Humans

"Isaac strode up the steps past groups of students, smoking, arguing, writing. Overwhelmingly male and human, there were, nonetheless, the occasional defensive tight-knit group of young xenians or women or both. Some students conducted theoretical debates at ostentatious volume.

Others made occasional marginal notes in their textbooks and sucked at rolled cigarillos of pungent tobacco. Isaac passed a group squatting at the end of a corridor, practising what they had just learned, laughing delightedly as the tiny homunculus they had made from ground liver stumbled four steps before collapsing in a pile of twitching mulch."
-Chapter Seventeen, Perdido Street Station

Humans are the youngest of the common races, late to arrive on the world scene and short-lived in comparison to dwarves, elves, and dragons. Perhaps it is because of their shorter lives that they strive to achieve as much as they can in the years they are given.

Or maybe they feel they have something to prove to the elder races, and that’s why they build their mighty empires on the foundation of conquest and trade. Whatever drives them, humans are the innovators, the achievers, and the pioneers of the world of Bas-Lag

Personality

It is hard to make sweeping generalisations on humans but generally speaking, humans who seek adventure are the most daring and ambitious members of a daring and ambitious race. They seek to earn glory in the eyes of their fellows by amassing power, wealth, territory and fame.

Most humans - especially the upper class in New Crobuzon, harness an innate distrust of the xenian races at best, a deep hatred at worst. There are always exceptions to the rule, not all humans are naturally racist, but to xenian races, it does seem like the overwhelming majority does harness some kind of prejudice against at least one of the xenian races.

Physical Description

With their penchant for migration and conquest, humans are more physically diverse than other common races. There is no typical human. An individual can stand from 5 feet to a little over 6 feet tall and weigh from 125 to 250 pounds.

Human skin shades range from nearly black to very pale, and hair colours from black to blond (curly, kinky, or straight males might sport facial hair that is sparse or thick. A lot of humans have a dash of nonhuman blood, revealing hints of elf, orc, or other lineages. Humans reach adulthood in their late teens and rarely live even a single century.

Relations

"Over the next two hours, the mood hardened. A core of humans set up a counter-demonstration inside the dockland’s low walls. They screamed abuse at the vodyanoi, calling them frogs and toads. They jeered at the striking humans, denounced them as race-traitors. They warned that the vodyanoi would ruin the dock, making human wages plummet. One or two of them carried Three Quills literature."
-Chapter Twenty-Six, Perdido Street Station

Overall, due to their drive to colonise everything they can and - epecially in the case of city dwelling human's their general racism, Humans can tend to have antagonistic relationships with other races, even if they don't intend for it to be so.

Those who live outside the major metropolises, cities and even larger towns tend to readily mix with members of other races and although the stereotype above exists, many are sympathetic and strive to better the conditions of the xenians around them who they view as equals and comrades. Humans serve as ambassadors, diplomats, magistrates, merchants, and functionaries of all kinds.

Language

Humans typically learn the languages of other peoples they deal with, including obscure dialects. They are fond of sprinkling their speech with words borrowed from other tongues: Orc curses, Elvish musical expressions, Dwarvish military phrases, and so on.

Torque & Thaumaturgy (Magic)

Whilst not as well versed as some of the other races, humans have mastered the use of torque and are quite accomplished Thaumaturgists. In fact, it was the human's who discovered and mastered the art of biothaumaturgy.

Racial Traits

Size

Medium
Humans vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common (whatever language is classed as common in the starting area of the campaign, eg. Teshi in Tesh, Ragamoll in Rohagi etc.) and one extra language of your choice.

Subclasses

Human's tend to fall under one of two major subclasses, Rohagian or Shoteki. Rohagian's are well rounded individuals who are generally well balanced in their abilities and Shoteki tend to be more specialised.

Rohagian

Ability Score Increase
All ability scores increase by 1.

Shoteki

Ability Score Increase
Choose 2 abilities to increase by 1
Skills
Proficiency in 1 skill of choice
Feature/Special Abilities
Any 1 feature of choice

Related Organizations

• Order of the Sun
• The Cymeki Empire