Spelljammer 5e Races Reviewed & Ranked
Spelljammer 5e brings six unique character race options to the table. In this post, we rank and review these Spelljammer races to help you pick the right species for your next character.
Excited to blast off into space but don't know what race to play? In this post, we explore and rank all six new playable races in Spelljammer to help you pick the right species for your next character.
While all these races are great in their own right, some have more in-game utility than others.
Want to jump in and create your next Spelljammer character? Check out our Ability Score Calculator - now updated with the new Spelljammer species!
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Ranking Spelljammer 5e Races
For this post, we're ranking these Spelljammer 5e races based on two factors: Utility and Originality. Each is ranked on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest.
Utility refers to the race's abilities, traits, or features that give it more options.
Originality is highly subjective and refers to the design, backstory, and roleplayability of the race.
This is just a guide to help you understand what each race can do - it's by no means a value judgment against any of these races, and any race can play any class well.
Now, it's off to the races! Click below to jump to a specific Spelljammer 5e race.
Astral Elves
Astral Elves Abilities & Features
| Astral Elves Racial Abilities & Features | |
| Creature Type: | Humanoid |
| Size: | Medium |
| Speed: | 30 |
| Astral Fire Learn one cantrip of your choice from *dancing lights, light,* or *sacred flame*. Choose from Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma for this cantrip's spellcasting ability. |
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| Darkvision You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray. |
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| Keen Senses Proficiency in Perception |
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| Astral Trance No need to sleep and can't be put to sleep by magical means. Long rests finish in 4 hours in a conscious meditative state. Gain proficiency in one skill, tool, or weapon of your choice from the PHB until your next long rest. |
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Astral Elves Assessment
While Space Elves get a 1 in originality (there's an elf for every occasion!), they really pack in some useful features that apply to a range of classes.
With Astral Elves and all the Spelljammer races, you get to choose your ability score bonuses by putting +2/+1 into two stats or +1 into three different stats.
You also get to choose from one of three useful light-based cantrips and the spellcasting ability for them. Sacred Flame is a great option, giving you access to radiant damage while synergizing its spellcasting ability to your preferred stat if you aren't playing as a Cleric.
Proficiency in Perception is always a welcome bump, and the ability to teleport 30 feet as a bonus action multiple times a day (up to your proficiency bonus) is a great 'oh shit!' card to have when exploring wildspace.
Rounding out the Astral Elves' kit is Astral Trance, which is the same familiar sleepless elf bit - with an upgrade! Space elves in 5e are graced with gaining proficiency in one skill, tool, or weapon until their next long rest.
This allows them to adapt to situations easily and combine complementary abilities. Becoming proficient in Medicine and using your Starlight Step to revive a fallen ally in a crucial battle is one example that pops into mind.
Utility: 5
Originality: 1
Autognomes
| Autognome Racial Features | |
| Creature Type: | Construct |
| Size: | Small |
| Speed: | 30 |
| Armored Casing Encased in metal or other durable material. Your base Armor Class is 13 plus your Dexterity modifier when not wearing armor. |
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| Built for Success Add 1d4 to one attack roll, ability check, or saving throw you make with the number of uses equal to your proficiency bonus that regenerate after a long rest. |
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| Healing Machine If *mending* is cast on you, regain a number of hit points equal to the roll plus your Constitution modifier. In addition, you can be healed by *cure wounds, healing word, mass cure wounds, mass healing *worid*, and *spare the dying*. |
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| Mechanical Nature Resistance to poison damage and immunity to disease with advantage on saving throws against being paralyzed or poisoned. You don't need to eat, drink, or breathe. |
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| Sentry's Rest When you take a long rest, you can spend 6 of those hours in an inactive, motionless state instead of sleeping. You remain conscious, though your body is inert. |
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| Specialized Design You gain two tool proficiencies from the Player's Hand Book. |
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Autognome Assessment
Autognomes are as eccentric as they are original and useful, scoring highly in both categories. Being small can offer up some fun advantages, but paired with Armored Casing and a healthy Dex modifier, and you can easily hit 18 AC with a shield at first level. Not bad!
But adding to that, you can add Guidance to your attack rolls, ability checks, or saving throws (without that pesky concentration ruining things) as many times up to your proficiency bonus per day. This is great for ensuring those critical moments come out the way you intended.
This class seems purpose-built for the Artificer class, as indicated by its Healing Machine feature. If *mending*
is cast on you, you regain extra HP and other healing spells can be used on you.
Healing from a cantrip is practically non-existant in D&D 5e, so this is a powerful ability worth taking *mending* if your class allows it. Otherwise, the Magic Initiate feat is a great way to enable this spell on your Autognome.
Poison and disease resistance are great, but not terribly common. But being able to exist in space without breathing can definitely come in handy!
Autognomes lack Darkvision, but do get the trance ability and two extra tool proficiencies to expand their usefulness.
Utility: 4
Originality: 4
Giff
| Gif Racial Abilities & Features | |
| Creature Type: | Humanoid |
| Size: | Medium |
| Speed: | 30 walking/swimming |
| Astral Spark Cause extra force damage equal to your proficiency bonus when hitting a target with a simple or martial weapon. You can use this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus each day. |
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| Hippo Build Advantage on Strength-base ability checks and Strength saving throws. Also, you count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and how much you can push, pull, or drag. |
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| Firearms Mastery Proficiency in all firearms, ignore loading properties, and long range shots don't impose disadvantage on your attack roll. |
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Giff Assessment
Despite signaling problematic with their colonial appearance and affinity for firearms, Giff are an interesting race of nomadic explorers with no homeworld to call their own.
