Human: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:Happy_human_killing_songs.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Humanity: everybody's friend. | [[Image:Happy_human_killing_songs.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Humanity: everybody's friend. Also, no hard feelings guys. Happy human songs are about killing invading humans too.]] | ||
'' | {{Topquote|[[/tg/|Humans need fantasy to be human.]] To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape.|[[Discworld|Sir Terry Pratchett, ''Hogfather'']]}} | ||
{{Topquote|1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McQ58nhhpHM I'M A PIONEER! I'M AN EXPLORER! I'M A HUMAN, AND I'M CUMMING!]|2=Alex Jones, alleged Human}} | |||
{{Topquote|You are a violent and irrepressible miracle. The vacuum of cosmos and the stars burning in it are afraid of you. Given enough time you would wipe us all out and replace us with nothing — just by accident.|Disco Elysium}} | |||
{{Topquote|I'm ahead, I'm a man, I'm the first mammal to wear pants, I'm at peace with my lust, I can kill 'cause in god I trust.|Pearl Jam, ''Do The Evolution''}} | |||
''"[[/ | '''Humans''' (Scientific name ''Homo sapiens'', "Inferior/simple-minded race" as seen by your [[Eldar|generic super-intelligent and advanced race]], "weak/frail race" as seen by your [[Orks|generic war-mongering race]], and "Nom noms" as seen by [[Tyranid|the race that only exists to consume and grow]]) are a species of bilaterally symmetrical carbon-based creatures native to a small rocky planet orbiting Sol. | ||
Humans have five appendages: the two longest ones underneath for locomotion, two more flexible appendages in the middle that split into very fine tentacles on the ends for manipulation and pleasure, and a cranium up top for sensation. They stand upright and have nearly their entire cognitive organ contained within a bony shell inside the sensory limb, the rest of it in a bone sheathe in the middle "baggy" part. Humans on average stand erect between 1.5 and 2 meters in height, and mass between 50 and 100 kilograms. | |||
Humans are descended from arboreal omnivores which migrated on the plains of a landmass in the Eastern hemisphere. They have gender dimorphism: females are smaller by 9% on average, only males have protrusions at the base of the locomotor limbs, and nearly all mature females have two protruding subdermal glands on their front thorax near the base of the manipulation limbs. A large sample of data from various competitions and world records based on gender have also shown human sexual dimorphism also extends to attributes of physical fitness. For example, males are slightly faster and considerably stronger than females, while females possess [http://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2011/opinion/women-and-their-resistance-to-disease greater resistance] [http://www.medicaldaily.com/man-flu-real-estrogen-makes-women-more-resistant-respiratory-diseases-men-307471 to diseases]. Both are particularly obsessed with mating. | |||
Humans | Humans have an exceptionally high endurance (for killing aliens longer), and their long distance running is unmatched by all but a few species. Some speculate early Humans hunted simply by stalking prey till it had to rest then bashing its head in, though the practicality of this is questioned. Human pain tolerance is high enough that they willingly ingest plants [[Wikipedia:Capsaicin|high in irritants]] that render them unpalatable to most species. Humans must consume [[Wikipedia:Ascorbic acid|a variety]] [[Wikipedia:Retinoic acid|of acids]] [[Wikipedia:pantothenic acid|every day]] to maintain health. Failure to do so results in [[Wikipedia:Scurvy|weakness followed by death]]. Human blood is literally made of iron and [[Wikipedia:Blood#pH_values|capable of neutralizing acids]] if combined with them. | ||
==...Okay, but seriously.== | |||
Now on to the REAL reason you're on this page. | |||
Humans are a playable race in almost every game, which is a complete mystery if contemplated long enough ([[derp|which may be too long]]). If you're going to imagine your character as a gunfightan, spell-slingan, wall-vaultan, asskickan superman, what's the point of suddenly slapping that little bit of realism in there? Therefore, they are largely overlooked in most games (except for 3.5e [[D&D]] players who HAD to have that extra first-level feat). Indeed, most descriptions of the species for playable races go something like "they're just like humans, except for this." Most of the time, you'll honestly prefer some of the actual DEFINING TRAITS that come with playing another race, whether it's Never-Say-Die Elfdar vehicles (as opposed to [[Space Marine]] 14-armor dickery) or some kind of crazy mutation/horns/dragon wings. Basically, the benefits can never truly erase the relative boredom you'll get from still being a human, despite all your other options. | |||
Humans are represented in most games as the most balanced and widespread race, which is a blatant bit of self-flattery, or it can be read to mean that they are the most mediocre and suck equally at everything. Most notable can be in D&D 2.0, in which every race had a given benefit, save the humans who had nothing (unless you count the ability to be any class and reach max level in any of them, whereas other races had restricted classes and restricted levels in said classes - but then, everyone hated that rule and homebrewed it out anyway). When they ARE given distinct advantages, is to be more versatile, adaptable or "jack-of-all-trades" than other bipeds, which is kind of a non-advantage: "we didn't know what to give you, so here's a gift certificate at the local racial feature shop to buy something." You would think that humans' exceptional endurance compared to other Earth species would come into play, (we are one of the best long distance runners in the whole animal kingdom), but it never does; though there is a difference between animals and sapient humanoid races such as elves and dwarves. | |||
On the other hand whenever there is a coalition of multiple races and humans are part of them, you can bet the one leading them will be human. Talk about self-flattery again. In sci-fi video games they also tend to be portrayed as skilled diplomats, which is ironic considering how most leaders [[Skub|never see eye-to-eye in real life]]. | |||
Then again, there's a certain appeal in [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|humans showing other species what they're truly capable of]]. | |||
==Human Physiology and Psychology== | |||
Humans are medium creatures, averaging between 1.6-1.8 meters tall (though there are exceptions of course) and weighing in between 69-89 Kg. Appearance-wise there exists a wide diversity of skin tones and minor body features which was commonly described as "race" but has fallen out of favour due to gigatons of [[Skub|skub]] associated with the term. There is some difficulty on pinpointing a defining trait since our real life intelligence is moot if there are other sentients, but alternatively one could realistically invoke [[Humanity Fuck Yeah|"human grit and perseverance"]] since, again judging from real life, we survived so much shit and clawed our way to the top in spite of it (and ourselves) that it is at least somewhat deserved. | |||
Body-wise humans have little obvious weapons, we can actually give a decent bite and our legs and fists can handle wolf-tier animals one-on-one with some ease, but realistically speaking without some sort of weapon, be it only a big rock or a stick, an average human will not get too far even against such "mid-tier" animals like boars or stags. That being said, humans do have some natural resilience and recent anthropological research has shown that we can also pride ourselves as being an "implacable man" style hunters - we will just casually follow an animal until it drops from exhaustion and we either tame it (horse) or nom it (pretty much everything else that can run fast, and yes [[/d/|that includes horse as well]]). | |||
Due to their intelligence, social-cooperative nature and fecundity, humans generally occupy virtually all but the harshest environments of a given world or setting (and we will damn well try to settle those too). If there are other races/sentient species present the contact between them and humans runs the gamut of merry trading and [[Monstergirls|coexistence]], grudging tolerance and isolation to near-incessant warfare and genocide. | |||
Human psychology is also a smorgasbord of various traits since we can form societies that are [[Mongols|barbarian reavers]] like Orks, [[China|introspective and ordered]] like Elves, [[Japan|industrious and seclusive]] like Dwarves an so on. A major innate psychological trait is human sociability, while there are "lone wolves" out there, most humans will want at least 2-3 companions, be they members of their own species or a fellow sentient, this trait also likely causes humans in most settings to develop civilizations of varying sophistication akin to Dwarves and Elves and as opposed to Ogres or Trolls, although depending on the setting humans can just as well be primal and savage with little or no civility. | |||
==Human Culture(s)== | |||
As previously mentioned, humans are a varied bunch so the cultures we develop will be such as well. In real life our societies tend to follow a few basic patterns like the rough social organisation (rulers-nobles-middle class-lower class) and a proclivity towards clannish organisation (this was prevalent in Europe too until the Church engaged in a feat of massive social engineering by banning cousin marriage and thus effectively destroying the clan structure in favour of a nuclear family). Aside from those, a given culture is also greatly influenced by its environment and availability of resources - [[Japan]] for instance places great emphasis on cooperation and social harmony since you need social cohesion to survive all the earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis, while [[Egypt]] was a totalitarian theocracy due to the Nile concentrating people along the fertile areas and being vital for survival thus making it one of the centers of life and religion. | |||
