Humans in fantasy settings

Since you arbitrarily just chose the strength of every race and put them all together to bash on humanity in every way, why even ask? At this point any suggestion would be shut down because in this "setting" humans must be shit.

So I'll give you the answer you want: no, humans wouldn't be able to survive if not for the whim of better, more powerful races that keep them as pets, most likely in a sexual way.

There, satisfied now?

Due to the need to have a relatable race for humans to self-insert and by the power of writer bias, they will succeed!

>>49620305
>humans taught A and B by X and Y and are less developed than X and Y
>how do they survive?
That's what happens when you rip off Tolkien without reading his books.

Why would the Gnomes, Elves, Dwarves, and Orcs want to conquer/annihilate us? For all their dumbshittery, humans are good trading partners.

>>49620650
Nevermind the other races, Orcs are always trying to kill Humans for some reason.

>>49620305
>humans in a fantasy or sci-fi setting
>"we, us"
I hate when people do this. You are not in this fantasy world. I'm not there either. Saying 'we' and 'us' is just tribalism. Especially when you are attempting to imagine some kind of top-down anthropology.

>>49620305
>magic usually taught by Elves
>Dwarves usually teach humans about crafting and engineering

does this mean we are better at engineering than elves and better at magic than dwarves and better at both than orcs? that has to give us enough to survive at very least

>>49620305
>>49620543

Since you can just make up arbitrary attributes for any race in your fictional setting, just come up with details you like. Tell your players that they can only make non-human PCs because humans were wiped out long ago and went extinct in your setting.

>>49620305
A prophetic hero rises from some unknown backwater town to curbstomp Humanity's enemies and save the world from a demon King.

Along the way, he unites the different races and they are grateful towards Humans for saving them, putting Humanity at the helm of a new alliance between the races.

>49620305
>inb4 adaptability meme
>inb4 "we never give up" meme

They aren't memes you chuckefuck
those are why our ancestors survived toba eruption, eradicated neanderthals and survived fucking ice age

>>49620884
>survived toba eruption
So did everyone else.
>eradicated neanderthals
But orcs are still around.
>survived fucking ice age
So did everyone else.
Comparing real life humans with fantasy humans doesn't work.

>>49620961
fantasy humans already use real life humans as a template, what the fuck is this shit?

>>49620961
>>49620984
>Comparing real life humans with fantasy humans doesn't work.
>justify my made-up world being inconsistant while only using conventions of my inconsistant made up world

>>49620984
You are comparing humans that went through real life events to fantasy races that had never the chance to prove themselves in these events because they are not part of their world. It's retarded. You have to look what the humans in that fantasy world do.

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Well the weaknesses of the other races seem to be that their numbers are usually dwindling down due to low birthrates and other factors while humans hit the sweet spot of producing a lot of offspring like the orcs and at the same time having a relatively similar levels of knowledge and technology with the other races.

This is why i often see the orcs as the heirs to humanity since they often seem to be the cavemen who if given enough resources would boot the human races ass just like they often do with those before them.

>>49621039
why are they even humans then?

>>49620305
Depends on the setting.

Superior firepower, augs and eugenics

T. Carlos garcia

>>49621046
Because they smell and taste like humans.

>>49621045
As a human nationalist I have to say the Orcs are heirs to nothing. Given more resources they will only produce more destruction and violence. They can't build a civilization or maintain one due to their violence and stupidity.

>>49620305
>breed in a far faster incline than elves and dwarves
>lives in areas that other major races do not inhabit, as well as areas that they do, and learns their trades and professions passively
>intelligent enough to counter Orc aggression with tactics and alliances since orcs are dicks to everyone

They may be "average" at everything but that means there are no real weaknesses to exploit like with the elves and dwarves. Semi-strength of all with the weaknesses of none.

Muh adaptability isn't a meme, it's the logical outcome with a realm with these types of races.

>>49620305
How the fuck could the European survive with golden age Arabians, mongols and Ottomans around?
How the fuck does the people who live in shitty lands outclass Aztec, Chinese and India.

>>49620961
I don't see any fucking orcs, sir
Sounds to me like they all not-alive

>>49620305
>What solid strengths would Humans have over other races to prevent us from getting conquered or annihilated?
Anything apart from already mentioned strengths of other races, adaptability and "we never give up".
Divine blessing, necromancy, blood magic, help from demons, spirits, deposit of magic crystals, banking.

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>>49620961
>orcs are still around

I bet you mean black people because /pol/io meme, but we have a lot of evidence that europeans were the ones who fucked the neanderthals away, making them half-orcs.

You're probably a half-orc, Anon.

>>49620305
A good setting will make humans the technological race, since that's already our shtick.

>whadabout ma dwarves

Dwarves are too traditional to embrace new technology. They're good at metal working and architecture, but nothing involving very complicated moving parts.

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>>49621418
I meant it the other way around, from the perspective of the fantasy world, in which orcs really exist
Sorry for not making this clear

>>49620305

Why did you capitalize the name of every character race in your post? Races are never capitalized. Not even elves and dwarves. Names of species are regular nouns, like rabbit or dog.

>>49620565
what did you mean by this?

>>49620305
>Taught by the best about crafting/engineering
>Taught by the better ones about magic and stealth
> Other races are too long lived to even care about procreation while human numbers stays stable

Humans are better at adapting to shit becuase the other races are sharing their stuff with them, mixing every knowledge together they end up knowing more than the individual ones.

Orcs kill each other as long as no-one takes the lead.

Gnomes should be extinct.

>>49620305
>>inb4 adaptability meme


well you asked.


humans are able to be good at everything at the cost of not being best at anything or having an innate species level skill

there are plenty of upsides to being the mario

____________

besides thst? usually we breed faster (and more widely) than elves or dwarves and orcs never really get their shit together to apply /their/ numbers well

>inb4

may as well say "how do elves even exist, and don't say magic or archery"

>>49623075
>"how do elves even exist, and don't say magic or archery"
Swords. Also one of their weapons.

>>49620305
>Begging the question
Gee, OP, I don't know.

My understanding of history, sociology, socioeconomics, etc. is that adaptiability and doing everything good enough instead of speciaslizing are not "memes". They are winning attributes.

I have always seen the purpose of humans less in adaptability (though that is part of it) and more in scope. Breadth. Humans are hearty in broad strokes. Elves and dwarves are isolated communities in many vases and stick to consistent biospheres. Dwarves are physically sturdy to physical punishment, but lack the endurance and resiliance for most surface living. Elves rely on the land they call home and are physically more frail and limited on their long-range survivability. Orcs are short lived theough violence, famine, and disease. Humans have been able to overcome and survive in more areas and situations doing the exact same things everywhere.

So in settings I see humans as simply hearty and survivable. Things that often kill other races bear chuckles for humans.

>>49621245
You forgot genocide and xenophobia.

Samael are good guys.

>>49620815
Sooo... Mass Effect 1?

>>49620305
In this situation, humans would probably have to rely on sheer numbers and quantity over quality.

If humans had a great enough numbers advantage, they could hold their own in a military situation with use of formations, barring magical bullshit or dragons or something.

They could probably be successful enough in trade being the China race of the world, making cheap versions of the good shit the elves and dwarves do as well.

>>49620305
They are able to be able to all those things without being over specialized in any one area
>>49621477
I like this answer