This is a tiny issue in the scheme of things, but in the game I am building, I want my players to be able to choose between the standard human, and the variant listed in the phb.

However, standard and variant sound pretty poor as far as sub race names go so I was wondering if anyone had any better suggestions?

Breaking them down by region/culture is usually a good idea.  People whose ancestors settled and thrived in a chilly tundra are going to have slightly different traits than those who did so in a tropical clime or a desert.  The cultures will also be different, and that would cause subtle yet noticeable differences in background and skills due to how they were raised.

Honestly, that's probably the best way to have something besides the "standard" human.

In my homegrown campaign world, I created Prismatic Humans. Tan-skinned, brown-skinned, black-skinned, blue-skinned, green-skinned, yellow-skinned, red-skinned and white-skinned. Even within those types there were subtypes. The blue-skinned, for instance, were noted mariners and/or animal friends.

I wound up going with the -ari suffix for many of the subtypes, with a few exceptions. The blue-skinned base are the Brin, and subtypes are the Kolumbari, the Strombari and the Murifari. I then gave each subtype a specific bonus feat that represented that subtype.

The pale/tan Jerba subtypes include the Atha Cliath and the Shendo.
The light brown Thracian subtypes include the Andins, Galts, Morifolk and Taz.
The white-skinned Matadi subtypes include the Ciamedi and the Matars.
Etc.

Some other possibilities for names: Humayan, Humari, Humaniti, Yumans, etc.

Or, you can pull names from history or science fiction and fantasy works.

Depending on your game setting, it might be better to consider genus and species and/or subspecies for your variants.

For example, modern human beings are in the genus and species homo sapiens.

Some of my ancestors, however, are of the genus and species homo neanderthalis.

Nothing says you cannot assign arbitrary genus and species labels to the various "human" variants you wish to use.

Just a thought.

Have you thought of using mythological names for your subraces? Possibly giving them more to distinguish themselves by, beyond the mechanics?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mythic_humanoids

I could be wrong, but I don't think he wants a massive variety of different names here, because I think he's purely talking about the base race and the variant listed in the fifth edition players handbook for DnD.

Perhaps not, and it wasn't a suggestion to make them clearly or suspiciously non-human.

Introducing some kind of minor differences makes it easier to distinguish between Humans A and Humans B, with the bonus that if those differences line up at all with mythological beings, you have a case for using their name.

Oh... I have been thick.  It might be like the difference between Hyperborean and Cimmerian in ASSH, then?

The '+1 to all stats' humans might call themselves the True or Superior humans (or Prime, Ubermensch, Perfected, Pure, Ascended, Chosen, Favoured, Godborn, Cathar Perfecti, etc).

The '+1 to two stats and a feat' humans, being less physically and mentally gifted but more flexible and resourceful might call themselves the Cunning Folk, Masterly, the New Men, Ardent, Called...

I like the idea of a setting where both variants exist, in perhaps an antagonistic relationship. Like the periods in which Neanderthals coexisted with Cro-Magnons, or homo floresiensis with homo sapiens.

Going with the Sci-fi bent you have Eugenics, Human bred for specific purposes. I'm going with Battletech/Mechwarrior on this. The clans bred humans to fill certain roles. Smaller stature but able to resist high G for their Aerospace pilots. Larger individuals to fill out the Elementals, and those with a high aptitude for reflexes for the mechwarriors. Each "breed" recieved bonuses in their respective area.

I'm rusty on this one, but in Buck Rogers the Gennies were engineered humans designed to thrive in certain environments thus better able to withstand heat, cold, light, dark, and if I remember right limited resistance to Vacuum when it came to the ones engineered to mine asteroids.

In the Lord of the rings, again this is rusty, The men of the First age were "different" than those that came after. The First men were "undiluted". I think they were called Numenorians or something like that. In game terms they were slightly better in most aspects, not sure how it would translate properly.

Thank you all for your input, it has been most enlightening.

As Willvr pointed out I was just trying to differentiate by the two types of humans available as per the phb and trying to give them names in the same way that you have wood/high elves.

My original leaning was towards using ancient languages but Hominus (Latin) and Anthropos (Greek) didn't really feel right. Then I saw dirigible's post...



I liked this a lot but wasn't sure on the names for the +1 to all, so I did a thesaurus search on prime and came up with cardinal.

So now I have my two sub races of human...

Cardinal Human: +1 to all stats

Ardent Human: +1 to 2 stats, 1 skill, 1 feat.


Thank you all again.

Very nice!  Well done, both of you.

On the Fantasy side if you can get your hands on a copy of Middle Earth Role Playing there are several examples of Human-Subraces there. Part Tribal/cultural part racial differences.

ASSH (Astounding Swordsmen and Sorcerors of Hyperborea) has a good list, too, though probably not as extensive as MERP.