A Guide to DnD 5e Races

Q: What DnD 5e Races Can I play?

The following races are available to play in D&D 5e: Aarakocra, Aasimar, Bugbear, Centaur, Changeling, Dragonborn, Dwarf, Elf, Firbolg, Genasi, Gith, Gnome, Goblin, Goliath, Halfling, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Hobgoblin, Human, Kalashtar, Kenku, Kobold, Lizardfolk, Loxodon, Minotaur, Orc, Shifter, Simic Hybrid, Tabaxi, Tiefling, Tortle, Triton, Vedalken, Warforged, Yuan-Ti Pureblood

Q: What are the most common races in D&D 5e?

The most common character races are dwarves, elves, halflings, and humans. There are more uncommon races such as Dragonborn, gnomes, half-elves, half-orcs, and tieflings. In Volo’s Guide to Monsters, it is mentioned that the supplemental races provided in the sourcebook are rarer than any of the “standard” classes presented in the Player’s Handbook.

Published on June 10, 2020, Last modified on May 16th, 2022

Choosing your race is a huge decision when creating a character. You have to take into account what traits it has, how it will impact the way you roleplay your character, and whether it synergizes well with your build.

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What is a Race in DnD 5e?

There are many different types of creatures that call the wondrous, fantastical lands of D&D home. These creatures vary wildly from your plain old humans to axe swinging Orcs to experimental creatures that have been fused together by magic. Many of these creatures started off as a stat block in one of the many monster sourcebooks that have been released by Wizards of the Coast, in order to widen the player’s and DM’s ability to shape their worlds, they have been made into playable races.

What DnD 5e Races Can I Play?

According to the Player’s Handbook, the most common character races are dwarves, elves, halflings, and humans. There are more uncommon races such as dragonborn, gnomes, half-elves, half-orcs, and tieflings. In Volo’s Guide to Monsters, it is mentioned that the supplemental races provided in the sourcebook are rarer than any of the “standard” classes presented in the Player’s Handbook.

Below is a list of all of the playable races and their subraces in D&D 5e. If you want to learn more about a race or its subrace, click on the link in the “Race” column to visit our Race Guide page. Keep in mind that your DM has the final say when it comes to which playable races are included in their campaign.

Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything Update

Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything (TCoE) introduced a new option called “Customizing Your Origin”. This optional rule allows you to take the Ability Score Increases (ASI) that you got from your race and apply that to another Ability Score to better represent your unique character.

This would mean, if you had an elf that you wanted to be strong instead of dexterous, you could transfer the typical +2 DEX bonus to +2 STR. The only caveats are:

You can’t bring any ability score above 20
If you receive 2 ASIs as part of your race, you cannot increase the same ability score twice

Customizing Your Origin also outlines rules for switching out languages and proficiencies from your racial traits, but these have less of an impact on our race and class guides.

We have chosen to keep our race and class guides “as is” to represent the typical ASIs, proficiencies, and languages of races as they are displayed in their official sources. Due to the unlimited variability offered by the Customizing Your Origin option, it would be impossible to take all combinations of ASI increases into account.

