D&D 5E Are there any races post-tashas that compare with mountain dwarf for casters?

[tetrasodium]

So have they ever proven if it's high IQ that causes high wealth or high wealth that causes high IQ?

You could read studies & theories for a very long time if you wanted to investigate that or the flynn effect, but there is little doubt that nutrition & the sort of environment/lifestyle/upbringing that comes with wealth have a significant impact

 

[D1Tremere]

So have they ever proven if it's high IQ that causes high wealth or high wealth that causes high IQ?

I want to use this reply to voice two things.

1 (A bit off topic): Wealth (Socio-economic status, SES) is linked with high IQ, depending on how IQ is being measured. It is also linked with performance on standardized tests. There are a lot of reasons why we know this correlation to be real and problematic. The main thing is that standardized IQ tests are based on working memory and education, which are mostly factors of wealth. The components of standardized tests are essentially the same as those in IQ tests, so we are basically testing the same construct at a different level of education (As prabe eluded to). The wealthier you are the more education you will be exposed to and the less detriments to capacity for working memory (such as environmental anxiety). We are now beginning to expand our definition of IQ to be more multi-faceted. There is a biological component to capacity in working memory, but except for those who are born with extreme deficits it makes no practical difference. It is just too little an effect compared to environment in most measures.

2: My approach to decoupling racial bonuses from race is to frame them is this light, of environment and exception. Most Dwarves will still have the racial bonuses in the PHB because they are still living with the same cultural and environmental forces shaping their lives (most don't even have class levels). PCs are rare, and can have great backstory reasons for why they have their bonus in Cha instead of Con. I actually told my players they would need to make a short writeup of why their character grew up different from most whatevers. I think it does nothing to change the average NPCs in a D&D game, and encourages PCs to create more elaborate reasons for why they defy the norms in virtually every way to begin with. After all, most Elves do not leave their ancestral homes to live a life of danger and uncertainty as an adventurer.

 

[Mistwell]

Rate the race:

Ability Scores: +2/+1
Size: Medium
Speed: +5 feet speed (35 feet)
Tools: Choose one tool
Skills: Choose two skills, and also add +1d8 feet to all jump checks
Languages: Common + one bonus language
Natural Weapon: Unarmed strikes: 1d4 + Str
Magic Resistance: Advantage on saves vs spells & magic effects

 

[FrogReaver]

It's wealth that causes high IQ.

Evidence?

 

[FrogReaver]

It's not entirely my field, but I think they've determined that what IQ tests measure most accurately is one's ability to take IQ tests.

A math test also most accurately measures one's ability to take a math test. That doesn't mean it's not an appropriate assessment of how well one performs at math outside a testing environment.

 

[prabe]

A math test also most accurately measures one's ability to take a math test. That doesn't mean it's not an appropriate assessment of how well one performs at math outside a testing environment.

That's fair, except that IQ tests, best I can determine, don't really measure intelligence. There are too many inherent biases in the testing methods. I mean, it's not like the old instance of the SAT using the word "regatta" in a vocabulary section, but it's in the same direction. Heck, this was a known thing when I took Basic Shrinkology in college almost thirty years ago.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Evidence?

Here, just some things I found quickly.

(PDF) Race, Poverty and SAT Scores: Modeling the Influences of Family Income on Black and White High School Students' SAT Performance

PDF | Background Educational policy makers and test critics often assert that standardized test scores are strongly influenced by factors beyond... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

www.researchgate.net

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/03/rich-students-get-better-sat-scores-heres-why.html#:~:text=Mcardle%20from%20the%20University%20of,students%20compared%20to%20white%20students.

(Also, it seems pretty evil/nazi-like to say that the other possibility was true.)

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

A math test also most accurately measures one's ability to take a math test. That doesn't mean it's not an appropriate assessment of how well one performs at math outside a testing environment.

There are different, (more important, IMO) types of intelligence that can't be measured by an IQ test.

 

[FrogReaver]

That's fair, except that IQ tests, best I can determine, don't really measure intelligence. There are too many inherent biases in the testing methods. I mean, it's not like the old instance of the SAT using the word "regatta" in a vocabulary section, but it's in the same direction. Heck, this was a known thing when I took Basic Shrinkology in college almost thirty years ago.

I suppose it depends on what is meant by intelligence.

 

[FrogReaver]

You could read studies & theories for a very long time if you wanted to investigate that or the flynn effect, but there is little doubt that nutrition & the sort of environment/lifestyle/upbringing that comes with wealth have a significant impact

flynn effect was in interesting read.