Humans in RPGs are a tricky creature, which is ironic, because everyone reading this IS a human.
Humans, at least in the context of being a race option in D&D and its variants, are thought of as the "adaptive" race. They can be more classes than any other race. They're the race that is the most common and prolific in the world. Their language is known as "Common" or "Trade Tongue", or anything to denote that it's the assumed default language spoken in the setting.
But there's something else very interesting about humans specifically in fantasy settings.
They're the ones who kill dragons.
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| Knight Fighting Dragon - stock image |
This is not a new concept by any stretch. Slaying dragons goes back to the myths of St. George, Siegfried and even Hercules if you consider the Hydra to be its own kind of dragon. Before you say that these stories don't count because elves, dwarves and halflings did not exist in the public concept of a heroic figure at the time, allow me to direct your attention to the biggest inspiration for D&D as it was in the era of Gygax and Arneson: Lord of the Rings.
Smaug is probably the most well-known of the named dragons in Tolkien's work. Bard the Boatswain, a human, slew him with an arrow. Ancalagon the Black, who is a lesser-known dragon in the same lore, is stated to be the largest, and greatest dragon to ever live. He was in fact "as tall as a mountain" and yet, it was Eärendil, a human, who managed to kill him.
Okay, Eärendil is part elf, but I'll leave the precise genealogy of Numenorians to true Tolkien lore experts.
Why Do Humans Do this?
Regardless of how your favorite setting presents each individual race, there is something about humans in addition the traits you already ascribe to them to make them distinct from other races in the respect of fighting dragons. I have an example explanation for this.
Why do dragons hide in caves and hoard their treasure for centuries? Because there are way too many humans in the world now, and they simply can't take the risk. There used to be a lot more dragons, and a lot more magic in the world. The dragons were top of the food chain, and thus had every reason to lord it over others and take their treasure... but then?
Then humans came and built cities out in the open. Not in the deep forest like the elves, and not in deep, dark caves like the dwarves. Humans built walls and ramparts that can easily be flown over. This will be easy, thought the dragons! We can take their valuables without even trying!
But that's when the concern started. No matter how many humans the dragons killed, more would take their place. It was almost like they just couldn't kill enough of them. They reproduced so quickly that a creature who lives for thousands of years, such as a dragon, might blink and miss the fact that a hundred humans just turned into a thousand when they weren't looking.
Even worse, the more humans the dragons killed, the better and better the humans got at surviving it. The dragons were able to accrue massive amounts of treasure from human civilizations they plundered, but it became more difficult to do so over an alarmingly short period of time.
When the humans decided to challenge the dragons, they struck like a bolt of lightning. Humans, unlike elves, halflings, gnomes dwarves, have limitless potential despite their short lifespans. If they dedicate themselves to the destruction of something, they'll do it, and dragons simply pushed them too far.
The dragons learned that it's safer to disappear into "myth" for a few centuries, and only raiding human settlements when everyone who was alive for the previous raid had died of old age. The last thing they want to do is attack humans who are expecting them.
How Do Humans Do this in a Game?
This not to say humans are the only ones who CAN slay dragons, but they should certainly be the best at it of all prolific humanoid races. There are ways of reflecting this.
In the 2eAD&D box set Council of Wyrms, there is a kit that fighters can adopt if they meet certain strict ability score requirements. The kit is called the "Dragonslayer," and only humans can become one. They have many powers and abilities, but suffice it to say all of them are focused on killing dragons.
But if you want a more universal way of reflecting this racial trait humans have, I have a few recommendations:
- +2 to their saving throw versus a dragon's breath weapon
- +1 to their attack bonus against dragons (like a dwarf's bonus against goblins/orcs/hobgoblins in 2e)
- improve AC by 2 when attacked by a dragon
- the ability to enchant a weapon with "dragonslaying" in the case of mage
Use all, a few, or one of these in your game, and you'll position humanity as the eternal enemy of dragonkind. It would add some flavor to humanity if you feel they are somewhat bland in your setting.
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