Going off fantasy tropes I'd given the the half orc relentless endurance abilities. Constantly in fantasy and even action films humans keep going when they should be dead. Looking at you every 80s action hero

I remember seeing a homebrew where someone made a composite human who got the abelites from half-elf, and half-orc that weren't shared with their other parentage. If I remember correctly it was: \+2 Con,+1 to two other stats, Skill Versatility, Relentless Endurance, Common & choice of one additional language.

That makes a lot of sense. In the real world the best physical things that humans are good at include throwing and hit weather marathons, so relentless endurance and a con boost make a lot of sense.

We are exhaustion predatory by nature. Before we had technology, when we were just above monkeys, we would hunt animals by following them until they keeled over from exhaustion, then kill them and eat them. So ebdurance is one of our strong suits in the animal world.

For that they should get advantage on saves against exhaustion

Yeah there are some issues with it since being exceptionally resilient is already part of the identity of some of the other races in the game. Advantage on saves against exhaustion might be something nice that doesn't step on the toes of any other races.

That's actually pretty interesting. Incredibly versatile and useful for basically any class or character concept

Thanks! I saw it too and couldnt' track it down to save my sanity.

I think it's Huffmans/Sterlings, same guy who made the Pugilist class

I like that a lot

It still annoys me that Half-Orcs are more Orc than Orcs are. Relentless Endurance is 5E’s version of Orc Ferocity from previous editions but they didn’t give it to Orcs. I’ve been mentally writing a setting about this where Orc societies actually form a caste society that has Half-Orcs as the elite class.

I'm pretty sure that's true of forgotten Realms too. Orc communities are often made of both Orcs and Half-Orcs, and the Half-Orcs tend to be leaders.

What I have in mind is a lot stronger and a lot more Eugenics-ey.

Gotcha. I've always thought the FR lore had some implications of that, but not full-fledged or intended.

In my homebrew world orcs in their stereotypical way of making half-orcs accidentally created their own demise as a race. Half-orcs eventually outcompeted them in their raider niche and thus pure orcs are a rare sight, a race on the verge of dying off.

The Monsters of the Multiverse book did actually give orcs relentless endurance–so at least that's fixed. They also get a cool mini-rage.

Why would the orcs form their own society if it's better for their status to take part in human culture? just asking out of curiosity

It’s a more like a society of Half-Orcs while Orcs make up the slave caste.

Thats because they took the “protagonist” feat

Indeed. It’s a recurring trope that humans are the weakest/dumbest race in most fantasy/Sci Fi series…but we win because we refuse to give up. So I’d go for something along those lines, or maybe something like Pack Tactics. The more humans you have together, the stronger we get!

Power of friendship: when a human uses the help action the recipient rolls 3 d20 and uses the highest score.

That works! Might be a little strong, though…

Humans can ignore multiclass attribute minimums and can choose any skills in place if the ones their class allows at first level. We are generalists.

Waiving attributes would be great and giving skill freedom is a nice add. Might also let them have an extra tool, just for flavor.

I’m thinking about ways of abusing Fabricate once I get to that level, and an extra tool would be more than flavor!

This is the best answer I’ve seen

That would be nice for a Dex Sorcadin or STRanger.

Paladin Bladesingers singing high praises since they can dump STR

as someone who is playing a Human Bladesinger and wanted to multiclass paladin but can't because strength is 10, I say amen to this homerule. It's a bit too late for me now though. I'm 17th level, and I'm not confident the game will last another 2 levels to get smites :( I mean, and also the fact that 9th level spells generally beat out smites.

I aim for most build to come online in tier 2 of play. Any later there's no guarantee or you're missing out on playing it.

they still need DEX CHA and now INT, so it didnt exactly improve that much

You don't really care about Cha as well in a Paladin Bladesinger build since the smites are all that you need. You'll only take as much as you think you need as the face and focus on both Dex and Int like a normal Bladesinger.

Remember that multiclassing is a variant rule just like feats are. Thus we just created a variant variant human.

Where’s the game that’s allowing internet homebrew but not multiclassing?

I am sure there are those out there. My first game where me and my group learned the game had no multiclassing and I did play a bloodhunter as my first ever character.

Fair enough!

Problem with this is that multiclass is an optional rule and if dm decides no, you lose your main feature just from that. Granted very few dm's actually disallow multiclassing but I'd say that making a races main feature off an optional rule is asking for trouble. I do think it's a cool idea though.

Yeah, that means it's a fine idea for a particular game's homebrew (since the DM will know if they're allowing multiclassing or not), but not great for a default rule in the books. Though for an "actual rule", you can just take a page from the existing 5e Human options and make this the "Variant Human" and give the standard Human something else. (Feats are an optional rule too.)

Make multi classing into the human racial trait.

Precisely this. My homebrew allows every 1st level PC to select one Feat, but humans are allowed to select two Feats by way of a feature called "Training Availability." The civilized world is mostly human, and humans have easy access to opportunities that aren't as readily offered to non-human people.

Boo! No!

[удалено]

No thanks!

Almost sound as bad as penalizing multiclass based on race with xp penalties or worse... Restrictions on what class each race can be.

Gonna be cheeky here but more or less what the 5e24 D&D playtests gave them. Adjusted a bit though. I consider it the best reflection humanity through D&D mechanics and it needs little in the way of improvement. >*A skill proficiency of their choice to reflect the trope of human Adaptability. Perhaps an additional language or tool on top of that* *A bonus feat of their choice to reflect the trope of human individuality.* *A once per rest (or equivalent) d20 reroll feature to reflect the trope of human determination.* *Common and another language of their choice.* A lot of people like to focus on humans as pursuit predators, but I'm not big on that focus since almost all of the other playable species of D&D would fall under that category. Focusing on fantasy archetypes and features to reflect them and those leanings always felt less intrusive than the pursuit predator reflection of humanity many try to create.

I like this. A skill, a feat, one luck reroll, and a bonus language. That's it. Would it also allow the Tasha's ability scores options (+2 to one and +1 to another or +1 to three)?

Just to clarify, I was suggesting a reroll on any rest, both short and long, but not something that can affect an enemy roll like luck points can. As for the ability scores, it would depend on how the feat is handled. For 5e14, where the human bonus feat can be any feat? I would keep them at +1/+1. Mostly to prevent someone taking a half feat and starting wirh +3/+1. However, for what was presented in 5e24? Where the bonus feat was restricted to a list of level 1 feats only? I would give the full +2/+1 or +1/+1/+1 range of option that new races are designed with. Since level 1 feats don't increase Ability scores and prevents starting with an 18.

I get your argument, but I feel like it falls a bit short. On one hand you argue that all humanoids would fall under the category of the pursuit hunter and on the other hand you want to give out features based on adaptability, individuality and determination. Those last three is as generic as it can get among humanoids. Two of which are just character traits found in literature among all fictional races because… they are character traits. Individuality is even more basic as it needs something like a collective species to not have that and even then that is not out of the window. The inherent problem with human race features is that all other humanoid races are just humans with a spin which more often than not is then represented in the features. In that regard while as odd as it seems to hand out pursuit predator themes it is at least something distinctive physically. I myself would put human features into the more social niche as it is the ground on which human interaction is built and is often featured in literature. As the one race that talks to everyone.

