Size

Characters of most races are Medium, a size category including creatures that are roughly 4 to 8 feet tall.

Members of a few races are Small (between 2 and 4 feet tall), which means that certain rules of the game affect them differently. The most important of these rules is that Small characters have trouble wielding heavy weapons, as explained in chapter 5.

Speed

Your speed determines how far you can move when traveling (chapter 8) and fighting (chapter 9).

Languages

By virtue of your race, your character can speak, read, and write certain languages. Chapter 4 lists the most common languages of the D&D multiverse.

Subraces

Some races have subraces. Members of a subrace have the traits of the parent race in addition to the traits specified for their subrace. Relationships among subraces vary significantly from race to race and world to world. In the Dragonlance campaign setting, for example, mountain dwarves and hill dwarves live together as different clans of the same people, but in the For-gotten Realms, they live far apart in separate kingdoms and call themselves shield dwarves and gold dwarves, respectively.

Player's Handbook Races

Homebrew

Aarakocra

---

• Ability Scores. Dexterity +2; Wisdom +1
• Size. Medium
• Speed. 25 ft., fly 50 ft.

---

Age. Aarakocra reach maturity by age 3. Compared to humans, aarakocra don't usually live longer than 30 years.

Alignment. Most aarakocra are good and rarely choose sides when it comes to law and chaos. Tribal leaders and warriors might be lawful, while explorers and adventurers might tend toward chaotic.

Size. Aarakocra are about 5 feet tall. They have thin, lightweight bodies that weigh be-tween 80 and 100 pounds. Your size is Medium.

Flight. You have a flying speed of 50 feet. To use this speed, you can't be wearing medi-um or heavy armor.

Talons. Your talons 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.

Language. You can speak, read, and write Common, Aarakocra, and Auran.

Aarakocra in the Forgotten Realms

Never well established in Faerûn, aarakocra have only four major colonies: in the Star Mounts within the High Forest, in the Storm Horns in Cormyr, in the Cloven Mountains on the Vilhon Reach, and in the Mistcliffs in Chult.

Those colonies established in the Star Mounts, closest to the Dessarin Valley, were ever a se-cretive and guarded people, only spotted during their flights over the High Forest. A cruel and rapacious green dragon nearly wiped out the population and scattered the survivors. These aarakocra and their descendants have sworn vengeance against the dragon and may be seen scouring the lands of the North and Cormyr for signs of their foe.

Their only remaining settlement lies on the slopes of the Star Mounts' southernmost moun-tains. At the headwaters of the Unicorn Run, the Last Aerie is home to several dozen aarakocra. Recently, aarakocra elders detected changes in the prevailing winds that they regarded as a bad omen.

Unlike the aarakocra of other worlds on the Material Plane, the aarakocra of the Realms rare-ly travel to the Elemental Plane of Air.

Aarakocra Backgrounds

Backgrounds that are most appropriate for aarakocra include the outlander, the hermit, and the sage.

The small colonies of aarakocra are insular and remote, and few aarakocra live away from their roosts. In the Star Mounts of the High Forest in the Forgotten Realms, no more than a few dozen aarakocra live away from the nests of their families. Those that do are usually rangers or fighters, constantly patrolling for outside threats.

Source: EEPC, page 5. Reprinted as Aarakocra in MPMM. Also found in EGW, page 165.

A winged people who originated on the Elemental Plane of Air, aarakocra soar through the sky wherever they wander. The first aarakocra served the Wind Dukes of Aaqa—mighty beings of air—and were imbued with a measure of their masters' power over winds. Their descendants still command echoes of that power.

From below, aarakocra look like large birds and thus are sometimes called birdfolk. Only when they roost on a branch or walk across the ground is their Humanoid nature clear. Standing upright, aarakocra are typically about 5 feet tall, and they have long, narrow legs that taper to sharp talons. Feathers cover their bodies—usually red, orange, yellow, brown, or gray. Their heads are also avian, often resembling those of parrots or eagles.

Source: MPMM, page 5

Forgotten Realms Wiki

Aarakocra (pronounced: /ærɑːˈkoʊkrɑː/ æ-ra-KO-kra about this audio file listen or: /ɑːrɑːˈkoʊkrɑː/ a-rah-KO-krah; pl: aarakocra or: aarakocras), also called bird-men, were a race of avian humanoids.

Description

Aarakocra resembled humanoid birds. The average specimen stood about 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall and had a wingspan of 20 feet (6.1 meters). Halfway along the edge of each wing was a hand with three human-sized fingers and an opposable thumb. An elongated fourth finger ex-tended the length of the wing and locked in place during flight. The hands could not grasp while flying, but they were nearly as useful as human hands when an aarakocra was perched and its wings were folded back.

Their powerful legs ended in four sharp talons that could unlock and fold back to reveal another pair of functional hands. These humanoids had hollow, fragile bones. Their faces combined the features of both parrots and eagles. They had gray-black beaks and black eyes. Plumage color varied, but males generally had red, orange, and yellow coloration, while females tended to-wards brown and gray.

Personality

Aarakocra were generally peaceful creatures who cherished their solitude. They were known to be extremely claustrophobic, often refusing to enter caves or other enclosed spaces.

Male aarakocra tended to have very short tempers and had been known to fly into fits of rage when a perceived wrong occurred. They also were notorious romantic flirts, regardless of whether or not they were married.

Combat

Since aarakocra avoided melee combat when possible, their combat tactics revolved around attacking opponents from above. Javelins were the weapon of choice for many aarakocra, so much so that they developed their own unique type of javelin called a flight lance. A single aarakocra could comfortably carry up to six javelins at a time, stored in a special sheathe that was strapped to its body. Other weapons used by aarakocra included darts and daggers. Their sharp talons and beaks were effective weapons as well. Occasionally they wore studded leather, but they never used shields.

Society

On Toril, aarakocra lived atop the highest mountain peaks in small tribes that shared a com-munal nest and controlled hunting territories of about 100 square miles (260 square kilome-ters). Any animals in this territory were considered fair game, including the domesticated live-stock of other races, and most male aarakocra spent their days hunting. The eldest male served as leader, assisted by the tribe's shaman. Meanwhile, female aarakocra crafted the tribe's tools and weapons.

Aarakocra were also one of the major races on the inner planet Coliar. On that planet, it was the females who were always chosen as leaders, as society deemed them far more controlled emotionally. These aarakocra females were chosen by democratic elections, and each ruled over one of over 100 extended families. Males were not forbidden from running for office, but society was strongly against their election, and as of the late 14 century DR, no male had ruled for over 1,000 years. Male aarakocra from other worlds sometimes took offense at this societal trend.

Religion

Aarakocra of Toril almost all worshiped Aerdrie Faenya. She appeared to them as a giant white bird.

The small number of aarakocra living in the North mainly worshiped Syranita as their goddess but also paid homage to Akadi, Remnis of the giant eagles, and Stronmaus of the giants, in ad-dition to Aerdrie Faenya.

Relations

Many aarakocra tribes avoided contact with other species, and many individuals rarely, if ever, left their home territory. The aarakocra had strong ties with the avariels as they shared the same patron deity and had the same respect for nature.

Aarakocra understood and spoke common, but when they spoke it, they punctuated their speech with caws, whistles, and other bird-like sounds.

Aarakokra

• The Star Mounts in the High Forest. This tribe was almost totally slain by the green dragon Elaacrimalicros.
• The Storm Horns in Cormyr.
• The Cloven Mountains in the Vilhon Reach.
• The Mistcliffs in Chult.
• The Adder Hills in Chessenta.
• The monastery Kir Sabal in Chult.
• As of the Year of the Scarlet Witch, 1491 DR, the last settlement of aarakocra in the High Forest was the Last Aerie, on the slopes of the southernmost Star Mounts, near the headwaters of the Unicorn Run.

