Humanity: why make Human Player Characters in 5e Dungeons & Dragons

Why make a Human Character in 5e Dungeons & Dragons?
Don't forget to subscribe, comment & share!
Web DM Podcast on Patreon - bit.ly/2g49sUV
Check us out on Facebook - bit.ly/2oGKLOg
Twitter - / webdmshow
Instagram - web_dm
Jim & Pruitt on Save or Dice: bit.ly/2wnZOAv
Written & Hosted by Jonathan Pruitt & Jim Davis
Produced, Directed & Edited by Travis Boles
Complete 5e Classes Playlist: bit.ly/2oGuhG1
Unearthed Arcana LIVE episodes playlist: bit.ly/2oQOlYu
New to 5th Edition D&D? Check out this playlist - bit.ly/2pbZN1K
Music by
John Branch -branchoutguita...
Web DM Theme by
Kyle Newmaster - kylenewmaster.com
Motion Graphics & Logo Design by
Ryan Wieber - ryan-w.com
WebDM Fan Art by Adam Miller - www.adammillerart.net
Intro To 5th Edition - • 5th Edition Dungeons &...
Backgrounds, Feats & Spellcasters - • Backgrounds, Feats & S...
Inside Editions - • Inside Editions - Web DM
Getting Started in 5th Edition - • Getting Started In 5th...
Character Creation Part One - • Character Creation Par...
Character Creation Part Two - • Character Creation Par...
Campaigning “On Rails” - • Is Your D&D Campaign "...
Treasure - • Treasure: How Much Is ...
Player Styles - • Different Player Style...
Killing Characters - • Killing Characters Res...
Barbarians & Bards - • Barbarians & Bards - W...
Druids,Fighters, Monks, Rangers & Rogues - • Druids, Fighters, Monk...
Sorcerers, Warlocks, Clerics, Paladins & Wizards - • Sorcerers, Warlocks, C...
Beholders - • Beholders - A Classic ...
Kobolds, Goblins & Bullywugs - • Zombies in 5e Dungeons...
Red Dragons - • Red Dragons in Dungeon...
5e Dungeons & Dragons is here to stay, and Web DM is here to help!!! Jim Davis & Jonathan Pruitt have been playing Dungeons & Dragons for a combined 30+ years, and on Web DM they demystify, dethrone, and defrock this Dungeon we call Dragons! Subscribe to our channel for weekly videos on 5e Classes, Monsters, DM Tips, and more! Join Pruitt & Jim as we kick down the door and talk some serious Dungeons & Dragons!

[@WebDM]

Thanks for watching! Want more Web DM in your life? Get our podcast here: www.patreon.com/webdm

[@filiplykkegaardkastrup1876]

Web DM VVS

[@Ryan_Winter]

Just as a small reminder: The Forgotten Realms: Calishite, Chondathan, Turmish, Rashemi, etc., you get the point --> *2nd Ed AD&D Regional Sourcebooks (released between 1987 and 1999), 3rd Ed D&D Sourcebooks like Races of Faerun (2003)* Greyhawk: Oeridian, Flan, Suloise, Baklunish, Rhennee and Olman --> *World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983)* Eberron, the descriptions of the people living in each of the five nations and those of the people living on the continent of Sarlona show that not all humans look alike or share the same customs. --> *Campaign Setting (2004)* Mystara: Similar to Earth --> *Regional Sourcebooks (1987 to 1991)* Birthright: Anuirean, Brecht, Khinasi, Rjurik, Vos --> *Birthright Campaign Setting (1995)*

[@kharijordan6426]

They come and help and humans give thanks by giving grain......I don't think that's enslavement at this point.

[@EpicDwarfStench]

Not to sound racist, but some of my best friends are human.

[@joshuarichardson6529]

That's not racist. But if you said you didn't have any human friends, then we'd all suspect your might be.

[@iv0rysh0es39]

Yeah, my best friend is a human...

[@EddyBravo]

Don't mean to sound racist myself, but some of my favourite slaves are human.

[@brosephnoonan223]

Thank god. If you said you were friends with Elves we might have issues.

[@omlo9093]

Heimskr, Prophet of Talos Around elves, watch yourselves!

[@ZPM7]

"Our ancestors were murder hobos." Brilliant.

[@Leivve]

Chaotic Good, murder hobos.

[@ZPM7]

MMMMMmmmmmm, no too sure about that friendo

[@tyler58701]

Made me think Custer’s last stand was a dm who thought we’re done here.

[@Morec0]

@@tyler58701 There's an untapped gold mine for "History From the DM's Perspective".

[@aFistfulofDice]

For me, humans are the only race that don’t come with “baggage.” If I play an elf, I come into that character with a lot of tropes in mind, no matter how hard I try to avoid those tropes. With a human, I feel like I can make whatever character I want, completely unrestricted. That’s why I enjoy playing humans.

[@isupposethisismynmw640]

I completely agree.

[@kyubii972]

aFistfulofDice that is a good point that I've never thought about.

[@williambogar4133]

Yes especially with the higher ages. It makes the backstory much more difficult imo, like why is my elf just get started at age 200? and furthermore how is he lvl 1 still?

[@omlo9093]

William Bogar Because elves are lazy tree-hugging degenerates. lol

[@caseyhudson4929]

Or go Guild Artisan background. You spent the working days of those 200 years perfecting your craft, suddenly your Elf makes the best wine on this side of the material plane, who is going to ask you to prove it? There is a campaign going on, can't be wasting time making alcohol to satisfy the semantic arguments of a sceptical party can you?

[@paulcoy9060]

"I, for one, welcome our new human overlords."

[@Repulse96]

Good

[@LordSplendid]

The perfect adventuring party is thirteen dwarf fighters, one celestial wizard and one hafling rouge. End of conversation.

[@johnharrison2086]

Sounds familiar....

[@nono-ch8oy]

I'm guessing one of your antagonists is a white Orc and a Dragon in a mountain?

[@mitchwood5678]

Why does the halfling need to wear rouge? Why not some eyeliner? Foundation? 😂😂😂

[@j.spiegel3650]

come to think of it, the 13 fighters should have demolished any dragon.

[@rcschmidt668]

The fight over a rock... before the fight over a ring.

[@galacticironmike4516]

The reason I like playing humans on dnd is the same as why I enjoy the imperial guard in warhammer 40k. I just like the idea of how a human, just a human can survive and thrive in worlds full of crazy monsters.

[@robbierotten2024]

Michael Doherty have you seen Australia? That’s a place where there’s a ton of crazy monsters humans live around.

