settled. When they settle, though, they stay: they build cities to last for the ages, and great kingdoms that can persist for long centuries. An individual human might have a relatively short life span, but a human nation or culture preserves traditions with origins far beyond the reach of any single human’s memory. They live fully in the present — making them well suited to the adventuring life — but also plan for the future, striving to leave a lasting legacy. Individually and as a group, humans are adaptable opportunists, and they stay alert to changing political and social dynamics.

Lasting Institutions

Where a single elf or dwarf might take on the responsibility of guarding a special location or a powerful secret, humans found sacred orders and institutions for such purposes. While dwarf clans and halfling elders pass on the ancient traditions to each new generation, human temples, governments, libraries, and codes of law fix their traditions in the bedrock of history. Humans dream of immortality, but (except for those few who seek undeath or divine ascension to escape death’s clutches) they achieve it by ensuring that they will be remembered when they are gone.

Although some humans can be xenophobic, in general their societies are inclusive. Human lands welcome large numbers of nonhumans compared to the proportion of humans who live in nonhuman lands.

Exemplars of Ambition

Humans who seek adventure are the most daring and ambitious members of a daring and ambitious race. They seek to earn glory in the eyes of their fellows by amassing power, wealth, and fame. More than other people, humans champion causes rather than territories or groups.

Everyone's Second-Best Friends

Just as readily as they mix with each other, humans mingle with members of other races. They get along with almost everyone, though they might not be close to many. Humans serve as ambassadors, diplomats, magistrates, merchants, and functionaries of all kinds.

Dwarves. “They’re stout folk, stalwart friends, and true to their word. Their greed for gold is their downfall, though.”

Elves. “It’s best not to wander into elven woods. They don’t like intruders, and you’ll as likely be bewitched as peppered with arrows. Still, if an elf can get past that damned racial pride and actually treat you like an equal, you can learn a lot from them.”

Halflings. “It’s hard to beat a meal in a halfling home, as long as you don’t crack your head on the ceiling—good food and good stories in front of a nice, warm fire. If halflings had a shred of ambition, they might really amount to something.”

Common Races | Human

Human Ethnicities

Having so much more variety than other cultures, humans as a whole have no typical names. Some human parents give their children names from other languages, such as Dwarvish or Elvish (pronounced more or less correctly), but most parents give names that are linked to their region’s culture or to the naming traditions of their ancestors.

The material culture and physical characteristics of humans can change wildly from region to region. In the Forgotten Realms, for example, the clothing, architecture, cuisine, music, and literature are different in the northwestern lands of the Silver Marches than in distant Turmish or Impiltur to the east — and even more distinctive in far-off Kara-Tur. Human physical characteristics, though, vary according to the ancient migrations of the earliest humans, so that the humans of the Silver Marches have every possible variation of coloration and features.

Human Traits

It’s hard to make generalizations about humans, but your human character has these traits.

Ability Score Increase. One ability score of your choice increases by 1.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 8.

Age. Humans reach adulthood in their late teens and live less than a century.

Alignment. Humans tend toward no particular alignment. The best and the worst are found among them.

Size. Humans vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Natural Learners. You gain proficiency in one skill, or tool proficiency of your choice.

Human Determination. When you make an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw, you can reroll before the DM states if the roll is a success or not. Once you use this ability, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice. Humans typically learn the languages of other peoples they deal with, including obscure dialects. They are fond of sprinkling their speech with words borrowed from other tongues: Orc curses, Elvish musical expressions, Dwarvish military phrases, and so on.

Common Races | Human

Dragonborn

Born of dragons, as their name proclaims, the dragonborn walk proudly through a world that greets them with fearful incomprehension. Shaped by draconic gods or the dragons themselves, dragonborn originally hatched from dragon eggs as a unique race, combining the best attributes of dragons and humanoids. Some dragonborn are faithful servants to true dragons, others form the ranks of soldiers in great wars, and still others find themselves adrift, with no clear calling in life.

Proud Dragon Kin

Dragonborn look very much like dragons standing erect in humanoid form, though they lack wings or a tail. The first dragonborn had scales of vibrant hues matching the colors of their dragon kin, but generations of interbreeding have created a more uniform appearance. Their small, fine scales are usually brass or bronze in color, sometimes ranging to scarlet, rust, gold, or copper-green. They are tall and strongly built, often standing close to 6½ feet tall and weighing 300 pounds or more. Their hands and feet are strong, talonlike claws with three fingers and a thumb on each hand.

The blood of a particular type of dragon runs very strong through some dragonborn clans. These dragonborn often boast scales that more closely match those of their dragon ancestor — bright red, green, blue, or white, lustrous black, or gleaming metallic gold, silver, brass, copper, or bronze.

Self-Sufficient Clans

To any dragonborn, the clan is more important than life itself. Dragonborn owe their devotion and respect to their clan above all else, even the gods. Each dragonborn’s conduct reflects on the honor of his or her clan, and bringing dishonor to the clan can result in expulsion and exile. Each dragonborn knows his or her station and duties within the clan, and honor demands maintaining the bounds of that position.

A continual drive for self-improvement reflects the self-sufficiency of the race as a whole. Dragonborn value skill and excellence in all endeavors. They hate to fail, and they push themselves to extreme efforts before they give up on something. A dragonborn holds mastery of a particular skill as a lifetime goal. Members of other races who share the same commitment find it easy to earn the respect of a dragonborn.

Though all dragonborn strive to be self-sufficient, they recognize that help is sometimes needed in difficult situations. But the best source for such help is the clan, and when a clan needs help, it turns to another dragonborn clan before seeking aid from other races — or even from the gods.

Dragonborn Names

Dragonborn have personal names given at birth, but they put their clan names first as a mark of honor. A childhood name or nickname is often used among clutchmates as a descriptive term or a term of endearment. The name might recall an event or center on a habit.

Male Names: Arjhan, Balasar, Bharash, Donaar, Ghesh, Heskan, Kriv, Medrash, Mehen, Nadarr, Pandjed, Patrin, Rhogar, Shamash, Shedinn, Tarhun, Torinn

Female Names: Akra, Biri, Daar, Farideh, Harann, Havilar, Jheri, Kava, Korinn, Mishann, Nala, Perra, Raiann, Sora, Surina, Thava, Uadjit

Childhood Names: Climber, Earbender, Leaper, Pious, Shieldbiter, Zealous

Clan Names: Clethtinthiallor, Daardendrian, Delmirev, Drachedandion, Fenkenkabradon, Kepeshkmolik, Kerrhylon, Kimbatuul, Linxakasendalor, Myastan, Nemmonis, Norixius, Ophinshtalajiir, Prexijandilin, Shestendeliath, Turnuroth, Verthisathurgiesh, Yarjerit

Uncommon Races | Dragonborn

Dragonborn Traits

Your draconic heritage manifests in a variety of traits you share with other dragonborn.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Strength or Charisma score increases by 1.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 10.

Age. Young dragonborn grow quickly. They walk hours after hatching, attain the size and development of a 10-year-old human child by the age of 3, and reach adulthood by 15. They live to be around 80.

Alignment. Dragonborn tend to extremes, making a conscious choice for one side or the other in the cosmic war between good and evil (represented by Bahamut and Tiamat, respectively). Most dragonborn are good, but those who side with Tiamat can be terrible villains.

Size. Dragonborn are taller and heavier than humans, standing well over 6 feet tall and averaging almost 250 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic. Draconic is thought to be one of the oldest languages and is often used in the study of magic. The language sounds harsh to most other creatures and includes numerous hard consonants and sibilants.

Subrace. There are two main kinds of dragonborn; chromatic, and metallic, with a rare third subrace, gem. Choose one of these subraces.

Chromatic Dragonborn

Dragonborn with chromatic ancestry claim the raw elemental power of the chromatic dragons. The vibrant colors of the chromatics—black, blue, green, red, and white—gleam in their scaled skin and in the deadly energy of their breath weapons. Theirs is the raw elemental fury of the volcano, of biting arctic winds, of raging lightning storms; theirs also is the subtle whisper of swamp and forest, corrosive and toxic.

Chromatic Ancestry. You trace your ancestry to a chromatic dragon, granting you a special magical affinity. Choose one type of dragon from the Chromatic Ancestry table. This determines the damage type for your other traits as shown in the table.

Chromatic Ancestry

Dragon	Damage Type
Black	Acid
Blue	Lightning
Green	Poison
Red	Fire
White	Cold

Breath Weapon. When you take the Attack action, you can replace one of your attacks with an exhalation of a magical energy in a 30-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in the area must make a Dexterity saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency

Uncommon Races | Dragonborn

Metallic Dragonborn

Dragonborn with metallic ancestry lay claim to the unflinching tenacity of the metallic dragons—brass, bronze, copper, gold, and silver—whose hues glint in their scales. Theirs is the fire of hearth and forge, the cold of high mountain air, the spark of inspiration, and the scouring touch of acid that cleanses and purifies.

Metallic Ancestry. You trace your ancestry to a metallic dragon, granting you a special magical affinity. Choose one type of dragon from the Metallic Ancestry table. This determines the damage type for your other traits as shown in the table.

Gem Dragonborn

Dragonborn with gem ancestry partake of the heritage of all gem dragons, who claim to be heirs of the ruby dragon, Sardior—the firstborn of all creation, made by Bahamut and Tiamat in the first days of the First World. The colors and mysterious powers of the gem dragons—amethyst, crystal, emerald, sapphire, and topaz—gleam in their scaled skin and course through their veins. Theirs are the wonders of the mind, the force of will, the brilliant light of insight, the resounding echo of discovery, and the desiccation of despair.

