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)*
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.
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?
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?
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.
@@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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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"
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
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?
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!
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*
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
I mainly play humans because, frankly, humanity is just more interesting to me. As far as tropes go, every dwarf is a Scottish miner, every elf is a magic paragon of morality, every halfling is a lucky homesteader with a penchant for stealth. Humans don't really have tropes attached to them. Plus, humans have done some damn badass things IRL. Rasputin, who was poisoned, beaten, shot , and drowned, and only died of exhaustion when swimming back to shore. A lone warrior held back an entire army at Stamford Bridge in 1066 iirc. The list goes on. Also, having a human grounds things in reality in some way. I feel that if everyone in the party is special, then it makes it feel like nobody is special. Of course, you can expect the elf that has lived and trained for centuries to slay an upstart red dragon. But following a nobody farm kid from bumf*ck nowhere with naught but a sword and a chain shirt to his name feels like a more interesting journey to me.
@Xaxp varric is a dwarf smooth-faced, American ascent, long range rogue, surface living, who is son of a merchant family is author of several books, and he the most famous and well-loved character of his series, hell he the entire second game of the series is he telling what happened. "Also, having a human grounds things in reality in some way. I feel that if everyone in the party is special, then it makes it feel like nobody is special. Of course, you can expect the elf that has lived and trained for centuries to slay an upstart red dragon. But following a nobody farm kid from bumf*ck nowhere with naught but a sword and a chain shirt to his name feels like a more interesting journey to me." i feel this way with kobolds because they are the most looked down upon race both because of their height which is rather important since they are one of the smallest playable races at range of 2-2 1/2 feet tall. and they are always on the bottom of any social totem pole, often seen as pest or gutter trash or at their very best, servants. and also given their beastly appearance can also expect people to treat them harshly, i.e. at a rural tavern giving them a dog bed or make them eat out of a dog dish or even forcing them to sleep out with the mounts. also, even human farm kid would at least know a few famous adventurers who had the same start, but even world-renowned scholars would have a hard time naming 5 kobolds of note.
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.
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.
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.
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. :)
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
To me, it is playing a human, or something else. A human is a blank slate. There is no real cultural connection and thus can be used to explore anything. With another race, the implication of their herritage would mean playing off type would mean you would be "weird" (lizardfolk wizard, for example) It is possible, but your kind will either treat you like a god for having more tools for survival than them or a devil and end you. which inherently brings about some kind of story. (I understand that you can create a tribe that's different and such but I prefer to use the established lore, which isn't better in any kind just my pref)
I mean, kobold magic users are not unheard of. Franklt, yhe only really unique thing about my kobold wizard is that he is more curious than his other kin.
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.
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
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.)
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.
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?
>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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
I see a majot point thats neing brought up in the comments about playing non-human races is the baggage that comes with them whether it be Tolkien inspired sterotypes or lore implications. But i see that as why genasi are one of the best races. Its the only non-human race that a pkayer can escape lore and sterotypes and still play as however they want without having to play against type or worry about background information as genasi can come from almost any race and culture.
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.
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.
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!!!
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.
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.
Well I play humans specifically because in most campaigns humans are the regular folk looking in and experiencing the fantasy aspects of the world with fresh eyes , though in any Middle Earth rpg, I'd play hobbits as that is their purpose in Tolkien's stories
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
When I started DnD I always picked weird race and class combos my first two characters were a tiefling cleric who grew up as a slave and a lizardfolk wizard who got wing half way through the game for some reason
Can you guys do another video on the undead, specifically revenants. I think they have great story potential and represent one of the best ways a DM can choose to save a dead PC if the player feels wronged without removing all consequence from the game, since they have a clear expiration date.
For the longest time I've always avoided playing humans, simply because playing dnd for the first then playing over the course of a couple years I wanted to play all the exotic races! Why be a boring human when you can be a tiefling or elf! But here I am now, playing human more than ever as I love how flexible human backgrounds can be with making my character. Love dnd and also the stories it can make.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
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Web DM VVS
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)*
They come and help and humans give thanks by giving grain......I don't think that's enslavement at this point.
Not to sound racist, but some of my best friends are human.
That's not racist. But if you said you didn't have any human friends, then we'd all suspect your might be.
Yeah, my best friend is a human...
Don't mean to sound racist myself, but some of my favourite slaves are human.
Thank god. If you said you were friends with Elves we might have issues.
Heimskr, Prophet of Talos
Around elves, watch yourselves!
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.
I completely agree.
aFistfulofDice that is a good point that I've never thought about.
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?
William Bogar
Because elves are lazy tree-hugging degenerates. lol
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?
"Our ancestors were murder hobos."
Brilliant.
Chaotic Good, murder hobos.
MMMMMmmmmmm, no too sure about that friendo
Made me think Custer’s last stand was a dm who thought we’re done here.
@@tyler58701 There's an untapped gold mine for "History From the DM's Perspective".
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.
Michael Doherty have you seen Australia? That’s a place where there’s a ton of crazy monsters humans live around.
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.
@@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.
@Lord Admiral Spire ya I know. It's more hatred for fun rather then anything serious.
