Why do Humans always suck as an RPG race?

[The Dopamine Cleric]

Race bonuses should only go so far, and class based systems are B.S.

GURPS FALLOUT GURPS FALLOUT GURPS FALLOUT until I die.

 

[cretin]

whenever I play a party based rpg my party is always humans only with the exception of a half-elf ranger or rogue because I'm charitable. I don't want no stinking non-humans in my party.

Also it is an afront that later editions of dnd allowed manlet races to become wizards. That's just insane, everyone knows manlets are not capable of being anything more than laborers and petty criminals.

 

[The Dopamine Cleric]

GURPS and FALLOUT

Everything else smells like tranny mattress.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I know. My question is why do we tend to se ourselves as the default and not the superior race (compared to say elves or gnomes or the dreadful dwavenkind).
Why isn't that we have have +5 to all stats while elves have +2 to Dex and -2 to Con?
That's what I'm interested in.

You're really asking why humans view themselves as the default relative to imaginary fantastical races?

Typically, a system of rules for an RPG will attempt to prevent any race from being the dominant choice, but since all other races are defined relative to humans, this generally means that each of them is specialized in a way that makes that race the superior choice for a particular class or skill-based role or whatever. In such a system, a player will usually select the race best suited for the preferred character class, due to the mechanical advantages from doing so. Or there might be other oddities in the rules that cause people to prefer non-humans, such as Gary Gygax's decision to introduce multi-classing into Advanced Dungeons & Dragons but only for races other than human; even though humans were the only race able to select any class (given sufficient attributes to meet requirements), someone wanting to play a multi-classed character would simply choose a demihuman race allowing them to do so, and multi-classing offers substantial mechanical benefits in addition to being thematically preferable for many people.

 

[PapaPetro]

Seems accurate, and extreme short-term thinking is one of the main problems of humanity as a whole in real life.

Contrasted to what tho? Fantasy races created by humans?
There's no real bar to measure.

These are my thoughts about humanity in real life.

I know and I respect that. I want to get to the essence of what you hold humanity against though in real life.
We can't be extremely short-term thinking because if that were the case we wouldn't meat the criteria to exist in the present; thus we are at least sufficient enough short-term thinking to both exist and thrive.

But the meta-cognition that we might be short-term thinking is a sole human attribute: the idea that "Hey maybe I should think long term". Very Promethean (God of Forethought).

 

[The Dopamine Cleric]

The underlying narrative to this whole thread is "OMG WHY IS LIFE SO SHIT BEING A HUMAN BEING I WANNA DIE, I WANT TO KILL NIGGERS, I WANT BIG NIGGER DICK IN MY ASS, HUMANS SUCK, I WANNA BE AN ELF, I WANNA KILL ALL THE ELVES BECAUSE IM A DWARF, IM A NAZI, IM A COMMIE, IM A FAGGOT, IM TOTALLY JUSTIFIED IN MY PAIN AND SHITTY BEHAVIOR AND FEELINGS"

(being a privlaged westerner sack of shit that deserves all your bad karma)

Humans don't suck as a race but they are typically viewed as the "Average" race or the middle ground race. That's just your brain thinking that human beings are special.

 

[PapaPetro]

The underlying narrative to this whole thread is "OMG WHY IS LIFE SO SHIT BEING A HUMAN BEING I WANNA DIE, I WANT TO KILL NIGGERS, I WANT BIG NIGGER DICK IN MY ASS, HUMANS SUCK, I WANNA BE AN ELF, I WANNA KILL ALL THE ELVES BECAUSE IM A DWARF, IM A NAZI, IM A COMMIE, IM A FAGGOT, IM TOTALLY JUSTIFIED IN MY PAIN AND SHITTY BEHAVIOR AND FEELINGS"

(being a privlaged westerner sack of shit that deserves all your bad karma)

Humans don't suck as a race but they are typically viewed as the "Average" race or the middle ground race. That's just your brain thinking that human beings are special.

