Humans (5A)

Humans are the dominant species in the Flanaess and much of the rest of the world. They are suitable as player characters, tough some ethnicity might be seen as odd outside their regional origin.

Racial Description Page

This page is about a fantasy race from my version of the World of Greyhawk.

5A race pages: Humans—Demi-Humans—Exotics.

General Rules

The optional racial modifiers from Tasha's are not used. See Character Creation for what we use instead.

Races with names in italics are generally not suitable to most campaigns, but can fit excellently in some specific setting.

Humans of the Flanaess and Beyond

The World of Greyhawk has a great variety of humans, and I feel representing this with game effects suits the genre. Greyhawk is also a humanocentric world, and I have improved humans to the point where they are intended to be the most powerful race. Humans come in standard and variant, with additional benefits as outlined here.

Standard Human

Choose an ethnicity and gain the listed benefits.
Gain one skill proficiency of choice.

Variant Human

Choose an ethnicity and gain the listed benefits.
After applying ability bonuses from your ethnicity and bonus feat, no starting ability score can exceed 16.

Human Ethnicity

Human culture displays an amazing diversity, and the livelihoods of different human peoples can vary more than it does between demi-human races. Each human character gets to choose an ethnicity, in addition to the selection of standard or variant human.

Common

Common or cosmopolitan humans are the most versatile humans. They dominate the central and south-western parts of the Flanaess. A common human usually has their roots in another human ancestry, but have been assimilated into the expanding cosmopolitan culture of the central Flanaess.

Only choose another ethnicity if it fits your concept, not for optimization reasons—there really aren't any.

Apply a +1 ability bonus to any ability score.
Choose any one proficiency among artisan's tools, musical instruments, gaming sets, or vehicles.
Choose any one proficiency among weapons, skills, tools, musical instruments, gaming sets, vehicles, or languages.

Baklunish

Baklunish are somewhat like the Persians of Earth. They live in civilized kingdoms in the north-west of the Flanaess.

Apply a +1 ability bonus to Constitution, Intelligence, or Wisdom.
You know your ethnic language, Baklunish
You have proficiency with one of composite bow, Animal Handling, History, Religion, Survival, a gambling set, or navigator's tools.

Chakji

Pastorals living on the frozen lands north of the Flanaess, including the Land of Black Ice. They hut and tame reindeer and live as hunter-gatherers, trading in the fur and tusks of arctic animals. Generally shy, they are not hostile if contact can be made. The main goods they treasure are salt, coffee, tobacco, daggers, and ironmongery. Their religion is shamanic, and they have friendly relations with giants, particularly stone giants.

Apply a +1 ability bonus to Dexterity, Constitution, or Wisdom.
You know your ethnic language, Chakji
You have proficiency with with one of Pike (used for bear hunting), Net (actually a lasso), Animal Handling, Nature, or Survival.

Flan

The flan are the eponymous first humans of the Flanaess. They are mostly hunter-gatherers and have been pushed into remote backwaters or been assimilated by later waves of human immigration. Mixed Flan are the most common ancestry for Cosmopolitan humans. Civilized flan resemble east Europeans in culture.

Apply a +1 ability bonus to Dexterity, Constitution, or Wisdom.
You gain proficiency with your ethnic language (Flan).
You have proficiency in one of the following: Athletics, Animal Handling, Nature, Perception, Religion, Stealth, or Survival

Oerdian

Oerdians were the dominant ethnicity in the Flanaess for a very long time, and are still dominant in the eastern part. Their culture resembles medieval west European.

Apply a +1 ability bonus to Strength, Wisdom, or Charisma.
You know your ethnic language, Oerdian
You gain proficiency with one of the following: any one weapon, Animal Handling, Athletics, History, Persuasion, or Religion.

Olman

Mesoamerican in look and culture, the Olman are in a cultural slump. They live south-west of the Flanaess, but do not dominate these areas.

Apply a +1 ability bonus to Constitution, Wisdom, or Charisma.
You know your ethnic language, Amedi.
You gain proficiency with one of the following: Acrobatics, Arcana, Athletics, Intimidate, Religion, Survival, or Olman (Olman is a dead language, but isolated tribes deep in the Amedio jungle may still speak it).

Paynim

Similar to the Mongols of Earth, Paynim are horse nomads and live on the plains in the north of the Flanaess and also in the far north-west, outside the Flanaess.

Apply a +1 ability bonus to Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.
You know your ethnic language, Ordai.
You gain proficiency with one of the following: the composite bow, Animal Handling, Investigation, Nature, Perception, or Survival.

Rhenne

Superficially similar to the Roma of Earth, Rhenne live as nomads on barges and in caravans, mainly in the Central Flanaess.

Apply a +1 ability bonus to Dexterity, Intelligence, or Charisma.
You know your ethnic language, Rhopan (this is not related to any human language, but is related to languages from the Shadowfell).
You gain proficiency with one of the following: Acrobatics, Animal Handling, Arcana, Performance, Sleight of Hand, one type of vehicles, or one living language.

Suel

The blonde hollywood villains of Greyhawk, the Suel once had a great empire destroyed in a magical holocaust. Splintered and defeated, they now live on the rim of the continent but maintain their pride.

Apply a +1 ability bonus to Strenth, Intelligence, or Charisma.
You know your ethnic language, one of Amedi, Cold Tounge, or Lendorian.

Amedi is spoken in the Amedi jungles.
Cold Tongue is spoken in the barbarian north-east.
Lendorian is spoken on the isles of the South-east.

You gain proficiency with one of the following: Acrobatics, History, Intimidation, Suel (ancient language), water vehicles, or proficiency with a melee weapon of your choice. Suel is mostly a dead language but spoken by the elite in the successor states to the Scarlet Brotherhood. Commoners in this area speak Lendorian. To learn original Suel, you have to pick it as your proficiency choice.

Tuov

A black people from the continent of Hepmonaland to the south-east of the Flanaess.

Apply a +1 ability bonus to Strength, Constitution, or Intelligence.
You know your ethnic language, Tuov.
You gain proficiency with one of the following: Athletics, History, Nature, Perception, Persuasion, Stealth, or Survival.