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<blockquote data-quote="Guest 6801328" data-source="post: 8068484">I'll agree it's tricky to design them to minimize class bias.But the thing I genuinely don't understand is the opinion...shared by several posters, apparently...that racial ASIs are &quot;strongly&quot; flavored.&nbsp; The 5% bonus to all your primary activities is significant, but I don't find it &quot;flavorful&quot;, especially since there are other ways to get high scores.&nbsp; Maybe it's flavorful during character generation (as Max seems to think) but...really?&nbsp; That's the goal?I find all those named racial abilities that you consciously invoke during the game to be much, much more flavorful.&nbsp; Even in cases where they have similarities to other abilities (e.g. Halforc Relentless Endurance is similar to but not identical to barbarian Relentless Rage, etc.) they still &quot;pop&quot; out during play much more than a passive bonus that could have come from any number of sources, and that never really gets mentioned.How many times have you experienced a player rolling the exact number needed to hit, and having them narrate something about their ancestry?&nbsp; &quot;Good thing I'm an elf or I would have missed.&quot;&nbsp; (I've never once heard that.&nbsp; YMMV.&nbsp; And of course it's the internet so we can all pretend that it happens in whatever way most supports our side of the argument.)</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Guest 6801328, post: 8068484"] I'll agree it's tricky to design them to minimize class bias. But the thing I genuinely don't understand is the opinion...shared by several posters, apparently...that racial ASIs are "strongly" flavored. The 5% bonus to all your primary activities is significant, but I don't find it "flavorful", especially since there are other ways to get high scores. Maybe it's flavorful during character generation (as Max seems to think) but...really? That's the goal? I find all those named racial abilities that you consciously invoke during the game to be much, much more flavorful. Even in cases where they have similarities to other abilities (e.g. Halforc Relentless Endurance is similar to but not identical to barbarian Relentless Rage, etc.) they still "pop" out during play much more than a passive bonus that could have come from any number of sources, and that never really gets mentioned. How many times have you experienced a player rolling the exact number needed to hit, and having them narrate something about their ancestry? "Good thing I'm an elf or I would have missed." (I've never once heard that. YMMV. And of course it's the internet so we can all pretend that it happens in whatever way most supports our side of the argument.) [/QUOTE]

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