Gem Ancestry. You trace your ancestry to a gem dragon, granting you a special magical affinity. Choose one type of dragon from the Gem Ancestry table. This determines the damage type for your other traits as shown in the table.

Gnome

A constant hum of busy activity pervades the warrens and neighborhoods where gnomes form their close-knit communities. Louder sounds punctuate the hum: a crunch of grinding gears here, a minor explosion there, a yelp of surprise or triumph, and especially bursts of laughter. Gnomes take delight in life, enjoying every moment of invention, exploration, investigation, creation, and play.

Forest Gnome

As a forest gnome, you have a natural knack for illusion and inherent quickness and stealth. In the worlds of D&D, forest gnomes are rare and secretive. They gather in hidden communities in sylvan forests, using illusions and trickery to conceal themselves from threats or to mask their escape should they be detected. Forest gnomes tend to be friendly with other good-spirited woodland folk, and they regard elves and good fey as their most important allies. These gnomes also befriend small forest animals and rely on them for information about threats that might prowl their lands.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Dexterity score by 1 or choose the Gnomes's racial increase to Intelligence.

Natural Illusionist. You know the minor illusion cantrip. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.

Speak with Small Beasts. Through sounds and gestures, you can communicate simple ideas with Small or smaller beasts. Forest gnomes love animals and often keep squirrels, badgers, rabbits, moles, woodpeckers, and other creatures as beloved pets.

Rock Gnomes

As a rock gnome, you have a natural inventiveness and hardiness beyond that of other gnomes. Most gnomes in the worlds of D&D are rock gnomes, including the tinker gnomes of the Dragonlance setting.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Constitution score by 1 or choose the Gnomes's racial increase to Intelligence.

Artificer’s Lore. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) check related to magic items, alchemical objects, or technological devices, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of any proficiency bonus you normally apply.

Tinker. You have proficiency with artisan’s tools (tinker’s tools). Using those tools, you can spend 1 hour and 10 gp worth of materials to construct a Tiny clockwork device (AC 5, 1 hp). The device ceases to function after 24 hours (unless you spend 1 hour repairing it to keep the device functioning), or when you use your action to dismantle it; at that time, you can reclaim the materials used to create it. You can have up to three such devices active at a time.

When you create a device, choose one of the following options:

Clockwork Toy. This toy is a clockwork animal, monster, or person, such as a frog, mouse, bird, dragon, or soldier. When placed on the ground, the toy moves 5 feet across the ground on each of your turns in a random direction. It makes noises as appropriate to the creature it represents.

Fire Starter. The device produces a miniature flame, which you can use to light a candle, torch, or campfire. Using the device requires your action.

Music Box. When opened, this music box plays a single song at a moderate volume. The box stops playing when it reaches the song’s end or when it is closed.

Deep Gnome

Forest gnomes and rock gnomes are the gnomes most commonly encountered in the lands of the surface world. There is another subrace of gnomes rarely seen by any surface-dweller: deep gnomes, also known as svirfneblin. Guarded, and suspicious of outsiders, svirfneblin are cunning and taciturn, but can be just as kind-hearted, loyal, and compassionate as their surface cousins.

Ability Score increase. You can increase your Dexterity score by 1 or choose the Gnomes's racial increase to Intelligence.

Alignment. Svirfneblin believe that survival depends on avoiding entanglements with other creatures and not making enemies, so they favor neutral alignments. They rarely wish others ill, and they are unlikely to take risks on behalf of others.

Size. A typical svirfneblin stands about 3 to 3½ feet tall and weighs 80 to 120 pounds. Your size is Small.

Superior Darkvision. Your darkvision has a radius of 120 feet.

Stone Camouflage. You have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide in rocky terrain.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, Gnomish, and Undercommon. The svirfneblin dialect is more guttural than surface Gnomish, and most svirfneblin know only a little bit of Common, but those who deal with outsiders (and that includes you as an adventurer) pick up enough Common to get by in other lands.

Sunlight Sensitivity. You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in overly bright sunlight such as the daylight spell.

Uncommon Races | Gnome

Half-Dwarf

Due to similar values and shared interests the relations between dwarf and man is often a peaceful and beneficial one. These good relations often led some dwarves to move into human towns and cities. Some dwarves assimilated into the human cultures, and although it is considered a breech of dwarven tradition to marry outside the seven clans, some even took human spouses. Children of these unions are the rare half-dwarves of Hibernia.

Half-Elf

Walking in two worlds but truly belonging to neither, half-elves combine what some say are the best qualities of their elf and human parents: human curiosity, inventiveness, and ambition tempered by the refined senses, love of nature, and artistic tastes of the elves. Some half-elves live among humans, set apart by their emotional and physical differences, watching friends and loved ones age while time barely touches them. Others live with the elves, growing restless as they reach adulthood in the timeless elven realms, while their peers continue to live as children. Many half-elves, unable to fit into either society, choose lives of solitary wandering or join with other misfits and outcasts in the adventuring life.

Half-Elf Names

Half-elves use either human or elven naming conventions. As if to emphasize that they don’t really fit in to either society, half-elves raised among humans are often given elven names, and those raised among elves often take human names.

Uncommon Races | Half-Elf

Half-Orc

Whether united under the leadership of a mighty warlock or having fought to a standstill after years of conflict, orc and human tribes sometimes form alliances, joining forces into a larger horde to the terror of civilized lands nearby. When these alliances are sealed by marriages, half-orcs are born. Some half-orcs rise to become proud chiefs of orc tribes, their human blood giving them an edge over their full-blooded orc rivals. Some venture into the world to prove their worth among humans and other more civilized races. Many of these become adventurers, achieving greatness for their mighty deeds and notoriety for their barbaric customs and savage fury.

Tribes and Slums

Half-orcs most often live among orcs. Of the other races, humans are most likely to accept half-orcs, and half-orcs almost always live in human lands when not living among orc tribes. Whether proving themselves among rough barbarian tribes or scrabbling to survive in the slums of larger cities, half-orcs get by on their physical might, their endurance, and the sheer determination they inherit from their human ancestry.

Grudging Acceptance

Each half-orc finds a way to gain acceptance from those who hate orcs. Some are reserved, trying not to draw attention to themselves. A few demonstrate piety and good-heartedness as publicly as they can (whether or not such demonstrations are genuine). And some simply try to be so tough that others just avoid them.

Uncommon Races | Half-Orc

Tiefling

To be greeted with stares and whispers, to suffer violence and insult on the street, to see mistrust and fear in every eye: this is the lot of the tiefling. And to twist the knife, tieflings know that this is because a pact struck generations ago infused the essence of Asmodeus — overlord of the Nine Hells — into their bloodline. Their appearance and their nature are not their fault but the result of an ancient sin, for which they and their children and their children’s children will always be held accountable.

Tiefling Names

Tiefling names fall into three broad categories. Tieflings born into another culture typically have names reflective of that culture. Some have names derived from the Infernal language, passed down through generations, that reflect their fiendish heritage. And some younger tieflings, striving to find a place in the world, adopt a name that signifies a virtue or other concept and then try to embody that concept. For some, the chosen name is a noble quest. For others, it’s a grim destiny.

Male Infernal Names: Akmenos, Amnon, Barakas, Damakos, Ekemon, Iados, Kairon, Leucis, Melech, Mordai, Morthos, Pelaios, Skamos, Therai

Female Infernal Names: Akta, Anakis, Bryseis, Criella, Damaia, Ea, Kallista, Lerissa, Makaria, Nemeia, Orianna, Phelaia, Rieta

“Virtue” Names: Art, Carrion, Chant, Creed, Despair, Excellence, Fear, Glory, Hope, Ideal, Music, Nowhere, Open, Poetry, Quest, Random, Reverence, Sorrow, Temerity, Torment, Weary

Uncommon Races | Tiefling

Tiefling Traits

Tieflings share certain racial traits as a result of their infernal descent.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Charisma score by 1 or choose your subrace's ASI.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 8.

Age. Tieflings mature at the same rate as humans but live a few years longer.

Alignment. Tieflings might not have an innate tendency toward evil, but many of them end up there. Evil or not, an independent nature inclines many tieflings toward a chaotic alignment.

Size. Tieflings are about the same size and build as humans. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. Thanks to your infernal heritage, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Hellish Resistance. You have resistance to fire damage.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Infernal.

Subrace. Tieflings have a special link to one of the Lords of the Nine Hells. This link is represented by a subrace. Choose one of these subraces.

Asmodeus

The tieflings connected to Nessus command the power of fire and darkness, guided by a keener than normal intellect, as befits those linked to Asmodeus himself.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Intelligence score increases by 1 or choose the Tiefling's racial increase to Charisma.

Infernal Legacy. You know the thaumaturgy cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the hellish rebuke spell as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the darkness spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Baalzebul

The crumbling realm of Maladomini is ruled by Baalzebul, who excels at corrupting those whose minor sins can be transformed into acts of damnation. Tieflings linked to this archdevil can corrupt others both physically and psychically.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Intelligence score increases by 1 or choose the Tiefling's racial increase to Charisma.

Legacy of Maladomini. You know the thaumaturgy cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the ray of sickness spell as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the crown of madness spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Dispater

The great city of Dis occupies most of Hell’s second layer. It is a place where secrets are uncovered and shared with the highest bidder, making tieflings tied to Dispater excellent spies and infiltrators.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Dexterity score increases by 1 or choose the Tiefling's racial increase to Charisma.

