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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9432944" data-attributes="member: 6790260">I mean, wouldn't it instead be better to say that Wizards are necessarily smart or observant because they've worked to be smart and/or observant, and Fighters are necessarily strong or agile because they've practiced being strong or agile?Because that's what 13th Age does, and it allows for us to still recognize the capabilities of each race and get rid of "ew I can't play flumph because it doesn't have +2 Temerity" stuff. It removes the crappy restriction of "pick only optimal things" (because now anything will be at least Pretty Good), without totally rejecting the idea that physiological differences can still be relevant.As an example. Wizards get either +2 Int or +2 Wis, as long as it doesn't match what you got from race. High Elves get +2 Int or +2 Cha, so you can have Int/Cha, Int/Wis, or (if you really want it!) Cha/Wis as a High Elf Wizard. Meanwhile, a Half-Orc Wizard can be Str/Int, Dex/Int, Str/Wis, or Dex/Wis--lots of choice, and you don't even have to be good at Intelligence if you don't want to be. Meanwhile, a Dragonborn (Str/Cha) Paladin (Str/Cha) doesn't get any choices--they're locked into +2 Str and +2 Cha because both sides give the same bonuses.This system is even better because it plays nicely with things that might otherwise not work great. Humans, for example, getting a "+2 Any" is actually really quite nice now, because that means humans really are the ultimate flexibility race--they can always bring the best stats to any particular class, or they can be quirky and do something offbeat while still keeping their core competency high. Further, it opens up design space for particularly MAD classes, like the 13A Monk, which gets to pick two out of three stats (so long as nothing doubles up), or Druid, which picks one out of three pairing with its extreme theoretical flexibility but in-practice need for focus.I really can't sing the praises of 13A design enough. There are just some really, really good design ideas in it.This just seems mostly irrelevant to me. It feels like the opposite of the 13A approach above. You've made the racial bonuses irrelevant unless players optimize to dump those stats (or, if this is "you must buy at least X", a punishment if they weren't going to invest in those stats), while at the same time preserving the "stats are irrelevant, everyone is good at whatever the player needs them to be good at" element.</blockquote>

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