Human

  The Humans came about long after all the other races, and their origins are shrouded in mystery, but their cultures and virtues are amazingly diverse compared to all of the other races. Humans are the most adaptable and ambitious people among the common races. 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 worlds. They have widely varying tastes, morals, and customs in the many different lands where they have settled. When they settle, though, they stay; building cities to last for the ages, and great kingdoms that can persist for long centuries.

 
Where a single elf or dwarf might take on the responsibility of guarding a special location or a powerful secret, humans found sacred orders and institutions for such purposes. While dwarf clans and halfling elders pass on the ancient traditions to each new generation, human temples, governments, libraries, and codes of law fix their traditions in the bedrock of history.

 

Appearance

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 300 pounds. Human skin shades range from nearly black to very pale, and hair colors 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.
An individual human might have a relatively short life span, but a human nation or culture preserves traditions with origins far beyond the reach of any single human’s memory. They live fully in the present—making them well suited to the adventuring life—but also plan for the future, striving to leave a lasting legacy. Individually and as a group, humans are adaptable opportunists, and they stay alert to changing political and social dynamics.

Features

• Age. Humans reach adulthood in their late teens and live less than a century.
• 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.
• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice. 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.

Standard Human

• Ability Score Increase. Your ability scores each increase by 1.

Variant Human

• Ability Score Increase. Two different ability scores of your choice increase by 1.
• Skills. You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
• Feat. You gain one Feat of your choice.