In various fantasy and sci fi works, as mentioned in the Human Special Rules the cultures tend to broadly coalesce into fantasy Europe/Middle East/Asia with an occasional Mayincatec, African or Greco-romano-egyptian expies if the author is a bit more imaginative. Said societies also tend to have one trait increased out of proportion like war, trade or diplomacy. One can also expect a huge human empire in various stages of [[The Empire|advancement]] or [[Imperium of Man|degeneration]] which will often be inspired by Rome or HRE. Interestingly human societies are practically never shown as peaceful or pacifist, having almost always be(en) engaged in a war with other races or themselves, sometimes at the same time. | |||
==Human Religion(s)== | |||
Again, in real life humans have dozens of religious and hundreds of spiritual beliefs and systems, many of them offshoots of previous ones like Christianity and Islam or regional/national variations as with the bajilion sects of Buddhism and Protestantism OR Hinduism which is practically an entire world onto itself and that's before we even get to the indigenous world faiths or past religions. | |||
In fantasy works humans however will generally fall into two broad categories: | |||
- Worship of a pantheon of about half-dozen or dozen gods inspired by the ancient Bronze and Iron age civilizations of Earth. Said pantheon will likely have the equivalents of chief god, war god, magic god, harvest/life god, sea god and so on though certain settings will shake things up and give a more unusual pantheon. | |||
- Worship of a Judeo-Christian equivalent commonly called Crystal Dragon Jesus by TvTropes. This religion will be monotheistic or have 2-3 gods at most with a [[Ecclesiarchy|Catholic or broadly Christian aesthetic and maybe some doctrinal similarities]]. Alternatively the inspirational source will be toned down and you will end up with one capital-g God and a "church" which may often be in conflict with a "pagan" pantheon though the latter will usually not be as powerful as a full fledged pantheon described in the first point. | |||
- A combination of the prior two where depending on a region you will have religions centered around gods, a god, the God, immensely powerful beings (Dragons are usually the go-to race for this) and various minor spirits and others. Also expect any asian-based culture to have some sort of confucian equivalent that throws around words like "enlightenment" and "harmony", usually with little emphasis on gods. | |||
In science fiction religion will often be handwaved as an afterthought or depicted as declining or nearly gone due to the supposedly enlightened humans no longer needing or deigning to believe in anything supernatural and aliens still believing in gods or having religious beliefs will either be shown as primitive or crusading zealots. Alternatively there will be races or beings present that will be so advanced that they may appear to be godlike or even become indistinguishable from what an actual deity would be (like in the Culture series where the AIs are so powerful that they can create real afterlives with relative ease). Lastly, humans may simply have their old 20th-21st century major religions in slightly altered form or have a new set of beliefs altogether. | |||
==Human Flaws== | |||
Humans will generally run the gamut of failings though a hack author or someone with an ax to grind may exaggerate certain flaws in order to prove a point or send a message. These usually take the form of humans being [[Imperium of Man|genocidal maniacs who are exterminating other races left, right and center for not much more than simple bigotry and xenophobia]]. | |||
This unfortunately has some basis in reality as the most immediately destructive human activity (warfare) has often been if not motivated, then at least shrouded in xenophobia and ethno-racial hatred in order to motivate the troops to slaughter the opponents when in reality the real goal was resources or territory. | |||
Additionally Homo Sapiens Sapiens in general seems to have been at least partially somewhat genocide-happy if not callous in their expansion since many other species of humans are, well, not with us anymore. The Neanderthals are brought up as the most common example although the fact that modern Europeans and Asians have 1-2% of Neanderthal DNA so the truth may be a bit more balanced (a combination of genocide, displacement, grudging co-existence and intermixing). | |||
On the physical side of things, Humans when compared to many other races or animals fall more or less into the mid category - not too bad but nothing to write home about either. A Human can with some effort take down most animals that are smaller than them (wolves, boars, deer etc.) when going 1-on-1, but increase the number of opponents or move into something that is heavier/bigger and we start having problems even with bladed weapons. Smaller humanoids (with possible exception of [[Dwarves]]) are also doable but anything ranging from [[Half-Orc]] and bulkier is going to be a challenge to say the least. This is usually not a problem what with Humans speccing into INT and CO-OP but in any situation or setting where physically stronger and organized opponents outnumber the Humans and technology is not the deciding factor will give Humanity some hurting. | |||
More realistic settings will give humans a more balanced set of virtues and flaws if not outright eschewing this approach altogether and focusing on individuals. | |||
==Human Special Rules== | ==Human Special Rules== | ||
# In every | # In every sci fi movie and game involving aliens, humans MUST suck.<br>No exceptions. Unless they're [[Space Marine|grimdark psycho-indoctrinated, genetically enhanced, Catholic Space-Nazis]], an [[Chaos Space Marines|evil(er) version of thereof]] or the [[Primaris Space Marines|grimdark psycho-indoctrinated, genetically enhanced, Catholic Space-Nazis big brother]]. Or [[Setting:Halo|Master Chief]]. In which case, they're the best damn things in the setting where combat is concerned. In every fantasy movie and game involving elves, dwarves, goblins, etc. humans MUST be boring. No exceptions. Elves are the tall fast guys with great magic who live in the trees, Dwarves are the short strong guys with badass technology who live in the tunnels, humans are the boring medium guys with absolutely nothing special and completely average stats. | ||
#* Unless this is John Carter of Mars in which the title human is an unstoppable one man army, who can kill four armed giant bug Martians with ease. Or if it's [[Tolkien|Middle Earth]] (if you don't think the Edain are awesome, you probably don't know enough about the setting), or Star Wars (where the humans are the most powerful, diverse, and influential race in the setting), [[Star Trek]] (where the humans are the ones responsible for much of the good stuff in the setting), or [[Avatar]] (where the humans are awesome, but portrayed as villains for being pragmatic). | #* Unless this is John Carter of Mars in which the title human is an unstoppable one man army, who can kill four armed giant bug Martians with ease. | ||
# Humans ''always'' have the crappy weapons when fighting technologically advanced/intelligent xenos(eg: Halo - Bullets vs. Plasma. [[Warhammer 40,000]] - [[ | #* Or if it's [[Tolkien|Middle Earth]] (if you don't think the Edain are awesome, you probably don't know enough about the setting), | ||
# in video games especially but in table top and roleplaying as well, humanity's special trait is always brute force. We're never as fast as the space elves, but we always build really big [ | #* or [[Star Wars]] (where the humans are the most powerful, diverse, and influential race in the setting), | ||
#* [[Star Trek]] (where the humans are the ones responsible for much of the good stuff in the setting), | |||
#* or [[Avatar]] (where the humans are awesome, but portrayed as villains for being pragmatic). | |||
# Humans ''always'' have the crappy weapons when fighting technologically advanced/intelligent xenos(eg: [[Setting:Halo|Halo]] - Bullets vs. Plasma. [[Warhammer 40,000]] - [[Lasgun|factory-built flashlights]] vs. alien [[Shuriken Catapult|ninja-star guns]]/[[Splinter Weapons|living poison guns]]/[[Gauss|molecular disassembly weapons]]/cursed-soul-shooting guns). In the case of simple-minded/primitive xenos, the humans must be eaten/dismembered/eviscerated/disemboweled/some combination thereof by said xenos (eg: Bugs vs Mobile infantry, Xenomorphs vs Colonial Marines). In fantasy, humans ''always'' have the boring practical weapons when fighting any other race (eg: Humans vs Elves or Dwarves - Long swords and crossbows vs. magic bows and badass knives or giant hammers and axes and cannons). | |||
# in [[vidya|video games]], especially but in table top and roleplaying as well, humanity's special trait is always brute force. We're never as fast as the space elves, but we always build [[Basilisk Artillery Gun|really big guns]] (sometimes ones that are [[Ordinatus|utterly massive]]) and [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|massive humanoid robots covered with weapons]]. As another example, when I say "elf" you think archers in the woods, but when I say "fantasy human" you think a knight in full plate mail atop a horse, effectiveness may vary but humans' trait is normally thick armour and hitting hard. | |||
# Compared to any other race, Humans must always be subjected to horrendous deaths