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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 8608469" data-attributes="member: 1210">That's not exactly what I said, or if it is, I spoke poorly. To be clear, I don't think having your prime stat be 2 higher is important. I don't think everyone needs to start with an 18 or even a 16 in their prime stat; I have pcs that I play that started with 14 and 15 in their prime stats. That +2 is important in defining one of the things that makes a race different from humans. Right now, one of 5e's trends is to make all the races generic in a bunch of ways (same lifespan, size choice, stat bumps, etc). As a DM, I am just the opposite. I lean into the alienness of nonhumans as best I can. I have heard all the arguments about other races just being humans in silly hats or with forehead bumps, but I think that's a lazy attitude- I think it's worth the effort to try to make each race actually not human. ASIs have always been a mechanism for that in my game.So, important; but not important in the way it is important to a player whose big concern is getting that +2 to the right stat.This is interesting, but in actual play, I have never found having a lower prime stat to be crippling, either as a player or as a DM. I've always managed to feel effective and contribute to the party, and I've always seen pcs in my game do the same.I mean, if the difference is so crippling, why is it that non-optimal pcs have done fine over the years 5e has been out? And they have- I have a huge stable of pcs in my campaign, and many of them are weird combo meal types. I'll stand by my position that, even if you use fixed ASIs, you have plenty of opportunity to get a high score in your main stat unless you use a pretty unusual stat generation method. You can already optimize enough.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 8608469, member: 1210"] That's not exactly what I said, or if it is, I spoke poorly. To be clear, I don't think having your prime stat be 2 higher is important. I don't think everyone needs to start with an 18 or even a 16 in their prime stat; I have pcs that I play that started with 14 and 15 in their prime stats. That +2 is important in defining one of the things that makes a race different from humans. Right now, one of 5e's trends is to make all the races generic in a bunch of ways (same lifespan, size choice, stat bumps, etc). As a DM, I am just the opposite. I lean into the alienness of nonhumans as best I can. I have heard all the arguments about other races just being humans in silly hats or with forehead bumps, but I think that's a lazy attitude- I think it's worth the effort to try to make each race actually not human. ASIs have always been a mechanism for that in my game. So, important; but not important in the way it is important to a player whose big concern is getting that +2 to the right stat. This is interesting, but in actual play, I have never found having a lower prime stat to be crippling, either as a player or as a DM. I've always managed to feel effective and contribute to the party, and I've always seen pcs in my game do the same. I mean, if the difference is so crippling, why is it that non-optimal pcs have done fine over the years 5e has been out? And they have- I have a huge stable of pcs in my campaign, and many of them are weird combo meal types. I'll stand by my position that, even if you use fixed ASIs, you have plenty of opportunity to get a high score in your main stat unless you use a pretty unusual stat generation method. You can already optimize enough. [/QUOTE]

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