D&D 5E Half-Elves are taking over my game! (Or are Humans underpowered?)

[Weiley31]

I've always wanted to make a Berserker with decent Charisma that actually makes use of Intimidating Presence.

I make the argument that depending on the creature/etc, CHA can be used for Intimidation as well.

 

[Jediking]

If you do a little linguistic math, you get the following differences:

Human

• You gain one feat of your choice

vs Half-Elf

• Your Charisma increases by 2
• Darkvision
• Advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic cannot put you to sleep.
• You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice.
• You can speak, read, and write Elvish.

That's … clearly a bit much for a feat, especially considering Charisma +2 is already worth a feat.

Even without the +2 Charisma, it might be a worthwhile feat. Darkvision, Fey Ancestry, a skill proficiency, and Elvish might be a bit much. A skill proficiency is 1/3rd of a feat. A language is like 1/8th of a feat. Darkvision and Fey Ancestry are difficult to weigh.

Races all have 12 points for their traits (some of the monstrous races from Volo's do not follow this, but they also have a disclaimer saying they are not balanced. Looking at you, Yuan-Ti!). Breaking them down, it looks like the following:

Variant Human:

• 2 different ability scores of your choice increase by 1. (4)
• Medium-sized. (0)
• Your base walking speed is 30 feet. (0)
• You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice. (2)
• You gain one feat of your choice. (6)
• You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice. (0 = ribbon)
• Total = (12)

Half Elf

• Your Charisma score increases by 2. (4)
• Two other ability scores of your choice increase by 1. (4)
• Medium-sized. (0)
• Your walking speed is 30 feet. (0)
• Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. (0 = ribbon)
• Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep. (0 = ribbon)
• Skill Versatility. You gain proficiency in two skills of your choice. (4)
• You can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish, and one extra language of your choice. (0 = ribbon)
• Total = (12)

A skill is equal to +1 to any ability score based on racial traits across all races.

Half-Elves are great because a lot of their extra traits (darkvision, fey ancestry, extra language) do not affect their combat abilities so they are counted as ribbons and are not counted in affecting their CR balance in combat, which is what the game looks to when balancing mechanics.
Having a ribbon is a lot better than having nothing, and Half-Elves get a lot more ribbons that Human which make them more attractive.

Yes, having darkvision and Fey Ancestry will help in the odd specific combat, but not enough to really factor in. Compared to Wood Elves, where faster movespeed and the ability to Hide can both be beneficial in most combats, so it is compared to one cantrip for High Elves (one cantrip = to one skill = +1 to one ability score)

 

[Fenris-77]

VHuman is not under powered. Normal humans mostly suck, but that's been par for the course for years. I'm actually happy that the VHuman is as good as it is because I now see multiple humans in a party on a regular basis. That's my two cents anyway.

 

[Hriston]

Races all have 12 points for their traits (some of the monstrous races from Volo's do not follow this, but they also have a disclaimer saying they are not balanced. Looking at you, Yuan-Ti!). Breaking them down, it looks like the following:

Variant Human:

• 2 different ability scores of your choice increase by 1. (4)
• Medium-sized. (0)
• Your base walking speed is 30 feet. (0)
• You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice. (2)
• You gain one feat of your choice. (6)
• You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice. (0 = ribbon)
• Total = (12)

Half Elf

• Your Charisma score increases by 2. (4)
• Two other ability scores of your choice increase by 1. (4)
• Medium-sized. (0)
• Your walking speed is 30 feet. (0)
• Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. (0 = ribbon)
• Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep. (0 = ribbon)
• Skill Versatility. You gain proficiency in two skills of your choice. (4)
• You can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish, and one extra language of your choice. (0 = ribbon)
• Total = (12)

A skill is equal to +1 to any ability score based on racial traits across all races.

Half-Elves are great because a lot of their extra traits (darkvision, fey ancestry, extra language) do not affect their combat abilities so they are counted as ribbons and are not counted in affecting their CR balance in combat, which is what the game looks to when balancing mechanics.
Having a ribbon is a lot better than having nothing, and Half-Elves get a lot more ribbons that Human which make them more attractive.

Yes, having darkvision and Fey Ancestry will help in the odd specific combat, but not enough to really factor in. Compared to Wood Elves, where faster movespeed and the ability to Hide can both be beneficial in most combats, so it is compared to one cantrip for High Elves (one cantrip = to one skill = +1 to one ability score)

I’m in general agreement, but I think the “ribbons” do add value:

Variant Human:

• 2 different ability scores of your choice increase by 1. (40)
• Medium-sized. (2)
• Your base walking speed is 30 feet. (4)
• You gain proficiency in one skill of your choice. (8)
• You gain one feat of your choice. (24)
• You can speak, read, and write Common and one extra language of your choice. (2)
• Total = (80)

Half Elf

• Your Charisma score increases by 2. (24)
• Two other ability scores of your choice increase by 1. (24)
• Medium-sized. (2)
• Your walking speed is 30 feet. (4)
• Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. (2)
• Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep. (4)
• Skill Versatility. You gain proficiency in two skills of your choice. (16)
• You can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish, and one extra language of your choice. (4)
• Total = (80)

 

[Jediking]

I’m in general agreement, but I think the “ribbons” do add value:...

I like your in-depth analysis, I went through the same sort of exercise. Came to a different conclusion, but so similar it's NBD either way

I went through the races to add a bunch of subclasses and homebrew races, and even came up with a document to allow any mixed race to be chosen (Mul, Quarterling, whatever the players want). It became easy when I didn't include ribbons, just because they added too much complexity for what my goal in that case was.
(Human, Half-Elf, and Elf were the easy Rosetta Stone to break down other races.)

Edit: *I completely agree ribbons add some value and they are better to have than not, but they aren't counted in balancing one race against another. It's like the weapon table, where finesse and versatile do not affect the balance of a weapon. It`s better to have, but mechanically it isn`t counted for balance purposes.



From the Waterborne UA, WotC had a key sidebar that showed a bit of how they design and weigh ribbons:

Ribbons: On the R&D team, any ability meant to convey flavor rather than a mechanical advantage is referred to as a ribbon—a thing that’s mostly for show. Thieves’ Cant is a great example of a ribbon ability, and Storm Guide also falls into this category. We don’t weigh ribbons when balancing one class or option against another. For example, Heart of the Storm carries the power load at 6th level for the storm sorcerer, while Storm Guide is here only to show how these sorcerers can excel as sailors. It isn’t meant to help in combat, but it’s potentially very useful in maneuvering a ship.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Weiley31]

I mean, sure.

Is there anything that Charisma cannot do?

Charisma: It's got what plants crave. It's got electrolytes!

I mean, I imagine a Fae using CHA for Intimidation while an Orc Warchief would use STR for Intimidation instead.

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Xeviat]

I strongly dislike overweighing the 1st level bonus feat. +2 Charisma is equal to a feat if you're playing a Charisma class. The feat at first is only a benefit until 4th, when the human takes +2 Charisma and the half-elf could take the feat.

Also, Darkvision is not a ribbon. Fey Ancestry is not a ribbon. They both have in game effects. Ask the human player in a group of characters with Darkvision before they go into an unlit goblin cave (Lost Mines of Phandelver).