Humans are one of the First Races. They were created in Yamma's image to represent the flame of the mortal spirit. Hope is their virtue and violence is their vice. They are far and away the most numerous race in Emaxus, but their numbers vary in the planes beyond. As one of the First Races, they have some of the most widely varied cultures and storied histories, some of which are detailed below.
A Varied People
Humans have lived for thousands of years in countless, impossibly varied environments. As such, they have grown to have just as varied physical traits; however, in the wake of the Reckoning, any traits or trends inherent to certain cultures or societies were lost. As such, any culture can have any type of human -- the traditions and ideals of a human define them, rather than the color of their skin or hair.
Humans tend to range from 5 to 6 feet in height and between 140 and 210 pounds in weight. There is, however, no typical human, and people regularly fall out of those ranges for a myriad of reasons. Additionally, humans have skin colors ranging from pale white to dark black, with any number of shades of olive and brown between. Their hair colors are typically between blonde and black, though plenty of dying techniques exist for it to become any color, and most hair is either straight, curly, or kinky. Eye colors tend to fall in the brown-green-blue ranges, but can vary further.
Ambitious and Pervasive
When Yamma granted mortals the flame of hope, it is perhaps humans who clung to it most veraciously. Being the most numerous and the shortest lived of the First Races, humans became enamored with the idea of leaving their legacy on Yophas, whether it be in their individual actions or their lasting institutions. Their flame of hope rapidly evolved into a flame of ambition.
Though there have been villains throughout human history who brought war and conquest to different races or even just different humans, human societies tend to be open and welcoming. Although, in modern times, race-specific civilizations aren't the most common anyways, it is still humans who often have the most diverse kingdoms and empires.
Versatile and Adaptable
Humans were created from the start to be explorers and settlers. They were never intended to have a favored environment, nor to accept things for how they were. The adaptability of humans is part of what drives their ambitions. Perhaps due to their short-lived nature or perhaps on account of the structure of their societies, humans are engines of change and progress. Even when humans in power may seek to stop it, history has shown that the progress of the masses can rarely be halted, only delayed.
Humans adapt and survive anytime they encounter difficulty. It is rare for human societies to admit defeat, for better or for worse.
Human Names and Ethnicities
As with all things human, there are no typical human names; however, humans often having naming conventions followed depending on their culture and society. Sometimes, humans will even give their children names from other races, using their language or their traditions to pick a name.
After the ruin of the Reckoning, the few remaining humans huddled for safety in the Shelter Cities of Yathra Silthame and Theussau. As such, whatever ethnicities and cultures that existed in the Age of Rebirth blended together. Today, new ethnicities have been borne of new locales and new migrations, creating new cultures and new norms. That is where the differences between human ethnicities stop; all colors, genders, and types of humans are welcomed anywhere, bred of the necessity for community in the dark age following the Reckoning. Those bigots who find issue with their fellow man are few and far between, and those who do are often shunned by society.
You can find the cultures humans are most likely to be apart of below, but feel free to use any of the cultures in the Cultures/Ethnicities category of Races.
Creating Your Character
At 1st level, you choose what race your character belongs to. If you choose a human, follow the rules found below to make your human hero -- or villain.
Ability Score Increases
When determining your character's ability scores, increase one score by 2 and increase a different score by 1, or increase three different scores by 1. Follow this rule regardless of the method you use to determine the scores, such as rolling or point buy. The "Quick Build" section of your character's class offers suggestions on which scores to increase. You can follow those suggestions or ignore them, but you can't raise any of your scores above 20.
Languages
Your character can speak, read, and write Common and one other language that you can your DM agree is appropriate for the character. The Player's Handbook offers a list of languages to choose from. The DM is free to modify that list for a campaign.
Creature Type
Every creature in D&D, including each player character, has a special tag in the rules that identifies the type of creature they are. Most player characters are of the Humanoid type. Your race tells you what your character's creature type is.
Here's a list of the game's creature types in alphabetical order: Aberration, Beast, Celestial, Construct, Dragon, Elemental, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrosity, Ooze, Plant, Undead. These types don't have rules themselves, but some rules in the game affect creatures of certain types in different ways. For example, the cure wounds spell doesn't work on a Construct or an Undead.
Human Traits
It’s hard to make generalizations about humans, but your human character has these traits.
The Flame of Hope
Human adventurers are resilient in the face of adversity and never say die. At 1st level, you gain the ability to reinforce your resolve and push yourself beyond your limits. As a bonus action, you can heal yourself for 1d8 + your Constitution modifier. You can do this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.
Versatile and Adaptable
You gain a skill or tool proficiency of your choice, and know an additional language.
Age
Humans reach adulthood in their late teens and tend to live less than a century.
Creature Type
You are a Humanoid.
Size
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.
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