ReturnOfTheKing
2014-12-23, 08:57 PM
I've always been annoyed by the fact that Humans always get special billing in D&D, and in fiction in general. I mean, there's a great variety of playable races in Dungeons and Dragons, but it seems as if Humans are considered to make up most of the populace, with other races being "those guys down the street."
Not to mention it creates a polarizing effect where some people choose exotic races to spice up their characters and get good ability scores but don't really acknowledge the culture of those races, except in stereotypes.
Others who wish to just make interesting characters without leaning on the fact they're a mystical Air Genasi with, I dunno, a +2 to Charisma and awesome wind powers, turn to Humans because they're the ordinary Joes and they can choose any ability score bonus or class they want. I just feel like this effect makes the other races seem shallow and pointless while making Humans seem way more important, because the basic premise behind many races could just be converted into Human cultures. Dwarves, for example, could just be hardy mountain-dwelling folk, and Orcs are brutal tribes from some distant land akin to European perceptions of Mongol tribes.
Anyway, I've ranted long enough, so what am I gonna do about it? Well, I say Humans finally get treated as they really are - another face in the crowd. No more special "choose whatever ability score you want," no more "average citizens," no more "non-Humans are the other." Humans get an ability score bonus, a size, a base speed, languages, a few neat racial traits and some sub-races, no more and no less than any other race. Furthermore, fluff-wise, they end up with a specific place in the world and a core premise. Just as the Dwarves have their mountains, the Gnomes have their tinkering and the Halflings have their cozy little cottages, Humans have something to call theirs, something that cries out "human." In other words, I want to sum up the Human race in a brief descriptive paragraph, then build their race around it.
So, what are Humans? Well, among millennia-old Elves, gruff and long-lived Dwarves and century-slumbering Dragons, they're short-lived, and perhaps as a direct result, they're ambitious. Humans are also extremely diverse and varied. However, Humans rarely identify as Humans like Dragonborn identify as Dragonborn or Dwarves identify as Dwarves. They're scattered and divided. Perhaps once, they had a sense of racial unity, even a kingdom, but now, they're just people. There isn't a Human homeland or Human legends or much of anything they can rally around, which means they're very often absorbed into the cultures of other races. Hence Half-Orcs, Half-Elves and the like being fairly common. It's not impossible to find a Human blacksmith forging weapons and armour in a Dwarven city or joining a congregation of Dragonborn in praying to Io. In a sense, they're still everymen, but they're also nobodies who have to earn their acceptance in the cultures they join,
So, now that I know what I'm doing, I can make a race out of that. Bear in mind that I'm a novice and this is only the first draft, so it's going to need a lot of work! Italics mean things I'm uncertain about. Here we go:
Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by +2.
Size: Your size is Medium.
Speed: Your speed is 30 feet.
Languages: You can speak, read and write Common and one other language of your choice.
Homo sapiens
Ability Score Increases: Your Charisma score increases by +1.
Skill Proficiencies: You can take one skill proficiency of your choice.
Switch It Up: When you fail on a check which requires an action, you can expend a bonus action to regain the failed action. This action cannot be used for the same purpose as it's original intention. This ability recharges at the end of a short rest
Extra Language: You gain one extra language of your choice.
Apemen
Ability Score Increases: Your Strength score increases by +1.
Skill Proficiencies: You gain proficiency in the Stealth and Intimidate skills.
Howl of Rage: You let loose a primal roar and your enemies are frightened until the end of your next turn.
Toolmaker: This should be something like the Rock Gnomes' tinker ability, allowing you to make crude tools out of relatively ordinary materials.. My previous version was waaaay too op, I'll have to fix that.
Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by +1.
Skill Proficiencies: You gain proficiency in the Arcana and History skills.
Telepathic: You can telepathically communicate with other life-forms. Figure out how telepathy works in 5e. Should there be a range? Number of uses? Information limit?
Extra Language: You gain one extra language of your choice.
UPDATE: I've finished the second draft and removed the Apemen, as well as shuffled some sub-race stats. To my embarrassment, I realized the problems I was having originated from the fact I couldn't remember the 5e stats for Humans! I checked the PH and made some changes based on what I found. Still needs quite a bit of PEACHing, so let me know what you think!
UPDATE 2: Third draft now. I'm going to be completely altering much of the above, and I'm thinking about completely removing Homo superior.
UPDATE 3: Removed Homo superior and added what is doubtless an utterly op move to the main race. How can I figure this out?
UPDATE 4: Based on some very good ideas from Rogue Shadows, I'm pretty much totally overhauling the whole race. Brought back the Apemen, and I'm turning Homo superior into High Men. Might turn the Neanderthals/Cavemen into underground baddies, like the Morlocks, but I doubt I'll give them stats. Thoughts?
UPDATE 5: Kudos to DinoKing13 for several good tips!
