The Best Races For A D&D Horror Campaign

Summary

The D&D franchise expands into horror genres, offering options like the Shadar-Kai, Duergar, and Dhampir.
Races like the Half-Orc and the Drow are perfect choices for players looking for big, intimidating, and dark characters.
The Githzerai and Kenku add a psionic nightmare and an eerie mimic, providing unique and dark options for players.

Dungeons & Dragons was originally based on The Lord of the Rings, making it fit into the genre of high fantasy. Over a few decades, the game has expanded to include low fantasy, science fiction, dark fantasy, and horror.

Horror is one of the most consistently popular genres in the world, and the D&D franchise has been expanding on its choices for fans of the dark and terrifying. Certain adventure modules and DM guides focus specifically on horror campaigns, and it makes sense to have a choice of races that fit the shadowy horror aesthetic.

Shadar-Kai

Elves Of The Shadowfell

Sourcebook: Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
Signature Abilities: Blessing of the Raven Queen, a handy teleportation ability.

Those who have played Baldur's Gate 3 will already be familiar with the Shadowfell and its dark, mysterious lord, the goddess Shar. In the D&D universe, one of her titles is the Raven Queen, and her realm is inhabited by a subrace of elves, the Shadar-Kai.

The Shadar-Kai originally descended from the Fey, but were drawn to the Shadowfell and became beholden to Shar. They are free to leave the Shadowfell if they choose, and plenty of them do, either on the orders of the Dark Lady or seeking their own adventures. They have a pale and wizened appearance, an eerie reminder of their connection to the Shadowfell.

Half-Orc

An Intimidating Visage

Sourcebook: Player's Handbook
Signature Abilities: The Menacing ability, which gives them proficiency in Intimidation.

The other side of horror, beyond that of the dark and mysterious, is the large and intimidating. One of the earliest options players had for making a big and scary character race was the Half-orcs, although more choices exist now for players who want to build Fighters or Barbarians with an extra-frightening facade.

Half-orcs are often found in rugged, wild, and dangerous places, which adds to their allure for horror campaigns. When they do find a corner of civilization, it's usually a forsaken, depressing place like a war-torn battlefield or a ruined village they helped to sack and loot.

Duergar

The Dwarves Of The Underdark

Sourcebook: Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
Signature Abilities: Duergar Magic, which includes spells like Invisibility and Enlarge/Reduce.

The Underdark is a vast and mysterious place, and any race that lives there inevitably develops some shadowy traits over time. The Duergar are one example of many. This race is often cast in the role of a slaver, a thief, or a mercenary; that should give players an idea of the kind of campaign that would include them.

The Duergar are descended from Dwarves who came to the Underdark and stayed, either of their own free will and adventurous, stubborn attitude, or as slaves to other more powerful races, like the Drow. Contact with races like Mind Flayers and Beholders further altered the Duergar and gave them psionic powers and a natural resistance to magic.

Kenku

An Eerie Mimic

Sourcebook: Volo's Guide to Monsters
Signature Abilities: Expert Duplication makes the Kenku an expert in forgery and copying.

Little is known of this mysterious race regarding their homeland and origins, but there seems to be a general consensus that they were cursed after committing a great crime. Their punishment was to lose their wings and power of independent speech, condemned to live forever on the fringe of society. The nature of the Kenku is dark and horrible one, and they almost always play Rogues or Warlocks.

The Kenku are awkward to play because they can only communicate by repeating words and phrases that they've already heard, like a parrot. Kiri the Kenku, one of the characters from Critical Role, demonstrated how the race could be played and nudged it further into the mainstream.

Drow

The Dark Elves

Sourcebook: Player's Handbook
Signature Abilities: Drow Magic in the form of innate spells like Dancing Lights and Darkness.

Another race that was raised and trained in the cruelty of the Underdark, chilling stories abound of the cruelty of Drow society and the depraved sadism of the spider god Lloth and her followers. They are often portrayed as antagonists and are among the most powerful races that call the Underdark home. Drow society is violent and cruel, and its leadership is based on who is the strongest and most cunning. The society is a strict matriarchy, ruled by royal houses, and male children are often sacrificed to Lloth.

Minthara, the only Drow that can join the protagonist's camp in Baldur's Gate 3, is a perfect example of what a Lawful Evil Paladin looks like. Any party that includes her is led by a Tav that walks a darker and more murderous path.

Githzerai

A Psionic Nightmare

Sourcebook: Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse
Signature Abilities: Githzerai Psionics gives this race several innate spellcasting abilities, including Mage Hand and Detect Thoughts.

Centuries of enslavement by the Mind Flayers gave the Gith psionic powers, but some rejected this talent as a memory of their enslavement, while others embraced it as one of the tools of their liberation. The Githzerai retreated to the Everchanging Chaos of Limbo after their split with the Githyanki, retreating to a more chaotic realm that suited their particular tendencies.

Limbo is a place of uncontrolled energy and magic, so living here augmented the Githzerai's psionic powers even more. They fight and savagely kill without even getting close to their enemy or touching a weapon, making them terrifying as foes or allies.

Dhmapir

An Undead Creature

Sourcebook: Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft
Signature Abilities: Vampiric Bite, which can be used as an unarmed weapon.

Baldur's Gate 3 fans who want to roll their own Astarion are recommended to play one of D&D's darkest horror-based campaigns, Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft. This is the setting that includes the Dhampir as a playable race, and it's one of the most popular modules in the D&D franchise.

There are various ways to become a Dhampir, which can be chosen by the DM or randomly decided with 1d8. They include such horrific options as the survivor of a vampire attack, being the host of a parasite, or existing as a "diminished form of an otherworldly being" that must nourish itself with blood to hasten a full reincarnation.

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