in any war, real or fiction, by the hundreds, and often disproportionately to their involvement in said war. | # Compared to any other race, Humans must always be subjected to horrendous deaths in any war, real or fiction, by the hundreds, and often disproportionately to their involvement in said war. | ||
# In every work that involves armed fictional conflict, there must always be one [[Mary Sue|heavily plot- | # In every work that involves armed fictional conflict, there must always be one [[Mary Sue|heavily plot-armoured character that can beat the odds no matter how retardedly outnumbered and outgunned he is.]] This character is human if humans are involved in the conflict at all. | ||
# In almost every setting where humans are not fanatical racist nut jobs, human are always the ones most likely to reproduce outside their species. If someone says they're a half-elf, dragon or demon, you never need to ask what the other half is. Among the first questions any human asks upon discovery of a new sapient is " | # In almost every setting where humans are not fanatical racist nut jobs, human are always the ones most likely to reproduce outside their species. If someone says they're a half-elf, dragon or demon, you never need to ask what the other half is. Among the first questions any human asks upon discovery of a new sapient is "can I have sex with it?", and then humans also ignore all rules of logic and genetics by managing to have kids with it. | ||
# Despite any inferiority to other races; Humans '''ALWAYS WIN. | # In most fantasy settings, humans create various "Western-European-like" nations, one "Middle-East-like" nation and one "Chinese-like" or "Japanese-like" nation. | ||
# Despite any inferiority to other races; Humans '''ALWAYS WIN. ''ALWAYS''''', in the end of it all. Either by the efforts of pre-mentioned [[Mary Sue]] or through [[Imperial Guard|the well-honed tactic of drowning their enemies in their own blood and corpses]]. This is because we can't win any other way, unless you're SPESS MARHEENS (That's a fact). In rare cases conflict spans for a few centuries, and the setting it happens in isn't in medieval stasis, humans win through their adaptability due to their short lifespans combined with sufficient intellect, while more long-living races fail to change their society in response to evolving technology, even if they happen to out-science humans (which they usually don't), and less intelligent races get wiped out or enslaved due to the giant technological edge humans have against them. | |||
Also, our butthurt knows no fucking bounds. | Also, our butthurt knows no fucking bounds. | ||
==Media That Prominently Feature Humans== | ==Media That Prominently Feature Humans== | ||
[[File:Ravenloft 3e Humans.png|thumb|right|250px|Humans tend to adopt different styles in different settings. These humans come from [[Ravenloft]], for example.]] | |||
Well, Dragonlance, but then, they had Kender, so... | All of them. No really, all of them ([[Bionicle|almost]]). It's only natural that the only intelligent race we know of is the one we add everywhere and into everything. The reason for this can be numerous - It makes it easy to relate to it for most people when your race is represented, and since we ''are'' the only intelligent race we actually know, humans are the only template we can work off of. | ||
Well, Dragonlance, but then, they had [[Kender]], so... | |||
Some do it more than others, tho - e.g, everybody knows that DnD only has the Human race because some people are too xenophobic to play an actual interesting race, while other media, like in 40k, humans are the best goddamn thing ever. | Some do it more than others, tho - e.g, everybody knows that DnD only has the Human race because some people are too xenophobic to play an actual interesting race, while other media, like in 40k, humans are the best goddamn thing ever. | ||
==Human mating practices== | ==Human mating practices== | ||
{{Topquote|And their reproductive system is the same as their waste-elimination system. Did you know that? It’s true. I’ve done the dissections.|Trazyn the Infinite}} | |||
We do have these. The writers of this wiki have not studied them. Why should we? | We do have these. The writers of this wiki have not studied them. Why should we? | ||
In role-playing games, humans (especially those of the [[bard]] [[class]]) tend to be the most fertile race, and the one most amenable to interspecies romance and cross-breeding ( | In role-playing games, humans (especially those of the [[bard]] [[class]]) tend to be the most fertile race, and the one most amenable to interspecies romance and cross-breeding (rivalled only by [[dragon]]s). | ||
P.S. If you don't know how babies are made just ask your parents what "fucking" is. They will be delighted to give you a detailed explanation. | P.S. If you don't know how babies are made just ask your parents what "fucking" is. They will be delighted to give you a detailed explanation. | ||
==Humans in Dungeons & Dragons== | |||
In [[Dungeons & Dragons]], humanity's "hat", or singular defining racial trait, is ''Versatility''. What this means in practice varies from edition to edition, but it generally means that humans may not get the specific bonuses that certain races do, but they don't get any penalties, either. | |||
In [[Basic Dungeons & Dragons|Basic]], humanity's biggest strength was that they were the only race that could actually take classes like [[Fighter]], [[Thief]] or [[Wizard|Magic-User]]. Other races, like [[Elf]], [[Dwarf]], [[Halfling]], [[Goblin]], [[Orc]], [[Gnoll]], etc, were treated as classes in their own right (early D&D was ''weird''), and often relied on [[Variant Class]]-analogues to expand their options.<br> | |||
For example, [[Dwarf#BECMI|Dwarves could be taken as Dwarf-Clerics]], who were like [[Clerics]] but: better fighters, unable to turn undead, could reach 12th level and, -- oh yeah -- they were mandated to '''avoid''' casting spells where non-Dwarves could see them do it (unless it was a matter of life and death). | |||
In [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons|Advanced]], again, humanity's only major strength was their lack of penalties; humans alone could take any class to any level, whereas other races could only take specific classes, and could only rise to certain levels within those classes. It's unclear just how viable this was, because nobody seemed to really like the idea of non-humans having level limits based on their race; [[Baldur's Gate]] and [[Icewind Dale]] both dropped that mechanic like a hot potato. And even within the official supplements there were some treading on humanity's toes.<br> | |||
For example, whilst the [[Paladin]] was envisioned as a human-only class, several races were released that could also become paladins, namely [[Rakasta]], [[Lupin|Lupins]], and [[Saurial|Saurials]].<br> | |||
Humans also had unique [[Multiclassing#Advanced_Dungeon_.26_Dragons|multiclassing]] mechanics in the form of [[Multiclassing#Dual-classing|dual-classing]], which involved basically completely stopping your advance in one class and starting over from scratch in another one. Which, if you weren't using level limits, was demonstrably inferior to the [[demihuman]] ability of [[Multiclassing#Multiclassing|multiclassing]], where you progress in multiple classes ''simultaneously'' from character creation. | |||
In [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|3rd Edition]], humanity again had no ability score modifiers. However, a trend started that would influence the next three editions (and one spin-off): human versatility was given a mechanical basis, with humans now gaining a bonus feat at character creation, an expanded array of skill points (+4 at first level, +1 at each level), and having a [[Favored Class]] of Any, allowing them to [[Multiclassing#3rd Edition & Pathfinder|multiclass]] freely and without suffering XP penalties if they weren't taking levels in their "iconic" class.<br> | |||
[[Pathfinder]] followed the same idea as 3E. The only changes are system wide where they only get +1 skill point at every level starting from first (getting 4 times as many skill points at level 1 no longer exists for anyone, instead you get a +3 bonus to a skill if it's a class skill), and [[Favored Class]] was changed so drastically that it couldn't be a bonus. Still awesome since they still gain that bonus feat and now they get a +2 to any one ability score of their choice. Humans also get the best alternative [[Favored Class]] bonus for spontaneous casting classes, gaining an extra spell known (of one level than the highest you can cast). | |||
Ironically, [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition|4th Edition]] did something similar: humans in that edition gained a +2 to a single ability score of their choice, and then progressed with a bonus skill (because in [[4e]] you're either proficient in a skill or not, there's no ascending scale anymore), a bonus feat, a +1 to all three of their [[Non Armor Defenses|NADs]], ''and'' a bonus At-Will power from their chosen class.<br> | |||
This actually makes humans a pretty powerful race choice in their own right. Like the [[half-elf]], humans got the option to take a unique racial power instead of their bonus at-will: Heroic Effort lets them, once per encounter, add a +4 bonus to the result of either a missed attack roll or a failed saving throw. | |||
