Human

Humans are natives to the Lands of the Diamond Throne. For centuries a cruel draconic race called the dramojh enslaved them but long ago, the invading giantish army freed them and wiped out the dramojh. Humans then came under the rule of their giantish liberators, who still sit upon the Diamond Throne today.

Roleplaying Humans

Humans are probably the easiest race to play, because we all understand what it’s like to be a human. Humans are you and I, in real life. Because we all have the most experience with humans, they also constitute the broadest and most well-rounded race. Humans do face some interesting roleplaying challenges, however.

Unlike some fantasy milieus, in Monte Cook’s Arcana Evolved, humans are not the dominant race (although they might still be the most numerous). All humans must come to grips with the presence of giants in their land. Once, humans were well on their way to being truly dominant, until they were enslaved by the dramojh. Nearly a millennium later, the giants liberated them.

How does this history affect each individual’s outlook on the world? It’s now been hundreds of years since the days of slavery (no human actually remembers the dramojh). Most humans still appreciate and respect the giants for what they did, and what they continue to do—safeguard the land, build fantastic cities and roads, and generally improve the quality of life. A minority, however, resents the giants and believes that they should either relinquish their position or leave the realm altogether. A few of these dissidents actually want to drive the giants back to their original homeland by force.

Humans are no more or less likely than any other race to fill the ranks of a particular class.

Personality: Humans can be self-interested and short-sighted compared to other races, but highly adaptive and inventive. Many humans possess a need to be in control and sometimes to get involved where they have no business. Industrious, curious, and determined, if left to their own devices humans would explore, conquer, and settle all the lands of the world.

Physical Description: The archetypal humanoid race, humans come in all shapes and sizes. Skin coloration varies considerably. Average males stand just short of 6 feet, and females are usually less muscular and a bit shorter.

Relations: Generally speaking, humans get along with all other races. Most humans have a special affection for both faen and giants, although they can find sprytes unnerving due to their unfamiliar nature. They get along with sibeccai and verrik as well as anyone does, but they find the mojh more unpleasant than other races do, because the mojh once were human—and the connection between the mojh and humanity’s dramojh captors doesn’t help.

Some humans resent the giants’ rulership of their land. This minority seeks to stir dissent and eventually drive the giants back to their homeland across the sea. Most of these humans also do not like the sibeccai, due to their relationship with giantkind.

Outlook: Humans are ambitious, practical, and hardworking. They value duty and honesty. Only the aberrant are particularly cruel or hurtful. Curious and adaptive, they make excellent explorers. However, humans can be selfish, more interested in their own lofty goals than in the welfare of the land or the populace.

Human Lands: Humans are ubiquitous throughout the Lands of the Diamond Throne. Well over a thousand years ago, before the dramojh conquered them, the humans were the most numerous and most prevalent race in the region. They built more cities and roads than any other culture. The Common tongue is, in fact, the ancestral language of the area’s humans. Even today, humans are everywhere—throughout the plains, the mountains, the forests, and along the coasts.

The Tenebrian Curse

Because the tenebrian seeds used for character evolution also created the fiendish dramojh, DMs may want to give evolved levels a sinister drawback. This approach makes the choice of taking evolved levels a more interesting and difficult one. Such drawbacks might include the gradual loss of Wisdom as the recipient goes slowly mad, or the loss of Charisma as the character moves farther and farther away from other living beings. A recommended method for handling this “curse” involves making a Will saving throw (DC 15 + double the character’s number of evolved levels) once every week. Failure results in 1d3 points of temporary ability score damage; the roll of a natural 1 indicates 1d3 points of permanent ability score drain.

Religion: For centuries, most humans believed that their gods either deserted them or were dead while they were in captivity. Only now are some people beginning to return to the old ways of worship. Many humans do have faith in animism—the belief that spirits are everywhere and influence mortals’ lives. This belief includes ancestor reverence, picked up from the giants, and a respect for nature spirits, gained mainly from the litorians.

Language: Humans speak Common.

Names: Most humans use surnames to show family relationships, but some do not choose to. Here are some sample names:


 * Human Male Names: Lofgar, Nathred, Toman.


 * Human Female Names: Barvara, Nara, Sadune, Vessi.

Adventurers: Humans make excellent adventurers. Often delightfully courageous and self-involved at the same time, human adventurers crave fortune and glory. Many have a cause to champion—although for some, that cause is simply themselves.

Favored Drink: Any; Favored Food: Any; Favored Weapon: Any.

Human Racial Traits

• Medium: As Medium creatures, humans have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.

• Human base speed is 30 feet.

• One extra feat at 1st level (cannot be a talent).

• Bonus of 4 extra skill points at 1st level and 1 extra skill point at each additional level.

• Humans always gain Knowledge (humans) as a class skill.

• Automatic Language: Common.

• Bonus Languages: Any.

The Evolved Human

Humans exposed to the tenebrian seeds become more muscular and fit, smarter, faster, and even better looking. However, the transformation differs for each human. The changes in some focus almost entirely on the physical, while in others they are mainly mental. Evolved humans often grow slightly arrogant due to their advantages, proclaiming their superiority over their fellows. See the table above for details.

Hit Die: 1d8

Skill Points at 1st Character Level: (2+ Intelligence bonus) × 4.

Skill Points at Higher Levels: 2 + Intelligence bonus.

“Class” Skills: Choose any six skills to be class skills.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Evolved humans gain no additional proficiency with weapons or shields.