[@Xaxp]

Ah, I see you are a man of culture as well. Glad to see Im not the only one who prefers IG over the blueberries.

[@galacticironmike4516]

@@Xaxp I like space marines (not smurfs though... I hate smurfs) but I like them more as a rarity. I use them as like an elite squad rather then the entire army.

[@galacticironmike4516]

@Lord Admiral Spire ya I know. It's more hatred for fun rather then anything serious.

[@JonHerzogArtist]

I love playing humans. All the most interesting people I know are humans!

[@777rick777]

All the most boring people I know are humans too

[@rade1809]

@777rick777 That's that famed human versatility for you

[@JustOneAsbesto]

I love playing humans. All the most gullible people I know are humans!

[@AllMad111]

You obviously haven't met my boy IBM Watson.

[@chesusjrist9733]

I don't know, humans are just so... human.

[@jeffbangle4710]

I'm not very good at being a human in real life. That's why I role-play one in RPGs - maybe this time I will get it right... ;)

[@TheJopetzki]

Don't judge a book by its cover. A character, whose sole reason for being interesting is how exotic they are, is a thin and flimsy foundation for a character. Regardless of race, class or backround, the character's motivations, deeds, goals, views, flaws and central conflicts and adversities are more important in what makes them interesting. Being just a half-dragon half-illithid is superficial and without proper meat on those bones, the character won't survive challenges or scrutiny, because they're just a badass or beautiful shell of a character. An old human ranger living in typical fantasy woods can be an extremely interesting character if done right. As for why humans would be a dominant species, I strongly believe it's because they get stuff done. While elves and dwarves are perfectly happy shutting themselves away from the outside world for a few hundred years, humans have gotten stuff done in that time. Humans live in a world that is more immediate and that makes them dangerous as well. A human warlord has only so many years to seize the lands to his iron grip, making him hunger for that power. On the other hand fantasy worlds tend to be infested with great evils that the longer living races created and then ignored, because time flows differently to them.

[@thehat222]

Lemon Elemental beautiful post. Whole heartedly agree. Besides, to me, most fantasy races are aspects of human personality and different tropes. Thus the decision to play one of those races is often just to adopt that certain aspect for RP. As a guy who works in retail and plays video games and tabletop games in his off time, playing a female human sorceress who draws magic from arcane runes scrawled onto her body by a draconic cult who captured her as a young girl, is pretty fantastic and exotic, playing a human barbarian who drinks ale and loves prostitution and solves everything with violence or the threat of violence is enough of an alien concept when compared to my day to day life that it doesn't need to be a eleven sorceress, or a 1/2 orc barbarian. It really doesn't help that most races are just humans with extra features anyway. Elves are pointy eared people, dwarves, gnomes, and half longs are just short people, tieflings are horned people, 1/2 orcs are green people and dragonborn are just scaled people.

[@AzureIV]

Humans are the "Hold my beer" race.

[@omlo9093]

Humans are cultural, diplomatic, warlords, business-minded, innovative. Other races can be too, but in lore other races tend to only stick to one of these spheres, neglecting others.

[@andrewhazlewood4569]

I role play an individual and not a stereotype of class or race. My ability to rp something realistic and consistent is helped by not having to play someone who is entirely alien.

[@theenderdestruction2362]

Yeah the other races would look at a great evil and think "ehh I'll just go to sleep and wait for it to blow over" but humans would look at same great evil and think "KILL IT WITH FIRE BEFORE IT LAYS EGGS, BLOW IT BACK TO THE DEPTHS OF THE VOID FEOM WERE IT SPAWNED FROM"

[@kendrajade6688]

Humans are my favorite race for a Necromancer character. There's something powerfully human about going out and deciding to take more life, to spite the gods and forge your own path to power and immortality.

[@KageRyuu6]

Because they are far more versatile, so instead of planning out a character weeks in advance I can just roll up a human and go with what the dice give me. Think of what it would be like to be an Elf with less than 12 DEX, or a Dwarf with less than 12 CON, they would be laughing stocks within their communities, everyone would compare them to other races because they don't embody the ideal of their race, the elf would be considered a dwarf because they have two left feet, and the dwarf would be called an elf because they can't handle more than one pint. But Humans however, so long as you're good at something, even if it's just a little of everything, you can go far.

[@bhatfield1417]

KageRyuuUji my kantaaa

[@UltimaHeartless]

Humans get laughed at, regardless of what their stats are.

[@feathersigil2048]

Those sound like elves and dwarves who are actually different, unique and interesting.

[@caseyhudson4929]

Yeah, what Feather said. I sorta hate the assertion that all Dwarves are stereotypes of these ungraceful, hard-core drinking, loud mouthed, Scottish, boisterous numbskulls, oh who all happen to be master smiths? What about the Elven Ranger bowslinger (I bet she's great at weaving bracelets out of blades of grass, and fucking pottery), I hear that's never been done before. I'd take the piss out of the angery Half Orc Barbarian if it wasn't for the serious mechanical benefits that come with the racial traits. How about a genuine _character_ every now and then? Like the Dwarf who took their racial and Guild Artisan proficiencies in Brewers tools and Cook's utensils, but they're a fucking Cleric of the Forge domain who "don't want to be faffin' around wit no anvil". Literally fighting the stereotype on that one.

[@acm4bass]

weeks? The initial character creation takes like 20 minutes. If you want to research a foreign culture or if your using wotc product and want some game history add maybe a couple hours, and If you draw your own portraits maybe you never get it right, but some draft exists within a day or two.

[@FreaperFTW]

The shoutout to Wisecrack at the end was on point.

[@Geeko170]

I love the idea that the Shinara Chronicles had, that humanity is in fact the oldest race, and spawned the others, but because of human frailty, are now in their ending days. I like the idea that human civilization is the oldest and the foundation for all the rest, but is falling apart.

[@Geeko170]

But also, I love the ideas of a race “enlightening” the lower races. Maybe instead of the elves, it is the gnomes that taught humans magic, or that humans are just dire halflings, and as such halfling and human culture could be one in the same. Maybe humans are the cultural chameleons of dnd and simply adapt to their surroundings, or build their own culture from parts of other races.

[@jeffreyanderson667]

Actually, I the Shannara books, elves and fey way predate humans. The second book, Elfstones of Shannara spells out most of the elvish history.

[@Geeko170]

Jeffrey Anderson Well, that is another fault on the show then.

[@robertfalse9063]

Because I'd like to be over 5' tall AND have a phenomenal moustache.

[@ImaginationHobbies]

haha! that intro cracked me up!

[@thetattooedyoshi]

Perfectly examplifies how boring playing a human is to some players like me XD

[@spudzlightbeer]

The human music is a Rick and Morty reference.

