Dungeons & Dragons: Best Character Species For Your Next Druid (2024)

When players design a brand-new character in , they will have to figure out their character's basic traits like species and class before they can move on to the fun stuff like a backstory, magical items in their inventory, and feats. A player should consider class and species first, and some combinations are more ideal than others. Also, a player can choose either first and then select a good option for the other to make a good combination.

If the player chooses their class first, then they can review a wide variety of player character species options to bring that character to life. For example, the druid class is all about natural magic and support. While any fantasy species can become a druid, some of them have better traits and ability score boosts than others for the druid class.

Updated on June 9th, 2024 by Louis Kemner: This list of the best species picks for the druid class has been updated with five more entries, so players have more options to consider when building a druid for . Also, these fantasy peoples are now described as species rather than race.

15 Earth Genasi Can Handle Difficult Terrain With Ease

The four elemental genasi types all have natural traits or even innate spellcasting or damage resistances to suit their elements, such as fire genasi resisting fire damage. The earth genasi is the least impressive of the four genasi types, but they do have some relevant traits for druid characters, starting with darkvision.

Druids often use support spells like Spike Growth to damage and slow down enemies, but that difficult terrain will slow down the party, too. Conveniently, earth genasi can use Earth Walk to easily move through difficult terrain, such as their own Spike Growths. This burly species can also innately cast Blade Ward to give an earth genasi druid some much-needed survivability.

14 Shadar-Kai Can Teleport Out of Harm's Way

Elves are popular among D&D characters since they're so stylish as Tolkien-inspired beings who have cool weapon proficiencies and natural traits. Wood elves and high elves are common, but a druid might also try the Shadar-Kai elf species. The Shadar-Kai are associated with the grim Shadowfell plane, though they can also be found in the Material Plane.

Shadar-Kai can use Blessing of the Raven Queen to teleport up to 30 feet away a few times per long rest, which is essential so squishy druids can escape harm. Starting at 3rd level, a Shadar-Kai elf will also resist all damage types for one turn after using that teleport, making survival even easier. Shadar-Kai elves also resist necrotic damage and have darkvision.

13 Deep Gnomes Have Good Innate Spellcasting & Magical Resistances

Deep gnomes often make good rogues and artificers, but they can also be built as a druid, which may work best if the campaign takes place underground, such as in the Out of the Abyss campaign. It helps that deep gnomes can have custom stat boosts, so a deep gnome druid will probably take +2 WIS and +1 to either DEX or CON.

Deep gnomes can cast Disguise Self innately, which is best for rogues but can also help a druid maintain their disguise if wildshape isn't a viable option. Best of all, deep gnomes have an advantage on all WIS, CHA, and INT saving throws against enemy magic. Druids want to stay far away from enemies, so enemy casters are more likely to target them with spells that call for such saves, like Hold Person.

12 Githzerai Have Defensive Innate Spellcasting

The githzerai and githyanki peoples both have formidable psionic power, though a githzerai druid can choose to use Wisdom rather than intelligence to use their innate spellcasting. Githzerai can resist psionic damage, but the real draw of this Githzerai is their defensive magic, great for squishy characters like wizards, sorcerers, and druids.

Shield is the best innate spell that githzeria druids can cast, and it can be used starting at 3rd level. The +5 AC bonus is vital for low-AC classes like druid, and best of all, a githzerai druid can use their normal spell slots to keep casting Shield if need be. Innately, Shield is only usable once per long rest, which may not be enough for a druid to survive a dungeon crawl.

11 Warforged Are Naturally Tough Artificial Beings

The warforged species is a monster species that became a playable option. Flavor-wise, warforged can suit practically any class because these artificial beings are free to choose their own lifestyle and specialty, and while a warforged artificer might feel more intuitive, a warforged druid is also doable.

Warforged have customizable stats, so +2 to WIS is easy with this mechanical species, and the +1 can go anywhere else. Warforged characters also have a built-in +1 bonus to AC, which is great for druids, and warforged also shrug off negative effects like magically induced sleep, disease, and poison.