Unfortunately, [[5e]] is where that winning streak basically collapsed. There are two different mechanical versions of humans in 5th edition; the standard human just gets a +1 to all six ability scores, which is... not ''bad'', but pretty low-down on the useful scale. Then there's the variant human, who instead gets a +1 to two ability scores of their choice, a bonus skill proficiency (5e skills working mostly like 4e skills) and a bonus feat. This makes variant humans '''the''' race of choice for power gaming, simply because feats in 5e are extremely powerful and other races can't get them until several levels into the game - and even then, only at the expense of an increase in ability scores. The [[Eberron]] Guidebook also included Dragonmarked subraces for humans that aren't as powerful as the PHB Variant Human, but still leaps ahead of the default mold. | |||
Also, fun fact, 5e finally gave an explanation for why humans are the only race in the [[Great Wheel]] that don't have a single defining monolithic culture (orcs are savage brutes, elves are magic and nature-loving, etc): all the other races are like that because they have a racial god or pantheon of gods telling them how to behave. Humans originally had such a god, but they were killed very early in the Great Wheel's history. Info on this god is hard to come by, but secondhand sources say that it was Asmodeus' brother, and that he was the one who did the deed, but this sounds suspiciously similar to Pathfinder Asmodeus' backstory. All we know for sure is that we probably don't have to worry about [[Zarus]] rearing his nazi head any time soon. | |||
{{D&D1e-Races}} | {{D&D1e-Races}} | ||
{{D&D2e-Races}} | |||
{{D&D4e-Races}} | {{D&D4e-Races}} | ||
{{D&D5e-Races}} | {{D&D5e-Races}} | ||
== Humans in Star Wars== | |||
[[Star Wars]] is one of the many human-centric settings out there. Humans are the dominant and most populous species in the galaxy, [[What| despite the franchise explicitly being set in the distant past and another galaxy]]. Originally seeded throughout the galaxy as slaves by the long dead Rakata and the first post-Rakata species to discover hyperdrives on their own (aside from Duros, who invented it at roughly the same time), humans can be found almost anywhere in the known Galaxy. Most works of fiction in the Star Wars universe centre around the exploits of humans with non-humans as supporting cast. Ironically, the early ''Droids'', and ''Ewoks'' cartoons are still among the few that don't. Too be honest, all intelligent species in Star Wars act like human, from individual behaviors to social structure, they may has well just be different racial groups of humanity. | |||
Human crossbreeds are actually quite limited in Star Wars. The only known crossbreeds are with near-human species that were human off-shoots in the first place, the result of Sith magic and possibly [[Twi'lek]]. The last one has one shown family of hybrids, but previous works explicitly established Humans and Twi'leks can't produce children. Since it wasn't ''explicitly'' a natural conception, it led to speculation it was the product of genetic engineering or other science. Even with near-humans, just because a crossbreed can be made doesn't mean they should: Hybrids can end up quite poorly. The most notorious being with the eyeless Miraluka who "see" through the force, who produce Human-Miraluka hybrids that most times end up with '''neither''' form of sight, producing an eyeless child that can't see through any means. | |||
The Empire took human-centric to an extreme and became human supremacist. Aside from force sensitive minions (the early [[Star Wars d6]] content says the Emperor wanted to eventually establish a dark side theocracy with castes of Sith>Dark Jedi>Military>Everyone else, and that's still fits after 25 years of further material) and a few talented military leaders, most non-humans were second class citizens at best under the Empire. All stormtroopers are assumed to be human (or cloned human) under their armour. Ironically [[Nazi#Nazi_Portrayal|one of the fiercest supporters of this was not human]], but a hybrid of two near-human species with unusual skin tones that cancelled each other out. After the Battle of Endor and the descent of the remaining Imperials into factions ruled by warlords, this was often relaxed due to manpower shortages, factions being left far away from human-majority space, alien leaders, and plain-old the people that implemented it in the first place being dead. | |||
Mechanically: The original [[Star Wars RPG|d6 based roleplaying game]] assumed a character was human if not stated otherwise. [[Star Wars d20]] literally uses the 3E D&D stats for humans with no changes except a minor difference in height and weight ranges (and that's mostly due to rounding when converting to metric system). d20 Humans were top of the pack since every other race was super weak, even compared to core 3.5. Saga Edition humans are virtually the same as d20 and 3.5, but are adjusted for the skill system working differently: They get an extra trained skill instead of bonus skill points. Saga edition buffed alien races enough and made class talent more important than feats that humans are actually fairly close in balance to other races. [[Star Wars Roleplaying Game|The system]] by [[Fantasy Flight Games]] has Humans in the core book of all three "games" (though for some reason it can't decide if humans should be listed first or alphabetically) and also takes the approach of giving humans a broader range of skills. There humans get balanced attributes (all 2s), 10% higher starting XP (point buy) and two extra skill points. Since humans are the majority of the population and near entirety of the Empire, disguise is most useful on a human. | |||
== Humans in Magic: The Gathering == | |||
Humans in [[Magic: The Gathering]] are mostly defined and given a place in the colour pie by their class, so they can be anything. Humans do have a few common trends however. Firstly they are all generally either cheap+weak, or are Legendary (unique individuals). Human tribal tends to occur in White, though this is largely due to tribal itself favouring White. | |||
==Humans in Warhammer Fantasy Battle== | |||
Humans in WFB were a third race created by the [[Old Ones (Warhammer)|Old Ones]] to fight [[Chaos]], presumably in [[Nehekhara]] or [[Cathay]], and are implied to be a completely failed project, because unlike preceding [[High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Elves]] and [[Dwarfs (Warhammer Fantasy Battle)|Dwarfs]], they weren't particularly good at magic and were too easily corrupted. Their only advantage was fast breeding, and due to that, they were left by Old Ones on their own. | |||
After the collapse of Polar Gates and the coming of Chaos, [[Warriors of Chaos|some people]] were corrupted or [[Beastmen|mutated]] by the Big Four, but generally human nations are Order-aligned. All of them are based on real-life nations and countries and are situated almost exactly in the same spot as their counterparts (like, for example, [[Albion]] is an island near [[Bretonnia]]). Generally speaking, they are the protagonists of WFB (especially [[The Empire (Warhammer Fantasy)|The Empire]]) and exist pretty much everywhere. | |||
==Humans in Age of Sigmar== | |||
After the death of the entire setting, a new one was presented, and unsurprisingly, it features the same set of generic fantasy races, although stupidly renamed. Humans managed to evade the renaming though, and are generally similar to WFB humans in pretty much everything. Only two differences exist - they have [[Stormcast Eternals|Sigmarines]], and the Order-aligned ones are generally unified under the command of [[Sigmar]] and inspired solely by Holy Roman Empire. At least Azyrite ones. | |||
==Humans in Warhammer 40k== | |||
<s>Same shit, but they're more unified than in WFB and much, much more xenophobic. There are also no independent undead factions, instead there are [[Squat|human biker dwarves]], [[Ogryn|human ogres]]</s> {{BLAM}} {{BLAM|Find out yourself, Heretic!}} | |||
TLDR: Humanity fuck yeah, purge the xenos. | |||
{{Template:Important Species in 40k}} | |||
==Humans in Kings of War== | |||
{{NotFunny Sourcebook}} | |||
There are many humans splintered across the whole of Pannithor, some have been blessed/tainted by the Gods. | |||
Like all humans they are of any alignment and fall into loose them vs us factions, including: | |||
* [[Kings of War/Tactics/Kingdoms of Men|Kingdoms of Men]] - Human soup faction, meant to represent any and all "generic" kingdoms, in-lore however they are the various Successor Kingdoms. | |||
* [[League of Rhordia]] - Humans and Halflings sharing an uneasy alliance. | |||
* [[Basilea|Basileans]] - the holier-than-thou dictatorship of Good. | |||
* [[Order of the Brothermark]] - a splinter faction made from some from the Basileans and the now disbanded [[Brotherhood]]. | |||
* [[Northern Alliance]] - a faction made from an alliance of the northern tribes of Dwarves, Elves, Naiads and Humans. | |||
* [[Order of the Green Lady]] - a splinter faction made from some from the Forces of Nature and the now disbanded [[Brotherhood]]. | |||
* [[Abyssals|Forces of the Abyss]] - there are a few Humans, or whats left of their humanity within the ranks as Infantry and Cavalry. | |||
* [[Twilight Kin]] - there are a few Humans, or whats left of their humanity within the ranks as Cavalry. | |||
* [[Varangur]] - a Human faction which worship the old gods, considered evil by the other Pannithor dwellers. | |||
The Humans even wield magic within some other factions | |||
* The Druids within the [[Forces of Nature]] and [[The Herd]] | |||
* The Necromancers of the [[Undead]] | |||
'''Some notable Humans include:''' | |||
* [[Danor the Wizard]] | |||
* [[Gnaeus Sallustis]] | |||
* [[Orlaf the Barbarian]] | |||
* [[Clarion]] | |||
* [[Javis]] | |||
* [[The Captain]] | |||
* [[Dogs of War]] | |||
* [[Battle Shrine]] | |||
* [[Lady Ilona]] | |||
* [[Magnilde of the Fallen]] | |||
* [[Swain]] | |||
{{Pathfinder-Races}} | {{Pathfinder-Races}} | ||
{{Starfinder-Races}} | |||
[[Category:Scarred Lands Races]] |
Latest revision as of 10:24, 21 June 2023
"Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape."
