Humans are a race available for player character

Player character

A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...

s in the Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

 roleplaying game. Although short-lived by comparison, humans are the most populous of all Dungeons & Dragons races. They are renowned for their diversity and ambition, and although they lack specializations like other races, they can excel in many areas. Subspecies of humans include the planetouched

Planetouched

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the planetouched are mortal creatures whose ancestors were extraplanar creatures such as celestials, fiends, or elementals.Planetouched are considered native outsiders.-Publication history:...

 aasimar

Aasimar

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, aasimar are a fictional race of humanoid creatures who are descended from celestials, angels and other creatures of good alignment...

, genasi

Genasi

Genasi are creatures in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.-Publication history:The air genasi, the earth genasi, the fire genasi, and the water genasi first appeared in second edition as player character races for the Planescape setting in the Planewalker's Handbook .The air genasi,...

, and tiefling

Tiefling

Tieflings are a fictional race in the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy tabletop role-playing game.Tieflings were originally introduced as humans with demonic ancestry. A Tiefling is a being whose lineage can be traced back to some degree or another to that of a fiend or demon within the Dungeons &...

s, as well as Vashar, the human equivalent of drow.

Benefits and penalties

In 3rd edition D&D, a human can take any class as its favored class. Furthermore, humans get feat and skill bonuses.

While not usually having as direct an effect on a character, it has been widely shown that humans are the most capable of interbreeding with other races. With most "half" races (half-orcs, half-elves, half-ogres, and even half-giants), the "half" almost always refers to a human half. Thus, this could be seen as a "benefit" should a player wish to have their character reproduce.

Dragonlance

In the Dragonlance

Dragonlance

Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of popular fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job application...

campaign setting

Campaign setting

A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...

, humans are the most common civilized species on Krynn

Krynn

Krynn is the fictional world of the Dragonlance novels, co-written by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. It has also been used in many other books, set in the Dragonlance universe. It is also used as the main setting in the Dragonlance campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing...

. They were created by Gilean, a neutral god. He gave them short lifespans to be neutral, and so in this short life they are likely to be of many and varied alignments, unlike elves

Elf (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, elves are a fictional humanoid race that is one of the primary races available for play as player characters. Elves are renowned for their grace and mastery of magic and weapons such as the sword and bow...

 or ogres

Ogre (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, ogres are a lesser race of giants, rather being simply large brutes with clubs. An aquatic subrace of ogres is known as "merrow." D&D ogres are also closely related to the race of ogre magi, a smarter race with blue skin and great magical abilities...

. Most countries are populated by humans, with few exceptions, chiefly Qualinesti, Silvanesti, and Mithas.