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Message: <blockquote data-quote="billd91" data-source="post: 4768962" data-attributes="member: 3400">The stat bumps races get should be, ultimately, unrelated to their cultural traits and tendencies that favor one class over another. That was one thing well recognized by 3e's favored classes. When it comes to nature vs nurture, if you want to be reasonably realistic, nurture usually wins when dealing with intelligent species.But when it comes to gamers, the rationality of the numbers usually wins out. And in this case, I think 4e exacerbates the problem by trying too hard to keep near a particular ratio of success - it's hard for any factors that feed into attack/defense bonuses to compensate for any that lag behind without allowing them to potentially run amok when no factors lag. This is why, in 3e, stat boost items are both a benefit and a bane. They allow characters with mediocre stats to compete over their natural talent, but they also help exceptional talents become overbearing.</blockquote>