We incorrectly assumed the target audience for this video would be mostly species with dark vision wanting to learn about humans. As it turns out, our audience is 98% human and thus our lighting was not appropriate.
My favorite thing about Humans in D&D settings is that bit of lore from the Dragonlance setting that establishes that humans are the "Horn Dog" race of the universe that can produce offspring with any sentient creature that's bipedal (or a dragon) and are the species that's most likely to try to do so. What? Anyone who's been on the internet for more then ten minutes knows that this isn't THAT much of a stretch.
If everyone takes Human, it really gives the DM permission to make the other races a little bit more alien and a little bit stranger. It can be a lot of fun.
I actually divided feats up into 2 categories, Major and Minor, based upon how strong they are and how commonly they are taken. Major feats are gained like regular feats (in exchange for an ability score increase), while everyone gets a free minor feat at level 1 and an additional minor feat whenever they get an ability score increase (ASI). NOTE: Minor Feat does not count against ASI. Minor feats include all half feats and racial feats (there are others, too, though), but they can also be exchanged for a flat +1 to an ability score. Anyway, I then changed how I did humans by giving them a +1 to two ability scores of their choice, an additional minor feat as a racial ability, as well as two other features: any 3 proficiencies of their choice from Skills, Languages, Tools, Supplies, Vehicles, or Weapons; and then Human Determination, which allows them to reroll an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw once per short or long rest, using either result of their choosing. So far, this has worked out quite well!
A lot of people think a feat at lv 1 is too good, but a feat is equal to a +2 in an ability, and half-elves get +2 CHA on top of the +1 to two other scores, as well as darkvision, fey ancestry, two skills instead of one, and a longer lifespan. Humans are good because they're more customisable, and you can start with a feat that augments your roleplaying, like Keen Mind or Actor.
Anthony Norman most classes in dnd can get a light source, and those three can still be useful if you do like point buy or roll weirdly, it’s better than both of those if you do it right
@@bigbeard1687 light sources have negatives, how does one replace a skill without using a feat? 3 of the +1 will typically go on even stats that'll never be increased again while a racial feature, darkvision or skill can be repeatedly utilized.
Anthony Norman even with dark vision you can only see in low light, you still need dim light to have the ability to see, if it’s dark you have disadvantage, and the likely hood someone in the party doesn’t need light is slim to none, if you use point buy you can have every stat to be odd and get a +1 on everything and work well
One way to consider the Variant Human from a world-building perspective is to consider the bonus feat as a racial ability for the specific origin. For example, Magic Initiate for most humans from the nation of mages where everyone dabbles in magic (and perhaps War Caster for the mages from that nation). PCs might want to choose their feat obviously but specific national feat choices for NPCs makes for a local identity.
yeah, a "you can pick from these feats" would be great instead of "you can pick any feat you want". Martial Adept is a feat that would fit into one of these selections. Since the PHB has already a namelist for the various human cultures of faerun, why not add a line "Variant Humans of this culture typically have [this feat]"?
That's great bit it's still a shame that other races don't get the bonus feat. Makes me not want to take variant human ever, because it feels like cheating to do so. I know it's not, but it still feels that way. Everyone should just get to pick a feat to begin with. Human can still have the bonus to every stat, and that's a great bonus nobody else gets.
@@Torthrodhel I like to tie the feat to a specific aspect of my character. Maybe you're deaf and learned to read lips to communicate with others (Observant) or you were a cook before you delved into the adventuring life (Chef). Something specific that speaks to the flavor of my character and isn't one of those feats that you're gonna take anyways
@@maid_of_heart3261 that's neat, and since Tasha's released we have Custom Lineage which kinda completely fixes this problem. Now your character with a starting feat can be any race. Made me want to sometimes choose human again, when I didn't before.
Level 20 wizard with legions of clones in an alternate pocket dimension seems pretty good too. Set up a contingency to pop you into one of the clones and you’re in good shape
I love that Kelly was so vehemently defending the human fighter as being the most iconic. Even out of character I can feel the deep love that Sebastian has for Pluto Jackson!!!
Human Fighter is so basic that Mayonnaise is sorry for it:) Human Fighter is so bland Salt is too spicy for it:) Human Fighter is so dull a Cotton Ball cuts more:)
@@morrigankasa570 If your human fighter is boring, that's on you. I'm playing a human fighter (with a dip in rogue) for Curse of Strahd and it's the most fun I've had with roleplaying a for a long time. He's short and chubby, though not without muscle, he fights with two scimitars (dex based) and he loves making traps - he's a monster and bounty hunter. I've described him as a cross between the Tasmanian Devil (how he fights), Bugs Bunny (when he successfully implements a plan of action) and Wile E. Coyote (when he doesn't). He lugs around a chest full of equipment that's useful against a variety of monsters, as well as a mule loaded with more stuff. He's inadvertently become the party face, despite only having a 10 in charisma, because he's reasonably intelligent (14) and not afraid to put himself out there. That relatively low charisma also means he likes to make bad jokes and I like to play him as the comic relief, which his personality and flaws lend themselves to. Human fighters aren't dull. An endless parade of gruff, averagely built, young to middle aged men who only do stuff when there's a fight is boring. But _they_ neither need to be human, nor a fighter. It's just that people who lack imagination tend towards human fighters tat fit that description.
@@MalloonTarka I actually don't have a Human Fighter character myself. But have seen a couple and both are very boring. My favorite character I created is a Drow Feylost Death Domain Cleric sworn to the Raven Queen she is currently lvl 1 (haven't found a group to play with) but has a 4 and a half pages Backstory. Part of that story is she was born in a cave near the surface after her parents fled the Underdark and started trying to form a life on the surface. Her parents have valuable Trade Skills including her Mother being a Smith Cleric sworn to one of the Forge/Smithing Gods. Due to those factors and the fact my character was a baby at the time was accepted by a Village of Humans and Moon Elves. It was a happy childhood and around adolescence a Portal to the Feywilds opened up. My character decided to explore it by herself. She spent a few decades wandering them and learning new things. Eventually finding a path that lead to the Raven Queen's Residence beyond the Feywilds and chose to become a Cleric of her's before a different portal was opened by the Raven Queen that brought her back home. There's lots more details but that's the basics.
Id say it depends allot on how they make characters. People that make their characters by initially deciding their race/class combo and deciding the rest after will evaluate the races all equally which puts human in competition with possibly dozens of other races that have real lore and appearances attached. They'll pick human a tiny fraction of the time even without being biased against them. However some tend to create characters by deciding what skill they want to excel at or what mechanical combo they want to use first and then look at race by their mechanics/how well they fit that idea. Now every useful feat/stat combo of the variant human can basically be treated as its own race mechanically. This makes from 50 to 80% of the options available to them just be varients of human, and they'll pick them that often.
The best class for variant human? 1. All of them. Joking aside, I would say that V. Humans are great in every class but the trade off is their ability scores. If you aren't using point buy, and want a +2 to potentially get a 18 or 20 you have to take specific feats to get there depending on the class. Charisma based casters get it the worst by only having Actor. That's why certain races lend themselves better to certain classes through their racial abilities. A Half-orc makes a better Champion Fighter than a Human and can choose to not die. A Mountain Dwarf basically gets two free armor feats that can turn any class into a frontline tank if you build it correctly. Tabaxi get the two best skills in the game for free and that's just one ability. The point is, humans are great and playing humans is great. But the natural bonuses that other races get can allow for more gainful or interesting combinations with certain classes, which can appeal to people who want to play more conceptually interesting and build specific characters.
You guys mentioned vhumans not being iconic for Warlocks. I rather imagine them being ideal for it, specifically because of their ambition and short lives. Lacking the centuries to master casting that an elf has, the short cut of a pact seems obvious. While some might go straight for Warcaster, I think taking Ritual Caster (wizard) would do a great job of rounding out the lack of casting slots. Then go chain pact for a special pet and really lean into the “otherworldly caster” bit.
War Caster is so much more important for Warlocks, especially Bladelocks, in combat centric campaigns. With limited slots, Warlocks can’t afford to drop their concentration. For Hexblades in particular War Caster also functionally grants +2 AC due to having shield proficiency. Not to mention that Tome Pact is basically the best ritual casting mechanic in the game if you like rituals.
@@M0ebius I agree that maintaining concentration is high priority, and War Caster is definitely on the menu. But in first tier I don't see it as crucial. Expanding the utility casting, on the other hand, has a big impact and of course the wizard's list is usually the most desirable. The reason that I'd usually go chain pact (while not disputing the value of tome pact at all) is the countless valuable ways to use an invisible, intelligent familiar that can fly and has hands (and acts on its own initiative). In first and second tier, I am generally able to abuse Minor Illusion and Silent Image as soft control and defensive spells, so that concentration isn't a big concern. If I didn't take War Caster at creation, I'd definitely take it at 4 (or possibly leave CON as an odd number and take Resilient CON).
