Why play a human?

[Dimirag]

Just digging into the rules and came across the save bonuses that non-humans get which makes it seem to me that being a human is a disadvantage.

Old games treated most setting as human-centric, with demi-human being at a disadvantage on most social, historical and geographical situations

Ya I see they get a 10% xp bonus but in my head with my group Im not sure this would go over too well... plus I like to level everyone at the same time (thats the 5e stuck in me I guess) ... maybe it will be cooler to not do it that way.

Leveling everyone at the same rate could be a problem, later game editions gave each class more benefits and goodies, but in older editions the XP was a result of the existing class abilities, if you go with an unified XP, each class should receive some benefits to balance the increase in XP cost.

But I can see issues when its time to start the next campaign that is set for say "levels 4-6" or whatever and half the party is still level 3.

You can always add some side-quest between campaigns so characters can reach the minimum level for the next campaign.

[tvance929]

Good advice, thanks much!!!

[artikid]

Leveling everybody at the same time is probably the only way I can think of of actually, surely, breaking the game. Don't.
If you think 10% XP bonus isn't enough remember that:
All demi-humans have one Stat that is limited at 17.
Elves and halflings (and others) have HD limits.
Humans are the only ones that can be of any class.

Still not convinced?
Try some of these in addition or in place of the XP modifier:
A +1 bonus to an ability score of their choice.
Maximum hit points at first level.
Reroll a roll once per session.
Increase the XP bonus to 20%.

My 2cp

[Solomoriah]

I think I should have made the XP bonus 20% in the beginning, but it's too late to change it now.

[SmootRK]

I think I should have made the XP bonus 20% in the beginning, but it's too late to change it now.

Agreed. 20 or even 25% in my opinion seems appropriate. Should there ever be a new "edition" it should be one of the considerations.

[Metroknight]

In a game I'm working on, elves do not have dark vision nor do half-elves. Only races that truly live underground have that ability in my game world. I also worked out a stat increasing mechanic that only humans get but have not play tested it yet.

[Longman]

I've honestly never really noticed demi-humans being overly powerful in any RPG I've played in.

I think one time we had a character reach "level limit" in an old school system and we just quietly ignored that because he was a cool character and we wanted him to keep levelling up with the group.

But mostly, minor advantages for some characters have just been subsumed into the chaos of the dice and the weird decisions players make, so it hasn't ever been a problem. It's same as having a character with really high stats and everyone else is average. This happens all the time, and it doesn't seem to matter that much.

[orobouros]

When I run one-shots, I have a set of pregenerated characters available, created by a random process. Some are already level 2, some of whom are humans. So the extra level might be a factor. Others have all answered the case for a standard campaign setting, but I thought I'd toss this in as an aside.

[Tazer_The_Yoot]

There's a non-mechanical reason to play Humans.

The assumed world of BFRPG is Humano-centric, meaning Humans are far more common than Demi-Humans and NPCs will react better to them.

Obviously this can be modified by GMs and often will be, but the base assumption is somewhat based on the literature that inspired early D&D and Gary Gygax's own thoughts about what constitutes a heroic campaign and the types of worlds players will be in, where Humans are a majority and the others are relics of a bygone age, on the fringes of civilization.

Thus, while I obviously love Dwarves, for instance, my Dwarf PC might be treated slightly worse in a town full of rural, superstitious people than your Human PC might be. To the extent the Innkeeper makes him sleep in the barn, or charges him more for breakfast, and maybe some of the merchants will be reluctant to barter with him and maybe they'll rip him off.

Now, that's not in the books anywhere, per se, but it's a logical assumption to make and the type of setting BFRPG GMs might choose to present.

Obviously you can overcome those slight difficulties, especially as you gain renown with your heroic little Demi-Human, but it's an example of why being Human is more convenient.