Legacy of Dis. You know the thaumaturgy cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the disguise self spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the detect thoughts spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Fierna

A master manipulator, Fierna grants tieflings tied to her forceful personalities.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Wisdom score increases by 1 or choose the Tiefling's racial increase to Charisma.

Legacy of Phlegethos. You know the friends cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the charm person spell as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the suggestion spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Glasya

Glasya, Hell’s criminal mastermind, grants her tieflings magic that is useful for committing heists.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Dexterity score increases by 1 or choose the Tiefling's racial increase to Charisma.

Legacy of Malbolge. You know the minor illusion cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the disguise self spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the invisibility spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Levistus

Frozen Stygia is ruled by Levistus, an archdevil known for offering bargains to those who face an inescapable doom.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Constitution score increases by 1 or choose the Tiefling's racial increase to Charisma.

Legacy of Stygia. You know the ray of frost cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the armor of Agathys spell as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. When you reach 5th level, you can cast the darkness spell once with this trait and regain the ability to do so when you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Kenku

Haunted by an ancient crime that robbed them of their wings, the kenku wander the world as vagabonds and burglars who live at the edge of human society. Kenku suffer from a sinister reputation that is not wholly unearned, but they can prove to be valuable allies.

An Ancient Curse

he kenku once served a mysterious, powerful entity on another plane of existence. Some believe they were minions of Grazz’t, while others say that they were scouts and explorers for the Wind Dukes of Aaqa. Whatever the truth, according to legend, the kenku betrayed their master. Unable to resist the lure of a beautiful sparkling treasure, the kenku plotted to steal the item and escape to the Material Plane.

Unfortunately for the kenku, their master discovered their plan before they could enact it. Enraged, the entity imposed three dreadful curses upon them. First, the kenku’s beloved wings withered and fell away from their bodies, leaving them bound to the earth. Second, because their ingenuity and skill had turned toward scheming against their patron, the spark of creativity was torn from their souls. Finally, to ensure that the kenku could never divulge any secrets, their master took away their voices. Once the entity was satisfied that they had been sufficiently punished, the kenku were set loose on the Material Plane.

Since then, the kenku have wandered the world. They settle in places that accept them, usually bleak cities that have fallen on hard times and are overrun with crime.

Dreams of Flight

Above all else, kenku wish to regain their ability to fly. Every kenku is born with a desire to take to the air, and those who learn spellcasting do so in hope of mastering spells that will allow them to fly. Rumors of magic items such as flying carpets, brooms capable of flight, and similar objects provoke a great desire for the kenku to acquire the items for themselves.

Despite their lack of wings, kenku love dwelling in towers and other tall structures. They seek out ruins that reach to the sky, though they lack the motivation and creativity to make repairs or fortify such places. Even so, their light weight and size allow them to dwell in rickety structures that would collapse beneath a human or an orc.

Some thieves’ guilds use kenku as lookouts and messengers. The kenku dwell in the tallest buildings and towers the guild controls, allowing them to lurk in the highest levels and to keep watch on the city below.

Hopeless Plagiarists

As a result of their lack of creativity, kenku function comfortably as minions of a powerful master. Flock leaders enforce discipline and minimize conflicts, but they fail at effective planning or crafting long-term schemes.

Although unable to speak in their own voices, kenku can perfectly mimic any sound they hear, from a half­ling’s voice to the noise of rocks clattering down a hillside. However, kenku cannot create new sounds and can communicate only by using sounds they have heard. Most kenku use a combination of overheard phrases and sound effects to convey their ideas and thoughts.

By the same token, kenku have no ability to invent new ideas or create new things. Kenku can copy existing items with exceptional skill, allowing them to become excellent artisans and scribes. They can copy books, make replicas of objects, and otherwise thrive in situations where they can produce large numbers of identical items. Few kenku find this work satisfying, since their quest for the freedom of flight makes them ill-suited to settle into a routine.

Beast Races | Kenku

Ideal Minions

Kenku gather in groups called flocks. A flock is led by the oldest and most experienced kenku with the widest store of knowledge to draw on, often called Master.

Although kenku can’t create new things, they have a talent for learning and memorizing details. Thus, ambitious kenku can excel as superb spies and scouts. A kenku who learns of clever schemes and plans devised by other creatures can put them to use. The kenku lack the talent to improvise or alter a plan, but a wise Master sets multiple plans in motion at once, confident that underlings can follow orders to the letter.

For this reason, many kenku make an easy living serving as messengers, spies, and lookouts for thieves’ guilds, bandits, and other criminal cartels. A network of kenku can relay a bird call or similar noise across the city, alerting their allies to the approach of a guard patrol or signaling a prime opportunity for a robbery.

Since kenku can precisely reproduce any sound, the messages they carry rarely suffer degradation or shifts in meaning. Human messengers might switch words or phrases and garble a message inadvertently, but the kenku produce perfect copies of whatever they hear.

Kenku Adventureres

Kenku adventurers are usually the survivors of a flock that has sustained heavy losses, or a rare kenku who has grown weary of a life of crime. These kenku are more ambitious and daring than their fellows. Others strike out on their own in search of the secrets of flight, to master magic, or to uncover the secret of their curse and find a method to break it.

Kenku adventurers, despite their relative independence, still have a tendency to seek out a companion to emulate and follow. A kenku loves to mimic the voice and words of its chosen companion.

Kenku Names

Given that kenku can duplicate any sound, their names are drawn from a staggering variety of noises and phrases. Kenku names tend to break down into three categories that make no distinction between male and female names.

Kenku thugs, warriors, and toughs adopt noises made by weapons, such as the clang of a mace against armor or the sound made by a breaking bone. Non-kenku refer to the kenku by describing this noise. Examples of this type of name include Smasher, Clanger, Slicer, and Basher.

Kenku thieves, con artists, and burglars adopt animal noises, typically those common in urban settings. In this manner, kenku can call out to each other while those who overhear them mistake them for common animals. Non-kenku use names that refer to the sound made or the animal a kenku mimics, such as Rat Scratch, Whistler, Mouser, and Growler.

Some kenku turn their back on crime to pursue legitimate trades. These kenku adopt noises made as part of their craft. A sailor duplicates the sound of a fluttering sail, while a smith mimics the clanging of a hammer on metal. Non-kenku describe these folk by their trade sounds, such as Sail Snap, Hammerer, and Cutter.

Kenku Traits

Your kenku character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Dexterity or Wisdom score increases by 1.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 6.

Age. Kenku have shorter lifespans than humans. They reach maturity at about 12 years old and can live to 60.

Alignment. Kenku are chaotic creatures, rarely making enduring commitments, and they care mostly for preserving their own hides. They are generally chaotic neutral in outlook.

Size. Kenku are around 5 feet tall and weigh between 90 and 120 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Expert Forgery. You can duplicate other creatures’ handwriting and craftwork. You have advantage on all checks made to produce forgeries or duplicates of existing objects.

Kenku Training. You are proficient in your choice of two of the following skills: Acrobatics, Deception, Stealth, and Sleight of Hand.

Mimicry. You can mimic sounds you have heard, including voices. A creature that hears the sounds you make can tell they are imitations with a successful Wisdom (Insight) check opposed by your Charisma (Deception) check.

Languages. You can read and write Common and Auran, but you can speak only by using your Mimicry trait.

Leonin

The leonin guard the shining lands of Oreskos, a golden plain where even the gods rarely trespass. Prides of these nomadic, lion-like humanoids rarely interact with other peoples, having all they need in their shimmering homeland and knowing the treachery of strangers. Still, some leonin wonder what lies beyond and seek to test themselves in a wider world.

Leonin Traits

Your leonin character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Constitution or Strength score by 1.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 10.

Age. Leonin mature and age at about the same rate as humans.

Alignment. Leonin tend toward good alignments. Leonin who are focused on the pride lean toward lawful good.

Size. Leonin are typically over 6 feet tall, with some standing over 7 feet. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 35 feet.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Cat’s Claws. Because of your claws, you have a climbing speed of 20 feet. In addition, your claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Hunter’s Instincts. You have proficiency in two of the following skills of your choice: Athletics, Intimidation, Perception, or Survival.

Daunting Roar. As a bonus action, you can let out an especially menacing roar. Creatures of your choice within 10 feet of you that can hear you must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn. The DC of the save equals 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Leonin

Beast Races | Leonin

Lizardfolk

Only a fool looks at the lizardfolk and sees nothing more than scaly humanoids. Their physical shape notwithstanding, lizardfolk have more in common with iguanas or dragons than they do with humans, dwarves, or elves. Lizardfolk possess an alien and inscrutable mindset, their desires and thoughts driven by a different set of basic principles than those of warm-blooded creatures. Their dismal swamp homes might lie hundreds of miles from the nearest human settlement, but the gap between their way of thinking and that of the smooth-skins is far greater.

Despite their alien outlook, some lizardfolk make an effort to understand and, in their own manner, befriend people of other races. Such lizardfolk make faithful and skilled allies.

Lizardfolk Personality

You can use the Lizardfolk Quirks table to determine a personality quirk for a lizardfolk character or to inspire a unique mannerism.

Lizardfolk Names

Lizardfolk take their names from the Draconic language. They use simple descriptives granted by the tribe based on an individual’s notable deeds or actions. For example, Garurt translates as “axe,” a name given to a lizardfolk warrior who defeated an orc and claimed his foe’s weapon. A lizardfolk who likes to hide in a stand of reeds before ambushing an animal might be called Achuak, which means “green” to describe how she blends into the foliage.

Lizardfolk make no distinction between male and female in their naming conventions. Each example name includes its translation in parenthesis.