Christian Swensen What rituals do you think has such a big impact that it’s worth burning a feat on? Especially considering you can get almost any ritual you want with Tome Pact? Genuinely curious.
@@M0ebius I'm approaching it from the other perspective. I want the pet from chain pact. Period. I consider that the highest value pact boon by a large margin. From that decision, I look at how I want to play the WL, and the ability to cast rituals goes a long ways to making the WL feel like a caster. As to specific spells, no books on hand at the moment. But Identify, Purify Food and Water, Invisible Servant, Leo's Hut. Obviously none of these are game changers on their own. But taken together, they make the WL able to use magic far more than his couple of slots would indicate.
I always liked how Hellboy 2 presented the idea of humans having a hole in their hearts, a hole that can never be filled no matter what they achieve. So where as other races may have their proverbial hearts "complete" due to tradition or a connection with nature, ultimately humans have no such luxury. Therefore they strive to win a race, knowing full well there truly is no finish line that would provide a much needed feeling of contentment. Making them simultaneously the most tragic and inspiring race to play.
I wonder how much of the data from D&D Beyond stating that Human Fighter is the most commonly picked option is influenced by that combo being free content.
Great video guys. I would really like to see a video about the different tool kits, especially the different artesian tools and their uses in regards to game mechanics and creativity.
I'm playing a v. human wizard who is the daughter of a lore bard, so naturally she's a Magic Initiate-Bard. Tbh I chose this path in order to grab Healing Word (since we're playing a particularly deadly campaign), but it's been pretty great roleplaying that human ambition and desire to live up to her father's legacy.
For those concerned about Humans and Darkvision, please remember Shadow Sorcerers, Gloomstalker Rangers, Warlocks with Devils Sight, or the Skulker Feat. Transmuter Wizards with Darkvision loaded into their stones, or any class that gets Darkvision as a spell are also there.
Wow, you guys must be really enthousiastic about Humans, I've never heard you two talk so passionately about a PC race before! (I wonder why) Quality video, definitely made me rethink my entire homebrew world for the millionth time. Keep it up M'Dudes!
No idea if some commented this first, but dnd5e playtest humans had +2 at all abilities. I still think they should! The lack of darkvision is enough. Feats, abilities, are extras.
I am surprised they didn't mention monks when talking about what class humans fit well into. Suffering from MAD, the human versatility is almost a must unless you roll great stats.
I like variant human Barbarians for the most Damage. Polearm Master while raging is very gross. They are also great to grab Magic Initiate on a class like rogue, fighter, monk, ranger, or paladin. Which allows you to get some cantrip support(and possibly a familiar) on classes that don't typically get it. Also works great with Ritual Caster.
"...a very well-balanced and well-rounded character regardless of what your ability scores are or what class you decide to play." Chooses base human for once. Chooses a MAD class to fully use the benefits. Rolls 16, 14, 10, 10, 10, 6.
Loved this video. I know there are plenty of explanation videos but you guys NAILED this! I would love to see you hit each race and each class with the same level of attention. Keep up the good work!
I have only made 1 character so far, who is a human wizard with the sage background, and who is actually inspired by a key character in a novel I hope to write one day. He was allways facinated with magic, and got into an academy were he could study to become a wizard. But after his father died in battle, and his mother died of a plague that struck his hometown, he found himself more and more curious about life and death, and eventually the magic that deal with these; necromancy. In the end, he decieds to pursue it, justifying it with that magic is in essence a tool, and tools aren't good or evil, people are. He firmly belives that necromancy has it's uses, and aims to prove it to the world. As I mentioned earlier, he is also deeply facinated with the forces of life and death, and given how they (especially death) are such a big mystery, he is also very eager to see what he might discover in his studies. The DM also added something. He asked me if I wanted to have a magical staff that I can't get rid of, which has a random change of giving me a good buff, and depending on my actions and decisions through the campaign, the chance of me getting that buff will increase or decrease. He will not tell me what kind of actions affect the staff beforehand though, he will just let me know when it happens, so I have to figure that out myself. That sounded really fucking cool, so I said yes.
Variant Humans make the best Swashbucklers, not just for Role Play but the free feat is golden, you can always multiclass or use an item to get better darkvision than elves
I've always really enjoyed playing humans,a lot of people believe that playing human in dungeons & dragons just means that you lack creativity. I on the other hand have always felt that humans have the most to gain and least to lose from of all the races and as such are unique. With their short life spans and their general flexibility humans can do anything that they set their mind to and work for, if you ask me that is there racial trait. The stamina and mental endurance to go through every situation and come out swinging and standing tall on the other end. I do feel that of all the classes druids seems the least suited to humans do to their lack of racial and cultural ties to the natural world. with that said I feel that the top three classes for humans are 3, Wizard. 2, rogue. And 1 bard.. all three classes in different ways.
Fighters has to be the number 1 class for humans. It is a class often built around having 2+ feats, and no other class gets a bigger power increase from having that feat at level 1.
I for one actually enjoy playing the variant human races. Adds alittle variety when you have a pc who knows the lore and setting to help reign in the rest of the party antics.
Almost no one is a good enough roleplayer to actually play as a non-human character for more than a single session. I've DM'ed for hundreds of people, and I've only seen professional actors manage to stay in character, as a giant lizard man, dragon man, or tabaxi, game after game. Instead nearly everyone gives up on their character voice and racial attitude after the first few sessions because they can't expound on it past the few stereotypical lines they started with. I think most people would be better off playing as humans, just for their own sake, otherwise it tends to limit their creativity if they keep trying to roleplay with their non-human race in mind.
I know this could be really OP, but I think humans should be able to get 6 points to add to any ability scores they want. I think this works well for humans because it speaks towards how ambitious humans are, becoming really smart (maximum of 26 in intelligence, make a kick ass wizard) or strong (again, maximum of 26). Starting with an insane modifier is offset by having literally nothing else, which in my opinion lets stats be more of a strong feature in and of itself as far as player characters go, making humans further unique by as opposed to giving them abilities, you just make their current abilities really good. I want to play an insanely powerful human wizard, even if that’s broken as hell.
Yeah... it's hard to suggest regular humans when the variant human feat can be used for a third ability increase if needed. The regular human should probably get an extra skill as a freebie to compensate. That way you're comparing an extra +3/4 to your stats to the feat. Then it might seem favorable under the right conditions.
My issue (in D&D) with all Races except Elves, Gnomes, and Dwarves are they are so Short-Lived. So all my player characters are one of those 3 Races I listed or some Custom Variant of them. If they gave Humans an additional 20 years naturally then would be slightly better. As for the other Short-Lived Races they need much longer then that naturally to be slightly better. Every Race needs a minimum of 100 years lifespan to be ok.
A concept that Ive been wanting to play is a human necromancer and doctor that lost his wife and child to a plague and is obsessed and bordering on insanity to bring them back
When I made a Variant Human Cleric I actually put her highest scores in Wisdom and Intelligence (wound up dumping CHA, she's an unsocialized knowitall) and took the Observant feat to get her WIS and INT both to 18 at creation (we use a stat array to make a lot of characters in my games). She's Light domain, and she's so very good
ty for this video i have seen people say they hate to play humans and never play them now people can play what they want but i hate it when they say the reasoning is only cause they are a human in real life they lived long anuf as a human they dont need to be one in a fantasy setting and dont realize what they are saying that human is not them those are 2 dif worlds they will be able to go talk to dragons cast magic literately have or even grant wishes wile that is not at all possible in real world its a new world a new setting if your only reason for not playing a human is cause you already are one and its boring to you being one in real world/think it is boring to play one i just do not get that way of thinking its not factoring in the whole fantasy aspect of fantasy rpg at all sorry sometimes i can go on a rant about pointless things sometimes still i just dont get the logic in thinking that way
Its ok if someone never wants to play human in dnd and the reason doesnt matter. You do you :) I hope you and they enjoy themselves, thats the only goal.
@@beebobox ik and i get that but i prefer they think it through instead of asum playing a human will be as boring as what ever boring life they have (the only real feeling and response to my questioning of said reasoning i ever get) that is what annoys me they dont even give it a try or just *sighs idk not finding words for what im trying to say but yes people can play what they want i believe i did say that it just annoys me when people dont play humans cause they asum humans in a medieval fantasy setting are going to be the exacted same as a normal human from the modern age in real world and i just do not get the logic in that
Starting with the warcaster feat is great for warlocks as well specially the hexblade because you are most likely to engage in melee combat and as a warlock you want to get the most out of your concentration with spells like hex, bestow curse or even shadow blade if you want that dual wield flavor with your pact weapon and the shadow blade
Depending on the DM, you can also just get Goggles of Night for your human. My human rogue just grabbed those recently. It also does force you to be creative before you get a way to get Darkvision or through the campaign. I do wish I had gone with variant human though. But I’m taking Observant when we get to 4th level.
I'm just starting to build my second D&D PC ever: a young man who's a human draconic bloodline sorcerer noble, the seventh son of a seventh son who is NOT a good person and is adventuring to gain power to be able to destroy the family that shunned him. Your insights on humans, the good and the bad, was such a great thing to watch as I start this build!
Variant Hexblade Lock is very strong. By level 4 youre set with dark vision 2h weapon proficiency + cha modifier great weapon master. Additional bonus action d6 damage. A 19-20 crit 1x a day. Pair that with the rest of your levels in bm fighter for precision attack and the fear. Ofc action surge and extra stat ups.
I think it's worth mentioning that finding those human traits are especially important when playing non-human characters. People connect to characters they can empathize with. So as you make that maxed out tiefling warlock or whatever, ask those human questions: What's their fondest memory? Who was their first love, or first kiss? What's their favorite song and why? Things like this breathe life into characters
I've always had a Humale Stormborn Corsair (homebrew path and class, but structured to where it is almost perfect UA) on the back burner for me. Long explanation short, it's a path where your character was born during a once-in-a-lifetime storm, thus resulting in a very strong bond with a storm god or such. Not necessarily a Thor type of situation, but you could potentially the path like that. Background: Setting has regular massive storms that cause planar waves (causing stuff to get tossed into our realm or other realms) dubbed Maelstroms, with an absolutely behemoth of a Maelstrom happening once every hundred years or so, the legendary Prospero. My character is born in the Prospero, and this particular instance has a disgraced Pirate Lord dabbling in dark magiks gets a prediction of his death by my character. And of course, fearing this, eventually after a couple years of hunting he finds the ship of my character's parents (who later are found out to also be a Pirate Lord and Lady), and lays siege, ultimately killing the parents and sinking the ship, where a retired Pirate Lord that was friends to the parents finds the young character among the wreckage. Character is a bit too young to remember the events, but is told of what happened by the captain. The captain than raises and teaches the character in the dock district of the setting's starting city, having a slight urchin feeling, but not a lot (I'm thinking the captain's crew becomes a kind of neighborhood watch). Goals would be to ultimately avenge the parents, and then become a Pirate Lord or Lady in their own right.
Honestly if I’m playing a human with spellcasting or am in a party with a human I like to take the darkvision spell for the occasional time it will be needed.
The human really got stiffed when they did away with negative abilities for races (Which was a great idea for the game as a whole, don't get me wrong), but it means the fact that the human doesn't have a negative ability isn't nearly as impressive as it was in previous editions.
I commonly play a human Paladin Ancients, archfey warlock Pact of the blade. His deity is also his patron. It so much fun. Also veritent because lvl 1 ritual caster wizard to have that sweet sweet familiar.
My human is a Cyran veteran of the last war who survived the mourning because as a member of the Queen’s Forward Blades, he was scouting behind enemy lines. Ten or so days before the mourning, his unit was badly defeated and he and the other survivors were taken captive. Their captors were attacked by mercenaries in the night and forced my human and his buddies into service with them, but they ran at the first opportunity. The mercs hunted them down and killed almost everyone. That was the night before the mourning. My human had a very bad several days, then went into hiding in the woods for two years where he essentially became a gloomstalker. Now he adventures and looks forward to meeting other survivors.
Sorry guys, as much as I love the variant human I gotta give it to the Nephalian human from Plane Shift: Innistrad. As a Bard main that +1 int and +1 cha just pair so nicely with my class, not to mention Breadth of Knowledge for those 4 free skill proficiencies of my choice. I love it.
My group likes to start with a feat to avoid everyone being human and because characters are so squish 1-3 that an extra feat hasn't really povern too powerful
That's so interesting, I see V. Humans so differently from you guys. To me, feats that give you something to do with your bonus action are really where it's at, especially before martial characters get their second attack at level 5. For that reason, I really like Variant Human for Fighters and Rogues to pick up Great Weapon Master, Polearm Master, or Crossbow Expert. Casters, I think, can do just fine without warcaster, especially at lower levels where their spells are less likely to be concentration spells, and so I like Hill Dwarf Clerics and High Elf Wizards.
variant human (8,10,12,13,14,15, 72 pt stock) dex 15+1=16, int 14, con 14+1=15. fighter 2 weapon style, dual wielder. +3 h&d with longswords, 2 attacks out of the gate. 3rd lvl go eldritch knight
Two weapon style and dual wielder are noob traps. They are pretty decent in the first 3-4 levels, but fall sharply after 5th in comparison to other styles and feats, like GWM.
For running Waterdeep Dragon Heist, I let my players each take a free feat at level 1, and variant humans got 2. I think this has been a huge win for the players in defining their characters from the get-go. Balancing has not been an issue. However, if I could go back and start again, I would have banned Observant and Lucky for the free feat. I also think I would have banned the variant human.
In all the years I have played d&d I have never played a human. It was always to vanilla for me. I might roll one up and see what concept strikes me as fun.
Dungeon Dudes As far as PHB races go, Dragonborn are very weak. The problem is their breath weapon scales from Constitution, which isn’t a stat they get from their racial ASI (and they’re the only race where this happens). And unlike 4e, using their breath isn’t a minor action (bonus action) so the 2-5d6 is piddling damage compared to using Extra Attack or casting a spell, so it will almost never be a good use of action beyond tier 1. So discounting their breath, all they have is an energy resistance, which is basically nothing.
I agree with Kurisu. The first character i ever made was a dragonborn paladin and his breath weapon was less useful then the Command spell i always insist to use. I would go with Lizardfolk and flavor it with some dragon aspects.
My human character is driven by loss, he has the far traveler background and was torn by magic from his world within the multiverse and stranded alone in the D&D world, so he's already lost his home, his life and everything he had before, so he's terrified about losing more, so protects others wherever possible, even if it means risking his own life.
Do you guys allow putting 2 points into 1 stat instead of 1 point into 2 stats for the variant human? My group has always done it that way since we first started playing 5e.
I raise you my swashbuckler X/hexblade 3 with booming blade. Not because it's better but because it just straight up neutralizes the polearm sentinel combo. You don't get to punish me when I get close. You don't get to punish me when I try to leave. In fact, I get to punish you when I get close and once again when you try to chaise after me. Granted, the bugbear reach means I won't actually get to leave your reach with my specific rogue. I'm better off having him use his darkness + devil's sight combo paired with elven accuracy and just kite and sneak attack you from range. Alternatively, any ranged build with mobility (especially the feat and flying) should do. Or, you know, I can just use the darkness + devil's sight combo in melee to straight up ignore opportunity attacks because they require sight . That'll still leave me my bonus action to dash away :P Generally, if you're a DM and you want to create an encounter where the party polearm sentinel struggles, just heavily obscure the fighting area and thus you have neutralized polearm sentinel. I once had a trap that released an eversmoking bottle that obscured everything and provoked several swarms of bats to attack. There are also other options like ranged enemies with fly speeds or even straight up invisibility, but finding a way to heavily obscure an area involves a bit more creativity and flexibility. You can get heavily obscuring steam, smoke or mist/fog from both spells, traps and natural phenomena. Bonus points if you make it so the other members of the party can de-obfuscate the area and thus force the polearm sentinel to at least once in a while be reliant on the party.
@@oOPPHOo buuut...if my character is an elf with dark vision and totem of the eagle. 🤔 Actually, no make that devil sight to counter your devil sight. It just got real.
I've mulled over playing a mountain dwarf wizard just so I can wear medium armour. You could even kind of explain it, since dwarves and gnomes have a close friendship.
@@Dezbood Easy enough mistake to make. I'd say the best way to get a wizard with armour is just multiclass one level. Actually I'd rather do that than be a mountain dwarf.
My fighter is the middle child of a noble family who has struggled with an inferiority complex his whole life, and who has always sought to prove himself worthy of the respect of both his family and his peers. When his fiance went missing days before their wedding, he ventured out alone to find her and bring her home safely, ending up in the Demiplane of Dread with some other unfortunate misfits. My wizard was a child prodigy who earned a scholarship to a prestigious academy of magic at the tender age of 15, but quickly outgrew the level at which he could be safely tutored. Now he ventures out into the world to gain power and experience while proving to his older companions, and his master, that he's not just a kid. Also he has a bat familiar called Bartleby who is adorable and regularly pisses off the DM. Both of them are human, which has really allowed me to get into their heads and really explore aspects of my own personality. I'm about ready to play another race with next characters, but playing as humans has been an excellent starting point as a player.
My group uses the stat array 17 16 14 13 10 7, I once made a Variant Human Cleric with 18 WIS and INT by taking the Observant feat. It's suboptimal stats, I'll grant, but I wanted her to be ridiculously smart and hyper-observant. I also dumped CHA, optimization is totally unnecessary
I know that thematically it makes sense for dwarfs to be trained warriors and to get various weapon and armor proficiencies depending on sub race. I do not like how that overlaps with the martial character choices. I think there should be some bonus in the dwarf traits that happen if you already have proficiency. Mountain dwarf gets a +1 ac bonus with medium armor perhaps. Just seems like too much overlap.
I totally agree. However the bonuses they get make it them great for picking classes that don't overlap. I have two mountain dwarf characters. One is a War Magic Wizard that hits things with a flaming hammer and is so hard to hit it's stupid. The other is a strength based Arcane Trickster Rogue that focuses on grappling while enlarged. The armor proficiency and strength bonus allows for combos otherwise unavailable to that class.
Isaiah Boyce yea, I like the fiend warlock for them. I usually pick hobgoblin and medium armor feat if I go war/abjuration wizard. Str based arcane trickster sounds awesome
Humans are blank pages. They age perfect if you want to build any kind of story toi want, while the other races might je more guided by how the dm want to place them in the world. But I almost never play one, because I already played parties with things like 3 or 4 humans out of 5 players and they age almost always the most present race in the campain. But it's normal because human are the easiest race to picture in our imagination
The only Sailor character I ever saw was a human. In my experience, this is one of the least popular choices (tied with Entertainer), but it plays better into humans than literally anyone else.
So, thinking of taking the Martial Adept in my War Wizard and was wondering, For Feinting Attack, since it doesn’t say weapon arrack, would it work with Touch Spells? Cause he’s ex military so thought some maneuvers would be nice but most also require melee attacks.
I have made to much homebrew to post it all in a comment. Instead, here's a link to it all in Google Drive. drive.google.com/folderview?id=1DDD-SiWKTZlRdTu7k29YOuy6BwRGZFxB Please feel free to give feedback! 😁
I have been using the lockdown to learn about D&D 5e and am building my first character and love some advice. I think I want to play a human but not sure if I should go regular or variant? Class will be Rogue and I got a really good role (or at least I think it is?) 11,15,11,13,14,15. Which should I choose and which feat? Or should I be picking a Wood Elf or Half Elf for dark vision? Help! There is so much to learn!
If it breeds, we can human it. Much of what is said here, however, should be with an asterisk, something which you guys have pointed towards if didn't say directly - the mechanics/rules-side attractions of humans are evident and the real meat of the matter here, whereas the fluff/'verse-specific things, those can be really up in the air. Human versatility also applies to what kind of roles the race can play in settings - they can be anything from the absolute dominant population with others being tiny minorities, and everything in between, to the flipside of being a rare and even dying breed (pureblood humans, at least) that "fantastic" races pushed out of the spotlight. If anything, this latter kind of ideas is often both more challenging and more entertaining to play out properly.
I might play a stock human barbarian, where strength, dexterity, constitution, and wisdom all really matter. But for most other classes, you're getting +1 to four dump stats.
Actually he spells his last name McLauchlin. I also had to look this up to see if there was another Kelly Mclaughlin our there.... because if there was I’d have to battle them to the death probably. I think that’s the rule.
Its all about FEATs and how DMs choose to implement them. If they just gave everyone 1 free feat at the beginning and the variant 2, I would go normal human! But I would NOT want to be the lone human in a group.
My human cleric started on a on a path to defeat death but through her adventuring is learning to reconcile with it. She may still become a lych or she may realize no matter how evil the person there is no justification for lychdom. Her flaw is she just wants to see the best in people. My next character is also going to be a human cleric but his race was chosen for me. Our party one shot and sunk 3 boats in the north sea. He's the only survivor though he was horrifically maimed. What drives him is the suffering of the "so called" heroes of Waterdeep. His flaws are his vanity and arogance.
I wish humans had more to them. Today the other races are just insanely strong and homebrew levels of overpowered, looking at it from afar there's no logical way that humans would be alive in the forgotten realms.
While watching something occurred to me, although I'm not sure how relevant it is. My tendency is to play non-humans in RPG's, because I'm a human the rest of the time, so it's nice to be something different (probably something to do with me playing female characters a lot of the time as well), but after a period of mental health issues, I started to play human characters all the time. I wonder if I was unconsciously trying to ground myself through my play as well as in reality.
The +1 to every stat is quite powerful if you're using a build that uses 3 or more stats (which is most of them besides a pure fighter or rogue). Potentially starting a game with 3 stats at 16 in a point buy or spreading them out so that your dump stat is a 10 or 12 means they can be quite powerful in any role.
(Total DnD newbie here, since i know NOTHING of the game in-depth as of yet i'll contribute with LOGIC!) Funnily enough i think the Standard Human's Ability Score shouldn't be a +1 to everything, but rather a +2 to Constitution and a free +1 you can put wherever you want (except Constitution) because yes humans are versatile sure, BUT we didn't started that way as a race, no, humans started as a race as being very unique predators in our world, being PRESISTENT PREDATORS, we were practically the ONLY predators around that would just run after a prey much faster than us without stopping for minutes, hours if need be until the prey was too tired, too overheated and too weak to escape and then we would just kill it, the human body lacks hair and has more sweat glands compared to other mammals to AVOID overheating like the preys we pursued this way, and is bipedal to MINIMIZE our movement (when compared to a quadruped prey) to further slow down overheating, hell the way we run our legs basically let gravity to half the job! our bodies are these super enduring, efficient as all hell MACHINES OF HUNTING so from a racial standpoint i feel that while humans are flexible, we are without a doubt defined by our Physical (AND MENTAL) Persistance, which is why i think +2 Con +1 to any other ability fits us more.
I only DM all human parties. It makes the most sense for the players and allows for the most natural, authentic storytelling. The players move from the familiar and mundane to encounter and explore the successively more exotic.
The problem with the variant human's feat: they of course can't get the most powerful racial feats, like Elven Accuracy from Xanathar's Guide to Everything
This video seems dimly lit.
...Or is it just that, as a Human, I lack Darkvision?
We incorrectly assumed the target audience for this video would be mostly species with dark vision wanting to learn about humans. As it turns out, our audience is 98% human and thus our lighting was not appropriate.
@@DungeonDudes what are the other 2% ?
Mind flayers ... probably
@@DungeonDudes RUclips's rhythmic al-golems.
@@SymbioteMullet So, mind flayers.
My favorite thing about Humans in D&D settings is that bit of lore from the Dragonlance setting that establishes that humans are the "Horn Dog" race of the universe that can produce offspring with any sentient creature that's bipedal (or a dragon) and are the species that's most likely to try to do so.
What? Anyone who's been on the internet for more then ten minutes knows that this isn't THAT much of a stretch.
I dunno man, I don't think it's propaganda. I mean, those Kobolds be lookin' kinda thick.
my half-ettercap is offended :P
Or a lot of a stretch, depending on the human's partner.
Drows, Dwarfs, Elves etc can all get it but not Owlins, Tabaxis or Lizardfolk. There's a limit
@@Joker-yw9hlpeople have done it with tabaxis
If everyone takes Human, it really gives the DM permission to make the other races a little bit more alien and a little bit stranger. It can be a lot of fun.
"So, what are Humans like?"
"Yes"
I actually divided feats up into 2 categories, Major and Minor, based upon how strong they are and how commonly they are taken. Major feats are gained like regular feats (in exchange for an ability score increase), while everyone gets a free minor feat at level 1 and an additional minor feat whenever they get an ability score increase (ASI).
NOTE: Minor Feat does not count against ASI. Minor feats include all half feats and racial feats (there are others, too, though), but they can also be exchanged for a flat +1 to an ability score.
Anyway, I then changed how I did humans by giving them a +1 to two ability scores of their choice, an additional minor feat as a racial ability, as well as two other features: any 3 proficiencies of their choice from Skills, Languages, Tools, Supplies, Vehicles, or Weapons; and then Human Determination, which allows them to reroll an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw once per short or long rest, using either result of their choosing. So far, this has worked out quite well!
I like that system so might incorporate that into my "House Rules".
A lot of people think a feat at lv 1 is too good, but a feat is equal to a +2 in an ability, and half-elves get +2 CHA on top of the +1 to two other scores, as well as darkvision, fey ancestry, two skills instead of one, and a longer lifespan. Humans are good because they're more customisable, and you can start with a feat that augments your roleplaying, like Keen Mind or Actor.
okay but the human can get a plus one to everything, which is 6 points
@@bigbeard1687 6 points, 3 of which aren't typically relevant without a skill or darkvision.
