I play Dungeons & Dragons. In fact, I game master a regular gaming session. I was talking with one of my players about creating a character for a new campaign I want to run. In that conversation I realized that some of the races available to play have distinct advantages over others. In particular, I realized that in Fifth Edition the human race is the least desirable to play. So I decided to go over the player character races and rank them from the most desirable to the least desirable. While there are some objective criteria for this, it is primarily a subjective evaluation. However, I believe you will find my evaluation useful.
So, I used the comparison of Human to Human, Variant to set the base for comparing the races. I am assuming that these two choices are equal.
Human
- +1 to every ability score, which is 6 ability score points
Human, variant
- +1 to 2 ability scores (2 points)
- Feat of choice
- Proficiency of choice
If you look in the Players Handbook (PHB) under character classes, you can trade the option to gain two ability score points for one feat. So that gives us one feat equals two ability score points. Which leaves us with one proficiency also equals two ability score points. I am skeptical of that last, but will assume it to be true. For the purpose of this review I am going to assume that a specific proficiency is equal to a proficiency of your choice, except where everything else is equal. Then the more broad the options you get to choose from the better.
Based on this, I think that Half-elf is the best race choice.
Half-elf
- Cha +2, two other ability scores +1 each
- Darkvision
- Advantage vs being charmed and cannot be magically slept
- 2 proficiencies of choice
- Extra language
Compared to the standard human, they get 4 ability score points and two proficiencies of choice(equivalent to 4 more points). In addition to that they get the ability to see in the dark and an extra language. Finally, they are harder to charm than normal and cannot be put to sleep using magic. Based on the metric of comparing human to variant human, half-elves have the equivalent to about nine ability score points vs six for humans.
Originally, I intended to put them in order, but I realized that this is not practical (I may make a list in order at the end).
The next race I want to evaluate is Drow Elf. I think in a standard campaign they would rank at the bottom equal to human or perhaps just a touch higher. In a campaign where the party spends little time outside during the day, they rank much higher.
Elf, Drow
- Dex +2, Cha +1
- Proficiency in perception
- Advantage against charm save and can’t be put to sleep by magic
- Long rest is half as long
- Disadvantage in Sunlight
- Cantrip at 1st, and spell at 3rd, and 5th levels
- Special weapon proficiencies
- Superior darkvision
They get 3 ability score points plus a proficiency in perception (equivalent to 2 more ability points). Then they start with the Dancing Lights at 1st, get the Faerie Fire spell at 3rd, and the darkness spell at 5th level. Those are not particularly powerful options, but are still quite potent. Drow elves, like all other elves, get to take a long rest in half the time it takes all non-elven races. Their darkvision has a 120 foot range as opposed to an only 60 foot range for other races with darkvision. That is however offset by the fact that they disadvantage on attack rolls and perception checks in direct sunlight (sunlight sensitivity). Finally they gain a proficiency in rapiers, shortswords, and hand crossbows.
Looking at that, it seems to me that the sunlight sensitivity offsets being able to see further than others with darkvision, but their ability to see in the dark is still an advantage over humans. On the other hand, the weapon proficiencies are probably irrelevant. If you are going to use those weapons you are probably playing a class which gets the proficiency anyway. The spellcasting ability they get is almost the equivalent of the Magic Initiate feat, which makes it essentially worth 2 ability score points.
Now that I have actually gone over the abilities a Drow Elf gets, I may have underrated them to begin with. My estimation is that their abilities are the equivalent of 7 or 8 ability score points. Not as good as the Half-elf, but still pretty good.
I was not sure where I was going to go next, but I think I will go through the rest of the elves, starting with High Elf.
Elf, High
- Dex +2, Int +1
- Proficiency in perception
- Advantage against charm save and can’t be put to sleep by magic
- Long rest is half as long
- Special weapon proficiencies
- Cantrip
- Extra language
- Darkvision
The high elf gets 3 ability score points and a proficiency in perception (which is worth 2 more points). Interestingly, as I actually start this comparison, high elves rank lower than I thought. The extra language is nice and the fact that the cantrip is of your choice, rather than predetermined as with the drow elf, makes that almost equal to the spell casting that drow get. The weapons proficiency is slightly more useful than that of the drow. All of that being said, when you count the darkvision and the shorter long rest, I think that high elf comes out at 7 ability score points, just behind the drow.
Which brings us to the Wood Elf
Elf, Wood
- Dex +2, Wis +1
- Proficiency in perception
- Advantage against charm save and can’t be put to sleep by magic
- Long rest is half as long
- Special weapon proficiencies
- Speed 5’ faster
- Hide more easily in natural surroundings
- Darkvision
The wood elf gets 3 ability score points and proficiency in perception, bringing them to 5 ability score points. They get the same weapon proficiencies as the high elf and darkvision. In addition, they move five feet a round faster and can more easily hide in natural surroundings. How much that is worth will depend on the Dungeon Master(DM). I think I will put them dead even with the high elf at 7 ability score points.
Which brings us to the Dwarves. I will do the Hill Dwarves first.
Dwarf, Hill
- Con +2, Wis +1
- +1 Hit point per level
- Tool proficiency
- Advantage and resistance to poison
- Special weapon proficiencies
- Double proficiency bonus on History checks for the history of stonework
- Darkvision
- Speed 5’ slower
So, like many of the other character races, the Hill Dwarf gets 3 ability score points, a choice of one of three tool proficiencies, and an extra hit point per level. I am going to make a value judgment here and say that, unlike the perception proficiency which elves get, this is only worth one ability score point, but the hit point per level easily makes up for that. That puts the Hill Dwarf at 5 points. The weapon proficiencies are perhaps as useful as the High and Wood Elf weapon proficiencies. The thing that makes dwarves great (both Hill and Mountain) is their advantage on saves against and resistance to damage from poison. Plus they get darkvision. If not for the slower movement speed, I would put Hill Dwarf ahead of High Elf and Wood Elf. In a campaign where their bonus on history checks for stonework is important, they would come out at close to 8. Otherwise, they are probably about 7.
