D&D 5E What To Do With Racial ASIs?

[DND_Reborn]

Some of the people who voted and continue to follow the thread may be adjusting for the discrepancy in the way the results are being read.

Very true.

Is that a case where you are just looking at synergistic races for inspiration because you have no race in mind, or where you have a concept including a specific race, and decided you have to go with a different race that gave the "right" ability bonuses instead?

Well, for me a character is about 90% class, and then 10% race. When I get ready to play, my big decision is always what class to pick. What am I in the mood for playing? Is there a class concept I really want to try? For instance, I have been really in the mood to play a rogue but with medium armor, who grapples, with high STR, and is more thug-like or a bruiser--almost a gladiator type. His sneak attacks would revolve around grappling a foe and benefiting from the Grappler feat.

Now, there are a lot of races that boost STR (more so I think than any other ability, but I could be mistaken as DEX is also a big one...). So, then I ask what race for doing this is appealing? I like dwarves (maybe my favorite race over all) and play them a lot. The idea of a dwarf getting in low, but able to muscle bigger foes, etc. appealed to me. Mountain dwarves, with STR +2, of course really stand out from a mechanical perspective. We use feats at level 1, so with point-buy and squat nimbleness, I can have a STR 18 at level 1. That fits the concept and my idea, so that is what I built. I'll pick up Grappler at level 4 and my concept is basically realized (more so when I MC to fighter and get Tavern Brawler maybe ).

Of course, I could have made anything and still had a STR 16 or so. Heck, I could have made a gnome, but to me that doesn't fit the vision and becomes more comical (not my style). Some hulking race like Goliath would work of course, but is too dominating and I don't care for the race's culture as much.

Anyway, race is a secondary choice for me. Maybe that is why I have a harder time really appreciating people who have issues with racial descriptions and such? Who knows. So, I don't always look for synergy because I know with point-buy I can pretty much start with a 16 (since we have the feat at level 1) with any races for any class, but sometimes it does creep in. With this new rogue build, for instance, I choose Mountain Dwarf over Hill Dwarf because of the STR +2 and proficiency in medium armor (since I want this guy armored). The WIS +1 and extra HP just don't fit as well, either.

 

[Helldritch]

I think that Dnd4vr is on to something. For me and my players, race is always second when we build a character. We do not optimize but the bonuses related to races are still very important to us as the bonuses pretty much defines our expectations for a race.

And it is these expectations that makes us make fun weird characters. From the optimizer to the out of the norm racial bonuses and expectations are the spices that makes making a race fun. Remove that, and they all become bland and tasteless.

I want to make a gnome barbarian? Of course it will be suboptimal. But it will surprising and refreshing and the surprise effect is there. The same for the dwarven wizard.

 

[DND_Reborn]

The same for the dwarven wizard

Which are awesome btw!

"Screw ya, ya pointy-eared, little twiddly-fingered know-it-alls. I might'n need a few more wee-little levels, but I'll ca'ch ya INT 20 event'ally!"

 

[EscherEnigma]

If they aren't there to make the goliath just more physically powerful than the gnome, to make a lazy goliath still stronger or as strong as the average human farmer, then they serve no purpose.

(A) I think you're underestimating the physical labor and strength that goes into farming in a pre-industrial society.
(B) They aren't there for that purpose though. They are for players only. NPCs have whatever stats the GM wants to give them. A GM can give a lazy goliath a strength of 3 (lower then a PC can get, even with rolling) or a strength of 22 (divine intervention!). The GM can leave powerful build or say "naw, this one is scrawny" and take it away. The rules for character creation are not applied to NPCs, and should not be taken to limit (or exalt) what NPCs can be.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Dwarf wizards are actually pretty decent. Con bonus is of course good for HP and concentration checks, and mountain dwarf's armour proficiency is so good that in absence of racial ability modifiers they would be clearly the best wizard race.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Dwarf wizards are actually pretty decent. Con bonus is of course good for HP and concentration checks, and mountain dwarf's armour proficiency is so good that in absence of racial ability modifiers they would be clearly the best wizard race.

I think every mountain dwarf I've played in 5e was a wizard. Weird.

 

[DND_Reborn]

I think every mountain dwarf I've played in 5e was a wizard. Weird.

You'd never expect it though, would you???

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I think every mountain dwarf I've played in 5e was a wizard. Weird.

I think mountain dwarf wizards are an excellent example how races and classes should ideally work together. They may not have the Int of the smartest eladrin wizards, but they have something else going for them that sets them apart. They are doing things differently and still being (relatively) effective.

 

[Micah Sweet]

You'd never expect it though, would you???

No you would not. I think it just occurred to me one day that the armor proficiency thing is only really useful for a class that doesn't get it naturally, and wizards are my favorite spell caster. I imagine brigades of low level mountain dwarf wizards, mowing down their enemies with massed cantrips as their armored bulk advances into hostile territory.

 

[DND_Reborn]

No you would not. I think it just occurred to me one day that the armor proficiency thing is only really useful for a class that doesn't get it naturally, and wizards are my favorite spell caster. I imagine brigades of low level mountain dwarf wizards, mowing down their enemies with massed cantrips as their armored bulk advances into hostile territory.

It is a side effect of allowing wizards (in particular) to cast while wearing armor they are proficient in. In prior editions, the idea of the dwarven priest was popular due to armor, spellcasting, and the idea dwarves could be wise but weren't generally "smart". You still find dwarven clerics of course, but otherwise 5E tossed things on their head a bit.