D&D 5E I'd like to see Next do away with racial stat mods for PC races.

[Nikosandros]

I would prefer if there were no racial stat bonii. Instead you could have abilities like Elven Grace: you get advantage on all (or certain) dex checks. Iron stomach: you can can re-roll con checks of less than x, etc. That would make the races flavorful with some mechanical bite, yet remove them from the stat treadmill min/max game.

This is exactly what I was thinking. Get rid of the racial modifiers, but give specifics bonuses related to certain activities.

 

[Nikosandros]

Double post.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

Gah, no thanks- that's not to my taste.

I am a fan of rolling stats, so not everyone has an 18 to begin with. I'm okay with 5e's approach of "Oh, you're a wizard? +1 Int"- but assigning stats? No, that really homogenizes pcs far too much for my tastes.

Well that's actually what I meant. Instead of the race giving you the boost, it's the class. So a wizard would give you a + 2 to Int while a fighter, depending on the route you went, would give you + 2 to Str or maybe Dex.

 

[Gadget]

Those sorts of ideas would be flavorful, but they'd also have a more significant impact than a simple +1 to the stat. An elf with advantage on a Dex check typically gains a bigger benefit than a +1 on that check. Granted, the effect is confined to Dex checks (or specific types of Dex checks) rather than also affecting initiative checks, AND ranged attacks, AND Dex checks, AND etc. But the effect of advantage on that one area is pretty big.

All of that would have to be considered if seriously contemplating turning a +1 to the Dex stat into other flavorful alternatives.

These were just off the top of my head, but I think it is hard to have a more significant impact than stats, as stat focused as the game has become. The whole point is to make is choice significant and flavorful, and I thought the designers were wanting to move away from the tic-tact +/- 1 bonii anyway. The main problem is that stats are so front and center to the game and class choice, that race just becomes another chip lost in parleying effectiveness in your class. The aforementioned Elven Grace ability may be a nice thing to have for Rogues and/or Rangers, but does it make the choosing the elf race the no-brainer option for those classes? If so, it would have to be trimmed down to only balance/acrobatics checks, a nice feature for any class to have but not a must have for dex based classes.

 

[The Human Target]

I think stat modifiers for races are a great idea. I think classes needing huge values in a particular stat to be viable is what poops up the entire thing. Look, the problem is people are asking themselves "Why play a human fighter when I can play a half-orc? The stats are so much better." If Strength wasn't so required for fighters (or intelligence for wizards, wisdom for clerics, etc) such as by taking away the ability modifier to attack rolls or save DCs or what have you then it wouldn't matter so gosh darned much that the Half Orc has +2 Strength. You might even start thinking "Half Orc wizard sounds fun" without the standard "hurr hurr it so funny becuz half orcs r dum" because the intelligence penalty is no longer absolutely prohibitive.

Yes sir that's where I'm at.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I think stat modifiers for races are a great idea. I think classes needing huge values in a particular stat to be viable is what poops up the entire thing.

I agree.

Look, the problem is people are asking themselves "Why play a human fighter when I can play a half-orc? The stats are so much better." If Strength wasn't so required for fighters (or intelligence for wizards, wisdom for clerics, etc) such as by taking away the ability modifier to attack rolls or save DCs or what have you then it wouldn't matter so gosh darned much that the Half Orc has +2 Strength. You might even start thinking "Half Orc wizard sounds fun" without the standard "hurr hurr it so funny becuz half orcs r dum" because the intelligence penalty is no longer absolutely prohibitive.

I think it's more about making all six abilities meaningful as opposed to trying to make them mean less. The six saves is a good start. But there's a lot more that could be done.

 

[the Jester]

Well that's actually what I meant. Instead of the race giving you the boost, it's the class. So a wizard would give you a + 2 to Int while a fighter, depending on the route you went, would give you + 2 to Str or maybe Dex.

I like the "+1 from race, +1 from class" approach we're seeing (though honestly, I would love races to go back to +1 to one stat, -1 to another).

 

[Mistwell]

Racial stat modifiers are something found in every edition of the game, right? The modifiers might vary slightly from version to version, but they all do them, right?

I don't see enough gain from slaying that sacred cow to justify doing away with it.

 

[Nikosandros]

Racial stat modifiers are something found in every edition of the game, right? The modifiers might vary slightly from version to version, but they all do them, right?

OD&D, B/X and BECMI don't have racial modifiers.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

I like the "+1 from race, +1 from class" approach we're seeing (though honestly, I would love races to go back to +1 to one stat, -1 to another).

Well we still get the classic problem from 4th edition when we use the current method. You are still more than likely to pick the race class combo that has better synergy because you don't want multiple odd score stats, especially if you are going to point buy route.

By using my method, you can have any race be good with any class.