Chapter 2: Races

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

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

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

## Choosing a Race

Humans are the most common people in the worlds of D&D, but they live and work alongside dwarves, elves, halflings, and countless other fantastic species. Your character belongs to one of these peoples.

Not every intelligent race of the multiverse is appropriate for a player-controlled adventurer. Dwarves, elves, halflings, and humans are the most common races to produce the sort of adventurers who make up typical parties. Dragonborn, gnomes, half-elves, half-orcs, and tieflings are less common as adventurers. Drow, a subrace of elves, are also uncommon.

Your choice of race affects many different aspects of your character. It establishes fundamental qualities that exist throughout your character’s adventuring career. When making this decision, keep in mind the kind of character you want to play. For example, a halfling could be a good choice for a sneaky rogue, a dwarf makes a tough warrior, and an elf can be a master of arcane magic.

Your character race not only affects your ability scores and traits but also provides the cues for building your character’s story. Each race’s description in this section includes information to help you roleplay a character of that race, including personality, physical appearance, features of society, and racial alignment tendencies. These details are suggestions to help you think about your character; adventurers can deviate widely from the norm for their race. It’s worthwhile to consider why your character is different, as a helpful way to think about your character’s background and personality.

## Racial Traits

The description of each race includes racial traits that are common to members of that race. The following entries appear among the traits of most races.

### Ability Score Increase

Every race increases one or more of a character’s ability scores.

### Age

The age entry notes the age when a member of the race is considered an adult, as well as the race’s expected lifespan. This information can help you decide how old your character is at the start of the game. You can choose any age for your character, which could provide an explanation for some of your ability scores. For example, if you play a young or very old character, your age could explain a particularly low Strength or Constitution score, while advanced age could account for a high Intelligence or Wisdom.

### Alignment

Most races have tendencies toward certain alignments, described in this entry. These are not binding for player characters, but considering why your dwarf is chaotic, for example, in defiance of lawful dwarf society can help you better define your character.

### 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 the Equipment section.

### Speed

Your speed determines how far you can move when traveling (“Adventuring”) and fighting (“Combat”).

### Languages

By virtue of your race, your character can speak, read, and write certain languages. “Personality and Background” 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 Forgotten Realms, they live far apart in separate kingdoms and call themselves shield dwarves and gold dwarves, respectively.

These were the stories of a restless people who long ago took to the seas and rivers in longboats, first to pillage and terrorize, then to settle. Yet there was an energy, a love of adventure, that sang from every page. Long into the night Liriel read, lighting candle after precious candle.

She’d never given much thought to humans, but these stories fascinated her. In these yellowed pages were tales of bold heroes, strange and fierce animals, mighty primitive gods, and a magic that was part and fabric of that distant land.

— *Elaine Cunningham, Daughter of the Drow*

## HUMAN

n the 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 empires on the foundation of conquest and trade. Whatever drives them, humans are the innovators, the achievers, and the pioneers of the worlds.

### A Broad Spectrum

With their penchant for migration and conquest, humans are more physically diverse than other common races. There is no typical human. An individual can stand from 5 feet to a little over 6 feet tall and weigh from 125 to 250 pounds. Human skin shades range from nearly black to very pale, and hair colors from black to blond (curly, kinky, or straight); males might sport facial hair that is sparse or thick. A lot of humans have a dash of nonhuman blood, revealing hints of elf, orc, or other lineages. Humans reach adulthood in their late teens and rarely live even a single century.

### Variety in All Things

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

### Lasting Institutions

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

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

### Exemplars of Ambition

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

## Human Names and Ethnicities

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

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

In the Forgotten Realms, nine human ethnic groups are widely recognized, though over a dozen others are found in more localized areas of Faerûn. These groups, and the typical names of their members, can be used as inspiration no matter which world your human is in.

### Avalon

Common Male Names: Aidan, Alan, Bran, Dwyer, Edward, Finn, Harold, Jerome, Keith, Liam, Luke, Malcolm, Michael, Morgan, Ossian, Quinn, Richard, Shawn, Thomas, Walter

Common Female Names: Aileen, Alison, Bridgit, Caroline, Denise, Elaine, Grace, Helen, Jane, Karen, Leila, Maeve, Mary, Pamela, Sabbina, Sybil, Teresa, Veronica

### Castille

Common Male Names: Alonso, Andrés, Baltasar, Benito, Carlos, Diego, Domingo, Esteban, Felipe, Gaspar, Héctor, Jaime, Juan, Lucas, Miguel, Rodrigo, Sancho, Sebastián, Tomás

Common Female Names: Andrea, Ángela, Beatriz, Catalina, Clara, Constantina, Cristina, Floriana, Francisca, Inés, Isabel, Juliana, Lucía, Luisa, María, Quiteria, Sancha, Susana, Úrsula, Yolanda

### Eisen

Common Male Names: Adrian, Bernhard, Dirk, Erich, Gustav, Hans, Josef, Kurt, Lorenz, Max, Oliver, Philip, Reinhard, Rolf, Stefan, Volker, Wenzel, Willi, Xaver

Common Female Names: Anna, Cordula, Cornelia, Dora, Eva, Gabriele, Ingrid, Janina, Kirstin, Lena, Margrit, Mona, Nina, Ruth, Sigrid, Silvia, Tina, Ursula

