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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Benjamin Olson" data-source="post: 8132498" data-attributes="member: 6988941">+2, +2 is always going to be a big draw. Being able to put one of those in a casting stat has definitely upped the mountain dwarf's caster game. I once had schemes of a mountain dwarf archaeologist wizard, but when the stats were rolled making him a race with an intelligence bump was too advantageous. I probably wouldn't make the same call today.But beyond being able to add both a +2 to your caster stat and one of your defensive stats (be it dex or con) I don't see Tasha's making them particularly better for full-caster types unless you have your heart set on some particular idiosyncratic build. They are probably best served to keep the armor proficiencies as armor proficiencies unless they are getting the same ones elsewhere as many casters are squishy. Changing the mountain dwarf weapons for other weapons might be nice, particularly if you want a ranged or otherwise dexy on not terribly consequential, as classes aren't generally gated by proficiencies from weapons that would work radically better for them. It would be handy early game for casters to have longbows or heavy crossbows instead of shortbows or light crossbows, but it is one die size difference on something they do only occasionally.This leaves the option of switching those weapons out for tool proficiencies. Now I like tool proficiencies, and I wish they saw more use in gameplay. But character power in 5e decidedly does not revolve around who has the most tool proficiencies in any campaign I've ever played in, seen, or heard of (much to the chagrin of many an artificer).Only skills can be swapped for skills. So in that department the vaunted mountain dwarf falls behind the many race options that give one or two skill proficiencies. This is really more restrictive now in a post Tasha's world where floating skills of choice aren't just a Half-Elf and Variant Human thing. A mountain dwarf will generally get only two skills from their class list and the two given by their background. Even if they take a completely unrestricted and utilitarian approach to custom backgrounds that makes those effectively free choice, they still effectively only get two off class list skill choices in a world where many races would give one or two additional free choice skills. Casters who aren't Bards tend to have fairly narrow choices in class skills. How you and your table approach skills will effect how much impact this has.For casters we have to consider that many races also give additional magic. Even a once a day spell is pretty cool when you are a warlock or sorcerer with very limited versatility. More importantly (at least for me) is when you can get a cantrip that you would have otherwise had to take as one of your class cantrips.And of course there is all manner of other racial abilities that are less readily quantifiable.Which is all to say that while Tasha's marks the debut of Mountain Dwarf as a really strong option for casters, it hardly blows the existing strong options out of the water. Personally, next time I roll stats for a caster and my best two scores are both even it's likely Mountain Dwarf caster time, the same way that when I roll 5 or more odd numbers it is more often than not going to be Standard Human time. But outside of the floating +2s possibly coinciding to be compelling with particular sets of rolled stats and the option to put classes that are otherwise AC deficient in medium or heavy armor I don't find them particularly compelling for a caster.</blockquote>

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