I can't remember where I read this, but I loved this proverb for how the elves view the humans: "Every day the same, every decade different."
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I was going to do the elf viewpoint, but I couldn't quite figure out a way to say "they go from infant to arch-mage in the time it takes an adolescent's voice to change" in a way that didn't make it seem like elves have a learning disability. ;)
This may be of interest to you. Primarily sourced to 3.5 but does a wonderful job of addressing how and why elves seem to take so long doing everything.
Almagrithiel, Eldritch Prefect of the Mordant Spire: "Humans? At first glance, they are vermin. They scuttle about and spend their pittance of a life holed up somewhere toiling away at one thing or another. And yet, much like a towering termite mound, those little efforts are harnessed into works far greater than any single one alone. I have wondered about them and their industry. Tell me I'd only have less than a century, and I'd spend it seeing the world, smelling every kind of flower. I'd want to feel the sirocco in my hair, the silence of the blizzard, the howl of the sea. And yet, these humans, they shutter themselves up in little homes, make the same shoes over and over, find paltry reasons to fight one another, find a single mate, raise a single family, then shuffle off while their children enact the same ritual, again and again.
But there is something to their industry. Along will come one human who decides on a life work of creation. A general craving conquest. A wizard craving knowledge. An architect building a fortress. And given that they breed so quickly, there is always that one human, and usually mutliple. And much like a queen in the termite mound, suddenly all those shoes, all those battles, all those farms, all those little dull efforts are piled atop one another until they command everything on the surface. They continue their little lives until they are everywhere.
And do they always have to be so blasted attractive?"
Since every race is composed of individuals and not a hive-mind, such stereotypes are impossible to determine and utterly irrelevant.
Since every race includes societies with their own ethics, mores and folkways, such stereotyping is easily visualized and quite likely to affect inter-species relationships.
Ah, but here perhaps is something significant that we should think about for creating these stereotypes: among the various PF races, humans are the most ethnically diverse. Their religion, alignment, skin color, height, appearance, cultural mores, values, and even equipment & traditions all radically differ from one another - whereas say, dwarves or elves are much more homogenized.
But can you tell the faces of lions apart? Maybe they look incredibly diverse to us, because we're used to the differences from the point of view of humans. Other species' cultures might look very similar indeed to humans, but from an elf's point of view, all the humans have the same build, do the same things, make the same tools... Yes, their potential is limitless, but who is willing to guide the growth of a forest tree into the perfect hunting blind?
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Since every race is composed of individuals and not a hive-mind, such stereotypes are impossible to determine and utterly irrelevant.
That's how things are in the real world too, and yet somehow stereotypes persist.
Threadcap: failed.
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Foignar, Dwarven Ambassador "Humans are caught in a perpetual childhood, because they die before they come of age. They can't hold their drink, but spend money like they're always drunk. They never take the time to do anything right so everything they do is full of errors and quickly falls apart. They have no sense of history and most can't trace their family lineage back past a few centuries. Exactly like children."
This threads reminds me of the old WotC book collection "Races of..." (Destiny, Eberron, Stone, etc). My favorite part of those books was the pages where they gave a short description of how each race is viewed by the others. Cool stuff.
Given the existence of half-elves, half-orcs, tieflings, aasimar, ifrit, oreads, undines, sylphs, etc, etc, etc, I have to think the primary human stereotype is "will sleep with absolutely anything".
....or does that mean "anything will sleep with them"....
It takes two to tango!....presumably. It is a fantasy game, so I will not make presumptions on 'normal'.
Humans are Xenophobic and speciest in the extreme. If its not a human (or sometimes an elf or a dwarf) they treat them as vermin to be exterminated or a potential corpse to be looted.
-Reynard, kitsune swashbuckler.
To be fair, seeing someone suddenly go furry for the first time scares the s%** out of us. Second time around, you're lookin' mighty foxy...
Longshanks move so slooow! I had my first litter when I was five. Longshanks at five, still shorter than me. By the time they litter, I'm grey and dead! And so boooring. I watched the red-hair one. Everyday he gets up and hits the metal with the hammer. Every. Single. Day. Who has time for that?! Ooo, shiny! -Dirk, goblin gunslinger.
Since every race is composed of individuals and not a hive-mind, such stereotypes are impossible to determine and utterly irrelevant.That's how things are in the real world too, and yet somehow stereotypes persist.
Threadcap: failed.
