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ContentsIntroduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Race, Subrace, and Ethnic Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

How to Read a Racial Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Level Adjustments and ECL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Racial Hit Dice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

How to Read a Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Chapter 1: Dwarves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Arctic Dwarf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Gold Dwarf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Gray Dwarf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Shield Dwarf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Urdunnir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Wild Dwarf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Chapter 2: Elves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

Aquatic Elf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Avariel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Drow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Moon Elf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Sun Elf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Wild Elf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Wood Elf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Chapter 3: Gnomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Deep Gnome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Forest Gnome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Rock Gnome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

Chapter 4: Half-Elves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58

Common Half-Elves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Half-Aquatic Elf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Half-Drow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Chapter 5: Half-Orcs and Orcs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Gray Orc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

Half-Orc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Mountain Orc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Orog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Chapter 6: Halflings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

Ghostwise Halfling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

Lightfoot Halfling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

Strongheart Halfling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78

Chapter 7: Humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80

Calishite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81

Chondathan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

Damaran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88

Illuskan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92

Mulan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

Rashemi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Tethyrian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102

Other Human Ethnic Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106

Chapter 8: Planetouched . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

Aasimar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .112

Air Genasi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114

Earth Genasi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116

Fey’ri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .118

Fire Genasi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121

Tanarukk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123

Tiefling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125

Water Genasi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127

Chapter 9: Minor Races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

Aarakocra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130

Centaur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132

Goblinoids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .134

Kir-lanan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137

Lizardfolk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .140

Lycanthropes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142

Shade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147

Wemic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149

Yuan-ti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154

Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154

Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .160

Magic Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .170

Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

Animal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

Cavvekan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175

Deathfang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175

Osquip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .176

Snake, Flying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177

Steeder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177

Prestige Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .178

Battlerager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .178

Bladesinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .179

Breachgnome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181

Elven High Mage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182

Great Rift Skyguard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183

Orc Warlord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184

Spellsinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185

Warrior Skald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .186

Warsling Sniper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188

Spells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189

Sidebars

Acquiring a Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

The Nightgliders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

Ethnicity of Existing Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Faerûn is home to hundreds of intelligent peoples, dividedinto thousands of tribes, clans, nations, and ethnicities.Some of these races are monstrous predators armed with

terrible powers and some are bloodthirsty marauders who ter-rorize more civilized folk, but most are good-hearted folk whowish to live in peace in whatever manner they find most pros-perous and fulfilling. This great diversity in physical nature,magical talent, beliefs, and values creates an incredible patch-work of cultures that spans the entire continent, a tapestry socomplex and wondrous that no one mortal can hope to evercomprehend it in its entirety.

Races of Faerûn examines almost 50 of the most important,noteworthy, or widespread peoples to be found in the lands ofFaerûn, focusing on races that are most likely to give rise to ad-venturing characters. While giants and dragons are certainlyintelligent and can wield enormous influence over the portionsof the world they claim as their own, they are not usually foundamong adventuring bands. At the other end of the spectrum, acreature such as a troglodyte or quaggoth might be inclined totake up the wandering life of an adventurer, but their numbersare so few and their societies so reclusive and isolated that theysimply haven’t made much of a mark on the face of Faerûn.Therefore, this book concentrates on eight major races (humans,dwarves, elves, gnomes, half-elves, half-orcs and orcs, halflings,and planetouched) and a number of minor races ranging fromaarakocras to yuan-ti.

What You Need to PlayThis sourcebook requires the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Player’s

Handbook, DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide, Monster Manual, and theFORGOTTEN REALMS Campaign Setting. You will also find it help-ful to have a copy of Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn,

although you do not need that book to make use of this one.The following races mentioned in this book are described

in Monsters of Faerûn: aarakocra, arctic dwarf, urdunnir, wilddwarf, fey’ri, tanarukk, Dekanter goblin, wemic, and yuan-ti(tainted one). In this book, you will find sufficient informationin the racial descriptions of these races to play them as player

characters, but you should refer to Monsters of Faerûn if youneed their monster entries for your game.

Races of Faerûn also complies with the revised Player’s Hand-

book, DUNGEON MASTER’S Guide, and Monster Manual. Somerules revisions have been included in this product, such as thechanges in the lycanthrope template, how monsters acquire featsand skills, name changes of feats, spells and skills, and details of raceand class abilities. If you have difficulty in identifying a feat, skill,or spell, it’s most likely a change of nomenclature for the revision.

Race, Subrace, andEthnıc GroupThroughout this book the terms race, subrace, and ethnic group(or ethnicity) are used to describe various peoples of Faerûn.These terms have a specific meaning in the context of theDUNGEONS & DRAGONS game.

