beings barely descent could 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

Genasi Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

Those who think of other planes at all consider them remote, distant realms, but planar influence can be felt throughout the world. It sometimes manifests in beings who, through an accident of birth

flowing through their veins manifests differently in each genasi, often as magical power. Seen in silhouette, a genasi can usually pass for human. Those of earth or water descent tend to be heavier

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

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

Halfling Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

, even by the standards of his diminutive race, with the fluff of his curly brown locks barely cresting the three-foot mark, but his belly was amply thickened by his love of a good meal, or several, as

despite the rise and fall of empires. Many halflings live among other races, where the halflings’ hard work and loyal outlook offer them abundant rewards and creature comforts. Some halfling

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

Hapless Soft Ones

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

survive for so long. The typical human would barely make it through a day in the swamps. Still, if other creatures prove useful to lizardfolk, those creatures can trigger a protective response made all

the stronger by their apparent weakness. The lizardfolk assess such beings as hatchlings, young ones incapable of protecting themselves but who might prove useful in the future if they receive care.

Human

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

Human Humans are a scant majority among the peoples of Ravnica, dominating some guilds and barely represented in others. As on other worlds, they are innovators, achievers, and pioneers whose daring

, 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

Human Traits

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

their late teens and live less than a century. Size. Humans vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium

RACES The dragonborn and the rest of the races in this chapter 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

Kobold Legacy

Species Volo's Guide to Monsters

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

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

Heirs to Elemental Power

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Princes of the Apocalypse

descent tend to be heavier, while those of air or fire tend to be lighter. A given genasi might have some features reminiscent of the mortal parent (pointed ears from an elf, a stockier frame and thick

, or assuming leadership of savage humanoids and weird cults in untamed lands. Others gain positions of great influence, especially where elemental beings are revered. A few genasi leave the Material Plane to find refuge in the households of their genie parents.

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

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

Dragon Servitors

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

dragons. Kobolds willingly serve chromatic dragons and worship them as if they were demigods — mighty beings of divine descent. This isn’t a casual sort of worship or lip service; kobolds are awed in the

Galeb Duhr

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Monster Manual

view galeb duhr as aloof allies and might entrust these long-lived beings with secrets or treasures for future generations. Others speak of galeb duhr songs, barely audible harmonizations by groups of

Galeb Duhr Eyes and Ears of the Earth Habitat: Hill, Mountain; Treasure: Any Luca Bancone Beings of living rock, galeb duhr seek harmony with the earth and give voice to the vibrations of stone

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

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

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

Sora Kell, the Queen of the Night

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

against the costs—to themselves and the world. Enemies. Like most immortal beings, Sora Kell has many enemies, though the mortal ones barely merit her attention. For the most part, only beings like those

Inner Planes

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

elemental spirits barely recognizable as creatures. The creatures usually called elementals dwell here, including the Elemental Princes of Evil (primordial beings of pure elemental fury) and elemental

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

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

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

The Shadowdusks

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

. Their brother, Xerrion, came to possess the tablet and used it to contact otherworldly beings in an attempt to destroy his family’s business rivals and political enemies. This contact drove Xerrion

darkness.” The family’s crest is a lit torch with three embers rising from the flame, set against a purple background. In the wake of the family’s descent into Undermountain and madness, this crest has

Wood Elves

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

the Sundering, the Crown Wars, the descent of the drow, and other calamities as the result of acts of arrogance on the part of their ancestors. Living around and amid the reminders of this arrogance

elves don’t come across members of other races. Adventurers, diplomats, couriers, and those who pursue similar professions are the exceptions, traveling far outside their sylvan domains and meeting a wide

Droaam

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

Droaam The Korranberg ChrONiCle Descent into Droaam: my trail to terror We’re all going to die. That thought echoed through my mind as the wagon carried us toward the Great Crag. The diplomats

region. Gnolls, orcs, and goblins commonly sought haven here, as well as ogres, trolls, harpies, minotaurs, medusas, tieflings, changelings, lycanthropes, and other races unwelcome in civilized lands. In

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

D&D Beyond

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