“The Eliksni call us ‘ape-kin’ and joke about how squishy we are. Used to think it was insulting, but realized they’re right: individually, we’re pretty helpless, can’t take much on our own. Thing is, we band together, support each other—collectively we’re not so squishy.”
—Janaina Balfour, Vanguard Scout
The children of Earth outgrew their cradle, and with the Traveler’s blessing had just begun to step out to the stars when the Collapse sent their prosperous, nearly spacefaring civilization crashing down to ruin. Yet some survived that unimaginable calamity, and stubbornly continued to endure, as humans have always done. Centuries later, humans and their neohuman kin are still precious few in number and struggling to reclaim their world, but are gathering their strength and gazing starward once again.
Persistent and Resilient
Although human capabilities soared during the Golden Age and included some self-modification and augmentation, homo sapiens is largely the same clever bipedal troublemaker that evolved long before the Traveler’s arrival. Most national borders and distinctions dissolved during the Golden Age, but surviving humans still bear the cultural and genetic legacies of every part of the world, and superficial characteristics of their appearance thus vary immensely. Though humans are really only adapted for a simple hunter-gatherer lifestyle, their strong social cohesion, cooperative coordination, and flexible thinking allowed them to persist when faced with near annihilation.
Traveler’s Chosen
Humans evolved on Earth and developed moderately advanced technological societies without any known extrasolar intervention, but everything changed when the Traveler came. Its arrival sparked revolutionary social as well as technological advancement, effectively ending armed conflict, economic inequality, and unnecessary suffering as humanity drew together in shared wonderment at what the universe was showing them was possible.
No one could say why the Traveler chose humans to receive its gifts, or why it remained to defend Earth against the Darkness rather than flee to preserve itself. Whatever the reason, humanity’s survivors clung on in the aftermath of the Collapse, and withstood the long centuries of a harrowing Dark Age before establishing the Last Safe City and beginning to restore some of the Golden Age’s glories—and look to new achievements.
Only Human, After All
While the population of the Last City has swollen to great numbers under the protection of the Traveler’s Guardians, many humans still live in the wilds, scraping by in small towns and isolated settlements, or in caravans making yearslong treks to reach the City or other places that promise some refuge. These people are tough by necessity, hard-bitten yet fiercely protective and supportive of one another. Those in the Last City live with less immediate hardship, but no less highly value collective cooperation and prosocial mutualism.
Of course there is never perfect harmony. Some, even Guardians, become solitary, misanthropic, or even opportunistically predatory. Most humans have each other’s backs without question, but there will always be those who hold themselves apart or put themselves first, even to the manifest detriment of others.
Certain traits are common to all humans regardless of superficial differences.
Ability Score Increase. One ability score of your choice increases by 2, and a different ability score of your choice increases by 1.
Age. Human longevity increased massively during the Golden Age, but since the Collapse, they have reverted to a natural lifespan of anywhere between 60–90 years, depending on living conditions. Humans are generally considered adults at 20 years of age.
Size. Typical human height is between 5–7 feet, with average weight varying accordingly, but of course smaller and larger individuals are not uncommon. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Adrenaline Rush. If you take damage that would reduce you to half your health points or less, but leaves you with at least 1 health point remaining, you may use your reaction to begin an adrenaline rush. For the next minute, the following benefits apply:
- You ignore the effects of the first three levels of Exhaustion, and cannot accumulate any additional levels of Exhaustion.
- You have advantage on Strength saving throws and Strength (Athletics) checks.
- The rush of adrenaline allows you to ignore small portions of the damage you take. When you take damage, you may reduce the damage you take (before accounting for weaknesses and resistances) by an amount equal to your proficiency bonus. You can’t do this again until the start of your next turn.
- If you take damage that would reduce you to 0 hit points or less, you may choose to drop to 1 hit point instead. You can only do this once during your adrenalin rush.
This effect ends early if you are Incapacitated or if you return to having half your hit points or more. Upon ending, you immediately gain two levels of Exhaustion, and you take an amount of recoil damage equal to twice your proficiency bonus.
You must complete a long rest before you may invoke this trait again. Additionally, once you invoke any trait, feature, or other source which prevents you from being reduced to 0 health points, you must complete a long rest in which you regain all hit points before you may invoke such feature again.
The Strength of Humanity. If a creature you can see is reduced to 0 hit points, you may use your reaction to begin the effects of your adrenaline rush trait.
Additional Trait
Choose one of the following additional traits.
Survivor’s Luck. If you make an attack roll, saving throw, or ability check and roll a 1 on the d20, you may choose to reroll once. You must use the new roll; you cannot use any other feature, trait, or other source to reroll. You regain use of this trait when you complete at least a short rest.
Unshakeable. If you fail an ability check or saving throw to prevent yourself from becoming Frightened, you may choose to succeed instead. Once you invoke this trait you must complete a long rest before you may do so again.