A race is a distinct species of intelligent creatures who sharemany of the same qualities. In Faerûn, creatures of differentraces can often produce children who can in turn have childrenof their own, so the term “race” does not quite measure up to thestrict scientific definition of what constitutes a species. Race isimportant in game terms because it describes a set of rules sharedby all characters of that race. While appearance, class, skills, andtalents may vary wildly from individual to individual, allhumans share the same racial adjustments and advantages—abonus feat at 1st level and extra skill points as compared to otherraces, reflecting the human drive to excel and achieve.

While all humans have the same game advantages, not alldwarves or elves are the same. These races have a more markedadaptation to their respective lifestyles, and over a relativelyshort time, distinctive racial characteristics appear in isolatedpopulations. A subrace consists of those individuals within a racewho share a distinctive and unique set of racial advantages anddrawbacks. For example, sun elf culture focuses on learning and

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lore over the games of agility and balance other elves favor, andso sun elves have a bonus to their Intelligence scores instead oftheir Dexterity scores. In game terms, a subrace is, for all intentsand purposes, a race of its own, but all the subraces of a particu-lar race share many of the same qualities and are related. Whenparents of different subraces have a child, the child almostalways “takes after” one parent or the other.

An ethnic group is a group of people of the same race whoshare some minor physical characteristics and common culturalheritage. Unlike a subrace, two ethnic groups of the same race areidentical to each other in game terms. Humans of Chondathanstock are not any stronger, tougher, smarter, or more skilledthan humans of Rashemi stock—but any native of Faerûn cantell a Rashemi from a Chondathan at a glance. While distinctethnicities are only described for the human nations in this book,it’s safe to assume that any race not differentiated by distinctsubraces has a wide variety of physical characteristics. For exam-ple, a centaur’s human half might have pale skin, or copper skin,or skin of a rich mahogany hue.

How to Read aRacial EntryEach major race chapter is broken into a number of entries basedon ethnic group or subrace. The information presented in theseentries generally follows the order described here.

If a race does not have an entry for a category (such as racialfeats), the header is omitted.

MAJOR RACE INFORMATION

The eight major races described in this book each begin with ageneral overview of the race’s culture, history, and outlook. Eachsubrace or ethnic group description contains more specific anddetailed information on these topics for the specific race.

RACIAL DATA

Each ethnic group, subrace, or minor race begins with a short set ofentries offering a quick synopsis of the race’s game characteristics.

Regions: Regions in which the subrace or ethnic group is found.A character of this race or ethnicity may choose a region listedhere as his or her home region, as described in the FORGOTTEN

REALMS Campaign Setting. In the case of a human ethnic group,any region in which the group is present as the primary or sec-ondary population may be selected. New regions are italicized andappear at the end of the racial entry.

Automatic and bonus languages are determined by your choiceof home region.

Racial Feats: Any new feats introduced in this book that arespecific to the race at hand are listed here.

Racial Prestige Classes: If there are any prestige classes specif-ically associated with the race, these are noted here.

Level Adjustment: If the race or subrace comes with a leveladjustment, it is given here. If that race or subrace has racial HitDice (that is, a typical member of that race starts play with morethan the single HD of most player character races), its effectivecharacter level is given as well, combining its level adjustmentand racial Hit Dice. See page 6 for details on how level adjust-ments and ECL affect character level and advancement.

HISTORY

A summary of the history of each race, subrace, or ethnic groupappears here. In several cases, the history of a particular group iscovered in the description of a nation or race in the FORGOTTEN

REALMS Campaign Setting, so you may be referred back tothat book.

OUTLOOK

An overview of how people of the race in question carry them-selves, conduct their business, and view the world around them.This will naturally be a gross generalization for most races. SomeCalishites are murderous cutthroats, some are shy scholars, andothers are crusading heroes. But, taken as a whole, the typical Cal-ishite can be expected to be cosmopolitan, urbane, and prone tosome amount of indolence. The outlook of a race centers on whatpeople of that race find important and worth striving for.

Characters: Character classes particularly appealing to mem-bers of the race are described here, along with some of the expla-nation for why this is so.

Favored Class: The race’s favored class is noted here, alongwith a brief discussion of the reasons why the race tends to followthe class. Humans and half-elves have a favored class of “Any,”and do not count their highest-level class when determiningwhether a multiclassed character suffers an experience penalty.

Prestige Classes: Prestige classes popular among characters ofthis race or subrace are noted here, along with the reasons why.

SOCIETY

This section is a brief description of how folk of the race organ-ize their lives, families, and governments, and what social struc-tures surround the individual.

LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

This section discusses the primary language used by a race, includ-ing its origins and evolution. Secondary languages particularlycommon among the people of that race are mentioned also.

Characters of all player character classes except barbarian areliterate, but this is not universally true of characters with NPCclasses. In general, experts and nobles will almost always be liter-ate, and adepts usually so. Literacy among commoners and war-riors tends to vary greatly by culture. Characters who are notliterate by their choice of class or race may become literate byspending 2 skill points to do so.

