D&D 5E Humans!?

[The Crimson Binome]

I was wrong, not DMG but PHB, First paragraph of the Classes chapter. Not really put in as an optional statement but rather as a description of what player characters are.

The PHB presents everything with a bunch of default assumptions, and then the DMG turns around and tells you how to change those assumptions in controlled ways. The gods are assumed to be real and to show up from time to time, but some settings might not have them be so active (Eberron), and some settings might have them completely cut off from the world (Dark Sun).

Likewise, the PCs might be fairly rare and powerful individuals, or there might be a lot of others in the world who are just as strong as they are (if not stronger). Your typical bartender might be a level 0 chump, or she might be a level 9 ex-hero with a merciful greatsword. It depends on the setting.

 

[Hussar]

The PHB presents everything with a bunch of default assumptions, and then the DMG turns around and tells you how to change those assumptions in controlled ways. The gods are assumed to be real and to show up from time to time, but some settings might not have them be so active (Eberron), and some settings might have them completely cut off from the world (Dark Sun).

Likewise, the PCs might be fairly rare and powerful individuals, or there might be a lot of others in the world who are just as strong as they are (if not stronger). Your typical bartender might be a level 0 chump, or she might be a level 9 ex-hero with a merciful greatsword. It depends on the setting.

It's not a case of power level though Saelorn. The campaign, like it or not, is going to be about the PC's. The PC's are not going to go into a hole in the ground, looking for adventure, and discover that the tomb has been looted years ago and is empty. Then do it again and again. No, the PC's are going to be the ones to discover the Lost Tomb and have the adventure there. That's what Herr der Qual is talking about.

 

[Sunseeker]

It's not a case of power level though Saelorn. The campaign, like it or not, is going to be about the PC's. The PC's are not going to go into a hole in the ground, looking for adventure, and discover that the tomb has been looted years ago and is empty. Then do it again and again. No, the PC's are going to be the ones to discover the Lost Tomb and have the adventure there. That's what Herr der Qual is talking about.

Right, the statement that 'the party is exceptional' is more akin to saying 'the party is the focus of the game'. Sure, there are other adventurers in some settings and it wouldn't be unreasonable to run into them from time to time either coming or going from a potential tomb. The fact that the King's Guard might all be 10th-level paladins and their lackeys are all 5th level fighters doesn't detract from the fact that your own 5th level fighter is still the fighter that actually matters in the game. His actions change the world. His actions make or break alliances. His actions fell demons and raise kings. The fact that others may be doing this as well is not so much a part of the game, but the background mechanics that set the stage for your players to take their actions.

A great king was killed in a far-away land, now his greedy son raises an army. Now the king of the lands you currently are traveling in requests you recover the Orb of Martial Mastery to empower his army in order to defend his nation from the coming onslaught. In yet another land, a young prince has taken the throne and is desperate for a lasting alliance, while your own king's daughter is quite single. What's important here is how your characters respond to the given events of the world. The fact that the internal mechanics of the game continue to move in the background doesn't lessen the importance of your party, but just gives added realism to them.