I'm A Banana
Potassium-Rich
Johnny3D3D said:That being said, I do feel everyone should at least start the game on a level playing field. The building blocks being used to put my character together should be in generally same ballpark of usefulness. If option B gives me 3 times more options than option A without any drawbacks, is option A honestly a real option?
There's two ways to achieve this without ditching darkvision or flight or whatever.
The first is to provide easy, mundane ways that normal people can disable them, or some way in which they are unreliable. Darkvision being disabled due to bright light, for instance, or being unable to perceive a creature that is sneaking, or requiring some (even minor) effort. Flight that must be sustained with actions, or that is ended with damage, for instance.
The second is to provide other creatures with abilities that rival the ability in question. Humans might not be able to fly or to see in the dark, but +1 to every ability score? Nice.
If you combine all these options, you get the desired effect: Your dwarf makes sense and is mighty in the darkness, but your human doesn't feel weaker, and your dwarf can still be thwarted by a dude with a hooded lantern.