"I, for one, welcome our new human overlords."
Good
I love playing humans. All the most interesting people I know are humans!
All the most boring people I know are humans too
@777rick777
That's that famed human versatility for you
I love playing humans. All the most gullible people I know are humans!
You obviously haven't met my boy IBM Watson.
I don't know, humans are just so... human.
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... ;)
The perfect adventuring party is thirteen dwarf fighters, one celestial wizard and one hafling rouge. End of conversation.
Sounds familiar....
I'm guessing one of your antagonists is a white Orc and a Dragon in a mountain?
Why does the halfling need to wear rouge? Why not some eyeliner? Foundation?
😂😂😂
come to think of it, the 13 fighters should have demolished any dragon.
The fight over a rock... before the fight over a ring.
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.
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.
Humans are the "Hold my beer" race.
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.
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.
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"
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.
KageRyuuUji my kantaaa
Humans get laughed at, regardless of what their stats are.
Those sound like elves and dwarves who are actually different, unique and interesting.
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.
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.
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.
Because I'd like to be over 5' tall AND have a phenomenal moustache.
Stop cutting the rants short!!!! We love the rants!!!
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.
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.
Actually, I the Shannara books, elves and fey way predate humans. The second book, Elfstones of Shannara spells out most of the elvish history.
Jeffrey Anderson Well, that is another fault on the show then.
haha! that intro cracked me up!
Perfectly examplifies how boring playing a human is to some players like me XD
The human music is a Rick and Morty reference.
I agree fellow human.
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?
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.
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
Actually, human fighter is statistically the most played race-class combination of all the possibilities in 5e.
nope, like 15% of alll characters are human fighters.
You expect me to believe these two perfect beautiful boys are real humans? LOL
The bamboozler will not become the bamboozled.
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
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
l3054 my guess is that it's the final remnant of their humanity before they transcend their origin entirely.
Vivec is both, or neither possibly could be considered non-binary/genderqueer.
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.
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?
The shoutout to Wisecrack at the end was on point.
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!
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*
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.
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.
Same experience with my players with something else, I noticed youngest players tend to play nonhuman more than players in their 30+.
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
I’m always impressed when I view these great quality videos!
You put so much time and effort into them.
Thanks again, guys:)
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"
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
Alnilam Orion yeah I whole heartedly agree. I would usually create a character concept first then pick the race with the tropes to match.
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.
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.
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.
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
Why make a human? Crossbow snipers...
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.
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.
The thought is the true definition of a people person.
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.
Patrick Gallagher See, I have the opposite problem. I can’t remember the last time any of my players wanted to be a human.
Now that is an interesting setting idea
Did they all pick a new favorite? Or did they spread out
Jeremy Davis a decent spread. Half elf, halfling, elf, Warforged, and tiefling.
Wasted potential there. You could make humans xenophobic as fuck and persecute the nonhuman party.
Humanity first!
I mainly play humans because, frankly, humanity is just more interesting to me. As far as tropes go, every dwarf is a Scottish miner, every elf is a magic paragon of morality, every halfling is a lucky homesteader with a penchant for stealth. Humans don't really have tropes attached to them.
Plus, humans have done some damn badass things IRL. Rasputin, who was poisoned, beaten, shot , and drowned, and only died of exhaustion when swimming back to shore. A lone warrior held back an entire army at Stamford Bridge in 1066 iirc. The list goes on.
Also, having a human grounds things in reality in some way. I feel that if everyone in the party is special, then it makes it feel like nobody is special. Of course, you can expect the elf that has lived and trained for centuries to slay an upstart red dragon. But following a nobody farm kid from bumf*ck nowhere with naught but a sword and a chain shirt to his name feels like a more interesting journey to me.
@Xaxp
varric is a dwarf smooth-faced, American ascent, long range rogue, surface living, who is son of a merchant family is author of several books, and he the most famous and well-loved character of his series, hell he the entire second game of the series is he telling what happened.
"Also, having a human grounds things in reality in some way. I feel that if everyone in the party is special, then it makes it feel like nobody is special. Of course, you can expect the elf that has lived and trained for centuries to slay an upstart red dragon. But following a nobody farm kid from bumf*ck nowhere with naught but a sword and a chain shirt to his name feels like a more interesting journey to me."
i feel this way with kobolds because they are the most looked down upon race both because of their height which is rather important since they are one of the smallest playable races at range of 2-2 1/2 feet tall.
and they are always on the bottom of any social totem pole, often seen as pest or gutter trash or at their very best, servants.
and also given their beastly appearance can also expect people to treat them harshly, i.e. at a rural tavern giving them a dog bed or make them eat out of a dog dish or even forcing them to sleep out with the mounts.
also, even human farm kid would at least know a few famous adventurers who had the same start, but even world-renowned scholars would have a hard time naming 5 kobolds of note.
After several 5e campaigns, I've seen exactly 1 human PC. Also 1 kobold.
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.
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.
Do Gnomes next!
I'm a dwarf at heart. Maybe because I'm 6'1"
Benjamin Exton I have player thats total Firbolg, he is 7 ft.
