D&D 5E Goliath/Half-Giant - A Race Suggestion for D&D Next

[JoeGKushner]

In The Sword of Bheleu and the series that book is a part of, there is a race of Overmen who are stronger and more hardy than normal men. The author made them in direct contrast to Elric. Ironic considering Elric's own origins as an opposite of Conan.

Rolemaster had some variants for this race in one of their companions. They tried to 'balance' it out by providing them fewer background points. Similiar to what they did with the 'High Men' who were 'wink wink' Duneadin from Middle Earth.

Perhaps at some point down the road I wouldn't mind seeing such a race but until some of the actual mechanics are out and we know how size interacts with the system and indeed, how large the core PHB is, I'll be happy as long as they have human, elf, dwarf and halfling.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I like goliaths and I'd be happy to see them or something similar. I like goliaths a bit better than the other races being talked about here because they have an interesting tribal culture that adds a new element to the game (I don't really mind half-giants though). They really need to build around the basic races (human, elf, dwarf, halfling) and separate out the extra ones.

We don't want a return to the 3E "download the most efficient build off the internet" days, do we?

Which one? A return to 3e or a return to min/maxing? 3e was more the "you want to play a gnome barbarian? Um, okay" days. All classes were opened up to all races and people took advantage of it big time. We do want a return to the "play what you want" days, don't we? Frankly, race had such a small impact on high level characters that you'd have to be a pretty hardcore powergamer to min/max races enough to detract from the game.

And if anything, I'd rather see it so that races were clearly good at certain classes. Halflings should be slightly superior rogues, dwarves should be good fighters and clerics, elves should be good rangers and wizards, and goliaths should be good barbarians and druids. Some of those classic archetypes (especially the elven ones) don't work well enough in 3e.

 

[Savage Wombat]

Which one? A return to 3e or a return to min/maxing? 3e was more the "you want to play a gnome barbarian? Um, okay" days. All classes were opened up to all races and people took advantage of it big time. We do want a return to the "play what you want" days, don't we? Frankly, race had such a small impact on high level characters that you'd have to be a pretty hardcore powergamer to min/max races enough to detract from the game.

Here I'm thinking of the "I'm playing an Elan because I can be an aberration and therefore qualify for these bizarre feats from the aberration book" days. The "I'm playing a Goliath so I can monkey grip two great maces" days. The "you have to take one level of shadow-dancer so you can have hide in plain sight" days.

If you want a cool, powerful character, you can have that. It's the "I found this cool character build path on the internet that makes no thematic sense but allows me to use this broken combo when I hit 20th level" that I'm referring to.

 

[trancejeremy]

This is why I think races in D&D should have no game mechanics to them (no ability scores bonuses, no special powers). That way people could play whatever they want and it won't break the system.

 

[variant]

This is why I think races in D&D should have no game mechanics to them (no ability scores bonuses, no special powers). That way people could play whatever they want and it won't break the system.

Let's not have any game mechanics at all (no ability score bonuses, no special powers). That way people could play whatever they want and it won't break the system.

 

[TwinBahamut]

This is why I think races in D&D should have no game mechanics to them (no ability scores bonuses, no special powers). That way people could play whatever they want and it won't break the system.

It would be kind of hard to play something like, say, a werewolf, dragon, or angel in D&D without any racial game mechanics and expect the game to work. In its own way, previous editions of the game have too many assumptions for you to get away with that. Generally, the rules assume that, unless otherwise stated, characters are human, and any racial mechanics focus on the inhumanness of a race. If you have no rules for races, then the system quickly and naturally moves towards forcing everyone to play a human. This is quite the opposite of letting anyone play what they want...

 

[exile]

I think I'd rather see a half-ogre than a firbolg or goliath. Even though it's a "half" race, it feel sa little more iconic to me.

 

[Khaalis]

(Broken record...) I like how Fantasy Craft did their races. They include both Giant and Ogre as PC races. The biggest reason they work however, is that the core system removed the Size = better combat (Atk/Dam) problem that d20 had.

Large creature's STR being better than other races is represented more as the ability to carry/lift more rather than bonuses to attacks & damage. Thus a STR 14 giant fighter is equivalent in attack/damage modifiers as a human fighter with the same STR. However, the giant can lift/carry 5 times as much and has other benefits (and penalties) due to their size.

 

[El Mahdi]

I like Giant type characters also. One of my favorites was the Firbolg in 2E. I think a generic Giant race would be awesome. Make them Large sized (with plusses and minuses as appropriate - like in 3E - defense, attack, etc.), and no more than about 8 to 10 feet tall (with appropriate weight).

Call them Goliath, Firbolg, or just plain old Giant. I'd definitely love something like that included in D&D Next.

 

[hanez]

Let's not have any game mechanics at all (no ability score bonuses, no special powers). That way people could play whatever they want and it won't break the system.

And while were at it lets get rid of classes and just have one power that players can use over and over, and they can refluff that 2w + effect power so it appears that its a different class. Oh wait... we already tried that!