Anthony Norman most classes in dnd can get a light source, and those three can still be useful if you do like point buy or roll weirdly, it’s better than both of those if you do it right
@@bigbeard1687 light sources have negatives, how does one replace a skill without using a feat? 3 of the +1 will typically go on even stats that'll never be increased again while a racial feature, darkvision or skill can be repeatedly utilized.
Anthony Norman even with dark vision you can only see in low light, you still need dim light to have the ability to see, if it’s dark you have disadvantage, and the likely hood someone in the party doesn’t need light is slim to none, if you use point buy you can have every stat to be odd and get a +1 on everything and work well
One way to consider the Variant Human from a world-building perspective is to consider the bonus feat as a racial ability for the specific origin. For example, Magic Initiate for most humans from the nation of mages where everyone dabbles in magic (and perhaps War Caster for the mages from that nation). PCs might want to choose their feat obviously but specific national feat choices for NPCs makes for a local identity.
yeah, a "you can pick from these feats" would be great instead of "you can pick any feat you want". Martial Adept is a feat that would fit into one of these selections. Since the PHB has already a namelist for the various human cultures of faerun, why not add a line "Variant Humans of this culture typically have [this feat]"?
That's great bit it's still a shame that other races don't get the bonus feat. Makes me not want to take variant human ever, because it feels like cheating to do so. I know it's not, but it still feels that way. Everyone should just get to pick a feat to begin with. Human can still have the bonus to every stat, and that's a great bonus nobody else gets.
@@Torthrodhel I like to tie the feat to a specific aspect of my character. Maybe you're deaf and learned to read lips to communicate with others (Observant) or you were a cook before you delved into the adventuring life (Chef). Something specific that speaks to the flavor of my character and isn't one of those feats that you're gonna take anyways
@@maid_of_heart3261 that's neat, and since Tasha's released we have Custom Lineage which kinda completely fixes this problem. Now your character with a starting feat can be any race. Made me want to sometimes choose human again, when I didn't before.
I just LOVE Kelly's shirts
V.Human Undying Warlock, "I have no intention of dying any time soon"
What feat? Lucky or Resilient?
@@dragonmaster613 why not Prodigy or Human Determination instead?
Level 20 wizard with legions of clones in an alternate pocket dimension seems pretty good too. Set up a contingency to pop you into one of the clones and you’re in good shape
@@JB-xl2jc isn't that what that mad mage in Faerun did?
@@dragonmaster613 thematically I'd choose Healer feat, with Chain pact and Ever Living invocation.
I love that Kelly was so vehemently defending the human fighter as being the most iconic. Even out of character I can feel the deep love that Sebastian has for Pluto Jackson!!!
Human Fighter is so basic that Mayonnaise is sorry for it:)
Human Fighter is so bland Salt is too spicy for it:)
Human Fighter is so dull a Cotton Ball cuts more:)
@@morrigankasa570 If your human fighter is boring, that's on you. I'm playing a human fighter (with a dip in rogue) for Curse of Strahd and it's the most fun I've had with roleplaying a for a long time. He's short and chubby, though not without muscle, he fights with two scimitars (dex based) and he loves making traps - he's a monster and bounty hunter. I've described him as a cross between the Tasmanian Devil (how he fights), Bugs Bunny (when he successfully implements a plan of action) and Wile E. Coyote (when he doesn't).
He lugs around a chest full of equipment that's useful against a variety of monsters, as well as a mule loaded with more stuff. He's inadvertently become the party face, despite only having a 10 in charisma, because he's reasonably intelligent (14) and not afraid to put himself out there. That relatively low charisma also means he likes to make bad jokes and I like to play him as the comic relief, which his personality and flaws lend themselves to.
Human fighters aren't dull. An endless parade of gruff, averagely built, young to middle aged men who only do stuff when there's a fight is boring. But _they_ neither need to be human, nor a fighter. It's just that people who lack imagination tend towards human fighters tat fit that description.
@@MalloonTarka I actually don't have a Human Fighter character myself. But have seen a couple and both are very boring.
My favorite character I created is a Drow Feylost Death Domain Cleric sworn to the Raven Queen she is currently lvl 1 (haven't found a group to play with) but has a 4 and a half pages Backstory.
Part of that story is she was born in a cave near the surface after her parents fled the Underdark and started trying to form a life on the surface. Her parents have valuable Trade Skills including her Mother being a Smith Cleric sworn to one of the Forge/Smithing Gods. Due to those factors and the fact my character was a baby at the time was accepted by a Village of Humans and Moon Elves. It was a happy childhood and around adolescence a Portal to the Feywilds opened up. My character decided to explore it by herself. She spent a few decades wandering them and learning new things. Eventually finding a path that lead to the Raven Queen's Residence beyond the Feywilds and chose to become a Cleric of her's before a different portal was opened by the Raven Queen that brought her back home.
There's lots more details but that's the basics.
meanwhile I'm in my 5th session and finally I encounter the first time someone picked a human XD
Id say it depends allot on how they make characters.
People that make their characters by initially deciding their race/class combo and deciding the rest after will evaluate the races all equally which puts human in competition with possibly dozens of other races that have real lore and appearances attached. They'll pick human a tiny fraction of the time even without being biased against them.
However some tend to create characters by deciding what skill they want to excel at or what mechanical combo they want to use first and then look at race by their mechanics/how well they fit that idea. Now every useful feat/stat combo of the variant human can basically be treated as its own race mechanically. This makes from 50 to 80% of the options available to them just be varients of human, and they'll pick them that often.
Variant Human is super strong idk dude
@@YourPalRowan variant everything now thanks to tashas.
The best class for variant human?
1. All of them.
Joking aside, I would say that V. Humans are great in every class but the trade off is their ability scores. If you aren't using point buy, and want a +2 to potentially get a 18 or 20 you have to take specific feats to get there depending on the class. Charisma based casters get it the worst by only having Actor.
That's why certain races lend themselves better to certain classes through their racial abilities. A Half-orc makes a better Champion Fighter than a Human and can choose to not die. A Mountain Dwarf basically gets two free armor feats that can turn any class into a frontline tank if you build it correctly. Tabaxi get the two best skills in the game for free and that's just one ability.
The point is, humans are great and playing humans is great. But the natural bonuses that other races get can allow for more gainful or interesting combinations with certain classes, which can appeal to people who want to play more conceptually interesting and build specific characters.
You guys mentioned vhumans not being iconic for Warlocks. I rather imagine them being ideal for it, specifically because of their ambition and short lives. Lacking the centuries to master casting that an elf has, the short cut of a pact seems obvious.
While some might go straight for Warcaster, I think taking Ritual Caster (wizard) would do a great job of rounding out the lack of casting slots. Then go chain pact for a special pet and really lean into the “otherworldly caster” bit.
Best human warlock: John Constantine
War Caster is so much more important for Warlocks, especially Bladelocks, in combat centric campaigns. With limited slots, Warlocks can’t afford to drop their concentration. For Hexblades in particular War Caster also functionally grants +2 AC due to having shield proficiency.
Not to mention that Tome Pact is basically the best ritual casting mechanic in the game if you like rituals.
@@M0ebius I agree that maintaining concentration is high priority, and War Caster is definitely on the menu. But in first tier I don't see it as crucial. Expanding the utility casting, on the other hand, has a big impact and of course the wizard's list is usually the most desirable. The reason that I'd usually go chain pact (while not disputing the value of tome pact at all) is the countless valuable ways to use an invisible, intelligent familiar that can fly and has hands (and acts on its own initiative). In first and second tier, I am generally able to abuse Minor Illusion and Silent Image as soft control and defensive spells, so that concentration isn't a big concern. If I didn't take War Caster at creation, I'd definitely take it at 4 (or possibly leave CON as an odd number and take Resilient CON).
Christian Swensen What rituals do you think has such a big impact that it’s worth burning a feat on? Especially considering you can get almost any ritual you want with Tome Pact? Genuinely curious.
@@M0ebius I'm approaching it from the other perspective. I want the pet from chain pact. Period. I consider that the highest value pact boon by a large margin.
From that decision, I look at how I want to play the WL, and the ability to cast rituals goes a long ways to making the WL feel like a caster. As to specific spells, no books on hand at the moment. But Identify, Purify Food and Water, Invisible Servant, Leo's Hut.
Obviously none of these are game changers on their own. But taken together, they make the WL able to use magic far more than his couple of slots would indicate.
I always liked how Hellboy 2 presented the idea of humans having a hole in their hearts, a hole that can never be filled no matter what they achieve. So where as other races may have their proverbial hearts "complete" due to tradition or a connection with nature, ultimately humans have no such luxury. Therefore they strive to win a race, knowing full well there truly is no finish line that would provide a much needed feeling of contentment. Making them simultaneously the most tragic and inspiring race to play.
