Racial Templates: Humans

Racial Templates: Humans

The possibility of playing a character of a non-human race always appealed to me in roleplaying games. It's fun to try to view the world through the eyes of a long-lived elf, a dwarf from a clan-based society, a homeless halfling that is always on the road, a tribal lizardfolk, etc. Nowadays I see people claim that playing a non-human is uncreative, restrictive, cliche, and is a "roleplaying crutch". I disagree with this point of view. Some people like playing non-humans because of mechanical benefits, some do it for flavor, or because some racial or cultural trait fascinates them. Personally, I belong to the second group. Even though many D&D races have very minor differences and may feel redundant, I think that the GM should put an accent on cultural differences.

Anyway, here's every single D&D 3.5 human subrace converted to GURPS.

HUMAN [0] (Player’s Handbook, page 12)

There's nothing to say here, it's a plain human. The default GURPS "template".

VASHARAN [-3] (Book of Vile Darkness, page 12)

Advantages: Fearlessness 1 [2].

Disadvantages: Callous [-5].

To quote Book of Vile Darkness "the vasharans are to other humans as drow are to elves". These are the first humans who turned upon their creators. Nothing too interesting, but rarely do the humans have a "dark" variant.

SILVERBROW HUMAN [13] (Dragon Magic, page 6)

Advantages: Catfall (Feather Fall, +20%; Magical, -10%) [11].

Racial Skill Modifiers: +1 to Disguise/TL3 (Human) [2].

Silverbrow humans are humans with a drop of silver dragon blood. They can easily pass for normal humans. The feather fall ability seems very random to me. Why feather fall? What I find funny that I have actually played a silverbrow human before and this ability saved my character's life once.

CYINIDICEAN [0] (Elder Evils, page 146)

Features: Night Vision 5 [0].

Humans sealed in an ancient underground city for millenia. They have gained night vision and light sensitivity. Nothing very interesting.

NEANDERTHAL [11] (Frostburn, page 37)

Attributes: ST+1 [10]; IQ-1 [-20]; HT+1 [10].

Secondary Characteristics: Per +1 [5].

Advantages: Temperature Tolerance 4 (2xHT to hot, 2xHT to cold) [4].

Racial Skill Modifiers: +1 to Survival (Arctic) [2].

Neanderthals aren't that bad. They are adept at surviving in extreme temperatures, and have good physical attributes. In one of my games the PCs were interacting with a neanderthal tribe of a lower TL. The tribe's hunters were using some totemic soulmelds to aid their skills, and the players have found this interesting.

AZURIN [0] (Magic of Incarnum, page 7)

Advantages: Regeneration (Slow) [10].

Disadvantages: Short Lifespan 1 [-10].

Azurins are incarnum-touched humans. They can be born to normal human parents, and not every azurin-born child is an azurin. In D&D they had a pool of essentia, but if I gave them ER 1 (Incarnum) [3] in their GURPS racial template, that would probably force them to spend points to buy soulmelds, otherwise it would feel like 3 wasted points. So, I decided to put an accent on their "fast-burning" souls and give them a short lifespan. In GURPS terms it ended up being a bit shorter than it was in D&D.

AQUATIC HUMAN [28] (Unearthed Arcana, page 8)

Advantages: Amphibious [10]; Night Vision 8 [8]; Pressure Support 1 [5]; Speak Underwater [5].

Features: Doesn’t Breathe (Gills) [0].

The race's name says it all - aquatic humans.

AVENTI [30] (Stormwrack, page 34)

Advantages: Amphibious [10]; Doesn’t Breathe (Gills) [10]; Pressure Support 1 [5]; Speak Underwater [5].

Take the human and make it amphibious - done.

SEA KIN [16] (Races of Destiny, page 100)

Advantages: Amphibious [10]; Breath-Holding 2 [4]; Night Vision 5 [5]; Pressure Support 1 [5]; Slippery 1 [2].

Disadvantages: Dependency (Being fully immersed in water, Weekly) [-10].

These humans cannot breathe water, but can hold their breath for a long time. This and their water dependency makes them shore dwellers. Nothing too interesting.

SHARAKIM [28] (Races of Destiny, page 102)

Attributes: ST+1 [10]; DX-1 [-20]; IQ+1 [20].

Advantages: DR 1 (Tough Skin, -40%) [3]; Infravision [10]; Silence 1 [5].

Features: Night Vision 4 [0].

The sharakim are descendants of humans cursed for killing a particular primordial sacred creature. They look more like half-orcs, and are sensitive to light.

SKULK [99] (Races of Destiny, page 105)

Attributes: DX+2 [40].

Secondary Characteristics: Per -1 [-5].

Advantages: Chameleon 4 (Always On, -10%; Dynamic, +40%) [26]; Silence 2 [10].

          Nondetection: Obscure 10 (Divination; Defensive, +50%; Stealthy, +100%; Always On, -50%; No Area of Effect, -50%; Magical, -10%) [28].

