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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Faolyn" data-source="post: 8736919" data-attributes="member: 6915329">Elves are better archers because of tradition. Halflings are not better throwers in 5e or in... what are we calling the next edition now? D&DO? One? because slings are a simple weapon just about anyone can use, and they didn't give halflings any bonuses to use them. And honestly, "in their genes" isn't that good an excuse. Humans are better endurance runners than basically every other animal out there. We can outrun cheetahs in a race, simply because we can run for longer than they can. That's in our genes. But most people don't train to run and therefore are simply not good at it, and average Joe would fall over panting fairly quickly. How far can you run? I can manage a fast shuffle for a couple of seconds until I remember there's a reason I own a cane.The same would happen with elves. An elf who really wants to train at being graceful will be very good, and that would be represented by them putting their highest stat in Dex, making an "Acrobat" or "Dancer" background, and taking some Dex-based skills to support that. But average elf is probably not going to do that. Average elf is going to be doing whatever elves do all day, like frolicking in the woods, or painting murals.Elsewhere, you write:That's because SF tries to be at least a little bit realistic. There's in-setting reasons for Vulcans being strong: their planet is higher gravity, and they supposedly have much denser muscles than humans, and I'm pretty sure that they have a better pulmonary system, all of which are used to explain their high strength. Likewise, in real life, chimps literally have different types of muscles (more fast-twitch muscle fibers) than humans do which enhances their strength (but makes them tire out more easily).In fantasy, you don't get that. You get maaagic. You get literary tradition determining what races are like, but literary tradition changes from time to time and so do interpretations of D&D races. Which is why, for instance, halflings used to get bonuses to saves against magic and half-orcs were built to be assassins, not barbarians. It's also why you can handwave things like a loxodon--a literally 8-foot-tall elephant-person--being no stronger than an elf (neither get Strength bonuses in 5e), or a 4'5" dwarf being as strong as a 7-foot goliath (both get a +2 Strength).</blockquote>

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