I wonder how much of the data from D&D Beyond stating that Human Fighter is the most commonly picked option is influenced by that combo being free content.
Great video guys.
I would really like to see a video about the different tool kits, especially the different artesian tools and their uses in regards to game mechanics and creativity.
Seconded.
Thirded.
I love this idea!!!!
So do I!
I'm playing a v. human wizard who is the daughter of a lore bard, so naturally she's a Magic Initiate-Bard. Tbh I chose this path in order to grab Healing Word (since we're playing a particularly deadly campaign), but it's been pretty great roleplaying that human ambition and desire to live up to her father's legacy.
For those concerned about Humans and Darkvision, please remember Shadow Sorcerers, Gloomstalker Rangers, Warlocks with Devils Sight, or the Skulker Feat. Transmuter Wizards with Darkvision loaded into their stones, or any class that gets Darkvision as a spell are also there.
Humans
That's D&D for "I wanted another feat"
Wow, you guys must be really enthousiastic about Humans, I've never heard you two talk so passionately about a PC race before! (I wonder why)
Quality video, definitely made me rethink my entire homebrew world for the millionth time. Keep it up M'Dudes!
VHuman is the best race to multiclass with, especially for more specialized builds that require feats.
No idea if some commented this first, but dnd5e playtest humans had +2 at all abilities. I still think they should! The lack of darkvision is enough. Feats, abilities, are extras.
I am surprised they didn't mention monks when talking about what class humans fit well into.
Suffering from MAD, the human versatility is almost a must unless you roll great stats.
Looks like you forgot to add you intro in after Kelly’s intro. Love these videos. Thanks for the effort.
I like variant human Barbarians for the most Damage. Polearm Master while raging is very gross. They are also great to grab Magic Initiate on a class like rogue, fighter, monk, ranger, or paladin. Which allows you to get some cantrip support(and possibly a familiar) on classes that don't typically get it. Also works great with Ritual Caster.
"...a very well-balanced and well-rounded character regardless of what your ability scores are or what class you decide to play."
Chooses base human for once.
Chooses a MAD class to fully use the benefits.
Rolls 16, 14, 10, 10, 10, 6.
Loved this video. I know there are plenty of explanation videos but you guys NAILED this! I would love to see you hit each race and each class with the same level of attention. Keep up the good work!
I have only made 1 character so far, who is a human wizard with the sage background, and who is actually inspired by a key character in a novel I hope to write one day.
He was allways facinated with magic, and got into an academy were he could study to become a wizard. But after his father died in battle, and his mother died of a plague that struck his hometown, he found himself more and more curious about life and death, and eventually the magic that deal with these; necromancy. In the end, he decieds to pursue it, justifying it with that magic is in essence a tool, and tools aren't good or evil, people are. He firmly belives that necromancy has it's uses, and aims to prove it to the world. As I mentioned earlier, he is also deeply facinated with the forces of life and death, and given how they (especially death) are such a big mystery, he is also very eager to see what he might discover in his studies.
The DM also added something. He asked me if I wanted to have a magical staff that I can't get rid of, which has a random change of giving me a good buff, and depending on my actions and decisions through the campaign, the chance of me getting that buff will increase or decrease. He will not tell me what kind of actions affect the staff beforehand though, he will just let me know when it happens, so I have to figure that out myself. That sounded really fucking cool, so I said yes.
Variant Humans make the best Swashbucklers, not just for Role Play but the free feat is golden, you can always multiclass or use an item to get better darkvision than elves
I've always really enjoyed playing humans,a lot of people believe that playing human in dungeons & dragons just means that you lack creativity.
I on the other hand have always felt that humans have the most to gain and least to lose from of all the races and as such are unique. With their short life spans and their general flexibility humans can do anything that they set their mind to and work for, if you ask me that is there racial trait. The stamina and mental endurance to go through every situation and come out swinging and standing tall on the other end.
I do feel that of all the classes druids seems the least suited to humans do to their lack of racial and cultural ties to the natural world.
with that said I feel that the top three classes for humans are 3, Wizard. 2, rogue. And 1 bard.. all three classes in different ways.
Fighters has to be the number 1 class for humans. It is a class often built around having 2+ feats, and no other class gets a bigger power increase from having that feat at level 1.
I for one actually enjoy playing the variant human races. Adds alittle variety when you have a pc who knows the lore and setting to help reign in the rest of the party antics.
Almost no one is a good enough roleplayer to actually play as a non-human character for more than a single session. I've DM'ed for hundreds of people, and I've only seen professional actors manage to stay in character, as a giant lizard man, dragon man, or tabaxi, game after game. Instead nearly everyone gives up on their character voice and racial attitude after the first few sessions because they can't expound on it past the few stereotypical lines they started with. I think most people would be better off playing as humans, just for their own sake, otherwise it tends to limit their creativity if they keep trying to roleplay with their non-human race in mind.
How did you mispell "fighter" three times in one comment?
You dudes really reminded me of Cassandra from DAI with the whole legacy of dragon fighting. Great human character.
I know this could be really OP, but I think humans should be able to get 6 points to add to any ability scores they want. I think this works well for humans because it speaks towards how ambitious humans are, becoming really smart (maximum of 26 in intelligence, make a kick ass wizard) or strong (again, maximum of 26). Starting with an insane modifier is offset by having literally nothing else, which in my opinion lets stats be more of a strong feature in and of itself as far as player characters go, making humans further unique by as opposed to giving them abilities, you just make their current abilities really good. I want to play an insanely powerful human wizard, even if that’s broken as hell.
Just started playing my FIRST human in 5e a couple weekends ago. I too took Mobile for my Monk and it is EVERYTHING they claim it to be.
Yeah... it's hard to suggest regular humans when the variant human feat can be used for a third ability increase if needed. The regular human should probably get an extra skill as a freebie to compensate. That way you're comparing an extra +3/4 to your stats to the feat. Then it might seem favorable under the right conditions.
My issue (in D&D) with all Races except Elves, Gnomes, and Dwarves are they are so Short-Lived. So all my player characters are one of those 3 Races I listed or some Custom Variant of them. If they gave Humans an additional 20 years naturally then would be slightly better. As for the other Short-Lived Races they need much longer then that naturally to be slightly better. Every Race needs a minimum of 100 years lifespan to be ok.
A concept that Ive been wanting to play is a human necromancer and doctor that lost his wife and child to a plague and is obsessed and bordering on insanity to bring them back
When I made a Variant Human Cleric I actually put her highest scores in Wisdom and Intelligence (wound up dumping CHA, she's an unsocialized knowitall) and took the Observant feat to get her WIS and INT both to 18 at creation (we use a stat array to make a lot of characters in my games). She's Light domain, and she's so very good
ty for this video
i have seen people say they hate to play humans and never play them now people can play what they want but i hate it when they say the reasoning is only cause they are a human in real life they lived long anuf as a human they dont need to be one in a fantasy setting and dont realize what they are saying
that human is not them those are 2 dif worlds they will be able to go talk to dragons cast magic literately have or even grant wishes wile that is not at all possible in real world its a new world a new setting if your only reason for not playing a human is cause you already are one and its boring to you being one in real world/think it is boring to play one
i just do not get that way of thinking its not factoring in the whole fantasy aspect of fantasy rpg at all
sorry sometimes i can go on a rant about pointless things sometimes still i just dont get the logic in thinking that way
Its ok if someone never wants to play human in dnd and the reason doesnt matter. You do you :)
I hope you and they enjoy themselves, thats the only goal.
@@beebobox ik and i get that but i prefer they think it through instead of asum playing a human will be as boring as what ever boring life they have (the only real feeling and response to my questioning of said reasoning i ever get) that is what annoys me they dont even give it a try or just
*sighs idk not finding words for what im trying to say but yes people can play what they want i believe i did say that it just annoys me when people dont play humans cause they asum humans in a medieval fantasy setting are going to be the exacted same as a normal human from the modern age in real world and i just do not get the logic in that
Starting with the warcaster feat is great for warlocks as well specially the hexblade because you are most likely to engage in melee combat and as a warlock you want to get the most out of your concentration with spells like hex, bestow curse or even shadow blade if you want that dual wield flavor with your pact weapon and the shadow blade
Depending on the DM, you can also just get Goggles of Night for your human. My human rogue just grabbed those recently. It also does force you to be creative before you get a way to get Darkvision or through the campaign.
I do wish I had gone with variant human though. But I’m taking Observant when we get to 4th level.
I'm just starting to build my second D&D PC ever: a young man who's a human draconic bloodline sorcerer noble, the seventh son of a seventh son who is NOT a good person and is adventuring to gain power to be able to destroy the family that shunned him. Your insights on humans, the good and the bad, was such a great thing to watch as I start this build!
