Eberron Ancestries

During character creation, you can choose any of the following ancestries and heritages. If you wish to play something not on this list, ask the GM.

Common Ancestries

Dwarf

Dwarves are natural miners and smiths, and they control most of the precious metals found naturally across the continent of Khorvaire. Powerful dwarf families mint coinage and operate banks, issue letters of credit, hold loans, and collect debts. Dwarf bankers and merchants wield a great deal of economic power throughout Khorvaire, and they are well respected as a result. To an extent, they are also feared, since dwarves are known to be ruthless in collecting unpaid debts.

Heritages

You select a heritage at 1st level to reflect abilities passed down to you from your ancestors or common among those of your ancestry in the environment where you were born or grew up. You have only one heritage and can't change it later. A heritage is not the same as a culture or ethnicity, though some cultures or ethnicities might have more or fewer members from a particular heritage.

• Ancient-Blooded Dwarf Unchanged
• Death Warden Dwarf Unchanged
• Deep Earth Dwarf Originally called Forge Dwarf
• Elemental Heart Dwarf Unchanged
• Oathkeeper Dwarf Unchanged
• Rock Dwarf Unchanged
• Strong-Blooded Dwarf Unchanged

Elf

Many elves are regal and aloof, concerned with plans that cover the sweep of centuries, not the petty day-today affairs that occupy the thoughts of other races. A few elves are rather more down-to-earth: The elves of the dragonmarked houses have lived among humans and other short-lived races for centuries and have adjusted their sense of time to accommodate, and the elves of Valenar have rejected many of the old ways of their kind in order to take a more active and expansionist place in the world.

Heritages

You select a heritage at 1st level to reflect abilities passed down to you from your ancestors or common among those of your ancestry in the environment where you were born or grew up. You have only one heritage and can't change it later. A heritage is not the same as a culture or ethnicity, though some cultures or ethnicities might have more or fewer members from a particular heritage.

• Ancient Elf Unchanged
• Drow Originally called Desert Elf
• Seer Elf Unchanged
• Tairnadal Elf Found below

Heritage: Drow

Additionally, the following feats become common for you:

• Wildborn Adept
• Wildborn Magic

Heritage: Tairnadal Elf

Warriors seemingly born in the saddle, the Tairnadal elves are paragons of battle and honor. They seek to carry on the spirits of those mighty elves who smashed giants on Xen'drik. You gain Elven Weapon Familiarity and Ride as bonus feats.
Additionally, the following feats become common for you:

• Ancestral Guidance
• Defiance Unto Death

Elven Ancestry Feats

Ancestral Guidance

Feat 9

uncommonelffortune
Access received training from the Tairnadal elf, you must worships your ancestors
Frequency once per day.
Your ancestors guide you in battle, pushing you through troubled times. You may spend 1 hero point to regain your reaction.
Anathema This benefit represents the favor of your ancestral spirit. If the GM determines that you have dishonored or angered your patron spirit, you lose the benefit of this feat until you have atoned for your actions.

Gnome

Gnomes harbor a thirst for knowledge that can only be described as lust. They believe that every piece of information, no matter how trivial, may someday have value. Combined with a meticulous discipline, this love of knowledge makes gnomes superb librarians, accountants, bards, and alchemists, but this attitude has a sinister side as well. The same talents that make an accomplished bard can produce a skilled spy, and gnome society is filled with webs of intrigue and blackmail that often pass completely unnoticed by human eyes. Like the dwarves, the gnomes have no history of empire building, but their talents for diplomacy and espionage have allowed them to maintain their independence throughout the history of Khorvaire. In addition to their skill as alchemists, gnomes have mastered the art of elemental binding, which they use to power the ships and other vessels they construct in the dry docks and shipyards of Zilargo.

Heritages

You select a heritage at 1st level to reflect abilities passed down to you from your ancestors or common among those of your ancestry in the environment where you were born or grew up. You have only one heritage and can't change it later. A heritage is not the same as a culture or ethnicity, though some cultures or ethnicities might have more or fewer members from a particular heritage.

• Fey-Spire Gnome Originally called Fey-Touched Gnome
• Sensate Gnome Unchanged
• Umbral Gnome Unchanged
• Vivacious Gnome Unchanged
• Wellspring Gnome Unchanged

Goblin

The goblinoids are more than tribes of savages scratching at the edges of civilization. They carved out a nation in Khorvaire during the Last War and ruled an empire that spanned the continent. Cunning, fierce, and strong in number, goblinoids are poised to take back the empire that civil war destroyed millennia ago—if they can manage to keep civil war from tearing apart their newborn nation.

