Are Half-elves underpowered?

[italianranma]

I'm wondering if the community here thinks that Half-elves are a little weak. If so, what would you do to make them more enticing to players?

I've been DMing with a bunch of friends for about 5 years now, and none of us have every rolled up a half-elf...

 

[sfedi]

I think they are weak, but as weak as Humans.

IMC I always bump humans, giving them more points to spend on Abilities (6 more)

 

[Graf]

Not to start a flamewar but humans are quite powerful already, jacking their abilities scores by at least +2 (if you put those 6 points into an 18) is just wrong.

I'm against changing rules in the core books, but I have to admit that half-elves are a suboptimal choice for just about any character build (except maybe some strange multiclass combination).

I would be tempted to give them the human bonus skills as a kicker if I ever had a player who wanted to play one.

 

[Kelleris]

I follow a cue from Unearthed Arcana and give half-elves the human bonus to skill points. I also agree that the poster that thinks humans are underpowered is, well, off the mark. Probably 80-85% of all characters in my games are human, pretty much all of them that don't require some other race as part of the character concept. The extra feat and skill points are just hard to pass up most of the time...

 

[Nifft]

I think that the half-elf is indeed underpowered, and I fix it by adding human bonus skill points.

So far IMC I've had ~15 PCs, and only one Half-Elf.

Thus, i think they're not overpowered.

-- N

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

I give them a bonus feat, drawn from a list of skill-related feats and the Elf's ability to detect secret doors.

I also give them +2 DEX/-2 CON, but that's because full-blooded Elves are -2 STR +2 DEX -2 CON +2 CHA. (This also makes the Half-Elves' skill bonuses more logical.)

Really, the main advantage Half Elves have in my game is the Human-like Favored Gestalt of Any. (I've made FG more powerful in my games, by adding a 10% XP bonus whenever a character advances in their FG.)

 

[Li Shenron]

They are slightly worse than any other class, but I wouldn't go as far as saying "underpowered" since that means the disadvantage is serious.

They used to be slightly better in 3.0, because with more front-loaded classes, a race with favored class "any" could get slightly better multiclass combinations.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I get rid of their dumb skill check bonus to diplomacy and gather info (or what ever it is) and instead give them extra skill points as humans, been doing it since 3.5 came out. Still don't see to me.

 

[Aidan mac Culloch]

I think half-elves are on the same playing field as half-orcs. Mechanically, a weaker race compared to humans, elves, dwarves, etc. I like the suggestions I've seen here about giving half-elves more skill pts. It is a good compromise, and encourages more diverse skill use.

On the other hand, stylistically, they can be very appealing. But it depends what you're looking for.

 

[CrusaderX]

I give Half-Elves an extra skill point at every level after 1st. They don't get any other skill related bonuses, though.

Humans get an additional skill point at every even level.