Humans

''Currently, races are not yet implemented in game. What you see below is a representation of our future intentions, and is aspirational''

Humans are one of races in SotE. Humans are somewhat graceful, possess above average endurance, and have a good throwing arm. Their greatest advantage, however, is their ecomically built bodies and their disposition toward omnivory and generalism. While their economical body might make them appear individually less fit than other races, lower calorie and protein needs allow humans to sustain higher population densities per unit land area, reproduce faster, and adapt to a broad range of landscapes by adapting their culture and technology to whatever unique challenges they face. A human can always throw on a few furs to adapt to the cold mountain climate. A dwarf can’t strip away their thick flesh.

Poem From the Eons



'I am the trapper, who tames misty woods,'

'I am the merchant, who peddles rare goods,'

'I am the draftsman, who builds to the sky,'

'I am the warrior, whose deeds never die.'

'I am the foremen, who toils in the mines,'

'I am the vestal, who prays at her shrine,'

'I am the wanderer, who treks foreign lands,'

'I am the raider, who prowls desert sands.'

'The baker, the forager, the fine feudal lord,'

'The gambler and the monk at the edge of the world,'

'I am the being who settles all lands,'

'I am the spirit of man.'

Description

Humans are somewhat agile, possess exceptional endurance, and have a good throwing arm. Their greatest advantage, however, is what they lack. An elf with her long lifespan must be cautious and conservative. A Dwarf with his extra layers of fat and muscle suffers in the tropical heat. Humans however--- with their big brains, moderately long lifespan, and minimalist bodies--- are not intensely specialized for any particular living environment or lifestyle. For this reason, humans are heavily skewed toward generalism, and rather than leaning on physical adaptations to make their chosen lifestyle succeed, their large brains and sufficiently long lifespan allow them to create technological adaptations and cultural norms to succeed in nearly any environment. Of all the races, humans are able to create civilized societies in the broadest range of biomes and climates. They also tend to have the widest range of cultural expression.

Humans are a compromise between r-Selection and K-selection, though they skew slightly to K-selected. This serves as an advantage in their generalism. They’re shorter lifespan allows more rapid cultural evolution to new environments (those harboring conservative ideas die off quickly enough, but not so quick as to rend the fabric of society with radical ideas) but they skew K-selected enough to have holding power in their adopted environment long enough to create complex civilizations. Though civilization skewed, they are also just feral enough to survive successfully in the wilds. When living a “true feral” lifestyle, humans are generally nomadic and are masters of dart throwing, but even in the most civilized of human societies, the wilds are still instinctually alluring. This tendency typically produces a steady supply of hardy pioneers who set out to tame the wilderness. This confluence of traits--- with 1 foot in civilization and the other in a feral lifestyle--- allows humans to invade, adapt to, and hold new environments exceptionally well, continually pushing outward the frontiers of humanity.

Their slight K-selection means their lifespan is suitable for the development of complex cultures with ease, but short enough that their cultures evolve quickly when confronted with new challenges. Because humans live at higher densities than most other races with comparable intelligence, they are able to put their many minds to complex objectives. The average human scholar will not be as learned as an average elven scholar, but humans will have many more minds attempting to understand a problem. While goblins technically have greater population density, humans live long enough for extensive education to be meaningful.

The greatest flaw of humans is that--- while their minds are powerful enough to develop complex societies quickly--- their lives are too short to easily recognize the negative effects of generations long soil depletion and environmental degradation. A lesser elven or dwarven lord has many, many centuries to expand their power and enrich themselves, and can thus afford to be patient. A human cannot. This tends to dispose humans toward short term strategies, like “mining soil fertility” via tilling for a quick gain. Most often, humans don’t even live long enough to recognize the long term degradation of their soil in a single lifetime.

As a result of this short term perspective, humans are frequently known to create mighty, sophisticated empires and societies remarkably quickly, only to have these empires decline or collapse within a few centuries. This is often a reason why long-lived races like Elves prefer not to get involved too deeply in human affairs, as an elf might watch a Roman style empire rise quickly due to soil mining then collapse into a dark age within a single elvish generation.