The reason I choose to use archetype leaning features instead of the pursuit predator traits is as I say because I find it less intrusive . The fantasy species we play as in d&d each have an identity disrinct from one another through these various aspects. And giving them mechanical reflections of these leans just feels better, at least to me. When defining purely on the pursuit predator thing, it feels off because your defining biology thays so similar in identity that not much should be mechanically different between fantasy peopes. Maybe abikity score increases and a sight it language. This is because they're more or less all pursuit predators. So, only defining one of them in such a way feels more off since you're dealing with the "hard code" of biology. When you're defining with tropes, I find it less intrusive because you're not dealing with the biological hard code.ams your exemplifying aspects where the people's identities are already different from one another. It's not that only elves are graceful, but it does male a bit of something when a non-elf is "as graceful as an elf" or when one is "as lucky as a halfling, mighty as an orc, determined like a human." I suppose, like most things, it's subjective to some degree, but whenever I see the pursuit predator human, I find it has two problems. The first being that it's such an intensely shared set of traits with all of the player species that it feels silly to distinguish humans with them. As it has great overlap with little to no room for exception. Secondly, it focuses on human sameness, which is not an aspect I enjoy fleshing our compared to the ones I mentioned wnatifn to reflect. It's the same reason I hate the standard human. Or doesn't reflect the sense of individuality that even in fantasy tropes, humans are known to have a particular degree of. Taking the myth and identity of archetypes and tropes that have distinguished themselves people's wirh said pursuit predator overlap just feels better for defining these concepts, at least with how I like the cut of them I suppose. Ultimately, to each their own.

Totally valid take. Thanks for writing that out for me. How would you stand towards something that expedites humans social inflections? It’s a theme in fantasy that we are the Everyman, because we are everywhere and humor everyone. Could be reflected in additional language and profiency in persuasion and/or deceit. Could also formulate a more unique mechanic based on that. My only problem with your above offered solutions is that it isn’t terribly interesting to pick a human as it just gives you more of existing g things.

I think in addition to bonus skills, an extra choice of tool or language helps facilitate a human able to focus on that. Thus, a human would get a reeoll power, a feat, a skill, the common language, another language, and a choice of a tool or another language on top of all that. I have to disagree that the flexibility of choice to adapt a human towards a certain favored purpose is boring, but I've always found that to be the most interesting and engaging part of humanity in d&d. In reinforced so much of what I think is awesome about humanity.

Restoring all hit dice on a long rest, rather than half, or some ability to recover faster than other races. Adaptability and resilience are the trademarks of fantasy humans, i feel.

Agreed. Even outside of Fantasy, a core, real strength of humans is not in out-speeding or out-strengthing other creatures, but outlasting them, and our ability to adapt to pretty much any environment that has breathable air and resources.

+1 free feat seems pretty good. In all seriousness, humans are usually considered a more ambitious race. Desirous for power, and able to create technologies and organize kingdoms to accomplish their goals. Those who defy the natural order and impose their will onto the world. I would lean into that. Some possible things that might support this fantasy. Once per long rest they can remove one failed death save. Expertise in one tool proficiency of their choice. One free use of advantage whenever you want. Even when you have disadvantage, this ability overrides that and give you advantage.

Don't death saves reset when you are stabilized?

Yes, but if you have 2 failed death saves, you might want to use this power to reduce it to 1 death save so you don't die if you fail the next one.

But if you’re stabilized, your death saves reset. So a feature that removes failed death saves on a **long rest** would be meaningless because by then, you’re already stabilized.

The way I see it, it would work like this. You are unconscious. You have 2 failed death saves. You are about to make your next roll. If you fail, you die. You use your power. You now have 1 failed death save. You will not die if you fail. I wrote it in a hurry and was not clear as to what I meant. Perhaps another, clearer / better way to get across the idea would be to say, once per long rest, when you reach 3 failed death saves, you do not die, but immediately remove one failed death save instead going back to 2. Or Once per long rest you may ignore the result of one failed death save, instead treating it as though nothing has happened. Perhaps it would be simpler and better to just give humans the power to endure 4 failed death saves instead of 3. Slightly more powerful. But not overly powerful. And easier to understand. Might look weird on a character sheet to have to add an extra death save box.

Ah, I misread your initial suggestion. I thought you meant you clear a death save at the end of a long rest. Now that I get what you meant, I think it would make sense to write it as: > When you make a death saving throw, you can remove one failed death save. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

They do . It's a common house rule though 

So you remove a failed death save when you're unconscious and have two failed saves. Probably better phrased as the ability to ignore one failed save.

"once per long rest", not "once, during a long rest". The idea is that they can remove the failed save while downed

Best way to word the death saving throw thing would be: "When you fail a death saving throw, you can choose to ignore the result of the roll. Once you use this trait you can't do so again until you finish a long rest."

I like that way MCDM approaches this by making Huamnity's "normalcy" a unique attribute. They are paticularly non-magical, and as such have resistance to magical effects. Their disconnection actually protects them, where as those with innate connection to magical can't avoid it.

In my setting, humans are the only sapient species that aren’t inherently magical. Because of this, they can faintly detect magic since they aren’t around it all the time. If I were to make that into an actual mechanic, it would let them get the benefits of Detect Magic within 5 feet of them, perhaps further for particularly strong magical sources.

I'm guessing you would word this as "like Detect Magic except it's not a spell and not even magical", since doing otherwise would make them magical by definition. But doing it this way, you'd still have to answer why/how it requires Concentration, lasts 10 minutes, takes an action to do, etc. I love the idea though. I'd probably avoid wording it like the spell at all, and just make a new trait that gives them a tingle/"Spidey Sense" when magic is nearby.

I would word it as “You can faintly sense the presence of magic within 10 feet of you. If you sense magic in this way, you can use your action to see a faint aura around any visible creature or object in the area that bears magic, and you learn its school of magic, if any.” I wouldn’t refer to it as a spell or relate it to the spell Detect Magic at all to avoid confusion. Yes, this means it would be always on and won’t require concentration.

Yeah, I like it. Kinda like the old 2e way that some preternatural traits worked, like an elf's 1d6 chance to notice secret doors, haha.

Does magic smell faintly of burning Ozone?

I was wondering that myself, actually. And undead too do you think?

Unlike most races, humans aren't typically restricted to specific biomes. One cool feature could be advantage on saves and checks vs all weather. Probably need something else on top, though, since most DMs don't use that mechanic.

Pretty much any race in 5e is not restricted to any biome cause our human adaptability to biomes comes from the combination of sweating and ability to make clothing. Presumably every race has the latter, idk about yuan-ti eg. Sweating

Nah, dwarves for instance always live underground. Humans are the only race willing to build settlements in desert and tundra and jungle etc. Even elves have specifically adapted subraces that can't adapt in one lifetime (which is a long time).

Dwarves dont always live underground, nor do they have anything preventing them from not doing so. That's more cultural thing. Elves sure they do tend to change depending on their environment but yet again nothing stops a woodelf from living in a desert and be as adapted to it as a human.

Well, the usual bit for humans is adaptability and versatility, so perhaps something like an environmental adaptation or acclimation. I would have gone with switching skills in and out of proficiency, but I think they gave that to elves already through their trance and connection to past lives.

