Watercolor portrait of a black woman with her hair tied up using a red and gold scarf that matches her shirt and her bold, teardrop-shaped earrings. She has a serious, watchful expression on her face and is looking to the right of the viewer. Portrait by andremsantana.
Overview: Humans are a non-magical, sapient, omnivore species known for using tools to adapt to a wide range of different environments and for significantly altering the environments they live in.
Physical Description: Humans vary in height, build, and ability, as well as skin, hair, and eye color. The variation between individual humans is much greater than the variation between different populations. For example, the biggest difference in height between human populations is eight inches, but individual human height ranges from a little under two feet to a little under nine feet tall. Five and a half feet is the average human height.
Gender: While the majority of humans identify as either male or female, many have other genders. Nonbinary is the most commonly used term for other gender experiences.
Senses: The majority of humans have six senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, and balance. Vision is the keenest sense for many humans, with most seeing in stereo color vision. The majority of humans also have a wide hearing range. As a species, humans are particularly good at distinguishing between similar sounds. However, just as humans have a wide range of body diversity, they also have sensory diversity, including humans with sensory disabilities.
Diet: Humans are omnivores that eat a broad range of foods, though some choose to restrict their diets for religious, cultural, or ethical reasons. Because humans have a comparatively short and weak digestive system, the majority of human foods are cooked, fermented, or both.
Common Mental Characteristics: Humans are mentally diverse and have a wide range of aptitudes, needs, and ways of thinking.
Magical Affinities: Most humans develop magical affinities based on where and how they live. For example, many humans that live near the ocean develop affinities for Water or Weather Magic, while many humans that work with livestock have an affinity for Animal Magic. In addition, a significant number of humans have affinities for:
Common Species Traits:
- Skill Aptitude for Technology
- Skillful
- Magic Resistance
- Magical Traits that Run in Some Families: Heightened Senses, Magical Nature, Telepathy, Flight, Limited Shapeshifting, Animal Talker, Plant Talker, and Ghost-Touched
Common Vulnerabilities:
- Magic Resistance
- Character Flaw
- Emotionally Reactive Magic
- Cold Sensitivity
- Heat Sensitivity
- Severe Allergy
Prominent Cultures: Crossroads has a wide range of humans from diverse cultural traditions. As a whole, humans in Crossroads have developed a reputation for using tools to modify their environments, with many groups heavily modifying their environments for agriculture with fences, terraces, and canals. Humans are far from alone in modifying their environments, but the extent of human-made changes is often greater than those made by other species.
Respectful Portrayal Note: In the fantasy genre, humans are usually portrayed as straight, white, and non-disabled, with non-humans being used as stand-ins for marginalized groups, especially people of color. In addition, there is a pattern of non-human characters being portrayed with marginalized traits, like disabilities, but not humans. Please be aware of this harmful pattern when creating both human and nonhuman characters, and make careful decisions about the marginalized identities that each character has.
Humans are part of the Crossroads Setting for the tabletop role-playing game, Magic Goes Awry. Click here to go to the list of vibrant and unique magical people from the Land of Crossroads.
