Variant Human inspired by Half-Elves

[Saiga]

So from the PHB, we have the human and variant human types. The base human is just not very appealing as a choice, and variant human is widely considered the best race for that free feat. I do think humans should encourage players to play them, since they are meant to be one of the more common races, but the free feat might be too appealing.

I thought Half-Elves could serve as a good template for the flexible human that doesn't overshadow the other races. You still get +1 to two ability scores of your choice, and +2 Charisma is great for four of the PHB classes and decent benefits for the others (at the very least, you can dump Cha without penalty).

And with the SCAG Half-Elf variants, you could make half-human characters with other parentage. Half-Goliaths give up skill versatility for Stone's Endurance, etc.

The only issue with this: I need something human-themed to replace Fey Ancestry and Darkvision. My first thought was to treat each of these as being equivalent to a skill, and giving them four skills for their Skill Versatility, but then Skill Versatility isn't worth trading for the SCAG options.

Now, I guess the solution would be that Elf sub-types add back Darkvision and Fey Ancestry and other races add something, but that might give too much access to sub race abilities. If I were to trying to make it possible to create Half-Elves in this version, I guess I could go with:

Skill Versatility: 4 Skills (pure human) OR half human: Give up Skill Versatility for the below:

*If your non-human parent race has Darkvision, gain Darkvision. Otherwise, gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
*If your non-human parent race has Fey Ancestry, gain Fey Ancestry. Otherwise, gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
*Gain proficiency in two skills of your choice OR one feature determined by your non-human parent race:
(SCAG options and additional race options).

How does that idea sound? Too complex/abusable? Currently it would let you re-create Half-Elves as they are, either PHB or SCAG versions, but also create other human hybrids and regular humans that are versatile but not as appealing as the free feat.

Otherwise, what suitably human options can people think of that can replace Darkvision and Fey Ancestry while keeping Skill Versatility at two skills?

[Potato_Priest]

I dread the Half Yuan-ti purebloods that would arise with those rules. Also, your racial mixing rules don't really explain savage critical or relentless endurance on the half-orc.

Hmmmm... some form of Expertise would definitely do it, and would help paint humans as dedicated to whatever they choose to excel in. Do you remember the feats provided by the UA feats supplement? There were weapon specific feats and artisan's tool specific feats. Something like those artisan's tool feats would be good.

[tantric]

in my bantu setting (WajabuPDF), based on bantu legends, i had variant humans based on birth circumstances and life changes. the easiest to understand is twins.

Bantu culture have very interesting customs regarding twins. All see them as magically powerful, and in the old days, dangerous enough to be destroyed in some situations. Nevertheless, one of the key Bantu hero epics is about a pair of fraternal twins, Sudikimbambi and Kabundungulu. This myth appears in the history of Wajabu, too. In the early days of civilization, the Chwezi demigods migrated away and left a power vacuum their enemies tried to fill. These are the amaZimu - monsters. At the time, that meant shapeshifters, lions, leopards, etc, and the remnants of their cultures, along with the ogres. The last mChwezi was cursed horribly so that his soul split in two (he was a halfcaste), becoming Chilube, half-man monsters. Split down the middle half men, that could jump for miles and were wickedly powerful. They were named Msinasina and Mkutu,, Rust and Tears. Together they took up the role of messiah for the Salt-Iron Prophosey, a meta-religion to unite the amaZimu. With that, they had the black rite to caste their curse on others and make an army of chilube. Rust and Tears could not be killed separately....many tried. Until Sudikambambi and Kubundungulu, whose parents had be killed by monsters, tried and succeeded. It didn't win the war, but the broke the spirit of the enemy and soon the First Amazimu War was history, ancient history for the modern Empire.

Thie key part of this project is to allow players to play twins in the game setting.. There are no rules for single PCs with NPC twin allies, with the exception of lost souls.


There are many hero cults in the Empire, including one for Sudikambambi-Kabundungulu. The shrines in Sebele-Fikwi are not for the heroes, but for the weapons they used. Weapons and drums of great power often have spirits of their own, as is the case here, and those spirits are twins. Sebele is an iklwa, a fighting spear, Fikwi is an assegai, a throwing spear. Normally a warrior would have both weapons, throwing the spear then advancing, but the martial art taught by the temples is very different. Twins train twins to fight in full telepathic communion. The spears are thunder and lightning, symbolically. The weapons used by these warriors are made by a trade guild, which also makes lesser models for tourists. The assegai used by the Fikwi temple come in pairs....that return, in a way, to their sheaths.

