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

[the Jester]

The only way to accomplish this without saddling players with crappy characters is to figure out a way to make more than one stat important for a class. When your classes forte is tied to a single stat that is what any player with mechanics sense or at least not beholden to stormwind falacy will put all their effort into.

I disagree. The real solution is ensuring that the game works just fine if your high stat is a 15.

 

[The Human Target]

There's no real requirement that stats be required for a class, period.

If stats were basically perks instead of requirements, such that you could have viable if sub-par characters with six 10s (making NPCs super easy to work with), you could give your character any stats you want and still be viable.

You would have to:

* Make every stat equally useful to a well-rounded character of any class (specialist characters can still gain by specializing).
* Make every class able to effectively utilize every stat (wizards would need VIABLE melee attacks, etc.)
* Make every bump in a stat useful (if 12 is no better than a 10 nobody will have a 12)
* Make every bump in a stat equal to a bump in another stat
* Remove ability scores from to-hit and defense values. Those need to be baked in elsewhere.
* Level out accuracy. Every class should be able to hit with any ability they can access. A wizard whacking someone with a staff may do relatively paltry damage, but they should be able to hit reliably hit so they can utilize Strength.

Just as a 1:30am no-effort example:
"Bump" defined: The point in an ability score increase where you actually gain something from it.

Strength: +1/bump to melee damage
Dexterity: +1/bump to ranged damage
Constitution: +1/bump to HP
Intelligence: +1/bump to area damage
Wisdom: +1/bump to minimum roll on Skill Checks (Wisdom 12 means your lowest skill check roll is 2, etc)
Charisma: +1/bump to HP healed (Wisdom 12 means you get healed for 11 instead of 10, etc)

Obviously the above is not likely going to work for D&D, and a strict +X*bump structure is not the only way to go, but as a general notion, I hope that gets the idea across. You also don't have to make the stats mean the same thing for ehvery class, but making a unique series for each class can get complicated as heck.

I like the way you think.

 

[Meatboy]

Personally I'll suggest going the crazy route and suggest numbered stats be removed entirely. We are already forced to strive for the highest ability modifier possible. On top of that to keep math flat were capped at 20. Why not just have a polar on/off for each stat, maybe with bonuses or powers that scale with level? So if your fighter is strong you gain a,b,c but if he's tough you get x,y,z. No worrying about HOW strong or HOW tough it's just enough to know that you ARE strong or ARE tough. Quicker,simpler and easier to balance.