So, now we get to the Mountain Dwarves, which I have always preferred to the Hill Dwarves.
Dwarf, Mountain
- Con +2, Str +2
- Tool proficiency
- Advantage and resistance to poison
- Special weapon proficiencies
- Double proficiency bonus on History checks for the history of stonework
- Special armor proficiencies
- Darkvision
- Speed 5’ slower
The main difference between the Mountain Dwarf and the Hill Dwarf is that the Mountain Dwarf gets an extra ability score point, but doesn’t get the extra hit point per level. What they get instead is extra armor proficiencies. Unfortunately, in my opinion, if you are playing a class where you would take advantage of those armor proficiencies, you get them from the class itself (which raises the idea in my mind of playing an armored mountain dwarf wizard or sorceror). Of course, now that I think about it, the +2 to Strength means that you are likely to choose a class where one of the tool proficiencies is more valuable. Personally I rate Mountain Dwarf one half point higher than Hill Dwarf.
And now we come to the Halflings, which I am going to consider together because I don’t consider them that different (I am sorry for all of you lovers of playing halfling characters, none of whom I have met).
Halfling, Lightfoot
- Dex +2, Cha +1
- When you roll a 1, you can reroll
- Advantage against being frightened
- Move through space of larger creature
- Hide behind larger creatures
- 5’slower
Halfling, Stout
- Dex +2, Con +1
- When you roll a 1, you can reroll
- Advantage against being frightened
- Move through space of larger creature
- Advantage and resistance to poison
- 5’slower
Both types of halfling get 3 ability score points, the ability to reroll a 1 on any of the 20 sided die rolls (attack, saving throw, and ability check), advantage on saves vs being frightened, and the ability to move through the space of a creature larger than themselves. Both are also 5 feet slower per round than most. The Stout Halfling’s advantage on saves against and resistance to damage from poison is pretty nice, but the Lightfoot Halfling’s ability to hide behind larger creatures (such as other members of the party) will probably come up more often. My estimation is that, while there are some real roleplaying opportunities with the two Halfling races, they are the first races I have reviewed which are weaker than Human.
Next I review the gnomes. First up are the Forest Gnomes.
Gnome, forest
- Int +2, Dex +1
- Advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saves vs magic
- Darkvision
- 5’ slower
- Minor Illusion cantrip
- Speak with small beasts
So, a Forest Gnome gets 3 ability score points, advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saves vs magic, and darkvision. That is worth 5 points. In addition they get the Minor Illusion cantrip and can communicate with small beasts, worth about another point. However. they move 5 feet per round slower than most which takes away a bit. I would rank them a little better than Halflings, but still weaker than Humans. This is a race you would play for the roleplaying possibilities, not for the strength of the race.
Now for the Rock Gnomes.
Gnome, rock
- Int +2, Con +1
- Advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saves vs magic
- Darkvision
- 5’ slower
- Proficient with tinkers’ tools
- Make tiny clockwork devices
Like the Forest Gnome, the Rock Gnome gets 3 ability score points, advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saves vs magic, and they get darkvision. Which I consider to be worth 5 points. In addition they get a proficiency in tinkers tools, with which you can make a tiny clockwork device (I think from my reading of the rules, that you would be able to build larger, more complex devices, but the DM would need to determine the cost of materials and length of time to do so). After some thought, I think this gets to the same game strength as Human, at least in the right campaign world, even with the 5 feet per round slower movement rate.
That brings us to Dragonborn.
Dragonborn
- Str +2, Cha +1
- Breath weapon
- Resistant to damage of breath weapon
The Dragonborn appear fairly powerful at first blush, they get a breath weapon. However, they only get 3 ability points and resistance to damage of the same type as their breath weapon. That is kind of cool, but I do not think it adds up to as much as the 6 ability points standard Humans get. While there are some roleplaying possibilities with this race, I don’t think it would be as much fun as either one of the Gnomes or one of the Halflings.
On to the Half-orc.
Half-orc
- Str +2, Con +1
- Darkvision
- Proficiency in intimidation
- When reach 0, but not killed outright, go to 1 hp (1x between long rests)
- Extra die of damage on critical hits
This is a race which is probably pretty powerful as one of the fighting classes (Fighter, Barbarian, Paladin, Ranger). You have the 3 ability score points, darkvision, and Intimidation proficiency. In my mind that is pretty close to the 6 ability score points that Humans get. Then you get the extra die of damage on every critical hit. Finally, the Half-orc gets to, once between long rests, choose to go to 1 hit point when they would otherwise be reduced to 0 hit points without being killed. Combined with the correct decisions regarding weapons, feats, and class abilities that should make a pretty powerful fighting character. The roleplaying possibilities make this rank up there with Half-elf.
Finally, we have the Tiefling.
Tiefling
- Int +1, Cha +2
- Darkvision
- Resistance to fire damage
- Thaumaturgy cantrip at 1st level, Hellish Rebuke spell at 3rd level(1x/day), Darkness spell at 5th level (1x/day)
So, 3 ability points, darkvision, and resistance to fire gets us to at least 5 points. The spells add another point. That makes this the equal to Human. If the DM and the player role play this properly, it should be a bit more fun and a lot more difficult to play than a Human.
At some point I may make a second blog reviewing the Character Races in “Volo’s Guide To Monsters”, but I am done with this for now. Perhaps if people request it (or maybe even if they don’t), I will go through and do blog entries on what I think would be the best classes for various races.
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