Best Races for Bard 5e
by Prince Phantom
As one of the most versatile classes in the entire game, Bards can be just about anything you want them to be. They can be good with weapons, fantastic with magic of all kinds, and skill monkeys all at once, or specialize in a couple of those fields. This means you can really go wild with your race selection. Bards also aren’t as dependent on feats like martial classes, so they aren’t pushed to take a race that grants a feat at level one, but can still make great use of it if that’s the route you decide to go. One area the Bard does struggle in is defense, especially at low levels. Thankfully, defensive features are the most common racial features, so fixing that isn’t very hard. We’ll go over the defense oriented races first, as I believe those are the most helpful for the Bard, and then go over some other options as well. As always, I exclude flying races as they aren’t allowed at many tables, but if they are, Fairy is the best race for Bard and it isn’t even close, and I exclude the two that give a feat at level one because every class works well with those and I like to be original.
Best Defensive Races
Githzerai: Bards have very low AC (unless you’re a Valor Bard) and don’t get the Shield spell, and this race fixes that second part. Going from a 14 AC to a 19 when you need it will save you from a lot of attacks, and if you can get medium armor and shield proficiency through your subclass, multiclassing, or the Moderately Armored feat, you’ll get an AC of 24 with Shield. It helps that the rest of this race is pretty sweet too, granting Detect Thoughts, a spell that many Bards would probably love to have but may have trouble finding a place for on their sheet.
Shadar-Kai: The bonus action teleport followed by resistance to all damage for the rest of the round is one of the strongest single racial abilities in 5e, and is exactly what a Bard who got a little in over their head needs. We also always get resistance to a fairly common damage type and all the many benefits of being an elf, and as a spellcaster we are well equipped to make use of things like the extra downtime provided by Trance.
Beasthide Shifter: This race gives us a transformation as a bonus action that grants +1 AC and a good amount of temporary HP. How best to use this is a bit tricky, as Bards are already pretty good at handing out temporary HP thanks to them being great candidates for the Inspiring Leader feat. I would start the day with the Inspiring Leader temporary HP, then once that is used up, transform and get a new shield of temporary HP. Doing this can add a ton of HP to your character, far more than something like a Hill Dwarf could provide.
Earth Genasi: Blade Ward as a bonus action is an amazing defensive ability, giving us turns where we feel as tanky as the Barbarian. The limited uses mean we need to be strategic with when and where to use this, but I’d pop it basically whenever I expect two or more enemies to attack me. Pass Without Trace is also a major boon to our spell list, letting our whole party engage in stealth and sometimes giving us surprise rounds, which basically automatically win a fight.
Firbolg: We mostly take this race for the ability to turn invisible as a bonus action for a round, which does go a long way towards improving our defense on those turns. The extra spells are certainly nice, especially because now we can ritually cast Detect Magic without it taking up one of our known spells. Bards are also pretty good at talking, so maybe you can make some use out of Speech of Beast and Leaf.
Best Races for Utility (skill checks, spellcasting, etc.)
Harengon: Bards actually benefit from Hare Trigger only half as much as other classes, as Jack-of-All-Trades adds half our proficiency bonus to initiative checks already and doesn’t stack with Hare Trigger. Despite this, Harengon are still a really strong pick. Rabbit Hop acting as a free disengage a few times per day helps keep us out of danger, Lucky Footwork helps against dexterity saves, and we get proficiency in the best skill in the game, Perception, which Bards can’t get through their class.
Reborn: If you’re looking for a race that boosts skill checks, you’ll be hard pressed to find one better than the Reborn Lineage from Ravenloft. We can add a d6 to any skill check, and we get to add it after we see the roll. This lets us be more picky with when we need to use this feature, which is great since we only get proficiency bonus uses per long rest. We also get the absolutely massive list of benefits from Deathless Nature, meaning this race adds up to provide a Bard a lot of what they are looking for.
Autognome: This race provides very similar benefits as the Reborn, boosting skill checks by a d4 in the same way and also potentially boosting our AC if we can manage a high enough Dexterity. Bards also get the Mending cantrip, meaning we can heal ourselves with it.
Kenku: The Kenku gives less features overall than the previous two races, but boosts skill checks we have proficiency in by granting advantage proficiency times per long rest. The downside is that we have to choose to use this before we actually roll, meaning you’ll statistically waste this a lot more frequently than you’d waste the features from the Reborn or Autognome. Still a decent choice, and definitely fulfills the mimicry fantasy if that’s what you’re going for.
The Bard is a good enough class on its own that you could really pick any race and have a perfectly fine character, but there are definitely a few that stand out above the rest. I’d definitely look towards races that provide substantial defensive boosts, even if you’re planing on going with Valor or Swords, as this is one of the squishiest classes if you don’t multiclass or take the Moderately Armorerd feat. There’s as many ways to build a Bard as their are races in print, and you can certainly find at least a couple that will fit the character you have in mind.
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