UPDATE 6: Gonna be about a week before I can work on this again. Maybe I'll have some good ideas while I'm on vacation :smallsmile:
Not to mention it creates a polarizing effect where some people choose exotic races to spice up their characters and get good ability scores but don't really acknowledge the culture of those races, except in stereotypes.
Others who wish to just make interesting characters without leaning on the fact they're a mystical Air Genasi with, I dunno, a +2 to Charisma and awesome wind powers, turn to Humans because they're the ordinary Joes and they can choose any ability score bonus or class they want. I just feel like this effect makes the other races seem shallow and pointless while making Humans seem way more important, because the basic premise behind many races could just be converted into Human cultures. Dwarves, for example, could just be hardy mountain-dwelling folk, and Orcs are brutal tribes from some distant land akin to European perceptions of Mongol tribes.
Anyway, I've ranted long enough, so what am I gonna do about it? Well, I say Humans finally get treated as they really are - another face in the crowd. No more special "choose whatever ability score you want," no more "average citizens," no more "non-Humans are the other." Humans get an ability score bonus, a size, a base speed, languages, a few neat racial traits and some sub-races, no more and no less than any other race. Furthermore, fluff-wise, they end up with a specific place in the world and a core premise. Just as the Dwarves have their mountains, the Gnomes have their tinkering and the Halflings have their cozy little cottages, Humans have something to call theirs, something that cries out "human." In other words, I want to sum up the Human race in a brief descriptive paragraph, then build their race around it.
So, what are Humans? Well, among millennia-old Elves, gruff and long-lived Dwarves and century-slumbering Dragons, they're short-lived, and perhaps as a direct result, they're ambitious. Humans are also extremely diverse and varied. However, Humans rarely identify as Humans like Dragonborn identify as Dragonborn or Dwarves identify as Dwarves. They're scattered and divided. Perhaps once, they had a sense of racial unity, even a kingdom, but now, they're just people. There isn't a Human homeland or Human legends or much of anything they can rally around, which means they're very often absorbed into the cultures of other races. Hence Half-Orcs, Half-Elves and the like being fairly common. It's not impossible to find a Human blacksmith forging weapons and armour in a Dwarven city or joining a congregation of Dragonborn in praying to Io. In a sense, they're still everymen, but they're also nobodies who have to earn their acceptance in the cultures they join,
So, now that I know what I'm doing, I can make a race out of that. Bear in mind that I'm a novice and this is only the first draft, so it's going to need a lot of work! Italics mean things I'm uncertain about. Here we go:
Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by +2.
Size: Your size is Medium.
Speed: Your speed is 30 feet.
Languages: You can speak, read and write Common and one other language of your choice.
Homo sapiens
Ability Score Increases: Your Charisma score increases by +1.
Skill Proficiencies: You can take one skill proficiency of your choice.
Switch It Up: When you fail on a check which requires an action, you can expend a bonus action to regain the failed action. This action cannot be used for the same purpose as it's original intention. This ability recharges at the end of a short rest
Extra Language: You gain one extra language of your choice.
Apemen
Ability Score Increases: Your Strength score increases by +1.
Skill Proficiencies: You gain proficiency in the Stealth and Intimidate skills.
Howl of Rage: You let loose a primal roar and your enemies are frightened until the end of your next turn.
Toolmaker: This should be something like the Rock Gnomes' tinker ability, allowing you to make crude tools out of relatively ordinary materials.. My previous version was waaaay too op, I'll have to fix that.
Ability Score Increase: Your Intelligence score increases by +1.
Skill Proficiencies: You gain proficiency in the Arcana and History skills.
Telepathic: You can telepathically communicate with other life-forms. Figure out how telepathy works in 5e. Should there be a range? Number of uses? Information limit?
Extra Language: You gain one extra language of your choice.
UPDATE: I've finished the second draft and removed the Apemen, as well as shuffled some sub-race stats. To my embarrassment, I realized the problems I was having originated from the fact I couldn't remember the 5e stats for Humans! I checked the PH and made some changes based on what I found. Still needs quite a bit of PEACHing, so let me know what you think!
UPDATE 2: Third draft now. I'm going to be completely altering much of the above, and I'm thinking about completely removing Homo superior.
UPDATE 3: Removed Homo superior and added what is doubtless an utterly op move to the main race. How can I figure this out?
UPDATE 4: Based on some very good ideas from Rogue Shadows, I'm pretty much totally overhauling the whole race. Brought back the Apemen, and I'm turning Homo superior into High Men. Might turn the Neanderthals/Cavemen into underground baddies, like the Morlocks, but I doubt I'll give them stats. Thoughts?
UPDATE 5: Kudos to DinoKing13 for several good tips!
UPDATE 6: Gonna be about a week before I can work on this again. Maybe I'll have some good ideas while I'm on vacation :smallsmile: