Loxodon Race Guide 5e – Abilities and History of the Elephant People

Last Updated on January 22, 2023

The Loxodon:  Peace Loving and Powerful

Loxodon are a race of humanoid elephants introduced to the 5e in the Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica*.

One of the most notable traits of these elephant people is that they are extremely loyal to their herd, whatever that happens to be.

Sometimes that herd is the family they were born into, and other times it is the group which they have chosen to be a part of.

A tenet of their race is the responsibility to look out for one another. 

This loyalty inherent to their culture is reflected in how they live their lives. Typically speaking, a Loxodon is a calm, steadfast individual, one who enjoys their craft and the presence of people they care about.

When a Loxodon is driven to partake in violence, their commitment goes to the battle and they become truly terrifying opponents.

An enraged Loxodon’s ears will flap wildy and their trunk will trumpet with rage as they fight for something they believe in.

Loxodons are extremely gifted stonemasons. They possess an innate grasp of the art that rivals a dwarf’s connection to the forge.

On Ravnica, a city-planet, loxodons are responsible for much of the cathedrals and towers that create the landscape of the world. 

Fun fact: The name loxodon comes from the genus Loxodonta, to which African Elephants belong.

Loxodon Abilities and Traits: What Characterizes the Loxodon Race

The first racial feature that should be extremely impressive is the Natural Armor option of 12 + your Constitution modifier.

This is right up there with what Unarmored Defense could offer you as a barbarian or monk, even surpassing it in builds that you don’t want to worry about dexterity.

The fact that this is paired with a race who already gets a +2 to Constitution is going to give you some potential for some pretty beefy builds. 

Most animal based races get cool abilities that feel thematically relevant to the animal they derive from. Tortles get to hide in their shells, leonins get a daunting roar, and aarakocras can fly.

Loxodons are no exception and have the incredibly useful ability to use their elephantine trunks as snorkels and to hold things. 

You may not be able to use it to hold weapons or cast spells, but you have two perfectly good hands to do those things with.

Opening doors and holding things is a fun bonus, with I’m sure plenty of practical applications, but where this really gets cool is the ability to interact with other people. Specifically, the ability that you gain to grapple with your special snout.

For this reason alone you should consider picking up the Grappler feat (provided you meet the strength requirement).

This race creates a unique opportunity to grapple often with no expense to your hands, meaning that the advantage created through the grappler feat is something you can use often. 

As a steadfast and serene being you’ll also get advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened.

Either one of those alone could be underwhelming, but the combination of the two creates a wide range of protection for you no matter what your DM might decide to throw at you.

What Classes Are Well Suited to the Loxodon?

Barbarian – Barbarians tend to look for strength and constitution in a race to make it worthwhile. The fact that we’re getting a good constitution bump is enough to make this race a contender, but not enough to sell it.

Where loxodons shine for barbarians is in their ability to keep them from worrying about dexterity. The unarmored defense only surpasses this if you have a dexterity of 16 or higher, which shouldn’t be high on your priority list. You should only have to worry about your strength and constitution.

The fact that barbarians focus so much on a high strength ability actually benefits this race, which is interesting since we normally talk about how the race benefits a class.

The trunk’s ability to lift being tied into the strength score means that when building any sort of loxodon you’ll want to consider a high strength to get maximum benefit. The grappling capabilities of loxodon will also marry beautifully with most barbarian builds.

This is a rare instance of a mutually beneficial class/race pairing, even considering the +1 to wisdom will be mostly wasted on an optimized character.

Druid – You’ll be gaining a bonus to wisdom while creating a druid that can stand their own outside of wild-shape. The best part of this AC bonus is that unlike armor or most other racial features this relies on constitution. You’ll be able to focus on only two stats here and really benefit greatly from both of them.

Cleric – The reasoning to choose cleric echoes that for the druid, but most clerics will  probably choose to go with some sort of heavy armor that surpasses the loxodons tough hide. Mechanically you’ll be getting a great set of stat boosts and some fun features. 

Loxodon Appearance: General Looks Found Among Them

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this yet, but Loxodons look like elephants. 

What’s very interesting here is that previous editions of D&D have included an ‘elephant-folk’ race known as the Loxos, which was very similar, but with one striking difference.

The old species had two trunks, each with weird hand-like endings. It was pretty uncomfortable to look at, even if it did feel slightly more fantastical.

Loxodon are blessed with only one trunk, along with two tusks and two large ears. They are bipedal and have arms with four digits on either hand. Most loxodon have the leathery hide of an African Elephant, noting their real world heritage.

In extreme cold climates though there are groups of loxodon who’s appearance much more notably matches that of a wooly mammoth, with amber-brown fur covering their bodies to provide warmth.

A loxodon’s trunk tends to be about two or three feet and hangs to roughly the bottom of their torsos (think the length of a necktie). Their tusks can be very different in appearance, one’s may curve gracefully upward and another’s may jut straight out from their face. 

In terms of how a loxodon may present themselves, while their clothes may represent the style of the herd they belong to, most also decorate their trunks and tusks in a show of status.

Loxodons committed to keeping peace may even clip their tusks and put an ornate cap on the end as a symbol of their peaceful nature. Those who are no stranger to a fight will often create ornate armor which accentuates their animalistic nature.

Loxodon Names:  Male and Female

The names of a loxodon reflect their culture and commitment to loyalty. A loxodon’s name may reflect various attributes of their herd and what their intended status is in their community.

Of course, all of this is decided in their native language which unsurprisingly has many tones and subtle sounds that are created with one’s trunk. The names listed here are approximations of these names which you can do your best to pronounce.

A great roleplaying strategy is to tell others that they are saying it wrong no matter how perfectly they are pronouncing the name you’ve told them. 

*Ravnica is a plane native to the lore of Magic: The Gathering, that WoTC chose to give players the option to explore in greater depth. Ravnica, at the time this article is being written, doesn’t have any intrinsic connection to the Great Wheel so some DMs may not allow races from this world.