D&D General Flipping Race And Background Altogether

[Mordhau]

Any race can be anything you like but please buy this book full of new races to expand your possibilities in play.

 

[Reynard]

Recall, the 5e races can be any reallife human height and physique, and also, a player can roll height randomly using the height chart of any race.

If one wants a Norse-esque dwarf who is human height, no problem.

It depends on the character concept that the player has in mind.

That's weird, my PHB says halflings are small.

 

[Yaarel]

That's weird, my PHB says halflings are small.

Heh, brace yourself!

 

[overgeeked]

I think every fantasy setting needs to have some elements grounded in reality otherwise it doesn't work.

Then D&D doesn't work as there's almost nothing "grounded" about it.

But just because I accept one absurd premise doesn't mean I have to accept all fantastical premises.

It's all about willing suspension of disbelief. If you're unwilling, that's the end of that.

So yeah, I look at halfling that's just as strong as a goliath as stupid.

But you're essentializing. It's not that all halflings are just as strong as all goliaths. It's that a STR 10 halfling can hit just as hard as a STR 10 goliath. That's it. Powerful Build doubles the carrying capacity of all goliaths. So a STR 10 goliath can carry just as much as a STR 20 halfling. A STR 11 goliath can carry more than a STR 20 halfling. So, on average, goliaths are stronger than halflings. But that doesn't mean that the weakest goliath must always and forever be stronger than the strongest possible halfling. That's something I don't get.

 

[Reynard]

Then D&D doesn't work as there's almost nothing "grounded" about it.

It's all about willing suspension of disbelief. If you're unwilling, that's the end of that.

But you're essentializing. It's not that all halflings are just as strong as all goliaths. It's that a STR 10 halfling can hit just as hard as a STR 10 goliath. That's it. Powerful Build doubles the carrying capacity of all goliaths. So a STR 10 goliath can carry just as much as a STR 20 halfling. A STR 11 goliath can carry more than a STR 20 halfling. So, on average, goliaths are stronger than halflings. But that doesn't mean that the weakest goliath must always and forever be stronger than the strongest possible halfling. That's something I don't get.

And, again, ability scores are so abstract as to be impossible to line up with any real world equivalent. You use Strength for both swimming and lifting, so who has a higher Strength score, Michael Phelps or Hafthor Bjornson?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Don't we pretty much already have that with Xanathar's? A dwarf raised by elves was given training in bows from the time they were a toddler but never used a hammer in a fight. They don't know dwarven from pig Latin but speak elvish fluently.

Or am I just missing something?

Yeah I prefer the current setup. Folk like Goliath can be bigger and stronger due to their traits, but a player can swap athletics for history and make a nerd that won't win an arm wrestle with a buff human. It's a good setup.

 

[MGibster]

But you're essentializing.

Sure. That's not a dirty word to me.

 

[overgeeked]

And, again, ability scores are so abstract as to be impossible to line up with any real world equivalent.

Except where they explicitly line up with real world weights and measures. Though I agree, it's an abstract fantasy game. I'm good with that. If anything, it's too worried about being concrete and not abstract enough.

You use Strength for both swimming and lifting, so who has a higher Strength score, Michael Phelps or Hafthor Bjornson?

Raw strength score Hafthor Bjornson, by a mile. They're both trained in athletics, but Phelps clearly has expertise in swimming...or we just acknowledge he's a bad example because of his several genetic advantages that give him basically the perfect body for swimming, larger lung capacity than most, and his body produces less lactic acid, amongst other things.

 

[Oofta]

I'm looking forward to all the 7'8" halflings.

I had a 7 foot tall albino elf in my game back when elves topped out at a little over 5 foot tall. For one session.

 

[overgeeked]

Sure. That's not a dirty word to me.

So, according to you, essentializing race is...good?