The Humans are a race of contrasts. Virtuous saints or insidious criminals, cruel lords or selfless knights, wise scholars or illiterate soldiers - all of them are a part of human society and each of them has a good and a bad side, even if the other one is more prominent. In a world where extreme poverty exists near extreme richness, there are both commoners that strive to achieve greatness and aristocrats that succumb to the corruptive nature of power. Short-lived compared to many other mortal races, humans rarely have time to truly master their craft but what they lack in finesse, they make up with ambition.

 

On the battlefield, Humans can employ many different strategies, overwhelming opponents with numerous soldiers or challenging them with powerful knights. Their priests possess great healing powers, their mages are adept at destructive magic. And the success of human leaders depends on their ability to make their subordinates contribute to the victory in their own ways.

 

When playing as Humans, you have access to some of the most varied armies. You can seize the battlefield with melee troops before deploying crossbowmen and mages to capitalize on your advantage. Or order your priests to keep your armies on their feet, while they clash with your enemies. Or simply send battalions of soldiers after soldiers until they earn you victory with their blood. Whatever the strategy, always think of ways your opponent can counteract and try to be a step ahead.

 

When playing against Humans, it is important to understand how they intend to win the game. If they focus their efforts on a single powerful unit, a single killing spell can remove that threat. If they flood the battlefield with numerous weak units, they become vulnerable to spells that deal area damage. You can use surprise attacks of cavalry or hidden troops to kill their priests and mages first and then outmatch their soldiers with more powerful monstrosities or more skilled fighters, as human armies become vulnerable, if their structure falls apart.

 

Humans favor the following mechanics:

• Auras, letting powerful commanders lead their armies to victory

• Card draw and generation, ensuring a steady stream of units to deploy

• Guardians, protecting their priests and mages, crossbowmen and archers

• Healing, keeping their armies alive

• Blessings, protecting their fighters and making them stronger

• Ranged attacks, weakening their enemies before assaulting them with their soldiers

• Stealth, letting their units hide until they are ready to strike

 

Human factions:

• Militia of the Realms is the backbone of human armies. Coming from many different kingdoms, they are loyal only to their lords. Even though internal conflicts are not rare, in times of need human leaders are usually able to set their differences apart and assemble large hosts of soldiers that can be used as a frontline against their common enemies.

• The Royal Guard consists of knights that come from many different knightly orders and are bound by numerous oaths they swear in their lifetime. One such oath is to serve their king to the last drop of their blood. To break an oath means to lose honor and for a knight such fate is worse than death. That is why they always remain loyal to their liege and avoid feuds, even though their orders may have conflicting interests.

• Mercenaries of the Merchant Coast are numerous and unprincipled, willing to lend their blades to the highest bidder. Disliked by both simple men and noble lords, they are a very useful tool that rich merchants and aristocrats often use to achieve shady goals without making their hand dirty. Mercenaries often employ dirty tactics, ambushing and assassinating their targets. Some consider them criminals but how would they be punished, if their master is often the one who sets the laws.

• Church of the Golden Flame is the most powerful religious order in human kingdoms. Preaching kindness and virtue, it seeks to keep a tight grip on the ruling nobility and simple peasantry alike. Tolerating the smaller churches that worship the Makers as long as they don't endanger its supremacy, it wages a never-ending war against heretics and cultists. Be it a divine boon after years of prayers and meditation or a natural talent, the priests have the power to heal and bless their allies and to smite their foes.

• Guild of Battle Mages is a powerful loosely-structured organization that unites mages from many different kingdoms and many different wizardly orders. Some of them spent decades studying the inner workings of magic and practicing arcane arts. The others joined its ranks as soon as they learned their first destructive spell. But all of them are dangerous spellcasters that are willing to use their talents to defeat the enemies of their order, their kingdom or the humanity as a whole.