[@WolfgangF88]

I agree fellow human.

[@uljk5699]

Ahh, a human humor! Of course I understand human humor. Let me make a human laughter. Oblog, oblog, oblog! Hmm? What with the human long face?

[@mennoltvanalten7260]

With the 'humans to near extinction, no humans seen in a century' thing, think about the resurrection spell: It changes you into a random race. This may well be a way to revive humanity!

[@theenderdestruction2362]

Humanity in my DMS games: they are nearly dead cause the gods willed it Me a human who's goal in life is to kill or atleast scare the daylights out of the gods that did this: *exist* The creatures the dm makes: *confused, scared, and slightly aroused screaming intensifys*

[@rastasplash7334]

Stop cutting the rants short!!!! We love the rants!!!

[@AJ-kj1go]

You expect me to believe these two perfect beautiful boys are real humans? LOL

[@ProfessorBear404]

The bamboozler will not become the bamboozled.

[@jacobfike3697]

For some reason when you introduced yourselves I heard in my head "human Jim and human Pruu-it" sung to the tune of "Evil Troy and evil Aaa-bed"

[@AGrumpyPanda]

In my group's homebrew setting, humans are the mortal personification of raw chaotic potential- as individuals and as a race, there's nothing humanity can't be, and nothing they build lasts because they change in a few generations anyway. Their gods are heroic ancestors who were considered to have become deific personifications of the trait they embodied in real life, but reimagined as idealised, hermaphroditic beings because race, gender and things like that have no impact on a human's ability to become. Yeah, we didn't want humans to just be the 'default' race :P

[@ltericdavis2237]

AGrumpyPanda yeah, I always felt like the human race was way more exemplary of the chaotic alignment than most other races. Sure we have our lawful societies that can exist for a while, but just from our world we can see that humans are pretty dang chaotic. Never got why elves were always placed as the chaotic race (besides being the opposite of dwarfs) when they are always depicted as halving the magnificent kingdoms and grand traditions, while humans meanwhile are trying to conquer and change is the only constant

[@zemorph42]

l3054 my guess is that it's the final remnant of their humanity before they transcend their origin entirely.

[@lazerbeam134]

Vivec is both, or neither possibly could be considered non-binary/genderqueer.

[@lazerbeam134]

I was going to ask you to elaborate on your previous point, but now I have all the answers I need. You are an alt-right type, so your first comment meant you don't think trans people and non-binary are real or deserve human dignity. This was given away by the "social justice" dogwhistle, and that you are a Sargon of Akkad fanboy.

[@lazerbeam134]

That's not remotely true. That is the kind of thing that was going to make me say before that you don't know much about gender issues. The activists in the LGBT community have never made that claim. The only time I hear that claim is by someone with transphobic views like you. You folks like to say " they didn't exist until I heard about it". That sounds completely ignorant lol. Gay people existed before gay people came out. Trans people existed before trans people came out. It is basic logic to realize that in a society that oppresses those who defy cultural gender and sexual norms that such people wouldn't be telling everyone unless the ball was already toward acceptance. Even still, we see how people act. Someone will say " I get the gay thing, but the trans thing? nah" then they will say " Ok trans is fine, but non-binary? No Way!" and so there is always the tendency to hate what we don't understand. Do you know that many cultures have way more than two genders?

[@Krankidor334]

I guess I must be an outsider in the D&D community because my go-to is and always will be a Human Fighter, not because of any mechanics or feats but because when I think of fantasy or even epic fantasy I can't imagine anything else but being a Human and extending beyond my humble reaches. Elves have their grace and dexterity and all these other things that make them suited to adventuring, Dwarves have their strength and resilience, every other race has something that makes them suited to adventuring. But humans, like myself, just have our love of adventure. Every farm boy and stablehand in the land dreams of riding out clad in plate armour and crashing into a horde of Orcs before being praised a hero. That's what I used to pretend to be when I was young, and humans don't have to be boring characters, especially when there are so many possibilities. And even the most generic of backstories (My village was burnt by a dragon so now I want to kill that dragon) have so much flavour and ability to be attached to as it suits the mentality of myself as a dungeons and dragons player, I play to do things I could never do in real life. My characters do things they would never be able to do in their lives before adventuring. And yes the same argument can be made for the other races but being a human allows me to efficiently project myself into the mindset of a character. This isn't to say I wouldn't play another Race or Class because I would, everything except Elf, it's just that playing a human fighter to me captures everything that D&D is about.

[@ChristianSteinheimer]

So true! Playing in a fantasy world as a human can be (and is for me) the most fantastic experience, becaus it seems, that all the things i have to overcome, i will as a human being among all theese fantastic other creatures

[@lynx655]

Actually, human fighter is statistically the most played race-class combination of all the possibilities in 5e.

[@GonnaDieNever]

nope, like 15% of alll characters are human fighters.

[@chastermief839]

thats interesting, what you said the divide between the hardcore players vs the casual players. it's been my experience that the hardcore players want to play humans because they have great stats and they fit all kinds of builds. they also serve as a nice foundation for a character, being a human doesn't strongly flavor or define a character's personality in the same way being a dwarf or tiefling does. sometimes you don't want that flair to dilute the character concept you're going for. meanwhile at my table of newbies, they always want to play the "flashy" fantastic races-- dragonborn, wood elf, tiefling, kenku, aasimar, etc. choosing human is always viewed with disdain for being boring and bland. "why even play D&D if you're just gonna be a human?" is said all too often at my table. i think collectively my group has made about 16 or so characters for various adventures, and only one of them was a human. i dunno. it's purely anecdotal of course but i've had a complete opposite experience as far as new players choosing the human race.

[@jeannot7784]

Same experience with my players with something else, I noticed youngest players tend to play nonhuman more than players in their 30+.

[@nonya_bidness]

i love that extra feat as far as why they're always so dominant. ambition + fast reproduction while not being as dumb as some of the goblinoids. they're the t34 to the elves panzer

[@marktcole]

I’m always impressed when I view these great quality videos! You put so much time and effort into them. Thanks again, guys:)

[@turnt_barbarian]

I play a human because I love making parallels to ancient myths. The concept that a mundane race can rise alongside the other magic races and be just as useful in a pinch is a really cool concept to me

[@caseyhudson4929]

Tell me you couldn't make Spartacus (not a myth but you get my point) as a Half-Orc, or Theseus the son of Poseidon as a Water Genasi or Triton. I think don't race has much to do with re-imagining myths.