The Empire's fixation on twins goes beyond the heroes. There is also the Darasa ya Mapachapacha. the College of More Twins (doesn't translate). The college accepts twins, triplets and such post-circumcision, some what like a finishing school. The fees are high enough to target the upper-middle class and the college has many many generous alumni. Scholarships exists, but they are mostly reserved for triplets from the hinterlands. Through the Darasa you can play an oracle with a dead twin as a spirit guide, identical twins that exploit that sameness, leading to telepathy and even body swapping. The Thunder and Lightning path favors faternal mixed sex twins. An option there is to have familiars, an inkonkola for thunder and a storm hammerkop for lightning. Ikonkola are 1m legless dragons, storm hammerkops are strange birds, which metallic lavender feathers, associated with lightning. (hammerkops are real birds, look it up). Fraternal twins may also learn some of the magic of the Chilube half-men, though this is a dangerous path. The Teletele path is for more than twins, especially triplets. If twins are dangerous, triplets are time bombs. In the Empire, they are give to the Darasa to raise, and even return to visit their families. In the vassal states controlled by the Empire, infanticide is still normal. Either the last born is killed or all three. The Darasa has found a way of getting these unwanted births and bringing them home, often with the mother who otherwise would suffer. That is the teletele path, a home more than a school.

[Saiga]

I dread the Half Yuan-ti purebloods that would arise with those rules. Also, your racial mixing rules don't really explain savage critical or relentless endurance on the half-orc.

Hmmmm... some form of Expertise would definitely do it, and would help paint humans as dedicated to whatever they choose to excel in. Do you remember the feats provided by the UA feats supplement? There were weapon specific feats and artisan's tool specific feats. Something like those artisan's tool feats would be good.

I didn't consider the races from Volo's... but I would think that Yuan-ti/human offspring would always result in Yuan-ti (like Tieflings with other races). The idea isn't for the human to be able to have half-breeds with every race, just the ones that will be listed.

As for Half-Orcs, there are two ways I planned on going about it. For FR campaigns, Half Orcs would be still be their own race, and the orcish blood is just so overpowering that they are quite different to other half-breeds (the human variant might be able to be a half-orc still to represent human-side-dominant half orcs). I didn't realize full Orcs were made playable in Volo's, so I was planning on making the current Half-Orc statistics represent (non-evil) full blooded orcs in the Homebrewed setting I will be using in the future (which frees Variant Human to have Half Orcs as a subrace). I will either just go with the first solution or continue to think on that.

The expertise idea sounds like a good one. I would have thought that might be too powerful as a racial feature, what do you think? I REALLY like the tool proficiency idea inspired by the Unearthed Arcana article. That would be a really unique ability that feels fitting for humans.

[Potato_Priest]

I didn't consider the races from Volo's... but I would think that Yuan-ti/human offspring would always result in Yuan-ti (like Tieflings with other races). The idea isn't for the human to be able to have half-breeds with every race, just the ones that will be listed.

As for Half-Orcs, there are two ways I planned on going about it. For FR campaigns, Half Orcs would be still be their own race, and the orcish blood is just so overpowering that they are quite different to other half-breeds (the human variant might be able to be a half-orc still to represent human-side-dominant half orcs). I didn't realize full Orcs were made playable in Volo's, so I was planning on making the current Half-Orc statistics represent (non-evil) full blooded orcs in the Homebrewed setting I will be using in the future (which frees Variant Human to have Half Orcs as a subrace). I will either just go with the first solution or continue to think on that.

The expertise idea sounds like a good one. I would have thought that might be too powerful as a racial feature, what do you think? I REALLY like the tool proficiency idea inspired by the Unearthed Arcana article. That would be a really unique ability that feels fitting for humans.

Expertise doesn't feel quite as overpowered to me as a free feat. Personally, I wish there were ways of getting expertise without it being a class feature, as expertise (arcana) just feels right for wizards and expertise (athetics) feels right for champion fighters. At its worst, human becomes the go-to for grappling and stealth builds. Keep in mind that we're comparing expertise to other races' features, like damage resistances, gnomish cunning, and relentless endurance. Also, as you stated above, humans should be a little more appealing than other races to encourage people to play them.

If those tool feats were expanded to include more tools, I'd give the variant humans a choice of either a) expertise in a skill of their choice or b) a tool proficiency and a tool feat.

[Saiga]

I also like the idea of expertise being available outside of class options. Would expertise in one skill be powerful to cover the loss of both Darkvision and Fey Ancestry? I could also allow 1 Expertise and 1 Tool Proficiency (probably excluding Thieves' Tools).

[Potato_Priest]

I also like the idea of expertise being available outside of class options. Would expertise in one skill be powerful to cover the loss of both Darkvision and Fey Ancestry? I could also allow 1 Expertise and 1 Tool Proficiency (probably excluding Thieves' Tools).

It certainly would be enough for me, but I am somewhat obsessed with grappling. Grappling aside, I think that it's enough. Darkvision isn't that good, and fey ancestry is not really a big part of any build. Experienced helps you DO something, while fey ancestry occasionally helps you out when enemies try to do something to you. It's much less interesting and useful.