ABILITIES AND RACIAL FEATURES

Any racial adjustments to ability scores, racial proficiencies inparticular weapons, racial bonuses to specific skills, and the likeare listed in this section in bullet-point format. Any extraordi-nary (Ex), spell-like (Sp), or supernatural (Su) ability is describedhere, as well as level adjustments and effective character level(ECL) of more powerful races.

When this information has already been provided in thePlayer’s Handbook or FORGOTTEN REALMS Campaign Setting,this section is omitted.

INTRODUCTION

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MAGIC AND LORE

Most races have their own traditions of spellcasting and favoredspells and items. As with the racial outlook, this is a generaliza-tion; while Calishites are renowned for their skill with elementalspells, any particular Calishite wizard might choose to specializein any of the schools of arcane magic.

Spells and Spellcasting: Any new racial spells or any featsrelated to spellcasting from the Appendix are noted here underSpellcasting Tradition and Unique Spells.

Magic Items: Many races have a particular affinity for magicitems of a particular sort. Common items are devices whose man-ufacture is almost institutionalized among those people. Due tothe prevalence of common items in places where the race lives,they may be purchased at a 10% discount in any place where folkof that race gather.

Iconic items are specific magic items that are the specialty ofitem-crafters of that race. They include a 10% discount in thelisted price, reflecting the fact that the spellcasters of that raceor group have handed down unusual training and tradition inthe manufacture of those items, and so it is simply easier forsuch an item to be crafted by a caster who meets the racial pre-requisite. Since it is easier for a character of the proper race tomake the iconic item, he tends to charge less for it. Other folkbeside shield dwarves make +1 keen battleaxes, but the shielddwarves’ Foesplitter axes are simply the most prevalent +1 keen

battleaxes around.

RACIAL DEITIES

A brief discussion of deities particularly important to the raceappears here. While most races may venerate many more godsthan those that are listed here, these are the ones most importantto the race.

RELATIONS WITH OTHER RACES

This section describes how the race or subrace gets along withother groups around it. Once again, this is something of a stereo-type, since individuals may sometimes form strong bonds withfolk of races their own race does not normally get along with—or harbor hatred for folk normally allied to their own race.

EQUIPMENT

While most equipment in the Player’s Handbook equipmentchapter is available in any sufficiently large city, many raceshave a particular affinity for equipment of a certain type.

Equipment listed as a common item in this section is generallyavailable for a 10% discount in cities or settlements of that race.This does not apply to magical versions of those items unless theitem happens to be an iconic magic item for the race.

Any unique items or new items mentioned in this section aredescribed in detail in the Equipment section of the Appendix.

Arms and Armor: Traditions of weapon manufacture andarmorsmithing are some of the most distinctive characteristicsof a race’s technology and society. In some cases, these preferredweapons and arms were derived long ago for very good reasons.Elves, due to their keen hand-eye coordination and frail builds, havealways favored ranged combat over melee, and therefore are amongFaerûn’s best archers. In other cases, the preference is based onnothing more than taste. Calishites admire curved swords, and thusfavor scimitars and falchions over longswords and greatswords.

Animals and Pets: While animals are not really equipment,working animals and pets common to a race are described here.Some of these creatures are described in Monsters section ofthe Appendix.

REGION

Finally, races or ethnic groups without a character region fromthe FORGOTTEN REALMS Campaign Setting are provided a char-acter region here. A character must choose one of the preferredclasses for the region to qualify for the regional feats and bonusequipment listed as a 1st-level character. A higher-level charac-ter may choose feats specific to a region even if that region is nother home region or her class is not preferred there, but she mustgain at least 2 ranks in Knowledge (local), specializing in thatregion, in order to do so.

Level Adjustments and ECLSome races are significantly more powerful than the standardcharacter races. To provide the Dungeon Master with a toolfor balancing characters of these races with characters of the

INTRODUCTION

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On occasion, a character may in the course of play acquire amonster template. In many cases, such as the transformationinto a vampire, the character becomes a monster under theDM’s control, but some templates (such as lycanthrope) donot mandate the loss of the character. If the template carriesa level adjustment, the character’s effective character levelinstantly increases to the new total of her character level andlevel adjustment. Until the character earns enough experiencepoints to “catch up” to her increased ECL, she can’t add anymore class levels. In effect, becoming a werewolf and gaining2 racial Hit Dice and a level adjustment of +1 means that acharacter will be stuck at her current class level until she

acquires enough experience points to qualify for the nextcharacter level, based on her new ECL. A character in this sit-uation gains a short-term edge in the benefits of her new tem-plate, but pays for it with a long wait until she can add hernext class level.

