Humans as default

[Mokona]

it's arrogant to assume that another creature cannot have the range of possibilities that a human can

This problem is easily solved. Treat all race rules presented in the PHB are for different cultures of mankind (humans). Just file the serial numbers off demihumans.

Barbarians and wild men = dwarf stats
High society and university men = eladrin stats
Woodsmen and rural folk = elf stats
Common man and city dwellers = half-elf stats
[Secondary option available to all types of people] = human stats
Diabolists, cultists, and the cursed = tiefling stats
Monks and mystics = dragonborn stats (I don't really like breath weapons for PCs but this could be a Ki attack for monks)

...and you either keep Halflings as Hobbits or drop them from the game entirely.

An alternate option is to allow races to borrow each other's mechanics. Why couldn't a tough, stocky human have more in common with dwarf stats than generic human stats? Why couldn't a heroic dwarf have the same mechanics of a human and be a little different from his mainstream brother dwarves?

 

[Tonguez]

The question is could you have a species that is similar to humans in all other ways but just not as adaptable?

In one evolutionary scheme I once concieved

Humans survive because they are the ultimate adaptors soon becoming habituated and thriving in any climate and any lifestyle

Dwarfs are at home only in mountain caverns,. They do not adapt well to change in climate but they do endure. It is this incredible endurance that allow them to cope with change and of course this exlains why they are so grumpy. It is only in the limited environmnet of the dwarf mine that they thrive

Elfs are mutable, they do not adapt to change in habitat instead the mutate and become something new. Thus in only a few generations an entirely new type of elf evolves suited the the niche in which it has found itself but isolated from the ancestral type from which it derived.

there's a time in the not-too-distant past where the gods magicked the various sentient species into existence. As such, humanoid attributes are pretty much what the gods gave 'em. You could maybe reverse-engineer an interesting pantheon from strict "racial*" game attributes and roles and then applying them to the creator deities, though I think it'd look pretty different from the traditional D&D gods.

In one homebrew I had Humans be the second creation of the god of knowledge. He had taken his time and watched the other gods create different races marked for strength or knowledge or grace etc until finally he created the race which balanced them all and which was marked only by its ability to adapt to all situations - Humans

 

[Lurks-no-More]

I'd say obsessed with rather than uptight.

Incidentally, a friend of mine has been building a SF setting, where the "human stereotype", as seen by the other sapient aliens, is that we're bizarrely focused on sex and romance.

 

[S'mon]

Other direction: I think it's arrogant to assume that another creature cannot have the range of possibilities that a human can without a good explanation.

Plus I don't believe that humans are as diverse and adaptable as we believe ourselves. I find humans to actually be very similar across cultural lines and frequently stubborn in the face of change. I think we view ourselves as diverse and adaptable because we have nothing to compare ourselves to.

Like I said, the 'diverse and adaptable' stereotype is there because D&D humans are based off stereotypical contemporary Americans, who are stereotypically diverse.

You don't need a good explanation for why your dwarf PC is jolly, just a note that he's unusual.

 

[S'mon]

It's interesting to note that if we contrast ourselves with one of our closest relatives, Ed Greenwood the pygmy chimp, then the outstanding feature of humans is that we're really, really uptight about sex.

Because our young take longer to mature, so we need to put more investment in them, so sex is a bigger deal. Says the very tired father of a one-year-old.

 

[fuindordm]

To answer the OP: no, it doesn't bother me too much. Humans are short-lived compared to the other races, thus more energetic, driven and ambitious. I think this is reflected well in their advantages, even if they are a bit "vanilla".

To answer the tangent: humans as a race are distinguished by a much wider bell curve than any other race.

For this reason their society adapts easily to any environment. Which isn't to say that the other races can't build cities and survive anywhere they please... but they won't be comfortable outside their "home". Humans will make a virtue out of necessity, and in two or three generations feel totally at home. I think that other races would find this trait rather unsettling.

For some inspiration on the adaptability of humans, check out the "Planet of Adventure" series by Jack Vance.