Level Up (A5E) Do Player Characters Have Average Population Stat Distributions?

[FrogReaver]

I will add that unlike Twosix, I don't view this as warring camps that will only allow for one victor. I think it would be easy enough to make the default of having the ASIs tied to race, and a paragraph (like the variant human) that says, "By the way, you can untie ASIs from races and have a floating bonus of X."

Because I like people to be happy. Except people that play bards. They deserve no happiness.

This seems to be the simplest and best solution. Vocal permission via a 1 line sentence in the game to play with floating racial ASI's.

 

[FrogReaver]

Darn it, new people come in, and I get sucked back into the thread from Hades!

For me, racial ASI is all about genetics. Period. Which is why having a universal cap at 20 makes no sense for me. (Which, is why we changed it. ) We also added a feat, called Raising the Bar, which allows races with 18 caps to raise them to 20.

I'm curious how this isn't a case of cognitive dissonance? If the 20 cap is due to a racial limitation, how the heck does the feat fictionally bypass that?

 

[FrogReaver]

IMO it is so popular because feats are awesome and getting one at 1st level is great for many builds.

IMO it's a bit more nuanced. It's that you can hit the same 16 that any other PC can at level 1 while also getting a feat. If the non-feat PC hit 18 I think you'd find the feat option differently valued.

 

[DND_Reborn]

So if I rolled all my NPCs 3d6 in order, you'll roll that way for your character??

We discussed this yesterday in our game. It was done in Basic D&D and worked fine then, why not now?

I'm curious how this isn't a case of cognitive dissonance? If the 20 cap is due to a racial limitation, how the heck does the feat fictionally bypass that?

It represents the things your PC has done to improve himself beyond what others would consider maximum potential. A feat is a valuable thing, so making this choice really shows dedication to it. And, FWIW, the cap is 18 for the racial limitation in this case. The feat allows you do go beyond that to 20. It also gives you a +1 to that ability, and allows you one reroll per long rest on any attack, ability check, or saves involving that ability score.

If the non-feat PC hit 18 I think you'd find the feat option differently valued.

Making such comparisons is pointless--value is completely individual to the player and the PC build. There are many feats I would happily give up a +1 modifier bonus for, but others I would not. shrug

 

[FrogReaver]

What if for racial ASI’s you could turn any +2 into a +1 and place it anywhere?

 

[dave2008]

I don't want the world's strongest human to be as strong as the world's strongest half-orc. Sorry, but no thank you.

I understand this is a D&D thing, but where did this idea come from? I mean the Orcs of JRRT are not stronger than humans or elves. When did this idea come about?

 

[tetrasodium]

I understand this is a D&D thing, but where did this idea come from? I mean the Orcs of JRRT are not stronger than humans or elves. When did this idea come about?

Adding to that he once wrote"we were all orcs"wrt ww2 combatants

User:Mthomas/Orcs! - Tolkien Gateway

tolkiengateway.net

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[BookTenTiger]

I understand this is a D&D thing, but where did this idea come from? I mean the Orcs of JRRT are not stronger than humans or elves. When did this idea come about?

I am literally reading the LOTR trilogy now and there is such a variety of orcs! Some have long arms, some are huge, some are small... I mean, at one point Frodo and Sam are able to pass as orcs by wearing orc armor!

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I am literally reading the LOTR trilogy now and there is such a variety of orcs! Some have long arms, some are huge, some are small... I mean, at one point Frodo and Sam are able to pass as orcs by wearing orc armor!

Tolkien's orcs are more like goblins and hobgoblins in D&D.

 

[DND_Reborn]

What if for racial ASI’s you could turn any +2 into a +1 and place it anywhere?

Yeah, I suggested the same thing a while go, but some people didn't like it. I don't know, it seemed like a reasonable trade-off to me, too.