### The Highland Marches

Common Male Names: Aonghas, Aodhagán, Beathan, Blair, Cailean, Cairbre, Carson, Colin, Dáibhidh, Donnchadh, Dugald,  Ealair, Eoghan, Ewen, Fearchar,  Fionnlagh, Fingall, Goraidh, Grier, Hamish, Kerr, Sachairi, Seósaidh, Seumas, Sláine, Tam

Common Female Names:  Aileen, Ailsa, Beileag, Blair, Caoimhe, Deóiridh,  Ealasaid, Eimhir, Eithne, Fionnuala, Gormlaith, Isla, Lachina, Lilias, Máiri, Oighrig, Seona, Sheona, Síleas, Teárlag, Úna

### Inismore

Common Male Names: Abbán, Ádhamh, Aidan, Barrﬁnd, Barrie, Brady, Carey, Ceallach, Donagh, Dónal, Dubhán, Enda, Ennis, Fearghal, Finn, Keelan, Lochlainn, Mannix, Riordan, Séaghdha, Teige, Torin, Uilleag

Common Female Names: Aideen, Aignéis, Bébhinn, Blaind, Brígh, Catlín, Clodagh, Dáríne, Deirdre, Éabha, Eavan, Ena, Fionnuala, Gobnait, Íde, Keelan, Léan, Maeve, Máirín, Mór, Neassa, Nóra, Órlaith, Siobhán

### Montaigne

Common Male Names: Ambroise, Blaise, Cédric, Daniel, Denis, Eugène, Félix, Gérard, Guy, Henri, Jacques, Jules, Luc, Marc, Martin, Pierre, Rémy, Sébastien, Victor, Zacharie

Common Female Names: Allette, Andrée, Arielle, Blanche, Camille, Cosette, Dominique, Estelle, Francine, Georgette, Henriette, Irène, Julie, Lydie, Nicole, Philippine, Roseline, Sylvie, Vivianne

### The Sarmatian Commonwealth

Male Rzeczpospolita Names: Aleksander, Anastazy, Andrzej, Bartłomiej, Błażej, Bogumił, Cezary, Czesław, Dariusz, Dawid, Dobromir, Eligiusz, Franciszek, Gaweł, Gracjan, Grzegorz, Henryk, Herakliusz, Ignacy, Ireneusz, Iwo, Izydor, Janusz, Jan, Jarosław, Jerzy, Jeremi, Kajetan, Konrad, Lesław, Maciej, Marceli, Marek, Mirosław, Michał, Piotr, Przemysław, Roch, Seweryn, Teoﬁl, Wacław, Walery, Wielisław, Wojciech, Ziemowit, Zygmunt

Female Curonian Names: Agnė, Aldona, Amalija, Audra, Daina, Daiva, Dalia, Danutė, Emilija, Estera, Gabija, Giedrė, Gintarė, Ieva, Ilona, Jadvyga, Janina, Jelena, Kamilė, Katrė, Laima, Lėja, Lilija, Lina, Liucija, Miglė, Milda, Rasa, Rožė, Rūta, Saulė, Solveiga, Svajonė, Ugnė, Urtė, Valerija, Viltautė

### Ussura

Common Male Names: Aleksei, Alexandr, Boris, Dimitri, Danil, Erema, Fyodor, Georgi, Ignati, Ilya, Kiril, Mikhail, Nikita, Pyotyr, Sergei, Taras, Timofey, Vasily, Vladimir, Yevgeni

Common Female Names: Agafya, Anna, Avdotia, Darya, Ekaterina, Elizaveta, Galina, Irina, Ksenya, Larisa,  Ludmila, Lyuba, Marya, Nina, Natalya, Natasha, Nastasya, Olga, Soﬁa, Tamara, Yelena, Yevpraskia, Zhanna

### Vestenmennavenjar

Common Male True Names: Alfgeir, Bragi, Brøn, Eldgrim, Gellir, Hägin, Hallbjørn, Hrafn, Jön, Ketil, Magnus, Olväld, Reinn, Serk, Sigurd, Solmünd, Thørﬁnn, Thrand, Ulf, Velëif

Common Female True Names: Asgerd, Asny, Bera, Dalla, Grøa, Gudrid, Hrafnhild, Ingibjørg, Jofrid, Kadlin, Ljüfa, Osk, Rannvëig, Sæun, Sigrid, Thørhild, Ulfeid, Vigdis, Yngvild, Yr

### Vodacce

Common Male Names: Alberto, Antonio, Carlo, Ernesto, Felice, Fortunato, Gianni, Giuseppe, Leon, Marco, Modesto, Pietro, Rinaldo, Rolando, Savino, Siro, Timeo, Toni, Umberto, Vito

Common Female Names: Alesio, Angelina, Clarissa, Crescenza, Elena, Fiora, Iolanda, Lea, Luisa, Miranda, Natalia, Paolao, Penelope, Rachele, Rebecca, Regina, Sandra, Valeria, Veronica, Viola

## Human Traits

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

**Ability Score Increase.** Your ability scores each increase by 1.

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

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

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

**Speed.** Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

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