before beings down compared races

The Archfey Legacy

Classes Player’s Handbook (2014)

Your patron is a lord or lady of the fey, a creature of legend who holds secrets that were forgotten before the mortal races were born. This being’s motivations are often inscrutable, and

sometimes whimsical, and might involve a striving for greater magical power or the settling of age-old grudges. Beings of this sort include the Prince of Frost; the Queen of Air and Darkness, ruler of the

Variant Aasimar

Species Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

This aasimar variant originally appeared in the Dungeon Master's Guide as an example for creating your own races. Whereas tieflings have fiendish blood in their veins, aasimar are the descendants of

celestial beings. These folk generally appear as glorious humans with lustrous hair, flawless skin, and piercing eyes. Aasimar often attempt to pass as humans in order to right wrongs and defend

Giff

Species Spelljammer: Adventures in Space

Giff are tall, broad-shouldered folk with hippo-like features. Some have smooth skin, while others have short bristles on their faces and the tops of their heads. As beings of impressive size and

divine beings who created giff have likewise been forgotten. Their titanic petrified bodies drift on the Astral Sea, isolated and unrecognizable in their current forms. Although they don’t realize

Human Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

reckonings of most worlds, humans are the youngest of the common races, late to arrive on the world scene and short-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

Hadozee

Species Spelljammer: Adventures in Space

branch. Today, hadozees are sapient, bipedal beings eager to leave behind the fearsome predators of their home world and explore other worlds. In addition to being natural climbers, hadozees have feet

of the game’s fantastical races. If you create a character using a race option presented here, follow these additional rules during character creation. Ability Score Increases When

Aarakocra

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

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&mdash

violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can live longer than a century, that fact is mentioned in the race

Githyanki

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

cultivated over eons in the Astral Plane. Now all githyanki can use their psychic bond with that plane to access splinters of knowledge left behind by beings who travel, live, and die among the silver

character in the D&D multiverse is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for

Lizardfolk Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

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

; Instead, aggressive, stronger creatures register to the lizardfolk as fearsome beings to be avoided if possible. If such creatures attack, lizardfolk flee, fighting only if cornered. Lizardfolk aren

Giants: World Shakers

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters

the giants and their kin know for certain is that they are sibling races. Humanoids such as elves, humans, and dwarves are more similar in size and shape than the disparate giant types are to one

another, but those races have no shared heritage. In contrast, every true giant, regardless of type, can trace its ancestry directly to Annam the All-Father. Most giants believe that Annam took a number

Age

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants

Age Giants are long-lived compared to humans, though not as much as their semidivine ancestors. Their life spans generally correspond with their place in the ordning, with hill giants living about

to live their lives at a slower pace than smaller folk. They often speak slowly and avoid rushing into decisions. Adding potential confusion to their interactions with smaller races, giants are often

Deep Gnomes (Svirfneblin)

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

Deep Gnomes (Svirfneblin) Also known as svirfneblin, the deep gnomes of the Underdark are a stark contrast to their surface kin, dour and serious compared to the cheerful and generally optimistic

other races. Some find their purpose living among other subterranean races, and a few make their way to the surface. Those who study the arcane arts of illusion in particular often range far from home

Star Spawn

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

moment’s contact with such a place is enough to plunge a mortal mind into madness. Yet beings do exist that are native to these realms: beings that are eternally hungering, searching, warring, sometimes

dreaming. These Elder Evils are far older than most of the mortal races and always horrific to humanoid minds. However much they might desire to enter and dominate the Material Plane, the Elder Evils

Roleplaying a Mind Flayer

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters

Personality Traits d8 Personality Trait 1 I never let pass an opportunity to show my contempt for lesser beings. 2 I like to flavor my meals by engendering positive emotions in my victims before feeding on

them. 3 So as not to taint my thoughts, I avoid telepathically communicating with lesser beings when possible. 4 I never eat unless the victim is conscious and aware. 5 I’m very picky. I feed only on

Type

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Lost Mine of Phandelver

Type A creature’s type speaks to its fundamental nature. The following types of monsters can be encountered in this adventure. Aberrations. Utterly alien beings that have no place in the natural

. Giants. Humanoid-like creatures that tower over humans and their kin. Humanoids. Bipedal peoples of the civilized and savage world, including humans and a tremendous variety of other races, including

Kobold

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

Underdark near the lairs of the earliest dragons. In some lands, kobolds serve chromatic or metallic dragons—even worshiping them as divine beings. In other places, kobolds know too well how

is about a century, assuming the character doesn’t meet a violent end on an adventure. Members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries. If typical members of a race can

Loxodon

Species Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica

guilds is their sense of the size of the community they belong to. For loxodons in the Selesnya Conclave, their community is the world and all living beings in it—everything valuable, meant to live

often translate them into titles, such as Hierarch, Revered, Grandmother, Healer, or Saint, when interacting with other races. Male Names: Bayul, Berov, Brooj, Chedumov, Dobrun, Droozh, Golomov, Heruj

Lord of Blades

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War

of terror and pain. But the warforged under his sway (and some objective observers of other races) believe that his rage is fueled by the injustice heaped upon the warforged after their creation. The

warforged because it is grounded in legitimate grievances, even if the proposed action is abhorrent. Compared to the total number of warforged created and deployed in combat during the Last War, the

Human

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica

, no current guildmaster is human. But humans are lieutenants, advisors, and strategists in many guilds. Their ambition and drive propel them toward the top, but the sheer might of beings such as

shape the names of most of Ravnica’s humans. Humans sometimes borrow names from other races, but they have a rich pool of traditional names to draw from. The use of family names seems to be a peculiarly

