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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JoeNotCharles" data-source="post: 4996830" data-attributes="member: 79945">I agree with everything you said about D&D up to 3E, except that your definition of "specialist" and "generalist" is exactly the opposite of the way everyone else uses it.Generally when you say that a "race" is specialist, it means that race is good at one particular role, and when it's generalist, it means members of that race can be good at any role.  You seem to be saying humans are "specialist" because each individual human picks a role to specialize in.  But in BD&D, for example, it makes much more sense to me to say that humans are generalists while demihumans are specialists - humans can be anything, Fighter, Cleric, Wizard or Thief, while all dwarves are essentially fighters, so clearly dwarves specialize in fighting.Once you hit 4E, I'm not sure what you're talking about.  Using your definition of specialist, how does having an extra at-will FROM YOUR CLASS make you more of a generalist?  It seems like it would make you more of a specialist, because you pick a class to specialize in and your racial bonus specifically makes you better at it. In comparison, other races are "generalists" by your definition because they get some abilities that might not fit with the class they choose to specialize in.By my definition, it's clear - humans are generalists because no matter what class the pick, they get abilities that work with it, while most other races get abilities that work better for some classes than others, leading them to be better suited (or "specialized") for those classes.  Except for Half-Elves, who are generalists of a different sort.Now, I don't know Earthdawn, but for Shadowrun and WFRP - huh?  "A human will have an easier time going from a rat-catcher to an engineer than, say, an elf," - that's MY definition!  That's the OPPOSITE of how you were defining generalists and specialists for D&D!</blockquote>

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