Lizardfolk Names: Achuak (green), Aryte (war), Baeshra (animal), Darastrix (dragon), Garurt (axe), Irhtos (secret), Jhank (hammer), Kepesk (storm), Kethend (gem), Korth (danger), Kosj (small), Kothar (demon), Litrix (armor), Mirik (song), Othokent (smart), Sauriv (eye), Throden (many), Thurkear (night), Usk (iron), Valignat (burn), Vargach (battle), Verthica (mountain), Vutha (black), Vyth (steel)

Beast Races | Lizardfolk

Minotaur

The minotaurs are strong in body, dedication, and courage. They are at home on the battlefield, willing to fight for their various causes. They combine a burning fury in battle with keen tactics that make them excellent commanders as well as valuable shock troops.

Minotaur Names

The legends that recount the deeds of ancient minotaur heroes are full of other names as well: those of the retainers, allies, lovers, servants, enemies, and others who played roles, however small, in the lives of the heroes. Almost every minotaur name is drawn from that long list of minor characters of legend, so that those folk are never forgotten.

 Male Names. Alovnek, Brogmir, Brozhdar, Dornik, Drakmir, Drazhan, Grozdan, Kalazmir, Klattic, Melislek, Nirikov, Prezhlek, Radolak, Rugilar, Sarovnek, Svarakov, Trovik, Vraslak, Yarvem

Female Names. Akra, Bolsa, Cica, Dakka, Drakisla, Eleska, Enka, Irnaya, Jaska, Kalka, Makla, Noraka, Pesha, Raisha, Sokali, Takyat, Vrokya, Veska, Yelka, Zarka, Zoka

Minotaur Traits

Your minotaur character has the following racial traits. These traits are also suitable for minotaurs in other D&D worlds where these people have avoided the demonic influence of Baphomet.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Strength or Constitution score by 1.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 10.

Alignment. Most minotaurs who join the Boros Legion lean toward lawful alignments, while those associated with the Cult of Rakdos or the Gruul Clans tend toward chaotic alignments.

Size. Minotaurs average over 6 feet in height, and they have stocky builds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Horns. Your horns are natural melee weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal piercing damage equal to 1d6 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Goring Rush. Immediately after you use the Dash action on your turn and move at least 20 feet, you can make one melee attack with your horns as a bonus action.

Hammering Horns. Immediately after you hit a creature with a melee attack as part of the Attack action on your turn, you can use a bonus action to attempt to shove that target with your horns. The target must be no more than one size larger than you and within 5 feet of you. Unless it succeeds on a Strength saving throw against a DC equal to 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength modifier, you push it up to 10 feet away from you.

Imposing Presence. You have proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Intimidation or Persuasion.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Minotaur.

Beast Races | Minotaur

Tabaxi

Hailing from a strange and distant land, wandering tabaxi are catlike humanoids driven by curiosity to collect interesting artifacts, gather tales and stories, and lay eyes on all the world’s wonders. Ultimate travelers, the inquisitive tabaxi rarely stay in one place for long. Their innate nature pushes them to leave no secrets uncovered, no treasures or legends lost.

Tortle

What many tortles consider a simple life, others might call a life of adventure. Tortles are born near sandy coastlines, but as soon as they’re able to walk on two legs, they become nomad survivalists eager to explore the wilderness, experience its many wonders, put their skills to the test, and make new acquaintances.

Beliefs

Tortles don’t have their own pantheon of gods, but they often worship the gods of other races. It’s not unusual for a tortle to hear stories or legends related to a god and choose to worship that deity. In the Forgotten Realms, tortles are especially fond of Eldath, Gond, Lathander, Savras, Selûne, and Tymora. In the Greyhawk setting, they gravitate toward Celestian, Fharlanghn, Pelor, Pholtus, and St. Cuthbert. Tortles are often drawn to the Gods of Good in Dragonlance and the Sovereign Host in Eberron. Among the nonhuman deities, Moradin and Yondalla relate to tortles most of all.

 Tortles believe that night and day watch over them and other creatures. The moon is the eye of night that watches over them in darkness, and the sun is the equally vigilant eye of day. Tortles feel most at peace when one or both of these “eyes” are looking down on them. They become more nervous and uneasy when neither orb is visible in the sky. Tortles tend to be most uncomfortable underground, where neither the sun nor the moon is visible to them.

Blessed are the days when both the sun and moon are visible in the sky at the same time. Tortles often choose such days to leave their homes and begin a wilderness expedition, or perform some other task they know to be dangerous.

Beast Races | Tortle

Adventurers at Heart

Tortles have a saying: “We wear our homes on our backs.” The shells they carry around provide all the shelter they require. Consequently, tortles don’t feel the need to root themselves in one place for too long. A tortle settlement is primarily used as a kind of moot, where tortles can socialize with one another, share useful information, and trade with strangers in the safety of greater numbers. Tortles don’t regard these settlements as places worth defending with their lives, and they will abandon a settlement when it no longer serves their needs.

Most tortles like to see how other creatures live and discover new customs and new ways of doing things. The urge to procreate doesn’t kick in until the end of a tortle’s life, and a tortle can spend decades away from its native land without feeling homesick. Tortles embrace a simple view of the world. It is a place of wonder, and tortles see beauty in the ordinary. They live for the chance to hear a soft wind blowing through palm trees, to watch a frog croaking on a lily pad, or to stand in a crowded human marketplace.

Tortles like to learn new skills. They craft their own tools and weapons, and they are good at building structures and fortifications. They marvel at the works of other civilized creatures, humans in particular, and can lose themselves for years in a city, studying its architectural wonders and learning skills they can put to use when building forts to contain their offspring.

Although they spend a considerable portion of their lives in isolation, tortles are social creatures that like to form meaningful friendships. They have no inbred animus toward people of other races. In fact, a tortle will often seek out friendships with non tortles to learn new customs and new points of view.

Tortle Names

ortles prefer simple, non-gender-specific names that are usually no more than two syllables. If a tortle doesn’t like its name for whatever reason, it can change it. A tortle might change its name a dozen times in its life.

Tortles don’t have surnames or family names.

Male and Female Names. Baka, Damu, Gar, Gura, Ini, Jappa, Kinlek, Krull, Lim, Lop, Nortle, Nulka, Olo, Ploqwat, Quee, Queg, Quott, Sunny, Tibor, Ubo, Uhok, Wabu, Xelbuk, Xopa, Yog

Tortle Traits

Your tortle character gains traits that enable it to cope with the perils of a savage world.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Strength or Wisdom score by 1.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 12.

Age. Young tortles crawl for a few weeks after birth before learning to walk on two legs. They reach adulthood by the age of 15 and live an average of 130 years.

Alignment. Tortles tend to lead orderly, ritualistic lives. They develop customs and routines, becoming more set in their ways as they age. Most are lawful good. A few can be selfish and greedy, tending more toward evil, but it’s unusual for a tortle to shuck off order in favor of chaos.

Size. Tortle adults stand 5 to 6 feet tall and average 450 pounds. Their shells account for roughly one-third of their weight. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Claws. Your claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Hold Breath. You can hold your breath for up to 1 hour at a time. Tortles aren’t natural swimmers, but they can remain underwater for some time before needing to come up for air.

Natural Armor. Due to your shell and the shape of your body, you are ill-suited to wearing armor. Your shell provides ample protection, however; it gives you a base AC of 17 (your Dexterity modifier doesn’t affect this number). You gain no benefit from wearing armor, but if you are using a shield, you can apply the shield’s bonus as normal.

Shell Defense. You can withdraw into your shell as an action. Until you emerge, you gain a +4 bonus to AC, and you have advantage on Strength and Constitution saving throws. While in your shell, you are prone, your speed is 0 and can’t increase, you have disadvantage on Dexterity saving throws, you can’t take reactions, and the only action you can take is a bonus action to emerge from your shell.

Survival Instinct. You gain proficiency in the Survival skill. Tortles have finely honed survival instincts.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Aquan and Common.

Bugbear

Bugbears feature in the nightmare tales of many races — great, hairy beasts that creep through the shadows as quiet as cats. If you walk alone in the woods, a bugbear will reach out of the bushes and strangle you. If you stray too far from the house at night, bugbears will scoop you up to devour you in their den. If a bugbear cuts off your head, your soul stays trapped inside, and the bugbears use your head to magically command all whom you once knew.

Lurid tales such as these have flowered from the seeds of truth. Bugbears do rely on stealth and strength to attack, preferring to operate at night. They do take the heads of enemy leaders, but they are no more likely to eat people indiscriminately than humans are. Bugbears aren’t likely to attack lone travelers or wandering children unless they clearly have something to gain by doing so. From the viewpoint of the rest of the world, their aggression and savagery are thankfully offset by their rarity and lethargy.

Bugbear Traits

Your bugbear character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Strength or Dexterity score by 1.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 10.

Age. Bugbears reach adulthood at age 16 and live up to 80 years.

Alignment. Bugbears endure a harsh existence that demands each of them to remain self-sufficient, even at the expense of their fellows. They tend to be chaotic evil.

Size. Bugbears are between 6 and 8 feet tall and weigh between 250 and 350 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Long-Limbed. When you make a melee attack on your turn, your reach for it is 5 feet greater than normal.

Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Sneaky. You are proficient in the Stealth skill.

Surprise Attack. If you surprise a creature and hit it with an attack on your first turn in combat, the attack deals an extra 2d6 damage to it. You can use this trait only once per combat.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Goblin.

