Editing Human (section)

==Humans in Dungeons & Dragons==
In [[Dungeons & Dragons]], humanity's "hat", or singular defining racial trait, is ''Versatility''. What this means in practice varies from edition to edition, but it generally means that humans may not get the specific bonuses that certain races do, but they don't get any penalties, either.

In [[Basic Dungeons & Dragons|Basic]], humanity's biggest strength was that they were the only race that could actually take classes like [[Fighter]], [[Thief]] or [[Wizard|Magic-User]]. Other races, like [[Elf]], [[Dwarf]], [[Halfling]], [[Goblin]], [[Orc]], [[Gnoll]], etc, were treated as classes in their own right (early D&D was ''weird''), and often relied on [[Variant Class]]-analogues to expand their options.<br>
For example, [[Dwarf#BECMI|Dwarves could be taken as Dwarf-Clerics]], who were like [[Clerics]] but: better fighters, unable to turn undead, could reach 12th level and, -- oh yeah -- they were mandated to '''avoid''' casting spells where non-Dwarves could see them do it (unless it was a matter of life and death).

In [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons|Advanced]], again, humanity's only major strength was their lack of penalties; humans alone could take any class to any level, whereas other races could only take specific classes, and could only rise to certain levels within those classes. It's unclear just how viable this was, because nobody seemed to really like the idea of non-humans having level limits based on their race; [[Baldur's Gate]] and [[Icewind Dale]] both dropped that mechanic like a hot potato. And even within the official supplements there were some treading on humanity's toes.<br>
For example, whilst the [[Paladin]] was envisioned as a human-only class, several races were released that could also become paladins, namely [[Rakasta]], [[Lupin|Lupins]], and [[Saurial|Saurials]].<br>
Humans also had unique [[Multiclassing#Advanced_Dungeon_.26_Dragons|multiclassing]] mechanics in the form of [[Multiclassing#Dual-classing|dual-classing]], which involved basically completely stopping your advance in one class and starting over from scratch in another one. Which, if you weren't using level limits, was demonstrably inferior to the [[demihuman]] ability of [[Multiclassing#Multiclassing|multiclassing]], where you progress in multiple classes ''simultaneously'' from character creation.

In [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition|3rd Edition]], humanity again had no ability score modifiers. However, a trend started that would influence the next three editions (and one spin-off): human versatility was given a mechanical basis, with humans now gaining a bonus feat at character creation, an expanded array of skill points (+4 at first level, +1 at each level), and having a [[Favored Class]] of Any, allowing them to [[Multiclassing#3rd Edition & Pathfinder|multiclass]] freely and without suffering XP penalties if they weren't taking levels in their "iconic" class.<br>
[[Pathfinder]] followed the same idea as 3E. The only changes are system wide where they only get +1 skill point at every level starting from first (getting 4 times as many skill points at level 1 no longer exists for anyone, instead you get a +3 bonus to a skill if it's a class skill), and [[Favored Class]] was changed so drastically that it couldn't be a bonus. Still awesome since they still gain that bonus feat and now they get a +2 to any one ability score of their choice. Humans also get the best alternative [[Favored Class]] bonus for spontaneous casting classes, gaining an extra spell known (of one level than the highest you can cast).

Ironically, [[Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition|4th Edition]] did something similar: humans in that edition gained a +2 to a single ability score of their choice, and then progressed with a bonus skill (because in [[4e]] you're either proficient in a skill or not, there's no ascending scale anymore), a bonus feat, a +1 to all three of their [[Non Armor Defenses|NADs]], ''and'' a bonus At-Will power from their chosen class.<br>
This actually makes humans a pretty powerful race choice in their own right. Like the [[half-elf]], humans got the option to take a unique racial power instead of their bonus at-will: Heroic Effort lets them, once per encounter, add a +4 bonus to the result of either a missed attack roll or a failed saving throw.

Unfortunately, [[5e]] is where that winning streak basically collapsed. There are two different mechanical versions of humans in 5th edition; the standard human just gets a +1 to all six ability scores, which is... not ''bad'', but pretty low-down on the useful scale. Then there's the variant human, who instead gets a +1 to two ability scores of their choice, a bonus skill proficiency (5e skills working mostly like 4e skills) and a bonus feat. This makes variant humans '''the''' race of choice for power gaming, simply because feats in 5e are extremely powerful and other races can't get them until several levels into the game - and even then, only at the expense of an increase in ability scores. The [[Eberron]] Guidebook also included Dragonmarked subraces for humans that aren't as powerful as the PHB Variant Human, but still leaps ahead of the default mold.

Also, fun fact, 5e finally gave an explanation for why humans are the only race in the [[Great Wheel]] that don't have a single defining monolithic culture (orcs are savage brutes, elves are magic and nature-loving, etc): all the other races are like that because they have a racial god or pantheon of gods telling them how to behave. Humans originally had such a god, but they were killed very early in the Great Wheel's history. Info on this god is hard to come by, but secondhand sources say that it was Asmodeus' brother, and that he was the one who did the deed, but this sounds suspiciously similar to Pathfinder Asmodeus' backstory. All we know for sure is that we probably don't have to worry about [[Zarus]] rearing his nazi head any time soon.

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