"I'M A PIONEER! I'M AN EXPLORER! I'M A HUMAN, AND I'M CUMMING!"
- – Alex Jones, alleged Human
"You are a violent and irrepressible miracle. The vacuum of cosmos and the stars burning in it are afraid of you. Given enough time you would wipe us all out and replace us with nothing — just by accident."
- – Disco Elysium
"I'm ahead, I'm a man, I'm the first mammal to wear pants, I'm at peace with my lust, I can kill 'cause in god I trust."
- – Pearl Jam, Do The Evolution
Humans (Scientific name Homo sapiens, "Inferior/simple-minded race" as seen by your generic super-intelligent and advanced race, "weak/frail race" as seen by your generic war-mongering race, and "Nom noms" as seen by the race that only exists to consume and grow) are a species of bilaterally symmetrical carbon-based creatures native to a small rocky planet orbiting Sol.
Humans have five appendages: the two longest ones underneath for locomotion, two more flexible appendages in the middle that split into very fine tentacles on the ends for manipulation and pleasure, and a cranium up top for sensation. They stand upright and have nearly their entire cognitive organ contained within a bony shell inside the sensory limb, the rest of it in a bone sheathe in the middle "baggy" part. Humans on average stand erect between 1.5 and 2 meters in height, and mass between 50 and 100 kilograms.
Humans are descended from arboreal omnivores which migrated on the plains of a landmass in the Eastern hemisphere. They have gender dimorphism: females are smaller by 9% on average, only males have protrusions at the base of the locomotor limbs, and nearly all mature females have two protruding subdermal glands on their front thorax near the base of the manipulation limbs. A large sample of data from various competitions and world records based on gender have also shown human sexual dimorphism also extends to attributes of physical fitness. For example, males are slightly faster and considerably stronger than females, while females possess greater resistance to diseases. Both are particularly obsessed with mating.
Humans have an exceptionally high endurance (for killing aliens longer), and their long distance running is unmatched by all but a few species. Some speculate early Humans hunted simply by stalking prey till it had to rest then bashing its head in, though the practicality of this is questioned. Human pain tolerance is high enough that they willingly ingest plants high in irritants that render them unpalatable to most species. Humans must consume a variety of acids every day to maintain health. Failure to do so results in weakness followed by death. Human blood is literally made of iron and capable of neutralizing acids if combined with them.
...Okay, but seriously.[edit]
Now on to the REAL reason you're on this page.
Humans are a playable race in almost every game, which is a complete mystery if contemplated long enough (which may be too long). If you're going to imagine your character as a gunfightan, spell-slingan, wall-vaultan, asskickan superman, what's the point of suddenly slapping that little bit of realism in there? Therefore, they are largely overlooked in most games (except for 3.5e D&D players who HAD to have that extra first-level feat). Indeed, most descriptions of the species for playable races go something like "they're just like humans, except for this." Most of the time, you'll honestly prefer some of the actual DEFINING TRAITS that come with playing another race, whether it's Never-Say-Die Elfdar vehicles (as opposed to Space Marine 14-armor dickery) or some kind of crazy mutation/horns/dragon wings. Basically, the benefits can never truly erase the relative boredom you'll get from still being a human, despite all your other options.
Humans are represented in most games as the most balanced and widespread race, which is a blatant bit of self-flattery, or it can be read to mean that they are the most mediocre and suck equally at everything. Most notable can be in D&D 2.0, in which every race had a given benefit, save the humans who had nothing (unless you count the ability to be any class and reach max level in any of them, whereas other races had restricted classes and restricted levels in said classes - but then, everyone hated that rule and homebrewed it out anyway). When they ARE given distinct advantages, is to be more versatile, adaptable or "jack-of-all-trades" than other bipeds, which is kind of a non-advantage: "we didn't know what to give you, so here's a gift certificate at the local racial feature shop to buy something." You would think that humans' exceptional endurance compared to other Earth species would come into play, (we are one of the best long distance runners in the whole animal kingdom), but it never does; though there is a difference between animals and sapient humanoid races such as elves and dwarves.
On the other hand whenever there is a coalition of multiple races and humans are part of them, you can bet the one leading them will be human. Talk about self-flattery again. In sci-fi video games they also tend to be portrayed as skilled diplomats, which is ironic considering how most leaders never see eye-to-eye in real life.
Then again, there's a certain appeal in humans showing other species what they're truly capable of.
Human Physiology and Psychology[edit]
Humans are medium creatures, averaging between 1.6-1.8 meters tall (though there are exceptions of course) and weighing in between 69-89 Kg. Appearance-wise there exists a wide diversity of skin tones and minor body features which was commonly described as "race" but has fallen out of favour due to gigatons of skub associated with the term. There is some difficulty on pinpointing a defining trait since our real life intelligence is moot if there are other sentients, but alternatively one could realistically invoke "human grit and perseverance" since, again judging from real life, we survived so much shit and clawed our way to the top in spite of it (and ourselves) that it is at least somewhat deserved.
Body-wise humans have little obvious weapons, we can actually give a decent bite and our legs and fists can handle wolf-tier animals one-on-one with some ease, but realistically speaking without some sort of weapon, be it only a big rock or a stick, an average human will not get too far even against such "mid-tier" animals like boars or stags. That being said, humans do have some natural resilience and recent anthropological research has shown that we can also pride ourselves as being an "implacable man" style hunters - we will just casually follow an animal until it drops from exhaustion and we either tame it (horse) or nom it (pretty much everything else that can run fast, and yes that includes horse as well).
Due to their intelligence, social-cooperative nature and fecundity, humans generally occupy virtually all but the harshest environments of a given world or setting (and we will damn well try to settle those too). If there are other races/sentient species present the contact between them and humans runs the gamut of merry trading and coexistence, grudging tolerance and isolation to near-incessant warfare and genocide.
Human psychology is also a smorgasbord of various traits since we can form societies that are barbarian reavers like Orks, introspective and ordered like Elves, industrious and seclusive like Dwarves an so on. A major innate psychological trait is human sociability, while there are "lone wolves" out there, most humans will want at least 2-3 companions, be they members of their own species or a fellow sentient, this trait also likely causes humans in most settings to develop civilizations of varying sophistication akin to Dwarves and Elves and as opposed to Ogres or Trolls, although depending on the setting humans can just as well be primal and savage with little or no civility.
Human Culture(s)[edit]
As previously mentioned, humans are a varied bunch so the cultures we develop will be such as well. In real life our societies tend to follow a few basic patterns like the rough social organisation (rulers-nobles-middle class-lower class) and a proclivity towards clannish organisation (this was prevalent in Europe too until the Church engaged in a feat of massive social engineering by banning cousin marriage and thus effectively destroying the clan structure in favour of a nuclear family). Aside from those, a given culture is also greatly influenced by its environment and availability of resources - Japan for instance places great emphasis on cooperation and social harmony since you need social cohesion to survive all the earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis, while Egypt was a totalitarian theocracy due to the Nile concentrating people along the fertile areas and being vital for survival thus making it one of the centers of life and religion.