Example: Tauroc is a 6th-level dwarven fighter with 17,700XP. He needs 21,000 XP to reach 7th level. However, Tauroc isbitten by a werewolf and contracts lycanthropy. Since the effec-tive character level modifier for werewolf is +3, Tauroc now hasan ECL of 9. He can’t add another class level until he reaches45,000 XP, which is what a 9th-level character needs to achieve10th level.

Acquiring a Template

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standard races, the powerful races have a special characteristicreferred to as level adjustment. Add the level adjustment to thenumber of class levels your character has to determine his or hereffective character level, or ECL. Some creatures have racial HitDice, so their starting ECL equals their level adjustment plustheir racial Hit Dice.

If a race has racial Hit Dice, you can play a character of thatrace with no class levels as a character of a level equal to the leveladjustment plus racial Hit Dice. For example, a centaur startswith an ECL of 7 (level adjustment of +3 plus 4 Hit Dice). Youcan play a centaur with no class levels as a 7th-level character, ora 4th-level centaur fighter as a 11th-level character.

Most humanoid races do not have any racial Hit Dice. Forthem, you simply add the level adjustment to your character’sclass level to determine their ECL. For example, a 1st-level drowin any class is equivalent to a 3rd-level character (one class level,plus a level adjustment of +2). You could play a 4th-level drowwizard as a 6th-level character, or a 10th-level drow wizard as a12th-level character.

For your convenience, we’ve extended the experience pointtable for characters of races with a high ECL. Refer to Table 1,on this page.

Characters with a ECL modifier of +1 or higher for racial HitDice or level adjustment begin play with the number of experience

points necessary to be a character of their ECL. For example, a1st-level svirfneblin fighter has a level adjustment of +3 due to hisrace, so he is effectively a 4th-level character. He begins play with6,000 XP and must reach 10,000 XP before he can add anotherclass level and become a 2nd-level svirfneblin fighter. Characterswith ECL modifiers of +1 or better should begin play equipped ascharacters of their effective character level, not their class level(refer to Table 2–24 in the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide). In theprevious example, the 1st-level svirfneblin fighter should beequipped as a 4th-level character, not a 1st-level character.

Races that begin with 1 Hit Die based on their class are treatedas 1st-level characters in all respects except the number of expe-rience points they begin with and the amount of money withwhich they may equip themselves. They begin play with their 1st-level feat, multiply their skill points by 4, and gain maximum hitpoints for their first class Hit Die. Races that begin with racialHit Dice beyond their 1st-level class Hit Die are treated a littledifferently.

Racial Hit DiceA number of the minor races, particularly nonhumanoids, beginplay with some number of Hit Dice derived from their mon-strous race in addition to any Hit Dice for their class levels. For

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TABLE 1: LEVEL ADJUSTMENT AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTSRacial Level Adjustment

XP Normal +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +10 +110 1st — — — — — — — — — — —1,000 2nd 1st — — — — — — — — — —3,000 3rd 2nd 1st — — — — — — — — —6,000 4th 3rd 2nd 1st — — — — — — — —10,000 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st — — — — — — —15,000 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st — — — — — —21,000 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st — — — — —28,000 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st — — — —36,000 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st — — —45,000 10th 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st — —55,000 11th 10th 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st —66,000 12th 11th 10th 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd 1st78,000 13th 12th 11th 10th 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd91,000 14th 13th 12th 11th 10th 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd

105,000 15th 14th 13th 12th 11th 10th 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th120,000 16th 15th 14th 13th 12th 11th 10th 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th136,000 17th 16th 15th 14th 13th 12th 11th 10th 9th 8th 7th 6th153,000 18th 17th 16th 15th 14th 13th 12th 11th 10th 9th 8th 7th171,000 19th 18th 17th 16th 15th 14th 13th 12th 11th 10th 9th 8th190,000 20th 19th 18th 17th 16th 15th 14th 13th 12th 11th 10th 9th210,000 — 20th* 19th* 18th* 17th* 16th* 15th* 14th* 13th* 12th* 11th* 10th*231,000 — — 20th* 19th* 18th* 17th* 16th* 15th* 14th* 13th* 12th* 11th*253,000 — — — 20th* 19th* 18th* 17th* 16th* 15th* 14th* 13th* 12th*276,000 — — — — 20th* 19th* 18th* 17th* 16th* 15th* 14th* 13th*300,000 — — — — — 20th* 19th* 18th* 17th* 16th* 15th* 14th*325,000 — — — — — — 20th* 19th* 18th* 17th* 16th* 15th*351,000 — — — — — — — 20th* 19th* 18th* 17th* 16th*378,000 — — — — — — — — 20th* 19th* 18th* 17th*406,000 — — — — — — — — — 20th* 19th* 18th*435,000 — — — — — — — — — — 20th* 19th*465,000 — — — — — — — — — — — 20th** A character whose ECL is 21 or better is considered an epic-level character and may choose epic feats and epic classes. Refer to theEpic Level Handbook.

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