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Ban Variant-Human! Impact?
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<blockquote data-quote="Esker" data-source="post: 7835903" data-attributes="member: 6966824"><p>Aaracokra is probably not the best example, since many people view at-will flight to be overpowered to the point that aarakocra are banned at their tables (including in Adventurers' League). </p><p></p><p>Some people also see Yuan-ti (in particular their magic resistance) as stronger than other races as well (compare to forest gnome, for example, which has a more limited form of magic resistance, and also gets a free cantrip and a situational ability involving animals; though I suppose you could argue that the difference is balanced by the fact that the Yuan-ti's stat boosts are less likely to both be especially high value at the same time, their cantrip is less good, and their animal ability more restricted in application).</p><p></p><p>Keep in mind too that variant humans get a bonus language and a bonus skill, so those should be factored out.</p><p></p><p>It seems to me that the power of a feat vs the sum value of a basket of other racial features will often be reasonably close, but the problem is that it's rare to find a build for which every single racial feature is useful. For most races, it seems to me, it's darkvision (possibly) and one other actually mechanically useful benefit, maybe a second that another build would use but yours doesn't have a need for, and then some highly situational or fluff features. Races without darkvision often get bonus skills and/or languages to compensate, which are nice, but usually not something that people tend to prioritize when choosing feats, IME. </p><p></p><p>I think what's really strong about the feat at level 1 is that you can grab something tailored to your build, instead of being handed a fixed array of benefits, only some of which you're going to use. That said, I mostly seem to see variant humans in campaigns that are expected to be played mostly at low levels.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Esker, post: 7835903, member: 6966824"] Aaracokra is probably not the best example, since many people view at-will flight to be overpowered to the point that aarakocra are banned at their tables (including in Adventurers' League). Some people also see Yuan-ti (in particular their magic resistance) as stronger than other races as well (compare to forest gnome, for example, which has a more limited form of magic resistance, and also gets a free cantrip and a situational ability involving animals; though I suppose you could argue that the difference is balanced by the fact that the Yuan-ti's stat boosts are less likely to both be especially high value at the same time, their cantrip is less good, and their animal ability more restricted in application). Keep in mind too that variant humans get a bonus language and a bonus skill, so those should be factored out. It seems to me that the power of a feat vs the sum value of a basket of other racial features will often be reasonably close, but the problem is that it's rare to find a build for which every single racial feature is useful. For most races, it seems to me, it's darkvision (possibly) and one other actually mechanically useful benefit, maybe a second that another build would use but yours doesn't have a need for, and then some highly situational or fluff features. Races without darkvision often get bonus skills and/or languages to compensate, which are nice, but usually not something that people tend to prioritize when choosing feats, IME. I think what's really strong about the feat at level 1 is that you can grab something tailored to your build, instead of being handed a fixed array of benefits, only some of which you're going to use. That said, I mostly seem to see variant humans in campaigns that are expected to be played mostly at low levels. [/QUOTE]
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