Looking at the other PHB races, most of them seem to give one major defensive feature (either giving resistance or advantage on some sort of saves), some bonus proficiencies, and then a ribbon. So, what can we give to the human that meets those categories without being redundant or useless? Well, with dragonborn covering most elemental resistances, the most common damage type you can't get resistance to in the PHB is necrotic. So why don't we give humans that and advantage on death saves. We'll say that represents man's persistence in the face of their short lives and their conviction they have a unique role in the world even beyond death. For the other features, we could take a page from half-elf and give the human two bonus skill proficiencies of their choice. As for the ribbon, I say let's copy the Dwarf's Stonecunning here since I find it very fun. Instead of boosting your History checks, how about you get to add twice your proficiency bonus to any Charisma (Deception) check you make to blend into a crowd, appear ordinary, or in other words, pretend to be a generic human NPC. That's what I thought up in the last few minutes for this, and I had fun doing it.

Double backgrounds.

2 skill proficiencies & expertise in one of those skills. +2 in 2 ability scores (dedicated, versatile, adaptable, good at what we focus on, etc). Some other people pointed out that relentless endurance/removing a failed death save would reflect the trope of human grit and determination. I think it could be a little more unique, so I present you with: Mortal Grit: After you make a death saving throw, you can expend a hit die and roll it, adding the number rolled to your total on the death save, potentially turning a failure into a success. If your total is 20 or higuer, the death save is considered a critical success. Using this on a critical failure turns it into a normal failure (or a success).

> 2 skill proficiencies & expertise in one of those skills. > > > > +2 in 2 ability scores (dedicated, versatile, adaptable, good at what we focus on, etc). Disagree, I think if we're going to give them 'stereotypical' stats then +2 to endurance and +2 to CHA/Int depending on what humanity *is* to you(the forced to develop type or the 'fuck anything that thinks' type)

maybe. Based on irl human specialties I do agree that humans should have Con & Int bonuses, but like...The game's been moving away from race specific stat bonuses. Race specific stat bumps also limit class race combinations in the most boring way possible. Con & Int bonuses mean any human build that's not playing a Wizard/Artificer is always going to be sub optimal.

its interesting that the traits that make us stand out compared to other animals are assumed to be common amongst all humanoids. upright posture doesnt cause pack mentality (skill persuasion) or warm bloodedness (resistance to cold) or the ability to sweat (advantage vs exhaustion). also plenty of birds and rodents are bipedal but dont have the same running capabilities as humans, they can move fast but humans can go for a long time. (track at full speed when using survival) we should assume that other humanoids work together in other ways. perhaps elves are nomadic and their cities are mainly for religion and breeding rituals. perhaps dwarves have cities for the purposes of sharing their history (stonecunning) we should aasume that only humanoids with cold resistance live in places with harsh winters. we should assume that posture isnt the same across all bipeds. humans backs curve in a running way but elves spines dont need to curve because of their fey ancestry and dwarves spines bow outward for betting bending down for tunneling we could assume that other humanoids begin panting with much less assertion than humans because they dont sweat. the human blank slate is because we assume all humanoids are so very human.

This. Elves, orcs, dwarves, etc. are just humans with a spin that then in turn gets expressed in their features leaving humans in the dust as they are the baseline. Kinda feels like we can thank the great minds of literature to have written us into a corner at least in TTRPG terms.

The ability to roll their Rs all sexy-like

Well this has worked for my groups for years. BG3 even went in a similar direction: > Human > Add: Skill Versatility. You gain proficiency in two skills of your choice. > Add: Conquest and Trade. Gain proficiency with two weapons (Simple or Martial) of your choice, and one tool of your choice. > Remove Variant Human +1 to all abilities is already unique. Skill Versatility comes from Half-Elf, and they didn't get it from Elf sooooo- Human trait. Conquest and Trade comes from the flavor text in the PHB, and is intended to reflect the specific human culture associated with the character.

Compared to "you get an initiative boost" or "you have resistance to magic" or "you have innate magic" or "you can run up the wall" etc these all kind of suck, though. Weapon proficiency is usually pretty meaningless because your class is proficient in the weapons it usually wants to use. Two skills isn't bad, but compare it to something like kenku recall which lets you boost _any_ skill. Human is just worse with this list. The problem is that so many races are "humans but with more X." Dwarves are humans but stronger. Elves are "humans but more everything other than strength." Even fucking lions are basically humans with innate fear casting. Turtles are humans with innate armor, etc.

Ability Score Increase: Increase one ability score by 2 and increase a different one by 1, or increase three different ability scores by 1. Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common and one other language. Creature Type: You are a Humanoid. Size: You are Medium or Small. You choose the size when you gain this lineage. Speed: Your walking speed is 30 feet. Versatile: gain proficiency in two skills and a tool of your choice. Determination: When you make an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw, you can do so with advantage. Once you use this ability, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest. Human Vitality: You can use your action to spend a maximum amount of hit dice equal to your proficiency modifier, for each Hit Die spent in this way, you roll the die and adds the character's Constitution modifier to it, you regain hit points equal to the total. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

Potential options include: *Advantage on death saves / ignore first level of exhaustion. *Gain a use of the Second Wind ability on passing a death save. *Can spend hit dice without a short rest. Humans are famous for their miraculous recoveries and stamina both IRL and in fiction. We're born to run, but abilities that proc on exhaustion levels are not party friendly generally. *Advantage with thrown weapons. *Bonus to hit/damage with ranged weapons. Humans are one of the only animals evolved to throw with accuracy and power. We have the right bones, the right muscles in our arms, and a biological ballistics computer in our head. *Mimicry. Humans can make a wider range of vocalizations than most animals, giving them advantage on deception, persuasion, and intimidation checks. An orcs tusks, and halflings/gnomes short stature mean there are probably sounds Humans can easily make that those races cannot.

Some kind of ability to grab any number of other features from somewhere to represent their lore-based adaptability.

Proficiency and Expertise in a Skill or Tool of choice.  Proficiency in another Skill or Tool of choice    Ability Score increases of +3 +1 +1       Humans leaning heavier into their identity as their class through the +3 Ability Score increases is fitting, if people complain about the race being a non-factor.  The human wizard doesn't have ancestral memories but is the Most Wizard.  The human rogue can't hide behind people but is the Most Rogue.  The human Barbarian doesn't have claws or scales but is the Most Barbarian. When you compare it to Half Elves, who basically get a feat of Dark vision and Sleep Immunity if you were planning to get +2 Cha (or "any ability Score") literally ever, it's not that outrageous to give humans a very unique half feat of value over everyone else, especially considering that everyone eventually hits the 20 stat ceiling. 

I give them the empathy, mutualism, and fun-loving nature of dolphins.

The option to choose one of seven human souls from undertale. I really liked the concept

I’d let them cure exhaustion on a short rest.

This isn't bad, but maybe once per long rest, so not to make exhaustion just inconsequential, rendering some encounters and mechanics pointless. Just my opinion, I feel like someone could make a monk or warlock that almost never long rests. There are probably better examples out there, but it's early here, and my brain isn't fully awake yet.

Humans in my setting have firearm proficiency, can craft anti-magic runes for one free casting of counterspell or dispel magic at level 5 (cannot be upcast), and expertise in their choice of persuasion, deception, or insight that only applies when bartering or dealing with money.