[@turnt_barbarian]

casey hudson maybe not for you, but personally I prefer to see humans rise above their mortal limits. But that's just me, and the beauty of this game is that we can all play our own way.

[@caseyhudson4929]

Okay fair point, but all races in D&D are mortal right? Though I think there's something to be said about the human swordsman whose surpassed the skill of the Elf who has been the master for 600 years.

[@turnt_barbarian]

casey hudson you've hit the nail on the head.

[@DownToTruck]

I once got sick of my players having mostly-human parties so I ran a campaign in a setting where all races (even 3rd party) were allowed except Human. Half-elves and Half-orcs wouldn't be 1:1 mixes, but orcs and elves that had the blood of a long-distant human ancestor manifest in themselves (much like the fiendish blood in a Tiefling, which can be delayed generations). Some world religions operated off of the assumption that humans ascended to another plane, while others viewed them as a great evil that finally got sealed away.

[@waywornwyrm8135]

Patrick Gallagher See, I have the opposite problem. I can’t remember the last time any of my players wanted to be a human.

[@ltericdavis2237]

Now that is an interesting setting idea

[@jeremydavis6209]

Did they all pick a new favorite? Or did they spread out

[@DownToTruck]

Jeremy Davis a decent spread. Half elf, halfling, elf, Warforged, and tiefling.

[@fieldy409]

Wasted potential there. You could make humans xenophobic as fuck and persecute the nonhuman party. Humanity first!

[@latecustomer]

After several 5e campaigns, I've seen exactly 1 human PC. Also 1 kobold.

[@spaceiguana5066]

Why make a human? Crossbow snipers...

[@paulcoy9060]

Humans are boring: See- Conan, Red Sonja, the Three Musketeers, Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, Batman, The Shadow, Jason Borne, James Bond, Robin Hood, pretty much all of the Doctor's Companions, King Arthur, etc., etc. Maybe players who say humans are boring just don't want to do research on who they could be.

[@MegaGooback]

paul coy I know you were listing those off to show how humans aren't boring, but those *are* boring

[@ivaldi13]

Or maybe you missed the point entirely. It's boring to make the same selection all the time, no matter what it is. It's not boring to take a fantasy character in a fantasy setting and be a bit fantastic, a bit different from what you see literally every day of your real life. If you're just going to focus on the character on the basis of personality and what happens to them, why can't you apply that same line of thinking with another race? You can have an interesting personality whether you're a human or a dwarf. You can have interesting things in your backstory whether you're an elf or a half-orc. Your DM is mostly responsible for what happens to you during the campaign, and that stuff can be interesting whether you're an aasimar or a tiefling. You can be interesting regardless of your race (a lot like real life), so what's the issue with wanting to vary things up in another way?

[@petsan97]

Well the obvious question is: "Why would you play a human when there's all these other interesting races? You're stuck as a human in the real world anyway." Of course the answer is rarely simple and straight-forward. as Humans in D&D have a lot more going for them than we do. But imagine the possibilities the stories you listed would have, if there were other races. What if Robbin Hood was a wood-elf? What if Sherlock Holmes was a halfling? What if the Three musketeers were a Dwarf, a high elf and a half-orc? What if Batman was an Aasimar or Conan a goliath?

[@Almighty_Mage]

Most everyone on that list is boring

[@TrickyTrickyFox]

Batman is more Kenku tho.

[@marceledel8619]

A WebDM vid on humans? I'm up for it. Edit: I love playing human characters for thier versatility.

[@OstravaTheBrave]

Do Gnomes next!

[@jaspermooren5883]

I don't care what the PHB says, you can ride on a bike on a moonless night through a forrest without a light on your bike and still see resonably well (in fact the light only blinds you), I've done it several times. Darkness to me is actually darkness, meaning no light, such as in a cave or cellar without a lightsource. Outside on a moonless night for me is the perfect example of what low light should be, meaning that darkvision helps alot, but you can still stealth at night without darkvision.

[@Draccus_Rune]

Web DM is awesome. Keep doing what you are doing y'all, my adventureres and I have been catching up on all of your videos and it has shown a really positive difference in our last couple months of sessions.

[@ghoulofmetal]

For me i chose human for my Rogue because i wanted the Prodigy from level 1 for role playing options. It allows me to have expertise in persuasion, deception and insight from level 1. As a swashbuckler that is hilarious.

[@ghoulofmetal]

The thought is the true definition of a people person.

[@thehat222]

I'm a pretty hardcore player and definitely play human far more than others. I find humans lack any inherent or forced roleplaying baggage the other races do. Other races feel shoehorned into certain roles both mechanically and RP wise. Obviously you can play against type, but written into every demi-human is some level of personality aspects that is expected at the table and in the world. I find the blank slate of humanity more appealing when creating a character concept than other races. To me I play other races when my concept aligns with that races typical tropes, when I want to play a strict honorable warrior type, I may play a dwarf and if I want to play a brave fun loving foodie I play a halfling. To me the other races are aspects of real human personalities and lend themselves to playing a character that fits a specific aspect but human is always my baseline because they enable any style of play

[@Brass_Heathen]

Alnilam Orion yeah I whole heartedly agree. I would usually create a character concept first then pick the race with the tropes to match.

[@Draeckon]

I find 5th edition did away with that forced assumption about most races, at least on a mechanical level, since they got rid of the penalties to ability modifiers (well, except to orcs and kobolds ): ). Maybe it's the tables you play at that are the problem, because I haven't really seen that kind of forced assumption at most of the games I've played in.

[@thehat222]

But the lack of ability score increases in certain stats are a penalty all themselves because of point buy, it means nothing higher than a +2 mod in your primary ability at low levels, that mod also effects how many times certain class features can be used, like Ki points. Playing a Dragonborn monk might be cool but with no dex or wis increases your pretty penalized; a lesser bonus to attack, less damage, lower AC, less Ki points, your saves are down, and your stun DC is lower. Even after 4th level you're forced to take an ASI over a feat unless you want to continue on lacking in all those departments and if you do take an ASI your basically still behind everyone else. Where as if I played a human I could have a 16 in both dex and wis. The end result is your basically behind for 12 levels where as your buddies have a 20 in their primary by 8 leaving your bonus', saves, and damage essentially 4 levels behind. My problem is that non-traditional race/class combos, are inherently less optimal, and that by playing them you're purposefully choosing to make yourself less effective now, and catch up later. Now if you roll stats thats less of an issue because you can roll an 18 at level 1 and play a dragon born monk with an 18 dex or wisdom, and have a nice bumps to your str and chs on top of that. But most tables play with the base rules. Hell I play humans the majorty of the time and we don't allow variant human at our tables. I just like the idea of being a mostly normal person surrounded by all the crazy shit that exists in a D&D world, the implications of that are great RP fodder. I just dislike that there are some specific personality aspects attributed to the demi-human races and that they have set in stone ability increases. Thus I prefer the freedom RP wise and mechanically that humans provide. The idea that Humans are boring is sort of weird to me because unless you're a boring person and sit down and play yourself every game theres no way to be any more boring than any other race. Like how many badass movie characters are human? How many real humans are fucking interesting as hell? I find it easier to slip into a human and RP anything I want. Other races just don't have that same capacity for diversity.

