Playable Race – Human (Herculean)

While the Western lands of the Oceans of Contest are home to piracy and lawlessness, the Northern and Eastern territories are ruled by the Herculean Humans of Athens. Order, intellect, and democracy are the guiding principles of this proud race of scholars and warriors.

By Strength of Body

Like other humans, Herculeans can appear in any skin tone, yet due to the intense sunlight and Mediterranean climate, they are often of tanned skin. Their hair colour is typically a variation of dark blacks or browns, yet there have been instances of Herculeans with blond or pale hair. They are diverse in their build and height, yet typically growing between 5.5ft and 6.5ft. Herculeans are highly innovative in magic and technology but also in style. They take great pride in their appearance and will design and wear stunning accessories such as circlets and jewellery. In honour of their cities made from marble and gold, they tend to wear similar colours. Piercings are rare (though not unheard of) so much of their bodily decoration comes in the form of rings, bracelets, headbands or hair clips, belts or straps and patterned cloth.

While only the finest fighters go on to become warriors of the elite Spartan, all citizens of Athens are expected to train both the body and mind. One of the most common teachings in Athens is “Those who read of the sword may still die upon them.“. This mindset leads to even the most scholarly of people to have at least a reasonable understanding of combat and as such, most Herculeans are muscular and toned.

By Strength of Mind

A young Herculean has two primary career paths. If they find an affinity for the blade, they may seek the life of a soldier. One of the famed Spartans of Mount Olympus. However, if their mind proves sharper than their blade, they may seek to become a scholar and find employment at one of the many universities throughout the kingdom of Athens. Here, they can practice magic or science, and seek to solve the mysteries of the realms or discover mysteries of their own for future generations to solve. Many scholars construct tiny robotic familiars as primitive assistants, conversationist and to showcase their talent.

Herculean Names

Herculean names are typically reminiscent of ancient Greek names. They often have a deeper meaning, though rarely influence the personality of the individual. You can choose from the list below or come up with your own option:

Masculine	Feminine
Atticus	Corinna
Cyrillus	Demostrate
Diogenes	Eudocia
Hyginus	Isidora
Nicander	Photina

Human (Herculean) Traits

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 2 and your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Age. Humans reach adulthood in their late teens and live less than a century.

Alignment. Humans of the Herculean variety are often taught the value of rules in society. As such, they lean towards a lawful alignment.

Size. Humans vary widely in height and build, from barely 5 feet to well over 6 feet tall. Regardless of your position in that range, your size is Medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Olympian.

Lion’s Blessing. As a reaction, you can increase your AC by +5 until the start of your next turn. You can do this twice before needing to take a long rest.

Hydra’s Blessing. As an action, you may spend 1 of your available hit dice. Hit dice spent this way cannot be recovered during the next long rest.

Bull’s Blessing. You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Cerberus’ Blessing. You are immune to the fear condition.

Final Thoughts

Thanks for reading about the Herculean humans! I tried to make this playable race feel really thematic. I wanted to add a fantasy spin to ancient Greek mythology while still being respectful of their history and culture. I hope I have achieved this. You can join the community on Discord, where I’ll be running some community Oneshots soon. You can also find me on Twitch where we build a lot of these homebrews with the help of chat!

Have a great day and a may your next session be filled with glory!