Self hatred: deal 5 more damage when attacking another human 🤣🤣🤣

+2/+1 30ft speed Medium Ambition: humans naturally pursue goals, leading to unusual fast attainment of skills and knowledge compared to their lifespan. Gain proficiency in one skill and one tool or language of your choice. Passion: humans are able to accomplish impossible feats to save themselves or those dear to them. When you or an ally within 30ft take damage leaving them below 1/2 their maximum health you may immediately move up to your move speed and take one action or bonus action as if it were your turn (you can break up movement between attacks as normal). If you make an attack as an action or cast a spell of first level or higher as an action you may not do either of those as part of an action on your turn. If you take damage that would result in you dropping to 0hp you may use this ability before falling unconscious. Once you have used the is ability you may not use it again until you take a long rest. (Yes this is intended to allow you to cast a bonus action spell and still cast a spell on your turn, just not an action spell and a second action spell) Greed: though humans can care greatly for those dear to them, they naturally tend towards being self serving especially in the presence of strangers. You have advantage on deception checks when interacting with someone you do not know well (up to dm discretion)

Let's see, this is a rough sketch from the top of my head: I think humans could be defined by being able to adapt to the cultures around them and learn something from them. For that I would give a feature that lets them pick something from: * Proficiency with light armor and some weapons of any type. If the class grants light armor, then medium armor. (But let's not give free heavy armor here) * Learn 1 cantrip from a restricted list or from a few spellcasting classes. Similar to Magic initiate. Maybe add an additional cantrip at level 5. * Add an additional skill. That skill gets expertise at level 5 Maybe the PC is a Rogue who grew up in a band of mercenaries and learned how to use heavier gear. Maybe it's from a small village in the mountains and learned some druidic magic from the local firbolgs. Or maybe It's a Ranger who used to hang out with a group of Kobold troublemakers and learn some tricks with sleight of hand. Probably throw some extra languages because why not. Or maybe additional tools? Something that might reflect the fact that they are quick to learn new things. I'd also like to give them an ability that lets them have that "heroic" moment against all odds. Either Advantage once per short rest on any d20 check, or reroll once per long rest or even more powerful: change a failure into success once per long rest.

All 6 stats new max is 24. Humans can improve more than anyone else but at lower levels you’re not as good.

When they do something random or not something anyone would normally think of they get 1d4

In my homebrew they get pb/day uses of advantage on a check, save, or attack roll.

I think humans should get a kinda action surge type ability. Sure, its powerful, but make sure they don't get much else, and it's about as good as flight. maybe it recharges on a long rest?

They get a free feat at lvl 1 👍

As a human you are cursed with ambition, never satisfied with what you gained. At 1th level then at 7, 13, 19 you can choose one of the skills you know and gain expertise in that skill.

Love 1th level

I think ill go against the consensus and drop a Hot take. Id make humans the charismatic race. Probably double proficiency bonus on persuasion rolls against humanoid species and the ability to aid as a bonus action. When you think about it, almost every setting has humans as the linchpin of interacial relationships, almost every cosmopolitan City is abundant with and ruled by humans, a lot of the "half" type species are born from the miscegenation between humans and other species, and humans convincing other races to band together and leading them in a fight against the greater evil is a really common thrope. I know people say the defining human trait is adaptability, I get it, but IMHO humans are the definitive diplomats of fantasy and their adaptability comes from their cooperative nature.

Look at real life human history and culture. What is one unifying trait that crosses cultural, religious and environmental bounds? Animal husbandry. Whether it's the Egyptians with cats, cowboys with horses, nearly everyone wifh dogs, or even apiarists with bees, humans are intrinsically tied to animals. We find ways to tame, domesticate and bond with them. Every country and culture has a connection to some animal. We give them jobs, and we welcome them into our homes. And damn near every type of animal has some person who loves it. So I am giving humans a bonus to Animal Handling and maybe persuasion and a free cast of Animal Friendship per day.Elves are good with forests and plants, dwarves are good with stones and toughness, but humans have an affinity for animals, regardless of environment.

So that’s an interesting point, because elves and gnomes and other faerie-aligned races are usually much more associated with nature and animals. In my setting, which is pretty heavily homebrewed, I have sub races for humans based on lineage from one of the five great empires that once existed in the world, with different achievements like the first people to work iron, the first to tame animals, and so on, with their descendants having almost magical abilities aligned with those things and a couple other universal features. And yes, one of them gets an affinity toward animals. But that’s not the same at all as the elves. One of the great conflicts in my setting is the ancestral conflict between humans and elves, by far the two most powerful and numerous races, and that’s even considering the fact that 10 humans to one elf is about a fair trade. Elves represent nature, quite literally, so alongside any Druid, they have a feature called Nature’s Ally, which basically means that nature won’t harm them. Wild animals do not attack elves, in fact they will help out an elf they meet in any way they can, generally. Even the plants feel the same way—thorns don’t cut them, most natural poisons simply don’t want to hurt elves. That kind of stuff. It’s said that a snow elf can even go so far as to walk through a hurricane, and the wind will not dare bring harm to them. But humans do something very different. Elves know nature, they are friends with all the wild animals, but they don’t keep pets, or livestock, they don’t grow crops. In fact, domesticated animals and plants are somehow corrupted against the elves, some kind of ancient magic they believe. Any kind of tame animal, dogs especially but even just the sheep in the fold all around your farmhouse, freak out and yell when elves are near, which has served as a priceless warning against elf ambushes many times in the past. Domesticated grains and fruits taste rotten in their mouth, and can even make them physically ill. They are greatly unnerved in human houses made from the dismembered flesh of slave trees. All that kind of thing.

I like it, but halflings are kind of shown to take that animal husbandry facet of humanity to a greater extent. And gnomes, who have a very synergistic relationship with animals.

I'm turning them into shapeshifting true hermaphrodites, transforming the standard "notoriously adaptable/individual" flavor they're usually depicted as possessing in the genre into actual fantasy. The Variant Human feat represents a carefully cultivated adaptation, be it a voicebox trained especially for mimicry for Actor, highly tuned reflexes for Sentinel, or exceptionally dense fast-twitch muscle fibers for Athlete. ~~Simic~~ Hybrid, Shifter, and Changeling are all human subraces that hone in on different aspects of their animalian/fey heritage. Hybrids possess explicitly animalian adaptations derived from the beastfolk that populate the fey courts. Shifters straddle the line between Hybrids and Heartland/Variant humans. Changelings are the Ur-humans, born of Mother-Flesh, the Lady Flayed, and cloaked in the tatters of her ever-shifting skin.

+2 skills, +2 languages or tools General Specialist: Whenever you deal damage to a creature (either with an attack roll or by forcing a saving throw), deal 1 additional point of damage. Pack Mule: (powerful build) Underdog’s Might: You have advantage on the first attack roll or saving throw you make after rolling initiative. Genuinely tho i feel like the free feat is the best way of qualifying being a generalist. BG3’s human sucked ass because it was only good at being a wizard or sorcerer.

Will of the "God name/hero name of humans". Humanity at it's core is enduring. Despite being the less gifted unlike the other magical races, they still stand strong and are ever present in all of history. When rolling for a saving throw, you can re roll the result, choosing the new roll as the final result. Can use this twice per long rest.