A Quick Overview of D&D Races

Race	Language	Size	Speed	Ability Modifiers	Source
Aarakocra	Common, Aarakocra, Auran	Medium	25, fly 50 ft.	2 DEX, 1 WIS	eepc
Aasimar	Common, Celestial	Medium	30	–	vgtm
Fallen				2 CHA, 1 STR	vgtm
Protector				2 CHA, 1 WIS	vgtm
Scourge				2 CHA, 1 CON	vgtm
Variant				2 CHA, 1 WIS	vgtm
Bugbear	Common, Goblin	Medium	30	2 STR, 1 DEX	vgtm
Centaur	Common, Sylvan	Medium	40	2 STR, 1 WIS	moot
Changeling	Common, +2	Medium	30	2 CHA, 1 ASI	erlw
Dragonborn	Common, Draconic	Medium	30	–	phb
Chromatic	Common, +1			2, 1 ASI / 1,1,1 ASI	ftod
Draconblood				2 INT, 1 CHA	egtw
Gem	Common, +1			2, 1 ASI / 1,1,1 ASI	ftod
Metallic	Common, +1			2, 1 ASI / 1,1,1 ASI	ftod
Ravenite				2 STR, 1 CON	egtw
Standard				2 STR, 1 CHA	phb
Dwarf	Common, Dwarf	Medium	25	2 CON	phb
Gray				2 CON	scag
Hill				2 CON, 1 WIS	phb
Mark of Warding				2 CON	erlw
Mountain				2 CON, 2 STR	phb
Elf	Common, Elvish	Medium	30	2 DEX	phb
Aereni High				2 DEX, 1 CON	erlw
Aereni Wood			35	2 DEX, 1 WIS	erlw
Drow				2 DEX, 1 CHA	phb
Eladrin				2 DEX, 1 CHA	mtof
Eladrin (Variant)				2 DEX, 1 INT	phb
High				2 DEX, 1 INT	phb
Mark of Shadow				2 DEX, 1 CHA	erlw
Pallid				2 DEX, 1 WIS	egtw
Sea Elf				2 DEX, 1 CON	mtof
Shadar Kai				2 DEX, 1 CON	mtof
Valenar High				2 DEX, 1 INT	erlw
Valenar Wood			35	2 DEX, 1 WIS	erlw
Wood			35	2 DEX, 1 WIS	phb
Fairy	Common, +1	Small	30, fly 30 ft.	2, 1 ASI / 1,1,1 ASI	wbtw
Firbolg	Common, Elvish, Giant	Medium	30	2 WIS, 1 STR	vgtm
Genasi	Common, Primordial	Medium	30	2 CON	eepc
Air				2 CON, 1 DEX	eepc
Earth				2 CON, 1 STR	eepc
Fire				2 CON, 1 INT	eepc
Water				2 CON, 1 WIS	eepc
Gith	Common, Gith	Medium	30	1 INT	mtof
Githyanki				1 INT, 2 STR	mtof
Githzerai				1 INT, 2 WIS	mtof
Gnome	Common, Gnomish	Small	25	2 INT	phb
Deep				2 INT, 1 DEX	eepc
Forest				2 INT, 1 DEX	phb
Mark of Scribing				2 INT, 1 CHA	erlw
Rock				2 INT, 1 CON	phb
Goblin	Common, Goblin	Small	30	2 DEX, 1 CON	vgtm
Goliath	Common, Giant	Medium	30	2 STR, 1 CON	eepc
Half-Elf	Common, Elvish	Medium	30	2 CHA, 1 ASI, 1 ASI	phb
Aquatic				2 CHA, 1 ASI, 1 ASI	scag
Drow				2 CHA, 1 ASI, 1 ASI	scag
High				2 CHA, 1 ASI, 1 ASI	scag
Mark of Detection				2 WIS, 1 ASI	erlw
Mark of Storm				2 CHA, 1 DEX	erlw
Wood				2 CHA, 1 ASI, 1 ASI	scag
Half-Orc	Common, Orc	Medium	30	2 STR, 1 CON	phb
Mark of Finding				2 WIS, 1 CON	erlw
Halfling	Common, Halfling	Small	25	2 DEX	phb
Ghostwise				2 DEX, 1 WIS	scag
Lightfoot				2 DEX, 1 CHA	phb
Lotusden				2 DEX, 1 WIS	egtw
Mark of Healing				2 DEX, 1 WIS	erlw
Mark of Hospitality				2 DEX, 1 CHA	erlw
Stout				2 DEX, 1 CON	phb
Harengon	Common, +1	Medium	30	2, 1 ASI / 1,1,1 ASI	wbtw
Hobgoblin	Common, Goblin	Medium	30	2 CON, 1 INT	vgtm
Human	Common, 1 Additional	Medium	30	–	phb
Mark of Finding				2 WIS, 1 CON	erlw
Mark of Handling				2 WIS, 1 ASI	erlw
Mark of Making				2 INT, 1 ASI	erlw
Mark of Passage				2 DEX, 1 ASI	erlw
Mark of Sentinel				2 CON, 1 WIS	erlw
Standard				1 to All	phb
Variant				2 ASI	phb
Kalashtar	Common, Quori, 1	Medium	30	2 WIS, 1 CHA	erlw
Kenku	Common, Auran	Medium	30	2 DEX, 1 WIS	vgtm
Kobold	Common, Draconic	Small	30	2 DEX	vgtm
Leonin	Common, Leonin	Medium	35	2 CON, 1 STR	moot
Lineage	Common, +1	Medium	30	2, 1 ASI / 1,1,1 ASI	vrgtr
Dhampir			35	2, 1 ASI / 1,1,1 ASI	vrgtr
Hexblood				2, 1 ASI / 1,1,1 ASI	vrgtr
Reborn				2, 1 ASI / 1,1,1 ASI	vrgtr
Lizardfolk	Common, Draconic	Medium	30	2 CON, 1 WIS	vgtm
Loxodon	Common, Loxodon	Medium	30	2 CON, 1 WIS	ggtr
Minotaur	Common, Minotaur	Medium	30	2 STR, 1 CON	ggtr
Orc	Common, Orc	Medium	30	2 STR, 1 CON	vgtm
Satyr	Common, Sylvan	Medium	35	2 CHA, 1 DEX	moot
Shifter				–	erlw
Beasthide Shifter				2 CON, 1 DEX	erlw
Longtooth Shifter				2 STR, 1 DEX	erlw
Swiftstride Shifter				2 DEX, 1 CHA	erlw
Wildhunt Shifter				2 WIS, 1 DEX	erlw
Simic Hybrid	Common, Elvish/Vedalken	Medium	30	2 CON, 1 ASI	ggtr
Tabaxi	Common, 1	Medium	30	2 DEX, 1 CHA	vgtm
Tiefling	Common, Infernal	Medium	30	2 CHA	phb
Bloodline of Asmodeus				2 CHA, 1 INT	phb
Bloodline of Baalzebul				2 CHA, 1 INT	mtof
Bloodline of Dispater				2 CHA, 1 DEX	mtof
Bloodline of Fierna				2 CHA, 2 DEX, 1 INT	mtof
Bloodline of Glasya				2 CHA, 1 DEX	mtof
Bloodline of Levistus				2 CHA, 1 CON	mtof
Bloodline of Mammon				2 CHA, 1 INT	mtof
Bloodline of Mephistopheles				2 CHA, 1 INT	mtof
Bloodline of Zariel				2 CHA, 1 STR	mtof
Variant – Devil’s Tongue				2 CHA, 1 INT	scag
Variant – Feral				2 CHA, 1 INT	scag
Variant – Hellfire				2 CHA, 1 INT	scag
Variant – Winged			fly 30 ft.	2 CHA, 1 INT	scag
Tortle	Common, Aquan	Medium	30	2 STR, 1 WIS	ttp
Triton	Common, Aquan	Medium	30	1 STR, 1 CON, 1 CHA	vgtm
Vedalken	Common, Vedalken, 1	Medium	30	2 INT, 1 WIS	ggtr
Warforged	Common	Medium	30	2 CON, 1 ASI	erlw
Yuan-ti Pureblood	Common, Abyssal, Draconic	Medium	30	2 CHA, 1 INT	vgtm