Giff are an example of a race that's tailored to do something very well, which is shoot stuff with a big gun. This is indicated by their Firearms Mastery and Hippo Build, which really show their usefulness when you're using a heavy canon to deal massive damage from afar.
Astral Spark adds extra flat damage that scales with your proficiency bonus, but the amount is a little underwhelming.
The extra Strength advantage and save gives them more utility and survivability depending your class, which is great, but they do lack the ever-important Darkvision. A clever Giff Artificer could easily fashion themselves a pair of Goggles of Night at level 2, though!
Utility: 1
Originality: 2
Hadozee
| Hadozee Racial Abilities & Features | |
| Creature Type: | Humanoid |
| Size: | Small or Medium |
| Speed: | 30 walking/climbing |
| Dextrous Feet You can use your feet to manipulate an object, open a closed door or container, or pick up or set down a Tiny object as a bonus action.Glide: You can move up to 5 feet horizontally for every 1 foot you descend in the air, at no movement cost to you. When you would take damage from a fall, you can use your reaction to reduce the fall's damage to 0. |
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| Hadozee Resilience When you take damage, you can use your reaction to roll a d6, then add your proficiency bonus and reduce the damage you take by that total. You can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all uses after a long rest. |
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Hadozee Assessment
Despite the early controversy, the Hadozee are a fun-loving species with great utility and roleplaying material to work with.
Being able to climb easily, use their feet to manipulate objects, and glide without any movement penalty makes the Hadozee right at home on any Spelljamming or seafaring vessel.
Negating fall damage with a reaction and Hadozee Resilience add some extra survivability, but many of the Hadozee's innate abilities and features are circumstantial, which detracts from its overall utility.
Utility: 2
Originality: 4
Plasmoid
| Plasmoid Racial Abilities & Features | |
| Creature Type: | Ooze |
| Size: | Small or Medium |
| Speed: | 30 |
| Amorphous If you are not wearing armor, you can squeeze through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide. You have advantage on ability checks you make to start or escape a grapple. |
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| Darkvision You can hold your breath for up to 1 hour. |
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| Hold Breath You can hold your breath for up to 1 hour. |
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| Natural Resistance Resistance to acid and poison, and have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned. |
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| Hold Breath You can reshape your body to give yourself a head, one or two arms, one or two legs, and makeshift hands and feet, or you can revert to a limbless blob (no action required). As a bonus action, you can extrude a pseudopod that is up to 6 inches wide and 10 feet long or reabsorb it into your body. You can use this pseudopod to manipulate an object, open an unlocked door or container, stow or retrieve an item from an open container, or pour out the contents of a container. The pseudopod can’t attack, activate magic items, or carry more than 10 pounds. |
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Plasmoid Assessment
Plasmoids are another race simply oozing character and originality. While not as packed with features as the Astral Elves, Plasmoids do enjoy a set of very unique features.
Having a different creature type might not be a huge deal, but in some situations it could come in handy (i.e. spells or abilities that target humoid creatures).
Being able to choose your size is always interesting and can create some fun tactical situations, but being able to squeeze through narrow spaces is really cool.
Imagine a character who can never be put into a prison! (Unless maybe it's a glass jar...) Combined with a Barbarian or Monk's natual defenses, and you've got yourself one slippery character with their advantage on starting and escaping grapples!
Plasmoids have Darkvision and can also hold their breath for up to an hour, which is useful in wildspace. They can also reshape their body to suit their needs and use a pseudopod up to 10 feet long to manipulate objects which enhances their utility.
Utility: 4
Originality: 5
Thri-kreen
| Thri-kreen Racial Abilities & Features | |
| Creature Type: | Monstrosity |
| Size: | Small or Medium |
| Speed: | 30 |
| Chameleon Carapace While you aren’t wearing armor, your carapace gives you a base Armor Class of 13 + your Dexterity modifier. As an action, you can change the color of your carapace to match the color and texture of your surroundings, giving you advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide in those surroundings. |
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| Darkvision You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light and in darkness as if it were dim light. You discern colors in that darkness only as shades of gray. |
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| Secondary Arms You have two slightly smaller secondary arms below your primary pair of arms. The secondary arms function like your primary arms, with the following exceptions: You can use a secondary arm to wield a weapon that has the light property, but you can’t use a secondary arm to wield other kinds of weapons. You can’t wield a shield with a secondary arm. |
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| Sleepless Revitalization You do not require sleep and can choose to remain conscious during a long rest, though you must still refrain from strenuous activity to gain the benefit of the rest. |
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| Thri-kreen Telepathy You have the magical ability to communicate mentally with any number of willing creatures you can see within 120 feet of you. A contacted creature doesn’t need to share a language with you, but it must be able to understand at least one language. Your telepathic link to a creature is broken if you and the creature move more than 120 feet apart, if either of you is incapacitated, or if either of you mentally breaks the contact (no action required). |
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Thri-Kreen Assessment
Thri-Keen are another great example of form and function, with unique design elements and functional features.
Again, having a different creature type and choosing your size are neat options that can shake up the game.
But it's their Chameleon Carapace and Secondary Arms that are really the stars of the show. Having natural armor with advantage on Stealth checks is great, especially paired with the Thri-Keen's Darkvision.
Their Secondary Arms allow for more offensive options and expanded utility (but sadly, you can't wield a shield in the secondary arms).
Thri-Keen don't require sleep, making them fantastic sentries. This pairs nicely with their Telepathy ability that allows them to communicate with any creature that can understand language within 120 feet of you. In space, it's great to have a translator on hand!
Utility: 4
Originality: 4