I thought it was just me. I’m 6’2” and my most “famous” characters in the group are halflings and gnomes.
King of the Manlets!
I'm one of the taller players in the group and I consistently play the smallest characters.
A WebDM vid on humans?
I'm up for it.
Edit: I love playing human characters for thier versatility.
Hmmm, human characters. I like it!
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.
Bluecho4 This is pretty much me exactly. And no one has ever accused me of being boring or lacking imagination.
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. :)
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.
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
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.
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.
paul coy I know you were listing those off to show how humans aren't boring, but those *are* boring
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?
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?
Most everyone on that list is boring
Batman is more Kenku tho.
Jim Davis your voice is that of the angels that drift me off to sleep
To me, it is playing a human, or something else. A human is a blank slate. There is no real cultural connection and thus can be used to explore anything. With another race, the implication of their herritage would mean playing off type would mean you would be "weird" (lizardfolk wizard, for example) It is possible, but your kind will either treat you like a god for having more tools for survival than them or a devil and end you. which inherently brings about some kind of story. (I understand that you can create a tribe that's different and such but I prefer to use the established lore, which isn't better in any kind just my pref)
I mean, kobold magic users are not unheard of. Franklt, yhe only really unique thing about my kobold wizard is that he is more curious than his other kin.
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.
Nice discussion about night battles. Note Washington crossing the Delaware.
Please do a video on goblinoids as a playable race, I wanna see all the cool stuff on Jims setting
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
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.)
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.
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?
>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.
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
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.
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.
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.
casey hudson you've hit the nail on the head.
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.
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
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.
I freaking love your intros, something about them is just so endearingly silly
"Our ancestors were murder hobos" XD XD XD
Now HERE'S an interesting thought: what if you gave ALL playable races a bonus feat at first level?
I see a majot point thats neing brought up in the comments about playing non-human races is the baggage that comes with them whether it be Tolkien inspired sterotypes or lore implications. But i see that as why genasi are one of the best races. Its the only non-human race that a pkayer can escape lore and sterotypes and still play as however they want without having to play against type or worry about background information as genasi can come from almost any race and culture.
You guys are awesome, I love you exploring all these themes, expressing your (admittedly interesting ideas), keep it up!
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.
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.
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!!!
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.
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.
Well I play humans specifically because in most campaigns humans are the regular folk looking in and experiencing the fantasy aspects of the world with fresh eyes , though in any Middle Earth rpg, I'd play hobbits as that is their purpose in Tolkien's stories
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!
Great video guys, very entertaining.
Could you do a video about OSR?
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.
Well elves have a slow birth rate, so after a major war humans would be able to out breed elves, and therefore conquer them
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.
@Regular Slime Human bias probably; heck that was literally one of the main reasons why demi-humans had certain limits in the original versions
Just starting a new campaign as a dragonborn, would love a video about one of those! Love the content guys, keep it up!
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.
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!
casey hudson that’s the hope, I’ll have to find out a way to role play coming up with them
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.
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.
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.
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.
#HumanMasterRace
#DragonbornMasterRace
#ElvesArentPeople
#AllRacesMatter
#butnotTabaxi
#alsoTabaxi
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
As the saying goes. If you can't make a boring race and class intresting. Then you don't deserve to play an exotic race to make it intresting
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.
This was the best race episode so far. Web DM keeps getting better.
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.
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.
This was a really great episode. So much inspiration!
Yeah thats OUR word.
I think the level limits and stats and all that jazz in earlier versions of DnD is also a legacy of its origins as a wargame variant.
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.
for me, it's all about Humans and Halflings
Ooh, some good ideas, there. I might try making a world like that at some point.
Humans are near extinction and you could be the only one left... Adventure Time c'mon grab your friends.
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.
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.
In Overlord, humanity was protected by humans from our world who had access to their rpg personas maybe that was why humanity became dominant
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.
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.
It shocked me too when I saw Human as most popular, but what really shocked me was Aasimar at the bottom, humans with wings.
When I started DnD I always picked weird race and class combos my first two characters were a tiefling cleric who grew up as a slave and a lizardfolk wizard who got wing half way through the game for some reason
Can you guys do another video on the undead, specifically revenants. I think they have great story potential and represent one of the best ways a DM can choose to save a dead PC if the player feels wronged without removing all consequence from the game, since they have a clear expiration date.
For the longest time I've always avoided playing humans, simply because playing dnd for the first then playing over the course of a couple years I wanted to play all the exotic races! Why be a boring human when you can be a tiefling or elf! But here I am now, playing human more than ever as I love how flexible human backgrounds can be with making my character. Love dnd and also the stories it can make.
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.
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.
This seems more of a game balancing issue.
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.
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.
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)
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.
If you have the option to play a dwarf you play a dwarf. Dwarves are the mastere race. Screw thos elves.
Hey, I stole your axe and put it on the top shelf. Have fun :3
@@unsuspiciousdweller8967 *Duergar rune knight laughs in huge size*
"Handsome" John Pruitt from adventures in babysitting from 1987