Build for eloquence and mobility with this brand new fey species.
Dusklings originate from the Feywild and possess inherent magical capabilities that make them charismatic, highly mobile and capable of leaping further than most. While they originated from the Feywild, they have travelled to the outer and material planes, often settling in forested areas with their tribe. They are nomadic though, often migrating with the herds to fresher pastures.
The official description is all a bit generic fey wanderer to me, but older editions also included Dusklings and they tell us more about their innate connection to magic, their hardiness and the blue-gray skin they possess.
The Duskling is the first species we’ve seen come from D&D Beyond Drops and while its description is a little mundane, its traits are a fair bit more interesting. I’ve gone into detail about what the Duskling is, tactics and optimisations you can make if you choose one for your character.
Is a Duskling the right species for me?
Choose a Duskling if you want to…
- Be highly mobile
- The party face
- Have adaptable capabilities
A Duskling might not be for you if…
- You don’t want to worry about swapping traits
- Don’t like roleplaying social encounters
Duskling traits
| Creature Type | Fey |
| Size | Medium |
| Speed | 30ft |
| Traits | Darkvision, enhanced jump, inner magic |
| Resistances | None |
| Proficiencies | None |
| Darkvision | Yes |
| Innate spellcasting | No |
| Book found in | D&D Beyond Drops |
Tactics
Dusklings are mostly about their changeable inner magic trait which makes them quite adaptable. Especially as these can be changed with a bonus action. I’d suggest the following tactics:
Jumper: Dusklings are good at jumping. It’s probably not going to come up a lot, but it’s important to understand what you gain. That +2 height to your high jumps means you can now jump to a height of at least 5ft. A high strength might increase this to as much as 10ft (if you have 20 strength). The height you can reach is 1.5 times your height beyond the jump so 9ft assuming you’re 6ft tall. That means with strength 12, you can jump and reach ledges that are 15ft high. Most creatures won’t manage this.
With long jumps, you can jump a distance equal to your strength score (so strength 10 means you can jump 10ft) but you add 10ft to this so would be able to jump 20ft. A higher strength score will extend your long jumps further. The minutiae of jumping distance is rarely too important, but Dusklings will sometimes be better at this and this means they slightly favour a strength build (but not by enough to favour it in your build).
Flexible inner magic: You don’t get all these options at the same time, but it is quite easy to switch between them. I’d probably use mobility as an automatic pick and then switch to ardor for social interactions (or if I’m facing frightening things) and vigor if I need a few extra hit points or to be using acrobatics or athletics. The improved movement of mobility is broadly just really useful and makes this a highly mobile species.
Highly mobile: Between bigger jumps, +10ft movement speed and swim and climb speeds equal to your movement, Dusklings are able to be highly mobile. Melee builds will benefit most from this as they look to close the distance between themselves and enemies, especially hit and run builds like some rogues and monks.
Great party face: Dusklings can have advantage on charisma checks. As long as ardor is applied, then all charisma checks have advantage. That’s quite potent and makes for a really adaptable species. Go for a charisma build and get proficiency on those face skills (or even expertise for a something like a bard) for an imperious conversationalist.
Choosing a class for your Duskling
Below I’ve scored how well each class works with a Duskling:
Artificer⭐⭐⭐
Barbarian ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bard ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cleric ⭐⭐⭐
Druid ⭐⭐
Fighter ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Monk ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Paladin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ranger ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rogue ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sorcerer ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Warlock ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wizard ⭐⭐
*Star ratings scored out of 5
Best classes for a Duskling
I think your best option for a Duskling are going to be classes that benefit from more mobility and from excellent face skills
This means that bards, paladins and warlocks are among your best options. Rogues can do well with charisma and deal in a lot of scouting around so I gave them full marks too. Realistically though, there’s quite a lot of good class options for a Duskling and everyone benefits from high mobility.
Worst Duskling classes
Most classes benefit at least a bit from more mobility, but wizards tend to need this less than others and tend not to be particularly charismatic. Druids are in a similar boat with moon druids being one of a few exceptions, but moon druids get their movement speed through their wild shape anyway and a Duskling’s extra speed won’t stack on this.
About Dusklings
Appearance
Dusklings possess pointed ears like many Fey, but are more robust and taller than something like an Elf. They have blue-grey skin and hair that ranges from dark blue to grey and black. Their appearance is somewhat feral, with wild, scraggy hair.
Personality
Dusklings are nomadic creatures that struggle to settle down like other species might. Because of their loose, tribal nature, Dusklings are resistant to authoritarian individuals. Even their elders do not rule with an iron fist, but with an approachable council.
How to roleplay a Duskling
Most Dusklings like to keep moving and you should consider how you might act if in one place for too long or in a large city. Consider how you might react to authoritarian figures to. Do you outwardly oppose them or more passively disobey their commands.
Dusklings are fey that enjoy playing with their inner magic. Consider how you might use this as you roleplay a Duskling.
Other D&D species guides
Not sure a Duskling is the right species for you? Why not check out one of our other species guides for D&D 5e.
