Races

There are a great variety of Races that can be found in the Forgotten Realms setting and played in Baldur's Gate 3.

Note: Baldur's Gate 3 does not use the term "race" the way it's used in common English. Races in the game are more akin to species.

A creature's race determines its lineage and innate powers and abilities. All races have their own strengths and many possess unique abilities and powers. Sometimes creatures can even cast spells as a result of their racial heritage. Race affects NPC reactions and available interactions during conversations. Each race also has unique attack animations (while spellcasting animations are based on class).

There are several playable and non-playable Races of characters and creatures in Baldur's Gate 3.

Overview of playable races

There are 11 playable races in Baldur's Gate 3. Many playable races are divided into subraces, which further defines a character's strengths, abilities, and appearance.

Refer to individual Race pages for further details.

Unless otherwise noted, spells gained from race may only be cast once per Long Rest.

In D&D 5e, playable races tend to receive fixed ability score bonuses as racial bonuses. Baldur's Gate 3 instead awards each race the following ability score bonuses for the player to freely allocate:

+2 to any Ability Score
+1 to any other Ability Score

Race and Subraces		Base Speed	Proficiencies		Features
Race and Subraces		Base Speed	From Race	From Subrace	From Race	From Subrace
Human		Standard 9 m / 30 ft	Weapons Spears Pikes Halberds Glaives Armour Light armour Shields Skills One Skill of choice		Human Versatility Increased Carrying Capacity by 25%
Elf	High Elf	Standard 9 m / 30 ft	Weapons Shortswords Longswords Shortbows Longbows Skills Perception	-	Fey Ancestry Advantage against being Charmed Immune to magical Sleep Darkvision	One Cantrip of choice from the Wizard spell list
Elf	Wood Elf	Fast 10.5 m / 35 ft		Skills Stealth		Fleet of Foot Increases base movement speed by 1.5 m / 5 ft
Drow	Lolth-Sworn Drow	Standard 9 m / 30 ft	Weapons Rapiers Shortswords Hand Crossbows Skills Perception		Fey Ancestry Advantage against being Charmed Immune to magical Sleep Superior Darkvision Can see in the dark up to 24 m / 80 ft. Drow Magic Dancing Lights, Faerie Fire, and Darkness Spells at levels 1, 3, and 5	The only difference between Drow subraces lies in their available dialogue options and deity selection as clerics
Drow	Seldarine Drow	Standard 9 m / 30 ft
Half-Elf	High Half-Elf	Standard 9 m / 30 ft	Weapons Spears Pikes Halberds Glaives Armour Light armour Shields	-	Fey Ancestry Advantage against being Charmed Immune to magical Sleep Darkvision Can see in the dark up to 12 m / 40 ft.	One Cantrip of choice from the Wizard spell list
	Wood Half-Elf	Fast 10.5 m / 35 ft		Skills Stealth		Fleet of Foot Increases base movement speed by 1.5 m / 5 ft
	Drow Half-Elf	Standard 9 m / 30 ft		-		Drow Magic Dancing Lights, Faerie Fire, and Darkness Spells at levels 1, 3, and 5
Half-Orc		Standard 9 m / 30 ft	Skills Intimidation		Darkvision Can see in the dark up to 12 m / 40 ft. Savage Attacks Add one additional dice of damage when scoring a critical hit with a melee weapon Relentless Endurance Drop to 1 hit point instead of being downed, once per long rest
