Human vs Variant Human

[KahlessNestor]

So I was thinking of one of my homebrew worlds and that maybe yhere were two different human races, one.more barbarian and one more civilized, with appropriate class restrictions. I thought I might use the normal humans (+1 all stats) for the barbarians to sort of indicate they are all-around "better". And I thought I would use the variant human for the others to indicate more the "civilization" effects of training, etc.

But.my concern was is V Human so much more attractive that no one would play the others?

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[Xeviat]

I'd be very gamey with my point buy choices with the "standard human"


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[KahlessNestor]

I typically do rolling once, and if you don't like, you can default to standard array.

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[FormerlyHemlock]

So I was thinking of one of my homebrew worlds and that maybe yhere were two different human races, one.more barbarian and one more civilized, with appropriate class restrictions. I thought I might use the normal humans (+1 all stats) for the barbarians to sort of indicate they are all-around "better". And I thought I would use the variant human for the others to indicate more the "civilization" effects of training, etc.

But.my concern was is V Human so much more attractive that no one would play the others?

Probably so. But that doesn't mean you have to give up the idea of different kinds of humans entirely.

My preference is instead to use variant human as a chassis on which to define the subspecies of human. E.g. Valerians get +1 to Str and +1 to Con, and are Heavy Armor Masters (total +2 to Str). Machakans get +1 to Dex and +1 to Con and are Mobile. C'tissians get +1 to Int and +1 to Wis and are Skilled. Etc.

This doesn't necessarily have to constrain players from allocating their variant human traits however they want, unless you want it to, but it does mean that when someone comes up with a unique combination (+1 to Str and +1 to Dex, Alert) they are encouraged to give it a name ("Cimmerian") and there is implicitly a tribe of people out there somewhere who are somewhat like them, even if no other Cimmerians ever come onscreen.

Then you can just basically forget about the regular, non-variant human, because stat bonuses by themselves are boring to me as a DM, not something I'd want to use to define a culture. In fact, if I did want a civilized vs. barbarian divide, I'd be tempted to say that it's the civilized humans who get +1 to all stats but no feat, because proper nutrition/hygiene/education/etc. makes them overall healthier, but also leaves them without the evolutionary selective pressure that makes Machakans Mobile and Gordurans Tough, etc.

 

[TallIan]

I think the problem is not so much about good vs bad*, but more that standard human is too much of a generalist. So if you are doing even a snag amount of optimising standard human becomes unattractive.

If you're playing a fighter, that +1 to STR really isn't worth anything.

*I'm not saying one variant isn't better, just that that isn't the problem here.

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[Shiroiken]

If the variant Human is available, it's my experience that it will be taken under only 2 circumstances: point buy and rolls with at least 4 odd scores. Because of this, I've actually considered getting rid of the standard human altogether.

 

[Ganymede81]

I think one of the things that would help bridge the gap between humans and their variant rules would be to let humans get the bonus language and skill proficiency that only variant humans normally get. It is a small concession, but I feel it is an important change.

 

[Ahrimon]

I'm thinking about using the variant variant humans out of the MtG supplements.

 

[ccs]

In the game I DM at the shop I allow both versions of Humans.
You can generate your stats using 27PB, Standard Array, or 4d6-1 (with the caveats that 1: rolling is done in front of the group & 2: you WILL play what you roll in good faith)..
All but two people have opted to roll.

Anyways, back to the humans.... We've had a lot of humans. 1/2 of them have been variant, the other 1/2 standard. Mostly it's just whichever the player thought would fit that particular character. There's 1 guy who simply alternated because he's trying out as many options as he can.

 

[Dualazi]

In my games, homebrew or otherwise, I ban the variant human and just whip up some alternate options, usually with different stat focuses. I personally consider the variant human to be imbalanced, and even if I could be convinced otherwise, my anecdotal experience is that players go for it anyway in search of more customization through feats. I found it to be game-warping, and in my group at least it better serves racial diversity if it's not present.