Balancing out Racial Abilities

WhosDaDungeonMaster · Dec 26, 2018

My group has been playing 5E for a while now, and we are getting ready to discuss anything we want to house-rule. Before we do, I would like your opinions on a few things.

I'll begin with the races. Now, I realize this is totally subjective and this is only my particular take on it. The table below shows my comparisons.

For example, in comparing Dwarves to the Human Variant:

Con +2 equivalent to Human Variant +1 to two abilities; i.e. both are +2 total.
Dwarven Combat Training and Str/Wis bonus equivalent to Weapon Master Feat, which the Human Variant could take.
Dwarven Tool Proficiency is roughly equivalent to the Extra Skill of the Human Variant.

Now, Dwarves are a bit slower in Speed, but make up for that slightly with not being penalized for wearing heavy armors. The advantage is a bit towards the Human Variant, but not overwhelmingly so IMO.

Now, the Human Variant gets choice in choosing where the bonuses go, what Feat and Skill to learn, etc. That is a big deal, but is it really worth everything the Dwarves get beyond the Human Variant? (Notice everything in the blue and red box under the Dwarf column.) I don't think so, and the advantage goes to the Dwarf for getting abilities over the Human Variant.

Elves are just as bad in gaining several advantages over the Human Variant, and Half-Elves aren't far behind being superior to the Human Variant. Gnomes, Halflings, and Half-Orcs have a slight edge on abilities over the Human Variant, but here having the choice with the Human Variant evens things out close enough. Dragonborn and Tieflings are pretty even with the Human Variant IMO.

So, my question to you all is this: What to do about the balance of abilities for Dwarves, Elves, and Half-Elves compared to the other races? Should we remove some of those races abilities, or offer improvements/additions to the races that seem a bit weaker in abilities? For instance, I was thinking about granting Halflings Stealth as a racial skill to compliment their Naturally Stealthy abilitiy.

I am also considering removing subrace abilities entirely for PCs or combining them somehow into the main race.

I realize many of you won't agree with my take on this, and like I began with, it is subjective and my point of view. I do not want debates about which power is equal to what, etc., so please don't post along those lines. I am looking for ways to balance things out as I see it. If you feel everything is fine as is, I am happy for you.

TaranTheWanderer · Dec 26, 2018

Sorry if I don’t have much to add but I’m interested to see where you go with this. I find half elves have the biggest advantage with a total stat boost of +4 and dark vision and bonus skill etc. Human is only better if you have a feat you really really want at first. (IMO).

Someone mentioned turning the half races into human sub races which might be cool and would add a bunch of abilities to human. I’m not sure the best way to do that though.

5ekyu · Dec 26, 2018

Ok so your group has played a while and **did you see in play this calculated imbalance** or did you just come on this once you started abstract mathery?

I would start with whatever we saw in actual play out of whack and the give a little bit to those below the curve.

Human variant, half elf mtn dwarf tend to run strong in most actual play comparisons.

Ragmon · Dec 26, 2018

My thought.

Half-elf - +2 CHA and +1 any is enough.
Dwarf, mountain - +1 STR and +2 CON would be enough.
Human should be: No Feat, +2 Any +1 Any, + some racial stuff that I cant think of.

Any race that gets a racial feature that over laps with a class feature (at level 1), should get an alternative option instead of that feature (such as weapon proficients, goblin's hide and disengage as a bonus action).

WhosDaDungeonMaster · Dec 26, 2018

5ekyu said:
Ok so your group has played a while and **did you see in play this calculated imbalance** or did you just come on this once you started abstract mathery?

Some. We have Duergar Fighter, and ability to Enlarge as been very useful in numerous ways. The Drow Elf also seems to have an edge racially. Also, no one has ever expressed any interest in playing a Gnome (not a surprise there...) or Halfling.

Blue · Dec 26, 2018

James Grover said:
Some. We have Duergar Fighter, and ability to Enlarge as been very useful in numerous ways. The Drow Elf also seems to have an edge racially. Also, no one has ever expressed any interest in playing a Gnome (not a surprise there...) or Halfling.

I find these surprising - may be table variation. Halfling Lucky with +2 Dex is liked on finesse fighters - lots of rolls means lots of chances to avoid those 1s. I know many avoid Rock Gnome because of the tinker flavor, but I see Deep Gnomes at my FLGS for the +2 INT making them the best wizards. either you can go for a 16 and save 2 points in point-by to use elsewhere, or go for the 17 and get to 18 with a half-feat.

I'm running for a party with a drow right now and the sunlight sensitivity comes up a lot. Again, may be table variation - I don't run many dungeons, and they don't always have the choice to act at night (and with some of the party without darkvision night has it's own issues).

lowkey13 · Dec 26, 2018

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lowkey13 · Dec 26, 2018

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5ekyu · Dec 26, 2018

Blue said:
I find these surprising - may be table variation. Halfling Lucky with +2 Dex is liked on finesse fighters - lots of rolls means lots of chances to avoid those 1s. I know many avoid Rock Gnome because of the tinker flavor, but I see Deep Gnomes at my FLGS for the +2 INT making them the best wizards. either you can go for a 16 and save 2 points in point-by to use elsewhere, or go for the 17 and get to 18 with a half-feat.

I'm running for a party with a drow right now and the sunlight sensitivity comes up a lot. Again, may be table variation - I don't run many dungeons, and they don't always have the choice to act at night (and with some of the party without darkvision night has it's own issues).

This was why i asjed about actual seen in play imbalances.

The **actual value in play** as opposed to **value in white room spread sheet** varies a lot and is directly tied to challenges at the table.

Back during one of my lighting threads the "how you handled light" was all over the place from "if anyone has torch written down we ignore it" yo "yeah, blind at night without darkvision" and so in those two games the "score" one gives races for having darkvision in play would likely be very different.

House ruling thing that have not been an imbalance in play because of a speadsheet imbalance seems a odd approach, especially when the cases in his starting case are not the ones observed in play.

Paul Farquhar · Dec 26, 2018

My experience:

1) Balance doesn't matter. Players choose the race they like the flavour of. We have a Goliath rogue.

2) Halfing is the most popular race. Players love "lucky". Gnomes are also popular.

3) Dragonborn is the least popular core race. They are generally considered weak.

4) There are dozens of other playable races in places like Volo's guide, you have no chance of balancing them all.

5) Don't allow anyone to play a kenku.