[@caseyhudson4929]

You're right about everything cept the Ki points. They go by Monk Level, (Level 2 you get 2 Ki points, ect...). Attack bonus, damage, AC, saving throws and save DC is spot on, though.

[@thehat222]

casey hudson I didn't remember what abilities are based on attributes and I've never actually played a monk. I thought it did but I didn't have a book around me at the time

[@Grizzlybearr0139]

I'm a dwarf at heart. Maybe because I'm 6'1"

[@h-grid3137]

Benjamin Exton I have player thats total Firbolg, he is 7 ft.

[@Karak971]

I thought it was just me. I’m 6’2” and my most “famous” characters in the group are halflings and gnomes.

[@omlo9093]

King of the Manlets!

[@PauLtus_B]

I'm one of the taller players in the group and I consistently play the smallest characters.

[@theDMLair]

In my 5e games, my players almost always make human characters because they get a feat at first level (using the human variant rules). And then they quickly find out that humans don't have darkvision. And that not being able to see in the dark is a BIG DEAL when you're adventuring in unlit dungeons, caves, etc. A light source, such as a torch, gives away your position, allowing enemies to spot you before you ever spot them. I once played a human rogue who was tasked with scouting ahead of the party to check things out. Didn't work so well. :)

[@benbattersby2837]

Weekly play makes you a casual player? Some of have to work, and hit the gym and date and shit. The only time I've ever played more than once a week regularly was on deployment.

[@AGrumpyPanda]

I know this is two years out, but my experience with Hurry Up and Wait from Cadets is enough to tell me that this has to be true XD

[@WolfHreda]

The thing about the Variant Human is it allows you to immediately start specializing in your preferred playstyle. I made a duelist (Variant Human, Fighter, Dex-based, Duelling fighting style). At level 1, she gets +5 to both attack and damage with a finesse weapon. On top of that, with just her Scale Mail and a shield, her AC is 18. Feat of choice? Defensive Duellist. As a reaction, I can bump my AC to 20 to potentially avoid even more hits. That's not even taking into account any subclasses at 3rd level, though I plan to go Battle Master when she gets there.

[@ArBee123]

Number one character played in 5e: Human Fighter. Funny enough the build that can start with Two Weapon Mastery right out of the game.... funny that. Nothing puts me off a new player faster than seeing two weapon mastery at level 1. Last game I ran, all my players started off as Humans, after some probing it became apparent that they just wanted the feat. When I suggested restricting variant human, I was met with up roar. When I suggested everyone starting with a feat regardless of race and restricting variant human lo and behold everyone went with different races. Bloody power gamers =P

[@jeremydavis6209]

Quothcraft in my game I let everyone be whatever they want, but my rule is when u die u have to be a new race and class. Then when they have some close calls they've started looking into what they'd be and start getting really excited about their next character. (Which isn't gnome wizard, human fighter, etc.)

[@SinerAthin]

This is actually an interesting observation that coincides with my own experience. A feat at level 1 is a really powerful option. Maybe by giving all races access to a similar variant rule for allowing them to pick a feat at level 1 is the way to go and promote more diverse choices.

[@Derploop]

Quothcraft you're surprised when you're like 'you can have +2,+1, racial bonuses and a feat at level one' that your players take that instead of +1+1 and a feat?

[@brosephnoonan223]

>blaming power gamers Its an entirely valid way to play. You don't play a character to play a peasant, you play one to be a hero. Maximizing your potential is important to that end. Would you call someone who wanted to play the ultimate defender a power gamer? Someone who intentionally tanks their damage in favor of defending others? What about a strom sorcerer, who wants to play the lightning guy, with the lightning powers. Would you fault him for taking Elemental Mastery to get around level 1 resistances? Or maybe a Blade centric sorcerer who takes War Caster so they can maintain concentration on spells, and use spells if a person runs away from them? Is that person a power gamer for wanting to be capable? Keep in mind, 5e has the beautiful BACKGROUND section that directly establishes your character ISN'T new to adventuring. Most of the backgrounds give players experience. A human variant rogue criminal or urchin has experience with sneaking or surviving on the streets, them taking Skulker or Alert fits. Is that power gaming? Or is that using game mechanics to reflect character development? Will you honestly fault the barbarian who takes GWM at first level so he can be the howling meaty maniac he wants to play? Theres nothing inherently wrong with power gaming. In fact, you really can't complain about it since you handed them +2,+1 *AND* a feat, which is objectively better than +1,+1... Plus, if they were sincerely power gamers they'd have taken that first level feat and gone standard human anyway. +1 to everything can be actually game changing.

[@woodsman105]

One of my three favourite characters was a standard human bard. With a +1 to everything, I started with five 14's and one 11. I was part of a group of three pc's. One fighter, one warlock, and me as the skill monkey support character. I was able to help the fighter in melee, and help the warlock with magic and skill at arcana.

[@blakebailey22]

Well elves have a slow birth rate, so after a major war humans would be able to out breed elves, and therefore conquer them

[@caseyhudson4929]

They don't have a slow maturation. They reach physical maturity at the same age as humans. They just don't take an adult name until 100.

[@unwithering5313]

@Regular Slime Human bias probably; heck that was literally one of the main reasons why demi-humans had certain limits in the original versions

[@CandleLight129]

I actually just started running a Conan-esque 80's fantasy campaign where the Yuan'ti rule everything, the elves and dragonborn have receded to their own secluded lands, dwarves are endangered and humans and halflings are enslaved or second class citizens.

[@omlo9093]

Now HERE'S an interesting thought: what if you gave ALL playable races a bonus feat at first level?

[@boomknight1015]

I personally end up with Teflings or Kobolds for flavor, Tefs for my Casters, Kobolds for my non great weapon master, front line or rogue build. Then when I just feel like I'm rolling way to many 1s. Halfling everything. Don't even give a care what it is. Just Halfling.