Heritages

You select a heritage at 1st level to reflect abilities passed down to you from your ancestors or common among those of your ancestry in the environment where you were born or grew up. You have only one heritage and can't change it later. A heritage is not the same as a culture or ethnicity, though some cultures or ethnicities might have more or fewer members from a particular heritage.

• Charhide Goblin Unchanged
• City Goblin Originally called Treedweller Goblin
• Irongut Goblin Unchanged
• Razortooth Goblin Unchanged
• Unbreakable Goblin Unchanged

Half-Elf

Half-elves, also known as the Khoravar, share the continent of Khorvaire with the other common races. When the elves first came to the continent and began mingling with the human settlers, the first half-elves were born. Over time, the half-elves gathered and formed two distinct family groups—the groups that eventually became House Lyrandar and House Medani. For two thousand years, the half-elves of Khorvaire have possessed a culture and society of their own. Occasionally, elves and humans still produce half-elves, but those belonging to the two half-elf dragonmarked houses breed true as a race of their own.
Half-elf are represented by applying the Half-Elf heritage to the Human ancestry.

Half-Orc

Half-orcs are rare on Khorvaire, since humans and orcs have never lived in particularly close proximity. In the small, scattered human communities of the Shadow Marches, however, half-orcs are more common, and they can also be found in the western parts of the Eldeen Reaches and Droaam. The orcs of the Shadow Marches live much as the humans do: It is a rustic life, to be sure, but a far cry from their existence as ruthless barbarian hordes in the distant past. Half-orcs are just as civilized as the humans of the region, and often look almost human despite their size and strength.
Half-orcs are represented by applying the Half-Orc heritage to the Human ancestry.

Halfling

In their homeland, halflings are nomads who ride domesticated dinosaurs across the wide plains. The heritage of the nomad also serves more urbanized halflings well, and halflings have established themselves across Khorvaire as merchants, politicians, barristers, healers, and criminals. The tribal nomads of the plains can sometimes be found in the cities, but often the halflings of the cities blend in with the rest of the population and display only the occasional reminder of their nomadic roots.

Heritages

You select a heritage at 1st level to reflect abilities passed down to you from your ancestors or common among those of your ancestry in the environment where you were born or grew up. You have only one heritage and can't change it later. A heritage is not the same as a culture or ethnicity, though some cultures or ethnicities might have more or fewer members from a particular heritage.

• Gutsy Halfling Unchanged
• Hillock Halfling Unchanged
• Observant Halfling Unchanged
• Twilight Halfling Unchanged
• Wildwood Halfling Unchanged

Human

Humans, a relatively young race, are the dominant race of Eberron.

Heritages

You select a heritage at 1st level to reflect abilities passed down to you from your ancestors or common among those of your ancestry in the environment where you were born or grew up. You have only one heritage and can't change it later. A heritage is not the same as a culture or ethnicity, though some cultures or ethnicities might have more or fewer members from a particular heritage.

• Skilled Heritage Unchanged
• Versatile Heritage Unchanged

Uncommon Ancestries

Changeling

Changelings are subtle shapeshifters capable of disguising their appearance. They evolved through the union of doppelgangers and humans, eventually becoming a separate race distinct from either ancestral tree. They do not possess the full shapechanging ability of a doppelganger, but they can create effective disguises at will. This ability makes them consummate spies and criminals, and many changelings live up to that potential.
The changeling ancestry can be found here.

Hobgoblin

An uncommon varaity of goblinoid, the Hobgoblin is in the middle ground between bugbear and goblin.

Heritages

You select a heritage at 1st level to reflect abilities passed down to you from your ancestors or common among those of your ancestry in the environment where you were born or grew up. You have only one heritage and can't change it later. A heritage is not the same as a culture or ethnicity, though some cultures or ethnicities might have more or fewer members from a particular heritage.

• Runtboss Hobgoblin Unchanged
• Shortshanks Hobgoblin Unchanged
• Smokeworker Hobgoblin Unchanged
• Steelskin Hobgoblin Unchanged
• Warmarch Hobgoblin Unchanged
• Warrenbred Hobgoblin Unchanged
• Xaosbane Hobgoblin Originally called Elfbane Hobgoblin. Gain Resist Xaos Magic instead, bonus against occult magic.

Orc

Wise and wild, the orcs stand out as a race always on the edge of savagery. With a proud history and a sacred duty, orcs are guardians of some of the world’s most ancient secrets.

Heritages

You select a heritage at 1st level to reflect abilities passed down to you from your ancestors or common among those of your ancestry in the environment where you were born or grew up. You have only one heritage and can't change it later. A heritage is not the same as a culture or ethnicity, though some cultures or ethnicities might have more or fewer members from a particular heritage.