You can't prove that humans are unspecial compared to any other creatures tho.

 

[Dadd]

Other creatures are more special
Go outside and look at other creatures and then look at yourself

 

[The Dopamine Cleric]

I can prove that you're a poo-head

 

[Delterius]

but since all other races are defined relative to humans, this generally means that each of them is specialized in a way that makes that race the superior choice for a particular class or skill-based role or whatever.

And that kinda sucks doesn't it? It makes sense. We are humans. If we were transported to a Standard Fantasy World® we'd marvel at the stoutness of the dwarves, grace of the elves, magic of the tieflings, and so on. We'd also be prime candidates for seeking magical power in the first place since we are born with none of it. Therefore all the stories about how humans are go-getters. Even though settings like Golarion and Forgotten Realms read more like homo sapiens are just outbreeding everyone the way they outbred the neanderthals.

What's worse is how all the settings do both. 'Humans are special because they are shortlived and have a superior drive to achieve stuff and gain EXP'. Ok that makes sense. Except a) they are probably not the only shortlifters in the setting so why are they dominant? And b) mechanically they are still the default so no bonuses one way or the other. That's when 3E and stuff introduce extra feats, turning humans into the meta pick. Pillars is similar I guess since Humans there have bonuses to willpower.

It would be cool for once if humans were endurance predators and the ones with a hefty CON bonus rather than the dwarves. Who, I maintain, should have a strength cap at 12.

 

[PapaPetro]

Other creatures are more special
Go outside and look at other creatures and then look at yourself

I do

You don't

 

[S.torch]

 

[PapaPetro]

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/why-do-humans-always-suck-as-an-rpg-race.146472/post-8392206

 

[Rincewind]

I know and I respect that. I want to get to the essence of what you hold humanity against though in real life.
We can't be extremely short-term thinking because if that were the case we wouldn't meat the criteria to exist in the present; thus we are at least sufficient enough short-term thinking to both exist and thrive.

If in our relentless pursuit of "improving things" the train of progress ultimately falls into the abyss at the edge of the cliff, then it was all for nothing... We will have "out-improved" ourselves of existence.

Study the works of authors from ancient times and you'll realise that not many things have truly changed.
Anyway, too big a topic for a forum discussion, and I have other things to do, so I'm not going to write a book about this here...

 

[Skorpion]

The underlying narrative to this whole thread is "OMG WHY IS LIFE SO SHIT BEING A HUMAN BEING I WANNA DIE, I WANT TO KILL NIGGERS, I WANT BIG NIGGER DICK IN MY ASS, HUMANS SUCK, I WANNA BE AN ELF, I WANNA KILL ALL THE ELVES BECAUSE IM A DWARF, IM A NAZI, IM A COMMIE, IM A FAGGOT, IM TOTALLY JUSTIFIED IN MY PAIN AND SHITTY BEHAVIOR AND FEELINGS"

(being a privlaged westerner sack of shit that deserves all your bad karma)

Humans don't suck as a race but they are typically viewed as the "Average" race or the middle ground race. That's just your brain thinking that human beings are special.

You can't prove that humans are unspecial compared to any other creatures tho.

Only 2 eyes and 4 limbs?!
No pincers, soft outer shell and half your teeth aren't sharp?
Pssssh humans are lucky they are even considered average, that is the real fake news!

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I have to agree. Humans are always bland jack-of-all trades at best, puny at worst.
I think part of it is lack of biological knowledge. People think the only advantage humans have, are our brains. Juxtapose with another species that has the brains plus something else, like more strength or agility or mystical power or whatever, and humans come up short. But humans have other interesting physical characteristics.

I suspect a reaction against this is why HFY (Humanity Fuck Yeah) sci-fi and fantasy has been trending a while now.
In HFY humans are usually characterized as being pretty physically fit, one way or another. Sometimes humans are straight-out OP and most aliens are either weaker or have some crippling disadvantage.

