Ilbranteloth
Explorer
I guess what I am saying is that if you hand out a d4 or d6 natural weapon, better be prepared to acknowledge it is a ribbon ability which does not make the racial choice stronger.
As for your actual question, have you checked out my other thread?
I'm perfectly prepared to say it's an ability that doesn't make the race stronger. Except that it does, under certain circumstances.
But generally speaking, in 5e design, the point is that no race is stronger, although they don't have an issue of providing a bump in power under certain circumstances.
I don't care if it's a "ribbon" ability or not. A minotaur has horns. It can use them as a weapon. The minotaurs they are designing as a playable race is intended to be as balanced as the rest. Back in 2e in particular, they (wisely in my opinion) didn't worry as much about balance. In the Spellsinger class in Wizards and Rogues of the Realms there is a disclaimer, which appeared quite a bit in various forms:
"Once more, there are bound to be a few players who will attempt to abuse the powers of the spellsinger kit. For example, such a PC might spend hour after hour of noncombat time attempting to cast wish and other potent spells. The DM must determine the limits of such liberties..."
The reason this problem (and the fetishism of game balance) exists is because there are a number of fundamentally different ways of playing the game. You seem to be focused on the mechanical aspects of the game, finding ways to exploit the most benefit out of how the rules fit together (that's not a diss), and that the functions of play in the game are designed around the mechanics. As such, a class that isn't tightly defined and restricted can become a game breaker.
For example, my players tend to play up the effects of damage in combat, with their physical capabilities hindered by loss of hit points. That there is a fundamental difference between maximum hit points and 1 hit point, and places in between. And that even though the rules don't tell you that there is, they feel it should have an impact.
There's another approach that's quite evident in the gaming community that preaches it's best to save your healing magic for when somebody is at 0 hit points, since there is no mechanical difference, and you don't want to "waste" your magic on somebody who "doesn't need it." "Oh, I was at 0 hp, but that's OK, I'm fine now. Just a flesh wound."
Neither is right, but if you prefer a game that's more simulationist, that bears a closer connection to "reality" (whatever that is), then you either need to role-play it, or the rules need to be changed to better support it (we do both).
For our groups, unbalanced classes, races, etc., have generally never been an issue, because we aren't min/maxers, power gamers, whatever. A minotaur character has a much stronger natural weapon than a human, and that comes into play whenever it happens to come into play. The reality is, what comes into play far more than that for us is that the character is, in fact, a minotaur. And as such, there are a huge number of things that are inherently different from humans and the other "civilized" races. When we have a character of an exotic race, that fact alone is enough to make a big difference in the nature of that character.