Audio SRD (Systems Reference Document) for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition

Races

Racial Traits

The description of each race includes racial traits that are common to members of that race. The following entries appear among the traits of most races.

Ability Score Increase

Every race increases one or more of a character’s ability scores.

Age

The age entry notes the age when a member of the race is considered an adult, as well as the race’s expected lifespan. This information can help you decide how old your character is at the start of the game. You can choose any age for your character, which could provide an explanation for some of your ability scores. For example, if you play a young or very old character, your age could explain a particularly low Strength or Constitution score, while advanced age could account for a high Intelligence or Wisdom.

Alignment

Most races have tendencies toward certain alignments, described in this entry. These are not binding for player characters, but considering why your dwarf is chaotic, for example, in defiance of lawful dwarf society can help you better define your character.

Size

Characters of most races are Medium, a size category including creatures that are roughly 4 to 8 feet tall. Members of a few races are Small (between 2 and 4 feet tall), which means that certain rules of the game affect them differently. The most important of these rules is that Small characters have trouble wielding heavy weapons, as explained in “Equipment.”

Speed

Your speed determines how far you can move when traveling ( “Adventuring”) and fighting (“Combat”).

Languages

By virtue of your race, your character can speak, read, and write certain languages.

Subraces

Some races have subraces. Members of a subrace have the traits of the parent race in addition to the traits specified for their subrace. Relationships among subraces vary significantly from race to race and world to world.

Click here for the full Open Gaming License and System Reference Document: https://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/SRD-OGL_V5.1.pdf

Transcript:

Hi and welcome to the Audio SRD, an easy way to listen to the Systems Reference Document for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition! My name is Beth Stone, also known as Beth, the Bard and I’m finding as many ways as possible to make DnD more accessible to its fan base. Please give this limited podcast series a follow and check out my websites HashtagGameschool.com or BeththeBard.com and my social media @ItsBethTheBard!

The systems reference document is the Official dungeons and dragons content that is useable by creators through the open gaming license. There will be a link to the license and SRD in the podcast description.

There are no extra embellishments to this audio. It is simply a full rendition of the document, divided into very small clips for easy reference purposes. If you note any errors in this document, please let Wizards of the Coast know by emailing [email protected].

The System Reference Document 5.1 is Copyright 2016, Wizards of the Coast.

Wizards of the Coast did not pay me to make this and I have created this easily searchable audio reference available for free to all. The voice work is mine, however, so please do not use any of this audio without written permission.