More than any other races, civilized humans tend to live in close proximity with other races and enjoy mutualistic relationships (as opposed to Vermen, who are also everywhere but are more often parasitic). It is common to see a human outpost downstream from a High Beaver lake, or a small Elfwood grove nestled within a sprawling human kingdom. One might also see a human prowling with a pack of Gnolls, or conversely, a human noble who keeps in his company a Gnoll who serves as faithful warden of his woods. While still capable of xenophobia, the incredible diversity of human cultures throughout the world--- and the frequency with which they come in contact with one another in urban centers--- tends to put pressure and incentives on human societies to be more tolerant of outsiders and their peculiar ways. Their cultural adaptability also means that they feel comfortable either blending in with the culture of other races, or bringing others into their fold. For all the reasons mentioned above, humans frequently dominate in the spheres of commerce and trade.

In battle, humans are slightly below average in almost every way. They are relatively weak, not very tough, and not particularly agile. In other words, they are inferior in hand to hand combat and rely heavily on cultural and technological adaptations to mitigate this inferiority. However, humans are slightly above average in the use of slings, bows, javelins and their high stamina means they can remain in battle for much longer than most other races. Still, on net humans are at a distinct disadvantage compared to other races in a pitch battle. It may come as a surprise to many then that humans are arguably the best of all races when it comes to building large empires quickly. The reason? A race's performance in battle is just one small part of success in warfare and empire building.

Because movement of armies for most races is cumbersome and slow, warfare tends to more often take the form of shorter distance raids rather than lengthy campaigns of subjugation. The longer it takes to reach a strategic destination, the harder it is to return home before the harvest or before a deadly winter.

Humans, on the other hand, are unrivaled in their mastery of logistics and power projection due to a wide conspiracy of factors. In physiological terms, humans have nearly the best stamina for long marches of any other race, allowing them to reach war goals more quickly, reach more of them in a campaign season, as well as force march in a pinch. Their lower caloric needs relative to other settled races also means it takes less food per unit distance to reach their destination, making military campaigns less expensive. Their generalism also allows them to campaign in numerous climates with ease, whether that means marching in hot summers or overwintering in foreign territory. Their relatively fast reproduction means that they can also replace losses from attritional causes like disease quickly compared to dwarves or elves, or recover from catastrophic defeats. This ability to replenish their numbers also makes them more willing to make daring strategic moves that might result in sweeping heroic victories.

Their penchant for commerce and trade also means that they frequently already have civilian infrastructure that can be repurposed for warfare, such as road networks and merchant marines. Because humans also lean toward agricultural strategies that prioritize short term extraction, they frequently enjoy periods of significant agricultural surplus that can be brought to bear in supporting large armies over large distances (this, of course, plays a role in their later decline when those short term extraction strategies catch up to them).

Because of humanity’s proclivity for tolerance and their frequent cooperation with--- or subjugation of--- other races and cultures, human imperial armies are frequently famous for their menagerie of auxiliaries and mercenaries: Gnollish rangers, elite orcish “Varangian guards,” goblin swarms, harpy scouts, vermen spies, steppe archers, troll powered siege engines, and more. While such auxiliaries can go a long way in mitigating humanity’s inferior performance in battle, its not uncommon to see a sophisticated campaign collapse due to spectacular betrayals. Beyond advantages in battle, a tolerant attitude also means greater ease when it comes to annexing new territory. While an advantage in the short run, this can also be a disadvantage long term as subjects will more likely retain their unique identities and as such an empire declines, they will more likely decide to go their own way.

Among other races, its common to hear the same concept arise again and again when discussing humanity, regardless the place or culture: “The Human Spirit.”

It is spoken in the same breath with both irritation and impression, derision and admiration. With the ability to adapt to any environment, the ability to live amid cities and the wilds, with others of their kind scattered all about the world, and with a life long enough to make something of themselves but not long enough to dither for very long, no one has broader opportunities than a human.

To a Goblin, a human lives long enough to build great monuments and dynasties. To long lived elves, humans are spurred to action and adventure. To all, humanity is the race of possibility. The concept of “The Human Spirit” is a nod to the fact that every human knows this truth, and thus knows that their own life might be anything. The goblin cannot easily imagine for themselves the scholarly life of an elder philosopher. The dwarf cannot easily imagine exploring the mouth of a sweltering tropical river in search of trade routes. The elf cannot easily imagine carousing the rough, crime-infested back alleys of an urban slum. The human may not be able to imagine themselves as the most exceptional at any given lifestyle, but they can imagine themselves as anything. And that, in itself, is why they are exceptional.

K-R Selection

Compared to other races, humans are a compromise between K selection (competitive but low reproduction and growth rate) and r selection (fast growing and fast reproduction, but uncompetitive). Statistics

Primary statistics

Nutrition needs

Body attributes

Composite statistics