Baldur's Gate 3 has periodically been adding new classes during its Early Access phase, but it has yet to add new Dungeons & Dragons races.
Baldur's Gate 3 includes a number of races from Dungeons & Dragons, but there are still some creatures from the Player's Handbook that are missing from the Early Access version of the game. Baldur's Gate 3 includes different races and subraces at launch, including the human, gold dwarf, shield dwarf, high elf, wood elf, lightfoot halfling, strongheart halfling, githyanki, high half-elf, wood half-elf, drow half-elf, Asmodeus tiefling, Mephistopheles tiefling, Zariel tiefling, Lolth-sworn drow, and the Seldarine drow.
The D&D 5e Player's Handbook includes most of the races listed above, but there are a few new entries and changes. In the Player's Handbook, the drow are a subrace of the elf race and there is no drow half-elf, there is only one type of tiefling available to players, and the githyanki isn't in the book at all. It's possible that these changes are a sign of things to come, as the upcoming D&D 5.5 release could update the playable races to include the drow and gith in its Player's Handbook, but fans won't know for sure until the new books are released in 2024.
Related: How Baldur's Gate 3 Is Different (& Better) Than Divinity: Original Sin
The Early Access version of Baldur's Gate 3 includes a lot of the classes and races from the Player's Handbook, but there are still things missing from the game. Baldur's Gate 3 is currently lacking some beloved classes, such as the bard and paladin, as well as some of the popular races that are used by D&D groups around the world.
Gnomes have been a part of D&D since the first edition of the game. The race was actually taken out of the D&D 4e Player's Handbook and replaced with the dragonborn and tiefling, but it came back in a later book. D&D 5e put gnomes back in the Player's Handbook where they belong, with forest gnome and rock gnome acting as subraces. Monsters of the Multiverse updated the deep gnomes, who are the Underdark version of gnomes, similar to the drow elves and the surface elves, and they may appear as an option in Baldur's Gate 3. The gnomes of D&D are similar to dwarves and halflings, possessing incredible skills in craftsmanship and engineering. Gnomes are known for their sense of humor and love of pulling light-hearted pranks on their fellows. Where gnomes are most dangerous is in their skill with illusion magic, as some of the most potent illusionists in the D&D multiverse are gnomes.
In terms of abilities, all Gnomes receive +2 to Intelligence, 60ft of Darkvision, and have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic. Forest Gnomes receive +1 to Dexterity and can communicate with small beasts, which will likely be translated into the speak with animals spell in Baldur's Gate 3, while the rock gnomes receive +1 to Constitution, they double their proficiency bonus on Intelligence (History) checks and possess the Tinker feature, which lets them make a little mechanical toy with various uses. The fans of the Forgotten Folk need not worry about Larian Studios forgetting the gnomes, as it has been confirmed that Baldur's Gate 3 is adding gnomes in a future update.
The dragonborn race first received a Player's Handbook slot during D&D 4e, but the race actually debuted in 3e, in a book called Races of the Dragon. The dragonborn are a race of draconic humanoids, which lack wings or a tail but still retain some of the might of their ancestors, including a potent breath weapon attack. The dragonborn are relative newcomers to the D&D multiverse, save for the draconians of Krynn in the Dragonlance setting. As such, their history and role in each campaign world has yet to be defined, which means that new heroes and villains can be the first dragonborn to leave their mark on the multiverse.
Related: D&D 5.5: Playable Races That Shouldn't Return
In the Player's Handbook, all dragonborn receive +2 to Strength and +1 to Charisma. The player chooses one of the ten draconic types, which will determine their breath weapon type and the type of damage resistance they receive. The creators of Baldur's Gate 3 will have a tough decision on their hands when adapting the dragonborn race to the game, as the race was recently overhauled. Fizban's Treasury of Dragons revamped the dragonborn, allowing them to pick any stats to upgrade, strengthening their breath weapon, giving them individual powers, and adding the gem dragonborn to the mix. It's likely that the developers will stick with the Player's Handbook version for simplicity's sake while boosting the breath weapon. The developers of Baldur's Gate 3 have already made some changes to the race rules, such as separating the drow from the surface elves, so it's possible that a new version of the dragonborn will be created for the game, that uses a mixture of the two rule sets.
Half-orcs have been a playable race since the first edition of D&D. They are the offspring of humans and orcs, with some choosing to live among orc tribes in the wilderness, while others prefer to reside among human society. Monsters of the Multiverse changed orc lore so that the orc god Gruumsh wasn't as evil as he was in previous editions of the game. This means that the lore surrounding orcs and half-orcs will likely change in future books, turning them into more of an honorable warrior society, which is something that has appeared in the D&D novels from time to time.
In D&D 5e, half-orc characters receive +2 to Strength and +1 to Constitution, 60ft of Darkvision, and proficiency in the Intimidation skill. Half-orcs also have the Relentless Endurance ability, which lets them survive a blow that would drop them to zero hit points and keep them at one hit point, which can be used once per long rest. The best half-orc ability is Savage Attacks, which lets them roll one additional damage dice when scoring a crit. Half-orcs make for some of the best melee fighters in D&D, and it's a shame they weren't included when Baldur's Gate 3 added the Barbarian class.
Next: How Baldur's Gate 3's Barbarian Is Different From Tabletop D&D
Baldur's Gate 3 is currently in development for Google Stadia and PC.
Scott has been writing for Screen Rant since 2016 and regularly contributes to The Gamer. He has previously written articles and video scripts for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz. A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started out as a film student before moving into journalism. It turned out that wasting a childhood playing video games, reading comic books, and watching movies could be used for finding employment, regardless of what any career advisor might tell you. Scott specializes in gaming and has loved the medium since the early ‘90s when his first console was a ZX Spectrum that used to take 40 minutes to load a game from a tape cassette player to a black and white TV set. Scott now writes game reviews for Screen Rant and The Gamer, as well as news reports, opinion pieces, and game guides. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.