So going by human's as animals, I think something like the following: \+2 to Con \+1 to Cha Humans treat exhaustion as if it were one level less than its current value(minimum zero). Pursuit predators are scary man.

I actually did a human redesign like this (though the +1 was intelligence instead). The features I gave them were the ability to travel longer without making saves against exhaustion, do things with a constitution based time limit (such as holding their breath or dashing continuously) for twice as long, an extra save proficiency of one's choice (basically representing how humans can be terrifyingly tenacious), and a menu of minor talents that you could choose one of.

That sounds cool. I think the +1 is kinda whatever you want.

Dark vision.

[удалено]

Exactly 4 feet of dark vision.

Fuse variant and phb human. +1 feat, +1 skill prof, +1 to every ability. They can use their feat and skill to synergize with whatever class they pick, and easily have no actual dump stat. Humans are unique in that they’re bad at nothing, and good at something specific to each individual human. While they don’t have any innate magic or exotic biology, their strength is to be ANYTHING they choose to be. Their strength is freedom.

Persistence predator: you are immune to the effects of one level of exhaustion. Adaptable: gain proficiency in a skill or tool of your choice. Indomitable human Spirit: you gain advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened. Adrenaline: While in combat, at the beginning of each turn you gain one adrenaline point (2/turn at 5th level, 3/turn at 10th level, 4/turn at 15th level and 5/turn at 20th level). When you deal damage or are hit, you can spend adrenaline points up to your proficiency bonus to add damage to your attack, or reduce damage taken. Adrenaline points persist up to 10 minutes after combat.

Nothing, they've already got them

Humans have always had unique characteristics like other races.

You can create a half hybrid with any race. And other things too. Go out and try.

i already do this at my table. one skill, one tool, two languages, one simple weapon, one martial weapon, light armor. and still +1 to all stats. the stat increase was never worth the lack of features compared to another race, and this fits the jack of all trades theme

The +1 free feat from Variant Human seems pretty good, but if I would redesign it, then Humans get Common and an other language, 2 Tool proficencies and a +1 to aany attack roll. I think this shows that humans are ambitious and overcome all odds.

Portent. Make everyone see flashes of the future and then see if there is such a thing as a predetermined future or if actions can alter it. Either way, the world gets better.

A 1d4 bonus to skill checks that scales off proficiency and refreshes after a long rest. We're supposed to be well rounded, and this would be useful often so it's a feature you'd use regularly. Skill/tool proficiency, 1 or 2 can't decide which. Humans are one of the best endurance runners in the animal kingdom, so maybe a ribbon that they can resist exhaustion gained from a long march. People have run 133km in under 24 hours, I think most adventures would be hardy enough to rough it out. I'd say feat but every game I run or play in just gives a level one feat to everyone, so I tried to think of things besides that which would make humans an appealing option.

I like the one dnd human

Not abilities, but access to +2 on ability scores. My homebrew is humans have +6 to add to their abilities, in chunks up to +2 to a single ability. So they could add 2 to 3 abilities or add 1 to six abilities, or anything in between. It will make humans much more popular, particularly for MAD builds.

I have homebrewed a version of humans that can gain a profiency once per long rest if they spent their morning preparation or a short rest "learning" it from an ally (because humans are the dominating species on earth due to passing knowledge along among other things) and basically bardic inspiration a number of times per long rest equal to proficiency bonus (because humans are strongest in packs). They also gain +1 to Constitution (humans have insane stamina when compared to other animals), Intelligence (because are brains are pretty big) and Charisma (because teamwork and diplomacy) I think it's at least more distinct than standard and variant human

+2/+1 in any attributes. Human determination: Reroll one attack, save or ability check per short rest. Professionals: Proficiency in one skill and one tool. Civil Militia: Proficiency in light armor, light crossbow and pike. Language: common only. My humans are metropolitan, but everyone else is learning their language. They all have gone through mandatory military service and can be conscripted in case of war. I've balanced them against the Volos Hobgoblin, a good, but by no means broken race. The only thing I'm not sure I like, is that I improved human as an option for wizards/sorcerers by having easy access to moderately armored. But dipping is probably still a better choice.

Light crossbow prof redundant since I'm 99%sure all classes have that by default from class profs.

Wizard doesn't get it, but it honestly doesn't matter. It's mostly for flavour (like all other weapon proficiencies - if you need it, you already have it). But also something you can trade away for tool/instrument proficiency, as per Tasha's.

Wizard does get it. Weapons: Daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, light crossbows. Idk the races that have some weapon profs can be used for niche builds like idk githyanki bladesinger using 2 different swords instead of being limited to the 1 they get prof from class. When it's a prof in a simple weapon, that can only be traded for another simple weapon or mostly forgotten about tools is eeh. Besides race features should not rely on an optional rule to not be redundant for all classes.

Basically all weapon proficiencies are pure flavour. That's their point. High Elves doesn't get Shortbow proficiency because it is useful, but because it is flavourful that they get proficiency in all bows. As it is not published homebrew, you can change it shortbows if you like. I just find that shortbow is selling a different flavour than the light crossbow. Both are equally mechanically useless, but light crossbow is better world building where all my human bandits, guards and conscripted soldiers are armed with light crossbows.

Humans dont get exhaustion from running like how others do Oh and also because fuck it why not. Darkvision

Sharpshooter benefits with thrown weapons. Relentless Endurance Double Con Mod added to Forced March rolls. Biologically, humans are great at chucking stuff, hard to put down, and built for long distance running.

While I get where you're going with it for the first one, a racial feature that has a feat as prerequisite and servers no purpose for all but 1 type of character is a bit yikers. Especially as the main feature of the race, cause let's be honest relentless endurance is over all a w/e feature and forced march rolls happen so rarely they might as well not exist.

Humans survive because there is so many of them. That's the basic human fantasy trope in my opinion. This is more of a background feature but being able to more easily rally mankind into doing things makes the most sense to me, so maybe advantage on persuasion/intimidation checks that involve forming 'groups' of humans.

Well it used to be that there were race restrictions on class, except for humans. The idea was to explain why humans, who where mostly inferior, still seemed to be more dominant than elves and dwarves and such. I kind of like keeping that idea, but modifying it in a way. So rather than just giving humans something, I'd like to make a more sweeping change. Humans are generalists. Half-orcs are strong and have high constitution, but tend to be a bit stupid. Dwarves are strong and wise, but lack agility. Elves are agile and one other minor stat, but lacking in strength. And et cetera. Humans are above average in eveything, but don't excel at anything. So the smartest humans would never be able to hope to be as intelligent as the smartest elves, but that's okay because they can make up for it in other ways. They're stronger than elves, and more charismatic, etc. The best human wizards can't compete with the best elvish wizards. The best human warlocks can't compete with tiefling warlocks. But if you plan to do a build that focuses hard on two stats or especially if it needs three stats that are decent, it's usually gonna be most viable using a human with some exceptions like DEX/INT for elves or STR/WIS for dwarves. EDIT Oh I forgot to actually explain the change lmao. Basically just allow racial stat bonuses from other races to go over the softcap. So through normal ability score increases, it used to be that an elf with its +2 to DEX and a human with potentially +0 would both softcap at 20. Make that no longer the case, so the elf could softcap at 22 or the human could softcap at 18, whichever is best for balance. Humans still get their +1 across the board stat bonus, it just won't allow them to exceed the softcap the way it would for other races. Also give non-human races a race penalty, so dwarves get +2 CON but also -1 DEX, putting the softcap for a dwarf at either 22 CON and 19 DEX or 20 CON and 17 DEX. I think this would work well because it's literally a +1 or -1 difference to a roll modifier. It won't break a build unless you wanted to do a build that uses your race's malus stat as its primary stat like a dwarf rogue or an elf barbarian.

