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 Page 5 The Races
All of the core AD&D character races are represented in Baldur's Gate, with the exception of half-orcs, who may make an appearance in a promised expansion pack. Each of the races has its own strengths and weaknesses. The following is a list of the races that you can select from during the character-generation process: Dwarves A race of squat, sturdy fighters and thieves. Dwarves are capable miners, have infravision (the ability to see the inherent heat given off by objects, effectively granting a limited form of night vision), and are resistant to magic. Dwarves can also be fighter-thief multiclassed characters Elves Similar to humans except slighter in form and with a much lengthier life span, elves make good mages and thieves and capable fighters. Elves also have infravision and are strongly resistant to sleep and charm spells. Elves can also be multiclassed characters. Elves also get a bonus when attacking with a bow or a sword. You won't be able to create a dark elf (drow) character, but there may still be a few drow lurking around the Sword Coast who might be willing to join your party given the right incentives. Gnomes Similar in appearance to their cousins, the dwarves, but more jovial and endowed with considerably larger noses. Gnomes are capable of being thieves or fighters or multiclassed fighter-thieves. Like their cousins, gnomes are also highly resistant to magic and have infravision. Half-Elves Born of human and elf parents, half-elves are capable of being most character classes or a multiclassed combination of characters. Half-elves possess infravision and have some resistance to sleep and charm spells. Halflings Essentially small humans, as their name suggests. Halflings possess infravision and are capable thieves and competent fighters. Halflings can also be multiclassed fighter-thieves and are highly resistant to magic spells. Humans The only race that lacks infravision, humans are also unable to be multiclassed. But humans have one key advantage over the other races in that they do not have any restrictions on the experience levels they can reach in their chosen character class. While level restrictions won't be a factor in Baldur's Gate (since characters won't be able to accumulate enough experience points to bump up against the maximum levels imposed by AD&D), experience level limitations may be more of a factor in the planned sequels to Baldur's Gate. Humans can, however, be dual-classed characters. A dual-classed character begins as a normal character with one class, but then at some point during that character's adventures, abandons the initial character class to start again as a different class, losing all accumulated abilities other than hit points in the process. Once the character reaches an experience level in the new class that exceeds the level attained in the initial class, the character can effectively use the abilities of both classes.
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