In various fantasy and sci fi works, as mentioned in the Human Special Rules the cultures tend to broadly coalesce into fantasy Europe/Middle East/Asia with an occasional Mayincatec, African or Greco-romano-egyptian expies if the author is a bit more imaginative. Said societies also tend to have one trait increased out of proportion like war, trade or diplomacy. One can also expect a huge human empire in various stages of advancement or degeneration which will often be inspired by Rome or HRE. Interestingly human societies are practically never shown as peaceful or pacifist, having almost always be(en) engaged in a war with other races or themselves, sometimes at the same time.
Human Religion(s)[edit]
Again, in real life humans have dozens of religious and hundreds of spiritual beliefs and systems, many of them offshoots of previous ones like Christianity and Islam or regional/national variations as with the bajilion sects of Buddhism and Protestantism OR Hinduism which is practically an entire world onto itself and that's before we even get to the indigenous world faiths or past religions.
In fantasy works humans however will generally fall into two broad categories:
- Worship of a pantheon of about half-dozen or dozen gods inspired by the ancient Bronze and Iron age civilizations of Earth. Said pantheon will likely have the equivalents of chief god, war god, magic god, harvest/life god, sea god and so on though certain settings will shake things up and give a more unusual pantheon.
- Worship of a Judeo-Christian equivalent commonly called Crystal Dragon Jesus by TvTropes. This religion will be monotheistic or have 2-3 gods at most with a Catholic or broadly Christian aesthetic and maybe some doctrinal similarities. Alternatively the inspirational source will be toned down and you will end up with one capital-g God and a "church" which may often be in conflict with a "pagan" pantheon though the latter will usually not be as powerful as a full fledged pantheon described in the first point.
- A combination of the prior two where depending on a region you will have religions centered around gods, a god, the God, immensely powerful beings (Dragons are usually the go-to race for this) and various minor spirits and others. Also expect any asian-based culture to have some sort of confucian equivalent that throws around words like "enlightenment" and "harmony", usually with little emphasis on gods.
In science fiction religion will often be handwaved as an afterthought or depicted as declining or nearly gone due to the supposedly enlightened humans no longer needing or deigning to believe in anything supernatural and aliens still believing in gods or having religious beliefs will either be shown as primitive or crusading zealots. Alternatively there will be races or beings present that will be so advanced that they may appear to be godlike or even become indistinguishable from what an actual deity would be (like in the Culture series where the AIs are so powerful that they can create real afterlives with relative ease). Lastly, humans may simply have their old 20th-21st century major religions in slightly altered form or have a new set of beliefs altogether.
Human Flaws[edit]
Humans will generally run the gamut of failings though a hack author or someone with an ax to grind may exaggerate certain flaws in order to prove a point or send a message. These usually take the form of humans being genocidal maniacs who are exterminating other races left, right and center for not much more than simple bigotry and xenophobia.
This unfortunately has some basis in reality as the most immediately destructive human activity (warfare) has often been if not motivated, then at least shrouded in xenophobia and ethno-racial hatred in order to motivate the troops to slaughter the opponents when in reality the real goal was resources or territory. Additionally Homo Sapiens Sapiens in general seems to have been at least partially somewhat genocide-happy if not callous in their expansion since many other species of humans are, well, not with us anymore. The Neanderthals are brought up as the most common example although the fact that modern Europeans and Asians have 1-2% of Neanderthal DNA so the truth may be a bit more balanced (a combination of genocide, displacement, grudging co-existence and intermixing).
On the physical side of things, Humans when compared to many other races or animals fall more or less into the mid category - not too bad but nothing to write home about either. A Human can with some effort take down most animals that are smaller than them (wolves, boars, deer etc.) when going 1-on-1, but increase the number of opponents or move into something that is heavier/bigger and we start having problems even with bladed weapons. Smaller humanoids (with possible exception of Dwarves) are also doable but anything ranging from Half-Orc and bulkier is going to be a challenge to say the least. This is usually not a problem what with Humans speccing into INT and CO-OP but in any situation or setting where physically stronger and organized opponents outnumber the Humans and technology is not the deciding factor will give Humanity some hurting.
More realistic settings will give humans a more balanced set of virtues and flaws if not outright eschewing this approach altogether and focusing on individuals.
Human Special Rules[edit]
- In every sci fi movie and game involving aliens, humans MUST suck.
No exceptions. Unless they're grimdark psycho-indoctrinated, genetically enhanced, Catholic Space-Nazis, an evil(er) version of thereof or the grimdark psycho-indoctrinated, genetically enhanced, Catholic Space-Nazis big brother. Or Master Chief. In which case, they're the best damn things in the setting where combat is concerned. In every fantasy movie and game involving elves, dwarves, goblins, etc. humans MUST be boring. No exceptions. Elves are the tall fast guys with great magic who live in the trees, Dwarves are the short strong guys with badass technology who live in the tunnels, humans are the boring medium guys with absolutely nothing special and completely average stats.- Unless this is John Carter of Mars in which the title human is an unstoppable one man army, who can kill four armed giant bug Martians with ease.
- Or if it's Middle Earth (if you don't think the Edain are awesome, you probably don't know enough about the setting),
- or Star Wars (where the humans are the most powerful, diverse, and influential race in the setting),
- Star Trek (where the humans are the ones responsible for much of the good stuff in the setting),
- or Avatar (where the humans are awesome, but portrayed as villains for being pragmatic).
- Humans always have the crappy weapons when fighting technologically advanced/intelligent xenos(eg: Halo - Bullets vs. Plasma. Warhammer 40,000 - factory-built flashlights vs. alien ninja-star guns/living poison guns/molecular disassembly weapons/cursed-soul-shooting guns). In the case of simple-minded/primitive xenos, the humans must be eaten/dismembered/eviscerated/disemboweled/some combination thereof by said xenos (eg: Bugs vs Mobile infantry, Xenomorphs vs Colonial Marines). In fantasy, humans always have the boring practical weapons when fighting any other race (eg: Humans vs Elves or Dwarves - Long swords and crossbows vs. magic bows and badass knives or giant hammers and axes and cannons).
- in video games, especially but in table top and roleplaying as well, humanity's special trait is always brute force. We're never as fast as the space elves, but we always build really big guns (sometimes ones that are utterly massive) and massive humanoid robots covered with weapons. As another example, when I say "elf" you think archers in the woods, but when I say "fantasy human" you think a knight in full plate mail atop a horse, effectiveness may vary but humans' trait is normally thick armour and hitting hard.
- Compared to any other race, Humans must always be subjected to horrendous deaths in any war, real or fiction, by the hundreds, and often disproportionately to their involvement in said war.
- In every work that involves armed fictional conflict, there must always be one heavily plot-armoured character that can beat the odds no matter how retardedly outnumbered and outgunned he is. This character is human if humans are involved in the conflict at all.
- In almost every setting where humans are not fanatical racist nut jobs, human are always the ones most likely to reproduce outside their species. If someone says they're a half-elf, dragon or demon, you never need to ask what the other half is. Among the first questions any human asks upon discovery of a new sapient is "can I have sex with it?", and then humans also ignore all rules of logic and genetics by managing to have kids with it.
- In most fantasy settings, humans create various "Western-European-like" nations, one "Middle-East-like" nation and one "Chinese-like" or "Japanese-like" nation.
- Despite any inferiority to other races; Humans ALWAYS WIN. ALWAYS, in the end of it all. Either by the efforts of pre-mentioned Mary Sue or through the well-honed tactic of drowning their enemies in their own blood and corpses. This is because we can't win any other way, unless you're SPESS MARHEENS (That's a fact). In rare cases conflict spans for a few centuries, and the setting it happens in isn't in medieval stasis, humans win through their adaptability due to their short lifespans combined with sufficient intellect, while more long-living races fail to change their society in response to evolving technology, even if they happen to out-science humans (which they usually don't), and less intelligent races get wiped out or enslaved due to the giant technological edge humans have against them.