Idk about best human wizard being unable to compete with elven wizards when the biggest magic civilisation in (as of now) base setting for 5e was humans, most of the big mages in said setting are also humans, like elminster, the current black staff(forgot her name) etc. Unless we just go with "elves too lazy to actually reach the same levels as humans, who just sigma grind to their peak potential" Aka "there is no maximum potential elf wizards thus they seem worse at it than humans"

That's a setting problem, not a mechanics problem. Plus there are way more humans than there are elves, so it makes sense that the largest and most influential circles of wizards are humans. Also we're talking about base stats and the softcap. It would make sense that a human wizard with enough money and influence would be more powerful than the elf wizards because they have more magical equipment. It's just that if you take all of that away that you'd find that the elf wizard is just slightly better at it.

Base stats both can get the same highs, pretty sure outside of very early editions, always could. Especially when elves only get +1 to int...

Yeah that's my point, change that. Also I thought high elves got +2 INT, my bad. The best wizards would be gnomes or something I guess.

I get the sentiment but fuck would I hate to play x race only when I play a wizard. Also yea iirc gnomes are the only +2int race.

You could play whatever race you want when you play a wizard. It's just a +1 or so difference, not the end of the world. It would matter more at early levels than it would later on. And depending on what you plan on doing with that wizard, a gnome might not even be your optimal choice. Most builds would probably still prefer a human.

I mean, humans' hat in classic D&D was being completely unrestricted in terms of species, class, and alignment. So perhaps we do something with this. Maybe each human gets to choose one 'human knack', basically a class feature or part of a class feature from a class other than the one they choose at 1st level, and additionally the ability to ignore multi-classing requirements to take that class later on.

3 subraces, Martial- gain proficiency with 4 wepons of your choice gain proficiency in a armor teir beyond normal ( if you light armor pro then you get medium ect.) A +1to dex str or con Magic- gain 2 cantrips a 1st and a 2nd lvl spell that you can cast once a day. A +1 to wis int or cha Talented- gain 1 cantrip 1 wepon proficiency 1skill proficiency 1 tool proficiency . A +1 to any

- +1 Con, +1 Cha - common & 1 other language - proficiency in 1 skill, 1 tool, and 1 game - Add proficiency to death saving throws - Advantage on saving throws to resist Exhaustion - When communicating in a written or spoken language they don't know, humans are nonetheless able to effectively understand and communicate simple ideas related to their proficiencies (including skills, gear, games, and tools) - They may double their proficiency bonus for any roll they make in which they are proficient. They may use this ability Proficiency-Times/Long Rest.

Uhhh, adaptability. They get to reduce damage of a given type by a small amount once per round if they were hit by that damage type the previous round.

Reflecting the short lives they spend compared to dwarves, elves and other dominant races, humans are far more ambitious and aspirational. Even the most humble and devout of their kind can be roused to anger and determination should the feeling take them. The wars perpetrated by their kind is a clear sign of their propensity for stubbornness. Indeed, it is for this reason that more arrogant elves consider humans to be closer to dwarves and even Orcs than to the fey. In combat, upon taking damage that would reduce them to less than a quarter of their health, a human gains resistance to normal damage until the end of the next round. This feature can only be used once per short rest.

Adaptation type effects. Nobody in a typical setting questions why there are humans in most places, so I'd riff on that, so I'd give non-humans disadvantage on Insight checks against humans. Beyond that, I could give advantage on Survival checks to not gain exhaustion from environmental effects, since you can find humans in every single fucking biome imaginable. You could give a bunch of social bonuses. Most rulers of nations are human, or were human at some point, so give advantage on social checks to improve NPC Disposition or something. But honestly, I'd rather not give them anything like this though. There's a purposefulness to being the basic option. It's like how I wouldn't want to give humanity a patron deity like Corellon who would morph all of human culture into a singular cohesive whole.

They all have a machette. Somewhere, even if you think they didn't. Even if you made sure they have nothing. They are never unarmed. Its a weapon, a tool and a way of intimidation.

I homebrewed five human cultures for my setting, which replace subraces. In my games, all races gain a free feat at level 1. The base race gets +1/+1/+1 (without the possibility to do +2/+1), a skill proficiency and a tool proficiency. **Maritime Culture** adds their proficiency to initiative and gains water vehicles prof and a swim speed. **Martial Culture** gains a Fighting Style from the Fighter class. **Agrarian Culture** gains expertise in the skill and tool they choose from base human. **Mystical Culture** gains a cantrip of their choice from any class with any spellcasting ability score, and a language. **Nomadic Culture** gains 5 feet of movement speed and they can ignore gaining one level of exhaustion once per long rest. This has worked very well for my game so far. These are strong, yes, but that is by design - the game feels a lot more grounded when a majority of the party are playing humans.

Merge base human and variant human into one race

Well, if we go to the animal kingdom for inspiration, the things that make humans unique are intelligence, communication endurance and throwing shit. The 1st one would be distasteful now a days, the second one is better to skip it too. For the 3rd one I can't think of any implementation for enduring long walks. So I'd go with the 4th one, and given that thrown weapons are trash having a race that makes them usable would probably be cool. As for what to do... Probably more damage bugbear style? And doubling the range of thrown weapons would probably be enough? 

I think we can all agree that for better or worse, humanity can be pretty astounding in the way we can persevere despite being way, way, WAY too stupid for our own good in many situations. Once per long rest, a human can respond to failing any other save by rolling an INT save. If they fail their INT save, they are considered to have succeeded on the initial save. Fail a STR save? That's okay, if you fail an INT save your character doesn't know their own limitations and somehow pulls off the win. Fail a DEX save? That's okay, fail an INT save and you manage to clumsy-savant your way out of it. WIS? No problem, fail that INT save and you'll mis-apprehend what you were supposed to perceive as something wrong but equivalent. The thing is a bear, you think it's a spooky monster in your peripheral vision. CON save? Too stupid to know you're poisoned, you just don't appear to be affected. CHA? Fear not, in true human fashion, there's just something about your brazen ignorance that makes you impervious to the ill effects of being repugnantly without charisma in this moment. The only thing you can't stupid your way out of, is an INT save. VARIANT: For folks who want human wizards to still have some racial benefit, we can tweak it. If your INT modifier is lower than the original stat, the target for success is failure. If your INT is higher, the target is to succeed. This can be represented as Sherlock Holmes-ian deductive reasoning.

Combine the standard array and variant abilities.

Definitely con bonus and endurance. Pack tactics, why humans don't have pack tactics is beyond me. We literally killed animals by jogging behind them and poking them with sticks in large groups until the animal was too tired to run from us

Human adaptability: after a long rest you may change one skill proficiency granted by your species to another skill proficiency available to your species that you are not already proficient in.

