both before dark compared races

Snow Sphinx

monsters

13): At Will: Detect Magic, Ice Knife, Minor Illusion 1/Day Each: Dispel Magic, Fear, SuggestionCamouflaged against the ice, a solitary snow sphinx is on the prowl. A shock of dark humanoid hair

whips around a feline face, revealing piercing blue eyes that can freeze foes with a single glance. Compared to its desert-dwelling cousins, this sphinx is far less likely to be defeated with reason or

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

Aasimar Legacy

Species Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse

dark eyes 3 Starkly colored hair 4 An unusual hue tinting your shadow 5 A ghostly halo crowning your head 6 Rainbows gleaming on your skin Creating Your Character At

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’s

Elf Legacy

Species Basic Rules (2014)

of many other races. They are slightly shorter than humans on average, ranging from well under 5 feet tall to just over 6 feet. They are more slender than humans, weighing only 100 to 145 pounds

enjoy simple yet lovely jewelry. A Timeless Perspective Elves can live well over 700 years, giving them a broad perspective on events that might trouble the shorter-lived races more deeply. They are

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

grandest deep gnome strongholds, which existed for more than two thousand years until it was overrun a little more than a century ago by the dark elves of Menzoberranzan. The deep gnomes recently reclaimed

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

Worlds of Adventure

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

villains. Some races have unusual traits in different worlds. The halflings of the Dark Sun setting, for example, are jungle-dwelling cannibals, and the elves are desert nomads. Some worlds feature races

have been published as official settings for the D&D game. The legends of the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Dark Sun, Mystara, and Eberron settings are woven together in the fabric of the

Barovians and Nonhumans

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Curse of Strahd

Barovians and Nonhumans Barovians are human. Although they know that dwarves, elves, halflings and other civilized races exist, few living Barovians have seen such “creatures,” let alone interacted

with them. Aside from the secretive dusk elves of Vallaki (see chapter 5), the only nonhumans most Barovians are familiar with are the adventurers that Strahd has lured to his dark realm. Barovians

Gemstones

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

Gemstones Gemstones are small, lightweight, and easily secured compared to their same value in coins. If a treasure hoard includes gemstones, you can use the following tables to randomly determine

(light and dark blue with yellow flecks) 7 Malachite (striated light and dark green) 8 Moss agate (pink or yellow white with mossy gray or green markings) 9 Obsidian (black) 10 Rhodochrosite (light pink

Worlds of Adventure

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

villains. Some races have unusual traits in different worlds. The halflings of the Dark Sun setting, for example, are jungle-dwelling cannibals, and the elves are desert nomads. Some worlds feature races

have been published as official settings for the D&D game. The legends of the Forgotten Realms, Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Dark Sun, Mystara, and Eberron settings are woven together in the fabric of the

Goliath Legacy

Species Elemental Evil Player's Companion

skills. This dedication to competition has a dark side. Goliaths are ferocious competitors, but above all else they are driven to outdo their past efforts. If a goliath slays a dragon, he or she might

, committed by the goliath. Goliaths assign and use nicknames with their friends of other races, and change them to refer to an individual’s notable deeds. Goliaths present all three names when

Piwafwi (Cloak of Elvenkind)

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

Piwafwi (Cloak of Elvenkind) Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement) This dark spider-silk cloak is made by drow. It is a cloak of elvenkind (see chapter 7, “Treasure,” of the Dungeon Master’s

Guide). It loses its magic if exposed to sunlight for 1 hour without interruption. DROWCRAFT ITEMS Magic items crafted by the drow — and often other races of the Underdark — use components and

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

The True Threat

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Ghosts of Saltmarsh

aquatic races. The lizardfolk’s main purpose is to form an army to expel the sahuagin from the area. In so doing, they hope to discourage the sahuagin from ever again intruding on the region. The

lizardfolk have not approached Saltmarsh with an offer to join the alliance because Othokent, their queen, considers humans and other land-dwelling races as of little use in a battle to be fought largely

Chapter 1: Prisoners of the Drow

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

races and creatures too numerous to count or list, and foremost among these are the dark elves — the drow. Hated and feared even by their fellow dwellers in darkness, the drow raid other settlements

entertainment in the dark elves’ subterranean cities. The adventurers have all had the misfortune of falling to such a fate. Captured by the drow, they are prisoners at one of the dark elves’ outposts

Self-Sufficient Clans

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

to fail, and they push themselves to extreme efforts before they give up on something. A dragonborn holds mastery of a particular skill as a lifetime goal. Members of other races who share the same

for such help is the clan, and when a clan needs help, it turns to another dragonborn clan before seeking aid from other races — or even from the gods. DRACONIANS In the Dragonlance setting, the

Diseases

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

wasting illness. A warlock offends some dark power and contracts a strange affliction that spreads whenever he casts spells. A simple outbreak might amount to little more than a small drain on party

might affect only constructs or undead, or sweep through a halfling neighborhood but leave other races untouched. What matters is the story you want to tell.