In some universes, humans are straight out OP and Earth is actually a Deathworld that is one of the most dangerous there are. Humans are actually physically very strong.

One common characterization is Humans being persistence predators - humans aren't stronger, humans are enduring, long-lasting, seemingly untiring.

Sometimes a physically stronger alien shows up, but they are sometimes ambush predators - they're stronger, tougher, but they're designed for fast bursts of strength and toughness, they can't maintain that peak for long, while humans are weaker but can out-last them. This is often a thing with speed too - think Sprinter vs Marathoner.

Two HFY example on top of my head:

Nature of Predators: Humans have binocular eyes which are better for concentration, high endurance and are highly empathic pack persistance predators in a galaxy where the rule is herbivory.

Between Worlds/Sexy Space Babes: Humans are different because they're the only known sentient species with a 50/50 gender divide, everyone is more like 7 or 8:1 female-to-male, making humans into the eponymous Sexy Space Babes (to them). Furthermore, our sexes are "flipped" - as in, their females are more like human men in strength and way of thought, while their males are more like our females (their females still look feminine, through to them "feminine" would be more like what we call tomboyish and "masculine" to them is more like we would call bishonen, dandy-esque). Also, humans have faster reflexes and take longer to tire out. We're outmuscled by many other races, but to them, we're fast AND untiring.

Ah. EUO does similar:

ALL SERVERS: Humans +10% xp

Reg server:
Start with 150% class cap
Nonhuman 125%

PD:
Start with 150% can remort and gain 200%

Nonhunan
Start with 125% can remort and get 175% max

NG server:
Humans can have max 425% class skill caps

Nonhumans 350% max skull cap

Human's get more xp and generally skill up faster I believe.

 

[PapaPetro]

The underlying narrative to this whole thread is "OMG WHY IS LIFE SO SHIT BEING A HUMAN BEING I WANNA DIE, I WANT TO KILL NIGGERS, I WANT BIG NIGGER DICK IN MY ASS, HUMANS SUCK, I WANNA BE AN ELF, I WANNA KILL ALL THE ELVES BECAUSE IM A DWARF, IM A NAZI, IM A COMMIE, IM A FAGGOT, IM TOTALLY JUSTIFIED IN MY PAIN AND SHITTY BEHAVIOR AND FEELINGS"

(being a privlaged westerner sack of shit that deserves all your bad karma)

Humans don't suck as a race but they are typically viewed as the "Average" race or the middle ground race. That's just your brain thinking that human beings are special.

You can't prove that humans are unspecial compared to any other creatures tho.

Only 2 eyes and 4 limbs?!
No pincers, soft outer shell and half your teeth aren't sharp?
Pssssh humans are lucky they are even considered average, that is the real fake news!

You'd think it wouldn't make sense but you make valid points.

Blibdoolpoolp

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Ole Blippy better watch out for that wandering trouser eel down there. He smells a hidden den to burrow into. Btw, dem tight titties.

 

[The Dopamine Cleric]

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

I rarely feel compelled to play as anything other than human in my first playthrough on any rpg that allows character creation. I like aasimar though.
Humans feel like the appropiate race to immerse yourself in the murderhobo mindset.

 

[PapaPetro]

I like aasimar though

Same. Who the hell wouldn't want to have a DBZ glow aura?

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

 

[Rincewind]

I rarely feel compelled to play as anything other than human in my first playthrough on any rpg that allows character creation. I like aasimar though.
Humans feel like the appropiate race to immerse yourself in the murderhobo mindset.

Dwarves and elves forever. In the same party.

 

[The Dopamine Cleric]

Hairy Muscilar Elves at Ram Ranch

 

[Metronome]

Human is the "race" for people who don't like the racial gimmicks
Races in RPGs used to be just another class to play as
The elf would just be an elf and not an elf warrior or whatever