No. Because by denying a PC a +2 in the stat of their choice, you're denying it across the board.
???
What does that mean?
Does it mean that if I (as DM) use set racial bonuses, it follows that because I don't allow halflings to move their +2 from Dex to Str...that I'm denying them +2 completely? Not even to Dex?
Try and re-frame it and I'll give you my honest opinion.
Which is unacceptable. It's a stupid, pointless restriction made by people who have since changed their mind, and enforced by people who mindlessly adhere to archaic rules.
You think it's stupid to have
racial bonuses to match the concepts of that race, but I think it's sensible. My decision is not mindless, it is thoroughly thought through.
Except it's neither of those things, because it's a stat bonus that can be placed anywhere and that doesn't actually take away from the flavor of the race at all.
No, it can't be placed anywhere (per the PHB), and they are deliberately placed to reflect that race's concept in game mechanics.
Like they've done with each edition, and like they're doing now, since floating ASIs are the new rule.
An article in UA is not an errata. The rule is unchanged.
The rules say roll 4d6, drop the lowest, six times, with stat array being a useful quickbuild option... and point buy being nothing more than a variant, posted afterwards. So since the rules are the edict, guess you're rolling from now on, right? Ooh, sorry, you might just end up with halflings have 18s in Strength then.
Wait, you ignore the rules about 4d6 in favor of a variant? Huh, well then I guess the edict is up to you after all.
It's really funny that you prefer point buy, which specifically is designed to let you, quote, "build a character with a set of ability scores you choose individually" and yet are opposed to other people choosing their scores by deciding where to put the +2.
Actually, I much prefer rolling to either point-buy or array. Always have.
In fact, for years my main group just
chose their six scores
as if rolled on 3d6, and we trusted each other not to take the mickey.
If this results in a halfling with Str 18 or an orc with Int 18, I am totally okay with it!
But I would not be okay if they misused
racial ability score bonuses to increase abilities not associated with that race!
It's not the final score that bothers me, it's the perverting of
racial bonuses for things that are not about that part of character creation.
I would be just as horrified if a player created a 1st level fighter and swapped Fighting Style for Spellcasting. Just because they are both abilities available to 1st level PCs, it is not appropriate to claim that you get spellcasting
because you are a fighter.
Example: the loxodon
Wanna explain that one?
I cannot. I don't have access to that race. What book is it from?
So yeah. ASIs should be so the player can customize their character, not so one race can have a pointless meta-advantage over another.
But racial bonuses are not there to customise your character, they are there to reflect the concepts of that race in game mechanics that apply
because that's what that race gives you.
Where customisation comes in is when you choose your race, knowing the traits that choice gives your PC.
And since these traits are also designed with game balance in mind, there is no meta-advantage.
EXACTLY! That one particular halfling has a 16 Strength. Not halflings, as a race. That one guy, over there, the one with the muscles--he's one strong halfling dude.
Nobody has said all halflings are strong. I certainly haven't. I don't even like halflings as a species. What I've said is that there should be an option for someone who wants to make a really strong halfling.
That's my opinion too!
Use the character creation process, and do what it says. You can customise the bits that let you choose (where to place which roll, which race-and its traits-to choose, which class-and its features-to choose, which background to choose.
But there are things that are not customisable. There is a menu of classes, but there is no menu of individual features that you can mix and match, although some features do involve a choice (like Fighting Style). There is a menu of races to choose from, and you get the traits of that race, including ability score bonuses, but you cannot mix and match traits from different races except where they say you can.
That the game. That's how it works.
What's really funny is that all the "strong" races get Powerful Build, and halflings and the other small races don't, and small races take a penalty if they try to use Heavy Weapons. So the strong races are already stronger than halflings no matter their Strength. And what's extra funny is beyond that, Dex and Strength give the exact same attack and damage bonuses, so a halfling with Dex 16 and a short sword is going to inflict exactly as much damage as an orc with Strength 16 and a short sword.
What this means is that every one of your arguments about Strength versus Dexterity either already has an answer or is already moot.
Right! It's moot because the +2 to Dex that halflings get is just as good as the +2 to Str that goliaths get! So, no, there is no meta-advantage to races that get +2 Str, just like you just said!
And you might want to check yourself, because in the real world, the only people who talk about "cancel culture" like that are the people who gleefully try to "cancel" others and then whine when their own bad actions are called out.
My politics are slightly left of centre (at least in UK terms), and I believe that it's not only okay to debate ideas, I think it is essential for a healthy democracy. The idea that if you dare to even discuss certain subjects you should be punished is abhorrent. If an idea is awful, it should be exposed as awful by reasoned debate, not cancelled by either extreme of the political spectrum.
There. I've checked myself, and I'm fine, thank you very much!