History

Following the fall of their empires to the first Flight of Dragons around −30,000 DR, the surviv-ing members of the avian creator race known as the aearee (primarily the subgroup known as the Aearee-Krocaa) fled to Anchorome, where their further exploits went largely undocumented by Faerûnian historians. The only thing known was that at some point after their arrival there, the aearee either created or devolved into the aarakocra, who then move south into Maztica.

In 418 DR, following generations of travel between Maztica and the islands of the Trackless Sea, the first aarakocra colonists successfully crossed to northern Faerûn.

In 1267 DR, the last aarakocra living in the Riders to the Sky Mountains were killed by Ches-sentan mercenaries, who hunted them to extinction for sport.

In the 1360s DR, there were five aarakocra settlements on the Star Mounts when the green dragon Elaacrimalicros attacked, killing over 120 aarakokra and leaving their homes completely uninhabitable. The survivors scattered across the North, many swearing revenge—such as the Nest of Retribution in the Lost Peaks. Forty-seven survivors came together for shelter at the source of the Unicorn Run in a new settlememt known as Khle'cayre.

As late as 1370 DR, the city of Ravens Bluff classified aarakocra as "monsters" that a third-party required a permit from city officials in order to bring into the boundaries of the city.

Source: Forgotten Realms Wiki

Aarakokra

Aarakocra Language

Miscellaneous Language

The Aarakocra language was the racial language of aarakocras, a race of intelligent bird-like people.²³⁴⁵⁶

Speakers

Beyond aarakocras themselves, Aarakocra was a common secondary language among jungle druids, specialty priests in the Church of Ubtao, who sought to learn the exotic languages of the creatures that lived around the Chultan Peninsula.⁷

Phonology

This language consisted in part, though not entirely, of a variety of clicks, trills, and whistles.⁸

Derivations

Dictionary

Names

Aaarakocran names typically featured two to four syllables. Clicks, trills, or whistles acted as the connectors between these syllables.⁸

Appendix

Notes

1. ↑ In the Elemental Evil Player's Companion, it is stated that Aarakocra player characters can "...speak, read, and write Common, Aarakocra, and Auran." This would imply that Aarakocra, much like the other two languages, has some form of writing script.
2. ↑ What exactly this word is was never stated within the cited text.

Source: Forgotten Realms Wiki

Aarakokra

Aasimar

---

• Ability Scores. Choose one of: (a) Choose any +2; choose any other +1 (b) Choose three different +1
• Size. Small/Medium
• Speed. 30 ft.

---

Size. You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you select this race.

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

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 discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray.

Healing Hands. As an action, you can touch a creature and roll a number of d4s equal to your proficiency bonus. The creature regains a number of hit points equal to the total rolled. 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.

Celestial Revelation. When you reach 3rd level, choose one of the revelation options be-low. Thereafter, you can use a bonus action to unleash the celestial energy within yourself, gain-ing the benefits of that revelation. Your transformation lasts for 1 minute or until you end it as a bonus action. Once you transform using your revelation below, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

• Necrotic Shroud. Your eyes briefly become pools of darkness, and ghostly, flightless wings sprout from your back temporarily. Creatures other than your allies within 10 feet of you that can see you must 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. Until the trans-formation ends, 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 damage equals your proficiency bonus.
• Radiant Consumption. Searing light temporarily radiates from your eyes and mouth. For the duration, 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, each creature within 10 feet of you takes radiant damage equal to your proficiency bonus. Until the transformation ends, 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 damage equals your proficiency bonus.

• Radiant Soul. Two luminous, spectral wings sprout from your back temporarily. Until the transformation ends, you have a flying speed equal to your walking speed, 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 damage equals your proficiency bonus.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for your character.

Aasimar Celestial Features

Source: MPMM, page 7

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.

Celestial Champions. Aasimar are placed in the world to serve as guardians of law and good. Their patrons expect them to strike at evil, lead by example, and further the cause of justice.

From an early age, an aasimar receives visions and guidance from celestial entities via dreams. These dreams help shape an aasimar, granting a sense of destiny and a desire for righteousness.

Each aasimar can count a specific celestial agent of the gods as a guide. This entity is typically a deva, an angel who acts as a messenger to the mortal world.

Hidden Wanderers. While aasimar are strident foes of evil, they typically prefer to keep a low profile. An aasimar inevitably draws the attention of evil cultists, fiends, and other enemies of good, all of whom would be eager to strike down a celestial champion if they had the chance.

Aasimar

Note to the DM: Playing an Angelic Guide

As DM, you take on the role of an aasimar's angelic guide and decide what kind of advice or omens to send in dreams.

The deva, or other celestial being, is your chance to add special roleplaying opportunities to the game. Remember, a deva lives in a realm of absolute law and good. The deva might not understand the compromises and hard choices that mortals must grapple with in the world. To the deva, an aasimar is a prized student who must live up to high, sometimes inflexible standards.

Aasimar (Fallen)

---

• Ability Scores. Charisma +2; Strength +1
• Size. Medium
• Speed. 30 ft.

---

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

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

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.

Necrotic Shroud. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the divine en-ergy 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 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.

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

Aasimar (Protector)

---

• Ability Scores. Charisma +2; Wisdom +1
• Size. Medium
• Speed. 30 ft.

---

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

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

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.

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.

Aasimar (Scourge)

---

• Ability Scores. Charisma +2; Constitution +1
• Size. Medium
• Speed. 30 ft.

---

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

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

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.

Radiant Consumption. Starting at 3rd level, you can use your action to unleash the di-vine 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.

5th Edition Statistics

Size

Medium

Type

Humanoid

Tag(s)

Aasimar

Alignment

Usually good

General Information

Vision

Darkvision

Average Lifespan

160 years

Homeland(s)

Prime Material Plane

Language(s)

Common, Celestial

Subraces

Deva

Protector aasimar
Scourge aasimar
Fallen aasimar

Appearance

Average height

Males: 5 feet - 6 feet and 6 inches Females: 4 feet 7 inches - 6 feet and 1 inch

Average weight

Males: 124-280 lbs. Females: 89-245 lbs.

Skin color(s)

Pale to dark brown, emerald, gold, silver

Hair color(s)

Red, blond, brown, black, silver

Eye color(s)

Pupil-less pale white, gold, gray, or topaz

Distinctions

Physically similar to humans, insightful, magnetic personality, capacity to cast supernatural light, celestial heritage

History

First appearance

The Planewalker's Handbook

Personality

Most aasimar grew up cautious around others and, like tieflings, were sometimes misunderstood, though never to the hateful extent many of the fiendish bloodlines were. Even those raised by understanding parents could not escape their strangeness, or the curiosity (or even fear) that their unique nature sometimes provoked. Many aasimar even suffered prejudice, something that deeply hurt the soul of the aasimar in question since most had an inherent bent towards empathy for others.

Aasimar preferred to keep a low profile in public, as not to draw the attentions of evil cultists, fiends, or other beings that wished to strike them down because the their celestial nature. An aasimar would abandon the low profile if it meant striking openly at evil, though never at the expense of endangering the innocent.

Though many aasimar were good in nature, thanks in a large part to their celestial ancestors, not all were, just as not all tieflings or fey'ri were evil. Some aasimar fell into the trap of evil, corrupted perhaps by experience or the counsel and aid of an evil god. Shar and Sseth in particular took pleasure in corrupting aasimar and turning them from the ways of their celestial forebears, nursing grudges fueled by the prejudice of others. Most aasimar avoided this path, however, and a few even received direct counsel from their celestial ancestor or a creature in its service. These individuals were the aasimar most likely to manifest the stereotypical virtues of a celestial.

