In some RPGs, your choice of Race can determine a wide variety of things, like racial passive bonuses or unique skills. In Avowed, you are asked to choose your character’s race in the initial character creation screen, but aside from aesthetics and some dialogue choices, the question of which race to choose in Avowed is more up to your own visual preference.
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Though the Pillars of Eternity universe contains multitudes of different races. some of which can be Companions, there are only two playable races in Avowed – for now, at least. This guide goes over the race choices in Avowed and the differences between the two when it comes to gameplay.
Every Playable Race In Avowed
There are two playable races in Avowed: Elves, and Humans. At the beginning of the game during character creation, we are told that this is because Aedyr, the colonial power whom the emperor serves, is made up of both Humans and Elves who came together to form this major alliance after years of war.
Each of these races in Avowed offers one masculine body and one feminine body type, for a total of four body types across all races in Avowed. Later on in character creation, you can choose one of four voices and choose preferred pronouns for your character, which will change how NPCs refer to you.
Elf
Though there are a few different types of Elf in the Pillars of Eternity lore (Pale Elves and Wood Elves), you can only play as a Wood Elf if you choose the Elf race. Elves can be found everywhere the Aedyran Empire has influence, now including The Living Lands.
In typical fantasy tradition, Elves in Avowed are slightly shorter, but significantly longer life spans, than their Human counterparts.
Human
In Avowed, Humans (also called Folk) are the most common race across Eora – when it comes to civilized, advanced races, at least. There are several different types of Human in Pillars of Eternity, including Meadow Folk, Savannah Folk, Storm Folk, and Ocean Folk. Depending on how you customize your character, it’s perfectly possible to make a Human who looks like they could hail from any of these four sub-races.
Compared to Elves, Humans in Avowed are slightly taller and more robust, but don’t live nearly as long. In fact, Humans have one of the shortest life spans of any civilized race in Pillars of Eternity.
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Godlike
In addition to their racial species, every character in Avowed is also something called a Godlike. A Godlike is someone who has been touched by a God, and will often sprout growths on their bodies that correspond with their God’s blessing.
In Avowed, the main character doesn’t know which God touched them, but you can still exhibit their influence with a plethora of Godlike Features customizations in character creation. You can also turn off these Godlike Features visually, but it doesn’t stop NPCs from referring to your apparently hideous Godlike growths.
Are There Any Differences Between Elves & Humans?
All of the differences between the two playable races Avowed has to offer are visual or narrative. You won’t get more Strength by playing as a Human, and you won’t get a passive Essence boost for playing as an Elf. Both races, and all body types for each race, play exactly the same way except for how they look and how NPCs react to them.
Depending on if you choose a Human or an Elf, you may encounter unique dialogue options that can only be used by each race. These will usually be highlighted with a “Human” or “Elf” signifier.
Both races in Avowed have the ability to don Godlike Features, all of which are available to both Humans and Elves. But Humans and Elves have different character customization options for other features. In Avowed, Humans have significantly more character creation options than Elves, especially when it comes to choosing hair.
There are no major gameplay differences between the two races aside from some dialogue moments and the character creation options available, so don’t worry about min-maxing this early in character creation. Ultimately, the choice of whether to pick Human or Elf is up to your aesthetic preference.
- Released
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February 18, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
- Franchise
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Pillars of Eternity
- Publisher(s)
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Xbox Game Studios