is this homebrew race balanced?

starwed said:
I'll just reiterate a point: more than the standard +2/-2 becomes unbalanced with point buy. You end up being able to get a net increase in stats, because you put the bonuses in your high scores (worth 2 or 3 points per/statpoint) and your penalties in low scores (worth only 1 / statpoint).

Why is this only a problem for "more than the standard +2/-2"? I can already do that with the core races; if a 14 gets bumped up to a 16 at a cost of -2 to another stat, I effectively gain 2 points (compared to a Human who tries to get the same stats).

As long as you acknowledge that any +2 doesn't simply cancel any -2 out, it still works. You just have to accept that the players will build their characters in such a way that they maximize the benefits of the +2 while minimizing the drawbacks of the -2. In the core races, the only race whose +2 stat is obviously stronger than the -2 is the Dwarf (+2 CON, -2 CHA), and they pay for it in other ways.

That's why I support the Half-Orc's stats (+2 STR balanced by two weaker -2s): by picking certain classes he'll clearly get the full benefit of the STR boost, while not really being penalized for the minuses. Take the Half-Ogre I mentioned; his net statmod total was -4, but of course he'd put a high score into STR, and use the resulting point boost to make up the loss. Yes, it did skew Half-Ogres more towards the physical side of things, but the Half-Ogre in our campaign was a Ranger/Rogue/Barbarian who went Horizon Walker; when you have 6+INT skill points per level (or 4+INT with other bonuses), losing two points of INT doesn't really cost you much. The WIS loss? Well, Horizon Walkers don't get spells. And the CHA drop fit his persona.
 

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