Abilities

As a general rule, aasimar were a wise and charismatic race, possessed of strong insights and a powerful allure with which most races could not compare. Aasimar were also quite perceptive, noticing things that others did not, and many could see largely unimpeded in perfect darkness, while also possessing the ability to cast magical light to aid those who could not see. Aasimar were also, like many of their celestial forebears, resistant to the effects of acidic elements, extreme cold, or electrical charges.

From an early age, aasimar often received visions, prophesies, feelings, and guidance from a patron deity, usually through their dreams. These visions, for an unfallen aasimar, came from a celestial patron (typically a deva) and gave the aasimar a sense of destiny and a desire to do what was right. Patrons were not omnipotent but could advise their charges on known evils and grant advice based on tenants to which the patron aligned.

These visions to the aasimar from a patron might cause moral conflicts to the mortal creature. For example, an angelic messenger was a distant onlooker and thus might send visions and feelings that would send the aasimar away from helping a specific town to hurry instead to defeat an even greater evil.

Society

“ I've made a career stealing fiendish artifacts from the blackened fortresses of Baator, the fetid reaches of the Abyss, and yugoloth strongholds on Gehenna. ”

— Seraphistus the aasimar thief

Autognome

An Autognome is a gnomish-created automaton from the Spelljammer campaign setting.

Society

Since autognomes are automatons, they have no society or preferred habitat. One in ten gnomish spelljammer have up to 4 autognomes on board to explore hostile environments.

Autognomes are capable of following up to 100 different orders, including what to do in certain situations, or what minerals to look for on a planet. An autognome can memorize and recite everything it sees and hears in a 24-hour period.

An autognome can converse with other beings, but its thought processes are inflexible, and it does not deviate from its orders. Figures of speech are lost on it, which can cause problems since an autognome's logic is quite narrow. For instance, an autognome may be ordered to fetch a rock sample. In its travels, it meets a human warrior named Rok. Therefore, out comes the sample scoop and…

One-in-three autognomes encountered will have gone rogue, meaning that they have forgotten their original orders and have defaulted to one of the following behaviors:

• the autognome believes itself to be a real gnome, and tries to live a normal life, including eating, sleeping, etc.
• the autognome accepts new orders from anyone it meets;
• the autognome accepts new orders from anyone it meets, except it does the exact opposite;
• the autognome attacks all living creatures in sight.

Creating an autognome

The tinker gnomes keep the process of creating new autognomes a tightly guarded secret (though truth be told, no one but the gnomes want to build the things). According to rumor, creating an autognome requires many spells, such as enchant an item, animate object, and permanency, and it costs at least 10,000 gp.

For some reason, the dohwar are interested in purchasing intact, working autognomes. All other intelligent races either flee from the things or, if the autognome is unaccompanied by a gnome, blow it up.

Signature Spelljammers

None. Some gnomish spelljammers will have up to 4 autognomes on board to explore hostile environments.

Appendix

Autognome

Small Construct, Any Alignment

---

• Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
• Hit Points 39 (6d6 + 18)
• Hit Points 39 (6d6 + 18)
• Speed 20 ft.

---

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
13 (+1)	6 (-2)	16 (+3)	4 (-3)	11 (+0)	6 (-2)

---

• Saving Throws Con +5, Wis +2, Cha +0
• Damage Immunities poison
• Condition Immunities paralyzed, petrified, poisoned
• Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 10
• Languages Common, Gnomish
• Challenge 2 (450 XP)
• Proficiency Bonus +2

---

Malfunction. Whenever the autognome takes 15 damage or more from a single source and isn't reduced to 0 hit points by that damage, roll a d20 to determine if it suffers a malfunction:

• 1-10: "All Fine Here!" No malfunction occurs.
• 11-12: "My Mind Is Going. I Can Feel It." The autognome is incapacitated for 1 minute.
• 13-14: "You've Disarmed Me!" One of the autognome's arms falls off, reducing the number of Shock attacks it can make by 1 until a creature uses an action to reattach the arm.
• 15-16: "Who Turned Out the Lights?" The autognome's head falls off and deactivates, causing the autognome to be blinded and deafened until a creature uses an action to reattach the head, which reactivates it.
• 17-20: "Have a Magical Day!" The autognome explodes and is destroyed. Each creature within 20 feet of the exploding autognome must make a DC 11 Dexterity saving throw, taking 22 (4d10) slashing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
• Unusual Nature. The autognome doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep.

Actions

Multiattack. The autognome makes two Shock attacks.

Bugbear

---

• Ability Scores. Strength +2; Dexterity +1
• Size. Medium
• Speed. 30 ft.

---

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

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

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 com-bat.

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

NOTE See Appendix for more on Goblinoids from VGM.

5th Edition Statistics

Size

Medium

Type

Humanoid

Tag(s)

Goblinoid

Alignment

Chaotic evil

Challenge rating

Bugbear	1
Bugbear chief	3

4E Origin

Natural

General Information

Patron deity

Hruggek,³⁷⁸ Grankhul⁹

Vision

Darkvision,³⁴ low-light vision²

Activity cycle

Any⁵

Diet

Carnivore⁵

Average lifespan

80 years¹⁰

Language(s)

Bugbear,⁵¹¹ Common, Goblin,³⁴²

Favored climate

Any,⁵ temperate³

Favored terrain

Mountains,³ underground⁵

Appearance

Average height

6‒8 ft (1.8‒2.4 m)¹⁰

Average weight

250‒350 lb (110‒160 kg)¹⁰

Skin color(s)

Yellow to reddish brown⁶

Hair color(s)

Brown, red⁶

Eye color(s)

Yellow, orange, red, brown, greenish white⁶

Distinctions

Large, hairy, wedge-shaped ears, heightened sense of smell, tough hide, claws, strong but nimble

History

First appearance

Greyhawk

Based on

Bugbear (English)

Religion

Bugbears once had their own pantheon, led by Hruggek. Bugbears often decapitated their enemies as a way to honor Hruggek, who was said to do the same.² From the Spellplague to the Second Sundering, the power of Hruggek was diminished and the god served as an exarch of Bane, the god of tyranny.¹⁴ However, after the Second Sundering, bugbears began to follow bugbear-specific deities such as Hruggek once more.⁹

Other bugbear deities included Grankhul, the bugbear deity of hunting, senses, stealth, and surprise;¹⁵¹⁶ and Skiggaret. Local pantheons often included a god of earth, a god of fertility, and a god of death.¹⁷

Languages

In addition to speaking Common and the Goblin tongue like other goblinoids,¹⁰³⁴² bugbears possessed their own language.⁵¹¹

Biology

Unlike most creatures, bugbears were particularly susceptible to the effects of Bowen's flowers, which would knock them out within minutes.¹⁸

History

Many scholars of the late 14^th century DR believed that bugbears and goblins were both bred by the hobgoblins as slave races, with bugbears serving as elite soldiers.²

Nine bugbears working for the Xanathar Thieves' Guild dwelt upon the Dungeon Level of Undermountain.¹⁹

Four bugbears working for Yek dwelt in the Arcane Chambers Level of Undermountain, as well as twenty bugbears who served the Xanathar Thieves' Guild.²⁰

Eight bugbears dwelt in Azrok's Hold, on the Sargauth Level of Undermountain.²¹

External Links

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the following links do not necessarily represent the views of the editors of this wiki, nor does any lore presented necessarily adhere to established canon. Please consider using affiliate links before purchases to support the wiki.

• Bugbear (Dungeons & Dragons) article at Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.

• Bugbear article at the Eberron Wiki, a wiki for the Eberron campaign setting.

• Bugbear article at the Baldur's Gate 3 Community Wiki, a community wiki for Baldur's Gate 3.

