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<blockquote data-quote="Scott Christian" data-source="post: 8380925" data-attributes="member: 6901101">It goes back to what I was saying about adding to the themes and motifs that are the D&amp;D world. The thinking, in my opinion, runs parallel to Max's elves are described as graceful and have racial feats that imply grace, and therefore, the +2 also helps represent that. Without it, the other things seem to fall short.And they kind of do if you think about it. There is only one way in D&amp;D to imply an entire race is a certain way - through attribute bonuses (or negatives for old school players). And I do think the adjectives can get changed to where this important fact (for some players) gets obscured. That racial bonus implies a great deal to people: orcs are strong, but for DMs and players, orcs are strong because they are tribal. And that means they have to work hard, hunt sometimes dangerous things, fight for resources, and fight for status in their society. Gnomes are smart because they needed to design and engineer complex machinery, which in turn, propels them to learn quickly. These attributes are about culture just as much as they are about race.(For the record, I am fine with having other orcs be smart or wise or whatever. Just make it a different world.)And that leads most players to look at the art and language used and have it all make sense. I think we all like individualism, but you can't have individualism when there are no norms. That is where playing against type comes in.Hope that explains things.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Scott Christian, post: 8380925, member: 6901101"] It goes back to what I was saying about adding to the themes and motifs that are the D&D world. The thinking, in my opinion, runs parallel to Max's elves are described as graceful and have racial feats that imply grace, and therefore, the +2 also helps represent that. Without it, the other things seem to fall short. And they kind of do if you think about it. There is only one way in D&D to imply an entire race is a certain way - through attribute bonuses (or negatives for old school players). And I do think the adjectives can get changed to where this important fact (for some players) gets obscured. That racial bonus implies a great deal to people: orcs are strong, but for DMs and players, orcs are strong because they are tribal. And that means they have to work hard, hunt sometimes dangerous things, fight for resources, and fight for status in their society. Gnomes are smart because they needed to design and engineer complex machinery, which in turn, propels them to learn quickly. These attributes are about culture just as much as they are about race. (For the record, I am fine with having other orcs be smart or wise or whatever. Just make it a different world.) And that leads most players to look at the art and language used and have it all make sense. I think we all like individualism, but you can't have individualism when there are no norms. That is where playing against type comes in. Hope that explains things. [/QUOTE]

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