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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Felon" data-source="post: 1822700" data-attributes="member: 8158">Really, this is not a problem endemic to just the half-orc. The designers have fairly screwed-up notions about what it's worth giving up just to get an ability score bonus.For instance, there's a distinct tendency to gravitate towards Dex and Con bonuses with LA +0 races. They don't like giving out Strength or any of the mental attributes. Perhaps they're afraid that, for instance, everyone would make a gnome wizard if a gnome had an Intelligence bonus instead of a Con bonus. That's probably an overreaction though, since a human's package is pretty appealing even in the face of such of a bonus. And the other core races are pretty unappealing comparatively speaking (even the elf, who is supposed to favor the wizard class). They're also pretty quick to hand out a level adjustment of +1 or more to any race whose ability scores don't "zero-out" in their estimation. A hobgoblin is a good example. All it gets is a bonus to Dex & Con, Darkvision, and a bonus to Move Silently checks. There's precious little there to actually compensate for forfeiting one level's worth of hit points, skill points, base attack bonus, and save bonuses, not to mention delaying the acquisition of class features, feats, and ability score bonuses over the course of levels. To their mind, the race doesn't zero-out and that's that. And let's not even get started on multiple hit-die humanoid races like bugbears, gnolls, and lizardmen, who get thoroughly shafted. They have to pay for their hit dice with class levels on a 1-for-1 basis, despite the fact that humanoid levels stink on ice compared to class levels. And on top of that, they still have to cough up a level adjustment because their ability scores don't zero-out. Totally farkakte!As for dwarves, it is pretty obvious that they are the exception that proves the rule. A dwarf not only gets lots and lots of nifty racial features, but its ability score trade-off is hardly balanced. Why they were ramped-up even more in 3.5e is something I will just never understand. The one thing that seemed to warrant an excess of racial features was the slowed movement, and even that disadvantage has largley been ameliorated.Suffice to say, races in general need a lot of work, and that's one thing I hope they get right come 4e.</blockquote>

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