I've never seen anyone use the reg Human, everyone I know (myself included) use V. Human.
I do so because is reminds me of 4e human.
You can point buy to 4 odd scores and make standard human shine in AL for MAD classes such as: monk, paladin, etc.
Because v. human is simply overpowered and needs to share its bonus feat with all races.
Variant Hexblade Lock is very strong. By level 4 youre set with dark vision 2h weapon proficiency + cha modifier great weapon master. Additional bonus action d6 damage. A 19-20 crit 1x a day. Pair that with the rest of your levels in bm fighter for precision attack and the fear. Ofc action surge and extra stat ups.
I think it's worth mentioning that finding those human traits are especially important when playing non-human characters. People connect to characters they can empathize with. So as you make that maxed out tiefling warlock or whatever, ask those human questions: What's their fondest memory? Who was their first love, or first kiss? What's their favorite song and why? Things like this breathe life into characters
Never clicked on a video faster
I've always had a Humale Stormborn Corsair (homebrew path and class, but structured to where it is almost perfect UA) on the back burner for me. Long explanation short, it's a path where your character was born during a once-in-a-lifetime storm, thus resulting in a very strong bond with a storm god or such. Not necessarily a Thor type of situation, but you could potentially the path like that.
Background: Setting has regular massive storms that cause planar waves (causing stuff to get tossed into our realm or other realms) dubbed Maelstroms, with an absolutely behemoth of a Maelstrom happening once every hundred years or so, the legendary Prospero. My character is born in the Prospero, and this particular instance has a disgraced Pirate Lord dabbling in dark magiks gets a prediction of his death by my character. And of course, fearing this, eventually after a couple years of hunting he finds the ship of my character's parents (who later are found out to also be a Pirate Lord and Lady), and lays siege, ultimately killing the parents and sinking the ship, where a retired Pirate Lord that was friends to the parents finds the young character among the wreckage. Character is a bit too young to remember the events, but is told of what happened by the captain. The captain than raises and teaches the character in the dock district of the setting's starting city, having a slight urchin feeling, but not a lot (I'm thinking the captain's crew becomes a kind of neighborhood watch).
Goals would be to ultimately avenge the parents, and then become a Pirate Lord or Lady in their own right.
Showing "agree to disagree" graphically was excellent!
Thursday took too long this week. Time to institute double uploads my Dudes!
So smooth I didn't even realize 30mins have gone.
Once again😎👍📹
Honestly if I’m playing a human with spellcasting or am in a party with a human I like to take the darkvision spell for the occasional time it will be needed.
I always have the Darkvision spell prepared on my human druid because my party wants to do the night stealthy approach most of the time
The human really got stiffed when they did away with negative abilities for races (Which was a great idea for the game as a whole, don't get me wrong), but it means the fact that the human doesn't have a negative ability isn't nearly as impressive as it was in previous editions.
Healer Feat!!!
This feat saved the group I DM for in a recent lvl 2 boss fight. It's a highly underrated feat.
Much love for that Feat. It's crazy how much healing you can get done with it!
I commonly play a human Paladin Ancients, archfey warlock Pact of the blade. His deity is also his patron. It so much fun. Also veritent because lvl 1 ritual caster wizard to have that sweet sweet familiar.
My human is a Cyran veteran of the last war who survived the mourning because as a member of the Queen’s Forward Blades, he was scouting behind enemy lines. Ten or so days before the mourning, his unit was badly defeated and he and the other survivors were taken captive. Their captors were attacked by mercenaries in the night and forced my human and his buddies into service with them, but they ran at the first opportunity. The mercs hunted them down and killed almost everyone. That was the night before the mourning. My human had a very bad several days, then went into hiding in the woods for two years where he essentially became a gloomstalker. Now he adventures and looks forward to meeting other survivors.
A feat that also Works with every class is the Lucky feat, cant state how many times it saved my characters!
Sorry guys, as much as I love the variant human I gotta give it to the Nephalian human from Plane Shift: Innistrad. As a Bard main that +1 int and +1 cha just pair so nicely with my class, not to mention Breadth of Knowledge for those 4 free skill proficiencies of my choice. I love it.
My group likes to start with a feat to avoid everyone being human and because characters are so squish 1-3 that an extra feat hasn't really povern too powerful
That's so interesting, I see V. Humans so differently from you guys. To me, feats that give you something to do with your bonus action are really where it's at, especially before martial characters get their second attack at level 5. For that reason, I really like Variant Human for Fighters and Rogues to pick up Great Weapon Master, Polearm Master, or Crossbow Expert. Casters, I think, can do just fine without warcaster, especially at lower levels where their spells are less likely to be concentration spells, and so I like Hill Dwarf Clerics and High Elf Wizards.
variant human (8,10,12,13,14,15, 72 pt stock) dex 15+1=16, int 14, con 14+1=15. fighter 2 weapon style, dual wielder. +3 h&d with longswords, 2 attacks out of the gate. 3rd lvl go eldritch knight
Two weapon style and dual wielder are noob traps. They are pretty decent in the first 3-4 levels, but fall sharply after 5th in comparison to other styles and feats, like GWM.
Fun fact: RAW devil's sight /only/ works in total darkness. So a human warlock with no other buffs is still at a disadvantage in dim light.
For running Waterdeep Dragon Heist, I let my players each take a free feat at level 1, and variant humans got 2. I think this has been a huge win for the players in defining their characters from the get-go. Balancing has not been an issue. However, if I could go back and start again, I would have banned Observant and Lucky for the free feat. I also think I would have banned the variant human.
In all the years I have played d&d I have never played a human. It was always to vanilla for me. I might roll one up and see what concept strikes me as fun.
There are so many ways to make a human fun. Just come up with your most badass awesome action hero fantasy self and go live it.
Can you do a video like that for Dragonborns? I am going to play one in my next campaign und would like some food for thought.
We are working through the whole roster, expect more in the weeks to come
Dungeon Dudes As far as PHB races go, Dragonborn are very weak. The problem is their breath weapon scales from Constitution, which isn’t a stat they get from their racial ASI (and they’re the only race where this happens). And unlike 4e, using their breath isn’t a minor action (bonus action) so the 2-5d6 is piddling damage compared to using Extra Attack or casting a spell, so it will almost never be a good use of action beyond tier 1. So discounting their breath, all they have is an energy resistance, which is basically nothing.
I agree with Kurisu. The first character i ever made was a dragonborn paladin and his breath weapon was less useful then the Command spell i always insist to use. I would go with Lizardfolk and flavor it with some dragon aspects.
My human character is driven by loss, he has the far traveler background and was torn by magic from his world within the multiverse and stranded alone in the D&D world, so he's already lost his home, his life and everything he had before, so he's terrified about losing more, so protects others wherever possible, even if it means risking his own life.
Do you guys allow putting 2 points into 1 stat instead of 1 point into 2 stats for the variant human? My group has always done it that way since we first started playing 5e.
Human polearm master?
I raise you bugbear polearm master with sentinel. 15ft opportunity attacks and reach.
That PC must be a true... bugbear for the DM to plan encounters for.
Especially when you take tunnel fighter. :^)
@@Hagosha TUNNEL SNAKES RULE
I raise you my swashbuckler X/hexblade 3 with booming blade. Not because it's better but because it just straight up neutralizes the polearm sentinel combo.
You don't get to punish me when I get close. You don't get to punish me when I try to leave. In fact, I get to punish you when I get close and once again when you try to chaise after me.
Granted, the bugbear reach means I won't actually get to leave your reach with my specific rogue. I'm better off having him use his darkness + devil's sight combo paired with elven accuracy and just kite and sneak attack you from range. Alternatively, any ranged build with mobility (especially the feat and flying) should do.
Or, you know, I can just use the darkness + devil's sight combo in melee to straight up ignore opportunity attacks because they require sight . That'll still leave me my bonus action to dash away :P
Generally, if you're a DM and you want to create an encounter where the party polearm sentinel struggles, just heavily obscure the fighting area and thus you have neutralized polearm sentinel. I once had a trap that released an eversmoking bottle that obscured everything and provoked several swarms of bats to attack. There are also other options like ranged enemies with fly speeds or even straight up invisibility, but finding a way to heavily obscure an area involves a bit more creativity and flexibility. You can get heavily obscuring steam, smoke or mist/fog from both spells, traps and natural phenomena. Bonus points if you make it so the other members of the party can de-obfuscate the area and thus force the polearm sentinel to at least once in a while be reliant on the party.
@@oOPPHOo buuut...if my character is an elf with dark vision and totem of the eagle. 🤔
Actually, no make that devil sight to counter your devil sight. It just got real.
Would love to see a video of playing against type. Humans as a Paladin - easy. Gnome Paladin - wow.
