[RPG] How do Human Traits Work

dnd-5ehumanracial-traits

I'm a relatively new player to the D&D scene. I'm creating a human ranger and was puzzled at the logistics of human traits, and I can't seem to find the answer anywhere, although I might just be bad at researching.

On D&D Beyond, when looking at the human race, under "Human Traits" it gives a list of Marks and Houses, such as Mark of Handling Human, followed by House Vadalis, then Mark of Making Human, followed by House Cannith, so on and so forth. And then at the end of the list is "Variant Human". With this context in mind I have 3 questions.

  1. Are these Marks and Houses canon? As someone who has never really played, I have no clue if these are used regularly.

  2. Do the Marks that precede the house listed relate to each other? e.g. is the Mark of Handling Human something given to you if you choose House Vadalis?

  3. If you choose Variant Human, I understand that you forfeit the +1 to all stats in favor of the Level 1 feat and extra proficiency, on top of the +1 to two stats of your choice. But if I choose Variant (assuming Houses and Marks are canon), does this forfeit my choice of a house? Or do I get to pick a house on top of picking variant as a trait?

Best Answer

Marks are a variant for the Eberron setting

The Marks and Houses are from the Eberron setting availible for 5e in Wayfinder's Guide to Eberron. They are canon, but only relevant if you are playing in that setting (if you are your DM should have told you, if you are unsure just ask). If you aren't playing in this setting you can turn off "Eberron content" under Sources in D&D Beyond's Character Builder. (You may want to turn off the others too, unless you know you are using them. Again ask your DM.) If you want to read more on the Dragonmarks see the Unearthed Arcana article. The TL;DR is that they replace whatever other features humans would get (see below). The description of each mark says what it replaces. (The D&D Beyond version doesn't, for some bizzare reason.)

For non-Eberron settings there are two 'kinds' of humans: normal and variant. The normal get +1 to each ability score and that's it.1 The variant is an option if your table is using the Feats-optional rule (ask your DM, chances are you do). If you use variant you get a few ability scores (+1 to two), some skills and a Feat of your choice (which may include a +1 to an ability score).

1: This isn't bad, but it might be underwhelming to some players.

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