• Badlands Orc Unchanged
• Battle-Ready Orc Unchanged
• Deep Orc Unchanged
• Grave Orc Unchanged
• Rainfall Orc Unchanged
• Winter Orc Unchanged

Shifter

Shifters, sometimes called "the weretouched," are descended from humans and natural lycanthropes, now nearly extinct on Khorvaire. Shifters cannot fully change shape but can take on animalistic features—a state they call shifting. Shifters have evolved into a unique race that breeds true. They have a distinct culture with its own traditions and identity.

Heritages

Shifters are represented by applying the Beastking versatile heritage to the Human ancestry. When you are chosing your animal type, the shifters of Eberron are primarily of the following animalistic traits. Beasthide (Bear, Boar Longtooth (Tiger, Wolf Swiftstride (Tiger, Rat, Leopard Wildhunt (Wolf, Rat, Tiger Cliffwalk (Monkey Razorclaw (Leopard, Tiger).

Warforged

Built as mindless machines to fight in the Last War, the warforged developed sentience as a side effect of the arcane experiments that sought to make them the ultimate weapons of destruction. With each successive model that emerged from the creation forges of House Cannith, the warforged evolved until they became a new kind of creature—living constructs.
The warforged ancestry can be found here.

Automatons in Eberron

The Automatons from Guns and Gears can be found in Eberron as a warforged created before the Last War with an ancient schema. They have been alive for likely thousands of years, but were in stasis on Xen'Drik.

Kobold

Outsiders often assume that kobolds are primitive and savage since they live in unmodified caverns and rely on oral tradition instead of written records. Also, they live in small tribal communities and have never come together to create cities, nations, or empires. However, kobolds are just as sophisticated as humans or gnomes. While they prefer to live in natural environments instead of creating artificial structures, kobolds have a great gift for mining and stoneworking, and they often fill their lairs with cunning traps. But their culture is driven by tradition, and the kobolds have never sought to change or progress. They are the children of the dragons, vessels of the progenitors' will; change will come when the great dragons mandate it.

Heritages

You select a heritage at 1st level to reflect abilities passed down to you from your ancestors or common among those of your ancestry in the environment where you were born or grew up. You have only one heritage and can't change it later. A heritage is not the same as a culture or ethnicity, though some cultures or ethnicities might have more or fewer members from a particular heritage.

• Caveclimber Kobold Unchanged
• Cavern Kobold Unchanged
• Dragonscaled Kobold Unchanged
• Spellscale Kobold Unchanged
• Tunnelflood Kobold Unchanged
• Venomtail Kobold Unchanged

Rare Ancestries

Catfolk

Curious and gregarious wanderers, catfolk combine features of felines and humanoids in both appearance and temperament. They enjoy learning new things, collecting new tales and trinkets, and ensuring their loved ones are safe and happy. Catfolk view themselves as chosen guardians of natural places in the world and are often recklessly brave, even in the face of overwhelming opposition.
In Eberron, the catfolk can be found in the Lhazaar Principalities or Xen'Drik. While many see them as shifters, they are in fact a distinct race. Those found in the Lhazaar Principalities are either traders or pirates, while the ones in Xen'Drik live nocturnally in the desert on the north-west part of the continent or in the jungle.

Heritages

• Clawed Catfolk Unchanged
• Flexible Catfolk Unchanged
• Hunting Catfolk Unchanged
• Jungle Catfolk Unchanged
• Sharp-Eared Catfolk Unchanged
• Desert Catfolk Originally called Winter catfolk

Dragonborn

The dragonborn came from Argonnessen, the continent of dragons; or that is the prevailing theory, at least. Dragonborn communities have also been spotted in Xen'drik and in Qbarra on Khorvaire, neither of which claim any tie to the Dragons of Argonnessen.
The dragonborn ancestry can be found here.

Kalashtar

The kalashtar are a compound race: incorporeal entities from the alien plane of Dal Quor, the Region of Dreams, merged with human bodies and spirits to form a distinct species. They were once a minority among the quori, the native race of Dal Quor, hunted and persecuted for their religious beliefs. Thousands of years after the quori invaded Eberron and the connection between their plane and the Material Plane was severed, the kalashtar were the first of the quori to discover a means to reach the Material Plane once more. Fleeing persecution, they transformed their physical forms into psychic projections that allowed them to enter the Material Plane and possess willing humans. Today, new kalashtar are born, not possessed; neither spirit nor human, they are a new race that breeds true.
The kalashtar, a human heritage, can be found here.