The skulks have descended from a caste of "untouchables" from some strict society. Their magical camouflage, ability to walk silently, and practical immunity to divination makes them very hard to detect by mundane or magical means. A perfect fit for rogue-ish characters, but the template is very expensive.

UNDERFOLK [24] (Races of Destiny, page 108)

Advantages: Chameleon 2 (Dynamic, +40%) [14]; Infravision [10].

Features: Night Vision 5 [0].

Just feral underground humans with limited camouflage. Nothing interesting.

ILLUMIAN [15-50] (Races of Destiny, page 53)

Advantages: Language Talent [10]; Resistant to Light & Darkness Spells (+3) [3].

                Pick a rune word or a single rune:

                Aesh [9]: ST+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9].

                Hoon [9]: HT+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9].

                Krau [19]: Sorcerous Empowerment 1 (Only when illumination is active, -5%) [19].

                Naen [17]: IQ+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [17].

                Uur [17]: DX+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [17].

                Vaul [5]: Charisma 1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [5].

                Aeshkrau [23]: ST+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9]; Occultist 1 (Only when illumination is active, -5%) [10]; Mind Shield 1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [4].

                Aeshhoon [27]: ST+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9]; HT+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9]; High Pain Threshold (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9].

                Aeshuur [39]: ST+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9]; DX+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [17]; Combat Reflexes (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [13].

                Hoonkrau [32]: HT+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9]; Occultist 1 (Only when illumination is active, -5%) [10]; Empathy (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [13].

                Hoonvaul [22]: HT+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9]; Charisma 1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -10%) [4]; Resistant to Mind Control (+3) (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9].

                Naenaesh [31]: ST+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9]; IQ+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [17]; Will +1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [5].

                Naenhoon [31]: HT+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9]; IQ+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [17]; Per +1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [5].

                Naenkrau [40]: Occultist 1 (Only when illumination is active, -5%) [10]; IQ+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [17]; See Invisible (Magic) (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [13].

                Uurhoon [31]: HT+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9]; DX+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [17]; Flexibility (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [5].

                Uurkrau [36]: Occultist 1 (Only when illumination is active, -5%) [10]; DX+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [17]; Sensitive Touch (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9].

                Uurnaen [47]: IQ+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [17]; DX+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [17]; Perfect Balance (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [13].

                Vaulaesh [22]: ST+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9]; Charisma 1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -10%) [4]; Hard to Subdue 5 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9].

                Vaulkrau [23]: Occultist 1 (Only when illumination is active, -5%) [10]; Charisma 1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -10%) [4]; Detect (Magic) (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9].

                Vaulnaen [30]: IQ+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [17]; Charisma 1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -10%) [4]; Fearlessness 5 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [9].

                Vauluur [34]: DX+1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [17]; Charisma 1 (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -10%) [4]; Danger Sense (Magical, -10%; Only when illumination is active, -5%) [13].

Disadvantages: Magic Susceptibility 2 (Rune Magic only, -40%) [-4].

Perks: Illumination (sigils around the head) [1].

Features: When an illumian dies, anyone within earshot hears ululating Illumian syllables—usually gibberish, but occasionally a prophetic phrase or a final curse on the illumian’s enemies [0].

Now this is a versatile and very flavorful race. I suggest reading their chapter in Races of Destiny to learn more about them, it's worth it.

EMPTY VESSEL [13] (Eberron Campaign Setting, page 291)

Advantages: Voice [10].

Perks: Weak Latency (Psi) [1].

Racial Skill Modifiers: +1 to Disguise/TL3 (Human) [2].

A setting-specific race of humans bred specifically to be mind vessels for extraplanar psionic creatures called the quori. The Weak Latency (Psi) perk comes from GURPS Psionic Powers.

DEEP IMASKARI [26] (Underdark, page 9)

Attributes: DX-1 [-20]; IQ+1 [20].

Advantages: Night Vision 5 [5]; Sorcerous Empowerment 1 [20].

Perks: Limited Camouflage (Stone) [1].

Another setting-specific race of human survivors of an ancient empire. They have very limited camouflage abilities and some innate magical powers.

KARSITE [65] (Tome of Magic, page 84)

Attributes: HT+1 [10].

Advantages: DR 3 (Tough Skin, -40%; Not vs. Magic, -15%) [7]; Imbue 3 (Strike of Negation only, -80%; Magical, -10%) [8]; Magic Resistance 1 [2]; Regeneration (Fast; Trigger, You resist a spell, -40%) [30].

Features: Can’t cast spells, can’t take Sorcerous Empowerment or other magical traits, except Imbue 3 (Strike of Negation only, -80%; Magical, -10%).

Racial Skills: Strike of Negation DX+0 [8].

Karsites are born to normal humans on occasion. They are hardened against magic, regenerate after resisting spells, and cannot take any magical traits. Quite an odd race.