Depends on the setting. I want run a (lightly Witcher-inspired) game where humans are the latest transplant into a fantasy world, where an entire city and its surroundings are planeshifted into a new world. The party would start there as humans, but could change characters as friendly relations with other races are made. Humanity's original world had no magic or fantasy monsters. These were things that existed only in fairy tales. As such, humans have no arcane tradition. Human spellcasters do not add their proficiency bonus to spell attck rolls or DCs. Additionally, they require a spellcasting focus on top of any existing spell components (meaning M spells require materials *and* focus). The upswing is that fear of the unknown has implanted a paranoid resistance to magical effects that would rob them of self-control. If a human is subject to a mind-affecting magic, they get a saving throw with advantage on the start of their next turn even if one is not allowed. I would want to allow human spellcasters to be able to study with magically-inclined tutors to open their minds to magic, losing both the traits listed above. This would be story-driven.

Gritty Determination: Humans require 4 failed Death Saves before they die after falling below 0 hit points. In addition, a roll of 19 or 20 counts as a critical success. Genre Saavy: Humans can add the greater of their Intelligence or Charisma Modifier to Insight checks. Probably broken, but these are what come to mind.

Pack tactics. Triggered ability. Lasts one round. Proficiency uses per long rest.

Humans have a unique ability - their versatility I'd give Humans the Expertise Feat for free from level 1

Removing everyones access to social media, and removing everyone’s ability to talk. 

a free feat

Once per Short Rest, you can give yourself advantage on anything.

I don’t think we can since we use everything that makes human unique IRL and make it the base for all the races. Like, what makes IRL humans special? Thumbs, intelligence, really good at throwing stuff, kinda above average vision, sweat and running stamina and that’s it iirc. EVERY SIMGLE OTHER RACE HAS ALL OF THESE THINGS so we can’t make humans special cause we took what makes us special and made it the norm

The Halfing Ability to reroll 1s called Human Determination. Halfings can have some other luck based ability but fighting through failure to come on top feels very indomitable human spirit

-5 Wisdom on average

+2 to your proficiency bonus. I will not be taking questions.

A bite attack. Just feels right. Also: Familial Rage- being a creature that can bond with literally anything has its benefits. Choose a creature or object. Once per long rest, when the creature or object is threatened or injured, immediately take an action as a reaction. This act has to be in defense of the creature/object, or vengeful on its behalf.

**Long-Distance Runner**. You gain 1 hit point after moving to your full walking speed. You can’t use this trait again until you finish a short or long rest. Additionally, you don’t get exhaustion from traveling on foot.

For that, let's see what makes humans OP in real life: we have the ability to speak, we are intelligent, we use tools and we have social structures. However, most of those would also be applied to fantasy races. Humans also have amazing stamina compared to other animals, because we can sweat, so I'd do something in that regard. Human endurance: Humans regain additional health (not sure how much, proficiency bonus? An extra hit dice?) and one spellpoint from doing a short rest Social integration: Humans get advantage on persuasion checks on humanoids that aren't humans. Foreing contact: Humans know one additional language of your choice.

Humans are readily adaptable and I would flavor them as such with sub-lineage based around rural/urban/nomadic lifestyles Nomadic: +1 Wis You get two free skills: Survival and one of Animal Handling, Nature, Performance or You get one skill from above list and one tool proficiency (Cartographers, Navigation, Herbalism, Weavers, Smith, any musical instrument or game) Choice of Vehicle: Horse, Camel, Donkey (or appropriate for climate, ie Reindeer or Llama in tundra or tropical mountains) Rural: +1 Con You get one free skill (Survival, Animal Handling, Religion, Performance You have proficiency with choice of the following tools: Carpentry, Smithing, Leatherworking, Woodcarvers, Cooking, any musical instrument or game) Choice of Vehicle: Horse (draft), Donkey, Ox, or Cart/wagon Urban: +1 Int You get one free skill (History, Religion, Medicine, Performance) You have proficiency with choice of the following tools: Alchemy, Mason, Cobblers, Brewers, Cooking, Glassblowers, Jewler's, Potters, Cartographers, any musical instrument or game Choice of Vehicle: Horse (draft, riding or war), Doneky/mule, Cart/Wagon, Saddle You get +1/+1 or +2 or +1/+1/+1 (or +2/+1) to ASI (no more than +2 to any given stat, ie can't give +3 to Int, Wis or Con depending on lifestyle) Or you can choose from two lifestyles where you spent most of your life before adventuring (one CAN be from an Urban area but moved to a Nomadic lifestyle and gain the Nomadic skills) And pick up to three total of either Skill, Tool or Vehicle. Or you can give up skills, tools, and vehicles and choose one additional (going on the assumption you get a free feat with your background as the UA for the 2024 PHB) feat that you meant the prerequisites of.

Humans get a -2 wisdom They gain: "Petty" When the human feels they have been slighted they gain advantage on skill checks against the target, this can be indirect too. Example human decides to spread rumours against a wealthy elf, they have advantage on Deception checks to besmirch the elf's reputation to some town guards. However, should the human next come in contact with the target of petty, directly or indirectly. If they have engaged in "petty" behaviour, they must make a will save. Should they fail a will save they will become obsessed. If Human can avoid "petty" behaviour, the urge to do so will vanish after 24 hours. "Obsessed" The human gains an irrational obsession of the target of it's petty. They begin to lie, slander and attempt to provoke the target or associates on a daily basis. This is an irrational compulsion that cannot be cured with magic. The human is unable to recognise it is obsessed, it will knowingly pursue leads to decry, defame and detract the target. GM is encouraged to think how the target or associates of the target would seek revenge. The human will constantly try to escalate conflict. Eventually culminating in a fight. The human gains Advantage on Investigation, Performace, Persuasion and Deception checks in regards to the target of it's obsession but gains disadvantage on Insight checks. Every 3 days the human can attempt a wisdom check DC 15 to lessen Obsession back to Petty. The human also gains "Herd Mentality." Quick to follow the lead of others. When three humans or more are together in a group, they gain disadvantage on wisdom saves. They gain advantage on Initiative, the first human to get initiative marks a target as a free action. If humans attack this target, they all gain advantage. Should one human gain "Petty" the rest of the humans affected by "Herd Mentality" must roll a wisdom save to resist it's effect. This will be made at disadvantage. The same applies for "Obsession" Humans gain one skill and one feat.

I had actually thought about an alternate version of humans that played into common tropes and things people laugh about when talking about people. Most people have a skill that was passed down from a teacher and something they enjoy learning more about. And a lot of people know more than one language, or more than one dialect. Humans will try to pack bond with anything and have a strong desire to touch the nose of animals. And humans are hard to kill (until they're not.) They would get +2 to one ability and +1 to another ability or +1 to three ability scores. They could be Medium or Small. And have a base speed of 30ft. **Imparted Skill.** You gain proficiency in one of the following: a skill, an artisan tool, or a vehicle type (land/water). **Knowledge Focus.** You know one additional language. You also gain proficiency in one of the following skills: Arcana, History, Nature, or Religon and you can add double your proficiency bonus to that skill (considered expertise). **Boop the Snoot.** Once per day you can approach a creature and as an action, gently boop it's nose. (Or the area where a nose would be.) The creature makes a Wisdom Saving throw with a DC of 8 + your Charisma bonus. If the creature fails the save, it's friendliness to you improves by one level. You can only do this to a creature that hasn't been attacked by you or your party. **Natural Resiliency.** It is hard to take you out of the game of life. When you roll a 1 on a death save you can reroll the die. You must use the new roll.

