Baldur's Gate 3 - Races
The playable races of Baldur's Gate 3 and their subraces. Race sets base speed, darkvision and a handful of innate traits and spells, and it also tags dialogue options throughout the campaign (a Drow can pass as a cultist, a Githyanki can read githyanki slates, a Gnome gets unique conversations with...
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of 12 entries
· updated 2026-09-15
| Name | Type | Description | Speed | Abilities | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human | Playable Race | The default of the Forgotten Realms and the most flexible pick, since humans gain a bonus to every ability score, one extra skill proficiency and one extra carrying capacity trait. | 9 m | Ability Score Improvement (+1 to every ability) Extra skill proficiency of choice Reduced carry weight penalties | Starting race, available to the player and to all hirelings |
| High Elf | Playable Race (Elf subrace) | High Elves trade the Wood Elf's speed for a free Wizard cantrip, which makes them the best Elf pick for a caster who wants a utility attack without spending a class choice. | 9 m | Fey Ancestry (immune to magical sleep, advantage vs charm) Darkvision 12 m One Wizard cantrip of choice Perception proficiency | Starting race |
| Wood Elf | Playable Race (Elf subrace) | Wood Elves get the fastest base movement in the game plus Stealth proficiency, which makes them the natural pick for Rogues, Rangers and Monks who want to close distance or disengage. | 10.5 m | Fleet of Foot (increased movement speed) Stealth proficiency Fey Ancestry, Darkvision 12 m Perception proficiency | Starting race |
| Drow | Playable Race (Elf subrace) | The underdark elves, split into Seldarine (good-aligned) and Lolth-Sworn variants. | 9 m | Superior Darkvision 24 m Dancing Lights, Faerie Fire and Darkness (once per long rest each) Fey Ancestry Drow dialogue tags with goblins, duergar and cultists | Starting race; Lolth-Sworn and Seldarine variants share the same mechanical kit |
| Half-Elf | Playable Race | Half-Elves combine the Elven darkvision and Fey Ancestry with two free skill proficiencies and a Charisma bonus, which makes them the strongest general-purpose pick for a party face. | 9 m | Darkvision 12 m and Fey Ancestry Two skill proficiencies of choice Charisma bonus Drow Half-Elf variant: Dancing Lights, Faerie Fire, Darkness and Drow dialogue tags | Starting race; High, Wood and Drow variants available |
| Halfling | Playable Race | Halflings are defined by Lucky, which rerolls natural 1s on attack rolls, ability checks and saving throws, and by Brave, which gives advantage against fear. | 7.5 m | Lucky (reroll natural 1s on attacks, checks and saves) Brave (advantage against being frightened) Halfling Nimbleness (move through larger creatures' spaces) Lightfoot and Strongheart subrace variants | Starting race |
| Dwarf | Playable Race | Dwarves bring poison resistance, darkvision, advantage against poison saving throws and extra hit points per level, which makes them the most durable race for a front-line class. | 7.5 m | Darkvision 12 m Dwarven Resilience (advantage and resistance against poison) Extra hit points per level Gold Dwarf (more HP) and Shield Dwarf (armour proficiency) subraces | Starting race |
| Gnome | Playable Race | Gnomes get advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma saving throws against magic, which is the single best anti-spellcaster trait in the game, plus darkvision and a subrace ability. | 7.5 m | Gnome Cunning (advantage on Int, Wis and Cha saves against magic) Darkvision 12 m Forest, Rock and Deep Gnome subraces Deep Gnome: superior darkvision and Stealth proficiency | Starting race |
| Tiefling | Playable Race | Tieflings carry infernal blood, which gives fire resistance, darkvision and innate spellcasting that scales with level. | 9 m | Hellish Resistance (fire resistance) Darkvision 12 m Innate spells by subrace (Asmodeus, Mephistopheles, Zariel) Dialogue tags with the tiefling refugees and with devils | Starting race |
| Githyanki | Playable Race | Astral warriors bred for the githyanki war against the mind flayers, and the race most woven into the campaign's plot through Lae'zel and Vlaakith. | 9 m | Astral Knowledge (proficiency in all skills of one ability, swapped on long rest) Githyanki Psionics: Mage Hand, Jump, Misty Step Light and medium armour proficiency, shortsword and greatsword proficiency Githyanki dialogue tags and githyanki item access | Starting race; required to wield the Silver Sword of the Astral Plane without penalty |
| Half-Orc | Playable Race | Built for melee: Relentless Endurance lets a Half-Orc stay at 1 hit point instead of dropping to zero once per long rest, Savage Attacks adds an extra damage die on critical hits, and Menacing gives Intimidation proficiency. | 9 m | Relentless Endurance (survive at 1 HP once per long rest) Savage Attacks (extra damage die on critical hits) Menacing (Intimidation proficiency) Darkvision 12 m | Starting race |
| Dragonborn | Playable Race | Dragonborn choose a draconic ancestry that sets a breath weapon and a matching damage resistance, giving them a reusable area attack that scales with level and does not cost a spell slot. | 9 m | Breath Weapon (ancestry-specific cone or line, recharges on short rest) Draconic Resistance matching the ancestry Ten ancestries: Black, Blue, Brass, Bronze, Copper, Gold, Green, Red, Silver, White No darkvision | Starting race |
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