D&D 5E A Compilation of all the Race Changes in Monsters of the Multiverse

Over on Reddit, user KingJackel went through the video leak which came out a few days ago and manually compiled a list of all the changes to races in the book. The changes are quite extensive, with only the fairy and harengon remaining unchanged. The book contains 33 races in total, compiled and updated from previous Dungeons & Dragons books.

D&D 5E - List of All 33 Races in Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse contains 33 races compiled from previous Dungeons & Dragons books. Aarackocra Assimar Bugbear Centaur Changeling Deep Gnome Duergar Eladrin Fairy Firbolg Genasi, Air Genasi, Earth Genasi, Fire Gennasi, Water Githyanki Githzerai Goblin Goliath...

www.enworld.org

D&D 5E - Full List of Monsters in Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse

Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse contains revamped stat blocks for 260 monsters previously published in previous Dungeons & Dragons 5E books. The list was compiled by YouTuber Bob Worldbuilder based on some blurry screenshots originally shared by Nerd Immersion (see the video...

www.enworld.org

 

[JEB]

no, one ever raises their abilty scores that are 8s or 10s with ASIs

This happened a number of times in my group, because getting the highest possible score wasn't essential to the character's concept, but they still wanted to minimize or remove any stat penalties. They knew what they were doing, and they certainly weren't dumb.

 

[Mordhau]

This happened a number of times in my group, because getting the highest possible score wasn't essential to the character's concept, but they still wanted to minimize or remove any stat penalties. They knew what they were doing, and they certainly weren't dumb.

No, but in terms of effectively minimising stat penalties they made dumb decisions.

 

[JEB]

No, but in terms of effectively minimising stat penalties they made dumb decisions.

No, their priorities for the numbers on their sheet were just different than yours. It was OK for them to be less than optimal.

 

[Mordhau]

No, their priorities for the numbers on their sheet were just different than yours. It was OK for them to be less than optimal.

A minute ago you said they were trying to effectively minimise stat penalities. You can only judge a decision against the stated goal.

 

[JEB]

A minute ago you said they were trying to effectively minimise stat penalities. You can only judge a decision against the stated goal.

I'll explain it more simply: they didn't want negative modifiers. They were OK with having a 10, just not an 8 or 9, and were willing to use the ASI to achieve that.

Some people are fine with being average at some things, they just don't want to be subpar. And that's just as valid as actively wanting to have penalties in some stats, or having the same score in every stat, or optimizing for the best possible scores. They're just different visions of character-building and different ideas of fun. If you can't accept that, then I'm sorry you feel that way.

 

[Mordhau]

You can't make good decisions unless you can make poor ones. You can't effectively discuss the Strengths and weaknesses of a system unless we can pull apart how that system effectively works. This "everything must be validated always" attitude is really pointless. I'm not standing over your players at the table berating them. If people really want to make the number go up then they can make the number go up.

But in terms of understanding how the system operates and what it prioritises there is really no good way to argue that spending your ASIs on your dump stats is worthwhile. If you used this stat a lot it wouldn't be a dump stat, if there's a specific function of an ability score you want to improve you can usually do that much more effectively, and in a way that actually will scale, by spending a feat. If you need to improve a save, get Resilient. If you're still being screwed on the save get Lucky. If you need a skill get Skilled Expert. It's not worth spending an ASI to change a success to a failure roughly every 20 rolls*. In terms of the design and the prioritites of the system this is a poor use of a resource.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

The issue is that the 5% difference does a lot of work standing in for a fictional difference that is really much bigger than 5% and a Halfling that is fictionally as strong as a Goliath really ought to have super strength - which is fine, but is the sort of thing that is normally covered by traits and would seem to belong in the same category with being able to breath fire or breathe underwater.

And this is why powerful build (little giant) is the right way of representing the strength of a goliath. No matter how much str the halfling has, they can't compete with the goliath. (ok a 20 str halfling can compete with a 10 str goliath. And that seems about right.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

And this is why powerful build (little giant) is the right way of representing the strength of a goliath. No matter how much str the halfling has, they can't compete with the goliath. (ok a 20 str halfling can compete with a 10 str goliath. And that seems about right.

Exactly.

I've repeatedly advocated this approach - represent real differences in strength through either racial features like Powerful Build, or size-based modifiers. As 5E hates Large races and Small races are less differentiated than previous editions, the former is the correct approach. It seems pretty straightforward to me.

 

[Cadence]

Yes, there is. There literally is. If you can't see the difference, it makes me question whether you're debating in good faith.

There is a huge difference between saying "this halfling is a fantasy creature, so this specific individual one has extremely dense muscles in comparison to humans, so they can have the same Strength score as an Orc at the same level" and saying "any race can have wings, a breath weapon, be amphibious, cast spells innately" or anything as nonsensical.

There is a huge difference between "we both have a 5% higher average value on Strength checks, saving throws, and attack rolls" and "I can breath fire out of my freaking mouth and fly like a bird!"

The difference between the two is so huge that anyone that doesn't agree with this is acting in bad faith. This is not subjective, it's 100% true. "I, a Halfling, can beat you in an arm-wrestling competition" and "I am a Purple-Skinned Human that can breathe lightning, cast Hellish Rebuke, and have fairy wings" are objectively separated by an enormous difference.

Tasha's Cauldron of Everything's variant "Customize your Origin" feature allows for you to have a halfling/gnome/goblin/kobold with the same Strength score as an Orc/Goliath/Minotaur at level 1, but it doesn't allow for Halflings to fly, Goliaths to shoot lightning bolts, Dwarves to breathe underwater, Kobolds to carry as much as if they were Large, or normal humans to have Innate Spellcasting.

This is one of the most blatant and ridiculous strawmen that I've ever seen. Hands down. If you cannot possibly see the difference between "5% more likely to succeed on something Strength-related" and "unique abilities that every race has a different allotment of", you're acting in bad faith.

In a fantasy world, why is having impossibly super dense muscle mass (like the mutant Beast in X-Men as when he was originally pre-blue) different it type than having wings and being able to fly (like the mutant Angel in X-Men) and shooting Fire (like the mutant Sunfire)?

Why is "my halfling has multiple times giant level strength per pound" different than having things other species actually do have? Maybe it has a dragon in it's ancestry? Or a flying mutation pops up like the winged elves in an old Dragon magazine? Maybe the fire breath is pyrokinetic (a condition that might normally happen by science in some worlds)?

 

[Crimson Longinus]

@Faolyn @AcererakTriple6

Both ASIs and traits are mechanics that give the creature a capability or enhance existing capability in order to simulate how the creature is in the fiction. Similar machinal capability may or may not be possible to acquire with other means. Usually it is. Proficiencies, flight speed, unarmed damage etc, all can be acquired by means other than the race.