Also, our butthurt knows no fucking bounds.
Media That Prominently Feature Humans[edit]
All of them. No really, all of them (almost). It's only natural that the only intelligent race we know of is the one we add everywhere and into everything. The reason for this can be numerous - It makes it easy to relate to it for most people when your race is represented, and since we are the only intelligent race we actually know, humans are the only template we can work off of.
Well, Dragonlance, but then, they had Kender, so...
Some do it more than others, tho - e.g, everybody knows that DnD only has the Human race because some people are too xenophobic to play an actual interesting race, while other media, like in 40k, humans are the best goddamn thing ever.
Human mating practices[edit]
"And their reproductive system is the same as their waste-elimination system. Did you know that? It’s true. I’ve done the dissections."
- – Trazyn the Infinite
We do have these. The writers of this wiki have not studied them. Why should we?
In role-playing games, humans (especially those of the bard class) tend to be the most fertile race, and the one most amenable to interspecies romance and cross-breeding (rivalled only by dragons).
P.S. If you don't know how babies are made just ask your parents what "fucking" is. They will be delighted to give you a detailed explanation.
Humans in Dungeons & Dragons[edit]
In Dungeons & Dragons, humanity's "hat", or singular defining racial trait, is Versatility. What this means in practice varies from edition to edition, but it generally means that humans may not get the specific bonuses that certain races do, but they don't get any penalties, either.
In Basic, humanity's biggest strength was that they were the only race that could actually take classes like Fighter, Thief or Magic-User. Other races, like Elf, Dwarf, Halfling, Goblin, Orc, Gnoll, etc, were treated as classes in their own right (early D&D was weird), and often relied on Variant Class-analogues to expand their options.
For example, Dwarves could be taken as Dwarf-Clerics, who were like Clerics but: better fighters, unable to turn undead, could reach 12th level and, -- oh yeah -- they were mandated to avoid casting spells where non-Dwarves could see them do it (unless it was a matter of life and death).
In Advanced, again, humanity's only major strength was their lack of penalties; humans alone could take any class to any level, whereas other races could only take specific classes, and could only rise to certain levels within those classes. It's unclear just how viable this was, because nobody seemed to really like the idea of non-humans having level limits based on their race; Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale both dropped that mechanic like a hot potato. And even within the official supplements there were some treading on humanity's toes.
For example, whilst the Paladin was envisioned as a human-only class, several races were released that could also become paladins, namely Rakasta, Lupins, and Saurials.
Humans also had unique multiclassing mechanics in the form of dual-classing, which involved basically completely stopping your advance in one class and starting over from scratch in another one. Which, if you weren't using level limits, was demonstrably inferior to the demihuman ability of multiclassing, where you progress in multiple classes simultaneously from character creation.
In 3rd Edition, humanity again had no ability score modifiers. However, a trend started that would influence the next three editions (and one spin-off): human versatility was given a mechanical basis, with humans now gaining a bonus feat at character creation, an expanded array of skill points (+4 at first level, +1 at each level), and having a Favored Class of Any, allowing them to multiclass freely and without suffering XP penalties if they weren't taking levels in their "iconic" class.
Pathfinder followed the same idea as 3E. The only changes are system wide where they only get +1 skill point at every level starting from first (getting 4 times as many skill points at level 1 no longer exists for anyone, instead you get a +3 bonus to a skill if it's a class skill), and Favored Class was changed so drastically that it couldn't be a bonus. Still awesome since they still gain that bonus feat and now they get a +2 to any one ability score of their choice. Humans also get the best alternative Favored Class bonus for spontaneous casting classes, gaining an extra spell known (of one level than the highest you can cast).
Ironically, 4th Edition did something similar: humans in that edition gained a +2 to a single ability score of their choice, and then progressed with a bonus skill (because in 4e you're either proficient in a skill or not, there's no ascending scale anymore), a bonus feat, a +1 to all three of their NADs, and a bonus At-Will power from their chosen class.
This actually makes humans a pretty powerful race choice in their own right. Like the half-elf, humans got the option to take a unique racial power instead of their bonus at-will: Heroic Effort lets them, once per encounter, add a +4 bonus to the result of either a missed attack roll or a failed saving throw.
Unfortunately, 5e is where that winning streak basically collapsed. There are two different mechanical versions of humans in 5th edition; the standard human just gets a +1 to all six ability scores, which is... not bad, but pretty low-down on the useful scale. Then there's the variant human, who instead gets a +1 to two ability scores of their choice, a bonus skill proficiency (5e skills working mostly like 4e skills) and a bonus feat. This makes variant humans the race of choice for power gaming, simply because feats in 5e are extremely powerful and other races can't get them until several levels into the game - and even then, only at the expense of an increase in ability scores. The Eberron Guidebook also included Dragonmarked subraces for humans that aren't as powerful as the PHB Variant Human, but still leaps ahead of the default mold.
Also, fun fact, 5e finally gave an explanation for why humans are the only race in the Great Wheel that don't have a single defining monolithic culture (orcs are savage brutes, elves are magic and nature-loving, etc): all the other races are like that because they have a racial god or pantheon of gods telling them how to behave. Humans originally had such a god, but they were killed very early in the Great Wheel's history. Info on this god is hard to come by, but secondhand sources say that it was Asmodeus' brother, and that he was the one who did the deed, but this sounds suspiciously similar to Pathfinder Asmodeus' backstory. All we know for sure is that we probably don't have to worry about Zarus rearing his nazi head any time soon.
Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition Races | |
---|---|
Basic Set | Dwarf • Elf • Hobbit • Human |
Creature Crucible 1 | Brownie • Centaur • Dryad • Faun • Hsiao • Leprechaun • Pixie • Pooka • Redcap • Sidhe • Sprite • Treant • Wood Imp • Wooddrake |
Creature Crucible 2 | Faenare • Gnome • Gremlin • Harpy • Nagpa • Pegataur • Sphinx • Tabi |
Creature Crucible 3 | Kna • Kopru • Merrow • Nixie • Sea Giant • Shark-kin • Triton |
Dragon Magazine | Cayma • Gatorman • Lupin • N'djatwa • Phanaton • Rakasta • Shazak • Wallara |
Hollow World | Beastman • Brute-Man • Hutaakan • Krugel Orc • Kubitt • Malpheggi Lizard Man |
Known World | Bugbear • Goblin • Gnoll • Hobgoblin • Kobold • Ogre • Troll |
Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition Races | |
---|---|
Core | Dwarf • Elf • Gnome • Half-Elf • Half-Orc • Halfling • Human |
Dark Sun | Aarakocra • Half-Giant • Mul • Pterran • Thri-kreen |
Dragonlance | Draconian • Irda • Kender • Minotaur |
Mystara | Aranea • Ee'ar • Enduk • Lizardfolk (Cayma • Gurrash • Shazak) • Lupin • Manscorpion • Phanaton • Rakasta • Tortle • Wallara |
Oriental Adventures | Korobokuru • Hengeyokai • Spirit Folk |
Planescape | Aasimar • Bariaur • Genasi • Githyanki • Githzerai • Modron • Tiefling |
Spelljammer | Dracon • Giff • Grommam • Hadozee • Hurwaeti • Rastipede • Scro • Xixchil |
Ravenloft: | Broken One • Flesh Golem • Half-Vistani • Therianthrope |
Complete Book Series | Alaghi • Beastman • Bugbear • Bullywug • Centaur • Duergar • Fremlin • Firbolg • Flind • Gnoll • Goblin • Half-Ogre • Hobgoblin • Kobold • Mongrelfolk • Ogre • Ogre Mage • Orc • Pixie • Satyr • Saurial • Svirfneblin • Swanmay • Voadkyn • Wemic |
Dragon Magazine | Half-Dryad • Half-Satyr • Uldra • Xvart |
Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Races | |
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Player's Handbook 1 | Dragonborn • Dwarf • Eladrin • Elf • Half-Elf • Halfling • Human • Tiefling |
Player's Handbook 2 | Deva • Gnome • Goliath • Half-Orc • Shifter |
Player's Handbook 3 | Githzerai • Minotaur • Shardmind • Wilden |
Monster Manual 1: | Bugbear • Doppelganger • Githyanki • Goblin • Hobgoblin • Kobold • Orc |
Monster Manual 2 | Bullywug • Duergar • Kenku |
Dragon Magazine | Gnoll • Shadar-kai |
Heroes of Shadow | Revenant • Shade • Vryloka |
Heroes of the Feywild | Hamadryad • Pixie • Satyr |
Eberron's Player's Guide | Changeling • Kalashtar • Warforged |
The Manual of the Planes | Bladeling |
Dark Sun Campaign Setting | Mul • Thri-kreen |
Forgotten Realms Player's Guide | Drow • Genasi |
Humans in Star Wars[edit]
Star Wars is one of the many human-centric settings out there. Humans are the dominant and most populous species in the galaxy, despite the franchise explicitly being set in the distant past and another galaxy. Originally seeded throughout the galaxy as slaves by the long dead Rakata and the first post-Rakata species to discover hyperdrives on their own (aside from Duros, who invented it at roughly the same time), humans can be found almost anywhere in the known Galaxy. Most works of fiction in the Star Wars universe centre around the exploits of humans with non-humans as supporting cast. Ironically, the early Droids, and Ewoks cartoons are still among the few that don't. Too be honest, all intelligent species in Star Wars act like human, from individual behaviors to social structure, they may has well just be different racial groups of humanity.