Except that individuals don't live in a vacuum. Society and family exert a huge influence on how an individual thinks and acts from early childhood, and societies tend to come down like a ton of bricks on people who fall outside their norms. So individuals from the same cultural, ethnic, familial or whatever groups tend to be very similar within a group when compared to others. Particularly so before there was anything remotely like global communication and mass culture.
And of course, that's reality; in a fantasy world where there are actually significantly different 'races' who have some stereotypes written right into their basic character rules...
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Kalendamerous the Glorious and Almighty Great Wyrm Red Dragon Humans are like sheep, they are delicious and plentiful, and roast quite nicely. They are the perfect snack, neither tough and stringy like dwarf, or leave you famished after just a few months like elves. But, and my dear wymrlings, this is the part you should never forget, when you eat too many of them from any one place, or eat ones with self-aggrandizing names, they swarm out of their ugly little stone cities like ants, and if the pinprick stings of 10,000 ants can kill a man, then young one, the swords of 10,000 humans CAN kill a dragon. The key is moderation in human hunting. Oh, and humans love gold, so while they are sad mud bound little meat-balls, they really are the meal that pays you to eat it.
I can't remember where I read this, but I loved this proverb for how the elves view the humans: "Every day the same, every decade different."
In one of the Varian Jeggare novels, I recall seeing a quote to the effect that, to humans, a hundred years is a long time, whereas to elves, a hundred miles is a long distance.
Humans. Everybody's second best friend.
Krulsiem, Elven Wizard 7 Humans are dangerous. It's easy to forget, talking to a human wizard, how young they are, because they seem like an adult, at first. But they aren't, not really . . . they don't have the experience for true wisdom. You can teach them how to do most anything, they pick up skills fast, but trying to teach a human whether they should do something is like trying to teach an orc to read. Impossible.
Teaching a human wizardry is like telling a thirty year old kid the activation word to a wand. Damn irresponsible.
Benedikus, Gnome Bard (Prankster) 6
Humans are just so boring! They can't appreciate a single joke. I mean you dump a bucket of paint on one King's head and then suddenly you're an "enemy of the state". By the way you shouldn't go talk to humans for a couple decades if you know what I mean.
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Mother Sezz'k, Lizardfold Druid
Aren't they basically a kind of goblin? They reproduce at an absurd rate, spread everywhere, eat everything, and then cut down or burn everything. They just infect where ever they live, and make trouble for every other race. They are too short lived to have a concept of keeping the growth of their area in order so it can be used by their hatchlings later.
Admittedly, they are slightly smarter than most goblins. That mostly means that their dogslicers are a bit better.
oh, and they try to mate with almost every species they meet. They don't accept 'cloaca' as an answer. Flattering, but I don't appreciate it.
Fash'zethrak, Xulgath Paragon
No comment.
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Odovacar Hillborne, Halfling Cavalier
Humans are great! They invented "German' Chocolate Cake!
Plus, if it's safe for Humans to live there, Halflings can too.
Also, if you're a good cook, then make a Human a big meal and he's your friend for life! (Just remember that his stomach is smaller than yours, despite his bigger size...)
Here's a couple of varying perspectives:
"I have witnessed humans driven by their passions to build works of engineering that would impress Brigh greatly--and other humans, driven by those same passions, work tirelessly to destroy it for all manner of reasons. I am conflicted--there are times I am quietly grateful that I do not feel such things. And there are times where I cannot help but wish I could feel as a human can. I am crafted in their image, but I feel as though I am missing an important part..."
"And more than a few of the ones who know of us seem to have an unhealthy fixation on drow females. If the fools only knew... some advice: if you're in their territory, keep your f&#%ing head down and out of sight. If they're in our territory, kill them or enslave them."
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Shrash'grind, Balor in service to Deskari:
Delightful playthings, these humans. So easy to stir the feelings of hate, of wrath, of a thousand different things that all lead to their wriggling little souls becoming fuel for the glorious womb of the Abyss. Their capacity for violence and destruction is most pleasing, their willingness to embrace their inevitable corruption in service to my Lord deeply amusing, and their capacity to produce offspring with so many other varieties of mortals is a testament to an adaptability like unto we Children of the Abyss ourselves. Yet the fact I am most frequently reminded of when I think of humans is the digestive upset they cause me when consumed in excess.
"Humans cause cancer". -- Lyralor Leafbalm, Elven Arcane Physician.