The new Tasha's custom lineage is one of the strongest PC options published--pick a feat, potentially choose an Ability to start at 18, have darkvision.
Why not have it be conventional practice that players always build a custom lineage, regardless of the 'race' they want to play i.e.:
The upside is that DMs wouldn't have to be picky about allowing other options for players who want more thematically unified mechanics. Since custom lineage is almost always gonna be mechanically better, nothing else is likely to unbalance the game.
I think this convention would ultimately allow players to play what they want without feeling like they're straightjacketed by the rules AND--because total freedom undermines creativity more than constraints do--mean that a lot of players will flavor their PC as generically human or demihuman. The freedom to go gonzo is there but most of the players most of the time won't want to.
Finally, it'd be less oppressive to worldbuilding, since there's no default assumption that the PHB races need to exist in the setting. So, say, in my setting I decide everyone is dragonborn. Players can decide to look like dragonborn, and be locals, or look like elves, and be inter-dimensional party crashers--mechanically it doesn't matter, roleplay what you want.
What do you guys think?
Why not have it be conventional practice that players always build a custom lineage, regardless of the 'race' they want to play i.e.:
wanna play a dwarf? --> custom lineage: +2 Str, Sentinel
wanna play an elf? --> custom lineage: +2 Dex, Elven Accuracy
wanna play a purple eight-eyed anthropomorphic psychic badger? --> custom lineage: +2 Int, Telekinetic
and so on
The upside is that DMs wouldn't have to be picky about allowing other options for players who want more thematically unified mechanics. Since custom lineage is almost always gonna be mechanically better, nothing else is likely to unbalance the game.
I think this convention would ultimately allow players to play what they want without feeling like they're straightjacketed by the rules AND--because total freedom undermines creativity more than constraints do--mean that a lot of players will flavor their PC as generically human or demihuman. The freedom to go gonzo is there but most of the players most of the time won't want to.
Finally, it'd be less oppressive to worldbuilding, since there's no default assumption that the PHB races need to exist in the setting. So, say, in my setting I decide everyone is dragonborn. Players can decide to look like dragonborn, and be locals, or look like elves, and be inter-dimensional party crashers--mechanically it doesn't matter, roleplay what you want.
What do you guys think?