[@noahaist9401]

I freaking love your intros, something about them is just so endearingly silly

[@lynnewelton6222]

"Our ancestors were murder hobos" XD XD XD

[@jasonfenton8250]

Humans are often more diverse culturally compared to monoculture fantasy elves and dwarves. Plus, I am a history nerd, and I like to roleplay as an authentic medieval person (within the context of fantasy). I feel like I can rp it particularly well. Also, I like being the more grounded straight man in a weird fantasy land.

[@loxjvh]

I'm a big fan of humans. When you don't have to think about race lore, it can lead to really interesting chracters to role play.

[@erisonline921]

It's not a failure of imagination or a proliferation of "casual" players that makes humans popular. It's because they're the one race in the game that doesn't have decades of Tolkien baggage or weird Forgotten Realms trivia weighing them down. When you play a human you can make any character you want, and play them how you want, without the lore police correcting you.

[@troodon1096]

It's a role-playing game; you can play ANY character however you want and if the lore police try to correct you, just ignore them and/or tell them to shut up. I play characters against type all of the time. Humans can be anything, so there's no type to play against. I'm already a human in real life; why the hell would I want to pretend to be one in a game where I can be almost anything? Yes, it IS a failure of imagination.

[@ButlerianG-Haddinun]

old school was, an elf visits your party, you go partying with dwarves...the elf goes away, the dwarf settles down. Humans are thrill seekers all the time until they are old.

[@Bluecho4]

Most of the characters I come up with tend to be human, simply because the concept I come up with is more important than the race. Unless my concept specifically involves the character being another race, I tend to default to human and not really think about it. Which doesn't mean I don't come up with non-human characters. My most recent idea I've been fooling around with is a Frankenstein Storm Sorcerer, who got their power from having been brought to life in a region known for its storms. So when the lightning struck, it invested more of the power of tempest into them than is normal for a Frankenstein. Which is also abnormal for me, since I tend not to pay much mind to Sorcerers (I tend to prefer Wizards and Warlocks). I just liked the idea of an assembled creature who was animated by lightning _so hard_ , they ended up wielding its power instinctively.

[@bjhale]

Bluecho4 This is pretty much me exactly. And no one has ever accused me of being boring or lacking imagination.

[@witchboy44]

Please do a video on goblinoids as a playable race, I wanna see all the cool stuff on Jims setting

[@slappymcgee1245]

Jim Davis your voice is that of the angels that drift me off to sleep

[@IAmTheStig32]

To this day my all-time favourite depiction of humans in fantasy is Warhammer. What happens when you drop the Holy Roman Empire into a world full of insane monsters? Well, they kind of become insane monsters themselves, that's what.

[@revshad4226]

I once played a triple class barbarian, druid, paladin. I needed those bonuses to everything to have the states needed to multi-class. He was a great character and was lots of fun to play.

[@Ben_D.]

16:56 in my homebrew, the elves actually DO run everything, for exactly this reason. Anything the humans think they have, is overtly or discreetly afforded them by the godlike immortal elves.

[@brgessner]

Several things I have noticed. Humans are likely going to be popular and stay that way because, they aren't limited to a trope or cliche. Humans are also comfortable in they all players at your table (hopefully) know something about being a human. They are also not limited to class selection. If you pick and elf, dwarf, halfling ect. people will see you at the table with some expectation, your elf is going to be aloof, the dwarf likes drinking and fighting, the halfling is the short person. And this is reinforced by fantasy media ect ect ect.

[@TheNerdySimulation]

I really enjoyed the introspective on Humans as a race! I personally don't allow Humans in my game, but that is due my personal setting being based in a reality where The Apocalypse that happens actually wipes out all of Humanity (as an Apocalypse should). I have only really played two Humans in D&D (they were technically the same character, but whatever) and I've never quite found them interesting to play as, due to "having to play" a human all the time in real life. Although, I am moving to a new setting for my next campaign, and will likely allow Humans in them as this is going to be a Sci-Fi/Space Opera Campaign with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Futurama, Red Dwarf, and Space Dandy being my biggest influences for the tone and setting. I'm looking forward to it! :D

[@jasoncuriale8613]

I like the idea that humans just showed up one day and not even the gods know where they came from

[@shadowfiresword]

Been in a campaign with a few friends for several years now. Not a human to be found. I'm running a slightly crazy dwarf named eric stormbrew (currently 3 storm priest, 3 old god warlock). Along with a lvl 6 elven thief, a half orc fighter, and an elven ranger. Best part is the entire party runs dark vision so we never have worries about light.

[@mcchuggernaut9378]

I love that there is a very obvious Crown Royal bag sitting there that I presume is used for dice. Not a Crown fan myself (I'm a Scotch guy.), but I got a laugh out of that.

[@maromania7]

I think it just depends on your table. mine usually has humans and half elves for at least half the party.I find most people find a race and (mostly stick to it, even if they game every week for years. hell, the man who got me into tabletop has played exclusively elven or half-elven archers every week for years. in this case, it's because it appeals to everyone. for the casual player it's a thing they know. for the dedicated player it's the stats and extra feat. for people like me, it's the fact that I live such a short life compared to many other races combined with the lack of a stereotype. I can play damn near anything without it being for or against a trope.

[@acm4bass]

Another point to make is that despite the mechanical differences between the races, we are all actually humans and our characters are in fact acting human, no matter what race you picked. You could literally eliminate races and just call them nationalities. Dwarves are often scottish, My humans tend to be russian, Drow are French etc. I play a great deal of homebrew and will often only have 3 or 4 races indigenous to a world, and everything else traveled too or was summoned to the game world.

[@CrazyConnor2]

Hmmm, human characters. I like it!

[@pipos193]

You guys are awesome, I love you exploring all these themes, expressing your (admittedly interesting ideas), keep it up!

[@pronoydutta614]

As a human, I'd say y'all have discussed our people in a very succinct and unbiased manner :I We shall remember this, WebDM friends

[@dragothromak6261]

I'd love to see you do an episode on firbolgs, I just started playing my first campaign of D&D and would really like to hear your input on the race. I purchased Volos Guide and was really interested in them, I've heard a lot of people box them as "hippies" but after reading the flavor text of them killing a green dragon and leaving the head in the center of a camp, my impression is they are straight up hillbillies. They like the backwoods, they like they're privacy, which honestly jives with me as a person. I'm a dairy farmer and know the uncomfortable feeling of being in cities or towns, I feel very out of place and WISH I could disguise self and blend in but at 6foot 3 I stick out like a sore thumb. My DM has let me slightly abuse disguise self for the sake of roleplay, my party has no idea I'm a firbolg, they all think I'm just a simple human fighter. I want to hear your input on firbolgs so I can better flesh my character out. Thanks!