10 Goliaths Can Survive With Stone Endurance

The goliath peoples have relatively few bonuses that appeal to the druid class, but those bonuses are excellent for druids, so a goliath druid is worth considering. Goliaths can use Stone's Endurance as a reaction to take 1d12 less damage when hit, which is optimal for tanky barbarians but is also wonderful for druids who can't afford to take many hits.

The goliath species also has resistance to cold damage, since these hardy people are used to life on frozen mountain peaks. That may help a goliath druid survive a campaign like Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden more easily, though resisting cold damage is more situational in other campaigns.

9 Firbolgs Are Excellent For Nature-Oriented Classes

The firbolg people are giant-kin with a strong affinity for nature, meaning in terms of both flavor and gameplay, they are excellent rangers and druids. Firbolgs can have custom stat increases, leading to +2 WIS and +1 to anything else for a druid. Firbolg druids can also use Speech of Beast and Leaf to talk to plants and animals and even give them orders, no spells needed.

Firbolgs also get a lot of innate spellcasting to make a druid more flexible without burning through their spell slots. Detect Magic and Disguise Self each have their uses, and firbolgs can even use Hidden Step as a bonus action to turn invisible until they attack or force a saving throw. That makes it easier for druids to avoid drawing so much enemy fire.

8 Fairies Have Flight & Innate Spellcasting

The fairy species is a strong option for squishy characters who protect themselves simply by flying out of range of melee-oriented monsters. Classes like wizard, cleric, and druid all benefit greatly from this form of defense, but that's not all. Fairies also have good cantrips for druids, and the player can choose to use Wisdom as the spellcasting ability.

It's true that druids can already cast most of the fairy species' innate spells, but that just means a druid can free up their spell slots for other spells, making them more flexible. The Druidcraft cantrip is first, followed by Fairie Fire, a great support spell for casters like druids and bards as well.

7 Pallid Elves Get Wisdom, Skill Boosts, & Innate Spellcasting

None of the individual traits for pallid elves are outstanding for the druid class, but combined, they may create a fairly appealing species option for druids. Players often envision elves as rangers and druids, so an elf druid may be a comfortingly familiar archetype for newer players. In practice, elves are even better as rangers and as rogues as well, but the pallid elf subtype is a different case.

All elves get +2 DEX, which is outstanding for rangers and rogues while being decent for druids, giving them a minor AC boost. The pallid elf subtype also has +1 to WIS, which is fine for druids, and they even get an advantage on Insight and Investigation checks in case they need to scour their forest home for signs of trouble. They can innately cast non-druid spells like Sleep and Invisibility, giving pallid elf druids some extra utility if desired.

6 Mark of Detection Half-Elves Have Strong Wisdom & Bonus Spells

Half-elves don't get the same DEX boost that conventional elves do, but druids don't always rely on DEX to survive. If a player doesn't need the +2 DEX from a pallid elf, they can choose the half-elf species for their new druid. More specifically, a Mark of Detetion half-elf, which has many relevant traits.

Mark of Detection half-elves get +2 WIS, which is vital for druids, and +1 to one other ability score. Investigation and Insight checks get 1d4 added to them for a small boost, and these half-elves can also cast cool innate spells like Detect Magic, Detect Thoughts, Clairvoyance, and more.

5 Tortles Boast a Thick Shell For Impressive AC Scores

Flavor-wise, the tortle species may be a seriously off-beat pick for martial characters who are aggressive and light on their feet, but druids are a different story. In terms of both flavor and gameplay stats, a tortle is an excellent pick when designing a new druid character. To begin with, tortles have nature-themed traits and bonuses, such as Nature's Intuition to gain proficiency in skills like Survival and Medicine.

Also, tortles feature thick, hard shells that grant them an impressive 17 AC when they start out. Granted, their DEX score can't raise that AC further and they cannot wear any armor, but for a druid, those sacrifices are worth it. If pressed, a tortle druid might even carry a wooden shield to maximize their AC just in case.