Monster Races | Bugbear

Goblin

Goblins occupy an uneasy place in a dangerous world, and they react by lashing out at any creatures they believe they can bully. Cunning in battle and cruel in victory, goblins are fawning and servile in defeat, just as in their own society lower castes must scrape before those of greater status and as goblin tribes bow before other goblinoids.

Beast Masters and Slave Drivers

Goblins know they are a weak, unsophisticated race that can be easily dominated by bigger, smarter, more organized, more ferocious, or more magical creatures. Their god was conquered by Maglubiyet, after all, and now when the Mighty One calls for it, even their souls are forfeit. It is this realization that drives them to dominate other creatures whenever they can — for goblins, life is short.

Goblins seek to trap and enslave any creatures they encounter, but they flee from opposition that seems too daunting. For miles around their lair, they employ pit traps, snares, and nets to catch the unwary, and when their hunting patrols encounter other beings, they always look for ways to capture their foes instead of killing them. Goblins that run up against the fringes of a society first test its defenses by stealing objects, and if these crimes go unpunished, they begin stealing people.

Enslaved creatures receive the worst treatment the goblins can dish out while still getting decent performance out of the slaves. But humanoids and monsters that are especially capable or that provide unusual services find themselves treated like favored (though occasionally abused) pets.

Virtually any kind of creature that can be browbeaten into service might be found with a goblin tribe, but rats and wolves are nearly always present. Both have lived in concert with goblins for at least as long as humans have worked with dogs and horses, and in goblin society those two animals serve similar purposes.

Family Matters

A goblin tribe is organized in a four-tiered caste system made up of lashers, hunters, gatherers, and pariahs. The status of every family in the tribe is based on its importance to the tribe’s survival. Families that belong to the higher-ranking castes keep their status by not sharing their knowledge and skills with other families, while those in the lower castes have little hope of escaping their plight.

Outsiders who don’t understand the goblins’ social system are sometimes surprised by how different castes interact with them. A single human warrior might frighten away a dozen gatherers, only to be shocked when two hunters viciously attack. A captured group of invaders might hang in a net while dozens of goblins pass by and pay them no heed until a group of gatherers shows up

Status Symbols

Goblins love symbols of authority, and thus the tribe’s boss often has such trappings wherever he or she goes. Such a symbol can take a typical form, perhaps a crown or a throne, but also can be a more distinctive objects like a high-backed wolf saddle or colorful boots. The castes in a tribe also adopt symbols to indicate membership or kinship, but the symbols used are rarely the same between different tribes and often make little sense to other creatures. Some possible status symbols are given in the Status Symbols table.

Goblin Traits

Your goblin character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Dexterity or Constitution score by 1.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 6.

Age. Goblins reach adulthood at age 8 and live up to 60 years.

Alignment. Goblins are typically neutral evil, as they care only for their own needs. A few goblins might tend toward good or neutrality, but only rarely.

Size. Goblins are between 3 and 4 feet tall and weigh between 40 and 80 pounds. Your size is Small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Fury of the Small. When you damage a creature with an attack or a spell and the creature’s size is larger than yours, you can cause the attack or spell to deal extra damage to the creature. The extra damage equals your level. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Nimble Escape. You can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of your turns.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Goblin.

Monster Races | Goblin

Hobgoblin

War is the lifeblood of hobgoblins. Its glories are the dreams that inspire them. Its horrors don’t feature in their nightmares. Cowardice is more terrible to hobgoblins than dying, for they carry their living acts into the afterlife. A hero in death becomes a hero eternal.

Young hobgoblins start soldiering when they can walk and heed the mustering call as soon as they can wield their weapons capably. Every legion in the hobgoblins’ entire society forever stands prepared for war.

Honor Bound, By Glory Crowned

Advancement in rank comes as a result of attaining glory, but for the achievement to mean anything, a hobgoblin must abide by the race’s code of honor in doing so.

Each hobgoblin legion has a distinct code of honor and law, but all follow a few general precepts that are at the heart of the hobgoblin honor system.

Follow Orders. Carrying out orders without question is critical on the battlefield, and hobgoblins follow this dictum in peaceful times as well in order to maintain stability in their society. Hobgoblins don’t shrink from following orders that they know will result in death if the act will bring glory to the banner or the legion.

Suffer nor Give Insult. As befits their warlike nature, hobgoblins believe that any insult demands a response. Suitably (and somewhat ironically), the outward politeness and civility that they demonstrate among each other enables them to avoid conflicts in daily life. This same form of “courtesy” is often extended to other races the hobgoblins have dealings with, much to the outsiders’ surprise. When such respect isn’t reciprocated, though, relations can swiftly deteriorate.

Reward Glorious Action. Hobgoblins never deny advancement in status to a banner that has earned it, nor do they withhold higher rank from a deserving individual. If a banner attains great glory in battle but is nearly destroyed, the handful of members who remain are welcomed into

another banner, taking their banner’s name and colors along with them, and assuming places of leadership in the group.

Uphold the Legion. Hobgoblins care more for the survival of their legion than they do for others of their own kind. Two legions might battle over territory, resources, or power, or out of simple pride. Such a feud can continue over generations in an ongoing cycle of retribution. Each legion has a list of grievances against any others it knows about, and any legions meeting for the first time view each other with immediate hostility. Only a truly great warlord can force legions to work together as an army if Maglubiyet has not called forth a host.

Hobgoblin Traits

Your hobgoblin character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Constitution or Intelligence score by 1.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 10.

Age. Hobgoblins mature at the same rate as humans and have lifespans similar in length to theirs.

Alignment. Hobgoblin society is built on fidelity to a rigid, unforgiving code of conduct. As such, they tend toward lawful evil.

Size. Hobgoblins are between 5 and 6 feet tall and weigh between 150 and 200 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Martial Training. You are proficient with two martial weapons of your choice and with light armor.

Saving Face. Hobgoblins are careful not to show weakness in front of their allies, for fear of losing status. If you miss with an attack roll or fail an ability check or a saving throw, you can gain a bonus to the roll equal to the number of allies you can see within 30 feet of you (maximum bonus of +5). Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Goblin.

Monster Races | Hobgoblin

Kobold

Kobolds are often dismissed as cowardly, foolish, and weak, but these little reptilian creatures actually have a strong social structure that stresses devotion to the tribe, are clever with their hands, and viciously work together in order to overcome their physical limitations.

In the kobolds’ version of a perfect world, the creatures would be left alone to dig their tunnels and raise the next generation of kobolds, all the while seeking the magic that will free their imprisoned god (see the “Kurtulmak: God of Kobolds” sidebar). In the world they occupy, kobolds are often bullied and enslaved by larger creatures — or, when they live on their own, they are constantly fearful of invasion and oppression. Although individually they are timid and shy away from conflict, kobolds are dangerous if cornered, vicious when defending their eggs, and notorious for the dangerous improvised traps they use to protect their warrens.

Food and Cannibalism

Although their sharp teeth would suggest they are carnivores, kobolds are actually omnivores, and can eat just about anything, including meat, fruit, tree bark, bone, leather, and eggshells (a newly hatched kobold’s first meal is usually its own shell). A hungry tribe leaves nothing behind from a kill, eating everything that’s edible and using the rest to make tools or adornments.

Kobolds shed teeth as they wear out and grow new ones their entire lives. Many wear their own shed teeth as jewelry, with more teeth indicating an older — and wiser — kobold. Some unscrupulous individuals wear teeth stolen or harvested from others in an attempt to make them seem older and more respectable.

Most kobold tribes avoid eating what they call “talking meat” — intelligent creatures — because such behavior prompts retaliation. The fear of starvation can make them flexible about this principle, however, and if their options are either attacking such creatures or going hungry, kobolds are practical. A few tribes, particularly those in lightly populated areas, practice cannibalism, believing it is foolish to waste good meat.

Physical Variations

Kobolds vary widely in how their scales are colored and patterned. Although a human might have difficulty telling two similar-looking kobolds apart, the kobolds themselves can easily recognize each other.

Most kobolds of the same tribe tend to have similar coloration. For example, the Copper Tooth tribe might be mostly gray with red stripes. Two tribes that merge eventually crossbreed enough to create a new look, although occasional outliers and throwbacks are born that bear the appearance of one of the original tribes.

Kobold Names

Kobold names are derived from the Draconic tongue and usually relate to a characteristic of the owner, such as scale color, distinctive body parts, or typical behavior. For example, “Red Foot,” “White Claw,” and “Scurry” are Common translations of often-used names. A kobold might change its name when it becomes an adult, or add additional word-syllables after important events such as completing its first hunt, laying its first egg, or surviving its first battle.

Kobold Names. Arix, Eks, Ett, Galax, Garu, Hagnar, Hox, Irtos, Kashak, Meepo, Molo, Ohsoss, Rotom, Sagin, Sik, Sniv, Taklak, Tes, Urak, Varn

Kobold Traits

Your kobold character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Dexterity or Intelligence score by 1.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 4.

Age. Kobolds reach adulthood at age 6 and can live up to 120 years but rarely do so.

Alignment. Kobolds are fundamentally selfish, making them evil, but their reliance on the strength of their group makes them trend toward law. However those whose tribe serves a metallic dragon tend adhere to it's good nature.

Size. Kobolds are between 2 and 3 feet tall and weigh between 25 and 35 pounds. Your size is Small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Draconic Legacy. The kobold connection to dragons can manifest in unpredictable ways in an individual kobold. Choose one of the following legacy options when you select this race:

• You have advantage on saving throws to avoid or end the frightened condition on yourself.
• You know one cantrip of your choice from the sorcerer spell list. Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for that cantrip (choose when you select this race).
• You can make unarmed strikes with your tail. When you hit with it, the strike deals 1d6 + your Strength modifier bludgeoning damage, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

Draconic Roar. As a bonus action, you let out a draconic roar at your enemies within 10 feet of you. Until the end of your next turn, you and your allies have advantage on attack rolls against any of those enemies who could hear the roar. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Draconic.

