D&D (2024) The Half Orc. Are they still needed?

[Reynard]

i decided to create an Arcane Trickster / Trickery Cleric. The only race that let me get a + modifier to all the relevant checks and spell saves was Gnome. That is the only Gnome character I've ever played. Nothing against Gnomes, just that my ideas for 'a fun character' run in other directions.

This is a good example of why floating ASIs are a net positive.

 

[MGibster]

honestly, gnomes are less annoying than halflings, it is impossible to fit halflings in a setting without them becoming something else in the process, they survive by being Tolkien, cottegecore and the busted lucky mechanic.

I don't really find gnomes to be all that annoying. In the group I run games for, I can usually count on seeing at least one gnome in the party (not always the same player), and I don't think I've ever found any of their characters annoying. In fact, I can't think of a single time I've been annoyed by how someone played their gnome. But in regards to halflings, you're right! I never noticed it before, but every time I put them into my own setting they become something else. Sometimes they even become goblins instead of halflings.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

Regarding the OP:

What is necessary? Good question. I will not relitigate the race discussion beyond what is relevant here.

If we have floating ASIs, no real suite of racial abilities is needed. If we also decouple standard cultures from races, this is doubly the case.

The need for big tough guy remains…and can be created with any race. This is triply the case if each race can be any size.

From a mechanical or lore standpoint, no race is really required. It would be more like life: the big guy down the street, “Walter” is the big bruiser and that he is “human” has nothing to do with that “archetype.”

I like all of the lore and mechanics to support your the idea of strong outsider. I might play him like one would expect or as a Paladin (I actually do like doing that).

For me, I would like the half orc to continue. But it’s not necessary if all of Tasha’s optional rules are in play.

Matter of taste!

 

[Micah Sweet]

Regarding the OP:

What is necessary? Good question. I will not relitigate the race discussion beyond what is relevant here.

If we have floating ASIs, no real suite of racial abilities is needed. If we also decouple standard cultures from races, this is doubly the case.

The need for big tough guy remains…and can be created with any race. This is triply the case if each race can be any size.

From a mechanical or lore standpoint, no race is really required. It would be more like life: the big guy down the street, “Walter” is the big bruiser and that he is “human” has nothing to do with that “archetype.”

I like all of the lore and mechanics to support your the idea of strong outsider. I might play him like one would expect or as a Paladin (I actually do like doing that).

For me, I would like the half orc to continue. But it’s not necessary if all of Tasha’s optional rules are in play.

Matter of taste!

If the Tasha's rules were actually optional, it would be a matter of taste. But WotC clearly never intended them to be.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

If the Tasha's rules were actually optional, it would be a matter of taste. But WotC clearly never intended them to be.

Well then I don’t think anything is strictly necessary….

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well then I don’t think anything is strictly necessary….

True. I was just talking about what the company wants the game to be. We certainly don't have to follow along with them.

 

[DND_Reborn]

If the Tasha's rules were actually optional, it would be a matter of taste. But WotC clearly never intended them to be.

Every rule is actually optional--I hope we all know that by now. There is tons of stuff in Tasha's that a lot of people won't use.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

True. I was just talking about what the company wants the game to be. We certainly don't have to follow along with them.

I have really enjoyed 5e…it and 1e have been my personal favorites.

So I am not just going along with all chaanges, nor is my group.

We play 5e with some 1e sensibilities and it works fine. That said I will likely buy some 5.5 adventures but we are sticking with the core books and parts PARTS of Tasha’s. And in the intro they did a good job saying take what you like—-your group decides!

I really appreciated that. It’s a point by point thing. I ask DM for permission or if I am DMing I tell people what is on the table.

If they hew to this, the game really is more modular than it’s given credit for—-considering feats and multiclassing.

 

[Minigiant]

ReallyI can see the harf-orc s being a shoe-in for the missing Thane Barbrarian.

I could see whole half orcen tribes of civilized but clannish folk of the wilds who withstand the dangers of the wilderness but still contain the human civil thought to think to the future.

Or they could go more civilized and be a sorta "Da Norf" of ASOIAF where half-orc are the Northmen and have a sense of brutality with nobility like House Stark or House Bolton.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Regarding the OP:

What is necessary? Good question. I will not relitigate the race discussion beyond what is relevant here.

If we have floating ASIs, no real suite of racial abilities is needed. If we also decouple standard cultures from races, this is doubly the case.

The need for big tough guy remains…and can be created with any race. This is triply the case if each race can be any size.

From a mechanical or lore standpoint, no race is really required. It would be more like life: the big guy down the street, “Walter” is the big bruiser and that he is “human” has nothing to do with that “archetype.”

I like all of the lore and mechanics to support your the idea of strong outsider. I might play him like one would expect or as a Paladin (I actually do like doing that).

For me, I would like the half orc to continue. But it’s not necessary if all of Tasha’s optional rules are in play.

Matter of taste!

At some point, the race mechanics become so disassociated from race that they're really just a point-buy background system with extra steps. And that has a huge upside: if it's all building blocks, you can make whatever you want. That's a good thing. Point-buy gives players the most flexibility possible while still having some sense of balance. There's a reason it used to be so popular and still is in certain crowds.

But until you cross the line of "no races, only background features including heritage" you still need to pick which races are official and which are 'just homebrew it.' And any choice will have opposition.