Halfling	Lightfoot Halfling	Slow 7.5 m / 25 ft	-		Halfling Luck Single reroll on a 1 for an Attack Roll, Ability Check, or Saving Throw. Brave Advantage against being Frightened	Naturally Stealthy Advantage on Stealth checks
Halfling	Strongheart Halfling	Slow 7.5 m / 25 ft	-			Strongheart Resilience Advantage against being Poisoned and Resistance to Poison damage
Dwarf	Gold Dwarf	Slow 7.5 m / 25 ft	Weapons Battleaxes Handaxes Light Hammers Warhammers	-	Dwarven Resilience Advantage against being Poisoned and Resistance to Poison damage Darkvision Can see in the dark up to 12 m / 40 ft.	Dwarven Toughness Maximum Hit Point increased by 1 per level
	Shield Dwarf			Armour Light armour (Dwarven Armour Training) Medium armour (Dwarven Armour Training)		-
	Duergar			-		Duergar Resilience Advantage on Saving throws against Illusions and against being Charmed or Paralysed Superior Darkvision Can see in the dark up to 24 m / 80 ft. Duergar Magic Enlarge and Invisibility spells at levels 3 and 5
Gnome	Forest Gnome	Slow 7.5 m / 25 ft	-	-	Gnome Cunning Advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma Saving throws Darkvision Can see in the dark up to 12 m / 40 ft.	Additional Spell Speak with Animals (at will)
	Deep Gnome			-		Superior Darkvision Can see in the dark up to 24 m / 80 ft. Stone Camouflage Advantage on Stealth checks
	Rock Gnome			Skills Expertise in History (Artificer's Lore)		-
Tiefling	Asmodeus Tiefling	Standard 9 m / 30 ft	-		Hellish Resistance Resistance to Fire damage Darkvision Can see in the dark up to 12 m / 40 ft.	Tiefling Magic Produce Flame, Hellish Rebuke, and Darkness Spells at levels 1, 3, and 5
	Mephistopheles Tiefling					Tiefling Magic Mage Hand, Burning Hands, and Flame Blade Spells at levels 1, 3, and 5
	Zariel Tiefling					Tiefling Magic Thaumaturgy, Searing Smite, and Branding Smite Spells at levels 1, 3, and 5
Githyanki		Standard 9 m / 30 ft	Weapons Shortswords Longswords Greatswords Armour Light armour Medium armour		Astral Knowledge Gain Proficiency in all Skills corresponding to a chosen Ability each Long Rest Githyanki Psionics Mage Hand, Enhance Leap, and Misty Step Spells at levels 1, 3, and 5
Dragonborn	Black Dragonborn	Standard 9 m / 30 ft	-		-	Draconic Ancestry (Acid) Resistance to Acid damage Acid Breath AoE: 5 m / 17 ft (Line) of Acid damage
	Blue Dragonborn					Draconic Ancestry (Lightning) Resistance to Lightning damage Lightning Breath AoE: 5 m / 17 ft (Line) of Lightning damage
	Brass Dragonborn					Draconic Ancestry (Fire) Resistance to Fire damage Fire Breath (Line) AoE: 5 m / 17 ft (Line) of Fire damage
	Bronze Dragonborn					Draconic Ancestry (Lightning) Resistance to Lightning damage Lightning Breath AoE: 5 m / 17 ft (Line) of Lightning damage
	Copper Dragonborn					Draconic Ancestry Resistance to Acid damage Acid Breath AoE: 5 m / 17 ft (Line) of Acid damage
	Gold Dragonborn					Draconic Ancestry Resistance to Fire damage Fire Breath (Cone) AoE: 5 m / 17 ft (Cone) of Fire damage
	Green Dragonborn					Draconic Ancestry (Poison) Resistance to Poison damage Poison Breath AoE: 5 m / 17 ft (Cone) of Poison damage
	Red Dragonborn					Draconic Ancestry (Fire) Resistance to Fire damage Fire Breath (Cone) AoE: 5 m / 17 ft (Cone) of Fire damage
	Silver Dragonborn					Draconic Ancestry (Cold) Resistance to Cold damage Frost Breath AoE: 5 m / 17 ft (Cone) of Cold damage
	White Dragonborn					Draconic Ancestry (Cold) Resistance to Cold damage Frost Breath AoE: 5 m / 17 ft (Cone) of Cold damage