Personally, I have wanted the cultural stuff separated out of race since AD&D. I wish the designers of Tasha's had separated out the non-biological and introduced cultural (e.g. Nomad, Rural, Urban, Mageocracy, Military, Theocracy), and environmental packages (e.g. Arctic, Coastal, Forest, Grasslands, Jungle, Mountains, Underground,) which could be applied independently of race. Then, apply defaults to the non-human race (eg. Elf (Forest), Dwarves (underground, Mountain, or Hill) . DMs could simply choose a different culture or environmental package to easily modify a race's culture (e.g. Dwarf (Swamp)) or to accommodate a player character raised in a different culture.
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D&D 5E Jeremy Crawford Discusses Details on Custom Origins
- Thread starter Parmandur
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Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
I will also point out that the Variant Human with a feat that gives +1 str and a choice of Draconic achieves the same stat block you said was Dragonborn.
Remathilis
Legend
Yeah, weird. Wonder why WotC would do that?I will also point out that the Variant Human with a feat that gives +1 str and a choice of Draconic achieves the same stat block you said was Dragonborn.
Guess humans really ARE versatile; the can literally be 90% of the other races!
Crimson Longinus
Legend
I actually really dislike variant humans being able to get +2 on any score and personally I'd forbid stacking a bonus from their free feat with one of their other +1s. You can't stack their two +1s with each other so doing that with one from the feat seems exploity.
Remathilis
Legend
I don't worry about that. Feats as a racial trait is borderline good, and half-feats with a +1 is downright weak. As long as it's not higher than a +2/+1, it isn't an issue for me.
Crimson Longinus
Legend
It isn't really a balance issue, it just feels wrong thematically/aesthetically. Not really a big deal though.
I, personally, like the +2 bonus to any score and have used it since AD&D. Human heroes in a lot of fantasy fiction tend to be notably exceptional in one or two abilities (e.g. Caramon (strength)) or even several abilities (i.e. .Conan).
ph0rk
Friendship is Magic, and Magic is Heresy.
The new custom race variants rule will let people stack both +1s with a half feat, if players so desire
As for whether or not variant humans seem exploity when doing it - it isn't much different than another race getting +2/+1 and a few ribbon features.
Compare V. Human with +1 to int, +1 to dex and Fey Touched (int) for +1 to int. They effectively have a +2 to int and 1/LR Misty step and 1/LR 1st level enchantment or divination spell. They also get one skill proficiency.
On the other hand, a Variant Eladrin gets +2 to dex and +1 to int, Misty Step on a Short rest, and a handful of other Elf features, including Fey Ancestry, Darkvision, and Weapon Proficiencies; and perception
I don't think the V. Human is much worse than other races when half feats are taken like this from a balance perspective; and this also lets one come up with a more customized character (in this particular case, Human raised by elves).
They are still limited to a maximum ability modifier of +3 at character creation.
Crimson Longinus
Legend
And that's crazy.
It is not about balance. I want to keep +2 as a thing for races that are known to be exceptionally good at certain thing.
ph0rk
Friendship is Magic, and Magic is Heresy.
I agree, but the Shifter from Eberron could already do this (albeit, only with Cha).
Why not a +2 to dex for a human (already capable of a +1) raised by elves (capable of a +2)?
Chances are, players may still only use that +2 to get a 16; but it would let them sprinkle more points elsewhere as that 16 is cheaper to buy.
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