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Jeremy Crawford Discusses Details on Custom Origins
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<blockquote data-quote="Scott Christian" data-source="post: 8115830" data-attributes="member: 6901101"><p>Two things: rules are changed to make things <em>easier</em>. That is exactly what I said. When things become easier, mechanics become easier to exploit. ie. Min/maxers. Two - I have never equated min/maxers to not caring about story or lore. I just see them bending lore in order achieve their build; which is almost inevitably, a combination of things that when added, make them stronger than what they could achieve with a prior build.</p><p>A DM's world is built around the exceptional, not the common. Think of Thanksgiving dinner. The common is like the silverware, plates, bowls, tablecloth, etc. on a dinner table. The exceptional is the turkey, gravy, cranberries, etc. The exceptional are also the PC's. And what they build sits on that table. So when a build is made of sushi, and placed on the table. Yeah, it is good. But then someone else brings kangaroo steaks. Which are good. And another brings crab legs. Which are good. But now the common stuff seems out of place (at least to the DM) because they wanted Thanksgiving dinner.</p><p></p><p>A DM can do anything. Correct. But it doesn't make it right. There is a logic, even in a fantasy world. When it is broken, via player or DM or lore or mechanics, it interrupts the process to enjoy the game for some. There are many examples of this: the infusion of playable races, the negation of weight when discussing strength, the rules lawyer that insists a single word means exactly what they think it means, and a DM that sets encounters up that always specifically negate the heroes' strengths (example: most bad guys can see invisibility or have damage resistance against the hero's usual damage type.)</p><p>So yes, a DM can do it. But, when the Thanksgiving's table begins to get crowded by the exceptional, and it doesn't match, it does not matter what the DM changes. The Thanksgiving table with its silly sage gravy boat and sausage-apple stuffing pan is changed because the palate alters what it tastes based on the previous flavor in its mouth. And if it sushi, the stuffing might not go over so well.</p><p></p><p>That is the point many have made. Let's make it <em>easier</em> for this elf to have this. But, and here is what the other side keeps saying: You can have your elf learn oratory skills. They can be <s>intelligent</s> wise. You can do it right from the start. You can point buy them a 15 <s>intelligence </s>wisdom. That is way above the average. You can do this in the rules as they are written in the PHB. No need to change anything.</p><p></p><p>But wait... what do I hear? The war horn of someone...</p><p>who...</p><p>wants...</p><p>a...</p><p>16 to start with.</p><p></p><p>See. It goes both ways, which is why I am not taking a side. I am simply answering your question. You can have exactly what you ask for, a high score in any attribute. But, the average PC's chosen race is set up with strengths. One that says: when a PC chooses this race, the race is +X better than the other races.</p><p></p><p>Now if you do not like that, that is okay. You can just have the DM create a house rule that negates this and change the point buy to where players can reach 16 or 18 or 20.</p><p></p><p>But for some reason that doesn't sit as well. Not with me. Not with you (I am guessing). Not with a lot of people.</p><p></p><p>I never said they would make a race less special. I said it will decrease the amount of rare race/class combinations because it removes the negative for the players that must have a "strong" character build.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Scott Christian, post: 8115830, member: 6901101"] Two things: rules are changed to make things [I]easier[/I]. That is exactly what I said. When things become easier, mechanics become easier to exploit. ie. Min/maxers. Two - I have never equated min/maxers to not caring about story or lore. I just see them bending lore in order achieve their build; which is almost inevitably, a combination of things that when added, make them stronger than what they could achieve with a prior build. A DM's world is built around the exceptional, not the common. Think of Thanksgiving dinner. The common is like the silverware, plates, bowls, tablecloth, etc. on a dinner table. The exceptional is the turkey, gravy, cranberries, etc. The exceptional are also the PC's. And what they build sits on that table. So when a build is made of sushi, and placed on the table. Yeah, it is good. But then someone else brings kangaroo steaks. Which are good. And another brings crab legs. Which are good. But now the common stuff seems out of place (at least to the DM) because they wanted Thanksgiving dinner. A DM can do anything. Correct. But it doesn't make it right. There is a logic, even in a fantasy world. When it is broken, via player or DM or lore or mechanics, it interrupts the process to enjoy the game for some. There are many examples of this: the infusion of playable races, the negation of weight when discussing strength, the rules lawyer that insists a single word means exactly what they think it means, and a DM that sets encounters up that always specifically negate the heroes' strengths (example: most bad guys can see invisibility or have damage resistance against the hero's usual damage type.) So yes, a DM can do it. But, when the Thanksgiving's table begins to get crowded by the exceptional, and it doesn't match, it does not matter what the DM changes. The Thanksgiving table with its silly sage gravy boat and sausage-apple stuffing pan is changed because the palate alters what it tastes based on the previous flavor in its mouth. And if it sushi, the stuffing might not go over so well. That is the point many have made. Let's make it [I]easier[/I] for this elf to have this. But, and here is what the other side keeps saying: You can have your elf learn oratory skills. They can be [S]intelligent[/S] wise. You can do it right from the start. You can point buy them a 15 [S]intelligence [/S]wisdom. That is way above the average. You can do this in the rules as they are written in the PHB. No need to change anything. But wait... what do I hear? The war horn of someone... who... wants... a... 16 to start with. See. It goes both ways, which is why I am not taking a side. I am simply answering your question. You can have exactly what you ask for, a high score in any attribute. But, the average PC's chosen race is set up with strengths. One that says: when a PC chooses this race, the race is +X better than the other races. Now if you do not like that, that is okay. You can just have the DM create a house rule that negates this and change the point buy to where players can reach 16 or 18 or 20. But for some reason that doesn't sit as well. Not with me. Not with you (I am guessing). Not with a lot of people. I never said they would make a race less special. I said it will decrease the amount of rare race/class combinations because it removes the negative for the players that must have a "strong" character build. [/QUOTE]
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