D&D 5E Is Tasha's More or Less The Universal Standard?

[GMforPowergamers]

Maybe I should be clearer then.
Rubber masks. This is what floating ASI just do.

that is not my experence. quite the oppisit without floating ASI when people (power gamers) chose races they didn't care about mindset... with floating ASI they no longer had to choose the race with the best mods.

With floating ASI, what is the difference between a halfling barb, a gnome barb, an half orc barb and any other race barb?

personality and roleplay... things I would RATHER they pick races based on then stats.

Absolutely nothing game wise.

noting statwise... so again in my experience it makes people more willing to spread out and try new things and new mindsets.

They will all reach max strength at level 8.

if they want to yup.

The racial bonuses might do a change but it won't be a cost to see your max stat at level 12. A point that, from own admission is rarely reached. So doing a race not necessarily suited for the class should come at a cost. That cost is to reach max stat at level 12. The player is taking a risk here. Not a big one, but it is a risk any ways.

why should it cost someone to play an elf over an orc if they want to play an elf?

Also, a DM will play the element of surprise in favor of the underdog because it is not something that is expected.

if you only apply floating stats to PCs then you can still be suprised... haflings don't OFTEN become 2 handed barbarians weather they take +2 str or are forced to +2 dex

With floating ASI, you get everything at no costs. No delay and you get immediate rewards for doing so.

yes allowing you to play what you want without having to 'forehead makeup' a human into the race that suits your stat line

 

[Azzy]

Maybe I should be clearer then.
Rubber masks. This is what floating ASI just do.

They don't, but if saying so makes you feel better then knock yourself out.

 

[Irlo]

Maybe I should be clearer then.
Rubber masks. This is what floating ASI just do.
With floating ASI, what is the difference between a halfling barb, a gnome barb, an half orc barb and any other race barb? Absolutely nothing game wise.

If a fixed ASI at character creation is the only thing differentiating races for you and your players, I think you already have a rubber mask problem.

 

[Maxperson]

Maybe I should be clearer then.
Rubber masks. This is what floating ASI just do.
With floating ASI, what is the difference between a halfling barb, a gnome barb, an half orc barb and any other race barb? Absolutely nothing game wise. They will all reach max strength at level 8. The racial bonuses might do a change but it won't be a cost to see your max stat at level 12. A point that, from own admission is rarely reached. So doing a race not necessarily suited for the class should come at a cost. That cost is to reach max stat at level 12. The player is taking a risk here. Not a big one, but it is a risk any ways.

It's "can," not "will" and they can reach it by level 1 since rolling is a thing that many tables do. 18+2=20.

 

[Parmandur]

It's "can," not "will" and they can reach it by level 1 since rolling is a thing that many tables do. 18+2=20.

Yeah, it's always weird for me to see assumptions of point buy or array.

 

[Helldritch]

Lucky, resistence to mind-affecting magic (big deal for barbarians who usually have weak mental saves), and relentless endurance. There's other stuff, but those are much bigger deal than +/- 1 to attack and damage.

Watch the thread in which not starting with a 16 was considered crippling...

that is not my experence. quite the oppisit without floating ASI when people (power gamers) chose races they didn't care about mindset... with floating ASI they no longer had to choose the race with the best mods.

personality and roleplay... things I would RATHER they pick races based on then stats.

noting statwise... so again in my experience it makes people more willing to spread out and try new things and new mindsets.

if they want to yup.

why should it cost someone to play an elf over an orc if they want to play an elf?

if you only apply floating stats to PCs then you can still be suprised... haflings don't OFTEN become 2 handed barbarians weather they take +2 str or are forced to +2 dex

yes allowing you to play what you want without having to 'forehead makeup' a human into the race that suits your stat line

Your position on that is well known. Mine is no costs, no gain.

They don't, but if saying so makes you feel better then knock yourself out.

If a fixed ASI at character creation is the only thing differentiating races for you and your players, I think you already have a rubber mask problem.

Just check how TCoE allows them. At some point, what is the point of taking a race? Let`s play all VHumans with rubber masks on. The only differentiation will be the feat taken at level one and the rubber mask you will put on. Ho my elf barb has taken GWM, +2 in strength and +1 in Con. But your elf bard took warlock initiation, +2 charisma and +1 dex. And with elf put any masks you want to put. Be it Tabaxi, or any races you want to invent.

It's "can," not "will" and they can reach it by level 1 since rolling is a thing that many tables do. 18+2=20.

Yep, but rolling brings its own problems and rewards. At least there is a risk involved. Especially if you roll in order... But I do not see much rolling for stats over here. The standard array is almost universal.

 

[Neonchameleon]

I don't just allow it, I encourage it with the sole exception of the Twilight Cleric as I find regenerating THP really annoying. Frankly I find the subclasses in Tasha's just better written and more interesting than those in Xanathar's, especially in the case of the sorcerer, the druid, the fighter, the rogue (where the Xanathar's felt like a box ticking excercise), the ranger (and the base class), and possibly more.

I also consider floating ASIs a vast improvement as WotC messed up their stats and managed to make an 0 into the old -2 thanks to the way the math and the humans work where a +0 on the standard array ends up at a 15 while any human can reach a 16.

I only know one DM IRL who actively dislikes it.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Watch the thread in which not starting with a 16 was considered crippling...

Can you point that thread out to me?

Just check how TCoE allows them. At some point, what is the point of taking a race? Let`s play all VHumans with rubber masks on. The only differentiation will be the feat taken at level one and the rubber mask you will put on. Ho my elf barb has taken GWM, +2 in strength and +1 in Con. But your elf bard took warlock initiation, +2 charisma and +1 dex. And with elf put any masks you want to put. Be it Tabaxi, or any races you want to invent.

It kinda seems like you're only seeing the numbers, at least in terms of what is informing your rhetoric here. If that is how you see character creation, then sure, don't allow floating ASIs. Pretty much every race has at least one obvious choice for a required ASI, just enforce that in your games. If there isn't an obvious pair of ability scores, make one required and the other floating.

I don't think most players see things this way, however. I've never seen a player feel like their Dwarf wasn't meaningfully different from the Halfling they played in another campaign, regardless of how we did ASIs.

The talk of masks is strange to me, though. The Goliath plays, mechanically, very differently from the Elf. How is Little Giant (formerly Powerful Build) and Stone's Endurance not more different from an Elf's Trance and Fey Ancestry, than their +2 Strength is different from the Elf's +2 Dex?
It's +/- 1 modifier.

Yep, but rolling brings its own problems and rewards. At least there is a risk involved. Especially if you roll in order... But I do not see much rolling for stats over here. The standard array is almost universal.

Why shouldn't players be able to just play the character they want to play? What on Earth is gained by this attitude?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Some folks talking about modern DnD really remind of this song...

 

[cbwjm]

Watch the thread in which not starting with a 16 was considered crippling...

It's a common perception, though it isn't true, you'll do just fine with a +2 instead of a +3 in a stat. I think the issue is around perception. People look at others playing with that 16 in their strength vs. their 14 and think that they can't keep up.