[@ChiefXuligan]

Are you guys planning on going to go over Xanathar's guide to everything? Also would be fun to see a race coverage like these for Lizardfolk, Kenku and other humanoids not in the PHB.

[@robbierotten2024]

I think the general consensus of this video is that humanity doesn’t mess around

[@J1ffyLub3]

You can still get +2/+1 or even +1/+1/+1 with variant human as there are many feats that grant a stat boost. You aren't really giving up stats as a variant human unless all the feats you want for your character don't give any boosts.

[@Fyrverk]

Once we all started as halflings. In the end only one halfling remained. All others was replaced over time.

[@rcschmidt668]

Nice discussion about night battles. Note Washington crossing the Delaware.

[@budderbrinejr]

I'm currently running a campaign with a Kenku, a Dragonborn, a Lizardfolk, and a Tielfing. With a Tabaxi planning on joining in later. My players like exotic races.

[@CarnivorousMeat]

I had a setting where the dwarven kingdom viewed humans the same way that humans viewed goblins or kobolds: resource wasting (come, build, leave ruins behind); the short life and quick reproduction makes them expendable and soldiers are cheap; there ability to learn quickly allows them to recover from war faster than dwarves can; they are fragile but determined which makes them cunning and dangerous; they apparently mate with the other races trying to pollute them out of existence (which is why you don't see 1/2 dwarves)

[@DaudAlzayer]

I think it's important that Gygax really saw D&D to be a human centric game (and "fighting man" centered). Subsequent editions went away from that, but it's still in the oral tradition and DNA of the game.

[@troodon1096]

The game far surpassed what he envisioned, and good thing else it wouldn't still exist. I respect my father but when I became an adult my life is about what I envision, not what he does.

[@SeanHillaby]

The longevity of elves is a disadvantage in regards to dominating the world, not a boon as Jim presents. Longer life means lower birthrate, hence humans would outbreed most other races by quite a lot.

[@SinerAthin]

Actually, longer lifespans do not necessarily equate to lower birthrate. That tends to be a cultural, not a biological thing :P In fact, if one race almost never grew old or grew old at an extremely slow rate, they would probably outgrow most other races. Remember that we humans lose a lot of our people from aging, whereas elves would maintain their generations, all in tip-top shape. This is especially useful in a violent world where having a large portion of your population combat-able is a great boon... not to mention the economic benefits. The only way humans could outgrow elves was if elves were either almost completely sterile, or had a chronic cultural/social problem discouraging reproduction.

[@GlacialScion]

SinerAthin The problem with what you're saying is that Elves are presented as maturing much slower than other races. Instead of 25 years to full maturation, they take upwards of 100. This single aspect would slow reproduction tremendously without even considering the effects of culture.

[@SeanHillaby]

While it's true longer life spans do necessitate a lower birth rate, there seems to be at least some co-relation in both the real world (rabbits/insects vs humans/elephants) and the fantasy one. Also, I've never read a D&D book where the elf ladies are having scores of babies. I think they may be, as you say, almost completely sterile. I have yet to hear about elven birth control. OMG: Magical birth control charms.....

[@SinerAthin]

That seems to vary from fluff to fluff, Ezeck, and depends heavily on the author and universe. On an interesting note: if elves matured physically at a rate proportional to their extended lives, it is likely natural selection would have picked them off long before they ever became established as a specie if they lived in a remotely hostile world. Frankly, I don't think many fantasy authors have taken a course in population statistics, Sean :P On human reproduction, it is actually highly varied as we've seen throughout history. In northern Europe, it was not uncommon for women to have 6-12 children just a few hundred years ago. Whereas now, European reproduction rates have plummeted into a negative and they got a huge median age of the 40s that is rising. This is unlike certain parts of Africa today, where some women have 9 children on average, and with access to way better medicine than 17-19th century Europe, which further increases the effective birth rate. I think a conclusion we can draw from humans is that their reproduction can vary extremely, and much of it is based around variables pertaining to both their environment, ethnic, religion and cultural background and values, to name but a few. Arguably, our physiology allows for a tremendous (potential) growth rate, but how much our potential growth rate we achieve is typically determined by factors not part of our physiology.

[@GlacialScion]

SinerAthin We know exactly why all those birth rates vary and can predict population growth and decay with exceptional accuracy now.

[@levismith5169]

On Friday I will get to start playing my 2 wizard 4 bard named Otoluke. He is being trained by Mordenkainen who is starting the 7. I’m really excited! Also I am aware that Otoluke is supposed to be a wizard lore wise but I’m gonna role play it like he just tells everyone that he’s a wizard and the believe because he’s so deceptive.

[@caseyhudson4929]

That's really cool in that, you can essentially "create" the Freezing Sphere, and the Resilient Sphere spells that appear in the phb. Then take out the arcane patent on it, and be the genuine intellectual owner of two spells!

[@levismith5169]

casey hudson that’s the hope, I’ll have to find out a way to role play coming up with them

[@Blackpallyboi]

I've made tons of characters in 5e and several have been humans, the only reason I pick humans is that sweet, sweet first level feat.

[@oOPPHOo]

Fact of the matter is that humans, exactly because of that first feat, are so versatile that they can play any class in a more viable manner than most other races. They essentially have a subrace for every feat in book and they are one of the 3 best race picks for every class. Look at the newly released Tiefling UA. I'm pretty confident that if they made it into an official publication, we would see a lot more Tieflings as well because suddenly the Tiefling doesn't have to be the warlock of the party.

[@SinerAthin]

This seems more of a game balancing issue.

[@unrealization6478]

Scrolling down the DnD subreddit and only seeing art of Tieflings, I don't think we need any more per-se. It seems like, just as every party needs a cleric, you can scarely find a party lacking in that one tiefling. Other than that, I'm glad that this is happening.

[@oOPPHOo]

I've been in probably about 10 different groups in the last 2 years and that has only amounted in 1 tiefling. Granted, I know that's likely a statistical anomaly because though D&D Beyond data, it appears that about 7% of players play tieflings making it the 6th most popular race putting it above for example halfling and gnome but below dragonborn.

