Common

The Inner Sea region teems with a diverse array of cultures and races. In some places, like the metropolitan melting pot of Absalom, humans of every ethnicity might rub shoulders with everything from bizarre gnomes and quick-witted halflings to comparatively exotic crow-headed tengus or froglike gripplis. In other places, like the elven nation of Kyonin or the dwarven strongholds of the Five Kings Mountains, members of particular races keep almost exclusively to themselves in homogeneous societies. Yet whether they be inclusive or standoffish, certain societies always rise to dominance, and such is the case in the Inner Sea region, where humanity is the most populous of all intelligent races, with dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings, half-elves, and half-orcs being almost as widespread and familiar. So why have these seven races risen to prominence while the others haven’t?The simple answer is often numbers, as these seven races are far and away the most numerous in the Inner Sea region. Yet often there are other factors at play—boons or faults that eclipse mere birth rate—that allow some cultures to rise while others fall. Each of the so-called “common races” of the Inner Sea region has its own unique strategies or aspects of its personality that has led it to greatness.