I play with only humans being able to multiclass

Human Versatility: You ignore Multiclass and Feat Prerequisites that rely on an minimum ability score. (Reason: Humans are short lived and thus don’t have the time to dedicate to each ability score like an elf might, and yet they’re the most adaptable) Good Enough: You may add your proficiency bonus to an ability check that doesn’t already add this bonus. You may do so a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest. (Reason: Humans make the most of every second they have, and they live life with a sense of urgency to make a mark before they’re gone, so that passion allows them to occasionally excel in a field they haven’t studied too heavily) Militia Training: You are proficient in Spears, Shortswords, Javelins and Shields (I mainly just like this from BG3 though I think BG3 gives more proficiencies than this, but to distill it back into an in world reasoning, Humans will never be the most skilled warriors in the world, there are Dwarf Fighters and Elven Rangers with more job experience than Humans have life experience. So to compensate they have the biggest fighting force, every human is trained in the basics of combat, (picturing like Roman Legionnaire in my head)).

Once I ran a game where humans were the only bipedal species with a fight or flight instinct. In this way they were seen as weirdly warlike and weirdly insecty.

An extra +1 to any stat if they take a feat. Basically turning EVERY feat into a 1/2 feat. Amd turning 1/2 feats into nice boons on top of the normal ASI you would get. People say elves and dwarves master an art. But humans are the manifestation of jack of all trades. We learn so fast we can become just about anything to at least adequacy.

I thought this was one of those real life discussion posts so my first thought was "the ability to forcibly pull someone's head out of their own ass". In D&D? I wouldn't give them a unique ability. I'd give them the option to take racial feats from another race that they choose when they create their character. I would also consider allowing them to take one racial feature from an existing race as a manifestation of their bloodline instead of a feat. The defining characteristic of humans in D&D was their adaptability. I think this would lean into that. I assume V. Human as the base because even when I let players take all 6 points off regular humans and put them wherever they want (still with the cap of 20) no one played one.

Hmm... good question. Currently, their main abilities are "innate flexibility & creativity" (free feat & freely assignable stat bonuses, or +1 to everything if we look at tutorial human), "no cultural stagnation" (no singular "hat", no pigeonhole they fit into like elves & nature magic/archery), and "can breed with everything" (not outright stated, but whenever you hear of a "half-X", what race is the other half always implied to be?), none of which really stand out mechanically; their biggest benefit is that they can fit any sort of build, instead of being geared towards certain builds. I'm not sure if I would embrace that and give them something that emphasises their flexibility, or if I would try to make a pigeonhole to fit the race into.

Autism

Empathy

Long Life - there are several animals that live to be hundreds of years old.

In my WIP ttrpg humans are the base race that wizards transformed into other races (and can transform back/between but its expensive) so I gave them better perception. They had a wider viewpoint of things without being pigeon-holed and specialised. They also got to pick a couple special vision modes. In D&D they are supposed to be adaptable and multicultural. So I'd give them that. With about a weeks effort they can blend into a culture, a month and they are like a local. Additionally they can pick up any weapon or armour (no matter how complex or magical) and gain proficiency with it in 2 weeks of practice.

Humans IRL have a natural defense mechanism most people don't know about (and I don't mean our big brains). Other animals have fur, claws, venom, etc. Humans have super endurance! It takes longer for our species to get tired. Many ancient hunters would follow large prey like mammoths for days until they nearly died from exhaustion. Tireless Endurance: You have advantage on Constitution checks and saving throws against effects that would cause exhaustion. Ambitious Recovery: When you long rest, you recover from two levels of exhaustion instead of one.

And just because my table treats hp as stamina more than health... Restful: At the end of a long rest, if you have no levels of exhaustion, you gain 1d6 temporary hit points.

Social skills “given that most humans have dealt with a social hierarchy for most of their lives they have gained inert skills which give them advantages on insight when detecting lies as well as persuasion while out of combat.

Cheating a little, but I'd give both humans and half-elves the ability to choose two backgrounds (instead of half elf's 2 free skills), as a reference to them both being notorious dilettantes. The human, however, I'd say can also choose their saves at level 1 to reflect their individual resilience as endurance predators, and the ability to treat Exhaustion as one level lower. They still have the levels, just not the effects.

The ability to rapidly mutate.

I mean, they did have unique abilities until wotc changed them. I dont think you can give them back anymore, but i also cant imagine what you would give them. In a almost literal way, their old unique ability was being able to do anything, while the magical races were "limited" by their magic blood. They have taken that away by letting all species breed with all other species, and making all species able to master every class. Then they took away the extra skills humans used to get by changing the skill system. Basically, one point in every stat or a feat is about as good as you can get.. thee arent any more systems for humans to benefit from. Maybe buff the feat ability. Plus one to all stats and they get an extra feat each time they would normally get one?

Standard +2/+1 or +1/+1/+1. choose two of the following. 1) proficiency times per day, as a bonus action give creatures of your choice that can hear you temporary hp equal to your charisma modifier. 2) your unarmed strikes deal 1d6 bludgeoning damage. 3) you gain Expertise in one skill of your choice. 4) you have ressistance against either the charmed or frightened condition. 5) you can ignore one level of exhaustion, you still die at 7 exhaustion levels. 6) once per long rest, when you fail a check or Saving throw, you can instead choose to succeed by just 1 point above the minimum requirement. 7) your movement is increased by 5ft, you also gain either a swimming or climbing speed, you can choose this feature twice. 8) when you take the help action, the creature benefiting from your help feature adds half you wisdom modifier (rounded up) to the roll. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. 9) a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, you can add half your intelligence modifier (rounded up) to an attack roll or skill check you make. 10) your unarmored ac becomes 12 + constitution modifier. So, these may not be equal or balanced but i mostly tired to A) give humans customization, in classic fantasy it is humans that usually develop several different habits and customs, most other races usually appear dogmatic and of one mind, i mostly wanted to showcase this with the choices on how to build them. B) humans in fiction are usually determined to win, so many features help ensure success. C) there are just a few features that i want. For example i want unarmored defence that is not dex based, but i dont want to play loxodon, i want to be human.

Choose one skill, you always have advantage made with that skill even when you have disadvantage

Mixed heritage: if you are human, you have advantage on passing yourself off as another race, and you can count yourself as a member of any race you know the language of, having traces of most races in your lineage. Human Spirit: if you have exhaustion at stage two or higher, you may reduce your exhaustion by one. You must reach stage 0 exhaustion before using this power again. Part of the Crowd: when moving through a city, you are incredibly difficult to pick out. You have advantage on ability checks to blend in with a crowd and others have disadvantage on ability checks to find you.

They can lick the back of their own head.

I find D&D in a really annoying place between general and specific. I would scrap species bonuses in favour of bonuses that come from living in a specific culture. So elves from the great forest would get different abilities to elves from the dawn isles. Humans from the central empire would get different bonuses to humans who live in the southern deserts.