DnD 5e Races Ability Modifier Breakdown

We took a look at all of the D&D 5e Race’s Ability Modifiers and have come up with some interesting data that will help you when you are trying to pick a race that will mesh with your intended build. Keep in mind, this table excludes 11 Races that do not apply a +2 racial bonus to ability modifiers.

Looking at the tables above, we can see a number of interesting takeaways:

DEX is by far the most common +2 racial bonus

This is great news for Rogues, Rangers, and Monks, all of which draw their AC, Attack, Damage, Stealth, etc from their DEX modifier.

WIS and INT both have very few +2 racial bonus

An even more interesting conclusion is that only 2 of these races are from the PHB: the Rock and Forest Gnome. This can be quite limiting for the large majority of classes that use their WIS as their spellcasting modifier (Ranger, Druid, Cleric, Monk). That being said, both WIS and INT have the most common +1 racial bonus.

DEX + CON bonuses are more common than STR + CON bonuses

This certainly goes against the grain because STR based melee fighters are more likely to tank than DEX based fighters due to a higher AC.

Races Going Forward

As of Wild Beyond the Witchlight (September 21, 2021), races will go in the direction that Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything started. This direction allows free customization over the race’s ASIs and languages, while still providing certain racial features and proficiencies. The way that races will function in new books is as follows:

Ability Score Increases

No preset ability score increases. After selecting a race, players will choose whether they:

Increase one ability score by 2 and another score by 1
Or increase three different ability scores by 1

Age

No age range is provided. Instead, it is stated that races will age similar to humans and will live for about a century if they don’t meet a violent end. A note is provided saying “members of some races, such as dwarves and elves, can live for centuries.” This leaves the actual age range of races up to DMs interpretation.

Alignment

No alignment suggestions will be provided. Characters are to choose their own alignment.

Size

Some character races will be able to choose between the small and medium creature sizes. Also, no suggestions will be made surrounding a race’s typical weight and height.

Languages

Races no longer inherently come with language proficiencies. Instead, characters automatically learn common and are allowed to choose one other language to learn.

Mike Bernier

Mike Bernier is the lead content writer and founder of Arcane Eye. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his girlfriend, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house. He is the author of Escape from Mt. Balefor and The Heroes of Karatheon. Mike specializes in character creation guides for players, homebrewed mechanics and tips for DMs, and one-shots with unique settings and scenarios. Follow Mike on Twitter.