Source: Forgotten Realms Wiki

Bugbear

Bugbear Language

Miscellaneous Language

The Bugbear language was the racial language of bugbears, one of the many races of goblinoids.¹²³

Description

Perceived by other creatures as being a rather uncouth language,⁴ Bugbear consisted of a variety of different grunts,¹ snarls,¹⁴ and gestures.¹

Speakers

Beyond bugbears themselves, Bugbear was a common secondary language among some specialty priests, such as the Authlim of Iyachtu Xvim and the Dreadmasters of Bane.⁵

Appendix

Appearances

Novels & Short Stories

The Black Bouquet

Organized Play & Licensed Adventures

Referenced only
Twilight of the Dirty Turtles • Going Ape

Source: Forgotten Realms Wiki

Bugbear pantheon

---

Basic Information¹

Type

Pantheon

Membership²

Members

Those known: Hruggek,
Grankhul

The bugbear pantheon^{note 1} was an extinct pantheon whose deities were once worshiped by bugbears.¹

History

The bugbears once had a pantheon with deities unique to their race and culture. However, many of them were cut down by Maglubiyet, though the two brothers, Hruggek and Grankhul were spared. The original pantheon was absorbed into Maglubiyet's goblinoid pantheon. However, after Maglubiyet's conquest, bugbears still worshiped the two brother deities, even though it meant submitting to their conquerer's rule.¹

Members

Some known members of the pantheon were:

• Hruggek, surviving member and tyrannical deity²
• Grankhul, surviving member and deity of duty²

The bugbears also knew of a god of fear known as Skiggaret, though it was unknown if this deity was ever part of the original bugbear pantheon or even the reformed goblinoid pantheon.³

Appendix

Notes

1. ↑ Bugbears were noted to venerate the "bugbear pantheon" in Monster Mythology, a core sourcebook. However, this article focuses on recent Realms material, specifically Volo's Guide to Monsters. This sourcebook clearly states that bugbears as a race once had an individual pantheon that was dissolved by Maglubiyet. For the purposes of this wiki, the extinct pantheon is referred to as the bugbear pantheon.

Source: Forgotten Realms Wiki

Bugbear

Personality

Bullywugs were foul inhabitants of the natural world both in smell and company,² constantly hungry savages¹ often completely lacking in higher emotions and feelings.⁴ Unlike many other creatures of the wild, bullywugs either didn't understand or didn't care about the effect they had on their own ecosystems.¹³ They hunted and killed for sport without the intelligence or discrimination to allow environmental recovery, and so systematically depleted the natural resources of their own habitats.³

Rather than fill any ecological niche, these habits made bullywugs a disruption and threat to the fragile balance they themselves relied upon, and after exhausting other food sources, they would either move on to greener pastures or turn to cannibalism (although some were cannibals by choice). While they didn't permanently poison the land like the undead, the effects of bullywugs left due to their reckless practices was nothing short of disastrous for a few years, as they stripped acres of land bare⁴²¹⁴ and left behind a despoiled morass of mud, a mere echo of a once fertile swamp.²

The bullywugs were not unaware of this phenomenon, the difference in environment before and after they entered being so noticeable that even they viewed their own presence as "off" somehow. This sense of something being wrong manifested as paranoia, the sense that everything was out to get them somehow, although this feeling was not exactly untrue. Those that struck the scourge of bullywugs with particular precision or power sometimes felt a moment of renewed strength or clarity, as if the natural world itself was thanking them for their service.²

Bullywugs were, appropriately enough, bullies,³ and often their greatest joy came from lording over trespassers in their domains.¹ They believed themselves to be the true lords of the swamp and behaved as such,¹¹⁵ being known to laze and loaf even as others worked.¹⁶¹⁷ They prized coins, jewels, and other treasures, although as individuals they lacked the same kind of greed and megalomania found in marauders like orcs. Infighting within the same group almost never occurred, though some would suggest this was due to a lack of brainpower rather than malice.⁴ Regardless of the truth of that idea, bullywugs were easily confused,¹⁵ the smartest of them normally being of about average human intelligence.⁴

Despite their tendencies towards chaotic and evil behavior, bullywugs were capable of adopting other behaviors. They often remained individualistic, but sometimes shed their more despicable traits when trying to find a place in the outside world.¹⁸ Curiosity could drive them to explore,¹⁹ and those that met success were the ones that learned to work with and rely on others, with most stray bullywugs being neutral and, on rare occasion, creatures of good.¹⁸

Abilities

Bullywugs could deliver powerful bites¹ and were creatures of notable athleticism.² The amphibians were strong swimmers able to move rapidly under the water, even when weighed down by things like armor or shields. Despite being slow on land, with or without objects encumbering them, bullywugs could hop as fast as they could run (and possibly faster), leaping 20 to 30 feet (6.1 to 9.1 meters) forward or 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.6 meters) high in a single bound.¹³⁴⁵

A bullywug's camouflage protected them both from regular sight and from infravision since their body temperature changed along with their coloration to better blend with their surroundings.⁵

Some bullywugs, known as croakers, were flabby and weak compared to their kin, but able to belch up clouds of fetid, poisonous gas as they made their loud croaks.²

Combat

Bullywugs reserved their natural methods of defense (biting and to a lesser extent their pitiful "claws") for foes that got too close to them, preferring to wield weapons whenever possible.¹⁴⁵ Most were barely able to wield more than a simple stone weapon (such as a club),¹¹ so they stuck to spears, halfspears, and other sharp, piercing weapons that could be poked out of the water.³ They normally leapt when in melee, since by springing through the air they increased the odds of hitting their foes, and when holding an impaling weapon, their strikes were twice as lethal. This made long weapons especially important, since they compensated for their slow speed when running and their exposed state when jumping.⁴⁵

Bullywugs also wore crude armor and donned shields when available despite these things slowing them down when underwater, trying to equip themselves with at least leather armor as a point of pride.³⁴¹⁸ This highlighted an oddity when it came to bullywugs, their illogical approach to battle. Bullywugs were fierce, aggressive creatures known to display fanatical loyalty to their tribes, and yet had little stomach for protracted fighting, which combined with their lacking minds made them somewhat unpredictable as far as combat went. Bullywugs were just as likely to fight to the death no matter how obviously doomed they were as they were to run for the hills after only a few of them fell, melting away into the swamp even if they easily could have won.³⁹²⁰

Bullywugs did not favor fair fights, and were skilled in the construction and use of nets and snares.⁴ They preferred to fight in or near water,³ and given their camouflage and ability to suddenly spring into action, they were adept ambushers.⁴⁵ Bullywugs were emboldened by superior numbers and always tried to overwhelm the enemy by surrounding them. They hated humans and attacked adventurers on sight whenever their own groups were larger, but against serious threats, they normally left in search of easier prey.¹¹⁵⁴ Fittingly, bullywugs usually tried to summon monsters as the first part of any attack whenever possible, but given their issues with that art, there was a 1/8 chance they would accidentally summon more creatures than expected, lose control, and then waste their efforts fighting their would-be aid.³

Society

Bullywug society was savage, primitive, and tribal, one of the most petty-minded and mindlessly destructive of all humanoid organizations.²⁴ Bullywugs had learned to cooperate for the sake of mutual survival and hunting benefit with practically zero infighting,¹⁸⁴ but murder was still one of the two primary methods for getting ahead. The killing of one's rivals had to be performed secretly however, since bullywugs who witlessly did away with their opposition were likely to be executed by the others. Bullywug politics were typically more "subtle" than killing whoever was in front on the social ladder.¹

Aside from their gods, bullywugs only ever showed respect to their leaders, for their organized (or at least semi-organized) societies were socially fascist and so tyrannical as to be totalitarian. Absolute authority was vested to subleaders led by a male chieftain, a self-styled lord of the muck who could treat all his subjects as possessions and freely kill (and eat if he chose) his followers if they did not instantly follow his whims.¹¹⁸⁴ Only when the previous leader was too old to rule would the next dominant male kill and usurp (and possibly consume) him.⁴

