Humans are the most numerous of all the sapient races of the Known Lands, and as such feel that they have a special destiny to lead the world into the future. They may lack the elves’ long life spans and mystical insight, the gnomish drive to innovate, the dwarven desire for perfection, and the hobgoblins’ military prowess - but they make up for all this with numbers and sheer ambition to change the world in their image. It was humans who invented the nexus towers, and built them across the continent. It was humans who built cities bigger than anything seen in history. It is humans who are now connecting every major settlement with railroads. And will be humans who will settle the very planets themselves. Perhaps it is true that, as some sidhe sages speculate, that all this springs from a human feeling of inferiority towards the elder races. But as far as most humans are concerned, they are just following their manifest destiny.
Human society tends to be riddled with inequalities. In most regions, there are sharp divisions between those in power and those who are not, far more so than among most other races. Many, if not most humans won’t try to upset the status quo, if only because they fear that any changes will cause them to be worse off than before. But visionaries and revolutionaries spring up in every generation, and with them, the dream of a better life and a more equal society lives on. Unfortunately, even if they succeed, the revolutionaries will usually eventually create a society as unequal as the old one, just with themselves at the top. But there is always hope for the next generation…
Most human societies are fairly sexist - women are commonly perceived (especially among the upper classes) as the “weaker gender” in both body and mind, and women who surpass society’s expectations in these matters are seen as the exception, not the rule - the traditional role of women is that of taking care of home and family while the men take care of business and earn money. This doesn’t mean that women cannot be successful in traditionally “male” ventures, but it does mean that they will have a harder time - for example, women are barred from joining most organized armies, which means that women interested in warfare must join mercenary companies with a more unconventional approach towards finding recruits. Likewise, women can and do lead businesses and be successful financially - but they will have a harder time competing with the “Old Boys’ Networks” of their male counterparts.
List of Articles about Humans
Adventure Ideas
Designer's Notes & Resources
The social norms and customs of humans in Urbis are strongly based on those of 19th century Western Europe.