4 Eladrin Elves Can Teleport to Safety

Along with tortles and firbolg, the overall elf species has strong druid vibes, and that includes eladrin elves. Eladrins have darkvision and fey ancestry, like most elves, and they also have the nifty Fey Step ability. That allows them to innately cast Misty Step, and eladrins of different seasons may change the exact details of that Fey Step.

Such an ability is vital to help a druid with limited hit points and AC escape danger, and the bonus effects for being an eladrin may also appeal to druids. Autumn eladrins may charm others when they use this step, while winter eladrin may frighten someone after using Fey Step. Spring eladrin can make someone else teleport instead, and summer eladrin can deal fire damage when they teleport.

3 Half-Orcs Stay Standing With Relentless Endurance

For the most part, the half-orc species is best suited for martial classes like barbarian and fighter, but if players value sheer endurance in difficult battles, then classes like cleric and druid may want to choose half-orc as well. That's partly because druids and clerics tend to be the party's healer, and if they go down, the party is in serious trouble.

To stay alive, half-orcs have the Relentless Endurance trait, allowing them to survive with 1 HP if they would be knocked out. This allows an injured half-orc druid to retreat from the front lines and use a healing spell to get the party back into fighting shape. Also, choosing half-orc may lead to some intriguing roleplay of someone with orc ancestry choosing nature and healing over war.

2 Autognomes Are Tough Little Robots

It's true that the autognome species is ideal for the artificer class, since they can heal themselves with the Mending cantrip, but players desiring off-beat characters can try out an autognome druid. Perhaps an autognome got tired of ships and inventions and decided to tap into the primal wisdom of the wild world.

The Armor Casing trait gives autognomes impressive AC up front, which a druid will definitely want, having their AC equal 13 plus their DEX modifier. In addition, autognomes boast the Built For Success trait, adding 1d4 to a roll to ensure success. That's helpful for any class, including druids with their spellcasting.

1 Aarakocra Stay Out of Harm's Way in the Air

The winged aarakocra species is a great pick for druids for roughly similar reasons as the fairy species. Since aarakocra have a natural flying speed, they can remain aloft in any battle to avoid deadly melee attacks from swords, claws, fangs, and more. In a pinch, this also allows a druid to fight a dragon boss monster on its own turf -- the open skies.

Aarakocra cannot wear medium or heavy armor while flying, but druids tend to go around in light leather armor anyway, so that restriction means little to an aarakocra druid. If need be, an aarakocra druid can also cast the Wind Gust spell starting at 3rd level to keep dangerous enemies at bay, just in case.

Dungeons and Dragons

A fantasy roleplaying tabletop game designed for adventure-seekers, the original incarnation of Dungeons & Dragons was created by Gary Gygax in 1974.

Franchise

Dungeons & Dragons

Original Release Date

January 26, 1974

Publisher

Wizards of the Coast , TSR Inc.

Designer

E. Gary Gygax , Dave Arneson

Player Count

4-8 Players Recommended

Age Recommendation

12+

Length per Game

3 hours +

Expansions

Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition , Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition , Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition , Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Summary

Dungeons & Dragons is the fantasy tabletop role-playing game that has persevered for nearly 50 years and continues to grow strong. Created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, the game first made publication in 1974 and now falls under the Wizards of the Coast publishing wing. A typical game of DnD consists of 4-6 players, with one player acting as the Dungeon Master. Players can take a sheet and by consulting the various rule books and expansions, can create their own character with weapons, skills, and physical appearance. Once all characters are created, the Dungeon Master sets them off in a campaign of their choosing or design, where players will have to follow the rules of the DM as they roleplay their way through storylines. The characters will level up, find equipment, and experience permanent changes based on the way the story plays out. A roll of the dice can mean the difference between a successful hit, and a painful end. The most recent edition of Dungeons & Dragons is the 5th edition rule book.