This foul aristocracy formed the basis of bullywug "etiquette", both amongst themselves and outsiders. Bullywugs introduced themselves with grand titles while groveling and kowtowing before their superiors, ceaselessly competing to win their favor.¹ It was in this sycophantic competition that the bullywug love and hoarding of treasure became important despite its lack of actual use in their societal system.¹⁸ Instead of killing each other, bullywugs could advance by finding treasures and trinkets (including magical items) to present to their lord as tokens of deference or loyalty.¹

It was for this reason that bullywugs raided caravans and settlements, obtaining baubles and knickknacks to impress and win over their masters. Even if this succeeded and a bullywug got into the good graces of their leaders, the careless abuse and neglect that they so commonly showed their own property invariably meant that the fine items they acquired would become broken and dirty, whereupon the bullywug lord would invariably demand even more. Capturing intruders was favorable to just killing them because they could be dragged before the bullywug kings and their queens and forced to beg for mercy.¹

Bullywug royals were sneering and demanding, donning robes of leather, rough cloth, and marsh plants¹²¹ even as most bullywugs wore no clothes.⁴ Through bribery and flattery they could be convinced to release their captive audience, but not before trying to impress them with the majesty of their realm and the grandeur of their treasures.¹ Despite claims of being the masters of the marshes, bullywugs recognized their adverse environmental influence and perceived themselves negatively because of it, and that attitude extended to the bullywug lords.¹² Behind their pretensions to nobility and fanciful posturing was a deep inferiority complex, a desperate desire for legitimacy in the eyes of outsiders as beings worthy of not only fear, but respect.¹

Relations

Bullywugs had difficulties allying with other beings, but when they did it was universally with the foul and the feral.² While there was no open hostility between the two, lizardfolk rarely associated with them,⁵ and bullywugs were known to boss them around if given the chance.¹⁵ The sahuagin held them in contempt and occasionally raided their lairs out of hateful malice before eating captives alive.⁵ They fancied wemic claws as shield and armor decorations.²³

Bullywugs were normally around the same size and color as gripplis, were known to abuse this fact to set ambushes, and in some cases were ancient enemies.²⁴ The bullywugs that lived within the Marsh of Chelimber believed they were in a never-ending battle with the sivs over control of the edge of the wetlands. In truth, the sivs emerged victorious in the conflict and allowed the ravenous amphibians to live within their realm, serving as a buffer between them outsiders from beyond the marsh. Only in places throughout the Realms too small for the sivs' desired isolation could the bullywugs truly lord over their sinkholes without interference from their more organized cousins.³

While most bullywugs hated humans and most humans (and other humanoids) feared and hated them in return,¹⁸ bullywugs would readily serve wicked masters, even human ones.⁵ Those that grew accustomed to working with others and seeing others of different races consistently pass, at the very least didn't attack on sight.¹⁵ Most bullywugs lived out in the open, with loose territorial boundaries that they inefficiently enforced, though intruders often ended up killed and eaten.⁴ They reportedly had no sense of privacy or personal space, and when they did have specific living spaces (such as huts) they were not known to be assigned to specific areas.²⁵

Language

Bullywugs had access to the Batrachian Common tongue (a language used by frog-like humanoids),²⁴ and the more intelligent ones could speak a fractured form of Common with limited vocabulary,⁴ but they had a primitive language of their own.¹ The bullywug tongue consisted of a series of croaks, staccato notes, and clicks,¹⁷ and though crude, it allowed them to communicate over large distances, spreading news quickly across the swamps.¹

Animal Taming

Bullywug language allowed for the communication of simple concepts with amphibians, a capability bullywugs used to form strong bonds with giant frogs and toads. They trained them to serve as guardians, hunters, and in the case of larger varieties, mounts, and used their ability to swallow creatures whole to carry prey back to their villages.¹ They were known to raise such creatures as tadpoles, and weren't bothered by them.²⁵ Furthermore, they were the undisputed masters of capturing and training wild frogs, and while swamp-dwelling kobolds and goblins had managed to learn from them, only the bullywugs had learned to truly domesticate them, using them like dogs. Sometimes trained war frogs were offered as gifts to set up trade relations with other tribes.²⁶

Bullywugs were also known to ride giant leeches.²⁷

Summoning

Before Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR a bullywug could be summoned by the summon monster I spell.²⁸

Religion

Clerics and shamans were common among the bullywugs, with as many as ten percent of those in a community having access to divine magic (varying based on how advanced they were).³⁴⁵ However, the greater number of bullywug priests came at the cost of their individual quality; they had access to only three kinds of magic, spells taken from their divine domains (typically from Chaos, Evil or Water), inflict spells, and summoning spells, the latter being culturally favored. Bullywug clerics were infamous, in fact, for their powerful yet unpredictable summonings, having made a religious fetish out of calling creatures that might or might not stay within their control.³

In any case, bullywug religion was not based on their past, at least not in any objectively verifiable way. They had only the most primitive of origin myths that ignored anything outside their own limited perceptions of their lives and environments.²⁹ Often they claimed to have been created by ancient primordials rather than deities, a claim of tenuous accuracy. The only power exclusive to the bullywugs was Ramenos, a god (or possibly primordial) of intoxication, rest, and decline.²²⁹³⁰ Even so, the bullywugs had no creation myth involving Ramenos,²⁹ and even those who followed him didn't necessarily have anything more than the shallowest understanding.³¹

Magic

Some bullywugs, known as mud lords, possessed greater intelligence than their kin and were able to cast spells. They emitted fiery croaks and blasted their foes with their own electric reflux, although this magic was more powerful if they sacrificed their allies by containing them in the blast radius.³

On rare occasion, bullywugs were born with the innate, bardic power to weave magic into their songs. Among the most arrogant and pompous of their kind, they were raised in protected enclaves and taught how to heal and harm with their powers. Known powers included the ability to sing an ode to an elder froghemoth and grant temporary life force to bullywugs nearby, and to sing a song of marshy doom to psychically injure surrounding enemies.²¹

Biology

Bullywugs wandering through Slitherswamp, the 8^th level of the Undermountain.

Bullywugs preferred to inhabit dark, dank places isolated far from human beings, wet locations like rainforests, damp caves, swamps, meres, or virtually any other warm but shady region with abundant water.¹³⁴⁵ They had adapted for easy movement among the trees,²⁴ with soft, suction-cupped fingers,²⁰ and had no difficultly moving through mud and wetlands³ on their webbed feet.⁴ Bullywugs had to routinely soak their entire bodies to keep their skin moist, at least three times a day with an average waterskin's worth of water. If unable to regularly hydrate, they would slowly weaken and die, hence why bullywugs feared dry heat and areas with little standing water.^1418115

Bullywugs slept in a frog-like fashion, burying themselves up to the eyes in pits of mud. At night, they were known to crowd on top of each other until everyone in that group was squeezed in, with multiple piles of bullywugs visible throughout their sleeping grounds.²⁵

History

In the Days of Thunder, circa -33500 DR, long before the appearance of elves, giants, or even dragons, the amphibious creator race known as the batrachi ruled the supercontinent of Merrouroboros.³⁸³⁹ After the sarrukh fell into a state of somnolent inactivity, the rise of the batrachi ensured that their descendants, the snake-human hybrids known as the yuan-ti, would never reach the same level of prominence.⁴⁰ The batrachi worshiped Ramenos, who in these days was strong and active, and evidence of his dominion could still be found deep within jungles and lost plateaus where his ruins temples stood. Huge stone statues of the amphibian power dominated plazas and open areas around main buildings, his massive maw open to swallow sacrifices.²⁹

