Racial Ability Bonuses - Wizards of the Coast

Options for Everyone
Racial
Ability
Bonuses
Illustration by Steve Argyle
Player’s Handbook ® 3 introduced a new option for
player character races. Instead of receiving a +2
bonus to two ability scores, each race was given one
constant ability bonus and a choice between two
alternatives for the second bonus. That approach has
been standard in all books published since then.
Most of the races from previous books were
updated in Heroes of the Fallen LandsTM and Heroes
of the Forgotten Kingdoms TM , leaving just a handful
untouched—until now.
This article extends the option to the remaining six
player character races. Now all characters can adopt
those racial archetypes that are thematically fitting
but which previously were less attractive choices.
Deva
For millennia, servants of the gods of good bound
themselves to mortal forms so that they could directly
battle the forces of darkness upon the world. Those
remaining in the Astral Sea watched their fellows’
progress with pride and gratitude, mixed with a
growing concern. The devas’ efforts against the
followers of evil were noble and brave, but uncoordinated
and often impulsive. Worse, the devas had
trouble recruiting mortal allies to fight alongside
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them. A call reverberated through the Plane Above,
summoning great leaders and evangelists to abandon
their well-earned rests and cloak themselves in flesh
once more. So it was that new devas began appearing
in the world, dedicated to bringing light against darkness,
gathering mortals to their righteous banners,
and guiding their hosts to victory.
Genasi
Genasi have the wild souls of elemental beings, and
their essentially supernatural nature is part of all that
they do. Just as their souls manifest elemental power
in different ways, genasi are varied beings. Almost all
have keen minds, but their bodies show the effect of
their heritage in different ways. Some are physically
powerful like a storm, while others possess a capacity
to endure like stone.
Goliath
These mountain-bred nomads forge powerful ties to
the primal world during their alpine wanderings. The
influence of their unforgiving environment is obvious
in their culture, which emphasizes honesty, boldness,
and reverence for nature. Goliaths learn from an
early age to draw strength from the mountains that
nurture them. Although most pursue the straightforward
life of a warrior, their powerful links to the
primal world also urge them toward the paths of the
warden, the seeker, the shaman, and the druid.
Kalashtar
Those who know the kalashtar understand the conflict
that roils beneath their serene exteriors. For a
kalashtar, every hour is a struggle against the dark
madness that lurks beyond the perimeter of sanity’s
light. But the madness that threatens also contains
secrets of the mind and of the arcane world. With
their characteristic introspection and deliberateness
of purpose, some kalashtar probe that darkness to
fuel their studies into magic and psionics.
Shadar-kai
The goal of many shadar-kai is to be remembered in
glory when life reaches its inevitable end. They test
their own limits and then strive to push beyond them,
to achieve the only immortality that matters: being
counted among those heroes who are remembered
in legend. To achieve that end, shadar-kai are willing
to take extreme risks, to gamble everything on one
throw of the dice. Some, however, take a longer view
of life. They see the road to glory as a long and rugged
slope rather than as a looming precipice. To them, the
inward-directed life of the monk and the psion hold a
special attraction. A select few, upon tasting the richness
of life beyond the Shadow fell, lose themselves in
the vibrance of the primal world. Like all shadar-kai,
they will always be strangers to true joy, yet this sense of
wonder sets them apart from their kin.
Warforged
Most warforged designs, being intended for close
combat, emphasized physical power and durability.
The armorers and artificers of House Cannith, however,
experimented with many different warforged
patterns during the Last War, and smaller numbers of
warforged were built for very different purposes. Some
of the last warforged designs to emerge from the creation
forges were given superior mental ability in order
to quickly master various forms of arcane magic. House
Cannith hoped to sell these warforged battlemages
for a premium price, but the end of the Last War put
a stop to the production of these new, more intelligent
Racial Ability Bonuses
warforged along with their more workmanlike fellows.
Examples of these late-model designs tend to be slimmer
and more graceful in appearance, and often wear a
striking black, gold, or silver finish. They are extremely
logical, as one might expect of thinking machines, with
near-perfect memory and an insatiable hunger for
knowledge and learning. They often pursue careers as
wizards or artificers.
Ability Score bonuSeS
Fixed
race bonus either/or
changeling cha Dex/int
Deva Wis int/cha
Dragonborn cha Str/con
Drow Dex Wis/cha
Dwarf con Str/Wis
eladrin int Dex/cha
elf Dex int/Wis
Genasi int Str/con
Githzerai Wis Dex/int
Gnome int Dex/cha
Goliath Str con/Wis
Half-elf con Wis/cha
Halfling Dex con/cha
Half-orc Dex Str/con
Human any none
Kalashtar cha int/Wis
Minotaur Str con/Wis
Mul con Str/Wis
revenant Dex cha/con
Shadar-kai Dex int/Wis
Shardmind int Wis/cha
Shifter Wis Str/Dex*
thri-kreen Dex Str/Wis
tiefling cha con/int
Warforged con Str/int
Wilden Wis Dex/con
*Determined by choice of longtooth or razorclaw
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