In Which We Guess Races' Ability Bonuses

[Aenghus]

Can I ask where people are getting wis for Dwarves? I would have thought it would be int for the whole "making things" schtick.

Probably because dwarves were the big cleric race in previous editions, with powerful and socially influential clerics, but lacking arcane spellcasters till 3e.

And while dwarves are supposed to be legendary at metalwork and stonework, they aren't noted as being particularly bright. In previous editions their craft talents have been separate bonuses, and I see that as happening again in 4e.

So a Wis bonus works for them , with the proviso that their racial flaw will almost certainly be greed.

It has been suggested that their racial abilities are based around being tough, possibly a second use of the D&D equivalent of Second Wind.

I suspect with their height increase, their movement rate will be 5, slightly slower than humans at 6, but with a smaller ratio than the 20/30 of 3e.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

Dwarves: Str + Con

 

[Szatany]

I can't help but wonder:

If racial penalties to ability scores are gone, how are halflings as strong as humans justified?

 

[Simia Saturnalia]

I already voted on this, and I still want dwarves to just get +4 Con. Little mountains that walk like men.

 

[Henry]

I can't help but wonder:

If racial penalties to ability scores are gone, how are halflings as strong as humans justified?

TO me, they're just as justified as they are under 3E: Under 3E, you could have halflings just as strong, or stronger, than most humans, it was just that most halflings who weren't fighters were using their STR as a dump stat.

Don't forget, halflings may still have the "size vs. carrying capacity" and "size modifiers to grapple" limitations that 3E has, so there's still plenty of justification for "small, weak halflings." while they still might beat in a straight-up arm wrestling contest, they just aren't big enough to tote as much, nor big enough to out-wrestle a larger creature.

In fact, the grapple penalty might even be -5 instead of -4 now, if they are following the Star Wars "-1, -2, -5, 10" rule for penalties.

 

[Gloombunny]

If racial penalties to ability scores are gone, how are halflings as strong as humans justified?

Perhaps size penalties will be increased and/or applied to more things.

I really hope they don't just give every race +2 to two stats. Races should have the attribute modifiers that make sense for them, not artificially given more or less just to have the same net bonus as other races. There are plenty of ways to balance races with different attribute totals.

 

[Gort]

TO me, they're just as justified as they are under 3E: Under 3E, you could have halflings just as strong, or stronger, than most humans, it was just that most halflings who weren't fighters were using their STR as a dump stat.

I hope halflings have a huge strength penalty in 4e - at least -4. They can have other stuff to make up for it - indeed, I hope they do or nobody will play them - but really, a four-foot person with the strength of a slightly-below average six-footer? Unbelievable. I appreciate that they were trying to make every class playable by every race, but it should really require a radically different approach to be a halfling fighter as opposed to a human one. The idea that a halfling could "out-strength" an orc is rather foolish to me.

 

[ashockney]

Eight Core Races I believe:

Elf: +2 Dex, +2 Wis

Eladrin: +2 Dex, +2 Int

Halfling: +2 Dex, +2 Cha

Human: +2 Str, or +2 your choice (Dex, Con), and +2 your choice (Int, Wis Cha)

Tiefling: +2 Con, +2 Cha

Dwarf: +2 Con, +2 Wis

Dragonborn: +2 Str

Surprise (I'm guessing they've still got one up their sleeve): +2 Con, +2 Int

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

Surprise (I'm guessing they've still got one up their sleeve): +2 Con, +2 Int

[This space reserved for Gnomes]

 

[glorm]

my guess

If the modifiers are +2 Phy/ +2 Mental, then there are 9 possible combinations. This would really limit design space, but it would work for PHB I. I'd guess that humans will be more flexible as might half-elfs.

to be flexible
Humans +2 {Str, Con, Dex}/ {Wis, Int, Cha}

I predict that the elves will all be dex-based

Elf +2 Dex +2 Wis (we know this)
Eladrin +2 Dex +2 Int (good wizards)
Drow +2 Dex +2 Cha (not in PHB, but the 3rd elf race and the final dex/pysical possibility)
Half-elf +2 Dex +2 {Wis, Int, Cha} (combining the elf dex and human adaptability.

Dwarf +2 Con +2 Wis (hearty and they make good clerics)

Tiefling +2 Con +2 Cha (cha seems best for a warlock. Con makes them hearty, but I don't see good fluff behind any physical choice)

Dragonborn +2 Str +2 Cha (the strong race and good leaders)

Halfling +2 Dex +2 Cha (sneaky and tricky; overlaps with the drow, but they aren't in PHB I and even if there were it would show that you could have the same mods on sufficiently different races)

This would leave +2 Con +2 Int, +2 Str +2 Int and +2 Str +2 Wis open.
I think +2 Con +2 Int would be ideal for the gnome. I seem to recall some discussion about Str as a more valuble attribute to modify in 3.0/3.5 but I suspect 4E will be better balanced.