D&D 5E Is Tasha's Broken?

[Bill Zebub]

How dare you use math against me! My one weakness.

That’s actually pretty refreshing. Usually RPG debates are a big nerd pissing contest.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Even when the Mockva sank?

I don't know what that means.

 

[Vaalingrade]

That’s actually pretty refreshing. Usually RPG debates are a big nerd pissing contest.

Pi is exactly 3.

 

[MGibster]

That’s actually pretty refreshing. Usually RPG debates are a big nerd pissing contest.

I try to avoid those. In this particular case, I realize the floating ASIs are just a preference and it doesn't bother me if you like oysters and I like snails. Also, I happen to feel as though race doesn't really matter as far as game play is concerned. Whether your Fighter is a halfling, goliath, human, or gnome just doesn't have any meaningful impact on the game so why should I get bent out of shape about floating ASIs?

 

[MGibster]

Pi is exactly 3.

It was a good idea for Indiana in 1897 and it's a good idea today!

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I don't know what that means.

The Russian warship that was told to go screw itself sank.

 

[Minigiant]

Also, I happen to feel as though race doesn't really matter as far as game play is concerned. Whether your Fighter is a halfling, goliath, human, or gnome just doesn't have any meaningful impact on the game so why should I get bent out of shape about floating ASIs?

Yeah, race is so nerfed in 5e that you might as well make the ASI float and not have race choice artificial slow down the build of your character.

It's not like Race is in 3e or 4e where you could get +4 or +6 to a score or have a racial power you could use every* singe encounter.

If there were 2 more variants in the original PHB, my wish for the 4th one would have been Fantastical Races.

 

[ECMO3]

I love Tasha's I have never had a problem as a player or a DM.

I have not found twilight cleric to be OP in the several parties I have had one in. As a matter of fact, I have had only 2 party members hard die in a party I was a player in since Tasha's came out and one of them died while my Twilight Cleric had twilight sanctuary up.

I don't even think twilight cleric is the most powerful thing in this book, that prize would go either to the new bladesinger or the no-concentration Summon Fey/Beguiling Twist combo from the Fey Wanderer.

 

[MoonSong]

Floating racial ASIs eliminate that incentive and put every race on a level playing field, ability score wise. It's no longer mandatory that your orc wizard be dumber at level one than another player's elf wizard. You still have the option of playing with a non-optimal ability score array if you so choose, but people who just had a cool idea for an unorthodox race/class combo are no longer punished by default for picking it, and I think that the benefits for newer and less experienced players far outweigh the cost of letting optimizers eek out a bit more player power in a system for which, as you yourself note, it doesn't really make THAT much of a difference.

They however make optimization all but mandatory, and scores more homogeneous. Since any race can max a given score, every character is expected to max their main score to the point they all have the same score, so that Str 20 halfling barabarian is but a meaningless coat of paint and indistinguishable from any barbarian from any other race. We get closer and closer to just having a handful of optimal pregens and we all just pretend they are somehow different.

 

[MoonSong]

To me, social pressure is just not a good enough reason to change the rules.

This change brings pressure, pressure to always have max scores or not get to play. One can't play against type anymore if there isn't a type to play against.