Monster Races | Kobold

Orc

To feel the thunder of orcish war drums outside the gate and to hear a chorus of voices growling, “Gruumsh!” is the nightmare of every civilized place in the world. For no matter how thick its walls, skilled its archers, or brave its knights, few settlements have ever withstood a full-scale onslaught of orcs.

Every soldier who lives through a fight with orcs tells of confronting a hulking foe that can cleave through a warrior with a single blow, part of a force that can cut down enemies as though they were trembling stalks of wheat before the scythe. Only a skilled and determined hero can hope to survive single combat with an orc.

Savage and fearless, orc tribes are ever in search of elves, dwarves, and humans to destroy. Motivated by their hatred of the civilized races of the world and their need to satisfy the demands of their deities, the orcs know that if they fight well and bring glory to their tribe, Gruumsh will call them home to the plane of Acheron. It is there in the afterlife where the chosen ones will join Gruumsh and his armies in their endless extraplanar battle for supremacy.

Life in the Tribe

Orcs survive through savagery and force of numbers. Theirs is a life that has no place for weakness, and every warrior must be strong enough to take what is needed by force. Orcs aren’t interested in treaties, trade negotiations or diplomacy. They care only for satisfying their insatiable desire for battle, to smash their foes and appease their gods.

In order to replenish the casualties of their endless warring, orcs breed prodigiously (and they aren’t choosy about what they breed with, which is why such creatures as half-orcs and ogrillons are found in the world). Females that are about to give birth are relieved of their other roles and taken to the lair’s whelping pens, where they are tended to by Luthic’s followers.

Orcs don’t take mates, and no pair-bonding occurs in a tribe other than at the moment when coupling takes place. At other times, males and females are more or less indifferent toward one another. All orcs consider mating to be a mundane necessity of life, and no special significance beyond that is imparted to it.

At 4 years old an orc is considered a juvenile, and by age 12 it is a fully functioning adult. Most orcs don’t live past the age of 25 due to battle or illness, but an orc can live to about 40, remaining healthy almost up until the end. Luthic’s divine blessing can further extend an orc’s life, though Gruumsh is never happy when she uses this power and tends to frown upon the one so “blessed.”

Young orcs must mature quickly in order to survive their perilous upbringing. Their early years are fraught with tests of strength, fierce competition and nothing in the way of maternal or paternal love. From the time a child can wield a stick or a crude knife, it asserts itself and defends itself while learning to fight, to survive in the wild, and to fear the gods.

 The children that can’t endure the rigors of a life of combat are culled from the main body of the tribe, taken into the depths of the lair, and left for the followers of Yurtrus or Shargaas to accept or reject. A fully grown orc warrior is well prepared for a lifetime of combat.

Omens and Superstitions

Orcs believe that any seemingly unimportant discovery or event — a bear’s claw marks on a tree, a flock of crows, or a sudden gust of wind — might be a communication from the gods. If the tribe has encountered a similar omen before, the priests understand how to interpret it, but if a sign from the gods has no clear explanation, the priests might have to meditate for hours or days to get a vision of its meaning.

Every group of orcs has particular superstitions and recognizes certain omens. These tenets vary from tribe to tribe, and are often based in events that the tribe has experienced.

Orc Personality

Most orcs have been indoctrinated into a life of destruction and slaughter. But unlike creatures who by their very nature are evil, such as gnolls, it’s possible that an orc, if raised outside its culture, could develop a limited capacity for empathy, love, and compassion.

No matter how domesticated an orc might seem, its blood lust flows just beneath the surface. With its instinctive love of battle and its desire to prove its strength, an orc trying to live within the confines of civilization is faced with a difficult task.

Monster Races | Orc

Orc Ideals

Orc Bonds

Orc Flaws

Orc Names

Orc names don’t always have meaning in the Orc language, and most noteworthy orcs are given epithets by their tribe mates.

Male Names. Grutok, Lortar, Abzug, Shugog, Urzul, Ruhk, Mobad, Shamog, Mugrub, Bajok, Rhorog, Jahrukk

Female Names. Kansif, Ownka, Emen, Sutha, Myev, Neega, Baggi, Shautha, Ovak, Vola, Engong, Volen

Epithet. The Filthy, Skull Cleaver, Eye Gouger, Iron Tusk, Skin Flayer, Bone Crusher, Flesh Ripper, Doom Hammer, Elf Butcher, Spine Snapper, Death Spear, The Brutal

Orc Traits

Your orc character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Strength or Constitution score by 1.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 12.

Age. Orcs reach adulthood at age 12 and live up to 50 years.

Alignment. Orcs are vicious raiders, who believe that the world should be theirs. They also respect strength above all else and believe the strong must bully the weak to ensure that weakness does not spread like a disease. They are usually chaotic evil.

Size. Orcs are usually over 6 feet tall and weigh between 230 and 280 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Aggressive. As a bonus action, you can move up to your speed toward an enemy of your choice that you can see or hear. You must end this move closer to the enemy than you started.

Menacing. You are trained in the Intimidation skill.

Relentless Endurance. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Primal Intuition. You have proficiency in two of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Insight, Medicine, Perception, and Survival.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Orc.

Aasimar

Aasimar bear within their souls the light of the heavens. They are descended from humans with a touch of the power of Mount Celestia, the divine realm of many lawful good deities. Aasimar are born to serve as champions of the gods, their births hailed as blessed events. They are a people of otherworldly visages, with luminous features that reveal their celestial heritage.

Conflicted Souls

Despite its celestial origin, an aasimar is mortal and possesses free will. Most aasimar follow their ordained path, but some grow to see their abilities as a curse. These disaffected aasimar are typically content to turn away from the world, but a few become agents of evil. In their minds, their exposure to celestial powers amounted to little more than brainwashing.

Evil aasimar make deadly foes. The radiant power they once commanded becomes corrupted into a horrid, draining magic. And their angelic guides abandon them.

Even aasimar wholly dedicated to good sometimes feel torn between two worlds. The angels that guide them see the world from a distant perch. An aasimar who wishes to stop and help a town recover from a drought might be told by an angelic guide to push forward on a greater quest. To a distant angel, saving a few commoners might pale in comparison to defeating a cult of Orcus. An aasimar’s guide is wise but not infallible.

Exotic Races | Aasimar

Aasimar Names

Most aasimar are born from human parents, and they use the same naming conventions as their native culture.

Aasimar Traits

Your aasimar character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Charisma score increases by 1 or choose your subrace's ASI.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 8.

Age. Aasimar mature at the same rate as humans, but they can live up to 160 years.

Alignment. Imbued with celestial power, most aasimar are good. Outcast aasimar are most often neutral or even evil.

Size. Aasimar have the same range of height and weight as humans.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Darkvision. Blessed with a radiant soul, your vision can easily cut through darkness. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Celestial Resistance. You have resistance to necrotic damage and radiant damage.

Healing Hands. As an action, you can touch a creature and cause it to regain a number of hit points equal to your level. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Light Bearer. You know the light cantrip. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Celestial.

Subraces. Three subraces of aasimar exist: protector aasimar, scourge aasimar, and fallen aasimar. Choose one of them for your character.

Protector Aasimar

Protector aasimar are charged by the powers of good to guard the weak, to strike at evil wherever it arises, and to stand vigilant against the darkness. From a young age, a protector aasimar receives advice and directives that urge to stand against evil.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Wisdom score by 1 or choose the Aasimar's racial increase to Charisma.

Radiant Soul. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing your eyes to glimmer and two luminous, incorporeal wings to sprout from your back.

Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During it, you have a flying speed of 30 feet, and once on each of your turns, you can deal extra radiant damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The extra radiant damage equals your level.

Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Scourge Aasimar

Scourge aasimar are imbued with a divine energy that blazes intensely within them. It feeds a powerful desire to destroy evil — a desire that is, at its best, unflinching and, at its worst, all-consuming. Many scourge aasimar wear masks to block out the world and focus on containing this power, unmasking themselves only in battle.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Constitution score by 1 or choose the Aasimar's racial increase to Charisma.

Radiant Consumption. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing a searing light to radiate from you, pour out of your eyes and mouth, and threaten to char you.

Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During it, you shed bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for an additional 10 feet, and at the end of each of your turns, you and each creature within 10 feet of you take radiant damage equal to half your level (rounded up). In addition, once on each of your turns, you can deal extra radiant damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The extra radiant damage equals your level.

Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Fallen Aasimar

An aasimar who was touched by dark powers as a youth or who turns to evil in early adulthood can become one of the fallen — a group of aasimar whose inner light has been replaced by shadow.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Strength score by 1 or choose the Aasimar's racial increase to Charisma.

Necrotic Shroud. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine energy within yourself, causing your eyes to turn into pools of darkness and two skeletal, ghostly, flightless wings to sprout from your back. The instant you transform, other creatures within 10 feet of you that can see you must each succeed on a Charisma saving throw (DC 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier) or become frightened of you until the end of your next turn.

Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. During it, once on each of your turns, you can deal extra necrotic damage to one target when you deal damage to it with an attack or a spell. The extra necrotic damage equals your level.