Crimes and Punishment

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

and evil, but tinged with elven sensibilities. When someone takes the life of another, for instance, the elves have a unique way of delivering justice. Like most civilized beings, elves consider

engaged in. Of these, exile is the most severe punishment. The surface elves’ attitude toward murder — which some races see as bordering on blasé — is carried to the extreme by the drow, who have elevated

Elves

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide

, who developed subraces in the world, elves brought their divisions with them, settling into separate kingdoms by type. Beings of immense power, the first elves explored and settled the world, bringing

long, slow decline, and many of their kind took part in the great Retreat to their refuge on Evermeet. As the elves increasingly withdrew from the world, other races and civilizations rose to prominence

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

races have little good to say about kobolds, but they do admit that the little reptilians do respectable tunnel work using simple tools. If a band of kobolds is enslaved by more powerful creatures

they were demigods — mighty beings of divine descent. This isn’t a casual sort of worship or lip service; kobolds are awed in the presence of a dragon, as if an actual avatar of a deity

Autognome

Species Spelljammer: Adventures in Space

Autognomes are mechanical beings built by rock gnomes. Sometimes, because of a malfunction or a unique circumstance, an autognome becomes separated from its creator and strikes out on its own. An

fantastical races. If you create a character using a race option presented here, follow these additional rules during character creation. Ability Score Increases When determining your character’s

Plasmoid

Species Spelljammer: Adventures in Space

Plasmoids are amorphous beings with no typical shape. In the presence of other folk, they often adopt a similar shape, but there’s little chance of mistaking a plasmoid for anything else. They

you create your D&D character, you decide whether your character is a member of the human race or one of the game’s fantastical races. If you create a character using a race option

Mind Flayer Magic

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Volo's Guide to Monsters

learn to use must be ineffectual compared to what illithids are capable of. Arcane Magic Mind flayers consider arcane magic to be an abomination, a twisted cousin of psionic power that will be erased

power. Since they are capable of planar travel, illithids don’t view the afterlife and the Outer Planes in the mythic way that most other races do. Illithids don’t believe they possess souls whose

Creating a Race or Subrace

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)

Creating a Race or Subrace This section teaches you how to modify existing races, as well as create new ones. The most important step in customizing or designing races for your campaign is to start

the race compelling from a storytelling standpoint? What is the race’s relationship to the other playable races? What classes and backgrounds are well suited to members of the race? What are the race’s

Nylea's Influence

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mythic Odysseys of Theros

Compared to the other gods, Nylea’s goals are modest. She wants only to keep the natural world free and healthy, shepherd the seasons through their yearly cycle, and enjoy the beauty of the land. But

her, she might well wipe away all the poleis and larger communities, leaving only scattered tribes of mortals to live in an enforced balance with nature. She isn’t out to eradicate sapient beings

Type

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)

, which have no rules of their own. Aberrations are utterly alien beings. Many of them have innate magical abilities drawn from the creature’s alien mind rather than the mystical forces of the world

, including the creatures simply called elementals. Others have biological forms infused with elemental energy. The races of genies, including djinn and efreet, form the most important civilizations on the

Finding the Way

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Out of the Abyss

side adventures focused on the characters helping their NPC companions return to their homes in the Underdark. Gracklstugh The duergar of Gracklstugh have fewer dealings with the surface world compared

to other Underdark races, relying more on trade flowing through Mantol-Derith (see chapter 9). The paranoid duergar are reluctant to share known routes to the surface world, so the adventurers need to

Type

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Basic Rules (2014)

types, which have no rules of their own. Aberrations are utterly alien beings. Many of them have innate magical abilities drawn from the creature's alien mind rather than the mystical forces of the world

called elementals. Others have biological forms infused with elemental energy. The races of genies, including djinn and efreet, form the most important civilizations on the elemental planes. Other

Seven Things to Know

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Eberron: Rising from the Last War

necessities. Advances in magic item creation have led to everything from self-propelled farming implements to sentient, free-willed beings created in artificers’ forges. With the aid of rare crystals

called dragonshards, dragonmarks can be made more powerful, elementals can be controlled and harnessed, and magic items can be crafted and shaped. New Races. In addition to the common player character

Dwarves of the Multiverse

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

largely by how they perceive outsiders and how much of a threat those outsiders might pose. Hill Dwarves. Most of the dwarves on Oerth are hill dwarves. Compared to the mountain dwarves, they have a

vault. Hill dwarves are more perceptive and empathic than their kin. They rely on their intuition and insight to guide them in relationships with other races. To offset the disadvantage of not being

Goblin Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

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

patience needed to learn and practice wizardry, and they fare poorly even when given access to the necessary training and knowledge. Sorcerers are less prevalent among them than in many other races, and

The Archfey

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Player's Handbook (2014)

The Archfey Your patron is a lord or lady of the fey, a creature of legend who holds secrets that were forgotten before the mortal races were born. This being’s motivations are often inscrutable, and

sometimes whimsical, and might involve a striving for greater magical power or the settling of age-old grudges. Beings of this sort include the Prince of Frost; the Queen of Air and Darkness, ruler

Seven Secrets of Ravenloft

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

serve as the prisons of Darklords, villainous beings trapped and tormented by the Dark Powers. The specifics of each domain exist to ironically twist its Darklord’s desires, capturing them and their

that the most terrifying possibilities come to pass. As a result, even the most familiar races, magic items, and monsters in the Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual have places in Ravenloft, but with twists that make them creepy or mysterious.

Githyanki

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual (2014)

lich-queen, Vlaakith. Githyanki Warrior Astral Raiders. The githyanki despise all other races, undertaking devastating raids that take them from their strongholds in the Astral Plane to the far-flung

race. When their leader Gith perished, she was replaced by her undead adviser, Vlaakith. The lich-queen forbade worship of all beings except herself. Of all their enemies, the githyanki most hate

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