I've mulled over playing a mountain dwarf wizard just so I can wear medium armour. You could even kind of explain it, since dwarves and gnomes have a close friendship.
@@Dezbood You would have to get lightly armoured first, then moderately armoured at fourth level.
@@Dezbood Easy enough mistake to make. I'd say the best way to get a wizard with armour is just multiclass one level. Actually I'd rather do that than be a mountain dwarf.
12:34 "Paladins, like Barbarians, are very feet hungry"
Yes. Yes we are 😏
But I don't see what that has to do with anything.
Don't tell davvy chappy that you like the Gloomstalker Ranger. He despises it worse then his opinion on the Wizard, _especially the Wizard_ !
I agree with Davvy on most of his class breakdowns, but I thought he was high when he gave his opinion on the Gloomstalker LOL
Dwarf fighter is always my go to.
My fighter is the middle child of a noble family who has struggled with an inferiority complex his whole life, and who has always sought to prove himself worthy of the respect of both his family and his peers. When his fiance went missing days before their wedding, he ventured out alone to find her and bring her home safely, ending up in the Demiplane of Dread with some other unfortunate misfits.
My wizard was a child prodigy who earned a scholarship to a prestigious academy of magic at the tender age of 15, but quickly outgrew the level at which he could be safely tutored. Now he ventures out into the world to gain power and experience while proving to his older companions, and his master, that he's not just a kid. Also he has a bat familiar called Bartleby who is adorable and regularly pisses off the DM.
Both of them are human, which has really allowed me to get into their heads and really explore aspects of my own personality. I'm about ready to play another race with next characters, but playing as humans has been an excellent starting point as a player.
playing human in is interesting especially when they have non human ancestry like draconic sorcerer or hybrids like half elf for example
My group uses the stat array 17 16 14 13 10 7, I once made a Variant Human Cleric with 18 WIS and INT by taking the Observant feat. It's suboptimal stats, I'll grant, but I wanted her to be ridiculously smart and hyper-observant. I also dumped CHA, optimization is totally unnecessary
I made a non - magical field medic who became a wizard for a dead friend who was interested in magic.
I know that thematically it makes sense for dwarfs to be trained warriors and to get various weapon and armor proficiencies depending on sub race. I do not like how that overlaps with the martial character choices. I think there should be some bonus in the dwarf traits that happen if you already have proficiency.
Mountain dwarf gets a +1 ac bonus with medium armor perhaps. Just seems like too much overlap.
I totally agree. However the bonuses they get make it them great for picking classes that don't overlap. I have two mountain dwarf characters. One is a War Magic Wizard that hits things with a flaming hammer and is so hard to hit it's stupid. The other is a strength based Arcane Trickster Rogue that focuses on grappling while enlarged. The armor proficiency and strength bonus allows for combos otherwise unavailable to that class.
Isaiah Boyce yea, I like the fiend warlock for them. I usually pick hobgoblin and medium armor feat if I go war/abjuration wizard.
Str based arcane trickster sounds awesome
Humans are blank pages. They age perfect if you want to build any kind of story toi want, while the other races might je more guided by how the dm want to place them in the world.
But I almost never play one, because I already played parties with things like 3 or 4 humans out of 5 players and they age almost always the most present race in the campain. But it's normal because human are the easiest race to picture in our imagination
The only Sailor character I ever saw was a human.
In my experience, this is one of the least popular choices (tied with Entertainer), but it plays better into humans than literally anyone else.
So, thinking of taking the Martial Adept in my War Wizard and was wondering, For Feinting Attack, since it doesn’t say weapon arrack, would it work with Touch Spells? Cause he’s ex military so thought some maneuvers would be nice but most also require melee attacks.
AKA the vanilla option *lmao* Okay, that was a jest, you can back off with the torches! :P Good video as always, guys :D
I have made to much homebrew to post it all in a comment. Instead, here's a link to it all in Google Drive.
drive.google.com/folderview?id=1DDD-SiWKTZlRdTu7k29YOuy6BwRGZFxB
Please feel free to give feedback! 😁
I have been using the lockdown to learn about D&D 5e and am building my first character and love some advice. I think I want to play a human but not sure if I should go regular or variant? Class will be Rogue and I got a really good role (or at least I think it is?) 11,15,11,13,14,15. Which should I choose and which feat? Or should I be picking a Wood Elf or Half Elf for dark vision? Help! There is so much to learn!
Please do a moon druid build and spells and tactics !
If it breeds, we can human it.
Much of what is said here, however, should be with an asterisk, something which you guys have pointed towards if didn't say directly - the mechanics/rules-side attractions of humans are evident and the real meat of the matter here, whereas the fluff/'verse-specific things, those can be really up in the air. Human versatility also applies to what kind of roles the race can play in settings - they can be anything from the absolute dominant population with others being tiny minorities, and everything in between, to the flipside of being a rare and even dying breed (pureblood humans, at least) that "fantastic" races pushed out of the spotlight. If anything, this latter kind of ideas is often both more challenging and more entertaining to play out properly.
I want play Variant Human Monk ( The Way of the Kensei), do have suggestions for build?
Wow... Made it so early that there aren't any dislike trolls
I might play a stock human barbarian, where strength, dexterity, constitution, and wisdom all really matter. But for most other classes, you're getting +1 to four dump stats.
hey , strange question , kelly maclaughlin ,the guitarist of Pessimist??
Actually he spells his last name McLauchlin. I also had to look this up to see if there was another Kelly Mclaughlin our there.... because if there was I’d have to battle them to the death probably. I think that’s the rule.
Its all about FEATs and how DMs choose to implement them. If they just gave everyone 1 free feat at the beginning and the variant 2, I would go normal human! But I would NOT want to be the lone human in a group.
My human cleric started on a on a path to defeat death but through her adventuring is learning to reconcile with it. She may still become a lych or she may realize no matter how evil the person there is no justification for lychdom. Her flaw is she just wants to see the best in people.
My next character is also going to be a human cleric but his race was chosen for me. Our party one shot and sunk 3 boats in the north sea. He's the only survivor though he was horrifically maimed. What drives him is the suffering of the "so called" heroes of Waterdeep. His flaws are his vanity and arogance.
I wish humans had more to them. Today the other races are just insanely strong and homebrew levels of overpowered, looking at it from afar there's no logical way that humans would be alive in the forgotten realms.
While watching something occurred to me, although I'm not sure how relevant it is. My tendency is to play non-humans in RPG's, because I'm a human the rest of the time, so it's nice to be something different (probably something to do with me playing female characters a lot of the time as well), but after a period of mental health issues, I started to play human characters all the time. I wonder if I was unconsciously trying to ground myself through my play as well as in reality.
I play with a variant human fighter. Hes a feat monster. level 8 and he has like 4 or 5 feats lol
Agree to disagree. Human fighter is so much more iconic
I say the variant human is superior to dwarves as fighters because they get an extra feat on the get go
I think that the default human should get at least 2 extra skills
that's an even more awesome skillmonkey rogue by default :D
The +1 to every stat is quite powerful if you're using a build that uses 3 or more stats (which is most of them besides a pure fighter or rogue). Potentially starting a game with 3 stats at 16 in a point buy or spreading them out so that your dump stat is a 10 or 12 means they can be quite powerful in any role.
Humans are the best race.
(Total DnD newbie here, since i know NOTHING of the game in-depth as of yet i'll contribute with LOGIC!)
Funnily enough i think the Standard Human's Ability Score shouldn't be a +1 to everything, but rather a +2 to Constitution and a free +1 you can put wherever you want (except Constitution) because yes humans are versatile sure, BUT we didn't started that way as a race, no, humans started as a race as being very unique predators in our world, being PRESISTENT PREDATORS, we were practically the ONLY predators around that would just run after a prey much faster than us without stopping for minutes, hours if need be until the prey was too tired, too overheated and too weak to escape and then we would just kill it, the human body lacks hair and has more sweat glands compared to other mammals to AVOID overheating like the preys we pursued this way, and is bipedal to MINIMIZE our movement (when compared to a quadruped prey) to further slow down overheating, hell the way we run our legs basically let gravity to half the job! our bodies are these super enduring, efficient as all hell MACHINES OF HUNTING so from a racial standpoint i feel that while humans are flexible, we are without a doubt defined by our Physical (AND MENTAL) Persistance, which is why i think +2 Con +1 to any other ability fits us more.
I only DM all human parties. It makes the most sense for the players and allows for the most natural, authentic storytelling. The players move from the familiar and mundane to encounter and explore the successively more exotic.
The problem with the variant human's feat: they of course can't get the most powerful racial feats, like Elven Accuracy from Xanathar's Guide to Everything
Whar about gulids????Or boons????or is that just 4th edition????