Fairy

The Feywild is home to many fantastic peoples, including fairies. Infused with the magic of the Feywild, fairies share a few commonalities with one another but can differ widely in appearance, behavior, and attitude. Many fairies have a special physical characteristic that sets them apart from other creatures of their kind. For your fairy, roll on the Fey Characteristic table or choose an option from it. The Feywild is a wild place, so come up with your own characteristic if non the them fit your character.

Fairy Traits

You have the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Dexterity score by 1 or choose your subrace's ASI.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 2.

Age. Fairies being fey have a unique life-cycle, and their age is largely irrelevant as they show no sign of aging.

Creature Type. You are fey.

Size. you are typically 6 to 12 inches tall. Your size is Tiny.

Speed. Your walking speed is 30 feet.

Flutter. You have a flying speed equal to your walking speed. This benefit works only in short bursts; you fail if you end your turn in the air and nothing else is holding you aloft.

 Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.

Languages. you can speak, read, and write Common and Sylvan.

Fairy Magic. You know the druidcraft cantrip and the faerie fire spells. You can cast faerie fire without expending a spell slot, and you must finish a long rest before you can cast it this way again. You can also cast this spell using any spell slots you have. Your spellcasting ability is your choice of Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma.

Tiny Creature Rules

 Tiny Appetite. You require 1/10th as much food and water. A single ration can last you 10 days.

Tiny Armor. You can only wear armor for tiny creatures. Though potentially rare, it costs only 1/4 as much and weighs 1/8th as much.

Tiny Build. Your carrying capacity is your Strength score multiplied by 5. You can only use weapons for medium or small sized creatures if they have the light property. These weapons gain the two-handed property and lose the Light property for you. You can wield tiny weapons.

Tiny Weapons. Tiny weapons are scaled for tiny creatures. Their damage dice are reduced by one size, and their weight is 1/4 the normal weapon weight. There is no tiny equivalent weapons with the heavy property. See the table below for examples:

Tiny Weapons	Damage Dice
Tiny Dagger	1d2
Tiny Shortsword	1d4
Tiny Longsword	1d6
Tiny Shortbow	1d4
Tiny Lance	1d10

Exotic Races | Fairy

Sprite

Sprites most typically come adorned with dragonfly wings. More militant and martially proficient than most of their tiny brethren, they don't let their small size hold them back from bringing substantial pain to those that would raise their ire.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Strength, Consitution, or Wisdom score by 1 or choose the Fairy's racial increase to Dexterity.

Poisoner's Tricks. You gain proficiency with Poisoner's Kit.

Clever Strikes. You deal additional damage with all weapons you are proficient with. The weapon dice of all weapons is increased by one size per the table below:

Pixie

Fluttering on gossamer butterfly wings, these are curious and fickle little beings. They love tricks and fun, and have a decided fondness for things that sparkle or shine.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase you Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma score by 1, or choose the Fairy's racial increase to Dexterity.

Whimsical Presence. As a bonus action, you can magically turn invisible until the start of your next turn or until you attack, make a damage roll, or force someone to make a saving throw. Once you use this trait, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Pixie Dust. You can grant another creature the Flutter trait for 1 minute. Once you do this, you can't do so again until you complete a long rest.

Firbolg

Firbolg tribes cloister in remote forest strongholds, preferring to spend their days in quiet harmony with the woods. When provoked, firbolgs demonstrate formidable skills with weapons and druidic magic.

Genasi

Those who think of other planes at all consider them remote, distant realms, but planar influence can be felt throughout the world. It sometimes manifests in beings who, through an accident of birth, carry the power of the planes in their blood. The genasi are one such people, the offspring of genies and mortals.

The Elemental Planes are often inhospitable to natives of the Material Plane: crushing earth, searing flames, boundless skies, and endless seas make visiting these places dangerous for even a short time. The powerful genies, however, do not face such troubles when venturing into the mortal world. They adapt well to the mingled elements of the Material Plane, and they sometimes visit — whether of their own volition or compelled by magic. Some genies can adopt mortal guise and travel incognito.

During these visits, a mortal might catch a genie’s eye. Friendship forms, romance blooms, and sometimes children result. These children are genasi: individuals with ties to two worlds, yet belonging to neither. Some genasi are born of mortal–genie unions, others have two genasi as parents, and a rare few have a genie further up their family tree, manifesting an elemental heritage that’s lain dormant for generations.

Occasionally, genasi result from exposure to a surge of elemental power, through phenomena such as an eruption from the Inner Planes or a planar convergence. Elemental energy saturates any creatures in the area and might alter their nature enough that their offspring with other mortals are born as genasi.

Genasi Traits

Your genasi character has certain characteristics in common with all other genasi.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Constitution score increases by 1 or choose your subrace's ASI.

Age. Genasi mature at about the same rate as humans and reach adulthood in their late teens. They live somewhat longer than humans do, up to 120 years.

Alignment. Independent and self-reliant, genasi tend toward a neutral alignment.

Size. Genasi are as varied as their mortal parents but are generally built like humans, standing anywhere from 5 feet to over 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Primordial. Primordial is a guttural language, filled with harsh syllables and hard consonants.

Subraces. Four major subraces of genasi are found among the worlds of D&D: air genasi, earth genasi, fire genasi, and water genasi. Choose one of these subraces.

Air Genasi

As an air genasi, you are descended from the djinn. As changeable as the weather, your moods shift from calm to wild and violent with little warning, but these storms rarely last long.

Air genasi typically have light blue skin, hair, and eyes. A faint but constant breeze accompanies them, tousling the hair and stirring the clothing. Some air genasi speak with breathy voices, marked by a faint echo. A few display odd patterns in their flesh or grow crystals from their scalps.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Dexterity score by 1 or choose the Genasi's racial increase to Constitution.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 6.

Unending Breath. You can hold your breath indefinitely while you’re not incapacitated.

Mingle with the Wind. You can cast the levitate spell once with this trait, requiring no material components, and you regain the ability to cast it this way when you finish a long rest. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

Earth Genasi

As an earth genasi, you are descended from the cruel and greedy dao, though you are not necessarily evil. You have inherited some measure of control over earth, reveling in superior strength and solid power. You tend to avoid rash decisions, pausing long enough to consider your options before taking action.

 Elemental earth manifests differently from one individual to the next. Some earth genasi always have bits of dust falling from their bodies and mud clinging to their clothes, never getting clean no matter how often they bathe. Others are as shiny and polished as gemstones, with skin tones of deep brown or black, eyes sparkling like agates. Earth genasi can also have smooth metallic flesh, dull iron skin spotted with rust, a pebbled and rough hide, or even a coating of tiny embedded crystals. The most arresting have fissures in their flesh, from which faint light shines.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Strength score by 1 or choose the Genasi's racial increase to Constitution.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 10.

Earthen Resistance. You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.

Earth Walk. You can move across difficult terrain made of earth or stone without expending extra movement.

Merge with Stone. You can cast the pass without trace spell once with this trait, requiring no material components, and you regain the ability to cast it this way when you finish a long rest. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

Fire Genasi

As a fire genasi, you have inherited the volatile mood and keen mind of the efreet. You tend toward impatience and making snap judgments. Rather than hide your distinctive appearance, you exult in it.

Nearly all fire genasi are feverishly hot as if burning inside, an impression reinforced by flaming red, coal-black, or ash-gray skin tones. The more human-looking have fiery red hair that writhes under extreme emotion, while more exotic specimens sport actual flames dancing on their heads. Fire genasi voices might sound like crackling flames, and their eyes flare when angered. Some are accompanied by the faint scent of brimstone.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Intelligence score by 1 or choose the Genasi's racial increase to Constitution.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 8.

Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. Your ties to the Elemental Plane of Fire make your darkvision unusual: everything you see in darkness is in a shade of red.

Fire Resistance. You have resistance to fire damage.

Reach to the Blaze. You know the produce flame cantrip. Once you reach 3rd level, you can cast the burning hands spell once with this trait as a 1st-level spell, and you regain the ability to cast it this way when you finish a long rest. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Water Genasi

The lapping of waves, the spray of sea foam on the wind, the ocean depths — all of these things call to your heart. You wander freely and take pride in your independence, though others might consider you selfish.

Most water genasi look as if they just finished bathing, with beads of moisture collecting on their skin and hair. They smell of fresh rain and clean water. Blue or green skin is common, and most have somewhat overlarge eyes, blue-black in color. A water genasi’s hair might float freely, swaying and waving as if underwater. Some have voices with undertones reminiscent of whale song or trickling streams.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Wisdom score by 1 or choose the Genasi's racial increase to Constitution.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 8.

Acid Resistance. You have resistance to acid damage.

Amphibious. You can breathe air and water.

Swim. You have a swimming speed of 30 feet.

Call to the Wave. You know the shape water cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the create or destroy water spell as a 2nd-level spell once with this trait, and you regain the ability to cast it this way when you finish a long rest. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Exotic Races | Genasi

Goliath

At the highest mountain peaks — far above the slopes where trees grow and where the air is thin and the frigid winds howl — dwell the reclusive goliaths. Few folk can claim to have seen a goliath, and fewer still can claim friendship with one. Goliaths wander a bleak realm of rock, wind, and cold. Their bodies look as if they are carved from mountain stone and give them great physical power. Their spirits take after the wandering wind, making them nomads who wander from peak to peak. Their hearts are infused with the cold regard of their frigid realm, leaving each goliath with the responsibility to earn a place in the tribe or die trying.

Survival of the Fittest

Among goliaths, any adult who can’t contribute to the tribe is expelled. A lone goliath has little chance of survival, especially an older or weaker one. Goliaths have little pity for adults who can’t take care of themselves, though a sick or injured individual is treated, as a result of the goliath concept of fair play.