The batrachi reached the height of the power in -31500 DR under the leadership of The High One Zhoukoudien, but their dominion was threatened by the Jotunbrud, who Zhoukoudien had went to war with. His reign ended around that time when he was slain by the titan thane Omo. In the final days of their civilization, circa -31000 DR, the desperate batrachi performed a ritual of epic summoning to defeat Annam's titan armies, releasing several imprisoned primordials, including the Creator of Dragonkind, Asgorath. Unfortunately for the batrachi, the battle between the gods and the primordials unleashed unimaginable catastrophe across all of Toril. Continent-sized chunks of land fell into the ocean as the seas were rearranged, while earthquakes, windstorms and terrible fires scourged the entire planet.³⁸⁴¹

The climax of this devastating tumult was the Tearfall, when comets and/or a moon of ice (suspected to have been hurled by Asgorath) crashed into Toril, merging the four Inner Seas into the Sea of Fallen Stars, and soon after tens of thousands of dragon eggs would hatch across the planet. An entity calling itself a batrachi lord spoke of the blanketing of the land with ice as the seven-turn winter, and the dramatic change in climate rendered the world uninhabitable for the batrachi. Forced to retreat from the fallout, the batrachi fled to Limbo, where they were changed for at least the second time by Ramenos to suit his purposes (with many confusing the batrachi for slaadi).³⁸⁴¹

Back on Toril however, remnants of the batrachi lineage still remained. Spawned from their union with races of proto-amphibians were the degenerate descendants of the batrachi race that once ruled Toril—the bullywugs.²⁹

External Links

• Bullywug article at the Eberron Wiki, a wiki for the Eberron campaign setting.

Source: Forgotten Realms Wiki

Bullywug language

Miscellaneous Language

---

Script

Unknown

Spoken by

Bullywugs

The Bullywug language was the racial language of bullywugs, a race of frog-like humanoids.¹²³⁴⁵

Speakers

Beyond bullywugs themselves, Bullywug was somewhat common as a secondary language among warriors in Hlondeth.⁶ It was also a common secondary language among jungle druids, specialty priests in the Church of Ubtao, who sought to learn the exotic languages of the creatures that lived in Chult's jungles and swamps.⁷

Phonology

The Bullywug tongue consisted of a series of clicks, croaks, and staccato notes.⁴⁵ Though considered by some to be a rather crude or primitive language,¹² it allowed Bullywugs communicate over large distances, spreading news quickly across their territory.⁴

Dictionary

Y

Yurk Y'blorkflug

"Lord of fetid obliteration"; a name that the Blacktongue tribe of bullywugs used to refer to their leader, the death slaad Kuketh.⁸

Source: Forgotten Realms Wiki

Bullywug

Centaur

---

• Ability Scores. Strength +2; Wisdom +1
• Size. Medium
• Speed. 40 ft.

---

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

Alignment. Centaurs are inclined toward neutrality. Lagonna centaurs tend to be more lawful, while Pheres centaurs are more often chaotic.

Size. Centaurs stand between 6 and 7 feet tall, with their equine bodies reaching about 4 feet at the withers. Pheres centaurs tend to be slightly larger than Lagonna centaurs. Your size is Medium.

Fey. Your creature type is fey, rather than humanoid.

Charge. If you move at least 30 feet straight toward a target and then hit it with a me-lee weapon attack on the same turn, you can immediately follow that attack with a bonus ac-tion, making one attack against the target with your hooves.

Hooves. Your hooves are natural melee weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal bludgeoning damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modi-fier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.

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

In addition, any climb that requires hands and feet is especially difficult for you because of your equine legs. When you make such a climb, each foot of movement costs you 4 extra feet, in-stead of the normal 1 extra foot.

Survivor. You have proficiency in one of the following skills of your choice: Animal Han-dling, Medicine, Nature, or Survival.

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

Markings of the Herd

Though centaurs share the same basic physiology, the centaur bands are commonly associated with their own distinct traits.

Lagonna band centaurs tend to be sleek and muscular, with powerful legs built for endurance rather than speed. They usually have coats of a single color, often with a shine that can look metallic in bright light.

Pheres band centaurs typically have long, nimble legs and lean bodies, and are often marked with natural color patterns on their hide. Pheres centaurs sometimes paint or tattoo their upper bodies to match the patterns on their lower half. Occasionally, a Pheres centaur is born with vertical stripes on their hooves, foretelling an exciting and adventurous life.

Lagonna Merchant Families

Lagonna centaurs travel in small merchant family bands called guri. These groups frequently trade with Meletis, which provides the biggest market for their wares, but they also do business with Setessa and smaller communities within Akros's lands.

The eldest member of each guros typically leads their family. In times of discord, the heads of the guri gather to make decisions together. Other members of the guros work as traders, gatherers, packers, and scouts. A guros has several specialized roles required for success in travel and trade: a barterer, an omener, a courser, and preferably a koletra.

A barterer negotiates deals between the guros and other traders. Barterers must know the customs of other cultures and speak several different languages.

An omener is an oracle who reads messages from the gods in the natural world and reveals how the immortals would have the guros travel.

A courser explores new trade territory for their guros. They are expert trackers and navigators, able to venture deep into unexplored territory and unerringly return to their families.

Finally, every guros tries to travel with at least one koletra, one of the mighty, well-trained warriors of the Lagonna who are said to have the blood of the first, legendary centaur heroes. Koletras are said to bring good luck to a band, but are also usually fated to die in defense of their family. Not every guros has a koletra of its own, and guri share their best warriors among each other as a sign of goodwill and a way to forge bonds.

Centaur

Journeys of Discovery

When young Lagonna centaurs become adults, they often leave their band to travel the world on their own. This time of self-discovery, called a protoporos, can last anywhere from a few weeks to several years. The Lagonna believe that a protoporos helps young centaurs find their place in the world. An omener reads the signs of fortune before sending young centaurs on their way, guiding the first steps of their journey. While most centaurs return to the band eventually, some find their calling elsewhere. When the Lagonna tell tales of their greatest heroes, they often speak of centaurs who found their heroic destiny on a protoporos.

Pheres Raiders

The Pheres roam the wild lands between Setessa and Akros in small raiding herds. These herds are voluntary associations, in contrast to the family groups of the Lagonna. When necessary, several small bands join together in a larger herd to target particularly dangerous but resource-rich targets—be they humanoid traders or roving, greedy monsters. Bands also join together to defeat common threats or to hunt for game.

The Pheres value physical strength, speed, and prowess in both hunting and combat. Often a band is led by the strongest and most dominant warrior, called the charger. However, some bands elevate a tactician or strategist to this venerated position. The Pheres can be brutal and greedy, but they are clever as well, and understand the value of strategic leadership.

Other centaurs in Pheres herds work as scouts, archers, warriors, and foragers. In addition, most Pheres herds contain a caller and a tromper.

Pheres callers are typically druids or rangers who can draw animal assistance to their herd. Callers often have one or more animal allies at their side, and can speak to animals to learn about the surrounding lands.

Trompers are the most powerful and feared warriors of the herd. Centaur legends say that when the gods first fashioned humans from the red mud of the eldest river, Pheres trompers taught them how to corner and kill prey. The story tells that, to repay this debt, humans owe the centaurs a portion of what they catch. While humans don't recall this arrangement, the Pheres often cite it as justification for their raids.

Pheres Renegades

Pheres band members survive by working and fighting together, but still some centaurs choose to strike out on their own. These renegades often feel like outsiders in their own band. They might be pacifists, wishing to learn about other people rather than fighting them. Or they might feel a restlessness in their soul that nothing else can soothe. Though renegades build their own life away from the band, most retain some connection with their past. Some stories tell of renegades returning to help their band in times of need before disappearing once more.

Centaur Names

Lagonna centaurs tend to favor names of three or four syllables, often borrowed from cultures they have met during their travels. Pheres centaurs tend to have shorter, sharper sounding names, often appended with an honorific gained in battle.

