D&D 5E Human racial bonus in 5E

[TheWriterFantastic™]

I could see them offering +1 to any two ability scores, or a feat - this could even work for the other races, sacrificing their level 1 ability adjustments for specific feats appropriate to the given race, while human has the versatility option.

 

[Sir Brennen]

I could see them offering +1 to any two ability scores, or a feat - this could even work for the other races, sacrificing their level 1 ability adjustments for specific feats appropriate to the given race, while human has the versatility option.

Except I'm 95% certain that feats will not be part of the Basic game, given that they're optional, so whatever alternative they came up with, it's not going to be a free feat.

 

[Nikosandros]

Except I'm 95% certain that feats will not be part of the Basic game, given that they're optional, so whatever alternative they came up with, it's not going to be a free feat.

It is possible that the alternative will be offered only in the PHB (or in the DMG) and not in the Basic game.

 

[the Jester]

I'm a big fan of the idea of +1 to highest and lowest for humans.

 

[TheWriterFantastic™]

Except I'm 95% certain that feats will not be part of the Basic game, given that they're optional, so whatever alternative they came up with, it's not going to be a free feat.

I'd imagine they'd use the two +1s as a baseline, similar to the boosts they gain from their class every few levels, and like the boosts, allow them to be swapped for a feat, as a modular option - it makes a great deal of sense, since the level dependent ability adjustments were designed specifically for this. Since the other character races and subraces have 2 specific bumps at first, maybe each race can opt to sacrifice their 1st level adjustment for race and subrace for a specific feat, appropriate to the subrace they select. That way the players crying for 1st level feats get what they want without breaking the balance of the system.

 

[Blueace]

I'm super annoyed at what seems to be the Human racial stat modifiers, +1 to everything. Is no one as upset about this as me? Argh!!!

Why not +2 to one score? Even +1 to two of your choice. Something. Else.

+1 to every score seems crazy (though I get not necessarily unbalancing).

Back on that. Don't be annoyed, it's not so sure.

We know that final scores are 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 9.

If it was +1 to all, it means that original is : 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. That is 27 points. Not the basic 30 points nobody said they will change. So it doesn't match.

Now, imagine the following :
Original is 15, 14, 13, 13, 11, 9. That is 30 points. So far so good.
Than add +1 to only 3 abilities, the highest of course. You got : 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 9. It matchs perfectly.

And I guess that giving +1 to 3 instead of 6 abilites is a good hit according to the different point of view on this forum regarding humain abilities bonus.

What do you think ?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Back on that. Don't be annoyed, it's not so sure.

We know that final scores are 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 9.

If it was +1 to all, it means that original is : 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. That is 27 points. Not the basic 30 points nobody said they will change. So it doesn't match.

Now, imagine the following :
Original is 15, 14, 13, 13, 11, 9. That is 30 points. So far so good.
Than add +1 to only 3 abilities, the highest of course. You got : 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 9. It matchs perfectly.

And I guess that giving +1 to 3 instead of 6 abilites is a good hit according to the different point of view on this forum regarding humain abilities bonus.

What do you think ?

I don't know that you're right, since 15/14/13/12/10/8 has been a "default array" for quite a while. That said, I do think your idea of +1 to three scores is highly preferable to +1 to all scores.

 

[Kobold Stew]

And I guess that giving +1 to 3 instead of 6 abilites is a good hit according to the different point of view on this forum regarding humain abilities bonus.

What do you think ?

While clever, I think this is unlikely to be the case --

As has been said the stats match expectations on the default array. Further, +1 to three scores would be underpowered when measured agains any other race (even the half-elf).

It would end up being +1 to one of your top three stats vs. all the proficiencies, skill bonus, special powers, vision abilities, etc. of the other classes.

The demo character is almost certainly + 1 to all abilities.

 

[JoeCrow]

Back on that. Don't be annoyed, it's not so sure.

We know that final scores are 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 9.

If it was +1 to all, it means that original is : 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. That is 27 points. Not the basic 30 points nobody said they will change. So it doesn't match.

Now, imagine the following :
Original is 15, 14, 13, 13, 11, 9. That is 30 points. So far so good.
Than add +1 to only 3 abilities, the highest of course. You got : 16, 15, 14, 13, 11, 9. It matchs perfectly.

And I guess that giving +1 to 3 instead of 6 abilites is a good hit according to the different point of view on this forum regarding humain abilities bonus.

What do you think ?

Problem is, the default stat array for every one of the playtest packets is 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. And the new fighter's stats are exactly one more than each of those. So, that's kinda straight outta the "+1 for humans" rulebook. Which, you know, kind of annoying, but ain't nothing stopping me from houseruling that out. Depending on what the other races' stat bonus schemes are, I'll probably go "+1 to your choice of two". That seems balanced, and in-theme for human flexibility, as opposed to human supremacy.

 

[bording]

I just took a look at all of the versions of the Character Creation pdf over the course of the playtest.

The standard array started out as:

15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8

and when the optional point buy sidebar showed up, you were given 27 points to spend.



However, in the two most recent versions of the document the standard array changed to:

16, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8


and the point buy sidebar increased to 30 points.



So, they've either gone back to the older 27 point array, or there is something else going on with those fighter stats.