Seven Secrets of Ravenloft

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

Dark Powers Control All. Sinister entities known as the Dark Powers manipulate the Domains of Dread and all who dwell within. Immortal, unknowable, and omnipotent, the Dark Powers revel in sowing

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

Young Race, Old Roots

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

significant populations of half-elves. It is only in the past thousand years or so, as the races have intermingled more and more, that the number of half-elves has increased so that they are now found

conquered by the dark elves years ago, and in the Underdark, where House Ousstyl of Menzoberranzan is particularly infamous for having mated with humans.

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

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

Appendix: Festive Monsters

compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->One-Shot Wonders: Holiday Adventure Pack

Snow Sphinx Camouflaged against the ice, a solitary snow sphinx is on the prowl. A shock of dark humanoid hair whips around a feline face, revealing piercing blue eyes that can freeze foes with a

single glance. Compared to its desert-dwelling cousins, this sphinx is far less likely to be defeated with reason or logic. Although a snow sphinx can speak, it generally greets its prey with claws and

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

Elf Traits

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

feet. Darkvision. Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in

is rich and varied, and their songs and poems are famous among other races. Many bards learn their language so they can add Elvish ballads to their repertoires. Subrace. Ancient divides among the

Elf Traits

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

feet. Darkvision. Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in

is rich and varied, and their songs and poems are famous among other races. Many bards learn their language so they can add Elvish ballads to their repertoires. Subrace. Ancient divides among the

Elves

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

kingdoms lasting three thousand years. These battles devastated much of the world and resulted in the dark elves’ flight into the Underdark. Reeling from these calamities, the elven empires went into a

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

Chapter 2: Guilds of Ravnica

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

guild. For example, it would be highly unusual for a Devkarin elf (a dark elf) to join any guild other than the Golgari, and the Ordruun line of minotaurs has provided the Boros armies with generations

of offspring. Members of certain races are also drawn to specific guilds, as noted in the description of each of guild.

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

The Demon Wastes

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

still lingers in this place. Vile creatures continue to crawl up from the depths of Khyber. And there are a handful of primordial ruins sustained by dark magic… ruins that may still be home to fiends

battles against the Ghaash’kala and the other Carrion Tribes. These people are mostly humans, but there are corrupted orcs, half-orcs, and tieflings mixed in, along with a handful of other races

Barbarians

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

Barbarians Closest to the dark elves, Pwent lowered his head, with its long helmet spike, and impaled one elf through the chest, blasting through the fine mesh of drow armor easily and brutally. The

consort with fiends. Dwarf barbarians are famed and feared warriors among the fiercely proud clans that have reclaimed territories like Mithril Hall and Gautlgrym. Barbarians of most other races hail

Noteworthy Features

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

and races hail from the domain, perhaps living in small communities or having been created by magic. When players create characters from Hazlan, consider asking them the following questions. What is

magic to join Hazlan’s elite? Has magic altered you? Have you been affected by a magical disaster, pollution, or experimentation? Do you have an obvious Dark Gift or characteristic that sets you

Eberron Sourcebooks

Compendium - Sources->Dungeons & Dragons->Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron

religions of Eberron, including the rival pantheons of the Sovereign Host and the Dark Six, the young faith of the Silver Flame, and the mysterious Blood of Vol. Five Nations (3.5E): This provides

important locations, events, organizations, races, and features of the Eberron campaign setting, this gives a sense of what a player character might know about the world, while providing additional character

Campaign Theme

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

mortality, whether embodied in undead monsters or expressed through the death of loved ones. A campaign revolving around an insidious evil, whether dark gods, monstrous races such as the yuan-ti, or

Passion vs. Restraint

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

seemingly inexhaustible energy, yet they typically do so without much display of emotion. The reserve and patience of elves is well known among other races, but what a dwarf or a human doesn’t see is the

do manage to transcend this hatred. They have met or heard of dark elves, like Drizzt Do’Urden, who find their own paths in life and view each elf as an individual, not as the representative of one side or the other in a cosmic struggle.

The Halfling Adventurer

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

their secluded villages, and are also quite happy living in the communities of other races, working as farmers, innkeepers, cobblers and bakers. In the Dragonlance setting, kender are the

storytellers, but they often speak too fast for other races not accustomed to their frenetic cadence. Halflings in the world of Greyhawk live in underground burrows or small cottages in the

D&D Beyond

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