• Female Lagonna Names: Honotia, Kelitia, Lileo, Meloe
• Male Lagonna Names: Aughus, Dririos, Ormasos, Volien
• Female Pheres Names: Bido, Daxa, Saya, Tesia
• Male Pheres Names: Eno, Roth, Skelor, Stihl
• Pheres Honorifics: Threekills, Razorhoof, Unsleeping, Daggereye, Silentstep

Source: MOT, page 18. Reprinted as Centaur in MPMM

Forgotten Realms Wiki:

The centaur was a large creature that lived in temperate forests. They could live solitary lives or live in small tribes.⁴

“

Swift and sure, that is the way of the centaur.

”

— Abryxius Bruile, centaur⁸

Description

A centaur had the upper body of a humanoid, and the lower body of a large horse. They stood around 7 feet (2.1 meters) tall and weighed approximately 2,100 pounds (950 kilograms).⁴

Society

Centaurs were a strong and proud race. Although they typically strove to find peace and balance with nature, they could act with violence when the need arose. Despite this desire for balance, centaurs had to eat a lot to fuel their large bodies and were known to overindulge, especially with wine and ale. A drunken centaur was much more prone to aggressive and violent behavior.⁹

Although some were solitary, centaurs generally lived in tribal hunter-gatherer societies. Those that felt a sense of wanderlust to explore the world made excellent companions, and occasionally would offer a ride to allies. The suggestion that they be used as a pack animal however would be met with derision.⁹

Centaurs had a strong hatred towards dracotaurs.¹⁰

Regions

Appendix

Centaur language

Miscellaneous Language

Centaur

Changeling

5th Edition Statistics¹²

Size

Medium or Small

Type

Fey

3rd Edition Statistics³

Subtype(s)

Shapechanger

General Information

Intelligence

Average³

Language(s)

Common, others³

Favored climate

Any³

Favored terrain

Any³

Appearance³¹⁴²

Average height

5′3″‒5′9″ (160‒180 cm)²

Skin color(s)

Pale gray in true form

Eye color(s)

White in true form

Typical build

Slender and gangly in true form

Distinctions

Shapeshifting

History

First appearance

Eberron Campaign Setting

Based on

Changeling

Personality

Changelings were subtle and deceptive in their ways.³ How a changeling chose and used each new guise they adopted was up to each individual. It might be for mischief, for entertainment, or for heroism, or it could be for terrible misdeeds. To one changeling, it might be no more than a disguise, but to another, it could be another facet of their soul. They had different terms for different kinds of guise. A 'mask' was a guise that lacked a backstory and deeper personality; it was created on a whim to display a mood or to fulfill a need and could be discarded, never seen again. A 'persona' was a full identity with a backstory, depth, and beliefs of its own. A changeling could maintain a number of personas for different applications and situations, and changelings and changeling communities could share them (for example, three changeling healers could play the one physician persona in shifts) or bequeath them to their descendants (so a young changeling could have the benefits and contacts of an older persona).¹

A typical changeling was careful and wary of dangers, only undertaking a risky endeavor if the rewards or the odds of success made it worthwhile. On the other hand, they had expensive tastes, especially enjoying the comforts and luxuries that riches could bring, and sought them out whenever they could afford it.³

Changelings loved learning new languages and building collections of ones they knew. These linguistics also aided their disguises and personas.³

Abilities

Changelings had the magical ability to change their appearance. Although similar in effect to a disguise self spell, this was no illusion but a small physical transformation of their bodies, so their clothing and possessions are unaffected. It was also not as extensive as a doppelganger's transformation and they were limited to a humanoid form. They could alter their facial features, skin coloration and texture, hair length and color, race, sex, and their size, height, and weight, within limits³¹ of human³ or human and halfling scales.¹ Though it took several seconds, a changeling could change their form as often as they liked and the new appearance lasted until they changed again. If they died, their bodies reverted to their natural forms. True seeing would also expose them.³¹

Unsurprisingly, this power gave a changeling a great facility for disguise and impersonation, with them able to create a highly convincing disguise on cue.³ They could take on any face they wanted, even those of other people, but of course could not look like someone they'd never laid eyes on.¹

They had an innate resistance to sleep and charm magic.³

A changeling spoke softly, but when they talked to someone they had a knack for getting them to give away more information than they intended to share.³ They tended to be skilled in areas of deception, intimidation, sensing motive and deceit,³¹ persuasion, or performance.¹

They also had a gift for languages and could learn new tongues with ease.³

Combat

A changeling avoided combat if they could and would rather bluff or bully their way to a peaceful resolution. When pushed to fight, they favored ambushes and sneak attacks and would remain on the defensive while they weighed up their odds and looked for a way out. If defeat was likely, they would retreat or run away.³

Society

The discovery of a changeling child—whether due to a changeling biological parent or by being swapped at birth for a human or other child—was not welcomed by all parents. Unwanted infants such as these and others might be abandoned at a local temple or monastery of a good deity, most often Selûne, and these foundlings would be taught and raised in the faith, with some even becoming monks. The lands most likely for this were Aglarond, Amn, Calimshan, Cormyr, Damara, Impiltur, Mulhorand, Lake of Steam, Luiren, and Silverymoon in the North. In harsher lands, unwanted children might simply be left to the elements.⁶

Lacking settlements of their own, changelings used their shapeshifting powers to live in secret amongst others, including humans, goblinoids, and others.³¹ Their abilities made them adept at infiltration and criminal activity, and many made the most of it, gravitating toward being rogues. They served as deep-cover spies and made up the core of a local criminal underbelly. Nevertheless, others preferred reputable professions, and they excelled as entertainers, spies and agents of their government, and occasionally as adventurers.³

Big cities were where changelings were most often found, but even there, they did not gather in great numbers. Those without families operated alone or in small changeling gangs of only about five members under one charismatic leader. Those with dependent children or elders came together in 'clans' for mutual protection and aid. These clans were not bound by blood, but by voluntary association. A clan head governed the clan and set a common purpose, but only with the consent of its members, so the role was replaced regularly. Clan bosses helped organize and keep order in the clan. The clan comprised anywhere from 10 to 60 capable adult members; an additional 30% children, elders, and non-combatants; a boss for every 10 adults, two elders, and one clan head.³

History

In one account of their origin, the first changelings anywhere came into existence in the Feywild, as a manifestation of that plane's magical, mutable nature. Accordingly, their shapeshifting power and whether they use it for good or for evil channeled either the joys or the dangers of the Feywild.¹

More prosaically, however, another version holds that changelings began as the offspring of doppelgangers and humans. They evolved, ultimately becoming a distinct race in their own right.³

Notable Changelings

• Orin the Red, a murderous Bhaalspawn and would-be Chosen of Bhaal in the late 15^th century DR.¹⁸⁴

Appendix

Appearances

External Links

• Changeling article at the Eberron Wiki, a wiki for the Eberron campaign setting.

