D&D 5E All character races are Medium-sized...why?

[Stoutstien]

Quality of play change I made was to remove size and weight and replace it with bulk. It allows me to make the Minotaur "larger"without countless little interactions that can cause issues.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Because 5E players aren't as wonderfully flexible as you all seem to claim.

WotC doesn't trust you to take their rules and work sensibly with them, rather than create overpowered monstrosities (a la the Sorlock). So instead they go with "Rulings, not rules" and tell you "If you want oversized PCs, then you go ahead and create your own rules and make your own adjudications with them, while we maintain a nice even default for the entire spectrum of the playerbase."

 

[DND_Reborn]

Pondering this that centaurs and minotaurs are both size M when used as player races, yet when encountered as NPCs are L. Does anyone know of any specific rationale into shoehorning all races into size M rather than just leting them be size L and rolling with it so to speak?

No, there really isn't any good reason--other than inadequate game design.

Just about any resemblance of realism/ reality was thrown out the window for the sake of simplicity.

As for the aura argument, when you consider all the hassles a Large creature will have to deal with, giving them a bit more isn't a big deal. After all, if they want to move into a 5-ft space, it is difficult terrain and they have disadvantage on attacks and DEX saves.

 

[billd91]

Because 5e isn't as wonderfully flexible and planned out as they claim.

I think it's less the game and its potential as much as its the approach design is taking about issues of balance. Giving a large PC an ASI to Strength, an effectively larger area for auras, a bit more damage from weapons, a bit of advantage in a few situations as well as trouble moving in restricted spaces- these don't have to be viewed as game breaking. But it is the approach the R&D team is taking.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Giving a large PC an ASI to Strength, an effectively larger area for auras, a bit more damage from weapons, a bit of advantage in a few situations as well as trouble moving in restricted spaces- these don't have to be viewed as game breaking.

I mean, they're not game-breaking in the sense that it'll fall apart, but together those things are an absolutely gigantic, overwhelming advantage over a size M (esp. as "restricted spaces" is a chore to deal with, and no edition has great rules for it), that you'd have to be outright silly to not pick a size L creature if intending to be a melee-primary class.

That's probably not ideal when most races are naturally size M.

There are ways around it - Level Adjustment in 3.XE for one - but it is a big deal.

All that said, LFQW was a much bigger deal, and that wasn't handled at all by the rules, even when they were making size a trade-off and so on.

 

[DND_Reborn]

It's easy enough to remove the aura issue by making the aura a 10' radius (or whatever size) centered on the creature. Then Large creatures would be able to impact fewer other creatures with their aura because they take up more of it themselves. Then you can make them Large again and not worry about it.

 

[Ixal]

Starfinder manages large PCs just fine and looks to be not all that far removed from 5E (at least the combat).

In fact being large is often a hindrance and not an advantage.

 

[Micah Sweet]

You just have to rely on 3rd party stuff to help with this. There's an expansion for Level Up that helps you design your own heritages, including Large ones. It works just fine.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Starfinder manages large PCs just fine and looks to be not all that far removed from 5E (at least the combat).

In fact being large is often a hindrance and not an advantage.

It would be offset somewhat if they went back to size adjustments to AC. So, Large creatures would be easier to hit and Small creatures would be a harder to hit. Something even like a simple +1/-1 would be fine.

Anyway, there are a number of ways things could be done, but since any of them add more complexity to the system, I doubt we'll see them in anything 5E-inspired.

 

[Micah Sweet]

It would be offset somewhat if they went back to size adjustments to AC. So, Large creatures would be easier to hit and Small creatures would be a harder to hit. Something even like a simple +1/-1 would be fine.

Anyway, there are a number of ways things could be done, but since any of them add more complexity to the system, I doubt we'll see them in anything 5E-inspired.

Probably not from WotC, no. But complexity is not a bad word. Level Up is 5e-inspired and can absolutely handle this.