Determining race

[Hyfigh]

Been a long time since I posted. Hurray for being back!!

My question revolves around race in 3.x. What determines race? I’m looking at the Chameleon requirement of Human or Doppelganger. So I review the entry for doppelganger and it is a Monstrous Humanoid Shape-changer type/subtype. Humans list no such information. But I look to, say, Dwarf and behold... Humanoid Dwarf type/subtype.
This being said, does a Humanoid Human (example: Azurin) qualify as a Human racially in the same way a Dwarf qualifies as a Dwarf. I’m looking at the “quacks like a duck” argument.

[Falontani]

I would assume so due to the fact that any "elf" can take Arcane Archer even if they are an elf with another name.

Azurin is already a [Human] so it is more human than a half elf will ever be, yet a half elf can take Human Paragon levels after taking Half Elven Paragon levels. So I believe by RAW Azurin can. By RAI a half elf should be able to as well as any other half human race with the feat from Races of Destiny: Human Heritage.

[Red Fel]

Yeah, I'm gonna say that anything that has the Human subtype counts as Human for... Y'know, whatever.

Technically, Humans should have the Humanoid (Human) typing as well. So, yeah. Human subtype. S'a thing.

[ShurikVch]

Actually, the "Race" is a completely separate characteristic, and isn't depending on either Type or Subtype
Thus, while, for example, most of the time Dwarf is Humanoid (dwarf), Zombie Dwarf is still a Dwarf by the Race, despite being Undead without "racial subtypes"

[Hyfigh]

But where do the rules define race? I can’t find anything 😕

[ShurikVch]

But where do the rules define race? I can’t find anything 😕Try Player's Handbook, Chapter 2

[Hyfigh]

That doesn’t present any mechanical terminology for a race, though. Human is the only “race” that lacks any kind of a crunch entry. I’m trying to determine what mechanically makes a Human a Human.

[KillianHawkeye]

Race is determined by what the creature is called. Humans are the human race. Azurins are the azurin race. Elves and dwarves and some other races are further divided into subraces (e.g., high elves and wood elves, hill dwarves and mountain dwarves), but they are all still called elves and dwarves or whatever.

Races who share the human subtype are related to humans, but are not part of the human race. It's like how there are several distinct races of goblinoids, or how half-elves and half-orcs have become their own races separate from their parent races even though they retain the elf and orc subtypes respectively.

[Thurbane]

Race is determined by what the creature is called. Humans are the human race. Azurins are the azurin race. Elves and dwarves and some other races are further divided into subraces (e.g., high elves and wood elves, hill dwarves and mountain dwarves), but they are all still called elves and dwarves or whatever.

Races who share the human subtype are related to humans, but are not part of the human race. It's like how there are several distinct races of goblinoids, or how half-elves and half-orcs have become their own races separate from their parent races even though they retain the elf and orc subtypes respectively.

So you're saying that only a plain vanilla PHB Human can qualify for Chameleon, and not Illumians, Karsites, Neanderthal's etc?

[DrMotives]

I solve this by ruling that humans are Humanoid type with the (human) subtype. This means that all those other races in RoD, like Illumians, Mongrelfolk, Skulk, etc can all be the Chameleon class without needing the human heritage feat. I also like houseruling that half-elves and half-orcs have the (human) subtype as well as either the (elf) or (orc) subtype, just because that makes sense. That does mean that human heritage feat is only useful on less common races, but I'm fine with that.

[Eloel]

So you're saying that only a plain vanilla PHB Human can qualify for Chameleon, and not Illumians, Karsites, Neanderthal's etc?

RAW, I think this is correct. Not even Human Heritage feat fixes this.


Edit:
This is explicitly called out in a sidebar in Races of Destiny page 150, where there's a variant you can use in your game to let them count as humans for prerequisites.

Edit2:
Aventi, in Stormwrack, specifically has a trait "Human Blood", that lets it qualify for Human-only stuff. Illumian lacks such a trait.

[Hyfigh]

Yep. Looks like the variant in Races of Destiny is probably the best option and the only thing that helps identify what the [Human] subtype is. It also finally provides a use for it.
Thanks for the brainstorming, everyone.

[Thurbane]

FWIW, the Karsite stat block in ToM lists it as Medium Humanoid (Human).

[Telonius]

Ranger's Favored Enemy table in the PHB, page 46, lists Type/Subtype Humanoid (human) as a possible Favored Enemy. The example creature for that is human. So even laying the common-sense argument aside, it's pretty clear that the intent was for humans to have that type and subtype.

I don't think that just having the type and subtype is quite enough to qualify as equivalent creatures, RAW. (I use the demihuman variant in campaigns I run, but it is just a variant and not the standard).

[Mordaedil]

Humans not having an entry in the Monster Manual is also an old tradition dating back to 1st edition, where "men" were not even statted.

[Khedrac]

Humans not having an entry in the Monster Manual is also an old tradition dating back to 1st edition, where "men" were not even statted.
That is only half true - there may have been no entry for "men" but there was for "brigand" etc....

[Mordaedil]

That is only half true - there may have been no entry for "men" but there was for "brigand" etc....
I mean they didn't have a race defined. They were just accepted as the default option. It's just oddly empty for players.