Source: Forgotten Realms Wiki

Changeling

Dhampir

(Dhampyr¹)

5th Edition Statistics²

Size

Medium or Small

Type

Humanoid

General Information

Movement

Walking, climbing²

Vision

Darkvision²

Activity cycle

Any¹

Diet

Omnivore or human blood;¹ Flesh or raw meat, cerebral spinal fluid, psychic energy, dreams, or life energy²

Average lifespan

A century or more, longer than normal

Appearance

Skin color(s)

Pale

Eye color(s)

Various with large pupils flecked with red

Distinctions

Slightly pointed ears, thin build, small fangs

History

First appearance

A Guide to Transylvania

Based on

Dhampir (Albanian)

Description

Dhampyrs were thin and willowy, with pale skin and slightly pointed ears. They had slightly pronounced canines and blood-red eyes. Dhampyrs were unharmed by sunlight or positive energy the way true vampires were. Many dhampyrs felt the characteristic bloodlust of a vampire as well as the ability to feed off of blood for sustenance or healing, though their thirst was much milder than that of true vampires and not all or even most dhampyrs carried out the practice.⁴

Abilities

In addition to the characteristic blood drain ability shared by nearly all of their kind, some dhampyrs developed other unnatural abilities. Some fairly common abilities were the ability to move more quickly, enhanced nightvision, or even the ability to transform into a mist for under a minute once per day. More advanced abilities might allow them to charm enemies into a daze, gain enhanced vitality from blood drinking, or other abilities that made them more like their vampiric kin.⁵

The time it took for vampiric abilities to awaken in dhampyrs varied from one person to another. In some cases, the marks of a dhampyr's heritage skipped a generation, awakening in later descendants. In other cases, dhampyrs awakened their vampiric heritage early in their life.⁶

In addition to abilities gained from their vampiric heritage, most dhampyrs possessed the standard abilities and physical characteristics of their mortal heritage, whatever that might be.⁶

Appendix

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.

Draconians

In the Dragonlance setting, the followers of the evil goddess Takhisis learned a dark ritual that let them corrupt the eggs of metallic dragons, producing evil dragonborn called draconians. Five types of draconians, corresponding to the five types of metallic dragons, fought for Takhisis in the War of the Lance-auraks (gold), baaz (brass), bozak (bronze), kapak (copper), and sivak (silver). In place of their draconic breath weapons they have unique magical abilities.

Uncommon Races

This race, and those listed below, are uncommon. They don't exist in every world of D&D, and even where they are found, they are less widespread than dwarves, elves, halflings, and humans. In the cosmopolitan cities of the D&D multiverse, most people hardly look twice at members of even the most exotic races. But the small towns and villages that dot the countryside are different. The common folk aren't accustomed to seeing members of these races, and they react accordingly.

Dragonborn. It's easy to assume that a dragonborn is a monster, especially if his or her scales betray a chromatic heritage. Unless the dragonborn starts breathing fire and causing destruction, though, people are likely to respond with caution rather than outright fear.

Gnome. Gnomes don't look like a threat and can quickly disarm suspicion with good humor. The common folk are often curious about gnomes, likely never having seen one before, but they are rarely hostile or fearful.

Half-Elf. Although many people have never seen a half-elf, virtually everyone knows they exist. A half-elf stranger's arrival is followed by gossip behind the half-elf's back and stolen glances across the common room, rather than any confrontation or open curiosity.

Half-Orc. It's usually safe to assume that a half-orc is belligerent and quick to anger, so people watch themselves around an unfamiliar half-orc. Shopkeepers might surreptitiously hide valuable or fragile goods when a half-orc comes in, and people slowly clear out of a tavern, assuming a fight will break out soon.

Tiefling. Half-orcs are greeted with a practical caution, but tieflings are the subject of supernatural fear. The evil of their heritage is plainly visible in their features, and as far as most people are concerned, a tiefling could very well be a devil straight from the Nine Hells. People might make warding signs as a tiefling approaches, cross the street to avoid passing near, or bar shop doors before a tiefling can enter.

Metallic Ancestry

Breath Weapon. When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can replace one of your attacks with an exhalation of magical energy in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw (DC = 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bo-nus). On a failed save, the creature takes 1d10 damage of the type associated with your Metal-lic Ancestry. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage. This damage increases by 1d10 when you reach 5th level (2d10), 11th level (3d10), and 17th level (4d10).

You can use your Breath Weapon a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Draconic Resistance. You have resistance to the damage type associated with your Me-tallic Ancestry.

Metallic Breath Weapon. At 5th level, you gain a second breath weapon. When you take the Attack action on your turn, you can replace one of your attacks with an exhalation in a 15-foot cone. The save DC for this breath is 8 + your Constitution modifier + your proficiency bonus. Whenever you use this trait, choose one:

• Enervating Breath. Each creature in the cone must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or become incapacitated until the start of your next turn.
• Repulsion Breath. Each creature in the cone must succeed on a Strength saving throw or be pushed 20 feet away from you and be knocked prone.

Once you use your Metallic Breath Weapon, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you and your DM agree is appropriate for your character.

Dragonborn with metallic ancestry lay claim to the tenacity of 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 purifies.

Source: FTD, page 12

Sword Coast

Races of the Realms

Dragonborn

Draconic humanoids from another world, the dragonborn of Faerûn are proud, honorable, and relatively rare. Slaves to dragons on their world of origin, they are now a free people looking for a place and purpose in their new world.

Uncertain Origins

As with all stories of the ancient past, tales of the origins of the dragonborn are hazy and sometimes contradictory. Each reveals something about the dragonborn in its telling, however.

Dragonborn

The Fight for Freedom

Dragonborn hail from Abeir, the primordial twin of Toril. On that world most of the dragonborn are slaves to their dragon masters, though many won their freedom and formed nations of free dragonborn. During the Spellplague, the two worlds intersected and one of those free dragonborn nations, Tymanchebar, was transported to Faerûn. It displaced the nation of Unther, and out of the ashes of these two kingdoms, the surviving dragonborn formed Tymanther, a new dragonborn nation in Faerûn.

For a time, the dragonborn of Tymanther sought to integrate with their new world while maintaining their own traditions and culture. These efforts gave the nation and its people a reputation for being honorable and worthy of respect. Only a few generations later, however, the events of the Sundering returned Unther to Faerûn, and the formerly displaced land sought to reclaim all it had lost to Tymanther. Reeling from this disaster, the remaining dragonborn in Faerûn now find they must work even harder and with fewer resources to find their place among the people the world.

Honor and Family

Every aspect of dragonborn life is dictated by the race's code of honor and strict adherence to tradition. Dragonborn society is highly ordered, with each member expected to do one's utmost for family and clan. This loyalty and sense of duty sustained the dragonborn during their long history of enslavement and also enabled them to form communities and nations of free dragonborn.

In dragonborn culture, the family is made up of one's direct relations, while a clan is a collection of families brought together by alliance, intermarriage, or shared history. Although they are rarely forced to choose one over the other, the clan's welfare is more important to most dragonborn than the family's. The promise of honor within the clan drives them to acts of heroism, daring, or excellence, all meant to bring glory to the clan first and the individual second.

The aftermath of the Sundering has tested these principles, leaving some clans fractured and decentralized. Some dragonborn in Faerûn seek to recapture the sort of connection they had with a now-lost clan or family by forging new relationships among their non-dragonborn allies and companions.

Dragonborn in Faerûn have the racial traits of dragonborn in the Player's Handbook.

Philosophy and Religion

Their code of honorable behavior and unswerving loyalty serves the dragonborn as a kind of faith, and, according to the traditionalists among them, that outlook is all the religion they need. Because they were forced to worship their draconic masters in times past, dragonborn are generally skeptical about religion, seeing it as a form of servitude. The skeptics believe that no matter how their original god, Io, brought them into being, that ancient deity is either long dead or uncaring about their fate, and the dragon gods that supplanted Io seem primarily interested in amassing soldiers for their ages-old conflict.

Still, some dragonborn do hear the call of the gods of Faerûn and choose to serve them, and are as loyal in this faith as they are to any other cause. Bahamut and Tiamat have dragonborn worshipers, and both Torm and Tyr appeal to the dragonborn sense of honor and order. Similarly, Tempus and the Red Knight appeal to the warrior spirit in some dragonborn, and Kelemvor speaks to some of the inevitability of death and the need to live well in one's allotted time. Religious belief is an intensely personal thing the dragonborn who espouse it, some of whom are as devoted to their faith as they are to their family and clan.

Source: SCAG, page 112