Human crossbreeds are actually quite limited in Star Wars. The only known crossbreeds are with near-human species that were human off-shoots in the first place, the result of Sith magic and possibly Twi'lek. The last one has one shown family of hybrids, but previous works explicitly established Humans and Twi'leks can't produce children. Since it wasn't explicitly a natural conception, it led to speculation it was the product of genetic engineering or other science. Even with near-humans, just because a crossbreed can be made doesn't mean they should: Hybrids can end up quite poorly. The most notorious being with the eyeless Miraluka who "see" through the force, who produce Human-Miraluka hybrids that most times end up with neither form of sight, producing an eyeless child that can't see through any means.
The Empire took human-centric to an extreme and became human supremacist. Aside from force sensitive minions (the early Star Wars d6 content says the Emperor wanted to eventually establish a dark side theocracy with castes of Sith>Dark Jedi>Military>Everyone else, and that's still fits after 25 years of further material) and a few talented military leaders, most non-humans were second class citizens at best under the Empire. All stormtroopers are assumed to be human (or cloned human) under their armour. Ironically one of the fiercest supporters of this was not human, but a hybrid of two near-human species with unusual skin tones that cancelled each other out. After the Battle of Endor and the descent of the remaining Imperials into factions ruled by warlords, this was often relaxed due to manpower shortages, factions being left far away from human-majority space, alien leaders, and plain-old the people that implemented it in the first place being dead.
Mechanically: The original d6 based roleplaying game assumed a character was human if not stated otherwise. Star Wars d20 literally uses the 3E D&D stats for humans with no changes except a minor difference in height and weight ranges (and that's mostly due to rounding when converting to metric system). d20 Humans were top of the pack since every other race was super weak, even compared to core 3.5. Saga Edition humans are virtually the same as d20 and 3.5, but are adjusted for the skill system working differently: They get an extra trained skill instead of bonus skill points. Saga edition buffed alien races enough and made class talent more important than feats that humans are actually fairly close in balance to other races. The system by Fantasy Flight Games has Humans in the core book of all three "games" (though for some reason it can't decide if humans should be listed first or alphabetically) and also takes the approach of giving humans a broader range of skills. There humans get balanced attributes (all 2s), 10% higher starting XP (point buy) and two extra skill points. Since humans are the majority of the population and near entirety of the Empire, disguise is most useful on a human.
Humans in Magic: The Gathering[edit]
Humans in Magic: The Gathering are mostly defined and given a place in the colour pie by their class, so they can be anything. Humans do have a few common trends however. Firstly they are all generally either cheap+weak, or are Legendary (unique individuals). Human tribal tends to occur in White, though this is largely due to tribal itself favouring White.
Humans in Warhammer Fantasy Battle[edit]
Humans in WFB were a third race created by the Old Ones to fight Chaos, presumably in Nehekhara or Cathay, and are implied to be a completely failed project, because unlike preceding Elves and Dwarfs, they weren't particularly good at magic and were too easily corrupted. Their only advantage was fast breeding, and due to that, they were left by Old Ones on their own.
After the collapse of Polar Gates and the coming of Chaos, some people were corrupted or mutated by the Big Four, but generally human nations are Order-aligned. All of them are based on real-life nations and countries and are situated almost exactly in the same spot as their counterparts (like, for example, Albion is an island near Bretonnia). Generally speaking, they are the protagonists of WFB (especially The Empire) and exist pretty much everywhere.
Humans in Age of Sigmar[edit]
After the death of the entire setting, a new one was presented, and unsurprisingly, it features the same set of generic fantasy races, although stupidly renamed. Humans managed to evade the renaming though, and are generally similar to WFB humans in pretty much everything. Only two differences exist - they have Sigmarines, and the Order-aligned ones are generally unified under the command of Sigmar and inspired solely by Holy Roman Empire. At least Azyrite ones.
Humans in Warhammer 40k[edit]
Same shit, but they're more unified than in WFB and much, much more xenophobic. There are also no independent undead factions, instead there are human biker dwarves, human ogres *BLAM* Find out yourself, Heretic!
TLDR: Humanity fuck yeah, purge the xenos.
Humans in Kings of War[edit]
This article is boring and stinks of being copypasted from a gamebook or another wiki. You can make it better by making it less unfunny. |
There are many humans splintered across the whole of Pannithor, some have been blessed/tainted by the Gods. Like all humans they are of any alignment and fall into loose them vs us factions, including:
- Kingdoms of Men - Human soup faction, meant to represent any and all "generic" kingdoms, in-lore however they are the various Successor Kingdoms.
- League of Rhordia - Humans and Halflings sharing an uneasy alliance.
- Basileans - the holier-than-thou dictatorship of Good.
- Order of the Brothermark - a splinter faction made from some from the Basileans and the now disbanded Brotherhood.
- Northern Alliance - a faction made from an alliance of the northern tribes of Dwarves, Elves, Naiads and Humans.
- Order of the Green Lady - a splinter faction made from some from the Forces of Nature and the now disbanded Brotherhood.
- Forces of the Abyss - there are a few Humans, or whats left of their humanity within the ranks as Infantry and Cavalry.
- Twilight Kin - there are a few Humans, or whats left of their humanity within the ranks as Cavalry.
- Varangur - a Human faction which worship the old gods, considered evil by the other Pannithor dwellers.
The Humans even wield magic within some other factions
- The Druids within the Forces of Nature and The Herd
- The Necromancers of the Undead
Some notable Humans include:
- Danor the Wizard
- Gnaeus Sallustis
- Orlaf the Barbarian
- Clarion
- Javis
- The Captain
- Dogs of War
- Battle Shrine
- Lady Ilona
- Magnilde of the Fallen
- Swain
The Races of Pathfinder | |
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Player's Handbook: | Dwarf - Elf - Gnome - Half-Elf - Half-Orc - Halfling - Human |
Advanced Race Guide: |
Aasimar - Catfolk - Changeling - Dhampir - Duergar Drow - Fetchling - Gillman - Goblin - Grippli - Hobgoblin Ifrit - Kitsune - Kobold - Merfolk - Nagaji - Orc - Oread Ratfolk - Samsaran - Strix - Suli - Svirfneblin - Sylph Tengu - Tiefling - Undine - Vanara - Vishkanya - Wayang |
Bestiaries: | Android - Astomoi - Caligni - Deep One Hybrid - Gathlain Gnoll - Kasatha - Munavri - Naiad - Orang-Pendak Reptoid - Rougarou - Shabti - Trox - Yaddithian |
Adventure Paths: | Being of Ib - Kuru |
Inner Sea Races: | Ghoran - Monkey Goblin - Lashunta - Skinwalker Syrinx - Triaxian - Wyrwood - Wyvaran |
Ultimate Wilderness: | Vine Leshy |
Blood of the Sea: | Adaro - Cecaelia - Grindylow - Locathah - Sahuagin - Triton |
Planar Adventures: | Aphorite - Duskwalker - Ganzi |