[@unrealization6478]

Hm... Maybe it's the Reddit audience. I see inordinate amounts of Tieflings-Tieflings-Tieflings in all the art that gets made. (I get ticked off because it seems a way to be the new Drizzt without having people accuse you of being Drizzt; a la Drow) Personally, I've had no Tieflings (only Drow) in my ~4 groups in 3 years either, though I've had only a few long-running groups rather than many short ones. It seems to be something that would be much more popular in the artsy-roleplaying sector of DnD than the more-likely-to-minmax audience, though. (the type that seems to watch this particular channel) Given that Tieflings (as you said) are tied to Warlock, which itself is a class that has great roleplay/edgelord potential but is kind of lackluster when it comes to combat. (actually mechanically not terrible, just annoying af to play)

[@definitelyadarkangel9225]

A campaign world I made was where humans elves and Goliaths lived and managed to found a relatively peaceful nation. Then two spheres collided and the sphere the elves, and orcs were from essentially destroyed and replaced half of the continent. The elves of this plane were militant by necessity almost Spartan in culture to face off with the orcs who reproduce at a staggering rate. I was inspired by 40k orks.

[@tedrobbins5811]

Love your channel and am inspired often. Love how you touched on the interactive social and cultural elements of Humans and other ancestries (races). Keep up the great work!!!

[@zeedar412]

I'm using the vanilla human for my bard build, because I wanted to make a truly jack of all trades valor bard. A character, that can do almost everything (so she is a tank/damage/spellcaster/healer/skillmonkey as needed) , and for that the +1 in all stats was crucial.

[@obstgarteninnot9340]

Great video guys, very entertaining. Could you do a video about OSR?

[@Rh3ttD4v1s]

I'm looking for some extra lore on the Claw of Malar because what I've seen on-line has been limited. Currently writing a campaign in which a primary group of antagonists called the Cult of the Blood Moon are servants of Malar working to restore his godhood by sacrificing 999 souls during a ritual involving returning Calim and Memnon back into their soul prison, The Calimemon Crystal, so that they can grant the wish of Malar and return him to full godhood. I think it would be cool as part of this ritual the Claw of Malar had to grasp the Calimemnon Crystal. Obviously as a DM I do have the creative freedom to do whatever I'd like with the item, but if anyone has any additional Lore that might add some great flavor to this story I would definitely appreciate it.

[@forcryingoutloud71]

In my current campaign, the DM wanted everyone to play something more random (less baggage brought to the table), so we had to roll ability scores and assign them in order rolled (4D6, drop lowest, and we rerolled everything if two ability scores weren't 15 or higher). My rolls were rather poor (9, 13, 15, 7, 15, 9), so I took human to bump everything up. In this situation, playing a non-variant human was the best option since I ended up with two +3 stats and avoided two -1 stats. Ultimately, this character has been one of the most interesting I've played and has really surprised me. So, don't knock non-variant humans too much. They can be very useful on occasion.

[@TheSubscriberWithNothing]

That intro was mildly disturbing, yet strangely comforting.

[@notcultguy6297]

The whole all powerful human thing is something that I really don't care for. I don't know about the witcher much, but I do like that there is resentment towards humans because they do have all that power. I like how Warhammer Fantasy/AoS deal with humans. They are the race that are clinging on trying to survive all the horrors from Orks to Skaven to the Undead, and have to rely on the help of Elves and Dwarves. I like the idea of humans being this baseline, but because they are the baseline they are the jack of all trades and that the races with specialization are able to over power them with specializations.

[@guidoinsunglasses6385]

I once had a group try all elf... Yeah they changed their minds when I hit them with some good old classic Barbaric racism and judgement of fey magic.

[@TurasOfficial]

Just starting a new campaign as a dragonborn, would love a video about one of those! Love the content guys, keep it up!

[@pakidara2000]

Have you guys ever tried running a pokémon dnd campaign? To explain, all players are able to capture any mob assuming proper gear and then train / sell / trade said mob. I like the idea of a Dwarf bard and his pet roper charging into battle against an Elf wizard and her pet chain demon.

[@chongwillson972]

@pakidara2000 that sounds to play with a kobold PC who constantly have people try to catch or treat as a pet.

[@Captain_Mike82]

The game I'm running currently is dragonborn fighter, halfling rogue, elf bard, half elf warlock. So I've still got half a human in there.

[@charlie_c1373]

Playing as a human makes every other race seem truly fantastical. I general only ever play Human, half-elf(or half-human?), and Half-orc because it makes the other races "feel" alien thus more interesting to interact with. Besides the "Vuman" just cant be topped for most builds. As for the elves I always liked the idea that they have an extreeemely low birth-rate.

[@jeffreyallan1312]

Maybe it's just me but I've always felt that night time is low light, where darkvision is like pitch black.

[@caseyhudson4929]

I think yeah, if there's nothing obscuring the sky on the night of a full moon that should be dim light.

[@highmarshal528]

One of my favorite characters I have is a human War domain cleric that is an Inquisitor he is part of a custom campaign and kicks butt takes names

[@acm4bass]

Also certain games have a theme like gothic horror, and if you are scarier than the monsters it doesn't wok, and some of the liabilities of human kind like being unable to see in darkness or muggle nature make that setting more playable.

[@CrazyConnor2]

#HumanMasterRace

[@ageridthesilverdragon4440]

#DragonbornMasterRace

[@brosephnoonan223]

#ElvesArentPeople

[@daemonglasscock8768]

#AllRacesMatter

[@quinns.w.9404]

#butnotTabaxi

[@ageridthesilverdragon4440]

#alsoTabaxi

[@forteetugames]

for me, it's all about Humans and Halflings

[@immortalwolf3055]

im an anachronistic enigma shrouded in a mystery made of marshmallow cream inside of a human looking shell.

[@immortalwolf3055]

btw i rather like the premise that humans are rare and uncommon in a setting, perhaps a small group of them were brought to that world through a magic gate a couple hundred years before the campaign starts and they are still few in numbers. perhaps only numbering in the hundreds or thousands.

[@caseyhudson4929]

Anyone who describes themselves as an enigma should be thrown in the trash.

[@immortalwolf3055]

aww, that's adorable. did your mother take more than 5 seconds to consider whether to leave you in the trash 9 months after prom? bet she has rethought that decision more than a few times over the years casey.

[@jokertim777]

I find that most (not all) players who choose a race other than Human do so because either they think it's cool to be a mythical race, or there's a game mechanic motivation (power gamer). The issue is they don't role play that character any differently than if they were Human. So, they are just a Human in a Halloween costume. Playing an alien race is difficult and takes a lot of thought and research to do it well. Culture, language (accented Common), goals are all going to be very different. I see it as something only an advanced role player should even attempt. If you are a tree hugger, don't play an Elf. Just be the nature loving Human. If you love to drink beer and fight, don't play a Dwarf. Just be a Human who is a short tempered lush. If you are compensating for weakness, don't play a Dragonborn. Just be a powerful Human. If you are a psychopath, don't play a Drow or Tiefling. Just go see a shrink for God's sake. If you want to play a Hobbit, that's cool... I love those little Humans too.