A permanently injured goliath is still expected to pull his or her weight in the tribe. Typically, such a goliath dies attempting to keep up, or the goliath slips away in the night to seek the cold will of fate.

Exotic Races | Goliath

Goliath Names

Every goliath has three names: a birth name assigned by the newborn’s mother and father, a nickname assigned by the tribal chief, and a family or clan name. A birth name is up to three syllables long. Clan names are five syllables or more and end in a vowel.

Birth names are rarely linked to gender. Goliaths see females and males as equal in all things, and they find societies with roles divided by gender to be puzzling or worthy of mockery. To a goliath, the person who is best at a job should be the one tasked with doing it.

A goliath’s nickname is a description that can change on the whim of a chieftain or tribal elder. It refers to a notable deed, either a success or failure, committed by the goliath. Goliaths assign and use nicknames with their friends of other races, and change them to refer to an individual’s notable deeds.

Goliaths present all three names when identifying themselves, in the order of birth name, nickname, and clan name. In casual conversation, they use their nickname.

Birth Names: Aukan, Eglath, Gae-Al, Gauthak, Ilikan, Keothi, Kuori, Lo-Kag, Manneo, Maveith, Nalla, Orilo, Paavu, Pethani, Thalai, Thotham, Uthal, Vaunea, Vimak

Nicknames: Bearkiller, Dawncaller, Fearless, Flintfinder, Horncarver, Keeneye, Lonehunter, Longleaper, Rootsmasher, Skywatcher, Steadyhand, Threadtwister, Twice-Orphaned, Twistedlimb, Wordpainter

Clan Names: Anakalathai, Elanithino, Gathakanathi, Kalagiano, Katho-Olavi, Kolae-Gileana, Ogolakanu, Thuliaga, Thunukalathi, Vaimei-Laga

Goliath Traits

Goliaths share a number of traits in common with each other.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Strength or Constitution score increases by 1.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 12.

Age. Goliaths have lifespans comparable to humans. They enter adulthood in their late teens and usually live less than a century.

Alignment. Goliath society, with its clear roles and tasks, has a strong lawful bent. The goliath sense of fairness, balanced with an emphasis on self-sufficiency and personal accountability, pushes them toward neutrality.

 Size. Goliaths are between 7 and 8 feet tall and weigh between 280 and 340 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Natural Athlete. You have proficiency in the Athletics skill.

Stone’s Endurance. You can focus yourself to occasionally shrug off injury. When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll a d12. Add your Constitution modifier to the number rolled, and reduce the damage by that total. After you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Powerful Build. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Mountain Born. You’re acclimated to high altitude, including elevations above 20,000 feet. You’re also naturally adapted to cold climates, as described in chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

You also gain resistance to cold damage as you have become accustomed to freezing temperatures.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Giant.

Exotic Races | Goliath

Triton

Tritons guard the ocean depths, building small settlements beside deep trenches, portals to the elemental planes, and other dangerous spots far from the eyes of land-bound folk. Long-established guardians of the deep ocean floor, in recent years the noble tritons have become increasingly active in the world above.

Triton Personality

Far from flawless, these champions of good mean well, but they are easily frustrated by others. You can select, roll, or adapt a triton-specific quirk from the Triton Quirks table. Use the quirk to inform how you portray your character.

Triton Names

Most triton names have two or three syllables. Male names typically end with a vowel and the letter s, and female names traditionally end with an n. Tritons use their home protectorate as a surname, with the name formed by adding a vowel followed by a “th” to the end of the protectorate’s name.

Female Triton Names: Aryn, Belthyn, Duthyn, Feloren, Otanyn, Shalryn, Vlaryn, Wolyn

Male Triton Names: Corus, Delnis, Jhimas, Keros, Molos, Nalos, Vodos, Zunis

Triton Surnames: Ahlorsath, Pumanath, Vuuvaxath

Triton Traits

Your triton character has the following racial traits.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Strength, Constitution, or Charisma score by 1.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 10.

Age. Tritons reach maturity around age 15 and can live up to 200 years.

Alignment. Tritons tend toward lawful good. As guardians of the darkest reaches of the sea, their culture pushes them toward order and benevolence.

Size. Tritons are slightly shorter than humans, averaging about 5 feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet, and you have a swimming speed of 30 feet.

Amphibious. You can breathe air and water.

Control Air and Water. You can cast fog cloud with this trait. Starting at 3rd level, you can cast gust of wind with it, and starting at 5th level, you can also cast wall of water with it. Once you cast a spell with this trait, you can’t cast that spell with it again until you finish a long rest. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

 Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Emissary of the Sea. Aquatic beasts have an extraordinary affinity with your people. You can communicate simple ideas with beasts that can breathe water. They can understand the meaning of your words, though you have no special ability to understand them in return.

Guardians of the Depths. Adapted to the frigid ocean depths, you have resistance to cold damage.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Primordial.

Exotic Races | Triton

The Waken

Skinless, meatless, and ever-grinning, the Waken are perhaps the least dangerous product of necromancy known despite their macabre appearance. Though they share appearance with standard undead these ageless skeletal humanoids have no particular antipathy toward the living, at least in part because they only appear to be truly undead. The Waken are the animated bones of the dead, but they still possess souls and have no memory of their former lives. In fact, the forces that animate them are unconnected to the souls that their bones once contained; the Waken are newly born creatures in second-hand bodies.

Waken Traits

Your Waken character has the following traits.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Constitution score by 1 or choose your subrace's ASI.

Health Increase. Your maximum HP increases by 10.

Age. The Waken first appeared centuries ago, and have no known maximum lifespan.

Alignment. Waken are generally peaceful, lacking the glands that make living people so upset, and so they tend toward neutral alignments. While some develop stronger opinions or convictions, these Waken are rare.

Size. Waken are the height of whatever creature their bones formerly belonged to, if a little shorter without the meat. While larger and smaller exceptions do exist, the vast majority of Waken are size Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Constructed Resilience. Your body is durable and low-maintenance, represented by the following benefits:

• You have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned or exhausted, and you have resistance to poison damage.
• You don't need to eat, drink, or breathe.
• You are immune to disease.
• You don't need to sleep, and magic can't put you to sleep.

Falling Apart. When you take a long rest, you must spend at least 6 hours in a relaxed, resting state instead of sleeping. When you enter this state, you relax the force that holds your bones together, allowing them to fall into a pile. This pile is considered one size smaller than you are normally, and appears inert. You can see and hear as normal while resting, and are not rendered unconscious by resting in this way.

You can enter this disassembled state outside of a rest as an action, and can remain in this state until you choose to reassemble. As an action, you can begin to reassemble, a process that takes one round. At the start of your next turn, you return to your normal, humanoid shape.

Reassembler. Your skeletal body stubbornly refuses to be permanently destroyed. Broken or lost bones return to you and slowly repair themselves. You have advantage on death saving throws, and when you roll a 20 on a death saving throw, you regain extra hit points equal to your level. However, a DC 16 Wisdom (Medicine) check is needed to stabilize you. If you would die, instead, your spirit falls dormant, rendering your body inert for 5d6 x 10 years.

Languages. You speak, read, and write Common, and know Catacomb Rattle, the language of the Waken. ‘Comb Rattle' is a language composed partly of gestures and partly of percussion on parts of one’s own body, and is very difficult for any creature without exposed bone to replicate accurately.

Subrace. The Waken have taken up many different crafts over the years, and have learned to adapt in creative ways to their chosen roles. As a result, Waken can be difficult to categorize, but a few of the more iconic variations are presented here; the grinning skulldugger, the catacomb scholar.

Grinning Skulldugger

While typically peaceful, to call the Waken generally law-abiding would be inaccurate. Those who involve themselves in current events often find that laws and customs shift so rapidly from their perspective that keeping track of what is legal and what is crime is simply too much trouble. Waken crime is not typically greedy or cruel, but the old secrets and hidden places that grinning skullduggers wish to explore demand a particular set of skills, making them adept thieves, spies, and smugglers.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Dexterity score by 1 or choose the Waken's racial increase to Constitution.

Verebral Dirk. Your lowest pair of ribs have been modified with metal reinforcement, allowing you to use them as weapons. You can draw either or both of these ribs from your body as you would draw a weapon, and they each act identically to a normal dagger. If they are ever thrown or lost, they return to you on their own and reattach to your ribcage after 1 minute.

Graveyard Whisper. Years of subtle dealings and hidden business have taught you to communicate quietly with magic. You know the message cantrip. In addition, you have embedded a copper wire onto the inside of your skull, meaning you are never without the cantrip’s material component. When you cast message, if the target replies to you, the reply returns with an echoey quality but otherwise works normally.

Catacomb Scholar

Many Waken are fascinated by history and record keeping, and their long lives and memories make them especially well- equipped to maintain the annals of history accurately. Scholarly Waken also make excellent translators and researchers, as a catacomb scholar may simply remember many dialects and texts that have been lost to the more fleeting races.

Ability Score Increase. You can increase your Intelligence score by 1 or choose the Waken's racial increase to Constitution.

Ageless Cataloguer. You have spent decades, or even centuries, studying the writings and literature of the world. You gain proficiency with one of the following skills: Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion. You also have advantage on any Intelligence (Investigation) check made to find or search through written documents, and advantage on any check to identify written languages, handwriting, or other written details. In addition, you can speak, read, and write two extra languages of your choice.

Midnight Oil. To accommodate your many hours spent reading in the dark, you have built a small lantern into your ribcage. This lantern is built into the side of your ribs, and doesn’t occupy your hands or impede your movement. Otherwise, it functions like a normal hooded lantern.